{I've Been Reading} Room For Rent

 

Room For Rent by Noelle W. Ihli

Nya has been working her way through college, struggling to make ends meet.  With one semester left to go, she believes that the worst is behind her. She's found a cheap place to live and signed the rental agreement online. For such low rent she didn't expect much, but her first reaction when she sees the house and the man she'll be sharing it with is to run. The profile picture made her think that Sidney was a young woman, not the creepy guy in the corner of the drum circle. Then it sinks in that she has no other options. She'll have to sleep in her car or find a way to co-exist with an angry stoner who lives in filth and roams the house in his underwear. 

Even as the situation worsens, Nya does everything she can to make her living situation tolerable. If she can just hang on for four more months she'll be able to leave the state and move in with her former roommate's family. Right now, though, she has no one to turn to, no one who can help her. There's nothing for her to do except go to class, study hard, and to avoid Sidney, who is getting worse by the day. The book works so well because Nya is such a likeable protagonist. that I wanted to see her safe. You may see some of the twists coming, but it's definitely a page turner.

Let it Crow! Let it Crow! by Donna Andrews 

After her mentor, Faulk, becomes injured and unable to compete, blacksmith Meg Langslow agrees to be part of Blades of Glory, a reality show that has its competitors making knives and reproductions of historical swords. She has plenty of other things she'd rather be doing, but friends have invested in the new show and to help them out, she'll do what she can to save the production from disaster. I picked this one up based on the description and title and quickly realized that it wasn't the first book about these characters. Turns out it's the thirty-fourth and I've got a LOT of catching up to do because I want to know all about Meg and her friends and family. I loved the characters and the setting, an over the top Gothic castle all decked out for Christmas, and the plot kept me guessing. How did I not manage to stumble across this series sooner?! 

The Followers by Bradeigh Godfrey

Domestic thrillers about social influencers are some of my favorites, right up there with domestic thrillers about new moms. For the first few pages of this one, I was having serious doubts.  Molly Sullivan has been sharing intimate detail of her life with her followers for five years and in the first chapter she's live streaming a pap smear to raise awareness about cervical cancer. She shares everything on her feed, including a photo she took of herself with her new fiancé. He doesn't want to be sharing anything online, for good reason. Molly takes down the picture as soon as he objects, but by then it's  already too late. The plot didn't go where I thought it would and had me actually crying by the end. The character development is fantastic.  I LOVED this one! 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links.