Hey y’all! Again still playing catch up on book reviews on the blog. The goal is to get through May reviews before the month of June is over 😅. Honestly I think I was overwhelmed between trying to balance work, the blog and life the past few weeks that I kept pushing off writing these posts and going to shoot content for a hot second. But I’m so happy to find a good balance again, at least until I figure out how to balance moving to a house and decorating it into the mix.
April books was the last month for me to clear out my holds list in the library, I believe, which was a big step for me to take some unnecessary stress off. Honestly, I don’t believe that having a bunch of books checked out at once wouldn’t be a stressful thing for most, but I just hate being halfway through a book and then having to place it on hold again because it throws off the groove you get into when reading a book. It’s another month of reading six books and this month we mainly stayed in the rom-com genre with one historical fiction novel in the mix. This month also includes my April book from the Book of the Month subscription and probably one of the hottest books for the summer, People We Met on Vacation.
One final note before I start to get into the details and my thoughts of each book. I am going to start and try to remember to write how I read each book on each review. Whether I have a physical copy of the book, read it from the library as an e-book, or if it was borrowed from a friend. I want to be more resourceful in how I’m reading each book, but also more transparent too.
As always these reviews contain spoilers so if you don’t want to read them, scroll through the post quickly 😉
I hope you enjoy the reviews for the April books 🥰.
*all links in this blog post are commissionable links.
Float Plan – Trish Doller
Float Plan follows Anna who is going through the grief of losing her fiancé. When a reminder goes off on her phone about their Caribbean sailing trip, Anna decides to complete the journey herself. Barely making it to the first stop, she decides she needs some help learning how to navigate the waters, she hires Keane. Keane is struggling with his own journey and wants to change from the course Anna had planned originally. Can they help each other move on to the next chapter of their lives?
There was so many aspects of this book that I loved. From exploring the different islands in the Caribbean to watching Anna determined to do this journey on her own. Maybe I overlooked this in the book summary or the reviews I skimmed over on Goodreads, but having Keane want to continue his passion of sailing as a career with part of his leg gone was something I really enjoyed reading. Anna originally started this journey the way that her fiancé and then changing it to more of what she wants to get out of it to help her find closure to the grief, with Keane along as support and encouragement.
This was one of my favorite books to read during the winter months transitioning to spring and also having the travel bug from all the COVID lockdowns the past year. I read this book from as an ebook from the library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟.5/5
The Paris Dressmaker – Kristy Cambron
The Paris Dressmaker follows Lila and Sandrine during World War II Paris. One is a dressmaker using her skills to get into the Nazi elite circle and bring information to The Resistance. Sandrine works for a museum where she catalogs art pieces stolen from Jewish families while trying to find out what happened to her husband who is missing from the field. A story told across the span of the Nazi infiltration of Paris and the bravery of two women who fight for their country in ways one couldn’t imagine.
I honestly would’ve liked this story more I believe if I hadn’t just read The Paris Library. Set in the same time period and in the same city, I found myself unnecessarily comparing the two and I loved the journey in the other book more. I felt like I was forcing myself to get into this book for the most part and was more drawn to Sandrine’s story, skimming over Lila’s sections more often than not. What I normally find myself liking about historical fiction novels that have two different point of views is the different time periods and the way they connect either from the beginning or we find the connection at the end. This book just didn’t have that for me as I don’t believe there was a period where the two ladies met each other and their stories connected except maybe they celebrated in the same area at the end of the novel.
I read this book as an ebook from the library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟/5
Eight Hundred Grapes – Laura Dave
Eight Hundred Grapes follows Georgia who is about to get married on her families vineyard. When she discovers a secret about her fiancé the week of the wedding, she runs away to the family vineyard where she learns that her family has also been keeping secrets from her. This novel follows a journey of family dynamics, romance, and discovering where home is.
This book was the October pick for the Ashley Brooke Book club and I wanted to like it so much because it has to do with wineries as a central location. Those are sometimes some of my favorite Hallmark movies. There is also the personal connection of living in a big city after growing up in a small town, but not feeling like they really feel at home there. This book had almost too many storylines to keep up with and I found myself frustrated with Georgia with how much she invested herself in other peoples problems just to ignore hers and pretend it’s not there. This is my first Laura Dave book, but I did want to give her a second chance with her newest book out as I picked that as my May Book of the Month.
I read this book as a ebook from apple Books. It was available at that time at $1.99 I believe.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟/3
People We Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex, two best friends who appear on paper are the complete opposites, as they spend a vacation together every year from their college days up until two years ago when the incident happens. Now Poppy, believing she has her dream job, is in a rut and doesn’t know how to get out of it. When asked the last time she was happy, she thinks of all the trips her and Alex took together and decide take one more vacation with him. He just has to agree to it.
This book is probably one of the most hyped books for the summer and when I saw it was available as an early release for Book of the Month, I ordered my box so quickly. I loved Emily Henry’s debut novel, Beach Read and knew I would enjoy this one. I loved being able to go on the journey of all the trips that Poppy and Alex went on together and seeing how much effort Poppy was trying to make to have the perfect final trip with Alex where everything goes wrong. This book has a good mix of humor and romance and had me getting the feels at one point of the novel. I was rooting for them to fix the gap in their friendship and even for them to get together. If there was any book I highly suggest from this months post, it’s definitely this book if you haven’t read it yet.
I own a physical copy of this book through my Book of the Month subscription.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Accidentally Engaged – Farah Heron
Accidentally Engaged follows Reena struggling to create her own path when her traditional father keeps trying to interfere. Recently laid off from her job, she turns to her true passion, baking bread. Nadim is the across the hall neighbor that Reena finds attractive, until she realizes this is the man her father is trying to arrange for her to marry. It’s all going according to plan until Reena discovers a baking competition with the prize of her dreams. The catch, it’s a competition for couples. Nadim agrees to be Reena’s fake fiancé so she can compete in the competition, but what happens when they catch feelings for each other.
This books was such a fun read. It has the best of everything. Good food, romance, and cultural history. I was a little frustrated with Reena trying to go against what her father wanted for so long that she was losing the guy that she truly had feelings for just because he worked for her father and her father thought they would be a great match. The filming of the competition was entertaining to visualize while reading and I honestly believe this storyline could make a great Hallmark movie or even just a Romance Comedy film.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
You Lucky Dog – Julia London
You Lucky Dog follows Carly who’s life is complete chaos. She’s trying to start a new business, her parents are going through a mid life crisis and divorce and her sister has convinced her to foster a basset hound, who the dog walker has switched with another basset hound. Max seems to have his life together, he’s a professor trying to earn the coveted tenure spot. His only problem right now is he has the wrong dog. What happens when they meet and their dogs fall in love?
This was the Ashley Brooke Book Club April pick and I was so excited that I was able to slide this in on the last few days of the month. There’s so much about this book to love – female CEO, dogs, Austin, TX and more. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I think Carly’s chaotic energy was just a little too much for me. I wanted to relate to her so bad because she had the dream of moving to NYC, which is a dream that I was able to fulfill, but her stubbornness to not change her dreams even though she had something real with Max really frustrated me.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟/5
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