Hey, hey. Happy Tuesday!
To say that I’ve gone full force into reading would probably be an understatement. I have officially exceeded my reading goal for THE YEAR in a span of 3 months, with 57 books read to date and another 2 in the process of being read (and listened to). In March alone, I read 28 books. TWENTY. EIGHT. BOOKS. (I legit just shocked myself with that tally.)
There have been many years when I barely finished 12 books, let alone twelve in a month. So to have read more than double that in a month has me feeling seriously proud. And more than a little shocked that I was able to find the time.
And since I completely blew my reading goal for the year out of the water in the first quarter of the year, I decided to up my goal for the year to 100 books. I’m a little nervous to go for a number that big, but am honestly excited to give it a try.
Here’s what I read in March (with affiliate links):
Hard Hitter (Wild Card #3) by Nikki Hall
Play Maker (Wild Card #4) by Nikki Hall
Blindsided (Harris Brothers World) by Amy Daws
Ice Cold Player (Beyond The Ice, #1) by Nikki Hall
Vines (The Killers #1) by Brynn Asher
Paths ((The Killers #2) by Brynn Asher
Gifts (The Killers #3) by Brynn Asher
Veils (The Killers #4) by Brynn Asher
Scars (The Killers #5) by Brynn Asher
Souls (The Killers #6) by Brynn Asher
The Tequila: A Killers Series Novella (The Killers #7) by Brynne Asher (this one somehow got skipped in goodreads so didn’t make it into my book cover collage)
Higher Love (Love After #1) by Alexandria House
Claim Me Forever (Time River #3) by A.L. Jackson
The Deal (Off-Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy
Accidental Tryst (Charleston #1) by Natasha Boyd
Inconvenient Wife (Charleston #2) by Natasha Boyd
Irresistibly Broken (Irresistibly Yours #1) by J. Saman
Irresistibly Perfect (Irresistibly Yours #2) by J. Saman
Irresistibly Wild (Irresistibly Yours #3) by J. Saman
Irresistibly Risky (Irresistibly Yours #4) by J. Saman
Irresistibly Dangerous (Irresistibly Yours #5) by J. Saman
Love Me Today (Time River #1) by A.L. Jackson
Don’t Forget Me Tomorrow (Time River #2) by A.L. Jackson
Reluctantly Yours (Unexpectedly In Love #1) by Erin Hawkins
The Chemistry Of Levi by Brynne Asher
The Almost Romantic: How To Date Your Fake Husband by Lauren Blakely
My So-Called Sex Life (The Dating Games #1) by Lauren Blakely
Unexpectedly Mine (Unexpectedly In Love #2) by Erin Hawkins
Some things I learned about myself and my reading habits this month:
I like reading series. I binge-read several different series this month, finding it super enjoyable to follow a group of characters throughout many different stories. It was also easier on my brain because I already knew all of the background from the previous book(s) and could just dive right in. My absolute favorite series was The Killers books by Brynne Asher. Holy smokes were those good.
I am a big fan of romantic thrillers and sports-themed romances. Every book I read this month seemed to fall into two different categories: romantic thrillers (think spy dramas with a healthy dash of spice) or sports romances (college hockey and football players, to be exact). Of course, there were also a few billionaires thrown in for good measure. Oh, the romance tropes.
Kindle Unlimited (KU) is my new best friend. I have always been a fan of free reading resources (hey, Libby. I still love you.) but there are only so many titles available. I’ve been having lots of good luck with KU lately and have gone down some Instagram/BookTok recommended rabbit holes for books. Clearly those IG ads are working.
Onto the reviews.
The standouts this month:
Brynne Asher is my new favorite author. I absolutely loved every book of hers I read and can’t wait to explore her other titles. Highly recommend The Killers series if you’re into romantic thrillers. (The Chemistry of Levi is a fun extra/next-gen book from the series, as it follows the 18-yo son of one of the characters from book #3. Took me a while to realize that one since I had read a few books in between…)
While the Time Rivers series wasn’t my actual favorite, there are several scenes from each book that will live in my brain rent-free, forever. Also, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I said I wasn’t going to continue on with the series after reading book #3, but found myself a quarter of the way into book #1 before I realized I had, in fact, continued on with the series. OOPS. (Also, apparently I’m not great at remembering all the details of the books I’m reading…)
My So-Called Sex Life caught me at the title (HUGE My So-Called Life fan over here) and laughed out loud at the way the author poked fun at book sex versus real sex. Of course, the main characters end up getting their book-sex after all, so don’t worry. All of the romance tropes were still in tact.
Up next.
My goal for April is to seek out books with a bit more diversity in the main characters. While I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read, I want people with more to offer than a lot of muscles and/or piercing blue-grey eyes.
If you have any recommendations for what to read, I’m all ears. And eyes, since I’ll be reading and listening…
Here’s to another month of getting lost in a good book!
X+O,
Emily
PS — I’ve decided to put the TWELVE by TWENTY FOUR project on hold for the time being. While it’s been fun to create, I haven’t been inspired to make anything in a while and am finding that there has been little interest in what I’ve already created. I’m 100% okay with this and am proud of myself for giving something like this a try. I may come back to this at another point in the future, but for now, I’m going to allow myself to rest and read and see where I go from here.