February Top 5

 

Well this post is a little over due. I had originally planned on this going live at the beginning of March, yet here we are. Oops. That's what happens though when you take two weeks off. So yeah.

Before we move into my top 5 reads for February, let's take a look at my stats.

In February, I read 23 books, which was 5,587 pages, and 2 hours of audio.

The book breakdown is:

• 10 advanced reader copies
• 5 physical (library) books
• 7 kindle books I purchased
• 1 audio book from scribd

Let's talk ratings. My average rating was 3.7⭐️

Breaking it down a bit further, we have

• 1 - Five Star
• 17 - Four Star
• 4 - Three Star
• 1 - One Star

Now to be fair, that one star was a DNF, and I felt it needed to be rated. But we're not going to talk about that.

My longest book read in February was, Wake My Heart by Lydia Michaels. It was 406 pages.

My shortest book read in February was, Second Chance Sweetheart by Charity Ferrell. It was 64 pages.

In February, I read 13 new to me authors! OH MY WORD! That's awesome.

The time has come to talk about my top 5 books for February. After a lot of back and forth, I've settled upon my list.

5) Take A Hint, Dani Brown

by Talia Hibbert

Take a Hint, Dani Brown drew me in. It moved fast, the characters were personable, and I just loved it. The relationship between Zaf and Dani was adorable. I loved the fake dating aspect of their story. Then of course there is the Brown Sisters. These ladies are just fantastic, and bring a smile to my face. Zaf and his love of romance novels had me smiling as well. He would fit in great with the guys from the Bromance Book Club.

Oh and I'm 95% certain that Dani is my favorite of the Brown sisters. 

4) Intercepted

by Alexa Martin

Intercepted is such a fantastic book. Heck the entire Playbook series is amazing. 

I freaking loved Intercepted. LOVED IT. I fully believed it had the potential to be a 5 star read. And honestly, it probably should have been. But there was something in the last third of the book that had me wavering.

No matter what though, my thoughts about wanting to have physical copies of this series holds true.

3) Undercover Bromance

by Lyssa Kay Adams

I had been wanting to read Undercover Bromance since March 2020 when it was released. I absolutely loved Bromance Book Club, and had high hopes for its sequel. Yet for some reason I kept pushing it off. That changed in February 2021. 

I had originally thought Undercover Bromance was going to be a sports romance, but I was wrong about that. And I'm perfectly okay with that.  It truly did not matter because the content of the book pushed all those other thoughts out of my mind.

Liv and Mack could not have been better paired. These two are the embodiment of enemies to lovers. I still think about Undercover Bromance, and it's been over a month since I read the book!

So good, and highly recommend.

2) Balls to the Wall

by April Canavan

If you recall my review of Balls to the Wall, then you might remember me telling you to have tissues handy for this book. I stand by that recommendation. Heck I was tearing up within the first couple of pages. I also briefly told you there were content warnings, and again if you need to know specifics, let me know. (I don't want to spoil anything)

This small town, second chance, romance gutted me. Heck within the first few pages I was tearing up. 

Parker, Remy, and Nox have stolen my heart. Balls to the Wall was the first book in the Birch Police Department series, and I cannot wait to see more of these characters in future books. I'm sure I will fall even further for them as they help their friends out (and witness them fall in love).

So what book made the top of my list?

1) Make It Sweet

by Kristen Callihan

Now let me just say, Make It Sweet was my ONLY five star read for the month of February, and that was what helped to push it past Balls to the Wall to take the number one spot.

This love story grabbed me from the beginning. We get to see Emma and Lucian's relationship building, but we also see them grow individually. They are both gaining confidence to get back out there with their careers. The spark that these two have is off the charts.  So much steam in this book. 

The fact that Make It Sweet has a bit of a sports romance thing going on definitely influenced my love of the book, but really it was just Lucian and Emma that sealed the deal. In the beginning we had two hurt people trying to heal. In the end, well, there is love.

Weekly Wrap Up

Well hello there my fellow readers. 

The last two weeks flew by, and it was a bit strange to not update things here.  I completed my jury duty, which really just means that I called the jury line every day to find out if I needed to report in. Last week was also spring break week for my kiddos. We did nothing, and I'm okay with that. My kids loved playing outside, and also got to know the new neighbor kids. Oh, and I did major laundry. Fun times. They are off again today, but return to school tomorrow. 

That being said, I did manage to read quite a few books. Which should surprise no one.  Here are my stats for the week:

• 6 Books Read
• 5 were e-books
• 1 was a library book
• 2 of the e-books were ARCs
• 1,682 Pages Read

My average rating was 4 stars. Well it's my average since every book read this week was given four stars. What can I say, it's my go to rating. 


Let's dive into the books.

Weekly Wrap Up

 

Happy Monday my fellow bibliophiles!

Can you believe another week in February is over? We are inching towards March already. Time is just flying by. Last week was a pretty good week when it came to reading. I will say that I had my first DNF of the year. So that was surprising for me. Especially since the book had a bit of hype surrounding it. Heck it was on the Goodreads list for best romance of 2020! 

Moving on, let's talk stats:

• 5 books started
• 4 completed
• 1 DNF (did not finish)
• 4 e-books
• 1 physical book (library)
• 2 were e-arcs
• 1493 pages

My average rating was 3.4 ⭐️
The book I DNF'd I gave a 1⭐️ to, so that really brought down my average.

Enough about that, let's talk about the books I read!

Boyfriend Material

by Alexis Hall

The Boyfriend Material made it's way onto the Goodreads Best Romance of 2020 list, so I figured this book has to be good. Based on the description I was thinking that the book would be similar in style to Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I was wrong. OH SO WRONG.  Folks, I DNF'd this book at 30% (129 pages). It was so slow moving it was almost painful. Luc was quite immature and really frustrated me. After 30% I said to myself that this book is not worth the reading slump it will put me in to. So I returned it to my library (via overdrive), gave it a 1 star, and have absolutely no desire to pick it up again.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious if the book improved. But I'm not curious enough to pick it back up. I don't know how this book made it on to the Goodreads Best Romance list. Did you read Boyfriend Material? Did you like it?

Take a Hint, Dani Brown

by Talia Hibbert

Now Dani Brown on the other hand, this book too made its appearance on the Goodreads Best Romance list. Dani Brown totally deserved a slot on the list. This book drew me in, it moved fast, the characters were personable, and I loved it. The relationship between Zaf and Dani was adorable. I loved the fake dating aspect of their story. Then of course there is the Brown sisters. These ladies are just fantastic, and bring a smile to my face. Zaf and his love of romance novels had me smiling as well. He'd fit in great with the guys from the Bromance Book Club. 

I gave Dani Brown 4 stars. Could it have been a 5? Oh absolutely, but I'm stingy with those and the book has to give me everything I want.  There were minor things that held me back. Do I still recommend this book? ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY! I also recommend Chloe Brown. I'm anticipating Eve Brown's story too.

Balls to the Wall

by April Canavan

Balls to the Wall was my first ARC for the week. When I read the title, I forgot why I had requested the book. I was just confused. In my mind the title doesn't match up with the story, yet at the same time I don't know what I would recommend as an alternate title. Should you chose to read this story, let me tell you now, HAVE TISSUES HANDY! Also I should mention that there are a couple of parts that are emotional and/or difficult to read about. So be prepared. (if you need to know what the triggers are, please let me know and I'll fill you in the best I can without ruining the story.)

Here's what I can tell you, this is a small town romance featuring a single mother. It's more than that though, as it is also kind of a second chance romance. You see Parker and Remy have known each other for most of their lives. There has always been a connection between them, and when Parker went to make her move, he shut her down and wrecked her with the words he said. Parker sought solace in a friend, became pregnant after a night together, and married him. Her husband was in the military and was shipped overseas where he then lost his life. Fast forward a few years, Remy is now home from deployment, and is working for the local police department. He also made a promise to Parker's husband (they were deployed together) to watch over Parker. What happens next is the love story of Parker and Remy.

I freaking loved this book. Yes I cried. Yes I gasped a few times. Yes there was a time or two where I was holding my breath and eager to find out what happened next. When it was over, I found myself immediately looking to see when the second book in the series was coming out. I don't care that it will follow a different couple, I just need more of this community. More of these characters. Oh and rating wise, 4 stars.

Wake my Heart

by Lydia Michaels

Apparently my heart needed to be gutted by two books in a row. Wake my Heart was my other ARC for this week, and it's good. I will say that this book is the ultimate slow burn. Wow. This book is also filled with Maggie's grief, and eventual healing. You might need a tissue or two. (for me, this book didn't bring as many tears as Balls to the Wall.)

When we first meet Maggie, she is with her husband Nash. They were high school sweethearts, and were each others world. Everyone knew them. So naturally when Nash died (car accident) it wrecked Maggie. The grief, the anger, the sadness, it was all so much to handle. Maggie shut down, and shut out everyone.

That is until one day when her neighbors house sells, and in moves Ryan Clooney. He takes notice of Maggie. Of the fact that she doesn't drive, that she is skittish, and that she keeps to herself. Of course he also notices her as a woman, and he is finding himself attracted to this stranger. 

 

What starts as a friendship, slowly moves into a romantic relationship. Ryan is truly waking Maggie's heart through his friendship, his companionship, and his love. I ended up giving Wake My Heart 4 stars.

Undercover Bromance

by Lyssa Kay Adams

I have been wanting to read this book since last March when it released. I absolutely loved Bromance Book Club, and was hoping the sequel would be as enjoyable. Yet for some reason I kept pushing it off. Well I finally dived in.

If you read my Baseball Romance post, then you'll know I flagged this book series as Baseball Romance. Um, that isn't the case. Yes, book one was about a baseball player. Undercover Bromance though, absolutely not. This book is more of a billionaire/millionaire romance. Doesn't really matter though because I loved this book.

Yes, there are parts of the story that are difficult to read about (workplace assault), but ultimately it was handled with grace. We get to see the pain. We get the fire that is building in Liv. We see how this group of people come together to try and take down the villain. What we also see is two people building a relationship, while trying to fight it. Liv and Mack are the perfect characters for the enemies to lovers trope. They truly are.  

I loved Bromance Bookclub. I loved Undercover Bromance. I have since read Crazy Stupid Bromance (next week we'll talk about this one), and I am now eagerly anticipating Isn't It Bromantic?, which comes out in July. Love this series, and cannot wait to see what else Lyssa Kay Adams comes out with.

Oh and for rating, I gave it 4 stars. Again, it was close to 5, but I just couldn't do it.

There you have it, the five four books I read this week. Have you read any of them? As you can see I had a couple books that fit the fake dating trope, a slow burn, a second chance romance, and an enemies to lovers book. All in all it was a good week. I was a bit worried that things might go down hill after kicking off my reading week with a DNF, but thankfully that didn't happen.

I hope your February has been filled with some great books!

Happy Reading my friends,

Thank you to Grey's Promotions and Wildfire Marketing for providing me with ARCs of Balls to the Walls and Wake My Heart for review. All thoughts and opinions about the books are mine alone.