What I Read in July

5th August 2020 Books

I’m still keeping a steady pace with the number of books read with 5 more added to the list in July. It’s been a lovely mix this month of romance and thriller. What more does a girl need in summer?!

This is what I enjoyed on my kindle this month.

Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher

I really, really enjoyed this book. After quite an intense choice of books last month, I needed something light and that’s exactly what Giovanna Fletcher delivered in Some Kind of Wonderful.

Lizzy has just spent the last 10 years of her life with Ian, and when she believes he is finally getting down on one knee in Dubai, she can’t wait to start the rest of their lives together. In reality though, Lizzy ends up dumped in Dubai instead.

With her life crumbling around her, Lizzy ends up back at home with her mum while her best friend falls in love and her (hilarious) sister who has no filter both gets married AND has a baby. So, there’s only one thing for it: she joins her local village choir.

Some Kind of Wonderful is a refreshing look through Lizzy’s eyes as they try to find out who she is outside of being Lizzy and Ian. There is lots of fun mixed in with plenty of serious moments which makes this book a lot more heart warming than you would expect. There is a little hint of romance but not a lot as that is not what this book it about. Instead, this is all about rediscovering yourself and mending a broken heart.

The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton -AD | eARC

This sounded great from the synopsis: Nina and Marie are best friends until Nina passes away from a terminal illness. On her deathbed Nina makes Marie promise to take care of her family. However, what Nina didn’t realise is just how far Marie would go to fulfil that wish. What Marie didn’t know is that Nina had secrets of her own. Dark and terrible secrets that all stemmed back to one fateful night in Ibiza.

It sounded good but in practice, but sadly I just found The Last Wife dull. Marie as the single narrator just seemed to drone on in a monotonous tone. I couldn’t bring myself to like a single character in the book and the only people I felt sorry for the entire way through were the kids. Who were really only treated like plot tools.

There were some beautiful passages which were incredibly written, but overall this was a bit of a miss for me. I am not someone who as to like the narrator to enjoy the book, but I do feel like there has to be something about them worth reading about. While Marie’s back story was definitely interesting, there was just not enough of it to save this book for me.

I think if Hamilton had provided details of Marie, Nina and Camilla’s back story as flashbacks (rather than Marie’s single tone internal monologue reflecting back) it would have helped to give a much needed additional depth to the story. It would have also worked to build up their friendship to be able to use that as the foundation for the narrative. The dichotomy of how friendships can be both nurturing and toxic would have been a great angle to take, as the lack of a foundation to the story meant that The Last Wife became a little lost. As for Ben…..well I just have no idea what that dimension added to the story at all.

Overall, I thought The Last Wife was ok, but just didn’t live up to its potential.

The Temptation of Adam by Dave Connis

I read a review of this book which labelled The Temptation of Adam as “unflinching”, and it’s a great word to describe it. Unafraid to tackle some quite dark topics, it unapologetically delves in and manages to do so with humour and sympathy.

Adam is sixteen but is dealing with issues. First up he’s addicted to porn, an issue that’s been steadily growing since 12. He also has some pretty impressive abandonment issue due to a mother who left without a goodbye two years before (something that still fills me with rage) and a sister who went with her. He has his Dad, but he’s pretty much checked out of life, hell bent on only winning his ex-wife back. What’s more, Adam has been suspended from school but has been saved from full expulsion on the condition that he joins an addiction support group: the Knights of Vice.

Adam joins because he has to. However, what he finds is love, pain, friendship, loss, and of course a reason to live and actually feel again.

This book is not perfect – it seems to lose its way a little toward the end, and at times the tone does not match the topic – but there are some real moments of brilliance in it. Beautifully written, it’s a real rite of passage as Adam works out exactly who he is. If you enjoy YA books that are not afraid to tackle some difficult topics head on, you’ll enjoy this one.

Mr Knightsbridge by Louise Bay

I didn’t realise this was the second book in a series and thankfully it didn’t matter. Hollie is in London from the US on an internship when she meets Dexter, the most successful jeweller of his generation. They may be from very different worlds but there is no doubt they have a connection, but the question is whether that is enough.

This was a really easy nice read. Sometimes I love to just curl up with a good solid chick lit love story and Bay delivers that is spades. I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper AD | eARC

Sadly, this one was a miss for me. I hate leaving bad reviews for books as I know the author has worked incredibly hard on it and are rightly proud of their work

With three narratives across three different periods, there is little to join them together. This leaves the story feeling very disjointed. While you can see things coming together at the end, sadly there was not enough connection between the three to actually make me care. Add that to the red herring characters that had zero depth and a cast of people that were in all honesty all awful, and sadly it was a miss for me.

Just because it wasn’t for me though, doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it.

• Books read this month: 5
• Books read so far in 2020: 45

What about you? Have you read anything this month that you would recommend?

DISCLOSURE: some of these books have been gifted to me in return for my honest opinion which has been provided to the publishers via NetGalley. These books are clearly marked with AD and described as an Advance Readers Copy. I am not paid to do this, I do it because I love to read. The decision to include them on this blog is my own and I am under no obligation to do so.

* I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk.