Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in May 2022. I shared the first half of the books I read here. My top books of the month can be found here (although I do have a few more 5 star read to share today). I will be linking up this post with the Show Us Your Books Link Up, and 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. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: The Island
Author: Adrian McKinty
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Hachette Audio, 5/17/22
Source: Publisher Audio
Why I Read It: Liked his previous book, wanted to read
My Rating: 4 Stars
I really liked the book The Chain by Adrian McKinty so I was excited to read his new one, The Island. I had both the ebook and the audio and went with the audio, which was quite an experience, as sound effects were included! This was an exciting thriller that made me feel like I was on the hot and dry island along with the family.
“After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom. When they discover remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram. But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare. When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers. Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead. Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.”
The amount of violence in this book reminded me of Taylor Adams’s books. While I sometimes wondered if there was a point to the the locals acting the way they did, I enjoyed the action and the story and it kept me interested throughout!
Title: My Summer Darlings
Author: May Cobb
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Berkley, 5/17/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
My Summer Darlings was a case of me giving an author another chance after not really liking The Hunting Wives and although some aspects were similar I did like this one more. My Summer Darlings is about three best friends and the new guy in the neighborhood that has some sort of magical pull and makes all the women want him – whether they are already in another relationship or not.
“Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. They are now approaching forty and their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane by drinking wine in the afternoons, dishing about other women in the neighborhood, and bonding over the heartache of their own encroaching middle age and raising ungrateful teens. Then Will Harding comes to town, moving into one of the neighborhood’s grandest homes. Mysterious and charming, he seems like the answer to each woman’s prayers. He’s a source of fascination for Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia, but none of them are ready for the way Will disrupts their lives. As Will grows closer with each of the women, their fascination twists into obsession, threatening their friendships and their families. When he abruptly pulls away, each woman scrambles to discover the source of his affection. But what they’ll uncover is far more sinister and deadly than any of them could have ever imagined.”
Although this was the typical women behaving badly scenario, I liked that in the end they supported each other rather than turning against each other. This definitely won’t be loved by everyone but it kept me entertained and would make an excellent beach read.
Title: Love Radio
Author: Ebony LaDelle
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 5/31/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Love Radio is about Prince, who gives love advice as a DJ on the radio while living with his mom who has MS and his younger brother, and Dani, who wants to write but is having writer’s block due to a near assault at a college party. Prince has had a crush on Dani for awhile and bets he can win her over after 3 dates.
“Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted. Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners. Until he meets Dani Ford. Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. But her college essay keeps tripping her up and acknowledging what’s blocking her means dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago. And that’s one thing Dani can’t do. When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for. Three dates for the love expert to take his own advice, and just maybe change two lives forever.”
This book centers Black love, music, friendships, and families and was a sweet YA romance.
Title: Crazy To Leave You
Author: Marilyn Simon Rothstein
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Lake Union, 5/24/22
Source: PR for the author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Crazy To Leave You features a cast of Jewish characters, making it a great read for Jewish American Heritage Month (or any time). Lauren is 41 and about to walk down the aisle when her groom dumps her via text. (I think this is the 4th book I’ve recently read that starts with a pre wedding break up!) After the break up, Lauren must deal with her mother, her sisters, and her job, while learning to accept herself and feel worthy in her own life.
“Forty-one years old, the last of her friends to marry, and down to a size 12, Lauren Leo is in her gown and about to tie the knot. There’s just one thing missing: the groom. With one blindsiding text, Lauren is unceremoniously dumped at the altar. In the aftermath, her mother is an endless well of unsolicited advice (Stay on your diet and freeze your eggs). Her sisters only add to the Great Humiliation: one is planted on Lauren’s couch while the other is too perfect. Picking her heart up off the floor, Lauren turns to her work in advertising as she gathers courage to move on and plan her next step. She should know by now that nothing in life goes according to plan. What lies ahead is the road to self-acceptance and at long last feeling worthy. With a new way to measure love and success, Lauren chucks her scale―and finds a second chance in the most unexpected place.”
I enjoyed that Lauren is an older character, the quirkiness of the characters, and the amusing banter between Lauren and her driver, Rudy. This book does contain references to weight and disordered eating, as well as a difficult mother / daughter relationship.
Title: She Gets The Girl
Author: Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick
Genre: YA / NA Rom Com
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 4/5/22
Source: Publisher Audio
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 5 Stars
This book was so cute! It is about Alex and Molly who are starting freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh. Alex has just been dumped by her girlfriend Natalie, who unfortunately doesn’t treat Alex very well. Molly has a crush on Cora, but is socially awkward and wants a new start now that she’s in college. Alex wants to help Molly get together with Cora in order to proof her goodness to Natalie.
“Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet. Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her. As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.”
This book was so sweet with a bit of enemies to friends to more and adorable dates in the library and the roller rink as Alex and Molly begin to fall for one another. It also deals with both girls’ relationships with their mothers. Molly’s mother is Korean and was adopted by a white family. She therefore has a hard time with her Asian identity. Meanwhile, Alex’s mom is an alcoholic. I loved the side character Jim, who helped Alex deal with this! Overall, such a sweet read that an older teen would definitely enjoy.
Title: Yerba Buena
Author: Nina LaCouer
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Flatiron Books, 5/31/22
Source: Book of the Month
Why I Read It: Book of the Month pick
My Rating: 4 Stars
Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour was my BOTM pick for May. I have managed to read all of the books I’ve received this year but I still have one more from last year to read in order to be all caught up! This was a character driven, beautifully written novel about two women who lived difficult lives. Sara leaves home after a devastating loss and makes her way to L.A. Emilie, who is Creole, is trying to determine what to do with her life while becoming closer to her sister, who has been addicted to drugs. When the two meet there is an instant attraction but their lives don’t allow them to get to know each other right away.
“When Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, she leaves behind the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern, yearning for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena and embarks on an affair with the married owner. The morning Emilie and Sara first meet at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But the damage both women carry, and the choices they have made, pulls them apart again and again. When Sara’s old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose, they must decide if their love is more powerful than their pasts.”
I found myself getting the two women mixed up at times, and this was a sad read that contained death and loss, infidelity, and forced prostitution.
Title: The Counselors
Author: Jessica Goodman
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio, 5/31/22
Source: Publisher Audio
Why I Read It: Enjoy her books
My Rating: 5 Stars
I love a camp setting and this one was perfect. Camp Alpine Lake is located in the town where Goldie lives and she grew up there, as a kid of staff members and now a counselor along with her two best friends. After a very hard senior year, Goldie has a lot going on that she hasn’t told her friends about.
“Camp Alpine Lake is the only place where Goldie Easton feels safe. She’s always had a special connection to the place, even before she was old enough to attend. The camp is the lifeline of Roxwood, the small town she lives in. Alpine Lake provides jobs, money and prestige to the region. Few Roxwood locals, though, get to reap the rewards of living so close to the glam summer that camp, with its five-figure tuition and rich kids who have been dumped there for eight weeks by their powerful parents. Goldie’s one of them. Even with her ‘townie’ background, Goldie has never felt more at home at camp and now she’s back as a counselor, desperate for summer to start and her best friends, Ava and Imogen, to arrive. Because Goldie has a terrible dark secret she’s been keeping and she is more in need of the comfort than ever. But Goldie’s not the only person at camp who has been lying. When a teen turns up dead in the lake late one night, she knows that the death couldn’t have been an accident. She also knows that Ava was at the lake that same night. What did Ava see and what does she know? Why hasn’t she said anything to Goldie about the death? Worse—what did Ava do? But asking questions offers no answers, only broken bonds of lifelong friendship, with hidden danger and betrayals deeper than Goldie ever imagined.”
I was able to predict part of what was happening, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this story. This is another one where I had the ebook and the audio and I chose to listen. I really enjoyed the dual timelines of the summer and Goldie’s senior year and uncovering what happened to her!
Title: As Seen on TV
Author: Meredith Schorr
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 6/7/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
As Seen On TV is about Adina, a journalist who visits a small town in search of the small town vibe she finds on TV and especially in Hallmark movies. Unfortunately, the small town is no Stars Hollow, even though it’s called Pleasant Hollow! In town, she meets Finn, who isn’t exactly the small town resident she expected to meet, but who she falls for anyway. She realizes that the city isn’t so bad and that she can get that small town vibe even within a city like New York.
“Emerging journalist Adina Gellar is done with dating in New York City. If she’s learned anything from made-for-TV romance movies, it’s that she’ll find love in a small town—the kind with harvest festivals, delightful but quirky characters, and scores of delectable single dudes. So when a big-city real estate magnate targets tiny Pleasant Hollow for development, Adi knows she’s found the perfect story—one that will earn her a position at a coveted online magazine, so she can finally start adulting for real . . . and maybe even find her dream man in the process. Only Pleasant Hollow isn’t exactly ‘pleasant.’ There’s no charming bakery, no quaint seasonal festivals, and the residents are more ambivalent than welcoming. The only upside is Finn Adams, who’s more mouthwatering than the homemade cherry pie Adi can’t seem to find—even if he does work for the company she’d hoped to bring down. Suddenly Adi has to wonder if maybe TV got it all wrong after all. But will following her heart mean losing her chance to break into the big time?”
I really enjoyed the pop culture references – especially to The Bold Type – I love that show! And that Adina goes home for a Rosh Hashanah dinner. That’s right, Jewish people have more holidays than Hanukkah! There are also deeper issues in the characters’ lives including alcoholism and money struggles.
Title: Satisfaction Guaranteed
Author: Karelia Stetz-Waters
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 6/1/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review – and was waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 5 Stars
I’m so glad I finally picked this book up. It was on my read soon shelf for way too long! Satisfaction Guaranteed is about how we see ourselves and what happens when someone else sees our true gifts (as the author says in her notes). This is an opposites attract sapphic love story about Cade and Selena, which I really enjoyed.
“When it comes to her career, Cade Elgin has it all figured out. Only ‘professional talk’ has become her default mode, relationships are nonexistent, and don’t even mention the word ‘orgasm.’ All work and no play makes Cade a dull human. But when she inherits a sex toy store, Cade is caught between business and a store filled with every imaginable kind of pleasure—including her infuriatingly irresponsible and deliciously sexy new co-owner. Selena Mathis learned the hard way that she can have too much of a good thing. Which is precisely why she’s taken an oath of celibacy and is focusing on how to make Satisfaction Guaranteed a success. She won’t mess this up. Not this time. But once again, Selena’s emotions are getting in the way and tempting her with a serious attraction to buttoned-up Cade. But the shop isn’t exactly vibe-ing, and Cade and Selena are on the verge of losing both their income and the possibility of love. Can they find a way to work together . . . before Satisfaction Guaranteed runs out of batteries?”
I really like the trope of the two being forced together by Cade’s aunt, who passes away and leaves her store to Cade and Selena, who had been working at the store and was a close friend. Obviously she knew what she was doing and the story was a lot of fun.
Title: Rivals
Author: Katharine McGee
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers, 5/31/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
The American Royals series would make such a good TV show, don’t you think? It’s the back and forth and the drama and the backstabbing and the drama! So much drama. The third installment, Rivals, is out now and I have to say I enjoyed immersing myself back into the world of Beatrice, Samantha, Nina, and Daphne and I was happy to discover that part four is coming next year! (Apparently the title is hidden in chapter 1, chapter 9, and twice in chapter 49. Has anyone found it yet??) In Rivals, there is a new foe and Daphne and Nina team up to take down Gabriella. Meanwhile, their love triangle with Jefferson continues. Sam is still with Marshall and they must deal with what their relationship means for their family obligations, as well as the conversation about race that their relationship brings up. Beatrice is running the League of Kings and making new friends and alliances from Europe.
“Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change. Relationships will be tested. Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own? Strangers will become friends. Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost? And rivals will become allies. Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?”
While reading this series I have always felt that I wanted to learn more about what is different in an America ruled by a monarchy and I finally got one answer – Hawaii is a sovereign nation, not a part of America. I also need a map of the duchies and a chart of their rulers!
Title: When We Let Go
Author: Rochelle B. Weinstein
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Lake Union, 5/17/22
Source: PR For Author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
When We Let Go is about people dealing with loss. Avery has lost a full term pregnancy and she blames herself, leading her to fear letting herself love again. Jude is a widowed father who asks Avery to marry him, but she is scared to commit – plus he doesn’t know her secrets. When her father has an accident, she returns to where she grew up, reuniting with her sister and accidentally bringing along Jude’s daughter, Elle.
“When Avery Beckett is proposed to by Jude Masters, a widowed father and the man she loves, it should be a time of great joy. Instead, Avery is on edge. She’s wary of the idea of family, doubtful of happy endings, and too afraid to take the leap. It’s the kind of fear that comes from having secrets. Before Avery commits to a new life, she must reconcile with the one she left behind. When Avery returns to her childhood farm in the North Carolina mountains, she’s surprised to be saddled with a companion: Jude’s teenage daughter, Elle, who’s grappling with the loss of her mother and the complicated emotions of first love. On a path of mending wounds and breaking down walls, Avery and Elle form an unexpected alliance. It’s giving them the courage to move forward. And for Avery, everything she needs to confront the past.”
The bonding between Avery and Elle helps them both heal from their losses. Avery was frustrating at times, and I wanted to yell at her to just tell Jude what happened, but obviously I’ve never experienced what she did, so I don’t know what she was experiencing! This book was moving and well-written.
There you have it, the rest of my May reading! This post included 11 of the books I read this month – 3 of which were 5 star reads and could have been in my May Favorites post! Of these books, 8 were print and3 were audio books. Genres included thriller, rom com, contemporary, and literary.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
