July was interesting to say the least. I started off the month HEAVILY disliking a beloved author’s new release and ended the month reading my most anticipated book of the year.

Stats:

• Read: 4 books
• One 2 star read, one 3 star, two 4 stars
• Favorite book of July: The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy

Tropesick by Lauren Okie

I’m sorry but what was this??? I recognize that Okie was trying to be meta and make some type of commentary on the value of the romance genre by directly acknowledging all the tropes within this book, but not a single one of them was executed well or deeply enough. I felt no chemistry or tension between Tyler and Katie in the past or present timeline. The only tension came when they spent a whole chapter yelling at each other about how they shouldn’t be together (annoyingly, every single sentence ended with an exclamation point). I also felt like this was almost a direct rip-off of Great Big Beautiful Life but without likeable characters or a good romance. The plot twist at the end was genuinely infuriating, made no logical sense, and was a complete genre-switch. Okie’s writing really started to grate on me, with about a million sentences having the structure “The ____, __.” (“That ball gown, everywhere.” “The hydrangeas, shriveled and parched.” “His blue eyes, piercing.” Please stop.)

I don’t want to discount the fact that this is a book dealing with addiction, the opioid epidemic, and loss. These themes are personal to the author, but I’m not sure how well they were handled as they were skimmed over in favor of developing the romance. Overall, this story was a huge mess and frankly unenjoyable to me.  Rating: 2 stars

The Very Definition of Love by Sophie Benoit

I am always on the hunt for witty, romantic Regency romances that remind me of the A League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore, and this book definitely satisfied that craving. Benoit writes impeccable banter between Alexander and Harriet that is clever and fun, enhancing their rake and wallflower dynamic. Both characters were well-developed and had their unique voices. Adding in the marriage of convenience trope and a dictionary of Regency slang made for a super enjoyable reading experience. My only true complaint is that the book ended rather abruptly. Rating: 4 stars

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

This was just a case of a book having a super interesting premise but less than ideal execution. The concept of the FMC and MMC working together on a web series about conspiracy theories should have been fun in theory, but delving into the cryptids and conspiracies was a lot of tell rather than show, even when they were actually ghost hunting. The romance was okay but didn’t have enough tension or buildup for my taste. My main issue was that the writing was supremely corny and the jokes did not land at all. Rating: 3 stars

The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

After absolutely adoring the first book, this sequel became my most anticipated release of 2026. I still really enjoyed it, but it definitely wasn’t as perfect as the first book to me. The humor was a little more muted and the romance held slightly less tension, but both aspects were still strong. I enjoyed the transition from enemies to lovers as Osric and Aurienne started to admire and even internalize each other’s distinct qualities that they had previously despised.

The message of morality being complex and having shades of gray was a central theme which added depth. The dichotomy between the witty, nonsensical comedy and the lyrical prose and beautiful love confessions was once again a highlight of the story. I will definitely miss the laughter, magical world, and lovable characters that this duology brought me. Rating: 4 stars