Monthly Wrap Up | May 2022 + Reading List | June 2022

Oh man it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted. Whoops. So far this month (June) I’ve been reading up a storm .. but that also means I’m not always putting time towards blogging or much else really haha.

Besides one book that I read in May, all of them are romance (which might also be the theme for my June books).

The Books

The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty was such an intense but good trilogy ender. I devoured this whole series and I really enjoyed where our characters went in this last book. I know many love this trilogy and it’s easy to see why; I just can’t believe I waited so long to read it! While I enjoyed the other book in the ‘series’ that The Suite Spot by Trish Doller is a part of, I was unsure if I wanted to read it. I’m glad I did because it’s a very heartwarming and cute story, though I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the other (The Float Plan). I’m pretty sure I will love anything that Penny Reid writes and Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend was no exception. Although the whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking .. do people actually do this ‘challenges’ on TikTok?? That part of the plot was a little ridiculous to me, but unfortunately not unrealistic. Getting past that was easy though to just enjoy Winnie and Byron’s story.

Sarina Bowen is another romance author that I love .. I’ve read most of her books and always enjoy the story; Shenanigans was no different. The overall plot isn’t unique but I thought Bowen executed it well and took us on an enjoyable ride! Unfortunately, these other two were not as fun/ exciting. Usually I enjoy Lauren Blakely’s novels, but Come Again just fell flat for me. I’ve read a few other Alice Clayton novels and enjoyed them. I was still in my romance mood and wanted a new read to quickly pick up. I’ve seen a lot of people love Wallbanger .. sadly, it really fell flat for me and I kind of wished I didn’t read it.

While there are mixed reviews about Emily Henry’s latest, Book Lovers, I still loved it. For me, I read romance books to just get sucked into an enjoyable story and go along for the ride. I don’t go in trying to be critical. Henry gave me a book that I really enjoyed reading; though I will agree that there are similarities with Beach Read, which I would recommend first. I also wasn’t sure if I wanted to read the second Bellinger Sister book, Hook, Line, and Sinker, but I was able to get it from the library quickly and needed another book at the time, so I figured why not. I will say that I think I enjoyed this one a little more than the first. The characters and their obstacles were just more interesting to read for me. Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters ended up being a pretty predictable storyline, which definitely knocked it down a little for me. Overall, it was a nice read, but I don’t think I would initially recommend.

So, for some reason, I didn’t realize that Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch was a YA book. I wouldn’t have read it otherwise .. I was also expecting a little more of a love story, but it’s mostly a finding yourself story? I’m not sure, I’m just not the audience for it anymore. With Helena Hunting, I know I’m going to get a solid romcom book and When Sparks Fly was no different. I enjoyed this one, I was entertained and I didn’t really see too many issues; definitely a middle of the road one for me. I was really excited that my library started getting Ali Hazelwood’s novellas because I need something to tide me over before her next novel comes. Under One Roof was cute, fun, and an enjoyable read. No regrets.

Since I enjoyed her other two books, I figured I should read her other novel People We Meet on Vacation. I liked that this fun and unique take on the best friends to lovers idea. I also really enjoyed that both characters were also on a finding themselves journey. I just really enjoyed this one, it was a sweet story with some spice thrown in.

Reading Challenges

Beat the Backlist: 7
Mount TBR: 0
Goodreads Random Number: 0
ARCs Challenge: 0

Reading List

I’m still very much in a romance mood, so I don’t see myself moving out of it this month. Below are books that I have on my holds list that I expect to read this month.