January 2025 Book Roundup
I’m a big consumer of books. I’ve got memberships to Libro.fm and Kobo Plus and love my local library’s Libby offerings. I always buy a couple books when we go to library or church book sales. I sometimes buy books from big box stores. I can talk about books for ages and am even willing to admit to reading mostly romance novels. It’s one of my things.
I log my books over on StoryGraph but tend to only mark reading dates and a star rating there. Each month, I’ll expand on that a bit more while providing some basic information about the books themselves.
(None of the links I share with the book reviews are affiliate links as this site is new so I don't have all of that set up yet. If you do want to sign up for Libro.fm, my referral code is embedded in the link here. They donate part of their profits to local bookstores, aren't part of a company owed by someone evil, have great sales on highly-recommended books, and offer a percentage off credits a few times a year.)
Let’s jump in!
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Rating: 4.25 ⭐️
Genre: Fiction, fantasy/magical realism
How I Read It: Audiobook via Libby (after several months wait)
Quick Summary: A young woman with a dead-end job and a brother to care for decides to find out more about the strange house in her town where no one is ever seen to come or go and it's said that evil things may be happening in its walls.
Mini Review: I enjoyed the mystery of Starling House and what was going on inside. The book is atmospheric without being can't-get-to-sleep creepy. I'm impressed with how Opal manages to keep pretty calm despite the strange things that keep happening around her. This was my second book from this author and I look forward to reading more (like the paperback in my TBR pile..).
Return, Recommend, or Re-Read: Recommend to fans of gothic stories or modern-day fantasy
Buy it here from Bookshop.org
Guides for Dating Vampires by D.N. Bryn
(I read the second and third books in January, having paused after book one to read Starling House when it became available.)
Rating: 4.25 (books 1 and 2) ⭐️ / 4.5 (book 3) ⭐️
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, romance, LGBT+
How I read it: Audiobook via Libro.fm
Quick Summary: Each of the 3 main books in this series follow a M/M pair who fall in love despite one of them being, well, a vampire. Vampires are real and everyone knows they exist; a pharmaceutical giant may be taking advantage of this fact. Well, they most certainly are, but how much?
Mini Review: I enjoyed each book separately and liked that they all revolve around the vampire community and the big pharma company taking advantage of everyone involved. These books are steamy (Hot on your standard salsa scale), but you can pretty easily skip over that to get back to the main story line.
Return, Recommend, or Re-Read: Recommend to folks who maybe want to dip their toes into vampire romance but want to avoid cheesy storylines.
Buy the series here from Libro.fm
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Rating: 4.5
Genre: Fantasy, romance
How I Read It: Audiobook via Libby
Quick Summary: Mika responds to an ad to tutor three adopted young witches who live in a house with the stranger who are raising them. She finds a family she didn't know she wanted and love she didn't think she deserved.
Mini Review: Such a cozy and sweet read! You'll fall in love with the household members who struggle to let Mika into their tight-knit world. I don't even want to share more for fear of over-hyping it.
Return, Recommend, or Re-Read: Very likely a re-read when I want to read a book with a touch of magic that feels like a hug. I thought I saw this was going to be a series which I really, really hope to be true.
Buy it here via Bookshop.org
Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder
Rating: 4 ⭐️
Genre: Romance
How I read it: Audiobook via Kobo
Quick Summary: They were together and now they're not, but they have to pretend to be to make sure the last season of their hit show doesn't fizzle. He's still living off of his big break and not sure what he wants to do next, she's tried other things but comes back to the project that first made her famous.
Mini Review: While I kept reading this to find out exactlty how they get to their Happily Ever After (HEA), I found the book mostly forgettable. I read this about a month ago and, honestly, had to look up what happening in it and who the characters were. It's got some debt so not really a beach-read, more like a read before bed while on vacation type book.
Regret, Recommend, or Re-Read: I guess regret? I rated it 4 stars immediately after I finished reading but I'm not sure that should stand given my now very "meh" feelings about it.
Buy it here from Bookshop.org
Shades of Magic Series by V.E Schwab
Rating: 4.25 ⭐️ (books 1 and 2) / 4.5 ⭐️ (book 3)
Genres: Fantasy, romance (sort of)
How I read them: Audiobooks via Libro.fm
Quick Summary: There is not one London, but four of them - White London, Gray London, Red London, and, before, there was also Black London. The cities have nothing in common except their name, each existing in a different time and with a different understanding of magic. Some can move between the Londons, known as travelers. Kell is one of those and, apparently, so is Delilah Bard.
Mini Review: I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into the first book as it starts off a little slow, but once you get into the meat of it, off it goes. I enjoyed seeing the different Londons and slowly learning more about the cast of characters. There are some tense moments but lots of hilarious ones, too.
Return, Recommend, or Re-Read: Recommend or maybe Re-Read. This was one of those series where I really missed the world and the people in it.
Buy the first book in the series here from Libro.fm
The (Fake) Dating Game
Rating: 4.25 ⭐️
Genres: Romance, LGBT+
How I Read It: Audiobook via Libro.fm (sale, I think?)
Quick Summary: Holden is obsessed with a game show - Supermarket Sweep by another name - since he watched it with his mom as a kid and ropes the cute guy he met at the hotel (Leo) into being his fake boyfriend to get onto the show.
Mini Review: Cute and corny with some game show behind the scenes action. Very good airport book or when you're having a hard week but won't take any brain cells to understand. Medium-hot on the salsa scale.
Regret, Recommend, or Re-Read: Recommend for a light-hearted M/M fan
Buy it here via Libro.fm
Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson
Rating: 4 ⭐️
Genres: Romance, Fantasy
How I Read It: Audiobook via Libro.fm
Quick Summary: When her father dies, Key decides to go back to the small Scottish village her father left before she was born. Thankfully, a local man is there to pick her up when her rental car dies, in the rain. Thing is, he's been taught to hate her family and has a shocking secret (that you can guess from the cover art).
Mini Review: Another light and easy book with a bit of monster romance mixed in. Think Hallmark movie in book form though it'll never be one as they'd need to use special effects. Weird family members and a town that knows everyone included. Medium-hot spiciness though it's pretty brief.
Regret, Recommend, or Re-Read: Don't love, don't hate it so recommend. Perhaps a good introduction to monster romance if you think that may be your thing?
Buy it here from Libro.fm