What I Read April

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Hey loves. It was a little slower reading and listening month. A few good ones and a few books that really made me think.

Total physical/kindle books: 6

Total audible: 6

Total books for 2022: 55

Goal: 100 books 20 audiobooks

Title: At Your Best

Author: Carey Nieuwhof

Genre: personal development

How I Read It: borrowed from library

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar:

● Slammed is normal.
● Distractions are everywhere.
● Life gets reduced to going through the motions.

Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow.

Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you.

At Your Best will help you
● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity
● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough
● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day
● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence
● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems
● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos

Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

My Review: The concept it nothing you haven't heard before, but the strategy and approach makes more sense. We all have the same amount of hours in a day but our peak time (green) varies in length and time of the day.

Title: The Prisoner

Author: B.A. Paris

Genre: mystery

How I Read It: borrowed from library

My Rating: 2 out of 5

Amazon Description: Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne.

But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?

In the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Therapist, multimillion-copy bestseller B. A. Paris is back with a gripping new suspense novel.

My Review: The book started off sucking you in, then it just fizzled. The ending was predictable. Characters were not likable or relatable.

Title: The Other Man

Author: Nicole French

Genre: romance

How I Read It: audiobook

My Rating: 2 out of 5

Amazon Description: Nina Astor gave me one red-hot night, then disappeared like a ghost. Three months later, fate drops her in my lap. The only problem? She's beyond off-limits, and we're worlds apart. I'm a city prosecutor with a bit of a dark side. She's the gilded daughter of a dynasty, property of the scum of the earth, and the man who owns her is the subject of my next investigation. Nina thinks I'm on the right side of the law, but she's forgotten one thing: When it comes to her, I'm not a good man. To claim her as my own, I might sell my soul to the devil himself. True be told...When it comes to this woman, maybe I already have.

My Review: I just couldn't get into this book. The plot felt slow, and even on 2x speed the book felt like it would never end.

Title: Rumours and Romance

Author: Julia Jarrett

Genre: romance

How I Read It: ebook

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon Description: Jackson Holt, the sexy new veterinarian in Dogwood Cove, and I both have a problem with an obvious solution.

I’ve got a busy bakery to run, and a new cafe to open, but my friends and family think I’m a workaholic who needs to find love. Jackson has an offer to be a partner at the vet clinic, as long as he shows his boss he’s in town to stay.

A fake relationship is the perfect way for both of us to get what we want. Two birds, one little white lie of a stone.

Jackson has no intention of falling in love, and I don’t have time for anything real. It should be easy to end things when we don’t have to pretend anymore… right?

We promised we wouldn’t fall for each other. Turns out that was the biggest lie of all.

My Review: A quick fun read of a fake relationship that turns from friends to lovers. I loved that they both wanted a fake relationship to get family and friends off their back.

Title: You Are the Girl for the Job

Author: Jess Connolly

Genre: personal development

How I Read It: audiobook borrowed from library

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon Description: Get ready to leave defeat and disbelief in your dust, and step boldly into the life God has purposed for you from the beginning.

It's tough when your gifts and passions are stuck in holding patterns of insecurity, shame, and comparison. But the truth is, every experience of your life has prepared you to live out your God-given purpose in this exact moment. The world is hurting and our lives are waiting, we don't have time stay stuck--we've got to make a move.

You Are the Girl for the Job is not an empty catchphrase. It's the straight-up truth God has proclaimed over your life from the beginning. It's not a statement about your capacity, but rather about His--and that's why we can dare to believe it's true.

With powerful insights and heart-pumping hope, bestselling author Jess Connolly is here to coach you through six steps toward empowered purpose:

#1 Call It Quit (You'll see, it's the best place to start)
#2 Find Your People
#3 Use What You've Got
#4 Face Your Fear
#5 Catch the Vision
And finally, #6 Make Your Move

You don't have to hide, hold back, or wait for permission when God calls you forward. Let this book--as well as the study guide and video study (sold separately)--be your jumpstart into confident, purposed living.

My Review: Going into listening to this I didn't realize it would so God influenced but I was happily surprised. It was everything I needed to hear when I was doubting myself.

Title: The Younger Wife

Author: Sally Hepworth

Genre: mystery

How I Read It: audiobook borrowed from library

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: THE HUSBAND

A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the
truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses
in all of them?

My Review: Ending I never saw coming. A complicated family with a non-scary mystery. The story kept you wanting to know what happens next.

Title: Princess and the Player

Author: Ilsa Madden Mills

Genre: romance

How I Read It: audiobook

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon Description: Levelheaded Francesca Lane never thought she’d miss her own wedding. But when her fiancé betrays her, she puts on her wedding dress and ditches the altar for a masquerade ball—at an exclusive lifestyle club.

There, she meets unknown-to-her NFL star Tuck Avery, dressed as a prince and hiding behind a mask—he’s there to celebrate his birthday. For one night, Francesca and Tuck indulge in a wickedly incognito affair. No names. No strings. And the masks don’t come off.

Unfortunately, Francesca realizes quickly that her masked prince is the wealthy jock who lives in the penthouse of her apartment building. His hobbies include parties and supermodels—or so the tabloids say. Getting tangled up with a shallow jerk is the last thing Francesca needs right now, so she vows to keep Tuck from recognizing her (not that she’s his type anyway).

But fate has a teeny-tiny trick up her sleeve…a plus sign on a pregnancy test. Can this tormented prince accept love, or will he push his princess away forever?

My Review: I didn't want it to end. A twist I didn't see coming. Characters are memberoable and likeable.

Title: You Are A F*ucking Awesome Mom

Author: Leslie Anne Bruce

Genre: parenting

How I Read It: audiobook from library

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: A much-needed voice of encouragement for every woman who had a baby and lost her mind

Sometimes, motherhood feels never-ending. A child is born, chaos ensues, and it seems like life will never return to normal.

In You Are a F*cking Awesome Mom, award-winning journalist and Instagram star Leslie Anne Bruce acknowledges that, yes, motherhood is a total mind f*ck—but then she offers the self-empowerment lessons new mothers need to get through the psychic upheaval and emerge stronger than ever. After childbirth, a woman's body, her relationships, and her very sense of self are tested like never before. Bruce encourages readers to look past the sugarcoated truisms about the miracles of child-rearing in order to embrace the real joys of motherhood, spit-up stains and all.

Loaded with unfettered support from a mom who has been through it all, You Are a F*cking Awesome Mom offers a lifeline of encouragement, inspiration, and community for the new mama who got a baby, lost her mind, and desperately wants to find herself again.

My Review: I loved everything about this book if I was a new mom or mom to be. This would be a great book for a baby shower or Mother's day for a new. I wish I would have had a book like this when I was a new mom seconding guessing every decision.

Title: The Terrible Personal Shopper

Author: Laura Burton

Genre: romance

How I Read It: kindle

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: Meet Leila Scott, a hopeless romantic who stumbles into a job as a personal shopper for her ultimate celebrity crush, Blaze Hopkins. But there's a catch – she knows nothing about being a personal shopper! Despite this, Blaze makes her an offer she can't refuse – join him on his world press tour.

As they jet-set around the globe, Leila tries to keep things professional, but when you're traveling with your celebrity crush, that's easier said than done. With her heart on the line and her job at stake, Leila must navigate the pitfalls of being a terrible personal shopper while falling head over heels for Blaze.

My Review: A heartwarming romance of every girls dream of dating a celebrity. It was light fun predictable story.

Title: Growing Boldly

Author: Emily Ley

Genre: personal development

How I Read It: audiobook borrowed from library

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: In Growing Boldly, Emily will help you:

Believe in who you are and Whose you are . . . and move past the lies and fears holding you back
Figure out what makes you tick and own it confidently
Gather all your grit, learned lessons, and tools because it's all valuable
Imagine the life you dream of and decide how to make it happen
Love your people well so that you create a lasting legacy
Clear the clutter and cultivate clarity so you can do what matters most
Do the hard work without forgetting to feed your soul

A stunning foiled cover, beautiful photography, ribbon marker, and presentation page make Growing Boldly:

A thoughtful gift for a friend or family member
Perfect for Mother's Day, birthdays, or holidays
A let's-get-rolling encouragement incentive for yourself

Emily Ley has shown us how to give ourselves grace in Grace, Not Perfection, how to simplify our lives in A Simplified Life, and how to replace busyness with true connection in When Less Becomes More. Now for the first time, Emily draws on her own story of creating a highly successful business--and loving the process--as she teaches us how to move forward in our own vocations and serve others at the same time. This is the start of something good. Get ready to build a life you love.

My Review: Just what I needed when I am questioning a lot in my life. The book really made me thing and reevaluate a lot of things. Perfect for any mom.

Title: The Mister

Author: E L James

Genre: erotica

How I Read It: ebook

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: Clasping her plait at the base of her neck, I tug lightly, bringing her lips up to mine. "Alessia," I breathe, and kiss her again, softly, slowly. She stills in my arms, then brings her hands up to clutch my biceps, closing her eyes as she accepts me. I deepen the kiss, my tongue teasing her lips, and she opens her mouth. She tastes of warmth and grace and sweet seduction.

London, present day. Life has always been easy for Maxim Trevelyan, the "spare" to the earldom of Trevethick. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he's never had to work, and he's rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family's title, wealth, and estates, and the responsibility that entails. It's a role he's not prepared for and one he struggles to face.

But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who's recently joined his staff. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she's an alluring mystery, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. As Maxim's longing for her deepens into a passion he's never experienced and dares not name, he's left to wonder just who is Alessia Demachi? And can he protect her from the malevolence that threatens her?

My Review: I read years ago and was not a fan. A girlfriend requested to read it again so we can read the second part of the series coming out later this summer. I enjoyed the story line more this time around.

Title: Holding Harper

Author: Jennifer Bonds

Genre: romance

How I Read It: ebook

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Description: I know what you’re thinking, but trust me, there’s nothing cute about that hashtag. Not when Prince Charming is Waverly University’s starting kicker and falls hard is code for breaks leg in three places.

Now the Wildcats’ shot at a national football title is on the line, and the fans are out for blood. Me? I'm just trying to get through nursing school and graduate on time.

No one knows I was responsible for Chase Spellman’s accident, and I plan to keep it that way. Which might be easier said than done since my new patient is the smooth-talking, sexy-as-sin Prince Charming himself…

My Review: A fun romantic read. Likeable characters, cute storyline with a little spice.