What I read in April 2024

I'm honestly a little embarrassed to write this month's post, because I read so many books. Much more than usual. I never realize I read this much until it gets to the point to write this post. If you make it to the end, you are the best! Let's jump straight into it, because it's a bit of a long one. Here's all I read in April & my thoughts.

please note that anything with an asterisk (*) was an ARC I received. It didn't change my opinion of the book, but just for transparency's sake, I want to make it clear that I was gifted a copy of those books.

Daisy Haites by Jessa Hastings - ★★★★★

I’ve had time to think about what I wanted to say about this boom, but I still can’t completely find the words. This story is the second book in the MPU (Magnolia Parks Universe). When I first started reading this, I was slightly disappointed. The first book left me at the edge of my seat, and once I found out that this wasn’t a continuation from the first book, but a retelling of the first book from different perspectives, I wasn’t completely sure how I felt. That quickly changed, when I realized how much I loved reading about Julian, Daisy & Christian. By the end of it, I was crying so heartbroken for everyone. I’m still not emotionally ready for the next book. I know some people love to compare Magnolia and Daisy, but I honestly love them both! They're such different characters, and enjoy each of them for completely different reasons. Overall, I highly recommend (please please, so not skip Daisy’s books!)

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree - ★★★½

When I first finished this book, I rated it 3.75 stars, but as it's sat with me, I've changed my mind. I have never read a true cozy fantasy, so this was my first experience with this micro-genre. After reading this one, I will say that cozy fantasy may not be me. Travis himself is a good writer and does an amazing job building out the world, but I felt like it was extremely slow paced. Not much happens, and by the end of it, I felt unsatisfied. Not because the ending was bad, but because like I already mentioned, not much happens throughout the book.

The stakes were extremely low. There was minimal fighting, no romance, and no epic adventure. I think I'm a high stakes or cozy fantasy with fantasy kind of gal. I think if you personally like a true low stakes cozy fantasy, you might like this one a lot more than I did! This was a just a personal preference thing.

Don't Let Me Fall by Kelsie Rae - ★★★½

I don't think I've ever bought a book because of an ad, but somehow Kelsie Rae was the one to make me take the plunge! I have never heard of her as an author, but when she was selling like 10 of her books for an extremely low cost, I decided to purchase them! The first book I decided to read from the books I got was Don't Let Me Fall. It was the book that she was advertising and made me want to read her books in the first place.

Kelsie Rae honestly gives me Elle Kennedy vibes. It's a quick paced college hockey romance with great banter and moments of deeper conversation. Plus the spice is about the perfect amount. It's not in every chapter, but sprinkled in throughout the story. I will actually continue the series in the future (especially when I need a palette cleanser between stories).

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood - ★★★¾

Now listen, I never thought I would give another Ali Hazelwood book a chance, but after winning a giveaway for a signed copy of this book, I knew I had to read it. I was not a big fan of The Love Hypothesis, and then I also read those three short stories as well. Overall, I found her books to be very "meh". The spicy scenes always came across as really awkward to read, and the romance wasn't anything groundbreaking. The best thing about her books was the fact that her main characters are women in STEM.

Now most people said if I didn't like those books, I would like this one best. And they're not wrong. Her books are still super cheesy, but this one is my favorite out of all of them. It had some cute uplifting moments, and the MMC, Jack, is the best.

I'm still not her biggest fan, but I think I'm going to give Bride a try since it's a romantasy, which is very different from what she typically writes about.

That First Night by Jenn McMahon - ★★¾

When I received the ARC to That First Flight and realized that it's the third book in the series, I decided to do a binge of the rest of the series. Every time I've received an ARC to a book that's part of a series, and I didn't read the other books, I always tended to rate them lower, since I didn't understand the references to the other books. Even though it was a lot more work for me, I decided to read the other two books in this series.

The first one on the list was That First Night. It's a single billionaire dad/nanny romance. I will say I'm not a big fan of nanny romances, (with the exception to Chelsea Curto's Behind the Camera). Not only that, the writing style wasn't my favorite. It was a little too insta-lovey for my personal preference. I also overall feel like this book should have gone through another round of editing. The characters really fell flat for me.

That First Date by Jenn McMahon - ★★★½

Next up in the series was That First Date, which ended up being my favorite of the series. The story follows the brother from the first book and the best friend from the first book. He's her boss, and they have to have a fake engagement in order to impress his boss. I don't have much to say other than the fact that it was nice to get to know all the characters from this series more. I really got to know Logan and Emery in this one (and made me look forward to their story. I honestly thought their romance was going to be next).

I don't have anything negative to say about this one. It was pretty cute.

Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - ★★★½

I started this book a few years ago when Marie from Drizzle and Hurricane books rated this book so highly. I don't know exactly what happened, but I never finished it. This year, I've been making a point to finish any books on my Goodreads "currently reading" section, and this was one of them.

I think if I finished reading it a few years ago, I would have rated it higher. But after reading One Last Stop by the same author last year, I felt this one wasn't as good? I found some parts of the book to be a little boring, and felt that some other parts were a lil too cheesy. Even though I loved Alex and Henry (plus all of the other main side characters), I thought the story itself was okay. I definitely look forward to reading other stuff by Casey, since this was their debut (I believe), and I loved One Last Stop.

Reluctantly Yours by Erin Hawkins - ★★★¼

In the month of April, I had the same thing going on with Erin Hawkins' book and Jenn McMahon's books. I received an ARC for the 4th book in a standalone series. I decided to take the dive and try to read all the books in the series beforehand, so I can fall in love with the characters from the very beginning. It's kind of funny, because Reluctantly Yours had a very similar plot to That First Date by Jenn McMahon.

It was a little difficult to read this one right afterwards, because it was much more obvious that this was better written and an overall much more enjoyable read. It was still a fake dating in order to progress in the MMC's business life. This one was a little insta-lovey for me. I prefer a lot more emotional connection when reading a romance, which I felt that this one was lacking. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to the rest of her books after reading this one!

That First Flight by Jenn McMahon* - ★★★¼

I finally got to the her most recent book, That First Flight. Like I mentioned before, as I was reading the other books in the series, I was hoping this book was going to be about two other characters. They've been building up their relationship since the first book, so I was looking forward to it. I also feel like that book was bound to be the best in the series.

I was a little disappointed when that wasn't the case. This story followed the youngest billionare son, Oliver and Macey (a woman he meets on a random flight months prior). This book was the best of the series so far. Oliver was a traveling influencer/blogger, and Macey was a woman trying to make it in the culinary world. After meeting on a flight and having an amazing conversation, neither of them expected to see the other again. Of course, when Oliver goes to one of his older brother's cabins, he finds Macey working at a local bar.

Somehow he convinces her to to go to NYC with him, and bring her daughter with her! I liked the fact that this relationship wasn't an insta-love story. While some parts of this were cute, overall I felt it to be a little too cheesy for me. The 8 year old daughter spoke in a way I would never expect a child to speak. I also felt like the author threw in too many "trendy phrases" into the book to attract booktokers, which I wasn't a fan of.

Even though I was originally looking forward to Emmy & Logan's story, after reading the first 3 books, I'm not completely sure I would continue. Maybe these books just aren't for me!

Unexpectedly Mine by Erin Hawkins - ★★★½

This was a super fun read! This story follows the MMC from book 1's cousin, Emma. Emma is a wedding dress designer, and after having a successful runway show in Vegas, she decides to celebrate. She needs to do anything she can to get her mind off the fact that her ex-boyfriend was now engaged, and showing it all off over social media.

So she gets super drunk and goes to see a men's revue show, and somehow wakes up the next day married to one of the dancers! To make matters worse, it's all in the tabloids.

So she decides to bring griffin to NYC and pretend that they're genuinely in love. Seeing their relationship grow as they got to know each other was super cute. Even though they show the couple from the first book, I honestly didn't care too much about seeing them. Nonetheless, this one was better than the first one, and left me excited to read the next one in the series.

Always and Forever Laura Jean by Jenny Han - ★★★¾

On my journey to finish some books that were on my Goodreads "currently reading", I decided to listen to this audiobook. It's kind of funny, even though so much time has passed, I still remember all the details about this book series. While I really liked the movies, I always felt that Jenny Han's writing was a little juvenile. Even when I was in high school, I always felt like she wrote for a younger crowd (even though she wrote about high school students).

I did feel like parts of this dragged on a bit, but once the drama started to unfold, I was fully invested in the life of Laura Jean and Peter. The main thing I didn't like about this was the fact that the 3rd act breakup happened so close to the end, and then they resolved it in the last 5%. I kind of wish it was drawn out a bit more. I still enjoyed it though!

Accidentally Ours by Erin Hawkins - ★★★★

After reading a few mid-rated book, I was pretty excited about this one. This one follows two characters you've already met in past books. Giffin's sister & Hunter, friends with both Emma & Barrett. When Sophie has a random one night stand with a stranger before leaving Vegas for good and joining Griffin & Emma in NYC, the last thing she expects to see is the stranger again.

She also doesn't expect the stranger to be Griffin's boss.

They keep running into each other, and decide to be friends with benefits. And they slowly become true friends in the process. It's cute watching the two fall in love with one another. Plus I appreciated the appearance of all the past characters in this one. Not only was it spicy, but I also felt like the characters had a great emotional connection that seemed to grow organically. Was my favorite in the series!

Surprisingly Us by Erin Hawkins*- ★★★¼

This story was interesting, because while we knew about the characters by name from past books, they don't really make an appearance until the very end of Accidentally Ours. This story follows Colette & Rhys. Colette was childhood friends with Rhys, but he disappeared after both of his parents died in an accident.

All of a sudden Rhys shows up at a mutual friend's wedding, and Colette spends the night distracting him, making sure he doesn't ruin the wedding. On the flip side of things Rhys comes back to NYC to receive the final chunk of his inheritance only to realize the his parent's company is going to fall into his cousin's hands if he doesn't change his life around.

Being known as an unreliable player isn't exactly who the board wants running his parent's foundation. So he has to change his image. The best way to do so? Pretend to date someone well esteemed in the community, Colette.

As a famous ballerina dancer no one could be better for the job. Of course the two start to grow genuine feelings for one another...and you know how the rest goes.

Now this isn't one of my favorites in the series. Rhys wasn't the most likeable character, and constantly said things that made me roll my eyes. His thoughts were sometimes uncomfortable to read, because he was genuinely such a selfish asshole.

And the moment you give him the benefit of the doubt and think you see some growth, he ruins it by reverting back and making terrible decisions.

There were a lot of really cute moments between the characters, but I don't know. There were genuine moments where Rhys was really thoughtful and considerate, which I liked! But overall, I think I wish he groveled more, and had more time to show a slower paced growth to redeem himself. He made terrible decisions on and off for about 80%, and then did a complete 180, which I felt to be a little unbelievable.

A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn - ★★★

I have had this on my TBR for so so long. I've seen it raved about on all platforms. I have actually read a book or two by Meghan Quinn, and have enjoyed them.

It's kind of funny, because this was the third time this month that I read a similar plot line. A guy who decides to fake date a girl in order to move forward in business. Lottie was a pretty funny character, and brought a lot of comic relief to the story. Huxley was pretty unlikable for most of the story.

There weren't many conversations between the main characters, and I felt a lot of their relationship was based on mutual physical attraction. I also felt the story was a lot longer than it should have been. It seemed to drag on quite a bit. I'm curious to find out if the rest of the series is better or about the same. It will definitely be a while before I go back and read the rest of it (which is a shame, because I love the look of the new covers!)

A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna- ★★★★¼

I've seen mixed reviews on this one, but when it became available on Libby, I took the chance to read it. This story was so much better than I thought it was going to be. While it had a romance, it was more of a subplot. I would consider this book to be about a woman who was different, and not only learned to love herself, but learned to accept the love and kindness from those who cared about her. And then eventually finding out where she belonged.

It was a beautiful story, and I enjoyed most aspects of it. I found the romance itself to be a little bit lackluster, and it would have been better if I cared about the romance subplot. The children and all the characters were really lovable, and I can't wait to read whatever Sangu Mandanna comes out with next!

Hypnotized by Love by Sariah Wilson* - ★★¾

It's a bit of shame to have had two pretty low rated books in the month of April. But it's bound to happen, especially when you're reading cute quick rom-coms. I hope to be a bit more selective in the month of May!

A few years back I read The Paid Bridesmaid, and earlier I read her short story in the Meet-Cute series (which I really enjoyed). I have to say I was pretty disappointed in this one. I don't know why but it was giving me Meg Cabot vibes. Now, there's nothing wrong with Meg Cabot's writing, but I will say Meg Cabot's demographic is YA. So it was a bit weird to read this book, and feel like these grown adults (late 20s/early 30s, don't entirely remember their exact age) act so immature, I found myself being a bit annoyed.

The main character, Savannah, was especially immature. She acted like a teenager who's always throwing tantrums and running away from her problems. While I did like the MMC, Mason, he wasn't enough to save the story. I felt like this story was lacking a lot of substance. Definitely a no for me!

The Final Offer by Lauren Asher - ★★★★¼

Last year I breezed through the first two book in this series. I enjoyed the first one, wasn't the biggest fan of the second one, and I knew I was going to like this book. You already spent the first two books falling in love with Cal. I started reading it back in November, but I was on a big fantasy kick, and decided to put it down for another time.

I'm genuinely glad I didn't force myself to read it, and read it when I was in the mood for it. Firstly, it's a really long book (I believe it's about 600 pages). It was also not a plain romance, but a redemption story.

Cal was destined to play professional hockey, but after a serious injury he was no longer able to play. Even after pain medication and physical therapy. By the end of this whole situation it left him drinking his pain away and addicted to the pain medication they prescribed to him.

Fast forward many years and he's an adult. Like his 2 two brothers, when his grandfather passed away he gave him a task in order to receive his inheritance. The task was to sell their childhood summer home. On paper that sounded easy, but for Cal, he knew he was stepping into a landmine.

He didn't realize how challenging it was going to be until he realized his grandfather gave 50% ownership to his one true love, Lana. Of course he broke Lana's heart like he destroyed everything else from his past.

How was he going to convince Lana to sell the house?

The story was really well told. You get glimpses of the other characters from the series, and fall in love with Cal even harder throughout this one. While I felt like it was really long, I almost think it was necessary? I highly recommend this one!

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TBR for April:

• Tandem Read ❌
• A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn ✅
• The Final Offer by Lauren Asher ✅
• Daisy Haites by Jenna Hastings ✅
• Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood ✅
• That First Flight by Jenn McMahon* ✅
• That First Night by Jenn McMahon ✅
• That First Date by Jenn McMahon ✅
• Hypnotized by Love by Sariah Wilson* ✅
• Don't Let Me Fall by Kelsie Rae ✅

Tentative TBR for May:

• Tandem Read
• Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber
• The Love Algorithm by Camila Isley
• Savor It by Tarah DeWitt
• Wasted Words by Staci Hart
• They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire
• The Lies About Forever by Claudia Y. Burgoa
• Trouble by Meghan Hollie
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I know I've chatted on for long enough, so I'm going to keep it short and simple. But tell me, what was the best thing you read in April? Let me know what I should add to my next TBR? Chat soon xx