Hi, my friends! I’m so excited to be back on the blog today with a fun book update all about 5-star reads. Honestly it’s rare for me to give a book ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ and I find that I am always searching for those outstanding reads to share with friends. Now that we are getting into the cozier season of the year and looking for those books to curl up with for a long night of reading, I figured this is the best time to share some great reads for your Fall list.
These books are all a little different and some, especially the last one, is so far from my comfort zone but I am so glad to be back in a reading groove and trying a variety of categories compared to my summer filled with romcoms and beach reads. Okay, let’s get to the books!
The Art of Scandal
Contemporary Romance | Type: Audiobook
Description: On the night of her husband Matt’s fortieth birthday, Rachel Abbott receives a sexy, explicit text from her husband that she quickly realizes was meant for another woman. Divorce is inevitable, and Rachel is determined not to leave her thirteen-year marriage empty handed. Meanwhile, Matt, a rising star mayor with his eye on the White House, can’t afford a messy split in the middle of his reelection campaign. They strike a deal: Rachel gets one million dollars and their lavish house in the wealthy DC suburb of Oasis Springs, as long as she keeps playing the ideal Black trophy wife until the election.
Then Rachel meets Nathan Vasquez, a very handsome, very lost twenty-six-year-old artist, and their connection makes Rachel forget about being the perfect politician’s wife. As Rachel reawakens Nathan’s long-dormant artistic aspirations, their attraction becomes impossible to resist. But secrets are hard to keep in a town like Oasis Springs, and Nathan has a few of his own. With the risk of scandal looming and their hearts on the line, they’ll have to decide whether the possibility of losing everything is worth taking a chance on love. Aren’t you?
Review: If you know me, you know I love a marriage thriller (there will be another on this list) and I love all things political drama/mysteries this book was my perfect storm! It hit a little close to home as I could see this exact relationship/story happen to women around me who walk into a community as the “only” or the “exception”. I love the will and with of the main character, the wife, of understanding what her marriage truly was: a political marriage. I loved love loved the power she willed and her ambition to go back to what she cared about like being an art curator even when her husband wasn’t supportive.
I never could have guessed who the affair was with but I absolutely loved the ending and how the story came full circle. This story was more of a romance thriller with no murder, per say, but mystery and thrill throughout. Absolutely would recommend!
The Arrangement
Thriller| Type: Audiobook
Description: 
The arrangement was just meant to fix their marriage.
No one was supposed to get hurt.
But when the rules of this open marriage are broken, the consequences are sinister.
Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer.
It’s what she prides herself on.
So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.
The rules are simple:
- They will each date someone new once a week.
- They will never discuss what happens on the dates.
Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.
When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they’ve built?
Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ’til death do us part may come sooner than they’d intended.
Review: Y’all, this book reignited my reading after a slight hiatus and wow – I can’t believe it took me so long to read this fan favorite! Every.single.thing. I thought I “knew” was completely wrong and I was genuinely surprised at every turn. This book is short, seductive and will leave you with your jaw on the ground wondering how you missed so much. I haven’t read the follow-ups yet because part of me is loving not knowing what officially happened once this part of the story was over but if you love marriage mess + secrets + a hint of crime, you will fully indulge in this quick story!
My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race, and Defiance
Memoir | Type: Paperback
Description: An eloquently told personal account of an era of enormous cultural and political change, which reveals Harry Belafonte as not only one of America’s greatest entertainers, but also one of our most profoundly influential activists.
Harry Belafonte spent his childhood in both Harlem and Jamaica, where the toughness of the city and the resilient spirit of the Caribbean lifestyle instilled in him a tenacity to face the hurdles of life head-on and channel his anger into positive, life-affirming actions. He returned to New York City after serving in the Navy in World War II, and found his calling in the theater, before transitioning into a career as a singer and Hollywood leading man. During the 1960s civil rights movement, Belafonte became close friends with Martin Luther King, Jr., and used his celebrity as a platform for his activism in civil rights and countless other political and social causes. My Song tells the inspiring story of a startlingly original and powerful entertainer who has always engaged fiercely with the issues of his day.
Review: I can’t start this review without saying this is a commitment! It is just over 500 pages and filled with so many stories from a wonderful man who lived a very full life and left little to the imagination. I read this book as part memoir, part musical + Black history novel. My Song was a end of summer book club and was the first time we actually split the book into two monthly conversations.
I must admit, I didn’t know much about Harry Belafonte before picking up this book but I am so glad I did. The musical icon was so much more than just his popular songs that people knew. He was an activist, a driver of change and a man with a complicated history living through a post-segregation world in a very segregated Hollywood. I learned so much about the work and people behind the March of Washington years before it happened, how stars like Diahann Carroll and how the “elite” both helped and hurt the civil rights movement.
I would absolutely take this book in pieces as it is a lot to consume but it truly a history lesson in Black Hollywood. Easily one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read and would recommend, especially the second half, to most people interested in Black entertainment history.
Book Lovers
Romcom | Type: Audiobook
Description: Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Review: A true enemies-to-lovers story, which I rarely like, but I devoured this book! It felt a nicer Hallmark love story but interesting and fun and was wrapped up in books which, to me, made for the perfect storm. So much of the small town, main character with the big job, a short trip to getaway from the city – you know, the Hallmark formula. But seriously so fun and probably my favorite from Emily Henry who I just started reading this year.
Blacktop Wasteland
Crime Thriller | Type: Audiobook
Description: A husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast.
He thought he’d left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can’t-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver’s seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear.
Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland…or die trying.
Review: Okay, I can’t start this review without giving y’all a warning: this book is violent. It is not at all my normal read but I was influenced by my bookclub to read this amazing author. This author is a literal powerhouse and the writing was beyond amazing.
The story follows a main character who is trying to leave a crime-adjacent life behind when a last, not once, in a lifetime opportunity to turn his life around basically falls into lap. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and I couldn’t believe how crazy this story became chapter after chapter. If you truly love crime thrillers with a mix of Fast & Furious and insight into how folks stumbled into a life of criminal activity, you will absolutely love this. A ton of explicit language and some graphic fitting scenes but the story is amazing and I would highly, highly recommend.
Whew, 1800 words later and that’s it, friends! I’m still fairly behind on my reading goal of 36 books but have been loving the diversity of books I’ve gotten back to reading and finding ways to read in between my ever-changing schedule. While I travel over the next four weeks, I’m hoping to read 2 hard copies and listen to 2 books via Scribd and libro.fm. If you love all my picks and want more, you can:
Check out all my book blog posts: here
Join #LotsofBooksClub, my monthly book club: here
Read along with me via Scribd: here (first two months free then $10/m)
See all my book ratings: here
Thanks so much for reading, friends! Have a lovely week -xo, Azanique <3
