February Wrap Up

February was an interesting reading month! Let me just say that my two favourite books of the month had me in tears!

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Set in an alternative Edwardian England, this is a comedy of manners, manor houses, and hedge mazes: including a magic-infused murder mystery and a delightful queer romance.

For fans of Georgette Heyer or Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton, who’d like to welcome magic into their lives…

Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he’s actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world.

Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor – but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.

I liked A Marvellous Light but I didn’t love it like I thought that I would! I adored the banter at the beginning and I wanted that to persist throughout the rest of the book but I felt that this wasn’t as slow burn as I would have liked. I think we lost some of the tension that was keeping me reading. I liked the balance between historical adventure story and steamy romance, but there felt like there was a lot of plot conveniences and the magic wasn’t really explained. I never became fully invested in the actual plot and all I was rooting for was the romance. I also think it was probably a little bit too long? There were moments where I was completed gripped by the story and the romance and then times where the story dragged and I almost put it down.

The fourth novel in the internationally bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, following a new group of customers in a magical time-traveling Tokyo café.

The regulars at Café Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with the whimsical ability it grants them to take a trip into the past—as well as the strict rules involved, including that each traveler must return to the present in the time it takes for their coffee to get cold. In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s previous novels, patrons have been reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family and visited loved ones. Now readers will once again be introduced to a new set of visitors.

The Husband with Something Important Left to Say

The Woman Who Couldn’t Bid Her Dog Farewell

The Woman Who Couldn’t Answer a Proposal

The Daughter Who Drove Her Father Away

In Last Chance to Say Goodbye, which is translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot and features signature heartwarming characters and wistful storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

Before We Say Goodbye is the fourth book in the Tales from the Cafe series, which is a series I have really enjoyed but I think this will be the last book in the series I will pick up. The stories are always emotional and I love the premise and how charming and bittersweet each story is, but it is the repetitiveness that I can’t get over. Each book is a series of short stories and at the start of each story we are again told the rules of the cafe and how to travel back and time and that you have until the coffee gets cold to return and you can’t change the future etc. It takes up a lot of page time and I know that the characters in each story don’t know the rules but we do as readers at this point, so it is tedious and takes me out of the story. I am still happy I read this installment, and the second story really got to me, but by the end I was satisfied with knowing that I got all that I can out of this series and I do not need more.

Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars is a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend set aboard a doomed generation ship harboring something terrible within its walls.

As acting captain of the starship Calypso, Jacklyn Albright is responsible for keeping the last of humanity alive as they limp back to Earth from their forebears’ failed colony on a distant planet.

Faced with constant threats of starvation and destruction in the treacherous minefield of interstellar space, Jacklyn’s crew has reached their breaking point. As unrest begins to spread throughout the ship’s Wards, a new threat emerges, picking off crew members in grim, bloody fashion.

Jacklyn and her team must hunt down the ship’s unknown intruder if they have any hope of making it back to their solar system alive.

I am happy that I tried The Scourge Between Stars because there isn’t a ton of SciFi horror out there and it is one of my favourite subgenres. While this was not a perfect book, I had fun with it and listened to the entire thing in one sitting. Despite this being a plot-driven novel, I really did like Jacklyn and I was invested in her survival. Sure, it was a bit tropey and maybe the horror elements weren’t as terrifying as they could I been, but I could not stop listening to it and I will try whatever Ness Brown writes next.

A young witch must pass a coming-of-age quest or risk losing her magic forever.

Sometimes all you need is a pinch of magic…

Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before her thirteenth birthday. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it’s a simple enough test:

One: Help your town, do good all around.
Two: Live there for one moon, don’t leave too soon.
Three: Fly home by broomstick, the easiest of tricks.

The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic. She summons heads of cabbage instead of flowers and gets a sunburn instead of calling down rain. And to add insult to injury, whenever she overuses her magic, she falls asleep.

When she lands in the tranquil coastal town of Auteri, the residents expect a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl. So Eva comes up with a plan: set up a magical repair shop to aid Auteri and prove she’s worthy. She may have more blood than magic, but her “semi-magical fixes” repair the lives of the townspeople in ways they never could have imagined. Only, Eva’s bit of magic may not be enough when the biggest magical storm in history threatens the town she’s grown to love. Eva must conjure up all of the magic, bravery, and cleverness she can muster or Auteri and her dreams of becoming a witch will wash away with the storm.

It has been a minute since I read a middle grade and I thought Eva Evergreen was adorable! I appreciated that Julie Abe seems to trust her younger audience and what they can handle and never talks down to them. The messages are sweet and important and the stakes are high. The author was born in Japan and you can definitely see that inspiration throughout the story. Ember, the flamefox, was my favourite character, of course,

After his family’s matchmaking extravaganza at Thanksgiving, high school teacher Zach Wong is terrified of what his parents might do for Chinese New Year. Surely they’ll try to set him up yet again, especially now that his older brothers are in relationships. Zach, however, has no interest in dating, not since his fiancée left him.

The solution? Find a fake girlfriend to avoid his parents’ matchmaking.

Jo MacGregor, the town dentist, is the obvious choice. They both live in Mosquito Bay and have been friends for years, ever since they bonded over broken engagements. A few kisses and dates around town, and everyone will believe they’re in a relationship. No problem.

Except their fake relationship is starting to feel more and more real…

I think that A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year might be my favourite novella in the series! I love the characters we were following and I am always up for a fake dating romance. This was also friends to lovers and I love how much we got to see of the family and of the small town in this one. While it was still steamy, it also felt like it was the most slow burn of all the books in the series.

Amber Wong has landed her dream job at the Stratford Festival, and life is looking good. Sure, she hasn’t had sex in so long that her condoms have expired, but she’ll just pick up some new ones, along with some discounted Christmas chocolate, at the grocery store.

And that’s where she runs into Dr. Sebastian Lam, the son of her parents’ close friends, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s moved back to Ontario, newly single, and… Oh my God. He’s really hot.

The attraction is mutual and no-strings-attached sex is the perfect arrangement for both of them, since Amber has sworn off dating after a string of terrible boyfriends.

But what if their families find out they’re spending time together and start interfering in their lives? That would be a disaster.

Even worse? If they develop feelings for each other, given a relationship is the last thing Amber wants right now…

While book three was my favourite in the series, A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day was my least favourite and I think it is just because of the tropes in this one. I have a feeling that everyone will have a different favourite depending on what kind of tropes you prefer as well as your favourite type of hero. Friends with benefits just isn’t my favourite thing to read about, but I liked seeing how this series wrapped up!

These sixteen stories by award-winning and bestselling YA authors center a Latinx point of view in an empowering anthology that reimagines classics through fantasy, science fiction, and with a dash of magic, for fans of A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN and RECLAIM THE STARS

In classic stories remixed, Latinx characters take center stage

Pride and Prejudice is launched into outer space, Frankenstein is plunged into the depths of the ocean, and The Great Gatsby floats to an island off the coast of Costa Rica.

A shape-shifter gives up her life to save the boy she loves from an evil bruja. La Ciguapa covets a little mermaid’s heart of gold. Two star-crossed teens fall in love while the planet burns around them.

Whether characters fall in love, battle foes, or grow through grief, each story will empower readers to see themselves as the heroes of the stories that make our world.

I put so many anthologies on my most anticipated releases list but then never actually get to them! I am so happy that I prioritized Relit soon after it came out because I had so much fun with this. I just love a retelling of a classic story, especially when they are more diverse and modern. Like with any anthology, not all of the stories were hits but a large majority of them were. The first story, which was a Pride and Prejudice retelling, really stood out for me. I will be looking into some of these authors to see if they have full length novels I am interested in reading, which is what makes anthologies so amazing. I hope that Sandra Proudman puts together more collections like this one!

The follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead .

Retired soldier Alex Easton returns in a horrifying new adventure.

After their terrifying ordeal at the Usher manor, Alex Easton feels as if they just survived another war. All they crave is rest, routine, and sunshine, but instead, as a favor to Angus and Miss Potter, they find themself heading to their family hunting lodge, deep in the cold, damp forests of their home country, Gallacia.

In theory, one can find relaxation in even the coldest and dampest of Gallacian autumns, but when Easton arrives, they find the caretaker dead, the lodge in disarray, and the grounds troubled by a strange, uncanny silence. The villagers whisper that a breath-stealing monster from folklore has taken up residence in Easton’s home. Easton knows better than to put too much stock in local superstitions, but they can tell that something is not quite right in their home. . . or in their dreams.

What Feasts at Night was my first T. Kingfisher of the year and it made me so happy to be back with her writing, even if this was a horror. It is the sequel to What Moves the Dead and I could see why some people might think that this is unnecessary given that the first book very much reads like a standalone. I might be biased because of my love for this author, but I really did like this and would take more in the series. They read very episodic, which is something I enjoy. I also appreciated the conversations around PTSD. While this one was as horrific as the first, I am glad I read it and that it exists.

It’s the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

I am so glad that my friend forced me to continue on with the series because, while I liked book one, it wasn’t a priority for me. The Man Who Died Twice is such a step up from The Thursday Murder Club and I adored it and these characters. I could not believe how deeply attached I became to them by the end and I had tears in my eyes! I also thought that the mystery element was stronger.

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return…

Where the Dark Stands Still is everything I love and I cannot recommend it enough! If you like enchanted forests, fantasy romance, sentient house, and cat familiars, you need to read this. It is a book that I have come to love even more as time has gone by because I continue to think about it. There is nothing predictable about this book! I am so happy the story itself lived up to the cover.

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It’s hot. It’s illicit. It’s all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

Kennedy Ryan is one of my favourite authors and she never misses for me. It is important to know going into Before I Let Go that it involves child loss and the effects that that has on a family. Kennedy Ryan does not shy away from heavy topics and she has this way of writing characters who feel so authentic and imperfect. She is also amazing at writing chemistry!

Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.

Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. While it is set in the same universe as Seven Days in June, there is a magical realism aspect to this romance, which I think is important to know going in so you have the right expectations. You have to suspend your disbelief a little bit but it is so worth it!

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