My September 2025 Reads – A Book Review

Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash

Labor Day, sweater weather, getting darker earlier. In other words, September! Let’s recap what I did last month.

My daughter celebrated a birthday, and we had a little birthday party for her. We held it outside at a ziplining park, and it rained. 🙁 At least it waited until the end of the party to do so. I had just gotten my hair done too. Double 🙁 Tee-hee!

What else? I got my flu shot, my Covid shot and then promptly got Covid for the very first time. It’s been a month. I want to point out that getting the Covid shot DID NOT give me Covid. It was just an unfortunate coincidence.

I finished my first draft of my vampire book! Yay! It’s 46 chapters in all. I’m re-reading all of it and editing it now. It sits at roughly 147,000 words, and for my genre, it needs to be about 100,000 words if I want to go the traditional publishing route. So I’m working on trimming the fat and tightening dialogue and prose.

As always, if you’re interested in reading my first novel, The Secrets We Keep, it’s available to read here. This book has cheating themes and plenty of spice for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

What else did I do? Oh right! I did do a lot of reading. I read 16 books, one of which I DNF’d (Did Not Finish), four of which are novellas, and one of which got five stars! Let’s get into it!

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Let’s start it off with a bang, shall we? I loved this book. Loooooved it! A masterpiece!

I listened to this one on Libby. It was weird – I was listening to the narrator and I was like, I’ve heard this voice before. Who is this? Turns out it was Elton from Clueless, aka Jeremy Sisto. He did an amazing job by the way.

Every single character in this story was real. I truly felt for the main character, Corby. It was such a tragedy when the accident happened, and then him having to pay for what he had done. How the injustice of the correctional facility was portrayed was phenomenal. Very realistic. They hire criminals to look after other criminals.

The author shined a light on life. It’s not always clean and tied up with a bow. Things will be left unsaid. People don’t always forgive.

Corbin played father figure to a young man who shouldn’t have been locked up. He should’ve been in a psychiatric ward. Corbin saved that young man when he couldn’t save his son. After the tragic event happened, his marriage to Emily became tumultuous. It was on shaky ground before that, with the loss of his job and his alcoholism, but afterwards, it was a struggle to see how they’d survive on the other end of his sentence.

The ending threw me. So many things snowballed. It was one tragic thing after another.

They talked about racism and how races were separated in jail. How that old black man didn’t want to be painted by Corbin as some magical negro. The injustice of how sentences are calculated. Jail is not a place that’s easy to escape, and it follows you. It’s designed that way. It kept him down.

I cried at the end. I don’t think I’ve ever cried at a book before. My son was in the room when I finished it, and I just wept. I had to explain to him that Mom was okay, I just finished a beautiful piece of fiction.

5/5 stars

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

I listened to this on Audible. It’s an older book, written, I believe, in 2002. I have now read three of her books, and you can check out my prior reviews here and here. Hint: I loved those books too and plan on reading her whole catalogue. 🙂

At first, when I read what the mother did in court, I thought, this has gotta be a dream. But turns out, she did that shit. And I was locked in. Let’s go!

Side note – there’s a transvestite (her words) in this story, and I’m not sure why the character was added. Perhaps to add diversity? This is a character that our FMC, Nina, meets in jail. But the character added nothing to the plot. Anyway…

Nina just kept making crazy decisions, and it was hard to like and sympathize with her at times. Something happens to the man who was truly guilty of the crime against her son. I don’t want to give it away here, but I was disappointed by it…. Until the big reveal at the end. Ms. Picoult really brought it home.

The intimate relationship between Nina and her husband, Caleb, takes a nosedive after what happens in court. It’s realistically portrayed how Caleb has to deal with just how far Nina would go to protect her son. Caleb was a good husband. He was a real man, let’s just say. There’s a confrontation between him and Nina’s best friend, where he comes out on top, and he should. Her best friend knew what he did.

This story, overall, was well done. Solid.

4.25/5 stars

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

I read the hard copy from my library over several months. It made me start rewatching the series on Netflix. There are many differences between the show and the book. Like in the show, Kate’s brother is a closeted gay, Kate and Johnny divorce or are separated, Kate doesn’t have twin boys. And the big thing that causes a rift in their friendship is changed. In the book, it’s that Tully has her on her show to discuss being a bad mom. But in the show, it’s something to do with drinking and driving. I think Tully was a little drunk driving Marah home and got into a car accident. That’s a better rift-causing thing in my opinion.

In the book, Kate was always jealous that Johnny would be unfaithful, and kind of accepted that maybe she was his second choice, even though she was all about him. She let him take her virginity, thinking about that in the back of her mind. He said that he didn’t feel anything for Tully, but I’m not sure Kate ever truly believed it. Heartbreaking.

Marah was described as a bratty teenager, ugh! She needed to get slapped so bad. She was annoying. I felt sorry for Kate.

Did either of these women lead a happy life? The last time we see Tully’s mom, Cloud, she steals from her and bounces in the middle of the night.

It was realistic how Tully ignored Kate’s call after their big fight, remained angry and then got the news that Kate had cancer.

Kate’s life felt not fully lived. She just accepted all this shit from her family. She only wrote when other people told her she should. She was a doormat. Let’s just say it. And Tully was codependent. Even in the show, I was surprised by how heartbroken Tully was after they ended their friendship. Like she couldn’t function. It was nice to see that, yes, Tully did love Kate just as much Kate loved Tully. It wasn’t one-sided. Kate was truly everything to her. I liked that Tilly dropped her show to focus on her friend going through cancer. I didn’t cry. I felt a little emotional, I guess.

4/5 stars

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

I listened to this on Libby. Excellent title for this book. I didn’t fully understand the chapters that came from the youngest child, Orally or something was his name. He just talked about plants and animals in his chapters. They only lasted around four minutes or so, but he had the last chapter, and I won’t spoil it here, but the reason was quite poignant.

This was a tragic story. The FMC, Rowan, washes up on shore and falls in love with this family and they fall in love back. They each had their secrets and didn’t trust each other at first. But the MMC opened his home to her, otherwise, the elements would’ve killed her.

The island made people go crazy and do horrible things. It explored what isolation can do to a person. Nature took lives. They had to ration food and live simply, doing everything on their own, with no help, because someone went crazy and destroyed the radios.

Rowan had her own trauma she was dealing with. When she was younger, about 13, she had to take care of her younger siblings. Accidentally, her little brother drowned, which was a big reason why she didn’t want to have kids in her adult life, even though she was married and her husband wanted them.

I appreciated the growth of the main character. In the beginning, Rowan didn’t know how to deal with kids. She would be completely honest with them, telling them about how the world works and how dangerous it could be. Dominic, the dad and MMC, told her it’s best to sugarcoat things for children. Don’t scare them. Don’t give them nightmares. She learned that in the end, soothing the frightened boy when they were in a life-threatening situation.

Overall, it was a sad story, very well told.

4.25/5 stars

Falling by Christina Lauren

I listened on Audible. What a little Halloween treat with these little story nuggets. It was well written, but a tease. I know there’s only so much you can do with a book that’s 56 pages long. But somehow they did it. I wanted to know more. I wanted a fuller story. It ended, and I was like, that’s it?

They had great chemistry, playful. Her freak matched his. I liked the dynamic. He tried to compel her, and she was like, what are you doing?

I wanted more of her backstory. They need to come on with a complete book of their relationship. I didn’t fully understand the ending. All I know is I wanted more!

4/5 stars

Spicy Little Curses by J.T. Geissinger

Another audible listen. I loved the off-color characters. The banter. This was my favorite of the three so far. And it felt complete. With the promise of more. That their lives would go on, and they’d keep fighting curses. I believed their relationship. Spicy with plot.

4.25 /5 stars

Space Vampire by Ruby Dixon

Audible! I take it back. This was the best one. We even got an I love you. And I felt it. They were in a predicament where the aliens were enslaving them, and they needed to escape. They helped each other. Fell for each other. And loved each other. Being what the other one needed.

All the feels in such a short story. Bravo. Maybe it was a little too easy. They got away just in time, and if we had more time for the story, we could’ve had a fight with the evil aliens. But it was short. I get why we focused on the romance.

4.5/5 stars

The remaining nine books I read that were just not for me were as follows:

• Tell No One by Harlan Coben. Looking back on my notes, there was quite a lot about this book I didn’t enjoy. The casual racism, how I stopped caring about what happened to the main male character, how it wasn’t thrilling or scary. One positive note – I did enjoy the bad guys, especially the Asian character. He was ruthless. I can see how others might enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me. You can read my review for the only other book I’ve read by this author here.
• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen. I liked that Irene was misunderstood. But other than that, this one just wasn’t for me.
• Unforgettable – Marley Valentine. It was fun. The sexy parts were fun. I did feel that they had chemistry. I just liked her other book better.
• Done and Dusted: Book One of the Rebel Blue Ranch Series by Lyla Sage. I saw this one all over TikTok. Loved the cover. The sex was surprising – all the dirty talk. And ultimately, you only get two sex scenes, but they were quite nice. I blushed a few times. Overall, a cute, breezy way to spend the afternoon. Finished in 2 days. Not the best. Not the worst. Will continue. They were good together.
• Fly Away: Book Two of the Firefly Lane Series by Kristin Hannah. It was heartbreaking when, after Kate’s death, Johnny said they were going on vacation, and Tully thought they meant her too. She came packed and ready, and then he was like, no, just me and the kids. She was grieving Kate too, but really had no one and had to mourn alone. The best enlightening part of the book was Cloud’s back story. Her upbringing was awful. I was surprised Cloud’s mother let all those horrible things happen to her daughter, especially since she was so wonderful to Tully. I never got the sense from book one that Cloud loved Tully at all. I’m glad to see that she did. But still, it felt like, really? Do you feel bad for all those years you weren’t there? She did take care of Tully for a year when she was in a coma and stayed sober. That says something. I’m just trying to reconcile book two Cloud with the one portrayed in book one. Cloud was raised in the 50s. Women got lobotomies. That was a thing. Crazy woman syndrome. Patriarchy bullshit. Everyone went through hell in this book. Without Kate, everyone fell apart horribly. If that’s your thing, read this book. It’s not my thing.
• Marry Me Twice by Monica Walters. This was my DNF. Got to Ch. 6 and called it quits. Just wasn’t for me.
• Revelry: A Cabin Town Romance by Kandi Steiner. When the two main characters first got together, that was hot. How he was sad and needed her, and she let him, and they gave in to their passion. Hot. But it lost its way after that. Not terrible, but not my favorite. Saccharine sweet ending.
• My Only Wish by Leigh Lennon. Hot in some places, sure. But it got monotonous after a while. They were all individuals, which was good. But still, overall, just wasn’t for me.
• Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I love me some Ali Hazelwood. This one just didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel his love. I didn’t feel hers. The storyline confused me toward the end. The reveal came out of left field. No clues whatsoever. The spice felt unearned. It had funny parts though.

Thanks for reading!