February was a great reading month with lots of highly rated books and a new author discovery! I’m very please!!!

The total read this month was 16 books, I’m 34 books into my 52 books in a year challenge. I might actually hit 52 in March which would be cool. I’ve read five more books in the ✨TwentyOffMyShelf 2025✨challenge I’m participating in and that brings me to 12 books read in that challenge. I read a historical fiction book club pick for January/February. I read non-fiction book number two for the year and, I also read 4 more books in the Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge. Only two more prompts left in Frostwood Village, so a very low pressure March in this challenge. I’m having so much fun with Romanceopoly, it’s also helping me blog a little more as well, I hope I keep it up for the year. 🤞

Before I Let Go (Skyland #1) by Kennedy Ryan – 5⭐

Before I Let Go (Skyland #1) was a bonus prompt — Frostwood Village, New Year, New Love — in Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge.

Queen Move (All the King’s Men #3) by Kennedy Ryan – 5⭐

After Before I Let Go I was in a mood and that mood was Kimba! Literal Queen!

Second chance romance AND multiple POV!! My favourite!

Kimba was everything I needed her to be and Ezra was just swoon worthy. While the conflict between them wasn’t so much emotional as just life challenging and I was worried about where it was going, I liked how it all ended up reflecting how life can be for many families.

I have one little complaint on this reread, but I don’t know if it’s a difference in how things are termed in different countries but from my perspective here in Ireland: 
It would seem that Kimba is going through early or premature menopause as her cycle has stopped. Perimenopause is menopause symptoms that happen up to 10 years before menopause and you still get your period, although it can be irregular. To be honest this is something I’ve only begun to learn as I begin my perimenopause journey but I thought it should be explained so as not to freak out anyone who may have been told they are in peri!

Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen #1) – 3.25⭐& Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen #2) – 3⭐ by Chloe Walsh

Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen #1) was another optional prompt from Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge — Frostwood Village, Luck of the Irish and review for book two is below.

Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen #2) review:

Meh…

I was super fond of these characters and I’m so glad they got their HEA but there was more I disliked than I liked to be honest!

1: something about how Shannon’s mother was portrayed felt really off and victim blamey to me. The finale of this awful domestic violence situation just didn’t sit right with me.

2: this book and the first book just don’t need to be this long. I felt like it would never end at some stages of reading!

3: I spent the last 10% of this book STRESSED because of the aftermath of the camping trip. Johnny and Shannon were drunk and she couldn’t remember if they had sex or not (and he plainly states he has no condoms for some dumb fucking reason) and even though he says they didn’t, the fact that drink was had and she was unsure, I was convinced she was preggers and I feel like the author did that on purpose because changes to Shannon’s body are mentioned more than a few times and it just made me really annoyed and it felt super manipulative!

4: I’m bummed there wasn’t a time jump epilogue!

I said I wasn’t going to read Joey’s books but I just don’t know now, I feel like I need to know but I also suspect something in regards to Aoife and it’s a trope I hate.

Lizzie is pissing me right off already and I read reviews about her being worse in Gibsie and Claire’s book so I also don’t know about reading that. Maybe after a little break I’ll be more open to reading the next books.

The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1) by Christina Lauren – 4.25⭐

The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1) was another optional for Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge — Frostwood Village, Valentine’s Day Prelude

Smooth Sailing (Wild West MC #3) by Kristen Ashley – 4.25⭐

Hugger and Diana were perfection but I feel like the ‘drama’ around them getting together was a little weird and it all sorted itself out very quickly. I also would have liked some more information on Maddy and how she is doing? She is VERY young but maybe KA is saving her for a book later on. She when through something so traumatic and I’d like an insight into how she is doing with what I hope is lots therapy! I would love for her to get a HEA but I would really like to see her undertake some hardcore healing before a man enters the picture.

So I love Hugger and Diana but as you can see I was more focused on other characters. Maddy as mentioned, Eightball (Eight) and Big Petey all stood out to me a little bit more than Hugger and Diana. I mean I loved them but I’m looking forward to the future books a little more!

There was a big change at the end of this book for the Chaos Club and even though I guessed it was coming I was distraught. It was done beautifully but I may never get over it. I kind of dropped a star because of this very vague event that I don’t want to spoil but I also recommend tissues for the last 10%.

All in all a nice addition that I would absolutely enjoy rereading in the future!

All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles – 4.5⭐

All the Missing Pieces was prompt number 5 for the Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge – Frostwood Village, The Frosty Bistro.

The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis – 4.75⭐

We cannot undo what has been done, but we can move forward—three generations bound by blood and echoes, making up for all the lost years.

I absolutely adored this book!

I want to do like a proper review post because it was a book club (Bookstorians) pick but I have so many thoughts and quotes and I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to it.

This story is told from the POV of Soline and Rory, two women who faith throws together at a time when both need it the most. Rory is trying to live while in a state of limbo waiting for news of her fiancé who has been taken hostage while he works for Doctors Without Boarders and Soline is living half a life and shutting the world out so she can mourn all that she has lost, both women help each other to mourn properly, heal and live life again. Switching between 1980’s Boston and 1940’s Paris, this was such a vivid read.

I loved that this had historical fiction vibes while incorporating a little magick and serendipity. It was for sure a little predictable and very much romance, it gave me big Danielle Steel vibes which would probably horrify some, but it really reminded me of some of the Danielle Steel’s I read back in the day, maybe it was rich upper class American’s in the 1980’s? Either way, this was a joy to read with lots of great lessons and strong women who find ways to break generational curses!

But I’ve come to believe we create our own curses and carry them through life because we’ve been told it’s our lot. We’re taught to relive our mothers’ heartaches, to accept their sufferings as our own, and pass them on to the next generation, again and again, until one of us at long last says no, and the curse is finally broken. Because we’ve discovered a new kind of magick—the kind that comes with choosing for ourselves, with saying I will do something else, be something else, have something else. This was the lesson Maman was trying to teach me the night she slipped away. There are no curses. Only patterns meant to be broken. Dreams to chase. Hearts to hold. Magick to make.

The Scoundrel’s Daughter (The Brides of Bellaire Gardens #1) – 4.5⭐, The Rake’s Daughter (The Brides of Bellaire Gardens #2) – 3.5⭐, The Heiress’s Daughter (The Brides of Bellaire Gardens #3) – 4.5⭐ & The Secret Daughter (The Brides of Bellaire Gardens #4) – 4.5⭐ by Anne Gracie

So I’ve now discovered Anne Gracie and she has a chokehold on me! I can’t stop reading her books. They are very low stakes and I’d class them as pure comfort reading even though they actually deal with some intense topics. In The Brides of Bellaire we have a very abusive marriage that alludes to 18 years of marital rape, emotional child abuse and neglect and blackmail.

The comfort part of the books comes in the form of quick resolutions and very little miscommunication. When the MC’s fall they FALL and everything wraps up quickly and nicely. Now some of Anne Gracie’s MMC’s are assholes and I personally don’t think they grovel enough but i guess a HEA that isn’t messy is worth the minimum grovel?

Hard to pick a favourite among this quartet, The Scoundrel’s Daughter gives us two romances for the price of one. The Heiress’s Daughter gives us a very dashing MC who falls first and has to convince the FMC that he truly loves her and that was all kinds of sweet and The Secret Daughter gives us one of the more interesting regency historical romances I’ve read.

The Rake’s Daughter was probably my least favourite though, this was the book that had nowhere near enough MMC groveling. Leo was a DICK! Izzy was far too nice.

The Autumn Bride (Chance Sisters #1) – 3.5⭐& The Winter Bride (Chance Sisters #2) – 4⭐by Anne Gracie

So apparently I’m in my Anne Gracie era, I don’t think the Chance Sisters are going to be as good as the Brides of Bellaire Gardens but I’m still very much invested. The Autumn Bride wasn’t a favourite because like Leo from The Rake’s Daughter, Max was a bit of a dick and he also didn’t grovel near enough but it introduces a whole host of fabulous characters.

I really enjoyed The Winter Bride though. Damaris and Freddy were so fun, I loved that neither one wanted to marry and that Freddy was the one who realised he was in fact going to marry Damaris he just had to go about convincing her it was a good idea. More of these kinds of stories please, have them men, even the men in regency England, come to the realisation that they are the lucky ones!

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon – 4.25⭐

I really enjoyed this, I thought overall it was super cute and very cleverly done. I don’t think I’ve ever read an anthology that was connected like this. It was so fun!

Personally I thought every story was lovely, thoughts on each below:

The Long Walk by Tiffany D. Jackson

Tammie and Kareem’s story runs throughout the whole book and I feel this gave the overall book more structure. Tammie and Kareem are ex’s who end up trying to make their way back to Brooklyn from Manhattan in the midst of a city wide blackout. Feeling’s have been hurt and miscommunication was to blame so the forced proximity caused them both to work out their issues, although it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Kareem went about sorting things out but this journey was both memorable and romantic!

“But you’re my mess. I rather have this mess every day than not at all.”

Mask Off by Nic Stone

Follows Tremaine and JJ’s journey through the blackout, theirs taking place in the subway. Tremaine is claustrophobic and has a little wobble, JJ knows about his issues and ends up helping him which leads to a conversation about an anonymous gathering for queer kids that they had both attended in the past. Tremaine is Tammie, from The Long Walk, brother.

This was a lovely story about acceptance and bisexuality. Both boys were also super emotionally mature which was nice to read.

Made to Fit by Ashley Woodfolk

We meet Joss and Nella spending the blackout at a retirement home. This was adorable to be honest, especially given the matchmaking Nella’s grandfather got up to. Nella is dealing with heartbreak after a rejection and Joss is beautiful and a good listener. Granddad knew what he was about! 😀

All the Great Love Stories….and Dust by Dhonielle Clayton

Lana and Tristan are BFF’s and have a little bet going before Lana heads to Paris with her grandmother for the summer. Lana wants to win the bet so she can ask Tristan a question. Could he see her as more than a friend?

This story had my favourite blackout backdrop, the New York City Library. What a place to become a couple!

No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Angie Thomas

I think this might have been my favourite story actually and it’s the one with no clear resolution. It’s just a tiny snippet into the life of our narrator Kayla and how she is dealing with having a crush and a boyfriend. Things come to a head on a tour bus in Manhattan. I think some might think that they come to a head in a very anticlimactic way but I loved how mature both Kayla and Tre are about moving forward. I also enjoyed that this story isn’t a love triangle like we might have previously suspected but more of a love square between Kayla, Micah, Tre, and Jazmyn!

Kayla is Lana from the previous stories cousin!

Seymour and Grace by Nicola Yoon

Grace is on her way to the by now infamous black party in Brooklyn, the party that each of our characters is making their way to, even that tour bus in Manhattan thanks to a philosophical bus driver. Grace’s bestie is Lana from All the Great Love Stories….and Dust.

Grace plans to show her ex what he is missing and hopes to win him back but first she has to get there, and her Lyft driver, Seymour, makes that a bit difficult by first posing philosophical questions about who we really are and then running out of gas forcing her to walk, and Seymour, being cutie patootie and also being attracted to Grace, decides he has to walk her to the party. Getting to know each other ensues and when Grace makes it to the party and talks with her ex, she begins to question if she is the same person who once loved him! Maybe a cute Lyft driver is more her speed now!

This book was a lovely celebration of Black teenage love. Super sweet and at times philosophical. The blackout feels like a perfect metaphor for the reason these authors got together to write this book in the first place. COVID brought the world to a standstill, a bit like a blackout, but a blackout is a bit less scary!

Down the Drain by Julia Fox – 5⭐

Second non-fiction of the year — Down the Drain by Julia Fox and it was a WILD one!