Hello, beautiful friends and happy May! I’m admittedly behind on my monthly reading updates but am so excited to share both my March 2024 and April 2024 reads with you. Don’t forget you can see all my reviews, at any time, in my virtual library here on the blog. Let’s jump in!
The Fixer Upper
Romcom | Type: Audiobook
Description:Finding a man is like buying a sometimes you have to look beyond the exterior to see the potential underneath.
As an estate agent, Alex’s job is to create happy-ever-afters. It’s just a shame she can’t work the same magic on her own life. Her long-term boyfriend Thomas still lives with his mother, and her hopes of them taking the next step are dashed when he announces he’s spending all his savings (savings she’d quite hoped he’d want to put towards their future home) on an ‘artist retreat’ in San Francisco.
With Thomas thousands of miles away, getting a little too friendly with his fellow artistes, Alex strikes up a friendship with her new neighbour, Callum. Taciturn, grumpy and nerdy, Callum couldn’t be more different to Alex’s bubbly personality…. So why is he the one she wakes up wanting to talk to?
As they get to know each other, Alex starts to wonder if the answer to all her problems might be closer to home than she thinks…
Review: This book was a rec from my friend Grace, @graceatwood / thestripe.com, and it was fun! The title makes you think there’s a literal fixer upper in the picture but not quite. The story shows a very real view of living with roommates in your 20s/30s, having the first hard break up and finding love when you least expect it. For the most part, it’s a very light book and I would highly recommend for a beach and/or casual weekend read.
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Black Romance Magical Realism| Type: Hardcopy
Description: Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.
Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.
When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.
One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.
Review: Y’all, this book was truly a treat! I did not expect the magical realism twist in this book and it made me fall in love even more. From the floral details to slow burn love to the connectedness of the Harlem Renaissance, I am still recovering from my book hangover. This is easily my favorite Tia Williams book. Also, I’m still pinching myself that we were able to have her on book club *eeeeeeek*
Hemlock
Thriller | Type: Audiobook
Description: Thirteen years ago, Maggie Ellis left her small town and vowed to never return. In her rearview mirror were two men she loved and an ominous secret that would forever haunt her.
Now, tragedy has brought her back, and she’s determined to forget that fateful night. But in a town like Myers, with familiar faces and chilling memories lurking around every corner, moving on is easier said than done.
Before the ink can dry on the closing documents for her new residence, Maggie begins to feel unsettled. In every room, there’s the unmistakable sensation she’s being watched. The strange sounds, odd smells, and bizarre occurrences only add to her paranoia.
There’s something sinister about her new home…
When she discovers the devastating truth about the house and its grim history, Maggie’s worst fears are realized. In order to survive, she must unearth the secrets she’d always planned to keep buried.
After all, they say that home is where the heart is, but as Maggie knows, home is also where the skeletons lie.
Review: This author is seriously mad…in the best way! Everything I’ve read by her keeps you guessing until the very last second and this book was no different. To be honest, I had to stop reading for a while because as a fellow old house dweller, I was getting nervous about sounds I was hearing in my own home. Seriously though, loved loved loved this book so much and would recommend to any who loves a twisty thriller and “haunted” house stories. Too good!
Twenty Years Later
Thriller | Type: Audiobook
Description: Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention. Her latest story–a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal–is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.
Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name. Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.
But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life is just the beginning. And what Avery doesn’t realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past–one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .
Review: This book was a rec from my friends Nikki & Jasmine from Raleigh, and I truly haven’t read a book this good in a while! An absolutely crazy thriller that had my jaw on the ground at the very end. There was something so special about how this book intertwined the lives of so many “random” people and how 9/11 was the catalyst for a 20 year mystery around a love affair (maybe) gone wrong. So good, must read, 100/100!
Good Half Gone
Thriller| Type: Audiobook
Description: Iris narrowly escaped her twin sister’s fate as a teen: abducted in broad daylight and long gone before she could convince the cops there was anything to investigate. With Piper presumed a runaway and no evidence to go on but Iris’s scattered memories, the case quickly goes cold.
Ever since that terrible day, Iris’ search for Piper has bordered on obsession. Chasing leads across years and following clues that all seem to point to a single name, Iris does everything she can to get close to the only person who might know the answer to the question that still haunts her: where did Piper go?
And if the police still won’t help, she’ll just have to find the answer herself–using her criminal psychology degree to intern at the isolated psychiatric hospital on Shoal Island, where secrets lurk in the shadows and are kept under lock and key.
But Iris soon realizes that something even more sinister is simmering beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…
Review: Friends, I have so many mixed feelings on this book. The twists and turns were truly unexpected but there were so many parts that were truly hard to read and deserve several trigger warnings. There is such a “redemption”, if you can call it that, after 10+ years but wow, this was a bit hard to get through. I usually love this author so much so I wanted to love this book but it overall wasn’t that great, IMO. *Trigger warning for sexual assault, human trafficking, kidnapping, gaslighting, religious trauma*
The Husbands
Thriller | Type: Audiobook
Description: When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem–she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years.
As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?
Review: Okay, so many thoughts here. 1. This book gives me Midnight Library + The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue but happier, funnier and including a revolving door of men. 2. I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud because of a book in forever because there are truly some hilarious moments. 3. This book made me question myself in SO many ways. What if I could close a door on one partner and get another, would we? Would I? How do we balance relationships when we are feeling both sides of the “days are long, years are short” mentally? If you could be anyone, have anything, even if for a short period of time, what would you do? What would you buy? Where would you go? What would you see for the first time? All the things! Overall, loved this book so much! It was fun and hilarious and made me think a lot.
This Could Be Us
Romance | Type: Audiobook
Description: Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.
But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.
But then an unlikely man enters the picture–the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?
Review: My bookclub and I were waiting for this book with bated breath. We absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy, Before I Let Go, following “the strong friend” Yasmen. This story follows Soledad, the “too good for him” friend, who we all know has the worst husband on earth. This book was a really sweet love story that had a bow tie ending. Both Soledad and the man she falls for are so deserving and sweet and kind. I will say this book felt a little bit long at some points and had a lot of extra detail along the way but overall, really enjoyed it and the book made for a great bookclub conversation. I am so excited for book three in this series!
April literally kicked my butt with personal travel, work travel, finishing my NYU sustainability course and the start of a busy work season but I always love getting back on the blog. From my last update, I am still reading a few other personal/self-help books: Rich AF, Big Magic and Outliers! I also started Our Kind of People on vacation. I’m rotating between all of these in the evenings at bedtime and during screen-free lunch breaks. If you love all my picks and want more, you can:
Check out all my book blog posts: here
Join #LotsofBooksClub, my monthly book club: here
Read along with me via Everand: here (first two months free then $10/m)
Search my virtual library: here
Thanks so much for reading, friends! Have a lovely week -xo, Azanique <3