LIFE'S A PEARL

My reading life slowed down a bit at the end of July. I only read 4 books in the second half of the month but they were all great experiences!

In particular my nonfiction pick for the Pearls of Wisdom book club – Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo – which became a 6 star read!

I got in one more KU read before the end of the month and crossed another title off my summer tbr.

A good thing since I’m taking on my first readathon in August!

The Romance Readathon

I stumbled upon this readathon via romance booktube when Jenn from The Book Refuge shared her August TBR video. I immediately needed to know more!

Maggie from Maggie’s Books and Stuff created the first ever Romance Readathon. It’s Bridgerton themed and takes place over the entire month of August!

This is a team based readathon where you pick a character and then gain points for your team via how many books you read. The points determine which suitor your character will end up with at the end of the season. There’s both a hetero and a sapphic storyline.

Any book reading counts (points are by page length) with bonus points for romance, historical romance, BIPOC authors, and LGBTQ+ authors.

The whole idea is so fun and creative! It’s very interactive with polls and challenges on discord where you can earn extra points for your team or opt to attack another team. I’m loving getting to know new readers!

The best thing is it’s open to new participants all month long! So check out her announcement video for more info and links to sign up. And Join Team Hoyden! 😉

July Reading Wrap Up:

By the Season and Reading Format

Summer Reads

• Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 🎧
• Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh 📖🎧
• Stay Awake by Megan Goldin 🎧

Book Club Picks

• Flawless by Elsie Silver 📖 (reread)
• Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo 📖

Buddy Reads

• A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham 📖

Next in Series

• Barbarian’s Seduction by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Hannah’s Hero by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Devi’s Distraction by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Nadine’s Champion by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Callie’s Catastrophe by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh 📖🎧
• Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh 📖🎧
• Penny’s Protector by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh 📖🎧
• Barbarian’s Treasure by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Twas the Night Before No-Poison Day by Ruby Dixon 📖
• Mari’s Mistake by Ruby Dixon 🎧
• Juniper Hill by Devney Perry 📖

Just Because

• The Devil I Don’t Know by L. K. Shaw 📖
• One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle 🎧

Recaps and Reviews

You can find my reviews for Barbarian’s Seduction (4 stars), Devi’s Distraction (5 stars), a reread of Flawless (5 stars), A Flicker in the Dark (3 stars), Hello Stranger (4 stars), Caressed by Ice (5 stars), and The Devil I Don’t Know (3 stars)  plus ratings for further books in some of these series in my Mid July Reading Recap.

One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 4

I wanted to give Karina Halle another try after not enjoying Lovewrecked (2.5 stars), which was on my summer tbr. This book with “summer” literally in the title sounded like the perfect one to pick up in July.

As of this posting the ebook is on Kindle Unlimited but I listened to the audio on Hoopla.

From goodreads:

“After the death of her best friend and writing partner, Grace Harper is struggling both with grief, and with her next novel, the first one she’ll have to write alone.

Fortunately, her new powerhouse agent, the formidable Jana Lee, has a solution for her. She can stay at her villa in Tuscany for a month, soak in the sunshine, relax, and find her confidence again. After all, Jana has a lot riding on Grace’s next book, and the last thing she wants is for her reputation as a “super-agent” to be tarnished.

At first the villa is a dream come true for Grace – that is until Claudio Romano shows up one day with his ten-year old son, Vanni, in tow. Turns out, this is Claudio’s house, and Claudio happens to be her agent’s ex-husband from long ago. Thanks to their annual father and son bonding trip being cancelled, Claudio and Vanni are here to stay.

So is Grace.

With the three of them sharing the same house, Grace’s writing plans are thrown out the window. But even if she’s not pounding the keyboard, she’s still finding beauty and inspiration… in none other than Claudio. He’s unlike any man Grace has met before. He’s smart, charming, and wickedly sexy, plus a great father to Vanni. He’d be the perfect summer fling – if only he wasn’t completely off-limits.

But as the hot Italian summer wears on, Grace and Claudio are destined to succumb to the heat, no matter how hard they try to resist each other. One steamy encounter with Claudio could affect Grace’s chances of starting her career over.

Or he could be exactly what she needs.“

My Thoughts

Yay! I enjoyed this book so much more than Lovewrecked.

I started it while cleaning the house. At first I was thrown by the accents on audio (she’s Scottish and he’s Italian) but quickly fell in love with them. I always know it’s a great reading experience when I’m looking for more chores to do so I can keep listening.

Not only does Claudio sound hot as hell, I also loved all of the artist, muse, and writing conversations these two have. They get one another on a deep level!

I found Grace really relatable when it came to the imposter syndrome she’s dealing with. It was fun to see her bloom from both the Italian setting and Claudio’s attention.

The book deals with many complex issues like grief, parenting, and self-confidence or self-worth. I loved the family complications in this one.

The steamy times also were quite spicy and take place all over Italy!

Karine Halle writes all different types of romance and I’m excited to pick up more from her.

Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

Rating: 6 stars

This was the July pick for my nonfiction book club on Fable, Pearls of Wisdom. I first heard about this book when it was raved about on the Get Lit(erate) podcast as a book that can change your life.

I’ve been curious about it ever since and boy did it live up to that praise!

From goodreads:

“Do you ever have trouble finishing what you start? Do amazing ideas come to you all the time but after the initial excitement wanes you struggle to follow through? If you’re creative and ambitious, the answer is likely yes.

The problem isn’t you. It’s not that you’re not hardworking, intelligent or deserving, but that you haven’t yet installed the one key belief that will change everything: Everything is figureoutable.

Whether you want to leave a dead-end job, heal a relationship, grow a business, master your money, or just find two free hours in your day, Everything is Figureoutable will train your brain to think more positively and help you break down any dream into manageable steps.

Inside you’ll learn:

– How to deal with criticism and imposter syndrome
– Why it’s crucial that you strive for progress not perfection
– How to bounce back from failure
– How to overcome a lack of time and money

You’ll also hear triumphant stories of everyday people using the everything is figureoutable philosophy to transform their life. Everything is figureoutable is more than just a fun phrase to say. It’s a practical, actionable discipline. And it’s about to make you unstoppable!”

My Thoughts

This was a 6-star read for me! It will be marked as 5 stars on goodreads but adding a 6th star to my personal rating system helps me differentiate my absolute favorites and most meaningful reads.

Sometimes you already know a message but you need to hear it from the right source for it to click into place – for me this was that source!

Forleo’s direct no-excuses tone with uplifting ideas and inspirational examples really struck a chord for me. Her mindset shifts are simple but the way she presented them strongly resonated with me.

From “everything is figureoutable” to “results not reasons” to “mind the gap”, I found all her little statements both relatable and useful.

She asked great questions and included insightful prompts to move readers forward with identifying their dreams and setting goals. She also offered several concrete tools to help along the way and resources for continued learning.

The book was concise, fun, easy to read with helpful insight in action sections. I took my time reading this one and my time journaling answers to those sections which really added to my reading experience.

I also loved the way Forleo differentiated therapy and coaching at the beginning of the book. This is not necessarily the right book for those who have healing still to do.

I would highly recommend this for anyone truly ready to make changes in their life! 

Juniper Hill by Devney Perry

Rating: 4.5 stars

Steam Level: 2.5

The first book in Devney Perry’s Edens series, Indigo Ridge (4 stars), was June’s romance book club selection. I heard great things about this second book in particular so I knew I wanted to continue reading this series.

As of this posting the series is available on Kindle Unlimited.

From goodreads:

“Memphis Ward arrives in Quincy, Montana, on the fifth worst day of her life. She needs a shower. She needs a snack and she needs some sanity. Because moving across the country with her newborn baby is by far the craziest thing she’s ever done.

But maybe it takes a little crazy to build a good life. If putting the past behind her requires a thousand miles and a new town, she’ll do it if it means a better future for her son. Even if it requires setting aside the glamour of her former life. Even if it requires working as a housekeeper at The Eloise Inn and living in an apartment above a garage.

It’s there, on the fifth worst day of her life, that she meets the handsomest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Knox Eden is a beautiful, sinful dream, a chef and her temporary landlord. With his sharp, stubbled jaw and tattooed arms, he’s raw and rugged and everything she’s never had—and never will. Because after the first worst day of her life, Memphis learned a good life requires giving up on her dreams too. And a man like Knox Eden will only ever be a dream.”

My Thoughts

If you can suspend your disbelief that a single mother two months postpartum with a colicky baby who just moved cross country would have any interest in a sexual relationship or any emotional bandwidth left to give, then you’ll probably enjoy this book.

It was a big ask in my opinion but ultimately Knox was just my kind of hot hero (bearded and tattooed) so I went with the instant hardcore attraction between these two and it paid off as a really fun read.

I loved being back with the Edens in the town of Quincy and I fell for Memphis and her baby son, Drake.

Both Knox and Memphis come from past heartaches and it was touching to see how they come together and support one another in healing. I loved that Knox was always cooking for her and bringing her food. That’s definitely his love language.

The sexual tension was built up great between these two but once their relationship evolves I found I had similar issues with the spice in this story as with Indigo Ridge. The quick rough descriptions felt abrupt and jarring. There was very little emotion to them and they seemed to be written more for the shock or scandal factor than for adding relationship development.

There’s a scene written toward the end of this one that gives us a peak into the next book, Garnet Flats, and I’m definitely intrigued!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

Rating: 4 stars

This was one of the thriller palette cleanser on my summer tbr. Megan Goldin is also one of the 12 authors I wanted to read again this year from my reading life bucket list.

I previously gave her book The Night Swim 5 stars.

From goodreads:

“Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, the same message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget―permanently.”

My Thoughts

This book really had the eerie creep factor going on!

It took me quite awhile to feel grounded in the story and like I had some idea of what was going on. But in the best way!

Some parts even felt like it could be a sci-fi thriller with memory wiping experiments or some crazy conspiracy at play. Multiple scenes had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Nobody was to be trusted!

The thing that kept this book from a higher rating was how frustrating I found Liv to be in the current timeline where she wakes up without her memory. She came across as quite dumb and naive for a good chunk of the story making repeated bad and bizarre decisions.

This is definitely a pet peeve of mine when it comes to thrillers.

Later on in the book she is somewhat redeemed but I wish that information could have been worked into the timelines differently so I wasn’t so frustrated, left rolling my eyes at her for a lot of the book.

I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling anything.

This is a release I was excited for and then stayed away from for awhile after seeing several “meh” reviews. But I really enjoyed it.

This was a solid thriller that truly creeped me out at times with a very unique premise that delivered.

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What was your favorite read in July?