My June Reads

And I will need all the other ones that I plan on buying this month too! Shhhh! :)

June was again busy (I feel like I say this every month...) but I read seven-almost eight books so I will chalk it up as a win!

June's books:

My Best Friend's Ex by Meghan Quinn: Second in a series and I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first. See all of my thoughts on the original post here.

The Dry by Jane Harper: Our first summer reading pick from Modern Mrs. Darcy and wowza was it a great one! All my thoughts and a summary are over here.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris: I kept hearing about this author so I jumped at the chance to review this one! Unfortunately it was just okay for me-see all the details here.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman: Another summer reading pick by MMD and another great one.  My full review is here.

The Changeling by Victor Lavalle: My reading challenge for this month was to step outside the box and read from a different genre than I normally do. Needless to say I read about half of this one and stepped promptly back into my box.  Full info here.

The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels: I enjoy a good personality test and informational book so I checked this one out.  It was interesting but a bit confusing but I plan on returning to it and trying again. 3/5 stars

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I've heard great things about this author so I picked up her latest from my June Book of the Month Club. It was well worth it and I read it in one day! All the thoughts and summary are here.








Sneak peek at some of the things coming in July:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Summary:

     Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

     Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

     Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

 

 

My Thoughts:

     Monique is a 35-year-old, recently separated reporter at Vivante magazine where she has been working for less than a year when a new assignment comes her way.  Evelyn Hugo, one of the world’s most famous actresses, wants her to write her story.  Monique’s biggest concern is “why me?”. 

     I read this nearly 400-page book in ONE DAY, y’all! I read a bit in the morning then started it back up around noon and finished about 10:30 pm last night with hardly any breaks…. I haven’t done that in years.  The last few books that I read where heavy on darkness and violence so I wanted something light and heard this would be a great palate cleanser. It was exactly what I needed!

     Now before you get started, this is not a totally light, airy read.  I teared up several times but I also laughed a few times too.  Reading this story was like reading a juicy memoir from one of your favorite movie stars and while there were sad parts it was also just plain old enjoyable reading.  I hate to say it is a fun and mindless read because these characters have depth and it is a wonderful story of how you must live life with no regrets and learn to go after what you want but it isn’t a deep, psychological tome either.

  This is book is the perfect, enjoyable story to cleanse your mind after dark/disturbing reads or anytime you just want to read a great story.  4.5/5 stars

 

Author’s site: http://taylorjenkinsreid.com

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Summary:

     Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who abandoned him, when his wife Emma begins acting strange. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act—beyond any parent’s comprehension—and vanishes, seemingly into thin air. 

     Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts. Apollo then begins a journey that takes him to a forgotten island in the East River of New York City, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest in Queens where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever. This dizzying tale is ultimately a story about family and the unfathomable secrets of the people we love. 

 My Thoughts:

     In the beginning of The Changeling I was enjoying the story and very interested in the main character, Apollo.  I was very interested in learning more about him and finding out where his story would take him and also, what really happened with his father.  Apollo’s job as a rare a used book dealer also was intriguing to me for obvious reasons!

     The more that I read in this book, the more bizarre and confusing it became.  My concern for and interest in Apollo became smaller and smaller the more I read.  There were mysterious chains, horrible deaths, and for fun? Hidden, mini lectures about posting pictures on social media….

     This book will forever be stuck at 46% on my Kindle: DNF (did not finish). I appreciate the effort but this just wasn’t for me.  1/5 stars

*This book was classified in the Horror genre and I am counting it towards my 2017 Reading Challenge for the category of “a genre you usually avoid”. 

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Summary:

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

 

My Thoughts:

     Much like The Dry by Jane Harper, Beartown is full of interesting characters but the town as a whole and the surrounding environment are also a big part of the story.  Hockey is the life’s blood of Beartown and everyone in it.  If you want to be liked and if you eventually want to get out of this cold, wilderness town you will have to be good at hockey.  Those that are gifted at the game are treated like royalty and the inhabitants rely on them to win at any cost to help pull the town out of its increasing economic downfalls.

     This is the first of Backman’s writing that I have read but I have always heard great things-now I know why.  Many people have said that this is quite different than his other works in that it is darker and the subject matter is something that may bother some people.

 Fredrik Backman’s writing style and the design of this book should be confusing because every chapter jumps around between several townsfolks’ viewpoints.  At first when you are learning who everyone is, it is a bit confusing but I quickly picked it up and was able to continuing reading with little to know trouble.  Almost all of the characters are rich, complicated and well developed and all of them are relatable in some form. 

     This is a wonderfully written novel about tough subjects and while it was emotionally tough at times I think it is a very timely subject that was handled perfectly by the author. I will be recommending this one to everyone.  5/5 stars

Favorite quotes:

“God, how much he annoys her sometimes, but God, how she loves him. It wasn’t a love that developed gradually; it hit her like an affliction. It’s an ongoing condition.”

“Never trust people who don’t have something in their lives that they love beyond all reason.” 

Author’s site:

http://www.fredrikbackmanbooks.com/

Warning and slight spoiler below....

*this story involves a rape so if that is something that bothers you, it might be best to pass on this novel.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

Summary:

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her… 

 

My Thoughts:

     This is the first novel by B.A. Paris that I have read and I was very much looking forward to a great, twisty thriller.  The Breakdown was rather good but at times it felt like…too much.  Don’t get me wrong, the story and premise is very intriguing but there were times I really just wanted to reach into the book and give Cass a good shake and yell “Just tell them already!”

     Honestly, this is a good summer thriller (I feel like I keep saying this) if you are looking for a thrill ride that won’t overly tax your brain. Just sit back in your lounge chair, read, and enjoy the ride.  About halfway through the book you will probably get annoyed like I did what with the same silent calls and the same reaction by Cass. Every. Single. Time. Keep plugging along because it may be slightly annoying but the ride, although predictable, is worth it.  3.5/5 stars 

Author’s site:  https://us.macmillan.com/author/baparis/

The Dry by Jane Harper

Summary:

Luke Hadler turns a gun on his wife and child, then himself. The farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily. If one of their own broke under the strain, well...

When Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra for the funerals, he is loath to confront the people who rejected him twenty years earlier. But when his investigative skills are called on, the facts of the Hadler case start to make him doubt this murder-suicide charge.

And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, old wounds start bleeding into fresh ones. For Falk and his childhood friend Luke shared a secret... A secret Falk thought long-buried... A secret which Luke's death starts to bring to the surface... 

My Thoughts:

Be forewarned:  the prologue of this book sucks you in immediately! You will not want to stop reading this book. Jane Harper draws you in immediately to the dry, desolate and brown-ness of the small town of Kiewarra and its’ desperate people. 

     In The Dry just know that you can’t trust anyone. I like the main character, Aaron, but I’m not even sure he can be trusted.  Everyone in Kiewarra has a secret but whose secret is the most dangerous? Would they kill to keep it quiet?  The characters in this small town know everyone’s business or at least think that they do and as in real life, things and people are complicated. 

      I don’t know about anyone else but I had no clue what the conclusion of this story would be until right as it was being revealed.  I don’t usually try too hard to figure things out, but a lot of books make it fairly obvious (to me anyway) and I end up knowing without trying or wanting to figure it out.  I love that in The Dry I was learning and figuring things out right along with Aaron.  This is a dark but very intriguing story and appears to be the first in a series-YAY!  5/5 stars

*This is the first book pick of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading List-check out the full list here.

Author's site: http://janeharper.com.au/

"Carly Phillips is synonymous with red-hot romance."

- Lauren Blakely, New York Times Bestselling Author

The Lucky Series, a sexy series of standalones by Carly Phillips is available now!!

Lucky Charm

Derek Corwin is well aware of the family curse - every Corwin male who married for love would be destined to lose his woman and his fortune. He decides to outsmart the prophesy that has plagued his family for generations by breaking up with his first love—and marrying someone else. Now, divorced and broke, all he has left is his teenage daughter, a boatload of regret … and wariness when it comes to love.

Until Gabrielle Donovan returns, determined to rekindle their passion. Will her stubborn streak and her unwavering love be the lucky charm Derek so desperately needs?

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2rTfADT

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/fR1TCy

iBooks: https://goo.gl/7jYcM6

Nook: https://goo.gl/BV27nU

Kobo: https://goo.gl/J7x9FH

Google Play: https://goo.gl/aTiaZD

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/RXbReN

Lucky Break

Jason Corwin knows he should resist his attraction to Lauren Perkins. After all, it was one of her ancestors who came up with the curse that has plagued every Corwin male to misery and the single life. But after one night of mind-blowing sex with his supposed—and very seductive—enemy, he can't bring himself to stay away.

All Lauren wants is to sell her late grandmother's old house and leave the past behind forever. But that's not an easy thing to do with gorgeous contractor Jason Corwin whispering sweet, sexy somethings in her ear. About staying. Can she be the lucky break that Jason needs?

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ssCU8A

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/xDDnbV

iBooks: https://goo.gl/MoEScz

Nook: https://goo.gl/jcZLia

Kobo: https://goo.gl/xyyE3t

Google Play: https://goo.gl/wb8NR5

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/4KoKLO

Lucky Streak

When Mike Corwin awakens after some wild partying in Vegas $100,000 richer and married to Amber Rose Brennan, the gorgeous woman he met the night before, he thinks he's hit the jackpot. The bad news is that Amber's a con who takes his money and runs. Seems the family jinx has finally hit him. Hard.

But to Amber, Mike isn't business as usual. If only she didn't need the money to ensure her father's safety, she might actually have fallen for the intense lawman. Instead, she's forced to betray him.

Now Mike's hell-bent on divorce and Amber's on the run…but when a twist of fate reunites them, can they turn their run of bad fortune into a lucky streak that lasts forever?

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2rq40yR

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/7fJPQQ

iBooks: https://goo.gl/FWg4VV

Nook: https://goo.gl/YDJ9cX

Kobo: https://goo.gl/GwWnOa

Google Play: https://goo.gl/4Y1NAN

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/YFw8pt

Meet Carly Phillips:

Carly Phillips is the N.Y. Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of over 50 sexy contemporary romance novels, including the Indie published, Dare to Love Series. She is happily married to her college sweetheart, the mother of two nearly adult daughters and three crazy dogs. Carly loves social media and is always around to interact with her readers.

Connect with Carly:

Sign up for Carly’s Newsletter at: http://www.carlyphillips.com/newsletter-sign-up/ Sign up for Blog and Website updates at: http://www.carlyphillips.com/blog Sign up for Text Updates of New Releases: http://tinyurl.com/p3upm5s Friend Carly on Facebook: www.facebook.com/carlyphillipsfanpage Hang out at Carly’s Corner! (Hot guys & giveaways!) http://smarturl.it/CarlysCornerFB Instagram: https://instagram.com/carlyphillips Twitter: www.twitter.com/carlyphillips Website: www.carlyphillips.com