Welcome to My Favourite Reads, the blog series where I share the best books I read over the past month and love it when you add to my to-be-read pile by sharing yours too.

Despite reading six books in September, I only have two for My Favourite Reads this month. The four books I’ve left out were either by big names (one a total superstar of the writing world) or hugely hyped debuts. They should have been excellent reads, yet …

I mean, they were perfectly okay, and I mostly enjoyed them, but they lacked that zing that makes a book special. There was also a much-anticipated series ending novel that felt like the author couldn’t wait to get it done and barely had any story at all. So disappointing!

The below, however, were not 😁.

Queen by Royal Command by Annie West

What a terrific book this was, up with Annie’s best. The conflicts between Annalena and Benedikt were huge and reconciling those made for a page-turning read.

But it was the attraction and emotion, so expertly done as always, that really made Queen by Royal Command a standout story. Both Annalena and Benedikt were strong characters, skilled at keeping their feelings hidden, and the gradual uncovering of those feelings was excellent. There were tears when I hit the black moment, followed by some very happy smiles in the epilogue, and plenty of heart-clenching in between.

Oh, and I loved the setting too. Prinzenberg sounds like a place I’d like to visit.

Highly recommended.

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The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

As anticipated, Alex North did not let me down with his latest release, The Man Made of Smoke. As with his previous novels, this was a quality mystery-thriller, and I enjoyed Dan’s quest to unravel his father John’s strange disappearance.

Theirs was a complicated relationship and much of the book focuses on that, yet it’s the mystery that powers the story. Years earlier, when Dan was a teenager, he’d had a chance to save the young victim of a serial killer (aka The Man Made of Smoke) but had been too terrified to act.

Though Dan’s now a criminal psychologist, he’s finding it difficult to understand his father’s actions. When he discovers John had recently come across a body, Dan can’t help but dig deeper. So deep, the clues seem to lead him back to The Man Made of Smoke.

Like North’s previous novels, The Man Made of Smoke was wonderfully creepy and atmospheric, and I liked the swap of perspectives too. It helped keep the tension high and those pages a-turning.

I’ll be auto-buying North’s next.

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What have you read lately that’s tickled your fancy? Share away!

And don’t forget to tune in next month when My Favourite Reads celebrates its TENTH birthday!!

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