Tuesday, September 16, 2025

What Deanna Read #109: August 2025

What Deanna Read August 2025

August was a slightly better reading month but I think I can attribute it to a few rereads of favorite books, some duds which I skimmed very fast (we will not talk about those), and a few books that were on the shorter side. It was a very safe reading month. I did try to be slightly adventurous, but alas, that was not to be. I do explain below.

Work continues to be insane and I can only say that it went by in a blur. Somewhere in there, I got a new client and I'm thrilled to be working with her. I think we are in for some fun and exciting stuff.

In other news, if you haven't seen it, I've set up my very own Advance Readers team. For those of you who are in the know, that's an ARC (which stands for Advance Reader's Copy of an unpublished, but soon-to-be released book) team for anyone who is looking for some gems to read before release and for authors, it's a way to put your books in front of a new audience. Readers can join here. And I invite authors to check out submitting your books to review consideration.

Here's what I read in the last month.

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White Rose Painted Red by Blake and Elena Lawson
White Rose Painted Red
Neighbors With Benefits by Cassie Cole
Claim by Anna Hackett
Claim (reread)
Praise Me Lumberjack by Jessa Kane


Mountain Daddy by SJ Tilly
Mountain Daddy
Latte Darling by SJ Tilly
Latte Darling (reread)
Geek In The Streets by Cassie Mint
Geek In The Streets
Firebird by Juliette Cross
Firebird


Contract by Delta James
Contract
Before and After by Anna Hackett
Before And After
Papa's Bebe by Laylah Roberts
Papa's Bebe
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing (reading challenge & reread)

Cherished by the Sinners by Julie Rowe
Cherished By The Sinners
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
The Children Act (book club read)
Stalker's Pet by Alexa Riley
Stalker's Pet
Hawk by Piper Stone
Hawk
🎧Audiobook
📘Kindle eBook


The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
The Ministry Of Time
🎧Audiobook
📘Kindle eBook
Ghosts of Royston by Eric G Dove
Ghosts of Royston
🎧Audiobook
📘Kindle eBook
Destiny by Alex ArcherDestiny (full cast dramatized version)
🎧Graphic Audio




Deanna's World join the advance reader arc team

It turns out that August was a very respectable reading month. You'll see a fair bit of audiobooks. That's how I spend my time "reading" much more these days. It's a repeating pattern because I'm more time poor for reading these days and my poor eyeballs are just tired after a full day of computering for work. And yes, "computering" is a word. I made it up. Heh!

Stand outs, well, obviously Graphic Audio's production of Destiny by Alex Archer, the first in the Rogue Angel series was brilliant. I remember (vaguely) reading this book in 2011 and never went on to read the other books in the series. The story was okay and the writing was decent enough. Plus it's not a romance, so not my preferred genre. However, in the Graphic Audio production, an average book (sometimes!) has been elevated to wonderfully engaging and entertaining and it's just the kind of light reading/entertainment I needed while doing various chores around the house, including cooking, tidying up the bedroom, and even showering. Yes, you read right! Showering. I picked up a used Wonderboom bluetooth speaker at a very affordable price and was delighted to discover it's waterproof. On hair-washing days when the shower can extend to longer than I like and rather boring, having an audiobook playing is really rather delightful. Highly recommend. One thing to note. The rights of this series has been sold to Graphic Audio, so it's only available in Graphic Audio audiobooks. You can also get used copies of paperbacks, but I'm not a physical book reader.

Some light and short reading because I needed them with Stalker's Pet by Alexa Riley (she's still mostly only available via her website) and Geek In The Streets by Cassie Mint. Ms Mint is always a warm fuzzy read for me, but alas she's not publishing nearly as frequently as I would like. I get it, but I still want more.

I read Mountain Daddy by SJ Tilly and I have to admit that I weirdly rage read her more recently books because she's very readable, but her heroines drive me crazy. They are such spineless noodles. Why? (Imagine me shaking my hands at the sky in despair). However, I reread Latte Darling, also by SJ Tilly and it's brilliant. Latte Darling is the smart, clever version of Mountain Daddy. If you had to choose between the two, go with Latte Darling.

Laylah Roberts released Papa's Bebe and I devoured it. As did Anna Hackett with Before And After. And of course, Cherished By The Sinners by Julie Rowe. Favorite authors, awesome books. Loved them all for different reasons.

And finally, this one thing I learned about myself. Juliette Cross is a favorite author of mine though I've not read much of hers recently. I picked up her latest book, Firebird, and wow, love the writing. However, and this is a BIG SAD however, I can't do the subject matter. It would appear that I truly am the giant wuss that I claim to be, and the setting of Ancient Rome with it's slavery, brutality, etc., etc., even with dragons, is too much for me to handle. So I think that Ancient Rome settings in books is going on my list of places I can't read in fiction. Ancient Egypt, on the other hand, I adore. Give me all the Ancient Egypt. I need to think about why the Ancient Egypt setting is so different for me given that they had slaves, etc., too. Maybe something to meditate on...

That's it from me for August. All in all, a very respectable reading month, I think.

So, what did you read for the last month? Tell me below.

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