Book Haul: October 2023

I went on quite the 99p ebook buying spree last month and I’ll be honest and say I haven’t included all of them in this post – it would be ridiculously long if I did. There were so many interesting books in the monthly Kindle deals that I couldn’t resist them.

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

I was offered an ARC of the third book in this series last year, but unfortunately couldn’t read it because I hadn’t read the rest of the series first. I’m not sure how interconnected they all are, or if they’re standalones, but I now own the first instalment and it sounds very intriguing.

Synopsis: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman who desires a law career must be in want of a case. So when seventeen-year-old Lizzie Bennet hears about a scandalous society murder, she sees an opportunity to prove herself as a solicitor by solving the case and ensuring justice is served.

Except the man accused of the crime already has a lawyer on his side: Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious Pemberley Associates law firm. Lizzie is determined to solve the murder before Darcy can so that she can show the world that a woman can be just as good as a man. (The fact that Darcy is an infuriating snob doesn’t help.) But there’s still a killer on the loose, and as the case gets more complicated, Lizzie and Darcy may have to start working together to avoid becoming the next victims themselves.

My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

I kept seeing this book everywhere and honestly, it sounds great. I wanted to read it before Halloween but I ran out of time. It looks like it’s an any time of the year type of read anyway.

Synopsis: Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean…

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

Like a Charm by Kerry Barrett

I went on a huge witchy book-buying spree despite not having any time to read them during the spooky season. I’m not sure when I’ll get to this, but the cover really caught my eye and I love books about witches.

Synopsis: Esme McLeod is a high-flying lawyer in London, but her life isn’t as perfect as it might seem. She is estranged from her family, in a toxic relationship with a married man, and she’s a part-time witch.

As a teenager, Esme discovered that her meddling mother had cast a love spell on Esme’s boyfriend, Jamie. Mortified, she fled her hometown in the Scottish Highlands, cutting ties with her mum, Jamie and magic. Well, nearly all magic – sometimes getting served at a bar or finding a space in a busy car park without magic is just too much of a drag.

When Esme’s aunt becomes ill, she reluctantly returns home to help out. What she doesn’t expect is for her aunt’s doctor to be Jamie. As Esme tries to repair her family relationships and master her unpredictable magic, could it be that sparks are flying between Jamie and her for real this time?

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich

I’ve read one book by Sophie Gonzales before and I really enjoyed it, so when this appeared for just 99p I had to get it. A book about two boyband members who are in love with each other but can’t let the world know? Sounds excellent to me.

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin

Another witchy book, but this one is sapphic. I love a good sapphic witchy book, it’s when they are really in their element if you ask me.

Synopsis: Potion maker and self-proclaimed “messy witch” Morgan Greenwood is sure she was hexed at birth. Not only did she drunkenly offer to fake date the woman of her dreams during the biennial New England Witches’ festival, but Rory Sandler, spellcasting champion and brilliant elemental witch–for reasons known only to the Goddess–accepted. It’s like every good luck spell Morgan ever cast came through at once, and it doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict this charade will end with a broken heart.

Or is the magic between them real? As Morgan and Rory prepare to fool everyone at the festival, their relationship starts to feel a whole lot less fake–right until Morgan realizes she might have screwed up the common relaxation potion she made for Rory and given her a love potion instead, breaking one of the most sacred Witch Council Laws.

To fulfill her promise to Rory, Morgan must somehow keep playing pretend while under the watchful eyes of Rory’s family and legion of fans. But to break the love potion, she’ll also have to prove how incompatible she and Rory really are. For a screwup like her, ruining their relationship should be easy–except every day, Morgan is becoming more bewitched by Rory herself.