A chance to see what I managed achieve and what I didn’t manage to read over April, which was a scary month to begin with.
I started off with twenty-four books to read/listen for review, but with last minute approvals this blew out to twenty nine 🤯 I managed to read/listen to and review twenty books in April, which is a record for me. I was assisted by taking part in the April extended readathon with the All About Books group on Goodreads.com My April completion rate for a paltry 69% compared with 80% last month and 75% for each of the preceding two months.
Of the books that I read, one was a debut novel – The Echo Man by Sam Holland, and four were authors that I haven’t previously read. I didn’t manage to read any books from my backlist in April, but I did read three books purely for pleasure (in addition to the reads for review), two of them belonged to series I am trying to catch up on. I had Luke for the first week of the school holidays, and although we read a lot, it was all his books 🤣🤣❤
I am relieved see that my Netgalley feedback rate is still sitting on 69%. I felt sure it would have dropped.
So, to the books I never got to read during the month and which are joining my backlist:
The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Seigal

Paris, 2015. A crowd gathers outside the Chauvet home in the affluent suburban community of Maisons-Larue, watching as the family’s American au pair is led away in handcuffs after the sudden death of her young charge. The grieving mother believes the caretaker is to blame, and the neighborhood is thrown into chaos, unsure who is at fault–the enigmatic, young foreigner or the mother herself, who has never seemed an active participant in the lives of her children.
The truth lies with six women: Geraldine, a heartbroken French teacher struggling to support her vulnerable young students; Lou, an incompetent au pair who was recently fired by the family next door; Charlotte, a chilly socialite and reluctant mother; Nathalie, an isolated French teenager desperate for her mother’s attention; Holly, a socially anxious au pair yearning to belong in her adopted country; and finally, Alena, the one accused of the crime, who has gone to great lengths to avoid emotional connection, and now finds herself caught in the turbulent power dynamics of her host family’s household.
Set during the weeks leading up to the event, The Caretakers is a poignant and suspenseful drama featuring complicated women. It’s a sensitive exploration of the weight of secrets, the pressures of country, community, and family–and miscommunications and misunderstandings that can have fatal consequences.
The Girls by Bella Osborne

Four old friends. Thrown back together after fifty years apart. What could possibly go wrong?
In the 1970s, The Girls were best friends sharing a flat and good times: Zara the famous diva actor, Val the uptight solicitor, Jackie the wild child and Pauline the quirky introvert. Now they’re in their twilight years, and Zara suggests that they live with her to support each other through old age.
Initially, being housemates again is just as much fun as in their heyday. But then Zara reveals the real reason she asked them to move in with her, and suddenly things take a sinister turn.
As the women confront their demons they come under the spotlight of the press, the police and an angry parrot. With their lives spiralling out of control can they save their friendships and each other?
The Best of Me by Sharon Sala

An orphaned little girl who desperately needs a new home
A couple ready to welcome her with open arms
Friendly neighbors who are always there for each other
A Southern small town where great things happen to good people
Ruby Butterman and her husband, Peanut, cannot have children, but they’re given a second chance at a family when eight-year-old orphan Carlie is left in their care. It’s a challenge for Carlie to adapt to a new town, a new school, and a new family, and when she gets bullied at school, Ruby and Peanut discover how to step up as parents, and how to make a forever family for their beloved little girl.
Other People’s Lives by J.E. Rowney

“
Let me ask you. Are you worried that someone is watching you, or are you worried that you think someone is watching you?”
Sophie Portman has lost her husband, and she thinks she may be losing her mind.
She seeks the help of psychiatrist Andrew Thacker, but as she starts to open up, the truth begins to unravel and nothing is quite as it seems.
The Patient by Jane Shemilt

She is his doctor. He will be her downfall.
The bestselling phenomenon returns…
When Rachel meets Luc, the attraction is instant.
But she is a doctor, and he is her patient.
She gives him the drugs he needs – but in doing so, risks everything.
And when a secret is exposed, they’re both in the firing line.
Not all patients are telling the truth.
The Removal Man by R.J. Parker

Rose is moving. For her and her son, Noah, this is going to be a fresh start.
She’s almost finished packing but Noah is determined to spend one last night camping out in the garden like he used to. Rose agrees as long as he wraps up warm inside their small tent.
Four hours later she’s woken by a frantic banging on the window.
It’s Noah.
There’s someone in the garden.
That’s when Rose picks up the kitchen knife.
A Body on the Beach by Dee MacDonald

It’s Tinworthy village’s summer fete: a brass band, cream teas, gentle gossip… and a body on the beach? The party’s just getting started for super sleuth Kate Palmer!
Kate Palmer thought spending the day at Tinworthy’s annual summer party would involve sea air, sunshine and Cornish cream cake – how very wrong she was! When Kate goes for a cliff-top walk she is shocked to spot the body of Sienna Stone – Cornwall’s biggest gossip – on the sandy beach below.
Rumours swirl around the close-knit community and all eyes are on Kate. Half the village saw her arguing with Sienna at the party earlier that day. It was the usual bickering between neighbours, but when Kate finds herself in the frame can she – and her new husband Woody Forrest – solve the puzzling death and clear her name?
There’s a long list of people who might have wanted to push Sienna – her long-suffering husband Irvin, her jealous younger sister Sally and Timmy Thomson, the man who idolised her, not to mention all the villagers who felt the sharp end of her tongue. Finding out the truth isn’t going to be easy…
Just as Kate thinks she’s getting closer to an answer, an unexpected afternoon visitor shares some curious information over tea and scones that sets her on an entirely different path. And soon she starts to wonder if she might be in real danger too…
Can Kate solve the curious case before the murderer declares the party over? Or have her days of sleuthing come to an end?
Plus the audiobook The Wednesday Morning Wild Swim by Jules Wake

Ettie is trying to figure out her future.
Dominic’s just trying to forget his past.
But with the help of some unlikely friends, young and old, a secret lake hidden in the grounds of a beautiful estate and a scruffy dog, a new community is formed – right when they all need each other the most.
And I have started listening to The Bletchley Women by Patricia Adrian today

From debutante to farmer’s daughter all roads lead to Bletchley…
In a different world, Evie Milton would have accepted her fate, married an aristocrat, and become the doyenne of one of England’s finest estates, just like her mother.
In a different world, Rose Wiley would have married her fiancé, David, established a modest homestead, and brought up a brood of babies, just like her mother.
But this isn’t a different world and these women are not their mothers. Rose dreams of a life filled with more than family and duty to her husband – a life of purpose – and Evie dreams of a life far away from her rarefied existence. Now, as they perform vital work at Bletchley Park decoding intercepted Luftwaffe messages, their role in turning the tide of war in the Allies favour shows Evie and Rose they don’t have to settle for the life once laid out before them.
Looking at May I have twenty Netgalley ARCs to read/listen for review, so hopefully that is achievable, as long as there are no late approvals for May published books. I am going back to work one or two days a week, and my youngest son is coming home from Australia for ten days so my reading time may take a bit of a hit.
I am currently reading one of my backtitles from 2017!😇
Have you read any of the titles I didn’t get to this month. Let me know what you thought of them.
Happy reading for May!❤📚