December started out so normal and was so quickly derailed by Heated Rivalry I don’t even know what happened. I lost all sense of direction and personality and now I exist for these beautiful gay hockey players and their romances. Oh, but I also did read some amazing fantasy, don’t worry.
Below is my breakdown as always, which includes my rating, what I liked, and where to read. It’s also possible I earn commissions if you make any purchases from links below, and I thank you earnestly for doing so. It allows me to keep putting together these recaps for you!
Let’s get into this December reading breakdown:
The Unknown Daemon
📚 Book 2 in incomplete Omnis romantic fantasy trilogy
🗓️ Releases on Jan 26
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🔥 Med spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 3.75 (my full review)
My Thoughts: I enjoyed this, but not quite as much as book 1. There’s also a trope in here that is NOT very well liked, but I doooooo sort of think it’ll be done differently? It feels like it’s not what it seems, so I’m def still interested in book 3 myself.
This trilogy has: witches, demons, unique magic system, “they fell in love as teens and were ripped part”, kidnapping
Preorder:
The God and the Gumiho
📚 Book 1 in incomplete Fate’s Threads romantic fantasy series (books 1 & 2 may be a duet though?)
🎧 Dual narrated audiobook
🔥 Low spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.25 (my full review)
My Thoughts: This book was just such a fun time. If you liked K Pop Demon Hunters I fear you will love this. It’s based on Korean folklore, the FMC is legitimately so funny, & I just had such a blast with this. I need to read the 2nd book stat!
This book has: Korean folklore urban fantasy, buddy cop/detective vibes, enemies to lovers, funny and sassy FMC
Where to Read:
Alchemy & Ashes
📚 Book 1 in incomplete Shadowbound Duology
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🔥 Low spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 (my full review)
My Thoughts: This was fun! I thoroughly enjoyed this and think it was a unique story, it felt like a fun break from stuff I had been reading. I’m particularly interested in the politics involved and then some other pieces. I’m excited for book 2!
This book has: shadow mommy, betrayals and scheming, theater box scene, forced proximity
Where to Read:
Quicksilver Kingfisher Bonus POV
📚 Novella??? in the Fae & Alchemy series
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
My Rating: I didn’t review this, this was just a weird separate thing
My Thoughts: This was perfectly fine but it does feel like it exists just to set up story that wasn’t set up properly in Quicksilver, so it’s just a tad odd? But Anthony Palmini puts his whole body into the narration as Kingfisher, it’s genuinely impressive.
Where to Read:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
📚 Standalone fantasy with romantic subplot(s)
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 4.75 (my full review)
My Thoughts: Alix E. Harrow became an auto-buy author; her prose is fucking gorgeous and I will read anything she writes. I didn’t love this as much as The Everlasting, but damn if it isn’t still a beautiful book with a beautiful message and challenging themes. It’s a little slower but it pays off gorgeously.
This book has: multiple worlds/portals, sweeter romances, discrimination and classism
Where to Read:
Game Changers Series
📚 incomplete series of interconnected queer hockey romance standalones (6 books so far)
3️⃣ I read books 1, 2, and 6
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook (note: the accent choice for a character in Game Changer is a little brutal)
🔥 VERY spicy!
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ somewhere between a 3 and 3.5 average for all of them
My Thoughts: These were fun but I am def not a contemporary/sports romance girly, I fear and this wasn’t the series to convert me. I AM however obsessed with the TV show, so I think if you like the TV show and like contemporary romance you’ll probably enjoy this series.
This book has: gay hockey players, awesome female characters, rivals to lovers, forbidden love
Where to Read:
The Second Death of Locke
📚 Book 1 in incomplete The Hand and the Heart series (potentially of interconnected standalones?)
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
🔥 low spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 (my full review)
My Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this but I think I DID go in with just a tad too high of expectations based on what I’d heard. That’s not the book’s fault, but I do think it affected me. It was still a solid 4 star read though, and I REALLLLLLY enjoyed the magic system and the lore of the world. Both super cool and unique!
This book has: lady knight, friends to lovers, really interesting world and politics
Where to Read:
The Song of Achilles
📚 Romantic historical fantasy greek mythology retelling standalone
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
🔥 Low spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars all the stars (my full review)
My Thoughts: This book is everything. It is so beautiful and so masterfully done. I personally can struggle with Greek mythology retellings because for real for real, everyone sucks a lot all the time. Like everything is so brutal and hopeless. But this? This had that brutality but it had these striking moments of brilliance, sweetness, and hope that dug its lovely little claws into my heart. Despite it also being sad? This was just masterful to me.
This book has: Greek mythology retelling of Achilles and Patroclus, queer romance (but this is NOT a romance novel)
Where to Read:
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