These are the books that I read in January. I might not have been blogging in January but I did read a bunch. I am also participating in the 2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge. In total I read 21 books this month.
Physical Reads:
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade follows Marcus and April. April is a geologist who writes fanfic about her favorite TV show characters and Marcus is the lead actor on said show. When April posts a photo of herself on Twitter in a cosplay outfit, people leave mean comments about her fuller figure and Marcus, seeing the comments and disagreeing with them asks her out on a date. When Marcus realizes he wants more than a one time date, he also realizes that this woman is the same woman he has been friends with for the past two years on the same fanfic site, but because he can’t tell anyone that it’s him, how is he going to have a real relationship with her while keeping this big secret? This was such a sweet romance. I loved that Marcus loved everything about April and her size didn’t matter to him. I loved that he stuck up for her and treated her like she was the greatest thing in the world. I loved that April was always true to herself and comfortable in her own skin even though a lot of people didn’t agree with her. This covers the Popsugar reading challenge for reading a book that discusses body positivity. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw tells the story of Nora Walker. She comes from a family of powerful witches but her mother doesn’t want to come into her own. She wants her to forget all about who she is and where she comes from. After her mother leaves, she goes into the woods during a full moon and finds the boy who was missing from the camp across the lake. She brings him home but he leaves before she wakes up. When a storm traps everyone up on the mountain, Oliver returns to Nora’s house and she begins to wonder if he is who he says. When finding out a boy died, she begins to wonder if Oliver was involved, but what is she going to do about it when she starts to have feelings for him? I loved the atmosphere of this book. I loved the darkness of the woods and the little taste of magic we get. I love the wintery feel to the story and the romance is really sweet. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
E-Books:
Awakened by Helen Hardt is the 16th book in the Steel Brothers series. This one follows the grown children of the original characters. This book follows Talon and Jade’s adopted son, Dale as he suddenly finds himself falling in love for the first time, but with a dark past like his, he doesn’t feel like he can be with anyone at all and when a figure from his past shows up, the darkness just gets worse. I love that this story is continuing and it was so nice to get to know the new generation and to see a little bit of Talon and Jade again. I can’t wait for the next one. This one covers the challenge for reading a book with less than 1,000 reviews on Goodreads or Amazon. As of February 2021 there are 196 reviews on Goodreads. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Always Have by Claire Kingsley is a hot friends to lovers romance. Kylie has been friends with Braxton and Selene since they were kids. She has also has a crush on Brax for as long as she can remember. When the two of them finally admit their feelings for each other, they keep it a secret from Selene until they know if it’s the real thing, but when she finds out the truth, will that be the end of their romance? I loved Kylie and Braxton. They start out as good friends but when they get together, the passion is through the roof. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Always Will by Claire Kingsley follows Selene as she finds love. Selene spent a night with Ronan five years ago before he moved to another state for a job. Now he is back and her new boss. Ronan wants Selene but she won’t date someone she works with. After a horrifying event, Selene gives into her feelings but what happens when pains from Ronan’s past put doubts in his head? Ronan and Selene were perfect together. He made her less serious and was able to get her to have more fun and she made him see that he was capable of love and deserved to be happy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Always Ever After by Claire Kingsley. This is a novella that shows us what happened to Kylie, Braxton, Ronan, and Selene after the first two books. The ending was so sweet it actually made me cry. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Play You by Tracy Lorraine is the 4th and final book in the Rebel Ink series. This one follows D, after his daughter comes to live with him. D comes face to face with his past as he gets his daughter set up in a new school. As he spends time with Piper, old feelings begin to surface but how can he forgive all that happened when they were teenagers? This one was a bit darker that the other books in the series. I loved finding out what happened between Dawson and Piper as kids. I loved the father-daughter relationship between D and Emmie and I can’t wait for her book. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Marrying My Billionaire Hookup by Nadia Lee. This one follows Jo and Edgar. After meeting them in Faking It With My Frenemy and finding out Jo is pregnant, we now get to see how that came to be and we get to see how it plays out for them. I loved Edgar and I loved Jo’s family. As with the other two books that I’ve read by this author, I found that this one also started out on the slow side but then it picked up and I loved it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Calander Girl Series by Audrey Carlan. This takes place during a year. There is one book for each month and it follows Mia as she becomes an escort in order to pay off the million dollars that her father owes to a loan shark. Her father is in a coma after being beaten by the loan sharks and Mia and her younger sister’s lives have been threatened. Each month Mia finds herself in a different state with a different man. Not all interactions are sexual as some of them are just looking to have dates for functions. Mia’s life gets even more complicated when she finds herself with real feelings for one of the guys, but still decides to finish off the year. This series was amazing. They are quick paced and sexy as hell. Some months are darker than others and there are some serious events that happen during the second half of the year, but the ending is so amazing. I also like that there is a where are they now at the very end so we can see what happened to the characters years down the road. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook:
A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. This follows Malik, whose sister is kidnapped and the only way to get her back is to kill the crown Princess. I listened to this and it was really good. I like the narrators and I was able to easily follow the story. I did think that the book could have been about 150 pages shorter though. I found that parts of the plot were a little boring and slow but then other parts were amazing and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I will definitely be picking up the next book though. ⭐⭐⭐💫
Those are the books that I read in January. I really hope I can keep up the momentum in February but we will see.
Reading Challenge: 2/50
Keep reading…Lola
*ebooks from Google Images
