reading list – christina raquel

hey frens! today I’m sharing some of the books I’ve read this month and doing some mini reviews. I love reading but it’s so hard to find good books sometimes! if you have any recs share them below 👇👇

After a devastating heartbreak three years ago, genealogist and historical village owner Nora Bradford decided that burying her nose in her work and her books is far safer than romance in the here and now. Unlike Nora, former Navy SEAL John Lawson is a modern-day man, usually 100 percent focused on the present. However, when John, an adoptee, is diagnosed with an inherited condition, he’s forced to dig into the secrets of his ancestry. John enlists Nora’s help to uncover the identity of his birth mother, and as they work side by side, this pair of opposites begins to suspect that they just might be a perfect match. But can their hope for a future survive their wounds from the past?

true to you – going into this book, I assumed it would be a pretty typical fluffy, cheesy romance with zero depth. I was wrong. True to You surprised me with a couple plot twists and some depth to the story that I wasn’t expecting, but it still tied itself all up with a bow and had plenty of fluff. this book also had a lot of christian themes to it and was pretty clean (no explicit language, but some mature themes including rape/assault… these are a part of the story but aren’t described in detail at all.)

Willow Bradford is content taking a break from modeling to run her family’s inn until she comes face-to-face with NFL quarterback Corbin Stewart, the man who broke her heart–and wants to win her back. When a decades-old missing-persons case brings them together, they’re forced to decide whether they can risk falling for one another all over again.

falling for you – this is the sequel to true to you (there’s actually four books in the series but I’m not sure if I’ll read all of them) and I ended up reading it all in one afternoon! i wasn’t sure what to think going into it but I actually loved it way more than true to you?? I could relate a ton more to willow than nora so I think that was part of it lol. again plenty of christian themes, a little bit of talk about premarital sex (not in detail at all) + a pregnancy scare and also this story centered around a mystery just like true to you. the mystery for this one did involve an affair but nothing was described in detail so I’d consider this book super clean and a great read!

Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say. Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home. There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

allegedly – I saw this on another blogger’s book haul and thought it looked interesting so I decided to read it. oh my gosh, you guys, I was not prepared at all for this book. it’s SO SO GOOD but also so messed up!! if you read this just know that you WILL cry haha. it’s so painful and I felt punched in the stomach after reading it. the writing is so good and I could not believe this is a debut novel?? like what?? in the middle I did feel like everything slowed down a bit but push through because the ending will shock you so much omg. this book literally stabbed me in the heart and I have no clue what to say. also this book is not a cotton candy rainbow unicorn book. it’s terribly unfair and it’s so hard to read. AND OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS THE ENDING. i was not expecting what happened ahhhh. to summarize: I feel so manipulated by this book but I would definitely recommend it! there is a lot of language/violence/abuse/some sexual content but the message is so good. and bring tissues you will definitely need them. if you want to talk more about this book after you read it dm me because I have so much more to say but I don’t want to spoil omg!!

What if America had a royal family? When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

american royals – haha this book is totally opposite of the previous one. full of soap opera style drama without a ton of depth to it. BUT I live for this type of story so I loved this book! I also love the royals so if you do too you might enjoy this read. there’s a sequel coming out in september and I CANNOT WAIT! there are a ton of plot twists in this story but honestly that just feeds into the soap opera style. content warning: there is some language (not peppering the pages but it’s definitely there) and some sexual content not described in detail. overall this was a good read and I’m pumped for the sequel.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

the summer I turned pretty – ahh I really, really wanted to like this book. but… I didn’t?? i think it could have been way better but here are the things I didn’t like

there’s a love square. i don’t even know what it’s called. belly likes THREE people the whole summer just make up your mind girl!!
also there were a ton of flashbacks which could have been good but they were super confusing? it was kinda hard to tell what was going on.
also i loved belly but she could be really bratty and annoying sometimes.
it was just… weird sometimes. i don’t know.
drugs/smoking/sexual things mentioned/alcohol (not too much but it was there)

but there were some redeeming qualities

susannah. i loved her so much!! I feel like her character personified summer and she was pretty much perfect.
cam. he was weird but just the right amount of weird so i liked him.
jeremiah and conrad. they annoyed me a ton but i still liked them. I kinda sympathize with belly tbh because how can you choose between all of them??? they’re all so different but they all fit belly’s personality.
belly’s mom. she wasn’t perfect and there were definitely times where she wasn’t a great role model. BUT i feel like throughout the story belly really learned how much her mom loved her and I started to see that even though she wasn’t perfect she definitely loved her daughter a lot.

so, to summarize this rather long review – I really wanted to love this book and while it didn’t quite meet my expectations I’m still going to read the other books in the series and see if they’re good! I would recommend this book though, just be prepared for it not to be amazing i guess?

I’ve definitely read more books recently, but these are some of the main ones! currently I’m reading present over perfect, the third book in the bradford sisters series, christy miller (for the millionth time), and the outsiders (for school).

what are you reading? do you have any good book recommendations?

Today I’m going to share (some of) the books on my summer reading list! It’s VERY long, so I decided to only share some of the books.

Also, I have some great news for y’all: Martin Legacy is out for beta readers!! I LOVED Martin Hospitality SOOO much and Martin Legacy is not a disappointment. It’s too late now to sign up to be a beta reader but I finished the book earlier this week and it’s amazing. Most of my comments (that were supposed to be critiques) were pretty much me squealing. I can’t wait for Abigayle Claire to release it 🙂

I LOVE classic fiction books now (I blame Omnibus) but I also like good fiction (most of the YA books are soo bad – both writing and content) and pretty much anything. 😂 Several of the books on this list are rereads (xD) and they’re mostly classics that my teacher(s) recommended.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Christy – Catherine Marshall
Northanger Abby – Jane Austen
The Christy Miller Series – Robin Jones Gunn
Julie – Catherine Marshall
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry – Mildred Taylor
Let the Circle Be Unbroken – Mildred Taylor
The Road to Memphis – Mildred Taylor
The Pushcart War – Jean Merrill
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
Sketchy Behavior – Erynn Mangum
Roadside Assistance – Amy Clipston
The Story People – Heather Kaufman
Where you Lead – Leslea Wahl
Very Good, Jeeves! – P. G. Woodhouse
Rose in Bloom – Louisa May Alcott
Little Men – Louisa May Alcott
Eight Cousins – Louisa May Alcott
Interrupted: Life Beyond Words – Rachel Coker
Chasing Jupiter – Rachel Coker

I made a free printable in case you want to track the books you read this summer (or anytime!!) There are two versions (they are both in the SAME PDF though). The first one has columns for title, author, and minutes, but the second one only has columns for title and author.

Printable Summer Reading Chart

Hope you enjoy!! ❤