Hello Readers! Since I participated in the Trope-ical Readathon last month, and spent every extra minute reading instead of blogging, I’m still trying to get caught up on posts. But thanks to the readathon, I had a great reading month, which I shared in My March Wrap-Up. With my wrap-up being extra big, I decided to do a separate haul post. I added a few new books, including a few purchases, my quarterly subscription box, some giveaway wins, a few free ebooks, and a couple of ARCs, as well.

Let’s see what I added!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

My eARCs

I was super excited to get approved for Erin Hahn’s next romance, Friends Don’t Fall in Love, which features a side character from her previous book, Built to Last, which I adored.

Synopsis:

Lorelai Jones had it all: a thriving country music career and a superstar fiancé. Then she played one teenie tiny protest song at a concert and ruined her entire future, including her impending celebrity marriage. But five years later, she refuses to be done with her dreams and calls up the one person who stuck by her, her dear friend and her former fiancé’s co-writer and bandmate, Craig.

Craig Boseman’s held a torch for Lorelai for years, but even he knows the backup bass player never gets the girl. Things are different now, though. Craig owns his own indie record label and his songwriting career is taking off. If he can confront his past and embrace his gifts, he might just be able to help Lorelai earn the comeback she deserves—and maybe win her heart in the process.

But when the two reunite to rebuild her career and finally scratch that itch that’s been building between them for years, Lorelai realizes a lot about what friends don’t do. For one, friends don’t have scratch-that-itch sex. They also don’t almost-kiss on street corners, publish secret erotic poetry about each other, have counter-top sex, write songs for each other, have no-strings motorcycle sex, or go on dates. And they sure as heck don’t fall in love… right?

Erin Hahn’s Friends Don’t Fall in Love is about long-time friends, taking chances, and finding out that, sometimes, your perfect person was right there in your corner all along.

Expected October 17, 2023

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Another author I read last year and enjoyed was Susan Azim Boyer with her debut Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win, which was set in the 1970s. I was very happy to see she already has another book releasing, The Search For Us, which I believe is a contemporary novel, and sounds so very intriguing!

Synopsis:

“A sharp-witted and illuminating, impressive sophomore novel.” – Isaac Blum, author of the award-nominated The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew. 

Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is—the biological father he never knew.

Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, The Search for Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.

Expected October 24, 2023

My eBook Purchase

I could not pass up Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses bundle when I came across it for less than $5 at the beginning of the month. I’d picked up a bundle for the Throne of Glass series last year for the same price. Hopefully now that I have them all loaded and ready to go on my kindle, I can get to them soon! 🤞

Giveaway Wins

I was happy to be one of the winners of Lisa Love’s Literature‘s monthly giveaway. She allows the winner to choose from her stack of ARCs. Here’s what I chose:

• Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things by Maya Prasad – I was so intrigued by this YA book about four sisters over four seasons with four different romances all set at an inn in the Pacific Northwest.
• Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren – I’d seen many of you rave about this romance, so it was an easy choice!
• The Honeys by Ryan La Sala – Lastly, I chose this YA Horror set at a summer retreat!
  

My Book HookUp Box

My spring Book HookUp box included the creepy She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran and an ARC of Daughter by Kate McLaughlin, along with other goodies. Check out My Book HookUp Unboxing for a more in-depth look!

Paperbackswap Books

• New Moon: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim – This one has been on my wishlist at paperbackswap for a looooong time. So when it came up, I had to grab it. It’s been added to my Twilight collection shelf. 🙂
• The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner – Another one that’s been on my wishlist for a few years, this historical fiction novel is about a multigenerational family set on an island off the coast of Italy.

Free eBooks

• Love Like Water by D.E. Malone – This romance has some mixed reviews, but I couldn’t resist the cute premise—a woman who takes a job as a tour guide on a bus—or the cover!
• Roommate by Sarina Bowen – Several of you have enjoyed this romance, so of course I had to snatch it up!

Amazon First Reads Selection

In March, I chose I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman, a time traveling YA mystery that was also chosen as Mindy Kaling’s Book Club pick of the month. And every time I read the title, I’m singing, “I’ll stop the world and melt with you.” 😃

Published on April 1, 2023

Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!