March Top 5

 

It's that time again my friends, time to recap another month of reading!

March was a month. My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. It also marked one year of this pandemic. My oldest child returned to school full time, for the first time in a year. I was also summoned for jury duty in March, but did not have to report. (YAY!) Then there was the fact that both my parents were in the hospital at the same time, in different states, and it was stressful. (both are now fine) In March I also got to see my best friend for the first time in a long time. Outings with her are some of my favorite things. They always bring a smile to my face and I cherish that time with her.

Before we talk about my top 5 books of March, let's go over my stats.

In March, I read 22 books, which totaled 6,338 pages.

The book breakdown is

• 22 books read
• 2 physical (library) books
• 9 kindle books I own/or purchased
• 11 advanced reader copies

My average rating was a 3.95 ⭐️

Breaking my ratings down a bit further we have:

• 2   - Five Star
• 17 - Four Star
• 3   - Three Star

I also DNF'd a book this month, High Heels in the Highlands, and opted not to rate the book or include it in my monthly stats (other than as a DNF). Nor did I mark it as read on Goodreads. Simply put the book was too slow moving for my liking, and I just could not get involved in the story. Plus it claimed to be a romance, but by the time I DNF'd it (13%), there was no romance to be had. It is what it is, not every book will be the book for you.

My longest book of March was Driven by K Bromberg. It was 806 pages. (to be fair, it was a ebook boxed set)

My shortest book of March was Hockey Hunk by Kat Obie. It was 91 pages.

In March, my new to me author count was 8. So not as impressive as February, but still it's 8 new authors that I've discovered!

Are you ready for my top 5 books of March? 

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.

January Top 5

Hello my fellow book lovers!

Now that January is officially over, I want to take a moment to take a look back and recap my month. I will also be sharing my top 5 reads for the month, and believe me it was very difficult to make that selection.

Let's start with the stats.

In January, I read:

• 19 books, all of which were e-books
• 5,776 pages
• 8 advanced reader copies 
• 1 library e-book
• 10 books I own and/or purchased

My average rating was 3.95 out of 5.

Speaking of ratings, my breakdown looks like this:

• 3 books received 5 stars
• 12 books were 4 stars
• 4 books were given 3 stars

Not too shabby!

The longest book I read was One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, and it was 424 pages.

The shortest book I read was One Night with the Rebel by Kendall Ryan, and that was 67 pages.

I also read 8 new to me authors! So that's pretty darn amazing.