April was a good reading month. 8 books. 3,348 pages total. An average of 112 pages a day. I finished off and started some great series. So let’s get to it!
The Crown by Kiera Cass (282 pages). The fifth book in the Selection series. Only the Elite remain. Eadlyn is down to only five men who she thinks could share her life. Fashionable Hale. Foreign born Henri (with his translator Erik). Companionable Fox. Aloof but committed Ean. And childhood friend Kile. But when a heart attack sidelines her mother (and father to be nursemaid), Eadlyn realizes that she needs to take on the task of ruling in order to bring peace to her family and their country. But which young man will be by her side at the end? This was a great ending to this series. Following the family from King Clarkson to Queen Eadlyn showed a beautiful progression. I finished in 3 days.
Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass (390 pages). So this was a companion book to the series. It contained a map of Illea (would have been nice to have at the start of the series, just because I’m a dork like that). And a lot more in depth information about the characters of the series: Queen Amberly, Prince Maxon, Aspen, Marlee, Celeste, Lucy, Kriss, Natalie and Elise. We learned more about the Selection from their points of view. And what some of them did post Selection. I really liked this. I actually would have loved to have read them during the other novels. But enjoyed it nonetheless. I finished in 3 days.
The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart (348 pages). Ana Kaminski is a midwife in Poland in the 1940’s. As life in her town becomes more overrun with Nazis, Ana and her family fight with the Resistence. Across town in the ghetto, young Ester Pasternak is a newlywed and a nurse. The women had known each other before the war began but found themselves together in Auschwitz. One for being Jewish and one for being a traitor. Together, they helped bring babies into the world. And when the Nazis began taking the “acceptably Aryan” ones to be raised by good German families, they tattooed them with their mothers’ numbers, so that the mothers could find them if they survived the camps. Y’all- when I tell you I wept, I WEPT. This story was so beautiful. The horrors or WW2 still just appall me. But the stories of survival and love that came from it give me such warmth. This book was based on the life of Stanislawa Leszczynska, a Polish midwife who was sent to Auschwitz for being part of the Resistence. And one who delivered over 3000 babies during her 2 year internment, never losing a mother or a child during childbirth. And yes, she tattooed the babies, in the hopes they could be returned to their birth parents. Honestly, other than her name being changed and Ester being a family friend rather than her biological daughter, most of the characters are real- the SS, the Nazi doctors and kapo, even some of her children’s names. Y’all- reading just a little bit about this woman brought me to tears. She has been nominated for sainthood in the Catholic Church. I sure hope she gets it- she sounds like a literal angel on earth who lived through literal hell. I finished in 4 days.
Haunting Adeline by HD Carlton (538 pages). Adeline Reilly is a 26 year old successful author who just inherited her grandparents’ very gothic home, Parsons Manor. The Manor has a dark history, as her great grandmother Gigi was murdered there in the 1940’s. Her murder was never solved, but Addie suspects that Gigi’s stalker killed her. Meanwhile, Addie has a stalker of her own. Zade Meadows created an underground organization and their sole purpose is to take down human traffickers. Honestly I didn’t like this book. I don’t mind a “dark romance.” But this one pushed my limits of what I can handle. Zade seems like a wonderful man in some ways. Who doesn’t love a man who rights atrocities of this world? But the fact that he stalks Addie and blurs the line of consent while mentally/emotionally abusing her was very disturbing. Very. I’m not sure why this book was so booktok famous. The only part I really liked was Addie solving Gigi’s murder. I finished in 5 days.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (385 pages). I read this book about 2 years ago and loved it. But one of my book clubs decided to read it so I did a re-read. Monique Grant is a scrub writer for a magazine in New York. So no one is more shocked than she is when Evelyn Hugo’s people reach out and state that Monique (and Monique only) can have an exclusive. But Evelyn has more than an article in mind- she has handpicked Monique to tell her story. For reasons only Evelyn knows. But Evelyn was one of the biggest movie stars of all time. Monique isn’t going to let this chance pass her by. The book is in 7 parts- one for each of Evelyn’s husbands. Turns out I loved this book just as much the second time around! I finished in 2 days.
The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart (444 pages). A sequel of sorts to The Midwife of Auschwitz. It’s 1961 Berlin. The country (and the city) are divided into East and West. The war is over but the world hasn’t fully healed yet. Ester is now a midwife outside of Berlin. Her 17 year old adopted daughter Olivia helps her. Olivia was the first baby that Ester tattooed under her armpit. And that tattoo is what brought Olivia into their family. But then Olivia discovers her own love- throwing the javelin. So she joins Dynamo, an athletic club in East Berlin, for training. Meanwhile, 17 year old Kirsten works in a cafe across town in West Berlin. She and her friends, led by student Dieter, question the socialism that is happening just across the street from them. Kirsten begins to learn some family secrets, including the truth as to how she got a scar under her armpit. But then, the unimaginable happens- a wall is built. A wall that separates the East from the West. And Olivia from Kirsten. But Olivia isn’t happy under communist rule. And Kirsten isn’t going to let her stay there. So good. Apparently only one character was a real person- Dieter. But the events (the wall, the separation, the communist regime) were all true. Oddly, this is not an era of history that I had much knowledge about. So I found it fascinating. I finished in 4 days.
Bridesmaid for Hire by Meghan Quinn (444 pages). Maggie Mitchell is an event planner. Brody McFadden works for Hopper Industries. And they have known each other for years- he was her brother’s fraternity brother and best friend. But after a drunken kiss gone bad, Maggie just can’t stand him. When they both end up at a resort in Bora Bora (her for vacation and him for his boss’s daughter’s wedding), they realize they can help each other. Meeting the Hoppers could help Maggie’s business. Having Maggie on his arm could help Brody make in-waves with the Hoppers. And when the maid of honor can’t make it, Maggie steps in as a last minute bridesmaid. Spending all this time together makes it hard for Maggie and Brody to deny their chemistry. But Brody’s boss is a shrewd man who has figured out that Brody is there to try to get ahead at Hopper Industries and Maggie is there to get a leg up with her own business. And Mr Hopper is not a man who likes to be played. So one drunken night turns everything upside down for Brody and Maggie. Alas- the path of love never is easy in a rom com! This one was super cute. And I love that Meghan Quinn interweaves characters from other series into each new series (the Cane brothers from an earlier series I read). I finished in 4 days.
The Way I Hate Him by Meghan Quinn (517 pages). Hattie Rowley is a little bit worried. She’s still lost after her beloved oldest sister’s death, she’s failed out of graduate school and she just got dumped by her jerk of a boyfriend, who had been rock star Hayes Farrow’s assistant. Until he got fired for stealing from Hayes. Which Hattie knew about because she’d helped steal Hayes’ Grammy. But when Hattie and Hayes both end up back in their small hometown of Almond Bay, a deep seated family rivalry sets sparks flying. But Hayes has real issues with abandonment. And when his past shows up, his fears cause him to push Hattie away. Can love overcome everything? This is a rom-com, of course it can! Hattie is Maggie’s best friend and this story takes place before the prior book. I finished in 5 days.
This month’s favorite is…….The Midwife of Auschwitz
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