I read so many good books this month, but honestly Daisy Jones is absolutely still my favorite book of the month (and of all time). Anyway, let’s get to the last fourteen books I read this month!
11. Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan
“I live through those things by caring less,” he says. “And I know that isn’t an option for you.”
A humorless chuckle strangles in my throat. “Um… no… That isn’t likely for me.”
“But it’s one of the things I like about you the most.”
Y’all. This book was so freaking good. Fair warning, Jared doesn’t care at all that Banner is in a relationship when this book hits the present and there is cheating. Also, the other thing that bothered me is that Banner is constantly fighting her weight and at times it was a little much. All of that said, it’s absolutely perfect. The amount I love Jared is just… absurd. I love him so much.
12. Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole
It felt bizarre to be ignored in general, much less by an embodiment of Aiden–who used to stare at her so hard that he’d run into trees.
I have extremely complicated feelings about this installment of Immortals After Dark because holy cow. Declan Chase is a torturer. He’s literally the person who tortures immortals on Torture Island and I was like, “He is irredeemable.” I tweeted something about how he needed to be set on fire and it literally took me until Regin forgives him to come around to him. This one is really difficult to read. Is it worth it? I mean, yes? I think the plot really does advance here. I just… Wow. So much torture.
13. Show Me How to Loveby Synthia Williams
I read this for BuzzwordAThon. I really didn’t love this book. It opens with the characters finding their significant others in a closet, um, getting it on at a wedding. The two take off from this wedding and wind up staying in a cabin because of the snow where they wind up feeling extremely drawn to one another. If you would like more of my feelings about this or the character’s names, check my BuzzwordAThon wrap up.
14. Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole
She would never let him say he wasn’t good at emotional things again because that was a damn lie. He cared enough to pay attention, and he acted on what he saw. That was more than most people managed.
I absolutely adored this novella. Reggie and Gus have such a nerdy romance. And Reggie’s love for Portia gave me such joy!! Reggie is a wheelchair user and I think the rep was pretty lovely (though Reggie is also very privileged with her financial situation) and Gus is neurodiverse, I think falling somewhere on the spectrum. The two of them communicate and are just really so wonderful. I loved this novella.
15. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
“She wished he’d stop touching her. Not because she didn’t like it but because she liked it far too much. It made her hunger for things that could never be hers. And if someone went hungry for too long, they started to starve. Started to hurt.”
What is not to love about the Psy-Changeling series? A re-read has begun to prepare for Wolf Rain this summer on Twitter and, um, unsurprisingly, I’m now ahead. Sascha and Lucas meet because Nikita Duncan (Sascha’s mom) and the DarkRiver pack are working on a business deal and also, they’re working on this business deal because Lucas and DarkRiver are trying to find a Psy murderer. Sascha and Lucas are drawn to one another despite being different races, Sascha being Psy and Lucas being Changeling. I really love the set up and introduction this book gives us to the world and mostly I just love Sascha and Lucas. They’re such a great introductory couple.
16. What a Difference a Duke Makes by Lenora Bell
“It’s almost an indulgence, isn’t it? To repeat one’s missteps over and over in one’s mind until that’s all one can see? If you’re not careful, you could become stuck in a continuous loop in your mind, going over and over the dark, bad things and never moving forward into the light.”
If you liked Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game, I think you would also like this one. Lenora Bell’s writing is probably a little angstier than Tessa’s, but I really appreciated how she negotiated the power differential in this one. I also just absolutely adored all of the characters so much and can’t wait to actually read For the Duke’s Eyes Only.
17. Hoops Holidayby Kennedy Ryan
In the end, other people can’t complete us, but can love us in our brokenness if we let them.
I loved this so much. It contains Avery and Deck’s story, which was really great. Avery is trying to get past her grief over the death of her fiancé and Deck is dealing with his ex-wife being pretty vindictive regarding custody of his daughter. I really love the two of them and watching them make their relationship work despite obstacles.
It also has short stories of Banner and Jared (!!!!!!!!!) and Iris and Gus, which were absolutely amazing and I really, really, really love Jared.
18. Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventureby Courtney Milan
“I never screamed aloud, and yet I lost my voice from disuse.”
Linked for you is my full non-spoiler review of this absolutely marvelous f/f novella that I loved so, so much. It was so cathartic to read a book wherein there is a literal burning down of a building. Like, hello, that is everything I wish we could do. I’m kidding, kind of, but that’s what’s so great about fiction! For more, check out the full review.
19. Gripby Kennedy Ryan
“Don’t you feel how connected we are?” I ask. “If I break your heart, I break mine.”
I read Flow a while ago and was busy sulking because how dare she give me a cliffhanger. But, to be fair, I was warned and Flow was free at the time. Anyway, Grip picks up several years after the end of Flow and Grip is still in love with Bristol, who has shut him down. He’s not letting that keep him from living his life, but when they share a kiss fueled by a marijuana haze, she realizes she needs to make him realize it’s never going to happen. Mind you, Bris is in love with him too. This book is angsty af and my poor heart didn’t think it was going to survive.
TW: Bristol’s ex is an asshole and there is a dubious consent situation there and also he’s an asshole (but he’s not in the book much, so this isn’t a Long Shot situation).
20. Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh
“What I feel like right now—I’d compare it to waking from a dream and seeing the real world. It’s a beautiful place, but it also has darkness. If you try to eradicate that darkness, you also destroy the light.”
My dislike of Vaughan really came out in this re-read, but I do still enjoy this book. Basically, Faith is an F-Psy and she’s convinced she’s going insane because she’s started seeing dark visions. So she escapes the compound she’s in to seek help from Sascha. Vaughan finds her and is immediately possessive and controlling toward her, like, adamantly convinced he knows what’s best for Faith. It’s because of the whole mate situation, but ugh. So annoying. I still really love this book though. The world-building in this series carries the weaker books, for sure.
21. Stillby Kennedy Ryan
“When have you ever sat your ass down long enough for me to save you?”
“When I was in the dark, unable to shower or eat or get out of bed… unable to imagine living again. That’s when you saved me.”
Oh, y’all. This book is absolutely incredible. I loved seeing the established relationship here. Grip and Bristol love each other and they’re having to negotiate really normal (okay, not normal per se) issues. I just… So precious.
TW: death of a child
22. Hook Shot by Kennedy Ryan
“There is no place, no spot on the continuum of time that could have hidden this man from me.”
Kenan and Lotus are absolutely precious. But wow, does Kennedy Ryan have the ability to send me into tears before healing my heart. I read this in a haze from midnight until 4 am, so it’s fair to say that some of my tears may be due to that. But regardless, Lo and Kenan have had this undeniable chemistry since they met in Long Shot and seeing that come to fruition was a delight. They’re both in NYC and Kenan is tapped to be an arm model for the fashion guy that Lo works for. And… well, things go from there.
Things you should know: Kenan is still dealing with the effects of his divorce and his daughter is in kind of a fragile place.
TW: suicide attempt
23. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
“Judd figured he must have done something right along the way. How else could a rebel arrow have earned the right to call this amazing woman his own? Even if it was a mistake, too damn bad. He was never giving her up.”
Judd and Brenna are really great together and I loved that this novel takes us to the SnowDancer’s den and also gives us a Psy man. I adore the wolves and I adore Judd. Don’t get me wrong, I love Brenna too, but like, Judd is so… He’s just great. He thinks he’s like a pretty bad dude, but he’s actually not and I just adore that. He has so much to learn and Brenna is so good to him. Yeah, just, I love this one.
24. Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
“Your soul shines, Tally, and I’m so damn glad it shines for me.”
On a scale of 1-10, how much do I hate Clay? Probably like an 8. But you know. This book does a good amount of work in the plot and in the world-building and if I could suck up my dislike of Clay, I would really like it. But the more times I re-read this one, the more my dislike of him increases. So, here we are. I think I’m just going to skip this book in the future.
25. Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh
“When you want something so bad it hurts,” he said quietly, “and you bury it, bury it so deep that you convince yourself it no longer matters… and someone tells you you can have it, it’s terrifying. What if you take the chance and you’re wrong? What if you let yourself feel the loss and it’s this huge pain and you can’t put it back in the box?”
I really love Dorian and Ashaya’s story. Dorian is pushy and tends to growl at Shaya, but… I don’t know. He’s Dorian? Somehow everything he does just has me like, “I love you.” I think it’s because Shaya always feels so in control of herself. Shaya, for the record, is a M-Psy who has worked for the Council and Dorian has some serious issues with the Psy because of what happened to his sister, Kylie. The two of them circling each other, with Dorian’s leopard riding him hard, and Shaya trying so hard to fight her own pull to Dorian because she can’t break silence? Oh it’s everything. And then little Kenan. My precious children are precious. I need Nalini to never stop writing because I need a book about Noor and Kenan. (And one about Marlie and Ben, but I think I’ve talked about that before?)
Alright, that’s how March wrapped up for me! What was your favorite book of the month? Anything I need to add to my TBR? Do you have feelings about any of the books I read? Let me know!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 