Welcome to another edition of My Favourite Reads. There are few positives to being sick, but one of them is reading time. Thanks to me catching a horrid lurgy that required lots of miserable fevery hours in bed or on the couch with my blanky, April was a great reading month.

I enjoyed some excellent books too, which made it very hard to choose a favourite, but my favourite is a story that continues to resonate in my mind, and that story is …

The Juliet Code by Christine Wells

I’ve adored all Christine’s books so far. The Wife’s Tale and The Traitor’s Girl were wonderful reads, so I was super keen to get into the The Juliet Code. Obviously, it didn’t disappoint!

This book had everything I adore – intrigue, romance, atmosphere, fantastic characters and a plot loaded with delicious twisty-turns. There’s love and betrayal, heroics and evil. And, if that wasn’t enough, The Juliet Code is also beautiful to look at. That cover just demands to be stroked lovingly.

Snap up a copy for yourself today. You won’t regret it.

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

Fans of domestic thrillers will love this one set in a “nice” suburban street where everyone looks successful and normal. Except hiding behind their veils of normal are families thick with secrets, and they’re about to be exposed.

The Family Next Door was a compelling read with a cool plot twist.

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

A terrific crime novel set in Ireland and introducing Cormac Reilly, an interesting new detective who I’ve read we’ll also see in a second book, and more after that I’m sure.

The Ruin was a nicely atmospheric, gritty and solidly plotted murder-mystery. Also topical.

Enchant by Demelza Carlton

I read this one when I was under the weather and it was the perfect pick-me-up. Enchant is the first in Demelza’s Romance a Medieval Fairytale series, this one based around Beauty and the Beast. It’s fast-paced, with a cool female lead and fun plot. Perfect for an afternoon blanky snuggling with a book.

You can pick Enchant up for free on Amazon.

Redemption Point by Candice Fox

Ooh, I enjoyed this one, probably even more than the first, Crimson Lake. It was so good to catch up with Ted and Amanda again, and to see how their lives were progressing. Pretty rockily, but that’s exactly what makes this series so page-turnery. That and the great writing.

Candice Fox’s stand-alone novels remain an auto-buy for me. Can’t wait for the next.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Apart from writing craft books, of which I own a ridiculous amount, and books bought specifically for story research, I’m not a big reader of non-fiction. Most of the time I either don’t finish the books or skim-read until I get to a good bit, but I read The Tipping Point the entire way through.

Gladwell’s argument for why some things reach a tipping point and take off was compelling. I also liked his entertaining style. There were some eye-widening examples given too.

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

This was a lovely book, filled with warmth and gentle English humour. It’s more like two stories, really, related but not parallel, and each as charming as the other. I loved Bomber and Eunice. They were fun (although I found their story bittersweet). Anthony’s, Laura’s, Freddy’s and Sunshine’s tale is a bit more complex, but no less entertaining.

I enjoyed the ‘lost things’ stories, too. They were clever and some had real bite.

Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

The final book in the Rebel of the Sands trilogy. I’m sad to leave this world! It was such a richly built one, loaded with magic and mayhem, heroes and baddies, and others that could slide either way, depending on circumstances. Amani was a terrific heroine, and the other characters wonderfully realised. Shazad was brilliant. Loved her.

Overall, a satisfying way to end the series.

What reads have you enjoyed lately?