I started this month with 7 April hopefuls to read. Most came from my spring tbr.
I did read 2 of those hopefuls in the first half of the month – one for A Dose of Romance Book Club. Unfortunately neither was my cup of tea.
That tbr is not going well. I hoped to have all the books read in April so I could jump into summer reading season right away in May. The summer mood comes early in these parts!
But I have been seriously called by my mood reader tendency this month. I finally picked up Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark Paranormal romance series on a bit of a whim.
These books have taken over my reading life since! So far every book has been a 4 star or higher and they are impossible to put down!
Here’s what I read in the first half of April.
Mid April Reading Recap:
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Rating: 3 stars
I wanted a cli-fi selection on my spring tbr and this is the one I picked. Climate fiction was also a category on my 2023 reading life bucket list to branch out my reading tastes.
From goodreads:
“Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool—a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime—it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny’s dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?”
My Thoughts
The best part about this book was listening to it on audio and hearing all the different accents that narrator can do. I was a bit intrigued by the mystery of Franny’s background but slowly lost interest because she’s so unlikable even after past tragedy after tragedy is revealed.
The story quickly became dry and confusing. It was inconceivable to me that anyone would be convinced to follow this woman to what’s likely to be their own deaths. The only reason given was that she was just so attractive, each crew member took a turn falling for her.
I was really disappointed by this book. Maybe cli-fi is not for me. The ones I have picked up describe a dystopian future due to climate change but they rarely connect any science to it so it’s just a jumble of shocking random new “facts”. There’s no background or world building to it.
This book describes the icecaps melting, forests disappearing, and all wild animals dying out but doesn’t touch at all on how that has altered society. Those changes would have massive impacts on almost every cycle humans depend on. Some cities would no longer exist. How would we still be growing food without pollinators? Let alone how it would impact temperatures and weather patterns. But none of that is touched on in this book. It’s just business as usual for humans.
I never really understood what the point of this story was besides to make people sad? If that’s the case, I definitely wasn’t in the right mindset for this one. Nor did I find the main character compelling enough to care.
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
Rating: 3 stars
Steam Level: 2
This was my April pick for A Dose of Romance Book Club over on fable.
From goodreads:
“When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.
Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They’re preparing for their lavish wedding that’s three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.
Naomi wants out, but there’s a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.
But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they’re finally being themselves–and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.”
My Thoughts
Going into this one I knew it was a bit of a gamble. But I had recently heard several rave reviews about how the fighting between this couple turned enemies was intense but the last half of the book is so great, it’s worth it.
I did not find that to be the case. This story is only told from Naomi’s point of view and she is absolutely delusional. I think it’s told that way on purpose to keep Nicholas’s true feelings a mystery but she was so awful it became impossible to root for her.
This book was also recommended as a perfect spring break read – hence it’s spot on my spring tbr.
That was absolutely not the case either. The story takes place in the middle of fall and goes into winter. You could read it anytime but there were a lot of pumpkin spice references, fall colors, hot cocoa, holiday events, and magical snowy cabin vibes. Which doesn’t scream spring to me.
There was an occasional one liner that was funny, but the majority of the book you are stuck in Naomi’s head as she hates on Nicholas, plays games, and assumes she knows exactly what he’s thinking or going to say at any moment. Add to that Nicholas struggling to set any sort of boundary with his family and both of them being incapable of even talking to each other about what they want. They were beyond toxic!
There was no reason given for them to suddenly have loving feelings toward one another again. I couldn’t buy into any connection or chemistry between the two by the end. There were a few sweet moments but I couldn’t believe in their HEA.
Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole
I’ve known about this series since listening to the podcast, Fated Mates, with Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop. Their podcast started as a read along with the series where each episode of the first season discusses a different Immortals After Dark (IAD) book.
I haven’t picked up a paranormal romance for a long time. And I’m not really sure why I was finally drawn to check out this series but I’m so glad I did! Although it’s completely taken over my reading life.
This series takes place in a world of Lore that exists next to humans but is kept secret from them. Every mythical creature we’ve ever heard of is actually real and immortal – valkyrie, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, sorceri, and more!
Every 500 years there’s an accession – a war between the immortals to naturally keep their population in check. It’s beginning right now leading to several new pairings of fated mates.
My Thoughts
Most of these books are a level 4 on my personal steam scale. Their spiciness was often the first thing I heard about this series.
Cole is a master at balancing high steam with plot though. I love this epic world that she’s created. There are layered characters, found family, and many fun action packed plots. The stories featuring mystical quests have been my favorite so far.
I never really thought the fated mates trope was for me. It often felt too insta-lovey, but Kresley Cole makes it work so well in this series! There is insta-lust but these couples have to work to build that love! Some in unimaginable ways.
I definitely recommend starting with the novella The Warlord Wants Forever. It’s one of the best novellas I’ve read and a great starting point into this world.
The audiobooks are narrated by Robert Petkoff, who does an amazing production of voices. I have read as many of these as I can as hybrid reads.
In addition to catching up with Fated Mates as I finish a book, I found another podcast to listen to called Romancing the Monsters. In their early episodes they also covered this series with an episode for each book.
It’s been really interesting to hear their opinions on what the monster is as a theme in each book. I also love their fun personal rankings for the heroes and heroines at the end of each episode.
Instead of giving reviews for each book in the series which wouldn’t make much sense unless you’ve started the series, I’ll share my ranking of the books I’ve read so far.
6 star
UPDATE: Upon further reflection and adding a 6th star to my rating system to designate favorites, I upped these two to 6-star reads! They have stuck with me as my favorites of this series.
- Dark Desires After Dusk – favorite, tied for top spot!
- Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night – favorite, tied for top spot!
5 star
- Kiss of a Demon King – might be the steamiest thus far
- The Warlord Wants Forever – a novella, start here!
- No Rest for the Wicked – biggest surprise 5 star because I really didn’t think I’d like these characters
4.5 star
- A Hunger Like No Other – warning for dubious consent
4 star
- Dark Needs at Night’s Edge – controversial but hopefully will stay my least favorite of the series, I got a little bored
Stay Tuned!
I’m currently reading Already Enough: A Path to Self-Acceptance by Lisa Olivera for Pearls of Wisdom, my nonfiction fable book club. It’s been on hold while I caught up on other reading, but I’m ready to do a slow and steady read of it for the rest of April.
I’ll be continuing with my IAD obsession. The next book in the series is Untouchable. It’s published in an anthology with Gena Showalter called Deep Kiss of Winter. It’s been described as a novella but it appears to be a full length novel to me.
What’s on your mid April reading recap?
