Phyllisha's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 20 Apr 2025 03:33:24 -0700 60 Phyllisha's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family]]> 58570556 304 John Glatt Phyllisha 3 4.17 2022 The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family
author: John Glatt
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/20
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]]> <![CDATA[The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life]]> 28257707 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited�"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.]]> 212 Mark Manson Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.87 2016 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
author: Mark Manson
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones]]> 40121378 Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:
-Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
-Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.]]> 319 James Clear Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.34 2018 Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
author: James Clear
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster]]> 40538681
Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. It is a story that has long remained in dispute, clouded from the beginning in secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation.

Midnight In Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of history's worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will - lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats - remain not just vital but necessary.

Now, Higginbotham brings us closer to the truth behind this colossal tragedy.]]> 538 Adam Higginbotham 1501134612 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.35 2019 Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
author: Adam Higginbotham
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 29496076
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.

In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, “the Phantom Terror,� roamed � virtually anyone who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the newly created F.B.I. took up the case, in what became one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations. But the bureau was then notoriously corrupt and initially bungled the case. Eventually the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only Native American agents in the bureau. They infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most sinister conspiracies in American history.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. The book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward Native Americans that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly riveting, but also emotionally devastating.]]> 359 David Grann 0385534256 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.12 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death]]> 38212121
“Doughty chronicles [death] practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief.� ―Jill Lepore, The New Yorker Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry―especially chemical embalming―and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased. Exquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, From Here to Eternity is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a fascinating tour through the unique ways people everywhere confront mortality. 45 illustrations]]> 256 Caitlin Doughty 0393356280 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.30 2017 From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
author: Caitlin Doughty
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials]]> 17290747 Six Women of Salem is the first work to use the lives of a select number of representative women as a microcosm to illuminate the larger crisis of the Salem witch trials. By the end of the trials, beyond the twenty who were executed and the five who perished in prison, 207 individuals had been accused, 74 had been "afflicted", 32 had officially accused their fellow neighbors, and 255 ordinary people had been inexorably drawn into that ruinous and murderous vortex, and this doesn’t include the religious, judicial, and governmental leaders. All this adds up to what the Rev. Cotton Mather called "a desolation of names."

The individuals involved are too often reduced to stock characters and stereotypes when accuracy is sacrificed to indignation. And although the flood of names and detail in the history of an extraordinary event like the Salem witch trials can swamp the individual lives involved, individuals still deserve to be remembered and, in remembering specific lives, modern readers can benefit from such historical intimacy. By examining the lives of six specific women, Marilynne Roach shows readers what it was like to be present throughout this horrific time and how it was impossible to live through it unchanged.]]> 445 Marilynne K. Roach 0306821206 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.41 2013 Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
author: Marilynne K. Roach
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Waiting for an Echo: The Madness of American Incarceration]]> 48695596 Galvanized by her work in our nation's jails, psychiatrist Christine Montross illuminates the human cost of mass incarceration and mental illness

Dr. Christine Montross has spent her career treating the most severely ill psychiatric patients. Several years ago, she set out to investigate why so many of her patients got caught up in the legal system when discharged from her care--and what happened to them therein.

Waiting for an Echo is a riveting, rarely seen glimpse into American incarceration. It is also a damning account of policies that have criminalized mental illness, shifting large numbers of people who belong in therapeutic settings into punitive ones.

The stark world of American prisons is shocking for all who enter. But Dr. Montross' expertise--the mind in crisis-- allowed her to reckon with the human stories behind the bars. A father attempting to weigh the impossible calculus of a plea bargain. A bright young woman whose life is derailed by addiction. Boys in a juvenile detention facility who, desperate for human connection, invent a way to communicate with one another from cell to cell. Overextended doctors and correctional officers who strive to provide care and security in environments riddled with danger. In these encounters, Montross finds that while our system of correction routinely makes people with mental illness worse, just as routinely, it renders mentally stable people psychiatrically unwell. The system is quite literally maddening.

Our methods of incarceration take away not only freedom, but also selfhood and soundness of mind. In a nation where ninety-five percent of all inmates are released from prison and return to our communities, this is a practice that punishes us all.]]> 331 Christine Montross 1594205973 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.47 2020 Waiting for an Echo: The Madness of American Incarceration
author: Christine Montross
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2020
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]]> <![CDATA[Hell in the Heartland: Murder, Meth, and the Case of Two Missing Girls]]> 52218496 The stranger-than-fiction cold case from rural Oklahoma that has stumped authorities for two decades, concerning the disappearance of two teenage girls and the much larger mystery of murder, police cover-up, and an unimaginable truth...

On December 30, 1999, in rural Oklahoma, sixteen-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend, Lauria Bible, were having a sleepover. The next morning, the Freeman family trailer was in flames and both girls were missing.

While rumors of drug debts, revenge, and police collusion abounded in the years that followed, the case remained unsolved and the girls were never found.

In 2015, crime writer Jax Miller--who had been haunted by the case--decided to travel to Oklahoma to find out what really happened on that winter night in 1999, and why the story was still simmering more than fifteen years later. What she found was more than she could have ever bargained for: jaw-dropping levels of police negligence and corruption, entire communities ravaged by methamphetamine addiction, and a series of interconnected murders with an ominously familiar pattern.

These forgotten towns were wild, lawless, and home to some very dark secrets.]]> 319 Jax Miller 1984806300 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.65 2020 Hell in the Heartland: Murder, Meth, and the Case of Two Missing Girls
author: Jax Miller
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Education of a Coroner: Lessons in Investigating Death]]> 36373435
Marin County, California is a study in contradictions. Its natural beauty attracts celebrity residents and thousands of visitors every year, yet the county also is home to San Quentin Prison, one of the oldest and largest penitentiaries in the United States. Marin ranks in the top one percent of counties nationwide in terms of affluence and overall health, yet it is far above the norm in drug overdoses and alcoholism, not to mention the large percentage of suicides that occur on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Ken Holmes worked in the Marin County Coroner’s Office for thirty-six years, starting as a death investigator and ending as the three-term, elected coroner. As he grew into the job—one that is far different from the forensics we see on television—Holmes learned a variety of skills, from finding hidden clues at death scenes, interviewing witnesses effectively, managing bystanders and reporters, and preparing testimony for court to how to notify families of a death with sensitivity and compassion. He also learned about different kinds of firearms, all types of drugs—prescription and illegal—and about certain unexpected and potentially fatal phenomena, such as autoeroticism.

Complete with poignant anecdotes, The Education of a Coroner is “riveting and complex…supremely entertaining reading material and…a fascinating and wildly informative dive into the mysterious world of death and decay� ( Kirkus Reviews ).]]> 368 John Bateson 1501168231 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.16 2017 The Education of a Coroner: Lessons in Investigating Death
author: John Bateson
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science]]> 55867888
FromNew York Timesbestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold history of science's darkest secrets, “a fascinating book [that]deserves a wide audience� (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.

The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one anotherwrong.

Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.]]> 368 Sam Kean 0316496502 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.00 2021 The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
author: Sam Kean
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism]]> 55338982
What makes “cults� so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.� But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.

Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,� revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish� everywhere.]]> 309 Amanda Montell 0062993151 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.82 2021 Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
author: Amanda Montell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics]]> 46159525 336 Bruce Goldfarb 1492680478 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.66 2020 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics
author: Bruce Goldfarb
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History]]> 28110850
In Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History, zoologist Bill Schutt sets the record straight, debunking common myths and investigating our new understanding of cannibalism's role in biology, anthropology, and history in the most fascinating account yet written on this complex topic. Schutt takes readers from Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, where he wades through ponds full of tadpoles devouring their siblings, to the Sierra Nevadas, where he joins researchers who are shedding new light on what happened to the Donner Party--the most infamous episode of cannibalism in American history. He even meets with an expert on the preparation and consumption of human placenta (and, yes, it goes well with Chianti).

Bringing together the latest cutting-edge science, Schutt answers questions such as why some amphibians consume their mother's skin; why certain insects bite the heads off their partners after sex; why, up until the end of the twentieth century, Europeans regularly ate human body parts as medical curatives; and how cannibalism might be linked to the extinction of the Neanderthals. He takes us into the future as well, investigating whether, as climate change causes famine, disease, and overcrowding, we may see more outbreaks of cannibalism in many more species--including our own.

Cannibalism places a perfectly natural occurrence into a vital new context and invites us to explore why it both enthralls and repels us.

]]> 350 Bill Schutt 1616204621 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.88 2017 Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
author: Bill Schutt
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone]]> 30335545
It was Japan’s greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It set off a national crisis, and the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. And even after the immediate emergency had abated, the trauma of the disaster continued to express itself in bizarre and mysterious ways.

Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, lived through the earthquake in Tokyo, and spent six years reporting from the disaster zone. There he encountered stories of ghosts and hauntings. He met a priest who performed exorcisms on people possessed by the spirits of the dead. And he found himself drawn back again and again to a village which had suffered the greatest loss of all, a community tormented by unbearable mysteries of its own.

What really happened to the local children as they waited in the school playground in the moments before the tsunami? Why did their teachers not evacuate them to safety? And why was the unbearable truth being so stubbornly covered up?

Ghosts of the Tsunami is a classic of literary non-fiction, a heart-breaking and intimate account of an epic tragedy, told through the personal accounts of those who lived through it. It tells the story of how a nation faced a catastrophe, and the bleak struggle to find consolation in the ruins.]]> 276 Richard Lloyd Parry 1911214179 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.18 2017 Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone
author: Richard Lloyd Parry
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women]]> 31409135 The incredible true story of the women who fought America's Undark danger

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

]]> 479 Kate Moore 149264935X Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.13 2016 The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
author: Kate Moore
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained]]> 51216215 America's favorite cultural historian and author of Ghostland takes a tour of the country's most persistent "unexplained" phenomena

In a world where rational, scientific explanations are more available than ever, belief in the unprovable and irrational--in fringe--is on the from Atlantis to aliens, from Flat Earth to the Loch Ness monster, the list goes on. It seems the more our maps of the known world get filled in, the more we crave mysterious locations full of strange creatures.

Enter Colin Dickey, Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird. With the same curiosity and insight that made Ghostland a hit with readers and critics, Colin looks at what all fringe beliefs have in common, explaining that today's Illuminati is yesterday's Flat the attempt to find meaning in a world stripped of wonder. Dickey visits the wacky sites of America's wildest fringe beliefs--from the famed Mount Shasta where the ancient race (or extra-terrestrials, or possibly both, depending on who you ask) called Lemurians are said to roam, to the museum containing the last remaining "evidence" of the great Kentucky Meat Shower--investigating how these theories come about, why they take hold, and why as Americans we keep inventing and re-inventing them decade after decade. The Unidentified is Colin Dickey at his curious, wry, brilliant in his analysis, yet eminently readable.]]> 320 Colin Dickey 0525557571 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.65 2020 The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained
author: Colin Dickey
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
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]]> <![CDATA[The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time]]> 324494 The Great Plague is one of the most compelling events in human history, even more so now, when the notion of plague—be it animal or human—has never loomed larger as a contemporary public concern

The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholarly and general readers. Many books on the plague rely on statistics to tell the story: how many people died; how farm output and trade declined. But statistics can’t convey what it was like to sit in Siena or Avignon and hear that a thousand people a day are dying two towns away. Or to have to chose between your own life and your duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. Or to live in a society where the bonds of blood and sentiment and law have lost all meaning, where anyone can murder or rape or plunder anyone else without fear of consequence.

In The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.]]> 364 John Kelly 0060006935 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.87 2005 The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
author: John Kelly
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2005
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]]> The Facemaker 58709510 The Butchering Art, presents the compelling, true story of a visionary surgeon who rebuilt the faces of the First World War’s injured heroes, and in the process ushered in the modern era of plastic surgery.

From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: humankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care.

Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world’s first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits.

The Facemaker places Gillies’s ingenious surgical innovations alongside the dramatic stories of soldiers whose lives were wrecked and repaired. The result is a vivid account of how medicine can be an art, and of what courage and imagination can accomplish in the presence of relentless horror.]]> 315 Lindsey Fitzharris 0241389372 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.27 2022 The Facemaker
author: Lindsey Fitzharris
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries]]> 60041102 Two teens. Two diaries. Two social panics. One incredible fraud.

In 1971, Go Ask Alice reinvented the young adult genre with a blistering portrayal of sex, psychosis, and teenage self-destruction. The supposed diary of a middle-class addict, Go Ask Alice terrified adults and cemented LSD's fearsome reputation, fueling support for the War on Drugs. Five million copies later, Go Ask Alice remains a divisive bestseller, outraging censors and earning new fans, all of them drawn by the book's mythic premise: A Real Diary, by Anonymous.

But Alice was only the beginning.

In 1979, another diary rattled the culture, setting the stage for a national meltdown. The posthumous memoir of an alleged teenage Satanist, Jay's Journal merged with a frightening new crisis—adolescent suicide—to create a literal witch hunt, shattering countless lives and poisoning whole communities.

In reality, Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal came from the same dark place: Beatrice Sparks, a serial con artist who betrayed a grieving family, stole a dead boy's memory, and lied her way to the National Book Awards.

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries is a true story of contagious deception. It stretches from Hollywood to Quantico, and passes through a tiny patch of Utah nicknamed "the fraud capital of America." It's the story of a doomed romance and a vengeful celebrity. Of a lazy press and a public mob. Of two suicidal teenagers, and their exploitation by a literary vampire.

Unmask Alice . . . where truth is stranger than nonfiction.]]> 349 Rick Emerson 1637740425 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.93 2022 Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries
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]]> <![CDATA[Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation]]> 57693601 Part memoir and part literary true crime, Tell Me Everything is the mesmerizing story of a landmark sexual assault investigation and the private investigator who helped crack it open.

Erika Krouse has one of those faces. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this,� people say, spilling confessions. In fall 2002, Krouse accepts a new contract job investigating lawsuits as a private investigator. The role seems perfect for her, but she quickly realizes she has no idea what she’s doing. Then a lawyer named Grayson assigns her to investigate a sexual assault, a college student who was attacked by football players and recruits at a party a year earlier. Krouse knows she should turn the assignment down; her own history with sexual violence makes it all too personal. But she takes the job anyway, inspired by Grayson’s conviction that he could help change things forever--and maybe she could, too.

Over the next five years, Krouse learns everything she can about P. I. technique, tracking down witnesses and investigating a culture of sexual assault and harassment ingrained in the university’s football program. But as the investigation grows into a national scandal and a historic civil rights case, she finds herself increasingly consumed. When the case and her life both implode at the same time, she must figure out how to help win the case without losing herself.]]> 288 Erika Krouse 1250240301 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.74 2022 Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation
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name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.74
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]]> Scarred 46113727 "'Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor.' From the second I climb onto the table, acutely aware that I am lying in the sweat of my sisters, I will have blocked that out. Lying there completely naked, I am at my most vulnerable but determined to prove my strength. I try to keep my legs closed as my body wills itself to protect my most private area. . . . I tell myself: I am a warrior. I birthed a human. I can handle pain. But nothing could have ever prepared me for the feel of this fire on my skin."

Scarred is Sarah Edmondson's compelling memoir of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, the 12 years she spent within the organization (during which she enrolled over 2,000 members and entered DOS—NXIVM's "secret sisterhood"), her breaking point, and her harrowing fight to get out, to expose Keith Raniere and the leadership, to help others, and to heal. Complete with personal photographs, Scarred is also an eye-opening story about abuses of power, female trust and friendship, and how sometimes the search to be "better" can override everything else.

� In the tradition of Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, Escape by Carolyn Jessop, and Troublemaker by Leah Remini
� This tell-all follows Sarah from the moment she takes her first NXIVM seminar, to the invitation she accepts from her best friend, Lauren Salzman, into DOS, to her journey toward become a key witness in the federal case against its founders
� Evokes questions about friendship, ethics, good and evil, making it a brilliant selection for book clubs]]> 248 Sarah Edmondson 1452184267 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.90 Scarred
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]]> All the Living and the Dead 58724737
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?

Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.

Through Campbell’s incisive and candid interviews with these people who see death every day, she Why would someone choose this kind of life? Does it change you as a person? And are we missing something vital by letting death remain hidden? A dazzling work of cultural criticism, All the Living and the Dead weaves together reportage with memoir, history, and philosophy, to offer readers a fascinating look into the psychology of Western death.]]> 288 Hayley Campbell 1250281849 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.25 2022 All the Living and the Dead
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]]> <![CDATA[Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident]]> 17557470 288 Donnie Eichar 1452112746 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.94 2013 Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident
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average rating: 3.94
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]]> <![CDATA[Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts]]> 52724399 Star of Kindred Spirits and paranormal investigator Amy Bruni shares stories from her years of experiences with ghosts, organized around thirteen truths that guide her approach to the supernatural.

Amy Bruni, co-star of Kindred Spirits and one of the world's leading paranormal investigators, has learned a lot about ghosts over her years of research and first-hand experience. Now, in Life with the Afterlife, she shares the insight she has gleaned and how it has shaped her unique approach to interacting with the spirits of the dead and those who encounter them.

From her earliest supernatural encounters as a child, through her years appearing on Ghost Hunters and the creation of her company Strange Escapes, which offers paranormal excursions to some of America's most notoriously haunted destinations, and into her current work on The Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits, this book is full of astonishing and deeply moving stories of Amy's efforts to better understand the dead but not yet departed. With Amy's bright humor and fierce compassion for both those who are haunted and those who are haunting, Life with the Afterlife is an eye-opening look at what connects us as people, in life and beyond.]]> 257 Amy Bruni 1538754142 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.02 2020 Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts
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]]> <![CDATA[Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries]]> 60310691 A lively tour through the history of US cemeteries that explores how, where, and why we bury our dead

The summer before his senior year in college, Greg Melville worked at the cemetery in his hometown, and thanks to hour upon hour of pushing a mower over the grassy acres, he came to realize what a rich story the place told of his town and its history. Thus was born ѱ’s lifelong curiosity with how, where, and why we bury and commemorate our dead.

ѱ’s Over My Dead Body is a lively (pun intended) and wide-ranging history of cemeteries, places that have mirrored the passing eras in history but have also shaped it. Cemeteries have given birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States' ambition and reach.

But they are changing and fading. Embalming and burial is incredibly toxic, and while cremations have just recently surpassed burials in popularity, they’re not great for the environment either. Over My Dead Body explores everything—history, sustainability, land use, and more—and what it really means to memorialize.

Locales visited in Over My Dead Body
Shawsheen Cemetery � Bedford, Massachusetts
The 1607 Burial Ground � Historic Jamestowne, Virginia
Burial Hill � Plymouth, Massachusetts
Colonial Jewish Burial Ground � Newport, Rhode Island
Monticello’s African American Graveyard � Charlottesville, Virginia
Mount Auburn Cemetery � Cambridge, Massachusetts
Green-Wood Cemetery � Brooklyn, New York
Laurel Grove Cemetery � Savannah, Georgia
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery � Concord, Massachusetts
Central Park � New York, New York
Gettysburg National Cemetery � Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Arlington National Cemetery � Arlington, Virginia
Woodlawn Cemetery � Bronx, New York
Boothill Graveyard � Tombhill, Arizona
Forest Lawn Memorial-Park � Glenwood, California
The Chapel of the Chimes � Oakland, California
Hollywood Forever Cemetery � Los Angeles, California
Nature's Sanctuary � Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]> 272 Greg Melville 1419754858 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.97 2022 Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries
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]]> <![CDATA[The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring]]> 61281783 The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other--a 1920s midwife who may have been the century's most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men.

The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day Hungary. To look at the unlikely lineup of murderesses--village wives, mothers, and daughters--was to come to the shocking realization that this could have happened anywhere, and to anyone. At the center of it all was a sharp-minded village midwife, a "smiling Buddha" known as Auntie Suzy, who distilled arsenic from flypaper and distributed it to the women of Nagyrév. "Why are you bothering with him?" Auntie Suzy would ask, as she produced an arsenic-filled vial from her apron pocket. In the beginning, a great many used the deadly solution to finally be free of cruel and abusive spouses.

But as the number of dead bodies grew without consequence, the killers grew bolder. With each vial of poison emptied, a new reason surfaced to drain yet another. Some women disposed of sickly relatives. Some used arsenic as "inheritance powder" to secure land and houses. For more than fifteen years, the unlikely murderers aided death unfettered and tended to it as if it were simply another chore--spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. By the time their crimes were discovered, hundreds were feared dead.

Anonymous notes brought the crimes to light in 1929. As a skillful prosecutor hungry for justice ran the investigation, newsmen from around the world--including the New York Times--poured in to cover the dramatic events as they unfolded.

The Angel Makers captures in expertly researched detail the entirety of this harrowing story, from the early murders to the final hanging--the story of one of the most sensational and astonishing murder rings in all of modern history.]]> 336 Patti McCracken 0063275031 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.39 2023 The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring
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]]> <![CDATA[We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys]]> 59028580 Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School--the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys--and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families.

The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school's management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions.

In the wake of the school's shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school's graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school's poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school's property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle's work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering--one she continues to investigate to this day.

We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It's also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families--an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America.]]> 256 Erin Kimmerle 0063030241 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.84 2022 We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys
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]]> <![CDATA[What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator]]> 62919823 288 Barbara Butcher 1982179384 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.13 2023 What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator
author: Barbara Butcher
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]]> <![CDATA[The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis]]> 181892997
During those dark pre-antibiotic days, when tuberculosis killed one in seven people, white nurses at Sea View, New York’s largest municipal hospital, began quitting. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, city officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the strictures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed facility, dubbed “the pest house� where “no one left alive.”�

Spanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this story follows the intrepid young women, the “Black Angels,� who, for twenty years, risked their lives working under dreadful conditions while caring for the city’s poorest�1,800 souls languishing in wards, waiting to die or become “guinea pigs� for experimental (often deadly) drugs. Yet despite their major role in desegregating the NYC hospital system—and regardless of their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculosis at Sea View—these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival.]]> 448 Maria Smilios 0593544927 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.22 2023 The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis
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]]> <![CDATA[Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death through the Paranormal]]> 123183436
Death affects us all—not just at the end of our lives, but every day. And yet, it’s one of the most feared and misunderstood things we face. But what if there was a way to know more and use that knowledge to inform our daily lives? The first of its kind, Goodbye Hello blends supernatural research with psychology to explore death and grief. Written by paranormal investigator and star of Kindred Spirits and Ghost Hunters Adam Berry, this book will not only entertain but offer comfort to those struggling to come to terms with loss, grief, and the end of life.

Goodbye Hello answers questions such Why do spirits linger around in this world? Is there a “light� at the end of the tunnel? Can you connect with spirits in your dreams? How do you prepare for what’s next? Featuring incredible stories of real people who connected with the spirits of loved ones as well as interviews with paranormal experts Amy Bruni, Chip Coffey, and many more, Goodbye Hello helps you understand where you go after this life and why some stick around. Whether you want to believe in the afterlife, don’t believe in it at all, or just want to come to your own conclusions, Goodbye Hello is the ultimate paranormal guide for you.]]> 224 Adam Berry Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.90 Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death through the Paranormal
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]]> All That Is Wicked 60097427 Kate Winkler Dawson tells the story of Edward Rulloff--a serial murderer who was called "too intelligent to be killed"--and the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind.

Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer--some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter"--whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out.

By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell--a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century mind hunters tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story--and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology--were just beginning.

Expanded from season one of her podcast on the Exactly Right network, in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer--a century before the term was coined--through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come.]]> 320 Kate Winkler Dawson 0593420063 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.59 2022 All That Is Wicked
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name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.59
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]]> <![CDATA[Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment]]> 61237017
When Susannah Breslin is a toddler, her parents enroll her in an exclusive laboratory preschool at the University of California, Berkeley, where she becomes one of 128 children who are research subjects in an unprecedented 30-year psychological experiment that predicts who she and her cohort will grow up to be. Decades later, trapped in an abusive marriage to a man with a violent history and battling breast cancer, she starts to wonder how growing up under a microscope shaped the person she became and her life choices. Is she the narrator of the story of her life—or is something else? Already a successful journalist, whose published work has appeared in Forbes, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Bazaar, she decides to make her own curious history the subject of her next investigation and embarks on a life-changing journey that will expose the dark secrets hidden behind the renowned longitudinal study of personality development that she grew up believing knew her better than she knew herself.

Fearlessly vulnerable, unflinchingly raw, and lyrically written, this groundbreaking book is a remarkable account of a woman’s quest to reclaim her voice and an unblinking expose of why we turn out as we do. Data Baby’s story is unlike any other, but its message is universal. Sometimes you have to give up everything you have to become the person you were truly meant to be.]]> 224 Susannah Breslin 0306926008 Phyllisha 0 to-read 2.73 2023 Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment
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average rating: 2.73
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]]> <![CDATA[Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless]]> 103450619 A fascinating deep dive into the dark world of forensic science as experts team up to solve the identity of an unknown woman named "Ina Jane Doe," exploring the rapidly evolving techniques scientists are using to break the most notorious cold cases, written by the host of the popular true crime podcast, The Fall Line

Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to "getting the bad guy" behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence--and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases. In 2018, the accused Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, was finally apprehended after a decades-long investigation thanks to a very recent technique called forensic genealogy, which has since led to the closure of hundreds of cold cases, bringing long-awaited justice to victims and families alike. But when it comes to solving these incredibly difficult cases, forensic genealogy is just the tip of the iceberg--and many readers have no idea just how far down that iceberg goes.

For Laurah Norton, forensic science was always more of a passion than anything else. But after learning about a mishandled 1990s cold case involving missing twins, she was spurred to action, eventually creating a massively popular podcast and building a platform that helped bring widespread attention and resources to the case. LAY THEM TO REST builds on Laurah's fascination with these investigations, introducing readers to the history and evolution of forensic science, from the death masks used in Ancient Rome to the 3-D facial reconstruction technology used today. Incorporating the stories of real-life John & Jane Does from around the world, Laurah also examines how changing identification methods have helped solve the most iconic cold cases. Along the way readers will also get to see Laurah solve a case in real time with forensic anthropologist Dr. Amy Michael, as they try to determine the identity of "Ina" Jane Doe, a woman whose head was found in a brush in an Illinois park in 1993.

More than just a chronicle of the history of forensics, LAY THEM TO REST is also a celebration of the growing field of experts, forensic artists, and anthropologists (many of whom Laurah talks to in the book), who work tirelessly to bring closure to these unsolved cases. And of course, this book asks why some cases go unsolved, highlighting the "missing missing," the sex workers, undocumented, the cases that so desperately need our attention, but so rarely get it.

Engrossing, informative, heartbreaking, and hopeful, LAY THEM TO REST is a deep dive into the world of forensic science, showing readers how far we've come in cracking cases and catching killers, and illuminating just how far we have yet to go.]]> 352 Laurah Norton 0306828804 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.83 2023 Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
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]]> <![CDATA[Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin]]> 50403464
In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy--the practice of binding books in this most intimate covering. Dozens of such books live on in the world's most famous libraries and museums. Dark Archives exhumes their origins and brings to life the doctors, murderers, innocents, and indigents whose lives are sewn together in this disquieting collection. Along the way, Rosenbloom tells the story of how her team of scientists, curators, and librarians test rumored anthropodermic books, untangling the myths around their creation and reckoning with the ethics of their custodianship.

A librarian and journalist, Rosenbloom is a member of The Order of the Good Death and a cofounder of their Death Salon, a community that encourages conversations, scholarship, and art about mortality and mourning. In Dark Archives--captivating and macabre in all the right ways--she has crafted a narrative that is equal parts detective work, academic intrigue, history, and medical curiosity: a book as rare and thrilling as its subject.]]> 275 Megan Rosenbloom 0374134707 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.01 2020 Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
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name: Phyllisha
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]]> <![CDATA[Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues]]> 61327450 An account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs

According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.

Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history, exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals, the growth of Islam, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the devastation wrought by European colonialism, and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the world’s major religions.

By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind, Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective past—and urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.]]> 304 Jonathan Kennedy 0593240472 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.92 2023 Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues
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]]> <![CDATA[Without a Prayer: The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult]]> 41817431
Teenager Lucas Leonard made shocking admissions in front of the altar―he'd practiced witchcraft, conspired to murder his parents, and committed unspeakable crimes. The confessions earned him a brutal beating by a gang of angry church members, including his parents and sister. Lucas was brought to the hospital dead, awakening the sleepy community of Chadwicks, New York, to the horror that had been lurking next door.

Nine members of Lucas' church would eventually find themselves facing murder-related charges. But how did they get to that point? And what made Lucas confess? The full story has never been told―until now.

Emmy-nominated journalist Susan Ashline delves deep into the Leonard family history, the darkness within the Word of Life Christian Church, and what led Lucas, his family, and his community to that fateful night.]]> 400 Susan Ashline 1643130722 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.76 2019 Without a Prayer: The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult
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]]> <![CDATA[The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America]]> 60049471 320 Anita Hannig 1728244919 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.34 The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America
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]]> <![CDATA[Boys Enter the House: The Victims of John Wayne Gacy and the Lives They Left Behind]]> 57136789 —Jeff Coen, author of Murder in Canaryville

As investigators brought out the bagged remains of several dozen young men from a small Chicago ranch home and paraded them in front of a crowd of TV reporters and spectators, attention quickly turned to the owner of the house. John Gacy was an upstanding citizen, active in local politics and charities, famous for his themed parties and appearances as Pogo the Clown.

But in the winter of 1978�79, he became known as one of many so-called “sex murderers� who had begun gaining notoriety in the random brutality of the 1970s. As public interest grew rapidly, victims became footnotes and statistics, lives lost not just to violence, but to history.

Through the testimony of siblings, parents, friends, lovers, and other witnesses close to the case, Boys Enter the House retraces the footsteps of these victims as they make their way to the doorstep of the Gacy house itself.]]> 324 David B. Nelson 1641604867 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.74 Boys Enter the House: The Victims of John Wayne Gacy and the Lives They Left Behind
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]]> <![CDATA[A Light in the Dark: Surviving More than Ted Bundy]]> 122757860
He grabbed an oak log from a stack of firewood, slipped through a back door with a broken padlock, and headed upstairs. He began twisting doorknobs. Room 9 was open, and he quietly and quickly killed one of my sleeping sorority sisters. Across the hall, he found another unlocked door and murdered again. Then, he turned the knob to my bedroom and found it was open. I remember the attack vividly. Bundy bashed me once in the head with the log and then attacked my roommate. He heard me moaning and came to finish me off. He never let his victims live. But he stopped suddenly when a bright light filled the room. He fled the sorority house and the light disappeared.

Bundy wasn't my first brush with death, and he wasn't my last. I've long been a survivor. I was born into a Cuban American family in 1957 in Florida. I had a happy childhood until I received my first death sentence at the age of thirteen. Physicians weren't sure why I was always so exhausted and running a low-grade fever. The prognosis was grim after my left kidney started to fail. Then, a physician from Cuba saved my life with a surprise diagnosis—lupus—and treatment chemotherapy. I endured chemotherapy again in my early thirties when I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.

This is my story of surviving three death sentences and finding love and happiness along the way. I was saved by a bright light, and I hope my story is one for people who are experiencing their own dark times. I am a victim, but I am also a survivor, and I want to speak up for all the women and girls whom Bundy murdered.

He has become a legend, and our voices have been muted or ignored. It's time we were heard.]]> 312 Kathy Kleiner Rubin 1641608684 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.19 A Light in the Dark: Surviving More than Ted Bundy
author: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.19
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date added: 2025/04/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia]]> 55660736
The meaning of the word “hypothermia� has Greek origins and roughly translates to “less heat.� Its symptoms can be deadly—shivering, followed by confusion, irrationality, and even the illusion of feeling hot. But hypothermia has another side—it can be therapeutic.

In Out Cold, science writer Phil Jaekl chronicles the underappreciated story of human innovation with cold, from Ancient Egypt, where it was used to treat skin irritations, to eighteenth-century London, where scientists used it in their first explorations of suspended animation. Throughout history, physicians have used cold to innovate life extension, enable distant space missions, and explore consciousness.

Hypothermia may still conjure macabre images, like the bodies littering Mt. Everest and disembodied heads in cryo-freezers, but the reality is that modern science has invented numerous new life-saving cooling techniques based on what we’ve learned over the centuries. And Out Cold reveals a surprisingly warm future for this chilling state.]]> 272 Philip Jaekl 1541756754 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.59 2021 Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia
author: Philip Jaekl
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/14
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]]> Ireland (Crossroads, #1) 211585947 #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day returns to the decadence of the multimillion-selling Crossfire® Saga with Ireland, a searing new tale of temptation, deception, and ice-cold vengeance.

Ireland Vidal is the third generation to control Vidal Records, and she’s on track to lead the recording company to greater heights. She’s the youngest of an affluent, prominent family headed by her eldest brother, Gideon Cross � one of the richest men in the world. Despite her siblings� outsized shadows, Ireland has carved her own identity. But the clever, stunning beauty with fierce tenacity and a heart of gold has yet to find a man with whom to share her life � someone who doesn’t need her connections to be successful.

Then a chance meeting with Ronan Boudreaux sparks an irresistible attraction. He has it all: wealth, charm, a wickedly irresistible talent for seduction, and he can hold his own against her powerful family. He offers Ireland everything she’s ever wanted, but at what price?

Waiting in the wings, someone from the distant past bides his time until he can unleash his vendetta against the Vidals. He’s got old scores to settle and when he sets his plans in motion, everything and everyone Ireland loves is in his crosshairs.

From the soaring penthouses of high-stakes Manhattan to the opulent mansions and mysterious bayous of Louisiana, Ireland draws readers back into the illustrious lives of the beloved Vidal / Cross family, where the only thing more dangerous than desire is falling in love.]]> 382 Sylvia Day 1626500118 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.46 Ireland (Crossroads, #1)
author: Sylvia Day
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.46
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]]> <![CDATA[Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History]]> 36008996

When you think of serial killers throughout history, the names that come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy. But what about Tillie Klimek, Moulay Hassan, Kate Bender? The narrative we’re comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators. In fact, serial killers are thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide conference, “There are no female serial killers.�

Lady Killers, based on the popular online series that appeared on Jezebel and The Hairpin, disputes that claim and offers fourteen gruesome examples as evidence. Though largely forgotten by history, female serial killers such as Erzsébet Báthory, Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotton, and Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova rival their male counterparts in cunning, cruelty, and appetite for destruction.

Each chapter explores the crimes and history of a different subject, and then proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media, as well as the stereotypes and sexist clichés that inevitably surround her. The first book to examine female serial killers through a feminist lens with a witty and dryly humorous tone, Lady Killers dismisses easy explanations (she was hormonal, she did it for love, a man made her do it) and tired tropes (she was a femme fatale, a black widow, a witch), delving into the complex reality of female aggression and predation. Featuring 14 illustrations from Dame Darcy, Lady Killers is a bloodcurdling, insightful, and irresistible journey into the heart of darkness.



]]> 327 Tori Telfer 0062433741 Phyllisha 3 3.74 2017 Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History
author: Tori Telfer
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Gyldne løfter (Speak Easy, #1)]]> 217133852
Om dagen smugler den 20-årige Tiny O’Mara whisky. Om natten længes hun efter fest og spænding. Indtil hendes far bliver kidnappet, og Tiny skal skaffe den enorme løsesum på kun én uge.

Nu står hun midt i et mafiaopgør � splittet mellem to smukke mænd.

Enzo DiFiore er søn af den gangster, der står bag bortførelsen, og hans farlige charme tager pusten fra hende. Kan Tiny udnytte den forbudte gnist mellem dem? Hendes irriterende og flotte barndomsven Joey Lupo vil gerne hjælpe, men han har sin egen skjulte dagsorden �

Hvem kan man stole på i en verden, hvor alle vil have noget � sprut, penge, magt eller sex � og ingen bekymrer sig om konsekvenserne?]]> 316 Melanie Harlow 870240088X Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.60 2013 Gyldne løfter (Speak Easy, #1)
author: Melanie Harlow
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/20
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]]> Irresistible (French Edition) 217897297 336 Melanie Harlow 2487392096 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.94 2019 Irresistible (French Edition)
author: Melanie Harlow
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Stormdancer: The Lotus War Book One]]> 219628971
Meanwhile, the country around them verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shõgun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kagé cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shõgun's crimes, both against her country and her family.

Returning to the city, Yukiko is determined to make the Shõgun pay � but what can one girl and a flightless arashitora do against the might of an empire?]]> 337 Jay Kristoff Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.32 2012 Stormdancer: The Lotus War Book One
author: Jay Kristoff
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/13
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Practical Witchcraft: A Compendium of Spells, Rituals and Occult Knowledge (Mystic Archives, 2)]]> 57065392
Containing an extensive collection of traditional spells and techniques, this guide will help readers attract positive friendships, love and luck as well as promote healing, careers and protection. The Practical Book of Witchcraft is an essential reference for anyone wishing to master the incredible art of wicca and spell-making.


� A section on tools used as well as information on how to consecrate them
� Correspondences for different spells
� Rituals for manifesting your wishes

This spell-binding book provides a wonderful introduction into witchcraft and makes a perfect gift.

ABOUT THE The Mystic Archives are beautiful hardcover guides which reveal the hidden mysteries of esoteric arts, presented with foil-embossing, Wibalin binding, patterned endpapers and gilded page edges.]]> 304 Pamela Ball 1398808830 Phyllisha 0 currently-reading 4.04 The Book of Practical Witchcraft: A Compendium of Spells, Rituals and Occult Knowledge (Mystic Archives, 2)
author: Pamela Ball
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Phyllisha 0 currently-reading 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> Throttled (Dirty Air, #1) 206023355 Maya Alatorre is the sister of my teammate…and my new obsession.
Keeping my distance during the Formula 1 season should be easy, except I always find ways to see her.
Press tours. Pre-race rituals. Sponsor events and black-tie galas.
The more time we spend together, the stronger my desire grows.
Sneaking around with her is one thing, but wanting more?
Never going to happen.
She might be a distraction dressed like a daydream, but no woman is worth risking the championship title over.
Or so I thought.

Maya
Noah Slade is Formula 1 royalty and my brother’s biggest rival.
When I’m invited to join my sibling while he competes for the World
Championship, I promise to avoid Noah at all costs.
Twenty-one races. Two drivers who hate each other. And one forbidden attraction I can’t ignore.
Developing feelings for Noah wasn’t part of my plan.
But then again, neither was anyone finding out.
Turns out the man I was warned about happens to be the one I can’t stay away from.
Even if he breaks my heart once the season comes to an end.]]> 378 Lauren Asher 1734258705 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.69 2020 Throttled (Dirty Air, #1)
author: Lauren Asher
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> The Red Devil of Tokyo 141936791 I lost my innocence to a bloodied man...

I told everyone I came to Japan to finish my education and to teach English. But I really came to escape my abusive father. Playing soccer one day with friends, I didn't expect to run across a yakuza boss murdering someone. And I surely didn't expect him to come after me. But here I am, being stalked and worse by The Red Devil of Tokyo.

Yamamoto Kota is a nefarious criminal and a fierce lover. At 37, he's fourteen years older than me. I'm not really ready for this kind of life that may one day get me killed, for women are nothing to the yakuza. But how can I resist when The Red Devil owns every part of me and refuses to let me go? And then there's the mysterious shibari room he says I'm not ready for...]]> 344 Jennifer Tirrell Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.71 The Red Devil of Tokyo
author: Jennifer Tirrell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.71
book published:
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> The Lodge 214152208 From the author of The Reunion, a cozy rom-com about a writer who decamps to a Vermont lodge for work but finds herself distracted by the charming ski instructor next door.

Alix Morgan just got her big break as the ghostwriter of a memoir by Sebastian Green, a former member of the boy band True North. And when he offers her a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, she jumps at the chance to work far away from her noisy, cramped apartment.

Her career as an entertainment journalist has been building toward this dream job—after all, she used to cover True North and was one of the last people to interview former front man Jett Beckett before he disappeared. As she combs through her client’s voice memos, the specter of the missing lead singer remains, and fans are desperate to know the full story.

But Alix also has time for some fun at this glamorous resort, where she begins ski lessons with a handsome instructor named Tyler. As Alix and Tyler fall in love on the slopes, Alix’s work takes a complicated turn—and the mystery of True North’s downfall may be hers to solve.]]> 352 Kayla Olson 1668033194 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.71 2025 The Lodge
author: Kayla Olson
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> Simi (Shadows of Fire #3) 209568957
Now those dedicated fans will learn the truth ...

Life as a demon is never an easy one. Orphaned as a child, Simi was left to make her own way in the world of humans. Bound to the Atlantean god who caused the death of her mother, she’s spent her life trying to make sense of a world that baffles her.

But as the gods vie for a power that leaves demons, Dark-Hunters and humans struggling to take sides, Simi can no longer rely on the god, Acheron, for protection. She must find her own way. Not just for herself, but to save the lives of her family and friends.

Only one entity holds the secret she needs to save Acheron’s life. But the price it demands is steep, and it will leave her at the mercy of a creature known for cruelty. Her choice should be easy. Save Acheron at all costs. Yet some prices are too high and by saving Acheron, she just might destroy everything.]]> 327 Sherrilyn Kenyon Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.61 2025 Simi (Shadows of Fire #3)
author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Need You To Choose Me (Bluebonnet Creek #2)]]> 202895588
I’m determined to raise my baby on my own, but then he waltzes into my classroom to drop off his son.

Blake Walker.

The newly retired linebacker and single dad is even more gorgeous now than the night we spent together, and since he knows I’m pregnant with his baby, he’s adamant to do right by us.

I promised myself I won’t be somebody’s responsibility. However, Blake’s a man who doesn’t back down, especially when it comes to his family.

As if this town isn't small enough, he moves into the house across the street, and his presence is impossible to ignore. Blake is everything I never expected, and all three Walker boys are slowly working their way into my heart, but I can’t get used to it.

He wanted our baby, and I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a man who chooses me…]]> 489 Anna B. Doe Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.06 Need You To Choose Me (Bluebonnet Creek #2)
author: Anna B. Doe
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.06
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date added: 2025/01/25
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]]> Hooked (Never After, #1) 58545703 From USA Today bestselling author Emily McIntire comes a dark and delicious fractured fairy tale reimagining of Peter Pan.

He wants revenge, but he wants her more�

James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.

Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.

Hooked is a dark contemporary romance and the first complete standalone in the Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. It is not a literal retelling and not fantasy. Hooked features mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised. For all content warnings, check the author's website. ]]> 312 Emily McIntire 173750832X Phyllisha 0 currently-reading 3.78 2021 Hooked (Never After, #1)
author: Emily McIntire
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Camera Shy (Lessons in Love, #1)]]> 175473448
"A man is going to treat you how you treat yourself. So please, for the love of God, act like a queen."

I was expecting a ring on my thirtieth birthday. What I didn't see coming was my boyfriend and business partner dumping me because he couldn't bear the idea of our bland sex life for the rest of our lives.

When an opportunity arises to spend my summer in Las Vegas, I stumble upon my hot new neighbor and his photography studio. We strike a simple deal.

He's the teacher, and I'm his student.

My lesson is learning to love the body I have. In exchange, I'm going to save his business. I have exactly one summer to unearth the most confident version of myself before I go home and return to reality.

But after a passion-fueled summer, I'm not sure of who I am anymore, and it's clear that the worst heartbreak of my life might still be yet to come.]]> 446 Kay Cove Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.81 Camera Shy (Lessons in Love, #1)
author: Kay Cove
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Snapshot (Lessons in Love, #2)]]> 208183283
Be loud. Lean in. Take your seat at the head of the table. I want the whole room to know that when my wife speaks, it’s time to sit down and listen.

Thanks to my reckless roommate, I’m about two skips away from being homeless. Temp jobs aren’t paying the bills, and now I have to cancel the scuba diving trip I can no longer afford.

At least I’ll be spared from my instructor’s tempting smile and rock-hard abs. Dex is wonderful, but he’s only ever treated me like a friend…a really good friend. In fact, when he hears I’m having money problems, he comes up with a way we can help each other.

In a clever scheme to ensure her jaded, love-doubting grandson didn’t end up alone, Dex’s grandma left her company to Dex’s…wife. Except he isn’t married. Until me, that is.

Now I’m suddenly the CEO and majority shareholder of a billion-dollar cruise corporation. I’m unprepared, and the sharks in the boardroom are scarier than the great whites in the water. But the plan is simple. Play the part for a year, hand the company back over to Dex, then get divorced. Easy. In exchange, I’ll never have to worry about money again.

But it’s not long before I realize the company is in danger and a lot of people need my help. And now that I’m acting like the boss, there’s a look in Dex’s eyes I’ve never seen before. Something more than friendly� Because when he calls me “wife� lately, it doesn't seem like it's for show.]]> 384 Kay Cove Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.94 Snapshot (Lessons in Love, #2)
author: Kay Cove
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 58613424 752 J.K. Rowling Phyllisha 5 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Under the Bridge (Blue is the Color, #4)]]> 60727524 ​A quirky, friends-to-lovers, rock star romance...

Ian Grady, drummer for Blue is the Color, is a quiet, self-contained enigma, even to his closest friends and bandmates. He’s comfortable staying in the background, playing the drums, and working on his puzzles.

Valentina Petrov marches to the beat of her own drum and has never felt the need to fit in. Having been sheltered most of her life, she’s ready to step outside of her comfort zone and experience the world in a way she never has.

When Ian rescues his new next-door neighbor, Valentina, he becomes her hero, a title he doesn’t want. The girl, though? He can’t seem to stop wanting her, even though the last thing he’s looking for is a relationship.

The trouble is, Valentina is seeking adventure, and the tall, tattooed drummer next door looks like the exact type of adventure she’s been waiting for.

]]> Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.33 2019 Under the Bridge (Blue is the Color, #4)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Such Great Heights (Blue is the Color, #3)]]> 60727520 A forbidden friends-to-lovers rock star romance...

Malka Fischer has a bad reputation.

Jasper Antonio is the nice guy of rock.

They've known each other for years, but neither has looked beyond the surface. To Jasper, Malka is his best friend's on-again, off-again girlfriend. To Malka, Jasper is the squeaky clean bassist in her ex's band.

One night fueled by grief and alcohol changes it all. They finally see each other for who they really are and a connection is uncovered between them that can't be denied.

Even though it should be, since not denying it could destroy everything.

(Although this is a standalone story, some of the timelines of this book overlaps with Times Like These. You'll enjoy it a lot more if you read that one first! Also, there is NO cheating and NO love triangle in this book!)]]> Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.08 2019 Such Great Heights (Blue is the Color, #3)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Watch Me Unravel (Blue is the Color, #2)]]> 60727512 A sexy and emotional second chance romance...

David Wiesel lives for making music, partying, and women. He has a wicked sense of humor and a body made for sinning. He's the kind of guy every mama warns her daughter about.

Sylvia Price lives for her daughter, theater, and teaching. She's living a responsible life and left her wild ways in the past. She's the kind of woman every mama wants her son to marry. Not that she's looking for that.

One drunken night when they were teenagers left them irrevocably bound. Fifteen years later, an accident brings them back together and there is no denying the heat that scorched them when they were young is still there, sparking between them.

While David is more than willing to stoke those flames, Sylvia is afraid this time, the fire will burn her right to the ground.]]> 342 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.08 2019 Watch Me Unravel (Blue is the Color, #2)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Times Like These (Blue is the Color, #1)]]> 60727508 An enemies-to-lovers rock star romance...

Nick Fletcher has the voice of a god and a tongue as sharp as a knife. His words can cut, and this time, his quick temper has earned him an intruder in his life and on his tour.

Dalia Brenner looks like a grown-up Annie gone bad, but he wants nothing to do with her pin-up worthy curves and smart mouth. His method of dealing is to keep his head down, get through the tour, and then he'll never have to see her again.

Dalia has no intention of having heart-to-hearts with Nick. They share a bus and sleep three feet apart every night, but that doesn't mean she can't ignore the scowly, grumpy lead singer.

Except she can't seem to deny the annoying instinct to "fix" the pain and grief behind Nick's sea glass eyes, even though she definitely knows better.

And Nick, well, he's getting tired of denying Dalia...period.

Dalia has plans though, and none of them involve being a rock star's girlfriend. Too bad Nick couldn't disagree more.]]> 290 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.93 2019 Times Like These (Blue is the Color, #1)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Jump on Three (Savage Academy #3)]]> 199551696
-Order relaxes me.

-Tattooed boys with shaggy hair and soulful eyes are strictly off-limits.

I’ve recently come to the conclusion I’m bad at boyfriends. But as terrible as I am at choosing them, even I would never consider my sister’s former crush—tall, growly, enigmatic Ivan Sokolov. That’s a line I won’t cross, even if Delilah is way over him.

Ivan is just my swim teammate.

The guy who walks me to class and shares his playlists.

And he’s the person who keeps stealing my study room. Sure, there are others, but room three is mine. Which I let him know, in no uncertain terms.

The thing is, Ivan thinks my bluntness is adorable. He’s not scared off by my dozens of questions or need to move. My quirks are cute to him.

And I…well, I can’t stop looking at him, even though I shouldn’t. I also can’t resist following him—just a little—to find out his secrets.

I know better. Bullies and a life that hasn’t always been kind have toughened me up. I’m a realist and this is black and white.

Except when Ivan’s lips touch mine and my orderly world is turned upside down, I suddenly start to see how beautiful gray can be.]]> 333 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.36 2024 Jump on Three (Savage Academy #3)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[These Two Wrongs (Savage Academy, #2)]]> 152172196 The universe must really hate me.

Rhys Astor, the guy with a deadly smirk and devil-may-care attitude, is the sole witness to one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. But even worse, now he’s suddenly intrigued by me, which is confusing because until now, he couldn’t be bothered to remember my name.

Dorothy, Donatella, Danielle…no, it’s Delilah, you unhinged prat.

I don’t want his attention. If I had my way, we’d go on avoiding each other for the rest of our lives, but again, the universe is conspiring against me. Rhys is the captain of the fencing team, and I’m the new manager. That means we’re stuck together everyday for practice, tournaments, and long, long bus rides to away matches.

Our shared bus rides lead to heated bickering.
That bickering leads to hate-kissing…and not-so-hate kissing.
And somehow, those few stolen kisses lead to sexy tutoring sessions, where Rhys is an extremely enthusiastic student.

He shows me with every single touch, kiss, and whispered word how much he appreciates my rounded curves. And in return, I show him what it means to truly be cared for.

But I have a feeling Rhys is hiding something. That his motives might not be what they seem.
I’ve never wanted to be wrong about anything more than I do about these nagging suspicions.
Because if I’m right, then there’s nothing but heartbreak waiting for me.

(These Two Wrongs is an enemies to lovers, standalone romance. There is no OW drama, no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA!)
Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Plus size heroine
Found family
Sports (fencing)]]> 336 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.21 2023 These Two Wrongs (Savage Academy, #2)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Save One Thing (Savage Academy, #1)]]> 123253395
I’m too close to my goal of landing a full ride to college to get distracted now.

Besides, I blend in better at the skate park than I do in the hallowed halls of Savage Academy, boarding school for the rich and overprivileged, so staying away from guys hasn’t been a problem�

Until him.

Beckett Savage. Coldly handsome. Forever brooding. I thought he hated me. His attempt to get me expelled two years ago would leave that impression on anyone.

But lately, Beckett isn’t acting like he hates me.

He’s watching me with his icy blue eyes, showing up everywhere I go, and getting between me and any other guy who dares to look at me.

When he lets me see beneath his untouchable veneer, I’m shocked at what I find.

Suddenly, my one simple rule is becoming complicated.

Giving in to my feelings for Beckett Savage could either be the beginning of something great…or the end of everything I’ve worked for.]]> 343 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.07 2023 Save One Thing (Savage Academy, #1)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Burn it Down (The Savage Crew, #3)]]> 60727544
And wouldn’t you know, the one person who knows about my case of temporary rebellion is the last one I’d ever want to find out.

Gabe Fuller might be Savage River High’s class clown, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s a villain in disguise. Once upon a time, I gave him my heart, but our ending was no fairytale.

As the keeper of my darkest secret, Gabe thinks he owns me. I’ll play along because I have no other choice, but I’ll never bow, and I definitely won’t fall…no matter how good his hands feel on my curves.]]> 343 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.06 2021 Burn it Down (The Savage Crew, #3)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Through the Ashes (The Savage Crew, #2)]]> 60727541
I’m thrust into the spotlight. His spotlight.

Asher Beck is a golden god at Savage River High. Football star, whip-smart, and popular, we don’t belong in the same hemisphere, let alone circle. But underneath that perfection is a darkness he only reveals to me.

I have no idea what I did to capture Asher’s attention, but he is relentless in his pursuit. The problem is, I can’t tell if he’s trying to break me or own me...and I don’t know which I want more.

Broken boy meets broken girl.

Author's Note: Through the Ashes is a high school bully romance with mature themes and dubious situations some readers may find offensive. If heroes who are golden on the outside but dark as night on the inside aren't your thing, this book isn't for you!]]> Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.96 2021 Through the Ashes (The Savage Crew, #2)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Start a Fire (The Savage Crew, #1)]]> 60727501
The last time I put myself in the spotlight, I was left in shambles.

Unfortunately, my carefully laid plans go to hell when I grab the attention of dark, forbidding, and brutally hot Sebastian Vega. He looks at me like he wants to kill my puppy or eat me alive. Quite possibly both.

Sebastian is everywhere I go, and he’s decided I’m the twisted game he wants to play, whether I’m a willing participant or not.

The question is...what will I have to lose in order to win?

Authors Note: This is a DARK high school bully romance with mature themes and dubious situations that some readers may find offensive. If you’re looking for a nice guy, prince of a hero, this story isn’t for you.]]> 341 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.86 2021 Start a Fire (The Savage Crew, #1)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> Dissonance (Unrequited, #3) 54930648
I’m not everyone.

My history with Alex goes way back. Back to before the fame and groupies and wild tours. Before he was the lead guitarist for Unrequited. We’ve known each other for a decade and have been at odds for a good portion of it.

When I need Alex’s help, he jumps in with both feet, volunteering to be my fake boyfriend at an old friend’s out-of-town wedding.

Where my ex-boyfriend will be. The man I thought I’d marry one day.

I’m going to the wedding for closure, but what I didn’t count on is how my eyes are opened to who Alex Murray really is. Or that the act we’re putting on isn’t an act at all.]]> 323 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.39 2020 Dissonance (Unrequited, #3)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> Unrequited (Unrequited, #1) 49516207
But what’s a drummer without a band? Oh, that’s right. A cocktail waitress.

That is, until the chance of a lifetime falls into my lap—Unrequited needs a drummer, and I happen to have an ‘in� with the band.

The only trouble is, Santiago Garza, Unrequited’s broody, scowly bassist, doesn’t want me in his band, which is kind of funny, considering he was the one who took my heart and stomped all over it five years ago.

My career is far more important than hurt feelings though, so Santiago can suck it up and deal. That’s what I’m doing, no matter how many times I remember the feel of his lips on mine. I won’t fall for him this time. I’m done being anyone’s second choice.]]> 317 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.26 2020 Unrequited (Unrequited, #1)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> Misconception (Unrequited #2) 51545360 rock stars. I grew up in the business, and now I make a living managing their tours. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Lots and lots of ugly.

All that ugly is why I’ve sworn off dating rockers, but sleeping with them, well...I’ve been known to make the occasional exception.

One sultry night in Vegas, Mo Aronson, lead singer of Unrequited, becomes one of those exceptions. We dance, we connect, we... get married.

That wasn’t in the cards. And the positive pregnancy test a few weeks later really wasn’t in the cards.

Despite the shock, I think I can handle becoming a mom. What I’m not sure I can handle is the younger, bad boy rocker who won’t back down no matter how many times I push him away.]]> 337 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.18 2020 Misconception (Unrequited #2)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> The Words 57797137
He was the talented bad boy everyone wanted.
I was the irrelevant geek everyone hated.

He was the sun...drawing all of us in.
I was a black hole...taking up space.

He was destined to be a star.
I was destined to remain an insignificant no one.

Until he made me believe I was special...

And then he destroyed me.

I never thought I'd see Phoenix Walker again after he broke my heart, but fate had other plans.

One tour. Eight weeks. Forty shows.

Countless opportunities to make him pay.

The world thought he was a God...
But I knew the truth.]]> 676 Ashley Jade Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.32 2022 The Words
author: Ashley Jade
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> Plump 59324466
I love that about her, but I hate the men in her life who told her she wasn’t beautiful, who told her she wasn’t the right size or the right shape. Everything about my Diamond is perfect, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to her.

When I find out who she really is, that’s when things get even more dangerous. But it doesn’t matter, because Diamond is all mine. I’ll go to war for her, and I’ll happily destroy anyone who tries to take her from me—even her own father.

MINK's Note: Get in your feels and hug your furry friend tight for this tale of a curvy heroine and the man who loves her unconditionally.]]> 141 Mink Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.98 2021 Plump
author: Mink
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Tell Me No (Sugar and Spice #4)]]> 196698861
I was there when he lost his first tooth, the first person he called when he finally turned in his ‘V-card,� and the shoulder he leaned on when his parents passed away.

For over twenty years, we’ve been inseparable. Before high school, throughout college, and even through every girlfriend he’s had, or boyfriend I’ve loved.

So, when he called me up to tell me he and his fiancé of almost a year decided to call it quits, it was a no-brainer that he needed me.

First, it started with the basics of what happened over the phone. Then, we moved on to the drinks at our favorite bar.

And by the end of the night, he was hovering his lips an inch from mine, demanding I tell him no, but I didn’t–I couldn’t.

But when the night is over and the alcohol has worn off, will we still feel the same?]]> 84 B.L. Mute Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.87 Tell Me No (Sugar and Spice #4)
author: B.L. Mute
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[For The Boys (Sugar & Spice #3)]]> 196698639 With college classes approaching in a matter of weeks and knowing I’ll have to leave town, I want to go out with a bang.
And the way I plan to do that is going to one of their infamous parties.
Drew Lewis, Isaac Dean, and Vincent Brooks.
I’ve wanted them for as long as I can remember, just like every other girl in this small town, but now I’ve managed to catch their attention.
At first, the liquid courage from the copious amounts of beer I had made me feel good. But when they asked to make a movie, I sobered up really quick.
Do I give in to my own wants and their praise, or walk out and forget the entire night ever happened?

FTB is a short story consisting of:
🎥A home movie
🖤3 heroes
🎥Lots of praise
🖤K!inky things
*BLURB COMING SOON*]]> 82 B.L. Mute Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.24 For The Boys (Sugar & Spice #3)
author: B.L. Mute
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.24
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]]> <![CDATA[One More Night (Sugar and Spice #2)]]> 196698433
Normally, I was a "shop online" kind of man, but for the first time in years, I decided to actually hit the brick-and-mortar store to see what I could find.

But what I didn't expect to find was her� a sweet, seemingly innocent, thick beauty—asking if I was interested in a penis pump. I laughed and knew I was a goner.

Living alone meant laughter didn't come often, and physical touch was almost nonexistent. I knew I wanted whatever Juliet could give me though, so I asked her the only way that made sense to me.

With money and a contract.

But after one night only, I knew it wouldn’t be enough.

With her safe word still in place and a new contract on the horizon, maybe she’ll let me ravish her for one more night.

One More Night is a short story continuation of One Night Only consisting of:
🖤A plus-sized heroine
💚A billionaire silver fox hero
🖤K!nky things
💚A happily ever after]]> 88 B.L. Mute Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.69 One More Night (Sugar and Spice #2)
author: B.L. Mute
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.69
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rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[One Night Only (Sugar and Spice, #1)]]> 196698170
This is what my life has been reduced down to� Asking old men if they would like WD-40 for their nether regions with their latest Naughty Nurses Volume 55 DVD from the adult store I work at.

Don’t get me wrong, this is my fault. I should have packed up and moved from this small town years ago, but I got comfortable, and now, I can’t seem to break the chains this place has around me.

I want something new though� something exciting.

And when Reed Taylor� the too-fine-for-Earth, billionaire silver fox� walks in to make a few purchases of his own, I know I've hit the "New and Exciting" Jackpot. KA-CHING ! There's only one problem... Men like him don’t go for women like me. I’m too thick, too average, and far too boring. But to my surprise, he doesn’t see me that way.

With enough cash to get me out of this Podunk town and my name on his dotted line, I make a deal to get out from under my rusty detachable showerhead and under him. When all is said and done though, will “one night only� be enough?]]> 84 B.L. Mute Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.39 One Night Only (Sugar and Spice, #1)
author: B.L. Mute
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.39
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Misadventures of a Curvy Girl (Misadventures #18)]]> 40665653
Caleb Carpenter and Ben Weber are everything Ireland and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce dreamed of when conceptualizing the “Real Kansas� promotional campaign. They’re handsome, young, educated, and totally dedicated to their small prairie town.

When Ireland’s Prius gets stuck on a Kansas dirt road and a massive storm rips through town, she’s left stranded with nowhere to turn but to Caleb and Ben. These two hunky country boys are impossible to ignore, but could they ever be interested in her as well?

Caleb and Ben are more than interested…and they’re willing to share. After their first night together, they know this has to be more than a one-time thing. They need to make her theirs forever. But can they convince Ireland they love her, curves and all?


Misadventures is a romantic series of spicy standalone novels, each written or co-written by some of the best names in romance. The stories are scandalous, refreshing, and, of course, incredibly sexy. They’re the perfect bedside read, a ‘quick blush� for the reader who loves a page-turning romance.]]> 226 Sierra Simone 1642630772 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.86 2019 Misadventures of a Curvy Girl (Misadventures #18)
author: Sierra Simone
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Sweeper (Harris Brothers World, #4)]]> 57682161
Zander Williams is the hot new American determined to take European football by storm. His head is so big, it barely fits under his backwards hat. And when he’s recruited to one of the biggest up and coming clubs in London, he’s certain to make his name known.

Managing the building where they live is only one of Daphney’s many jobs. It’s why she has zero patience for the obnoxious American on the other side of the wall who makes the most ungodly noises and likes to answer his door in nothing but a pink tea towel.

Tensions build and after one steamy hallway kiss, neighbor wars quickly shifts into neighbors-with-benefits and that’s a battle they both intend to win.

But Daphney doesn’t know the real reason Zander is in London and now she’s stuck in the middle of a game she didn’t even know she was playing.]]> 328 Amy Daws 1944565361 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.37 2021 Sweeper (Harris Brothers World, #4)
author: Amy Daws
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Replay (Harris Brothers World, #3)]]> 55808624
Football club lawyer, Santino Rossi is known in the locker room as the two-month chump. For years he’s been on a mission to find someone he can share his basil plant with and cure him of his former playboy ways.

Tilly Logan is a fiery, Scottish lass who didn’t bat an eye five years ago when a smoldering Italian pulled her into a nightclub bathroom. He was dark, dangerous, and exactly the good time Tilly was looking for—even if he worked for her over-protective brother’s team.

But a lot has changed and when Tilly returns to London five years later only to find herself trapped in an elevator with the smoldering Italian, it isn’t a happy reunion. Especially because her brother blames Santino for her high tailing it back to Scotland in the first place.

Tilly doesn’t want a replay of past mistakes and reconnecting with Santino is playing with fire.

But if they keep their relationship a secret, it could be worth the burn.]]> 323 Amy Daws Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.25 2021 Replay (Harris Brothers World, #3)
author: Amy Daws
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Blindsided (Harris Brothers World, #2)]]> 52602989
Lots of banter, awkwardness, jealousy, and heat.

Midfielder Maclay “Mac� Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime.

Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered.

However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya.

What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off.

Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.

Blindsided is a full length (97,000 words) contemporary rom-com standalone with a sports theme.]]> 322 Amy Daws 1944565299 Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.06 2019 Blindsided (Harris Brothers World, #2)
author: Amy Daws
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Payback (Harris Brothers World, #1)]]> 44447218 Her cheating ex deserves to see her living her best life; a one-night-stand with a hot South African soccer player would be the perfect revenge. Right?

Wrong. Allie is so, so wrong.

ROAN DEWALT HAS ALL THE MOVES.
On and off the field he’s at the top of his game. Roan respects hard-work, dedication—and follow through. He’s not a one and done kind of man, and he’s far from being done with Allie Harris.

One sexy night and two years later, Allie’s job brings her back to town. An opportunity for the perfect replay Roan has been fantasizing about since they slept together.

THE PROBLEM?
Allie Harris has a secret; one she’s been keeping from Roan all this time. Video proof of their one night together—taken without his consent.

Will Allie’s payback plan come back to bite them both? Or can she erase her past mistake and embrace a new future with Roan?]]> 290 Amy Daws Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.27 2019 Payback (Harris Brothers World, #1)
author: Amy Daws
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The A-List (Larsson Siblings, #5.5)]]> 123027427 “I think my husband wants to explore kink.�

Rune owns a bookstore, which means he supplies me with all my reading needs.

Only, lately, those books aren’t your momma’s reading list. They aren’t even your best friend’s reading list. They’re the kind of reads that you finish in bed with one hand under the covers, then talk about with other reading obsessed people in closed book groups on the internet.

But here’s the catch, I’m kind of into it.

Satan better help me, ’cause God’s ready to forsake this little deviant.]]> Evie Mitchell Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.67 The A-List (Larsson Siblings, #5.5)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Christmas Contract (Larsson Siblings, #5)]]> 157381593 I forgot to tell my family I wrote a novel.
I didn’t think it would be that big a deal. Then a big name movie star raved about it and suddenly my face is splashed across morning talk shows, and producers are offering me millions for film rights.

Enter Robert ‘Robbie� Huynh � America’s rom-com heartthrob. He’s tall, dark, handsome, and Australian. He’s like all my weaknesses rolled into one delicious package.

He's also the one who started this mess, and he wants my film rights. He wants them real bad.
So we strike a deal; I'll sign the contract if he gives me full creative license.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Only this Christmas contract? It's got all the strings attached.

Robbie
I’m in a rut. An acting rut. Being typecast as the romantic lead is getting old real fast. I want action, adventure, mystery.
I want Astrid Larsson’s film rights. And I’m not above using a little Aussie charm to get it.

Only Astrid’s not at all what I expected. For a woman who writes crime thrillers, I expected someone hard, seasoned, rough. She’s the exact opposite, and she’s getting under my skin � big time.

I need to keep my head in the game. After all, this Christmas, all I really want is� Astrid?!

Warning: This book is inspired by Christmas movies, true crime podcasts, and a crisp Aussie accent. So, get thee a man, some mistletoe, and settle in � this read will have you jingling all the way to the bedroom.]]> 105 Evie Mitchell Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.60 2020 The Christmas Contract (Larsson Siblings, #5)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Reality Check (Larsson Siblings, #4)]]> 157381287 Unemployed, homeless and pregnant - not how I intended to spend this Thanksgiving.
To be fair, I quit my job, and no one could have predicted the flood in my apartment.
The baby? Well, that's on me.
A tipsy hook-up at my brother's wedding, a failed condom, and suddenly I'm stuck with my nemesis, Ian Campbell.
The man is infuriating - he looks like a red-haired Big Foot, is built like a lumberjack, and acts like a refined laird of some crumbling castle.
He's confusing, irritating and... kissable?
No, no way. There is absolutely no possible universe in which I'm falling for the Sasquatch... right?

Ian
Liv 'The Harpy' Larsson is pregnant is my baby. How the good god did that happen?
I mean, I know how it happened. Those memories don't seem to want to quit.
But now she's in my house. And my car. And at my work. And we're going to pregnancy classes and buying diapers, and she's suddenly not so much a harpy as happy.
Wait. No. Do I like Liv?
Is this... love?

Warning: This book is inspired by reality TV, strong scotch, and lumberjacks. So, get thee a man, a camera, and settle in � this read will have you questioning if hate is really such a bad thing.]]> 106 Evie Mitchell 0648968723 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.66 2020 Reality Check (Larsson Siblings, #4)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The X-list (Larsson Siblings, #3)]]> 157380842 What kind of crazy person doesn’t read? Apparently my new neighbour. She’s loud, sassy, flirty and infuriatingly, annoyingly cheerful.

And a non-reader. The worst kind of human.

So why is that when I dare her to enter the charity read-a-thon, I suddenly find myself carefully curating her list?

And those books� they’re definitely not your momma’s romance.

Gabby
I’m used to people underestimating me. Normally I can brush it off with a laugh. But Rune? He gets under my skin.

So when he make an off-handed comment that a non-reader like me shouldn’t bother with the town’s charity event, I can’t help but accept the challenge.

Only these books are not what I remember from the school book list. Not. Even. Close.

And Rune? Well I’m beginning to see him in a new light.

Or, should I say, hear him?

Warning: This sexy little number is inspired by hot books, men who read, and a slight exhibitionist tease. Get thee a man who knows how to handle you between the covers, and settle in � this steamy read will have you begging for more.]]> 134 Evie Mitchell 0648712877 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.78 2020 The X-list (Larsson Siblings, #3)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Clean Sweep (Larsson Siblings, #2)]]> 157380514 Nappies, poop and so many sleepless nights I was pretty sure in some countries this would be considered torture and my kids could be tried for war crimes.

Yep, I was now a dad. A dad who had no clue what he was doing. A dad who somehow ended up with two kids who weren't his but I fuc- er, I mean - gosh-darn I loved them.

Only... I needed help. A LOT of help. My house was a wreck and I needed sleep. Badly.

Enter Laura -- the Queen of Clean.

She had to be an apparition caused by my sleep-deprived mind. Cause god knew she was exactly what I'd always wanted in a woman, and one glance at her curves and pretty smile had me reconsidering the need for sleep.

Laura
Being offered my own TV show was a dream come true. As the Queen of Clean I had an opportunity to educate people about the importance of cleanliness.

Only one look at my latest project and all I could think of was dirty, sweaty, filthy things.

Erik Larsson is tempting me with sweet murmurings, beautiful babies and a helpless need for a spotless kitchen. The man knows my weaknesses... the only problem?

I'm meant to be leaving for my next assignment at the end of the month.

The Queen of Clean doesn't stick around... right?

Warning: This hilarious read involves cute babies, gorgeously helpless men, and an appreciation for a clean house that goes over oh so well. Settle in greedy reader, you might need gloves for this delicious mess.]]> 96 Evie Mitchell Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.68 2020 Clean Sweep (Larsson Siblings, #2)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Thunder Thighs (Capricorn Cove World, #1; Larsson Siblings, #1)]]> 124938729
Walking into Ella Bronze's bar was the best decision I'd made all year. Fuck, all decade. The gorgeous bombshell had curves for days � the kind that made me drool. There was no way this seductive siren was escaping. Looked like it was time to do what my ancestors did best � take what I wanted.

Warning: This over-the-top piece of fluff is inspired by big thighs, sexy Vikings and a desire to have your pussy plundered. Get thee a Viking and settle in � this instalove story will blow you right off course.]]> 141 Evie Mitchell 0648421074 Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.57 2019 Thunder Thighs (Capricorn Cove World, #1; Larsson Siblings, #1)
author: Evie Mitchell
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> Her Shadows, His Secrets 60281390 I hid in the shadows all my life. That was where I felt I belonged the most, because I was ridiculed by the ones I loved, by society’s view of women like me.

But now I believe someone is out to hurt me, yet I don’t know who it could be. I didn’t think I had anyone to fear, except for in the shadows, the same ones that used to keep me safe.

Moving to Cherry Hill meant I could start fresh, but this town holds something I wasn’t ready for. Not only do I find things out about myself and parts of my life I didn’t know existed, but I also meet him.

Theo
I was only here for a job. But now she’s in front of me, interfering and blocking the clear path. Bending and breaking under my hands day in and day out. The secrets I hold could destroy her and, in turn, hurt me.

I regret how we began the moment I get to know her. Now, it all hangs in the balance. My secrets are getting too heavy, and when they come out, I just may lose the one woman I know I could fall for.]]> C.C. Monroe Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.53 Her Shadows, His Secrets
author: C.C. Monroe
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]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Like Poison (Savage U, #3)]]> 60790538 The first time I laid eyes on the delicious mountain of a man, Lachlan “Lock� Kelly, he walked out of the room without giving me a single glance.

You’re in trouble now.
It’s my junior year at Savage U and life is grand. Except for the fact that Lachlan Kelly lives right next door, he acts like he doesn’t know my name, and he barely acknowledges my existence.
I don’t get it. How can he so easily look away from me when he’s all I see?

The ice queen is melting�
A few angry frat boys and their arm candy make it their mission to ruin my semester and possibly my life. But I show those boys that messing with Elena Sanderson is a fatal mistake, and Lachlan surprisingly backs me up.
And when he finally gives me his attention, I greedily soak up everything he has to offer.

You’re arsenic-laced candy
Lachlan tells me I’m bad for him, but he can’t resist the pull between us anymore.

I don’t break things.
I know he’s not staying.
When he goes, he’ll leave me tangled up in memories.

I won’t play games.
His promises have a time limit, even though I’m beginning to wish they didn’t.

Even if it hurts�
We were over before we ever began.

(Author's note: Sweet Like Poison contains dark themes and mature content, including mentions of past assault. Please read the full content warning inside the book.)]]> 359 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.27 2022 Sweet Like Poison (Savage U, #3)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.27
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]]> <![CDATA[Real Like Daydreams (Savage U #4)]]> 62018059
The first time I laid eyes on Julien Umbra, he made me cry.

That makes him sound mean, but grumpy would be more of an apt description. Besides, I always cry when I’m drunk.

Hate is a strong, strong word.

I’m back for another semester at Savage U, nursing a bruised heart and shattered ego. That’s what happens when your ex cheats and everyone knows.

Worse than that, the girl my ex told me not to worry about and then banged is vying for the one thing I want: drum captain of the marching band.

Pretend all you want to.

I have a chance to get what I want, there’s just one little thing I have to do: fake date the grumpy guy in the hoodie. The one who sits alone at the front of the class and growls at anyone who speaks to him.

But Julien doesn’t growl at me, and to my surprise, he agrees to be my fake boyfriend.


Breaking the already broken�
Julien is scarred in more ways than one, but he’s not as broken as he thinks he is. There's something about him that draws me in.

I like him, and the longer we do this, it starts to feel like it’s not for show.

All of this is fleeting.

I have to remember this is fake.

When I get what I want, Julien and I will walk away from each other.

The song will end.

But what if all I want is Julien?]]> 385 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.30 2022 Real Like Daydreams (Savage U #4)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.30
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]]> <![CDATA[Bright Like Midnight (Savage U, #2)]]> 60151514
The first time I laid eyes on Amir Vasquez, he held me hostage in my dorm.

You made me a promise.

I swore to myself my second year at Savage U would be different from the last. No more hiding from things that go bump in the night. I’m dating now. Making friends. Living my life.

But then someone starts leaving me notes and whispering my name in the dark, scaring me right back into my shell.

Are you my pet?

I’m shy and soft. Amir is dominant and hard. He stole a kiss once, and then he left me.

I should stay far away from him. But you know what they say about the devil you know�

Do I own you?

Amir will protect me, but not without cost.

I’m his, to do with as he pleases.

He thinks it’s a punishment.

But what he doesn’t know is I haven’t stopped thinking about him since he was my captor.

No one’s going to hurt you.

I’m safe from harm if I’m with him because he’s the biggest bad on campus.

Show me your whole universe.

And somewhere along the way, he became my haven, too.

You should be scared of me.

I can’t believe I’ve fallen for the villain.

(Author's note: Bright Like Midnight is a dark college romance that explores mature themes and dubious situations. If you're looking for a nice guy hero, this story isn't for you!)]]> 400 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.23 2022 Bright Like Midnight (Savage U, #2)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.23
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]]> <![CDATA[Soft Like Thunder (Savage U, #1)]]> 59346191
The first time I laid eyes on Theo Whitlock, I chased him and his frat boy friends with a bat.


I’m no white knight.

I’m broke. He’s rich. I destroyed his car. He chooses not to rat me out.

I was never supposed to go to college, but especially not one like Savage U, where only the wealthiest need apply. One might call this a lucky break, only I don’t feel so lucky with a drug dealer breathing down my neck, and a gangster threatening to burn my house down.

You have a face that could launch a thousand ships.

Theo and I don’t make sense, but being with him feels good, and I need more than my books and classes to distract me from the chaos and violence in my life.

I know you’re my good girl. Aren’t you, Helen? Tell me.

We’re casual. No complications. We have to be. I’m keeping secrets, and I have a feeling behind Theo Whitlock’s twinkly blue eyes is a whole world of darkness.


Do you think about me?

Too much�


Did I hurt you?

He will...if the other savages don’t get to me first.


(Full blurb to come! The release date will be moved forward. Savage U is a spin-off of The Savage Crew, but can be read as a standalone!)]]> 374 Julia Wolf Phyllisha 0 to-read 3.98 2022 Soft Like Thunder (Savage U, #1)
author: Julia Wolf
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 3.98
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]]> <![CDATA[His Human Librarian (Monsters Love Curvy Girls Book 13)]]> 217469741 An enemies-to-lovers, slow burn + witty banter + amnesia, monster romance!

I’m a librarian who specializes in intergalactic antiquity, hired to restore the ancient tablets and print books of the Sandstone legacy. Now I’m on location in the wildlands of a remote planet called Tarvos. And my boss, the local satanic-looking rancher financing this new library, hates my guts. It irritates him that a human was chosen by the antiquities council to run this Hyrrokin project.

It doesn’t help matters that I saw him naked that one time�

And then there’s a terrifying earthquake in the cave where the tablets are sourced and we’re stuck together, trying to find a way out.

I end up tending to his wounds.

And this is when I learn that maybe my boss doesn’t hate me as much as I thought.

Author's His Human Librarian is #13 in the Monsters Love Curvy Girls series but can be read as a standalone!

Monsters Love Curvy Girls
His Human Nanny
His Human Surrogate
His Human Assistant
His Human Organizer
His Human Ward
His Human Stalker
His Human Socialite
Fire Lord Holiday
His Human Neighbor
His Human Widow
His Human Runaway
His Human Rebel
His Human Librarian

Monster Bites
Her Alien Priest
Her Alien Ghost
Her Alien Angel
Her Alien Ex-Con
Her Alien Bully
Her Alien Stepbrother
Her Alien Husband]]> 140 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.09 2024 His Human Librarian (Monsters Love Curvy Girls Book 13)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[His Human Rebel (Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #12)]]> 209262211 After a teeny incident with red paint, my hometown votes that it’s done with my activist ways . . .
Now I’m on an entirely different planet, holding a single suitcase, standing on a platform, waiting for my new alien husband to arrive . . .

I bite my lip as I wait because there’s one serious problem with this whole situation . . . after a best forgotten, one-night stand gone wrong . . . I’m three months pregnant and obviously this baby won’t be his!

My rancher husband parks his vehicle next to me -- looking like Satan himself.
I manage to not choke with fear.

His dark, assessing gaze pauses at the slight swell of my stomach.
He inhales deeply and gives a curt nod. “Get in,� he orders. “Now you’re both mine.�

Oh my . . . I leap into the vehicle beside him . . . it turns out I have a thing for sweaty, bare chested, hard muscled men who breathe fire. Who knew?

* * *
Author’s Notes: There is no cheating or OM drama. "His Human Rebel" can be read as a standalone within the larger series, Monsters Love Curvy Girls but is best enjoyed directly after His Human Runaway (Thorn & Mica) and Her Alien Husband (Burl & Lucy's story). Only read if you enjoy satanic-looking heroes and mouthy, curvy girl heroines!]]> 179 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.18 2024 His Human Rebel (Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #12)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.18
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]]> <![CDATA[His Human Runaway (Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #11)]]> 204679489
There’s a blur in the distance. Is that a mirage? No, it’s a deadly, satanic-looking male with a bare chest, huge black horns and a barbed tail racing right for me.

I scream as this monster looms overhead. Am I his target? Is he here to recapture me?

“I’ve got you, female,� he says with a deep, gentle tone. “I’m taking you to my ranch. I will protect and care for you.�

He scoops me into his massive arms and I promptly faint from both panic and exhaustion.

Please gods, let this turn out okay.]]> 157 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.29 2023 His Human Runaway (Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #11)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.29
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]]> <![CDATA[His Human Widow (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #10)]]> 123221722
His name was Fire Lieutenant Byric Sandstone—an extremely wealthy Hyrrokin landowner, with a complicated estate.

Obviously, I’m not really his widow. It’s a technicality, on paper so I could bypass immigration and perform my duties. Everyone but the lawyer who forged the signature thinks I’m really Byric’s chosen bound, but my real job is to care for his elderly grandmother and his three-headed wulver. I love my cushy life on Tarvos.

One night, the front door to the mansion bursts open. A disheveled, wild-eyed and monstrous Lieutenant Sandstone returns home, having escaped from his prison cell behind enemy lines.

Wait, my husband isn’t dead?

“Who the hell are you?� he rasps.

“Your bound,� I whimper from underneath the sheets.

Oh no. How is this going to work out?]]> 180 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.13 2023 His Human Widow (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #10)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.13
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]]> <![CDATA[His Human Neighbor (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #9)]]> 63838370
And on day three of my odd vacay, two young Hyrrokin girls enter my home and beg me to marry their dad, my neighbor. Somehow their scary-looking widower father, a retired Firestar General, needs a bound and they’ve chosen me as their new mom?

I’ve already received an eyeful over the fence of their alarming and yet unbearably handsome dad, Crydan Flamestone, as he showers each day, fresh off the beach from his morning run. And maybe he’s caught me eyeing his naked red *cough* muscles and doesn’t seem to mind?

This does not mean I’m ready to become my neighbor’s wife or gain an instant Hyrrokin, flame-throwing family. These girls are darling, but I’m afraid they’ve picked the wrong female. What do I know about kids?

Anyway, this guy seems to already have a fiancée.

And she’s all wrong for him.

And I don’t like the way she treats the girls.

Oh shoot. Who am I kidding? Looks like I’m gonna have to meddle!

Author’s note: This is a single dad romance with a fake engagement and no cheating! The OW drama seems high with this one, but is actually low. This is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.]]> 183 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.29 2023 His Human Neighbor (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #9)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.29
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]]> <![CDATA[Fire Lord Holiday (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #8)]]> 63282837
Join us for a special Christmas Eve dinner held in the great dining hall promptly at sunset.

Decorating an Earth-type cone-shaped tree with “ornaments� and the exchange of charming, wrapped human-centric presents to follow.

Lively human species songs performed by Ashmoor staff.

Keep this invite secret! This is a surprise “original planet� holiday recreation for all the humans and half-human offspring on Tarvos. Branches of the Earth plant “Mistletoe� will be provided to all males present for their females!

Author’s note: This holiday novella is much more enjoyable if read as part of the Monsters Love Curvy Girl series!]]> 77 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.37 2022 Fire Lord Holiday (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #8)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
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]]> <![CDATA[Her Alien Ex-Con (Monster Bites #4; Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #7.5)]]> 61109271 I’m on the Omega 9 space station in the midst of a bungled prison transfer!

Handcuffed to a scary, impossibly tall, satanic-looking convict. Holy hell. And I’m on the run with him because it turns out he’s breaking out of prison?

He’s rough, bossy and throws flash-flames from his distended jaw. Yes, he’s committed felonies, but he can also party all night, sing like a professional and shoot a blaster better than anyone I’ve ever met.

And his kiss is the stuff of legends.

Unfortunately, he’s not the only one running from trouble. The Hyrrokin mafia is after me for…reasons?

I should be planning my escape, but apparently, this soon-to-be ‘ex-con� has captured not only my wrists with those handcuffs, but my heart as well?

Author's Note: Read "Her Alien Ex-Con" directly after "His Human Socialite" - this is the story of Jada's eeeevil twin!:)
]]> 85 Michele Mills Phyllisha 0 to-read 4.25 2022 Her Alien Ex-Con (Monster Bites #4; Monsters Love Curvy Girls, #7.5)
author: Michele Mills
name: Phyllisha
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
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]]>