
Hello hello!
I hope all of you celebrated a happy and safe new year. Can you believe we're already in 2023? I swear, the year passed by so quickly!
December was a great reading month for me. Many of my reads became favorites and I'm excited to share it all with you.
Stats
Total Books Read: 17
Total Pages Read: 7006
DNFs or No Rating: 2
From my TBR: 11
Avg. Rating: 3.53
Total Pages Read: 7006
DNFs or No Rating: 2
From my TBR: 11
Avg. Rating: 3.53
All the Books
The other books I still found worthwhile (and would recommend) were:
Twisted by Cynthia Eden
Taken by Cynthia Eden
Wrecked by Cynthia Eden
Twisted by Cynthia Eden
Taken by Cynthia Eden
Wrecked by Cynthia Eden
Added to my tbr


Book Haul
I didn't purchase any books this month. Everything I read was either already on my Kindle or on my bookshelves or from the library. I really liked this process!
I hope you find only the best reads!
Talk soon,
Talk soon,
xo, Natalie

I wanted to do just about anything he was willing to do with me.
────── ♔ ──────

Cute But Psycho by Lani Lynn Vale
Standalone - Gator Bait MC #3
Release - January 17, 2023
Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies-to-lovers
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - eARC from Uplifting Author Services
Length - 241 pages
Publisher - Indie
Release - January 17, 2023
Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies-to-lovers
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - eARC from Uplifting Author Services
Length - 241 pages
Publisher - Indie
Etienne LaFayette hits the ground running the moment he breathes free air after being paroled from a maximum-security prison in Texas.
He claws his life back from his brother-in-law who’d taken over his business during the years he’d spent as an inmate at Huntsville Penitentiary. Though it is hard, he puts his life back together in Accident, Florida.
There, he hires new employees, joins a motorcycle club, and becomes wildly successful overnight.
Seems like the perfect life, right?
Wrong.
Because one of his first clients is a beautiful, curly-haired woman that reels him in from the moment he first lays eyes on her. Only, before he can work his charm, she forms an opinion of him based solely on the person that he chose to work at his side, day in and day out. That opinion? Utter disgust.
***
Matilda Deveraux has been dealt blow after blow her entire life.
First with the death of her mom. Then living with a stepfamily that despises her.
Her entire life she’s been known as different. The “weird girl that creeps everyone out.”
It’s not her fault that she’s different, yet everyone, including Etienne’s assistant, treats her like she’s a menace to society.
Like she would be better off in a loony bin than gracing the streets of Accident, Florida.
After years of abuse from everyone around her, the last thing she needs is to be around a man that would have that horrible woman around him twenty-four seven.
As a result, she forms an opinion—something that people do to her all the time—and treats him accordingly.
Only, it turns out that Etienne isn’t who she thought he was.
He’s much, much worse. But only in the best of ways.
My Two Cents
4 "Kick 'em to the curb" stars
Matilda was a doormat her whole life and she was just about done. Done with letting people take advantage of her. Done with allowing people to walk all over her. Just done. If only her family would get the memo.
The attraction between Etienne and Mattie was instantaneous, however, his assistant was a problem. She lived to make Mattie miserable and she refused to associate with someone who associated with someone so hateful. Good for her!
When the problem is solved, will Mattie get out of her own way and give Etienne a chance?
I really enjoyed this story. The brotherhood that exists between the men of this series is so special. I love the way they interact with each other. Matilda had her quirks, but she fit and I think she was great for Etienne. He deserved a happy ending and she gave him an amazing one.
The Author
Lani Lynn Vale is married to the love of her life that she met in high school. She fell in love with him because he was wearing baseball pants. Ten years later they have three perfectly crazy children and a cat named Demon who likes to wake her up at ungodly times in the night. They live in the greatest state in the world, Texas. She writes contemporary and romantic suspense, and has a love for all things romance. You can find Lani in front of her computer writing away in her fictional characters world...that is until her husband and kids demand sustenance in the form of food and drink.
Visit https://lanilynnvale.com for more information!

Whatever it was, when Moses came to Levan, he was like water—cold, deep, unpredictable, and, like the pond up the canyon, dangerous, because you could never see what was beneath the surface.
────── ♔ ──────

The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon
Standalone
Release - November 18, 2014
Genre - Contemporary Romance / second chance
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 2 out of 5 / fade to black mostly
Format - ebook from Amazon
Length - 366 pages
Publisher - Indie
Release - November 18, 2014
Genre - Contemporary Romance / second chance
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 2 out of 5 / fade to black mostly
Format - ebook from Amazon
Length - 366 pages
Publisher - Indie
If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.
Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.
It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.
And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.
And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.
My Two Cents
4 "My heart hurts" stars
Anyone who's read a story from Amy Harmon has had their heart put through the wringer. No doubt. Even I, the queen of no tears, have had to battle them back. This book tried to break me and I feel like I'm better for it.
It's a small town with small town values, small town minds, and small town drama (or lack of). So when Moses, born a half-Black crack baby in a mostly White town, came to be... he was newsworthy. People called him weird. Wrong. Evil. He was constantly talked about and did almost nothing to deserve it. Is it his fault that the dead won't leave him alone?
I was unhappy about the fact that the first person of color I've found in one of this author's books was depicted in such a negative light, but I loved the way this story was written. It grabbed a hold of me, broke my heart, and made me smile.
Georgia wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I could see her appeal. I did wish that she was more understanding and supportive of Moses. How can you say you love someone without really loving them?
I loved the friendship that grew between Tag and Moses. They both knew little more than pain, but together, there was such comfort and caring. Their brotherhood was very special.
And the connection Moses had with those who had passed... intense and magical.
I'm in awe of how powerful this story was and how it affected me.
The Author

Amy Harmon has written eightteen novels - the Washington Post bestseller What the Wind Knows, the USA Today bestsellers The Bird and The Sword, The Smallest Part, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as the #1 Amazon bestselling historical From Sand and Ash, Where the Lost Wander, The Songbook of Benny Lament, The First Girl Child, The Second Blilnd Son, The Queen and The Cure, The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and the New York Times bestseller, A Different Blue. Her latest novel, The Unknown Beloved, a historical romance, was released April 19, 2022 by Lake Union Publishing and is now available for purchase.
Visit http://www.authoramyharmon.com for more information

"You're in my soul, Lila.
The only good part that I have left."
The only good part that I have left."
────── ♔ ──────

Broken Angel by Cynthia Eden
Standalone - Bad Things #4
Release - December 13, 2016
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instant connection / forbidden
POV - Multiple 3rd person
Heat - 3.5 out of 5
Format - ebook from Amazon
Length - 202 pages
Publisher - Indie
Release - December 13, 2016
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instant connection / forbidden
POV - Multiple 3rd person
Heat - 3.5 out of 5
Format - ebook from Amazon
Length - 202 pages
Publisher - Indie
A fallen angel has a bad side...and that side is about to be set free.
Angel Lila is being hunted - she can feel the hunter closing in behind her. Every move she makes, he's stalking after her. But does the werewolf on her trail want to destroy her - or can he protect her from the growing darkness that she is trying so desperately to fight?
Werewolf Rayce Lovel doesn't know what to do with an angel - especially one who makes him think too much about paradise. Lila may be heavenly, but every time he's near her, Rayce wants to sin. Angels aren't supposed to feel, but Lila was introduced to the world by way of pain. Pain is all she's known for far too long, and now, Rayce is tempted to introduce gorgeous Lila to pleasure.
But the longer an angel stays out of heaven, the more dangerous she can become. Lila sinks deeper into the darkness with each night that passes, and she finds herself becoming a pawn in an eternal battle...good versus evil. Is Rayce really her protector? Perhaps he is just the hungry wolf who has been sent to ensure that Lila never sets foot back in her paradise.
My Two Cents
4 "She'll Always Be His Angel" stars
Instalove with a forbidden romance twist? I'm here for all of it!
After rescuing Lila, she went off the grid and Rayce has been searching for her ever since. He's supposed to be looking for her for his friend, the Lord of the Dark, but all he wants to do is protect her from anything that can hurt her—even if it means saving her from himself. But what happens when even his best intentions lead them down a dangerous path?
As a fallen angel, Lila has no idea what's happening to her. But something is definitely happening to her and the author did a great job of capturing her fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. However, with all of her doubts, there was one thing (or one person) she was pretty sure of... Rayce.
And I couldn't get enough of Rayce.
As an Alpha werewolf, he was wild, he was fierce, he was dominating and controlling, but he was also kind and sweet and generous and loving and amazing.
With tons of action, this story had me turning the pages very quickly and I'm looking forward to reading more from this series.
The Author
Award-winning author Cynthia Eden writes sexy tales of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance. She is a New York Times, USA Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Since she began writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over one hundred novels and novellas.
Cynthia lives along the Alabama Gulf Coast. She loves romance novels, horror movies, and chocolate. Her favorite hobbies including hiking in the mountains (searching for waterfalls) and spelunking.
Visit http://www.cynthiaeden.com for more information!
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