Summer Archives - Page 4 of 8

Book Review:: All the Words We Know | Bruce Nash

Talk about a one-of-a-kind mystery novel! All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash is a fever dream of an experience. Readers are inside the mind of a mentally deteriorating woman who lives in an assisted living facility where something just isn’t right. Do her conspiratorial ideas have any basis? Or is her unwell mind playing tricks on her as she edges closer to the last ending?

All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash Book Cover

I’ve never read a book quite like this one. Stream of consciousness through the lens of someone who can’t remember words in most of her thoughts. It’s a little disorienting at the beginning, but as things ramped up, I found I couldn’t ‘look away’.

Rosie is frequently visited by her two children, who seem concerned at her state of health. She has forgotten almost everything about her life, and it was so interesting and heartbreaking as hell to experience her, in real time, remember she was once in love, that she was once a person who was loved, once upon a time.

It’s a terrifying premise. In a place that has full control of you (including your medications), when you are so helpless…gah. The elderly are so vulnerable, and this novel made me feel for them more than ever.

This is what we know (probably): Someone died falling from a window, others are also dying (it is an end of life facility), Rosie has forgotten the password to her accounts, and her son loves her very much. We also know that the doctor in charge is telling her son how concerned he is for her recent behavior and decline, her medications are adjusted, and she has this deep resounding feeling of something not being right, and not knowing why.

Wow. For a book where I didn’t know what the heck was going on 100% of the time, it was quite impressive. I’m inclined to dock a star or two for how difficult it was to stay grounded in a novel where everything is so disjointed and garbled, and it is quite repetitive, but I think I’ll stick to 5, because I am blown away by the concept and it was consistent all the way through.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: All the Words We Know
Author:: Bruce Nash
Genre:: Mystery
Publisher:: Atria
Length:: 240 pages
Audio Length:: 7h 46m
Audiobook Narrator:: Abbe Holmes
Published:: July 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4.5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife | Anna Johnston
Counting Miracles | Nicholas Sparks
The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Book Review:: Sunburned | Katherine Wood

Actions have consequences, and the law doesn’t care about good intentions. Sunburned is a brand-new novel that will have you glued to the pages as a high-stakes mystery is solved.

Audrey is a discovery agent. She helps dig up facts for court. But she wasn’t always. Once she was just a girl in love with one of the brothers of the family she grew up with, with a mother who had a recent devastating cancer diagnosis, and extraordinary coding skills. What would you do, if you had the means and opportunity to have a chance at saving her?

Now years later, her mother is gone and she is estranged from the two brothers, when her ex-lover calls. Now a billionaire, he wants her to track down who is blackmailing him. It’s not just his own morally brackish decisions coming back to haunt him, the dirt they have on him will bring back to light the events of that summer long ago that has the potential to implicate them all.

What a nail-biter! The narrative jumped back and forth between Audrey’s blackmail investigation in the present and the shared past of the characters long ago. The tone is quite dark, but it never made me so uncomfortable I thought I wouldn’t be able to continue (I’m a pretty sensitive thriller reader). I thought it was very compelling, and I never did quite land on guessing how the whole thing would end.

This is absolutely a great beach read for those who love thrillers. Maybe if you’re going to be scuba diving anytime soon though…pick something else! That scene was absolutely the most intense of the entire thing. I loved this book, and I’m excited to find more from Katherine Wood!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Sunburned
Author:: Katherine Wood
Genre:: Mystery/Thirller
Publisher:: Bantam
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 12h
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: July 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Villa | Rachel Hawkins
Famous Last Words | Gillian McAllister
Saltwater | Katy Hays

Book Review:: The Accidental Favorite | Fran Littlewood

A tree falls in the woods, and all three of your adult children are standing beneath it. You dive forward to remove one from danger, but the tree never falls, and the child you went to save was decidedly not the one nearest you. There is no hiding what happened. Nothing at all, and yet something. Something none of them can unsee, unknow, and Patrick cannot undo.

The Accidental Favorite by Fran Littlewood Book Cover

Meet the Fisher’s. It’s not often the whole family gets back together in the same place at the same time now that they’re all grown, but it is Vivienne’s seventieth birthday, and her three daughters and their family’s have come to stay for a few days at a unique glass house for the celebration. Once everyone arrives, they gather for pictures, which is how the sisters ended up in the path of the falling tree. After, from their father’s reaction and because of their sudden forced proximity, old resentments start to boil back to the surface, and secrets being held close.

I absolutely loved Fran’s first novel Amazing Grace Adams. I loved everything about that story, and I can see after reading this second release that she is very interested in family dynamics and the human response to trauma (some big, some small). The thing I admired most about The Accidental Favorite is the exploration of how the most subtle moments in a family, or any relationship really, can have ripple effects that resound through personalities and time.

The novel itself is quite subtle. The metaphor of the glass house is so interesting, and big things do happen throughout the novel, but the meaning largely hides between the lines.

I am such a fan of Littlewood’s writing and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Accidental Favorite
Author:: Fran Littlewood
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co.
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 45m
Audiobook Narrator:: Fiona Button
Published:: June 24th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood
The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
Apples Never Fall | Liane Moriarty (Or Three Wishes!)

Book Review:: The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain | Hannah Brown

I admit I was expecting a lot less from The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain. The premise is fairly high concept, and I thought it would be another cheesy ‘throw-away’ summer vacation romance, but this new novel from Hannah Brown is so much more.

The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain by Hannah Brown Book Cover

When you hear someone has been engaged three times but never married, what do you think of them? Commitment-phobe? Too easily swept away by a little bit of romance? Indecisive? Not serious enough? It’s an embarrassing statistic (just ask Ross Gellar about his marital history), but unless you know the whole story, don’t be so quick to judge.

Relationships are complicated. We find people in different ways, and they can complement different sides of who we are. People also change and grow and need different things at different times in their lives. But when your third engagement blows up just days before the alter, even you might start to question what is wrong with you.

Oh Sybil, you beautiful soul. She is doing her best.

I really don’t want to spoil any of this story for you, so I won’t talk about the history of her love life except to say she has run into the latest of her three fiancées at a resort in Hawai’i and it leads to her confronting her past and learning to accept and love herself in a way she’s never been able to before.

This book is about growth and forgiveness. It’s about coming into your own, meeting yourself where you are, and understanding yourself in new ways. It’s an exploration of maturity and relationships and even mental wellness to some degree. It takes quite a bit to push me over the edge into top-tier territory, but Sybil Rain earned every last one of these five stars.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain
Author:: Hannah Brown
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Forever
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 12h
Audiobook Narrator:: Cherami Leigh
Published:: June 24th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

What Happens in Amsterdam | Rachel Lynn Solomon
Hate Mail | Donna Marchetti
The Unhoneymooners | Christna Lauren

Book Review:: Finders Keepers | Sarah Adler

Welcome home to your parent’s house, Nina Hunnicutt! That’s where catching your long-term boyfriend with someone else just as they’re supposed to be moving in together will get you. Rock bottom.

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler Book Cover

But wait! Her once-best-friend is in the same boat at the same time. Burned by his ex-fiancé and home from abroad to sell the house next door, Quintin Bell might just be there to secure Nina’s own version of personal hell. Once upon a time, Nina and Quintin were as close as two friends can be, bonded over talking through their open windows, which face one another. In their last summer after high school graduation, they undertook the task of finding real-life treasure from an eccentric rich dude in town. They never found it, instead, it ended up breaking whatever connection they might have had at the time just before he left town. The wounds have calcified since then, but are not forgotten, and when Quintin brings up hunting for the treasure again now, as adults, she wants no part of it. That is, until she finds out there’s money in it no matter what, and that, just now, as an unemployed dweller in her parent’s metaphorical basement, is not something she can say no to.

This is a fun little summer adventure story. It’s not often one has real treasure to hunt for, and Nina and Q have to work together to make progress. This of course is perfect fodder for all sorts of rom-com shenanigans.

There were a lot of cute moments between Nina and Quintin. It was very clear that they had a long-standing friendship as kids that felt very authentic. Personally, I didn’t get as invested as I like in the romance of it. Maybe the treasure hunt took away from it for me, but it is still a fun summer read I would recommend if you’re someone who enjoys rom-coms.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Finders Keepers
Author:: Sarah Adler
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 400 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 30m
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: June 24th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly
Wish I Were Here | Melissa Wiesner
Perfect Fit | Clare Gilmore

Book Review:: The Love Fix | Jill Shalvis

You can’t escape your past by running away from it. At least, not in fiction!

After the death of her mother, Lexi has to return to a place with less than fond memories to execute the will with her stepsister Ashley. The two of them had very different experiences with their mother, and Lexi isn’t ready to forgive the dark childhood she had. Assisting them on the unusual task assigned to them in the will is Heath, another piece of her past Lexi isn’t eager to face, who is now the lawyer handling the execution of the will. Over a six-week period Lexi is stuck in Sunrise Cove, for better or for worse.

This is my second Jill Shalvis book, and I’m starting to get a good feel for her style. Her characters are deep and complex with pasts full of hurt that have shaped their current motivations. I thought Lexi, Heath, and even Ashley were very well developed and believable. Their problems and understanding of each other make sense and unfold in sensible ways.

The chemistry between Heath and Lexi was sizzling, but rooted deeper than just attraction. They knew each other once upon a time and I really enjoyed every bit of information Heath discovers that he was oblivious to when he knew her before, giving him a fuller picture of her past and gives them an excellent base for an eventual relationship.

This is the eighth installment of the Sunrise Cove series. EIGHTH! You know what that means? I get to go back and read a bunch more books knowing that I’m in good hands with an author like Jill Shalvis. She knows how to build a compelling story!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Love Fix (Sunrise Cove #8)
Author:: Jill Shalvis
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Avon
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 15m
Audiobook Narrator:: Andi Arndt
Published:: June 24th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Better Than Friends | Jill Shalvis (Sunrise Cove #7)
Spring Fling | Annie England Noblin
What Happens In Amsterdam | Rachel Lynn Solomon

Book Review:: Steal My Breath Away | Sarah Castille

I am quickly growing into a romantic suspense wh*re and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Sarah Castille’s new release of Steal My Breath Away does it so well, nailing the tone and giving so many swoony moments to feast on as the danger ratchets up for the characters. This is the second book in the Havencrest U series, and though I haven’t read book one, I feel confident saying you don’t have to have read it to jump right into book 2.

Steal My Breath Away by Sarah Castille Book Cover

Haley’s family has been entwined with Ace for years. As a teen he became great friends with Haley’s older brother and spent a lot of time with their family, as his home life was less than ideal. Now years later, a wedge of grief has been driven between them, but when they have a moment of need, Ace steps up. He works in personal security now, and with Haley’s mother in the middle of an important election cycle, danger is lurking close by and someone needs to keep watch over Haley as she attends university. Both Haley and Ace are reluctant to work together, given their emotional history, but no one is better suited to keep her safe than a man who loves her – even if he never admitted it until now.

I live for the feeling the first third of this novel gave me. So much tension, so much intrigue, such a complex and difficult backstory being built up behind the current crisis the characters are facing. I loved the back and forth between the present and the slow revelation of the complicated past that really added so much depth and emotion between the lead characters. It reminded me of one of my favorite books of all time in that way: In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros.

The second two thirds of the book also holds up well, but I thought there were parts that could have been ‘tightened up’ a little bit, plot-wise. There’s nothing glaring, but some the balance between romance & suspense seemed a little off at times which effects the feel of the pace as well.

Overall, this is a fantastic book if you’re looking to really be drawn into fiction for awhile – once you start it, good luck putting it down!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Steal My Breath Away
Author:: Sarah Castille
Genre:: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:: Bramble
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 55m
Audiobook Narrator:: Anthony Palmini & Samantha Brentmoor
Published:: June 17th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
All the Missing Pieces | Catherine Cowles

Book Review:: Gloves Off | Stephanie Archer

Fan of sports romance? Stephanie Archer should be on your list! Gloves Off is the fourth book in her Vancouver Storm series. The Fake Out, the second book in this series, is still one of my all-time favorites of the genre. This is the story of Alexei, the enforcer of the Vancouver Storm, and Georgia, one of the team’s doctors.

Alexei’s days left with the team are numbered: he’s aging out and his body is starting to feel it. That means his Canadian citizenship, and his parents’, is at risk. The funding for Georgia’s charity program to rehabilitate young sports players and keep them doing what they love is drying up. She’s got a heavy inheritance coming her way, but to access it, she has to get married. Despite their mutual loathing, Alexei & Georgia agree to help one another the only way possible…get hitched!

There is no question that Stephanie Archer can tell a great story. I loved so much of Alexei & Georgia’s romance, but I really struggle with the marriage of convenience trope, and that’s where my biggest hangup was in this book.

We start off with a couple of quick opening chapters that is a play by play of exactly why each character needs to get married and why their past relationships have sucked, and nothing else. It didn’t feel very authentic – I could see the scaffolding of story structure too opaquely and I found myself rolling my eyes a little bit. I guess there’s nothing wrong with it, and many people would probably tell you that’s better than the alternative, but I found myself craving a little bit more.

Despite the clumsy start, once the plot takes off, Gloves Off was easier to enjoy. Alexei & Georgia did not get off on the wrong foot, and they’d insulted each other just enough to not make either of them want to change that. But when the layers start peeling back, it’s impossible for them not to fall together.

I really love the little oddball things that make you fall deeper in love with the characters. In this case, the friendship bracelets, the bunnies, the obsession with a teenaged tv show…these are the things that I meant when I said I wanted more at the start instead of feeling a little too much wham-bam-thank-you-ma’amed. It is in there, you just have to work for it a little bit!

There’s a little bit of suspension of disbelief necessary here, but if you can get past all that, the love story underneath is really sweet and swoony. Alexei is a big tough grump, and seeing the softer side of a man like him always melts you right into a puddle, amiright?

If you just finished up Liz Tomforde’s Windy City series and are looking for something new to quench your thirst for hot athletes falling in love, give Vancouver Storm a try!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Gloves Off (Vancouver Storm #4)
Author:: Stephanie Archer
Genre:: Sports Romance
Publisher:: Dell
Length:: 464 pages
Published:: June 17th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Play Along | Liz Tomforde
Unloved | Peyton Corinne
Only in Your Dreams | Ellie K. Wilde
The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy

Book Review:: Coming in Hot | Josie Juniper

Another Formula 1 sports romance! It opens with a spicy scene, which is pretty indicative of what to expect in a romance. If it was a pepper, it’d be a habanero!

Coming in Hot by Josie Juniper Book Cover

Natalia starts work as an F1 journalist, but after a hot one-night stand in a foreign city, she realizes she just slept with the billionaire owner of one of the biggest teams in the sport. He’s older, and widowed, and not ready to be serious with anyone. Natalia just wants to do her job well. But time passes, and their chemistry becomes undeniable.

I didn’t connect well with this book. It felt quite scattered as large swaths of time were skipped again and again to coincide with races, but it felt like we were always playing catch-up. There’s some journalistic drama that is playing out beside the romance that didn’t really interest me. I don’t know, I just didn’t feel all that connected to any part of the story. I thought it had a very strong opening, and I was honestly so excited to see how it all played out, but for me, it mostly fell flat, and the ending wasn’t my favorite (I won’t spoil it here).

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Coming in Hot (Frontrunners #2)
Author:: Josie Juniper
Genre:: Sports Romance (F1)
Publisher:: Forever
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 30m
Audiobook Narrator:: Max Rauch & Cecily Foster
Published:: June 17th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 2-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Slipstream | Madge Maril
Play Along | Liz Tomforde
Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake | Mazey Eddings

Book Review:: Sounds Like Love | Ashley Poston

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston was one of the most surprising delights when I was first getting heavy into romance. The voice, the concept, the execution – 10/10. I was recently provided an early copy of her latest novel, Sounds Like Love, and at first I was just as delighted. In fact, I immediately wrote down “Da**it Ashley Poston, your prose is impeccable”. I still stand by that, but the story this time didn’t hold up as well.

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston Book Review

Joni Lark is a songwriter in a rut. She’s had some hit songs, but the creative well is all dried up and it terrifies her. She’s hoping her annual summer trip back home to North Carolina will rejuvenate her and she’ll get back on track, but her mother is sick, her best friend is hiding something from her, her ex-lover happens to be in town, and there’s this new melody she just can’t get out of her head.

This book has a heavy dose of magical realism. Turns out the tune in her head is actually attached to a voice. Of a man. They literally read each other’s minds.

For me, this element could have maybe been okay if executed a little better. But the communication felt very heavily one-sided. Joni wasn’t reading much of Sasha’s intimate thoughts, only ones that made him more mysterious and wounded. I didn’t like that. It felt unrealistic for her own parameters of her story. Apply a rule and apply it to all.

There are certainly some sweet and swoony moments in this book, but for me there just wasn’t a strong enough foundation to make this work. I don’t think the ever-sacred logic was actually broken at any point, but my believeability was stretched to the point of buckling a few times.

It’s not a complete dumpster fire though. Joni’s family owns a music hall/dive bar, and that holds a lot of significance to her too. There is plenty of personal development for the characters (mostly Joni), and it does feel like a pretty full little world. It’s a nice atmospheric book to read, especially if you’re a music aficionado.

I’m honestly surprised by myself for dropping two stars on this, usually great prose trumps all for me (looking at you Carley Fortune), but part of the magic was just lost on me this time, and the writing wasn’t enough to save it for me.

Now, should you read this book? Yes! But if you’ve never read Ashley Poston before, I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend The Dead Romantics first!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Sounds Like Love
Author:: Ashley Poston
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 25m
Audiobook Narrator:: Patti Murin & Ashlley Poston
Published:: June 17th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars