July Mid-Month Wrap Up 11 Romance Book Reviews

[00:00:00]Hey guys, it's Jessica from Peace Love Books and today I'm here with my midmon wrap-up. The books I've been reading lately, I've had an amazing reading month so far, mostly because I haven't had a lot going on, but I do go on a trip next week, so we will see how the rest of the month goes. But I've read 11 books so far. I only have 10 to talk to you about because one of them was an alpha read, which means as the author was writing, I was sent chapters giving my feedback. So, I will not be talking about that book cuz I do not review those. And I have a wide variety of books that I've read. I have filmed two vlogs, I believe, with this. One is reading books that you recommend for me and then one is one that should be going up this Saturday if I post this video on Monday. I'm filming far ahead because of my trip, so I don't know when these videos are going up, but I should have my vlog up already for my summer ween reading vlog. I read kind of spookier fall/ like fall romances. So, I am very excited to chat about these books. Let's go ahead and just dive in. So, I have talked about the first two in that vlog.

[00:00:53]So, go check it out. That will be linked in the description box down below along with all of these books. But the first book I read was Caged. This one I was recommended. It was in the vlog where I read books recommended to me. And so this one was Omegaverse. And it definitely read much more fantasy heavy than Omega verse to me. And it's definitely long. And we don't have a lot of payoff yet. So this is book one in a series. It's a darker romance where the heroine is an Omega and she has been on scent blockers her whole life and she has just been not her entire life, but most of her life kept pretty much captive by her father and she's never allowed to leave the house. And so her father's horrible. He's testing things on omegas and she detests everything he stands for, but she has just been diminished for her whole life. I don't know how many heroes she's going to have. I think it's three. But the three guys work for this group of mercenaries.

[00:01:38]So, there's a lot of them. And the three though are the three that are like in a pack together. And so, the one ends up going into her father's property to do like some recon because he is a mercenary and he's working with the other guys and he's the one that's like on the ground. Another one is the one that's really good at like tech and computers and cameras. And so he's the one that's like keeping eyes out for him. And so the one that's on the ground sees her and he's obsessed and he's like, "Oh my god, what is this woman?

[00:02:04]They're like hundreds of years old." And he's like, "I don't understand why I'm so into her. They're also vampires.

[00:02:08]She's a human omega. They're vampire alphas." And so there's like a lot going on in here. Anyway, so what happens is he realizes they're mates, but then something happens where now he's in a coma and he can't tell them. They think she's the enemy. They think she's working with her father. So, the most of this book is them horrible to her. Not like dark dark dark, but just like not being nice to her, not allowing her to have a nest, not allowing her to have like the necessary food and water, and putting her to work all the time. And so, that's basically the 600 pages of this book and also them uncovering secrets. And so, I would have liked a little bit more of the payoff in the romance. I would have liked a little bit more tension, like romantic tension between them. So, it was a little too slow plot-wise, but I still really enjoyed it, and I can see the potential for book three. So, this one got a solid four star. Not a 4.5. I wouldn't round up. This one is definitely just like it was good. It was a good start, but like a 600page start. I don't know if it was actually 600 pages. It was like around the 500s, but it was fun. It was definitely if you feel like kind of dipping your toes into Omegaverse and more so reading more of a paranormal fantasy romance, this is a good place for you. If you're kind of like, I don't think I'll like like normal Omegaverse romances. This felt more on that vein than Omega verse romances I've been reading. So, I still really enjoyed it and I can't wait to see the heroes gravel. They better gravel in book two.

[00:03:25]And I can't wait to see this one hero who actually likes her awake because we didn't see him for most of the book. So, that is my review for that one. It was fun reading. For the next one I read and the last one I read for that vlog is Crown Me Dead by Liv Xander. I will talk about the next one later. I did read both. Congrats to me. Can I please have a pat on the back for reading a duet back toback? I've been so good at that lately. I used to never do that. never just finished series, but this one I read Crown Me Dead because of everybody.

[00:03:49]I've seen them like sobbing in Tik Toks.

[00:03:51]So, this was book one and it was solid.

[00:03:54]I gave it four stars. This one, a heroine, she works for her family who are undertakers. They take care of dead bodies, prepare them. And in this world, there is a rot because the king is cursed. And so, they have not been able to break this curse. And that means that people are basically like decaying and dying. And so, the heroine's brother and dad have the rot. And so, this guy approaches her. is like, "Hey, I want you to come to the kingdom and help break the curse, but that means you're going to die, but that means your family will live." And she's like, "Okay, yes, I'll do it." So, she goes to the kingdom and she has to make the king who was rotting fall in love with her. And it's kind of is a love triangle cuz there's someone else in the mix. And it was good. I really liked it. Definitely very fast-paced, very like quick. It was like less than 300 pages. Spicy scenes were like, "Ooh, there's a lot of tension between these two." And like, of course, there's like a villainous character that you're like, "Ooh, is he going to be a love interest?" And so I enjoyed it. It was fun. Fun quick read. Nothing too like intense and I mean there were like maggots and stuff so it's kind of dark.

[00:04:51]I did do a dark romanty recommendation video if you want to check that out. But this one I did end up enjoying so I gave it four stars. Definitely recommend and you'll see what I thought about book two in a bit. Then I read one of my favorite books of the year that is into the fading twilight by Katherine CS. This one is my favorite Catherine book to date. It is amazing. This one is Nova and Cole's story. So Nova was the best friend where in book one she was searching for her and she actually was held captive for over a year and so now she is free and she just kind of is starting over in Starllight Grove and she's falling for the single dad who had helped find her. He was actually the person to rescue her and so they do have a special bond and then he can tell that she's struggling living with her best friend and kind of wanting freedom but also wanting people to still like want to be around her. She's like, "Nobody really wants to talk to me, but like everybody is kind of smothering me." And so she's just kind of in that weird space. And the hero ends up renovating the apartment over his garage and has her move in. And he has a single dad and he is like a really straight laced hero.

[00:05:42]He always follows the rules. I love the romance. It was so emotional. There are so many scenes in here that had me tearing up. I love their connection so so much. And then there's a suspense in here because there is still someone causing chaos. So it is so good. And this has a scene of them on the porch together and I am obsessed. I love this so so so so much. Please read this if you haven't yet. It is amazing. Then I did end up reading Stray Omega by Mary Magdalene. If you guys have been watching for the past month, you know I was obsessed with her first duet. Have not stopped talking about it and she actually had a new release right around the corner. The problem is this is book one of the next duet. The series is going to be a series of duets. So in this one it's kind of the opposite of book one. So book one was she is the omega for her pack but not scent bonded or mate bonded yet. and their scent match shows up and they try to make the scent match come into the group. This one, they are a pack who has a Omega already, who is a very traumatized Omega. He had a horrible pack and they've promised to never ever leave him or bring anybody else in. And the heroin is their scent match. And so they meet her and they're like, "Oh, we don't want you. We have an Omega who needs us. So, I guess we'll help you find a pack." And so, she is devastated. The only pack interested in her is a very, very, very horrible pack. And so they say, "You can come live with us and they're going to want you because they're your scent match. We'll help you find some alphas."

[00:06:58]And so very, very tense. This one is definitely definitely very different than the first duet. This one had a lot more spice in it and was a lot more physical based, which I am not always the biggest fan of when it comes to romances, and I would have liked a little bit less of that. And I didn't love one of the heroes that she was supposedly building a connection with. I am not sold on him and I feel like I wanted more of like an emotional connection beyond the physical connection with that person cuz that's kind of the driving force of this bond in this pack's relationship. And it made me kind of hard to root for them when in book one like I don't want to spoil anything or explain it in a way that will spoil it, but book one and two I could really like root for the heroin to be with the pack and this one is really hard for me and I just didn't buy one character as much as I should have. I still gave it four stars. It was still super super emotional. Still could not put it down. Still I'm like how are they going to make it work? This is so angsty. Like they want to touch each other but they can't cuz it's off limits and it's so good. But one of the relationships in the pack was not my favorite. So I'm interested to see where we go with the next book in this duet.

[00:08:02]But until then read the series cuz it's so good. Then I did end up reading my Norah Roberts book club pick. It's going to be shiny cuz I got this edition from Barnes & Noble. Look at it. [gasps] Oh my gosh. I'm not going to keep it up because it's going to be very annoying.

[00:08:14]But it's Genuine Lies. I found this first edition. I think it was actually a paperback first potentially or it did come out in this. I don't remember.

[00:08:24]Yeah. So, it came out 1991. This one is a 1998 edition cuz I think it was in mass market or paperback first, but like this is from the '90s. It's stunning.

[00:08:32]We've got Nora on the back. I love it. I have a book club with my Patreon where we read a Nora book a month. This one 4.5 stars. If you love Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or the new Emily Henry book, which I haven't read, but my patreon said it's kind of similar, you will love this one. So, this one, our heroine, she is a writer and she gets a job. She's a single mom. She doesn't talk to the father of her child cuz he's not a good person. And she ends up getting the job of writing the biography of this like golden Hollywood glamorous actress. And she ends up moving into like their like guest house in order to write the story.

[00:09:06]And she is spilling all the tea. She is spilling all the old drama and someone is mad and it could be anybody cuz guess what? She knows a lot of drama. She knows a lot of gossip. She knows a lot of secrets and a lot of people are going to be mad with it coming out. And so someone is leaving threatening notes.

[00:09:21]Someone is threatening her life and she is just trying to write this story that she's very passionate about writing and falling in love with her stepson. And it's so good. I really really enjoyed this. I do think the middle is just a tad bit slow, but like the ending it was like boom boom boom boom and it's all like the surprises of who the bad guy is, which I love with that in Norah's books. Nora either we know who's doing it and it's the suspense of like an anticipation of watching them get closer and closer and see how they're going to defeat them or she surprises us by who the bad guy is, which doesn't happen as often, but I love this so much. It was so much fun. One of my new favorite Noras. Um, all of us collectively gave it four or five stars. We all really enjoyed it. So, if you're looking for a new Nora to read, read Genuine Lies.

[00:10:04]Then, I did end up reading the ebook of Crown Me Yours, which is the sequel to Crown Me Dead, which I listened to on audio. The audio of this doesn't come out until the end of this month, but I decided since I had just read book one, might as well jump into this one. This one I'm very conflicted on. I think I'm going to settle with a four, probably like 3.5. I don't know why people stopped reading the end of this book. I don't think it was that sad at all. So, I think it's also because this book, these are so short and snippy and just like quick that it's hard to be like so emotionally invested in them, especially because there was literally a spicy scene in a grave in here. So, I did not find myself like overly emotional about these people being together. But, I did find it fun. Like, they are definitely super attracted to each other and they are still trying to break this curse and that's where this book goes. And so, the ending was a sad sure I like I was like, "Oh, okay." like kind of yeah, sure that's sad, but like I wasn't buying that they were like soulmates so in love with each other because we literally have only seen them on page together for like such a short amount of time. So, I did enjoy it. I had fun. Like, it was fun. It was quick, but it's not like lifealtering. Oh my gosh, I'm like sobbing because I'm so overwhelmed with my emotions of their well-being. That didn't happen to me. So, I think also because I just had higher expectations going in because of everybody's reactions to the series, it was fine. So 3.5 round up to four. It was really fun.

[00:11:22]If you're looking for like a really fun, quick, just kind of like addicting, you fly through it kind of romance, definitely read these if you're interested, but it's not going to be lifealtering. Um, I'm not sad at the end of reading these. So that was actually the start of my summer reading blog. I was doing more like spooky, darker, or fall romances. So I ended up picking up The Matchmaker's Cottage. And this one I had high expectations for only because I'm really excited for it. But I saw Christy from Chrissy Reads a lot. She didn't love this one and I was like, but I'm going to love it. I should have listened to Christy. This one I gave three stars. This one is a second chance romance. It had all the elements I love in a romance. Second chance. She owns a bed and breakfast in New York and they haven't spoken in 8 years. They were best friends and we get flashbacks like all of my catnippy tropes in this book.

[00:12:07]And so the hero works in PR where he helps these uh celebrities fake date.

[00:12:12]And it crumbles apart the most recent couple that they were putting together.

[00:12:15]And the woman's like going on social media on talk shows being like, "Yeah, it was all fake by this PR company." So the hero is like, "Listen, I'm going to save our PR company by putting out the best fake couple who's like in a superhero movie together and they'd be like really convincing and it would be great for their careers." And so he's like, "Listen, we need to put them in a bed breakfast and we will leak press photos of them having like a romantic getaway and I know the perfect place."

[00:12:37]And so he calls up this girl he hasn't spoken to in like eight years because they left on really bad terms. He's like, "Hey, I need to use your bed and breakfast." And so he goes there and I feel like so many of the side characters in here were not real characters. They were just caricatures there to serve the plot point. Like I barely got to know the two couple the couple that had come up and they had like important parts of this romance and I just feel like I didn't even know them as people cuz they were just kind of like there but never like in it. And that kind of bothered me. And then I just like I don't know. I feel like I didn't buy the romance in here. I just didn't love it as much. And the writing was very very descriptive where it would be like someone said something to someone. They took a page to reflect on it and then continue the conversation. There was too much breaking up of the scenes for like emotional reflection and I was like, can we move on with the story, please? So, the writing style just wasn't my favorite and I just wanted more from this romance. So, three stars. I did not love it. I wanted to, but this does come out in July or August. This comes out soon, but was not my favorite. Then one of the last books. So, I read an audio book for that vlog and I read a Vampire Knitting Club Cornwall. And this one, I'm kind of conflicted on what I want to rate it because like it did what it was supposed to do, but it wasn't like my favorite, but that's what I was seeking out. So, I kind of I'm kind of stuck maybe on a four-st star, but it was like just fine. So, this one is a cozy mystery, and I wasn't super addicted, but I didn't mind it. Like, I was enjoying listening to it cuz that's just like the coziness that I wanted reading it. The heroine is opening a knitting shop in Cornwall and she is just like going around trying to figure out where she wants to make it and then when she gets the property she's like well where do I live? Do we set up some knitting clubs and I have I know I have my vampires that are going to be my customers and then she meets this guy who's a vampire and someone ends up dying. So she finds a dead body on the beach and she's got to figure out who did it. And it wasn't my favorite maybe like more 3.5. like it wasn't bad, but it wasn't like my favorite cozy mystery I've ever read. But I wasn't expecting a lot out of it because I was just in the mood for like a cozy cozy mystery. So, it kind of like really wrapped up really fast in the end and was kind of like pow pow pow. Here's like this is person did it and this and this and it just like done. It was only like a 6-hour audio book, so it was very quick, very fun.

[00:14:43]Like if you want to read it, go for it.

[00:14:45]I would say it's not a favorite, but I didn't mind reading it. I finally finished uh One Puck Pack by Sarah Blue.

[00:14:50]I think I started this at the end of June and then had to put it down for other things and then I finally was like, "Oh, I have like four hours left of that audio." I give this one four stars. I did really like it. Not a favorite from Sarah Blue. It's definitely long. This one is an Omega verse with a hockey team and so the heroine is at her family's like cottage thing and she is ice skating on this pond, meets these guys, realizes that they're sent matches. They are a pack and they are hockey players. And so they though are like, "We can't have a pack if we're all on different teams. Like what do we do?" And then I did not love they like end up getting it's like whatever it's called where they are put on their teams like draft day or whatever and their agent ends up taking their phones for 2 days and so they are MIA for 2 days. Don't even talk to her.

[00:15:34]Don't even think about her for 2 days while they're going like drinking crazy benders in Vegas. And so something devastating happens to her in those two days and she's like you broke my trust never again. And I was like, men, who in what world would think it's okay to not talk to your scent match for two whole days and not like fight your agent to get your phone back? So, they were not smart. They had to gravel to get her back and then that was the romance. So, that's why it was a long book. It was a little too long in my opinion, but overall, I did really enjoy it. I love Sarah Boo's Omegaverse. I really enjoyed listening to this one and reading a hockey one cuz I do think hockey omega verse is a genre I want to explore more.

[00:16:08]Then I had my alpha read, so I will not talk about that one, but that was book 10. Book 11 was Twilight Tides by Samantha Young. I really, really enjoyed this one. I gave it 4.5 stars. This one is a marriage of Convenience romance where the heroine is trying to stay in Scotland because her ex is threatening her. He was abusive. She finally got away from him, but he is very powerful.

[00:16:26]And so, she's like, I need a way to stay in Scotland cuz he's going to ruin my chances and get me deported. And so, the hero, he is trying to get custody of his daughter, full custody, because his wife is just involved in really bad things and she's like draining his company of their money. She's taking so much of it because of like the courts mandated that. And the the daughter is almost in a dangerous situation living with the mom. So he's like, I need to get this together so I can just fight the courts and finally get full custody of you. So they do get married. They have to live together. And he is best friends with her best friend's significant others from books one and two. And it's super cute. The hero is just so soft for his daughter, but he's very, very grumpy and he will do anything for her. And he's a really good singer. And like at one point he sings for the heroine. and the heroine as like piano lessons for the daughter and they play like contemporary songs and bond over that and it's so cute. I really really enjoyed this one and their suspense with the ex not leaving her alone and then also some stuff with the hero's business. So, a lot happening in here that I really enjoyed. I love Samantha Young's romantic suspense. I think book two is still my favorite. That was a second chance one cuz it's just so good. But this whole series so so good. Definitely recommend picking up. And the last one I read is You're the One That I Haunt.

[00:17:32]This one is an ARC that comes out I think in either August or September.

[00:17:35]Please make sure you pick this up. This one I think is a debut as well and it's a ghost romance. I love ghost romances.

[00:17:40]I gave this one 4.5 stars as well. I wanted a little bit more like things that just made sense with the ghost cuz he would just like disappear for like 2 weeks and I was like if you're falling in love, let's like spend more time together. But and this one is about the heroine who's in love with her best friend. He is from a wealthy family and he kind of like took her in when she went to his school and she's been in love with him, but he comes back from a trip to Europe engaged and she's like, "Oh, what's happening?" And he's like, "Will you help my fianceé with wedding stuff?" Cuz she doesn't know anybody here. So, she does. And he has told her though that his family is cursed and they've been cursed for decades, almost a century, because something had happened and they are always going to be killed by a taxi. And so, she ends up attending one of his wedding events at his family home and finds a ghost of his cousin who is in a coma and he's going to die because of this curse. And so he's like, "Will you please help me break it because then Carter can live, too, cuz Carter's going to die from this curse." And she's like, "Well, I love him, but he's getting married." And so they're like, "Well, we both need something. Like, you want Carter to live. I want to come back from this ghost cuz he's in a coma." So they end up teaming up and they're the ones who fall in love. And when I tell you when there's a romance where they can't even touch each other, like literally can't touch each other cuz one of them is a ghost. The yearning is so good. There's one point where she gets jealous and he's like, "That's how I feel whenever you talk about Carter." So, I'm like, "Oh my god, this is so good." So, I loved The Yearning so much, and they just kind of have to run around and try to figure out this curse. And the heroine talks a lot with her grandmother, and she has some trauma over her mom who was an addict, and things happened there. So, I just really love this one. So, so good. 4.5 stars.

[00:19:16]Check it out when it releases. I really enjoyed it. And those are all the books that I read in the first half of the month. Let me know if you've read anything. I would love to hear your favorites of the month so far. And if you've read these, let me know. If you've made it this far, leave me a ghost emoji in the comments for my ghost romance. And let me know if you have any other ghost romances you loved because I read like BK Borson's I loved and Blake Black's White Cho had a ghost in it. I love that one. I need more ghost romances in my life. So, let me know in the comments. And that is all I have. As always, thank you so much for watching and have a good day. Bye.

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