Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton (audio)
• Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
• Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control by Ryan Holiday
• Think and Grow Rich for Women: Using Your Power to Create Success and Significance by Sharon L. Lechter

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton (audio)
• Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
• Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel

Ashley FIN

• Pucking Ever After: Volume 1 (Jacksonville Rays #1.5) by Emily Ray
• Pucking Around (Jacksonville Rays #1) by Emily Rath
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• That One Night (Jacksonville Rays #0.5) by Emily Rath
• She Comes First by Ian Kerner
• Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas
• The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
• Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet #1) by H. D. Carlton
• The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas by Sarah J. Maas
• Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge: Intimate Confessions from a Happy Marriage by Helen Ellis

Nikki FIN

• Lady Wallflower (Notorious Ladies of London #2) by Scarlett Scott
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Blackstone Ranger Guardian (Blackstone Rangers #5) by Alicia Montgomery
• Duke of Debauchery (Sins and Scoundrels #5) by Scarlett Scott
• Blackstone Ranger Rogue (Blackstone Rangers #4) by Alicia Montgomery
• Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas
• Blackstone Ranger Hero (Blackstone Rangers #3) by Alicia Montgomery
• The Doxy and the Duke (Second Chance Manor #6) by Caroline Lee
• Blackstone Ranger Charmer (Blackstone Rangers #2) by Alicia Montgomery
• Earl of Every Sin (Sins and Scoundrels #4) by Scarlett Scott
• The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
• Lady Ruthless (Notorious Ladies of London #1) by Scarlett Scott
• The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas by Sarah J. Maas

I don’t know about you, darling readers, but I have felt like this summer has been a bit of a sprint, but in marathon form.  The speed of life hasn’t slowed up, and neither has the speed of my reading, but the content has adjusted a bit.  Unless you’ve been under a rock, you saw the ads for Amazon Prime Day earlier this month, which included the amazing sale on Kindle Unlimited that led Ashley and me to reactivate our subscriptions, and me to continue with some fun romance series that I’d previously started.  All of the above titles are fun, breezy, contain some element of depth that can be explored or (mostly) ignored, and really that’s been super helpful to me this month.  (Please do note the previously reviewed titles and the Maas selections in the list are excluded from this description, although I do recommend each and every title I’ve read this month for different reasons.)

During July, we had an amazing family vacation visiting the home of Queen Dolly Parton (Dolly For President), and then jumped back into real life hard core. This is soon to be followed up by the return of school schedules and I am alternately excited for and dreading that change.  Throughout this chaos, I’ve (more or less) kept up with reading for reviews, started our Maas Distraction Adventure rereading, and found the aforementioned rabbit holes with great joy and much chill.  

Honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about the titles I’ve read this month.  Rereading Throne of Glass is like visiting a group of old friends (and we’d love to introduce you to them) and romance novels are so cozy, which my soul has needed.  Live in your season darlings, and maybe consult The Lazy Genius Way for more tips to help you manage the chaos.

What’s helping you manage the season, be it a book or otherwise?

~ Nikki 

July’s gift of Free Kindle Unlimited from Amazon Prime Day has been an adventure for my reading life. I read the first in a dark romance duology Haunting Adeline and started a new hockey romance series by Emily Rath, the Jacksonville Rays. My book buddy has asked me to give her some words about the first in this series because it is the first adventure of either of us reading a Why Choose? Romance. What is this you ask? Well, like any reverse harem, Pucking Around, has one female main character and more than one male main character, typically 3 or more. In the case of Dr. Rachel Price, she has three men that she loves, that love her, and that love each other by varying degrees. Specifically in this instance of why choose, Rachel meets her men at differing timelines. It’s important that if you’re interested in reading the Jacksonville Rays series, you need to begin with That One Night, the novella where she meets Mystery Boy, the first of her MMCs in Pucking Around. I’m also going to highly recommend you read the Content Warnings at the beginning of each of these novels. If you know anything about my reading habits, the content warnings are typically the reason why I end up reading a romance novel and this series coupled with Haunting Adeline are no exception. If you’re not interested in a 750 page tome about a polyamorous relationship with loads of spice and hockey… then don’t use your Kindle Unlimited subscription for this series. This book was absolutely everything I wanted and more. You can have more of Rachel and her men by reading the first of several planned collections about their life after the end of Pucking Around in Pucking Ever After Volume One. Author Emily Rath took reader suggestions as inspiration, and my favorite is learning how Mystery Boy uses his Super Power: the ability to know which ice cream flavor is a person’s favorite.

I am also beyond excited to have started our Maas Distraction re-read and re-introducing myself to the Throne of Glass cadre of characters. I am however most excited to get to Heir of Fire where we meet the witches and wyverns. I could just keep reading Maas to the exclusion of literally all else in life, and I hope I am better able to balance life and reading this time around. (I greatly doubt it.)

~Ashley

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