This is the third in the Finlay Donovan series (and I thought it was the last, but the cliffhanger at the end makes me think not) and, not to make it too punny, but the series has jumped the shark. Amazon: “Finlay Donovan has been in messes before—after all, she’s an author and single mom who’s a pro at getting out bloodstains for rather unexpected reasons—but none quite like this. After she and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car that they may have “borrowed” in the process of saving the life of Finlay’s ex-husband, the Russian mob got her out of debt. But now Finlay owes them. Still running the show from behind bars, mob boss Feliks has a task for Finlay: find a contract killer before the cops do. Problem is, the killer might be an officer. Luckily, hot cop Nick has started up a citizen’s police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay’s looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with the tempting detective), Finlay and Vero have the perfect cover-up to sleuth out the real criminal and free themselves from the mob’s clutches—all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero’s past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.” I only read this because I had read the rest of the series. Can’t recommend.

I can’t remember where I read about Hooked by Sutton Foster. I don’t even know who she is and haven’t watched any of her shows. However, Hooked was a good memoir regardless. “Whether she’s playing an ‘age-defying’”’ book editor on television or dazzling audiences on the Broadway stage, Sutton Foster manages to make it all look easy. How? Crafting. From the moment she picked up a cross stitch needle to escape the bullying chorus girls in her early performing days, she was hooked. Cross stitching led to crocheting, crocheting led to collages, which led to drawing, and so much more. Channeling her emotions into her creations centered Sutton as she navigated the significant moments in her life and gave her tangible reminders of her experiences. Now, in this charming and poignant collection, Sutton shares those moments, including her fraught relationship with her agoraphobic mother;  a painful divorce splashed on the pages of the tabloids; her struggles with fertility; the thrills she found on the stage during hit plays like Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes, and Violet; her breakout TV role in Younger; and the joy of adopting her daughter, Emily. Accompanying the stories, Sutton has included crochet patterns, recipes, and so much more!” (Amazon) I enjoyed this on audiobook.

Another week, another Colleen Hoover. How did she write so much before anyone recognized her talent? Cheesy? Yes. Beach-read-y? Yes. But, Slammed was good too. “Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she’s losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her. Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.” (Amazon) Load up your beach bag with these Colleen Hoover books – you won’t regret it.

One Month of You by Suzanne Ewart was another beach-y cheesy book. I guess I have needed this kind of book of late. Amazon: “A Walk to Remember meets Jojo Moyes in a stunning love story following one woman who has already seen how her story will end and the one man determined to change it…When Alec asks Jess out, she knows it won’t work. Is Alec charming? Of course. Attractive? Definitely. Can she not stop thinking about him…yes, but that’s also the problem. Because Jess has rules. And the first? Don’t fall in love. What no one knows is that Jess has inherited Huntington’s disease from the mother that she cares for. And while witnessing her own future play out, Jess has learnt to keep everyone and everything at arm’s length. But Alec is determined to break down those barriers. When she finally tells him why they have no future, he proposes a different option—just one month together. One month to date. One month to live. One month to fall in love. But as Jess grows closer to Alec, she knows she has to end it. It’s better that he is hurt now rather than heartbroken later, isn’t it? A tearjerker of a novel covering love in all its forms, this tender debut is the perfect next read for fans of Jill Santopolo, Tracey Garvis Graves, and Colleen Hoover.” You’ve been warned – add it to the summer beach bag. It’s on sale now too…$7.99.

Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander was a delight. Amazon: “She has a full-time remote job and her rescue cat Fred. Her best friend Sadie visits with her two children. There’s her online support group, her jigsaw puzzles and favorite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson poems. Also keeping her company are treacherous memories of an unstable childhood and a traumatic event that had sent her reeling. But something’s about to change. First, two new friends burst into her life. Then her long-estranged sister gets in touch. Suddenly her carefully curated home is no longer a space to hide. Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world  is coming to her door…” The story unfolds slowly and we get small glimpses into the backstory as it goes. I really enjoyed this read.

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai was an audio book choice when I had my last free credit from ordering Spare last month. I don’t always listen so well to audiobooks and honestly wish I had read this one instead. “A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie. But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.” (Amazon)

Never Never was the next Colleen Hoover I got from the library. This was also written by Tarryn Fisher. Amazon: “Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning…they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love…every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be…the more they question why they were ever together to begin with. Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.” While somewhat simple and beach-read-y, this story drew me in and I really liked it. Implausible? Yes. But a good read nonetheless.

Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like YA. When I requested All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir from the library, I didn’t realize it was YA. And, even when I did, I thought I would give it a try anyway. Amazon: “Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds’ Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever. When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.” I LOVED this book. It was a great, absorbing story. Highly, highly recommend.

There’s been a lot of conversation around Spare by Prince Harry. I chose to listen to it, which was lovely since he reads it himself. However, I must say, while I am all about the royals and all the intrigue involved, most of this narrative was downright boring. I had to push myself to listen at all opportunities since it is SO long. Am I glad I pushed through? Yes. But, I am not sure I can recommend it unless you really want to know what all the hype is about.

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson was a Reese Witherspoon pick and a great read. I loved the back and forth chapters of the different characters and loved how things came together in the end. Amazon: “1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done. With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.” Great story based on historical truths.