April | 2026 | Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass

Carried Over from Last Month’s TBR

Sunk in Love is currently sitting just to the left of me on my office desk. It follows Roslyn and Liam, a married couple, who after 5 years have separated and are headed toward divorce. However, in her family where everyone but her is a doctor, Roslyn is the black sheep. She’s only redeemed by the fact that she’s married to Liam, who is a doctor and beloved by Ros’s family. So, when her family grows suspicious of Ros’s continued excuses for Liam’s absence at family functions and her grandparents request/demand that Liam preside over their vow renewal, she convinces Liam to fake a happily married relationship for the duration of the vow renewal cruise.

New Releases

I think for New Releases, I should put them on my TBR as ‘Possibles’ or ‘Bonus’ books, since while I intend to buy them, I may not, or they may not release in enough time for me to pick them up and read them.

American Fantasy is a story about a recently divorced Annie who is bullied by her sister to take a cruise on a boat featuring her favorite boy band from her youth. Can she form a real and lasting romantic connection with one of her childhood crushes, in a sea of other middle-aged fans? Expected release on April 7.

I’m not sure how The Book Witch crossed my radar. Rainy March is a book witch who can enter book worlds to defend them from attacks from within (rogue heroes) and without (malicious alterations). She’s been forbidden to see the Duke of Chicago, at the risk of her magic, but when her grandfather disappears, she needs the Duke’s help. I’m not sure if magical realism is my jam, but it sounds like it might be a cute read. Release date is April 7.

The Escape Game by its nature as a YA murder mystery is not normally a book I would gravitate to; however, I have liked Marissa Meyer’s writing (and the Cinder series), and the cast of characters – with a cryptographer, math whiz, game master, and potential murderer – reminds me a little of Ready Player One, so I’m willing to give it a shot. Expected April 7.

While scouring bookseller websites and YouTube videos to try and find out what books are coming out in April, Ally Condie’s name jumped off the screen to me. I enjoyed the Matched series, so I’m interested to see if I will like her adult mystery/thriller, The Girls Trip. In this story, Hope (actress), Ash (internet personality), and Caro (doctor) who met in an online book club and are not meeting in person. Each of them has reasons to want to escape their daily life and they choose to meet up at a National Park. But what happens when one of them disappears? Releases April 7.

I first discovered Beth O’Leary in Swept Away, which was a cute closed-door romance where the protagonists literally get swept away to sea. In The Name Game, two people named Charlie Jones arrive at a remote island, expecting to me the new farm-shop manager. It sounds like lighthearted shenanigans will ensue. Release day on April 7.

The bright, candy colors of the cover are what initially drew my attention to The Paris Match. Their marriage ended amicably, but only about a year later might be too soon for Layla to face the former in-laws and attend her ex-sister-in-law’s wedding. When she inadvertently gives the bride cold feet, the groom’s best man forces her to help him fix it. Expected April 7.

My friend, Kelly, introduced me to Shield of Sparrows, and we are both eagerly anticipating Book 2! Finally, we will get Rites of the Starling on April 7. Now that I have read The Bridge Kingdom, this feels like it will be a bit similar with many kingdoms that have different resources and try to solve their political strife with marrying their children to build alliances.

I am committed to reading all of Olivia’s National Parks books, and I hope that she writes one for each of the 63 National Parks. We just got Off-Limits Love in Shenandoah and now we are getting Tenor Willits Gets the Yips on April 10. These are self-published, so the release date is a little different from the other books, and I was only able to pre-order the ebook version from Amazon Kindle. I have paperback copies of the other two books, so I’m hopeful that once the release day comes, I’ll be able to order a physical copy. I think this book is more of a novella than a full novel at 159 pages. We met the MMC, Tenor Willits, in Off-Limits Love in Shenandoah, where he has been working with Lynette to overcome his “yips,” and heads to the Petrified Forest for a brief break from his demanding sport.

Stay for a Spell just sounds like fun! Princess Tandy hates princess duty and being cursed to remain in a bookshop until she unlocks her heart’s desire seems like a reward instead of a curse. However, back at home her princess duties are piling up and her parents are frantic to get her back, so they start sending princes to woo her back. The magic happens on April 14.

The Thorn Queen is the sequel to The Rose Bargain and releases on April 14. I purchased, but have not yet read the first book yet, but I am interested in it and might pick up book 2 this month.

Book Club Picks

For my brother’s Moon Lit Bookclub selection for April, we will be reading The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen. This is the first time that his book club has selected a sequel as the monthly choice. I started reading it as soon as I finished The Bridge Kingdom, but I’m only 18% of the way through it. In this sequel, Lara’s husband has been captured by her father and she has to rescue him, as well as check on the status of her warrior sisters, who were raised alongside her to be weapons for their father.

For my brother’s Welcome to the Apocalypse book club, we will be reading Reset by Mark Tufo. Life as we know it has come to a sudden halt after an EMP goes off. This book focuses on some unlikely heroes (an addict, two pre-teens, and a person with a terminal illness) trying to survive. This book was available for ‘free’ (thanks, subscription), via Kindle Unlimited.

A local independent bookstore, Love & Other Books, has between 4-5 book clubs across different topics/genres each month. This month, I managed to catch the events before all of the spots were sold out and Star Shipped sounded like the most fun read. It follows two actors on a long-running sci-fi show who can’t stand each other. Simon finally gets to leave the show at the end of his contract, but he doesn’t want it to look like he was fired for being difficult to work with (even if he kind of is hard to work with). Charlie is wild, outgoing, and beloved by everyone on set, and just the PR solution that Simon needs. Could a fake friendship save Simon’s reputation? What happens if the fake friendship turns into a real relationship?

(Overdue) Library Books

Okay, I don’t have any overdue library books at the moment, but I did just place a couple holds, so I’ll add these to the TBR as ‘Possibles,’ since it depends on when the holds will become available. One of the holds is for Star Shipped, listed above. The other is for Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune. I didn’t realize it when I put in the hold, but the Carley Fortune book isn’t going to be released until May 5.

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune – I think this is a standalone book. It features Frankie and George, childhood friends who have always had a volatile on/off relationship. Frankie invites George to be her best man at her wedding, not knowing if he will actually make an appearance. He does, but then her fiancé calls it off the next morning. Confused and heartbroken, she agrees to George’s request to go on her planned honeymoon with him, as a last chance to repair their friendship.

Random Selections

The Girlfriend Zone by Lauren Blakely – I started reading this book almost a year ago on April 20, 2025 and recently picked it back up again. I have been enjoying Lauren’s books, especially this series, even though they are on the edge of being too spicy for my preference. This is an age-gap romance, where Miles is given a second chance at his NHL career after a severe injury and is hoping to impress the coach and be given a co-captain position on his new team. He meets and has a steamy encounter with Leighton, before finding out that she’s off-limits as one of his new coach’s daughters. I’m pretty far into the book at this point and will likely finish it early in the month.

The “Possibles” List

Mayhem and the Mortal by Shanora Williams – I received an ARC of this book by Entangled/Red Tower Books. It arrived taped up in a plastic note with a note from the post office. The box it was in was completely destroyed and the book inside was terribly mangled as well. I feel so sorry for this poor book! The blurb on the back sounds very exciting: To save her sister from a soul-devouring curse, Zaira has to cross a nightmare landscape with the help of Thane Valkor, an assassin and walking red flag. It sounds like this book may have had to cross a nightmare landscape to make it to my house!

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith – This is the first book in the series, and the second book is in the New Releases section above. I already own this book, so it would make sense if I were to finally read it in time to buy the next book in the series. It’s billed as a Regency-era YA Fantasy, so it’s got a lot going on! London has been under the control of an immortal fae queen, who tries to save her evil reputation by allowing each person to bargain for their deepest desire. Ivy thinks that marrying Prince Bram will solve her family’s problems and joins the competition for his hand in marriage.

Lift Me Up by Milly Johnson – This was a bonus free short story from the Amazon First Reads program. Tam was promoted at work to acting Managing Director, but then her job was taken from her and given to Jack. When they are stuck together in an elevator, he recognizes her capability which inspires her to fight for her true self.

The Final System by Anthony Tardiff – This was a free selection from the Amazon First Reads program. A vigilante hacker and a young politician risk everything to destroy a chilling new advancement in artificial intelligence. Jason is seeking revenge for his sister, and Chloe is realizing that the world that her daughter is growing up in is slowly losing its humanity.

Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood – After being fired from her dream job, Annie applies for a tech job she is not qualified for, but she tries to make up for her lack of coding skill with the social skills her nerdy coworkers lack. She also has to attend her sister’s second engagement party, to a man that Annie knows is the absolute worst. What makes this more excruciating is that Annie ruined her sister’s first engagement party, and her sister has not forgiven her.

Final List

My final initial TBR for March consists of 6 books, and 14 bonus books:

Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen
Tenor Willits Gets the Yips by Olivia Hope McCarthy
The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen
Reset by Mark Tufo
Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian
The Girlfriend Zone by Lauren Blakely
— Bonus —
American Fantasy by Emma Straub
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer
The Girls Trip by Ally Condie
The Name Game by Beth O’Leary
The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry
Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe
The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith
Mayhem and the Mortal by Shanora Williams
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith
Lift Me Up by Milly Johnson
The Final System by Anthony Tardiff
Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood

TBR Reads

My official March TBR consisted of 9 books. Of those, I have read 5:

Off-Limits Love in Shenandoah by Olivia Hope McCarthy

I read 2 of the 6 bonus TBR books.

Of the books I planned to read, but did not, 2 of them I do not yet own, so in the last week of February I officially took them off the TBR list and noted them as bonus books (in case I managed to buy them and read them before the end of the month):

Final result after TBR pruning was that I read 5/7 (71%) of my planned books and 29% of my bonus books. Pretty good for a mood reader!

Random Reads

March has been focused on my surgery and post-op recovery time. I had expected that my reading would be through the roof … except … Donald bought me a Switch 2 and Pokémon Pokopia and I spent the month beating the game. #noragrets

My non-planned reads include:

The Midnight Meet-Up has been sitting on my Kindle Unlimited shelf for a very long time and I finally took the chance and started reading it. (Aside: I seem to be enjoying having a physical book I’m reading, one on Kindle, and one audiobook – then I just switch stories depending on what mode of reading I want to do.) This was a very quiet and understated romance that felt low stakes – it was fine, but I wanted more passion.

No Place Like You has been on my To Read list since I read the first book in the series, Give Me Butterflies. This follows the sister’s story. Fable was a golden girl in high school, honing herself against her best friend-turned-rival, Theo. However, after high school, she lost her edge and has been drifting from job to job trying to find herself and her way in life. After the death of her grandfather, she’s living in his house and trying to restore it to honor him. Theo left their small town, but is back and is interested in buying half of the veterinary practice when his boss retires. His boss is uncertain about him, since he left town once and he wants the practice to go to someone who will stay. Theo, who has always had feelings for Fable, wants to fake date her to establish roots in the community (since her family is considered a pillar of the community) and despite her best efforts, Fable really does need someone to help her with the house. There is something cozy about Jillian Meadows’s writing that I love. It sucks me into the story and feels like a warm hug, even when the main characters are facing conflict.

This must be the month for series and sequels. I finally finished Only in Your Dreams this month, and immediately dived into the rest of the series. In Only in Your Dreams, the FMC fake dates Brooks, to hide the fact that she’s secretly seeing Zac, her brother’s best friend, who has been declared to be off-limits to her by her twin brother, Parker. Only Between Us picks up with Brooks and Siena’s story. This is also a fake-dating troupe. Brooks had his NFL career sidelined after a severe concussion and went wild for a bit, which was covered by all kinds of unsavory media posts – just the kind of publicity that his NFL team doesn’t want. Siena became a viral internet darling after dating another NFL player, so having a stable relationship with her would prove himself to have the family-friendly values that his dream NFL team prefers. Fake-dating Brooks gives Siena more internet buzz and more sponsorships, which will help her continue to run her recently passed father’s business and support her mother. Their banter was really cute (At one point, she renames his contact in her phone from ‘Attwood’ to ‘Brattwood’), but there was a lot of maturity and tenderness to this story as well.

Spark of the Everflame has been one of these books that has been talked about for a while, but I just hadn’t read. I picked it up a while back during an Audible sale and finally started listening to it on February 26th, when I had to drive into Ann Arbor for work. It took exactly a month to complete and I thought it was fairly good. Since I listen usually only when I drive, or if I’m doing a lot of meal prep work in the kitchen, my experience with the story was a bit broken and this probably effected my enjoyment of the world. I think, also, that I retain more of the story (and am more focused on it) if I read visually. This may also contribute to my rating of it. But, I did like it enough to start the sequel, Glow of the Everflame, as soon as I completed this one. In this world, there are mortals, and the magical children of the gods (or gods + mortals?) called the Descended. Diem’s mother had secretly been working at the royal palace as a healer for the royal Descended family, but has gone missing for the past 6 months. Now, the Descended King is dying, and a rebel faction wants Diem to help them fight against the oppressive Descended. Complicating this is Diem’s brother, who is in (young, puppy) love with the Descended Princess and his position as a student in the coveted Descended school could be at stake if her rebel activities are found out. And then there is the Princess’s brother, Luther, the nephew of the ailing King and presumed heir to the throne….

If Only You Knew is the final book in the Oakwood Bay series. This book follows Parker (twin brother of the FMC in Book 1) and Summer (best friend of the FMC in Book 1). This is a friends-to-lovers troupe, where they have been friends for so long and they never allowed themselves to think of themselves in a romantic relationship, that they are having a really hard time realizing that they actually have feelings for each other. Most of the series is a bit spicy, and this one ventures a little into the BDSM space.

Overall, I think I am still in a quick, fluffy romance era. Give me some feel-good attraction, witty banter, and some fun scenes to make me laugh and I am hooked.