20 Books I Read In October 2022

In today’s post I am sharing the 20 books I read in October 2022. I know I’m getting this up a little late this month, but I got busy writing and reading and before I knew it ten days flew past. I hope to get a few new reviews up but I have more big news.

As we speak I am starting a new website for all my book content. Here on MommyThrives I have always focused on motherhood, homeschooling, home, and kids stuff and recently started doing book content as a bit of a test to see what people like.

Jayne Reads will be the future place where I post my recommendations, reviews, bookish products and lists like the one below. There I can also do more content around Dark Romance which is a genre I read often but never felt comfortable posting here. Of course I will also be sharing my reviews from Contemporary, Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance books as well but there I can also share the dark romance reads I enjoy.

Without further ado let’s go through the 20 books I read in October 2022.

The Mixtape by Brittainy C. Cherry

Emery is a single mom and Oscar is a rockstar. After a hellish few months for both they find an unlikely friendship that could lead to more. First though, these two have loads of healing to go through. Emery is struggling both with the stress of being a mom and financially while Oscar is dealing with the death of his twin brother and the bad press he keeps getting. Sometimes life gives you exactly what you need at exactly the right time.

I know I know, it’s Spooky Season and I start off the month with a contemporary rockstar romance but I couldn’t help it. I saw the recommendation for The Mixtape on Tik Tok, and knew I needed this emotional read. This book sends you through a wave of emotions as it shows what the healing process looks like for different types of traumas. I gave this book 5 stars, 1 pepper, and 4 tissues.

Stolen Trophy by K.A. Knight and Kendra Moreno

Genevieve pulled herself from poverty and is now rich and working to help others get out of poverty through charity programs she runs. Everything is working out well for her, she’s engaged, she has a nice apartment, and her business is doing well. That is until she walks into her apartment after a charity event and gets kidnapped by four men who were there to rob her. It’s only when she starts to realize she has more in common with these four men than the people in her everyday life that things start to change.

Stolen Trophy is a Stockholm Syndrome dark romance with dark themes. While this is not as dark as Den of Vipers, another book by K.A. Knight, I still recommend you check trigger warnings before reading. I enjoyed the character development and the almost Robin Hood esque story. I gave this book 4 stars and 4 peppers.

Princes of Devil’s Creek Series by Jillian Frost

3 books

Alexandrea and her twin grew up in poverty with an abusive mom until her grandfather showed up one day and rescued her from the one hell to put her in another. She now needs to marry one of the four Salvatore brothers, her four bullies. She was able to escape for a while after highschool but now they are back and she has no choice but to move into their house and choose which of the four she will marry.

I had such high hopes for the Princes of Devil’s Creek series but I ended up giving up after the third book. The story started off good and while the spice was absolutely high, the story became secondary to the spice scenes. Typically I don’t have a problem with lots of spice when the story is still a major focal point. Maybe my mood just shifted and I needed something else. I may still come back to this in the future. I gave this series 4 stars for the strong start but thankfully you can stop after the third book. It also gets 4 peppers.

Reaped Series by C.A. Rene and R.E. Bond

3 books

Selene has one mission in life and that’s to find her sister who was sold into sex slavery by their own mother. In the process she’s killing the men who are a part of the same human trafficking ring. Things get interesting when she meets the friends of the son of her main hit. As she gets closer to accomplishing her goal to kill every man involved in this ring she also finds herself falling for these four men, but her goal has to come first.

The Reaped series has been exactly what I’ve been itching to read for a while. Selene is a slightly psychotic kick ass woman and the men in this series match that energy well. The story was fantastic, the character growth was great, and the twists absolutely kept me guessing. I gave this series 5 stars and 5 peppers.

The Joker by Nikki J Summers

Colton grew up in an unusual environment with a father who caused a lot of harm on the community, so after his father’s death he did everything he could to right the wrongs of his father. In the process him and his five friends because vigilantes for their town. Now someone else is killing off the trash and they aren’t happy about it. When Colton finally figures out who it is though and why, his past is coming back to haunt him more.

I received The Joker as an ARC and it was released on October 27th. I’ve been a fan of the Soldiers of Anarchy Series since I read Adam’s story in The Psycho. I have to tell you, Nikki J Summers doesn’t just write book boyfriends, she writes book husbands. Colton’s story is absolutely fantastic. I gave this book 5 stars and 4 peppers. Peppers are based on the quality of spice not amount.

Charming Your Dad by Sarah Blue

When Blair finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her with a woman from her coven, she decides it’s time for revenge. What better revenge than having sex with his dad, Dax? Except nothing is as it seems in this town and there are forces at work that are looking to cause a lot more problems for Blair and Dax may be the only help she can get.

I don’t often read paranormal romance but it’s that time of year for me. Charming Your Dad was a fun read with twists in the story that I didn’t see coming. It was spicy, funny, and perfect for spooky season. I gave the book 4 stars and 3 peppers.

Ghost by Kat Blackthrone

Blythe has been running from a past that haunts her for a long time and Ash Grove just feels like home to her. It’s Halloween season and the town celebrates it the entire month but things aren’t as they appear. Ames, Onyx, and Wolfgang have decided to take her under their wing and help her acclimate to this town and all the ghost stories that come with it.

I was expecting a smutty Halloween read with Ghost and what I got instead was a twisty story about a kick ass plus size woman who is dealing with her own trauma. The character growth, the suspense, and the story telling was all amazing. The spice was not like I usually read and it was surprisingly good. Just remember, this is a paranormal romance. I gave the book 5 stars and 4 peppers. I can’t wait for Dragon to release in February 2014.

Royals of Forsyth U – Dukes – by Angel Lawson and Samantha Rue

2 books

Lavinia lives in the shadow of her sister and she’s to be sold off to the Kings of Forsythe by her own father. Except she’s become the obsession of Pretty Nick Bruin so when he and the Dukes come for her she’s going to be turned into the Duchess. They may be what can save her, but they could also destroy her.

If you haven’t read the first three book (The Lords) of the Royals of Forsyth U you will need to read them. I started the Dukes story thinking the third book would be released this month, sadly I was mistaken and it doesn’t release until next month so now I’m stuck on a cliff hanger from the second book. The entire series is a dark romance with dub-con and non-con, that’s the warning, it may not be for you. I personally love the story, the spice, and the character development in these books. I have so far given the Dukes 5 stars and 4 peppers.

Dirty Broken Savages Series by Eva Ashwood

4 Books

River has a list and on that list are six names of men who ruined her life and took her sister from her. There is only one name left on that list. When Gage finds River standing over the body of a dead man outside of the club he owns with his three brothers he needs to find out if she’s connected to them at all. The last name on her list is a problem for the Kings of Chaos and they’re going to make sure she kills that man.

The Kings of Chaos series by Eva Ashwood is a why choose dark romance about four friends and a woman who are thrust together with a common goal. I picked this series up after reading Twisted Game by Eva Ashwood last month. I really enjoy her writing and the story telling, so I enjoyed this series a lot. I gave this series 4 stars and 4 peppers.

Satan’s Affair by HD Carlton

Sibel can smell the evil on bad people and her mission in life is to get rid of all the evil in the world. Sibby and her henchmen travel the country with a traveling haunted house and carnival attraction. She hides in the walls of her doll house and when she smells the evil on a person she sings a song. That’s when her henchmen strike and bring the demons she hunts right to her.

First off, Satan’s Affair is dark. Extremely dark. It’s a why choose with a good amount of spice but it is heavy in gore. It’s a novella that I read in about three hours and the overall story was good. Reading the first couple of chapters of the book I didn’t think that I would like this book, but it hooked me and by the end I know I really enjoyed it. I gave this book 4 stars and 4 peppers.

Cat and Mouse Duet by HD Carlton

2 Books

Adeline just moved into her grandmother’s old home that’s filled with ghosts and secrets of the past. Just like her grandmother, Gigi, Addie finds that she also has a stalker. A menacing presence who leaves her gifts. As Adeline tries to figure out if it was Gigi’s stalker that killed her she wonders if history is repeating itself with her own.

I put off reading Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline for a long time basically because the book deals in some pretty heavy, gruesome, and horrifying subjects. I wanted to make sure that I was in the right frame of mind to read it before picking it up. These two books have dub con and non con but I didn’t feel that it was romanticized as other people have mentioned in reviews. There is extremely dark and disturbing content in these books so please read the content warnings in the book and on HD Carlton’s website. I gave this duet 4 stars, 4 peppers, and 2 tissues.