Hello Readers! I hope March was good to you. I’m back to splitting up my Wrap-Up and Haul because I had an amazing reading month and added too many new books to my shelves to combine them. Mostly I’m excited that I read five backlist books, four of them romance!! I also read a few of my most anticipated ARCs for the year. I enjoyed my reading month so much, I’m nervous for April. 😉
I ended up reading 9 books, ALL the books from My March TBR plus one, which might be a first?? I read a total of 3,334 pages.
Let’s see what I read!
Be sure to check out The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction!
March Wrap-Up
(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)
I started the month finally reading the very hyped novella All Systems Red, the first installment in The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. While I did enjoy this one, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. But I could understand why it gets so much attention.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Suite Spot by Trish Doller was the gooey, heart-warming goodness my weary soul desperately needed. Great characters and a beautiful setting! This is the second installment in the Beck Sisters series, and I also adored the first book, The Float Plan (My Review).
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review
Published on March 8, 2022
When the author reached out and invited me to read Moment in Time, I was happy to accept after having read and enjoyed her previous novel, Hadley & Grace (My Review). HOWEVER, I didn’t realize this newest novel focused on characters several years after the events in her best known novel, In an Instant—which I haven’t read yet. While it wasn’t necessary to read it, I did get spoiled. Despite all that, Moment in Time was intriguing and satisfying!
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.75
My Review
Published on March 8, 2022
One of my most anticipated books of the year was Christina Lauren’s newest romance, Something Wilder. I was fully prepared to wait for the publishing date, but when an early copy arrived in my inbox ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!, I had to read it as soon as possible. And I loved it!
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
My Review
Expected Publishing May 17, 2022
A book that absolutely lived up to the hype for me was The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood! I was so happy to finally pick this one up. Steamy and funny, and I even shed a few emotional tears.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I kept the romance train rolling with Kulti by Mariana Zapata, a title I read through Kindle Unlimited. I totally get why people say this is the ultimate slow-burn. I could not believe how long it took to get to the first kiss. But I didn’t mind one bit. SO worth the wait, but the steaminess level was almost too much for me after that build up.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Despite the fact that I read the first installment in the Bridgerton series AFTER I’d watched the adaptation on Netflix, I wanted to read the second installment before the second season of the show. I sped through The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn, enjoying it as much as the first book. But I’m really hoping the third book is NOT another rake/good girl trope.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I can’t believe how many amazing romances I read this month! And four off my backlist! After I finished Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game, I wondered why it took me so long to get to it. Loved, loved, loved it. It was practically perfect for me.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I finished up the month reading my advanced copy of Very Bad People by Kit Frick. This YA thriller arrived in my subscription box from The Strand. Set in the fall, this dark academia is atmospheric, but I did have a few mixed feelings about the twists and ending. My full review will be up soon!
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5
Review coming soon!
Publishing on April 5, 2022
In case you missed it…
- ARC Book Review | One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
- Top Ten Tuesday: Books With My Favorite Tropes On My TBR
- Top Ten Tuesday: My Spring 2022 TBR
- Reading Challenge | Classics Club Spin #29
- Let’s Talk Bookish | Buying Secondhand Books
- Reading Challenge | Classics Club Spin #29 Result
- Top Ten Tuesday: Books With an Adjective In the Title
- Book Review | Love This F*cking Journey for Me: A Self-Discovery Journal to Grow Through the Bullsh*t, Ditch the Seeds of Doubt, and Celebrate Your Damn Self by D.A. Sarac
- Top Ten Tuesday: 21st Century Books I Think Will Become Classics
Highlights from elsewhere…
- ‘Outlander’ Prequel Series in the Works at Starz (EXCLUSIVE) – A prequel about Jamie’s parents??!! I’m very excited for this.
- Paramount+ Nabs Drama ‘Flatshare’ Ahead of U.K. Launch (Exclusive) – I’m also ridiculously excited about this. LOVED the book.
- Colleen Hoover Isn’t Sure How She Became TikTok’s Favorite Writer, But She’s Enjoying the Ride – This was a fun read!
- Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat shared 8 Ways To Get Out Of A Blogging Slump – I’ve definitely bookmarked this for repeated perusal. Lots of great tips I’d never thought about.
- Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole shared Books To Read If You Enjoyed These Movies – Part 1 – I’m looking forward to Part 2!
What I’ve been watching…
- We watched the most recent season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, completely unaware we were watching the final episode of the season when we did. It seemed super short!
- I’ve watched the first episode of the second Bridgerton season. I like what I’ve seen so far, and I’m super excited for the croquet scene!
- I couldn’t wait to watch the adaptation of The Hating Game after I’d finished reading it. I was very impressed with how closely it followed the book.
- Some of my followers might remember that I’d started rewatching the entire adaptation of Outlander with my husband. I honestly didn’t think he’d make it far, but we caught up to the current season and have been faithfully watching each new episode every week. 😉
How was your reading month? Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Looks like a great reading month. The Love Hypothesis has been on my radar – glad you loved it!
I hope you can get to it soon! I was so happy to finally cross this one off my very long tbr. 🙂
What a great month Dedra. I loved The Love Hypothesis and will be listening to The Suite Spot soon. I only have 2 episodes to go in Bridgerton and binge watched Sweet Magnolias in March as well.
I hope you enjoy The Suite Spot as much as I did! I look forward to your review. I’m hoping to get back to Bridgerton soon. I’m seeing all the buzz for it, which is only making me more excited. 🙂
There were not really any surprises as it was pretty much telegraphed from the beginning, but I still enjoyed seeing it all unfold.
Glad to hear your month was amazing! I need to stat The Murderbot Diaries. I need to temper my expectations going in though. Hope you have a wonderful April!
It may be odd, but sometimes I’m happy when I read a less than glowing review for a hyped book so my expectations go down a bit. I usually end up enjoying it more. Ha!
I’m so glad you enjoyed Something Wilder. I’ll be reading that after publication day, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I hope you like it, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. I thought it was a solid Christina Lauren romance.
I agree 100% – The Love Hypothesis deserves all the hype. I hope the follow-up is just as amazing.
I did NOT get approved for Love on the Brain, but I’m excited to pick it up once it’s published. Hopefully it won’t take me as long to get to as The Love Hypothesis. 😉
These look like great reads – ones I’m adding to my TBR list! happy reading in April
Yay! I’m happy you found some to add!
Great wrap up! Yay for a month full of romance 😍 I can’t wait to read Something Wilder (what an amazing bday gift to receive lol!) and I’m so glad that you loved TLH! I can’t wait to read more by Hazelwood. I hope you have an amazing month of reading in April too, Dedra!
Thanks Dini! I’m eager to read more by Hazelwood, too. Happy reading!
How did you read all the books in your TBR?! Teach your ways, master. I can’t stick to my TBRs at all haha so I just do one book club read every month, that’s it. Glad to hear mostly liked the books that you read. Hope you have a great reading month in April too!
Thanks for featuring my post 😊
Haha! I’m a chronic list maker. I always have some kind of tbr going. Since I participate in the Popsugar challenge, I practically plan out my whole reading year. Lol I “plan” it, but I definitely stray from it, as well. I’m often envious of those that just mood read. I don’t know what that’s like anymore. 🤦♀️😃 Happy reading to you, too!
That looks like you found some great reads! All Systems Red is the only one I’ve read from your list, though I’ve been curious about one or two of the others. Happy reading!
I wish I would have loved All Systems Red more. I’m wondering if I’d enjoy the next one now that the characters and world are established. Sometimes that helps me. 🙂
That might help. It also might help that ART (who seems to be everyone’s favorite Murderbot side character) is introduced in book two.
Oooh, that’s good to hear!
Have you read any other Mariana Zapata books? They’re long and slow burn but so good! You read a ton of great books this month.
From Lukov With Love was my first and I loved it! I had a hard time choosing between Kulti and The Wall of Winnipeg this month, but I think I went with Kulti since it was a little shorter. Haha! I absolutely love her slow-burn style. I don’t know how she does it, but even though they’re long, I never grow bored. I’m eager to read Winnipeg and All Rhodes Lead Here. I’ll take any other recommendations! 😉
Those 2 up next are amazing. I would also recommend Wait for It after you read Winnipeg. It’s about Diana, her best friend and the cousin from Kulti. And Dear Aaron. That’s the sister from Lukov.
Ooooh, okay! I’m loving these tips. I have a list of her books I want to read and I’m adding these notes with them. Thank you!!
You got so many books read this month that I’ve been eyeballing! Especially Something Wilder and The Love Hypothesis!
I’m needing to start the Bridgerton series before I watch more of the series–I like to read the books first when I can. 🙂
I’m afraid I won’t have a reading month the rest of the year that was as good as March. 😉 I hope you can get to Something Wilder and The Love Hypothesis soon! I thought both of those were so good.
I always try to read the books first. The Bridgerton books weren’t even on my radar until I watched the first season. I’m happy to report that reading The Duke and I after watching the show didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. That’s not always the case. 😃