Here it is already the end of another month. Where does the time go? I have been busy as usual reading some wonderful books for the month of July of 2024. Here are the 6 books I read and reviewed for July. I might have read even more if I didn’t have a few WIP. But I always seemed to have a WIP! That fact never stops me! I hope you enjoy reading these reviews.

I love sharing my eclectic reads in this Jemsbooks Segment, Books Read in the Month. I hope you will get a chance to look over these books soon. Thank you for your kind support of my work and that of my fellow authors.

If you are an avid reader, as I am, please review the books you love on Amazon or wherever you purchased them for others to enjoy your reviews. Reviews are one way for readers to know about an exceptional book. We indie authors love to receive reviews and appreciate the efforts of readers to do them. Once again, I thank you for your kind support of me and my books and for supporting my fellow authors too.

When I wrote these reviews I rated them on Amazon, Goodreads and sometimes Barnes & Noble. I did not include the ratings here though. It is best to share my thoughts with you about how I felt about the book without the rating. Ratings can be deceiving at times.

We all feel differently about books. Sometimes we love them, sometimes we like them and still other times we dislike a book. Some other books are so memorable they take our breath away! While still others are sweet, sensitive, and enjoyable reads that we soon will forget. But all these books I have reviewed were lovely reads as you can see from my reviews. I hope you enjoy my reviews and that they will help you to decide what will be your next read.

The Lies You Wrote is an intense mystery involving a family that is dysfunctional with a son who is suspected of murder of his parents while his sisters have been whisked away to protect them from the press and put them into foster care.

The main protagonist, Raisa Susanto, is a forensic linguist who is called in to assist with the case. She gets some help from her partner, Callum Kilkenny, who is a forensic psychologist. Together they worked to solve the case by reading messages, confessions and diaries left by the family.

The unexpected happens to Raisa and she finds her life in danger along with her partner and another player in the mix. There is a surprise ending in this book that was shocking not only to Raisa but to this reader too.

This was an enjoyable mystery that had many twists and turns and all the usual suspects to keep the reader engaged. I look forward to the next book in the series.

The Nightingale is an epic historical novel in France during WW11. It details the lives of two sisters, both heroic in their own way helping others to safety from the Nazi invasion. They persevere even though they are heartbroken over the death of their beloved mother and the abandonment of their father.

The story is detailed by one of the sisters throughout the story. We do not know which one is telling the tale until the end. The author bases the story on some heroic women who took many Allied soldiers over the Pyrenees to safety. While one sister takes this trek many times over, her sister is busy trying to keep her family together while her husband is fighting the war and protect all the children who have been abandoned or separated from their parents after they are arrested by the Nazis and taken away to work camps.

This is a tender, heart wrenching story that tells of the cruelty of the Nazis and how much the people who were oppressed by them suffered. It shows the tenacity and strength of the women who were left behind after their husbands went to war and the power of love to last through adversity.

I highly recommend this story but be prepared to have tissues ready. It is a heartbreaking tale.

The Astral Gatecrashers book 1 of the Bad Boy Wizard series is an enjoyable series for middle-graders and preteens. Even though I am not either of these I found this book to be intriguing as the myriad characters came on the scene and the main protagonist took front stage.

This is a creative series with all kinds of mayhem happening at every turn causing much havoc for Charlie, the bad boy wizard himself. The only thing wrong is that Charlie doesn’t know he can do magic until he meets a ghost of himself from the past who convinces him to try to perform some magic by changing a stuffed owl into a dog. Unfortunately, Charlie’s first try at magic is anything but successful, causing him to get into more trouble not only with his mother but also with his teachers at school.

The story continues with more mishaps for Charlie as he conjures up creatures that haunt him every chance they get, which gets him expelled from school and sent to his room by his mother for days. How will Charlie ever figure out how to send back these strange creatures to wherever they came from and get his mother to trust him again?

This is an enjoyable romp of a tale for middle-graders and preteens that will make them avidly anticipate the next installment of this fun series of adventures with the Bad Boy Wizard.

Last Night is an intriguing mystery where everyone is a suspect. A murder is committed, and a young child is missing. There just happens to be an out-of-town police officer on the premises of the hotel where the victim was found buried in a snowfall during a raging storm.

The authorities are unable to do very much with the storm and snow still falling heavily preventing them from finding any evidence. The out-of-town officer does what he can to assist the local police and manages to find more evidence than they do as he slowly pieces together a few items that he found buried in the snow near the victim’s body.

The number of suspicions increase and so does the mystery, creating an enjoyable read. I like the writing style of this author and look forward to more of her work.

After Death is a suspenseful story about a man who exhibits a Lazarus complex after dying in an event that killed all who were in the facility. The main character, Michael Mace, who is the head of security in this plant is the only one who comes back from the dead. His best friend was not as fortunate.

Michael has no idea how or why he died and was resurrected. All he knows is that he has powers that he did not have before to become a ghost in the sense that he can enter cyber space and understand how to control anything that is connected to computers. He befriends a woman and her son after his friend had mentioned that he wanted Michael to watch over her in case anything happened to him.

What transpires in this tale is everything that Michael must do to keep this woman and her son alive as the father of the boy chases them. What Michael doesn’t realize is that someone is also after him and has discovered his secret talents. Murder is what this dangerous adversary has in mind for Michael.

Lots of action, violence and tension ramps up as Michael races to save the woman and her son and also himself.

I enjoyed this book even after having not read any of Dean Koontz’s books for a long time. My favorite one of his though is still Intensity.

What I’ve Done is the fourth book in the Morgan Dane mystery, suspense series. This is a gripping story that kept me guessing as to who the killer was.

Morgan Dane is a fascinating character who is fearless and persistent in getting at the truth in all her cases as a lawyer. She will stop at nothing to fight for her clients’ innocence unless they are guilty.

Her latest client is a young woman who has been arrested for murder of a man when she is found with blood on her hands at the man’s home. She doesn’t remember what happened but can’t believe that she would have killed him.

There are so many suspects, twists and turns and unexpected events that happen to keep the readers wondering who, what, and why. There is also non-stop action with some romance thrown in for good measure. It kept me on the edge of my seat as each scene was played out.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book and an excellent series that I will keep going back to for more adventure, suspense, and mystery. I highly recommend this series.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read this post and for your continued support. Come back again soon. You are always welcome.

Blessings & Hugs! Stay Safe, Stay Well and God Bless!

READING GIVES YOU WINGS TO FLY! SOAR WITH JEMSBOOKS ALL YEAR THROUGH! HAPPY READING!

Janice Spina aka J.E. Spina

Award-Winning Author

Jemsbooks for All Ages!

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