June is here, and that means it’s time to find some summer reads that will pair well with a margarita and the swimming pool. I dug back through the books I read this year that would fit the bill. Each of these books was released in the year 2022, so you’re almost guaranteed to find something here for you. Don’t forget to use http://www.worldcat.org to find these books for free in a library near you!
Roughest Draft
Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is a slow-burn romance novel about two co-workers who have achieved commercial success together but have had a falling out of such a magnitude that they refuse to ever work together again. Circumstances force them into close proximity: working together to write one last book and fulfill the contract they signed before the event that caused them to sever their co-writing partnership. 3.5/5 stars: The ending was underwhelming.
Book Lovers
Book Lovers by Emily Henry is another ode- to book lovers summer romance novel that was a delight to read. Release on May 3, this book is just in time to read by the pool! The main character, Nora, is a literary agent who keeps losing lovers to small town romance tropes-comes to life but refuses to give up the fast-paced life she leads as a successful, ambitious career woman. She got into agenting because she needed to help care for her little sister after her mom’s death. Her sister, pregnant with her third child, begs her to take a month-long break away from the city to the sweet small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, where Nora has a really nice time but refuses to give up the city life. While there, she keeps running into her work nemesis, Charlie. This is a small-town romance with a twist – the woman doesn’t give up everything for a quiet life in the end. Bonus: The audiobook is read by one of the best narrators in the business: Julia Whelan.
Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance
Liarmouth by John Waters is.. well .. let me ask you something. Do you really like dick jokes? Do you find the grotesque and disturbing to be peak entertainment? Are you the type of person that can pick up a book of dirty jokes in poor taste and say, “hey! that’s my thing!?” Well, this is the book for you. I’m not even going to go over the plot. This is by far the best, most outrageous, distasteful smut you’ll read all year. I loved every minute of it. Bonus: The audiobook is read by John Waters himself.
Lord of Embers
Lord of Embers by C.N. Crawford is available for free on Kindle Unlimited. This book is the second in The Demon Queen Trials series. The first book, City of Thorns, introduced Rowan, a broke college student who lives in New England. Sitting nearby is the entrance to the City of Thorns, the place where Demons are forced to live after some type of great war with the Puritans. I’m not great at describing it but the author does a pretty good job at world-building, enough so that it’s believable.
Rowan is mistaken for an ancient succubus by Orion, an incubus, who has sworn a blood oath to kill her. Anyhow, the sequel has some excellent tension between Rowan and Orion who are clearly fated to end up together. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and you’ll have to wait until the next book comes out, but it’s worth it. Crawford is really excellent at the enemies to lovers trope. There are some really thought provoking observations made about the evil that took place during the years of the Salem witch persecutions that feel like an added bonus.
The Club
The Club by Ellery Lloyd is a book about a luxury vacation club that caters to A-list celebrities. It’s the only place on earth that the most famous people in the world can go and be guaranteed that they will not face a mob of fans or photographers. Everyone leaves their phones when they enter. The club is owned by a pair of billionaire brothers – I pictured the eccentric billionaire owner as Elon Musk – and they’re opening a club on a private island so isolated that it is only accessible twice a day at low tide, when the water recedes enough to access the only road in and out. The night of the grand opening, there is a terrible accident, and this is a classic “who dunnit?” and “who’s body was it?” at the same time. This story is a great way to pass some time by the pool.
Mercy Street
If you’re looking for something a little heavier than the other suggestions, Mercy Street is about an abortion clinic in Boston. The book follows the lives of several characters and how they intersect: the abortion counselor, a weed dealer, and the pro-life protestors who are outside every day as the counselor arrives at work. The book follows the lives of all of these people with the following in mind: we’re not all that different. Right now, many of us are very politically divided. This book tackles some of the views and how they can become toxic and dangerous overtime. This is an important book, and it’s written to be pretty easy to read.
The Astronaut and the Star
The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort is a great title and a great concept. I received this book free with Amazon Prime First Reads. Reggie Hayes wants to be the first woman on the moon. Unfortunately, she is kind of a bitch. Nasa wants her to work on her public relations a bit, so she is assigned to train movie-star Jon Leo for an upcoming film he is making. They travel to Arizona to Nasa’s training base where she will train him to do all kinds of astronaut tasks – maintenance, driving the rover, collecting samples, etc. Part of the work is filmed to drum up hype about the movie, and Reggie has to play nice. While forced in close proximity, they fight an undeniable attraction to each other. I felt that the Reggie character was a little over the top, but all in all it was a nice read.
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