Hi Loves🌼!

We have made it to the third review of Brown Sugar & Books.

Currently I am reading Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan; BUT before I started reading Kennedy Ryan’s novel I had started reading a novel called Pray Bold by Joel Osteen. Now let’s get real for a second: I struggle literally EVERYDAY with praying, reading my bible and getting closer to God. If anything, sometimes  it feels as if I’m straying further away from Him😭. I’ve struggled/struggle with a million things in my life and there’s been MANY times when my only hope was God. This is my first time reading a novel of this genre and let me just say it has been such an eye opening read. It has made me truly think about my own life and how I perceive different situations and circumstances. So grab you something warm to sip🫖 , find a nice cozy area to relax🛏️, and let's talk about this inspiring current read.

📖 About the Book

Book title: Pray Bold

Author: Joel Osteen

Genre: Christian Living

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(5 stars)

⚡️ Quick Summary

In this inspiring Christian living novel, Pray Bold by Joel Osteen he dives into the aspect of praying. He talks about how to pray for ourselves during hardships and triumph’s, how to pray for others, how to pray despite your circumstances and how God moves everyday in our lives for our good.

💭 My Thoughts

As a young woman who is trying to put God first, it gets hard and anyone who is on their journey with God will say the same thing. One of my biggest struggles is praying. I could literally do anything else: go on TikTok, watch a 3 hour movie and bake a cake, but then when it comes to taking 1-3 minutes to pray or read my bible my mind is like “uhh no”. So when I saw this book in target it definitely caught my eye, this is my first time reading a novel of this genre; but let me just say I LOVED IT. At the end of each chapter it had me thinking “how can I apply this to my life”. I could relate to EVERYTHING (yes everything) Joel Osteen talked about. For example, one of his chapters that hit home for me was Chapter 8, “Believing Without A Sign”: “Where God is taking you, the amazing future he has planned, is going to require you to not be moved by what you don’t see, to trust Him when there is no evidence”, WHEW. Hopefully from that chapter summary alone you can imagine how the rest of the chapters are, he gets real and to the point. What I also love about his novel is how he incorporate bible stories into his message, he uses this as a way to relate the Bible story to what he is discussing in his text. As someone who knows VERY little about bible stories this has helped me greatly to understand the Bible stories. Even when I read this novel I wrote down, highlighted and made points everywhere because it truly touched my heart. I would highly recommend this book for someone who is trying to strengthen their belief, wants to learn more about prayer or simply for someone who is curious and wants to learn more.

✍️ Quotes from Pray Bold

“Could it be that if you would take time to pray for others, what you’re struggling with would turn around?”

“Having great faith is not about being a religious scholar, about how many scriptures you can quote, or how long you pray.”

“God sees what you’re dealing with. He sees what is causing you heartache, how you’re doing the right thing when it’s hard, how you’re being your best when nothing is improving.”

🧋Final Sip

We reached the end of Brown Sugar & Books 3rd book review, whoop whoop😆!  I hope you enjoyed this book review as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you so much for reading <3.

If you plan to read this novel, have some book recommendations, or just want to simply chat; please drop your thoughts and comments below, I would love too🥰!

Until next time keep reading, keep loving others and most importantly keep loving yourself❄️.

With Love,

Brown Sugar & Books

Hi Loves💐!

We have made it to the second review of Brown Sugar & Books.

From my last book review I read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, and that book blew me completely away with all the cliffhangers, the twist & turns, and how I got to vicariously live through the character’s; feeling every emotion they had. It is definitely one of my favorite reads. Now, like I said that book blew me away, BUT this book BLEW ME COMPLETELY INTO THE STRATOSPHERE. So please, go grab something warm to sip🍵 , find a nice cozy area to relax🛋️, and let's talk about this amazing current read.

📖 About the Book

Book title: The Housemaid’s Secret

Author: Freida McFadden

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫(4 ½ stars)

⚡️Quick Summary (no spoilers)

In this psychological thriller and the second book in the Housemaid books, The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden still follows the story of Millie Calloway aka Wilhelmina Calloway the house maid. In the previous book, The Housemaid (spoilers) the ending consisted of Millie ultimately killing Andrew. Nina, Andrew’s wife finds his body and tells Millie she will take the blame for his murder so Millie doesn’t have to go to jail again. When a detective investigating the murder recognizes Andrew and later tells how his daughter also had an abusive relationship with Andrew, the case is dropped. At the very end, it details how Millie accepted another job as a “Housemaid” and how she is a beacon of light for women in abusive relationships. In The Housemaid’s Secret, Millie has helped many women in abusive relationships to get away from their husbands in her role as “the housemaid”, so when Millie gets a call from Mr.Douglas Garrick to come be a housemaid she already knows what the situation is…….or at least she thinks she knows. As the story dives deeper into the lives of Millie and the Garricks, Millie realizes maybe the situation isn’t what she thought it was and for once—she is afraid and has no clue how to solve the situation.

💭 My Thoughts

After reading The Housemaid I knew right away I HAD to get the second book, The Housemaid’s Secret. I thought, “there is absolutely no way the second book is going to be better than the first”. We all know whether it’s with movies or books, that the originals is 95% always better than the sequels. So at first, I did have my doubts about this book not being up to par with the first novel, but I was greatly mistaken. Freida McFadden hands down has to be one of my favorite psychological thriller authors based on her writing style, character development & design, the many cliff hangers and jaw dropping moments. In the beginning chapters, as the situations unfold you can feel every emotion Millie is feeling whether it’s good or bad. Millie is definitely a character that is very relatable with her witty and very REAL thoughts. Freida McFadden allows us as readers to be completely immersed into the characters lives, which I absolutely love because it always has me on the edge of my seat, screaming internally “WHEW GIRL”. If you have read a Freida McFadden book then you know her books are broken up into parts based on the perspective of the main characters. As a visual reader, when I’m reading a novel I can almost picture the scenes in my head; so being able to read from the characters perspective makes it 10000x better and it allows me to understand the characters a lot more. At the end of every chapter there is ALWAYS a cliffhanger, I know when I get near the end of a chapter I can definitely count on a cliffhanger to completely blow my mind. As an avid thriller reader, I can almost guess what’s going to happen next in the novels I read. But, with Freida McFadden, when I thought I knew what was going to happen, it turned out I wasn’t even close to guessing what was happening next. So, if psychological thrillers, suspense, cliffhangers, relatable characters and books that will have up till 3am reading because you can’t put it down, is your thing, then Freida McFadden novels is your new home and I promise, you will not be disappointed.

✍️ quotes from The Housemaid’s Secret

“She underestimated an extremely dangerous person. Me. And she paid the ultimate price.”

“I always help. I can never, ever walk away, even when I should.”

“I wanted you to trust me. Even though I didn’t trust you.”

🧋Final Sip

We have reached the end of Brown Sugar & Books second review, yay🥳! If you made it this far give yourself a pat on the back, thank you so much for reading💜!

If you’ve read this book, plan to or have some book recommendations, please drop your thoughts and comments below- I would love to chat about it.

Unit next time keep reading, keep loving others and most importantly keep loving yourself🪻.

With Love,

Brown Sugar & Books

Hey Loves💫!

Welcome to the first review from Brown Sugar & Books

I am so so excited to share this review because I have been in such a BAD reading slump lately, not having any motivation to read, (if you ever been in a reading slump then you know). This is the first book I have finished which I am so proud of myself for and let me just say THIS BOOK HAD ME IN A CHOKEHOLD. So please, go grab something warm to sip☕️, find a nice cozy area to relax🛋️, and let’s talk about this current read.

📖 About the Book

Book title: The Housemaid

Author: Freida McFadden

Genre: Psychological thriller

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4 ½ stars)

🌱 Quick Summary (No spoilers)

In Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller The Housemaid, it follows Millie Calloway, a young woman who takes a job for a wealthy family as a live-in nanny for their daughter, it seems like the perfect job…But there’s two things: Millie has a very troubling past and the so called “perfect” wealthy family aren’t as perfect as they seem; as dark secrets start to reveal themselves slowly as the story unfolds.

💭 My Thoughts

One of my favorite genres to read is thriller, so when a friend told me about this book I wanted to read this asap. I went to Barnes and Nobles to IMMEDIATELY grab this novel. The writing style of this book to me is easy to read, witty, relatable, descriptive and character-centric. What I love about Freida McFadden’s style of writing is when it comes to the characters she gives them each such a distinct personality, as if they are real people. In the book, for example, when a situation is happening she writes what the characters own thoughts are on the situation, which are relatable and real. When I was reading this book, Millie’s thoughts in the book had me literally laughing to myself and thinking “GIRL I FEEL YOU”. She allows you to relate and feel for the characters as you read through every twist and turn they go through. As I read each chapter, I felt like there was always a cliffhanger or revelation, that made my jaw DROP to the floor and making me want to find out what’s next. I promise you, each chapter will leave you wanting more, which is what I personally love in a novel. When it has me literally sitting on the edge of my seat, anticipating what is going to happen next. That to me is the definition of a amazing book.

✍️ quotes from The Housemaid

“And then he kisses me. And God help me, I kiss him back”.

“There’s something about this room that’s making a little ball of dread form in the pit of my stomach”

🍵 Final Sip

We have reached the end of Brown Sugar & Books first book review, yay! If you made it this far thank you so much for reading🤎!

If you’ve read this one (or plan to), drop your thoughts below- I would absolutely love to chat about it.

Until next time, keep reading, keep striving, keep glowing and keep giving yourself love because you deserve it🌼.

With love,

Brown Sugar & Books