This week has been such an interesting week! I finally got out of Instagram jail, and I can’t believe I have to police myself in how much I like posts in an engagement app lol oh the irony of it. Also NEW news, is that J.R. Ward is being adapted, maybe? She accepted an offer from Passionflix. As much as I love and support Passionflix, I just don’t see how this will work if I am being honest. I think even Netflix would have a hard time doing it let alone a company that has less funding. Its a new month, a fresh start and its also the month of LOVE and Romance. So as a romance lover, I am sure this will be a fun month of reading especially. I do like to do something special for Valentines Day though even if I am not dating anyone. This past week was quite interesting to be honest. I didn’t quite make my goal of 10 books, although I got close. I did have a migraine earlier this week and then on Friday night I took a sleeping pill and I hate taking these because then the next day I feel out of it, like so tired all day lol I also added something to my spreadsheet, its originally something that Ali from HardBook Hoarder created and its a great Series Tracker. So if you would like a copy of this, let me know or you can get it HERE Its been some work, not going to lie, but I am really loving this. It will make putting together my TBR’s easier. Normally I browse through my past reading challenges to see which books I need to pick on to work through my series. But this way its all in one place and easier to find. And its one of my goals for the year to focus on finishing up series, so I think this will help a TON! As you can see I read LOTS of sagas and not that much in trilogies or dulogies haha
Bookish Posts and Books Read of Week of January 29th through February 4th
This was a really fun reading week and got a good balance of sub genres. I read 8 books this week and some Romanceopoly reads as well!!! Definitely loving this challenge here. Even though my reading week was slightly lower than normal, I am still ahead on my challenges and read some truly great ones.
(All my books read and their reviews are on Goodreads, I have linked for you)
List and Link book reviews with ratings and description of opinion via goodreads
Book Read-Claimed by Presley Hall—Rating 3 Stars–I wanted to love this one, as I saw some bookstagrammers raving about this one, but it was “meh” for me. It just was mostly smut haha and not where it made sense. I truly don’t think weird alien romance is for me just like monster romance isn’t really for me that much. I just wasn’t impressed so I am not sure I will continue the series.
Book Read-Make Me by Beth Kery—Rating 5 Stars—Now this was a great erotic romance. I know this sub genre isn’t for everyone, but the depths and journey of this couple was so beautiful. I would say that Beth Kery writes classy erotic romance. I know that Erotic Romance can be categorized differently for readers. I basically put this where there is more focus on the sexual scenes, but the relationship building is done more in the intimate scenes. but there is still focus on the relationship. Beth Kery handles this sub genre so well, but she also writes regular contemporary if erotic romance isn’t for you.
Audio Book Listened-Wolf Unleashed by Paige Tyler—Rating 4 Stars—LOVED this one. It was such a blast to return to this author. Although I wasn’t a fan of the heroine and how she treats the hero, I really enjoyed it as a whole.
Audio Book Listened-The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne—Rating 4 Stars–This was superb! I actually had a blast with this marriage of convenience with a mix of enemies to lovers. The hero is such an alpha but the heroine was a gold star! Just great angst, tale of revenge and a bit of family feud.
Book Read-The Groom Wore Plaid by Gayle Callen—Rating 4 Stars—This was such an endearing story! I actually had a blast with this one. It definitely reminded me that I need to work on this author’s backlist for sure. This book was arranged marriage, warring clans, set in the Georgian Era of Scotland, and had a mix of friends to lovers as well to it and the heroine saw visions of the future and great witty banter.
Book Listened- White Star by Elizabeth Vaughan—Rating 5 Stars—WOWZERS…..this was a great fantasy romance. I did this one as a buddy read, and it was a blast. It was so wonderful to read and listen to. I could only use Audible, so had to use a credit for this one, but it definitely was worth it. If you love fantasy romance, this is an author that MUST be on your list! It had a hero seeking redemption for his people, a priestess and pining for the hero type of heroine, lots of kick ass moments, driving out evil and seeing Good win in the end and love conquer all! I mean you can’t get better than that in a fantasy romance. I will be doing a blog review of this one because it was that good!
Book Read-Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher-–Rating 5 Stars—This one was better than the first book. I really see why so many are loving these books. They are hilarious (like bursting out in laughter, and I normally never do that in books), great chemistry and loved that this one was a marriage of convenience and a pining hero.
Book Listened-The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite—Rating 3 Stars—This one was a struggle, although the romance itself was endearing and poignant. I do love the writing style of the author, but it had some cheating and modernisms in this that just didn’t make sense. But the sex scenes were also so lyrical and well done! She definitely knows how to write well just more modern than I prefer in my HR.
Week 5 of Book Release of 2023
Book Review-Make Me by Beth Kery
Bookish Posts To Look Forward To This Week
Author Deep Dive: Christine Feehan
Book Release Post
Book Review-White Star by Elizabeth Vaughan
Recommend It: Time Travelin’
Current Reads
I just started the Erika Kelly and I am liking it. Its been forever since I have read her, so adjusting to her writing style but the premise is interesting so she has me intrigued. Then I gotta finish up this Lisa Renee Jones books especially with Passionflix releasing the adaptation here which I have been really enjoying. And I can’t wait to get back to this series by Donna Grant and I LOVE how patriotic the covers are. And I have been wanting to get back to Kathryn Le Veque, so returning to the de Wolfe series. Then for one of my Romanceopoly picks I have Priceless lined up for the “Campus Corner” prompt.
Book Releases I am Excited For
Control Me by Michelle Heard
Twisted by Emily McIntire
Powerless by Elsie Silver
The Phantom by Gena Showalter
Miss Newbury’s List by Megan Walker
Wolf Takes the Lead by Terry Spear
My Weekly TBR
These are books that I have a rough TBR for, I normally don’t like a super strict TBR as I tend to be a mood reader, so I might get to these books but depending on my mood, I might not get to all of them, but I will endeavor to try with these. I have some great books lined up this week! LOOK at all the beautiful covers! I am stoked. I have some contemporary, an erotic romance, some paranormals, a UF romance, and some PNR.
Favorite Book of the Week
New Additions to A&R
None This Week!
Migraines stink. Sorry it messed with you a bit. Your spreadsheet – WOW! That’s impressive looking. Mine is very lo-fi. Hope you have a great (migraine-free) week!
I also always wonder why a social app is sanctioning you for liking and commenting Renee! I agree with you on having Passionflix adapting one of JR Ward’s books. They are long, complex and there is a lot to unwrap so… yes. And I am sorry you suffered from a migraine!
I am worried about the passionflix adaptation as well. It is such an undertaking to adapt her books. And I will never understand why we get punished for doing exactly what IG is created for!
Glad to hear that you got close to your reading goal this past week! Hope you have a great week!
Well I hope the PAssionflix adaptation works out. I’ve never read ward but I’ve seen them around and I hope they do them justice…
Instagrams rules are ridiculous! I’m curious to see how Passionflix would handle Ward. I do think they’d need quite a budget to do it right. Sorry to hear you were battling a migraine. They’re the worst!
Instagram definitely is a bit weird sometimes. I really don’t get the whole instajail thing.
OMG.. I love that spreadsheet!! I’d definitely like to have one! That would be soooo helpful.
I love your TBR for this week. I just finished Powerless, and it’s soo good!
Have a great week and happy reading.
Ugh, sorry to hear about the migraine. Those are miserable. And I can understand the after effects of the meds. (Allergy meds do that to me. I feel fuzzy and out of it the next day.) Oooh, I’m loving that series spreadsheet! I’m going to download it and see how it works for me. Thanks for sharing!
It’s been a long time since I read an Erika Kelly book as well. I hope you love this one. I am also waiting on Powerless. It can’t get here soon enough!
What a week for you. Hope you’re feeling better after the migraine. Quite the stack of reading, too. So many good ones in your latest batch.
Have a good week, Renee!
I am sorry to hear that you had a migraine. Those are the worst! You had a great reading week even if you didn’t quite reach your goal. I have to agree that I don’t see JR Ward’s books converting to the screen all that well.