Welcome to my April 2023 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. There is still time left in the month so it is possible I will read more 5 star reads before the end – in that case they will be included in my next wrap up post! You can see the first half of my April reading here and I will share the rest of my April reads next week. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: The Love Wager
Author: Lynn Painter
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 3/14/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I love an author who can write amazing YA fiction and adult fiction – this is my first adult romance by her and I loved it.
“Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of. After agreeing they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie realize they’re each other’s perfect wing-person in their searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward. Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together. Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they both struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.”
The Love Wager is a sweet and funny book about Hallie who has a one night stand with Jack and then finds him on a dating app. They become friends who talk to each other about their dating lives and end up making a bet on who can find love first. Hallie ends up bringing Jack as a fake boyfriend to her sister’s wedding and their chemistry ramps up from there. This was such a fun book to read!
Title: The House Is On Fire
Author: Rachel Beanland
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 4/4/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This historical fiction is about a theater fire in 1811 Richmond, told from the perspectives of 4 people effected by the fire and how their stories intertwine.
“Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment at the front of a church. On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly-widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first.When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined.”
Sally, an upper class resident, is in box seats when the fire starts, making her exit difficult. Cecily is in the colored seats and as an enslaved and abused person, realizes she may be able to use the fire as a means to disappear. Jack is a stagehand who feels partially at fault and does not agree when the theater troupe wants to blame the fire on a “slave revolt.” And Gilbert, who is enslaved and trying to buy his own freedom, ends up saving multiple women jumping from the theater window. This story was engaging and interesting and I didn’t want to put it down!
Title: Penny Draws a Best Friend
Author: Sara Shepard
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: GP Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers, 5/16/23
Source: Storygram Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This was such a lovely and funny middle grade book about anxiety and worries. Penny writes letters to her dog, Cosmo, using words and comics, describing how her best friend becomes friends with a mean girl, the new friends she meets, the school feelings teacher, her parents having a secret, and her brother’s health issues.
“Why does the cubby room always smell like farts? Who etched the words ‘I Am Bug Man’ inside my desk? Why is Mom suddenly acting like she has a secret? Nobody said starting fifth grade would be easy, and Penny Lowry’s anxiety means a million questions are always spinning through her thoughts. Luckily she’s got a lot to look forward to, like her favorite after-school activity, Art Club, and seeing her best friend Violet again after spending the whole summer apart. The thing is, Violet has been acting weird ever since she got back. She never wants to hang out anymore, says Art Club is for babies, and spends all her time with Riley, the meanest girl in school. Did Penny do something wrong? And if she did, can she undo it?”
I loved reading this and know that middle grade readers will love it too.
Title: Silver Alert
Author: Lee Smith
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Algonquin Books, 4/18/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book about Herb, an older man living in Key West with his wife Susan, who has early onset dementia, and Renee (actual name Dee Dee) who is hired to give Susan a pedicure and seems to have a way with her.
“Aging Herb’s charmed life with his dear wife, Susan, in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. She sings to Susan during manicures, gets her to paint, and brings her a sense of contentment. But then Herb and Susan’s adult children arrive to stage an intervention on their stubborn, independent father, and as a consequence, Renee’s gig with Susan—and her grand plans for her own life—start to unravel as well. So much had seemed as if it could change for Renee, who is not the happy, uncomplicated young girl she pretends to be. She is actually named Dee Dee, and she’s fleeing a dark past. And Herb can’t just let go of all that he has ever had. So, he suggests one last joy ride in his Porsche. And the two take off north out of Key West, soon setting off a Silver Alert. As the unlikely friendship between Herb and Dee Dee deepens, we see how as one life is closing down, another opens up.”
Dee Dee has a boyfriend and is doing well after escaping her difficult teenage years involving sex trafficking and drugs. Herb has many kids and step kids who want to move him and Susan to assisted living. Dee Dee and Herb take a ride and a silver alert is issued. I loved their relationship and the humor behind the serious topics in this book. The one difficulty I see that people may have is that the tense switches – some of the viewpoints are in 1st person and some are in 3rd for the same character. I wasn’t sure why the author chose that style, but the story still worked for me.
Title: If I See You Again Tomorrow
Author: Robbie Couch
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 4/18/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I’m obsessed with time loop books and this was another amazing one!
“For some reason, Clark has woken up and relived the same monotonous Monday 309 times. Until Day 310 turns out to be…different. Suddenly, his usual torturous math class is interrupted by an anomaly—a boy he’s never seen before in all his previous Mondays. When shy, reserved Clark decides to throw caution to the wind and join effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of “errands” across the Windy City, he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. And he definitely doesn’t expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day. There’s just one problem: how do you build a future with someone if you can never get to tomorrow?
Instead of starting with the start of the time loop, we meet Clark on day 310. On this day, a random boy, Beau, appears during his normally repetitive day. Clark joins Beau as he visits a group of side characters that both Clark and the reader begin to care about. This book has themes of loneliness, helping others, finding a soulmate, and fate. It was a great read!
Title: The Soulmate
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 4/4/23
Source: Book of the Month
Why I Read It: On my TBR
My Rating: 5 Stars
My March Book of the Month choice was The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth. I enjoy her books and this one was a page turning story about two couples and how their lives intersect.
“Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.”
Gabe and Pippa live in a house on a cliff where many people have come to end their lives. Gabe has been able to convince many of them not to jump, but then one of them cannot be convinced. When it comes out that Gabe knew the victim, questions arise. The book becomes a story of the two couples, told in past and present timelines and I really liked this family drama with twists along the way. It does include mental illness and violence.
Come back next week for the rest of my April reads – and possibly more favorites!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?