LIFE'S A PEARL

I ended my February reading month heavy on the romance and the audiobooks.

It wound up being a much better end to the month than beginning with 2 5-star reads and several 4.5-star book!

I read a total of 11 books – 5 of my 6 February hopefuls (I haven’t picked up Babel again yet).

I revisited a favorite series, found a new 5-star romance (one of my bucket list authors), and read 3 book club picks last month.

The end of February marks the end of my winter reading. I succeeded in completing my winter tbr list! I’m now diving into my spring tbr.

February Reading Wrap Up:

By the Season and Reading Format

Winter Reads

• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee 🎧📖
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 🎧📖

Book Club Picks

• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker 📖🎧
• Tranquility by Tuesday by Laura Vanderkam 📖 (also a winter read)
• Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan 📖 (also a winter read)

Just Because

• The Story of You by Ian Morgan Cron 🎧📖
• The Path Between Us by Suzanne Stabile 🎧

Reading Life Bucket List

• The Governess Game by Tessa Dare 🎧
• The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare 🎧

Rereading Old Favorites

• The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker 🎧
• Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker 🎧📖

Recaps and Reviews

You can find my reviews for The Age of Miracles (3 stars), The Story of You (4 stars), The Idea of You (3 stars), The Path Between Us (3.5 stars), and Tranquility by Tuesday (4 stars) in my mid February Reading Recap.

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

Rating: 4.5 stars

Steam Level: 3

I read and enjoyed The Duchess Deal nearly two years ago. Tessa Dare was one of the authors on my reading life bucket list to pick up again this year. I can’t believe I waited so long to continue this series!

When Alexandra Mountbatten loses her only form of livelihood, she’s forced to accept a governess position for infamous rake, Chase Reynaud’s, unruly wards.

While Chase doesn’t remember their previous run in, the two quickly find themselves drawn to one another, forming a friendship as well as an attraction as they work together to earn the trust and meet the needs of the two little girls in their care.

My Thoughts

I had a wonderful time diving back into the world of strong friendships Tessa Dare creates with this series. I love the way she plays on typical historical romance tropes and infuses feminism into her world. This isn’t Grandma’s style of historical romance!

Her characters feel real, full, and quite modern. The women have adventures, goals of their own, and know their worth! Hint – it isn’t defined by their dowry.

Chase’s wards, Rosamund and Daisy, made this book! The scenes with them were both funny and tender. I loved watching how Chase and Alexandra fall in love with them as they’re falling for each other! I want to be like Alex with all the imaginative play she came up with to engage them in learning.

Chase was the ultimate version of soon-to-be reformed rake! Alex was so smart. I loved how independent and self sufficient she was with her own dreams. Their chemistry was intense from the very beginning but so was their respect for one another.

I immediately continued the series with the third book.

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

Rating: 5 stars

Steam Level: 3

Gabriel Duke is known as the duke of ruin. He’s a self made man, ruthlessly adding to his own wealth by ruining whatever prominent families he can. When he begins renovating the home next to Lady Penelope Campion in order to sell, the success of that project relies on keeping her with her spotless reputation as a neighbor.

Gabe soon realizes between her collection of abandoned injured animals holding up renovations and their growing attraction to one another, he may be endanger of ruining that reputation himself first.

My Thoughts

I wound up listening to this entire book on Valentine’s Day and what a delight it was – a new 5-star read!

I adored this couple which surprised me because Penny came across as a bit of a naive pushover in the previous books. There’s so much more to her then just her tender heart and quirky collection of rescue animals. Gabe’s background as a self made duke instantly had me rooting for him.

The chemistry was amazing and the meet ups were hilarious! I loved the way the relationship between these two grows and the unconditional support they offer one another. I also loved all the examples of male/female friendships in this growing group of found family.

Now I’m joining all those who have been eagerly awaiting the release of The Bride Bet for years!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Rating: 4 stars

In 1974, the Allbright family moves to Alaska to take over the land left to former Vietnam POW Ernt by a fellow soldier.

13-year-old Leni is tired of moving around and the instability brought into their lives from her parent’s volatile marriage. She hopes that this will be a place where she can finally belong.

Things begin well as they adjust to a simple but hard life and bond with their neighbors. As winter approaches it becomes clear that the family is ill prepared to deal with the cold and dark Alaskan winter. Ernt’s mental state grows increasingly fragile and dangerous to the rest of the family.

My Thoughts

This book was so engrossing! It captured me from the beginning in a way I didn’t expect with the historical timeline. Kristin Hannah has a way of doing that in her writing!

I loved the vivid setting, the colorful townspeople, Leni’s coming of age story, and all the layers of a mother-daughter relationship.

I’m not sure how I feel about the portrayal of abuse throughout this story. The way it’s written may be honest but it was incredibly infuriating for me to read. I felt Cora should have protected Leni better all along and I was sickened by the games she would play to set Ernt off. It made it so I wasn’t able to buy in fully to the turn of events in the story.

Due to that, the last third of the book almost felt like a different story from the first. It was a very abrupt shift and seemed far more heartbreaking than was necessary. It was already a heavy story and it felt a bit manipulative to add on so much tragedy in the last twists – even for Kristin Hannah.

This amazing setting made me miss Alaska and had me craving a reread of The Simple Wild. Something I gave into.

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

Rating: 5 stars

Steam Level: 1.5

The Great Alone had me craving more books set in Alaska so one night when I couldn’t sleep, I started a reread of this one. Man did it hit the spot!

Calla Fletcher is a city girl embracing her busy life in Toronto, having long ago given up having a relationship with her estranged father in Alaska. But when an unexpected phone call informs her of her father’s illness, she’s convinced to go visit the remote town her mother fled 24 years ago. Calla struggles to adjust to an opposite way of life, an aloof and awkward father, and their obnoxious neighbor, Jonah, who helps run her father’s charter plane company.

Jonah makes it clear he doesn’t believe Calla has what it takes to handle their world and can’t wait for her to run back to the city. They constantly butt heads. As Calla learns to navigate a relationship with her father, she discovers an unexpected bond forming with Jonah too.

My Thoughts

I previously shared a review on this book the first time I read it and again for a romance book list.

This remains an absolute favorite and a 5-star book – I’d give it more if I could! It leaves such a bad book hangover though.

I love everything about this story – the setting, the family dynamics, the sense of found family, the enemies to lovers trope, the witty banter, the serious chemistry, and even the pranks they play on one another. It’s the rare full circle story that manages to leave a reader both heart broken and fully satisfied!

After rereading this, I’m driving my husband crazy – We just moved half way across the country and now I’m looking at properties in Alaska once again!

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

Rating: 4.5 stars

Steam Level: 3

This was my February pick for A Dose of Romance Book Club over on fable! It was such a fun and powerful one to read together!

After some devastating losses, Yasmen and Josiah Wade discovered that love wasn’t enough to keep them together in their grief and they divorced.

Now two years later, they’re running a successful business together and coparenting. As each considers moving on with their love lives though, they feel a spark still existing between them.

Are they truly ready to close that door and let go?

My Thoughts

I might have been a little stingy with the star rating for this one because I loved it, but not quite as much as I loved Ryan’s book, The Kingmaker.

Also all the reviews and descriptions I heard from people recommending this book made it sound like it’s a divorced couple who just can’t quit one another – as in, they’ve been hooking up all along. To clarify, that’s not what is going on here. They’re very clearly divorced and had no physical or emotional relationship since. The chemistry is there and the steam eventually comes in but Ryan makes you wait for it!

The consensus was we all loved this book! I fell for both main characters, the family, and the friends. There were such strong later in life female friendships in this book! I think Kennedy Ryan will continue the series with their stories and I cannot wait.

I loved all the positive therapy examples that occur in this book. The characters definitely change and grow and as the reader, you’re 100% rooting for them to find happiness again.

This story is beautifully written with many hard real life moments. It’s heartbreaking, it’s romantic, and I found it incredibly meaningful and impactful.

Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker

Rating: 4.5 stars

Steam Level: 2

I continued my dive back into K.A. Tucker’s world with the second book in the Wild series.

In Wild at Heart, Calla and Jonah begin their new life together in Alaska with the best of intentions. They wind up settling down in an area more rural and isolated than Calla expected. With Jonah gone more than he’s home, Calla’s social connections consist of an overbearing neighbor on one side trying to transform her into something she isn’t and a grumpy old hermit on the other. As the months wear on, Calla finds herself compromising more and more for Jonah’s dreams while struggling to uncover her own.

My Thoughts

I may have enjoyed this book more on the reread than I did the first time around.

Since I knew how it would end up, Calla didn’t really irritate me the same as before.

It was so fun to be back in the town of Trapper’s Crossing. I love all of the new characters that K.A. Tucker introduces and develops in this novel. There is such a sense of community and found family. The Alaskan setting of course is alive and vivid!

I hit a natural break with this series when we had friends come to visit at the end of February. I think I’ll put my rereading experience on hold until the next time a craving hits. These books are amazing but can really make it hard to go onto something else.

I love that we got Marie’s story last year and I’m still holding onto hope that Tucker will continue writing books set in this universe!

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What was your favorite read in February?