Welcome to my January wrap-up. Wow, I have not done one of these in a really long time. I was on the fence about doing these for a long time, I’m never sure what you guys want to read, but I think I just need to do the posts that I want to do and hope that works out. I like the idea of being able to look back at what I read throughout a certain month. So I guess these are here to stay for a little while.
If you read my weekly posts a few weeks ago I stated that I wasn’t going to put books that I DNF’d on my weekly posts anymore. So my monthly wrap ups will be the only place you will see them. I put down books for various reasons, and most of the time it’s not because the book was bad, but it just wasn’t for me.
5-Star Reads
Mao, Vol. 9 by Rumiko Takahashi | Mao #9 | Manga, Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
Exorcise your destiny in an era-spanning supernatural adventure from manga legend Rumiko Takahashi!
When Nanoka is transported back in time to a supernatural early 20th century, she gets recruited by aloof exorcist Mao. What thread of fate connects them? Together, they seek answers…and kick some demon butt along the way!
Secrets of Natsuno and Yurako’s past are revealed. Natsuno is compelled by a mysterious force to collect one grotesque item after another. Will she find what she seeks at a performance by a mysterious yokai theater troupe? Then, Yurako recalls how her family, the Goko clan, exploited her powers for profit. Plus, Mao and Nanoka investigate a teenager whose playful curses on her classmates come true…
Lady Mechanika, Volume 7: The Monster of the Ministry of Hell by Joe Benítez | Lady Mechanika #7 | Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Steampunk, Historical | Add to Goodreads
In a Victorian asylum full of grotesque inmates, sadistic guards, and a fanatical doctor, a young lady wakes to find her arms and legs have been replaced with mechanical limbs. But who among this gruesome menagerie is the true Monster of the Ministry of Hell? The origins of the notorious adventuress known as Lady Mechanika!
Maid-sama! (2-in-1 Edition), Vol. 5: Includes Vols. 9&10 by Hiro Fujiwara | Maid Sama! #9 & 10 | Manga, Shojo | Add to Goodreads
A 2-in-1 edition of the romantic-comedy series where a student council president secretly works at a maid café!
As if being student council president of a predominantly male high school isn’t hard enough, Misaki Ayuzawa has a major secret—she works at a maid café after school! How is she supposed to keep her image of being ultrasmart, strong and overachieving intact once school heartthrob Takumi Usui discovers her double life?!
Misaki tries to get reelected as student council president, and it becomes an all-out showdown between her and Soutaro Kanou! She wants to win the spot fair and square without Usui’s help, so she distances herself from him… But in the meantime, is she finally realizing her true feelings for Usui?
Maid-sama! (2-in-1 Edition), Vol. 6: Includes Vols. 11&12 by Hiro Fujiwara | Maid Sama! #11 & 12 | Manga, Shojo | Add to Goodreads
A 2-in-1 edition of the romantic-comedy series where a student council president secretly works at a maid café!
As if being student council president of a predominantly male high school isn’t hard enough, Misaki Ayuzawa has a major secret—she works at a maid café after school! How is she supposed to keep her image of being ultrasmart, strong and overachieving intact once school heartthrob Takumi Usui discovers her double life?!
Misaki and Takumi go on a double date with Sakura and Kuga to the hot springs! However, Misaki is still shaken up after learning about Takumi’s past. So what kinds of challenges await her when she unearths even more information about his family?
Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell | Greatcoats #3 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
How do you kill a Saint?
Falcio, Kest, and Brasti are about to find out, because someone has figured out a way to do it and they’ve started with a friend.
The Dukes were already looking for ways out of their agreement to put Aline on the throne, but with the Saints turning up dead, rumours are spreading that the Gods themselves oppose her ascension. Now churches are looking to protect themselves by bringing back the military orders of religious soldiers, assassins, and (especially) Inquisitors – a move that could turn the country into a theocracy. The only way Falcio can put a stop to it is by finding the murderer. He has only one clue: a terrifying iron mask which makes the Saints vulnerable by driving them mad. But even if he can find the killer, he’ll still have to face him in battle.
And that may be a duel that no swordsman, no matter how skilled, can hope to win.
4-Star Reads
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong | Foul Lady Fortune #1 | Young Adult, Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads
It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.
Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.
Code name: Fortune.
But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.
To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.
Queen & Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo | The Queen’s Red Guard #1 | Fantasy, Romance | Add to Goodreads
How does one conquer a kingdom without spilling blood? You offer your hand in marriage to the king who killed your husband.
Almira was raised by a calculating father who forged her in political cunning. She’s prepared for this moment since childhood. Like pieces on a board, she lays out the players one by one.
One. King Alton, the brother-killer. The spare heir who killed his brother for lust of throne.
Two. The perfect seamstress. The people must admire a queen and welcome her with open arms. Even with a deadly armada behind her.
Three. The Queen’s Red Guard. The group of warrior women who have one purpose; to protect the queen at all costs. Even from her husband. Even from herself.
Queen & Conqueror is the first book in an epic feminist fantasy series told from the perspective of the women who rule and shape the future.
“Men will never be ready for women like us and it is not our job to ready them.”
A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan | (Jansen Brothers #3) | Romance | Add to Goodreads
A playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It
Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco | Silver Under Nightfall #1 | Fantasy, LGBT, Romance | Add to Goodreads
Remy Pendergast is many things: the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy’s father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.
When a terrifying new breed of vampire is sighted outside of the city, Remy prepares to investigate alone. But then he encounters the shockingly warmhearted vampire heiress Xiaodan Song and her infuriatingly arrogant fiancé, vampire lord Zidan Malekh, who may hold the key to defeating the creatures—though he knows associating with them won’t do his reputation any favors. When he’s offered a spot alongside them to find the truth about the mutating virus Rot that’s plaguing the kingdom, Remy faces a choice.
It’s one he’s certain he’ll regret.
But as the three face dangerous hardships during their journey, Remy develops fond and complicated feelings for the couple. He begins to question what he holds true about vampires, as well as the story behind his own family legacy. As the Rot continues to spread across the kingdom, Remy must decide where his loyalties lie: with his father and the kingdom he’s been trained all his life to defend or the vampires who might just be the death of him.
The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper | Wolf Den Trilogy #2 | Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads
The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glittering, yet precarious…
Amara has escaped her life as a slave in the town’s most notorious brothel, but now her existence depends on the affections of her patron: a man she might not know as well as she once thought.
At night she dreams of the wolf den, still haunted by her past. Amara longs for the women she was forced to leave behind and worse, finds herself pursued by the man who once owned her. In order to be free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is.
Amara knows her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.
We return to Pompeii for the second instalment in Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den Trilogy, set in the town’s lupanar and reimagining the lives of women long overlooked.
3-Star Reads
Masked by Moonlight by L.G. Rollins | Steam and Shadow #0.5 | Fantasy, Steampunk | Add to Goodreads
When it comes to defending her family, Adaleigh Dubois backs down from no one.
Not from a competitor caught cheating—
Not from fear while stranded in a barn during a full moon—
Not even from a crazed werewolf—
Because no matter what,
Family takes care of family.
(A novella.)
2-Star Reads
I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights: A Story of Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry | Kagen the Damned #1.5 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is a never-before published adventure that blends swordplay, action, adventure and horror.
Kagen Vale – disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins— discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king.
Did Not Finish
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne | Historical Fiction, Romance, Retelling | Add to Goodreads
For generations, every Frankenstein has found their true love and equal, unlocking lifetimes of blissful wedded adventure. Clever, pretty (and odd) Angelika Frankenstein has run out of suitors and fears she may become the exception to this family rule. When assisting in her brother Victor’s ground-breaking experiment to bring a reassembled man back to life, she realizes that having an agreeable gentleman convalescing in the guest suite might be a chance to let a man get to know the real her. For the first time, Angelika embarks upon a project that is all her own.
When her handsome scientific miracle sits up on the lab table, her hopes for an instant romantic connection are thrown into disarray. Her resurrected beau (named Will for the moment) has total amnesia and is solely focused on uncovering his true identity. Trying to ignore their heart-pounding chemistry, Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past, hoping it will bring them closer. But when a second suitor emerges to aid their quest, Angelika wonders if she was too hasty inventing a solution. Perhaps fate is not something that can be influenced in a laboratory? Or is Will (or whatever his name is!) her dream man, tailored for her in every way? And can he survive what was done to him in the name of science, and love?
Filled with carriages, candlesticks, and corpses, Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is the spooky-season reimagining of the well-known classic that reminds us to never judge a man by his cadaver!
The Cloisters by Katy Hays | Gothic, Mystery | Add to Goodreads
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.
Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers’ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.
A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai | The Alamaxa Duology #1 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
From debut author Hadeer Elsbai comes the first book in an incredibly powerful new duology, set wholly in a new world, but inspired by modern Egyptian history, about two young women–Nehal, a spoiled aristocrat used to getting what she wants and Giorgina, a poor bookshop worker used to having nothing–who find they have far more in common, particularly in their struggle for the rights of women and their ability to fight for it with forbidden elemental magic
As a waterweaver, Nehal can move and shape any water to her will, but she’s limited by her lack of formal education. She desires nothing more than to attend the newly opened Weaving Academy, take complete control of her powers, and pursue a glorious future on the battlefield with the first all-female military regiment. But her family cannot afford to let her go–crushed under her father’s gambling debt, Nehal is forcibly married into a wealthy merchant family. Her new spouse, Nico, is indifferent and distant and in love with another woman, a bookseller named Giorgina.
Giorgina has her own secret, however: she is an earthweaver with dangerously uncontrollable powers. She has no money and no prospects. Her only solace comes from her activities with the Daughters of Izdihar, a radical women’s rights group at the forefront of a movement with a simple goal: to attain recognition for women to have a say in their own lives. They live very different lives and come from very different means, yet Nehal and Giorgina have more in common than they think. The cause–and Nico–brings them into each other’s orbit, drawn in by the group’s enigmatic leader, Malak Mamdouh, and the urge to do what is right.
But their problems may seem small in the broader context of their world, as tensions are rising with a neighboring nation that desires an end to weaving and weavers. As Nehal and Giorgina fight for their rights, the threat of war looms in the background, and the two women find themselves struggling to earn–and keep–a lasting freedom.
Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry | Kagen the Damned #2 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
The Silver Empire is in ruins. War is in the wind. Kagen and his allies are on the run from the Witch-king. Wild magic is running rampant everywhere. Spies and secret cabals plot from the shadows of golden thrones.
Kagen Vale is the most wanted man in the world, with a death sentence on his head and a reward for him—dead or alive—that would tempt a saint.
The Witch-king has new allies who bring a terrible weapon—a cursed disease that drives people into a murderous rage. If the disease is allowed to spread, the whole of the West will tear itself apart.
In order to build an army of resistance fighters and unearth magical weapons of his own, Kagen and his friends have to survive attacks and storms at sea, brave the haunted wastelands of the snowy north, fight their way across the deadly Cathedral Mountains, and rediscover a lost city filled with cannibal warriors, old ghosts, and monsters from other worlds. Along with his reckless adventurer brothers, Kagen races against time to save more than the old empire… if he fails the world will be drenched in a tsunami of bloodshed and horror.
Son of the Poison Rose weaves politics and espionage, sorcery and swordplay, treachery and heroism as the damned outcast Kagen fights against the forces of ultimate darkness.
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman | Skandar #1 | Middle Grade, Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and unicorns as you’ve never seen them before in this fantastical middle grade debut perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson and Eragon series!
Skandar Smith has always yearned to leave the Mainland and escape to the secretive Island, where wild unicorns roam free. He’s spent years studying for his Hatchery exam, the annual test that selects a handful of Mainlander thirteen-year-olds to train to become unicorn riders. But on the day of Skandar’s exam, things go horribly wrong, and his hopes are shattered…until a mysterious figure knocks on his door at midnight, bearing a message: the Island is in peril and Skandar must answer its call.
Skandar is thrust into a world of epic sky battles, dangerous clashes with wild unicorns, and rumors of a shadowy villain amassing a unicorn army. And the closer Skandar grows to his newfound friends and community of riders, the harder it becomes to keep his secrets—especially when he discovers their lives may all be in graver danger than he ever imagined.
How was your reading month? Talk to me below, I would love to hear from you!
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