Share Your Shelf #27-- What I Read in June

It's the first Thursday of the month and time for Share Your Shelf with Dara and I. I hope you all look forward to this monthly link up as much as I do. I just love getting new ideas for books to read or listen to.  

I had such a fabulous month of reading and managed to squeeze in 18 books! 

1. Spare by Prince Harry-- I am not a huge royal family fan so other than knowing who most of the royals are and having read one or two books about Princess Diana I don't know much about the family. I typically enjoy a good memoir so I figured I'd give it a listen. It was interesting to learn how things work in a monarchy family and while I know there are 2 sides to every story I couldn't help but feel bad for Prince Harry and his wife. I've always thought it would be awful to be famous and hounded by the press and it sure sounds like I was right. 

2. The Valencia Expat Club by June Patrick-- I was excited to read this ARC from NetGalley. When Dahlia's life is upended with her divorce she decides to head to Valencia, Spain since she had such fond memories of visiting her grandmother there. With family still in the area Dahlia settles in and even picks up a new freelancing job working with the broody American bar owner just down the street. I really enjoyed this sweet story and while Spain has never really made it onto my travel bucket list this books sure made me want to get up and go. I feel like I could smell and taste and see so much of the village through the wonderful descriptions. A perfect summer vacation read for sure with a little romance thrown in too.

3. Little Women by Louise May Alcott-- I read this book back in middle school or perhaps even high school and I've been wanting to re-read it to see how well it holds up. I found I had a very hard time concentrating on the audiobook and kept having to bring my attention back to the story as my mind wandered a lot while listening. It's a cute enough story about the 4 March sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy growing up poor in rural New England while their father is off fighting in the American Civil War- though the story does span 15 years from the girls' early adolescence into adulthood so he's not absent the whole time. I'm glad I re-"read" it but definitely not a favorite. 

4. If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair-- Oh I was hooked by the end of the first chapter! Just an utterly adorable rom-com. Josie and Wyatt have known each other for years. Wyatt is Josie's brother's best friend. The two main characters got off to a rough start years ago and Josie has avoided Wyatt ever since. So when she shows up an address her brother gave her and finds that it's not to meet up with him like she thought but to play nurse to Wyatt, Josie balks... but her brother entices her to stay and in no time Josie finds that everything she thought she knew about Wyatt was wrong. Within just a few weeks the two set sail on a trip Wyatt  has been planning for months and while Josie is now fighting off feelings for Wyatt she has major trust and commitment issues and vows to hold him at bay... until she just can't anymore. 

5. Sex on Murder Island by Jo Friestone-- I LOVED Jo's first book Murder on Sex Island so I was thrilled to be offered a chance to read and review her second book with this ARC from NetGalley. In this book Marie is flat broke and wondering what she's going to do when she gets a call for her alter ego Luella to investigate and find evidence of a wife cheating on her husband. She'll have to live on Murder Island for a few days which is known for being the private playground for the uber-rich but thrilled to have an actual private investigation job and a place to live Marie/Luella takes the job. Things immediate start out pretty weird and I wasn't sure I was going to like this book as much as the first but then Luella gets a side kick and the book really starts to pick up. It was great. 

 6. First- Time Caller by B. K. Borison-- Sleepless in Seattle is one of my favorite movies so hearing this book was inspired by the movie I had high hopes and ended up really enjoying it a lot. Maya calls into a radio talk show one night to tell Aiden that her mom Lucie needs a boyfriend. Next thing Lucie knows she's become a regular on Aiden's show and the chemistry between the two continues to build despite knowing they're not right for another. Lucie is looking for love and Aiden isn't sure he even believes in love anymore but if he did he's pretty sure love isn't worth the pain. It was a really cute and sweet book.  

7.  Mile High by Liz Tomforde--  I liked this book right from the start too. Stevie is an airline stewardess on a private plane for a pro hockey team. Zanders is one of the star players and takes an instant dislike to Stevie, mostly I think because he can tell she sees through his image. But as the season progresses and these two spend more and more time together there is an undeniable chemistry. Stevie has always promised herself to never date any sort of pro-athlete again and Zanders has sworn off any "real" relationship but it's not long before both of them find themselves breaking every promise they made to themselves. They actually make a rather adorable coupe and have some really sweet side characters/friends as well. It is rated R though so just be warned. 

8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein-- This was such a sweet story. A little odd at first since it's narrated by a dog but I really enjoyed it. Enzo has been with Denny from the time Enzo was a little puppy. Through the dog's eye & narration we learn about Denny's racing career, his wife and daughter, family illness, and more. If you liked Remarkably Bright Creatures you'll probably like this one too.  

 9. The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez--  This was one of those books that I really loved despite the fact that it annoyed me to no end. It's a supposed love triangle between Larissa who is dating Mike and then befriends Mike's best friend Chris. Right from the first chapter I thought Mike was bad news and she should just dump him and start dating Chris. LOL! For some reason we were supposed to believe that Mike was already in love with Larissa and that Chris and Mike we were best friends but really it sounded like their whole friendship was based on their past and nothing at all in the present since Mike is incredibly immature and self-centered. But that said I loved the interactions between Larissa and Chris and all the rest of Chris' friends were great too. It was one of those books where you wondered how the two characters you knew were going to get together would ever end up together. All in all a pretty enjoyable read... oh and Chris really does seem to mature, grow, and mostly redeem himself by the epilogue. 

 10. The Shippers by Katherine Center-- This one was SO much fun! I loved it. A jilted wedding/runaway bride, a cruise ship, two best friends that you can just tell are meant to be together, I mean what's not to like? It was funny and adorable and included a wacky cast of characters. 

11. Out of This World by Frances Mensah Williams--  I enjoyed this ARC from NetGalley so much! At times this story broke my heart and other times the main character drove me nuts but I just loved how honest and flawed and vulnerable these characters were. Angie is struggling with the loss of her son, the emptiness of her marriage, and the anger from her teenager daughter. Then through a series of pretty bad choices and some misunderstandings she finds herself alone and struggling to remember the last time she did anything just for herself.  Each time she appears to getting a grip on things life throws another curve ball her way and all along I just found myself rooting for her and her family. This is one of those stories that made me feel something and deeply and won't soon be forgotten. And lucky for you, dear readers, this book was published on June 6th so it should be out and available anywhere you get your books from. 

12. P. S. I Like You by Kasie West-- Lily ends scribbling some song lyrics on her desk in Chemistry class one day and finds more lyrics added the next. Soon the two are exchanging letters but neither knows who the other person is. Of course she starts to look forward to hearing from this person and while I guessed very, very early on who the other writer was it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this adorable story in the least. 

13.  Shared Journeys; Poems from the Quiet Corner Poets-- I don't normally enjoy reading poetry but I saw this book at our library that complies poems from some of our local writers and thought it would be interesting to read. Some poems are about local landmarks but most are just about life in general. It was pretty good and a nice quick read. 

14. Climbing in Heels by Elaine Goldsmith Thomas--  I enjoyed this story that followed 3 secretaries making their way through the ranks of a talent agency in Hollywood in the 1980's breaking all the rules to break through the glass ceiling of the boys' club industry. Beenie Rosen-- the fast talking, fast- thinking Valley girl who doesn't take no as an answer. Mercades Baxter-- who learned from her family how to leverage her body and good looks for money and power. Ella Grady-- the southern belle who has turned her back on all her family's values and does things her own way.

15. Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan-- Oh this was utterly adorable! Dolly is back in Rhode Island for the summer with her 13 year old son helping out at her dad's fish market while helping him fix up his house and keep an eye on her brother, who suffered a brain injury as a young child. She runs into the illustriously wealthy Stewart Whitfield one night and helps him change his flat tire, unaware that this one act will turn her whole summer on its ear. When Stewart tracks her down and asks her to fake date him for the summer to help him get a job promotion at work Dolly assumes he's kidding but he's not and as the two broker an agreement the reader just knows these two are going to fall madly for one another by the end of the book. It gave me all the summer feels with yacht rides, summer galas, and an adorable seaside town. I loved it. 

 

16. The First Time I saw Him by Laura Dave-- It has been ages since I read the first book in the series so I really didn't remember any details at all and wasn't sure I'd be able to follow along but I did just fine. It has been 5 or 6 years since Hannah and Bailey have been on their own. Their lives have been going pretty well but as they learned more about the disappearance of Owen they became more aware of Owen's past and the danger they were in. So when Hannah gets a message telling her to get out of the house both Hannah and Bailey are on the run with one of the many contingency plans Hannah has put in place. The book skips around a bit time wise and we learn all about Hannah's mom, grandfather, and uncle and it was a suspenseful story.. I did wish for a bit more of a wrap up in the end though. 

17. What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon -- Nothing is quite going the way Dani planned. Now she finds herself in Amsterdam looking forward to a big life change only her apartment is more like a dungeon, her job seems highly suspect, and when she literally runs into her old high school boyfriend on her bike she finds that things just might be turning around. Wouter was an exchange student her family hosted and Dani and Wouter fell in love but they had a nasty breakup and haven't spoken since. But Wouter has a crazy plan that just might help them both. He proposes they marry so that he can inherit his grandmother's building that he loves and Dani can stay in the country while looking for another job. Crazy? Sure! Adorable? You betcha!  

18. Seven Days on the Italian Island by Victoria Springfield-- I was thrilled to get my hands on this ARC from NetGalley. It was such a fabulous summer read too! While it is not an easy one to summarize, this book has a little bit of everything. A fabulous setting on the Italian Island of Capri, a great cast of characters, a mystery/ some intrigue over two seemingly unrelated accidents that happened at the same time some 50+ years ago, some romance, and even some family drama. Three stories intertwine beautifully between the famous Tellini fashion house, an underdog shoe designer and his family business, and Tanya, a visiting Englishwoman, who has been invited back to the island she fled more than 50 years ago. Set for publication July 7th you will not be sorry you picked this one up. 

 

 

 

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