I will list the rating and to the side add commentary. 

5 Stars

 None

4 Stars

Breakfast in Bed by Rochelle Alers (solid read)

Seeking Sarah by Reshonda Tate Billingsley (solid read)

To Wager Her Heart by Tamera Alexander (fantastic story, pleasantly surprised)

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebeyo (unforgettable stand out read)

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy (Liked this, LOVE book) 

3 Stars

Surrender to Me by Donna Hill (solid read)

Pretty, Nast, Lovely by Rosalind Noonin (interesting story)

Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah (good story)

2.5 Stars

The Mothers by Brit Bennett 

* I've been thinking what to say about my displeasure with this book. It was an okay read for me. Such a hyped book that I did everything possible to get my hands on it for months; giveaways, egalleys and such. To only be disappointed. There's nothing new here for me. It definitely wasn't what I expected in terms of the storyline. Maybe it's my age. I've read a lot of books and many heavy hitters at a young age. It takes a lot to impress me in story and writing. However, both don't have to be great. I'll take a good story with subpar writing or a well written book with just okay plot. Many love this one. It just wasn't for me. Beautiful cover and great publicity with a new up and coming author, I do believe Ms. Bennett is definitely one to watch!

This book kept me guessing right from the start. A baby is born and someone disposes of it, however, you don't know who it is. You know that it happens in a sorority house, but not if it's in the past or something that is yet to come.

Little pieces of the puzzle are given to us throughout the book. However, I could not complete it myself until the character spoke up about what happened. And, it's not what you think. Well, maybe not, it certainly wasn't what I thought.

A book that I could put down and did. It has your usual characters in a sorority house. Some friendly, some not and some horrible. However, I think the ending more than made up for some of the extra wording I had to plow through to get to the finale.

I found this book to be a good read, although sometimes some of the unnecessary additions bogged me down a little.

Thanks to Kensington Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

There are many more August releases than the ones I've chosen to read. In choosing books that interest me, I'm trying to discern if the writing and plot are enough. I've listened to about 2-5% in each of these books and know, thus far, we will do well. 

I realize that it's best for me to get in with more than one book so, that I'm already interested to move on to the next. Reading one book at a time and then picking up another that doesn't hold my attention leaves me blank for days. I lose steam and dawdle. Already I have finished 6 books in July, with this method, and am so pleased. I could've read more if I would've adopted this way much sooner.

Here's the release dates for these books and others that aren't shown that I may read;

August 1

Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah

The Address by Fiona Davis

Locked in Temptation by Brenda Jackson

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

Surrender to Me by Donna Hill

August 8

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

All is Beauty Now by Sarah Faber

To Wager Her Heart Tamera Alexander

A Promise of Ruin by Cuyler Overholt

August 15

Seeking Sarah by Roshanda Tate Billingsley

The Party by Elizabeth Day

The Wardrobe Mistress by Meghan Masterson

August 22

The Other Girl by Erica Spindler

August 29

Pretty, Nasty, Lovely by Rosalind Noonan

Breakfast in Bed by Rochelle Alers

#DOMESTICSECRETS  AVAILABLE 2/23/16  5 STARS!!!  @kensingtonbooks @rosalindnoonan

Every little town or big town has it's secrets. Some are well known, some are not. Even households have secrets that the towns don't know about, whether they are big or small, rich or poor. There are secrets everywhere. This book begins with secrets. Small secrets that most people know about. Sometime in the middle of the book a large secret starts to form. You don't understand the depth of it until later on in the book. You don't even know how or when it started to develop. It's pieces thrown here and there that slowly begin to develop and as a reader you pick up on them slowly. Some pieces have your mind going elsewhere thinking there is a sexual orientation problem or something going on here.

Even when the biggest piece of the puzzle is shown, you still don't understand what's going on or how this could be happening. This is not in character, this is not how this couple acts. What's going on here? No way could this have happened. I read this part three times, I was dumbfounded. How could this have happened?

Then Rosalind Noonan gives us more pieces of this puzzle and slowly the big picture comes into focus. And, we see it. We see how it could happen. Kudos to Rosalind Noonan for such a GREAT story. I was just reading along and then BAM, I definitely was not expecting what happened. I'm not giving any spoilers on this one. This one literally took me by surprise and I loved it. Great writing, I just could not put this down and the character development, I actually felt so many emotions for several of these characters, especially Cassie.

Huge thanks to Kensington Books for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. It was entertaining, enjoyable, up and down the emotional spectrum and a fantastic read!

Making Spirits Bright:
This was a very cute story, but I wish she had done more research on the cat, it just wasn't very realistic at times. But while the animals were cute, they weren't part of the actual romance. Melanie really steals the show in this one in her quest to adopt a child. Her determination was amazing and was something she wanted with all her heart. Bryce was a great guy. He was fun and all, but a bit too much of "whatever you want I want". There really wasn't a conflict there. I don't need much, but a little would have been nice.

Runaway Christmas:
This was my favorite of the bunch! Heidi's world is really turned upside down this Christmas as everything seems to go wrong! Even the weather has it in for her and her dreams of a quiet, peaceful Christmas by herself are shattered. Her niece was just the right touch, but I'm not entirely sure how necessary she was to the story. It's almost as if she was added just to give another potential complication. There's a couple romances, and both are really sweet.

Home for Christmas:
This one had a back story and a lot going on for a novella. Very well layered, with a great small town versus big corporation running through it as well. Sam is a great hero - with lots of depth and a lot of development as we move along. Jo was a tad too sweet for my taste. Just a little to goodie.

Christmas on Cape Cod:
This one was my least favorite. A very sugary couple with a very sugary Christmas story. It just wasn't my style at all.

Overall, this was a great mix of Christmas tales. Some were better than others, but it was a great addition to my Christmas reading for the year.