On the bookshelf in June
The first book I read was One Small Mistake by Dandy Smith. Wowza where to even start with this one?! I never read the backs of books, so I never fully know what I’m getting myself into. This one was exactly that! Main characters & sisters, Ada & Elodie, (seriously how cute are those names?!!) couldn’t be more opposite. Ada never went to college, but married a wealthy man & from the outside looking in, has quite the ideal life. Elodie on the other hand, went to college & started a successful career in marketing. But after her boyfriend died in a hit & run, Elodie made a promise to herself & her late boyfriend, Noah, that she would live her life doing what she loved most — writing. So she quit her marketing job to work in a coffee shop & write full time. Unfortunately, the market just didn’t match the genres she was writing. The market wanted true crime. Coincidentally, Elodie noticed that she had been being followed for awhile by a man. Her long time best & closest friend, Jack was quite bothered by Elodie’s stalker, but promised her that they would figure out her book deal (or lack thereof) together. But how far will they go? Read to find out! Like I’ve said before, I typically can predict books like this, but this one had some great plot twists that my eyes couldn’t read fast enough & left my heart racing. I gave this book three out of five stars.
The second book I read was The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther. I crack myself up when I grab books like this one because typically I am not a fan of hallmark-style books. You know what I mean — guy randomly meets girl, it’s fate, there’s drama that would never actually happen in the “real world”, guy & girl overcome the odds & live happily ever after. It’s not real, but it is real annoying lol. (Does this make me cynical? I may have to talk to my therapist about this lol). Anyways, I started this book & definitely did not have high hopes of liking it. But it proved me so wrong!!! The plot was definitely not realistic like in the slightest, but I really loved each character & was totally rooting for them, even if they didn’t end up together.
Such an ideal situation: an extended family shares a MASSIVE vineyard together with a ton of houses & room to play. Each summer, the family & extended friends come together. However, main character, Meredith, hasn’t been to the vineyard the past two summers, ever since her older sister, Claire, passed away. Meredith & her parents are finally coming back to the family vineyard to celebrate Meredith’s cousin, Sarah’s wedding! Things get real interesting when Meredith meets Sarah’s goom, Michael’s step-brother, Wit. Yep, follow along here ladies! I’m sure you can put things together from here based on the genre of this book & I don’t want to ruin anything since there were a few twists & turns. I surprised myself with how much I loved it! Oh & there were two sex scenes, but they were very PG compared to some of the other books I’ve read. I gave this book five out of five stars. My mom read this book before me & gave it four out of five stars.
The third book I read was The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith. This is the same author as the first I read this month & I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with her! My mom read this book shortly before me & didn’t love it. I called her when I had just over an hour left & was scared out of my mind lol this is exactly why I have to read all of my mysteries in the summer time!!! The book follows to different story lines & I could not figure out how they were related until the very end. I don’t want to say much about the details of this book because I don’t want to give anything away. That’s part of why it was so good! I loved discovering new things every chapter. I felt like I was reading & being a detective at the same time! I didn’t love the ending, but overall I did enjoy the book. I gave this book four out of five stars.
The fourth book I read was The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey. This book felt kind of slow to me & you just kind of moseyed through the pages. Then all of a sudden at the end there was a big development, but everything finished neatly tied up in a bow. The book mostly follows Leah, a British wife & mom who moved to France with her family for a change in lifestyle. Leah joins a book club, hosted by her friend Grace. There are three other members in the book club: George, Alfie & Monica. The book mostly focuses on Leah, but it does touch on the other characters as well. I really enjoyed the development of each character & found myself really rooting for each of them as the book carried on. I gave this book three out of five stars.
I get questions all the time about this book lover tote! So stinking cute!!
books I purchased this month:
books recommended by all of you this month:
My heart was so full heading into the 2023 Christmas season! I finished up reading the entire Bible. Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible was such a great resource that helped me better understand what I was reading & how it applies to my life! It was amazing to me how much was familiar & how much I didn’t know I was missing. Having a better understanding of the Bible & being in the word every day has brought so much peace into my life! If you’ve been feeling the pull to read your Bible more, I highly recommend Bible recap to help you on your journey. I’m excited to start over & eager to see what new things I will pick up on & learn.
you can find past book review posts here:
Add me on the Goodreads app to follow along with my book choices in real time by clicking here. Don’t forget to go to the home page & sign up for emails so you never miss a post!! Also, you can click here to go to my book review page in case you’re interested in checking out some other great reads. If you’ve had a favorite read that you’d recommend, leave it below in the comments & I’ll be sure to check it out!
PS – this post contained affiliate links… thank you so much for reading & supporting our blog!
