Thursday, June 6, 2019

MAY BOOK REVIEW | 2019

It's that time again!  All the book lovers say amen!

Today is my May book review!

So last month, I read 4 books and when I say READ I actually mean it!  Or at least for one of them, I mean it. One I sat by the pool and read on my Kindle and the other 3 were my usual Audible books.  I LOVE to sit by the pool and read an actual book.  And as much as I love reading real books with pages to turn, I may love my Kindle just a little bit more.  I never thought I'd say it, but it's true.  Times they are a-changin'.  (You've got to read that with a southern accent.) 


I recommend all of these books, especially if you are looking for fun, chick-lit, beach reads.  These should definitely be added to your list.  


All books are linked in their titles in bold so click and add to your Amazon Wish List.  (Do y'all keep a wish list just for books?  You should!  It's a great way to keep track of everything you want to read.)


And One Last Thing... audiobook cover art

Today, I'm going to start with one that I've listened to before on Audible and that I wanted to re-read/listen to.  I read so many books that I forget details almost immediately but I remembered loving this one.  I just couldn't remember why.  So while I was waiting for a new Audible credit to roll around, I started this one again.  And I'm so glad I did!

Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say "instant urban legend", Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.
Her seemingly perfect life up in flames, Lacey retreats to her family's lakeside cabin, only to encounter an aggravating neighbor named Monroe. A hunky crime novelist with a low tolerance for drama, Monroe is not thrilled about a newly divorced woman moving in next door. But with time, beer, and a screen door to the nose, a cautious friendship develops into something infinitely more satisfying.
Lacey has to make a decision about her long-term living arrangements, though. Should she take a job writing caustic divorce newsletters for paying clients, or move on with her own life, pursuing more literary aspirations? Can she find happiness with a man who tells her what he thinks and not what she wants to hear? And will she ever be able to resist saying one... last... thing?

Girls.  If you are looking for a real "laugh out loud" romantic comedy, then this book is for you!  Lacey is funny, vulnerable, strong, snarky and adorable all at the same time.  The setting of the book on this quiet lake with a hunky (and cranky) neighbor, who may not be as cold as he comes off in the beginning...well it's all just perfect. This book is hilarious and sweet and I couldn't stop listening.  The audiobook is great too if you are also a fellow Audible girl.

This was one I highly recommend as a summer read, friends!  


Make or Break audiobook cover art

Make or Break was a wild card for me.  I'd never heard of the author and there weren't a ton of reviews but the ones that were there were really good.  So I took a shot.  And it was so good!!

Jess, a 29-year-old Londoner with a Kate Beckett fringe and a tendency for dramatics, gets taken on a surprise trip by her long-term boyfriend, Pete, to attend her best friend’s last-minute wedding in South Africa. Jess imagines sun, sand, wine and safaris. And returning to London with an ethically mined diamond on her left hand...

But this holiday isn’t set to be quite the fairy tale Jess has planned. Suddenly she finds her world tilting on its axis, and things are only set to get worse when Jess returns home.... 

Catherine Bennetto is back with her trademark wit and an equally hilarious cast of characters who will have you rooting for them from the first minute.

Winner winner!!  I loved this book!!!  If you love funny, sweet, heartfelt chick lit with some family drama thrown in for good measure then this is your next read, friends!  After reading a supposed "laugh-out-loud funny" book in April that was not funny in the slightest, this was just what I needed.  I actually did "LOL" in several parts and the two settings of Cape Town, South Africa and London, England were perfect.  The narrator did a great job bringing this book to life on Audible!

Jess is flawed but endearing and charming and you will love her and her weird quirks.  Your heart will break with her and swell for her as the story goes on.  I loved each of these characters (minus Pete) and the sweet chemistry between Jess and Jimmy was undeniable.  Jimmy's brother and his partner are so lovable, Annabel (the wayward sister) is a voice of reason, Jess's mom is a little nutty and her dad is carrying a large secret.

Another one to add to your summer list, girls!


Yours Truly: The perfect laugh out loud romantic comedy by [Greenwood, Kirsty]

So last summer, I read Big Sexy Love by Kirsty Greenwood and named it one of my FAVORITE chick-lit books of the year.  I thought it was hilarious and quirky and fun and I just thoroughly enjoyed each page.  (And don't let the title fool you.  It was not a sexy romance novel by any stretch of the imagination.)  It was also one of my Kindle reads by the pool, although there is an Audible version as well.

So as soon as I finished that one, I looked for more Kirsty Greenwood books but she didn't have any others on Audible! My summer was coming to a close which meant my late evening pool sessions with my Kindle were also coming to a close.  So I waited and waited and made Yours Truly my first summer read of this year.  And it was so cute!!  I still love Big Sexy Love the most but this one was so much fun.

Twenty-seven-year-old Natalie Butterworth will do anything for an easy, quiet life and if telling a few teensy white lies keeps her friends and family happy, then so what? It’s not like they’ll ever discover what she’s really thinking… Until one night, thanks to a pub hypnotist, Natalie’s most private thoughts begin to bubble up and pop out of her mouth. Things get very messy indeed, especially when some sticky home truths offend her fiancé.

Natalie must track down the hypnotist before the wedding is officially cancelled. So along with bad influence bestie Meg, Natalie finds herself in the Yorkshire Parish of Little Trooley - a small village bursting with big secrets, nosy old folk and intriguing Wellington-wearing men. When the girls get stranded in the village with no means of escape and no way to break the hypnotist's spell, Natalie is forced to face the truths she has been avoiding her whole life...

This book was definitely a few steps away from what I consider a typical chick-lit book.  It was a bit mystical and magical with Natalie being hypnotized and how it all happened for a reason.  This book was also hilarious and cringe-worthy at times since Natalie was hypnotized into telling the truth to every single question she was asked.  I read this in two days over Memorial Day weekend and did not want to put it down.  

Seriously, morning...


...to night on Day 1.  And the next day I sat there again all day until it was done.  #bestdayever


This is another great beach read and I plan on diving into another Greenwood book ASAP!


Did you see that Mary Kay Andrews released her latest book last month?!  I am a HUGE fan of hers so I snapped up Sunset Beach as soon as it came out.  MKA knows how to blend chick-lit with mystery perfectly and her books never disappoint.

Sunset Beach audiobook cover art

Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth-grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator, and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing persons case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

If you're a fan of MKA, go ahead and add this one to your collection!  The summary says it all so there's not much more to say than that.  ;) The mystery of who the killer is and why she was killed will keep you flipping pages and the little spin at the end was awesome.  Now to wait another year for a new one!

Other Mary Kay favorites...

You can find all my other book reviews HERE or in the menu at the top of this page.

Now...what should I read next?!?!

Also, don't forget to take a peek at the Deals group today!  Lots of great stuff for summer is on sale in every category from clothing to toys!



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3 comments

  1. You should read Castle of Water next. Loved it. Also, YES, I do Amazon wish list- and the BEST PART, is if a book on your wish list goes on sale, Amazon will email you and tell you :) #winning.
    I also LOVED The Mermaid Chair- it's a GREAT summer book read. Also, Secrets of a Charmed Life and The Shoemaker's Wife. Great books.

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  2. Thanks so much for the recommendations. I've added a couple to my to be read list (and one was already on there). I would recommend the following: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum, and Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills. They are my recent four star reads.

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  3. Just added ALL of these to my TBR list! Thank you!!!

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