December's Dying to Read

I began the month not reading as much as I did the past two months- but I finished "Confess" and tried out the Book of the Month program.

What a surprise... another Colleen Hoover book. "Confess" was a random pick on Amazon- to be completely honest, I wanted to read it based on the description, but it took me a few days to get into it. I had my doubts in the beginning, but I still would not put it down. It hooked my interest in the middle and left me crying at the end. The middle of the book also shows beautiful artwork based on the story- confessions through art pieces that related to the story.

Auburn is a young woman who moves to Texas to work through parts of her past. While dealing with a legal situation, Auburn is tight with money and finds a quick job at an art studio. This is where she meets the infamous Owen Gentry- who creates pieces of art through other people's confessions that they leave through his studio. Two hours of working in Owen's art studio leads to more than being his employee. After losing her first boyfriend Adam, Auburn was nervous to try and start something with this mysterious artist.

After working with Owen, she tries to put herself back into the dating world- but it doesn't happen the way that she thought. Owen stops talking to her and disappears from her life for a few months until her birthday. Owen comes back into her life- but he has to leave it again so she can have access to an important part of her life, and so he can go to jail for something he did not do. What will happen to their confession of love? Rating: 4/5 Stars. Trigger warning for abuse/manipulation.

The Book of the Month program kept popping up on my TikTok For You page until I checked it out. I got a discount for the first time but ended up paying $15 or so for the second month of using it. The book I received for the month of December was "Kiss Her Once for Me" by Alison Cochrun - and it follows a lie about a relationship between Ellie and her old boss Andrew. But Ellie is still hooked on her past love from last Christmas, who she spent one day with. When Ellie goes to meet Andrew's family, she realizes his sister is the one that she fell for and doesn't want to lie anymore.

I could not get into this book, no matter how hard I tried. I would read one chapter and did not want to continue reading it. As much as I loved it being a book about the LGBTQ+ community, it was just a tough read for me. Maybe I will pick it up and try reading it again another time.

This month was not full of reading- hate to say it, but hopefully, 2023 will be filled with numerous amounts of books. My to-be-read list keeps growing😉