Everything I read in February 2024

The month in which I read an improbable amount of romance.

I know I keep saying that these monthly reading round-ups will go live promptly on the first of the month, but something about sending a newsletter out on a work day just does not compute in my brain. Check back in next month to see if I ever get my act together to get my March reading recap out by April 1!

February was a great month of reading. I got through tons of romances — some of which really hit and others that were… to put this politely…interesting. I had two five star reads, which we’ll get to in due time, and finally read my first Sarah J. Maas book (spoiler alert: I tentatively get the hype now).

Before we get into the book talk, it’s time to drop the obligatory reminder that the Bookshop links in this email are affiliate, which means I might make a small commission if you purchase through them.

BUTCHER AND BLACKBIRD by Brynne Weaver: We started off February with something incredibly far out of the realm of what I usually read: a dark romance in which two dueling serial killers fall in love after years of competing with each other to kill the world’s most dangerous people. This was a ton of fun. It’s really graphic both in the spice factor and the details about the murders. Sure, elements of this were really cringy, but the romantic leads had strong chemistry and there were some very funny moments in here. Jury’s out on whether I’ll read book 2, but my curiosity was certainly piqued here.

DONE AND DUSTED by Lyla Sage: Look at me, entering my cowboy romance era! I’ve always been quite the cowboy boot aficionado, so it’s only fitting that I would finally enter the wild world of cowboys with bad reputations falling in love with the ranch owner’s daughter. This was an incredibly quick read — I think I got through it in two sittings. While I thought it was sweet, I was left feeling a little lukewarm on the lack of plot. I’ll be reading the subsequent books in this series because I absolutely ADORED the atmosphere and liked the characters, but I couldn’t help but think we glossed over a lot of pertinent plot points.

THE GODPARENT TRAP by Rachel Van Dyken: When I heard that this book was essentially a novelization of Life As We Know It (which is one of my go-to comfort movies), I knew it was a must-read. Sadly, I’d tell you to stick to rewatches of the movie instead of reading this one. Two enemies must live together and raise the children of the best friends/siblings after they die in a tragic accident. Of course, they hate each other despite their palpable chemistry, and end up falling for each other. As we’ve discussed, I usually can’t stand when young kids are the main characters in books, which we had here. The characterization was flat, the romance didn’t have that zing that make you want to keep reading, and the ending of the book quite literally made no sense.

COME AND GET IT by Kiley Reid: After finishing a slew of romances that were just so-so, Reid’s sophomore novel truly made my entire reading month sing. While this book takes place at the University of Arkansas, I wouldn’t really call it a campus novel. It’s much more interior than that, as it primarily takes place in the dorms. We follow an RA hellbent on becoming a homeowner, a journalist who has infiltrated the dorm to interview its residents, and a slew of college girls who come from different backgrounds, all working to co-exist in the same building. Without spoiling any plot, this book feels like gossiping with your best friends. It’s smart and darkly funny, and Reid absolutely nails the college details. I have zero doubt that this will be at the top of my 2024 faves list come December.

SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by Tia Williams: I had to pick one of my all-time favorite romances for my February reread, right? SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE is one of the books that turned me into a romance reader — not only is the love story incredible, but the characterization is so strong and the subplot and alternating timelines are perfect. Dare I say I loved this novel about two writers who can’t quit putting nods to each other in their work even more the second time around?

LUNAR LOVE by Lauren Kung Jessen: This book had been sitting on my shelf for over a year, so I decided to finally pick it up ahead of Lunar New Year (we love a seasonal reading moment). A Chinese-American woman inherits her family’s astrology-based matchmaking service, just as a new app claiming to do the same thing hits the market. She decides to join the app and date the founder in order to prove that her family’s method reigns supreme. This was very cute, but a little too bland. I think this author just might not be for me (I also read her follow-up, RED STRING THEORY, which we’ll chat about in a sec). These are chaste, closed-door romances and while they’re sweet, they lack a certain grit and voice that I crave from my romances.

RED STRING THEORY by Lauren Kung Jessen: Even though I wasn’t head over heels for LUNAR LOVE, I decided to read this one because I knew it would be quick and I’m trying my darnedest to get through everything on my NetGalley shelf. After a once-in-a-lifetime night spent together in New York City, Rooney, an artist, and Jack, a NASA employee gunning for a promotion, think they’ll never see each other again. When fate allows their paths to intertwine once more, they find that their connection is special. The details in this book were great — I love the way Jessen includes Chinese traditions in her work, and I like the way she writes about food and art. Like LUNAR LOVE, this one fell short for me because it just felt tooooo sweet. I didn’t really believe the chemistry between the characters.

BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood: As someone who is vocally lukewarm on Hazelwood’s work, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read her foray into paranormal romance. After seeing all of the hype, I decided to grab it and hey! I was pleasantly surprised by this romance between a Vampyre (I loathe this spelling) and a werewolf who are forced into marriage in order to uphold a centuries-old alliance. Elements of this were bizarre (the knotting. I have no comment.) and there were times when I wished we would stop focusing on the politics of this paranormal world, but both of the lead characters were likeable. Best part of this whole thing? We finally got Ali to dump her “the heroine is so tiny and small and petite” shtick.

A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE by Tia Williams: I already have professed my love for Tia Williams in this newsletter, but let me tell y’all: I am like the Grinch, and my heart grows three sizes when I read one of Williams’ books. A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE is a romance, but it has elements of historical fiction a healthy dose of magical realism. We love a genre-bender over here, right? Without giving too much away (this is best read when you know as little as possible going in), a woman moves to Harlem to open the flower shop of her dreams, and keeps running into a mysterious man. If you couldn’t tell, I’m obsessed with this book. It’s romantic and funny and heartfelt and the way Williams writes about Harlem’s history and music is beyond lovely. Five stars!

DO YOUR WORST by Rosie Danan: Danan’s past two romances (THE ROOMMATE and THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT) were really interesting in that they did a fantastic job of talking about heavier topics with a light touch. DO YOUR WORST is a lot different in that it’s a lot lighter. We follow a dueling curse breaker and an archeologist who fall for each other as they team up to break a curse in a crumbling Scottish castle. The setting was a lot of fun, but this was missing that elevated touch that her other books had. A fun read (I’d recommend saving for Halloween because the supernatural elements would be perfect for the season!), but I’d choose her other novels over this one.

THE TAKEDOWN by Carlie Walker: After devouring THE BLONDE IDENTITY last month, I decided to keep the spy rom-com theme going with THE TAKEDOWN. A CIA operative goes undercover ahead of her sister’s upcoming nuptials to investigate her fiancé, only to fall in love with his bodyguard in the process. Sure, there were a few plot holes in the spy elements, but I loved the crackling chemistry between the romantic leads and thought that the last 20% felt particularly cinematic. This book takes place over the holidays, so I’d honestly hold off on this until Christmas if you’re looking for a seasonal read with a unique twist.

MAGNOLIA PARKS: INTO THE DARK by Jessa Hastings: Ugh, I can’t quit this series, even though I don’t really think it’s very good. There’s an addictive quality to these books, despite the fact that I think the writing is awful and the characters horribly toxic people. It’s hard to write about the plot without spoiling the previous books, but I actually thought this one was better than the other books (maybe because they’ve been picked up by a publisher?). It was way too long — this book 100% did NOT need to be over 700 pages — but I thought the characterization was a lot stronger compared to the the previous novels.

THE IMPROBABLE MEET CUTE COLLECTION by Christina Lauren, Abby Jimenez, Sally Thorne, Ashley Poston, Jasmine Guillory, and Sariah Wilson: I love interspersing short fiction into my reading life, and I thought this collection of short stories/novellas from acclaimed romance authors would be the perfect addition to my February reading. Some of these were really strong (Christian Lauren, Ashley Poston — feel free to make these full-length books at any time) and others were really…bad. Loved how there were cute Easter eggs and references to the other stories in the collection throughout. Enjoyed my time with these, but wouldn’t say it’s a must-read.

THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah: I said several things on Instagram last month that could get me cancelled — I do not like Taylor Swift and I thought this book was aggressively mediocre! THE WOMEN follows Frankie as she heads to Vietnam to serve as a military nurse. When she returns, she discovers that being a veteran is a lifelong battle, especially in such a controversial war. I think this book allowed me to nail down what I struggle with when it comes to Kristin Hannah: her books are predictable and they’re overstuffed with trauma, to the point where the emotional impact feels moot because you know that once a character heals from one thing, they’ll be hit with another devastating blow in a way that doesn’t feel realistic. I enjoyed the Vietnam details and loved the female friendships (I wanted A LOT more of this), but I thought the romantic elements were cheesy and the writing average (how many times are we going to repeat “Women can be heroes?” Of course they can and they are, but we don’t need you hitting that theme over our heads repeatedly through stilted dialogue).

THE DO-OVER by Lynn Painter: I’ve had my fair share of criticism towards Painter’s adult romances (the characters always feel really immature to me) and I think that’s because YA romance is clearly her forte. After the worst Valentine’s Day ever, Emilie just wants February 15 to roll around. Much to her chagrin, she keeps reliving the same day over and over. The only bright spot is Nick, who she keeps running into in her nightmare time loop. This was adorable! It’s obviously full of Groundhog Day vibes, and there’s a fun Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-esque twist that I LOVED. Is some of the dialogue a little cringy? Was it a little predictable? Sure, but it’s one of those YA romances that makes you smile, and sometimes, that’s precisely what you need.

THE ONE by Julia Argy: I have been sucked right back into the world of Bachelor Nation, which meant it was perfect timing to pull this one off of my 24 in 24 stack. While there are a ton of Bachelor-themed romances out there, there isn’t a ton in the way of lit fic, so this one truly felt like a breath of fresh air. We follow Emily who agrees to be cast in a Bachelor-esque show after being fired from her job. Once on set, it becomes clear that she’s been picked by producers to win it all, but what if that’s not what she wants? This one has pretty middling reviews on Goodreads, but I thought it was smart and darkly funny. Although I found the ending to be a little predictable, it was a fun departure from the usual way a Bachelor book ends.

TILL THERE WAS YOU by Lindsay Hameroff: I can’t stop thinking about the way this book essentially takes the premise of Harry Styles’ “Carolina” — “Met her once and wrote a song about her.” Like, hello? How fab! After Lexi, a culinary student and Jake, a budding songwriter, spend a whirlwind weekend together, Lexi thinks she’s in love. The issue? Jake goes AWOL after becoming an overnight celebrity thanks to the song he wrote about their romantic weekend. When a distraught Jake turns up on her doorstep one night, she must decide if she’s willing to handle his fame. This was so cute — I loved the chef angle and I always adore the Hollywood romance trope. Some parts of this felt repetitive — how many times was Lexi going to push Jake away, only to let him come right back?, but I had a fun time with this one!

THE BREAKUP TOUR by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka: I’ve enjoyed most of the work by this author duo, so I figured I’d give this a try, even though Taylor Swift fan fiction honestly doesn’t really sound like my idea of a good time. Riley Wynn becomes a superstar after her breakup concept album becomes a smash hit. When her ex-husband claims the album’s most popular song is about him, she reaches out to Max, her college boyfriend who the song is truly about. This book is clearly inspired by Taylor Swift. A lot of Goodreads reviews call out the book for incorrectly claiming that she writes songs about her exes (but… doesn’t she? Isn’t her new album literally named after her ex’s group chat? 👀). Our leads had no chemistry and the writing was SO dramatic and over-the-top. Lots of hearts entwining and singing directly into the soul. Bummer about this one, but fingers crossed it was just a rare miss from these two.

FLIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Jessica Lepe: I saw this called You’ve Got Mail meets Abbott Elementary, which of course, got my “I need to read this book ASAP” senses tingling. Sadly, I did not like this one. A 3-star is usually the lowest I’ll rate a book that I finish, and this one honestly came close to a DNF. This was sweet at times, but honestly, the romance just felt so cheesy that I could not deal with it. The Instagram posts felt so strange to me. The female lead is secretly a teacher/guidance counselor influencer, and I found the juxtaposition of her IRL personality and her IG presence to be so off. I found it very strange that this book seems to try pretty hard to be inclusive, yet names a school-sanctioned club after the KKK and makes countless jokes about it? I wanted this to bring the humor, and that’s what we got? I’d skip this one.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLERS by Sarah Tomlinson: I was really into the premise of this: a woman deeply involved with the history of one of the world’s most famous bands (think Fleetwood Mac) decides to write a memoir, and taps a struggling ghostwriter for the job, just as another bandmate decides to write a memoir of his own. This would have been a slam dunk for me if it wasn’t so slow. I thought the pacing felt really uneven throughout. The middle dragged, but the last third picked up a lot and had an air of suspense at times. For a book about a legendary band, I wanted more details on the music! This could have had some really strong Almost Famous-esque vibes and the details in other areas were strong, but the actual 70s band vibes were lacking.

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas: 2024 is my year of reading SJM, and we had to start with her most famous series, right? A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is a loose Beauty and the Beast retelling in which Feyre, a human huntress, is given an ultimatum after killing a wolf: die, or move to a land that’s dangerous for humans. As she acclimates to her new life, she grows closer to Tamlin, a faerie. When a dark shadow grows closer and threatens to destroy her new world, she must find a way to stop it. I actually really liked this! Am I obsessed yet? No, but I heard the obsession fully kicks in around book 2. I didn’t mind the world building, although the first half of the book was excruciatingly slow. The second half picked up and I flewwwww through it. Can’t wait to keep going!

SWAN SONG by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott: I’m once again deep in my Capote era (even though I’m not loving the show anymore, it’s descending too far into madness, IMO), and this was one of the last Capote/Swan-themed novels I had left to read. This one reminded me a lot of THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE (I liked that one better in terms of pacing and plot), but the writing was SO unique. I enjoyed the use of the “we” perspective to allow the women to speak in a Greek chorus and thought the detail work was really strong. This might have suffered because I know the story SO well after reading countless books about it, but I do think at least 100 pages could have been lopped off of this to no consequence.

THIS COULD BE US by Kennedy Ryan: Everyone told me this was even better than BEFORE I LET GO, so I was beyond stoked to read it! Soledad had the picture-perfect life, a long future with her dream man ahead of her. When that fantasy goes up in smoke, she’s left reeling as she tries to keep it all together for her young daughters. When an unlikely man comes into the picture, Soledad must decide if she can trust him, and herself, enough to let him in. While I preferred BEFORE I LET GO, this was also phenomenal. Ryan is able to convey so much warmth and emotion into her work. I adore the way she writes about food, I love how she writes women who are smart and strong and funny and well-rounded, and I can’t get enough of her balance of romance and intense, real-world issues. God, this was good!

LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn: When I said I was in my fantasy era, I meant it! LEGENDBORN, the first in a series, borrows from the legend of King Arthur, which I was admittedly unfamiliar with before reading. After her mother’s death, Bree heads to UNC Chapel Hill for a program for bright young high schoolers. On her first day on campus, she witnesses a magical attack that unlocks memories of her mother’s death, as a magical war looms. YA fantasy is a realm for me, and I liked this one! It’s definitely too long, but I enjoyed the campus setting — it helped the fantasy feel a little more grounded.

AMERICAN PROMETHEUS by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin: Hmmmmm, I wanted to read this because I really enjoyed Oppenheimer and wanted to learn more about the story, but this was a bit of a slog. I really enjoy nonfiction, but it took three different formats (physical, ebook, audiobook) to help me get through this one. I learned a lot and thought it was well-written (this won a Pulitzer Prize, so don’t take my criticism too seriously), but it was long and rather dry at times.

These monthly reading recaps get so lengthy that I’ve decided not to include all of the end matter about what I’m reading/watching/listening to, but I will 100% be back next week with an essay + all of those pop culture goodies (I’ve already started writing it, so we’re halfway there!). Forward this to your friend who needs a book rec!