Book Reviews

May Must Reads in Romance and Women’s Fiction

I know it’s going to be a long summer of delicious reading, but you’ve got to pace yourself. Take advantage of May and get warmed up with these five novels perfect for sunny days at the pool, your next weekend away or when you get an hour to yourself for once.

May Must Reads in Romance & Women’s Fiction:

The Bride Test – Helen Hoang (Berkley Romance, May 7)

Helen Hoang’s follow up to her smash hit, The Kiss Quotient, follows Khai as his mother goes to Vietnam to find him a bride. She arranges for Esme to come to America to see how they get along. Khai, who has autism, is convinced he has no feelings, can’t love, and is totally put out that his mother has foisted Esme on him. And yet, they find themselves attracted to each other. The Bride Test is sexy and funny. It’ll get you right in the feels as Khai takes his own path to discovering love. But this isn’t just a romance, it’s also a love letter to the immigrant experience. Esme’s own story about getting an education, working hard and setting an example for her daughter is as compelling and inspirational as the love story.

Get the Bride Test on Amazon, or pre-order a signed copy from the Ripped Bodice by May 5!

The Key To Happily Ever After – Tif Marcelo (Gallery, May 14)

Sweet and uplifting, without ever veering into saccharine Hallmark Channel territory! The Key to Happily Ever After is like the perfect marriage between a wedding planning reality show and a family drama. Sisters Mari, Jane and Pearl have been left their family’s wedding planning business. Each one is balancing their role in the business (boss, peacemaker, little sister) with their role in the family. Sometimes those lines get tangled. Over the course of several weddings, the Key to Happily Ever After delivers a heartfelt message about the enduring power of sisterhood (and family), even when you’re making each other nuts.

Get The Key to Happily Ever After at The Ripped Bodice| Amazon

The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren (Gallery; May 14)

Christina Lauren’s latest shows off their mastery of the rom-com. After bad shellfish at her sister’s wedding takes out the bride, groom, and basically everyone at the wedding, Olive ends up taking her sister’s use-it-or-lose it honeymoon to Maui. The bad news? The groom is sending his brother, Ethan and these two do NOT get along. Can they get through a Hawaiian vacation with one room without killing each other? The Unhoneymooners is a wild romp — delightful, charming, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. Lauren has turned down the heat a bit, instead delivering all classic beats of an enemies-to-lovers rom-com: bickery banter, wardrobe malfunctions, misunderstandings, and finally forced proximity. This is a movie waiting to be made.

Get The Unhoneymooners at the Ripped Bodice| Amazon

I Love You So Mochi – Sarah Kuhn – (Scholastic; May 28)

Part romance, part finding yourself, I Love You So Mochi follows artist Kimi Nakamura to Kyoto, where she meets her estranged family and falls for a local med student. While in Kyoto for Spring Break, she has the chance to escape her life and as the blurb says, “…sometimes you have to lose yourself in something you love to find your Ultimate self.”

Get I Love You So Mochi at The Ripped Bodice | Amazon

The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary (Flatiron Books; May 28)

The Flatshare pulls off the feat of making a premise I felt I’d seen before feel new and interesting. Instead of solely focusing on the budding relationship, Beth O’Leary fills out Tiffy and Leon’s worlds with compelling secondary storylines tied to their jobs, and (content warning) even delves into abusive relationships. The semi-epistolary nature of their early relationship via Post-It note is a fun twist and makes an excellent set up for their meet cute in real life. If you love Sophie Kinsella, Helen Fielding and Katherine Center, you’ll love the Flatshare.

Get the Flatshare at The Ripped Bodice| Amazon