firewhiskeyreader

This is going to need to be a rapid fire wrap up because I decided I wanted to do a 30 books in 30 days challenge for myself because… I don’t really know, actually. But I succeeded! So I have 30 books to rapidly tell you about so let’s tackle them, shall we?

Psy Changeling Rereads

Honestly, the fact that I managed to go almost the entire month on schedule after reading Caressed by Ice is impressive. I love this series so much. Nalini Singh is my everything. Now, I don’t actually love Mine to Possess, but setting aside my issues with Clay and Tally, I am in so deep for these characters. I think about them on the regular. And now I’m in the Arrows section for May and I am thrilled. If you haven’t read Psy-Changeling, I think they hold up pretty well for the most part, but you really have to be okay with the dominant male narrative. For some reason, even when it bothers me, I’m so willing to ignore it that I almost forget that’s a thing. But truly, Caressed by Ice, Kiss of Snow, and Heart of Obsidian are my absolute favorites and I read to completion two out of the three and ended my month starting HoO so I think this was the best month.

5 Star Reads

Archangel’s Eternity is a perfect conclusion to the Guild Hunters series. I started the month capping off my reread of the series with the final installment and I cried because of course. I can’t believe I’m saying bye to these characters. I mean, not really, because I’ll continue to reread Nalini Singh for my entire life, but you know, no new content to anticipate. I did intend to have a Guild Hunters Series Recap post up by now, but I’ve been super busy and haven’t had a chance to do it quite yet. You can, however, expect that in the next week or so.

It’s All in Your Head by Sabina Nordqvist was such a fantastic contemporary romance. Occasionally I felt almost annoyed by explanations of Spoons theory because that’s information I already have, but I know that’s not universally true, so it makes sense to explain it. But the romance in this one was really great because it took two people who are dealing with a lot of wariness of other people for their own reasons and brings them to a place where they not only have each other, but have also figured out community again. And you know I’m a sucker for fake dating.

After Hours at Dooryard Books was absolutely PHENOMENAL. I listened to an audio review copy and I loved it so much, I thought for sure it would be my favorite book of the month, but then I read my second Cat Sebastian of the month and Star Shipped nudged this one out of first place. But truly, this historical romance set during the Vietnam War talks so much about protests and what it was like to be queer in the 1960s in New York. It was so good. Also, I still can’t quite fathom raids at a gay bar even though realistically, the 1960s weren’t THAT long ago. This book also made me miss my exit on my drive back to the office because I decided I had to listen to a Beetles song mentioned in the book. I loved the way this book used music to ground it to the time.

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry… I am still not okay. I can’t believe I didn’t see that twist coming. ANYWAY. Great sequel. Fantastic, really. This book trilogy is more fantasy forward than romance forward, in my opinion, but it’s doing the world building in a way that’s working for my brain and how it processes information. So to me the world building feels slow and rooted in character, which perfect for me! But I do really love Odessa as a character and I think her development over these two books has been really awesome to watch. I am so excited to have book three next year and I can’t wait to read it!

And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison was so much fun. It’s got depth and so there’s also this element of loneliness that kind of underlies a lot of what is going on, but at the end of the day, even when I was ready to scream at Delilah’s boss, I was still having a good time. B.K.’s writing basically always works for me though, so do with that information what you will.

Then I read my absolute favorite book of the month: Star Shipped. Let me tell you. This book? It’s perfect for me. The mental health representation with Simon, the way Charlie is such a golden retriever but he uses that energy to cover up so much pain, the way the two of them think they don’t like one another (well, mostly Simon), the way they take those hesitant steps to more but they’re so freaked out the whole time anyway… I loved this so much. I would protect Simon with my life. You know, if he weren’t a fictional character. I love this book. It’s everything. Also, I had this as an ARC, but I read my finished copy from Aardvark and also listened to the audiobook that I borrowed from… my library? Spotify hours? I think the library, but I could be wrong. Either way, that’s how I read it.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden will not leave my thoughts. Truly. I never found myself thinking much about WW1 except occasionally thinking about how wild it is that the world went to war because the Archduke was shot and how there had to be so much more to it than that… But my train of thought usually stops there because despite liking history, I’ve never bothered to learn much more about WW1 than what I was taught in history classes in school. And then came The Warm Hands of Ghosts. And now, I’m thinking so much about how absolutely insane it is that the World went to war without so much of the technology that then existed by the end of it. How crazy it is how much medicine advanced even from the beginning of WW1 to the end of it. How interesting it is that women in Canada were deployed as nurses for WW1 and were probably much more heavily impacted than the US women, whose own turn for more independence outside of the home didn’t really come until WW2. And so, after completing The Warms Hands of Ghosts, I then bought Thistlewood with the gorgeous cover because it’s about the aftermath of the Great War and now I need more books set then. Also, I need someone to explain to me why we call it the Great War. I really need to turn this musing into an actual deep dive on the history, but… We’ll see if I make that transition.

And my final new to me 5 star read of the month was Beast Business, which is a five star probably more because I love Hidden Legacy so much it couldn’t possibly be anything else than because I feel wholly satisfied with Beast Business as it’s own installment. I want SO MUCH MORE. But that’s basically always true, so here we are. Desperately waiting for SOMEONE to pay IA enough money to get me Arabella’s trilogy ASAP. Please publishing world, I beg of you.

4.5

How Not to Fall in Love by Karla Sorensen is a book I had as an ARC and I believe I’ve already reviewed it for y’all. The tl;dr of it though is that I really loved it. Karla Sorensen’s writing almost always works for me and this book was no exception. The dislike to lovers really worked for me here and it’s a perfect book to read if you want to read a book about a single mom.

No Matter What by Cara Bastone is about two people who cannot communicate despite having been married for years in the wake of a traumatic accident. They’re both also just generally dealing with healing from the accident, mentally, not really physically any longer. And so, this book is a marriage in trouble (one of my favorite tropes) and it’s about mental health (love), AND with Cara Bastone’s writing. Thus, I really enjoyed it! Not quite a perfect book for me, but so, so good.

ACOMAF was a reread and I wasn’t as obsessed with it as I remember being, so I dropped my rating just a smidge, but I do really love the way SJM can write depression and anxiety. I think even before Silver Flames, she was already doing a really good job with that and it’s on display here.

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan is coming out later this month (May) and I am so excited for other people to get a chance to read it! This is also a single mom romance that would be perfect to read this weekend, though I’m not posting this until late on Sunday… Anyway, I really enjoy Monaghan’s writing style and I think this one worked really well for me because it’s fake dating and a rich man handing over his credit card for our FMC to go clothes shopping. I’m sorry, I’m too basic to not love that.

Finally, An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong gave me exactly what I’ve been wanting from this series so I am personally THRILLED about this installment. Also ghosts! A great pairing, honestly.

4 Stars

We Met Like This by Kasie West was my first book by West, but I’ve already read my second and I am so excited for what she has coming in the adult romance space. I really love her writing style. This particular book is about a woman who has come across the same man who she had a pretty bad first date with across several dating app attempts. This time when she matches with him, she’s also in the midst of her professional life and personal life sort of… imploding and they decide to try out that first date again.

Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade is not my favorite novel by Dade, but I don’t think she’s ever written something I haven’t really enjoyed and this book is no exception. I’m almost always in the mood for a really grumpy man who is soft for the FMC, but for some reason, I found myself aggravated by him in this particular book. And yet, I really did like them. So, complicated feelings all the way around. The plot of this is essentially that these two were friends and almost more in high school, but they haven’t talked in years. Shenanigans happen and Molly thinks Carl has died so she returns to Maryland for his funeral, only he’s very much alive.

Stranger Things Have Happened by Kasie West again had this writing from West that I’m in love with and I really liked the fake dating element here. The reason for it was… incredibly romance reasons, but you know, I’m okay with that. The family dynamics in this one may be difficult for people to read if they’re sensitive to a toxic mother daughter dynamic, especially with caregiving involved. I read this as an ARC so I either owe you a review or I’ve already posted it. I really should remember which… Anyway… I don’t. 🙂

3.5 Stars

Alright, I’ve been not so brief throughout the beginning part of this post, but I’m going to go actual rapid fire through these books because four of the five are ARCs (over due as they may be…).

Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai is a fun, adventurous, romantic romp of a book with layers of family dysfunction woven underneath. Some Kind of Famous is a book I still haven’t sorted out my feelings for, but it’s full of emotions so that feels acceptable. While You Were Seething was sort of lovely and sort of an exercise in frustration due to the miscommunication present. Waiting for Friday Night was a soap opera good time, but I wanted something more from it. I think I’ve reviewed each of these, but if not, I will shortly.

To Cage a Wild Bird is the non-ARC of this group and it’s a dystopian romance that I liked but didn’t love. I’m not sure if I don’t like this subgenre but that doesn’t feel like that should be the problem. I need to read some more of them to decide for sure. Mostly I just felt like this book’s pacing was off for my own personal needs, but I truly cannot explain why, so… This is the least helpful review basically.

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully that was actually all 30 books that I read, but if not, oh well. My attempt at rapid fire took me days to write, but I swear I’m going to catch up with the posts that I’ve got planned! I’m barely going to leave my house this coming weekend so I’ll have plenty of time to work on it. 🙂 Anyway, tell me what your favorite read of April was! I’d love to know.

xx