Books – April 2023

April books coming in hot! A few good ones, a few that I could take or leave.

Just My Type by Falon Ballard

This was a fun read. I love enemy to lovers, and this was also a second chance romance. Lana Parker was a strong female lead. I loved her group of girlfriends, they were such great side characters and made me want to join their friend group! Seth was a little bland at times, I wish we could have heard his POV throughout the book, it would have made him a stronger character. I loved the premise and flow of the book. There was a lot of growth in Lana, and I like to see that in our main character. I will say, the article excerpts at the beginning of each chapter were a little disappointing. I felt like they were low-effort considering the entire book revolves around Lana and Seth’s work. I wanted something a little more clever.

Bottom Line: Read it!

The 40-Day Sugar Fast by Wendy Speak

This is the best book I have read on my relationship with food. Hear me out. While not every devotional day in this book went very deep, or was super life-changing….there were a few days that just really clicked with me and are the things I needed to hear. Especially the last few at the end. This devotional made me realize that sugar was ruining both my physical health and my spiritual one. And it goes beyond just sugar, spending…time on social media…etc. When you run to any of those things instead of God, you lack the spiritual fruit of self control and you will never be satisfied. I definitely plan to pick this up at least annually, as there are many good nuggets.

Bottom Line: Read it!

The next three are novellas by Ali Hazelwood. You can consume them all in one as Loathe to Love You, or separate. I chose to write about them separately below.

Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood

This was such a cute, quick read. I liked how it started out in present time, then went in reverse over the last five months. I wish we would have gotten Liam’s side of the story, it would have been fun to know what was going on in his mind. But, obviously since this is a novella, there isn’t a ton of character development. In fact, I didn’t really feel the moment when these two felt a spark. While I really love Ali Hazelwood’s longer novels, I wish we could get away from the exact same copy and paste characters in each book. While I love she focuses on STEM women, they are usually annoying characters and the men are always dull and boring with super huge *insert eggplant emoji here.** While the formula worked for me in the first two books of hers I read….I want something more now! I enjoyed this one, but I have a feeling the next two in the series are going to basically be copies of this story. And that is a little disappointing.

Bottom Line: I think this series of three novellas is worth a read, but I wouldn’t rush to purchase them.

Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood

This might have been my favorite out of the three? I feel like we really got to know Sadie and Erik more than the others. I could feel the chemistry more, they had a lot in common with their interests. It was steamy and fun! But again, big guy, small girl, science thrown in. Same formula.

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

This one was cute, but once again…same formula. For the third time in a row in one novella, I thought that was a bit much. I enjoyed the actual plot…of being stuck and the whole rescue. That part was fun. And I liked how each novel started in the current and went back to how the characters first interacted. But again. Three times in a row is a bit much.

Houseplants for a Healthy Home by Jon VanZile

I have gone all in on embracing the green thumb life. This book is full of different house plants and it talks about their benefits to promote healthy living, as well as general care for them. It is an easily digestible read, each page is set up the same. There are plants that help clean the air, promote digestion, better sleep, combat anxiety and depression, relieve pain, fight cold and flu, help with ear aches, PMS, there are even plants that act as an aphrodisiac. We are definitely adding more around here.

The book is very basic, I wish it had real photographs instead of illustrations. But it was just what I needed to get started. It is very easy to look up certain plants, as it is laid out alphabetically.

Bottom Line: Read it! You will definitely learn something.

Mama Bear Apologetics by Hillary Morgan Ferrer

We live in a society that breaks further and further away from Christian morals and values. There are so many lies fed to us every day. As parents, we are the gatekeepers to our children and what they are exposed to. Our kids are facing attacks on their faith that we never had growing up. I made a lot of notes while reading this book and I actually am hoping to start a local book club inspired from it!

Bottom Line: Read it!

Gardening for Everyone by Julia Watkins

I grabbed this from the library and fully intend to purchase a copy for myself. This book is full of beautiful photos, crafty ideas and knowledge/education about all things gardening. I really liked the layout and the way everything was presented. I found great value in this over other gardening books I checked out the same day.

Bottom Line: If you are a beginner gardener like me, definitely grab this.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

I love a good family drama, but I feel like this one doesn’t have a strong plot/storyline. Nothing really happens. I mean, nothing monumental. It is filled with immature, catty characters. I felt like the book was virtue signaling a lot of the time. I didn’t quit it, and I am not afraid to tell a book bye. So there is that. I did enjoy reading it at times. But it took awhile to get into and I rolled my eyes a lot while reading it. I feel like this book is getting a lot of buzz and it is lost on me as to why.

Bottom Line: The best thing about this book is the cover. I gave it a solid 3 stars. I wanted it to be better, but still enjoyed parts of it.

Exes and Ohs by Amy Lea

I am trying to decide how I feel about this one. Trevor is amazing. I loved him throughout the book. Tara? Ugh. She got on my nerves! She is so immature for someone who is 30. I really don’t think that someone of this age would act so childishly at times. I liked the idea of going back through your exes, assuming they were half way decent people. But I also subscribe to the “they are exes for a reason” theory more often than not. I like slow burns and forced proximity, and we get both of that in here.

Bottom Line: This is another 3 star book for me. Trevor was a much stronger character than our leading lady, and frankly, he deserved better than her!