Today, let’s look back on February and look forward to March.
Favourite February reads
I read 12 books in February! My favourite few of the month are below. Just click on the images to be taken to the book’s Amazon page.
Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen was as great as I was expecting. From the minute we meet Killian in chapter one, I was all in. I loved both him and Lydia, and while they might seem like opposites on first glance, they share a love for their people and deep loyalty. They were incredibly well-matched, and the banter between them was, as with all of Danielle Jensen’s books, excellent.
Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett was a nice surprise and bonus! It features a gay main character and a secondary cast of queer characters. To be honest, this was probably not a five-star read. It’s more like 4 stars, but I enjoyed this so much that I don’t even care. Despite its slow start, Master of One was fun and snarky and humourous. Not without its darker moments or sadness, for sure, but for the most part this was a long adventure story. The story itself is interesting, with ups and downs and twists and turns. And because a large chunk of this 530-page novel is told from Rags’s POV, a snarky reluctant hero, it’s never boring because he brings a thief’s humour to the mix.
As I mentioned in a previous High Five Friday post, I’m slowly making my way through Lily Morton’s books. This month I read the Mixed Messages series, of which Deal Maker was my favourite. I just adored Jude and Asa.
Books I’m looking forward to reading in March
How cute does Annabeth Albert’s Featherbed look? Age gap? Opposites attract? Low angst? Sign me right up! This one releases mid-March.
Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala came in my January Rainbow Crate box. It’s described as Project Runway goes to Comic Con in an epic queer love story about creativity, passion, and finding the courage to be your most authentic self.
Oh, look. Another Danielle L. Jensen book. Are you surprised? Tarnished Empire is the prequel novel to the Dark Shores series (Dark Skies, above, is book two).
Red Tigress by Amélie Wen Zhao is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. It’s the sequel to Blood Heir, which was one of my favourite reads of 2020. Enemies to lovers, magic, intrigue, great world-building, action.
A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer is the third and final book in the Cursebreakers trilogy. Book one, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, is a Beauty & the Beast retelling, and I really enjoyed both it and book two, A Heart So Fierce and Broken. I look forward to finding out how this series ends.
On the writing front
My newest release, Keeping Casey, came out this week! It’s got friends to lovers, a fake boyfriends romance, and college hockey. Have you picked it up yet? Find out why readers are saying it’s “a story with so much heart” and “the best book I read so far this year” and “so much more than a simple friends to lovers story.”
Casey Preston is the guy with the plan. The list-maker. The one who micromanages his own life.
Spontaneously offering to be his best friend’s fake boyfriend to get Ethan’s annoying team captain off his back?
That’s not thinking things through. It’s not even smart given Casey’s been fighting his feelings for Ethan for years.
Ethan Rain just wants to play hockey and get his college degree. Adding a fake boyfriend to the mix? He doesn’t need that complication.
If Casey were his real boyfriend, though? If he got to keep Casey forever? Now we’re talking.
But what if Casey doesn’t want to be kept?
I’m currently about 50K words into writing the sequel to Keeping Casey—Keeping Kellan. It features a man who’s had a crush on his older sister’s best friend forever, characters who actually talk to each other, summer in small town British Columbia, and a dog named Ollie. If you’ve read Keeping Casey, two of these clues will help you figure out who Kellan’s love interest is. Take a guess in the poll below and look for Keeping Kellan to release sometime in June!
What books are you looking forward to reading in March? Leave a comment below!
