This month’s reading started off very slow with a busy work schedule and trying to get everything together for the cruise. At first I was nervous that this month was going to be a bust for reading, but I knew I was going to try to get as much reading in while on the cruise as possible. I ended up finishing two books I had started before the trip and reading three other books!
I’ve definitely leaned more into mood reading when choosing a book, along with what comes off hold from the library, so the genres are a little bit everywhere. I also continued to work through my Book of the Month stack and ended up finishing two books of my extremely high pile.
Here are the seven books I read in July:
The Cloisters – Katy Hays
Ann Stillwell is starting her summer in NYC thinking she’s going to be interning at The Met Museum. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, where the focus is on Medieval Art and a current research on the history of divination. At first she finds herself enjoying the escape from her life digging into the history, but after finding a set of tarot cards from the 15th Century, she thinks she may have discovered the key to predicting the future. Strange things start to happen around the museum and she’s trying to find the answers to all her questions before it’s too late.
I was excited to read this one because I loved The Cloisters when we went to visit the museum back in May. I also get excited to read any book set in NYC after living there to try and figure out the area they’re in and because I can visualize it better than any other setting. However, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea until the last 2/3 of it. It moved too slow for me and even though it’s listed as a thriller, there wasn’t any mystery to it that I felt like made it a thriller until the end. There’s a big focus on tarot cards and the history of it, and I wish I knew it would be a big focus so I could prepare myself for it. The visuals for The Cloisters was spot on though and I loved the dive into the history of the museum within the story. Rating: 3/5
The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J. Klune
Linus Baker is a case worker in The Department in Charge of Magical Youth and is assigned to a house by the highest level of management to see if six youth are going to bring destruction to the world. Arthur Parnassus is the master of the house and will do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means revealing the secretes he’s kept hidden for years.
I was recommended this book by a friend and I’m so glad I finally go to it. I listened to it as an audiobook and I loved the narrator. There are a few elements that takes a while to get used to and understand, like the different magical creatures that are portrayed in the book and the names, but after the first few chapters, you start to follow along easily. This book was so cute, not only in the love story in a romantic way, but also in the love story of the children. I was more invested in the relationship between Linus and the children than anything else. This is such a cute book that I recommend reading if you’re looking for something light and wholesome, with a mix of magic. Rating: 4/5
When We Were Bright and Beautiful – Jillian Medoff
Casey Quinn’s younger brother Billy is accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend. This case gets a lot of media coverage because Billy is a white boy from a very privileged family attending an Ivy League school as a star athlete. The Quinn’s come together to work with the best legal team and to help Billy win his case. As the case get more coverage, the harder it starts to become to keep all the secrets in the family hidden. Will Casey be willing to expose her darkest secrets if it meant saving her brother?
I was very interested in reading this book based off the summary. It’s a tough book to read because of the subject matter, but Medoff does that part in a tasteful way. However, I figured out the big secret that Casey is hiding that is the big plot twist at around the halfway point, which was a disappointment, but also interesting because I can never really figure the plot twists out. The plot twist was also a little much for me and the ended was kinda tied up, but not. Overall it was an interesting read and moved really fast with short chapters, but not at all what I was expecting. Rating: 3/5
Here For It – Melanie Jacobson
Supermodel Anneke finds herself in New Orleans to help her best friend Miles open his new jazz club. She decided to take advantage of the trip to finally meet her online crush at the record store he owns. Jonah is over how fame and fortune changes people, and not even Anneke can change his mind on it, until he realizes she’s the girl he’s been talking to and falling for on the internet.
I was drawn to this book because it’s a cute grumpy/sunshine trope set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras season. This was definitely a slow burn romance that moved a little too slow for me. They kept going back and forth between wanting to be with each other at least one times too many for me, but it’s a cute closed door romance. I also loved the side characters in the book, so I def want to read the first book in the series and the other two books after this one. This books is also available on Kindle Unlimited. Rating: 3.5/5
A Court of Wings and Ruin – Sarah J. Maas
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing her struggle to master her powers-both magical and political-and her love for her court and family. Amidst these struggles, Feyre and Rhysand must decide whom to trust amongst the cunning and lethal High Lords, and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
OMG this book! This is definitely my favorite of the series so far. It’s worth all the slow setups of the first two books to get to this one. I couldn’t put it down, reading the first 400 pages in a few hours and only putting it down to give my mind a break. You get to explore all the courts and their High Lords in this book and see how they all support each other and get ready for the big war. This book takes you through so many emotions and even had me tearing up towards the end of it. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to move on from this book, but I’m excited to see where Sarah J. Maas takes us next in the series. Rating: 5/5
Falling for Real – Kadee McDonald
After taking a break for college, actress Hayley Niven is trying to get her career back on track. But when she tells a magazine she doesn’t believe in true love, the producer of her next movie—a rom-com, no less—drops her. Her agent’s solution to the dilemma? A fake relationship with another one of her clients, an intelligent and adorable young British actor named Jameson Rand, who also needs to raise his Hollywood Q score. Hayley agrees because it’s all for publicity, right?
This is a cute 28 page novella that I picked up during one of the Stuff Your Kindle days and it was the perfect read for a bus ride from an excursion back to the dock. Unlike the other novellas I read, this one had more plot than smut, in fact it’s considered a closed door romance so there really isn’t any smut. If you’re looking for a quick read to add books to your reading challenge or to just clear your mind to stay on a groove or get out of a slump, I recommend this one. Rating: 3.5/5
The Playlist – Morgan Elizabeth
When Zoe’s best friend shows her the box of dreams they put together as kids, she would never have foreseen herself dumping Mr. Perfectly Fine and quitting her draining job. But when she looks in that box and realizes her life isn’t even close to where she envisioned she’d be when she was ten, she panics and implodes everything she knows. When Zander Davidson realizes his little sister’s best friend is finally single at the same time he is, he knows it’s time. With the help of his sister (and her dad, AKA his boss), he makes a plan to become the king of her heart, including the road trip of a lifetime, and uses the Love Story Bucket List she made as a kid as his road map. Along the way, Zee convinces Zoe to play pretend with him, but can he mastermind his way into keeping her forever and always?
This book was so cute and def a top fav for the year! Zee and Zoe are def top 5 favorite couple of the year with their childhood friends to lovers/best friends brother trope. Morgan Elizabeth has deemed this a book for Swifties and I agree! Each chapter is titled off a Taylor Swift song and it pretty much described the direction the story was going. I loved the road trip they took and all the stops they made. It is a steamy romance with steam starting a good quarter into the book, but it wasn’t too over the top. I’m definitely a Morgan Elizabeth fan and will read the other four books in the series. Even though it is considered the fifth book in the series, each book can also be read as a standalone. Rating: 5/5
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