Welcome to my May 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 May reading here and I will share the rest of my May 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: No Two Persons
Author: Erica Bauermeister
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 5/2/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This was such a wonderful book about the way that a book affects a variety of people.
“Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and presents new pathways forward for their lives. Together, their stories reveal how books can affect us in the most beautiful and unexpected of ways―and how we are all more closely connected to one another than we might think.”
We begin with Alice, who writes a book called Theo. We then read about the agent who discovers the book, the audio book narrator, and readers of the book, in what is like short stories about each of them. Some of these characters know each other or meet each other, but what they have in common is mainly that they read the same book. The writing was great and I felt that I got to know each of the people through their stories.
Title: Hotel 21
Author: Senta Rich
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Union Square & Co, 5/16/23
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
You can find my review for Hotel 21 here!
Title: The True Love Experiment
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Gallery Books, 5/16/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I love Christina Lauren and this book was no exception. This one is about Fizzy, the best friend from The Soulmate Equation. She was hilarious in that book and she continues to have a fun and sometimes inappropriate personality in this one. Although she is a romance author, Fizzy realizes she’s never been in love. (She also can’t seem to feel any “pants feelings” – that description was a little cringey for me!) She agrees to go on a reality dating show that Collin is producing. Her conditions include that the heroes must fulfill certain romance hero archetypes. And yet the true love story is the forbidden one between Fizzy and Collin!
“Felicity ‘Fizzy’ Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached. Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie? Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.”
I absolutely loved the ending and smiled along with the reveal. Jess and River as well as Juno are back in this one and Collin is a single dad (with a great relationship with his ex), so Juno has a friend as well. This one is pretty steamy, I believe more so than The Soulmate Equation!
Title: Drowning
Author: TJ Newman
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Avid Reader Press, 5/30/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This is such an amazing summer thriller! I listened to Falling on audio and later found it in an LFL, but I read Drowning in print. (They are stand alone books by the same author). Either way, it’s a tense and quick moving book that does involve a plane crash and an underwater rescue.
“Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside. More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives. Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff. There’s not much time. There’s even less air.”
The main characters in the book are Will and his daughter Shannon, who find themselves trapped in the plane with 10 other survivors. Plus, Will’s ex wife and Shannon’s mom, Chris, who is a diver and on the team planning to rescue the survivors. I liked that we got to know this family, their past, and their motivations. The other characters weren’t delved into as much, but I did find myself attached to some of them as well.
Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA Contemporary / Mystery
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 5/2/23
Source: Publisher Audio
Why I Read It: Loved her previous book
My Rating: 5 Stars
Firekeeper’s Daughter was an amazing listen for me and I was excited to listen to Angeline Boulley’s new one as well. Warrior Girl Unearthed is about Daunis’s niece Perry Firekeeper-Birch, who does a summer program in which she learns about stolen Indigenous remains and sacred items and gets involved in advocating for the return of these belongings.
“Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is – the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything. In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot – will not – stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.”
I personally did not know that there are actual remains of Indigenous people that have been stolen from their tribes and find that to be so reprehensible. I was cheering for Perry and her friends and the mystery of who they could trust was compelling. The book also addresses Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2 Spirit People. Angeline Boulley has a way of writing a story in which you learn so much truth about Native people and what they have been through. I highly recommend both of her books, and Isabella Star LaBlanc is an amazing narrator who brings the culture and language to life.
Come back next week for the rest of my May reads – and possibly more favorites!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?