Books Read in July 2024

1.  Pitch It by Evie Blum-- Kind of a weirdly suspenseful romcom but I enjoyed the perspective of a woman working in Silicon Valley,  which I don't see a lot. The business jargon was on point. The author is really talented at writing physicality too; be prepared for a lot of spicy scenes. 
2. 
   My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Bro
   di Ashton, and Jodi Meadows--I'd wanted to read this for a while (Tudor history nerd, hello!), and I just saw and loved the show on Prime and finally got the book from Kindle Unlimited.  Both are so, so good! Very tongue-in-cheek, intrusive narration, and so many riffs on Shakespeare, Tudor history, and more. Plus it's a surprise fantasy world with people who turn into animals instead of Protestants vs. Catholics--totally brilliant. Can't wait to read the rest!
3. An Improper Situation by Sydney Jane Bailey-- On Stuff-Your-Kindle romance day, I took a chance on a lot of different books. This was the first one I tried. I really enjoyed the 19th century Spring City, CO and Boston, MA settings, and the author's liberal use of contemporary colloquialisms, like "a huckleberry above a persimmon," as just one example.  I did not care for the extremely arrogant male love interest, Reed, but the female heroine, Charlotte, is at least smart and assertive, and I enjoyed her relationship with her aunt and cousins. Maybe worth it just for the slang! 
4. Dreams of Ice and Shadow by Kathryn Troy--See my review here.
5. The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall--This was supposed to be a read-alike for The Secret Society of Irregular Witches. but it felt like a more ominous version of the TV show "The Good Witch." It's about a magical family with a lot of cute baking and gardening sequences, but also some real dark secrets and consequences. I'd hesitate to call this cozy fantasy--it's more like a cursed family saga hidden in a small town romance or a small town romance and a lot of baked goods squished into a cursed family saga. Also, small quibble, but although the characters are all White and Christian as far as I could tell, they made desserts associated with specific cultures like babka and Chinese moon cakes. Food has always been a meeting of cultures, but I wondered why the pastries were so diverse while the people were not. 
6. The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall (Book club read)--Beautifully written book about two couples and their different kinds of faith, although I'm just not really feeling the literary stuff rn.