NetGalley Check-in – June 2025

It’s time to take a look at where I am up to with my NetGalley ARCs and share the progress (if any) I have made since last month’s check-in. And I’ll be honest there hasn’t been much progress at all this past month. I haven’t read or reviewed any of the books that are on my NetGalley shelf – so this will be a very quick post.

Read and reviewed:

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh – published 10th June 2025

To be honest I found this book a little slow and I struggled to get into it. I didn’t find that I had any emotional connection to the main character, Rosie, and that made me unsympathetic to her drama. The romance didn’t really happen for me until almost at the end, when the story picked up pace and I found renewed interest in what I was reading.

This is the third book I have read from this author. Having read and loved The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley and The Summer of Yes, I was excited to read this book too, however it fell a bit flat for me. Still, I look forward to reading more from Courtney Walsh in the future.

What’s on my shelf?

Clementine Crane Prefers Not To by Kristin Bair – expected publication 14th October 2025

“The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel” hits perimenopause in this razor-sharp, wickedly funny novel about one woman’s awakening in a patriarchal world.

For years, Clementine Crane has been the invisible force holding her Byrock, Massachusetts, home together—juggling three demanding kids, a husband who’s more hindrance than help, a soul-crushing boss at the local library, and a mountain of invisible tasks reserved for women.

But when her first hot flash hits, marking the onset of perimenopause, Clementine starts to wonder: When is enough, enough? As the pressures mount and mysterious, almost mythic signs of the extraordinary punctuate her days, she takes a stand—one small refusal at a time. With a defiant “I prefer not to,” she embarks on a journey to reclaim her voice and identity.

Overwhelmed and fed up, Clementine goes on strike, ditching obligations, setting boundaries, and venting her frustrations on social media. When her raw, hilarious, and unexpectedly poignant videos go viral, Clementine finds herself at the center of a movement she never saw coming.

With her irreverent best friend by her side, Clementine isn’t just pushing back—she’s rewriting the rules. This laugh-out-loud, heart-on-sleeve adventure is a battle cry for every woman ready to live life on her own terms.

The Book of Autumn by Molly O’Sullivan – expected publication 28th October 2025

For readers of Adrienne Young, Olivie Blake, Hazel Beck, and Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, a spellbinding debut about ambition, privilege, second chance romance, and ancient magic set at an enchanted school tucked among the red mesas of the New Mexico desert, where a formidable pair of magicians are summoned to pursue an alleged killer.

Try as she might, anthropologist Marcella Gibbons can’t escape the fact that she’s a dimidium, one half of a formidable pair of Magicians, forever tied together to enable the other’s powers. After a tumultuous final year at Seinford and Brown College of Agriculture (and Magic) in rural New Mexico, Cella felt more than a little uneasy about returning to the sun-drenched desert campus ever again. She’d cut ties with her other half—the charming and rugged rancher Max Middlemore—and sworn off Magic, academia, and heartache for good.

Until Max turns up at her door, grinning under his cowboy hat for one last favour. Something is shifting at her alma mater, something bigger than anyone understands. One student is dead. Another is floating mid-air in the infirmary, growling guttural nonsense and terrifying the staff. Their best, perhaps only, chance to intervene requires Cella and Max to work together. But the origins of the disturbances lie centuries ago. To unravel them, Cella will have to confront the truth about her past—and Max. Because she might be challenging a power she could never rival alone . . .

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver – published 10 June 2025

A talent agent hires an actress to play the part of “novelist” on a book tour for his agency’s publicity-shy client

She’s playing the part of romance author, but has she found her own real life love story?

Talent agent Charlie Francisco has three problems: a divorce that ended his screenwriting career, a business he never planned to inherit, and a take-your-breath-away romance novel whose author wants nothing to do with its publication. The book is a surefire hit, if only his agency can find someone to “play” author on its summer book tour.

Enter Kate Elliott, a former soap actress who’s miraculously right for the part at the very moment her life seems to be going all wrong. Kate is still recovering from her own divorce and Charlie’s job offer is a lifeline. She agrees to the pretense for all interviews, signings, and appearances surrounding the novel’s publication. But she can’t know who really wrote the remarkable story—the one so beautiful it’s made her believe in love again.

When Kate and Charlie meet they’re all friction and sparks—the one thing they have in common is they’re determined to play their respective parts. But as the summer heat ups and the lies get bigger and bigger, can they stick to their lines . . . or will they go off-script?

The Woman who Met Herself by Laura Pearson – published 23rd May 2025

Debbie Jones thinks life is an adventure. Even having lost her husband a year ago, she’s ready for whatever the world might throw her way. Being in her sixties doesn’t mean it’s all over for her yet, and she loves her new job doing neighbourhood support for a charity. Then she knocks on a stranger’s front door.

Ruth Waverley doesn’t like surprises. Her life isn’t perhaps all she once dreamed off, but what other options are there for a woman in her sixties? She’s proud of her home and children. And she likes her life well enough. Then she hears someone knocking at the door.

As the door opens, both Ruth and Debbie get the shock of their lives. As their eyes meet – the recognition is instant. Not because they’ve met before. But because they have the same face. They’re completely identical.

And everything is about to change, for both women. In ways they couldn’t possibly imagine…

Feedback ratio: 78%

I tend not to review the books where I have nothing nice or constructive to say. I hate the idea that I might ruin the book for someone else so I only post feedback for books that I feel are 3 stars or above.

Requests:

I haven’t requested anything recently, after getting stuck on the last ARC I read and falling behind in my reading.

What’s on your NetGalley shelf? Which ARCs are you excited to read? Is there anything coming up that you’re hoping to receive?

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