Here we are at the beginning of another new month! May is one of my favorites… the flowers are blooming, the temps are warming up, and summer is in view.
But before we launch into May, let’s look back at April… time for Month in Review! April was busy here, so this was another five-book month for me. Here’s a roundup!
One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This was a delightful women’s fiction novel, and was probably my favorite read of the month, though there were other close contenders. See my review of this title here!!
Flower Power Trip by James J. Cudney (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The latest in the Braxton Campus Mysteries, Flower Power Trip was a fun read with more adventures for Kellan, the Ayrwick family, and Braxton College. I posted a series review as well as an interview with the author, and you can find it here!
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
I finished this domestic suspense in one sitting… it was that good. Twisty, captivating, and a fast, wild read! Please see my full review of this one here!
Red Velvet and Revenge by Agatha Frost (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This cozy mystery is the 16th book in the Peridale Cafe series. Cozy lovers will enjoy this series… these are light mystery reads with a cat loving, cafe-owning amateur female sleuth, in a small village setting with quirky characters.
Our protagonist/baker/sleuth Julia lives in the rural English village of Peridale, near a few family members and a rather interesting assortment of townspeople. Each book can be read as a standalone, but you know my policy on that… always better to go back and start at the beginning, which in this case means with Pancakes and Corpses.
I’d recommend this series to any cozy mystery reader… they are fun, with well developed characters and intriguing cases, and they are quick reads. As an added bonus, the Kindle version of each book is often only a dollar, or you can read them for free if you have Kindle Unlimited!
Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
I always love finding new-to-me authors, and I can’t believe I’ve never read anything by Mary Kay Andrews before. Her newest, Sunset Beach, tells the story of Drue, who makes a fresh start and falls headfirst into difficult family dynamics as well as a couple of mysteries. Here’s a description:
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.
Sunset Beach is a compelling ride, full of Mary Kay Andrews’ signature wit, heart, and charm.
I think this will be a very popular beach read this summer! Sunset Beach releases May 7th and you can pre-order it now.
Well, I don’t know that May will be any less busy, but I’m certainly hoping to carve out more time for reading! So tell us… what was your favorite read of April? Drop a note in the comments below. Hope your new month is off to a wonderful start… happy reading!
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My thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for a complimentary digital review copy of some of the books mentioned here. All opinions are my own.
The Biblio Blonde 
I loved The Mother in Law! Such a good read.
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