Have you read anything good recently? April wasn’t a great month in terms of reading quality or quantity. And May is going even worse! Today I’m sharing my April reads:
3 Stars:
Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin – (Women’s Fiction, May 2020) A girl gets kicked out of her band and ends up being the musician for a NYC infant playgroup. She ends up befriending the wealthy NYC mothers and discovers that there’s a lot more going on with each of them then they let on. This was just an “eh” read.
Layla by Colleen Hoover – (Romance/Fantasy, December 2020) Boy meets girl. Girl ends up suffering an injury in an attack. Boy takes girl away to a Bed & Breakfast to help their relationship. Boy ends up meeting another girl at the B&B and now needs to decide who he wants to have a relationship with. Colleen Hoover has been one of my favorite authors. However, I wasn’t a big fan of this book. I can’t say much without giving away spoilers but it’s not like her older stuff that I’ve loved.
Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane (suspense/thriller, December 2020) – In an upstate NY college town, a girl goes missing. Then after a woman discovers a secret about her husband, he disappears. She was the last person to see him dead but his body and car are not where she left them. I found this story to be a bit outrageous and unbelievable. I did like that it took place in Ithaca, where I went to college so some of the places talked about where familiar.
What Could Be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz – (historical fiction/literary fiction, January 2021). A woman is contacted by a stranger who claims to be her brother who disappeared forty years ago in Bangkok. She then travels to Thailand to see if it’s really him. This book was such a slow read for me. I of course had to finish it to find out what happened to the brother. However, I then felt the ending was really rushed.
4 Stars:
Shipped by Angie Hockman – (Chick Lit/Romance, January 2021) Boy and girl both work on the corporate side of a cruise line. The two end up on a cruise together battling it out for a big promotion but end up falling for each other. Will she let romance distract her from her dream job? This was a light, fun read and just what I needed after reading The Four Winds. It has made me want to visit the Galapagos sooner than later as well!
5 Stars:
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah – (historical fiction, February 2021) This book takes place in Texas in the 1930’s during the Dust Bowl. It tells the story of a woman who fights to try to save her in-law’s farm and then moves out West to try to provide a better life for her two children. I’m not sure that there’s a Kristin Hannah that I haven’t loved. This book was sad and depressing. However, it was so well written and educated me a lot about a period in history that I did not know much about.
Sharing my post with Steph and Jana’s Show Us Your Books linkup!
Sorry you had a disappointing reading month. Mine was much the same.
I hate having disappointing reading months since my reading time is so limited!
Pretty Little Wife is on my list. Not high up though.
Yeah, not my favorite. There’s a lot more suspense books out there I’d recommend.
Colleen Hoover is a hit or miss for me. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about Layla, but I haven’t felt compelled to pick it up yet. Pretty Little Wife sounds intriguing! And Shipped sounds like the perfect beach read.
Shipped would be a great summer read!
hmmm layla does not seem like my jam at all, what a bummer.
i need to add shipped to my tbr. i need a light read.
glad you liked the four winds! i didn’t love it as much as her others, it was so depressing but like you, i appreciated learning about a period i didn’t know about beforehand.
Yeah, if you like Hoover’s other stuff, this was a bit different. Shipped was a light, fun read.
Shipped sounds adorable!
It was!
I really did not like Layla at all; In fact I didn’t even get beyond the 1/2 way point. I was so disappointed as I usually like Colleen Hoover books. Four Winds was a favorite of mine for the same reasons.. even if it was depressing and sad. I keep hoping Shipped will become available through our library as that one sounds so cute!
Yes, Layla wasn’t a favorite of Hoover’s. Hope your library gets Shipped!
The Four Winds was so good but so very very sad.
Yes, it was definitely a sad and depressing read.
Shipped sounds cute. I wish my library had it 🙁
Yes, it was fun, light read!
Sorry you didn’t really LOVE a ton of these. I’ve only read Happy & You Know It and really liked it, but I know it was a mixed bag for a lot of people.
Yes, unfortunately, it wasn’t a great reading month.
I loved Shipped and The Four Winds. I have to read Happy and You Know It still.
They were great books! Curious to see what you think about Happy and You Know It.
Shipped sounds fun. I enjoyed What Could Be Saved – it was a bit slower, but the back story felt so detailed. I still haven’t read anything from Colleen Hoover… Thanks for sharing and enjoy your month 🙂
GAH the Four Winds absolutely destroyed me. I read Shipped very shortly after The Four Winds too and really needed it as well. It was so cute!!
I can’t decide if I want to read the Kristin Hannah book, it gets such mixed reviews! Bummer that it wasn’t the greatest reading month for you, although it looks like you did find some good ones!