March was one of my best reading months in years, so be prepared for a long post!
March turned out to be the month of Danielle L. Jensen for me and I cannot complain! I started the month with The Bridge Kingdom and quickly fell in love with it. It is up there with Radiance by Grace Draven as one of my favourite fantasy romances. I think that this is the perfect book if you are primarily a romance reader who is looking to get into fantasy romance because it has no magic. It is set in a fantasy world but all of the characters are human, so I found it is be incredibly accessible. The politics were intriguing but it is the characters who shined. I loved the dynamic between Lara and Aren. I also prefer dual POV in my romances, so I was happy we got that. I think Lara might be one of my favourite heroines. I loved how quietly deadly she was! Marriage of convenience is a top tier trope and Danielle L. Jensen used it perfectly. Book one ended on a cliffhanger, so I had to pick up book two right away!
The Traitor Queen was another five star read, though I did not love it quite as much as The Bridge Kingdom. I think that this just comes down to who I am as a reader and my preferences. I love the set up of a romance. I love seeing the characters meet and slowly realize they have feelings for one another. Obviously, by the time we get to book two, those feelings have already been explored and we are dealing with an entirely different conflict. I think that plot-driven, action-loving readers with prefer The Traitor Queen because so much happens. This is the end of a duology within a larger series and it was extremely satisfying!
I have so many Fairyloot editions that I have yet to read (I have since cancelled my subscription!) and I want to make my way through them. Sing Me to Sleep was calling to me because it had been awhile since I read a good siren story! I think the marketed of this book does it a disservice. This is definitely not enemies to lovers and I think fans of that trope who pick up this book will be left disappointed. The hero is more of a cinnamon roll and is intrigued by our heroine, Saoirse, the moment that they meet. Their banter is cute but not in a “I hate you but I love you” way. The highlight of this book was Saoirse herself! She is a true siren, so she kills for sport and the love of it! We get those scenes on page and I ate them up. The romance is what fell flat for me. I never saw the connection between the two of them, especially given the conflict of the story, which I will not share because it was juicy and you need to experience it for yourself. The ending was just okay for me but I do plan to read the sequel, Drown Me with Dreams, since it is only a duology and I want more Saoirse in my life.
Remarkably Bright Creatures got a lot of buzz, especially on Bookstagram, when it first came out and it was always a book I was curious about. I used to be a huge literary fiction reader, but I have moved away from it over the last few years. It was nice to go back to my roots and to find a real winner! Reading this took me on an emotional rollercoaster and it was bittersweet but so endearing and worthwhile. I was nervous that getting the octopus’s perspective would take me out of the story but I actually thought that it was handled perfectly. We just got a couple pages of his observations after every chapter and I loved his insight! We had two other perspectives and I struggled with one of them because he was frustrating and I was confused as to why we were following his POV, but it all came together and made sense. I was in tears by the end!
I really liked the Holidays with the Wong series by Jackie Lau, so I was curious to try something else from her. The Sitcom Star is one of her newer releases and I also had fun with this one. I just cannot get over how Canadian her romances are! The heroine is the star of a Canadian sitcom that has become popular outside of Canada, think Schitt’s Creek or Kim’s Convenience. She is being forced to take time off to relax and runs into (literally!) someone she knew from elementary school and they have a romance. I thought this was so sweet and the perfect book to read in one sitting on my Kindle before bed.
Powerless is a YA fantasy romance and I would describe this as a fun yet forgettable time. I hate to compare any book with a competition to Hunger Games but this one felt very Hunger Games-inspired. I think once I got it into my head that a lot of the scenes were similar to The Hunger Games I could not stop looking for comparisons and it stopped me from fully immersing myself in the story. I loved the banter at first but it almost became too much? I never thought I would say that! Once I was able to turn off my mind and just realize it was a book I cannot read too much into, it was fun and I do want to continue with the series.
Kennedy Ryan truly never misses for me. While I didn’t love This Could Be Us quite as much as the first book, Before We Let Go, it was still excellent and I could not put it down! The first half was five stars for me. There was so much drama and I loved the dynamic between Soledad and Judah at first. I appreciated their stories separately but I became less and less invested in the romance as the story went on. I think it was because Soledad fought their chemistry so much and was determined to be single for a time. All that made sense but there reaches a point where you can’t just pretend anymore!
Soulswift is a unique standalone YA fantasy and, while it is not perfect, it is a book I would recommend simply for the fact that it was so unexpected. I think it is technically a romantasy, but the romance was the weakest part of the story for me personally. I was much more invested in the world and the religious elements. I don’t think I have ever read a fantasy where religion was such a strong theme and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it but it really worked for me. I appreciated the conversations that were explored and there were some great twists and turns. I will say that it is more of a quest story, which isn’t my favourite thing, but I am still happy that I read this and it is not one I will soon forget. To avoid spoilers, we will just leave it at that!
I had an eARC of Pardon My Frenchie and I read Farrah Rochon’s series The Boyfriend Project, so I was excited for this one. I mean… how could I resist that punny titles and adorable cover? Sadly, this ended up just being okay for me. Admittedly, I am more of a cat person but I still love dogs and I LOVED reading about Ashanti’s dog boarding business. Actually, I kept reading because of Ashanti despite not feeling invested in the romance. I think the problem was that when we first meet Thad he was kind of a jerk and just plain mean to his grandmother’s poodle, Puddin’. I understand why he was grumpy but I just never forgave him for it! I also thought that there were too many side stories happening and it distracted from the romance. I spent the entire novel just waiting for Ashanti to have a conversation with her younger sister because obviously something was going on there but she kept putting it off and it was irritating! Also, I love a slow burn but I still want the characters to be on page together developing a relationship and having great banter. It felt like we spent too much time with the characters separately instead of together, so I never felt like I was rooting for them. I will definitely still read whatever Farrah Rochon writes next!
A Fate Inked in Blood is Danielle L. Jensen’s newest release and it felt quite different from The Bridge Kingdom. The Bridge Kingdom did not have a magic system, so I was curious to how Jensen would handle that and I was not disappointed! This is a Norse-inspired fantasy romance and the first have was perfection. There was a scene in the first few chapters that was the most satisfying moment I have read in a long time! Our main character, Freya, ends up in a romance with her husband’s son, which sounds messy but makes sense in the context of the story. They had great banter in the beginning and I loved the build up to the romance but the smutty scenes were not it for me. There is a lot going on politically and a lot of the decisions made centered around a prophecy, which I know isn’t a plot point that everyone loves. I will say that middle dragged for me but it did pick up again near the end and I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here!
These are the four books I read during the 48-hour readathon that happened during Realmathon! Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower might be my favourite book of the month. If you enjoy Rapunzel retellings or princess trapped in a tower-type stories but you feel like they have been done before, you have to try this one. It circumvents everything you would expect from a story like this one! I am sad that physical copies are so hard to find and are expensive because I just want to annotate a copy!
I finally read The Deep and it was brilliant! This is my first book from Rivers Solomon and it won’t be my last. I think this is one of those books that is best read in one sitting and I think I will take even more away from it upon a reread.
And What Can We Offer You Tonight is 80 pages and I am so impressed by the story that Premee Mohamed managed to tell in such a short time. You can tell that every word was made with such thought and this managed to make me emotional! I will definitely be checking out the author’s backlist.
I finally read The Lies of the Ajungo and wow! This was so impressive! I cannot believe how quickly I became immersed in this world and felt attached to this character. It felt like the author accomplished so much in 87 pages and I was truly blown away. There is a sequel, though I was satisfied with how this book ended. That said, I will be reading book two as soon as I can get my hands on it!
I know that The Spellshop does not come out until July, so it was a little bit early to be reading my eARC, but I had to know if this is a book that I need to preorder and I am thrilled to say that I have since preordered a copy and I will be shocked if it does not end up being one of my favourite books of the year. It is everything that I want from a cozy fantasy and there is a sweet, slow burn romance and a sentient spider plant named Caz. Absolute perfection! I could see it being too slice of life for some people but there are some high stakes as well and I thought that balance was handled well. I will be rereading this the second it comes out!
Wedgie and Gizmo is a random read and there is a long story as to why a lot of people on Team Creation ended up picking it up, but I am so happy that we did because this was an absolute delight! It is similar to something like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and it follows Wedgie and Gizmo who are a corgi and a Guinea pig. Wedgie think he is a superhero while Gizmo believes he is a supervillain and that just leads to some hilarious moments. I was absolutely charmed by this one!
I cannot remember the last time I felt so conflicted about a book. The Will of the Many remains unrated on my Goodreads because I am still so unsure of how I feel about it. First of all, it felt entirely too long. It was one of those books that I was enjoying well enough as I was reading it but the moment I put it down I dreaded having to pick it back up again. That is never a good sign! I will say that I loved the first 25% and then the middle was a slog but the end got me interested again! I am so torn on whether or not I will read the sequel but I think there is potential for that to be more interesting for me. I will wait for reviews!
What was the best book you read in March?
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Fabulous month! My best read was James by Percival Everett.