I’ve had a lot of time to read while traveling, and I loved discovering some new to me authors, as well as catching up with some of my favorite authors. Here are four recent five-star reads from me.
Invitation to the Blues – Roan Parrish
Beautifully written, almost poetic, Invitation to the Blues is the romance between a chronically depressed gifted musician who is recovering after a suicide attempt and the free-spirited painter he falls in love with. A little angsty and so freaking good.
The Station – Keira Andrews
Set in the outback of Australia in the days of British colonization, The Station is a historical romance between a rich young Englishman and his Irish stable hand who are both exiled to Australia for being gay. This was the perfect choice to read while traveling through Australia and I loved it!
Aftermath – Cara Dee
After surviving a five-months long kidnapping together, Austin and Cameron are connected in a way neither of them can explain. But they’re opposites in almost every way. Plus, Austin is straight. And married. Aftermath is high angst for sure and has some brutal scenes, but it’s oh so good.
Between Sinners and Saints – Marie Sexton
This one was different from what I had expected, but in a good way. Levi is a Miami bartender who is living the surfer’s life and has one hookup after the other. He’s struggling with his Mormon family, who all feel he’s a sinner. Then he meets Jaime, a man haunted by his past and afraid to even be touched. Something sparks between them, and what follows is a journey of change for both of them. Expect some theological discussions in Between Sinners and Saints that may piss you off (Levi’s family is infuriating at times), but the ultimate ending is wonderful.
OMG Roan Parrish is like, my #1 instant buy author and i’m so happy to see you talking about her book <3 Honestly if you liked Invitation to the Blues, i cant recommend enough her serie In the Middle Of Somewhere. It is so great with amazing characters!
Also love Keira Andrews, great choice!
I loved in the Middle of Somewhere! Haven’t read the other two books in the series. The last one had less stellar reviews.
I definitely encourage you Reading the 2nd book! Personnaly, it’s my favorite. Not only are there well-developped, intense and engaging characters, but the story deals with important subjects too.
The 3rd one, i get why the reviews may be less good, but i enjoyed it nonetheless. Whereas the 2nd book can be sometimes quite heavy and a bit angsty, the 3rd one is definitely lighter. i still love it anyway.
Roan Parrish’s main strength, imo, is the characters she developps. None of them are blend, they all have their own voices, qualities and aspirations, and you see them grow. You can’t stop getting attached to them. That’s how i feel for her books anyway ^^
So, yeah, a huge rec for you to read at least the 2nd installment because it was one of my best read ever 🙂
The second one is good in regards to the writing, but it was hard for me to root for a violent abuser even if he had his reasons, he was terrible to Daniel. Plus I felt when ut came to his “redemption” he kinda got off easy. It just didn’t feel earned.