Hi everybody, happy March and welcome to my February wrap up!
Well, I for one am glad that February is over as it was NOT a good month. That said though, I did read some good books so it wasn’t all bad either…
Running Wild by K.A. Tucker
Since I finished my Simple Wild series re-read in January, it was finally time for me to dive into Marie’s story. And while this wasn’t as much of a favorite for me as The Simple Wild, I still really enjoyed the story and the (very) slow burn romance. Marie as a character was definitely redeemed in my eyes, though I have to admit I enjoyed the cameos of the Trapper’s Crossing crew most of all. And papa Lehr, because he was such an amazing dad!
Rating: 4 stars
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (Letters of Enchantment #1)
I GET THE HYPE NOW.
No, really, this was amazing and everything I love in a story: It’s a pen pal romance. It’s a rivals-to-lovers pen pal romance between two reporters. It’s a fantasy rival-to-lovers pen pal romance between two reporters with magically linked typewriters and monsters and gods and magic… So yes, I definitely dove into Ruthless Vows immediately after!
Rating: 5 stars
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross (Letters of Enchantment #2)
While I didn’t LOVE this one as much as Divine Rivals, it was still an amazing read! I think I kind of missed the connection between Iris and Roman a bit in this one, as they spend most of the book apart, but the worldbuilding was expanded beautifully and the writing was still absolutely exquisite! Overall, a very satifying conclusion to this duology.
Rating: 4,5 stars
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
This was a highly anticipated read for me and I have some mixed feelings about it. I thought it was an enjoyable romance and I did enjoy the vampire/werewolf lore and Ali Hazelwood’s unique take on it. But while I enjoyed the characters and romance on some level, it didn’t hook me as much as I’d wanted it to. I was honestly more invested in the mystery than the romance. That said, I wil continue to read anything Ali Hazelwood writes and if she decides to dive back into this world with other characters (as was slightly teased at the end), I’ll be all for it.
Rating: 4 stars
The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1)
Ahh, this was absolutely adorable! I love a good pen pal romance and this DELIVERED! But as cute as the pen pal aspect was, I also loved when T and C met in real life AND the fact that we got a little epilogue as well!
Rating: 5 stars
Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez (The Improbable Meet-Cute #2)
My first Abby Jimenez and yes, I definitely got a taste for her writing! This also delivered a bit of pen pal romance vibes, though I guess it’s more strangers doing kind things for each other than pen pals. I also appreciated that this had so much depth to the characters in such a short amount of time.
Rating: 4,5 stars
Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne (The Improbable Meet-Cute #3)
While an enjoyable novella, this was my least favorite of the ones I read so far. I guess the premise kind of took me out of it a bit? It just seemed more serious than funny and I didn’t really connect with the humor or the characters.
Rating: 3 stars
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons #3)
I’m getting really excited for the upcoming new season of the Bridgerton TV adaptation and I wanted to prepare by catching up with at least books 3 and 4 in the series. So I did just that with book 3 (Benedict’s book) and well, I had some mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I love Benedict in the TV show and he was also mostly loveable in the book, I loved the Cinderella retelling aspect and Sophie was a great heroine to root for. But I thought the whole love drama was a bit too repetitive and it even annoyed me a bit near the end. I hope I won’t feel this way when they (eventually) tackle this storyline for the TV show. Still dove right into book 4 though because I’m eager for Colin and Penelope’s story!
Rating: 3 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
10 Of My Shortest Reads
10 Of My All-Time Favorite Romance Reads
Bookish Superpowers I Wish I Had
Flowery Book Covers
Can’t Wait Wednesday
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday: 7 February 2024
These two songs stood out to me this month:
From Ashes To New ft Chrissy from Against The Current – Barely Breathing
Ahh, I love this collab so much! The song has such early 2000’s rap rock vibes and the addition of Chrissy’s vocals is genius (though ATC is my fave band, so I may be biased)
Also, just today ATC was confirmed to play at a Belgian music festival this summer that I already had a ticket for, so I AM BEYOND EXCITED!
88 Rising, Rich Brian, NIKI & Warren Hue – California
I didn’t watch a lot this month but I did watch a few episodes of House of the Dragon season 1 and about half of the kdrama My Demon. Also, I watched the movie Rebel Moon Part One on Netflix and thought it wasn’t too bad (even if it got a lot of negative reviews).
Honestly, February kind of hit me like a brick. Part of it is the winter blues I get pretty much every year, but there was also quite some work drama that took me out. I’m not going to go in details about it, but because of that, my anxiety has been at an all-time high this month and I’ve been feeling physically ill and exhausted and just unable to do much of anything in the evenings or weekends. Honestly, I’m happy I still got some reading in at least.
So that is the reason I’ve been a bit MIA on the blogosphere lately and I’m sorry about that! While I had some posts scheduled, I haven’t been great at replying to comments or bloghopping. I promise I’ll do my best to catch up or at the least, jump back in as soon as possible!
But for now, let’s focus on the bright side:
THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH:
- My husband and I celebrated our 15-year dating anniversary. We went for sushi and it was yummy as always.
- Had a few dinners with friends and catching up is always nice!
- (Just on the last day of the month) My fave band, Against The Current, was announced to play at a music festival this summer that I already had a ticket for!!! I did just see them last November, but hey I’m still beyond excited I’ll be able to see them live again!
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Finally starting my anticipated read of House of Flame and Shadow!
- The third (and final) season of Young Royals!
- The first day of spring and (hopefully) better weather to come with it!
- We have a few family celebrations and hangouts coming up.
How was your February? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in March?
I had high hopes for Bride as well, but it was such a major letdown to me.
I’m sorry Bride was a letdown, hopefully the next Ali Hazelwood will be a better read for you!
I’m sorry work was such a bummer this month – I hope the drama is over now or will end soon! I’m also looking forward to warmer weather and more sunshine! Worst Wingman Ever was such a great read, I too was surprised at the amount of character development Jimenez was able to create!
Thanks! Yes, Worst Wingman didn’t feel like a novella in that it contained so much depth! Definitely makes me want to read more by Abby Jimenez.
I’m sorry work was that horrible last month. I hope March is much better. I can understand why you were MIA a bit. I loved seeing you enjoyed Bride and Running Wild. I want to read that novella series. I guess I also need to read Divine Rivals. I bought it for my daughter, so I guess I just need to steal it back.
Thank you! Haha, I’d definitely recommend stealing/borrowing it from your daughter for a little bit 🙂
I really need to read Divine Rivals. I love Rebecca Ross. I’m so glad you loved it as much as you did.
I’m sorry February wasn’t a good month for you. 🙁 I hope things turn around in March. *hugs*
Thanks! I hope you’ll love Divine Rivals when you get to it!
I’ve been wanting to buy Divine Rivals for a while now but I still haven’t. Gotta make it a must for the next couple of months at least.
I definitely think you’ll like Divine Rivals too, Stephanie!