I’m always book-giddy at the start of each new year, enthused by new reading goals and new yearly challenges. This enthusiasm lead to me powering through 13 books in a sprint off the starting line! I got a fairly good mix of everything this month, including a secluded-island mystery, a few historical romances, a thought-provoking climate fiction, and more! Looking back over things, I was—clearly—in need of some swoony feelings, and also snagged the latest Emily Henry, which I’m amazed took me so long to read considering she’s my favorite romance author.

I did end up DNFing Bittersweet in the Hollow this month, at no fault of the book itself. I could not get behind the audio narrator, which happens. Still, it was frustrating, because I could tell this book is something I genuinely would enjoy. Alas, I’ll have to wait until I can get ahold of a physical copy to give the story a second chance!

My top read overall was the final book in an Edwardian Fantasy Romance trilogy that explored oppression and power dynamics in magic, social station, sexuality, and more, all while telling an engaging story with an immersive world-build. I promise, you’ll fall in love with our two MMCs!

Top Read Overall

A Power Unbound

by Freya Marske

The last book in Marske’s The Last Binding trilogy, we follow Earl Lord Hawthorne and journalist Alan Ross as the final race to save British magic unfolds.

Of all three books in the trilogy, this was my favorite! Marske did a fabulous job tying up the threads of the Last Contract via a comprehensive understanding of magic that at no point felt like an info-dump, but rather, like a growing revelation. The plot took off at a run and kept me flipping the pages, and I love that we saw a lot of our protagonists from the first two books. Jack and Alan were visceral characters, and I enjoyed reading both of their POVs.

This book dips a bit more into kinks and role play (4 🌶️ rating), but the scenes all further Jack/Alan’s character development and relationship via its focus on power dynamics, which was wonderful, as Marske manages to touch on social issues without turning her cast into mouthpieces giving out-of-character diatribe’s. We even get an itty-bitty heist in here that’s executed quite well. Truly, a great novel. If I don’t ever go back and reread the entire trilogy, I will, at the very least, reread this installment!

Check it out on The StoryGraph

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Though not in the top spot, the following books 1. Made it onto my TBR, and 2. Managed to actually get read this month. Quite the feat! Want a more in-depth peak? Click on any title to read my review!

I already CAN’T WAIT to dig into my February TBR! Though my anticipated reads always shift based on my mood and what holds come in on Libby, a book you can expect to get a review for is: You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego.

Happy reading!

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