Recent Reads

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (2025) 

Lexi is a medical resident in Australia, but very few people also know that she's an estranged member of the British royal family.  When her brother and father are killed in a skiing accident, Lexi suddenly finds herself as first in line to the throne.  Her grandmother, the queen, gives her a year to decide if she wants to return to the family or continue her life of anonymity.  I love a royal story, and this one was a really good one!  The story unfolds over Lexi's year back in England as she re-enters royal life for a time, with flashbacks to important moments in her life.  The story is rich with family drama and secrets, and I thoroughly enjoyed the peek behind the curtain of what being a princess could be like.  While I felt the ending was a bit weak, overall I enjoyed this book!  4 stars

Overruled by Lana Ferguson (2025)

Danica and Ezra are rival divorce lawyers who occasionally sleep together.  When they end up on opposite sides of the table for the biggest case of Danica's career, her vow to keep things casual is in serious jeopardy, as she gets to know Ezra better.  Lana Ferguson is an author I want to love, and while I always go into her books with an open mind, I find myself somewhat disappointed.  That was not the case here - I absolutely fell in love with Ezra and Dani and couldn't get enough of their story!  They were each such complicated characters, especially with their family dynamics, and I particularly loved how Ezra was the one pushing for something more.  Dani was sometimes a little too prickly - I just wanted to shake her and tell her to finally admit her feelings!  But, I could also see how their careers could make it difficult.  4.5 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. 

Month in Review: June 2026

 

June was a pretty quiet month for us!  Henry finished up tball with a couple more games, and he even got his first trophy at the end-of-season celebration!  We went to a pool party for his cousins' birthdays and then I went to a big puzzle swap, where I snagged several new puzzles!  We had my in-laws over for a BBQ and celebrated Tom for Father's Day.  Other than that, we've been enjoying walks around the neighborhood and trips to the playground.

The Books

Sunk in Love // Mother Tongue: A Memoir of Taiwan // Heiress Among Thieves // Every Summer After

Two Can Play // Catch Her If You Can // The Heir Apparent // Overruled

Daughter of Egypt // Dying To Meet You

The Posts and Reviews

Recent Reads

Michele's Monday Picks #96

Can't-Wait Wednesday: When You Loved Me

Recent Reads

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Love You More

Recent Reads

Michele's Monday Picks #97

Can't-Wait Wednesday: An Infinite Love Story

Michele's Monday Picks #98

How are you doing?

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Michele's Monday Picks #98

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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Habits of the Sea

Shea Ernshaw

Expected Publication: July 7, 2026

From Goodreads:

The second adult novel from New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, in which a woman rediscovers the mythical island she stumbled upon as a child—and the man she once met who apparently hasn’t aged—and must choose between the life she’s built and a love that defies the laws of time and nature. 

The night Clay Lockhart’s wife dies, a violent storm tears their home—and the eight hectares of land beneath it—away from the Scottish coast, sending it adrift into the Atlantic. Thirty years later, twelve-year-old Ellie Mills discovers the fabled floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia and finds Clay still living in the weatherworn farmhouse perched on its highest hill.

When the island vanishes overnight, Ellie is left questioning whether it ever existed at all. But decades later, now in her thirties, the island resurfaces—and Ellie returns, determined to uncover the truth. What she finds is even Clay hasn’t aged a single day.

Faced with the impossible, Ellie learns that some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved—and that a life shaped by wonder may hold more promise than one bound by certainty.

Spanning centuries and coastlines, Habits of the Sea is a haunting, romantic journey through time, memory, and the invisible tides that pull us home.

I thought this sounded very beautiful! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: An Infinite Love Story

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

An Infinite Love Story

Chanel Cleeton    

Expected publication date: July 7, 2026

When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her. - from Goodreads

Michele's Monday Picks #97

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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13 Little Love Stories
Anthology
Expected Publication: June 30, 2026

From Goodreads:

From bestselling YA authors comes thirteen dazzling contemporary romances inspired by the songs of Taylor Swift!

If you could live inside one Taylor Swift song for a day, which would you pick? In this shimmering anthology, thirteen best-selling and acclaimed authors do just that, reimagining some of Taylor’s most iconic songs as love stories. 

Whether you’re in an era of fairy lights and folktales or diss tracks and dance floors, here’s a playlist that features all the the soaring high note of first love. The minor key of heartbreak. And the steady rhythm of true friendship and self-discovery.

As clever and unforgettable as the songs that inspired them, these stories are sure to play on repeat in your head and your heart. 

Stories 

Elise Bryant

Jennifer Dugan

J. Elle

Jessica Goodman

Sloan Harlow

Crystal Maldonado

Krystal Marquis

Katharine McGee

Julie Murphy

Lynn Painter

Laura Sebastian

Sara Shepard

Jesse Q. Sutanto

I thought this sounded so fun! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Recent Reads

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (2022)

Percy and Sam fall in love as teenagers over the course of her summer visits to the lake, but one mistake causes Percy to stay away for a decade.  When Sam's mother passes away, Percy returns to Barry's Bay and is forced to confront her feelings for Sam.  Carley Fortune's books are so hyped that I've avoided reading them for years, but when I saw this book in a Little Free Library, I took the opportunity to finally read one of her stories!  For the most part, I enjoyed this book.  I liked the back and forth between present and past, seeing Percy and Sam grow up and realize their feelings for each other.  The ending really threw me, though - it was so abrupt and I honestly can't believe that Sam could get over the "mistake" that Percy made when they were younger.  The reveal of the mistake took so long and it seemed so monumental to me, yet it was resolved fairly quickly and painlessly.  4 stars

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood (2024)

Viola and Jesse are video game designers at rival firms, but they have a chance to work together on Viola's dream job.  Their firms participate in a snowy retreat, where Viola finally confronts Jesse over his apathy towards her over the years, and Jesse shocks her with his response.  This was a fun (and spicy) little novella!  I think Hazelwood did a great job succinctly creating a believable and well-rounded backstory for Viola and Jesse, and also for Viola's love for the book series-turned-video game.  The other co-workers on the retreat added some flavor, but in such a short story, it really was all about Viola and Jesse.  I appreciated that they were able to talk through their issues, but I did feel like they got serious so fast, and it always seems a little weird to me that people who have barely talked to each other hold such a torch for each other - is it just me?  3.5 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Love You More

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

Love You More

Emily Giffin

Expected publication date: July 7, 2026

A woman is newly engaged to a man she adores when she receives a call from her first love—with news that shatters her carefully ordered world—in this emotional, powerful novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Pact.

Billie has built the perfect life. Her practice as a doctor in New York City is thriving, and she’s finally found the right partner in Dean after years spent trying to move on from her high-school sweetheart, Mick. Their young love had been intense and true, but distance and ambition pulled them apart when she left Wisconsin for medical school.

Then one morning, just after accepting Dean’s romantic marriage proposal, Billie’s phone rings. It’s Mick—calling for the first time in nearly a decade. His news is urgent, and in a moment, everything changes.

As Billie boards a plane back to Wisconsin, the past comes rushing in—her friendships from home, the love she shared with Mick, and the choices that shaped them. What awaits her is a reckoning with what she’s lost, what she’s built, and what she still wants.

Gripping and deeply moving, Love You More is a story about the plot twists life throws at us—and how love, in all its forms, has the power to change everything. - from Goodreads