Summer Archives - Page 4 of 9

Book Review:: Only Between Us | Ellie K. Wilde

Fans of a great sports romance, buckle up – book two in Ellie K. Wilde’s Oakwood Bay series is here! Only Between Us is the steamy love story between pro footballer Brooks Attwood and a sassy Siena Pippen who is much more than she appears.

Only Between Us by Ellie K. Wilde Book Cover

I feel like Ellie K. Wilde understands what people want out of a sports romance novel. There is lots of personal conflict, coming of age themes, lots and lots of spice, and a protectiveness that comes with someone conditioned to be on a team. Once the girl is on yours, that’s it.

All of those boxes were ticked in this book, and well. Bad boy Brooks is grappling with the wind down of his career. He’s got his eyes set on his old team and will do anything to score a contract with them. What they want is for him to show he’s settled down in his personal life, because the press he’s gotten from prior escapades is a big distraction. When he literally runs into Siena on the practice field and a photo of them goes viral, he proposes a mutual deal: pretend to be in a serious, stable relationship and he gets what he needs, and she gets the attention she needs to keep her business afloat awhile longer.

Siena’s had a hard life. The parents that raised her are not her real parents, and when her dad leaves her his bait shop, she’ll do anything she can to keep it open. But she’s been burned by a football star before, and she is not interested in getting involved with another one.

They both have trust issues, and healing those together is one of my favorite things to find in a sports romance. It just hits in all the feels.

If sports romance is your thing, hey, you’re going to love this. And if you haven’t really delved into any yet…try it! I was so pleasantly surprised. They’re immersive and indulgent and a great little escape. If you like spice, you’re going to love these!

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:: Only Between Us (Oakwood Bay #2)
Author:: Ellie K. Wilde
Genre:: Sports Romance
Publisher:: Atria
Length:: 416 pages
Audio Length:: 14h
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: July 8th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Only In Your Dreams | Ellie K. Wilde
The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy
Play Along | Liz Tomforde

Book Review:: Save Me | Mona Kasten

If you’re a fan of teen dramas, buckle in, because Save Me by Mona Kasten is the broody romance series you’ve likely been waiting for. Fist published in German, the book series the Prime series Maxton Hall is based on is now available in English!

Ruby is the Rory Gilmore of Maxton Hall, except she doesn’t have a wealthy benefactor family paying her way into the distinguished private school. She has a dream extensively planned out, and that is to go to Oxford. She’s not at school to party or socialize – in fact, she keeps her school life strictly separate from home life, because she’s not like the other students at school – she’s had the same ruddy backpack for years. Everything is just as she likes it, until she witnesses something she shouldn’t in one of the classrooms, and another student, the heir to a billionaire business, confronts her about keeping quiet. She doesn’t want a bribe, she’s happy to keep quiet, and he can’t understand that at all.

After that, Ruby and James are officially on each other’s radars, and are thrown together in unexpected ways. James is the opposite of Ruby in so many aspects, and their clashing together is delicious fodder for drama.

I can confidently say my high school experience was nothing like the extra-cirricular lives of these Maxton Hall kids. It’s typical rich-kid shit as portrayed in pop culture. These parties are laden with sex, drugs, and bad decisions.

There are a lot of really sweet moments while Ruby and James dance around getting to know each other, and always tainted by this knowledge that their lives are too fundamentally different to be anything more than friends. So will they? Or won’t they? You’ll have to read to find out!

Save Me covers most of Ruby and James’ senior year, as they’re navigating college admissions and face the possibility of their futures. One thing this book is sure to remind you of is hard it can be to be a kid. So much pressure, so many opportunities that will take your life in one direction or another. The weight of expectations. It’s not easy.

I’m certainly interested in what comes next for Ruby and James. We’re left off at quite a dramatically intricate scene and I’m nervous what lies in store!

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:: Save Me (Maxton Hall #1)
Author:: Mona Kasten
Genre:: Young Adult (YA) Drama
Publisher:: Berkley (English) LYX (German)
Length:: 416 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 53m
Audiobook Narrator:: Will Watt & Marisa Calin
Published:: July 1st, 2025 (English) February 23, 2018 (German)
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Adam and Evie’s Matchmaking Tour | Nora Nguyen
Steal My Breath Away | Sarah Castille
Songs of Summer | Jane L. Rosen

Book Review:: Let’s Make A Scene | Laura Wood

A novel about movie stars fake dating…twice? Color me intrigued. I had high hopes for Laura Wood’s new book Let’s Make A Scene.

Let's Make A Scene by Laura Wood Book Cover

Unfortunately, for me, the constant jumping back and forth from past to present and back again got very confusing. On one hand, Cynthie and Jack are on their first movie set and unintentional sparks are flying. On the other, they’re years in the future, starting work on the sequel of the same project, thrown together again. Maybe the two sides of the coin were just not different enough? In both they are antagonistic toward one another, in both they start catching feelings. I just found myself double checking constantly which timeline we were in.

With a fundamental issue like that, it made it hard to sink into the story. With that being said, however, it is clear that Laura Wood understand romance and how to craft some interesting characters to play against one another. There was plenty of chemistry between Cynthie and Jack, and their night together in the kitchen is quite memorable! The ending also was justified and handled well, but by that point it had already lost the spark for me.

I am absolutely still interested in reading more from Laura Wood, this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

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:: Let’s Make A Scene
Author:: Laura Wood
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Atria
Length:: 352 pages
Published:: July 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Once Upon A Crime | Brynn Kelly (Review Coming Soon)
Double Exposure | Elissa R Sloan
An Italian Wedding Adventure | Leonie Mack

Book Review:: The Summer You Were Mine | Jill Francis

Second chances, autism representation, sports-y, and the idyllic backdrop of an Italian summer? Count me in. Jill Francis’ The Summer You Were Mine just might be the escape you need this summer.

The Summer You Were Mine by Jill Francis Book Cover

Ellie and Cris grew up together over summers with their families in Italy. Now returning for a wedding will be their first time seeing one another in years, and they didn’t part on the best terms. And both of them are in a bind. Ellie is in deep water at work on a sports talk show, and Cris is accused of doping just as he’s wrapping up his career as a water polo Olympian. Maybe if they can set aside the awkwardness, they can help each other.

The setting really shines in this novel. You can almost feel the sea breeze and sunshine through the pages as you read. For that reason alone you should pick this up – especially if you’re having a staycation instead of an international getaway. You’ll get the secondhand atmosphere!

I really enjoyed Ellie and Cris’ story. Their families have been close for generations and they have a lot of history. They both also have very successful careers. It didn’t take much for them to get past the hurdle of their past, this book is more about each of them realizing they have deeper feelings and what that might mean in the ‘real world’ once the Italian getaway ends.

I appreciated the representation of autism in this novel. Ellie was only diagnosed recently with a high-functioning form, and though it doesn’t change anything for her day to day life, it does help her come to terms with the differences she’s always had in social situations. Sharing that piece of herself with Cris was a big deal for her, and his reaction is absolutely perfect.

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s a great choice for a beach read. None of the conflicts are too deep and I never felt stressed reading it. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it!

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 Summer You Were Mine
Author:: Jill Francis
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Griffin
Length:: 352 pages
Published:: July 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Guest Cottage | Lori Foster
Counting Miracles | Nicholas Sparks
Slow Burn Summer | Josie Silver
The Love Haters | Katherine Center

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