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 June of 2025. Here are the 8 books I read and reviewed for June. 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 may dislike a book. Some other books are so memorable they take our breaths 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.

Cold Bloodied is a riveting and suspenseful thriller that kept me turning pages. This was book 2 in the Carly Phoenix series.

Carly is troubled by a new cold case she is working on that turns out to be more convoluted than she expected from the evidence that keeps piling up as she searches for other cases that are similar in nature.

Her supervisor, Agent Grayson, works with her to help solve this case. Their partnership becomes closer and they begin to trust each more with each new development. Carly begins to confide in Gray about her concern over her mother’s death and how it is now a cold case with no outcome. Will Gray take over solving this case. Time with tell in the next installment or more.

This was an enjoyable read. I look forward to more in this thriller series.

Guardian: An Angel Story is full of love, devotion and caring as angels who are guardians of us all watch over us. The author portrays what angels look like and how they are dedicated to doing their life’s’ work as instruments of God.

Do you feel like you have an Angel watching over you? Read this story that chronicles the life of one man and his descendants and the trials, triumphs, loves, fears, and temptations of his life.

It was a tender story of love that may make you a believer of Angels.

The Drowning Game is the first book I have read by this talented author, Barbara Nickless. I will be looking for more of her work soon.

This story is full of suspense, intrigue, and danger at the hands of Chinese groups who stop at nothing to gain power and leave no witnesses behind. Designing and building ships is what this family has done for generations. Two sisters are at the helm as their father’s health wanes. They find themselves in the dangerous clutches of the Chinese when they go after a scientist who has developed an AI system. This scientist hires the sisters, Nadia and Cass, to design and build a ship for him and his family to escape China.

What Nadia and Cass don’t realize is that by taking on this job they are endangering their own lives to assist in this escape. So many things happen that keep the suspense at a high level enough to keep the heart pounding and nerves tingling to find out what would happen next.

A thrilling and enjoyable read and I would highly recommend!

Counting Miracles is a sweet, beautiful story of love, heart wrenching loss and awakening. The main protagonist Jasper is a loner who has suffered unimaginable loss of his whole family, wife and four grown kids. He and his dog, Arlo, somehow survive and keep moving forward in a life full of memories that break Jasper’s heart each time they flood into his mind.

The story is also about a man, Tanner, who when he discovers his long-lost father’s name goes in search of him. His mother died at his birth and he was raised by his grandparents with no knowledge of who his father was or where to find him. At the death of his grandmother she leaves Tanner a message with his father’s name and the place to find him. Tanner is a lost soul and travels far and wide during his time in the service of his country and afterward until he finds himself busy in the town of his father. What he finds there is a woman who stops his heart at the sight of her and two children who capture his heart. Now all he has to do is make up his mind whether he wants to pursue her and still look for his father while his plans are to leave this town and go to Cameroon as an escape.

This was an unforgettable tale that brought tears to my eyes as I prayed that Jasper would survive and Tanner would find love and his father. This author did it again – gripped my heart and didn’t let go until the ending. I can see this as a movie in the future which I will readily view with plenty of tissues handy.

The Bequest is the first book in this series that is full of family interactions, finding love, learning how much one can handle in the multitude of different situations that can break someone who is not as resilient.

The characters are well defined and varied in personalities and temperaments. Can two sister-in-laws and their six children get along and handle all the issues and challenges that they will face running a ranch that is given to their children to handle for a year?

They learn how different life can be on a ranch in a small town in Utah and how much the community comes together to help when called. Will they be able to adjust to all the different problems that they will face during the year?

This was a great beginning to the series that I couldn’t put down. I look forward to the next book in this interesting series.

The Vow is book 2 in The Birch Creek Ranch Series that is engrossing and habit forming. I can’t get enough of the intriguing and varied characters, the storyline, the scenes of the ranch and all the animals there.

The author did such a wonderful job of creating this series that I feel as if I know these characters and have come to feel at home and comfortable with them. I don’t want to see each book end but at the same time I look forward to what will happen next to them.

I look forward to the next book in the series and highly recommend this wonderful series who love stories about family life, love and how difficult it can be to be a parent and make the right decisions for not only yourself but also for your family.

The Stranger is a short and intriguing read about a woman who has a dream. Is the dream a portent of what is to come? When she wakes up she is confused because the dream is still clear and she can’t get it out of her mind. When her husband shares something with her she doesn’t know what to believe. Is this reality or is she still in a dream.

A quick and interesting read that had me debating about dreams and wondering do they ever come true?

A Beggar’s Bargain is a beautiful story about one man, Layken, and his farm determined to keep it as his father had once asked him to do. When he returns from serving his country he finds that he may not be able to keep this land for there are many things that are against him. How will he keeps his promise to his father and make the land prosper?

This story was a touching tribute to the resilience of one man, the power of believing in oneself, and the strength of having the love and support of a family to make his life full and rich. Things come together once he finds a woman who becomes his wife in an unusual arrangement. There are many trials and tribulations that come his way. Will he be able to overcome all these and survive?

Others come into his life that test his resilience. But he finds that sometimes people become your family even if they are not your blood.

A thoroughly enjoyable and touching story that I highly recommend. I look forward to the next book in this series by this talented and creative author of stories that grip the hearts of her readers.

I hope you enjoy all my reviews and check out these books of my fellow authors. Please review books for all the hard-working authors out there who will appreciate your efforts to spread word about their books to other readers.

Thank you for stopping by to read this post and for your continued support. Please come back again soon.

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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