Now that February is over (or at least almost over, since it’s February 29!), let’s talk about what I read this month!
While I didn’t read a ton in February, I’m still super excited that I read four books in total! I had a very busy month with a lot of traveling and some new projects at work, so I didn’t get in as much reading time as usual. And when I DID finally get some time to myself to read, it was usually right before bed, and honestly I ended up falling asleep within 15 minutes of opening a book.
To be fair, I’m also not the type of person to read like 10 books a month (because I have a ton of other hobbies I like to do, and often reading gets pushed to the bottom of the hobby list for a bit!), but let’s look at the books I did manage to read, and a little review of each one!
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Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
I literally do not even have the words to describe how much I LOVED Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. This book is a dark romance about two serial killers who get entangled in each other’s lives and play a yearly game to hunt down other serial killers (they basically only kill bad guys!)
And if you do want to read Butcher and Blackbird, PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out the audiobook version. I have never in my life been so enraptured by an audiobook. The book has two narrators, and they are INCREDIBLE. Trust me, you will not be the same after listening to the audiobook! The narrators have amazing chemistry with each other, and unlike other audiobooks, they recorded together in the same room, so many of their lines are overlapping, they interrupt each other, they have cute banter, etc…just download the audiobook RIGHT NOW!
The content warning at the beggining of this book was a little off-putting for me at first, and while this is a DARK romance, it’s not super dark. But please read the content warnings first to make sure there are no triggers because it does get a little gory!
Overall, I LOVED Butcher and Blackbird and I seriously cannot wait until the next book in this trilogy is released (in June!).
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
The Emily Wilde series has quickly become my newest favorite fantasy/academia series. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands was already one of my most anticipated books of 2024, and it did not disappoint!
The second book in the Emily Wilde series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands takes our two protaganists, Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby (who has major Howl Pendragon vibes), into the Austrian Alps to search for a faerie door into Bambleby’s realm. This book manages to be scholarly, adventurous, cozy, and wildly romantic all at the same time.
Emily is my favorite kind of academic protagonist because she is a real academic…as she’s on her adventures she’s constantly thinking of how she can write a paper about her experiences (and as a former professor, this is something I can definitely relate to!). I also love how this book is written as her journal, and includes academic footnotes to other scholars’ works. And the relationship between Emily and Wendell is so cute – it reminds me so much of Sophie and Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle. They bicker like an old married couple, and while Bambleby is clearly and deeply in love with Emily, she’s a little more hesitant towards a relationship with one of the fae.
Overall, if you’re someone who loves the lighter side of academia and faerie fantasy, I’d highly recommend checking out the Emily Wilde series! I devoured book 1 and 2 and now I can’t wait for the next one (honestly I hope this series goes on FOREVER).
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
I’ve just started reading the Saint of Steel Series by T. Kingfisher, and I’m already hooked!
Paladin’s Grace features Stephen, a paladin of a god who has died, and Grace, a perfume maker trying to hide from her past. While this is a fantasy book, I felt like it was a little light on the fantasy and action, and more heavy on the romance. While I LOVED the yearning between the two characters, I felt like nothing much really happened until the last third of the book, and even then it was wrapped up pretty quickly.
I did love that the two main characters were both in their 30s (I can’t be the only one tired of reading fantasy books featuring 19 year old women and 500 year old faeries, right???) and they both had heavy baggage that they needed to come to terms with before they could get together. And the romance was so sweet and lovely, so I can forgive the plot being a little on the light side! And bonus points for plus size heroine representation with Grace, AND Stephen likes to knit socks (as a knitter, I thought this was the sweetest character detail!).
I would highly recommend this book if you’re looking for fun, low-stakes fantasy romance!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Vampires of El Norte is a little outside of my usual genres, but I loved this book SO MUCH. The writing in this book is lush, atmospheric, romantic, and completely beautiful. I was hooked from the very line.
Vampires of El Norte tells the story of Nena, daughter of the ranch owner, and Néstor, a vaquero, in 1840s Mexico. Nena and Néstor are childhood friends torn apart by tragedy, and when they are reunited as adults there is tension in their relationship that never existed before. But they must work together to save the ranch from evils, both human and supernatural.
This book is a sweeping western gothic love story, and you’ll feel instantly transported to the Mexican desert and become deeply invested in Nena and Néstor’s love story. While most reviews of this book do categorize it as western horror, I think that there are much more romance elements than horror. So while I was obsessed with this book, if you read it as a horror fan expecting a lot more supernatural elements, you may be a little disappointed. But if you’re looking for a beautiful, historical romance, then you will LOVE Vampires of El Norte!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
And that’s it! Those are the four books that I read in February 2024, and honestly I would highly recommend each and every one! I do think that out of all of the books though, my favorite was probably Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands because I have been waiting for it since the second I finished the first Emily Wilde book. But overall, you can’t go wrong with any of these!
And if you want to know more about what I’m reading, you can find me on Storygraph! What did you read in February 2024? Feel free to leave a comment below ⬇️