Enjoy your summer staycation with these July/August reads

With the July 4th weekend not that far off, it's reasonable to make a few plans for summertime entertainment around this time.

However, despite the reopenings that are happening, chances are that your best bet for a safe and healthy vacation will be remaining close to home and mainly indoors.

That's not a bad option, since there are plenty of new books about to be released within the next two months to provide the much needed amusement we need for these warm weather months. I have a lovely quintet of July and August titles ready for your beach bag or cozy corner of the couch:

LIVELY LADIES LOOKING FOR LOVE:

Roselle Lim follows up her charming debut, Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune, with a new enchanting novel that sends it's leading lady to France.

In Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop, our title heroine has the ability to see the future for others, a talent that annoys rather than pleases her. Vanessa would prefer to be just another accountant who has a fair shot at finding love, something that her supernatural gift doesn't allow for.

Upon a series of ill timed predictions, Vanessa decides to try living in Paris with her Aunt Evelyn(who shares her otherworldly talents) to hopefully learn how to control her powers as well as avoid the professional matchmaker hired by her parents.

Perhaps a change of scene will help but it may take more than crossing an ocean to get Vanessa on the right path for her future life and towards possible real romance. I did adore Lim's first book and this one sounds as delectable as a plate of  Parisian marcarons(August):

Speaking of fun follow-ups, Not Like the Movies takes up where Kerry Winfrey's prior novel, Waiting for Tom Hanks, left off. This time, it's Chloe, the quirky waitress who inspired her best friend Annie's screenplay that is fast becoming a major motion picture, who is in the romcom spotlight.

Despite what her friends and potential movie goers think, Chloe insists that she's not in love with Nick, the gruff but soft hearted coffee house owner she works for. For one thing, she's far too busy looking after her father , who had to be placed in a retirement home due to his Alzheimer's condition, not to mention her twin brother Milo popping back into her life.

For another, she doubts that Nick has any romantic feelings for her but that's far from the case. Can Chloe wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to her heart?

I'm planning a double review of WFTH and NLTM(hopefully sooner than later!) but I can tell you right now that if you loved the first book, the sequel should be popcorn perfect for you indeed(July).

CAUGHT IN A BAD BOOKISH ROMANCE

Author Finola Austin introduces us to Bronte's Mistress, the Bronte in question being Bramwell, the only brother of the three scholarly sisters who will become beloved writers one day.

He is not the main figure in this story,however-that portion falls to Lydia Robinson, who is grieving the untimely death of a daughter as well as her own mother,both within the same year.

Bramwell and his sister Anne join her household as educators to Lydia's remaining daughters and with her family in disarray, she finds the young man's company a most welcome relief. His charm and wit, along with lively interest in the arts, makes their considerable age difference a remote obstacle to their hidden love affair.

What does threaten their romance is Lydia's current marriage, grown cold but still very much alive in the eyes of society. While she does long to give into their mutual passion, Bramwell's erratic nature and his sisters' use of literary inspiration could ruin more than one life and that may be too high a price for either of them to pay.

This certainly is a side of the Bronte legend that we don't get to see too often and for any fan of Victorian literature, such a sorrowful love story is hard to resist there(August):

HISTORICAL THRILLS AND CHILLS

The upcoming entry in the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen, The Last Mrs. Summers, has newly married Lady Georgiana off on a gothic adventure without her husband Darcy by her side.

Instead, she's teamed up with best gal pal Belinda as visitors at the stately manor of Tony Summers in Cornwall. He has just remarried despite the shock of his first wife's death via a fall over a cliff.

As a former flame of Tony's, Belinda is not suspicious of these circumstances but Georgie soon learns that the current Mrs. Summers has concerns about the demise of her predecessor and fears that she may become the late Mrs. Summers as well as the last!

While the new Mrs. Summers may be wrong about that fear, there is clearly something going on as the formidable housekeeper Mrs. Mannering is determined to keep everyone in line and then some,not to mention Tony brazenly attempting to rekindle his brief romance with Belinda.

When a staff member is found dead, Georgiana has to spring into action or her good friend Belinda will be more than just a suspect in the case. This spin on the classic Rebecca should be most entertaining as this series has a good blend of humor and terror that makes for truly page turning thrills there(August):

For something a bit more serious, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees should fit the bill nicely.

In post-WWII, Edith Graham, a schoolteacher in search of a more interesting life, is recruited as a spy to work in Germany during their reconstruction. In fact, it's her cousin Leo who does the recruiting, hoping that she can help catch a notorious war criminal all too well known to their family.

Using the alias Stella Snelling, Edith poses as a cookbook author with a popular culinary magazine column that allows her to pass along coded messages in her recipes.

As her ruse becomes more successful, she is getting closer to her target but also deeper into danger. Can Edith achieve her objective in time or will she write her own recipe for disaster? Such an intriguing premise promises to be a real riveting read this summer or any season for that matter(July).


Please do have a happy July 4th, folks and despite the terrible times we're living in, joy can be found and taking a break from the daily stress is vitally important to your overall state of well being.  Any good book that allows you a moment or two of relaxing fantasy is a true blessing from the literary muses, if you ask me: