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 Book Lists, Happy When It Rains, Ohana Girls

Legal Affairs (aka My Favourite Fictional Lawyers)

KBD

Today (9 April 2024) is International Be Kind to Lawyers Day (Days of the Year). I haven’t put together a Book List for a while so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post about Legal Affairs (aka My Favourite Fictional Lawyers).

As always, if you’ve got any recommendations, you can let me know either in the comments or by e-mail at louisehallbooks@gmail.com.

P.S. If you’re looking for more Book Lists, you can find links to them all in the Archives.

Happy reading x


The rest of My Favourite Fictional Lawyers will be listed alphabetically A-Z by author but I’m going to start with my own ‘Happy When It Rains.’ 

(1) Daniel Ford from Happy When It Rains (Ohana Girls #4) by Louise Hall (2021)

If I could turn back time…

There are three things that Hawaiian body artist Emmy Montgomery doesn’t do:

  1. She doesn’t cry… OK, except for that one time in a field of sunflowers;
  2. She doesn’t pierce the tongues of steroid junkies because they’re a lawsuit waiting to happen and;
  3. She definitely doesn’t think about Daniel Ford, the British exchange student who broke her teenage heart all those years ago. Definitely not.

When Emmy finds out that Disappearing Daniel is her bestie’s new law professor, she’s persuaded to swap the sunshine of Oahu for the dull, rainy skies of Manchester.

It turns out that the extra-long flight from Hawaii to England might be the least stressful part of her trip because although her initial plan is to confront Daniel, get the closure she so desperately needs and then let all the hurt and resentment she’s been carrying go Disney-style, things aren’t always that straightforward especially when she and Daniel are keeping some big secrets from each other.

Tags: My Books / Pink Hair, Don’t Care / Second Chance / Tattoo Artists


(2) Gretchen Winthrop from A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) by Lyssa Kay Adams (2022)

Country music’s golden boy Colton Wheeler felt the most perfect harmony when he was with Gretchen Winthrop. But for her, it was a love him and leave him situation. A year later, Colton is struggling to push his music forward in a new direction. If it weren’t about to be the most magical time of year and the support of the Bromance Book Club, he’d be wallowing in self-pity.

It’s hard for immigration attorney Gretchen not to feel a little Scrooge-ish about the excess of Christmas when her clients are scrambling to afford their rent. So when her estranged, wealthy family reaches out with an offer that will allow her to better serve the community, she’s unable to say no. She just needs to convince Colton to be the new face of her family’s whiskey brand. No big deal…

Colton agrees to consider Gretchen’s offer in exchange for three dates before Christmas. With the help of the Bromance Book Club, Colton throws himself into the task of proving to her there’s a spark between them. But Gretchen and Colton will both need to overcome the ghosts of Christmas past to build a future together.

Tags: Christmas / Country Music / Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Fictional Musicians


(3) Louis McNally II from Chase Me (Broke & Beautiful #1) by Tessa Bailey (2015)

College drop-out, Roxy Cumberland, moved to New York with dreams of becoming an actress, but her dwindling bank account is quickly putting the kibosh on that fantasy. To make some quick cash, she signs up to perform singing telegrams. Her first customer is a gorgeous, cocky Manhattan trust-funder if she ever laid eyes on one. And what could be more humiliating than singing an ode to his junk, courtesy of his last one night stand? Maybe the fact that she’s dressed in a giant, pink bunny costume…

After a night out to celebrate winning his last case, lawyer Louis McNally II isn’t prepared for the pounding in his head or the rabbit serenading him from the front door. But the sassy wit and sexy voice of the girl behind the mask intrigues him and one look at her stunning face— followed by a mind-blowing kiss against his doorjamb—leaves Louis wanting more.

Roxy doesn’t need a spoiled rich boy who’s had everything in life handed to him on a Tiffany platter. But there’s more to Louis than his sexy surface and he’s determined to make Roxy see it…even if it means chasing her all over NYC.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series


(4) Alexander Knightley from The British Knight (The Royals #4) by Louise Bay (2017)

When I’m offered the chance to leave New York to live in London for three months, I can’t pack my suitcase fast enough.

As soon as I touch down I’m obsessing over red telephone boxes, palaces and all the black cabs.

But my favourite place is the tube. It’s wall-to-wall hot British men in suits.

When I’m offered a temporary job working for a barrister, I say, sign me up.

On my first commute into work, it’s a total accident when I lose my balance and fall against the most handsome Brit alive. He’s as charming as James Bond and as suave as Mr. Darcy. I want to lick tea from his hard abs and listen to his accent all night long.

Turns out Mr. Handsome is my new boss. And his attitude isn’t as hot as his gorgeous face, broad shoulders and tight ass. He’s brooding, short-tempered and the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.

As we’re fighting, out of nowhere he kisses me. And I’m pretty sure I see fireworks over Big Ben and hear God Save the Queen.

I wasn’t looking for the fairytale but I might have found my knight in shining armour. The problem is he lives an ocean away.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Office Romance


(5) Gabriel Chase from Mr Smithfield (Mister #3) by Louise Bay (2021)

Wanted: American nanny for an adorable four-year-old. Must be able to handle a moody, brooding, sexy British boss.

I’m a single father, a lawyer and some say the most serious man in London. I’m completely focused on raising my four-year-old daughter.

Since my wife walked out three years ago, the only woman who has ever caught my eye is the strictly off-limits sister-in-law of my best friend, Autumn Lumen.

But temptation is easy to resist because Autumn is only visiting London from Oregon.

Until she moves to London. The nanny quits. And she’s the only woman for the job.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Nannies


(6) Stanton Shaw & Sofia Santos from Overruled (Legal Briefs #1) by Emma Chase (2015)

As a DC defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing – with his southern drawl, disarming smile and captivating green eyes – he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him and women want to be thoroughly cross examined by him.

Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan.

Until the day he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart and mother of his beloved ten-year old daughter. Jenny is getting married — to someone who isn’t him.

That’s definitely not part of the plan.

***

Sofia Santos is a city raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions.

But when Stanton, her “friend with mind-blowing benefits” begs for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him – to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi – to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves.

Her head tells her she’s crazy…and her heart says something else entirely.

***

What happens when you mix a one stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage and a gun-toting Nana?

The Bourbon flows, passions rise and even the best laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)


(7) Jake Becker from Sustained (Legal Briefs #2) by Emma Chase (2015)

A knight in tarnished armour is still a knight.

When you’re a defence attorney in Washington, DC, you see first-hand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.

Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.

Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.

Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.

And that — that, I know how to do.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Book by This Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Guardians


(8) Brent Mason & Kennedy Randolph from Appealed (Legal Briefs #3) by Emma Chase (2016)

When Brent Mason looks at Kennedy Randolph, he doesn’t see the awkward, sweet girl who grew up next door. He sees a self-assured, stunning woman…who wants to crush the most intimate – and prized – parts of his anatomy beneath the heels of her Christian Louboutins.

Brent has never let the loss of his leg in a childhood accident affect his ability to lead a fulfilling life. He sets high goals–and then he reaches them.

And now he has his sights set on Kennedy.

**

When Kennedy looks at Brent Mason, all she sees is the selfish, Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue-worthy teenager who humiliated her in high school to join the popular crowd. A crowd that made those years a living hell.

She’s not a lovesick social outcast anymore – she’s a DC prosecutor with a long winning streak behind her. Brent is the opposing attorney in her next case and she thinks it’s time to put him through a little hell of his own.

But things aren’t exactly working out that way.

Because every fiery exchange has her wondering if he’s as passionate in the bedroom as he is in the courtroom. Each argument and objection only makes him want her more. In the end, Brent and Kennedy may just find themselves in love…or in contempt of court.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)


(9) Emily Aulenbach from Escape by Barbara Delinsky (2011)

Emily Aulenbach is thirty-two, a lawyer married to a lawyer, working in Manhattan. An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse, but she spends her days in a cubicle talking on the phone with vic­tims of tainted bottled water—and she is on the bottler’s side.

And it isn’t only work. It’s her sister, her friends, even her husband, James, with whom she doesn’t connect the way she used to. She doesn’t connect to much in her life, period, with the exception of three things—her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.

Acting on impulse, Emily leaves work early one day, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off. Groping toward the future, uncharacteristically following her gut rather than her mind, she heads north toward a New Hampshire town tucked between mountains. She knows this town. During her college years, she spent a watershed summer here. Painful as it is to return, she knows that if she is to right her life, she has to start here.

Tags: Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Marriages on the Rocks


(10) Nate Pearson from Only You (One & Only #1) by Melanie Harlow (2018)

Nate Pearson is ridiculously handsome and wears the hell out of a suit and tie, but I’ve seen the parade of beautiful women leaving his apartment across the hall—a different one every time—and I want no part of it. When it comes to romance, I’m looking for something real, something that will last: the happily ever after.

As a divorce attorney, he loves to tell me there’s no such thing.

As a wedding planner, I choose to disagree.

We disagree on almost everything, in fact. Everything except James Bond. The only time we really get along is when we’re watching 007 flicks together, and I’ll admit—he has rescued me from a disaster or five. So when one of the baton twirlers from his parade leaves a baby girl at his door with a note that says “I’ll come back for her” and he begs me for help, I can’t turn him down.

But it’s a mistake.

Because watching him with his daughter, I start to see another side of Nate, a side that has my breath coming faster, my body craving his, my heart longing for him to change his mind about love and tell me there’s a chance for us.

I don’t want to be just another girl leaving his apartment in the morning.

I want to be the one he asks to stay.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Secret Babies


(11) Kailyn Flowers from Meet Cute by Helena Hunting (2019)

Talk about an embarrassing introduction. On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran quite literally into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either…

Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can’t help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn’s new celebrity client, there’s even more at stake than Dax’s custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she’ll be promoted to partner.

The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Guardians / Hollywood / Second Chance


(12) Lucas Donovan from Taco Bout Love (The Donovans #1) by Lily Kate (2023)

My name is Lucas Donovan, and I’m a sucker for a great taco.

No, that’s not an innuendo, though I do like my women like I like my tacos: extra spicy. So when a brand new food truck rolls into our sleepy little town of Fantasie, Maine, I know I’m in trouble. I just don’t know how much trouble.

Things go downhill fast when I meet Chloe Brown, the sizzling hot and super sassy owner of Taco Bout Love who is as extra as guac. Then out of the blue, Chloe plops her huge purple eyesore of a truck in my designated parking spot. I’m sorely tempted to have her truck towed, and her right along with it.

Unfortunately, Chloe’s as fierce as a ghost pepper, and she’s not going down without a fight. Before I know it, the only thing I’m certain of is that this woman drives me crazy… in the best way possible. What’s more is that I’m beginning to think I just might miss her when she’s gone.

Suddenly, I can’t seem to keep my hands off Chloe Brown… or her tacos.

Tags: Chefs / Favourite Series


(13) Jensen Bergstrom from Beautiful (Beautiful Bastard #5) by Christina Lauren (2016)

After walking in on her boyfriend shagging another girl in their place, Pippa Cox ditches London for the States to go on a drunken road trip with friends.

Scaling the career ladder is the default way to deal with heartbreak—and to just deal—for Jensen Bergstrom. Absolutely buried by his drive and workload, he rarely takes time for himself. But when his sister Hanna convinces him to join the gang on a two-week wine tour, he has a rare moment of cutting loose. Of course, it’s only once he’s committed that he realizes the strange girl he met briefly on the plane is coming along, too. She might be too much for him…or he might realize his life has become too small and needs her to make it bigger, crazier.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Road Trip


(14) Katherine Tate from Emergency Contact by Lauren Layne (2023)

Katherine, an ambitious NYC attorney, gets diagnosed with a concussion and must be monitored for 48 hours to make sure it doesn’t get worse. Unfortunately, she forgot to update her emergency contact so the person they call is her ex-husband, Tom. Unable to be left alone, Katherine reluctantly agrees to travel to Chicago with Tom for the holidays. But thanks to a blizzard, what should have been a quick plane ride turns into an antagonistic overnight misadventure that stirs up old feelings even as Tom prepares to propose to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve.

Tags: Christmas / Favourite Author / Five Star Reads / Road Trips / Second Chance / Vegas Weddings


(15) Colin Walsh from The Prenup by Lauren Layne (2019)

My name is Charlotte Spencer and, ten years ago, I married my brother’s best friend. I haven’t seen him since.

Charlotte Spencer grew up on the blue-blooded Upper East Side of Manhattan but she never wanted the sit-still-look-pretty future her parents dictated for her. Enter Colin Walsh, her brother’s quiet, brooding, man-bun-sporting best friend, and with him a chance to escape.

He’s far from Charlotte’s dream guy but they need each other for one thing: marriage. One courthouse wedding later, Charlotte’s inheritance is hers to start a business in San Francisco and Irish-born Colin has a Green Card.

Ten years later, Colin drops a bombshell: the terms of their prenup state that before either can file for divorce, they have to live under the same roof for three months.

Suddenly this match made in practicality is about to take on whole new meaning…

Tags: Brother’s Best Friend / Favourite Author / Five Star Reads / Marriages of Convenience


(16) Andrew Mulroney from Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly #4) by Lauren Layne (2017)

Pampered heiress Georgianna Watkins has a party-girl image to maintain, but all the shopping and clubbing is starting to feel a little bit hollow – and a whole lot lonely. Though Georgie would never admit it, the highlights of her week are the mornings when she comes home at the same time as her uptight, workaholic neighbour is leaving to hit the gym and put in a long day at the office. Teasing him is the most fun Georgie’s had in years – and the fuel for all her naughtiest daydreams.

Celebrity divorce attorney Andrew Mulroney doesn’t have much time for women, especially spoiled tabloid princesses who spend more time on Page Six than at an actual job. Although Georgie’s drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also everything Andrew resents: the type of girl who inherited her penthouse instead of earning it. But after Andrew caps one of their predawn sparring sessions with a surprise kiss-a kiss that’s caught on camera-all of Manhattan is gossiping about whether they’re a real couple. And nobody’s more surprised than Andrew to find that the answer just might be yes.

Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads


(17) Daniel from New York, Actually (From Manhattan with Love #4) by Sarah Morgan (2017)

Meet Molly: New York’s most famous agony aunt, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s. The only love of her life is her Dalmatian, Valentine.

Meet Daniel: A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no-one can get hurt. But then he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…

Molly and Daniel think they know everything there is to know about relationships…until they meet each other that is…

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Pupsters


(18) Owen Salt from Begin Again (Stay #3.6) by Jennifer Probst (2020)

Chloe Lake is finally living her dream. As the daughter of the Governor, she’s consistently in the spotlight, and after being dubbed the Most Eligible Bachelorette of NYC, both her career and personal life has exploded. Fortunately, her work as an advocate for animal welfare requires constant publicity and funding, so she embraces her role and plays for the camera—anything for the sake of her beloved rescues.

But when a big case is on the line, she’s faced with the one obstacle she never counted on: the boy who broke her heart is back, and in order to gain justice, they need to work together.

Chloe swears she can handle it until old feelings resurface, and she’s faced with a heartbreaking choice.

Will this time end differently—or are they destined to be only each other’s first love—instead of forever?

Owen Salt fell hard for Chloe when he was a screwed-up kid in college, and spent the next years changing himself into the man his grandfather believed he was capable of. But when his career led him across the country, he knew he needed to leave the woman he loved behind. He’s never forgotten her, but as the new darling of the press, now, she’s way out of his league. When work brings him back to fight for justice by her side, he swears he can handle it.

But he’s never really gotten over his first love—and he wants one more opportunity to prove he’s a man who’s worthy.

Can Owen convince the woman who holds his heart to take a second chance on forever—or is it too late for them both?

Tags: Favourite Authors / Favourite Series / Office Romance / Pupsters / Second Chance


Posted in Next Month in Books

Next Month in Books – April 2024

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I’ve been AWOL from the blog for the last few weeks because I went to New York for my birthday and came back with an unwanted gift aka COVID (even though I did my best to social distance, I’m obsessive about using hand sanitiser and I’ve been 3x vaxxed). I’ve had COVID before but this second time was so much worse. When I first had COVID at least I could still read but this time, I felt like I’d been hit by a Mack truck and dumped in a snowdrift and all I wanted to do was shiver and sleep. When I wrote the scene in Happy When It Rains when Emmy gets the flu and Sierra insists on wearing a Hazmat suit to keep from catching it, it was just a joke but I’m seriously considering it now.

Today’s blog post is my favourite to put together every month and there are 6 x amazing books that I’m really excited about being published in April 2024 so even though it’s later than usual, I still wanted to share them with you.

As usual, if you’ve got any suggestions for April 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.


2ND APRIL 2024

The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it’s come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he’s holding a grudge.

Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is simple: make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved-she won’t quit easily.

Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship be the thing to save their careers?

Tags: Favourite Author / Second Chance / Sports Romance (American Football) / Vegas Weddings

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


5TH APRIL 2024

Wild Card (Roseville Ramblers #1) by Staci Hart

The hot baseball player I’m forced to stay with for my best friend’s wedding is off limits.

Remy Winfield has more muscles than manners, and he’s on a mission to get me into bed by way of the filthiest mouth I’ve ever wanted to kiss. He doesn’t care about my long time crush or my certainty that we’re finally about to happen.

Remy’s sure I’ll break first and kiss him, and he’ll tease me to the limit to make sure I do. I might be a Lady, but I can still play his dirty little game. It’s perfectly safe, totally harmless.

Until I fall for him.

Suddenly, Mr. Long-Time Crush doesn’t matter at all.

And my best friend can never know.

Tags: Favourite Author / Sports Romance (Baseball)

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


11TH APRIL 2024

Dr. Single Dad (Doctors #5) by Louise Bay

When a one-night stand announces I just became a father to a baby girl, my world is thrown into turmoil. My choice: single fatherhood or sign adoption papers. The decision is easy. Within hours, I’m on a plane to collect my daughter.

I’m in over my head. I barely know one end of a baby from the other. Luckily, I have the perfect plan. I’ll hire live-in help, have limited involvement with the kid, and keep my life just the same as it’s always been.

I finally find a nanny who lives up to my exacting standards. But the only problem is, every time I look at her, the future I thought I wanted starts to crumble.

Nothing in my life is going according to plan… and the wriggling poo machine in my arms is unexpectedly worming her way into my heart.

Life was ordered and logical until I got myself two roommates and started falling in love with both of them.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Nanny / Secret Babies

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


11TH APRIL 2024

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes

Anna has just lost her taste for the Big Apple…

She has a life to envy. An apartment in New York. A well-meaning (too well-meaning?) partner. And a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that?

Anna, it turns out.

Trading a minor midlife crisis for a major life event, she switches the skyscrapers of Manhattan for the tiny Irish town of Maumtully (population 1,217), helping old friends Brigit and Colm set up a luxury coastal retreat.

Tougher than it sounds. Newsflash: the locals hate the idea. So much so, there have been threats – and violence.

Anna, however, worked in the beauty industry. There’s no ugliness she hasn’t seen. No wrinkle she can’t smooth over.

There’s just one fly in the ointment – old flame Joey Armstrong.

He’s going to be her wingman.

Never mind their chequered history. Never mind what might have been.

Because no matter how far you go, your mistakes will still be waiting for you . . .

Tags: Favourite Author / Second Chance

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


23RD APRIL 2024

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Daphne always loved the way Peter told their story.

That is until it became the prologue to his actual love story with his childhood bestie, Petra.

Which is how Daphne ends up rooming with her total opposite and the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles.

As expected, it’s not a match made in heaven – that is until one night, while tossing back tequilas, they form a plan.

And if it involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex . . . right?

Tags: Favourite Author

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


25TH APRIL 2024

Degrees of Engagement by Jennifer Hennessy

Bianca Dimitriou has attended countless bridal showers, bachelorette weekends and destination weddings for her friends and family. But when they all fail to show up to celebrate her PhD, she realises it just isn’t a milestone they value.

Angry, sad and yes, a little drunk, Bianca decides a fake engagement to brooding classmate Xavier Byrne is the perfect revenge. It’s only supposed to last long enough to prove her point. But when her loved ones’ reaction to her ‘engagement’ is everything Bianca was afraid of, she’s tempted to let it go on just a bit longer. . .

The tension that’s always simmered unspoken between them morphs into a very real attraction, but with Xavier’s work about to take him halfway around the globe, Bianca can’t forget that it’s temporary. When the time comes to give up their charade, will they be able to give up their feelings just as easily?

Links: Amazon UK / Goodreads


Posted in The Weekly Book Date

The Weekly Book Date (4 March 2024)

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.

Up until Friday (1 March), this week’s WBD was going to be epically short because I hadn’t read, bought or pre-ordered any books. Like I mentioned in Five Star Reads – February 2024, I’ve been distracted by working on my family tree and I’ve definitely neglected reading. Thankfully Friday brought with it 2 x purchases and 3 x future books I’m really excited about in addition to the 2 x books I’m currently partway through.

All the best, Louise x


Currently Reading (2):

Disclaimer: The reason that I haven’t finished reading either of these books yet isn’t because I’m not enjoying them (I totally am).

(1: Kindle) The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren from last week’s WBD.

(2: Paperback) Play for Me by Libby Hubscher (2023)

When her new job takes her to a New England boarding school, she’s surprised to find her roommates are all men – including a very handsome one who plays by his own rules.

Sophie Doyle has her dream job as the head athletic trainer for her favourite baseball team (go Red Sox!), a handsome boyfriend, and easy access to the finest cannoli in Boston. When she loses all three and the World Series to boot, she’s forced to apply for the open trainer position at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. The only available room is a glorified closet in an apartment with three guys: Jonas Voss, the aloof and attractive orchestra teacher, and his two rambunctious roommates.

Sophie knows that training a bunch of privileged high school kids whose idea of a play is A Chorus Line instead of a walk-off homer is going to be a big change from the pro athletes she’s used to. She wasn’t expecting that these students would have big-time talent and even bigger-time problems. Sophie has troubles of her own—Jonas is a full-fledged grump who clearly doesn’t want her near him or the precious piano he never plays.

With sunny optimism, Sophie sets out to win over Jonas and help the kids she’s growing attached to. But when her relationship with Jonas moves to the major leagues and plans change at the end of the season, they have to choose whether they are playing for keeps.

Tags: New-to-Me Author


What I Bought This Week (2):

There weren’t enough UK Kindle Book Deals in March 2024 for a full post but I did find 2 x amazing deals: Beach Read, which is the only Emily Henry book I haven’t read so far and was 99p and California Golden, which I’ve had on my Amazon Wish List for months and was £1.49.

Beach Read: From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author(1) Beach Read by Emily Henry (2020)

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.

Tags: Favourite Author

(2) California Golden by Melanie Benjamin (2023)

Southern California, 1960s: endless sunny days surfing in Malibu, followed by glittering neon nights at Whisky A-Go-Go. In an era when women are expected to be housewives, Carol Donelly is breaking the mold as a legendary female surfer struggling to compete in a male-dominated sport–and her daughters, Mindy and Ginger, bear the weight of her unconventional lifestyle.

The Donnelly sisters grow up enduring their mother’s absence–physically, when she’s at the beach, and emotionally, the rare times she’s at home. To escape questions about Carol’s whereabouts–and chase their mom’s elusive affection–they cut school to spend their days in the surf. From her first time on a board, Mindy shows a natural talent, but Ginger, two years younger, feels out of place in the water.

As they grow up and their lives diverge, Mindy and Ginger’s relationship ebbs and flows. Mindy finds herself swept up in celebrity, complete with beachside love affairs, parties at the Playboy Club, and USO tours to Vietnam. Meanwhile, Ginger–desperate for a community of her own–is tugged into the vibrant counterculture of drugs and cults. Through it all, their sense of duty to each other survives, as the girls are forever connected by the emotional damage they carry from their unorthodox childhood.

Tags: New-to-Me Author


Cover Reveals (3):

(1) Dr. Single Dad (Doctors #5) by Louise Bay (11 April 2024)

Unexpected fatherhood, a newborn daughter and a nanny in the bedroom next to his he can’t stop fantasizing about.

When a one-night stand announces I just became a father to a baby girl, my world is thrown into turmoil. My choice: single fatherhood or sign adoption papers. The decision is easy.

Within hours, I’m on a plane to collect my daughter. I barely know one end of a baby from the other. I know I’m in over my head, but I have the perfect plan. I’ll hire live-in help, have limited involvement with the kid, and keep my life just the same.

I finally find a nanny who lives up to my exacting standards. But the only problem is, every time I look at her, the future I thought I wanted starts to crumble.

Nothing in my life is going according to plan… and the wriggling poo machine in my arms is unexpectedly worming her way into my heart.

Life was ordered and logical until I got myself two roommates and I’m falling in love with both of them.

Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Nannies / Secret Babies

(2) Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz (22 October 2024)

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her co-stars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who’d often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders” assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counselling with “Leadership” were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith.

One Tree Hill is definitely the TV series I’ve rewatched the most. After reading The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm by Bethany’s co-star, Hilarie Burton Morgan, I knew a lot of unsavoury things were happening BTS on OTH but it’s still crazy to think that Bethany was living a secret double life during filming in what sounds like a terrifying cult.

(3) The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea (26 November 2024)

If Emily Edwards knows one thing, it’s that you don’t go to a remote island by yourself. Ever the type A personality, Emily doesn’t want to hike around an unfamiliar island, but she’s determined to fulfil her late father’s national park bucket list, starting with Isle Royale National Park—home to wolves, bears, and hundred-year-old shipwrecks. She has no choice but to hire a tour guide, and there is only one that isn’t booked solid.

Ryder Fleet, co-owner of Fleet Outdoor Adventures, wouldn’t call himself a wilderness expert, and he definitely doesn’t know how to find true north. But when his dormant adventure guide business suddenly finds life again after a random inquiry, Ryder somehow finds himself on a ferry to Isle Royale with a very beautiful, no-nonsense woman. What this woman doesn’t know is that his brother Caleb, who died two years ago, was the outdoorsman of their business, while Ryder just did the marketing. But how hard could it be to hike up a few mountains?

Pretty difficult, actually, when murder is involved. Emily’s perfectly planned trek turns disastrous when she and Ryder witness a brutal crime and are suddenly forced to evade a group of archaeologists on the hunt for a jewel. As they spend nights together too close for comfort, they realize their shoddily built fire isn’t the only thing that’s kindling, and that they must trust each other if they want to escape the island with their lives—and hearts—intact.

Tags: Favourite Author

I’m so happy we’re getting a new book by Kerry Rea even if we do have to wait until November. The 2 x books Kerry has written so far were both Five Star Reads: Lucy on the Wild Side (November 2022) & The Wedding Ringer (December 2022).


Posted in Five Star Reads

Five Star Reads – February 2024

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I didn’t read as much in February 2024 as I typically would because one of my other interests (apart from all things books) is genealogy and after getting a really great deal on Ancestry for 4 x months (this isn’t an ad BTW), I’ve been spending a lot more time researching my family tree. So far, I’ve got almost 6.5k people on my tree including Queen Elizabeth II, George Washington and Winston Churchill which is really cool. I did still have time for 2 x Five Star Reads though and I’m excited to share them with you.


(1) This Spells Love by Kate Robb (2023)

Have you ever had a break-up so bad you wish the whole relationship had never happened?

Well, Gemma’s wish has come true. After one too many margaritas lead to her mystical aunt reading out a drunken spell, she wakes up in a parallel world where she didn’t give years of her life to the wrong man.

But you know what they say – be careful what you wish for… Because not only is her boring ex out of the picture, her extremely attractive male best friend also has no idea who she is.

And in this world, Gemma and Dax don’t have years of friendship history keeping them from becoming something more…

Tags: Friends-to-Lovers / New-to-Me Author / Second Chance

Both of my Five Star Reads for February 2024 are New-to-Me Authors. I bought This Spells Love on a whim after seeing it at the bookstore at the airport when we went to Orlando last Christmas. I fell in love with Gemma, Daxon, Kiersten & Aunt Livi straight away. The plot has been compared to the movies, Sliding Doors (1998) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), both of which I really enjoyed.


(2) Nothing But the Truth by Holly James (2022)

It’s the eve of Hollywood publicist Lucy Green’s thirtieth birthday, a day she hopes will bring the promotion she deserves and a proposal from her boyfriend. But he stands her up for a date, not for the first time, leaving Lucy alone at the bar—or at least, alone with the handsome bartender on the other side of the counter—so she makes a rueful wish over her cocktail for a perfect birthday. But when Lucy’s wish is granted in the most unexpected way, things go terribly awry, as things often do when wishes come true….

When Lucy wakes up on her big day, she can’t seem to force herself to go through her rigorous fitness and beauty routines—things she usually tells herself she likes. She has no desire to eat only a spoonful of yogurt for breakfast and she simply can’t bear to put on the uncomfortable shapewear needed for the power outfit she had planned for work.

When Lucy arrives at the office, she realizes that not only can she no longer lie to herself, she can’t lie to anyone else, either. Not her clients, not her boyfriend, not her creep of a boss. Now that she can’t hide how she feels, Lucy must confront all the injustices—small and large—she’s faced on a daily basis at work, in her relationship, and in every other aspect of her life…and the truth is going to come out in a big way.

Tags: New-to-Me Author

This was such an unexpected surprise. I’d had Nothing But the Truth on my TBR for months but hadn’t got around to reading it. I knew from the very beginning that it was going to be my next Five Star Read. I think every woman will relate to Lucy and the lies she tells not only to herself but to everybody else in order to be successful in what can still feel very much like a man’s world. I’ve had my own toxic work environments and it made my feminist heart so happy to see Lucy stand up for herself and encourage her colleague, Annie and boss, Joanna to do the same. Sisterhood at its finest.


My Month in Books (February 2024)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 2 (It was OK)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 7 (Liked It)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 2 (Loved It)

New-to-Me Authors (Excluding Non-Fiction): Becka Mack, Jo Piazza, Chayla Wolfberg, Holly James & Kate Robb.

If you want to check out the full list for February 2024 on Goodreads, click here.

Until next month, Louise x