Starting the New Year off by getting back into consistent reading. December was a complete wash. I started a book at the beginning of the month and then didn’t pick it up again until Christmas Eve (and only because we had a flight to Lisbon!). I picked back up on the Court of Thorns and Roses this month and am determined to finish the series. The books are really good, but they are LONG. But don’t let that stop you from reading the series.

What did you read this month? Let me know in the comments. And be sure to check out all my past reads in my new Bookshelf page.

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The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

I had been seeing this book around for a while and am so glad I picked it up. Set in London during WWII, Hazel and Flora are evacuated from the city to escape the air raids and stay with a mother and her son while their mom stays in London to work. Then the unthinkable happens - Flora disappears while they are on the banks of the River Thames, never to be found. Flash forward 20 years and we catch up with Hazel as she seems to be getting her life on track. She’s engaged and about to start her dream job at Sotheby’s. Then, she unwraps a package that contains an illustrated book that is the exact same story Hazel used to tell Flora when she was a child. The story is one Hazel made up and no one but Flora knew it. Was Flora alive all these years? Where was she? Why didn’t she look for them? Hazel begins her quest to uncover these questions and get to the truth. I loved this book. It was full of mystery and hope, and had my guessing the outcome until the end.

Mother - Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

I enjoyed this whodunit about three generations of Rubicon women who uncover a web of lies in their small town. Lana Rubicon is a high powered real estate tycoon who finds hereself convalescing at her daughter Beth’s home, hours north of LA, after being diagnosed with cancer. Beth is a nurse who left LA at 18 when she got pregnant, with her now teenage daughter Jack, and has barely spoken to her mother since then. WIth Lana’s recovery, they are thrown together in Beth’s tiny cottage. Things get interesting when Jack finds a dead body while kayaking, and becomes the prime suspect. What ensues is a race to uncover the real murderer. The Rubicon women find themselves in more danger as lies are uncovered and shady business deals are exposed. This was an entertaining mystery with a side of family drama. Who doesn’t like that? The relationships between these women are complicated at best, but they band together to solve the mystery and learn about each other along the way.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

It only took me 9 months to FINALLY get back to this series. While I had to go back and review what happened in the first book, the second book was even better. Feyre has survived “Under the Mountain” and she has now become High Fae. She’s struggling to reconcile her time Under the Mountain and is having terrifying nightmares. In addition to the nightmares, she’s slowing uncovering the powers she was gifted by each of the High Lords (unbeknownst to them) when she was brought back to life. She’s trying to move on with her life. Plan her marriage to Tamlin. Fulfill her bargain with Rhysand. Navigate the politics and power she is uncovering. This book was really a coming of age for Feyre. She’s uncovering who she is, what she wants, and slowly realizing she may be the key to stopping the Evil that is coming. Suspense, action, intrigue, characters you grow to love. This is truly a delightful series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

War is looming and Feyre is bound to stop it. The wall is at risk of coming down between the Fae world and humans. An unthinkable power is alive and threatening to take over the world. Feyre has taken her place as a High Fae and is on a mission to unite the High Lords to battle. While I loved the second book, this one felt a little long. I still enjoyed it, but it could have been much shorter. The first half is slow. It is a lot of character development, Nesta and Elain are reintroduced, there is a lot of “who are our allies”, “who can we trust”. The last half of the book was intense and made up for the slow start. I think Book 2 is my favorite in the series so far. I’m starting the fourth book and will let you know about that next month.