And just like that, I’m writing my final book review of the summer! My biggest is off to first grade and I’m feeling the first flickers of fall, my favorite season of all. But it won’t be boots, scarves and #pumpkinspice weather here for another handful of weeks, so I suppose we can relish in the warm sun a little bit longer. These books definitely qualify as perfect summer reads, but I think they are just as appropriate for any month of the year when you’re looking to curl up, laugh, smile and/or possibly cry!
My favorite of the month was Things to Save in a Fire by Katherine Center Oh. My. GOODNESS, I am in absolute love with this book!!!! Instantly in my top picks of the year, for sure! If you like contemporary romance even a little bit, this is the one I would say you need to read right this second! I am still thinking about it, and the characters will stay with me for a very long time. A bit more below, but I can promise this is your pick if you’re looking for a cozy fall read to pair with your festive Starbucks beverage of choice!
Here you go, friends! Enjoy!!!
Momentary Must-Read
Last year, to my great joy, I discovered Katherine Center’s incredible writing and impeccable storytelling—along with her deep well of wisdom, empathy and understanding of human connection. Her books are seriously some of my FAVORITES. I adored How to Walk Away by her last year, so I hesitated for zero seconds when I saw her newest as a Book of the Month option. And I didn’t think it was possible, but I think maybe I loved this one even more! Things You Save in a Fire centers around excellent female firefighter Cassie Hanwell. Initially, I didn’t know what I’d think of this main character or her world. Until the first page, and then I was hooked!!! After a sudden, very public outburst that proves to threaten Cassie’s shining career, she uproots her entire life to live with her very sick and estranged mother. As the newest hire in a longstanding, stuck-in-its-ways, boys’ club of a Boston fire station, Cassie remains determined—as always—to fight for her rightful position, to command respect, and, OF COURSE, to never fall in love with a coworker. Enter the handsome “rookie” with whom she is suddenly required to be inseparable. Oh, this story! Oh, the nuances of love and family and heartbreak and trauma and courage and forgiveness and gender and vulnerability. This. Book. Is. Phenomenal. It has everything—meaningful romance, haunting secrets, artful characters, and a mother-daughter relationship that pulls you right into its imperfect beauty and pain. Five BLAZING stars, guys! I’d give it six if I could! This is a RAVE review! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Momentary Amazing Historical Fiction
Oh, I just LOVED this book, too!!! I finished it nestled in the woods of Yosemite while the rest of our group was away playing. When my friend and her husband returned to our camp, I was literally in my chair, weeping through the last couple chapters. “What’s wrong?!” “Oh, just me massively internalizing a fictional book and feeling every character’s deepest emotions as if they were mine!” This book alternates between present-day Alice—hands-on, hard-working mother of two, one a sweet boy with Autism—and Alina, a young and brave World War II-era girl falling madly in love with her precious Tomasz. Alice’s 95-year-old grandmother, Babcia, who is very sick and likely nearing the end of her life, presents Alice with a last-wishes challenge of sorts: Return to her homeland of Poland to uncover some long-buried truths and pull together some final pieces of their family’s heritage. These beautiful, intertwining stories of two courageous women across continents, decades and obstacles struck a deep chord with me. I felt so, so, so many feelings in the saga of heartbreak, love, survival, risk, loss, faith and perseverance. The Autism subject matter and parent-child relationships—as well as Alice’s marriage—were also incredibly well-done, touching and relatable. I give it four-and-a-half stars and VERY much recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Momentary Perfect Beach Read
While there may be no such thing as the perfect couple, there IS such a thing as the perfect beach read, and this is it! This is only my second Elin Hildebrand novel and I devoured it! The picturesque Nantucket and sparkly New York City settings were captivating and frothy. The who-done-it murder mystery storyline was addicting. Celeste and Benji’s magnificent wedding was supposed to be the can’t-miss event of the summer. Instead, everyone misses it because everything goes terribly wrong! Gorgeous maid-of-honor, best friend of the bride and popular social media influencer Merritt is found dead, floating along the Nantucket shore, just hours before ceremony is set to begin. Was this merely an ill-fated accident or did somebody have a killer agenda? Chief Ed Kapenash takes the lead in interviewing each character and investigating the incident. I loved getting to know the cast of characters and coming up with my theories. (They were all wrong!) The ending completely surprised me! Elin Hildebrand is truly the queen of her genre. And now I really want to go to Nantucket!!! Any other recs by her, guys?! This one was delightful. Save it for your next sunny vacation and savor each page! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momentary Popular Romance
You know when the rave reviews and synopsis just scream that, certainly, you should fall in love with a book? And you don’t? Ugh. It happens! Did I laugh during this one? Yes. Did I cry? Almost. Did I find myself often annoyed? Unfortunately, you bet. I love a good romance, clearly, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Kristen and Josh first meet in a star-crossed fender bender, at which point Kristen has an overseas boyfriend named Tyler. Kristen and Josh soon meet again only to discover that they are about to be maid-of-honor and best man in the wedding of their two best friends. Their funny, love-hatey, bantery friendship begins to build and Josh emerges as an undoubted dreamboat. I really did love his character! But Kristen. Oh, Kristen. Why you gotta be so mean?! Naturally her feelings for Tyler and Josh become blurred, and let’s just say she is not very good at communicating her feelings. Or being nice. She does battle infertility as well as a difficult relationship with her mother, and these struggles felt realistic. However, they weren’t quite enough to make her any more likeable or relatable for me, personally. Additionally, Josh constantly refers to Kristen as “the cool girl” or “not like other girls” because she’s just so chill and so cool and just doesn’t care. To me, this is always a turn-off. As if real women can’t both care and be cool. Wrong! Were the structure and dialogue and ending all well done and still entertaining? Totally! But I’d read Things You Save in a Fire instead. Two-and-a-half stars! ⭐️⭐️💫
