The holidays are here so hopefully some extra reading time. This month’s hopefuls are all books that I really want to read. Not necessarily for challenges but just for me:

Yours Cheerfully by A. J. Pearce

I really enjoyed Dear Mrs Bird and have been looking forward to reading the next installment of the Emmy Lake Chronicles.

What it’s about?

London, November 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Henrietta Bird from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

This is definitely a Bookstagram made me do it book. It starts with a wedding so it might double up as a Popsugar prompt too.

What it’s about?

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.

Sunset by Jessie Cave

This one was sent to me by the lovely folks at Welbeck. And it looks like a good choice for a summer read. I absolutely love the colours on the cover too.

What it’s about?

The debut adult novel from Jessie Cave is a spry yet reflective comedy of sisterhood, loneliness and second chances as a rootless young woman starts to piece her life back together again.

Sunset is an unconventional love story about putting yourself back together when the sky has fallen in.

Ruth and Hannah are sisters. They build each other up, and tear each other down. Even as polar opposites they make each other laugh more than anyone else in the world. Ruth is forever single, aimless and wild while Hannah is radiant, organised and hard working. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with.

But a summer holiday changes everything, and Ruth finds herself entering a long period of self-imposed exile from the world. Searching for anonymity and facelessness, she takes a job at Heathrow airport serving coffee to a slow-motion carousel of travellers, cabin crew and taxi drivers. But when a face she recognises appears in the blur, she is forced to retrace her steps back to a time when her life had hope and meaning.

A comedy about love, grief and reconciliation, Sunset is an ode to our most powerful bonds, how they build us and break us, and how, when all seems lost, we can find joy in the most unexpected places.