Hi everyone! I can not believe that we are already halfway through the year! I feel like I was just writing my 2023 Reading Wrap Up! Anyway, June was a great month! I finished the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and it reignited my love of fantasy books! If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments! I’m interested in any fantasy, but I always love a little romance. Also, Ali Hazelwood’s new book came out this month, and I absolutely LOVED it! Then I got into a reading slump, which doesn’t happen to me often, so I struggled with what to do. I ended up re-reading My Lady Jane because it was adapted to a series on Amazon Prime. It helped get me out of my slump, so then I picked up a book from my summer tbr! I hope you enjoy my June Mini Review!

Synopsis: “Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down. Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through – and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him. Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business – one that plays for keeps.” (goodreads.com)

This book!! Ali Hazelwood has done it again! This is another one of her STEM romance books, but this one was less sciencey and more about the romance. Also, this is definitely her steamiest read, so if you are not a fan of spice I would skip this one, but it was quite enjoyable in my opinion. I loved that I learned the story through dual pov, as that’s one of my favorite ways to read a book! Plus, enemies to lovers will always have me picking up a book! I am a big Ali Hazelwood fan, so take or leave my review, as I will most likely love all of her books! So, I recommend any of her books, but if you’re looking for more spice, definitely pick this one!

I finished this book in about a day (I get to read at one of my jobs), so I didn’t listen to a playlist.

Synopsis: “This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help. At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.” (goodreads.com)

I am so glad I re-read this book! I read this book in high school I think, and absolutely loved it! It majorly helped me get out of a reading slump! It’s such a fun lighthearted magical retelling of the story of Lady Jane Grey. There are lots of fun Monty Python quotes that I didn’t get when I first read the book. Plus, I laughed out loud quite a few times. If you are a fan of historical fiction and fantasy, plus love a good laugh, I highly recommend reading this book! They just made a series based on this book on Amazon Prime, but it is loosely based on the book and I mean very loosely! But, I loved it! It was such a fun show and I loved the chemistry between the two leads! When not comparing it to the book it was amazing, but it’s really nothing like the book. Also, it’s much more adult, whereas the book is YA. Still, I recommend reading the book and watching the show, but don’t compare the two.

Playlist listened to on Spotify: we’re a fantasy book with a good romance plot

Synopsis: “The wildly funny, occasionally heartbreaking internationally bestselling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride. When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends and—above all else— realizing that you are enough. Glittering with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton’s unforgettable debut weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age—making you want to pick up the phone and tell your best friends all about it. Like Bridget Jones’ Diary but all true, Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its terrifying and hopeful uncertainty.” (goodreads.com)

I added this to my summer tbr and when I posted my summer tbr on Instagram, many people said that they loved this book! It had been on my tbr for awhile, so I thought, why not pick it up now? I enjoyed it! There were a lot of quotes that resonated with me, but I think I’ll appreciate it more if I reread it when I’m a bit older. I don’t often write in my books, but I underlined quite a few things in this book. Two of my favorite quotes are “‘Be the person you wish you could be, not the person you feel you are doomed to be.’ -Florence” and “You are the sum total of everything that has happened to you…”. Overall, I thought this was a great memoir of friendships, girlhood, and finding your place in the world! Plus, there are lots of fun recipes throughout the book. Spoiler alert: I went into this book not realizing cancer would be a part of the story. Ever since having cancer, I’ve found it really difficult to read or watch anything relating to it, so if you also feel that way, just be prepared for that.

Playlist listened to on Spotify: reading everything i know about love

I hope you enjoyed my June Mini Review! Leave me a comment below if you’ve read any of these books! How was your June? What was your favorite read from this month? I said in my May Mini Review that I’m going to review the A Court of Thorns and Roses series in a later post. Originally I was going to include it in this post, but I decided to make a dedicated post for the whole series, so keep an eye out for that!

Check out the Books category on my home page for more book reviews and recommendations. Please give me a follow on Instagram or Facebook to stay updated about when I post! I’ve been making a lot of fun reels on Instagram, so check it out! I’ve loved engaging with the Bookstagrm community, so it would be great to have you join! As always, thank you for your continued support!

Take care and stay safe,

Renée