Summer 2020 Rereading Project

One of my reading goals for 2020 was to reread more.  Through July, I had reread 10 books, and at the beginning of August I decided to take two weeks to just reread.  I did something similar last year and really enjoyed it.  It's always nice to revisit some old favorites!

One of my favorite romance tropes is royalty falling in love with a regular person, so I wanted to start there!  The Royal We was actually one of the first books I reviewed on the blog more than 4 years ago, and since the sequel came out this year, I wanted to refresh my memory before I read it.  The Royal We is basically a retelling of Prince William and Kate Middleton's romance, although Kate is replaced by an American in this one.  It follows Nick and Bex as they meet in college, get together, break up, and eventually get married over the course of several years.  I love the depth of the characters in this story, and all the behind-the-scenes royal tidbits are fun, too!  Although it's a long book, it moves so quickly, and the dialogue is full of sharp wit.

I then read The Runaway Princess, which is one of my favorite books ever.  Garden designer Amy meets Prince Leo and they quickly fall in love - but is "normal girl" Amy ready to become a princess?  There's just something so comforting about this book; it feels like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket.  I love Amy and her passion for gardens, wildflowers, and bees; I love Leo and his charm and unpretentious attitude.  I can't not root for these two!

Sticking with the "royalty" theme, I then picked up The Truth About Happily Ever After, which is about a young woman who works as Cinderella at a Disney World-esque theme park.  She thinks she's going to have a great summer with her boyfriend, but when he dumps her, she has to find a new way to her HEA.  There's plenty to love about this book - Alyssa confronting her body image issues and her growing friendship (and more?) with Miller, especially.  I can't help but adore Alyssa - she's such a genuinely good person, with a huge heart and positive attitude.

I first read The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper over two years ago, but I still think about it all the time.  I don't often come across books with elderly main characters, but I fell in love with 70-year-old Arthur immediately.  He is cleaning out his deceased wife's belongings when he finds a charm bracelet he never saw before.  He thus begins a journey to learn more about his wife's life before they met, but he's also worried that he disappointed her with their quiet life.  I loved this one just as much the second time around.  If you enjoy heartwarming stories, then give this one a try!

I first read One Day in December less than a year ago, but I couldn't wait to read it again.  I remember bringing this one to work to read during my lunch break because I couldn't bear to be away from it for too long.  This story of friendship, love, fate, and missed opportunities between the star-crossed Laurie and Jack will remind you that few things in life come easy and sometimes the best things are worth the wait.  Silver's writing flows so beautifully, and she creates characters that are flawed yet still lovable.  If you haven't picked this one up yet, please do!

The Devil Wears Prada is one of my go-to books.  This is the first time I listened to it on audio, and it was just as fantastic!  Andrea is a recent college grad who lands a job as the assistant to a very demanding magazine editor, in hopes that it will open doors in her career, but she ends up sacrificing everything.  I think most of us have had difficult bosses, but Miranda Priestly takes the cake.  Just reading about some of the things Andie has to put up with made my blood boil!  But it's also a really fun look inside the magazine and fashion industries, and even though it was published almost 20 years ago, it still feels relevant.

I have to admit, Overseas is not my favorite of Beatriz Williams' books - it's her debut novel, and I think you can kind of tell that from the writing.  But, I cannot resist a time travel romance, so I wanted to pick this one up again.  It tells the story of Kate and Julian in dual timelines - in 1916, he's an army officer in WWI when he meets Kate, and she seems to know all these mysterious things about the future.  In 2008, Kate is a Wall Street analyst when she meets Julian, and she can't help but feel an intense connection with him.  Although a little heavy on the insta-love, the story is still interesting, especially waiting for how the two storylines will collide!