Holy cows! How are we already in February 2026?! January was a good month of reading! I had so many of these books on my Libby holds, and all at once they became available. Between traveling, combining reading while working out, and reading before I got out of bed, I was able to read so much.
5 books, and most of them being over 300, like…who even am I?!
In all seriousness, I am proud of myself for making time for reading again. I am on the quest this year to try out 17+ new hobbies and continue the ones I already enjoy, like reading. So far, I have been able to double my hobby time, and part of that time has been spent reading, hence 5 books this month!
Mate by Ali Hazelwood- 3/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I love paranormal romance (yes, I was a Twilight fan… team Jacob), so it being a werewolf-centered book just made my day, quite literally. I read this book in a day and a half. It’s yearning, love, and protectiveness all wrapped in one with a big manly werewolf during the right thing by his mate and pack.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry- 4/5
This was such a cute romance novel!! I loved it! It’s been a minute since I have read a book that has done yearning and friends to lovers well, and this book had me screaming at the characters every five minutes like do you not see what we see? Just get together already, like why does it take y’all over a decade, like I get why, but also like whyyyyyy! It’s definitely worth a read. I loved the short chapters and flashbacks count down on all their summer vacations. It’s a light-hearted, funny read. I laughed out loud so many times through this book, and it’s been a minute since a book has had me talking and laughing out loud. I am so excited to watch the movie on Netflix. I heard it was good!
The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 1) & The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 2) by Carissa Broadbent 3.5/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this series! I have heard a lot of hype around it, and it has over 100,000 reviews, which usually means it went TikTok famous or something. I try to avoid reading books that become overly hyped on social media because they do not always live up to expectations. This series was different. I think the concept of a vampire king raising a human girl and then asking her to join a competition with all the vampires… it made for a fun read! Think Hunger Games, but fantasy style.
Choatic by Shantel Tessier 2.5/5
This book is thickkkkk, I mean over 800 plus pages thick. It’s an erotic romance novel, and I am not sure if it’s me, but I need more than smut in a book to call it a book. It’s fine to have sexy scenes, but the book needs to have a good plot, pacing, and development. The thing with the LORDS series is that if you read one, you kind of have read all of them. I was kind of disappointed in this one. I think the book focused more on Eve than their relationship, and a lot of it was repetitive behaviors and thoughts.