April 2023 Reading Wrap-Up
April was a great reading month for me in terms of both quality and quantity. I read the most books so far this year, and I had a lot of 4.5-5 star reads.
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April Reading Stats
Books read: 16
Pages read: 5,764
Average rating: 4 stars
DNF: 0
Formats: 5 physical, 7 eBooks, & 4 audiobooks
Books Read
These are all of the books that I finished in the month of April. I will mention other books that I read some of but didn’t finish later in this post.
1. Double or Nothing by Cindy Steel
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: Pride and Pranks book 2
Read: Mar. 30 – Apr. 1, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Kindle
Synopsis:
My best friend’s older brother is back in town.
Do I care? Not one bit. Logan may have been my childhood crush, but I’ve always been little Tessa to him. Not to mention, he’s turned into a shallow flirt and I’m not looking to get played again.
What’s the problem, you ask? (Besides all the flirting.)
Thanks to a scheming mutual friend, Logan and I find ourselves embroiled in a bet of absurd proportions. Now, instead of ignoring Logan and keeping my heart safely locked away, we have a date every Saturday night and a kiss looming on the horizon.
And the line between us is getting… muddy.
As long as Logan stays the shallow flirt, I’ll be fine. My heart is safe from the player. It’s the man underneath giving me a run for my money.
Purchase here: Amazon
2. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 3-4, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
Spice: 2.5 hearts
Source: owned (Book of the Month)
Synopsis:
After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.
While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.
Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
3. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Narrated by Lameece Issaq & Amin El Gamal
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Series: Amina al-Sirafi book 1
Read: Mar. 30 – Apr. 6, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
Spice: 1 heart
Source: Scribd (2-month free trial)
Synopsis:
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.
But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.
Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
4. Legend by Marie Lu
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Series: Legend book 1
Read: Apr. 6-9, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
Source: owned
Synopsis:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
5. The Bluff by Emma St. Clair
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: The Graham Brothers book 2
Read: Apr. 10-13, 2023
Rating: 5 stars
Source: owned
Synopsis:
I won’t be winning any employee of the year awards. But only because my boss is the grumpy boss to end all grumpy bosses. Did I mention he doesn’t trust me to do my job?
Challenge accepted.
Not only am I going to help James launch a successful brewery, but I’m going to find out what makes him tick … and what makes him go boom.
All this has nothing to do with the fact that the man is unbearably, unfairly, unignorably (is that a word?) attractive. Or that he lost his mom when he was young, same as me.
The more he pushes me away, the more I’m pulled into his orbit. It’s a battle of stubborn wills, and I don’t plan to concede anytime soon.
Except the more time I spend around James Graham, the more I start to lose the one thing I refuse to give to any man … my heart.
Purchase here: Amazon
6. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Series: Shadow and Bone book 3
Read: Mar. 18 – Apr. 15, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
Spice: 1 heart
Source: Libby (library app)
Synopsis:
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. The nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
The Darkling rules from his shadow throne while a weakened Alina Starkov recovers from their battle under the dubious protection of the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Now her hopes lie with the magic of a long-vanished ancient creature and the chance that an outlaw prince still survives.
As her allies and enemies race toward war, only Alina stands between her country and a rising tide of darkness that could destroy the world. To win this fight, she must seize a legend’s power—but claiming the firebird may be her ruin.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Genre: Adult Magical Realism
Read: Apr. 6-17, 2023
Rating: 3 stars
Spice: 1 heart
Source: Hoopla (library app)
Synopsis:
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
8. The Best Mistake by Cookie O’Gorman
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: Southern U O’Brien Brothers book 1
Read: Apr. 16-18, 2023
Rating: 3.5 stars
Spice: 2 hearts
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Synopsis:
Honor Tierney just wants one night with the playboy.
One hot, steamy, meaningless hookup, and then she’ll happily go back to reading her favorite books, studying to be an accountant and writing for the campus-paper-nobody-reads. Too bad she ends up in the wrong bed, with the wrong brother…who gives her the hottest night of her life.
Archer O’Brien just wants to play ball.
Well that, and for his brothers to stop acting out, so he won’t have to worry 24/7. As the oldest O’Brien and team captain, it’s his duty to make sure they don’t drink too much, party too much, or get in too much trouble. But when she walks into his bedroom—mistaking him for his brother—life throws him a curveball.
She’s determined to guard her heart. He’s not giving up.
And when Honor gets assigned to cover the Wolves baseball team, it’s game on.
Purchase here: Amazon | AbeBooks
9. The Perfect Play by Cookie O’Gorman
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: Southern U O’Brien Brothers book 2
Read: Apr. 18-19, 2023
Rating: 3.5 stars
Spice: 2 hearts
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Synopsis:
She’s playing to win.
Okay, so I probably shouldn’t have made that bet with Emmy. But come on! She was challenging me. Attract a guy in seven days? No problem.
Well…maybe just one.
The guy she chooses is her brother, Chase O’Brien aka golden-boy-Virgin and star pitcher for the Wolves. Unlike most guys, Chase seems immune to my charms—but I’ve always loved a challenge.
He’s playing for keeps.
Charlie never should’ve made that bet with my baby sister. But if she uses her magic touch to heal my arm and gets me back in the game? It’s all good.
Actually, the more time we spend together, the harder I fall. I always knew I’d recognize my soulmate when I found her—and Charlie’s the one.
Even if she doesn’t know it yet.
Purchase here: Amazon
10. The Sweetest Game by Cookie O’Gorman
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: Southern U O’Brien Brothers book 3
Read: Apr. 19, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
Spice: 2.5 hearts
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Synopsis:
Hopelessly in love with my best friend’s brother.
That’s what it will say on my tombstone. Here lies Junior “June” Dorsey. Tomboy. Car lover. Bookworm. She suffered from a severe case of unrequited love syndrome.
It’s not like I haven’t tried liking other guys. I have. It’s just none of them measure up to him. Baylor O’Brien. Beautiful. Cocky. Talented (on the field and in the bedroom—or so I’ve heard).
And completely oblivious to my love for him.
When Bay asks for my help, I can’t say no. He needs my PR expertise to revamp his reputation and up his chances of being scouted after one scout—the one he really wants—dismisses him as nothing more than a party-loving playboy.
When he asks me to be his fake girlfriend, I accept his proposal.
But how am I supposed to act like I’m in love without revealing the truth? And why is Baylor so good at pretending?
One thing I know that’s true:
All’s fair in love and baseball.
Wish me luck,
June
Purchase here: Amazon
11. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Narrated by AJ Bridel
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 17-20, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
Spice: 3 hearts
Source: Libby (library app)
Synopsis:
Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
12. Bookworm by Cookie O’Gorman
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 20-22, 2023
Rating: 3 stars
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Synopsis:
Bookworm (buk-werm): Someone who loves books, reading, and/or studying. For reference, see Charlotte Kent.
Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Kent likes happy endings. Not that she’s looking for one herself. Awkward, never been kissed, and bookish to the core, Lottie would rather read about love than experience it.
But she enjoys helping others find their HEA in books.
Lottie loves working at the library…even if it means running into Bo Stryker.
Broody, athletic, and unfairly attractive when he frowns, Bo works at the flower shop across the street. Lottie is about to get rejected…when surprisingly, Bo steps in, pretends to be her boyfriend, and steals her first kiss.
One viral video later, everyone thinks they’re together.
Bo wants to keep pretending. Lottie wants to make amends—long story short: she was on a ladder; he startled her; the book slap was an accident.
A fake relationship may be the solution. But as they grow closer, Lottie can’t help falling for Bo—which is a disaster because grumpy sunshine only works in fiction…right?
This book features two opposites with undeniable chemistry, one lovable librarian, so many stolen kisses and answers the question:
What happens when a nerd falls for the grump-next-door?
Purchase here: Amazon
13. The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt
Narrated by Stephanie Rose & Nelson Hobbs
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 21-24, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
Spice: 3 hearts
Source: Scribd
Synopsis:
They say love and construction don’t mix.
By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.
LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens—certainly nothing to build a foundation on. But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they’re thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but in order to access her trust, she has to be married.
Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.
A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, LaRynn and Deacon quickly learn that it’s easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks, much to their growing mutual frustration) they’ll also have to learn what it means to truly cooperate as a team.
Purchase here: Amazon
14. Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 23-25, 2023
Rating: 3.5 stars
Spice: 2 hearts
Source: library
Synopsis:
Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?
Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.
Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous–and it turns out he has a very different vision for the property’s future.
Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
15. Prodigy by Marie Lu
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Series: Legend book 2
Read: Apr. 14-26, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
Source: owned
Synopsis:
June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.
It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.
But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
16. Wait for It by Mariana Zapata
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: Apr. 26-27, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
Spice: 2.5 hearts
Source: Kindle
Synopsis:
If anyone ever said being an adult was easy, they hadn’t been one long enough.
Diana Casillas can admit it: she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing half the time. How she’s made it through the last two years of her life without killing anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Being a grown-up wasn’t supposed to be so hard.
With a new house, two little boys she inherited the most painful possible way, a giant dog, a job she usually loves, more than enough family, and friends, she has almost everything she could ever ask for.
Except for a boyfriend.
Or a husband.
But who needs either one of those?
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
Other Things I Read
These are the other books I read this month but didn’t finish.
To Be Continued…
These are books that I started in the month of April but haven’t finished reading yet.
I’ve been meaning to read this series for several years now, but I finally just now started it.
I’m almost 100 pages in, and I like it so far.
It’s book one in the Infernal Devices trilogy, which is set in the 1800s London Shadowhunter world.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
Last year, I read another book in this Biblical biography series about Joseph, and I really enjoyed it.
Since I’m currently reading about David in my Bible, I thought it would be fun to listen to it now. It’s very interesting and educational so far.
Purchase here: Bookshop.org | Amazon | BAM | AbeBooks
Have you read any of these books?
Comment down below if you’ve read or want to read any of these books!