July 2016 Wrap Up

Hello All My Fellow Readers!

I'm a little late with my wrap up for last month, as I've had a pretty busy week catching up on everything around the house and at work since I've been back from vacation, but I'm ready today to go ahead and talk about all the books I read in July of 2016.

July was honestly not the greatest reading month for me, as I did have quite a few two star books, and didn't actually have any that I rated five stars, but I did still really like a lot of the books I read this month, and I'm excited to share them all with you today.

Here's my reading wrap up for July 2016 :)



One Star Books:

Thankfully July 2016 is another month in which I didn't read any books that I rated one star. I love when months are like that!


Two Star Books:

Two star books to me, are books that just weren't for me, and had many elements that I just didn't like while reading them. They are also books that I personally wouldn't recommend.

A Heart Is a Home: Christmas In Texas by K. E. Saxon:

 I partially blame myself for my dislike of this novel, as I failed to grasp that this was an erotica novel when I downloaded it free from Ibooks, and that's not really my thing. However, I might have been able to get past that itself, but I couldn't stand the fact this the romance is insta-love and not even insta-love done well. I didn't feel there was much chemistry between the two main characters, and sorry to say but the romance just wasn't believable to me.


Christmas In Venice: A Short Story by Meadow Taylor:

 Obviously by the title, I knew going into this that it was a short story. However, I really don't feel like you can even call this a short story as it felt more like a single chapter that should have led to much more. While I did like the story line, of a woman travelling to Europe and getting held up by airport security due to suspicious circumstances surrounding her luggage, I just felt it was too short to develop a connection between the two characters, and as such, the "romance" was really unbelievable.

Sing by Vivi Greene: 

I had first heard about this one through the Epic Reads First Five email, and I really liked the start of it. I'm also a huge sucker for the famous person falling for the regular person type of story line, and I'd heard this one had really good reviews, so I was excited to finally get the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it fell really short for me as I just felt no connection to any of the characters. The story itself probably would be have been okay, but I just couldn't get past the characters, especially Lily, the main character. It just felt there was no depth to them, and I was honestly a tad bored when reading the majority of this book.

Remember Me by Serenity Woods:

This novella came free with another novel I purchased by Serenity Woods, and I found myself intrigued by the synopsis of a wounded military man returning home to New Zealand after an accident has left him with much of his memory wiped. Unfortunately, while the writing was really good, and I did find myself enjoying the characters, I didn't like the romance aspect at all. I'm not a fan of insta-love, and that's what this felt like to me. 


Winning by Lara Deloza:

I'm not really going to say too much about this one since I posted a full review of it earlier this month. I'll simply say that my overall dislike of this novel came from the fact that I felt the author left way too many issues unresolved. 

Three Star Books:

Three star books to me are books that I ended up really enjoying, but that had some elements that didn't work for me, and so ended up being three stars, instead of four or five.

Recreated by Colleen Houck:

If I could sum up my feelings for this book in one word. it would honestly be confusing. While I loved the premise of this novel, and really enjoyed The Tiger's Curse by Colleen, I just found this book had way too much going on, especially with how many characters it mentioned. I really did enjoy the overall story, and I'm looking forward to continuing on with the next book since this one ends on a major cliffhanger in typical Colleen Houck fashion. However, I thought there were way too many Egyptian gods mentioned throughout, and it got a little complicated to keep everything straight. I also found the "triangle" a tad on the strange side, and no don't worry it's not a love triangle per se, but I won't say anything else as I don't want to spoil it for anyone else.

Kissing Under The Mistletoe by Bella Andre:

I really enjoyed getting to read about all of Mary and Jack Sullivan's eight children, each with their own book, and I was really excited to finally get to read Mary and Jack's story. At about the half way stage of this book, I was really anticipating this being a four star read from me, as I loved the chemistry between Mary and Jack, and the crazy way they end up meeting in the first place. However, I ended up dropping this one to three stars simply because I felt it was way too long. It seemed to me that several of the final chapters were unnecessary, and it really got to the point where it felt like it was dragging on and on. It was still overall a cute story, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the previous novels in this series.

One Perfect Night by Bella Andre:

I've always enjoyed the Sullivan's series by Bella Andre, and before continuing on with The Seattle Sullivans, I wanted to read the novella that precedes the series. While I really loved the characters in this one, and especially loved getting a sneak peak at Mia and Rafe Sullivan's characters, this one didn't get a higher rating from me simply for the fact that it was once again insta-love, and the timeline seemed extremely unbelievable. I enjoyed the writing, and it was a cute story, but the romance turned me off for that reason. 

Died To Match by Deborah Donnelly:

I really loved the first book in this series, Veiled Threats, and this one was definitely a good follow up. I liked getting another glimpse into Carnegie's wedding planning ways, and the mystery had me guessing right until the end, and is one that I actually hadn't pieced all together before it was revealed. I just wish Carnegie and Aaron's relationship hadn't been the way it was in this book, as I found both of them acted juvenile and like jealous teenagers for the most of it, and I'm hoping to see this change in the next one. 

His Christmas Present by Serenity Woods:

This was a pretty enjoyable romance novel about a workaholic business man who comes to terms with what's really important in life after a trip to his childhood home reveals the son he never knew he had. All in all, I really enjoyed the chemistry between Dion and Megan, and it was a pretty decent love story all around.

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder:

I actually really liked this unique YA novel by Maria V. Snyder. I loved Yelena, Valek, Ari and Janco as characters, and the romance element definitely made me swoon. The only thing that kept this one from being a four star book for me was the fact that I really didn't like the direction it took at the end with the involvement of magic, but I won't say anything else as I don't want to spoil it for anyone else. I'm hoping I'll love the next book in the series, and that the ending of the first book will pleasantly surprise me with the direction it takes when I start the next one. 

May The Best Man Die by Deborah Donnelly:

This is definitely the funniest yet in Deborah Donnelly's Carnegie Kincaid series. I loved Carnegie and Aaron's relationship in this one, and the Buckmeister family, who are clients of Carnegie's wedding planning business,  were hilarious, and were probably my favorite part of the entire book. As well, the quote "Personally, I don't enjoy having my face poked at in the middle of a conversation. I know women in the movies love it, but they're so often idiots, aren't they?" completely cracked me up, and I had to write it down so I would remember it for my favorite quotes notebook. The only thing that kept this from being a four star book for me was that I found the mystery a tad cliche, and I'd actually pieced it together way before the end. I don't think books two and three have compared with the amazing mystery in the first book, but I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised with the mysteries in the rest of the series. 

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson:

This one was a highly anticipated read for me. I've always loved the story of Peter Pan, and I always enjoy getting to read books based on it, like Peter and The Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry. However, I really did not end up enjoying this one, and I went back and forth over whether to give it two or three stars. The three star rating ended up winning out because I really did love having Tinkerbell as the narrator, and I also thought that the ending was beautifully done, and definitely redeemed the book a bit in my eyes. However, I found most of the novel to drag a bit, and wasn't nearly as exciting as I expected it to be. I was expecting a page turner, and it was honestly a tad on the boring side in my opinion for about half the book, and I don't think I'll be rereading this one in the future. My bestie is about to read this one too, and I'm interested to see what her opinion will be on it. 

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski:

Anyone who's been reading my blog for awhile, probably remembers just how highly I was anticipating the release of this book. I completely fell head over heels for The Winner's Curse, and even though I felt that The Winner's Crime was a bit of letdown, I couldn't wait to pick this one up, and find out what was going to happen with my beloved Arin and Kestrel. Unfortunately, this one did fail to live up to the hype a bit for me, and that was mainly because I found it really dragging, and not nearly as interesting or entertaining as The Winner's Curse was. I was pretty happy overall with how Marie Rutkoski chose to end this series, I just wish the first half of this book had had something else happening instead of just the war preparations. 

Four Star Books:

Four star books are books that I loved, and can't wait to reread it, but just didn't love them quite as much as I love my five star books.


The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout: 

I'm not actually going to really say too much about this one, since I did fully review it on my blog earlier this month. I will simply say that I loved it, and found the romance extremely real and believable, and that the story overall was compelling and really interesting to read.

Nemesis by Anna Banks:

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this one at RT Booklovers, and I won't be saying too too much about it at this point, since it's still a few months away from it's October 2016 release. Once it gets closer to its release date, I hope to do a full review on it. For now I'm just going to say, that I really enjoyed this novel that's quite a switch from Anna Bank's previous works, and that it really reminded me of Shadow and Bone, The Kiss of Deception, and Graceling, all of which are books that I loved, and I really enjoyed this one as well. One thing though, I really wish this book had a different cover, cause I don't like this at all, and is definitely a case of never judge a book by its cover!


The Way You Look Tonight by Bella Andre:

Bella Andre's books are always some of my favorites in the romance genre. I usually feel a deep connection with the characters, and I love how she continues writing each sibling in her series their own story, as I love to see the glimpses of characters mentioned in previous novels. I'd been looking forward to reading Rafe's story for awhile, as I really enjoyed the little his character was mentioned in previous books. I found Rafe and Brooke's chemistry to be sweet and sassy, and I loved how Rafe has to learn the hard way that he can't always be the knight riding in on his white horse. I highly recommend Bella Andre's books to anyone who's looking for new adult contemporary romances, and I'm sure a few of her books will be featuring in my August wrap up as well. 

Magic Study by Maria V Snyder:

I've read so many reviews that stated that this novel failed to live up to it's amazing predecessor, Poison Study, but I can honestly state that I enjoyed this one much more than the first. I continue to enjoy reading about Yelena, and I loved the added depth that returning to her ancestral roots added to the story. I also loved the magical component that was so important to this book, and of course, I continue to love Yelena and Valek's amazing chemistry. I seriously cannot wait to read Fire Study. 

Two Summers by Aimee Friedman:

This was easily one of the most unique books I've ever read. While it definitely could be classified as a contemporary, it also has a supernatural element to it, in the sense that it's kind of got a parallel universe thing going on throughout it. Summer's character gets to see how two vastly different summer vacations play out, dependent on how she makes one important decision, and I found myself literally lost in the pages of this beautiful novel while I was on vacation with my family. 

The Season Of You and Me by Robin Constantine:

I've come to expect certain things after reading Robin's first novel The Promise Of Amazing, and this one definitely did not disappoint. I've always loved how Robin's contemporaries are sweet, and adorable with great romance and chemistry between the main characters, but that they also have deeper elements at play that set her books apart from so many other contemporaries that I've read. Cassidy and Bryan were beyond belief likable as characters, and I loved how their friendship blooms into something more. I also loved getting the chance to read a YA book that has one of the main characters in a wheelchair, as I don't think that's something I've read too much of before, and it definitely something I'd love to see more of in the future. I also really enjoyed reading about how civil Cassidy's parents were even after the divorce, and how, even though Cassidy isn't terribly close to her father, she never takes that out on her adorable half brother Hunter. All in all, I really enjoyed this beautiful contemporary romance, and I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves YA contemporaries. 


And that is it for my July 2016 wrap up guys!

I thank you all for reading, and I look forward to seeing you all for my next post. which will hopefully be a short vacation wrap up from my family's trip last week. :)


This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The photos do not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.