January TBR: Must-Read Books to Kickstart Your Year!
Drew Collins Book Two: The First Family
Author: D. Granger
Genres: Magical Realism/Fiction/Suspense/Romantic Thriller/Fantasy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: As Maggie is trying to find out what she is in relation to The First Family, she learns that she has a brother, Bellamy; another murder is committed on the ground of Drew Collins, and they are suspecting Maggie just like the first one.
Tropes: opposites attract, family dysfunction, good v evil and intercultural conflict.
Themes: childhood trauma, mental health, family secrets, intergenerational conflict between sirens, werewolves, witches, vampires, etc., ostracization, love conquers all.
Character: My favorite character was Hillary. I connected with her so much because of her hesitancy to always get involved in decisions that may or could have cause negative consequences. She was the reserved friend, which was really funny at times.
Thoughts: I absolutely loved the book. The imagery was incredible, and I really appreciated how the author brought the story to life with such vivid detail, especially in the character development. I also adored how she chose Atlanta as the setting—it made the story feel even more personal since that’s where I live. The cultural references, like mentioning the Underground, were such a nice touch and made the reading experience feel all the more authentic. In short, I could not put this book down. It was definitely a page turner and I am impatiently waiting for the third book.
Author: CJ Box
Genres: Fiction/Suspense/Mystery/Crime/Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: There is a bear on the loose and it is killing anyone that it identified as a threat, or is it? Dallas Cates gets out of prison and has a vendetta against anyone who wronged him in his life. He comes for Joe Pickett, but does he succeed in his quest for revenge?
Tropes: classic revenge, and dangerous predators in which one must respect all wildlife.
Themes: respect for wildlife, revenge and justice, human wildlife conflict, and survival and resilience.
Character: Nate Romanowski was definitely my favorite character. He’s so unhinged, which makes him so fascinating to read about. There’s something about his strength and loyalty that’s hard to resist—he’s the kind of friend who would do anything to protect his loved ones, no matter how extreme the measures, even if it means being ruthlessly brutal. I really love that about him; it adds so much depth to his character.
Thoughts: I love the Joe Pickett series. It reminds me of a book version of Walker, Texas Ranger. Joe is serious about protecting wildlife and following the rules as the game warden. He is persistent in his efforts to catch the person behind these killings and restore order. I really love how this book maintains captivating scenes that you are able to imagine by the use of such descriptive language. Every killing was detailed, and I could literally imagine the crime scenes. CJ Box always does a great job of capturing your attention from the very first page to the end.
Author: Danielle Allen
Genres: Romance/Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: Aaliyah’s birthday is in eight weeks, and she needs a date. However, she is looking for love and date in the wrong places-online! She is trying so hard not to live up to her family’s expectations in relation to her weight, children and marriage. After the first horrible date, the bartender, Ahmad, decides to become her guiding light in her journey to find a mate.
Tropes: opposites attract, fat phobia, beauty standards, friends to lovers
Themes: societal beauty standards, size matters, negative male ego, confidence in oneself
Character: Ahmad definitely is my favorite character of them all. I love the humor he brought out of Aaliyah, and he saw her for who she was and not her size. He definitely was attracted to Aaliyah, but it took him a while to realize it through his grief and traumatic past. Ahmad is strong, sexy, intellectual, funny, caring and had a softer side that is often lacking by men in real life. I get so mushy just thinking about him. He was definitely my second book boyfriend.
Thoughts: I love the way that Danielle Allen relates this book to real life issues such as body positivity, grief and trauma that may keep one from healing and developing the confidence in themselves to be in a healthy relationship. Ahmad and Aaliyah’s relationship was amazing, and I loved how they really started off as friends. The author allowed them to build their relationship on a friendly foundation, which led to them learning a lot about each other. However, I did want to knock Aaliyah out when she assumed that Ahmad “lied” to her about being married but he wasn’t even talking to her when she heard him say that to another customer. LOL… But I understood where she was coming from. This was my first romance book of the year, and I absolutely fell in love.
Author: Tracy Clark
Genres: Fiction/Suspense/Mystery/Crime/Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: In the second book of the Detective Harriet Foster series, Tracy Clark plunges readers into a dark mystery as Harriet and her team hunt a serial killer targeting Chicago’s aldermen. When two aldermen are found dead—
one by suicide, the other brutally stabbed, both with thirty dimes on their bodies—Harriet is on the case. With few clues and a killer on the loose, she must uncover the victims’ hidden secrets and figure out who’s seeking revenge before more lives are lost.
Tropes: classic revenge, corruption in politics, new partnership, symbolic clues, serial killer targeting authority figures
Themes: double standards, judging the cover of the book, strong female, sexism, prejudice in the legal system.
Character: Detective Li was my favorite character in this book. She was always there for Detective Foster even when she didn’t want anyone to be. Her positive demeanor always was refreshing in the book and brought such a positive energy and light to the story and to her partner.
Thoughts: One of the things that I loved about this book was a strong female presence. A strong black female presence in the legal system, which is rarely seen. Some men do not like women that are in authority and Detective Foster endured much scrutiny by the men, but guess what? We do not care! On the other hand, I detest how the legal system likes to victim blame and lose empathy for women especially when they are being honest and are really the victim. Even though all evidence supported that Marin was the “killer” no one wanted to believe her, not even the other women. This book definitely had a five-star ending.
Author: Danielle Allen
Genres: Romance/Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: All nine friends get together for the weekend for Chloe’s and her boyfriend’s wedding. For old time’s sake, someone suggest they play truth or dare to engage in past memories of them playing when they were in college.
When it’s Simone’s turn, she twerks on her best friend Kingston. Will their relationship change or stay the same?
Tropes: follow your heart, friends to lovers, matchmaking
Themes: love comes unexpectedly, friends stick closer, honesty, be open to love, sacrifice
Character: My favorite character was Kington. I know that most of my favorite characters have been men, but I just cannot get over how amazing these authors are creating these male characters. Kingston knew what he wanted and although he had been best friends with Simone since college, he knew that there was always something between them. I love how his character was strong, direct, and sensually in tuned with Simone. But he’s wrong for coming around with those grey shorts on. He knew what he was doing. If you know, you know… LOL.
Thoughts: All I kept thinking about while reading this book is how amazing Danielle Allen is. I love her writing style and how she created such dreamy male characters. She really made these men come to life and demonstrate to the reader that black men can be just as loving and nurturing. In the same way, I love the positive relationships between all nine friends. They had their disagreements, but they were able to understand work out the issues, which show just how strong their bonds were. However, I will say that even though Simone and Kingston knew each other since college, they moved way too fast for my liking. LOL. I was literally like slow down y’all…. Overall, this was rated five starts and was devoured in one day.
Author: Nina High
Genres: Romance/Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summary: Love has always been on the backburner for Amaya as she made her restaurant, Savor, the baby of her life. However, she is afraid that without enough business, her restaurant will have to close until a Martin brother sees her TikTok video. Will he save her business? Will she find love?
Tropes: sacrifice, love comes when you least expect it, live life to the fullest.
Themes: faith over fear, trust and have faith, money issues, entrepreneurship, confidence.
Character: Derrin was my favorite character in the book. I loved the positive energy he brought to the book. He knew how to be a good friend and assistant to Amaya and always supporting her in opening her heart to the unexpected and even love. He never let Amaya degrade herself and confirmed for her everything her sister had been attempting to convey about her life, which his way was way more receptive than her sisters. No to mention, Derrin was always super funny.
Thoughts: I am just going to leave you with this quote to describe how much I loved this book. “He pulls me close and wraps his arms tighter around my waist. His proximity to me makes me shiver. His beard brushes against my cheek, and his lips brushed against my neck causing me to gasp. I pull away feeling too many things…..he clears his throat and runs his hands down his face, trying to regain his composure. Absolutely your turn, he says with a grin that’s equal parts.” This book was most definitely a five star.
Other Books Read This Month
