I have rounded up my May reads for you ( a little late as usual!). I think it was a nice mix of light, fluffy reads, a little suspense and then one more serious book. As always, I mix up reading books and listening to books on audible and usually have one of each going on at any given time 😉
My Review: ✮✮✮1/2
This book totally shocked me and I really didn’t know much about the book going into it other than there was a murder, so there would be a suspense element to it. I had seen a lot of people reading it and I was excited to read a Jodi Picoult because it had been awhile since I had read one of her books. She notoriously does an amazing amount of research for her novels and often writes about some sensitive topics. I loved that this book was written by two authors, each writing from a different point of view. The chapters alternate between Olivia, a mother and Lily, a high-school aged girl. I did not see the twist coming in this book and I would say it kept me wanting to read more.
Amazon Summary
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet she wonders if she can trust him completely. . . .
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
My Review: ✮✮✮
This was a fun, Summer, fluffy book I listened to and then was ready to plan a trip to Greece. The premise was a little silly to start with…sisters having a bet or “contract” that they made back in high school and it’s time to make good on the bet. But the love story was cute and I liked Tessa the main character. I think this makes for a cute beach read…especially if you are on your way to Greece this Summer!
Amazon Summary
Prepared for a good time, Tessa is thrilled to spend the weeks before her sister’s wedding at their family’s favorite vacation spot: Santorini. Sandy beaches, stonewashed houses, attractive men—it’s heaven.
But Tessa’s idea of a girls’ trip comes to a screaming halt when her sister thinks it’s high time Tessa finds some love herself. Unfortunately, Tessa forgot about the deal she made back in high school: she has to find her soulmate before her sister’s wedding. Or else.
As she dodges suitors and her sister’s pranks, Tessa finds an ally in the oh-so-dreamy Myles, her childhood crush who just so happens to work at the resort. But Myles is dealing with some family conflict of his own. He’s elated at being reunited with Tessa, but his father’s refusal to acknowledge his interest in the family business and relegating him to only grunt work casts a dark cloud.
As Tessa and Myles help navigate their way through their families’ antics, they begin to realize that their past feelings may have a future—if only they can turn their island fantasies into something real.
My Review: ✮✮✮1/2
I had fun with this one. I could totally picture the family through this novel and honestly think it could make for a pretty funny TV show. It follows a wealthy New York family and the intertwining of parents and their now grown children. You get inside look as the three children take their own paths and how it all unravels… I was entertained and enjoyed the story of love, loss, and typical family drama.
Amazon Summary
Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can’t have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.
Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.
My Review: ✮✮✮
The authors of this book also wrote the Golden Couple which I really enjoyed last year, so I was excited to pick this one up. I don’t know that I really liked the actual story line of this book which is why I didn’t rate it very high, but I did find myself wanting to read more…does that make any sense at all?? It’s was a bit too conniving for me I guess, but I also wanted to read until the end and find out what the heck was going on! Hope that was helpful, ha!
Amazon Summary
Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely.
Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better.
Shay would die for them to like her.
She may have to.
