Let the bookish birthday bliss begin!

 

They say April is the cruelest month but if it happens to be your birth month, as it is mine, then there’s plenty of good times to be had!

Of course, my idea of a good time is new books and that started off with selecting a trio of fresh reads from Book of the Month Club.

I was beyond thrilled to see that Abby Jimenez’s  Just for the Summer was a main selection! Having just read Part of your World and Yours Truly back to back, this book is definitely going to be cherry on top of this romance flavored sundae.

The story begins with Emma, a traveling nurse who reads an online forum entry from a guy named Justin in Minnesota that says his love life seems to be cursed as every woman he’s broken up with instantly finds her soul mate -the most recent ex girlfriend winds up with his best friend!

Since Emma has similar luck in love, the two of them decide to date each other over the summer as a way to break the mutual jinxes on their romantic futures. However, things become more complicated as time goes on and this supposedly seasonal fling may lead to something more serious there.

Jimenez has a wonderful flair for mixing an emotional cocktail of romance, humor and sincere heartache that keeps every element in perfect page turning balance. This book should be a real blockbuster of a read indeed:

One of the benefits of a long term BOMC membership is getting a free book for your birthday and my choice for that honor is a debut novel, How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang.

YA author Helen Zhang is thrilled to have one of her bestsellers be adapted for TV and is excited to move to LA to work with the team of writers involved.

Unfortunately, one of those writers she knows all too well: Grant Shepard, who was part of a personal tragedy for Helen’s family back in their mutual high school days.

Working with Grant is difficult at best yet she comes to see that perhaps he’s not the villain of the story here. Rather, the two of them might be able to heal from their shared pain of the past by creating a new bond of love in the present towards a better future.

This does sound intriguing and taking a chance on a debut novel is a great gift for any reader to give to themselves. Plus, as it turns out, Kuang is no stranger to TV as she’s written and directed several streaming series, including I Ship It for the CW(she is also adapting an Emily Henry novel for the big screen). Such insider knowledge is a good creative canvas to spread your imagination upon:

Just for something completely different, my last selection was 

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz.

When frustrated writer Alex gets the opportunity to attend a month long workshop held by renowned author Roza Vello, it seems almost too good to be true.

Doubts begin to surface as Roza issues a challenge to all assembled; complete a fully written novel within the month and the best one will receive a major publishing deal. On top of that, Alex has to deal with Wren, an old rival who relishes the chance to rub fresh salt into Alex’s emotional wounds.

However, when of the other attendees goes missing, the stakes become considerably higher and Alex finds herself having to choose between potential literary success and her own safety.

I have heard some good word of mouth about this book since it came out last year and felt like giving it a try. Also, this “women in isolation “ genre has being steadily gaining traction and I would like to engage with it more in book form:

While I do have to wait a few days for my BOMC box to arrive, in my mailbox today was a package from Better World Books, which did have a nice spring sale that I couldn’t resist.

Along with two more Maisie Dobbs mysteries(Birds of a Feather and Pardonable Lies), I went with Sarah Penner’s The Lost Apothecary.

As modern day American Caroline visits London as a means of getting over her cheating husband, she stumbles onto a mystery involving a strange vial that has a near etched into its surface.

This vial may have belonged to Nella, a 17th century apothecary who used her skills to create poisons for women seeking retribution against men who did them wrong. Nella’s death was deemed a suicide but was it really? Can Caroline’s investigation reveal the truth or is she setting herself up for a scarily similar fate?

This blend of history with mystery and perhaps a touch of magic sounds very enchanting and I’m happy to have it in hand as I speak:

I am getting more books for my birthday but will talk about them when that time comes. After the hectic days of wind and rain in my neck of the woods, it’s soothing to have a nice new book or two to start the month off with in a pleasant way. 

Also looking forward to making April a month long celebration-nothing too fancy, some good books, time with loved ones and maybe indulge in a Hallmark channel movie there-how can I ignore something called Blind Date Book Club, seriously? That’s like asking a baker to not notice a cake convention!: