June 2024 Reading Roundup

A light month for reading, but a varied one with two audiobooks, 2 digital ARCs, and one actual physical copy!

The Roundup

Star rating on a scale of 0 - 5. Titles in BOLD link to full review. ✨ indicates a 5 star read

• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75

  • The first in Jimenez’s interconnected “Part of Your World” trilogy provides an adorable city girl/country boy romance.

• Happy Medium by Sarah Adler | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.75

  • Contemporary romance with a supernatural twist when a scammer meets a skeptic and discovers she’s not the fake she thought she was.

• This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

  • Much lauded and hard to define romance between two agents of opposing time travel forces.

• Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.75

• Pink Glass Houses by Asha Elias | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.25

Reviews

Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.75

Released June 25, 2024. This review is of an advanced reader copy and details of the text may have changed prior to publication. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the review copy.

FINDING MR. WRITE is the first Rom-Com from author Kelley Armstrong, best known for her Fantasy series. The premise is one that will resonate with every woman writer (and probably most women in general): frustrated with lack of response from agents and publishers, writer Daphne McFadden makes up a male pseudonym and persona and submits queries one night. Unsurprisingly, she gets a much better reaction from agents and publishers and "Zane Remington" sells his book and gets it fast tracked to publication. But the publishers want to set Zane up on interviews! What's she to do except hire an actor to play the role of Zane. Of course, hijinks ensure and after a false start, Daphne and the man behind Zane, Chris Stanton, hit it off, just in time for a US book tour.

The chemistry between Chris and Daphne is established quickly and believably and the banter between them is clever and funny. If you're looking for a MMC with big golden retriever/Travis Kelce on stage at the ERAs Tour energy, look no further than Chris Stanton. Daphne is described and shown as a strong, independent woman without it feeling shoved down your throat. Both leads have fairly fleshed out lives and stakes that feel appropriate for the light vibe of the novel (this is not a Abby Jimenez-esque trauma ride, no shade to those I love them).

There were a few aspects standing in the way of this being a five-star read for me. In the dual POVs, it was sometimes hard to distinguish the POV once you got into the section and possibly some POV slippage. I'll note that this ARC was sent out pretty far in advance, so it's entirely possible this is better in the published version (if it is, I'll re-read and revise my rating). Secondary characters flitted in and out and, with one exception, felt fairly one-dimensional. Some of the complications felt overly forced.

If you're looking for a quick, light read, FINDING MR. WRITE is a great pick!

Pink Glass Houses by Asha Elias | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.25

Releasing July 30, 2024. This review is of an advanced reader copy and details of the text may have changed prior to publication. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the review copy.

Liane Moriarty by way of Bravo (the Real Housewives franchise in particular).

The debut novel by Asha Ellis, PINK GLASS HOUSES follows a group of moms at a prestigious and well funded public school in Miami. Melody, a recent transplant from Kansas, butts heads with Charlotte, the PTA queen bee, as intrigue and secrets come out in the uber-wealthy Miami elite that circles around them. It's full of characters full of flaws and practically begging you to dislike them (not a bad thing... I love me an unlikeable female protagonist). The characterization of the Miami high society setting is done masterfully and truly gives you an immersive feeling into the environment.

The standout aspect of PINK GLASS HOUSES is the voices! Told from multiple POVs, each character's voice is clear, distinct, and tells you so much about the characters themselves. Charlotte's voice, in particular, tells you who this character is and what you're in for immediately -- exactly what you need in a book like this. With her background as a journalist, Elias also incorporates excerpts from in-world media into the narrative, bringing a unique tactic to build the world of the story.

The big downsides of this book for me were 1) underused and somewhat random POVs and 2) the resolution of the mystery set up at the beginning. 3 POVs (Melody, Charlotte, and anti-PTA Darcy) are quickly established (along with the journalism framework), but additional POVs are thrown in for only a chapter or two here and there as the book progresses. Rather than introduce these new voices seemingly randomly, I would have liked to see Elias focus on the primary voices and incorporate what we learn in the other POVs into the exiting ones. As for the resolution to the mystery, I found it ultimately underwhelming and feeling like it was a purposeful misdirection for the purpose of a twist to what the reader might be expecting.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read, especially for those who like a light mystery and social dynamics and is one I would recommend.

And that’s it for June! As always, if you want to follow allow with my reads in real time, you can add me on The Storygraph (a Goodreads alternative) or on Instagram: @crystal.writes.