What I Read In June 2023 + My July TBR
Whew … June was a better reading month for me. I read SO many romance books—in fact, all of the books below are romance books LOL. I have no mental energy to write an introduction right now, so we’re just going to get into the books.
Set On You by Amy Lea
I loved this one so much. This was the first book in the influencer series—I read the second book a few months ago (Exes & O’s, which came out earlier this year). I adore Amy Lea’s writing. The main character is a fitness influencer and is plus-size, so body representation was a huge plus for me. The romance between these two characters was so amazing!
Rating: 4/5
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Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey
Tessa Bailey can do no wrong, can’t she? Okay, the first book in this series, Secretly Yours, wasn’t my favorite. I struggled to follow along in the plot in that one, but this one? I devoured it. I thought it was a quick read and I loved the characters. This one was a marriage of convenience, which I’ve never read before—but I loved it nonetheless! The characters had SO much chemistry that I could read their story without even a plot. It was hard to believe that they were in a “marriage of convenience” because their feelings for each other were so clearly obvious.
Rating: 4/5
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Real Love by Rachel Lindsay
I was so excited to pick up Rachel’s debut romance book! I think if you love The Bachelor then you’ll love this one—it’s from the perspective of the show lead’s best friend, who turned the role down and gave it to her best friend. The main character, Maya, turned it down because she has her life planned out. But when her best friend, Delilah, returns from filming the show, Maya discovers that Delilah has changed; she’s happier and in love. Now Maya is questioning everything that she’s planned out. But also when her free-spirited sister, Ella, and Ella’s friend, Kai, comes to visit, Maya starts to question everything that she’s planned. I thought the book was fine; the plot moved a little too slow for me, but I think the character development was great.
Rating: 3/5
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Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Oh my gosh … I put this book on my shelf for a year and then finally picked it up (only to realize that I just received its sequel in my BOTM box). I hesitated picking this up because of the age gap romance, because honestly, those give me pause. Who wants to read an age gap romance? But honestly, this book was incredible. Abby Jimenez’s writing flows so well that I never got bored or never struggled to get through a certain part. She kept me hooked all the way from the first page to the very last page. She wrote Alexis and Daniel’s story so beautifully. To be honest, the age gap wasn’t even made into a thing—it was more of a class/societal difference, or a difference in how both Alexis and Daniel lived. (Alexis came from upper class and mansion living, while Daniel was from a small town and scraping by.) I’ve already started the sequel, Yours Truly, at the time of writing this!
Rating: 5/5
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Twisted Games by Ana Huang
The last book I finished in the month of June was Twisted Games by Ana Huang! I listened to this on audio and thought it was great. I liked this SO much better than the first. I felt like Bridget and Rhys (the two main characters, both narrated by them) were close to Princess Mia and Lord Nicholas, from Princess Diaries 2? It gives off the whole “I have to get married before I become queen and I have to get married to someone noble.” I loved that plot point, in addition to the very strong chemistry between Bridget and Rhys. I also felt like the time jumps in this book was better to follow, in contrast to Ava and Alex in Twisted Love (book 1). I liked how we got to see Bridget still in college, and then graduating from college, and then a little bit in New York before she assumes responsibilities as the Crown Princess in her country.
Rating: 4/5
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My July TBR:
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter
The Love Wager by Lynn Painter