Week of October 27, 2025

Big news for those of you that found me through Tori (which is most of you, I imagine!) Let Me Call My Mom’s first podcast episode of season 2 goes live on Monday November 3rd. So if you’re reading this on Monday morning, you can now go listen to us, too! AND we’re finally on Apple Podcasts AND we’re now on TikTok. 🤭 This episode is a very chatty “where we’ve been” kind of catch-up episode so feel free to take a nice, long walk with us while we catch you up on all the blabber from the last 10+ months that we’ve been gone. And then you’ll get an all new episode on Thursday November 6th, too, with weekly Thursday episodes to follow! We’re really excited to get this podcast going again, and Tori and I are planning a lot of fun things to do and to talk about with all of you in the upcoming episodes. We hope you’ll listen!

As for reading, I didn’t fall in love with any of the books I read this week. I think The Island was the best of the bunch for the week, and I do recommend it if you’re looking for something to make you feel all the emotions - that book will churn up the angst for sure. But all in all, it was a so so week for me. Onto the next one.

• 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!

I picked up where I left off last week with the last 2 books in the Hush Note trilogy. Book 2, Rifts & Refrains was by Devney Perry and I liked this one a little better than the first book in the series, so I gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5. This followed the drummer, Quinn, and her high school sweetheart Graham, who is now a single dad to young Colin. Quinn goes back home to Montana for her Nan’s funeral and it’s her first time home since an awkward departure at age 18 nearly a decade earlier. And it’s been radio silence with both her family and Graham since then. Of course no one forgets their first love and there’s no way the two of them can avoid each other in their small town. Tensions flare, feelings are felt, words are said, you know the drill. Again, nothing entirely original in this book, but the angst is good, and it’s nice to see the family dynamic come together in the end for Quinn.

And the final book in the trilogy was written by Rebecca Yarros and is called Muses & Melodies and focuses on guitarist Nixon whose addictions were evident in each of the first 2 books. In this final book, Nixon gets out of rehab and his management team sits a “babysitter” on him 24/7 to make sure he doesn’t fall off the wagon. That sitter happens to be a beautiful young woman named Zoe who tries to keep herself neutral on falling for her client just as she also tries to help him open up about his demons. Nixon struggles in his home town where the temptations are strongest so he moves them both to Zoe’s home town of Colorado where he has no ghosts and he can start fresh and write music in peace. Of the 3 books, this is actually my favorite. These two characters have the most depth in my opinion, and I feel like they understand each other the best. I’d give this book a ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 as well. It’s a cute series, and I like the rock and roll theme to the books (although if I had to pick a rock and roll romance series, Kate Stewart’s Drive and Reverse was far superior if you’re looking for a book series with that theme. You can’t beat that one.)

Next I read Chase The Sun by Christina Lee. This was book 2 in a series that I started several months ago, and I’ll give this one ⭐️⭐️. The writing in this book felt more like a high school essay rather than a novel in some way - it wasn’t very fluid and it felt choppy in its structure. There was nothing innately original in the plot of the book in that Jamie travels from small town Oregon to big city LA to deliver Connor’s car to him after he was done fixing it up, stays with him for a few weeks to explore the city, and lo and behold, they end up fooling around and fall for each other. Meh.

After this I read The Guy In The Window by Cara Dee, which was a super quick read at just 212 pages, but this book was filthy. I mean holy smokes. I liked Cara Dee’s The Guy In The Alley and Adam and Everett were minor characters in that book so I knew tidbits of their story already. But sheesh, I had no idea this was an age-gap/uncle-nephew sort of situation (adopted nephew, relax, but still). The openness of these two men and their willingness to explore their kinks had me both clutching my pearls and kicking my feet, let me tell you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I’m telling you - I was blushing.

Next was My One And Only by Kristan Higgins, and I wanted to love it. I really did. She’s one of my favorite authors, but Nick and Harper just couldn’t seem to get on the same page for me. Well, Nick couldn’t. I loved him, and then he’d blow it. And then I loved him again, and then he’d blow it for me again. Gah, I just couldn’t wrap my head around his attitude towards Harper. He’d tell her she’s the love of his life, but then he ghosts her. Higgins has better books out there, I don’t know if this one is worth it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ but only because it’s this author.

This book has been on my TBR for several weeks. I heard about it on TikTok as one that would wrap you up in your feels so I thought I’d give it a try. And it sure did. The Island by Briar Prescott takes you on a journey alright. Many chapters of this book are told as if it’s a stream of consciousness from either Adrian’s or Dylan’s POV, and it’s really well done. The angst is real, the heartfelt emotion feels so genuine, and what these boys go through is so raw. In the first part of the book, Dylan’s turmoil rips your heart out. And then in the last part of the book, Adrian’s turmoil rips your heart out. If you’re looking for a book that will drag you through allllll the emotions and tear you apart in the process, this might be the one for you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I took a day off after reading that last book because it was kind of draining, honestly. I had a little bit of a hangover. And then I started and abandoned about 4 books just within the first 1-2 chapters of each. I had no feeling of what I wanted to get into next. I settled (and I do mean settled) on Always You by RJ Scott and it was probably really unfair to read this on the heels of The Island. Jazz and Alex deserved more from me as a reader, I think, and I didn’t have it to give them since I was still wrapped up with the characters from my last book. BUT, that being said, this was a solid book about PTSD and post-war trauma and healing and second chances at love and forgiveness. I’m just not sure it was enough of all that after what I read earlier in the week. ⭐️⭐️.5

I wrapped up the week with The Words by Ashley Jade. This book was all kinds of dysfunctional. Lennon and Phoenix were awful for each other, but Phoenix was probably awful for anyone. As an abandoned and abused young boy, his mental state didn’t stand much of a chance at developing into anything healthy. But then add in the rock star lifestyle with unlimited alcohol, drugs, and women, and there was little hope of him turning out to have many redeeming characteristics. And yet, when Lennon reconnects with him after he steals her music and lyrics in order to impress a record company rep and hit it big, they somehow can’t seem to stay away from each other. She is inexplicably drawn to his talent, and he to hers, and despite the fact that they are explosive together, they work. This book is disturbing and it shouldn’t work. And yet you find yourself rooting for these characters to not only find their way to make their way back to each other but to find a way to stay together despite the fact that their physical connection seems almost violent. The ending didn’t come together for me at all, which, after reading 676 pages didn’t seem fair. I wanted more of a resolution. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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