Best In Books | September 2017

Best in Books is a monthly feature created by BookTuber Hope Ortego. 

A playlist of her Best In Books videos can be found HERE.

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Welcome to my Best In Books for September! 

Best in Books was created by my friend Hope and she was kind enough to let me join in on her feature (because she's awesome that way). Her BookTube channel is linked above and I hope you'll check her out. Now on to all the best bookishness in September...

Ellie from A Messy, Beautiful Life

It was so easy to like and admire Ellie. She wasn’t the typical shy girl riddled with insecurities. This girl was a go-getter who helped run an improv group, was a great friend, was close to her mother, and had plans for college. And when she was given a life-threatening diagnosis she handled it with maturity and intelligence and humor. She wasn’t some robot – she definitely had her moments of tears and anger and questioning why her – but she always pulled herself back together and dealt with the situation with such strength and grace. I was totally cheering for Ellie.

Joaquin from Far from the Tree

Oh, the tears I cried over this sweet, troubled boy. In foster care for almost as long as he can remember, feeling unwanted and unworthy, Joaquin keeps those around him at arm’s length – even when love and friendship and family are there for the taking. My heart broke for Joaquin again and again and seeing the changes in him throughout the book was so emotional. And my heart hurt thinking about all the real-life Joaquin’s.

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno
I read 99 Days by Katie Cotugno and loved it. Then I read Fireworks and felt pretty let down. So I was 50/50 with Cotugno and, even though I had high hopes, I was feeling a little iffy when I picked up Top Ten. Booyah! Cotugno is back in my win column! I loved Top Ten and its focus on the ins and outs of true friendship.

Breathe by Abbi Glines
Breathe was full of some super lame dialogue but I will admit that some of the slightly-less-cheesy lines did get to me. Like this one.

“I don’t want to love you,” I forced out through the thickness in my throat.

“God, I hope you do, because you own me completely,” he whispered.

Chase Parker: Bossman by Vi Keeland
Meet Chase Parker. He’s tall, he’s gorgeous, he’s successful. He’s cocky and charming and goes after what (or who) he wants. And he says things like, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want it to start yesterday.” I mean, come on… who wouldn’t swoon at that?

Prince Kian of Wildemar: Royal Pain by Tracy Wolff

When Royal Pain starts, Kian definitely falls into the category of bad boy. Royal – but a bad boy just the same. As the spare to the heir he’s free to indulge in a lifestyle of willing women and easy living – and he does it with gusto. In fact, the opening scene finds Kian enjoying some sexytimes on the deck of a yacht off the coast of Ibiza with a Brazilian supermodel… and a Victoria’s Secret angel. Yep, bad boy!

We Now Return to Regular Life by Martin Wilson

I could have used one of several books I read this month for this category. Because September seemed to be the month of All The Feels. We Now Return to Regular Life really packed an emotional punch. Dealing with the return home of Sam who was abducted three years previously, WNRTRL sees the characters experiencing a wide range of emotions. And Martin Wilson does an amazing job of making the reader experience those emotions right along with the characters. My heart hurt, I was frustrated with certain characters, I was hopeful, I was angry… I ran the gamut of emotions right along with Sam and his family and friends.

it rode in on

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

I already knew I liked Robin Benway when I picked up Far From the Tree. I enjoyed Audrey, Wait and loved Emmy & Oliver. But this one blew those out of the water with its complex, multi-layered characters and a story line that captured me from the very beginning. FFTT took through me the entire scope of emotions while touching on so many subjects: foster care, adoption, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, divorce, racism, self-esteem. But for me it always comes back to the characters and the three main characters here totally captured my heart and I was captivated by their journey, individually and together. Without a doubt, Far From the Tree will be among my favorites of the year. ______________________________________________________

Now it's your turn: 
What was the best book you read in September?