July - Book Review

I'm settled into my new house, everything is on the rise again, and that includes writing! Sadly, I'm not good at writing and reading at the same time. After all, there is only so much time in the day and with work plus exercise plus just other general stuff, if I want to write, reading suffers. And vise versa. 

This month I've poured myself into reworking an older but favourite manuscript into a category length romance as well as writing two short stories. However, around that, I've also managed to catch up on a lot of reading and have decided to indulge in a lot of category romance.

​So here is July's book review.

Books I read in July

Unmasked by Stefanie London
​I downloaded this on my kindle when it was free ages ago and got into it ... but like all kindle books it eventually got forgotten about. But while killing time in places I wouldn't usually have a book with me, I managed to get it finished. This story is full of my favourite tropes - Best Friend's Sibling and Friends to Lovers - so, of course, I enjoyed it. And it was definitely my kind of romantic ending, so overall, a wonderful story. 

Untouched by Anna Campbell
Finally, I managed to get through this tension filled historical romance. I started it in early June but got side tracked with moving house and writing short stories. So I got back into it and got side tracked again by writing. But it's done! I'm finished! Thanks to a lot of time I needed to kill on the plane - and I needed to get off with only a few pages to go! I really liked this story though. Anna writes very dark stories with high stakes and great tension, so it was a real page turner - when I had time to read it. I also really enjoy Anna's writing style and the old words used in these stories, so I definitely need to get back to the library and find some more of her stories.

Under Currents by Nora Roberts
While I was super keen for this book - as I always am when it comes to Nora - I'm going to say I was disappointed. I'm not sure why. This book started off really good with some horrific scenes of domestic violence and how young fifteen year old Zane dealt with this. Then we went to 'current time' and while I really enjoyed the 'coming home' story of Zane's and 'finding a new home' story of Darby's, I did not feel this book held as much suspense as Nora's other romantic suspense novels. In the end, I just sat down and finished this book so that I could read something else. Nevertheless, it was still a good story with great characters and such, but it was not at all gripping for me. Oh well...

The Loner's Guarded Heart by Michelle Douglas
Catching up on backlist books by some of the biggest authors in romance. I really enjoyed this story and loved Molly - a loyal pooch who ended up loving Josie more than her original owner Kent. So what's Kent to do? He has to love Josie too. This was a wonderful and very sweet romance story.

Demanding his Hidden Heir by Jackie Ashendon
I bought this book in attempt to read more Mills & Boon, even though I have dozens at home. But I wanted to try a Jackie Ashenden book - because I loved her talk on tension at RWA Conference 2018 - and thought I'd give it a go even though I hate Secret Baby stories. And yeah, the secret baby trope was annoying, and Enzo was quite a jerk demanding he just take his son home with him without question, but I guess this hooked me into the story. I wanted to see Enzo soften, because seriously. What a jerk! So even though this wasn't my sort of story, I thoroughly enjoy it an hope to get into the other Jackie Ashenden's on my shelf very soon.

The Million Pound Marriage Deal by Michelle Douglas
I really wanted to read as I'm starting to really love Michelle's books (I've only read two though) and this one was nominated for the RITA this year - so I managed to get a copy from the library - my first ebook download to Borrow Box! This story was so incredibly beautiful and featured many of my favourite tropes - best friend's sibling and (sort of) friends to lovers. Sophie was a very loveable heroine, who agreed to marry Will for a million pounds so that she could pay for her friend's drug rehab and start a stable business. Will needed to marry in order to inherit his grandfather's castle and the only home his younger sister with Downs Syndrome was comfortable in. But, of course, Will and Sophie fall in love and it was just such a beautiful, wholesome story. Loved it! Michelle's quickly becoming one of my new favourite authors.

The Cattleman's Ready-Made Family by Michelle Douglas
Another beautiful story from Michelle's backlist filled with emotional conflict and the beautiful setting of outback Australia. But the best thing about this book - it has a Border Collie in it! Unfortunately, you don't see Boomer much, but oh well. This was a fantastic sweet romantic read. I loved it. It was real, emotional, believable, and I loved all the conflict. But I especially loved the beautiful ending and, turns out, I think I really like ready-made family stories...which is good cos I plan to write one soon.

​Claiming his Bought Bride by Rachel Bailey
I've been keen to read more Rachel Bailey as I really enjoyed her latest book Tempted by the Wrong Twin that I read last year and I have quite a few sitting on the shelf. This was Rachel's first book and I really enjoyed the mix of tropes - accidental pregnancy, reunion romance, and marriage of convenience - with this deeply emotional story. I loved Lily as a heroine and found her conflict with Damon always putting work first very believable.

Books to Read in August

I am taking part in the MS Readathon in August with the goal to read as many books as possible. So, hopefully, next month's post will be a big one. But these are just some of the books I hope to include in my reading list this month:

The Desert Midwife by Fiona McArthur
I've started this one already and am really looking forward to reading it. I haven't read Fiona McArthur before either, so it should be fun!
​
Undara by Annie Seaton
I read Whitsunday Dawn earlier this year and now may call myself an Annie Seaton fan. I'm very keen for this book because it's set (sort of) locally about a place I know although have yet to actually visit. But the Undara lava tubes are quite a drive from Townsville and expensive to stay at.

Countering his Claim by Rachel Bailey
This is the second book in the double Rachel Bailey Australian Favourites paperback I have and I'm keen to read more category romance and Rachel Bailey.

Meet Me in Venice by Barbara Hannay
This comes out next week! But I probably won't buy it until after I come back from RWA Conference cos I'll be lugging enough books back as it is. But I love Barbara Hannay's books and I have no idea what this one is about - as in I haven't read the blurb - but I'm going to buy it!

Matters of the Heart by Fiona Palmer
I'm super keen for this book - a retelling of Pride & Prejudice in modern day Australia. That's all I need to know - it's out on August 27th! So most likely is actually a book to read in September ... we will see!