My reading in Feb was a bit all over the place, particularly because I was on vacation for the second half of the month (Thailand and Vietnam, it was amazing!!!). I ended up reading a bunch of audiobooks and ebooks, and was very much mood-reading with some easier reads during my trip. Let’s get into it!

Stats

Total books read: 8

New-to-me authors: 2

Physical books: 2

2025 releases: 3

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (4.5 stars) – I was expecting to enjoy this enemies-to-lovers romantasy, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting to love as much as I did. I thought that the Philippines-inspired worldbuilding was extremely well-done and easy to envision, and although I was fairly surprised when the war storyline ended so early in the book and the plot very much shifted gears, I ended up loving the direction that it took. Both main characters were well-drawn and interesting, and their romance is a true enemies-to-lovers where the protagonists begin the book on opposite sides of a devastating war and find themselves later on in an arranged marriage to preserve peace and save lives. Their chemistry is extremely well-done and propels the story; I’m so on board with their stories and can’t wait to pick up the sequel.

I received an eARC of The Hurricane Wars from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; I also purchased a physical copy for myself.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (4 stars) – This was an interesting, character-driven, slow-paced campus novel following several main characters: an author/researcher acting as a guest professor while mining the campus students for ideas for her next book; a hardworking RA pursuing her dream of owning her own home; and a lonely transfer student dealing with anxiety and guilt. Don’t pick this up if you’re looking for a plot-driven book, but I enjoyed it.

The Deal by Elle Kennedy (4 stars) – A huge surprise for me. I picked this up because I heard it was going to be made into a movie; it’s a college sports romance featuring fake dating between a tutor and a hockey player, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Kennedy’s writing gets you hooked and keeps you entertained; it was a great book to read while traveling. I’m looking forward to picking up more from her and watching the eventual movie.

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey (4 stars) – This is the third book in Bailey’s Big Shots series of contemporary sports romances, and it was my second-favorite in the series. This romance has been hinted about previously, and I really enjoyed the buildup to the main characters getting together, but found their eventual romantic reunion to be a bit of a letdown after all of that escalation. Still, Bailey’s writing is incredibly fun, and I’m looking to pick up books from her backlist in the near future.

Director’s Cut by Carlyn Greenwald (4 stars) – This follows one of the characters from the author’s debut Sizzle Reel, who’s a popular actress, director, and current guest professor, and her romance with a fellow professor she’s assigned to work with. It’s sort of a workplace rivals-to-lovers romance, and I like this author’s writing and character development.

A Rebel Without Claws by Juliette Cross (3.5 stars) – I really enjoyed Cross’s Savoie Sisters series, and A Rebel Without Claws is the first book in a new series following the next generation of the previous series’ characters’ now adult children and their own love stories. This was pitched as a good girl/bad boy romance, but the male protagonist has really already decided to reform by the time he meets his fated mate, so it was much more of a very sweet, insta-love romance. What was less enjoyable for me was the plot, which was based on a werewolf UFC-esque competition that I wasn’t really expecting to take over so much of the story. It was still a very fun read, and I’ll look out for the sequels.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner (3.5 stars) – A very unique concept that I don’t want to give away, but this is quite an original take on the older-lady-solving-murder-mysteries-in-a-small-town trope. It did drag for me at points, but I really didn’t know where it was going for a lot of the book, and I appreciate a book that surprises me so much.

The Bones Beneath My Skin by T. J. Klune (3 stars) – A bit of a disappointing and slow-paced character-driven science fiction that I listened to on audio via Book of the Month. It’s not a bad book, I just felt like this wasn’t really anything new conceptually, and I wanted more from it.