Mini Reviews: A Touch of Magic

 

Sometimes some of the best romances are the ones with touches of magic in it. That's the case with these two new romances that are perfect for a light summer read.

 

 

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton 

Pages: 352

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date: July 7, 2026

Publisher: Berkley

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author:  The House on Biscayne Bay,

The Last Train to Key West,  When We Left Cuba, Next Year in Havana, Our Last Days in Barcelona, The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes,

The Cuban Heiress,  The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her."

 

 

Vivian Mitchell is a former journalist from D.C. and is now married to Joe, an astronaut at NASA. It's the 1960s, the peak of the Space Race, and her husband is on a mission to the moon. Joe's spacecraft loses contact with mission control. NASA says that Joe and his crew are now lost in space and is pointing the blame at Joe, who was the mission commander. Vivian knows this can't be right, and from talking for countless hours with Joe, perhaps NASA rushed this mission, and things weren't as safe as they thought. She plans on partaking in an interview with a top journalist in D.C. about this very issue, but then Vivian starts to get weird and unexplainable messages from Joe, who is supposed to be dead. One message says, "Wait for me," and now it has Vivian thinking about wormholes, time travel, and more. How could Joe be communicating with her? Chanel Cleeton's An Infinite Love Story is just that. It's a swoonworthy romance set during the space race of the 1960s. It's compelling, emotional, and a perfect summer escape. 
 
I really loved Joe and Vivian's romance from the start in An Infinite Love Story. Cleeton provides flashbacks to the start of their courtship and Vivian's time working as a journalist. Cleeton does a really great job bringing to life the 1960s and the excitement around astronauts, NASA, and the race to get to space. The real star of the show is Vivian and Joe's romance, which was oh-so-sweet and memorable. Even when the story started to venture into magical realism with the discussion of wormholes and time travel, I was still entirely invested. While it wasn't my favorite of Cleeton's historical novels, I thought it was a solid novel about a most compelling time period in America.

 

 

Every Version of You by Natalie Messier 

Pages: 368

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date: July 7, 2026

Publisher: Gallery

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says,  "Joey Vasquez’s life is the definition of good on paper. At thirty-two, she’s a Los Angeles lawyer on the cusp of making partner, but while she’s a professional success, she’s a personal disaster. Her social life mostly consists of nights spent watching TV with her elderly cat. Life isn’t quite what she dreamed when she was younger, but really, whose life is?

But a dinner party with the best friend she’s secretly pined after for years and its aftermath changes everything.

When Joey is given a second chance at life, she finds herself in college again. Armed with memories from her first life, Joey is certain she’s come back to finally convince the one man she ever loved to love her back—so why does she find herself strangely drawn to the man she thought she hated?"

 

 

 

 

Josephina Vasquez, or Joey for short, is a corporate lawyer living a most uninspired life. She isn't talking to her best friend, things with her family are strained, and she has so many regrets. Regret number one: never sharing her feelings with her college crush, Elijah Aarons. She missed her chance, and Elijah, or Ellie for short, is now married. During a dinner party at his house, she finds out that he and his wife are expecting a baby, and to top it off, she finds herself in an argument with another college friend, Alex, who drives her nuts. Feeling rather forlorn, she drives home in a cloud of sadness and gets into an accident. Then she finds herself in a strange room being offered a second chance at her life. So Joey finds herself able to start fresh again; she is back at college and able to do everything all over. Maybe she doesn't want to be a lawyer anymore, and maybe this time she will pursue Ellie differently and make her feelings known. But what is even more compelling is the fact that she finds herself hitting it off with Alex this time around. Every Version of You by Natalie Messier is a lovely story involving some magical touches and second chances.
 
Who doesn't wish they could wake up and re-do parts of their life again? Knowing what you know now, maybe you would play it out differently this time? Well, Joey gets this chance due to her many regrets, and she finds herself back at college, where her regrets really started. She has a chance to pursue Ellie, change things with her family, and even switch her major, ultimately starting a different career. Who says she wants to be a lawyer anyway? Every Version of You examines life and how every moment counts and makes you think about the decisions we make. It tugged on my heartstrings for sure, so if you are looking for an emotional and contemplative summer read, this fits the bill.

 

 

Have you read An Infinite Love Story or Every Version of You? Let me know in the comments below.