Hi everyone! Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2024? And it’s my last monthly mini review! I ended up reading eight books this month! I started the month by reading Mexican Gothic, the last book I read on my Fall TBR. Then I finished the month with a cute winter romance! I thoroughly enjoyed every book I read this month with every book having a 4.5 or 5 star rating! I’m sharing my three favorites for my December Mini Review!

Synopsis: Mallory Greenleaf used to live and breathe chess, but after the sport destroyed her family four years ago, her only focus now is on her sisters, her mom, and a job that helps them survive. However, when her friends need someone to play in a charity chess tournament, she agrees to play. But she inadvertently finds herself face to face with fiercely attractive, intelligent “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer, the current world chess champion. To everyone’s surprise, she beats him. His loss to an unknown rookie shocks the chess community. Including Nolan himself, but more than anything he becomes infatuated with her and needs to play her again. The smart thing would be to walk away, but when this victory opens a door for Mallory and she joins chess again, Nolan may have another chance to face her. As Mallory’s rates climb, she struggles to keep her family separated from everything. As her feelings about chess start to grow, she realizes those aren’t the only ones she’s catching. Nolan has found his way into her game and her heart.

I loved this book so much!! To be honest, I read anything Ali Hazelwood writes, but this book is probably my third favorite! It’s a super cute young adult romance centered around playing chess! It was a quick read with a great ending! I felt myself smiling and happy giggling the whole time! If you’re looking for a light-hearted romance, I highly recommend this book!

I didn’t end up listening to a playlist with this book.

Synopsis: “For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.” (goodreads.com)

I found out about this book after I watched the HBO docu-series based on it. The story gripped me, so I knew I needed to read the book! The style of the book was very interesting. It’s a telling of all the different aliases that the Golden State Killer had before McNamara dubbed him that, but it’s also a memoir about how she got into writing this story. It was a little confusing at first because it does jump between different times, but once I checked the start of the chapter with the location and time it was easy to get back on track. This is not an easy read, as it does go into deep details, but if you are interested in true crime, I definitely recommend this! Spoiler alert: If you didn’t know the Golden State Killer was captured the same year this book was published, so there’s no mention of it (at least in the copy I have), so if you want to know how he was finally found I recommend googling it or reading this article!

I didn’t end up listening to a playlist with this book.

Synopsis: Stella Bloom has been dreaming of owning a magical Christmas tree farm ever since she visited Lovelight Farms. When it becomes available to buy, she jumps at the chance to live her dream. However, since the moment she purchased the farm things have been going wrong, a pasture of dead trees, shipments that have mysteriously gone missing, and a family of raccoons causing mischief. With nothing to lose Stella enters a contest by an Instagram influencer that includes added publicity and a chance to win $100,000, which would significantly help her finances for the farm. She’s picked as a finalist, but there’s one tiny problem. To make the farm seem more romantic she lied on her application to say she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Except there’s no boyfriend in the picture. Enter Luka Peters, Stella’s best friend, who agrees to be her fake boyfriend. Stella is worried they won’t be able to come back from this, but she’s been dreaming of kissing him since she met him. Maybe this might be just what she needs to tell him how she truly feels.

I loved this book! It was the perfect book to finish out 2023 and the holiday season! I loved the friends to lovers troupe! And it was set on a Christmas tree farm, which I thought was magical! It was quite predictable in my opinion, but it didn’t make it any less of a cute story! If you’re looking for a cute holiday read, add this one to your list!

I didn’t end up listening to a playlist with this book.

I hope you enjoyed my December Mini Review! Leave me a comment below if you’ve read any of these books! What did you read in December? Check out the Books category on my home page for more book reviews and recommendations. Please give me a follow on Instagram or Facebook to stay updated about when I post! As always, thank you for your continued support!

Take care and stay safe,

Renée