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Spell the Month in Books June 2021

Welcome to My: TBR wish list version of #SpelltheMonthinBooks

June always seems like such a busy month.

Anyone else feeling delightfully overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options for reading? And how about the releases this year? Covers are getting more attractive. Genre’s are.. frankly? A little confusing.. And access to reading materials is faster and easier than ever. It’s a wonderful time to be a reader.

Alas, there is still only so much time in a day(most of which gets used for the responsibilities of every day life) and books are left with whatever time we have left over

Between WordPress reviews, Goodreads, and Amazon.. my ‘Want to Read’ and ‘TBR’ lists are out of control. This is my attempt to share some of those poor souls and remind myself of a few I am still really looking forward to. Wouldn’t want to encourage that old adage, ‘Out of sight – Out of mind,’ now would we?
For each letter of the month, I have selected two books.. The first were recommendations from fellow book bloggers(thank you, everyone!) The second are books I’ve run across myself and haven’t seen reviewed yet.

A special thanks to the creator of SpelltheMonthinBooks, Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks!

The Rules:

  • As implied.. the goal is to use the first letter in the title of books you’ve either read or have on your TBR. They can be physical or virtual, skipping such words like A, An, and The, to spell out the current month.
  • A theme is supplied every month but following it is entirely up to you.
  • Once you have your stack.. you can join the linkup! You can do this by creating a post and adding your link to the linkup at the bottom of Review from the Stacks page or by sharing your link in a comment.
  • The linkup remains open for the duration of the month so.. there’s no need to rush but, as always, feel free to join!

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

Happy Reading!


J

Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron

Publication date: July 2021
Pages: 304
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Psychological thriller
Standalone

Eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.

Cassie Woodson is adrift. After suffering an epic tumble down the corporate ladder, Cassie finds the only way she can pay her bills is to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit. The daily drudgery amplifies all that her life is lacking—love, friends, stability—and leaves her with too much time on her hands, which she spends fixating on the mistakes that brought her to this point.

While sorting through a relentless deluge of emails, something catches her eye: the tender (and totally private) exchanges between a partner at the firm, Forest Watts, and his enchanting wife, Annabelle. Cassie knows she shouldn’t read them. But it’s just one look. And once that door opens, she finds she can’t look away.

Every day, twenty floors below Forest’s corner office, Cassie dissects their emails from her dingy workstation. A few clicks of her mouse and she can see every adoring word they write to each other. By peeking into their apparently perfect life, Cassie finds renewed purpose and happiness, reveling in their penchant for vintage wines, morning juice presses, and lavish dinner parties thrown in their stately Westchester home. There are no secrets from her. Or so she thinks.

Her admiration quickly escalates into all-out mimicry, because she wants this life more than anything. Maybe if she plays make-believe long enough, it will become real for her. But when Cassie orchestrates a “chance” meeting with Forest in the real world and sees something that throws the state of his marriage into question, the fantasy she’s been carefully cultivating shatters. Suddenly, she doesn’t simply admire Annabelle—she wants to take her place. And she’s armed with the tools to make that happen.


Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Publication date: September 2017
Pages: 462
Genre: Fiction, Young adult
Standalone

“A wild gift for readers who like books that take them to unexpected places.”—Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Wood

Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is lost. So she’s easily swept away when a glamorous, capricious, and wealthy acquaintance from years ago asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at the extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens.

Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.” What Jane doesn’t know is that the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her life.
One choice leads Jane into a heist mystery. Another takes her into a spy thriller. She finds herself in a gothic horror story, a space opera, and an extraordinary fantasy realm. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. Every choice comes with a price. But together, all the choices will lead her to the truth.

One house. Five choices. Limitless possibilities.

Read Jane, Unlimited and remember why The New York Times has raved, “Some authors can tell a good story; some can write well. Cashore is one of the rare novelists who do both.”


U

Until We Are Lost by Leslie Archer

Publication date: February 2021
Pages: 413
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological fiction
Standalone

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl at the Border comes a haunting thriller about one woman’s journey into the painful truths threatening to destroy her.

When Tara Peary’s twin sister Sophie goes missing, Tara dives into New York’s underbelly to find her. Sophie is the one person who’s ever truly understood her, and Tara knows her sister isn’t the only one who needs help.

Tara is also on the run emotionally from her complicated childhood. Her memories are threatening to overwhelm her emotions and derail the hunt for Sophie. A psychotherapist keeps her afloat, but when Tara begins dating her therapist’s young tech-millionaire neighbor, she risks losing the only lifelines she has left.

The more Tara uncovers about her sister’s disappearance and the dark side of the rich elite, the less certain of the truth she becomes. As Tara reaches the center of the mystery, spanning from her childhood home in Georgia to a Southern California beach, she has to decide whether the truth is a price she’s willing to pay.

Unspoken by Ari Reavis

Publication date: April 2017
Pages: 300
Genre: Romance novel, Fantasy Fiction, Romantic fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 1: Nur Series

The Unspoken One has been banished for many years, his very existence erased. Ameera must find his true name and summon him if she has any hope of saving her kingdom from war, and herself from marriage to a ruthless king.

The Kingdom of Nur has been suffering for years under Ameera’s father’s rule. She’s bid her time, carefully keeping her secret hidden and waiting to become queen so she can repair what her father has broken. Then an unwanted marriage to the brutal king of Nur’s enemy threatens everything she’s worked towards.

With her wedding drawing near and the future of her kingdom in peril, she finds the forbidden name. She knows The Unspoken One is her last chance to save Nur, but she risks much in summoning him. His magic is not understood, the crime he was banished for is unknown, and speaking his name carries an unbearable punishment.

For Nur, for herself, she must risk it all. Or lose everything she holds dear.

She speaks the name too many have paid a painful price for uttering. Nothing, not the kingdom, their lives, or her heart, will ever be the same.



N 

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

Publication date: April 2021
Pages: 331
Genre: Horror fiction, Suspense, Contemporary fantasy
Standalone

A woman trapped on a mountain attempts to survive more than one kind of monster, in a dread-inducing horror novel from the national bestselling author Christina Henry.

Mattie can’t remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all.

There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws.

When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.

No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale

Publication date: July 2021
Pages: 327
Genre: Suspense, Romance novel, Domestic fiction
Series: Book 1 of 2: No More

From the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes the first book in a trilogy about love, betrayal, and the secrets families keep.

Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year. Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily. It begins, “In the event I go missing…”

Josh has difficulty talking. He can’t read or write, but he’s a prolific artist, exhibiting skill beyond his age. His drawings are as detailed as they are horrific. Olivia soon realizes Josh’s artwork tells a story. There’s more to his arrival and to Lily’s untimely disappearance than it seems. Using the drawings as a road map, Olivia traces Josh’s path back to his mom. Each drawing sheds light on Lily’s past and reveals a darkness that forces Olivia to question everything she thought she knew about her family.



E

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay

Publication date: March 2021
Pages: 363
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological thriller, Psychological fiction
Standalone

In one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days.

“They found the bodies on a Tuesday.” So begins this twisty and breathtaking novel that traces the fate of the Pine family, a thriller that will both leave you on the edge of your seat and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother, and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, a frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

Told through multiple points-of-view and alternating between past and present, Alex Finlay’s Every Last Fear is not only a page-turning thriller, it’s also a poignant story about a family managing heartbreak and tragedy, and living through fame they never wanted.

Every Now and Then by Lesley Kagen

Publication date: October 2020
Pages: 302
Genre: Coming-of-age, Thriller, Domestic Fiction
Standalone

For fans of Where the Crawdads Sing and This Tender Land comes a heartfelt story about three young girls searching for adventure during the summer of 1960 from the New York Times bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark.

That summer would change us . . . forever.

The summer of 1960 was the hottest ever for Summit, Wisconsin. For kids seeking relief from the heat, there was a creek to be swum in, sprinklers to run through, and ice cream at Whitcomb’s Drugstore. But for Frankie, Viv, and Biz, eleven-year-old best friends, it would forever be remembered as the summer that evil paid a visit to their small town–and took their young lives as they’d known them as a souvenir.

With a to-do list in hand, the girls set forth from their hideout to make their mark on that summer, but when three patients escape from Broadhurst Mental Institution, their idyllic lives take a sinister turn. Determined to uncover long-held secrets, the girls have no idea that what they discover could cost them their lives and the ones they hold dear.

Six decades later, Biz, now a bestselling novelist, remembers that long ago summer and how it still haunts her and her lifelong friends in Every Now and Then, a story about the ties that bind us, the timelessness of grief and guilt–and the everlasting hope for redemption.


My July reading list is, unfortunately, is already crazy busy or more of these would be on it. But, hey, if having too many books to read it’s my biggest concern over the next month? I’ll be one happy camper.

I know bloggers create entire posts for this exact topic but.. I would love to know:

What has been your favorite book of 2021 so far?

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Carrie

    Nice choices Sheri. I have a couple of these on my list to read too but I did read Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay already and that was a good one.🙂

    1. Sheri Dye

      Thank you!
      At this point.. I’m just hoping to get to some of these before the end of the year. 😆
      And that’s good to know.. at least I know that one will be worth the wait!

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