March 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

Now that we’re over halfway through April, I thought it might be worth updating you on what I read in March. (Stay timely, Max).

Overall, I read ten books in March. My rating ranged from 4.25 stars to…0.25 stars. Thanks to what might be the worst book I’ve read in my life, my average rating this month was 3.15. So uh…not my best, but the month had a few gems. Let’s go through these in the order I read them. 

I’ll note my best, worst, and fascination of the month. [Fascination is a book that didn’t get to the best or worst, but has something about it that compels me and lodges into my brain.] 

FASCINATION OF THE MONTH: 

Sweet Promise by Layle Giusto

Genres: Contemporary, Black, Sports

Tropes: Alpha Hero, Second Chance, Secret Baby 

Page Length: 237 Pages

Audio Length: N/A

Content Warning(s): Custody Threats

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

It started out as a romantic fling on an exotic Caribbean island. But three years later, Cindy Stewart and World Heavyweight champion Turk Johnson meet again, and Turk discovers Cindy's precious secret--the child born of their ill-fated passion. Will Cindy give Turk another chance . . . and risk everything she has for love?

My Thoughts: This book truly puts the D in Drama. My goodness! These two fight for 90% of this book and want to jump each other’s bones for 80%. It’s a mix that won’t work for everyone but won me over more and more as the book progressed. I actually have a pretty in-depth review of this on Goodreads where I go into more of my thoughts. I’ll admit that this rating might be a bit high for how mixed I felt on it, but I have a smidge of bias here. I read this because I’m fascinated by Arabesque, a Black romance line of books that was the cause of a seismic shift toward including Black romance in the genre space. Sweet Promise was one of the very first Arabesque books, coming out in the line’s launch year, 1994. This book was a part of changing the publishing world for the better, flaws and all. And that warms my Black heart. 

Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

Genres: Dystopian Romance, Erotic Romance

Tropes: Alpha Hero, Dominant Hero, Submissive Heroine

Page Length: 351 Pages

Audio Length: 9 Hours

Content Warning(s):

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond–beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain, and beyond her stiflingly restrictive existence as a councilman’s daughter. But only ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms decades earlier.

The sectors surrounding Eden house the corrupt, the criminal–men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. Jas clawed his way up from nothing to stand at the right hand of Sector Four’s ruthless leader, and he’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life. But no fight ever prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, but so is their intense sexual attraction, and soon they’re crossing every boundary Noelle barely knew she had. But if she wants to belong to Jas, first she’ll have to open herself to the gang, to a dangerous world of sex, lust and violence. A world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

My Thoughts:

All the mixed feelings in the world about this book. Let’s start with the positives. The sex. Holy cow, this book is hot. There are scenes that have lived in my head rent-free since I first read it in college and they did not diminish upon reread. Kit Rocha were going at sex scenes with a level of variety and imagination that should, frankly, be studied. They are choreographed to perfection, paced brilliantly, and are utterly bonkers. That alone is worth the price of admission. I’m also a big fan of the dialogue. Everyone speaks in one-liners. This book is basically the sexed up version of the movie Con Air, which is, objectively, rad. 

My problem with this is more personal. This world is hyper, almost comically, patriarchal, and the themes of this world are not about women upending the patriarchy, but learning to navigate their way through it. I greatly prefer the former theme in speculative fiction, and I found this difference between the potential I saw in their world versus where they took it to be a bit disheartening. So this series generally isn’t for me. But seriously, it’s super hot, so if that’s your thing…hop on it posthaste.

You May Kiss the Bride by Lisa Berne

Genres: Historical — Regency

Tropes: Compromised Into Marriage, Meddling Matriarchs, Non-Aristocratic Leads, Wealth Difference

Page Length: 384 Pages

Audio Length: 11 Hours

Content Warning(s): Body-shaming

Rating: 2.75 Stars

Blurb:

Wealthy and arrogant, Gabriel Penhallow knows it's time to fulfill his dynastic duty. All he must do is follow "The Penhallow way" - find a biddable bride, produce an heir and a spare, and then live separate lives. It's worked so well for generations, certainly one kiss with the delectable Livia Stuart isn't going to change things. Society dictates he marry her, and one chit is as good as another as long as she's from a decent family.

But Livia's transformation from an original to a mundane diamond of the first water makes Gabriel realize he desperately wants the woman who somehow provoked him into that kiss. And for all the ladies who've thrown themselves at him, it's the one who wants to flee whom he now wants. But how will he keep this independent miss from flying away?

My Thoughts: 

I’m trying to give more historical romance authors a shot this year. I had such success with Maya Banks last year and Virginia Heath earlier this year, so I just kept trying. And I came across Lisa Berne’s You May Kiss the Bride with its gorgeous cover and thought it sounded promising. And…well…eh? So much of this book is Gabriel and his grandmother dunking on Livia, whose self-esteem could charitably be called subterranean, so the proceedings are more saddening than romantic. Also the plot keeps pulling them away from each other, so it doesn’t really feel like they’re falling in love because they’ve got so much mess to deal with. I will say that the writing was pretty smooth, impressive for a debut. And I did love Gabriel’s grandmother, Mrs. Penhallow, who is a perfectly cranky old woman who drives everyone batty. I love an unlikable woman, so naturally she was my favorite. I was honestly more invested in the family drama than the romance. Which…that’s not ideal, you know?

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Tropes: Bodyguard Romance, Buried Secrets Get Unburied 

Page Length: 336 Pages

Audio Length: 10 Hours

Content Warning(s): Attempted Sexual Assault of a Child, Murder, Violence, Gun Violence

Rating: 3.75 Stars

Blurb:

Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now it might take them to their graves.

They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the same. 

Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed buried forever have been discovered.

Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants. 

Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....

My Thoughts: 

Don’t let the content warnings fool you, this book is a delight! Just banter, family secrets, villainous monologues, and explosions. So. Many. Explosions. And the romances are cute, too! Yes, two. Jack has a brother who ends up interested in Daphne. This is truly about girls winning, which I love to see. My issues were really that the split focus of the book, both genre and protagonist-wise, means that the romance takes a bit of a backseat to the four of them trying to not get killed. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the characters or there relationships, which leads to something with Madeline and Jack that I don’t quite buy. But overall, a really fun time.

Silk Is for Seduction by Loretta Chase

Genres: Historical Romance — Regency

Tropes: Amoral Hero/Heroine, Cross-class, Dukes/Duchesses, Wealth Difference

Page Length: 371 Pages

Audio Length: 11 Hours

Content Warning(s): Child Endangerment, Fire/Fire Injury, Grief

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

From the Design Book of Marcelline Noirot:

The allure of the perfect gown should be twofold:

ladies would die to wear it . . .

and gentlemen would kill to remove it!

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess's patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are . . . not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline's met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses;and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno . . . and a blazing scandal.

My Thoughts: 

My first Loretta Chase! I know I should have started with Lord of Scoundrels like a normal person, but I’m nothing if not a contrarian. And this was a promising start in my journey with her. I loved Marcelline so much. She’s conniving and manipulative and utterly unrepentant in her scheming. Clevedon…exists, I guess? Just buttoned up enough to get utterly wrecked by Marcelline. Though I was quite charmed by his connection with Marcelline’s daughter. I think that their push and pull didn’t quite click for me for the entire length of the novel. But Chase’s writing is sparkling and sharp. I can definitely see some other books of hers working for me even more than this one. Also, the stepback in this book is GORGEOUS. 

WORST OF THE MONTH:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (but mostly Jane Austen)

Genres: Historical Romance —Regency, Horror — Zombies, Classics

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers (kind of? Tbh P&P doesn’t have clean-cut genre tropes), Non-Aristocratic Leads

Page Length: 320 Pages

Audio Length: 11 Hours

Content Warning(s): Ableism, Body Horror, Fatphobia, Gore, Racism, Self-harm, Suicide, Violence, Vomit

Rating: 0.25 Stars

Blurb:

Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an audacious retelling of English literature's most enduring novel. This expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem begins when a mysterious plague falls upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. It's the perfect read for literature lovers, zombie fans, and anyone who loves a reanimated Austen.

My Thoughts: 

Oh my god. Ugh. UGHHHHH. I just…I can’t. I hate this book. I cannot stress this enough: if you are remotely curious about this book, just read Pride and Prejudice and a zombie book back-to-back. I will go into this in further detail in an upcoming review, but this man does NOTHING with this premise. NOTHING. And most of it is her writing, so you’re not even getting much of him, and what you get is atrocious. There is so much more to fiction than this.

A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath

Genres: Historical Romance — Victorian

Tropes: Found Family, Marriage of Convenience, Non-Aristocratic Leads, 

Page Length: 324 Pages

Audio Length: 11 Hours

Content Warning(s): Kidnapping, Gun Violence, Violence

Rating: 3.25

Blurb:

Mina’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her father drops a bombshell on his deathbed: she has a brother she never knew of. Not only that, he is on his way to rescue her from the collapse of their school under a mountain of debts.

A wild journey across country later, Mina finds herself thrown at the feet of the brutish William Nye, prize-fighter and owner of a disreputable inn, The Merry Harlot. Respectable Mina is appalled to find herself obliged to wed this surly stranger!

Forced to draw on reserves of inner strength she never knew she possessed, Mina uncovers perilous secrets and bravely carves herself a new life at the side of this man, as she proves herself a more than worthy partner for the prize-fighter.

My Thoughts: 

It’s very cool to see a historical romance without aristocratic leads. It’s less fun for a historical romance with a hero who is just, so, so alphahole-y. He barks at her so much in this book. Not in a sexy werewolf way, either. Just a “man who can’t communicate” way. It’s exhausting. It’s not poorly written, by any means. I didn’t have to push myself to finish the book. I was just hoping that this man would click more for me and that never happened. 

Between this and my personal best of the month, I’ve realized that I much prefer dual-pov romance. This is a single point of view romance. We’re in her head as she endures his barking. Maybe if I got in his head I’d sympathize with more of his barking. Coldbreath’s other books in this series are dual-pov, so I’ll give her another try with that and see if I fare better. Speaking of single point of view:

BEST OF THE MONTH: 

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Cinnamon Roll Hero, Found Family, Vampires, Werewolves

Page Length: 399 Pages

Audio Length: 13 Hours

Content Warning(s): Blood, Child Endangerment, Kidnapping, Violence

Rating: 4.25 Stars 

Blurb:

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

My Thoughts:  My first Ali Hazelwood went really well! This was sweet and snappy and fun. I inhaled this so quickly. It hit a good balance of romantic and horny for me. Though make no mistake, it is horny. Incredibly so. Hazelwood does not get quite as absurd with the sexy times as Kresley Cole, but she writes a descriptive scene that goes all in, pardon the double entendre.  Incredible that Lowe is an alpha when he’s the biggest, sweetest doofus you’ve ever seen. I kicked my feet at him being romantic as all get out. I was very charmed by him, even when he made very silly choices. Misery I swear had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. She snipped at everyone all the time. So naturally, I loved her and her connection to her friend, the reason she goes along with the marriage in the first place. Misery finding her people with the werewolves was so sweet, especially her bond with Lowe’s little sister. 

I’ve got a few quibbles, one that is legit and one that’s very much personal preference. First the legit critique: the third act is a bit clunky. It feels both overstuffed and a little undercooked, cutting away from the heat of the action to its aftermath. Honestly, even with those problems, I probably would have given it 5 Stars if it wasn’t for my personal taste. This book is single point of view, all from Misery’s perspective. This is not technically accurate, (you’ll understand if you read the book) but it was enough of a thing for me to be disappointed. Lowe was so sweet when he spoke, and I wanted to be in his head while he was falling in love with Misery. But I cannot stress how much of a good time I had with this charming book. 

One Night Rancher by Maisy Yates

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Cowboys, Friends to Lovers, Small Town

Page Length: 224 Pages

Audio Length: 6 Hours

Content Warning(s): Grief

Rating: 3.25 Stars

Blurb:

It started with one simple favor

Now one night together has the promise of more…

No one knows tough-as-nails bar owner Cara Thompson better than her best friend, rancher Jace Carson. And when Cara needs someone to stay with her at Lone Rock’s most historic, and possibly haunted, hotel to purchase it, Jace is the man for the job—even when the only furnished room has just one bed. One night shouldn’t be enough to change years of friendship, but a single kiss melts away years of restraint. As the sun rises, Cara might have secured her hotel, but has she ruined her friendship with Jace forever?

My Thoughts:

This is my first time reading Maisy Yates , and…it went fine? Her writing is polished and easy to digest. I got a pretty good grasp of Cara and Jace as people. Their chemistry was solid. But this plot didn’t do it for me. The titular “night” involves cuddling and drunken sexual admissions. But that’s it. And then they do it later and Jace proposes the next day. And that’s not even their conflict. It’s that, of course, he’s incapable of love (eye-roll) because his sister died when he was young and he doesn’t believe in good things. And like…sir. GO TO THERAPY! Her vagina won’t fix you! So much of this book is both of these people grieving their dead relatives. Which isn’t bad, exactly, but it takes up too much space in a book this short. I wanted to swoon, and instead I got dueling philosophies on grief and spiritual connection from beyond the grave. Not poorly executed, just not what I was expecting. If I try her again, I’ll go for one of her Harlequin Presents, where I am guaranteed an absolutely bonkers plot to liven the proceedings. And it won’t have a cowboy. I don’t think I’m a cowboy person.

Miss Bradshaw’s Bought Betrothal by Virginia Heath

Genres: Historical Romance — Regency

Tropes: Cinderella Retelling, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Meddling Matriarchs

Page Length: 288 Pages

Audio Length: N/A

Content Warning(s): Body-shaming, Fatphobia, Grief, Suicide

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

She'd done it! Plain, invisible Evelyn had escaped

Fed up with being a doormat to her evil stepmother, heiress Evelyn Bradshaw pays a dissolute rake to pose as her betrothed so she can secure her freedom. But then her fake fiance leaves her with his estranged brother Finn Matlock and disappears!

Having withdrawn from the world, Finn knows the last thing he needs is the temptation of a woman, especially one like Evie. She has an irritating habit of causing chaos wherever she goes and being in places she shouldn't, including, as he soon learns, his heart!

My Thoughts: 

I had a lot of feelings about this one that I tried to parse in my Goodreads review. There is a lot going on here that makes this a much more intense read than my previous Heath book. We’ve got a heroine who is emotionally abused and internalizes a lot of that disdain toward herself. And our hero is dealing with grief and survivor’s guilt around his late wife’s death. And the way that the hero’s arc is resolved is…a lot. I’m torn about whether or not it’s problematic. 

But this book had its charms! I was a fan of Evelyn and Finn’s banter. She is truly a delight when she’s away from her godawful relatives. Also, Evelyn has an older aunt who is a perfect snarky side character. It was so sweet to watch Evelyn grown into herself and to see Finn go through the journey of forgiving himself. It starts out a bit slow, but the back half shines, complicated narrative around disease and all. I was particularly fond of when Finn and Evelyn have to pretend to be engaged. I cackled at those scenes. So I would recommend this one.

Well, that’s everything!

Here’s to hoping that April will be a better reading month for me.