Cleopatra

I just finished a re-read. Endlessly fascinating, but still somehow a slog. This book was hell to power through. 

In one word, fascinating. This biography delves into the world's most "wicked woman" and arguably the least understood woman. What little survives of her was written by men, Romans who would eventually annex Egypt and misremember, misattribute, and slander Cleopatra. What people remember about this bad-ass queen, is not her wit, fierceness, and shrewd leadership; rather they remember her as a beautiful seductress who managed to snag two of the most powerful men in the world. Stacy Schiff delves deep to set the record straight in this amazing (admittedly a little dense at times) biography. I always thought Cleopatra was cool (what little I knew about her), but after reading this I realized that she is the feminist boss babe I needed in my life right now. In her lifetime she sat a table of leaders, all men - and reigned supreme.

Bouquets and Buckles

This was a cute stand alone novella set in the world Crimson Ridge. Skylar decides to come home holidays and surprise her boyfriend, but lo and behold, she's the one in for a surprise because she sees her boyfriend with another woman. Desperate to get the hell out of there she discovers that she has a flat tire. With her parents out of town, she calls her gay best friend to rescue her, but his dad picks up instead. And no questions asked he comes out and rescues her. He takes her back to his place, a home that Skylar has visited a million times, but this time she's wearing a seductive little number (intended for her piece of shit boyfriend), and she's at the house alone with her bestie's dad. The snow is falling down fast and they know they'll soon be trapped for at least a day or two. What if they are both attracted to each other? What if a few drinks makes them both a little loose? What's the worse that could happen? Forbidden love, age gap romance, hot as hell. More please!

Braving the Storm

I didn't know that I was into age gap romances until I started this series! This one went a little further than that though and involved an uncle and a niece (not related by blood!). Briar is fleeing her cheating husband and her no good family and she goes to the one place that's far away and out of their grasp, the little cabin in Crimson Ridge. She found out her father had left it to her in his will. She's never been there but she is desperate to hide out somewhere. When she arrives, a SHOCKING, interaction leads her to discover that the cabin is indeed not empty and is occupied by her estranged uncle who has had no contact with the family in years. He is a cowboy and former rodeo star who has lived in the cabin for quite some time and had no idea that his adopted brother had died and left the cabin to his now adult daughter. Storm hasn't seen his niece in at least a decade and damn, does she look good. The two decide to share the small cabin for the time being and sparks start to fly. If it's wrong, then why does it feel so right? Forbidden love, steamy as hell, nice little age gap. I'm already on to book three!

Twilight

Wowzaa. I had not re-read this book since high school and even back then I did not love it. But reading this as an adult really hits different! Red flags EVERYWHERE. The romance goes from zero to 100. The plot, cheesy as hell. Bella being the emo, manic, pixie, dream girl, I'm not like everyone else, got real boring, real quick. A quick and dirty summary is a coven of vegetarian vampires (they only eat animal blood not human blood) impersonate being teenagers to attend high school. At over 100 years old, Edward finds himself attracted to the new 17 year old girl in town because he can't resist her blood and he can't read her thoughts. Bella too falls in love with him immediately even though they have nothing in common and he's old enough to be her great, great, great grandfather. Chaos ensues and this is the first of a series. What were we thinking?!?! Why was this so beloved? lol

Chasing the Wild

This is officially the smuttiest audiobook I've ever listened to and I am here for it. Wowzer. I didn't know I was so into forbidden tropes, but this audiobook proved that I have a lot to learn about myself! Due to horrible unforeseen circumstances, Layla Birch finds herself snowed in high in the mountains with her ex-boyfriend's father. She's due to start a brand new job tomorrow and now she is stuck up at Devil's Peak Ranch with the most smoldering hot cowboy she's ever seen. Colton Wilder is nearly twice her age and totally off limits, her ex would never forgive her for messing around with his dad. But as the mountain pass remains shut down, the restraint between Layla and Colton starts to thin. They both know they are attracted to each other, but both of them know they can't cross that line.... Deliciously slow build romance and the scenes are hot, hot, hot. I devoured this audiobook and can't wait for the rest in this series.

Three Apples Fell From the Sky

This was breathtaking and unexpected. I didn't think I would find myself so engrossed in this story, but it was such a pleasure to listen to. I highly recommend the audiobook version because the names are hard to pronounce and the narrator does a phenomenal job of bringing the dialect and accent to life. This book is set in the small mountain village high in the Armenian mountains. Once a bustling town, famine, war, earthquakes, and more have dwindles the town's population down to nothing. But despite the solitude, the the lack of contact with the outside world, hunger, and no more children - the elderly residents of this town keep going about their lives, not just out of stubbornness, but because it's the only thing they know how to do. Harvesting crops, laundering clothes, making meals, taking care of livestock, and gossiping with neighbors has never been more interesting. Thoroughly enjoyable, the setting and the characters are unforgettable. 

The Unknown

This was a wild ride. It took me a little bit to get into but it was so worth it because the END! The end got me man. Did not see it coming! An aspiring actress is plucked out of obscurity and saved from waiting tables to work on a top secret film directed by the legendary Ronan Peters. The catch is, she has to report to a supposedly haunted island for a week of team building with the other actresses and director. They picked the cursed island because that is actually the setting of the movie. Nothing could possibly go wrong... right? Slowly people start disappearing and it seems to be mimicking the script, Marin thought it was all mumbo jumbo, but now she's not sure. What will she do to survive? Classic Riley Sager, lots of fun and twists that you won't spot coming!