May 2026 Reading Wrap Up: 11 Books and the Two Five-Star Reads I’m Pushing on Everyone
May 2026 reading wrap up: 11 books including two five-star reads, a Loch Ness Monster shifter, soccer romance, and one MC book that wrecked me. Find your next read
May was a weird month. I spent a chunk of it watching Off Campus twice, back to back, like a completely normal person. But somewhere toward the end of the month I drifted back to the kinds of books that made me a reader in the first place: witches, urban fantasy, and a motorcycle club book that had me sobbing by the halfway point. I read 11 books, and two of them were five-star reads I will be pushing on everyone for the rest of the summer. Consider this your warning.
Here’s my May 2026 reading wrap up and where my book reviews stand.
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May Reading Stats
Books read: 11
Pages read: 4,127
Average rating: 3.82
Reading vibe: soccer heroes for the World Cup, fake dating everywhere, and a late-month return to my reading roots
Format breakdown: 6 audiobooks, 5 ebooks, zero physical copies
Trend I did not expect: how many of these involve a wedding someone has to survive
Watch: My May 2026 Reading Wrap-Up
If you prefer video/podcast-style chatting, I talked through all of these books plus my June must-reads in my May wrap-up episode.
Top Picks of the Month
I closed out May with back to back five star reads, which has not happened in a long time. Was I feeling generous or did I pick the exact right books at the right time? I don’t know, and I don’t care.
Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens 5 STARS
If you’re an Anne Rice fan, a Mayfair Witches fan, or an urban fantasy reader at all, you need to read this. Our heroine can siphon magic from other witches, which got her ostracized by her coven and her own family, so she left and went no contact. Then a surge of power rushes into her signaling her mother is dead, and the magic has chosen her to lead the coven. She goes back to face the shifter lover she left behind, her sister, the prejudice, and the question of why her mother actually died. Family toxicity, supernatural politics, action, a little seduction, and it’s all so easy to fall into even if you don’t normally read urban fantasy.
Property of Nash by Madeline Sheehan 5 STARS
As soon as this release and a brand new series were announced, Kings of Anarchy MC West Virginia, I bought it the day it released and read it in one sitting. I stopped for food. That was it.
It’s a second chance romance: he leads the club, she got out years ago and built a life as a touring violinist, and she’s called home to identify her brother’s body after an overdose that doesn’t sit right. By the halfway point I was sobbing. Touch her and die, literally, plus a single father hero. Slightly less red flaggy than her usual, but oh so messy, raw and beautiful. If you love Sons of Anarchy, you need to read Madeline Sheehan, period. Nobody does bikers quite like her.
Grab it on Amazon or read my Property of Nash review
Everything Else I Read in May 2026
Good for Her by Tylor Paige 4 STARS
A dark rom-com I grabbed as an audio ALC on NetGalley mostly because I had been seeing this author talked about on Booktok for while. Our heroine’s movie star mother died mid-production, supposedly by suicide. She knows better, so she takes the lead in the franchise’s comeback, opposite the Hollywood golden boy she once had a thing with, and goes hunting for revenge. Definitely Brynne Weaver vibes, a bit less dark, with a little Mindfuck series energy. Great entry point to dark romance, a fun dark romcom for the summer, and perfect if you want a little bit of female rage.
Out of Her League by Ava Rani 4 STARS
Top tier fake dating, conveniently timed since the hero is a soccer star and it’s a World Cup year. A young surgeon needs a date for a Paris wedding her ex is attending, so she enlists the injured soccer player she met during his rehab: she saves face, he gets good PR. This one is light on the actual sport, but breezy, fun, and you get a touch of Paris. My first Ava Rani and definitely not my last. Put it on your summer list.
The Deal by Elle Kennedy (reread)Â 4 STARS
As soon as I finished watching the Off Campus TV Show the first time, I went straight to this audiobook. Reading it after watching was the better experience: I enjoyed the story with the show’s scenes in my head instead of nitpicking changes while watching. I loved getting less-serious Garrett on the page, and I hope season two gives us more of that side of him. Originally a 4.5 for me, a solid 4 on reread, still recommended. The Score waits until after season two. Full thoughts on the show in my Off Campus season 1 review, and here’s the Off Campus series reading order if you’re starting now.
Grab it on Amazon or read my The Deal review (from when it first came out)
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You’re Dead to Me, Reed Walker by Gwenyth Reitz  3.5 STARS
A whim grab from the Libro.fm ALC selections because it gave me instant Vampire Kisses vibes and just the nostalgia of that. YA paranormal rom-com debut: two academic rivals wake up as ghosts after a graduation party and have to figure out who murdered them, while finally admitting they were attracted to each other the whole time. A little romance, a little mystery, a little paranormal investigation. Delivered exactly the vibe I picked it up for.
Big Stick Energy by Sarina Bowen 3.5 STARS
My Mirror Power Play read for the Bloom and Brawl Games, and embarrassingly the only spring challenge book I’ve finished in two month, so June is going to be a scramble. A hockey team admin accidentally sends a not-safe-for-work DM about the team captain to the team captain, then they end up fake dating through a wedding they both have to attend. Cute, with the layered characters Sarina Bowen always delivers, but lighter on hockey than I wanted, and she writes such good hockey scenes that I missed them.
Lessons in Faking by Selina Mae 3 STARS
A TikTok find while hunting for soccer romances. Tutoring setup where the hero is her brother’s nemesis, completely off limits, and her only way to a passing grade. Likable enough characters to carry me through, and if you liked The Deal, this will give you similar vibes.
Zoe Brennan First Crush by Laura Piper Lee 3.5 STARS
My May Romanceopoly study session pick, a sapphic contemporary set around a vineyard. The best part was what Laine meant to Zoe beyond first crush territory: the person who helped her realize her own sexuality and see she could live out as her true self. The vineyard delivered the vibe, but Laine’s professional knowledge felt thinner than her background would make you believe, and that opened some plot holes for me. It was cute and fresh, but not the most memorable. I’d read this author again.
Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson 3 STARS
An unofficial buddy read in our Romanceopoly Discord, also recommended by Jen from Books Jen Recs. A Loch Ness Monster shifter, which was the one shifter apparently missing from my collection, so I was sold. My first Lana Ferguson as well, and it was just okay for me. This one read remarkably close to Samantha Young’s Highland series, but with the paranormal. It was slow in places, and light enough on the paranormal some of it felt like it could pass for regular contemporary. It does get better past the halfway point, and the Nessie reveal genuinely works. In fact, if the Loch Ness monster was real, this would totally make sense. No spoilers, just read it. Honest verdict: if you love Samantha Young and have never tried paranormal, this would be a great entry point to PNR. But I wanted more from it.
Be Still My Unbeating Heart by Josh Winning 3.5 STARS
An ARC, out August 4th, so consider this your early warning. Male/male cozy paranormal mystery with romance, and the Interview with the Vampire parallels write themselves. A vegetarian vampire who is essentially Lestat living Louis’s life, vacationing in an Italian town where vampires can’t hunt, with his talking cat familiar. Day one, he’s found standing next to a body with its throat torn out. Prime suspect, house arrest, and a young good looking cop he has to team up with to clear his name. Funny, campy, a really good time; the pacing dips are what pulled it from a 4. And I already snuck it into my books like Interview with the Vampire list. Put it on your summer list.
What May Taught Me About My Reading Mood
May confirmed something I suspected: when I drift back toward the genres that made me a voracious reader, everything clicks in place. The two books I flew through fastest, and rated highest, were an urban fantasy and an emotional MC romance. I’m taking the hint. Also, multiple books involve surviving a wedding, which I did not plan and cannot explain.
Final Thoughts
Now tell me your best read of May, how you’re doing with Romanceopoly, and what June release you’re counting down to. My mid-year Romanceopoly update is coming soon, and I may be in a light panic. We’ll see what June holds for me first.
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