A Sky Full of Stars by Samantha Chase

My favorite of the series so far, this book lets socially awkward and braniac astrophysicist Dr. Owen Shaughnessy  meet his match in the beautiful former beauty queen, former head cheerleader, and former mean girl, Brooke Matthews (a lot of jokes about her being named after a famous model, never quite figured this one out). She's now an artist obsessed with the night sky. Owen is about to take some students out to Red Rock to study the stars and his mentor/her uncle thinks Brooke would not only benefit from being able to go out with a group, Owen would get a go-between to help him with the students.
The two meet and have an immediate attraction. Brooke feels an affinity to Owen right away, being able to talk to him how she would have talked to her older brother, also a genius. But she feels a little insecure because her parents pushed her and her brother so much into the roles of Beauty and the Brain. There is a swift romance that involves a whirlwind trip from Chicago (where they met) to Las Vegas and then on to meeting Owen's family in North Carolina.
And it's here that I start to have some issues with this book. I think we start to move away from Brooke and Owen's story to the set up for the last Shaughnessy sibling, Darcy. The last Big Misunderstanding also felt a little forced and unnecessary. It just dragged out the story.

Four stars
This book comes out June 6
Follows This is Our Song
Followed by Holiday Spice

An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles

The book opens with journalist Nathan Roy going undercover to expose spiritualitsts, not only because his boss has commanded him to but because he hates people who prey on others. And Justin Lazarus is one of those people. We know that because Charles lets us into his point of view, seeing that this is the only way that he knows how to make money. But when the two meet, there is an undeniable attraction.
Nathan lost his partner in a hideous accident and hasn't been with anyone since then. Hasn't even wanted to be with anyone since then. The attraction he has for Justin is not only inconvenient, it's making him question his own mind.
Justin doesn't really care who he sleeps with -- men, women, clients. It's all the same to him. For sure there is something about Nathan that calls to him (the description of Nathan's hairiness made me see the attraction for the first time). But can he get involved with a man who hates him so much?
There is the search for a missing earl and someone killing to keep that earl secret. The killer is after Justin now so Nathan and Justin are on the run at Nathan's family home.
This is a fun series that I am enjoying and the sex... oofda. But I never really warmed to Justin, he was sort of an ass. And I never got why these two would stay together. Magic sex parts?

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 6
Follows An Unseen Attraction

A French Wedding by Hannah Tunnicliffe

It took me awhile to get used to the rhythms and the writing of this book. For the first couple of pages, I really thought I was going to DNF this book. But then I got caught up in the story of Juliette (why the blurb seems to focus on Max, I'm not sure since the POV switches up and, really, I thought hers was really the story they all seemed to orbit around.)
Juliette is back in her hometown; rather than cooking in Paris at her own restaurant, she's the housekeeper for rocker Max who is just about to turn forty and has invited his six best friends to celebrate with him. Two are involved with each other and bring their rebellious teen daughter, but we're given hints that it is not a halcyon relationship. One of his friends, Rosie, is married to a man the rest of them hate. Eddie is bringing his very young girlfriend along. And Helen, the one that got away (from Max), is coming and bringing her sister.
It's a book that has it's issues, but it still drew me in and made me care about the characters. I wish we had learned more than the rather thin epilogue and that the beginning was a little less rough  but I overall thought three and a half stars.

This book comes out June 6

There, There by Tim Beiser

It's rainy outside and Rabbit has a case of the grumps. Bear is trying to cheer him up but isn't having much luck. At least, until he drags Rabbit outside and shows him the life of a worm.
The verse this is written in is a little hard to follow. And I didn't love this story. But the illustrations are fun and it's a cute book..

Three stars
This book come out June 6

New York, Actually by Sarah Morgan

We've met the Knight siblings on the periphery of the other "From Manhattan with Love" books. Harriet and Fliss are dog walkers who have worked with the Urban Genie women. Their brother Daniel, the hero of this book, is Lucas Blade's friend and neighbor. Each of the siblings was scarred in different ways by their parent's explosive marriage. For Daniel, he became a divorce lawyer; a shark specializing in helping to make sure that parents who shouldn't be together don't stay together "for the kids." This is why he gets so upset when the advice of a popular blog has one of his clients (both of whose children are having emotional problems) getting back together with his ex. It's a good thing he has is finally making headway with the gorgeous brunette he sees running in the park. Yes, it involves borrowing a foster dog from his sisters and engaging in some deception but he doesn't have long-term relationships anyway, so what does it matter?
Molly fled England after her personal life imploded on national television and her friends deserted her. She's decided that, because she has never fallen in love, her mother's abandonment has left her unable to love. But as a psychologist, she knows she can help others and does so on her blog. Too bad the hot guy with the gorgeous dog keeps distracting her.
There are some awkward expositional moments so I don't think you'll need to have read the other books in this series to keep up. Other drawbacks of this book are the somewhat fast resolution to the big drama and a bit of a twee ending with Yet Another Thing. I did, however, enjoy the characters, most of the story, and the light touch of adding in previous characters from the series.

Four stars
This book came out May 30
Follows Miracle on 5th Avenue

No One but You by Brenda Novak

Novak continues the trend of taking some truly difficult characters, in this case a former prisoner (accused of a double murder) and an abused woman, and having them find themselves and each other.
Dawson Reed just wants to fix up his adoptive parents (the double murder) farm and live his life so that he can win custody of his sister.
Sadie Harris just wants to make enough money to feed and house herself and her son so that she can win custody from her sadistic husband. The husband who seems like a nice guy to everyone else. The guy who is a cop... Oh.
This poor book suffered in  part because I read the beginning of Until you Loved Me at the end of this story, realized I had the ARC and read it right after this. It is such an awesome story with characters I connected with so much more easily than these two. I also got a little overwhelmed with everything that was happening. I don't think that regular Novak readers will be disappointed, I just don't think you should read these two in quick succession.

Three Stars
This book comes out May 30
Follows Finding Our Forever
Followed by Until You Loved Me

The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen by Hope Nicholson

I was surprised but grateful to get an ARC of this book after it was already on the shelves. Especially when I saw it was advertised in O magazine. And for a good reason. This book is very well-explored but with short engaging sections that start with a brief description of the comic, a lovely quote, and then information about the creators and when the book first appeared. Not just the popular comics, this book touches on some that only ran for a few issues, ones that are... not quite ready for prime time, and some comics that are just plain weird. I was intrigued by a few of the books based on Nicholson's descriptions and added to my TBR.
As easy and fun a nonfiction book as you'll ever find.


Four and a half stars
This book came out May 2