It’s the end of April, Easter is upon us (Orthodox folks) and Valancy has won this month’s ShallowreaderBingo!!!! Hurrah! Hurrah! May there be rejoicing!

Meanwhile, I continue to lose at my own game. But read, I did. Here are the squares I scored:

 

Lady Bridget’s Diary

by Maya Rodale

Bingo Square: Dear Diary

This is the first of Rodale’s new Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series. The Cavendish family is from America. The brother has inherited some duke-ish title so the whole family has packed their bags and moved to the United Kingdom where they struggle to fit in. The duke’s sister Lady Bridget keeps a diary where she reveals all her feels for the Ton and especially horrible Lord Darcy who ends up being her lurve but not before her diary is stolen and a big, dark secret is at risk of being revealed. There are aspects of this book that I loved (one day I even found myself kissing the pages I had just read!) yet the overt Pride and Prejudice parallels annoyed me and the who Team USA brought love to the UK sentiment grated. It is hard being torn in two directions with the one read.

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.

Mother Bruce

Ryan T. Higgins

Bingo Square: Mother Ship

Grumpy bear Bruce likes to cook eggs so he is constantly pilfering bird nests. One day a batch he steals hatches and he finds himself stuck with goslings who think he is their mother. I absolutely adored this book. Every page is hilarious, the art work is expressive and everyone at work agreed wholeheartedly that it is worthy of library storytime. High praise indeed!

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.

Numbered

by Amy Andrews and Ros Baxter

Bingo Square: This Means War

(spoilers on this one)

Poppy Devine discovers she has breast cancer and decides that she needs to achieve all the items on an old bucket list she had written. She battles (*ahem* the war bit) her cancer and manages to fall in love with rock star Quentin while struggling and enjoying her friendship with Julia. This book brought some tears to mine eyes. Amy Andrews is one of my favourite Mills & Boon authors so her foray into women’s fiction (co-writing with her sister Ros Baxter) both excited me and saddened me (because..you know…this is a Love Story ending). Also, the bucket list travel kinda confused me. Why would you go from Italy to Norway to India then France particularly if you are sick and jetlag much?! But this is just a teeny annoyance. That said, Numbered is fab in soooo many ways. I love the snappy dialogue, the characters and so much more.

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.

Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes

by Jules Moulin

Bingo Square: Bodily Fluids

Yeah. Well. There is vomit in this one and an awkward condom to be discarded. The story was okay. Ally Hughes in a single mother teaching at Brown University. She sleeps with Jake, one of her students (after he tells her that he is not continuing at uni so twas not ethically iffy AT ALL!). After a weekend of bonking she calls off any future relationship because, you know, toy boy 22 year old with his 30 year old prof… So fast forward ten years later and Ally’s daughter brings Jake home as her latest date and ZOMG embarrassment! But all is okay. Jake was just using the daughter to get to the mum. The story was okay but it was a Nicholas Sparks kinda romance. And what is it with all these romances with freakin’ academics and all the philosophising (this book and Two Across from last month) about life, love etc. It just smacks of people grasping for some cultural capital since they are writing an HEA.

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.

Pantheon University

Bingo Square: Aphrodite

Hey! Literary vlog time! The fabulous team (TUTV) that brought us my favourite ever Romeo and Juliet adaptation Jules and Monty produced Pantheon University. Thirteen episodes, 12 Greek gods at an American university and an extra finale episode. I adored Zeus’s episode and the Aphrodite love/sex/hook up app episode is explosive.

 

Retribution

by Charlotte Lamb

Bingo Square: Ice Ice Baby

This is an old favourite which I have reread since I first read this book in the early 1980s. The standout for me is the heroine who is a snarky, sharp woman whose family is emotionally detached from one another. The hero is hawtness but manages to only just step across the alpha into alphabrute territory – too many punishing kisses and referring to women as bitches was abit grating and at one time accuses her of being ice cold (bingo!). Eventually I plan to write a big long review of this one.

I pilfered this copy from my sister’s bookcase when I moved out of home. Please don’t tell her as I am quite positive that she ignores my blog and has no idea that she gets the occasional mention.

Foxtrot

by Becka Moor

Bingo Square: Dance Like No One is Watching

Another cool picture book. Foxtrot loves dancing but has miserly friends who want him to stop because they find it annoying. He explores other activities but the boogey is strong in this one. I really couldn’t stand the grumblebum friends so I was rather happy that Foxtrot’s dancing won the day.

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.

I also had several other Bingo wins that I have already written about.

Uxurious – What Alice  Forgot  and Crush – Love in a Snow Storm. As for the Magenta square – the closest I could get was just changing my website colour background.

Several people have been tweeting their bingo squares and bingo wins on twitter. Has anyone else played this month? Stay tuned tomorrow for the May sheet!