Author: Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

30ish mom, wife, nurse, avid reader, gamer, and Swiftie. Want to join my Taylor Swift Readathon? It's called Books Beside Your Bed and the link is in my linktree! https://linktr.ee/Enchanted.to.read.you
adult, ARC, Four Star Book, thriller

The Kill Club BLOG TOUR!

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: The Kill Club
  • Author: Wendy Heard
  • Publisher: Harlequin
  • Publish Date: December 17, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 368
  • Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Psychological
  • Dates Read: Dec 4 – Dec 8
  • Rating: ★★★★

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A haunting thriller about a woman who attempts to save her brother’s life by making a dangerous pact with a network of vigilantes who’ve been hunting down the predators of Los Angeles.

Jazz can’t let her younger brother die.

Their foster mother Carol has always been fanatical, but with Jazz grown up and out of the house, Carol takes a dangerous turn that threatens thirteen-year-old Joaquin’s life. Over and over, child services fails to intervene, and Joaquin is running out of time.

Then Jazz gets a blocked call from someone offering a solution. There are others like her, people the law has failed. They’ve formed an underground network of “helpers,” each agreeing to murder the abuser of another. They’re taking back their power and leaving a trail of bodies throughout Los Angeles—dubbed the Blackbird Killings. If Jazz joins them, they’ll take care of Carol for good.

All she has to do is kill a stranger.

Jazz soon learns there’s more to fear than getting caught carrying out her assignment. The leader of the club has a zero tolerance policy for mistakes.

And the punishment for disobeying orders is death.

Yall, Harlequin Trade has some GREAT thrillers coming out this winter! I’ve been in a thriller mood and these have not disappointed!

This twisty murder-for-hire had a unique take that I loved. Let’s say you need to be rid of someone. Easy. This secret group contacts you, offers to take them out while you have a rock solid alibi. The only thing you have to do is take someone out for someone else.

Jazz is willing to risk this to save her brother from the evil foster mom. Her journey takes her through so many twists and turns, in the end I didn’t know who I was rooting for.

The characters were all very believable. From Jazz, who had some legal issues but will do anything to save her brother. To her kid brother, Joaquin, who is a Type 1 Diabetic. To Carol, the crazy, snake-charming-religion-following foster mom who isn’t doing what’s best for Joaquin. I felt like I had met all of these people before in my life. The actions, words and feelings seemed to jump right off the page to play a movie in my mind.

The story was fast paced. I didn’t want to put it down. I had to know what would happen. Would she save her brother? Would she get the girl? Would the secret program find her and kill her?

This is a must read for ever thriller lover! I’ve already recommended it to my friends! It will be a perfect Christmas gift!

Wendy Heard, author of Hunting Annabelle, was born in San Francisco and has lived most of her life in Los Angeles. When not writing, she can be found hiking the Griffith Park trails, taking the Metro and then questioning this decision, and haunting local bookstores.

Connect with Wendy Heard!
| Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |

Get The Kill Club for you or someone you love!
| Harlequin | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble |
| Books A Million | Google Play | Indie Bound |

Special thanks to Harlequin Trade for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour! I am so grateful for the opportunity. Look for my next stop on the blog tour featuring Good Girls Lie on December 23!

Happy Holidays! Until next time…

adult, ARC, Four Star Book

The Coincidence Makers ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: The Coincidence Makers
  • Author: Meradeth Houston
  • Publisher: Bleeding Ink Publishing
  • Publish Date: November 19, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 308
  • Dates Read: Nov 10 – Nov 13
  • Rating: ★★★★

As far as Ami’s concerned, invisibility is good for three things: bank vaults, men’s locker rooms, and saving the world.

For Ami and her partner, Luke, becoming invisible is part of their job. Their mysterious employer assigns them to make “coincidences” happen, from reuniting long lost lovers to toppling empires. For their next job, they must stop a bio-terrorism attack on San Francisco. To pull it off, they’ll have to break into illegal labs and federal buildings that make bank vaults seem easy.

Working side by side to arrange the coincidence, Ami hopes for a chance to finally push their relationship past the friend-zone. Her telepathic link with Luke has made it hard to keep her feelings secret for so many years. But just when things start to heat up between them, they accidentally alert the FBI to their existence. Now agents are chasing them down hilly streets and invading their homes in the middle of the night.

With three days until the attack, Ami and Luke must escape their FBI tail while keeping their own emotions from getting in the way. That’s not an easy task when their telepathy goes on the fritz and their only lead for who’s behind the plague just might be the one who releases it. With millions of lives hanging in the balance, they’re going to need more than a coincidence to pull it all off.

– Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and Bleeding Ink Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Four stars for this action-packed story that was way out of my comfort zone!

Imagine that coincidences weren’t coincidences. You didn’t just happen to get your dream job or meet your soul mate on the train. There are invisible people working behind the scenes to make this happen. What if they also did even crazier things – like save the world?

That’s what Ami and Luke have been tasked to do. They are used to little coincidences, nothing like this. I quickly fell in love with them and their will-they-won’t-they love story. I love friends to lovers, and this did not disappoint!

The Coincidence Makers had me guessing from the get-go. I didn’t know who was good or bad. There were a ton of twists and turns. The action scenes were written wonderfully and had my heart racing. I didn’t want to put this book down because I had to know what happened next.

The only thing that kept me from a 5 star rating was the ending. I felt like the book could have ended at 80% and then the sequel could begin from there. I liked staying in their world longer, but it felt a little long-winded. However, Meradeth has confirmed there is a sequel in the works so I can’t wait to jump back into Ami and Luke’s story!

I know I will be forever rethinking coincidences.

Until next time….

adult, ARC, Erotica, Five Star Book, Humor, Memoir, thriller, ya

WWW Wednesday!

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

What am I currently reading?

I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. It’s a club read this month over at Book Battle so it was the perfect chance! Not what I was expecting, but still good. Should finish tomorrow!

I’m also listening to the audio. I love books read by the celebrity authors!

Modern Romance on Goodreads

Honestly, I looked at kindle unlimited’s Christmas selection and saw this was a dark romance. I was thinking Verity-esque, but it’s not really. I’m a little over halfway done and still unsure about how I feel.

Checking Him Off My Christmas List on Goodreads

What did I recently finish reading?

This book wrecked me in the best way. I’m still reeling. Top 5 books of the year, for sure. Review to come soon!

The Grace Year on Goodreads

What do I think I’ll read next?

I was invited to be a part of The Kill Club’s blog tour and I am so excited! Look for my review on December 14!

The Kill Club on Goodreads

What is your WWW? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, fantasy, Four Star Book, ya

The Guinevere Deception ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: The Guinevere Deception
  • Author: Kiersten White
  • Publisher: Delacorte Press
  • Publish Date: November 5, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 352
  • Genre: Fantasy, YA, Retelling
  • Date Read: Oct 31 – Nov 10
  • Rating: ★★★.5

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

-Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was the first King Arthur retelling I’ve read, and I enjoyed it. I don’t know why it took me so.long. to read this. 10 days! Parts were a little slow, but not slow enough to take me 10 days to read. I don’t know what was going on.

This was an interesting story. Guinevere was sent to Camelot to marry Arthur and protect him at all costs. She knew that was her goal, and that’s what she was going to do. She took some risks to protect him. Some worked, some didn’t. She was strong and level-headed. I loved her!

The supporting characters were also great! I loved her maid-turned-friend and also Arthur’s cousin. At points Arthur was a little flat for me.

Some of the writing seemed almost childish. That could have just been me though. From the start, I read Guinevere’s voice in a childish manner. Very simple speech, almost? I’m not sure exactly how to describe it. I loved her actions, her dialogue not so much.

This was book 1 of the Camelot Rising Trilogy and I can’t wait to read book two! I would recommend this to anyone who loves King Arthur or just a good ole YA Fantasy!

Until next time..

adult, ARC, Four Star Book, mystery, thriller

The Last Affair BLOG TOUR

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: The Last Affair
  • Author: Margot Hunt
  • Publisher: MIRA
  • Publish Date: November 26, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 336
  • Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Adult
  • Read Dates: Nov 13 – Nov 15
  • Rating: ★★★★

Gwen Landon—poster woman for perfect wife, mother, and suburban bliss—is found brutally bludgeoned to death behind her Floridian McMansion. Beautiful and beloved by her community, Gwen makes an unlikely victim. But just a scratch below the surface of her perfectly curated world reveals one far more sinister. When looking back over the six months leading up to her death, the question of, “who would do this?” quickly shifts to, “who wouldn’t?” 

Commercially successful food blogger and mother of three, Nora Holliday never imagined she would have the nerve, let alone time, to get involved an affair. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she does whatever it takes to keep it all together. But when Nora runs into Gwen Landon’s husband at a hotel in Orlando, his easy kindness and warmth proves too tempting to resist. As their affair spirals dangerously out of control, it seems things can’t get more complicated—until Gwen turns up dead.

Thank you to Netgalley and MIRA for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so excited and honored to be a part of this blog tour! I read Margot’s first book, Best Friends Forever, last year and LOVED it! The Last Affair was no different!

So, an interesting thing about The Last Affair is that you find out who died in the first chapter. You then go back 6 months to find out what events lead up to the murder. Everyone was suspect. Everyone was sketchy. There were so.many. possibilities about who could have been the killer. I thought everyone did at one point, except the person who actually did the killing!

Another thing that made this novel so great was that all the characters were real. They were believable. The actions/conversations were true to the characters. You liked the “good guys” and hated the “bad guys”. But did you really know who was good or bad?I didn’t.

The plot was fast paced and interesting. I could not put this novel down. I was so glad for the four hour car ride to Alabama so I could read! I’m sure my husband hated it though. Sorry, babe! I had to know the killer!

I’ve already recommended this novel to my thriller loving family and friends. It is definitely one of my favorites that I have read!

Margot Hunt is a critically acclaimed author of psychological suspense. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews.

Connect with Margot Hunt!
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Buy this book! You won’t regret it. Pinky promise!
Harlequin | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
BAM | Target | Walmart | Google | iBooks | Kobo

Harlequin’s Winter Mystery/Thriller blog tours! All of these are on my TBR. Look for my The Kill Club post coming soon!

Until next time…

Uncategorized

When the Stars Lead to You ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: When the Stars Lead to You
  • Author: Ronni Davis
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  • Publish Date: November 12, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 400
  • Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
  • Read Dates: Oct 28 – Oct 31
  • Rating: ★★★★

The stars.
And the boy she fell in love with last summer.

When Ashton breaks Devon’s heart at the end of the most romantic and magical summer ever, she thinks her heart will never heal again. But over the course of the following year, Devon finds herself slowly putting the broken pieces back together.

Now it’s senior year, and she’s determined to enjoy every moment of it as she prepares for a future studying the galaxies. That is, until Ashton shows up on the first day of school. Can she forgive him and open her heart again? Or are they doomed to repeat history?

From debut author, Ronni Davis, comes a stunning novel about passion, loss, and the power of first love.

– GOodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow! What a debut! This heart-wrenching novel takes an honest look at young love, first love, and what we do to find ourselves in the midst.

So many hard topics were discussed amongst the love. First was depression and suicide. Devon falls in love with Ashton, who battles depression daily. You see how it affects Ashton, but also Devon. Devon so badly just wants to make him better. It’s such an honest look at loving someone with depression. Don’t they know how much I love them? Shouldn’t it be enough?

Another topic that is discussed is that we still have prejudices against bi-racial couples. Devon is bi-racial. Ashton is white. Ashton’s parents do not approve of this relationship because Devon is bi-racial. Are we not now in a time where skin doesn’t matter? It literally affects you in no way, so let them be and let them love!

It also explores losing yourself to your first love. I know when I was a teen, I so did this. It’s so new and exciting and you’ve never felt these feelings before. Your life revolves around them. Then you break up and realize you don’t know yourself anymore.

So much of this book just rang true to me. It reminded me of my younger self and my feelings. It was such a great novel and a quick read! I would definitely recommend!

Until next time…

ARC, Horror, middle grade, mystery, two star book

Monster on the Moors ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Monster on the Moors
  • Author: J.M. Kelly
  • Publisher: Top Publications, Ltd.
  • Publish Date: October 31, 2019
  • Book Form: E-ARC
  • Pages: 280
  • Genre: Mystery, Horror, MG
  • Dates Read: Sept 27 – Oct 29
  • Rating: ★★

Monster On The Moors is an MG-YA horror thriller that takes place in the eerie North York Moors of England. Clairvoyant Bobby Holmes, his American cousin Brenda Watson, and their friends, wise guy Stevie and Michael (who is challenged by Asperger Syndrome), are drawn into a deadly mystery. They are hunted by an ancient wolf creature controlled by evil witches of British lore. When one of their friends is captured, they must rely on the investigations of a librarian who is more than he seems, the mystical gifts of a gypsy king, a mysterious stranger at the center of it all, and their own wits in a desperate race to save their friend and come out alive.

– Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sheesh. Okay. So, I got this book because I thought it would be a good Halloween read. I was mistaken.

Okay, and I know it took me almost a month to read. I started it, then had to put it down because it was taking so long to finish. 280 pages felt like forever. So I started, put it down, picked it back up. Again. And again.

When I got Monster on the Moor, I thought it was YA. I was so confused because the writing and dialogue was just… childish. I then did some research and discovered it was MG. Okay, that makes more sense. But Bobby and his band of friends go off investigating and in the woods on their own. I know I wouldn’t let my MG-aged child do half of what these guys did in the book. The character’s actions and thoughts were very YA-aged, but the dialogue was MG-aged, so I was just confused. I really spent most of the book trying to figure out their ages.

Another thing that made this book hard for me were the descriptions. They were very wordy, and I lost track of what we were describing. It ultimately made the book very hard for me to get into.

Now for some positives. There was autism rep in this book, which is always nice to see. This is also part of a series, but JM Kelly did a great job of giving enough backstory where you didn’t have to read the first book.

Would I recommend this book? I hate to say, I would not. The actions/voices of the characters didn’t match and it was just too hard to get into.

Until next time…

ARC, Four Star Book, mystery, thriller, ya

The Last to Die ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

It all started out as a game.

Just a way to have fun. We figured as long as we had rules, it wouldn’t be a problem.

RULE #1: Only break into one another’s houses.

RULE #2: Only take stuff that can be replaced.

It worked for a while. Whoever’s turn it was to break in got a rush, and the rest of us laughed over the trophies they brought back. But then someone went too far. Lives got ruined. Someone is dead.

And I might be next.

– Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I liked:

This was a great YA mystery! I’ve read a few others in the past and I was not impressed. The Last to Die really kept me on my feet and engrossed in the story. I even figured out whodunnit! I wasn’t 100% sure, but I had my suspicions. Honestly, I was skeptical of everyone at some point.

It was a really fast read. I read this in a day – a day I worked for 10 hours and had a sick two year old at home. That just shows you how much I needed to know what happened next!

What I didn’t like:

Nothing really comes to mind. The book was faced paced and a great fall read!

Would I recommend?

I would! This book is being republished under Sourcebooks Fire on November 5. Go check it out!

Until next time…

adult, fantasy, Five Star Book

Ninth House Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Ninth House
  • Author: Leigh Bardugo
  • Publisher: Flatiron Books
  • Publish Date: October 8, 2019
  • Book Form: Ebook
  • Pages: 462
  • Genre:Fantasy, Adult
  • Rating: ★★★★★

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

– Goodreads

Queen Leigh has done it again. She’s completely engrossed me in a world in which I wish I lived.

What I liked:

Only everything. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Leigh Bardugo is an exceptional storyteller. She pulls you into her stories so quickly and easily. You just become immersed in this world that you want to be a part of. Her characters are all so diverse, interesting, and morally gray – which makes them oh so real.

What if there was an underground world of secret societies at Yale that really does control, well, everything? They use magic to do it. And what happens when the balance gets out of wack? People die. And that’s where Lethe, the Ninth House, comes in. They investigate crimes the most powerful eight houses commit and try to right their wrongs.

Alex knew the girl was murdered. When she was written off, that only made her want to find the truth more. I loved the investigative parts of this story. I’m a huge crime junkie so this was mixing two of my favorite things into one.

I loved the magic. There were different ways to use the different types of magic, and no one mastered them all. It was distinctly different from Shadow and Bone, which I appreciated. And like all good magic stories, you can’t just use the magic. Something has to be taken to use it. I loved the ghost element of it as well. That only certain people could see ghosts, and even fewer could talk to them.

What I didn’t like:

I guess I’ll just put this here. There were a lot of trigger warnings for this book. In my opinion, they were blown way out of proportion. I know different people will see this differently, but it wasn’t too bad for me. Also – this is an ADULT book! Please do not confuse with her YA series. It’s adult and oh so good!

Would I recommend?

Is the world round? Is the sky blue? Yes, of COURSE I would recommend! I already have! Seriously, this is a perfect Halloween book and everyone needs to read it. Leigh did an amazing job with her adult debut. I can’t wait to go to Hell in book #2!

Until next time…

ARC, Four Star Book, Memoir

Toil & Trouble ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

“Here’s a partial list of things I don’t believe in: God. The Devil. Heaven. Hell. Bigfoot. Ancient Aliens. Past lives. Life after death. Vampires. Zombies. Reiki. Homeopathy. Rolfing. Reflexology. Note that ‘witches’ and ‘witchcraft’ are absent from this list. The thing is, I wouldn’t believe in them, and I would privately ridicule any idiot who did, except for one thing: I am a witch.”

For as long as Augusten Burroughs could remember, he knew things he shouldn’t have known. He manifested things that shouldn’t have come to pass. And he told exactly no one about this, save one person: his mother. His mother reassured him that it was all perfectly normal, that he was descended from a long line of witches, going back to the days of the early American colonies. And that this family tree was filled with witches. It was a bond that he and his mother shared–until the day she left him in the care of her psychiatrist to be raised in his family (but that’s a whole other story). After that, Augusten was on his own. On his own to navigate the world of this tricky power; on his own to either use or misuse this gift.

From the hilarious to the terrifying, Toil & Trouble is a chronicle of one man’s journey to understand himself, to reconcile the powers he can wield with things with which he is helpless. There are very few things that are coincidences, as you will learn in Toil & Trouble. Ghosts are real, trees can want to kill you, beavers are the spawn of Satan, houses are alive, and in the end, love is the most powerful magic of all.

– Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love reading about Augusten’s life. I’ve been a fan since Running with Scissors and this new novel did not disappoint.

Thanks, giphy!

What I liked:

As I said, I’ve loved Augusten for a while now. His life is so interesting, but I guess it’s always interesting when someone other than you is facing grief and trauma. Not all of Augusten’s life has been sad, but he’s seen some shit.

I loved getting to learn about him being a witch, the way he can just know when things are going to happen, the spells he casts. He takes you through what it’s like to be an actual witch. It’s super interesting.

The story goes present to past and back again. We get to learn about him learning he’s a witch, the people who taught him how to harness his abilities. We get to see the present day life of he and his spouse, Christopher. We get to see how he uses his powers now. Honestly, I’m a little bit jealous.

What I didn’t like:

Nothing! This book was just as good as his past ones.

Would I recommend?

Yes! This is a perfect book for Halloween. Its such a fast read that pulls you in. I loved it!

Until next time…