Another month in the books! I hate that summer is flying by!
July was a busy month for me – both on the reading front and personal front. I finally got to take a vacation to a beach this month. I haven’t done that since the summer before the pandemic so I was super excited!
On the reading front, July ended up being a very strong month! In July, I ended up reading 12 books, bringing my total for year up to 66 books. I’m about 8 books ahead of meeting my goal of 100 books this year so I feel like I’m in a good position to hit that this year.
July 2021 Reads
Looking back at my July TBR list, I read 6 out of the 8 books on the list. I missed one Spindle Cove novel (which was a reread) and Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas.
Here’s what I actually ended up reading:
A Night To Surrender by Tessa Dare
This, along with the rest of the books in the Spindle Cove, was a reread for me as part of the But Do They Bang? readalong. Personally, this one isn’t my favorite in the series as I find Bram a bit hard to like as a hero. He’s got a lot of traits of toxic masculinity and this book really plays with gender stereotypes. Hoping to get my review up for this in August!
To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne
Lauren Layne’s latest was an absolute delight! I’m a sucker for anything she writes and she’s one of my few auto-buy authors. This was a spin on You Got Mail (a movie I’ve never seen) and loved it.
Check out my full thoughts in my review: To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
For a novella, this book took me AGES. I started reading it in April 2021 and just finished it this month. Overall, this wasn’t really anything special. I think I was mainly reading this to get ready for a Court of Silver Flames as I was living for the Cassian and Nesta moments.
A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare
Oh Colin and Min, how I adore you! This was another reread and A Week to Be Wicked is one of my favorite Tessa Dare novels. I love this wild road trip romp so much.
I’m hopping to get my review up in August for this, but if you haven’t read this, I highly recommend it. It’s great for newbies to the historical romance genre.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas
I was not expecting to read this book this month, but once I finished A Court of Frost and Starlight I had to dive into this one. For an enormously large book, I devoured this incredibly quickly. Was it too long? Yes. Could it have used more editing? For sure. Did I care? No. I loved this.
I’m hoping to get a review up in August for this but suffice to say, I really loved this one. The exploration of Nesta’s mental health issues was fascinating and I loved the journey Maas took her on through this.
Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy
I read this book for a buddy read and enjoyed it! There were a few things that stopped me from loving this, but overall, I like this story and I loved the main character, Leela. Also, this has great diverse representation from an #OwnVoices author as the main character is half-Arab/half-English.
Check out my full review of Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy.
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
A non-fiction book! I’m not a big non-fiction reader, but I love reading them at the beach. This was a beach read for me and really fascinating exploration of the history of dinosaurs. Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist, but his writing is incredibly narrative and he really brings the world these majestic dinosaurs inhabited to life. I really loved this! If you are a dinosaur fan, I highly recommend this.
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
I accidentally skipped book three, A Lady by Midnight, in the series and hoping to finish my reread of it in August. However, I did get to reread Any Duchess Will Do, which is quite possibly my favorite Tessa Dare novel. I love Pauline and Griff so much. This also definitely has Dare’s most steamy sex scene ever!
Hoping to get my review up for this in the next month or so!
Tessa Dare Novellas
For the But Do They Bang? readalong, we also read three of Tessa Dare’s novellas. I’m personally not a novella person, especially in romance as it can be hard buy that romance is legit in such a short amount of time. However, these three were really interesting.
I did really enjoy Beauty and the Blacksmith. I think that novella worked best as it was two characters we were familiar with because of their appearances in the Spindle Cove series. There were hints of the romance between Aaron Dawes, the blacksmith, and Diana Highwood through the series so it was nice to get there story.
Lord Dashwood Missed Out and How to Catch a Wild Viscount were fine but didn’t blow me away.
Hoping to get reviews up of these in the next month or so.
The Viscount Made Me Do It by Diana Quincy
I finished this one late last night and I really loved this! It’s book two in the Clandestine Affairs series and release last Tuesday, July 27. My review will be up on Tuesday, but suffice to say – this was a treat! I loved Hanna, our female lead, and there was even a mystery plot woven in that was so fun.
Also, if you want to win a copy of this, I’m hosting a giveaway over on my Instagram. I’ll also include a way to enter in my review on Tuesday.
July 2021 Reviews
Outside of what I read, I also got a 8 reviews up this month, including:
- Lore by Alexandra Bracken
- To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne
- One Dance with a Duke (Stud Club #1) by Tessa Dare
- Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club #2) by Tessa Dare
- The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
- Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young
- Three Nights with a Scoundrel (Stud Club #3) by Tessa Dare
- Her Night with the Duke (Clandestine Affairs #1) by Diana Quincy
If you haven’t check out any of these reviews yet, please do!
What did you read in July? How are you tracking against your reading goal for the year?
Overflowing Shelf 