Happy Friday and happy Book Review Day! It’s coming a little late this month since we spent the first week of July on family vacation. This is worth mentioning because between our trip to Prague in early June and our trip to Virginia last week, plus my recent resignation from my work-from-home job, I’ve been in an easy-breezy, relaxed and vacation-oriented state of mind which has definitely played into my reading preferences.
In June I read six books and for once, they were all the same genre. I was just really in the mood for light, fun, summer love and each book I read happens to fall into the romance or rom-com genre. I would also say that each book has about the same steam and language rating – they all have 1-2 open door scenes and moderate language. I didn’t plan for them all to be so similar, but that’s just how this month went! While they all fall into the same category, they were not at all the same book and my feelings on them widely varied so let’s get into the nitty-gritty!
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Poppy and Alex are best friends and total opposites. While they haven’t lived in the same place since graduating, they always reconnect in the summer when they spend one week together on vacation. It has always been a highlight of the year, until two years ago when things got messy and ruined everything. Poppy is desperate to get her life back on track and she knows the last time she was truly happy was on vacation with Alex, so she invites him on vacation again. She knows this week will make or break their friendship forever – and it’s time to finally address what has been hidden in the heart of this relationship all this time.
The thing about Emily Henry’s book titles is that they can be kind of misleading. I felt this way after reading Beach Read and I felt the same thing reading this book. It’s not a terrible thing, it just doesn’t always prepare me mentally for what I’m actually going to read and can throw me for a bit of a loop. I expected this book to involve a lot of different people, but in reality it focused mostly on Poppy and Alex and the different versions of themselves as they grow and change over the years. The plot jumps back and forth between the present vacation and the ten previous vacations; while I did like the alternating timelines, I felt all the back and forth made for a very slow start and took me a while to get invested in the story and characters. Eventually I did get invested and really wanted to root for Alex and Poppy, although I have to say I liked Alex more than Poppy. Their friendship and more-than-friendship was believable and I enjoyed the friends-to-lovers trope – overall I think this is a fairly solid romance read!
Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley
Kara is a successful romance author in a bit of a rut. She is frantic for inspiration for her latest novel and when her college sweetheart and first love unexpectedly shows up in her best friend’s wedding party, she realizes this unfortunate event might actually have a plus side. Ryan is infuriating and Kara has no interest in starting things up again, but she can’t deny that her creative spark lights up when he’s around. When he needs a place to stay before the wedding, Kara offers her place. The close proximity is guaranteed to help her write the best novel, but will it also inspire her to take another chance on love?
One of my children accidentally signed me up for a free trial of Kindle Unlimited so I decided to take advantage and download some random titles for our trip. This was one of the suggested titles and sounded interesting but unfortunately was a big miss for me. At one point Kara lists out the “formula” she uses for her novels. It’s amusing in the funny-because-it’s-true kind of way – she just described the plotline of every single Hallmark holiday movie – but the thing is, the book itself felt like the author was trying to plug things into that formula and it just didn’t hit for me. Kate and Ryan felt a little forced but the book was still falling into a “not my favorite but still an okay read” category UNTIL the absolute worst plot twist. I hated it so much. It’s a nonnegotiable for me and problematic in so many ways. The book simply could never recover afterwards (and I was so unsatisfied by how the side characters reacted!) and I just lightly skimmed the rest. I’m not going to get into spoilers, but you can find them online if you want. I hate to give low ratings, but I’d just skip this one altogether.
Chance of a Lifetime Series (Beginner’s Luck, Luck of the Draw, Best of Luck) by Kate Clayborn
Kit, Zoe, and Greer are three best friends who impulsively buy a lottery ticket and hit the jackpot. Each woman has different hopes and dreams for her future and each one sees the money as a chance to finally reach them. For Kit, she dreams of home and stability and pours her money into buying a fixer upper. Zoe dreams of forgiveness and the money allows her to finally quit her heartless job and start righting past wrongs. Greer dreams of freedom and uses the money to finally get her college degree. While the three friends are chasing dreams and supporting one another, they all also find love in unexpected ways.
You can read any of these as standalones but I think the whole series is enjoyable and am choosing to review all three books together since they’re fairly similar in style and my feelings towards them all are the same. I love a series like this: each book focuses on one woman but there is a ton of overlap (and even sometimes foreshadowing) in characters and plot lines. It just allows you to really get a feel for the town, the relationships, and the quirky little details that make you feel like part of the story. I enjoyed the strong female characters – each one was navigating a new stage of life and growing more into herself but still knew who she was and what she wanted. They’re pretty predictable but there’s good character development and no plot seems too ridiculous or far-fetched. The women and their love interests are all likeable, the relationship dynamics are fun and believable, the plots are sweet and lighthearted without being too cheesy, and it’s just an enjoyable series. These are perfect for when you want to cozy up with a glass of wine and a moderately steamy comfort read!
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Briana Ortiz’s life feels like it’s going backwards. She just got divorced, had to move back into her childhood home, and has been on a string of bad dates that have made her lose faith that she’ll ever find love again. Worst of all, her brother’s health is declining and though she’s an ER physician, she can’t help him in the way he really needs because she isn’t a match to donate a kidney. On top of all that, the new doctor at work, Jacob Maddox, is a total jerk and might even steal the promotion she wants. It all feels hopeless . . . until Jacob sends her a letter. A really good letter. A letter that makes her realize he’s much more than her first impression, and he might actually be the answer to everything.
It’s no secret I love Abby Jimenez. Different from the Chance of a Lifetime series I just talked about, her books create a little world where there are small overlaps and little mentions of other stories, but they’re all really standalone novels. There are Easter eggs in the novels like the mention of a painting or a YouTube video that if you read all the books you pick up on how these characters all exist in the same universe – it’s just a fun little crossover treat when I spot them! I first met Briana as Alexis’s best friend in Part of Your World; she’s a little involved in that book and Alexis is a little involved here. I really liked Briana as a main character and I loved Jacob. Their witty banter was delightful and I loved watching their relationship develop. The side characters are almost all family members and I adored the entire dynamic; it felt like an ensemble cast family movie dinner scene every time they were all together. I absolutely devoured this book and didn’t want to put it down! In a month where I enjoyed multiple books, this was my favorite and I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good rom-com!
Do you find yourself reaching for lighter reads in summer too? As always, if you have great recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments!
simplify the chaos 