Favorite Reads | April-June 2016

This list is going up somewhat later than I had originally planned, but here are my favorite reads for the second quarter of 2016. My reading during May was almost non existent due to constant headaches as well as my trip to London, but I still read some great books throughout these three months.

In his first full length novel The Dragon Hunter and the Mage, V. R. Cardoso created a world and characters that I could see following for a long time. It had all of the elements expected of a good fantasy series as well as some new additions. One of my favorite things was the relationship between the brothers Aric and Fadan. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this series.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016 and while The Unexpected Everything is not my favorite of Matson's novels, it still held some special magic of its own. I appreciated the fact that Andie had a group of friends to rely on, that her relationship with her dad was being strengthened and not weakened, that she made mistakes and grew from them. I would have liked the romance aspect to be a little more slow burn, but Clark was still very much a likable guy and their relationship was very cute.

In the past year I have become a big fan of Sarah Dessen's novels and The Truth About Forever might possible be my favorite. There is a lot happening in this novel and how it all plays out was such a pleasure to read. Macy is brokenhearted over losing her father and watching her finally come to terms with that when she meets the caterers of Wish was inspiring. One thing that I appreciated was that this one kept the drama to a minimum. And although the relationship between Macy and Wes was adorable, I really appreciated that it was kept slow and simple. They both had other people they were waiting for, trying to hold onto something they thought they should want. And I really loved that they didn't break that trust of commitment to themselves. They weren't pining away for each other. They were genuinely friends.