May Reads {2022}

It’s almost officially summer and I am looking forward to more light, beach type reads. I read several new releases in May that fit the bill and overall I had a pretty good reading month. I’m hoping to continue the trend through the summer! I’m sharing my May Reads with Steph and Jana’s Show Us Your Books linkup.  

3 stars

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones (Mystery/Suspense, August 2021) Three couples take a trip to Portugal for a wedding. Will and Ali are getting married and have invited Will’s brother Jack and his wife Rachel and Rachel’s friend’s Noah and Page to stay at their villa with them. As the weekend unfolds, there are lots of secrets that are revealed. This book was just an okay read for me. I didn’t like any of the characters and wasn’t very invested in the story.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA/Mystery, September 2020) Teen Avery Grambs sometimes sleeps in her car, lives with her half sister Libby and her boyfriend, and is trying to survive high school. Her life is changed when she inherits the fortune of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne. The one stipulation is that she must live in his residence for a year….which is currently inhabited by his four grandsons and their mother. They discover that the puzzle loving man left them a series of clues that will possibly explain why he left his fortune to Avery. I listened to this on book on CD. It was an okay read but I’m not sure that I enjoyed it enough to continue the series.

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner (Contemporary Fiction, May 2022) Sarah and her husband Eli have not been close for awhile. At the age of 22, Sarah’s step-daughter Ruby announces that she is getting married at her safta’s (grandmother’s) house on Cape Cod. Sarah’s mom is excited to have the family out for one last hurrah before she sells the house. There was a lot going on in this book with so many secrets and what I found to be unbelievable situations. Not my fave of Weiner’s.

4 stars

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (suspense, March 2022) Counselor Avery Chambers has new clients, Marissa and Matthew Bishop. They seem like, “the golden couple” but Marissa discloses that she’s had an affair. This isn’t the only secret that one of them has been keeping. I listened to this on book on CD and I found it fast-paced and engaging.

Sadie on a Plate by Amanda Elliott (Contemporary romance, March 2022) Sadie meets Luke on the plane as she’s flying to compete on her favorite cooking show Chef Supreme. But she gets a surprise when Luke makes an unexpected appearance. Foodies and fans of Top Chef will likely enjoy this book as much as I did! 

5 stars

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (Contemporary romance, May 2022) Literary agent Nora Stephens takes a month long vacation with her sister Libby. It took a lot of convincing by Libby, but the two end up in the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. She ends up running into Charlie Lastra, a book editor whom she had a not such a great encounter with back in the city. Somehow, they keep bumping into each other. I loved the chemistry and witty dialogue between Nora and Charlie. It was one of those books that I didn’t want to end. I’ve read and enjoyed Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, but I think this is my favorite!

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez (Contemporary romance, May 2022) Alexis Montgomery is an ER doctor, She is extremely wealthy and is expected to carry on her family’s legacy. She meets Daniel Grant, when he comes to her rescue and pulls her car out of a ditch, when she’s driving through the small town of Wakanda. He runs the local Bed & Breakfast, is a carpenter and is also the mayor of Wakanda. The two end up having great chemistry but Alexis knows that nothing can come of them starting a relationship, since their worlds are too different. Abby Jimenez is one of my new favorite authors. I’ve read all her books and they just keep getting better and better. Highly recommend her and this book if you enjoy contemporary romance.