I read a total of 5 books in October ,1 in November and 1 in December. At the end of October I got a new job and it has thrown me for a loop and way off my reading game, but I am working on getting back on the horse as quickly as I possibly can. I started working a retail job and the holidays are our busiest season. I think I had like 5 or 6 days off total during November and December. It was a lot of long hours and I was just too exhausted to do anything, but I am LOVING my new job and I am a lot happier then I was at the hotel.

The first book I read in October was a carry over from my September TBR. This is a book that Mina had been trying to get me to read since high school. Like our Junior year of High school (for anybody wondering that was 8 years ago). So I finally read it… AND LET ME TELL YOU I WAS SLEEPING ON THIS BOOK! It is one of the best books I have ever read and not only is it on my favorites of 2019 list it quickly made it to my favorites of All Time list. I don’t even know where to begin with this book honestly. Its like if Charles Dickens wrote a book that was actually understandable. The book takes place in the late 1800s and early 1900s and is told mostly in the third person but follows the story of Celia, Marco and Bailey. Celia and Marco are forced to be adversaries in a game where they have little control and don’t know the rules. The venue of the game is a Night Circus that pops into towns all over the world and is only open at night. Nobody knows where it goes next but true fans have their way in. The writing is nothing short of lush and beautiful. I felt as if I could almost smell the caramel popcorn and magic. I was immersed in their world and I to became a rêveurs instantly.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber was my second book of the month. Also a left over from my September theme. I wanted to read Night Circus and Caraval back to back because they often get compared to each other, or well Caraval gets compared to Night Circus. While they do have some things in common such as magic, circuses, games, and romance that’s where the similarities end for me. I loved Caraval I gave it five stars and it ended up on my favorites of 2019 list. I did not, however, end up on my favorites of all time list. Its a fantastic read. The story is amazing the characters are well flushed out and I love the romance between Scarlett and Julian, but the world wan’t quite as immersive as Night Circus. While Night Circus is definitely suitable for teen readers but it was written for adult one; Caraval is written specifically written for teen readers thus giving it a slightly different vibe to it. I still loved and would most likely reread it again and again.

What happens when a Witch marries a Witch Hunter? Fireworks. This was my MOST anticipated release of this year (2019 that is because it is totally 4 months later. oops) I got mine in my Fairy Loot subscription box and when I say its absolutely beautiful that’s cause it is. It has beautiful gold sprayed edges and custom art on the reverse dust jacket. This book did not disappoint. Lou was a fantastic heroine. Shes brash, loud, foul mouthed, loving, compassionate, and loyal. She refuses to change who she is even if it would make her life easier. Shes a great foil to Reid who is reserved, proper, a rule follower, loyal, kind, and patient. Reid also refused to bend on his way of being and although he tries to tame the wild child that is Lou (shockingly it doesn’t go as he plans.) They grow into a trust the turns into friendship that turns into love. They each desire to make the other happy. They were forced into a marriage, but it works cause of them. Mahurin is a fantastic author and she came out with one hell of a debut novel. I cannot WAIT to read Blood & Honey which is the sequel to Serpent & Dove.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was a reread for me. This book is what made me fall in love with April Genevieve Tucholke’s writing. She is a master of the slightly unsettling Gothic vibe I love so much. Violet and her twin brother Luke live in a crumbling mansion, named the Citizen, in a small town on the coast somewhere while their parents are off in Europe being bohemian artists in Paris. To make ends meat Violet rents out the carriage house to River a handsome boy her age with a mysterious past and a slick tongue. Strange things happen when River is around; kids start to hunt the devil in the cemetery, men with hairy teeth appear in abounded tunnels, and Violet feels inexplicably drawn to River like a moth to the flame. This book is full of a Southern Gothic aesthetic that makes my heart jump for joy! I did only give it 4 stars though mostly cause I wanted something more. It was just lacking something.

Between the Spark and the Burn is the sequel to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Last Summer the Redding Brothers (Neely, River, and Brodie) brought mayhem, violence, and love into Violet’e life and now River is missing and Brodie has disappeared. Now Neely, Violet, Luke and Sunshine go on a cross country road trip to find River and stop Brodie. This is also full of the Gothic horror that makes my heart happy, but it did not play how out how I truly hoped it would. I also gave it four stars because of that.

The Merciless is also a reread for me. I read it way back in 2014 and I actually it in about 8 hours. This go around it did take me a bit longer… about a month longer. This book wasn’t as enthralling the second go around. It was still really creepy and gory and I loved those aspects but for some reason it didn’t suck me in the way it did the first time. I will say that this would make a fantastic horror movie that I would pay to see! Sofia is new in a small military town in the deep south. Sofia is used to being the new girl and tries to hid away from the attention it brings, but she finds herself friends with the popular girls in school. The only problem these girls are not what they seem. Their leader Riley is deeply religious and has a sick and twisted way of worship, one that involves an ex-friend tied up in a basement of a abandoned house in a exorcism gone horribly terribly wrong.

The Wedding Date is my first adult romance novel and I have to say I absolutely fell in love with it. It was just adorable! Alexa and Drew were so cute together and I loved how the handled their relationship for the most part (this is a contemporary romance). It was light and fun and was a good way to get me out of the reading rut I fell into. Alexa and Drew meet in an elevator and she agrees to be his date to his ex girlfriends wedding, but then they start making excuses to be with each other and well we can all see where this is going to go.