Some of my favorite authors released new books in my favorite series in April, so those dominated my reading for the month. I also finished a series that I started in March, continued another series, and read my One Woman Book Club pick...all while taking a week off from everything for Spring Break. That said, I only read seven books this month, but my book club pick took up a lot of time for me. I also tried and discarded quite a few samples, whose titles I don't actually remember.

Solitary Sinners and Fatal Felons (Saint View Prison)

Author: Elle Thorpe

It feels like I read these ages ago - that's how long this month has lasted. Anyway, as I said with book one of this series, prison stories aren't my typical go-to trope. However, this one was handled differently. Instead of it being all about bad guys, it was about a man who is wrongfully convicted of murder and his girlfriend and friends' quest to prove him innocent. There's also a side plot involving one of the character's sons. His biological father killed his mom and has been released from prison and is now vowing to take the child away.

I did have a few unanswered questions at the end of this series, so I'm left to wonder if the author plans a follow-up? It would make sense considering this is a spin-off of another series (there's some character cross-over but no spoilers and no need for prior knowledge).

Author: Marc Levy

This was my One Woman Book Club pick for April. I was already a fan of Marc Levy, and this book did not disappoint.

Journalist Eleanor-Rigby receives a mysterious letter alluding to a crime her recently-deceased mother committed in her 20s and can't stop herself from investigating. Her search for answers uncovers a lot of secrets and leads her to George-Harrison, the son of her mother's dying friend who also received a letter stating his mom was part of the crime. The two team up to tackle the mystery together, growing closer through the process.

This book had multiple timelines, but they weren't always parallel. Only Eleanor-Rigby's parts were told in first person; every other character was in third, which I found to be an interesting choice. There were quite a few side plots that I felt had too much detail in that I wanted to know more about those particular stories even though they had nothing to do with the main storyline.

Three Dog Knight (Midnight Empire: The Tower)

Author: Annabel Chase

After surviving her mission from the royal vampires, London finds herself on a new case, this time at the behest of one of the wolves' council members. Something, or someone, is causing local wolves to go berserk, a condition thought to be isolated to one specific region. Now, those wolves previously afflicted with the condition find themselves cured. London has to track down whatever is responsible for the change and the person behind it all. And, of course, her new vampire shadow just has to tag along.

Just like with the first book, this one has a good bit of humor, especially considering the post-apocalypse trope. There's still no love interest, but it's pretty obviously building up to one, and a dangerous one at that. London is harboring a pretty big secret about herself that I assume will come into the light pretty soon. There's no way it'll stay secret through the end of the series. It feels like a pretty crucial plot point, no matter which way the author takes this.

Ruin (A Flawed Series)

Author: Auryn Hadley & Kitty Cox

I love the Gamer Girls series and its crossover series Shades of Trouble so much. In both there were characters I wanted more of, and this book definitely delivered with characters from both of the other series making appearances both big and small.

This series is about the members of Ruin, a hacktivist group we met in the Gamer Girls series, although I can't remember which book it was. It's mostly from Jericho's point of view, but we get a lot more of Knock, who was one of my favorite characters from the other books that I wished got more page time. Timeline wise, I believe this story starts around the second book in the Gamer Girls series but I'm not sure how far through that series it happens. I can't wait for the next book to come out!

Much Ado About Murder  (Nevermore Bookshop Mysteries)

Author: Steffanie Holmes

I don't know how I didn't know that this series was continuing. I really thought it was over with the defeat of Dracula, but my favorite book-characters-come-to-life have more mysteries to solve. In this installation, the village of Argleton is hosting a Shakespeare Festival complete with a pop-up replica of the famous Globe Theater and one of Shakespeare's famous First Folios. When the owner of the folio turns up dead, Mina swears she's going to leave the investigating to the police, but when Quoth pleads with her to take the case she quickly relents and the game is afoot.

Just like with all the other books in this world, the villagers are as quirky as Heathcliff is grumpy, and anyone can be a suspect. I do feel like this book had steamier love scenes than the others in an almost-but-not-quite-distracting sort of way. A new character is also introduced, a character that has her own spin-off series in which the Nevermore characters all make appearances. I have not read it and currently have no plans to. Ghosts aren't really my thing.

The Wolf Witch (The Coven saga)

Author: Chandelle LaVaun

This standalone sucked me right back into the world of The Coven, and I may have restarted the first book. This book is all about shifters, focusing specifically on a witch-shifter hybrid who was prophesied to be the Priestess of the Pack, Inez Alvarez. Just like with pretty much every Coven storyline, soulmates are involved, and it follows the same over-arching plotline that Lilith is rising. Of course the shifters will be playing a role in the battles to come, and Inez will have an important part in that. I am rather impatiently waiting for the next book in this saga.