Posted in Next Month in Books

Next Month in Books – May 2024

As usual, if you’ve got any suggestions for May 2024 releases I might have missed out on, please let me know in the comments or by e-mail at louisehallbooks@gmail.com.

Until next time, happy reading x

Note: I don’t get paid for including any of the links below, they’re just the books I’m most looking forward to being published each month.


7TH MAY 2024

The Match (It Happened in Charleston #1) by Sarah Adams

OK so this isn’t technically a brand-new release because it was 1st published on 30 May 2020 but it’s a revised and extended edition and I haven’t read it before.

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it.

Evie Jones has dedicated her life and very limited funds working for Southern Service Paws, the company that matched her with the love of her life: Charlie, a service dog trained to assist with her epilepsy. But it’s no secret that the company has been struggling to make ends meet. It’s up to her and her long-time mentor and boss to throw the fundraiser of the century to keep the doors open.

Then Evie meets Jacob Broaden at a client consultation meeting. There are instant sparks-but not the good kind, because Jacob’s daughter set up the meeting without his knowledge. Ten-year-old Sam has been recently diagnosed with epilepsy, and has wanted a service animal ever since. While he had hesitations at first, it doesn’t take long for Jacob to be convinced that a service dog, and possibly Evie, with her magical, woodland-green eyes, might just be the best thing for him and his daughter.

As Evie spends more time with Jacob and helps Sam find her perfect match with a lovable golden retriever named Daisy, she starts longing for something she’s never had before: a loving family. For Jacob, falling in love with Evie is the last thing he should be doing, but love has a way of finding those who need it most.

Tags: Favourite Author / Pupsters

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


9TH MAY 2024

One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette

Supermodel Emerson seemingly has the perfect life – but she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places.

When a reminder for the marriage pact she and her former best friend Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes she has a chance to rekindle the only relationship that ever really made sense.

Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting.

The good news: the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy.

The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped . . .

Will this be her one last shot at love, or a final goodbye?

Tags: Fashion / Italy / New-to-Me Author / Second Chance

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


14TH MAY 2024

A Wedding in Lake Como (Meet Me in Italy #3) by Jennifer Probst

Best friends Ava, Madison, and Chelsea made a pact to reunite for each other’s weddings when their careers sent them in different directions. But after one of them makes a choice that tears the group apart, an upcoming wedding might be their last chance to heal old wounds.

Ava is about to marry the man she loves in a lavish ceremony on the shores of Lake Como, but she’s haunted by the mistakes she’s made.

Madison’s made a name for herself as an influencer in the fashion world but is threatened by a scandal impacting everything she holds dear.

And Chelsea has the perfect family she always craved, but her professional dreams have fallen by the wayside.

As they return to Italy’s gorgeous coast, the three women revisit their life-changing first trip to Lake Como during college. When Madison comes face-to-face with the college sweetheart who was at the heart of one of the most pivotal times of her life, can they forge a new way forward?

Tags: Favourite Author / Italy

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


14TH MAY 2024

The Dixon Rule (Campus Diaries #2) by Elle Kennedy

‘I told them I had a girlfriend.’

I start to laugh. ‘This is the greatest day of my life.’

‘Oh, it gets better, Dixon. I told them it was you.’

Diana Dixon has a lot going on this summer. She’s rehearsing for a ballroom dance competition, juggling two jobs, and dealing with an ex-boyfriend who can’t take the hint it’s over. Yet despite all that, she still has plenty of time and energy to tell Shane Lindley to screw off.

Shane just moved into her apartment building and seems dedicated to sleeping his way through her entire cheerleading squad. Sure, he’s a tall, gorgeous hockey player, but he’s messing with her turf. This calls for some ground rules: no parties in her apartment, leave her teammates alone, and – most importantly – leave her alone.

What Diana doesn’t realize is that Shane’s sick of hook-ups and tired of being on the rebound after his long-term girlfriend called it quits. He wants a relationship. And when his ex comes back into the picture, he pretends he has one to make her jealous . . . and who better to play the girlfriend role than his sassy new neighbour?

Despite Diana’s reluctance to break her rule, a fake relationship is the perfect solution for her own ex issues, and soon she can’t deny something is sizzling between her and Shane. Something hot and completely unexpected. And it might just be getting a little too real.

Tags: Fake Dating / Favourite Author

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


14TH MAY 2024

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam ‘West’ Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living pay-check to pay-check while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents – his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

Tags: Favourite Author / Marriages of Convenience

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


23RD MAY 2024

The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan

A summer escape

When Cecilia Lapthorne’s 75th birthday celebrations take an unexpected turn, she seeks solace away from the festivities and escapes to Dune Cottage – without telling her family where she’s going.

A new friendship

Lily Thomas, a struggling artist, has secretly been staying in the unoccupied cottage. When Cecilia discovers Lily during a late-night visit, an unexpected bond forms between the two women.

A chance to start over

Then Cecilia’s grandson, Todd – and Lily’s unrequited crush – shows up, sending a shockwave through their unlikely friendship. Will it inspire Lily to find the courage to live the life she wants? Can Cecilia finally let go of the past to find a new future? Because as surely as the tide erases past footprints, this summer is offering both Cecilia and Lily the chance to swap old dreams for new…

Tags: Favourite Author

Links: Amazon / Goodreads


 

Posted in The Weekly Book Date

The Weekly Book Date (13 November 2023)

The Weekly Book Date

Photo Credit: Lisa Fotios @ Pexels.

The Weekly Book Date is where I talk all things books from the previous 7 days.

I’ve definitely rediscovered my love of fiction, finishing 5 x books this week (including 2 x Five Star Reads).

After 16 years in our apartment, we recently splurged on a fancy-pants sofa and after all the stress of getting it delivered (we couldn’t get it through the door at first so the upholsterers had to take it apart and then put it back together again in our lounge) there’s literally nothing better than curling up on the sofa with my duvet and Kindle.

If, like me, you’re in your Winter Holiday Romance era, I’d definitely recommend Christmas in Cape May, Same Time Next Year (New Year’s Eve), A Winter in New York (Christmas) & Eight Dates and Nights (Hanukkah).

All the best, Louise x


Currently Reading (& What I Bought This Week):

Christmas in Cape May (Sunshine Sisters #3.5) by Jennifer Probst (2023)

Devon Pratt loves many things in life. The beauty of flowers. The yin and yang of energy. The power of positivity in people. And everything to do with the Christmas season.

As a floral shop owner in the beach town of Cape May, she looks forward to decorating both the town and running the annual holiday party to benefit the local animal shelter. Too bad the new owner of her favourite venue is more like the Grinch than Santa. Working with him will be a challenge, but she’s too full of seasonal cheer to let him annoy her, right?

Jameson Franklin hates many things in life. Crowds. Fake cheer. Ostentatious décor. And especially Christmas. The season is full of things he’d rather avoid, but since taking over the popular restaurant Vintage temporarily for his cousin as a favour, he’s trying to play nice with the locals. Too bad the florist is insisting on overrunning his sacred space with blooms, dogs, and an endless positive persistence that pushes all of his buttons. But when too many heated confrontations lead to heated encounters, he begins to wonder what it would be like to love not only Christmas, but Devon Pratt.

Let the festivities begin.

Tags: Christmas – Favourite Author – Favourite Series – Flowers – Grumpy Sunshine


What I Read This Week:

(1) Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

My 1st Five Star Read from last week, Same Time Next Year isn’t widely released until 1 December 2023 but you can get it for 99p now as one of Amazon’s First Reads for November 2023. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you read a Tessa Bailey book. Same Time Next Year is sexy as hell (Sumner gets an A+ for dirty talk), the chemistry between Britta & Sumner is undeniable and it’s got lots of my favourite things (he falls first, marriage of convenience & sports romance).

Adored by all, Britta is an ambitious waitress working at Sluggers. The popular bar holds a special place in her heart and is a regular hangout for the Bridgeport Bandits, the local hockey club. With a half-brother on the team, Britta has a strict no-dating policy for hockey boys. But she does have a soft spot for one particular player.

A beast on the ice, Sumner Mayfield is on the brink of breaking into the NHL. But time’s running out. With his work visa about to expire, Sumner’s only chance to stay in Bridgeport is to marry an American—and get a green card. Otherwise, it’s back to Canada for the defenseman.

On New Year’s Eve, the team begs Britta to marry Sumner that very night. Sum is embarrassed yet hopeful—he’s desperately in love. But Britta balks at first. Until something about Sumner’s soulful brown eyes and ripped physique makes her reconsider…

Tags: Favourite AuthorMarriage of Convenience – Sports Romance (Ice Hockey)

(2) Summer Wedding by Sarah Morgan (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Sarah Morgan is one of my all-time favourite authors and catching up on Summer Wedding, which is set on the gorgeous island of Corfu, was a lovely escape from a wet and windy autumn here in England. Catherine and her two daughters, Adeline and Cassie have their own romantic threads within this family saga and I don’t know any other author who can balance the two quite like Sarah, I was equally invested in all 3 x characters.

A family wedding

Catherine Swift is a bestselling romance author, but her personal story hasn’t been quite so successful; three failed marriages have left her relationship with her daughters strained. Engaged once again, Catherine is counting on this wedding, at her villa in Corfu, to finally bring the family together.

A summer of secrets

Adeline can’t believe her mother is getting married for a fourth time, or that she’s expected to attend. It brings back the pain of her mother’s infidelity and the baby who was the result. Not that she blames her half-sister Cassie, but then she’s never tried to know her, either. Cassie, on the other hand, is thrilled by her mother’s news – she’s always admired Catherine’s resilience, and is excited to meet the mystery groom. Cassie also has a secret of her own, and a summer in Corfu will give her the time she needs to process everything.

A chance to start over again

As the guests arrive on the island, and the big day approaches, Catherine begins to reveal secrets from her past, and suddenly both Cassie and Adeline realise that they don’t know their mother at all . . .

Tags: Favourite Author

(3) A Winter in New York by Josie Silver (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

My 2nd Five Star Read from last week, A Winter in New York has everything you could possibly want from a romance. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I want to eat vanilla forever gelato, re-watch my favourite movies and be adopted by the Bellotti’s. I haven’t read anything else by Josie so far but as soon as I’d finished reading AWINY I immediately added her other books to my TBR.

When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice.

But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?

Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family’s gelato recipe, is in a coma, so they can’t make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she’s not sure why Gio’s uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?

Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavour and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio’s uncle finally wakes up, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life—and new love—she’s been building all winter long.

Tags: Chefs – New-to-Me Author

(4) Promises We Break After Dark (Decisions in Durham #3) by Rachel Higginson (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I wanted to love this because I’ve read 8 x books by Rachel Higginson so far and never given any of them less than 4 x stars (5 were 5 x Five Star Reads including the 1st instalment of the Decisions in Durham Series: Decisions We Make After Midnight) but Promises We Break After Dark was just OK. I don’t know why but I just didn’t warm to Ada and Charlie even though I’d been intrigued by their backstory after reading the 1st 2 x Decisions in Durham books.

Ada Kelly is doing the best she can. Smart, driven, and practical, she works hard to make her favourite Durham bar, Craft, as successful as possible. Except she’s thwarted at every turn by the sibling drama of the bar’s co-owning trio. Still, she loves her job, and everyone she works with.

Well, almost everyone.

Charlie English is selfish, flaky, and the sexiest man she’s ever known. And he makes her absolutely stupid. Early on in her employment at Craft, Ada made the mistake of sleeping with him. She knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Charlie wasn’t the kind of guy who knew how to settle down. Or think about anyone besides himself. So why had she done it? And why would she still do it now? Years later?

Ada has promised herself she’ll never make that mistake again. She’s promised herself she’ll put Charlie in the past where he belongs and move on with her life.

But the thing about promises is . . . they’re meant to be broken.

Tags: Favourite Author – Second Chance – Workplace Romance

(5) Eight Dates and Nights by Betsy Aldredge (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I started reading Eight Dates and Nights, expecting to read just a couple of chapters but I didn’t put my Kindle back down again until after I’d finished. It made me unexpectedly emotional. I think it’s partly because after October 7 and the dramatic rise in antisemitism here in the UK, it reminded why Jewish stories are so important and Hannah’s grandmother made me think about my own nana, who we lost 21 years ago. Nana wasn’t Jewish but Poppa was from a Jewish family and she had lots of Jewish friends so she used to make many of the Jewish recipes mentioned in EDAN including gefilte fish.

New Yorker Hannah Levin is allergic to exactly two things, horses and tinsel. Unfortunately, she’s surrounded by both this Hanukkah when, thanks to a freak snow storm, she’s stranded in the small town of Rosenblum, Texas, visiting her grandmother, who she hasn’t seen in years due to family drama.

Super lonely, missing latkes and reliable wi-fi, she follows the scent of fried potatoes and wanders into an old deli where she meets the only other Jewish teen in town, Noah, who happens to be equal parts adorable and full of annoying, over the top Hanukkah spirit that he’s determined to share with Hannah, one ugly, itchy Hanukkah sweater at a time.

She makes him a deal, she’ll help him save his family’s deli, which is practically the only Jewish remnant in a town that once had a thriving community of European immigrants, if he’ll leave her to sulk in peace. However, after a spectacularly memorable kiss Hannah wonders if there’s more to Hanukkah, this community, and even her grandmother than she thought.

Tags: Foodies – HanukkahJewish – New-to-Me Author


Pre-Orders:

(1) A Villa With A View (Romantic Escapes #11) by Julie Caplin (29 February 2024)

I’ve really enjoyed travelling vicariously through the previous instalments of the Romantic Escapes Series and the Amalfi Coast is high up on my Dream Travel Wish List so of course I had to pre-order A Villa With A View.

Lia Bathurst had always dreamed of escaping to the white sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas of the Amalfi coast – but that dream hadn’t included meeting her real father. A father she had never even known about until a few weeks ago! Yet here she was, standing outside the gates of a gorgeous pink villa being refused entry by the insufferable – and insufferably handsome – Raphael Knight, her father’s business manager.

When an old black and white photo proves Lia’s claim to be true, Raph is determined to make sure this stranger, with her long caramel waves and infectious smile, doesn’t have an ulterior motive. Even if that means not letting her out of his sight.

As temperatures rise, and not just from the heat of the Mediterranean sun, could Lia and Raph’s forced proximity lead to something more like… amore?

(2) One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette (9 May 2024)

I’m too old for TikTok so I hadn’t actually heard of Betty Cayouette (creator of Betty’s Book List) until One Last Shot was included in a 2024 Books post on Instagram. After reading the blurb, I knew I had to pre-order it because I love books about the fashion industry (It’s Called Fashion, Darling) and (as you can tell from my 1st pre-order, A Villa With A View) Italy (Love, Italian Style). The fashion model – photographer vibe reminds me of Behind His Lens by R.S. Grey, which was a Five Star Read (Pre-Blog).

From the moment Emerson and Theo met as teenagers, they were inseparable. But just when they finally expressed their feelings to one another, they were torn apart.

Now, supermodel Emerson is nearing her twenty-eighth birthday, and she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. When the calendar reminder for the marriage pact she and Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes this is it―her chance to rekindle the only romance that ever really made sense. Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the fashion campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting. The good news is the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy. The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped.

The two embark on a four-day campaign that tests not only their feelings, but their ability to keep their hands off one another. But as roadblock after roadblock keeps them apart, Emerson starts to wonder will this photoshoot be the key to getting one last shot at love, or will it be a final goodbye?

(3) Miranda in Retrograde by Lauren Layne (13 August 2024)

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll know that I’m a self-proclaimed Lauren Layne Super Fan. I’ve read everything she’s written and devoured her most recent book, Emergency Contact (Five Star Reads – October 2023), within a couple of hours of it downloading on my Kindle so I couldn’t be any more excited that we’re getting a new LL book in 2024.

As the youngest physics professor at her university, practical-minded Miranda Reed plans her life with minute precision. But that’s before she’s denied tenure and the promotion she thought was guaranteed. Suddenly, her tidy life is anything but constant.

Overdue for a sabbatical, Miranda takes some time to look towards the stars—only this time, she’s not looking for black holes. With her faith in science shaken, Miranda turns to a practice she’s long dismissed as astrology.

Determined to figure out why her life has suddenly gone sideways, Miranda commits to a year of letting her horoscope guide her. Put a down payment on a home? Not while Mercury’s in retrograde. Spontaneous dinner party invitation? Sorry, horoscope says Gemini Rising best stay in tonight. And as far as the intriguingly aloof artist living next door? Never. His Aries energy is all wrong. On the other hand, the charming father of her new tutoring pupil is Sagittarian perfection. Made for her…right?

As Miranda navigates life with a new perspective, she slowly discovers neither science nor the stars have all the answers. And that, when it comes to love, you sometimes just have to trust your heart.