Hey everyone!
I know today is typically not a post about books, but I missed Sunday and decided I wanted to talk about books today. I’ll be doing a wrap-up featuring the books I read in January. I’ll give a quick synopsis, and some of my own thoughts on the book.
I read 4 books during the month of January: 3 romances and 1 fantasy. One of them was a reread, and I loved it just as much—if not more—than I did the first time.
The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay
This was the first book I finished this year, although I will admit I started it on December 31. This book follows Holly Beech and Ivy Casey, two best friends who would do absolutely anything for each other. In fact, Ivy offers to switch vacations with Holly after Holly’s fiance ditches her the night before their wedding. Holly ends up in a small cabin in Hudson Valley and Ivy is in sunny Hawaii. We follow both Ivy and Holly’s point of views in this book which is so fun, and allows us to read two love stories in one.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and it was perfect to read around the holidays. There was a decent amount of miscommunication in the end of this book which is one of my least favourite tropes, so it did affect my rating. While I understand the purpose of the trope, it felt like too much given how much everyone was miscommunicating by the end. With that being said, I really enjoyed both couples and watching them grow in their relationships. If this book interests you, I do recommend waiting until the holiday season to read it for the best ambience, but it is not strictly a holiday book and could be read whenever.
Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope
One thing you will learn about me is that I love a good small town cowboy romance, so I had to pick this one up. Holding the Reins follows CeCe Ashby as she returns home to Laurel Creek, after getting out of a toxic relationship. Nash Carter, the unofficial fourth sibling in the Ashby family and CeCe’s older brothers’ best friend, can’t seem to keep his eyes off CeCe now that she’s back in town. This book is told in dual point of view, which I love in a romance novel.
While I enjoyed this book, it fell flat for me by the end unfortunately. I really wanted to love it because Paisley Hope is Canadian and I love supporting local authors, but it didn’t keep my attention like I wanted. I will admit, this book has a lot of spice in the second half, and honestly that is part of what took me out of the book. I am good with spice in books, but it felt like too much and it led to a lack of development. I found myself skimming through entire chapters because of it. I do recognize this might be a personal issue with the book, and not a reflection of the book itself, but it still impacted my reading. It almost felt like there was less development happening, but the spice was there to mask that in a way. I started reading the second book (Training the Heart), but only got a few chapters in before realizing it wasn’t for me. If you are a fan of small town cowboy romances with a lot of spice, I do think you would enjoy this and would recommend giving it a shot. I loved the setting and the family element of this book which helped keep me reading.
Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
Here was my reread, and it did not disappoint as I’m sure you can guess from my post about books I’ll never forget. This is my second full reread of this novel (I’ve reread bits and pieces throughout the years) and I am really happy I picked it up. After being somewhat disappointed with my previous read, but still in the mood for small town cowboy romance, this book made sense since I knew I loved it.
Professional barrel racer Emmy Rider is back home in Meadowlark after an accident leaves her unable to get back into the saddle. Going home isn’t necessarily the easy choice, given her family runs one of the biggest ranch’s in Wyoming, but she has no other choice. Luke Brooks has been a part of the Rider family since he was a kid, but him and Emmy never exactly got along. Emmy and Luke can’t help but to notice the other now that they’re back in the same town; however, Emmy isn’t looking for romance, she wants to get back to herself.
As I mentioned, I loved every moment of this reread and I am so happy I did it. I think I could have easily fallen into a slump, but this book kept me loving reading. I highly recommend this book and series especially since all the books are out.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I know I’m late to the party, but I finally jumped on the Fourth Wing trend. We follow Violet Sorrengail who enters the Riders Quadrant at the general’s (otherwise known as her mother) command despite spending her whole life planning, and studying, for the Scribe Quadrant. Violet isn’t exactly the most strong, and now she’s up against people who have trained for this their entire life. On top of that, Violet’s last name won’t be doing her any favours with the children of the resistance who hate her mother since she’s the reason their parents are dead. Violet must fight for her life everyday, and hope that a dragon wants to bond with her by the end of her first year. Beyond that, Violet realizes leadership may not be forthcoming regarding what’s happening beyond their borders.
I really enjoyed this book. One of my goals this year is to start reading fantasy (with a romance subplot or romantasy in general) and this book was perfect. I sometimes find it difficult to immerse myself in a new world, but this book built a world I understood and kept my attention. I have seen some criticism online, and while I get where people are coming from, I think this book is really fun, so I’m not going to nitpick at the details. This book has very graphic on-page violence which is definitely a trigger warning if you are considering picking this one up. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to get into fantasy because I feel like it wasn’t too difficult to understand.
That’s everything I read in January, and honestly I am really proud of myself. Getting back into reading has taken some work, but I am happy with the routine I have built with it. My goal for this year is to read 52 books, so I am on track with 4 books in January.
Thank you for reading! If you want more from me check out my Instagram. As well feel free to follow my Goodreads or Fable to see what I’m reading. I hope you enjoyed this post. What have you read recently?
Hailey