firewhiskeyreader

I read 31 new releases in the first four months of the year, which seems like a lot to me, but I think is probably on par with where I usually am at this time of year. There are several that were absolutely marvelous and fortunately, not too many that I really didn’t like. And since we were lucky enough to get a new Taylor Swift album, most of my categories have changed, which I’ll talk about as we go through. But, just in case you wondered, I’m obsessed with TTPD. Let me know if you want me to do a books to TTPD pairings post. I have ideas bouncing around, but I’m not sure I could wind up with just romance novels.

I Hate It Here

“I Hate It Here” is a song that I really love and one that I think some people are misremembering. This really would be best suited for me to do a tier ranking system of like my favorite books of all time because of the focus on how nostalgia can actually be really problematic because we can whitewash our pasts and we can keep trying to escape instead of trying to make our present better. But, I’m using it here for the very literal interpretation of I hated my experience and time reading these books and realistically I should have just DNF’d them. That said, technically, these two books are in here for two separate and pretty different reasons. A Fragile Enchantment was… I’m sorry, but I was so bored. Just honestly, And then Love in the Redzone, which I still have to review officially, was just not for me. In all fairness, Love Bevlin was writing what she wanted and I trust that there are so many people out there who would love it. I’m just not one of them. This book had a lot of Christianity in it, which is FINE to be clear, but… Um. Yes, this just wasn’t the book for me.

The Tortured Poets Department

The title track on the album is one that probably I could use some more fathoming on. But for me, right now, these are for the books that are for the tortured poets, while I’m just a modern idiot. Allow me to explain. These three books are ones that I think are absolutely books for someone else, but for me, they were not. I think I have reviews of each posted, but the tl;dr is that Faebound just didn’t make sense to me really, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde didn’t match my expectations (my bad), and Late Bloomer grated on my nerves because I do not appreciate being reminded of property law literally ever. Terrible. And again, each of those are specific to me as a person.

I Forgot That You Existed

“I Forgot That You Existed” is the best way I can think of to describe these reads. They’re not bad, they’re just forgettable. I don’t think any of them will likely stick with me long term, but for the most part, I think that other people could enjoy them. This is also the only category with a song title from an older album, but I couldn’t think of a song off TTPD that so perfectly captures the vibe. Maybe “Florida!!!” because you’re running away and hoping people forget you? Idk. Anyway, for now, we’re sticking to I Forgot That You Existed.

I read as an ARC and have reviews posted of Red String Theory, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, What Feasts at Night, Not Your Crush’s Cauldron, and An Education in Malice. I currently owe a review of What is Love? but haven’t quite gotten it posted yet. But we’ll get to that after I tell you about A Fate Inked in Blood.

A Fate Inked in Blood was… honestly, part of me is tempted to move it to Tortured Poets but the thing is, I don’t NOT get the book, I just didn’t like it. It was predictable and boring and then it leaves off on a cliff-hanger that would have been more exciting if we’d gotten to it about 200 pages sooner. Idk. Just not for me, you know.?

What is Love? by Jen Comfort is a really good book, actually, in contrast to my feelings about A Fate Inked in Blood, but the thing is, I already find myself forgetting about it. It’s the Jeopardy book in my head and when only the hook is standing out, that’s when I know this is where it belongs. (FYI, you can read this on KU!)

Head Over Heels by Karla Sorensen is a part of a series that I’m absolutely loving so on the one hand, I want to move it up to “So High School” and on the other hand, Cameron and Ivy’s story is just… It wasn’t one that really excited me. So while I love them enough that I was excited to see them in the book that came after this, I don’t think this is really going to stand out as a favorite book in the series. However, if YOU love a woman who has something to prove, gets called an Ice Queen, and has competence leaking out of her pores, give this book a shot. (It’s on KU!)

So High School

“So High School” is such a giddy song for me. I love Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift being together so much because they’re so affectionate and supportive of one another and it just gives me the best vibes. I love them so much. Anyway, these are books that I also really loved, but are not books that ultimately make me think they’re going to wind up on my top ten of the year or will ultimately rise up to my favorite books of all time. That said, they are books that I really enjoyed and would highly recommend!

I’ve got ARC reviews of Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, A Crown This Cold and Heavy, Wild Life, and Love Naturally. I should have, but don’t have one up yet for The Return of His Caribbean Heiress so I’ll talk about that one here in a minute.

House of Flame and Shadow was, in my opinion, a solid conclusion to the Crescent City trilogy. It was not, however, ultimately my favorite series from SJM, nor my favorite installment in the series. I think the problem is that I still don’t love Hunt and Bryce the way that I do [redacted] and [redacted] from Throne of Glass. That said, SJM’s books are always such a great time for me and this book was no exception. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The Return of His Caribbean Heiress is such a gorgeous third book in this series of interconnected standalones with an intriguing suspense premise. I loved the second chance romance here because ultimately, it really came down to Leo being convinced that he’s not worthy of Lucia and her being like, stop being so silly. And there’s something to be said about that vibe. But also, I loved that Leo was able to convince Lucia that she is worth more than just her dowry too because she was not in the best place about that at the beginning of the novel. Truly, Lydia San Andres is out here writing some genuinely fantastic historical categories and if you haven’t picked them up, you’re missing out.

Bride is Ali Hazelwood’s first foray into paranormal romance and oh my God, this is where she needs to stay. Like I need her to use her prolific-ness to just spin out a whole world like Nalini Singh and just keep giving me books about side character after side character. Truly. You might think that the way I’m talking about this book that it should be up a tier and I did consider it, but ultimately, to me, it feels right in this tier.

Archangel’s Lineage is the latest in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunters series and ultimately, this is really just about Nalini competing with herself because this book doesn’t come close enough to Archangel’s Sun for me to consider putting it in “The Alchemy” because it truly doesn’t hold a candle to Titus and Sharine. That said, I will always love revisiting this world and I do like Elena and Raphael. I’m so intrigued to see where we go from here though because… Well. No spoilers. But I’m very curious.

Ashes of You wraps up the Lost and Found series from Catherine Cowles, which is a romantic suspense series and one that I know will not be to everyone’s taste. This one was the one I’d been super excited for though because truly, my obsession with single parents right now knows no bounds. Anyways, more than that, Lawson and his three sons have been side characters in the other four books and I’ve been like, “Wow, that man is struggling,” for all four of those books. So I was super excited to see who he would be paired with and I wound up adoring Hallie. In some ways, I did think this book maybe had the romance go a little too easily, but given the suspense plot, I forgave it. Also, was I supposed to be able to guess the killer? Because, let me tell you, I think I’ve been wrong in every book of this series about who the bad guy would be. Wild.

Finally in this tier, we have Learn Your Lesson, which was actually my last book of April! I absolutely loved this book because if there is one thing aside from single dad that’s going to get me every time, it’s sex lessons. I LOVE a book with sex lessons and I love even more when an “it’s just sex” deal breaks down because “oops, I have feelings.” I love it so much. And honestly, these characters are great. Steiner tends to be a win for me when the plot works and this book was not an exception.

The Alchemy

So why is “The Alchemy” tier higher than “So High School” is a question you may be having and to that I would say, that’s an excellent question. To me, “The Alchemy” feels like the mature and forever vibe, where “So High School” gives me kicking my feet, squealing, vibes and both are good, but the forever favorites feel like they need to be with “The Alchemy.” Now, this post is not meant to be me telling you about my opinions on The Tortured Poets Department, but I do want to clarify that my actual favorite song on the album seems to remain “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart,” but that didn’t feel like an appropriate tier for this style of wrap up. Anyway, let’s talk about the books in this category shall we?

I have ARC reviews already posted of The Friendship Study, How You Get the Girl, This Could Be Us, and The Other Side of Disappearing so you can click the link to those titles and catch up with any reviews you missed that you’re curious about.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez is a deeply emotional book that would pair well with your reading of both The Other Side of Disappearing and Swift and Saddled if you’re in the mood for complicated mother/daughter dynamics, and by complicated, I really mean terrible. But you’ve also got the most golden retriever of a man in Justin and he’s dealing with a lot too. It’s so interesting to me the way Abby Jimenez creates her characters because Justin is so good and open, but he’s also the one that has a harder time forgiving, of being empathetic when he’s let down by someone who is supposed to love him. In terms of what the book is about, essentially Justin’s AITA post on Reddit goes viral, in which he discusses the fact that he has a curse where the women he dates always go on to find the person they marry right after him. Emma responds that she also has this problem and somehow the two of them wind up agreeing to date and then break up to “break the curse.” Except… Well, you’ll see. (Also, I would like a gold star for remembering both of these character’s names without looking them up, please!)

Wild Love by Elsie Silver is… so good. Honestly. Listen, if you want like angst and drama, the other seven books I’ve got listed here are perfect for you. But, if you need something that’s just… Cozy vibes. This is the book. This is it. There is COMMUNICATION between Ford and Rosie. It’s wild. It’s also hot. Ford is a billionaire but other than when he whips out his private jet or whatever, you can mostly ignore that. And Ford’s surprise baby (he donated sperm as a college student) rounds out this trio in a way that I just absolutely adored. (Also, I knew these names too! Another gold star for me!)

Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage is so freaking good, I can’t even put my feelings into words. Okay, so basically Ada is a bolter. She got a divorce two years ago and that marriage was with someone pretty abusive in the way he needed to have control over her life (not physically abusive). And now, she’s in Wyoming (I think) on this ranch helping to redesign/create a bed and breakfast situation with Wes. The two of them have such a gorgeous connection and the slow build up of that is stunning. But Ada cannot, cannot relinquish her dreams because of some man again. Except… This is Wes. And he’s a gem. This book is so good, y’all! If you haven’t picked up the series yet, you really should. I loved both books and am dying for book three to come out this fall!

Savor It by Tarah DeWitt is a book I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of, which was perfect because I found myself once again only wanting to read books with single dads. Anyway, my ARC review isn’t up yet, but I’m still going to try and keep this pretty short and sweet. Savor It is a gorgeous book where Fisher is dealing with parenting his teenage niece and struggling with that when he gets sent out to a small town in Oregon and winds up being neighbors with sweet and eccentric, Sage. The two of them, three, really, wind up having the most incredibly gorgeous journey as they all learn to kind of open up and start having to reckon with what they really want out of life. I loved this book so much and I cannot wait for the follow up that’s supposedly coming in 2025. (I’m on my knees begging for it, tbh.)

Closing Thoughts

I truly cannot wait to see what the next four months bring because we had a pretty solid start to the year with new releases, in my opinion!

xx