Week of August 25, 2025

Labor Day?? It sneaks up on me every year! When I was getting ready to come back from Idaho, Ross asked me something about Labor Day weekend and I said to myself, why is he worried about that? It’s weeks away. Ha! It was right around the corner and I was in complete denial. And now it’s here. As I write this, the school district where my girls graduated from has already started back up for the year, and “local summer” as we call it has begun at the beach. The hazy days of humidity are gone and the windows are open again, and it happens in the blink of an eye. We have this one last crazy hurrah at the beach and then it’s all grandparents and toddlers and locals for the month of September before restaurants start to close up for the season. And before we know it, it’s Halloween and beyond. But if I’m being honest, the four months ending in “-ber” are my favorite of the year, so I’m just hitting my stride. Soak up these good days, everyone!

• As always, here’s my rating scale for your information:

  ⭐️ Did not like this book, would not recommend. Lots of errors, plot holes, not worth the effort to read, most likely didn’t finish. But I’m giving this author a single star for making the effort to publish a book. Not everyone’s even gotten that far, so yay for you.

  ⭐️⭐️ Didn’t really like it, multiple issues with style, plot, syntax or characters. Most likely forced myself to finish it. Would consider other books by the same author but I might have to be convinced.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyed the book. Perhaps there were issues with plot or style but it was an enjoyable read. I could see recommending it if it were of a specific genre or trope or series. Most of what I read could easily fall into this category and I’d be a happy camper.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a good book. Like a really good book. I will think about this book when I’m finished, and there’s a really good chance I’ll buy it for my personal library if it was a KU read. I’d recommend it to other readers of the same genre or trope. I’ll definitely search out other books by this author, probably as soon as I’m finished reading.

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wow. Just wow. Amazing book, amazing story. If there were flaws in the book I’m completely overlooking them because in my mind the book was sheer perfection. I didn’t want the book to end and I’m immediately adding it to my favorites and my re-read pile. And if there’s an audio version I might have to buy that, too. I have a book hangover, I miss the characters, and I feel actual, physical loss in my life when this book is finished.

Thanks for joining me this week! Let’s dive in!

1. All the Little Raindrops, by Mia Sheridan ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

   Kindle Unlimited, 390 pages.

   Genre/tropes: Thriller, suspense, romance

   This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. After reading Archer’s Voice by this author last year, I was expecting something a little, well, lighter, I suppose. This wasn’t that. I enjoy going into books completely blind so it’s not unusual for me to have no idea what to expect, but wow, this was really out there. I do like a good mystery book, so that aspect wasn’t putting me off. But it was really a disturbing topic, a cross between human trafficking and torture and it was difficult to read at times.

   Main characters Evan and Noelle find themselves caged in the dark at age 18 and are forced to play a sick game of cat and mouse in order to survive, all the while facing horrible consequences at the hands of whatever depraved humans had captured them in the first place. It was really awful to even think about, much less read. (Maybe this is why I stick with lighter material - I don’t like to dwell on this horrible dark side of humanity.) But they managed to escape and they survived their ordeal. After bonding over the trauma they suffered together, they decided they needed to be apart in order to fully heal, so they went their separate ways. They connect again 7 years in the future when Evan, now a PI, stumbles on a case that may link to their own unsolved abduction almost a decade earlier. And what they unravel is almost worse than had it remained hidden from the world forever.

   Plot-wise, I found a lot of suspended disbelief was needed to get through the story. But that’s ok for me in a case like this - I’d rather have such a gruesome book be more unbelievable than realistic. If thrillers are your thing, you may enjoy this.

2. Burn It Down, by Nicole Dykes. ⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 240 pages.

   Genre/tropes: MM romance, enemies to lovers, small town

   This was a sweet, slow burn, bi-awakening story of Kade, the widowed dad firefighter who slowly realized he has fallen for Spencer, his son’s 1st grade teacher. Kade and Spencer actually had some history from high school, when Spencer had an unrequited crush on Kade, even though Kade had a pregnant girlfriend (his son’s mom, Megan). There’s nothing really unique in this story, if I’m being honest. The characters are fine, everyone’s super supportive of them being out and in love, and they all live happily ever after. There’s not a lot of conflict that happens in this book for anyone other than the poor 6 year old who worries about his firefighter dad. There are better books with much better character development out there. This one is a “don’t bother” for me.

3. Arrow Through Archer, Nash Summers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 309 pages.

   Genre/tropes: MM Romance, age gap, mental health

   Coming on the heels of a rather disappointing book, this was a big step up. The characters in this, Archer and Mallory, were much better. Archer is a troubled young man, depressed and closed off due to the death of his parents and subsequent abandonment by his only remaining relative because of his sexual orientation, so he keeps himself fully closeted all through college. He doesn’t even open up to his best friend Danny. When Danny convinces Archer to travel to Banff with him for Thanksgiving break to stay with his father, Mallory, Archer’s world opens up a bit when Mallory notices Archer’s eyes linger on one of Danny’s friends and calls him out on it. For the first time ever, Archer acknowledges that he’s gay and he feels a sense of freedom with Mallory that he never did before.

   The writing is on the wall at this point. The reader knows that Mallory and Archer are going to end up in a relationship together, but the path that the two would take to get there isn’t one that you would guess. This book is definitely worth the read. I really enjoyed these two characters and the way they complimented each other.

4. The Summer We Met, by Hope Holloway & Cecelia Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 400 pages

5. The Summer We Danced, by Hope Holloway & Cecelia Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 380 pages

6. The Summer We Made Promises, by Hope Holloway & Cecelia Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   Kindle Unlimited, 358 pages.

   Genre/tropes: Contemporary Fiction, women’s fiction

   These three book were absolutely a perfect way to finish my summer of reading. It looks like there will be 3 more books to the series, one of which I’m reading right now and will have in next week’s newsletter, and the 5th isn’t out until February of 2026 so I’ll have to wait ☹️ But these books are absolutely charming. All of these books take place on the beach in Destin, Florida and follow the lives of two sorority sisters from UGA and their families who shared a beach house in the early 1990’s. There is a romance component to these books but zero spice, and it’s much more of a family drama than a romance. And it’s well done. Each book so far has followed different family members of the second and third generations of the original families and their respective tales and it’s done very well. I’m absolutely enjoying each book and look forward to finishing this series.

That’s it for this week! As always, you can keep up with all of my reading on my Goodreads if you want to. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12921106-karen

Love, Karen