March Reading Wrap up

What a month!  I ended up reading 20 books this month and had such a fun time!  I had planned on reading 5 physical books and then whatever I ended up reading on my Kindle. I only read 3/5 physical books I planned but then I ended up reading others as a buddy read and because I got sucked into a few series. These are all the physical books I read and some I enjoyed more than the others! 

I planned on reading My Saving Grace *KU* and My Favorite Mistake because I got these in my Romance Reveal Box - a Romance book subscription I am trying out! Both were 3 Star reads for me, but they are both signed copies which I thought was pretty cool! I ended up reading Maybe Someday as a buddy read with a friend and then read the second novella, Maybe Not, in the series as well. Although these have a cheating element in them I did like that there was diversity in the book with someone being deaf and using sign language. These were also three star reads for me as well. 

I also planned on reading Verity and this one was such a disappointment.  For all the hype I was definitely let down by it. I should have stuck to my decision after reading the awfulness that was Layla that I can only read romance by Coho otherwise I'll be disappointed. It was easy to read and was interesting but this book just had too much that was just blah and the plot holes killed me. The more I think about it the more I dislike it and if you are a new parent I highly suggest you do not read this book because of the dark themes surround the death of a child. 

I had bought The Cruel Prince a while back and have been on a major fantasy kick so one book turned into three and I have no regrets. I absolutely loved this series! You have two strong yet morally grey characters that will do whatever they can for those they love. I love a strong female character and that you see continual growth throughout the series.  My only issue was with the last book and the ending because I wanted more and of course every story has to end. This is truly a Young Adult series, there is mention of adult tones but there is no spice and would be appropriate for a teenager to read. 

Continuing with the fantasy trend I bought the Shadow and Bone box set when it was on major sale *IT IS AGAIN! Click here it's only $13.19 for all three instead of $32.97*.  
With the second season of the show coming out I decided to finally read the first book before watching any of the show.  I really enjoyed the story, it is definitely Young Adult but I couldn't stop reading and wanted to know how it would play out.  I plan on finishing the series in the next few months as well.

From Blood and Ash is NOT young adult friendly but I absolutely devoured this book. It was a beast of a book but so worth it. ​Was I able to predict a lot about this book? Absolutely, but it kept me engaged all day long. I loved reading about Poppy and Hawke and the slow burn of their relationship. It was easy to see where the story was going with Hawke but I honestly was excited for the “twist” he would dump on her. It did feel a litttttle long at times and had me questioning about how long it’ll take me to read this series but I’m sure I will finish it. Honestly Poppy is a badass MFC and I’m waiting to see what happens next with that ending. She was raised to think and act a certain way but it has been fun seeing how her thoughts change through the story. I also have already started the second book! 

Digital books I read this month were:
Dark Romance: 

• Haunting Adeline - *KU* DO NOT read this without reading ALL the trigger warnings. This book is intense and you should not start here for your first dark romance. I promise you, it is dark and intense, but it was good.
• Hooked - *KU* A fractured fairytale of Hook. It was no where near as dark so this would be a good starting point if you like villains and morally grey characters. 
• Credence - *KU*  I don't know if this is actually labeled as a dark romance but it is. I had a friend ask me to do this as a buddy read and at some points during I was so confused about what I was reading. This book is twisted with family, sex, and growth. Again be warned about this one, it is not light.

Romance:

• Sideliners: West side story meets football. This was cute and it is young adult friendly. I received this as an ARC and really enjoyed the story. 
• Faking it with the Grump: This was a cute rom com about a small town girl going back to her roots and an uptight "grump" who fall in love. It's what you expect for a fake dating story but I thought that it was written well so that I wanted to continue the story and see what happened. Honestly I expected the ending but it was still cute and you get a HEA! Very little spice
• The No Judgement Zone: *KU* It was such an easy read, I liked the characters and enjoyed reading the story. Our main characters are both serial daters - or lets be real hookup masters, but once they meet each other there is just something about it that brings this to a halt. Had some spice but enjoyed this one, also read as an ARC.
• Secret Puck: *KU* This was an easy read and I love Heath and Ginny. My only complaint was no epilogue because I'm sorry WHAT how TF are you leaving me off with that ending?! Guess I will have to just continue this series...lol

Have you read any of these? Leave a comment with a book rec of your own!