Happy (or frankly, not so happy as the protests continue) June! I am filled with hope for this month. I hope for freedoms to be given and change to be in the air. I hope for lives to be spared and differences to be made for POC across the world. In less serious terms, I also hope I read another ridiculously large stack of books.
For this month, I have planned 22 books to be read. This is indeed fewer than I read last month for those of you who are playing along at home. However, I feel like last month was largely a fluke and won’t be replicated for another hundred years. So, I will continue to prioritize my Netgalley list and continue working on getting those numbers down. I’m currently at ~87% ratio, and have many books planned for this month!
PHYSICAL BOOKS
Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3), Kerri Maniscalco
Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper #4), Kerri Maniscalco
The Bone Houses, Emily Lloyd-Jones
Beyond a Darkened Shore, Jessica Leake
Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2), Sarah J. Maas
The Beholder (The Beholder #1), Anna Bright
The Boundless (The Beholder #2), Anna Bright
DEVIATE (LIFELIKE #2), Jay Kristoff
LIBRARY EBOOKS
Mirage (Mirage #1), Somaiya Daud
Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3), Robin LaFevers
Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness #1), Robin LaFevers
Smoke in the Sun (Flame in the Mist #1), Renee Ahdieh
Ninth House (Alex Stern #1), Leigh Bardugo
If I Never Met You, Mhairi MacFarlane
The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1), Jenn Lyons
The Name of All Things (A Chorus of Dragons #2), Jenn Lyons
NETGALLEY EARCS
Just Saying, Sophie Ranald
Court of Lions (Mirage #2), Somaiya Daud
Ever Cursed, Corey Ann Haydu
These Vengeful Hearts, Katherine Laurin
The Memory of Souls (A Chorus of Dragons #3), Jenn Lyons
Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness #2), Robin LaFevers – sampler
Okay, we’re in for a loooong post today because I somehow managed to read TWENTY-SIX books this month! Thank you quarantine! I have never read this money book in one month before so I’m very proud of myself. There were some great reads in here, and I raised my Netgalley ratio pretty high! Helps to read 13 eARCs in one month! I can’t imagine ever having a month like this again, but one can dream!
Below is an itemization of the books I read! There were only a few books from my May TBR post that I didn’t get to, and it was more due to me switching up my Netgalley reads a bit. I pushed Igniting Darkness and Where Dreams Descend back so I could get to titles that release sooner. My library also doesn’t have Mortal Heart or Courting Darkness, so I have to figure out an alternative. Lastly, something went wrong with my loan of The Night Circus, and now I won’t have it until June/July – so it is just pushed back for now.
“That was the thing about success, it could be even more draining than failure.”
Title: American Royals (American Royals #1)
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 3rd, 2019
448 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
What if America had a royal family?
When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.
As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.
Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.
And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.
Review
“All I know is that when I need to eat my feelings, my feelings taste like Wawa milkshakes with extra M&Ms.”
katharine mcgee, american royals
American Royals is set in an alternate reality where George Washington created a monarchy when helping America achieve it’s independence instead of a democracy. Now, 200 some years later his descendants still rule America. Princess Beatrice is first in line for the throne and must marry – but will her love of a commoner win out over royal duty? Princess Samantha knows she is the spare – it’s painfully obvious even in her code name of Sparrow. She is the wild child because she knows she will never be tasked to rule. Prince Jefferson is third in line and is unknowingly caught in a love triangle with his potentially dangerous ex-girlfriend and his commoner childhood best friend. Who will win out?
American Royals is deliciously dramatic. It is exactly what I would imagine when envisioning America with royalty. There is love, love triangles, unrequited love, and forbidden love – it is love tropes galore! I also adore how the author built in a breaking of the fourth wall in several instances – some lines like:
“Elect the king or queen—what a funny concept. Everyone knew that elections only worked for judges and Congress. Making the executive branch pander to the people, go out begging for votes—that could only end in disaster. That structure would attract the wrong sort of people: power-hungry people with twisted agendas.”
Katharine mcgee, american royals
The author makes a clear statement about how politics is today but with a cushion of fiction and snark, and I adore it. I also enjoyed the characters, who were all SO different. They each have their own “main” personality points or plot lines, but each have a separate, more secret plot or personality quirk that strongly affects who they become by the end of the series.
One thing I didn’t like was how closely part of the plot aligned with the move First Daughter with Katie Holmes. The King’s daughter falls in love with a guard. It’s different, but is too strongly related for my taste. I think it needed a new element to make it more unique.
However, THAT ENDING. Talk about shocking and cliffhanger-y. I’m so glad the decision was made to turn this into at least a duology because so much more of this story DESERVES to be told.
“That’s why fiction resonates with people. It speaks to universal truths.”
Title: The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club #1)
Author: Lyssy Kay Adams
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: November 5th, 2019
352 pages
4.5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
The first rule of book club: You don’t talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
Review
“Book club isn’t just about books.”
Lyssy Kay Adams, The Bromance Book Club
The Bromance Book Club stars baseball hotshot Gavin Scott and his wife Thea. Currently, they are separated after having a huge fight revolving around faked orgasms and lying. Gavin moves out and Thea asks for a divorce. In comes Gavin’s good friend and teammate Del who introduces him to a book club run by some of Nashville’s biggest male sports star or celebrities. They read romance novels in secret in order to fix their love lives and relationships. Gavin has to do whatever it takes to fix things with Thea or he will lose her forever.
I have many thoughts about this book. First off I loved the idea of a “bromance book club”. What lady doesn’t like the idea of her man (or woman) doing research on the best way to communicate and love her? I’d personally be very happy if my fiance chose to do this, but alas it would never happen. Moving right along, like I said – love this unique concept in a romance novel.
However. Gavin and Thea are not great characters. Even Liz, a side character, is decidedly terrible (which is likely the point). These characters have a long way to go to be likable, and let’s be real Braden Mack seriously stole the whole book. I just don’t think a side character with only a few lines should be the best character in the whole book. Also, I just generally tend to like romance books featuring a new relationship compared to fixing a broken one. But that’s just me!
The Bromance Book Club is very easy to read, and outside of what I mentioned above it is well written and quite good. I had a hard time rating it, because in the initial aftermath of finishing the book I enjoyed it a lot more than when I sat down and thought about it and wrote this review.
Check back soon as I will be posting my review for the sequel, Undercover Bromance where my fave Braden will get his story!
“You always say such lovely things to me, Red. Do you say them to yourself?”
Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1)
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Avon
Publication date: November 5th, 2019
373 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out. • Ride a motorcycle. • Go camping. • Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. • Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. • And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
Review
Bravery wasn’t an identity, so much as a choice.
talia hibbert, get a life, chloe brown
Chloe Brown longs for a life of adventure, or at least what she assumed adventure is. After being diagnosed with a chronic pain disorder, she spent several years being sick and accepting it. Now, she wants to stop being safe and start living again. The problem? She doesn’t know how, or even what her definition of “adventure” and “living” is anymore. In comes Red, her apartment handyman who makes her heart beat a bit faster. She feels comfortable with him, so they make a deal. She will help him get his art career back off the ground, if he helps her check off items on her bucket list. Neither of them expect to care for the other, but they seem to understand each other better than they understand themselves.
I read this book all in one sitting (which if you follow my blog reviews can’t be that surprising for you) but I found myself really enjoying this book! I heard some mixed reviews about it, and there are definitely pieces that I will comment on, but I was swept up in Chloe and Red’s world and there are many ways in which I related to Chloe.
To start off, I want to say that I do not have chronic pain and therefore cannot comment on how accurate or representative of that community Chloe’s portrayal is. I will not speak from ignorance, and it’s a topic I do not have experience with. HOWEVER. I love Red’s ability to suss out when Chloe is feeling badly, and the care with which he treats her when she is struggling. It was one of the first endearing parts of him, when he noticed the tiny changes in her facial expressions and knew something was wrong. It made me love him so much more.
I loved the romance portion of this book and the steps both Chloe and Red took to move away from the past and forge ahead into a new future. Shaking off the binds of past expectations and characteristics, while also creating new expectations and characteristics. There really was a good level of character development. And the sex scenes were prime, not going to lie.
I hate the language though. I know this is set in the UK so this word is likely more accepted there but I hate the C word, especially when used in sex terms. Ugh, just hate it so much. I took a whole star away just for that. I hate that word more than any other word!
Thank you for sticking around for this rambling post. I look forward to Take a Hint, Dani Brown which is coming this summer!
Cara has officially run out of men. Her most recent dates have gone from bad to worse, and when her dating app informs her there is no one left in her area to choose from, she is at a dead end.
But with a summer of events ahead of her, she needs to find a solution, fast; someone to keep her company at the never-ending weddings, family gatherings and gender reveal parties that she can’t face going to alone. So when she meets handsome, confident, Millsy on a night out she may be in luck. They could not be more different in personality, but he too has a summer of events ahead and is desperate to get his family off his back about finding a ‘nice girl’. What if they made a pact to help each other out and be a plus one for the summer? Just as friends of course…?
Review
**Thank you to Boldwood Books, Netgalley, and Portia MacIntosh for an early copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**
The Plus One Pact is an adorable and clean Adult Contemporary Romance. Cara is struggling with the dating scene. She strikes out every time she tries to date someone on a dating app, and she’s beginning to give up. When she is stood up by the last available guy on her dating app, she is ready to throw in the towel. At least until a handsome stranger comes over to save her. Millsy notices Cara has been stood up, and wants to help her. He enlists friends to give her a makeover and revamp her life as he tries to help her navigate the dating scene. They become fast friends, but could it ever be more?
I found this book to be so cute and I liked that it focused more on Millsy and Cara’s friendship for the summer instead of forcing a romance. Sometimes books jump straight into romance, but there are a lot amazing relationships that begin as just friends and organically grow into something more. That is Millsy and Cara’s story. They spend the summer being each other’s Plus One’s to family events – while trying not to ruin said events (there are some close calls!). At every point of the books, they are what the other needs in that moment, it’s truly beautiful.
As much as I enjoyed the friendship aspect, I almost wish the book was longer so you got to see more of the relationship aspect. It seemed to end kind of abruptly so I feel another few chapters could have continued the story without feeling unnecessary.
The Plus One Pact was an easy read that makes you wish you have a friend as good as Millsy. Because at the end of the day, it’s important to be friends with your partner.
The moment Joanna told me she was engaged, I had this awful feeling that something was wrong.
We used to speak on the phone every day. Growing up I spent more time at her house than I did at my own. I’d always imagined what it would be like to see her get married, and now I didn’t even know her fiancé’s name.
She asked me to come and meet Mark and I intended to tell her to slow down. You can’t know someone for a month and be sure that you want to spend the rest of your lives together.
When I got to Joanna’s front door, only Mark was there. He was charming and gorgeous and nothing but nice to me, and I started to understand.
And then he told me that Joanna was missing.
Review
**Thank you to Bookouture, Netgalley, and Wendy Clarke for an early copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**
The Bride is a suspense filled mystery/thriller novel where the MC Alice is contacted by her long lost best friend and asked to come visit to meet her new fiance. When Alice arrives, Joanna is not there… but Mark her fiance is. It appears Joanna has gone on a vacation, after inviting Alice to stay the weekend. Mark convinces Alice to stay in case Joanna returns, but after a few days he admits that Joanna has been missing for several days. The question is… where is Joanna? And why does Alice allow Mark to convince her to stay in their apartment?
I love a thriller that can keep me guessing. There are some pretty strong hints and sketchy behavior in this book from all characters, so it’s hard to pin down what really is happening. In my opinion, this is the sign of a good mystery/thriller novel. The book is told from Alice’s point of view, at least until just over halfway through then you get a look into Joanna’s circumstances as well. Alice has her own issues, but is a fairly reliable narrator – even if she makes some poor decisions at times… Mark as a character is weird and sketchy, you never quite know what to think of him – and frankly I still don’t!
One thing I will point out is that I don’t feel like everyone’s story lines are wrapped up at the end of the book. There are still some questions I had at the end. I don’t really take this as a negative, but I do wish I had answers to some of those questions.
If you’re looking for a book filled with suspense, a mystery involving a missing wife, and a friendship that has some terrible secrets – check out The Bride!
“Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.”
Title: Well Met (Well Met #1)
Author: Jen DeLuca
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 3rd, 2019
336 pages
5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.
Review
I didn’t choose the wench life. The wench life chose me.
jen deluca, well met
Y’all I am TRASH for this book and that’s not even an exaggeration. It has legit everything I love in life… hate to love romance, Renaissance Faires, and sassy & witty characters. I AM obsessed and I was SO HAPPY to learn there were going to be two companion novels!! I need them in my life!!
First off, Emily gets roped off into helping with her niece’s school Renaissance Faire because her sister was in a horrible car accident and needed to be taken care of. Emily dropped everything (not that there was much to drop) and rushed to live with her. What she didn’t bargain for was the uptight, stickler English teacher in charge of running the Faire. Simon thinks Emily doesn’t care about Faire, and isn’t motivated to be there or make it successful. Emily thinks Simon is too strict and close-minded. They argue in every conversation…. but why can’t they stop thinking about each other??
Again, I. AM. OBSESSED. I was sold on Simon and Emily early on, because they were so good for each other. At any given point of the book, they were exactly what the other person needed. And that growth! Simon and Emily had such character and personal growth during Well Met that it blew my mind. They really were at pivotal points in their life and needed each other to make decisions and get through hurdles!
And don’t get me started on sexy, pirate captain Simon. HE is the show stopper, crowd pleasing, FANTASTIC man every woman needs in life. He made me actually swoon during this book, because you just knew it was the real Simon, not just the Simon everyone expected him to be. My cinnamon roll was able to open up and be his real damn self while playing a character and THE. FLIRTING.
Can y’all see how obsessed I am? Can you tell from this rambling review that barely has sentence structure or even makes sense? I HOPE SO!! Because I will be over here in my corner shipping them forever and ever and counting down the days until Well Played is in my hands.
“We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.”
Title: House of Salt and Sorrows
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Delacourte
Publication date: August 6th, 2019
403 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.
Review
Nights like this were meant to be shared, remembered, and talked about for years. Skies like this were meant to be kissed under.
Erin A. Craig, House of Salt and Sorrows
In a retelling of 12 Dancing Princesses, Annaleigh is one of eight sisters left after four died tragically. The family has suffered so much loss, and Annaleigh can’t help but wonder if it’s too much loss to just be attributed to bad circumstances or coincidence. She starts to think the most recent death was a murder, so she starts investigates. The more she finds out, the more she realizes she has no idea what is happening in Highmoor – and everything and everyone is in question. Will Annaleigh figure out what’s happening before more death comes to call?
House of Salt and Sorrows is seriously dreamy and magical. Whereas it is a serious story with death and terrible things happening, you can’t not notice the fairytale feel and magical essence to the writing. I was able to read this book in one sitting, it captured and held my attention throughout. There was even a bit of a mystery element to it as you tried to figure out who is bringing the darkness down on the family – and I totally didn’t see the ending coming until it was there.
Annaleigh was a good narrator, she is a middle sister and is somewhere in the middle between oblivious and too suspicious, if that makes sense. Her older sister seems completely oblivious to everything happening around them, but one of her younger sisters seems too involved in the mystery – even seeing visions and ghosts. I think it was a good decision to make someone in the middle be the narrator, and then experience the whole spectrum from the outside.
I very much enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrows, and goodness just look at that cover?! Absolutely amazing. I loved that it was a standalone and the whole story was wrapped up in one book. If you’re looking for retellings with magical qualities, or a ghost story go check out House of Salt and Sorrows!
In this feminist fantasy series, the ability to do magic has given women control over their own bodies. But as the patriarchy starts to fall, they must now learn to rule as women, not men.
Alys may be the acknowledged queen of Women’s Well—the fledgling colony where women hold equal status with men—but she cares little for politics in the wake of an appalling personal tragedy. It is grief that rules her now. But the world continues to turn.
In a distant realm unused to female rulers, Ellin struggles to maintain control. Meanwhile, the king of the island nation of Khalpar recruits an abbess whom he thinks holds the key to reversing the spell that Alys’s mother gave her life to create. And back in Women’s Well, Alys’s own half-brother is determined to bring her to heel. Unless these women can all come together and embrace the true nature of female power, everything they have struggled to achieve may be at risk.
Review
**Thank you to Random House/Del Rey, Netgalley, and Jenna Glass for an early copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**
Queen of the Unwanted is the second book in the epic fantasy Women’s War. Events pick up closely after the end of The Women’s War, but with several new characters and POV’s from across the world. As with any good epic fantasy, the plot is complex with political intrigue and war time strategies.
What I enjoyed about this book was the progression of the plot from the first novel and the character development of some of my favorite characters. The plot line in this series is so complex and different from anything I’ve read. The progression of the magic system is also very unique and gives the world a lot of potential for new and life changing spells. The magic system is not hard to understand yet is very powerful and the main magical event from book one is still in effect in this book.
As a second book goes, this was on the medium level of having second book syndrome. Some parts dragged and didn’t seem entirely relevant to the book, but there was also a good amount of political maneuvering and scheming across all the countries and main characters. So, it has a touch of second book syndrome but without being among the worst offenders.
One thing I had to ding Queen of the Unwanted on was the way some of the character’s arcs have progressed. I do not agree with several of the character’s decisions and it feels like the wrong choice for them. I can only hope that some of the bad decisions and questionable behavior is continued to be addressed in future books and swings back around to the more positive end of life.
Baltimore Bibliophile 