It’s almost summer! Aaaah! I’ll finally have more time to read! (Says the girl who’s read about 80 books already) So in full preparation of what will, hopefully, be an absolute reading fest? Here’s my picks for the new releases June 2018 edition! This post is not sponsored in any way or form. It does, however contain affiliate links. These are marked with an * 1. The Life Lucy Knew One woman is about to discover everything she believes-knows-to be true about her life…isn’t. After hitting her head, Lucy Sparks awakens in the hospital to a shocking revelation: the man she’s known and loved for years-the man she recently married-is not actually her husband. In fact, they haven’t even spoken since their breakup four years earlier. The happily-ever-after she remembers in vivid detail-right down to the dress she wore to their wedding-is only one example of what her doctors call a false memory: recollections Lucy’s mind made up to fill in the blanks from the coma. Her psychologist explains the condition as honest lying, because while Lucy’s memories are false, they still feel incredibly real. Now she has no idea which memories she can trust-a devastating experience not only for Lucy, but also for her family, friends and especially her devoted boyfriend, Matt, whom Lucy remembers merely as a work colleague. When the life Lucy believes she had slams against the reality she’s been living for the past four years, she must make a difficult choice about which life she wants to lead, and who she really is. I’m like 98% sure that there’s a movie with maybe Channing Tatum that has a similar starting point? I vaguely remember a girl forgetting who she was, who her current husband is, something to that extent? Either way, I’m here for this plot and the way it can be used to explore the identity of the MC. Expected publication date: 18 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) 2. A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder In this exciting historical mystery debut set in Victorian England, a wealthy young widow encounters the pleasures—and scandalous pitfalls—of a London social season . . . Frances Wynn, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, enjoys more freedom as a widow than she did as a wife. After an obligatory year spent mourning her philandering husband, Reggie, she puts aside her drab black gowns, leaving the countryside and her money-grubbing in-laws behind. With her young daughter in tow, Frances rents a home in Belgravia and prepares to welcome her sister, Lily, arriving from New York—for her first London season. No sooner has Frances begun her new life than the ghosts of her old one make an unwelcome appearance. The Metropolitan police receive an anonymous letter implicating Frances in her husband’s death. Frances assures Inspector Delaney of her innocence, but she’s also keen to keep him from learning the scandalous circumstances of Reggie’s demise. As fate would have it, her dashing new neighbor, George Hazelton, is one of only two other people aware of the full story. While busy with social engagements on Lily’s behalf, and worrying if Reggie really was murdered, Frances learns of mysterious burglaries plaguing London’s elite. The investigation brings death to her doorstep, and Frances rallies her wits, a circle of gossips, and the ever-chivalrous Mr. Hazelton to uncover the truth. A killer is in their midst, perhaps even among her sister’s suitors. And Frances must unmask the villain before Lily’s season—and their lives—come to a most unseemly end . . Not gonna lie – I first checked this book out because it’s title remeinded me of The Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Honestly. But , let’s be real. A victorian kick-ass lady doing whatever she wants? I’m here for that. Expected publication date: 26 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) 3. The Lost for Words Bookshop Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you. Into her hiding place—the bookstore where she works – come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets? As I explained in this week’s Weekly List, I recently read The Little Shop of Happy Ever After and it broke me. Well, you know, “broke”. It got me in a reading slump. And now all I really want to do is just read books that feature bookstores, booklovers, bookwriters, … Anything books, really. So as soon as I saw the title of this one, I knew I had to check it out. Expected publication date: 19 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) 4. Why Can’t I Be You Claire Ladd knows that this summer is going to be special. She and her two best friends, Ronan and Brianna, are turning twelve. She is leaving camp behind and gets to do what she wants all day. Everything is starting to change. But things don’t always change for the better. With Brianna’s cousin Eden there for the summer, Claire feels like a third wheel. Even though she is only a year older, Eden seems so much more sophisticated and glamorous . . . and when she is around, she takes up everyone’s attention, including Brianna’s. But that doesn’t explain why things have felt awkward with Brianna ever since she moved to a fancy new house, or why Ronan, who lives in the trailer next to Claire’s, has started acting moody anytime anyone mentions his dad. Claire has always been happy with her life just as it is, but as the summer wears on and the issues with her friends start to grow, she can’t help but wonder whether everything would be better if she could just be someone else. Yes, this is a middle grade book. It also sounds like a pretty darn amazing story, so naturally I’m going to try and get to reading it! Expected publication date: 19 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) 5. Matchmaking for Beginners Marnie MacGraw wants an ordinary life—a husband, kids, and a minivan in the suburbs. Now that she’s marrying the man of her dreams, she’s sure this is the life she’ll get. Then Marnie meets Blix Holliday, her fiancé’s irascible matchmaking great-aunt who’s dying, and everything changes—just as Blix told her it would. When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. She’s even more astonished to find that she’s inherited Blix’s Brooklyn brownstone along with all of Blix’s unfinished “projects”: the heartbroken, oddball friends and neighbors running from happiness. Marnie doesn’t believe she’s anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps. And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most. Honestly, I don’t know what it is about this plot that made me go “yes I want to read that”, but there you have it, I do. Sometimes it really is as simple as that… Expected publication date: 1 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) 6. The Bookshop of Yesterdays A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading. Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy–and one final scavenger hunt. When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books–now as its owner–she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store’s shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy’s last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden–and the terrible secret that tore her family apart. I know, I know, another book about a bookshop. But as I already said: that’s just what’s speaking to me. So naturally I had to add this one to my TBR! Expected publication date: 12 June (Goodreads, Amazon*) What books are you looking forward to this coming month? Be sure to let me know below! -Saar