Welcome to the latest edition of My Favourite Reads, where I share the books I’ve enjoyed over the past month, and where you can share and discuss your favourites too. Cos let’s face it, book lovers love to talk about books!

After all my travelling about for The Grazier’s Son, when reading took a back seat, normal programming has resumed. I finished eight books, although I had a couple of Did Not Finish reads. One I read over 30% before giving up. The other, an epistolary novel, I put down after a couple of chapters. I still don’t know why I bought that one. Must’ve had a rush of blood.

The rest, though, were amazeballs. I loved them all and there’s no way I can choose an overall favourite. All of them are worth reading.

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The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry

The Way of All Flesh has been sitting in my to-be-read pile for at least a couple of years. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read it. Just one of those things, but I’m very glad I finally did. After a slowish start, this turned into an excellent read. One I gobbled down in a couple of days.

Set in Edinburgh in the mid-1800s, this murder mystery is quite unique because it deals with the medical profession of the time, and women’s health in particular. I enjoyed that part of it enormously. It was equally fascinating and horrifying how terribly women were treated, especially in childbirth.

Anyway, the story stars Will Raven, a medical student with plenty of secrets. When he’s apprenticed to the famous Dr Simpson, he meets housemaid Sarah, a woman who’s equal to Will intellectually but has none of his advantages. Together, they form an alliance, one that sees them faced with increasing danger.

Highly recommended. And worth reading the notes at the end, too.

The Last Duke She’d Marry by Anna Campbell

Oh, this was fun!

Loved, loved, loved the opening, with poor Lucas being accosted in his club by the heroine’s scheming father. And the rest of The Last Duke She’d Marry was also a blast. Lots of Ms Campbell’s trademark sexiness between Lucas and Juliet, tempered with plenty of humour. The banter between those two was fabulous. I can honestly say there were quite a few times when I got teary, too.

This was definitely a “battle of the dukes”. There was a time when I fretted that the wrong duke was going to win. Fortunately, true love prevailed.

I’m really looking forward to the next in this series, with Juliet’s eccentric animal rescuing sister. That one will be veeeery interesting.

Signed, Sealed, Married by Annie West

As always with an Annie West read, Signed, Sealed, Married started with an attention grabbing hook. Ruthless Australian businessman Alan Wilde has a chip on his shoulder. Viewed as brash, perhaps even uncouth, he wants one final asset that will prove his success and grant him entry into the highest echelons of society: class. How better to get there than with prestigious but failing cosmetics company, the House of Fontaine?

One look at Gisele Fontaine and Alan realises he wants more than the company. He wants Gisele herself, and he’ll do anything to get her.

A terrific marriage of convenience story, where a strategic business alliance leads both characters to more than they bargained for. I especially loved Alan’s story arc. He had a lot to learn, and Gisele was the perfect person to teach him. I also liked how the story revealed Alan’s compassionate side. That was lovely. It made him my kind of man.

Oh, and fabulous French setting. Mustn’t forget that!

The Gathering by CJ Tudor

Gawd, I love CJ Tudor’s combination of mystery, thriller, and horror. She’s been an auto buy for me since her debut, The Chalk Man (my comments on that here), and I eagerly await each new release. So much so, that I buy them in paperback as soon as they hit the shelves, rather than wait for an ebook sale.

The Gathering was brilliant. It’s set in the world as we know it—in a small, isolated Alaskan town, to be specific—but with one difference: humans co-exist with vampyrs.

After being nearly hunted to extinction, special laws now protect the vampyr population. They’re far from accepted though, and eke out miserable existences in colonies, surviving on animal blood. It’s an uneasy truce and one that doesn’t take much to be broken.

With The Gathering, it’s the brutal murder of a boy. Out-of-state detective and vampyr investigator Barbara Atkins is assigned to determine if the death was by vampyr or other means, and to bring the perpetrator to justice. Or, as the town demands, order a cull of the local vampyr colony.

An outstanding murder mystery with multiple twists, set in a vividly drawn world loaded with excellently developed characters and a whole lot of page-turning tension.

Can’t wait for the next!

Wayward by Chuck Wendig

I couldn’t rave enough about Wendig’s Wanderers when I read it (read my rave here). It was an epic read in every sense. Massively long, fantastically plotted and paced, and with extraordinary characters. So I was very excited when he said there was a sequel in the making and even more excited when the ebook came on sale. Clickety-click I went!

It’s hard to say too much about Wayward without giving spoilers for Wanderers, and I wouldn’t want to spoil that book for anyone. But I can say that it has the same brilliant characterisations (I so loved rock god Pete Corley). The pacing is also spot on, despite being something like over 280,000 words long (according to ebook store Kobo, Wanderers was somewhere around 265,000).

Was it as good? Hmm. I’d have to say no, mainly because the sciency, A.I. bit was so complex and hard for me to get my head around, but Wayward is still a cracking book.

I really want to read stand-alone novel Black River Orchard now.

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

So, I finally jumped on the Taylor Jenkins-Reid bandwagon and picked up Daisy Jones and the Six. And enjoyed it HUGELY!

I loved the way this was written. Like an interview with the characters cutting in and out, each giving their own perspective on the rise (and fall) of their band. It was very clever, and very entertaining storytelling, and super easy to read.

Flawed, excellently drawn characters, great story, and a fun time period. Highly recommended. But I’m probably preaching to the converted. Everyone seems to have read this already.

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

I’d never heard of Rebecca Yarros before Fourth Wing (my thoughts on that read here) exploded across the book world, but it turns out she has quite a few other titles under her belt. Given how much I loved Fourth Wing and Iron Flame (and can’t wait for Onyx Storm), I was confident I’d enjoy one of her contemporary romances, so when I spotted The Things We Leave Unfinished on sale, I snapped it up.

Sooooo goooood!

The Things We Leave Unfinished was just gorgeous. It’s a dual timeline novel that swaps between wartime Britain and contemporary Colorado. The contemporary romance between Georgia and Noah was my favourite. It had great conflicts and a deep storyline, a few twists, and I loved how damaged Georgia was and how Noah wanted to fix that. The meet-cute was funny too. Oh, and the ending? Tears. Lots of tears.

Heartbreaking and heartwarming. Absolutely loved it and now I want to read everything Yarros has ever written.

Tempted by Her Greek Island Bodyguard by Michelle Douglas

Oh, I adored this! So much so I think Tempted by Her Greek Island Bodyguard might have leapfrogged Miss Prim’s Greek Island Fling (my comments here) and Waking Up Married to the Billionaire (my comments here) as my favourite Michelle Douglas read. Yep, that good.

Fabulous premise, glamorous Corfu setting and wonderful, wonderful characters. There is nothing not to like in this book. Janie was such a sweetheart, but strong, too. And Zach… sigh…. What a lovely hero. They fitted perfectly. Then there was the whole fun of the reality TV show and the threat of danger for extra spice rounding out a flawless romance read.

Loved it. Go read and bring yourself some joy.

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What are your recent favourite reads? Come share!

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