Hello Readers! I didn’t read a whole lot in February. I’d like to say it’s because I was traveling a bit and also celebrated my birthday, but it’s really just because I’m not reading as much as usual. 😃 I only read 3 books for a total of 1, 073 pages, but I DID get halfway through The Winners, the final book in the Beartown series. I had NO idea it was almost 700 pages long! And I did get caught up on my ARCs!

I picked up a few physical books and a few eARCs, as well.

Let’s see what I read and what I added to my TBR!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

February Wrap-Up

I started the month reading Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn. My fourth book to read by Hahn (second YA), I enjoyed this “sad cowboy romance”, but I think I would have preferred it to be an adult romance with the heavier themes. Once again Hahn impressed me with her characters and setting.

➤My Rating: ★★★★¼
➤My Review
➤Published on February 6, 2024
➤Popsugar Reading Challenge Prompt – A book where someone dies in the first chapter

Next I picked up my most-anticipated ARC for the month, Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I’ve been a fan of everything Hazelwood has written, so I was eager to see how she did outside of her usual contemporary romance genre. My first five-star read of the month, I’d say she succeeded, and I desperately hope this becomes a series.

➤My Rating: ★★★★★
➤My Review
➤Published on February 6, 2024
➤Popsugar Reading Challenge Advanced Prompt – A book where a character sleeps for 24+ hours

I originally only committed to a spotlight post for Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle, but once I started reading, I knew this was a book I wanted to finish. I’ve only read Mangle’s debut, and I can see how much she’s grown as a writer with her third novel. Authentic characters, impactful and important story, this is one that needs all the attention!

➤My Rating: ★★★★½
➤My Review
➤Published February 20, 2024

February Book Haul

I only added two physical books to my shelves in February, and they were both books I picked up primarily for my husband who has been reading more than me so far this year. 😃 Heaven, My Home by Attica Lock, the second book in the Highway 59 series set in Texas, and All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the first book in The Border Trilogy, set in Texas, as well.

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My eARCs

I was invited to share a spotlight and/or review for Ever the Same by Michelle Wishner. The synopsis definitely grabs me. And the fact that this one is under 200 pages! I’ll be sharing more about this one soon!

Synopsis:

Sam thinks her life is over when her parents tell her the family is moving weeks before school starts. Starting over is hard enough, but when it is your senior year of high school, it’s even harder.

Conner has a great life. He is captain of the school’s hockey team, dating a cheerleader, and ready to breeze through his senior year. He didn’t expect his life to be thrown off kilter on the first day of school when he meets the new girl.

Ever the Same takes you on a journey of friendship and love that you won’t be able to put down.

Published January 23, 2024

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I know Rainbow Rowell can be a controversial author because of the mistakes she made in her debut book, but I feel like they’re mistakes she hasn’t repeated. I adore her writing style. I’m eager to try her newest novel Slow Dance.

Synopsis:

A bright, beaming power ballad of a novel from Rainbow Rowell—the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Landline, Fangirl, and Eleanor & Park—Slow Dance tells the humorous and heartbreaking love story of best friends Shiloh and Cary from their inseparable teen years to their far-flung adulthoods as they try to figure out what their relationship is, where it went wrong, and how to finally make it right.

Growing up on the wrong side of Omaha, all Shiloh could think about was getting away. At least she had Cary in the meantime. Cary to put up with her, Cary to make her laugh. Cary at sixteen, built like a stick of gum and driving his mom’s beat-up station wagon. He had it worse than Shiloh did. Only their friendship got Cary through high school and when Shiloh went off to college, he joined the Navy.

That was fourteen years ago. Now Shiloh’s thirty-three and feeling like she never did get away. She’s back living in the same house she grew up in. She’s working in a theater, but not onstage like she’d planned. And she’s divorced, a single mom just like her own mother (minus the revolving door of boyfriends).

When a high school friend invites Shiloh to his wedding, the last thing she wants is to catch up with the old gang. But she buys a new dress, puts on some makeup, and pins a silk flower over her heart, hoping—and also worrying— that she might see Cary, the boy she never realized she loved until he was lost.

Expected July 23, 2024

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I may have just finished Erin Hahn’s last novel, but I’ve already been invited to read her next one, Catch and Keep, an adult fall romance that continues with characters from Built to Last and Friends Don’t Fall in Love.

Synopsis:

In Erin Hahn’s latest cozy, swoony romance, Maren Laughlin has been fishing her whole life, but she’s finally ready to be caught.

At thirty-three, Maren Laughlin’s just turned down her boyfriend’s proposal, walked away from her decade-long position as a park ranger, and returned to her childhood playground in Northern Wisconsin to accept her inheritance: a decrepit waterfront bait shop. After a lifetime of letting things happen to her, she’s ready to start making her own moves, even if everyone else thinks she’s making the wrong ones. Well, not everyone—at least the local heartstopper and resort owner is on her side.

Josiah Cole has made some missteps in his life, but he’s proud of what he has: two awesome kids and the keys to the kind of getaway spot that has families coming back every summer– their up north home away from home. After his marriage dissolved, leaving him a single dad, he feels he’s the last person to judge Maren for her recent transformation (even if his best friend, her brother, wants him to feel otherwise). Besides, he genuinely likes having her around. She’s a breath of fresh air, his kids adore her (not to mention her dog, Rogers), and it doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful.

Things between Maren and Joe are easy. So easy, they’re fully immersed in the middle before they even decide to begin. It’s not a question of should they, but rather can they make it last? Are things too easy, or is this just how real love works? In Erin Hahn’s heartwarmingly sexy Catch and Keep, Maren and Joe have to be brave enough to find out.

Expected October 15, 2024

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Amazon First Reads

I chose Blank by Zibby Owens as my Amazon First Reads choice in February. I wasn’t too interested in any of the choices, but this novel about an author who had success with her debut but is drawing a blank for her second novel, piqued my interest the most.

Expected March 5, 2024

How was your reading month? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!