It’s BOOK REVIEW DAY! Woohoo!

Also, how is it already the end of August? Don’t get me wrong, I am ready for some sweater weather, but 2021 is FLYING by!!

Also . . . this meme is 100% me. When you read as much as I do, I see people in all the places reading books that I have read and reviewed. I typically leave the nice strangers alone with their books, but sometimes I just have to go and chat with them about where they are in the story and their thoughts! Just another way I embarrass my kids! Ha!

This month, I read three books. And, I am happy to report that I really liked ALL of them! Yeah! I am actually knee deep into my fourth, but with getting back into the reality of school, sports, work, and homework . . . well, I haven’t finished it yet. BUT, just more for next month’s review!

Here we go . . .

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

I am a big Lisa Jewell fan! Since starting my book reviews in 2018, I have read Then She Was Gone, Watching You, The Third Wife, The Family Upstairs, and Invisible Girl. Only once I have I not loved one of her books, so I keep coming back for more. She rarely (if ever) disappoints! And, she totally delivered with this one!

I Found You is a suspenseful story that will have you guessing until the end of the book! It follows three separate stories that clearly are related in some form or fashion.

Alice, a single mom of three, spots a man sitting on the beach in the rain. After he stays like that for hours, she goes out to help and discovers he has no idea who he is, where he is, or what his past looks like.

Lily, a newlywed living outside of London, is alone in a new city when her new husband turns up missing. Desperate and scared, she searches everywhere for the man she loves.

And, then years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are vacationing in a small town in the English countryside when a strange man weaves his way into their lives.

So many pieces to the puzzle and so many questions! Who is the man that Alice found on the beach? Where is Lily’s husband? And what ever happened to the Ross family? This is a page turner, y’all! So fun!

The One by John Marrs

WOW! This book, y’all! What a concept!

In June, I read Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation about a dating site that matches you by DNA. It was a cute, sweet, slightly rated R, chick lit book.

The One takes the same concept, and ramps it up about 27 levels. A scientist has discovered that every human has ONE gene that matches perfectly to another. So, in the world, you would have one true soulmate/perfect match. Your gene matches the gene of this person, and the connection is usually sudden (think love at first sight), deep, and obvious. Here are a few of the many issues . . . what if you took the test only to find out that your spouse wasn’t your perfect match? Would you stay married? Or, what if your perfect match was a member of the same sex when you are heterosexual? What if you discover your perfect match lives on the other side of the world? Or is sick and dying of cancer?

This book follows five people that have discovered their perfect matches. Each story is different, yet each story makes you think about what you would do.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a book that gets me thinking, and this definitely did that! Read this so we can discuss!

Love Next Door by Helena Hunting

I have read a few Helena Hunting books and really loved them all – Meet Cute, Good Luck Charm, and Kiss My Cupcake. These books were kind of like Hallmark movies with a rated R twist, if you will. Love Next Door was the sweetest Hallmark movie style of a book, but while there were some rated R moments, it was much calmer and sweeter than her other books.

A few years ago, my in-laws spent some time living in a small town on the beach of Lake Michigan. I would have never believed that a lake could have a beach, but their backyard was beautiful, sandy, and the lake went out as far as the eye could see. It was gorgeous. The town they lived in was small, fueled by tourism, and had friendly locals in all of the little businesses that were established throughout the area. It was precious, and it made reading this book so very fun!

Love Next Door follows Dillion as she heads back to her hometown to help with her family’s business after an accident takes her brother out of commission. While home, her late next door neighbor’s grandson escapes some drama from the city and takes up residence next door in an effort to reclaim the innocence and peace of his childhood.

This book is all about finding your peace with your past and how you let that shape and mold you as an adult. Y’all. This book was just so precious. It was a cozy, sweet book that had me excited for each time that I was able to pick it up and dive right in.

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That’s it for today, friends! As always, let me hear your thoughts AND recommendations! XO