Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous April and are safe and well. I read some really great books recently and overall had a pretty good reading month! In other important news: I graduated from nursing school with my BSN! 🎉 I’m really proud of myself for graduating with honors and finishing the semester on the President’s List. The program I was in is an accelerated program, so I basically did three years of nursing school in only 16 months and it was not easy 😩 Now that school is finished, I’m just focusing on getting ready to take the NCLEX and enjoying the time I have off to read!

THE VANISHING DEEP: I was really excited about this but sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. My biggest issue was that I thoroughly disliked the main character, Tempe. She was incredibly selfish and achieves no character growth by the end of the book. The worldbuilding was amazing and I loved the concept of this novel but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for me to get over her personality and the terrible ending given to Lor, the other protagonist.  ★★

DON’T CALL THE WOLF: I was enchanted from the first chapter and very easily fell in love with this story and the characters. The prose was absolutely beautiful and fit perfectly for a fairytale retelling. From stunning descriptions to the dark, atmospheric vibes her writing portrays, it’s easy to become lost in this magical story.  ARC received through #booksfortrade on Twitter.  ★★★★★  [review]

YOU DESERVE EACH OTHER: This is a a story about second-chance romance and features maybe my newest favorite trope: lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers. My absolute favorite thing about the book was the gradual change between Naomi and Nicholas as they slowly become friends again and reconnect on a deeper, more emotional level. Sarah Hogle blew me away with this story and had me swooning over their rekindled love.  ★★★★★  [review]

FROM BLOOD AND ASH: This book literally came out of nowhere. One day, I popped onto Goodreads and boom–there it was, all over my feed. JLA’s newest series is paranormal meets high fantasy and she does a great job with it. The first two-thirds of the book is extremely slow-going without much action, but the end definitely picks up and is worth sticking around for! I’m very excited to see where the sequel takes us.  ★★★★  [review]

THE DECK OF OMENS: It was so incredibly easy to fall back into this world. I was much more invested in and connected to these characters in the sequel and it honestly made such a difference when reading. I do wish the plot hadn’t felt so rushed and chaotic. All in all, the superb character development, subtle romance, and atmospheric writing make this an excellent sequel!  ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.  ★★★½  [review]

THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST: This was an amazing follow-up novel to the author’s debut, The Friend Zone! I love the complexity Jimenez brings to her books: they’re wholesome and heartwarming, but at the same time emotional and delve into hard topics, like loss and grief. This is a beautiful, poignant novel about grief, friendship, and finding love again.  ★★★★★  [review]

FIRST COMES SCANDAL: This may be my favorite Julia Quinn book since The Viscount Who Loved Me, and trust me I do not say that lightly. As far as the plot, I’ll be honest and admit there’s really not much going on in this one. However, the amazing chemistry and the relationship that forms between Georgie and Nicholas more than makes up for it. Do I love Nicholas more than Anthony? That’s a secret I’ll never tell…xoxo  ★★★★

TIME OF OUR LIVES: Had I known before picking this up that the main character, Juniper, begins the book in a relationship I probably wouldn’t have read it. Because not only does she have a boyfriend for literally half this book, but I’m somehow supposed to be convinced she falls in love with (or at the very least has strong feelings for) another guy during the remain 50% of the story with someone she met one day ago? Thank you, next.  DNF @ 50%  [review]

OTHER

WWW Wednesday #28 | Let’s Talk Bookish: Owning Books + Bookish Merch | WWW Wednesday #27