You KNOW that it’s been a good reading month when you’ve got two 5-star reads.
And, the physical book is making a comeback! 3 out of 8 of these books were PHYSICAL copies. Who am I?
Let’s share some reviews, shall we?
4 out of 5 stars
If the Stars Align by Nathalie Theodore: Sunny and Dex have loved each other for years. Written with a dual perspective, the author shows the many ways they’ve missed one another over the years – difficulty in communicating, challenges in showing their messy and vulnerable sides, making assumptions about what the other wants, etc.
It was a very quick read and you knew we’d eventually get there but it was lovely to see the love they held on to every step of the way.
We read this book club for our Streeterville Book Club! The author reached out to Diana to see if we’d read her book and she’s going to stop in and talk to us. Which seems SUPER COOL to get to meet a first-time author. Nathalie Theodore has a background in law and therapy and an interest in romance novels so it’s safe to say she put a lot of herself in her debut book. Mostly, I just want to pick her brain about her career change and the whole process she went through to get published for the first time.
4 out of 5 stars
Seven Summers by Paige Toon: If you’re looking for something light and breezy, this ain’t it. Picked this up thinking it was going to be your average ‘beach read,’ but Paige Toon had other plans for me.
Liv and Finn met six years ago while working at a bar. The connection between them was immediate and, after a night of passion that ends in a heartbreaking tragedy, they find themselves forever connected. They make a pact that every year, when Finn returns to Cornwall, should they both be single, they’ll spend the summer together.
The seventh summer, Liv meets Tom. They begin to fall in love and Liv envisions a life where she can love beyond the summer. But making that decision is agonizing.
It’s a love triangle that is heartbreaking at times. You’re not quite sure who to root for when all characters have such beautiful qualities.
3 out of 5 stars
The Golden Couple by Sarah Pekkanen: This is a fictional story of a therapist, Avery, who has a 10-session program (and also, whoops, lost her license to practice). She meets Matthew and Marissa (“The Golden Couple”) who seem to have it all.
Was a little invested in the beginning, but then it felt like too many cross-connections between multiple characters and it felt like a lot of work all of a sudden. I like a book that makes me want to READ rather than scroll and that was definitely this. BUT it felt like a slow start and a quick finish and I was left a little disappointed.
3 out of 5 stars
Unromance by Erin Connor: I’m probably the minority in this, but it wasn’t my favorite. It felt cliché? But maybe that’s the whole point. I just had a hard time getting into this one!
Count my Lies by Sophie Stava: Sloane Caraway is a habitual liar. Little lies, harmless ones—just enough to make her life seem a little more interesting.
So when she sees a young girl crying in the park, Sloane doesn’t think twice. She tells the girl’s handsome father she’s a nurse and helps remove a bee stinger from the child’s foot. A small lie, really.
But that tiny untruth sets off a chain of events Sloane never saw coming. Soon, she’s working as a nanny for Jay and Violet Lockhart—the picture-perfect, privileged New York couple with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island. Or so it seems.
Because Sloane may not be the only one hiding things.
This book gave me major The Last Mrs. Parrish vibes. I was hooked from the start and couldn’t stop turning the pages. The POV shift halfway through slowed the momentum a bit and made the twists feel more predictable, but overall, I breezed through it. Any book that makes me forget my phone is a win in my book.
4 out of 5 stars
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson: Bel has spent her entire life under the shadow of her mother’s unexplained disappearance. Sixteen years ago, when Bel was just a toddler, her mother, Rachel Price, vanished without a trace—leaving Bel as the sole witness, though she remembers nothing. Rachel was never found, and most have accepted she’s gone for good. Bel just wants to leave it all behind.
But the past won’t stay buried. When her family agrees to participate in a true crime documentary, the spotlight is turned back on Rachel’s case. Bel counts down the days until the cameras stop rolling—until something shocking happens: Rachel returns.
Rachel claims to have survived all these years with a story that defies belief. And Bel doesn’t buy it. If Rachel’s not telling the truth, then where has she really been? And more importantly, is she hiding something dangerous?
This book takes family drama to the next level. I have loved Holly Jackson’s other books and, similarly, was engaged while reading this one. BUT, there were some things that were a little too predictable. And other times I wondered, “Why’d you write it like that? Bel confused me a bit. The whiplash I felt as her loyalty changed toward different people. Overall, not very realistic. The ending left me a little unsatisfied?
5 out of 5 stars
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez: A charming veterinarian. A mustard marketing social media manager. And one perfect, unforgettable night.
Samantha didn’t expect to meet someone like Xavier Rush—gorgeous, funny, and somehow emotionally available. But just when it feels like something real is beginning, life pulls her in a different direction. Her family is in crisis, and she makes the heartbreaking decision to move back home to care for them. Xavier can’t leave his life behind, and Samantha can’t abandon hers. The timing is impossible. The distance is real. And yet, neither of them can forget what they shared—or shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, they fell in love that first night.
This love story is as much about romance as it is about responsibility—the people we care for, the lives we lead behind closed doors, and the sacrifices that often go unseen. Abby Jimenez handles these themes with tenderness and honesty, weaving caregiving, multigenerational homes, and the quiet weight of obligation into a beautifully told, emotionally resonant story. It’s rare to see such realism in a romance—and rarer still for it to feel this hopeful.
5 out of 5 stars
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood: Three lives. A 22-year old (Violet) serving time for manslaughter. A woman in her 60s (“Bookie”) who leads the book club in the prison. And the husband of the woman who died in the car accident (Frank). This story has three different perspectives from three different people whose lives weave together in a way you’d never imagine.
This book.
I held this book to my heart for several minutes after I read it. Taking it all in. That final paragraph brought me to tears.
I was reading it in pieces. In small chunks. Trying to read it when I had the time. And about halfway through, I had to switch gears. This writing needed to be SAVORED. I didn’t want to squeeze in a few pages here and there. I needed to absorb all the beauty this b0ok had to offer and, as Bookie recommends, TAKE IT SLOW.
“My name was Violet Powell.
I took a life. I lived and died.
Meanwhile, I was loved.”
Wow. I cannot recommend this book enough. Side note: love the bird lab + the research done on the parrots. READ THIS BOOK PLEASE. I’m definitely in a book hangover after this one. I need a day or two to sit with it and read my favorite paragraphs again.
—-
And there we have it!
A month of some pretty great reads!
May has SO MANY GOOD RELEASES out so, yes, it’ll be another great month of reading for me.
Hoping for a lot more park dates with my littles while they run around and mama gets some reading time in under the sun!
Have a happy weekend!
Questions of the Day:
Have you read any on this list?
What are you currently reading?
Leave a Reply