The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading My Darling Husband by Kimberly Belle.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Jade and Cam Lasky are by all accounts a happily married couple, with two adorable kids, a spacious home and a rapidly growing restaurant business. But their world is tipped upside down when Jade is confronted by a masked home invader. As Cam scrambles to gather the ransom money, Jade starts to wonder if they’re as financially secure as their lifestyle suggests, and what other secrets her husband is keeping from her.
Cam may be a good father, a celebrity chef and a darling husband, but there’s another side he’s kept hidden from Jade that has put their family in danger. Unbeknownst to Cam and Jade, the home invader has been watching them and is about to turn their family secrets into a public scandal.
With riveting twists and a breakneck pace, My Darling Husband is an utterly compelling thriller that once again showcases Kimberly Belle’s exceptional talent for domestic suspense.
Title: Honest June Author: Tina Wells Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: November 9, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
For June Jackson, middle school is hard enough–but it’s even harder when a fairy godmother grants her the ability to only tell the truth ALL THE TIME! Is it a blessing… or a major curse? June’s charming story will inspire big laughs and even bigger love for a new heroine for our times.
June Jackson is an expert at exceeding people’s expectations. She can’t help it; she’s a people-pleaser! She’ll do everything she can to be the perfect student, daughter, and friend, even if it means ignoring her own feelings sometimes. Cue Victoria, June’s secret fairy godmother, who blesses June with the ability to never tell a lie in the hopes that June will finally be honest with her loved ones. Instead of telling them the truth to their faces, June turns to a secret online blog–the only place she can write out her true feelings without hurting people.
When all of her responsibilities start to pile on–field hockey, the school paper, family responsibility, her friends–June begins feeling so overwhelmed that sometimes it feels hard to breathe. Not to mention June is desperately trying to figure out how to overthrow the spell at the same time! When the pressures reach new heights, will Honest June finally be able to break free and tell whole truth and nothing but?
Review:
Sixth grader June is always focused on pleasing everyone around her. That means that she often tells white lies to impress and please her friends and family. However, her own feelings get pushed aside as she tries to make everyone else happy. One day, Victoria, June’s fairy godmother, arrives and puts a spell on June that forces her to tell the truth. She can no longer lie about liking her mother’s cooking or wanting to follow in her dad’s footsteps to become a lawyer. June tries to get around this by creating a private blog to type up the truth so that she doesn’t have to speak it. June must learn the importance of the truth so the spell can finally be lifted.
This story had an important message about telling the truth, that is for adults as well as children. It’s so easy to tell little white lies that end up snowballing into bigger lies. Even just saying “I’m fine,” when you aren’t, is a lie that June was caught up in a few times.
June felt a lot of pressure from her family to do well in school. Her father had her entire life planned out for her when she was eleven-years-old, but she didn’t know what she wanted to do in the future. This could be very relatable for many readers. Once she finally spoke the truth and talked to her parents about what was bothering her, she was able to begin to solve her problems.
Honest June is a great middle grade novel!
Thank you Random House Books for Young Readers and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing a copy of this book.
Tina Wells is the founder of RLVNT Media, a multimedia content venture serving entrepreneurs, tweens, and culturists with authentic representation. Tina has been recognized by Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Essence’s 40 Under 40, Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Phenom, and more. She is the author of nine books, including the best-selling tween fiction series Mackenzie Blue, its 2020 spinoff series, The Zee Files, and the marketing handbook, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right.
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