AFTER THE LAST PAGE Jacqueline Malloy

After my unforeseen hiatus from technology (due to my favorite laptop going ka-put), I have so many books to share. I've read 54 books already this year, and with  nearly three more months left to this year, I still have some big goals to reach. 

So, let's talk about talk the books I've read lately and what I would recommend (and those I wouldn't, too).

In Katherine Center’s new release, The Bodyguard, Hannah Brooks meets Jack Stapleton, a household name actor who’s just moved into town. Hannah might look like a kindergarten teacher, but she’s far from it—she’s actually a Executive Protection Agent, aka bodyguard and Jack is her newest client.

After her mom dies, her boyfriend/co-worker breaks up with her, and her best friend is found sleeping with said boyfriend/co-worker, Hannah is ready to jet off to literally anywhere else. When her boss gives her a new job protecting an A-list celebrity from a middle-aged corgi-breeding stalker in their hometown, she isn’t exactly thrilled–but, it’s just a few weeks and then she can jump onto the next plane to escape…right?

Except, when Hannah meets Jack, she’s pleasantly surprised. He’s nothing like she expected and his only goal isn’t movies, but to stick around while his sick mom gets better. Hannah’s job is to protect the family (and Jack), but Jack doesn’t want to worry his mom, so they come up with a plan—Hannah will secretly be his bodyguard while pretending to be his girlfriend.

The Bodyguard is an adorably romantic, laugh-out-loud funny comedy with perfect summer vibes.

Eliza Brightwell's family is from London, but when word on the street is that Australia is the place to be, the entire family moves in the hopes of making a fortune from the pearl trade. Taking place in the Industrial Era, Moonlight and The Pearler's Daughter follows Eliza as she steps foot in a new place--a place that just might make or break her family.

As the story progresses, we're taken 10 years forward, when Eliza goes to meet her father's pearling boat at the dock. Except, as the crew starts to disembark, it becomes clear that her father isn't on the boat and no one knows what happened to him. Determined to find her father, with nothing more than an inkling that he's still alive, Eliza sets sail on a new adventure. With the help of her friend Min, and her new male friend, Axel, Eliza searches for the truth of what really happened to her father.

Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter is a story of adventure, romance, corruption, and secrets.

The Maidens takes place at St. Christopher’s in Cambridge where a dark murder has just taken place. Main character, and protagonist, Mariana is a group-therapist in London. When she gets a call from her niece, Zoe, that her friend, Tara, is missing and the police are all over it, Mariana is quick to jump to the rescue. She’s going to bring Zoe home, where she’ll be safe. Except, Zoe doesn’t want to come home and Mariana doesn’t want to leave Zoe in the middle of a crime scene. Not knowing what to do next, Mariana decides to stay at her alma-mater until things quiet down. Yet, things don’t exactly quiet down when another murder is on the horizon

TW: TALK OF DEMENTIA AND COVID PANDEMIC. Wish You Were Here takes place at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Diana O’Toole has her life all planned out—and she’s perfectly on track. At 29, she’s soon going to be promoted to Art Specialist at Sotheby’s in NYC and she can’t be more excited. Soon, she’ll be working her dream job, which is just another step in her plan. The next step? Going to the Galapagos Islands with her perfect NYC surgeon boyfriend, Finn, where he’ll propose on a beautiful beach.

Inspired by the television show, Schitt's Creek, Tessa Bailey's It Happened One Summer is the story of Piper Bellinger, party girl from LA. Piper's the next Paris Hilton, gracing the covers of all the popular tabloids--and Instagram, of course. That is, until her 3-week-old relationship ends, and she spirals by throwing the biggest party of the year without permission from the venue. When the party lands Piper in jail, her stepfather decides enough is enough--he's sending her to Westport, Washington, where Piper and her sister, Hannah, will learn some responsibility by staying in their deceased father's dive bar (or what's left of it, anyway).