First up this month was an advanced copy of Book Club Boyfriend. It's scheduled to be released July 14th. In this enemies-to-lovers book, actress/producer Blair is going through it -- she's recently divorced and a new empty nester when her youngest child goes away to college. Enter novelist Jack who is struggling to write his second book and publicly humiliated Blair when he turned down her offer to be featured in her popular book club. When Jack texts Blair to apologize, they get to talking and she invites him to come live in her guest house so you can imagine how that goes.
I love enemies to lovers romances, but this book fell a little flat for me. I felt certain parts of it were too long while I was left wanting more from other parts. I thoroughly enjoyed the romance between the two main characters, but be warned, the first bit of the book is a lot of texting between the two which I found to drag out.
I feel like some of the deeper issues that the characters face -- especially mental health -- are kind of brushed over and quickly solved. I also wish that some of the relationships were flushed out and expanded on a little more.
Becca Freeman does it again in her sophomore novel! Back Where We Started is a second chance romance between Katie, a successful actress, and Drew, her high school love who still lives in their hometown. When Katie goes home for Christmas -- something she has avoided for years in fear of running into Drew -- their paths cross and sparks fly. Their lives have taken them in two completely different directions and the duo is forced to answer the difficult question, have they changed too much to make it work?
When I got to read an advanced copy of this book, I was ESTATIC! When I say I devoured this book, I mean I neglected most responsibilities to read instead and finished it in 36 hours. The book is written in dual timeline and I loved seeing Drew and Katie's relationship growing up and then seeing where they were in present day and what was happening. This is such a feel-good romance that I didn't want to end. Bonus points if you're a Bad on Paper listener because Becca hid several Easter eggs throughout the story. My only complaint is that the book doesn't come out until October 13th because I loved the book that much. Go ahead and pre-order it now!
This was the book that I read by mistake. I thought I was reading The Push by Ashley Audrain (still on my TBR) but instead, it was The Push by Caire McGowan. Six couples from a pre-natal group, newborn babies, a party at a fancy house and a mysterious death. As the detective begins to investigate the incident, people start to unravel and secrets are brought to light.
I hate to say it, but I was not a fan of this book. There were too many characters to keep track of and by the end, I was still trying to keep up with who belonged with who, what their secret was, which baby was theirs, etc. To me, the story dragged on for way too long. The story was told from too many point of views and over too many timelines. I will say, I found it interesting that we didn't know who died for the first half of the book and that is probably what kept me reading.
A cruise ship and boy band nostalgia? That really floats my boat. (Sorry, I had to!) American Fantasy takes place on a four-day sailing where fans are invited to mix and mingle with a beloved boy band from the 90s. The cruise follows Annie, a newly divorced empty nester (I guess I had a theme this month that I didn't realize until just now) who is forced to go on the cruise by herself after her sister sustains an injury and can't join her. We watch as Annie discovers how to embrace this new version of herself with the help of some unlikely friends.
When I first head the premise of this book, I was pumped. As a child of the 90s who loved NSYNC, all I could picture was taking a cruise with the group. Unfortunately, I think I had too high of expectations for this book that is just didn't meet. While I loved the main character Annie and seeing how she grew over the course of four days, I don't feel like enough time was spent on getting to know the members of the band and I had a little trouble keeping the guys straight. Throw in that there's a Shawn and a Scotty to add to the confusion of who is who -- or maybe it's just mom brain. I don't know, the book just fell flat for me; I kept waiting for more to happen and there to be more boy band nostalgia.
What did you read this month? What should I add to my never-ending to be read list? Follow me on Goodreads to keep up with everything I'm reading.
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