April 2026 Reading List

I've got 6 books lined up for April, plus I'll be finishing up the Dresden Files book that I started in March.

 

Reading for NetGalley-

 

Platform Decay (The Murderbot Diaries #8) by Martha Wells

 

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment in Martha Wells' bestselling and award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

Having volunteered to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realises that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for... eye contact!

 

 

 

 

Reading for Book Club-

  

Waifs and Strays (The Cat Lady Chronicles #1) by Helen Harper

 

Nobody is just a cat lady.

Kit McCafferty's life is quiet, unremarkable and filled with cat hair. In the magical city of Coldstream, located on the border between Scotland and England, Kit is viewed as little more than mildly eccentric and mostly harmless. She passes her days caring for her family of five cats, feeding the local feral moggies, and maintaining relatively good relations with her neighbours.

All that changes, however, when a teenage werewolf shows up at her door in the desperate hope of renting out a nearby vacant flat. Kit knows that the smart move is to tell him to leave. The last thing she needs is to become embroiled in complicated shapeshifter politics. But something about the secretive young werewolf tugs at her heartstrings.

It's not long before Kit ends up caught in a maelstrom of mysterious crime and magical wrong-doing. Fortunately, there's far more to Kit McCafferty than meets the eye and she has a few dark secrets of her own.

Of course, anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that you underestimate a cat lady at your own peril.

Waifs and Strays is the first book in a new urban fantasy crime series. Expect mystery, magic and adventure with a heroine who will keep you turning pages late into the night. There will also be a lot of cats.

 

 

 

 

Reading with The Mystery Book Club- 

  

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

 

OLIVIA. 22 years old. Last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again. Missing for one day and counting . . .
Julia is the detective heading up the case.
She knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her children.
But Julia has no idea how close to home it's going to get.
Because her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder . . .
What would you do? 

 

 

 

 

 

Stolen Justice (Cass Leary #4) by Robin James

 

Will she take on an entire town to clear the name of a convicted killer? Defense lawyer Cass Leary never backs down from a case. Though after her latest high-profile courtroom win, the ex-mafia attorney thinks she’s finally earned a little rest and relaxation. But when her paralegal begs her to defend a potentially innocent man who was convicted of homicide, she puts vacation on hold to fight for justice.

With the convicted killer now terminally ill and behind bars, Cass digs deeper despite the whole town resisting her at every turn. Discovering shocking evidence along the way, she fears the true killer may still be at large. But the closer she gets to the hornet’s nest, the more she enrages those who want her permanently silenced…

Can Cass set the record straight before trying to reveal dark town secrets gets her killed?

Stolen Justice is the fourth book in the fast-paced Cass Leary Legal Thriller series. If you like bold heroines, dark secrets, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Robin James’s pulse-pounding novel.

 

 

 

 

 Pick it for me Book-

  

Yours Truly (Part of Your World #2) by Abby Jimenez

 

A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse. 

  

 

 

 

 Other-

  

The Shabby Old Cottage (The Irish Escape #3) by B.E. Baker

 

Three old friends in Ireland. Two months and change running their new hotel. One big holiday season in a strange place. How could a shabby old cottage ever shine like new?

Natalie’s move to Ireland was supposed to be uncomplicated. Her priorities were to turn an old estate into a hotel and help her kids integrate into school across the globe. But when surprise visitors change her plans and her feelings for a helpful friend turn into more, she struggles to focus on what really matters.

Samantha always longed for children, but when that never happened for her, she chose to pursue her other great horses. Now that her whole job revolves around riding, she expects to be happier than ever. Only, dreams are hard to shake, and now her love-life makes it hard to appreciate the joy that’s in reach.

Vanessa spent the past few years putting herself back together after losing her husband Jason. Her kids are thriving in Ireland, but she’s finding it difficult to find her place in a new culture. She’s also discovering with her beloved mother-in-law that there’s such a thing as too close.

Can these three women find a way to survive the busy holiday season in a new (old) place where everything feels strange? Or will the stress of family demands, disappointed dreams, and unwanted surprises turn shabby into downright depressing?