What I Read {June 2022}

I see blue skies!! Red roses too….

I know you guys will LOVE this list of books that I’m sharing today. If you are planning a vacay soon, you won’t want to miss this post. It was the perfect month for beach reads and summer-lovin’.

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The Stand In

I wanted to read this book because of the pretty cover and loved the premise. The main character is a girl named Gracie, who is struggling to pay her bills and is kind of a hot mess. Well, one day she gets photographed one day by accident, it turns out, she's a dead ringer for a famous movie star, Wei Fangli, who is in Toronto for work (with her very attractive costar and eventual love interest for Gracie, Sam Yao). Fangli hunts Gracie down and asks her to be her "stand-in": to attend public events with Sam, pretending to be Fangli, so that Fangli can rest from her exhausting public schedule. Gracie needs the job and the money - in part to be able to afford better care for her mother, who had dementia - so she says yes. Thus begins her experience passing for international superstar Wei Fangli, and falling for her gorgeous costar.

I think this was a fun and light story (even with the deep topics). Especially because of the extremely predictable (and convenient) premise. If you can look past a little reality and let yourself go with this idea that this all could happen so perfectly then I think you’d like this one. Cute, predictable and if you listen the suido version is Phillipa Soo, who I absolutely adore) narrating.

4 stars

Something Wilder

National Treasure with a little romance involved. The main character is Lily Wilder whose dad is Duke Wilder, a famous treasure hunter, who left her with no money in the bank. But Lily now uses Duke’s coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. Suddenly one of her tour groups enters and she sees the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness—and leave him there. But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the adventure of a lifetime.

I really liked the adventure in this one. I loved the idea of treasure hunting with a side of second-chance romance. This was full of action, adventure, romance and humor. If you’re looking for something that will keep you engaged and you can look past the somewhat ridiculous “situation” that they find themselves in, you will enjoy this book.

4 Stars

Alexis Montgomery comes from a long line of world-renowned surgeons. She and her twin brother are expected to carry on this legacy, except maybe they don’t want to do it exactly in the way their family members did. As she was coming home from a family event, she ended up stranded on the side of the road due to car trouble. Luckily for her, Daniel shows up and helps her. Daniel comes from a local town, where he rents out a family house to visitors. They probably didn’t expect to see each other again, but as fate would have it, they do, and their chemistry is undeniable. But how can they fit into each other’s completely opposite life?

5+ STARS

The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy

This was one of the cutest, most comforting books I’ve read in a long time. Yes, it’s cliche, and yes, I hate love triangle but goodness y’all I really loved this series!!!

Belly is this awkward teenager I couldn’t help relating to because at her age I was just as clueless, if not more! She turns pretty one summer and everything changes. And by pretty we mean, she doesn’t have braces any longer and wears her hair down. 😂 Her two life-long “friends” that she spends every summer with begin to act differently and tensions rise as further complications threaten to ruin the tradition of summer.

✨ 5 ✨ STARS

I would also like to add I watched the series after I read it and I must say the books were WAAYYYY better.

My main problem with the show that is streaming on Amazon Prime is the connection she has with Conrad who is her main “love interest” and how they changed some of the characters. I can’t go into too much detail but I’ll tell you one thing…. I was ALL about one of the boys and had my heart set on her ending up with him. But the series changed him so much and almost made him unlikeable. Suffice it to say, it didn’t leave me with the same angst that the book did.

There are definite pros to the show. They truly brought “Cousins Beach” to life and really made you fall in love with their adorable summer house and tradition. “Belly” was cast perfectly and I loved how they would flashback to the past to show how she and the boys grew up so close.

It was cute, just a lot of change in this one for sure.

So, if you haven’t read any of these I highly recommend Part of Your World if you need a cute summer read that will give you all the emotions. And if you’re looking for a young adult sweet love story check out The Summer I turned Pretty Trilogy.