Happy Monday! I read a lot last week, but felt mixed about most of it. Let's get into it. Books marked with an * were gifted to me.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman - A reread for me. I got my spouse into this series via audiobook, so now we've been listening whenever we have a long car trip. I think this installment is one of the best of the series. The way the world unfolds and expands from the first book is really masterful. I'm also enjoying seeing how early Dinniman planted the seeds of things that become important in later books.

Acts Of Service by Lillian Fishman* - I don't think a book has ever so intensely tested my commitment to not hating on a book because you hate the characters. I HATED everyone in this book! I hated their actions, their rationalizations, their personalities. For most of it, though, I was compelled to keep listening just to find out how they would fuck things up even worse. This was my Spicy Book Club's pick this month and I can't wait to rage about it at our meeting later this week.

The Missed Connection by Tia Williams* - I love Williams' sharp banter and the way her FMCs always have something difficult central to their lives, whether that be trauma, chronic pain, etc. And I was very on board with the way this story and Sasha's potential love interests were unfolding. SPOILERS HERE!!!! This book totally lost me, though, when Sasha calls Wes in the middle of the night and turns it into nonconsensual phone sex. What?! No. The twist at the end felt kind of dumb to me, too.

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil* - Fantasy duology inspired by Filipino mythology? Sign me up! I loved the world of this book and the people populating it. It's full of powerful, flawed women each clawing for power in their own ways. It dragged a bit in the middle for me - too much circling around the same conflicts without moving things forward. It ends on a great cliffhanger, though, and I'm looking forward to the sequel in October.