On the Shelf: June 2025

June was't so great in other ways, but at least I had a pretty spectacular reading month! August Lane, Regina Black's follow-up to her stellar The Art of Scandal, is no sophomore slump. The characters are so richly drawn and the emotional punches land hard. You can never go wrong with KJ Charles,  so of course Copper Script is yet another one of her stand-out historical mysteries with poignant romance. A recent announcement called her a "rising star; she's been an entire constellation for more than a decade. 

Not quite as shiny? Sunrise on the Reaping. As I said on the socials, I completely understand why Haymitch became an alcoholic because reading this book made me want to start drinking. Suzanne Collins never holds back with her incisive and timely work. Stressful in a completely different way is Christopher Golden's latest, The Night Birds. He's a master of horror for a reason. I had to keep telling myself "Someone has to survive, because surely he won't leave a baby unattended?!" Pick up the book to find out if that's true.

The Reading Rundown
Lights Out by Navessa Allen (dark romance, contemporary romance)
August Lane by Regina Black (out 7/29, contemporary romance)
Copper Script by KJ Charles (historical m/m romance, historical mystery)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (dystoptian YA fiction)
We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin (suspense, thriller)
The Night Birds by Christopher Golden (horror)
[Redacted] by TK (out 9/16, suspense, thriller, for professional review purposes)
Charity Nightingale Heals Her Husband by Aydra Richards (historical romance)
Bald-Faced Liar by Victoria Helen Stone (suspense, thriller)

Backlist titles & rereads: I finished up a Kindle Unlimited trial with Angel in Chains and Avenging Angel by Cynthia Eden. Then it was off to my shelf of paperbacks for a reread of Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I came back to the Kindle for rereads of Plum and Heavy by Cate C. Wells and The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt and hit some backlists with Kylie Scott's Repeat, Lorraine Heath's Midnight Pleasures With a Scoundrel, and Mary Balogh's The Secret Pearl. Would you believe it was actually my first Balogh? I think I assumed that she was tame and borderline inspie. I'm so glad to be wrong, because this was just the angsty and messy book I needed. Then I wrapped up the month with some more comfort rereads—Jen Devon's Right Where We Left Us and The Duke Identity and Enter the Duke by Grace Callaway.

Currently reading: Ready to Score by Jodie Slaughter and Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway.

On the TBR/wish list
Darkwater Lane by Rachel Caine and Carrie Ryan
Gabriela and His Grace by Liana de la Rosa
The Lines We Cross by Ausma Zehanat Khan
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
To Catch a Thief by Anne Stuart