The end of summer is almost upon us and the end of the year is right behind that. Goodness gracious, time needs to slow down. We still have so many hot damn books to read. The month of July was filled with lots of fun in the sun and loads of books! Here’s how we did in the month of July.
Casee: Thank Gawd for audiobooks. If I hadn’t listened to books in July, I would have read a measly three books. I don’t even know how that’s possible. I read a total of eight books, which is pretty sad.
Fire Inside by Kristen Ashley | 4 out of 5
Walk Through Fire by Kristen Ashley | 4 out of 5
Complicated by Kristen Ashley (audiobook) | 4.25 out of 5
Hard Sell by Lauren Layne (audiobook) | 4.25 out of 5
Wild Like the Wind by Kristen Ashley | 4.25 out of 5
How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper (audiobook) | 3.75 out of 5
Huge Deal by Lauren Layne (audiobook) | 4 out of 5
Like the Wind by J. Bengtsson | 3.5 out of 5
Black Sheep by Meghan March (audiobook) | 3.75 out of 5
My favorites of the month were Complicated by Kristen Ashley and Hard Sell by Lauren Layne. I enjoyed all the books I read in July, so I don’t have a least favorite for the month.
Holly: I started out the month really strong, so I set an unofficial goal to read 1 book each day in July. Unfortunately life got in the way and I wasn’t able to do that, but I still managed 22, so I’m not complaining. Much.
Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan (SRC) | 3.75 out fof 5
Games of the Heart by Kristen Ashley (reread) | 4 out of 5
The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (SRC) | 3.5 out of 5
Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborne | 3 out of 5
Daisy’s Back in Town by Rachel Gibson (reread) | 3.75 out of 5
Like the Wind by J. Bengtsson (audio) | 2.5 out of 5
The Duchess War by Courtney Milan (audio) | 4.25 out of 5
Down London Road by Samantha Young (reread) | 4.5 out of 5
Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews | 4 out of 5
Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashley (reread) | 2.5 out of 5
Fantastical by Kristen Ashely (reread) | 3.75 out of 5
Midnight Soul by Kristen Ashley (reread) | 3.25 out of 5
Untamed Delights by Suzanne Wright | 3.75 out of 5
The Whole 30: The Official 30 Day Guide by Melissa Hartwig | 4 out of 5
Wait No More by Stephanie Nicole Norris | 3 out of 5
Big Rock by Lauren Blakely (audio) | 3.75 out of 5
Mister O by Lauren Blakely (audio) | 4 out of 5
Complicated by Kristen Ashley (reread) | 4 out of 5
How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper (reread) (audio) | 3.5 out of 5
Huge Deal by Lauren Layne (SRC) | 4 out of 5
Most Valuable Playboy by Lauren Blakley (audio) | 3.75 out of 5
Falling Into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath (audio) | 3.75 out of 5
My favorite read of the month was The Duchess War by Courtney Milan. It started out a bit slow, but I ended up loving the shit out of that book. My least favorite was Like the Wind by J. Bengtsson. It just didn’t work for me.
Rowena: July wasn’t as good a reading month as the start of the month indicated. I started the month on a roll but then toward the middle, I lost interest in everything and got busy but things certainly picked up again in the end so it wasn’t a complete embarrassment for me. Here’s what I read:
Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson #11) by Patricia Briggs (eARC) | 4 out of 5
Wolf Rain (Psy-Changelings Trinity #3) by Nalini Singh (eARC) | 4.25 out of 5
The Prenup by Lauren Layne (eBook) | 4.5 out of 5
Beginner’s Luck (Chance of a Lifetime #1) by Kate Clayborne (eBook) | 4 out of 5
Like the Wind by J. Bengtsson (Audiobook) | 2.75 out of 5
Daisy’s Back in Town by Rachel Gibson (eBook) | 3.75 out of 5
Count to Ten (Romantic Suspense #6) by Karen Rose (eBook) | 4 out of 5
How to Date Your Dragon (Mystic Bayou #1) by Molly Harper (Audiobook) | 4 out of 5
Brazen and the Beast (The Bareknuckle Bastards #2) by Sarah MacLean (eARC) | 4.5 out of 5
Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop (Audiobook) | 4 out of 5
My favorite read of the month goes to both The Prenup by Lauren Layne and Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean. Both books were so freaking good and I can already tell that I’ll be re-reading them soon. I cried in both of them so that’s how I know I loved them. I was moved to tears y’all!
My least favorite read of the month goes to Like the Wind by J. Bengtsson. It was just a hot mess of shit that I wasn’t in the mood for, some stupid immature shit that I wanted to smack the hero around for. You know, things like that.
Giveaway Alert
Three lucky winners will choose their prize (one book) from any of the books we logged this month. If you want to be entered to win, leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite – and least favorite – reads of the month were.
So…what was your favorite read of the month? And your least favorite? Use the Gleam Widget to enter! Good luck!
I binged the Bootleg Springs series by Lucy Score & Claire Kingsley. SO GOOD. All of the characters are fun and engaging.
I enjoyed Someone to Honor and Death in Kew Gardens. I was disappointed in Under Currents by Nora Roberts. The villains were so over-the-top evil that it hurt the plotline.
I read a number of good books in July including The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren; Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard; and Patricia Briggs’ Storm Cursed. I put aside a number of books but don’t recall their titles.
The worst were a couple novellas in an anthology that I can’t even remember the name of. The best is Brazen and the Beast. I really loved it!
worst book: Begin with You by Claudia Y. Burgoa
Beloved by Toni Morrison was interesting
The books I have read were all pretty okay. Nothing outstanding, nothing terrible. Thanks for the chance.
I read a whole four books in July! This year has just been one big reading slump. I did adore Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. This was an arc I got through Penguin First to Read and I highly recommend checking it out when it comes out September 3rd. It’s got amazing chemistry between the hero and heroine, great friendships, suffragettes working to defeat The Married Property Act of 1870, the heroine is one of the first women to attend Oxford, and realistic, not easily resolved conflict. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year so far and I’m sure it will stay that way.
I didn’t have a least favorite since Evvie Drake Starts Over, The Unhoneymooners, and Well Met were all very good as well.
My favorite books last month were Protect the Prince, the second in a great fantasy series by Jennifer Estep and Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover.
I totally loved Lori Foster’s Fighting Dirty, it has been in my TBR pile for a while and finally got around to reading it. Classic Lori Foster book, Armie and Rissy’s story was fun and exciting! Least favorite was Hold Me by Susan Mallery. While I generally love her Fool’s Gold books, this one was a dud for me. Just didn’t feel the sparks between the hero/heroine and I hate to say it but I didn’t like the hero! Such a disappointed read.