I’m happy to report that I’m still ahead on my reading challenge for the year, but that’s mostly credited to audio books. I try to do as much physical reading as possible, but I rely heavily on audio books to complete some of them. Here are the books I read in April. I explored a few more “new to me” authors and stuck mostly with thrillers and romance novels.
The Alice Network- Kate Quinn. I should have included this one in March, because I mostly read it in March, finishing it on April 2, 2020. I read the Kindle version and listened on Scribd. The story alternates between Eve, a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and Charlie, an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947. Charlie’s search led her to Eve and as they pair up to find her cousin, Eve’s story is told. I enjoyed Eve’s story much better than Charlie’s but still give this one four stars. There is a romance woven in.
Close to Home- Robert Dugoni (Tracy Crosswhite Book 5) – Kindle Unlimited I’m still enjoying this series. “While investigating the hit-and-run death of a young boy, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite makes a startling discovery: the suspect is an active-duty serviceman at a local naval base. After a key piece of case evidence goes missing, he is cleared of charges in a military court. But Tracy knows she can’t turn her back on this kind of injustice.” Tracy and Dan’s relationship also deepens in this one and the characters of Tracy’s coworkers is further developed. 4 stars
Almost Paradise– by Debbie Macomber I snagged this free on Kindle. The Unread Shelf challenge was to read the most recently acquired book so I started on this one shortly after I downloaded it. Sherry applies at a girls camp as a counselor but tries to keep her whereabouts from her family and annoying stepmother, so her application isn’t exactly honest. The camp is all about academia and Sherry thinks her girls need to have fun. This leads to her butting heads constantly with the hot camp director, who has also fallen for her. Will this romance/relationship ever have a chance when he finds out she lied? This was a cute, short read. 3 stars
The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica– I took a trial subscription to Audiobooks.com last month and got this one as one of the free ones. This is my first time reading/listening to a Kubica book. It’s certainly got twists and suspense. I thought I had it figured out about 40-50% through, but I got some things wrong so I still had a surprise at the end. 4 stars
Me Before You Jojo Moyes I picked this up at the thrift store just before the quarantine started so I also read this one as a most recently acquired. I alternated between reading and listening to a free audio version on Audiobooks.com. “Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.” This one can be slow at times, but it’s overall a gripping love story. 4 stars
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle I listened to the audio version on Scribd. I thought it was a bit slow and shallow at first, but then it got serious and Dannie and her best friend grow up fast. And Dannie isn’t where she thought she would be in five years. 4 stars
Cross Her Heart-(Bree Taggert 1) by Melinda Leigh- Read and Listened via Kindle Unlimited “For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents’ murder-suicide…Until her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There’s just one chilling difference. Erin’s husband, Justin, has vanished.” So Bree goes to her niece and nephew and inserts herself into the investigation. If you follow my book review, you know I love Melinda Leigh, and this one didn’t disappoint. The perfect combination of thrillers and romance. 4 stars
Piece of Work (Red Lipstick Coalition #1) by Staci Hart I started this in November or December 2019 and thought it was decent enough. I borrowed it free as part of my Prime membership. To finish it up, I bought the audio book. It’s described as a romantic comedy but it wasn’t funny to me. The sex is trashy and the boss is a horrible character who should be charged with sexual assault. If the sex had been approached differently, the story has potential, but it’s not my kind of romance. I still gave it 3 stars.
Valencia and Valentine by Suzy Krause I got this one for free a year ago on Kindle and finally read it and listened via Scribd. If you love Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, you will love this. It’s the same type of story. I didn’t love Eleanor Oliphant and I didn’t love this one. Mrs. Valentine was more interesting and entertaining to me than Valencia as she tells her of her romance with Mr. Valentine, but the twist at the end was kind of neat. 3 stars
You Are Not Alone by by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen Audiobook via Scribd Shay Miller witnesses a suicide and soon after meets the Moore sisters. They give her everything she has been looking for and it seems too good to be true. It is. Shay is the most naive character I have come across in a while. Way too trusting. Finally she gets it together and figures it out, but geez. There are a lot of plot twists in this one. When I describe some of these stories and twists to my husband, he says these authors must smoke dope. LOL I love the twists, even when they get crazy. 4 stars
Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts Harriet Lerner PhD I listened to this one via Scribd. This was my non-fiction read for the month. I may go back and read the print version which is also on Scribd if it remains available. There is some pretty good info here about why people won’t apologize and what constitutes a real apology.
I can’t wait to hear about what you read this month. Linking up with Show Us Your Books
