Hi everybody, happy April and welcome to my March wrap up! Let’s just dive right in, shall we?
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith
This caught my eye because it was described as Bridgerton meets The Cruel Prince meets The Selection and that’s exactly the perfect description. The story is set in a reimagined 1840s England where a faerie queen rules and grants every citizen one bargain in their lifetime. However, this year, she hosts a competition for the hand of her fae son, Prince Bram. I read this book in one weekend. It was fun and entertaining and unputdownable. That said, I also felt like it was a bit short and superficial. I often feel the same when I’m watching a movie, like I know what feelings it wants to evoke, but it’s just too short for me to be able to get fully invested in the story and as such I don’t feel it as much, if that makes sense? I loved it, but I would have loved it more if everything was just fleshed out a bit more.
Rating: 3,5 stars
I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped In A Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming
Well, this was just as weird and hilarious and unhinged as the title would suggest. Also, a whole lot spicier. Think Ice Planet Barbarians, but just way more out there. We’ve got alien abductions, talking lions, a human/alien throuple, a planet put together by aliens who studied up on human civilisation for all of 10 minutes and decided they were experts, pink t-rexes and fluffy stegosaurs and tamagotchis who measure your affection and… well… it’s weird and it’s funny and I’m still deciding whether or not I was into it but I did finish it in two days so I guess I was?
Rating: 4 stars
Mother of Death & Dawn (The War of Lost Hearts #3) by Carissa Broadbent
This was a satisfying and bittersweet finale to an amazing fantasy trilogy. I can’t say too much about it since it’s the finale and I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that I haven’t rooted this much for an antagonist to just get their happy ending (and lots of hugs) since Holland in the Shades of Magic series.
Rating: 4 stars
Heartless (Chestnut Springs #2) by Elsie Silver
I’m still continuing my Chestnut Springs read and I’m glad I did because while I liked but didn’t love book 1, Flawless, I definitely did love Heartless. Partly because the main character of Willa is a hoot, but also because it featured so many great tropes like the nanny/single dad, grumpy/sunshine, age gap, taking care of someone while sick, … I also loved the bond between Willa and Luke, it was adorable.
Rating: 4 stars
Powerless (Chestnut Springs #3) by Elsie Silver
Yep, still continuing the Chestnut Springs read and I loved Powerless just as much as I did Heartless. Though it’s definitely way more emotional and has the characters going through trauma and healing journeys, I also loved the friends-to-lovers romance, roadtrip and runaway bride tropes.
Rating: 4 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
Things Characters Have Said In Recent Reads That Stuck (For Miscellaneous Reasons)
Twelve Spring 2025 Releases On My TBR
Ten Reads That Made Me Wish I Was Better At DNF’ing
WWW Wednesday
Jennie & Dua Lipa – Handlebars
Yeji – Air
I only watched one show this month:
My Dearest Nemesis
It’s been a while since I got really invested in a kdrama but My Dearest Nemesis delivers! It’s about Baek Su Jeong, whose first love was a fellow player she met online when she played a video game when she was 19. He told her he was 22 but unfortunately when they decided to meet in real life it turned out he was actually an awkward 15-year old. Su Jeong felt betrayed and turned him down in a quite public way. Both of them were heartbroken. Sixteen years later, Su Jeong is a talented planner at a company and meets her new boss, Ba Yu Yeon. Except, she doesn’t realise he is the same boy from 16 years ago and he doesn’t recognise her either. Of course, shenanigans ensue. Though I think this could have been about 2 episodes shorter as the later episodes were dragged out a bit, I highly enjoyed this one and was hooked from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, March has not been a great month as my grandfather, who was admitted to the hospital last month, passed away. While I’m grateful for all the years I did get to have him in my life, it still hurts to lose him now. So this month has been another inconsistent blogging month as I’ve been spending time with my family, mourning and honestly not really feeling up to blogging a lot of the time. I’ll try to be back to a normal schedule soon, but please be patient with me.
THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH:
- Still feels a little weird to talk about happy things this month, but thankfully there have been some of those too. Like the nice weather and the first flowers starting to bloom.
- Also, I splurged on a nice Kickstarter special edition of my favorite book series, Red Winter by Annette Marie a while back and this month it finally arrived. It’s so pretty and I’m looking forward to re-reading it soon.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Many, many book releases I’m looking forward to, like Fearless, Sweet Obsession, Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man, Enchantra, Great Big Beautiful Life, When the Tides Held the Moon, Love at Second Sight and The Floating World.
How was your March? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in April?
Great wrap-up! Sounds like March had some interesting reads and a fun K-drama. I’m so sorry for your loss—take all the time you need. Wishing you a peaceful April with good books and happy moments.
Sorry to hear about your grandfather – of course you should take whatever time you need
Sounds like April is shaping up to be a great month with all the new releases!
I’m so sorry about your grandfather, Lindsey. Take all the time you need. We will all this be here!
I am so sorry for your loss Lindsey. Take the time needed to get better. Hugs.
I’m so sorry to hear about your grandfather! It’s nice that you got so much time with him. And hooray for nice weather – that always makes things seem a little better.