This week Shanah @bionicbookworm has been inspired by Greg who’s been raving about fall and temperature drop making for incredible reading afternoon all cozy inside.

She wants us to recommend our top 5 cozy fall reads.

As you know me I love spicing things up * I know this is the season calling for spice like nutmeg and cinamon and …* and my brain was free wheeling this afternoon about fall and all the little pleasure we enjoy at that time of the year.

I don’t know you but when I am cold I love drinking warm drinks and it made me think of the personality of coffee drinkers versus tea drinkers and ….

I came to the conclusion that I could guess what book would work for each drinker!

Wanna bet?

See what your guilty pleasure in fall is and look at what I am recommending.

Then …tell me if I am right or wrong! 😉 

If you love Pumpkin Spice Latte you love something gooey but not boring. With a little bit of kick some slight surprise just to keep you interested but not to throw you off completely!
I would recommend Bossman by Vi Keeland because here is the description of all the requirements Chase Parker had to meet:

Wanted : Book Boyfriend

Requisite:

-Must be funny and imaginative as making a girl laugh is the quickest way in her pants;

-Must be smart as I don’t want to explain twice how to iron shirt or reheat the pizza;

-Must know women’s needs like foot massage, moisturizing of the legs, …;

-Must be protective and look twice in the closet, below the bed, behind the shower curtains to check for robbers;

-Must be easy on the eyes as I’ll look at him every day for years;

-Must be good in bed, attentive to my wants but not afraid to take the reins and be thorough;

-Must have a good size …leaving this one to your imagination.

Or you could totall fall for Win Some Lose Some by Shay Savage because Matthew was so adorable autist or not!

Matthew was sometimes lost in life, did not dare hope living a “normal “ life with a girlfriend but wishing for it really hard anyway.
Every new situation he could encounter, every change has to be prepared. He has to be guided through it, repeating and rehearsing what might happen countless times. He is with his aunt Bethany: ”Do you remember when you couldn’t order pizza over the phone? Can you do that now?” “Yes but I have to work up to it a little”. “So we’ll work on getting you ready to ask Mayra out the same way we worked on ordering pizza. I’ll be Mayra and you ask me. We’ll keep doing it until you think you got it.” “But…” I hesitated. “What is it?” “But the pizza place never says no!”

If you are a Chai Latte lover you love adventure and exotism. Mysterious broody heroes are your kryptonite. Pirates or captains your downfall. You need someone with secrets to uncover, an enigma to solve or a quest.
You need The Cruel Prince by Holly Black because It was simply enthralling. You have murder, secrets, betrayals and even more plot twists. Your friends will backstab you. Your own family will be deceitful. Your enemies will become allies around a common cause. You will do things you never thought you would have done. You will become someone you won’t recognize. Because Faerie is a cruel place you have to survive.

Or Mists of the Serengeti by Leylah Attar because It was grand! Not because it was a big book only 360 pages but because it was grandiose, packed with so many messages, intense moments, grief, heartbreak, rebirth, hope, utter despair and gorgeous backdrop. Cherry on top you have a VERY male and VERY handsome hero. Jack has been broken by his daughter’s death. He’s failed her.
“Lily. Oh God. I failed you. As the world fell to its knees around him, walls torn, roof blown off, blood and bone everywhere—Jack felt himself rip into two. Before-Jack, who loved black coffee, blue skies, and driving into town with all the windows down, and After-Jack, whose daughter’s sweet smile and cotton-candy ponytail swam before him in the heated, five-alarm blaze of the afternoon.”
Now a shell of the man he once was he’ll follow Rodel in her quest and find that spark again. It will be a rebirth. Have you ever had a guide gently washing and combing your muddy hair under the starry sky of Africa? Ready to kill everyone to protect you? Soothing a wounded calf and still looking Oh so male? No? Well me neither but it will be part of my “need to have” on my next travel. I’m certain my husband would not be jealous…

Or One Foot in the Grave by CC Hunter because with CC Hunter’s stories there is a mystery behind the death and Riley embarks on a thrilling even dangerous adventure. I was immersed in the story, following all her drama and complicated life *what with seeing ghosts and helping them without people knowing it because she would have seemed bat sh@t crazy*. I really rooted for Hayden even if my heart broke as I knew that a ghost could never really be a boyfriend. Riley knew this and yet…

Then everything accelerated by the end with a huge stressing and threatening event when CC Hunter dropped THAT bomb on us (something I had guessed) and LEFT US HANGING DRY!!!!!!!!

Is Hot Chocolate your craving in fall? Then you are looking for something sweet and warm. Something to remind you of the security of your childhood. When you still believed in Santa Claus. You want the known, the expected. A feel good book.
My top recommendations would be The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. Why? Because this story simply is a little gem. Essentially character driven, the writing is light, charming, funny and just right. Everything worked for me.

Special mention to the dialogs! Stella being unable to lie and quite “direct” it gave some little gems, especially as Michael had no idea she was Asperger!

Here is one excerpt to give you an idea:

“You smell really, really good. What is it?”

Where was that scent coming from? It seemed to be everywhere on him, but too light. She craved a more concentrated dose.

“Michael?”

A funny look crossed his face. “It’s just me, Stella.”

“You smell this good?”

“Apparently. You’re the first to comment on it.”

“I want it all over me.” As the words left her mouth, she worried she’d said the wrong thing. That statement had sounded a little too personal, a little strange. Would he notice how strange she really was?

 Or you could read Wolfsong by TJ Klune because this book is about love in all its complexities and variations. The love of a mother for his child, the love of a young Ox for his mom wanting to care for her because he was the man now that his Daddy left them.
It was the love of non-blood related brothers with Rico, Chris, Tanner and Gordo at Gordo’s garage. A love and connection between hard working guys so deep they had each other’s back when things went south. They helped a slower Ox with schoolwork.
It was the love of an adopted family: The Bennets. So tight with each other, needing to touch the members of their “pack”. Ready to do anything to ease the suffering of one of them. Ready to move to help little Joe recover after the horror that happened to him.
It was the love of friendship, the love of lovers…

If love could have a name it would be Ox.

If you have a weakness for Hot Wine you are looking for something to lose your head. Get drunk on life. Be swept off your feet damn the consequences. Today is must be enjoyed you will deal with the consequences tomorrow. You need recklessness and foolishness.
You need Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff because it’s packed with action upon action and mixes old tales with new world*how Jay Kristoff succeeded in writing Moby Dick in a sci fi story shows how the man must be crazy yet talented*
Because nothing is as it seems and everyone has secret. Sometimes they even don’t know they have BIG secrets. So you are following everything and feel like a wrecking ball going from one side of the pinball machine to the other. Sometimes hitting a big target and you earn 1000 points. These are usually when you had guessed right but these are scarce moments. In other words: extinct like the Dodo.
Because the characters are fantastic.

Hot wine drinkers would also fall for Playing with Monsters by Amelia Hutchins because Amelia  says” I don’t write love stories: I write fast paced, knock you on your ass, make you sit on the edge of your seat wondering what happens next books. If you’re looking for cookie cutter romance, this isn’t for you. If you can’t handle the ride, un-buckle your seatbelt and get out of the roller-coaster car now. If not, you’ve been warned. If nothing outlined above bothers you, carry on and enjoy the ride! “

Or Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton could be your next fix!  This is a world where “ Djinn who fell in love with worthy princesses and gave them all of their hearts’ wishes. Pretty girls who lured Nightmares straight on to men’s blades. Brave merchants’ daughters who caught Buraqi and rode them to the ends of the earth” and I loved everything about it! It was fast paced. The storytelling was compelling, the plot solid without any filler or dull moment. The characters are very well portrayed and I could relate to Amami as she wants to be someone worthy and not “just a girl”. She wants to take matters in her own hands and not be ruled by men. I could never live under other’s thumb and could only cheer each time she did something reckless to save someone else or escape by the skin of her teeth. I loved the banter and her sarcastic remarks. I’m always admiring girls with wit and she had it in truckload! I swear you’ll also root for her.

Finally if your drink of choice is Eggnog it means thatyou are recovering from an illness or a broken heart. You need something nurturing. To take you by the hand, you want to leave your broken body and soul in trusting and capable hands. You need a doctor of the body and or the soul.
You need Lukas by Carian Cole because Like Ivy, my “heart soared from cuteness overload” charmed by such “sexy adorableness”. Lukas made me swoon, Lukas made me cry, Lukas gives the best hugs and kisses and I’m certain you’ll also want your own Lukas but not this one because he’s mine (when Ivy will be done with him but fat chance, I know)!

”Do you believe in soul mates?” His voice is low and soft, with a hint of hesitancy, like he’s afraid of what I might say. Lukas doesn’t belong her, I realized right then. He’s a Knight. A prince. A warrior. A Viking. He’s one of those men that fight for love ‘til the end of time. One who would carry a woman away on his horse and make mad passionate love to her on the grass. A man who takes what he wants and make it his forever. A man not afraid to dream or believe in what can’t be seen, but only can be felt. His heart is lost in this time, where people no longer live to love or believe that love can transcend time.”

or Beau from The Outpost by Devney Perry would be the perfect “doctor of the soul” because what’s not to love in a man:
-built like a lumberjack tall, muscled with long and thick thighs (I love muscled thigh for all the power they contain LOL);
-with stormy eyes and a strong jaw;
-able to win Koh Lanta as he loves hiking and sleeping in the woods, camping and has mastered the trickiest survival skill;
-with shoulders so wide literally and figuratively he is saving everyone all the time. Extinguishing forest fires, rescuing lost hikers, raising a fatherless nephew, manning his mom’s Fourth of July barbeque and hiding our hunted heroine;
-strong, kind with a gentle nature and calming essence;
-never ever pushing a woman to do what he thinks is best if she does not want to but rather supporting her in what she thinks is best;
-admiring and respecting strong women;
-who is a dog lover.

Now do tell me if I was right about you? And what would be your cozy fall reads recommendations?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie