Well, the idea of getting this post out at the beginning of the month was good while it lasted, but at least it’s still in the month of April! I’ve been going non-stop so far this month, and I wanted to put focus on getting the Disney World posts out as quickly as possible.
March was a big turning point as far as the way I read books. I ended up getting on a huge audiobook kick. I think part of it was because I travelled a lot the past month, which allowed for tons of time to listen. I finally got out of the book slump I’ve been in and read a total of 10 books the past month! I was blown away with how many books it ended up being, but I listened to tons of incredible audio books that had me hooked in and wanting to listen to non-stop.
This was another month full of mixed genre, from thriller to contemporary romance and fantasy romance to memoir. I even continued going through Taylor Jenkins Reid’s backlog of emotional romance novels.
Let me quit rambling on and get into the books since I have so many to share! Here are all the books I read in March.
If the Shoe Fits – Julie Murphy
This is the first book in the Meant to Be Series that By the Book, which I read last month, is a part of. I really enjoy the concept of each book being written by a different contemporary romance author to keep the storyline and writing fresh. This one is a modern twist on Cinderella’s story and has a major influence from The Bachelor. Cindy is an aspiring shoe designer trying to figure out what she wants to do after graduating college. Her not-so-evil stepmother is the creator and producer for a reality tv series where a bachelor or bachelorette star to find true love. After a few last minute situations pop up, Cindy finds herself as a contestant on the show trying to win the heart of Henry. The only issue is that Henry just so happens to be the man on the flight home that Cindy hit it off with.
This was a very cute retelling with so many great points – plus-size MC, reality show competition, Disney inspired storyline, and so much more. I really enjoyed this story, but felt like it slowed down too much throughout the novel to keep me sucked in. There was also a jump in the timeline that didn’t feel very clear in the audiobook narration that confused me. Overall, I highly recommend this book to any Disney lover and can’t wait for The Little Mermaid inspired novel to come out this year.
I listened to this book through Hoopla with my local library.
Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Maybe in Another Life – Taylor Jenkins Reid
If there was a Taylor Jenkins Reid emotional romance novel that I love more than One True Loves, I think this one is it. But I’ve also heard that Forever, Interrupted is gut wrenching so I don’t want to set this book as the top contender quite yet. Hannah is twenty-nine years old still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. After crashing and burning in NYC, she decides to move back to her hometown to figure out what her next move is. While out at a bar with her best friend Gabby, she runs into her ex-boyfriend Ethan. At the end of the night, Gabby asks Hannah if she wants to leave together and minutes later, Ethan asks Hannah if she wants to stay out with him. The story begins to take two separate paths as you learn what happens beginning with the choices given to Hannah.
I started this one on audiobook for a drive to Hot Springs and was hooked from the start. The concept of parallel time lines is fascinating to me, along with the theory of how different your life could be if you made a different decision at a certain fork in the road of your life. I can see why Julia Whelan is a fan favorite for audiobook narration and will definitely seak (spelling feels weird) out to listen to the books she works with, as she sweeps you away on an emotional journey where each path Hannah took lead to some heartbreak or another. It was also interesting how Reid showed how no matter what path you take, you may end up in the same place and the consequences given throughout the journey may be the same for those around you too.
Highly recommend reading this book to get a different taste of Taylor Jenkins Reid to her historical fiction novels that have made her so popular. I can’t wait to continue my dive through her backlist. I read this as an audiobook through Hoopla with the local library.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J Maas
The second book in the ACOTAR series and everyone’s favorite I believe. If the first book was influenced by Beauty and the Beast, then this one is supposedly inspired by Hades and Persephone.
We are swept back into the fantastical land that SJM has created and a chance to explore it more. Feyre is struggling with her new reality as a Feyre and the controlling nature Tamlin is showing. Upholding her end of the bargain, spending two weeks at the Night Court with Rhysand, she begins to get the training she needs to maximize her new abilities and an understanding that she may be the key to saving the realms.
SJM is the queen of slow first half of books. The first 300 pages dragged so much that it took the third time checking it out of the library to finally get past it. I understand that she has to describe the realms she’s creating, which she does beautifully, but it also makes the book so much longer. I loved getting a chance to see a few more of the courts, especially the Night Court and Summer Court. There’s a shift in the dynamic of the book, but I was eager to see the direction the book was going and how it was setting up for the main focus of the series. The twist towards the end of the book had me shocked and then the final page had me mind blown. I can’t wait wait to see where the story goes and to discover more of Prythian, however, I do plan to take at least a month break from the series to get a chance to read other books, especially my mile high stack of Book of the Month’s.
I read this as an ebook through the Libby app.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The Soulmate – Sally Hempworth
The Soulmate is Sally Hempworth’s newest thriller. This was my first Hempworth novel. I picked this book out as my March “Book of the Month” selection and it did not disappoint! As far as thrillers go, Book of the Month always has an excellent mix of highly anticipated releases and debut authors. The Soulmate is definitely a solid choice!
The Soulmate follows the story of Pippa and her husband, Gabe, who have escaped the busy life of the city to live a quiet life on a cliff on the coast. However, when they moved in they didn’t know that the cliff was a popular place for people to end their lives. Gabe has managed to save everyone that comes to that spot, except for the woman who came during the previous night. Pippa gets even more confused and concerned when it is revealed that Gabe knew the woman. What really happened on the cliff that night? As Pippa begins to discover more about the woman, the secrets that she and Gabe have kept hidden come to light and Pippa begins to question if Gabe is really her soulmate.
The story is told both from the point of view of Pippa and the mysterious woman, Amanda. The plot also unfolds in two timelines: the past and the present. Hempworth sweeps you away with the stories of the two very different women whose lives are unknowingly intertwined without them having met. Both women’s stories were captivating and reveal how they got to where they are. The ending of this story was bittersweet but peaceful after each character’s tumultuous journey.
Hempworth had me intrigued from the start and kept me hooked until the end! I only took two days to read The Soulmate and it even helped me get myself out of a physical book slump. This book comes with a few trigger warnings including suicide, depression, bipolar disorder, murder, adultery, mental illness, and substance abuse.
Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jeannette McCurdy
Rising to fame with the hit teen show iCarly, Jeannette finally gets a chance to tell her story in her words. She tells the tale of how she got into acting, and her mom is the focus of the story. The raw way she tells us about the abuse she went through with her mom and the eventual eating disorders she developed along the way is poignant.
There’s something that hits harder listening to memoirs on audiobook when the narrator is the author. Letting them tell the story the way they want you to hear it takes the story to a deeper level and Jeannette’s is no different. Everyone has been raving about this book since it was released and I can see why. McCurdy takes us through the realities of what being a child actor is like and the lasting repercussions it has on someone. It makes me wonder what other child actors that we have seen struggling in their adult years went through and are scared to tell the world. I was surprised that she wasn’t in the iCarly reboot, but after reading her story, I have a better understanding of why she wouldn’t want to return to a place she considers to be a trigger.
I listened to this on audio through the Libby app.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Things We Do in the Dark – Jennifer Hillier
Paris Peralta is accused on killing her husband and her secrets from the past are threatening to come out. Ruby Reyes is granted parole after spending 25 years in prison for a murder similar to how Paris’s husbands death looks. Reyes knows who Paris really is and Paris is now forced to confront the past that she has escaped from.
I wanted to like this book so much, but it took me forever to get into it. I started this book back in November and was the book I was reading as I was going into my slump. However, I don’t DNF books for the life of me for some reason, so after finally making it through a physical book, I decided to pick this one back up. This book is divided into seven sections and the second part is where I got stuck. Trying to figure out the direction the book was taking when it took a completely different direction in the second part confused me and made it hard for me to take interest in it. While I get why people would enjoy this book, there was something about it that just didn’t stick with me.
TW: suicide, abuse, murder, depression. I read this as a physical copy from Book of the Month
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
The Bride Test – Helen Hoang
The second book in The Kiss Quotient series and the only one I hadn’t read yet. Khai is an autistic male who struggles with his feelings. His mom is worried that he will never meet anyone, so she goes over to Vietnam to try and find her a bride. Esme is working at a hotel in Vietnam trying to provide for her daughter and family . When Khai’s mother chooses Esme to be a potential bride, Esme seizes the opportunity to try to get her family to America for a better life. The only problem, she falls in love with Kahi knowing he can’t return his feelings.
After loving the two other books in the series and the focus on an autistic main character that Helen Hoang is known for, I really wanted to love this one. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for my preference. Miscommunication is a frustration of mine that can be done well and is necessary for the storyline, but this book was full of zero communication. This drove me up the wall and then the ending felt very abrupt and out of nowhere. Maybe I just went into this one with too high of expectations after loving the other two, but this one had a lot of potential that was never reached for me.
I listened to this in audiobook form through Hoopla with the local library.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
How Y’all Doing? – Leslie Jordan
This one filled and warmed by soul in a way I didn’t know was needed. Leslie Jordan’s memoir was written a year before his sudden death, but hearing his voice again was magical. I love that he published this book so we now get the chance to hear him tell stories of his life whenever we want. His storytelling is all over the place but feels like you’re sitting around the living room with a glass of wine chatting like old friends. Very short and sweet, like Leslie, the audiobook narration is only a little over 4 hours long, but he fills it with tons of laughter. Telling stories of unexpected phone calls with Debbie Reynolds to growing up southern Baptist to even meeting Dolly Parton, this is a must read for any fans of Leslie Jordan.
I listened to this on hoopla through the local library.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Ugly Love – Colleen Hoover
I wanted to love this one so much more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely cried at that moment. If you’ve read this book already, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. But again, I think after listening to The Bride Test, my level of tolerance for miscommunication was still depleted. This story is in a dual time line with two POV’s. The first is Tate meeting her brother’s best friend, Miles after moving in with him. Miles isn’t looking for love and Tate doesn’t have time for it, so they decide to enter a FWB situation. What happens when she begins to develop feelings for Miles. Miles side of the story follows his past that lead him to the moment where he doesn’t want to love anymore.
This was beautifully written and I was very drawn into Miles’s story about his former love and how it ended. The concept of Ugly Love is phenomenal. Colleen Hoover does an excellent job with this emotional romance. For me, it was just missing something I really needed to be obsessed with this book and give it five stars. I think it was in the present day timeline and the lack of communication between Tate and Miles. There was just something about Tate that frustrated me, but Miles also frustrated me with his lack of getting resolution for so long on the traumatic event of his past.
I listened to this on Hoopla through the library.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston
Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a prominent romance novelist, but she no longer believes in love. On top of this major issue, she meets her new editor who is pushing her to finis the next novel. Her family owns a funeral home in a small town in the south that she escaped from the minute she graduated from High School. When her dad passes away suddenly, she has to go back home and face the town who turned on her. Imagine her shock when she sees a ghost standing at the door of the funeral home who looks a lot like her new editor.
I’ve heard so many mixed reviews on this book and wanted to try it out for myself. The concept of being able to see the dead and speak to them to help them with any unresolved business so they can move on to the next life is very intriguing. How Florence deals with the grief of losing her dad, while also trying to figure out what Ben’s unfinished business is brings a lot of emotions to the story. It will have you laughing and crying throughout the entire book. I think where people start to have mixed feelings is the plot twist at the end of the novel because it is so frustrating. For a magical realism book, this one was very well done as a debut novel and makes me want to explore the genre more.
I listened to this on Libby through the local library.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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