May Readin' Round Up!!

I'm so glad that summer is almost here.  These past few weeks have been extremely busy and my reading and blogging have all taken a back seat.  My oldest daughter is graduating from Fifth Grad and you would think it was high school or college with all of the events they have going on.  Luckily this is the last week of school.  

I was still able to finish 8 books in May.  And I DNF'd my first book of the year, and I don't think I will go back to it.  

So here's what I read.  Click on any title, to read the full review of the books and on the book cover to order!!  

Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson.  3.5/5 stars This is the first book in the Sometimes in Love series.  I have the other 2 as well and can't wait to read those.

From their freshman year in college, Cassie and her friends may a promise to each other that they would take a European vacation five years after graduation. So that's is where they are. Finishing up their trip in Scotland and then London. All Cassie wants out of this trip is to end her dry spell in the bedroom, but as the trip comes to a close, it doesn't look as though that is going to happen. And then she sees the man she's be waiting for. A long-haired redhead in a kilt named Logan Reid. Could it be more perfect? Cassie throws all her inhibitions to the side and goes for what she wants. Will the be just a vacation fling or something much more.


The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 3/5 stars.  

Jeannette Walls led a very interesting life. Living most of it way below the poverty line and "doing the skedaddle" all over the country. Her parents didn't care much for rules or parenting. The book starts off with Jeannette burning herself at the age of 3 making herself food to eat. What three year old is using a stove? The book continues through her life with some outrageous and mind blowing events. This was a very interesting story that made me hug my kids a little tighter and be thankful for the family I have.



The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang 5/5 stars  I LOVED THIS BOOK!!  This is also the first book in a series. The Bride Test is the second book.

Stella Lane is an econometrician for whom, math is the most important thing. For Stella, her relationships with people aren't as great. Nearing her 30's and at the top of her game at work, her parents are encouraging her to find a boyfriend. But Stella has been on a few dates and even had sex, but none of it interests her. She doesn't like to be touched or to be dirty, so that complicates matters as well. On top of all of that, she as Asperger's, a form of autism. In order to get better at sex and people, Stella decides to hire and escort. When she meets Michael, things are a lot different with him. Is it because she is paying him or is it something else?



Stripped Bare by Frankie Love and C.M. Seabrook 4/5 stars.  Another first in a series.  The series is called Hammers and Veils and they are all novellas that go from meeting to long-term commitment very quickly.

Eli loves his little sister and he would do just about anything for her. So when she asks him to help her friend, Karis, fix up her bakery he is obliged to do the job. When Eli walks into the bakery, he sees the job is a lot more than he signed up for. But when he lays eyes on Karis, all thoughts about the work go out the window. He would do anything to help this pretty girl.



The Mister by E.L. James 3/5 stars.  Her first book since 50 Shades of Grey!!

Alessia Demachi has left her country of Albania in order to avoid being married to a violent man and is now in London. She is working for Maxim Trevelyan as his cleaner. She comes and does her job and then leaves. When she first spots Mister Maxim naked across his bed, she can't believe her eyes. And he has this wonderful piano in his apartment that she enjoys playing when he is not there. But life is not easy for Alessia and she is constantly looking over her shoulder so she is not found by the people who brought her here and are trying to traffic her.




The East End by Jason Allen 4/5 stars

It's Memorial Day weekend in the Hamptons and as usual the Sheffield family is opening their summer home for their family and a slew of guests over the weekend. When the patriarch of the family, Leo Sheffield, decides to arrive at the house a day earlier with a friend, he isn't expecting the night to turn out the way it does. His friend ends up dead and their are witnesses and pictures of what happened. But if the truth is revealed it could ruin him and his family forever. Corey is a townie and the son of Gina who has worked for the Sheffield's for the past 12 years. He is one of the witnesses to what happened at the Sheffield house. Will he be able to keep the secret?



The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick 3.5/4 stars

Martha Storm volunteers at her local library, several days a week. Helping out with the book club and re-shelving the books. One day as she is going to the library for an author event, she sees a man leaving something at the library entrance that is addressed to her. When she opens it up, it's a book dedicated to her from her grandmother, 3 years after her passing. How could this be? What secrets does this book hold? Is her grandmother really dead, or is she still out there somewhere? Martha is determined to find out what is going on and the more she finds out about her past, the more it shapes her future.




The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister 4/5 stars

Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. One smell can conjure up a whole moment in your life, that you thought you had completely forgotten about. "When you change a scent, you change the memory..."(Quote taken from advanced copy)

Emmeline and her father live on a remote island. It's just the two of them and Emmeline has learned all she knows from her father, but the greatest thing she has learned, is how to use scents to determine what is going on in the world. Cut off from the rest of society, people are just objects in books, and her father is the only other physical person she knows. When she turns 13 and is forced into the "real" world, she quickly discovers that it's more than scents that she will need to make it in life.



The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

Thank you to Flatiron Books for an advanced copy of this book.  I read this book for 10 days and maybe got through the fist 150 pages of this nearly 500 page book.  It's about a family that buys and island near New York and how over the years the younger generation did not want to take care of it.  It didn't grab my attention.  Another thing that bothered me about the book, it changed from past to present day(maybe), but there was never any indication of that.  That was troublesome because the characters throughout the generations had the same name.  I don't think I will go back to this book in the future.



So that about sums it up.  I'm happy with what I got through.  Here is what I plan to read in June: