What I Read In May 2023 + My June TBR
I read quite a few books this past month! I am really proud of truly reading the books that I love and enjoy. That being said, I was in my romance book era this month! I only read four books this month but these were some great books.
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I got the new Emily Henry book as soon as it hit bookstores—and it did not disappoint. At first, when I first heard about the book many months ago, I thought I wasn’t going to like it because I don’t normally read second chance romances (except for When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn). Emily Henry knows how to write strong and incredible female main characters who are likable but also flawed. But she also knows how to write great male romantic leads from the perspective of the female narrator. She knows how to get inside the male’s head while we’re still reading from the female’s POV. I wrote a full review here, so feel free to read that, but overall, this book pulled at my heartstrings. I would definitely say this falls in my #2 rank of Emily Henry books. The list is: People We Meet On Vacation, Happy Place, Beach Read, and then Book Lovers. It shocks to put Beach Read at #3.
Rating: 5/5
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Wowowowow. This book was good … I haven’t read a Christina Lauren book in a while, but I really liked this one! The Bachelor and reality dating show fans will sure love this one as it follows behind the scenes of filming a dating show as the lead FMC who is a romance author tries to find love with eight “Heroes.” However, a budding romance brews behind the scenes with a fellow producer. I thought the middle was slow at times and found it slightly boring to get through, but the beginning hooked me in and the end made up for the slightly boring parts. Also, the characters were SO well-written. Fizzy is so cool and relatable and bold in her own spirit and I loved her! Connor is a brooding, quiet, and reserved hero that we don’t catch onto his hero-ness until the middle of the book. But he is still so dreamy and loved every moment with him. Besides the plot getting stuck in the middle, I liked this book! I think it could’ve been shorter, perhaps? Still, I would recommend this book to a romance book reader who loves The Bachelor!
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
This book has to be one of my favorite romance books—if not my favorite romance book—of the year. Sarah Adams writes beautiful romances. That’s all I can say. I loved her previous books, and I can say that I love her writing. Will and Annie are probably my favorite book couple of all time. First of all, when I read the book’s description, I immediately knew I was going to relate to Annie, maybe a little too much. Annie is a shy flower shop owner with social anxiety who barely goes on dates and feels like she’s too boring for anyone. She is known as the wallflower amongst her sistesr (and her brother, Noah Walker). But enter: Will Griffin, Amelia Rose’s (from When In Rome!) bodyguard, who Annie finds herself attracted to. Will is this tattooed bodyguard with a lot of childhood trauma and a whole lotta walls up. He doesn’t want to let anyone in and does not want a relationship—but he can’t stay away from Annie and it seems that he’s slowly letting his walls down when he’s around her. Will and Annie aren’t the typical grumpy/sunshine couple, like we saw in the first book, but Will is truly a big softie when he’s around Annie. The whole “practice dating” is genius. (Hence the “practice makes perfect” book title!) I loved that Annie was so vulnerable in her anxiety around dating—I don’t see a lot of that in female main characters in romance books. And Will is so sweet. He made it sure that Annie was only nervous and lacking confidence, but she is a great human being with a shining personality. Overall, there aren’t enough words to describe how I feel about this book. I wrote a full review which you can read here!
Rating: 5/5
Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison
I finished this on audio and I loved it. I loved the first two books in the Lovelight Farms series, and this one did not disappoint. I loved Caleb and Layla’s story! Like Practice Makes Perfect, this was a fake dating trope and the two characters were “on assignment” to date each other for practice. Practice makes perfect, right? I wasn’t obsessed with this book; I thought it was a tad slow at times and I felt myself distancing myself from the plot and tuning it out (I listened on audio). I liked the character development for both Caleb and Layla, I loved Layla in the first two books as a supporting character, and was so excited to get to her book. I would recommend to any romance book reader who loves small town romances.
Rating: 4/5
My June TBR:
A Slice of Heaven by Sherryl Woods
Heartless by Elsie Silver