Women With Books - 2019 Summer Reading Challenge: What I Read!

Women With Books - a curated collection of conversations about your favorite books, media, and other fabulous things.

Well??? Did you complete the Summer Reading Challenge? I did!

For last year’s challenge and the books I read, click here and here.

As I said before, the 2018 Summer Reading Challenge was one of my most popular episodes of last year – this one and the round up episode. And I’ve loved hearing what everyone was reading this summer!

What I did for this challenge was give you broad themes and you find the book that best fits that for you. After all, at Women With Books, we only want you to read what you love.

I know everyone wants to know, though, what I read for the challenge this year. Some of my picks can fit into more than one category, so I may just slot them into different places… if I need to.

Pretty Dress Cover

Read: The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams (More about it here on Best Books to Read Now)

Debut Author

Read: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Beach Cover

Read: The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey (More about it here on Best Books to Read Now)

Diverse/ Inclusive Read

Read: Alisha Rai’s The Right Swipe (More about it here on Best Books to Read Now)

TBR List

Read: Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh (HOLY CRAP THIS WAS GOOD WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG????)

Comfort Read

Read: Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins (She had not been a Women With Books guest when I read this book but she is now! Find her episode here.) And Nina Bocci’s On the Corner of Love and Hate.

New Genre

Read: Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (also an #ownvoices author and a debut author! This was so good y’all… read more about it here!)

Former WWB Guest (Find them on WomenWithBooks.com)

Read: Sidelined by Suzanne Baltzar (hear her episode here) AND The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey (hear her episode here)

For a list of the authors/ books discussed, subscribe to the Women With Books newsletter (With extra Q&A from the guests!) Buy me a coffee! Support the Podcast at www.Ko-fi.com/womenwithbookspodcast Friend me on Goodreads! Check out the HBIC Nation Podcast!

Sign up for the Women With Books Newsletter here for all the updated information on Season 5 and a comprehensive list of the best book club reading recommendations!

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!

Cover Reveal - THE ROYAL BODYGUARD!

It's time to announce the secret that I've been carrying for so many months...

The sequel to The Royal Runaway is coming!

I’m very excited to announce that THE ROYAL BODYGUARD will be released first in the UK in November 2019 from Headline!!

I’ll be sharing more details about this story and the continued adventures of the Royal House of Laurent. You’ll learn more about their family, their history and… their enemies.
 

My attempt at a movie-inspiration poster.

Um, yeah. Don't you want to READ IT???

THE ROYAL BODYGUARD is more of what you loved in THE ROYAL RUNAWAY - a perfect blend of suspense, romance and mystery. 

THE ROYAL BODYGUARD is a princess story AND… well, a bodyguard story. It has kissing AND explosions. It has ancient vendettas, luxurious European villas and a king buried in a car park. It has good and evil, tears and laughs. And kissing. Did I mention kissing?

Oh, you want to pre-order it?  One-click here: Amazon UK. (And THANK YOU for pre-ordering. It helps my publisher know that people love my stories and want more of them!) Remember, these are the links for the UK/ Australia/ World English versions. As soon as I get information about North American publication dates, I will share them with you ASAP!

Pre-Order Links:

• Amazon

• Waterstones

• Blackwells

• WH Smith

• Apple Books

• Kobo
  

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Make sure that you're signed up for The Inner Circle newsletter, where I will be sharing exclusive content and inspiration for THE ROYAL BODYGUARD in the months to come. 

As always, thank you for your support and excitement! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

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Women With Books - 2019 Summer Reading Challenge!

Women With Books - a curated collection of conversations about your favorite books, media, and other fabulous things.

Get excited! The popular Women With Books Summer Reading Challenge is Back!

For last year’s challenge and the books I read, click here and here.

Happy Summer!

It’s time for the 2019 WWB Summer Reading Challenge!

This was one of my most popular episodes of last year – this one and the round up episode – so I’m really excited to do it again.

What I do for this challenge is give you broad themes and you find the book that best fits that for you. After all, at Women With Books, we only want you to read what you love.

So I’m giving you some suggestions, some of them off MY TBR list and some of them I’ve already read, but please feel free to insert whatever you’ve got burning up on your bookshelf.

Pretty Dress Cover

Suggestions: Rebel by Beverly Jenkins or The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

Debut Author

Suggestions: Mia Vincy, Casey McQuiston or Hafsah Faisal

Beach Cover

Suggestions: the latest from Kristy Woodson Harvey or The Lieutenant’s Nurse by Sara Ackerman

Diverse/ Inclusive Read

Suggestions: (A lot from the other suggestions + a few that don’t fit under the other categories?) Alisha Rai’s The Right Swipe or Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev or The Key to Happily Ever After by Tif Marcelo

TBR List

Suggestions: I don’t know! It’s your TBR Pile!

Comfort Read

Suggestions: the Kat Holloway mystery series by Jennifer Ashley or Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher

New Genre

Suggestions: Spec-fic/ mystery The Psychology of Time Travel or fantasy romance Radiance.

Former WWB Guest

Suggestions: Go to WomenWithBooks.com

Remember to use hashtag: #WWBReadingChallenge so we can all see what everyone’s reading this summer! And drop me a line over email or through social media if you have any great books to recommend this summer!

For more details on the Summer Reading Challenge go to my Blog here.   For a list of the authors/ books discussed, subscribe to the Women With Books newsletter (With extra Q&A from the guests!) Buy me a coffee! Support the Podcast at www.Ko-fi.com/womenwithbookspodcast   Buns & Roses Tea benefitting Adult Literacy Friend me on Goodreads!

My favorite (fun) (feminine) (fabulous) mystery series...

As I continue with my Deep Thoughts on Books (c), I’ve noticed that I have a definite preference for the types of mystery series I read… and by read, I mean, devour and swallow up all the books in one go.

If you’ve looked at my list of why I love the books I do, you’ll see instantly that all these books I’m about to recommend pretty much tick all of my boxes: female-focused, mystery, humor/ great voice, and with a fair share of romantic interest.

So here are my most beloved mystery series… (in no particular order.) I’ve helpfully included the link to book 1 in each series. You’re very welcome.

The Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen
Amazon || Apple Books

This is one of the few that I have NOT read all the books in the series, but I still feel confident recommending it. I’m savoring each of the adventures of Lady Georgianna, 34th in line to the throne.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
Amazon || Apple Books

This is pretty much the book that inspired a thousand authors to try to be half as funny and half as engaging as the mishaps of a bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ.

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

Amazon || Apple Books

This is the series that got me back to reading after I had my youngest child. I read the first eight of these books in a week, I think. They were so addictive and original and, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed the books far more than the show. Which was good, too! For reasons.

Below Stairs Mysteries by Jennifer Ashley
Amazon || Apple Books

Now this series is still ongoing, but I’ve recommended it to so many people (and on this blog!). I just love the heroine and all the Downton Abbey-esque details of her Below Stairs life.

Lady Julia Grey Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn
Amazon || Apple Books

Now Ms. Raybourn has two wonderful historical mystery series out, this one and her Veronica Speedwell series and I did hesitate about which one to recommend. After all, the Lady Julia Grey series has concluded and Veronica Speedwell is still continuing, to the best of my knowledge. In the end, I picked Lady Julia Grey because I’ve actually re-read them (is that weird? Even though I’ve already read the resolution?) and because if you start with Julia, you can keep going all the way through Veronica.

And of course, I have to recommend my own fun, fabulous, feminine mystery series. If you like Sookie Stackhouse and Stephanie Plum all rolled up in a Elle Woods package, check out Margot Blythe.

Amazon || Apple Books

What are your favorite mystery series? I know there are so many more that I need to dive into… like JD Robb. I KNOW I KNOW. But the sheer number of books in the series just intimidates me. I fear I won’t be able to read anything else and then a year will go by and I’ll come out of my cave not knowing what has happened in the world.

So. Any recommendations for me? ;-)

Cover Reveal - THE ROYAL RUNAWAY!

It's time to announce the secret that I've been carrying for so many months...

Yes, you may commence with the squealing and ooohs and aaahs. I won every book cover lottery, the stars were aligned, the feng shui was perfect, and my publisher clearly loves me the most of all the authors they've ever published, in the history of the world. 

I'm not being cocky, my cover is just THAT GOOD. 

Don't you want to instagram it? Model with it? Print it out and put it on a wall? (Believe me, you're welcome to do all those things!)
 

More than that, don't you want to READ IT???

Honestly, I can't wait for the world to read it. The early readers have been sent into a tizzy by this story of the aftermath of a #RoyalWedding gone wrong. THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is the story that I've always wanted to write - a perfect blend of suspense, romance and mystery. 

THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is a princess story AND a spy story. It has kissing AND dead bodies. It has good and evil, tears and laughs. And kissing. Did I mention kissing?

Oh, you want to pre-order it?  One-click here: Amazon. (And THANK YOU for pre-ordering. It helps my publisher know that people love my stories and want more of them!)
 

Make sure that you're signed up for The Inner Circle newsletter, where I will be sharing exclusive content and inspiration for THE ROYAL RUNAWAY  in the months to come. 

And as this will be a paperback book, I will also be doing book giveaways for my social media followers and newsletter subscribers so follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter!

As always, thank you for your support and excitement! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!