January Book Challenge
- julmmarshall
- Feb 1, 2023
- 12 min read
I am having quite a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it is already February! 2023 IS MY YEARRRRRRR for everything that brings me happiness which means reading makes it pretty high up on my list. I read 9 books in January and I am telling you that if you are looking for somewhere to start, look no further than this list because I genuinely enjoyed everything dingle book I read! I’m going to post all of the books I read, their summary as well as my review + a link where to find them! If you want to skip through the summaries, my reviews will be in bold followed by the link!
“Things We Never Got Over” by Lucy Score
“Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.
Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.
There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.
At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.”
5 STARS – I absolutely loved this book and the storyline was so good! I wish I had known before I started reading that “tings We Hide From The Light” was going to be coming out in February because I would have waited to read it but nonetheless I really enjoyed this book. I love love and I love falling in love with the characters and their storyline. It was really well written and a really easy read.
Buy Things we Never Got Over Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
“By a Thread” by Lucy Score
“Dominic I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job… in my office… after being hired by my mother. So maybe her colorful, annoying, inexplicably alluring personality brightens up the magazine’s offices that have felt like a prison for the past year. Maybe I like that she argues with me in front of the editorial staff. And maybe my after-hours fantasies are haunted by those brown eyes and that sharp tongue. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be the next Russo man to take advantage of his position. I might be a second-generation asshole, but I am not my father. She’s working herself to death at half a dozen dead-end jobs for some secret reason she doesn’t feel like sharing with me. And I’m going to fix it all. Don’t accuse me of caring. She’s nothing more than a puzzle to be solved. If I can get her to quit, I can finally peel away all those layers. Then I can go back to salvaging the family name and forget all about the dancing, beer-slinging brunette. Ally Ha. Hold my beer, Grumpy Grump Face.”
5 STARS – This book is romance, spice + comedy. It is really easy to fall in love with Allie just on her wit and determination alone. Nothing in her life is ever the same after she meets and gets fired from her job because of a calculated yet charming Dominic Russon The question remains, is love alone enough?
Buy By a Thread Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
“The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden
““Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own… Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late. But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am. They don’t know what I’m capable of…“
4 STARS- This was a page turner. I read it in one day because I just couldn’t put it down before I found out what was really going on. I was literally SHOCKED when I found of the real plot twist that was taking place. I had originally given this 5 stars on my bookstagram @bookwithjul but since decided for me, it is a 4. The only thing that let me to decrease the rating was because of the ending. I feel like it happened really quickly and I was a little surprised to be honest even knowing where it was headed. Either way, still a highly recommended book!
Buy The Housemaid Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
“Reminders of Him” by Colleen Hoover
“After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.”
5 STARS – This book was beautifully written. The emotions from the two main characters was palpable from the very beginning. I love the dual POV’s because you can get a real feel for each character in their own situations and get a glimpse inside their head. I could barely put this book down. It was so raw and vulnerable. My heart ached for everyone the entire time I was reading it. I felt their pain, heartache, regret. It was a beautifully tragic story with an ending that I hoped to read about. Another CoHo masterpiece. Easily one of my top books. I love when I get emotionally invested in the book and I feel what the characters feel. The hope, love, pain. It was an amazing book, a must read!!
Buy Reminders of Him Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
“November 9” by Colleen Hoover
“Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in LA together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.
Can Ben’s relationship with Fallon – and simultaneously his novel – be considered a love story if it ends in heartbreak?”
5 STARS – This book was in my #TBR pile and wow, just wow. When Ben takes a seat at a booth with Fallon on November 9, was it simply fate that brought them together or was it something so much bigger than that? Some people believe in fate, two souls destined to meet and have their lives intertwined whether it be for just a day or forever. November 9 will never be the same for Fallon or Ben again and what happens will keep the reader dying to learn more. With every November 9 that passes I became so invested in these two that I literally couldn’t put the book down, this was a easy 24 hour read. Second chance at love, forgiveness, raw honesty and a emotional roller coaster of love and heartbreak. This book was a lot less spice but the plot was incredible and the love between these two was felt. I took it personal and I loved how it was writteN. You have to add this to your list! This is easily one of my absolute favorite books to date📚🤍“Her tears and my soul, they live parallel lives. Run, ache, burn. Repeat. Her tears and my soul they live parallel lives.”
“The Perfect Marriage” by Jeneva Rose
“Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.
The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.
Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.
Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She has been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.
Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.
But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?”
5 STARS FOREVER – GUYS THIS IS MY TOP 5 OF MY LIFE. You know your spouse better than anyone in the world, right? What if you don’t? What if everything you thought you knew was a lie? This book literally kept me on my toes for the entire read. I thought I had an idea of what was going on but I didn’t. I was SHOCKED and that’s putting it lightly. Adam Morgan is having an affair. His mistress ends up dead in his bed at his lake house. But is he capable of murder? There could be a lot of people who wanted Kelly Summers pay for her discretions. But did anyone want her to pay so badly that they wanted her dead? The plot in this book is incredible. The writing is beautiful and flows so well I couldn’t put it down. The characters are relatable and you feel for them as they go through incredible emotions. Book 6 of the year as become one of my top 5 of all time. I’m still shocked. MUST READ! 5 Stars over and over again📚🤍
Buy The Perfect Marriage Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
“Regretting You” by Colleen Hoover
“Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris – Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.”
5 STARS – Reading “Regretting You” made me realize I couldn’t actually read fast enough if I tried. And I did. The entire time I read this book I swear there was a heavy weight just sitting on my chest. The minute the first show dropped and the truth came out about Jenny + Chris I was devastated. I couldn’t imagine what Morgan + Jonah were feeling. I almost felt just as hurt. How could they??? As the reader you want so many answers. You want to know why? It’s the kind of book you become so emotionally invested in that you can’t put it down until you have answers. Until those answers justify the feelings within you. It also brought up a topic about communication. It showcased a similar situation in which many two people could find themselves in albeit different circumstances. The key is always good communication because without it our words and feelings are never clearly understood. Without communication, we hurt the ones when love even when we think we’re trying to help them. To shield them from pain. To make sure they don’t hurt. Sometimes without communication, we cause even more pain than we ever intended.It’s a must read but make sure you have a few hours because I guarantee you won’t want to put it down!
Buy Regretting You Here! OR READ FOR FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED
“Local Woman Missing” by Mary Kubica
“People don’t just disappear without a trace….
Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.
Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find….”
5 STARS – ‘Local Woman Missing” was incredibly captivating. The second I started it I was already sure that whatever happened in this book was going to leave me wanting more and I was right. A few times I was so unsure what was happening as I was trying to connect the dots but as I read on I was sure I was on the right track. WRONG. Oh so very wrong. The plot twist was so perfectly timed out and I really did enjoy every second of it. It was a thriller, gripping, page turner. The end left me speechless and that is my favorite way to end a book, especially a mystery like this.
Lastly, but most certainly not least…
“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover
“
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.”
5 STARS – I have not enough and yet too much to say about this book. It was everything. The storyline was perfect and I loved being able to see it from Lily’s point of view when normally you get quite a few. It touched on a lot of serious topics yet in a delicate way that let you know the author herself may have had some first hand experience. The lost story was beautiful and tragic. I felt so much pain, love and heartache for the characters in this book. As I was nearing the end I ordered the sequal, “It Starts With Us” because I just needed to know what happened to them and their stories, I was so invested and I promise if you read them you will be too! The sequel is not a stand alone so it is important to read them in order and I will link them both below!
Thank you guys so much for reading along. I hope you know i would never recommend a book I don’t like and I always give an honest review. If I don’t like it you will be the first to know. I made a star rating guide on my Bookstagram that you can use to follow along on my ratings. Not all books are 5 stars but my gosh these sure were! Follow along here and @bookedwithjul !
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