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Hello and happy Wednesday friends! I hope your week is off to a great start and you're able to finish the week with pride. For 2025, I have a goal to read 52 books which is essentially one book a week. So far this year, I have finished a total of 14 books which is very much ahead of schedule. I'm glad I had a good start to the year because once the summer comes around it can become a bit crazy and my total reading slows way down.
Today I'm doing a recap of all the books I completed in the month of February. All of the books I read were either for a book club or for an ARC review which was so much fun.
If you want to get any of these books for yourself, click on the picture or the name of the book below and it will take you to Amazon where you can buy the book for yourself. Heads up: I am an Amazon Associate so if you purchase with my link I could make a small commission.
So without further adieu...here's my February 2025 book review.
Book #1 this month was:
The Champagne Letters by Kate MacIntosh
Reims, France, 1805: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot has just lost her beloved husband but is determined to pursue their dream of creating the premier champagne house in France, now named for her new identity as a widow: Veuve Clicquot. With the Russians poised to invade, competitors fighting for her customers, and the Napoleonic court politics complicating matters she must set herself apart quickly and permanently if she, and her business, are to survive.
In present day Chicago, broken from her divorce, Natalie Taylor runs away to Paris. In a book stall by the Seine, Natalie finds a collection of the Widow Clicquot’s published letters and uses them as inspiration to step out of her comfort zone and create a new, empowered life for herself. But when her Parisian escape takes a shocking and unexpected turn, she’s forced to make a choice. Should she accept her losses and return home, or fight for the future she’s only dreamed about? What would the widow do?
My Review:
Overall, I gave this book four stars. It was a cute read and a good break from all the intense fantasy reads I've been reading as of late. If you enjoyed Julie and Julia then I think you may enjoy this one as well.
Book #2
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1) by Sarah J. Maas
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.
My Review:
With the exception of the book being super long, I really enjoyed the story and gave it five stars. I think what appeals to me the most about the story is the fact that it's set in a world that would be more akin to our current day world, but includes some fantasy elements that we obviously do not have in our world. I'm excited to see what the rest of the series brings.
Book #3
When I Come Back by Alise Monroe
Thirteen years ago, Carrington Grant and Thea Ashford left Indigo Hill, South Carolina with a shared dream of a larger life that only Seattle could offer. Cary hoped to be the next big chef with his childhood sweetheart at his side, leaving his estranged family behind without a second glance.
Now, after a devastating tragedy, they’re brought back together in Indigo Hill. Upon returning, Carrington realizes everything he once knew about his hometown and the woman he never stopped loving has changed.
While grieving the loss of two people important to her, Thea must learn how to work with the man she never fell out of love with. They’re pushed together in a way neither of them could have imagined. Will they rediscover love again and finally mend their broken hearts? Will they be able to forgive each other for their previous mistakes? Or will they stay trapped in the past unable to truly move on?
My Review:
This is one of the ARCs that I was selected to review and I really enjoyed the book. I am just now getting more into romance and Alise Monroe did a good job writing a story that was not only believable but wonderful to read. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this series bring. This one got a solid four stars from me.
Book #4
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
My Review:
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
My Review:
I am definitely late to the Fourth Wing game but man do I love this series. This one got a solid 5 stars from me. I love the development of the characters and the dragons and Rebecca Yarros always keeps you on your toes.
Book #5
Beautiful Ugly by Alice FeeneyAuthor Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.
My Review:
I read this book in less than 24 hours. I started reading it right before I went to bed and finished it on my lunch break the next day. The story kept me intrigued the entire time and left me feeling uncomfortable. I should note that while I loved this book and gave it 5 stars, a lot of people have been disliking the read and giving it much lower ratings so keep that in mind if you decide to pick up the book.
All Killian Barclay wants is to be left the hell alone. He's had enough heartache to last a lifetime, and he has no more need for love—earning him the reputation of a broody Scot and eventually turning his famous ancestral home into a den of iniquity. It doesn't take long for tales of his raunchy house parties to reach the rest of his family, though, inspiring them to hatch a plan to shake Killian out of his routine.
New Yorker Sylvie Devereaux is tough as nails—as the daughter of famous yet neglectful parents, she's grown a hard shell and keeps everyone at arm's length. So when she sneaks into Barclay Manor during a trip to Scotland to get a glimpse of a famous heirloom, she doesn't anticipate facing off against the brutish, maddening highlander who lives there. And she certainly didn't expect to ever see the bastard again.
Yet just weeks later, she's approached by Killian's family with a proposal—move to Scotland and marry Killian to improve his playboy reputation, and after one year, she'll walk away with ten million dollars. Sylvie agrees, even knowing that their plan is more deceptive than he realizes. But as she grows closer to Killian and the end of their year together, she has to decide: Is the love of a good man with a dark soul worth keeping, or is she willing to break Killian's heart now that it's well and truly hers?
My Review:
I read this book for a dark romance book club and I'll be honest, I would not categorize it as a dark romance. There are reference to some potentially dark activities, but they don't go into detail. That being said, I gave the book a four star rating because like the previous book I read it in less than 24 hours. It kept me entertained and left me wanting more.
When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.
Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.
My Review:
Honestly, I did not enjoy this book. I think for me it was just the fact that the genre was not my typical read and not my type of story. It definitely deals with the judicial system and how broken it is in the US and while some elements were interesting the story just was not for me. All that being said, I still gave the book a four star rating because the writing was well done and I can understand the importance of the story.
Well that's all for today's book review! I hope you found a new book to add to your reading list for the future.
If you want to stay current on all of the books I’m reading in 2024, THIS PAGE HERE is where I keep the books, authors and reviews each month.
Okay what should I read next? I'm always on the hunt for book recommendations and am fairly open to all stories.
Have a wonderful day,
Jackie
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