What I read in January 2024

I have been trying to make this the first post of the month, which didn't work out. I've been slacking off with my blogging (but if you missed me, I did still do my monthly newsletter. Sign up if you're not already!). After getting the flu in January, I've been finding it harder than usual to find the time to blog. This series has been something I've really looked forward to writing every month, so let's hop into it! Here's what I read in January.

please note that anything with an asterisk (*) was an ARC I received. It didn't change my opinion of the book, but just for transparency's sake.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas - ★★★★★

This was my first read of 2024! Well I actually started it in December, but finished it last month. This book is where the TOG series really picks up. It actually took me a little while to get into. They introduced a lot of new characters, and after spending 2 books pretty much with the same characters, it was a little tough to initially care about reading the new POVs. At about 200 pages, things shift, and you start to care. I loved learning about Manon and Rowan as characters. And of course, those final 200 pages or so were so quick paced and I loved every second of it.

Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen* - ★★★¼

This was a super cute YA romance. It follows Chloe Chang who not only has to move from NY to LA, but gets dumped by her boyfriend. When the breakup first happens, all she wants to do is throw out the box of memories she's collected while they were together. Instead, she starts paying other kids to give her their breakup boxes, so she can create an art exhibit called Heartifacts. Along the way she meets Daniel. The guy who dates a girl only for the girl to always go back to their ex. When Chloe starts to get a crush on him, he's not only worried about being a rebound for her, but doesn't want what always happens to happen again. And at first he's right, the moment her ex comes to LA, she realizes she's not completely over him, and dives completely into her Heartifacts exhibit.

This story was super quick paced, and really cute! I loved the friend and the family scenes in this story. Especially the side plot with trying to find out her grandma's recipe for the pineapple cakes. I sometimes found Chloe's character to be a bit annoying, but I LOVED Daniel. Overall, a super cute read.

Promise Me This by Hannah Bird* - ★★★★¼

After really loving her most recent book, What’s Left of Me, I was super excited. So when I read the summary, I was a little nervous. This story included a few tropes I usually hate. Miscommunication and Single Parents (with kids in the story). Of course, I start the story, and I immediately get sucked in. The story follows Leo and Callum when they had a Summer romance when they were both in their early twenties. They fall in love, and promise to stay together even after her semester abroad is over. She was supposed to finish out college, and move back to Ireland. At the start they were constantly in contact, but at some point Leo stops responding to Callum. Fast forward and theyre now in their thirties, and Leo shows up on Callum’s doorstep. And their story begins again. It was a heartbreaking but beautifully told story. Literal tears rolled down my face. The vulnerability that happens in this story is so good, you truly feel all the pain both characters go through.
I loved the small town, and all the people in it. I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings because it discusses some really heavy topics. I said before that there were some tropes I hate, firstly the miscommunication. I usually hate how this trope is used, but the circumstance of the story made the miscommunication completely understandable. . Even Niamh, Callum’s daughter adds to the story instead of takes away. The story is a Dual POV, with a few dual timeline chapters. Overall, I loved this one!

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson - ★★★½

This my book club book for the month of January. I actually just started using Libby recently, and it was available! I will say, I typically stick to non-fiction through audio book, so it was different listening to a fiction on audio book. I feel like I had a bit of trouble focusing, and honestly there was a lot of information that I didn't really absorb the way I would when actually reading the book.

It may have been because it was my first time listening to an audio book for a fiction. I've listened to a few others throughout the month of January, and had less difficulty absorbing the plot and actual book. The premise of the book was really interesting, but I feel like at times there was almost too much...connection? I don't know how to explain it better without giving everything away. It was okay, not my favorite thriller.

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas - ★★★★★

So this is the prequel to the Throne of Glass series. There are different ways of reading this series, but I read The Assassin's Blade after Heir of Fire and I really recommend reading it this way. A lot of what happens in these mini stories are referenced to in detail in the next book in the series, Queen of Shadows.

Even though some people read this after Crown of Midnight (the second book in the series), I still think Queen of Shadows hit much harder because this one was super fresh on my mind. I really don't know why some people rate this set of novellas so lowly. This book explained a lot about why Celaena is the way she is. I loved reading each adventure and experience she had before we met her at the start of Throne of Glass.

One more thing I would like to point out. If you read this one before Throne of Glass, I feel like you get a lot of spoilers that would only surprise you if you didn't read this prequel first.

Entangled by Rebecca Quinn* - ★★★★¼

This was the second book in Rebecca Quinn's Brutes of Bristlebrook. It's a dystopian post apocalyptic harem story. Before reading the first book in the story, I had never read a harem story. Especially a why choose one. I didn't think it would be for me, but Rebecca proved me wrong. While the first one did a good job introducing all the characters and developing our relationships with all of them, this second one was different. Since we already knew everyone, there was a lot less world building needed. There was a lot of action and was much more plot heavy compared to the first book.

There were definitely some really spicy scenes (so if you're not into that, maybe skip this one?), which were super fun to read. And let's not even start on the cliffhanger, I finished it and was so eager to jump right into the next one (which is not out yet). Overall, I highly recommend this one!

The Kissing Bandit by Margaret Rose* - ★★★¼

I was so grateful to receive an ARC for this one, especially since I loved Sink or Sell. I went into this with high hopes, and unfortunately I didn't love it as much as Sink or Sell. Frannie wasn't my favorite character, which probably has a lot to do with why I didn't love this one. Especially when compared to the lil' bits of her sister and best friend. Honestly, I liked almost every single character more than her.

The amount of times the phrase kissed her silly came up was something I didn't enjoy. The idea of a girl who's lost her groove after a bad breakup and moves to a small town to try to start fresh and find herself again is a great plot. Especially when she runs into the hot guy at the bar that she had great chemistry with. There were so many scenes I really enjoyed throughout this, and I loved seeing John overcome his grief and learns to move on from the past. It was a really quick read, and I will for sure continue to see whatever MR comes out with in the future!

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren - ★★★★½

Let me tell you, if there was an author I didn't think I was going to talk about anymore it was Christina Lauren. Before this book I had read 3 of her books, one of them being Love and Other Words. I know a lot of people love that book, but the way that SA was talked about and dealt with really bothered me. It made me feel like because the SA happened to a MMC it mattered less? It was just super brushed over, and the same thing happened, but the roles were reversed and it was a FMC it happened to, I feel like they would have written it differently.

Besides that, there were two other books I read by them, and neither of them wowed me. When one of the girls from my book club mentioned how much they loved this one, I decided to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did! I honestly loved this one. This was a reality tv romance, except the MMC is a producer instead of a contestant.

I loved the build up of their friendship, I loved his daughter, and I loved that this followed an older couple. There was very little I could complain about in this book. I just really liked it. After getting an E-book version, I loved it so much that I bought myself a physical copy.

This book 100% changed my mind about Christina Lauren, and will check out some of their other stories in the future!

Spare by Prince Harry - N/A

As I've mentioned in the past, I don't rate biographies. This was another audio book I listened to throughout the month, and it was good, but really long. It was super interesting to learn about his life, from his words. I didn't know much about the royal family other than when Princess Diana passed and the tabloid blast that Meghan Markle got. To listen to him speak about the grief he was dealing with when his mother passed, especially under such a public eye.

Then to hear more about his family dynamics, his military life, his dating life, and all the controversies he's gone through was really interesting. The thing I disliked the most was the large section talking about the military, mainly because that doesn't really interest me. Nonetheless if you're interested at all in the royal family, I recommend giving it a listen!

Red Rising by Pierce Brown - ★★★★¼

This was the final audio book for the month. And I heard so many great things about it, I knew I was going to love it. It's a dystopian sci-fi that reads like a fantasy. The story follows Darrow, who is a Red on planet Mars. Being a Red, means you are a grunt who works the mines or gathers spider silk. But soon, Darrow finds out that he and his people have been betrayed. They were originally told that they are the pioneers that are working hard so future generations can come and colonize in Mars. He never knew that humanity has been living on Mars for generations. There are vast cities scattered across the planet, and yet he and other Reds are treated like slaves. Inspired by his wife, he longs for justice, so he sacrifices everything in order to breach the most elite class of people, the Golds.

This book drew me in from the second or third chapter. It was really easy to understand the world, and overall I really enjoyed this one! I wasn't planning on starting this one, mainly because it's another series, but it was available on Libby. Can't wait to start the next one!

The Improbable Meet Cute Series

• The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren - ★★★★
• Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez - ★★★¼
• Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne - ★★★
• Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory - ★★¾
• With Any Luck by Ashley Poston - ★★★
• Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson - ★★★ ½

This was a 6 short story series. Originally I was only planning on reading Abby Jimenez's & Ashley Poston's story. After finishing The True Love Experiment, I decided to also read Christina Lauren's story. So I read those three first. Then I found out I can read the whole series for free, since I had Amazon Prime. So I read all of them! Each of these stories are short meet-cute stories. Some were longer than others, but for the most part I would say each story was about 75 pages or less. I was surprised to find out that Christina Lauren's story was my favorite! My least favorite of the series was Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory. If you're looking for short reads that you can finish in an hour and a half or less, I recommend checking these out!