Man of the Month series by J. Kenner

I didn't post at all last month. School started and with it, all of the obligations and chauffeuring. I did, however, read in those few blissful hours of peace and quiet I regained after a summer filled with KIDS IN MY SPACE.

For anyone wondering if the free books given away at reader events lead to sales, this is a good anecdotal case study. I received the first book in the Man of the Month series, Down on Me, as a freebie at the last RT held in Reno in May. It sat, unloved, for a few months in my pile of books, but I picked it up on a whim.

I read the entire series last month. All 12 of them. Just one-clicked myself into a stupor. Part of that is that these are all connected stories with a really cute hook: a calendar contest held in a bar. And each book is relatively short (around 250 pages) with a very obvious (and popular) trope. We have secret baby, best friend's sister, second chance at love, friends to lovers, and lots of other favorites. J Kenner is smart as hell with the marketing and planning on this series, because it worked for me. As soon as I discovered I liked her voice, it was over.  My book budget was toast.

Not all of these books were equally good. Some were As, some were Cs, but they all were character-centric, hot, and hit just the right tone for my scattered, back-to-school brain to absorb between drop off and pick ups. The first book is free on Kindle still. Just make sure you set aside a week, or month, to read them all. The distilled trope-yness was exactly what I needed.