Best Books to Read Now - July 2019

Reminder/ Caveat/ Disclaimer: This is my (hopefully) monthly list of books I’ve read and enjoyed. These are not reviews, I do not include books I didn’t enjoy because life is too short to speak badly of books!

Welcome to the Best Books to Read Now Book Club! My (hopefully) monthly blog featuring my reading list, my TBR pile and the books I think you and your best friends should be reading. 

If you’re not sure whether you’ll agree with  my recommendations, check out my blog post on My Reader Wheels and my podcast, Women With Books . Those should help you decide if you’re going to be into my recommendations.

The best book club recommendations for you and your friends!

I love months like this ^^ where there’s a beautiful variety of covers and genres on the shelf.

The Right Swipe - Alisha Rai
Amazon || Apple Books

For Alisha Rai fans who might be nervous about a different direction indicated by that (adorable) cover, don’t worry. This book still has all the Alisha Rai elements you know and love. The Right Swipe has the right amount of angst, sex, social issues (like consent and CTE), diversity, a strong, wry heroine and a professional football player. What’s not to love?

Learn all the ins and outs of proper swipe technique in The Right Swipe.

Brazen and the Beast - Sarah MacLean
Amazon || Apple Books

The day a new Sarah MacLean book comes out is pretty much a national holiday in Romancelandia. I talked to Sarah about the new direction she took in this series, called Bareknuckle Bastards, in an episode of my podcast Women With Books (click here to listen.) She went a little darker than the usual Mayfair ballroom. The heroes aren’t your usual dukes, the heroines have, ah, alternative interests. But all that makes such a richer, more vibrant story that I really enjoyed.

Southern Side of Paradise - Kristy Woodson Harvey
Amazon || Apple Books

Another former Women With Books guest, you can also listen to my conversation with Kristy about this fantastic series here. This is the third (and final?) book to that series and I loved going back to Peachtree Bluff, Georgia. If you want a satisfying family saga beach read, go back and start this series from the beginning!

Taylor Swift needs a book like this to read by the pool.

The Golden Hour - Beatriz Williams
Amazon || Apple Books

All my recommendations are good for book clubs, obviously, but I think this one in particular would really get some good discussions going. I know I haven’t really stopped thinking about it and I’m begging my ‘real life’ friends to read it so they can talk to me about it. (Or you - hit me up if you’ve read it and want to discuss it.) It’s gorgeously written (of course, it’s a Beatriz Williams book) and it’s dual timeline - one is early 1900’s Germany and one is World War II era Bahamas (with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor!) It takes a while for all the scandalous pieces to fall in place but when it does, it’s a fascinating and absorbing tale.

And yes, there were some books I did not love this month…. I’ll be talking more about those and why I think they didn’t connect with me in my newsletter this month.

Do you like books on sale?
Make sure you’re following me on Facebook because that’s where I post great books on sale!

And what about you?
I’d love to hear what you’ve read and loved lately or what you’re looking forward to reading next!  If you want these book recommendations (and a sneak peek at my TBR list and advanced reading copies) sent straight to your inbox, remember to sign up for my newsletter where I’ll be including all the best book club recommendations throughout 2019!

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 - Nancy Naigle & Teri Wilson & The Rom-Com Renaissance

A new episode of the Women With Books podcast is up!

Women With Books Podcast featuring bestselling authors Nancy Naigle & Teri Wilson.

This episode was born of my love for romantic comedies and also because Nancy Naigle, Teri Wilson and I really put a lot of work into the workshop we’ll be presenting in New York at RWA Nationals. For those attending RWA, this is just the tip of the iceberg, we’ll go into a lot more details about the contents of rom com there. I had to laugh throughout this whole episode because – you’ll definitely hear it – Teri recorded this from the floor of a tire store. She was getting a flat tire replaced but like a true professional in a real-life romantic comedy, she sat down ON THE FLOOR (yes, she sent us a selfie of herself to prove it) and had this conversation with us. And then, at the end. Oh, I wish I could have kept it in but it was kind of jarring to listen to if you didn’t know this was happening, the guys at the tire store turned on her car and her audio book that she had been listening to in the car, jumped into our audio feed!  It was not, thankfully, a racy or risqué part of a book or those tire repair guys’ innocent ears would have been offended, I’m sure.

We recorded this episode in the spring, so it’s fun to hear us talk about movies and books that we hadn’t seen or read yet. After Teri’s recommendation in this episode, I went immediately and got a copy of the Kerry Winfrey book, Waiting for Tom Hanks and if you follow my blog series, Best Books to Read Now, you’ll see that I too absolutely adored it. It is rom com perfection.  As always, I put the links to the books discussed in the episode exclusively in my WWB newsletter, which goes out at the end of the month.

In the episode we also each listed our top 3 favorite rom com movies… and Nancy was the only rule follower who meticulously stuck with just three choices.   I listed my top 3 favorites (with 2 runners up) and I thought I’d put them right here to see if you agree with me:

(In no particular order:)

When Harry Met Sally

Sweet Home Alabama

Bridget Jones’ Diary

Runners Up:

27 Dresses

While You Were Sleeping

I’d love to hear what your favorite romantic comedy movies are! Hit me up on social media or respond below!

Press play to listen or download from your favorite podcast app.

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!

Teri Wilson and Nancy Naigle discuss Hallmark movies, Christmas romance and much more!

Let's Talk Skin Care - Part 3 - The Essentials Continued

Review the previous parts and catch up on my skin care manifesto, won’t you?

Part I here (Includes an overview of the essentials and my suggested routine)

Part II here (Includes nothing but sunscreen)

Once again, it was when I started cleaning, exfoliating, using Vitamin C and Retinol on a consistent basis that my skin finally became pretty damn good. That doesn’t mean I don’t get acne (I do, on a monthly basis!) or that it’s never dry or dull, but if I keep up the essentials, it looks good 95% of the time.

I’m going to go through each of the remaining essential categories (Remember I did a whole post on sunscreen in Part II) and give my best recommendations, but you’ll soon start to see why this might get long (or complicated.)

Cleansers

Why use them: Because you get makeup and gook and pollution on your face. Clean that crap off!

My current lineup:

(Something organic and sustainable) Seed Gentle Face Wash

Hado Labo Foaming (super gentle and moisturizing)

This is the best AHA BHA exfoliating cleanser.  My dermatologist recommended it and sells it at her office and I love it.

Drugstore fave: Aveeno Foaming – either the calming or clearing ones. I’ve also used these for years and currently they’ve been stolen by the pre-teens in the house.

In the winter I also will sometimes use an oil cleanser, especially if I don’t have too much makeup to take off (but I’m never going to be one of those double cleanser people) and I really like this solid cleanser for travel: Woodlot Nourishing Cleansing Balm

A few skin care essentials that really work!

Exfoliation

Why exfoliate?
Because you have dead skin cells on your face and when you get rid of them, it makes you look fresher and brighter.
It also makes your skin keep working to make new cells.
It also removes the dead stuff on top so that your topicals (Your Retinoids, Vitamins, etc.) can get down in there and actually make a difference.

This explains it pretty well and this.

How often you exfoliate depends on you and how well your skin can handle it. My skin can handle gentle chemical exfoliation every other day at least.

Once again, you can simply use an AHA BHA exfoliating cleanser, like the one I recommended above.

For a gentle serum, I like this Lactic Acid - Or this AHA (with a very cool bottle) Mizon 8% AHA.

For a once a week (or even once a month) heavy duty mama jama, I’ve got The Ordinary AHA BHA Peeling Solution.  This is serious stuff. You will feel a burn. And please, slather on the sunscreen the next day.

I do like a physical exfoliant occasionally, too. Like I said, my skin can handle it and sometimes, if my face is feeling a little rough, I go ahead and use one of these:

Tony Moly Brightening Peeling Gel I know this says ‘peeling’ but it’s super duper gentle and is not nearly as serious as the Peeling Solution.

Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Scrub 

A few skin care essentials that I can’t live without.

Vitamin C

Why use it: It’s a powerful ingredient to stop aging and fight free radicals. More here: https://www.byrdie.com/vitamin-c-benefits

As I said in Part I, my go-to basic Vitamin C serum is the CSI one. I’ve gone through at least 5 bottles at this point.

I’ve also used The Ordinary 12% Vitamin C. I’m sure it did something but for whatever reason I went back to the first one when I was done.
 
I’ve also heard good things about this set of serums on Amazon that has Vitamin C, Hyaluronic Acid and Retinol all in one package.

Retinol
Why Use it: It’s a superhero ingredient that fights wrinkles AND acne, stimulates collagen and more. More info here.

I’ve used a prescription retinoid for years now so this is one area that I don’t actually have a personal recommendation for. BUT. If my prescription ran out tomorrow and I couldn’t renew it, then I would try one of these.

LilyAna Natural

The Ordinary 2% Emulsion

Neutrogena

OKAY. I know that’s a LOT of information and it may seem like a LOT of products (and it’s one reason why I personally try to find the most effective products at the most reasonable price – which I’ve shared with you!)  But once you get the essentials down, it’s pretty easy:

1. Cleanser

2. Vitamin C

3. Sunscreen

4. Exfoliant

5. Retinoid

Also, PLEASE remember that as you start to use or boost your frequency with these active ingredients, sunscreen becomes MORE important. So please don’t skip that step.

That’s pretty much all I have to say about all the Essential steps I talked about in Part I.

But I hear some of you still yelling at me:

But what about MOISTURIZER?!?!

I know, I know. I really haven’t forgotten it.

But it’s not an essential.

(I’ve shocked you, haven’t I?)

I’ll go into WHY I believe that moisturizer is NOT a skin care essential (and we’ll start to play with things like masks, snail mucin, collagen and more) in Part Four of this series, here.

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Women With Books - Lauren Layne

A new episode of the Women With Books podcast is up!

Women With Books Podcast featuring bestselling romance author Lauren Layne.

I was so lucky to host bestselling author Lauren Layne and talk about all the things. And if you haven’t read her new book, Passion on Park Avenue, yet, go pick it up TODAY. It’s one of the best novels of the summer.

Press play to listen or download from your favorite podcast app.

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!

Lauren Layne gives all the best tips on minimalism and the best places to visit in New York City!