Five Star Friday - May 2023

Five Star Friday is my version of the monthly wrap-up. On the first Friday of each month, I will share my five-star reads from the previous month. Fingers crossed, I have lots of books to tell you about.

This month, I was able to read 28 books, and I had  6 five-star reads. 

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Happy Place by Emily Henry
Published by Berkley on April 25, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends.

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?

I have yet to read a book by Emily Henry that I have not loved. This book was beautifully written and tugged at my heartstring. I felt so much as I spent the week with this broken couple and their friends. The flashbacks were so meaningful and watching Wyn and Harriet's history unfold solidified this as a relationship worth fighting for. The love story and focus on friendship made this a solid winner for me. 

[review]

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Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder
Published by Dell on June 27, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

On screen, they're in love. Off screen, they can't stand each other. Two co-stars with a complex history reunite to film the final season of a beloved paranormal drama in this tension-filled will they won't they romance from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood.

Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love— at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, they spent years pining for each other on-screen… until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a film star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which their characters will get together at last.

But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of the first season, the two of them have despised each other.

Now back on set together for the first time in years, with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line, they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they just might get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.

I love these reunion-second-chance romance stories. It was fun being back on the set with Lilah and Shane, and it did my heart wonders to see that the sparks were still there. It was wonderful watching them find their way back to each other, and also, having their relationship on their own terms which can be difficult when in the public eye. 

[review]

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Play for Me by Libby Hubscher
Published by Berkley on June 20, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

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 favorite 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.

Hubscher and I have a great history. She destroyed me with her first book, was a bit more gentle with her second book, but this one was perfection. I love rooting for an underdog, and here I had a double comeback story. I wanted both Sophie and Jonas to recover from the setbacks in their careers. But even better was watching them open up their hearts to each other. All that plus great supporting characters made this grumpy-sunshine romance a winner for me.  

[review]

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The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on May 16, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.

This duo can do no wrong! I love them more and more with each book. It was excited when I heard Fizzy was getting her own book, and she did not disappoint. She was a fantastic leading lady, and it was so wonderful to see her meet someone who made her want more than a temporary connection. I think everyone will agree that if anyone was worthy of Fizzy heart, it was Connor. He was a fantastic unicorn man, but their budding romance was complicated due to the fact that Fizzy was a contestant on Connor's dating show. The show was a lot of fun, but it was definitely those joyful excursions that delighted me the most. How could Fizzy not fall for a man who was out there in search of joy with her? Stupendous, this book was stupendous, and I would love to spend more time in this world. 

[review]

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Kismet by Becky Chalsen
Published by Dutton on April 18, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

A sun-soaked debut about love, sisterhood, and destiny, set in the glorious beach town of Kismet, Fire Island . . . Can Amy's marriage survive Jo's wedding?

For as long as anyone can remember, it has been Amy, Jo, and Ben. Amy and Jo, the inseparable Sharp twins who couldn't be more different; and Ben, Amy's childhood sweetheart turned husband.

But as this year's Fourth of July weekend approaches, something feels off. Jo's whirlwind engagement and wedding ceremony now eclipses the twins' long-awaited thirtieth birthday. Recent arguments between Amy and Ben have left their marriage feeling more like make-believe than ever-after. And as the family beach town transforms for Jo's wedding weekend, Amy's trusted trio will be tested by the most unexpected hurdle yet: the arrival of a handsome, mysterious newcomer in a best man suit. One with a strikingly familiar face. A face that Amy had planned to never see again.

This holiday weekend, even the strongest SPF won't protect the Sharp twins from all the secrets about to take center stage.

What a lovely story about family, forgiveness, and connection. Amy was trying her best to hide her grief in order to be the best maid of honor for her sister. She had suffered a great loss, and it was more profound because it was one of the first times things didn't go according to Amy's meticulous plan. I was very sympathetic when it came to Amy's pain even if I didn't necessarily agree with the way she was navigating it. she was frustrating at times, but she was very thrown by this, and when a secret from her past reemerged, I can totally understand her irrational behavior. I felt the story was beautifully told and filled with fun and love which tempered the drama. Ultimately, it touched my heart. 

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Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Published by Flatiron on February 25, 2020
Age/Genres: Adult, Time Travel

Goodreads

A remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of order.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order...

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met? Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Margarita Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.

Such an interesting take on the time travel trope. Time jumping with Oona was always interesting. It was so messy, but I loved the way Montimore wrote it. Oona sometimes left herself letters for after the jump, but most of the time, she had one of the two people who knew about her time jumps waiting for her in the new year. I was definitely engrossed in the events of Oona's life, and there were some reveals in the later chapters that brought tears to my eyes, but it was more about how this story made me ponder. So much to think about with respect to the ups and downs of life. Reminding me to look for the joy that is there and to live in the moment. 

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Honorable Mention

May was packed with great reading. Here are my honorable mention books. All earned 4.5 stars.

• Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
• Our Place on the Island by Erika Montgomery
• The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs
• The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms
• A Little Too Late by Sarina Bowen
• Summer Stage by Meg Mitchell Moore

What were the best books you read last month?
Let us know in the comments!