Hello Readers! We were hoping July would take the heat with it when it left, but we’re supposed to reach a sweltering 104 today and tomorrow here in Texas. I hope you’re cool and well wherever you’re reading this from! I’m a few days late with my July haul because I’m still playing catch-up on all my posts, but I’m almost there!

I had a great reading month in July, and you can check out My July Wrap-Up if you’d like to see what all I read. I also had quite the haul this month thanks to some ARCs, paperbackswap, my subscription box, a few freebies, and the fact that I needed one book so I ordered more to get free shipping. 🤦‍♀️ Anyone else ever have that problem?! 😂

Let’s take a look at my haul for July!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

My eARCs

Despite not having read Love, Lists & Fancy Ships yet, I’ve been assured that it’s not necessary to enjoy the follow up, Luck & Last Resorts by Sarah Grunder Ruiz. I could not say no to this cover! I’ll be reading this one in the next few days.

Synopsis:

They have a second chance at love, but there are some rough seas ahead in the new contemporary romance from the acclaimed author of Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships.

Commitment-phobe Nina Lejeune lives by two rules: 
1. Always have fun. 
2. Don’t rely on anyone but yourself.
The first rule is easy; the second, she’s only broken once.

Ten years after fleeing home, Nina is the chief stewardess on the super yacht Serendipity, single by choice, and perfectly content with how life has turned out.

But Nina’s ex-coworker and old flame, Irish chef Ollie Dunne, isn’t so happy with the status quo. One year after leaving yachting, he’s returned as the Serendipity’s chef with an ultimatum: if Nina continues to deny she’s in love with him by the end of this charter season, he’ll go back to Ireland for good.

Nina and Ollie’s shared secret from their past threatens to shipwreck not only their relationship, but the entire boat. But as their connection grows amidst chaotic guests and crew drama, could there be smooth sailing in their future? 

Expected August 9, 2022

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I was so excited to be approved for Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch! I adored her Love & Gelato series, and this one set in Salem, Massachusetts sounds heartwarming.

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a poignant and romantic novel about two teens trying to find their place in the world after being unceremoniously dragged to Salem, Massachusetts, for the summer.

Willow has never felt like she belonged anywhere and is convinced that the only way to find a true home is to travel the world. But her plans to act on her dream are put on hold when her aloof and often absent mother drags Willow to Salem, Massachusetts, to wrap up the affairs of an aunt Willow didn’t even know she had. An aunt who may or may not have been a witch.

There, she meets Mason, a loner who’s always felt out of place and has been in and out of foster homes his entire life. He’s been classified as one of the runaways, constantly searching for ways to make it back to his mom; even if she can’t take care of him, it’s his job to try and take care of her. Isn’t it?

Naturally pulled to one another, Willow and Mason set out across Salem to discover the secret past of Willow’s mother, her aunt, and the ambiguous history of her family. During all of this, the two can’t help but act on their natural connection. But with the amount of baggage between them—and Willow’s growing conviction her family might be cursed—can they manage to hold onto each other?

Expected September 27, 2022

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The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook sounds like my kind of romance. Some of the early reviewers have very different opinions about this one, and with my track record, that probably means it’s a book I’ll enjoy. 😃

Synopsis:

Is it possible to love someone you’ve never met? A young woman finds out in this sweeping will-they-or-won’t-they love story that begins with a chance wrong number dial. . . .

When Hannah picks up a call from an unknown number, she thinks nothing of it–it’s just an easygoing American named Davey who misdialed her while calling into a job interview. And when Hannah wishes him luck after clearing up the confusion, she never actually expects to hear from him again.

Then she gets a text saying he got the job and he’ll be moving to London, and she can’t help but smile. Soon their texts become phone calls that turn into video calls, and their friendship becomes a relationship they can’t wait to start in earnest once Davey lands in London in a month’s time.

But when Hannah goes to meet him at the airport, Davey isn’t there–and the reason why changes both of their lives in an instant. With their future together suddenly so uncertain, they don’t know what to do but try to move on from each other.

Though their chance at love seems lost forever, neither is never far from the other’s thoughts. Will fate intervene once more to bring the two together, or will Davey always be the man that Hannah never met? 

Expected on Novemeber 22, 2022

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I wasn’t expecting to be approved for Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca, the fourth book in the Well Met series, but I’m so excited to get to it!

Synopsis:

The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths? 

Expected on December 6, 2022

My Paperbackswap Books

• Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Switch by Beth O’Leary – This is the last book of O’Leary’s that I haven’t read yet.

My Book HookUp Box

My Summer Book HookUp Box from The Strand Bookstore arrived filled will some exciting books and fun extras! The books included:

• A Year to the Day by Robin Benway
• How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow
  

My Book Outlet Haul

When I was approved for the ARC of Well Traveled, the fourth book in the Well Met series, I wanted to finally read the second and third books before I picked it up. I found the third book, Well Matched, for a great price on Book Outlet—and I had a $5 off coupon—so of course I had to order enough books to get the free shipping, too. 😉

• Well Matched (Well Met, #3) by Jen DeLuca
• Give the Dark My Love (Give the Dark My Love, #1) by Beth Revis
• It’s in His Kiss (Bridgertons, #7) by Julia Quinn
• On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons, #8) by Julia Quinn – I now own all the Bridgerton books I need to read to finish the core series!
• A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3) by Sabaa Tahir
• A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes, #4) by Sabaa Tahir – And now I own all the books to finish this series, as well.

The Witchery Box from iReadYA

I was thrilled to get this fun box from iReadYA for The Witchery by S. Isabelle. It included a finished copy of the book and character cards, which came in very handy while I read. I loved this one, and I highly recommend it! Check out my review and current giveaway of my ARC copy!

Free ebook

When I saw Tattered Stars by Catherine Cowles available for free one day, I quickly added it. I’d just recently seen Tanya’s rave reviews for this romance series on her Mid-Year Freakout Tag, so it was still fresh in my mind. Yay!

Amazon First Reads Selections

In July Prime members were able to pick two Amazon First Read selections. It’s always hard enough to just pick one, but I finally settled on Embers on the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg, a historical fiction book about a house in Massachusetts that served as a stop for the Underground Railroad, and She’s Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino, a contemporary romance about a woman and her grandmother’s road trip to their family’s hometown in Massachusetts. (Massachusetts seems to be a theme in my haul this month!)

Both Published on August 1, 2022

Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!