Tag: mafia romance

January Wrap-up

January 2021, which felt an awful lot like December 2020 part two, is finally over, and it’s time to look at what I was actually able to read throughout the month. I had a very ambitious 24 titles in my January TBR and I didn’t read 24 books in January; I watched more television than I usually do. So out of those 24 books I read 12 and then 5 books that were not on the list. That makes a total of 17 books read for the month. Not bad. So what exactly did I read?

I completed the Morelli Family series by Sam Mariano:
Resisting Mateo book 5
Coming Home book 6
Last Words book 7
Entrapment book 8
Old Flame book 9
I enjoyed the series as a whole; there were some books that were way better than others but as a whole it was extremely entertaining. I’ll be posting a full review of the series in the next couple of weeks.

I also caught up to Giana Darling’s The Fallen Series:
Good Gone Bad book 3
After the Fall book 4
Inked in Lies book 5
Dead Man Walking book 6
So far this series is keeping my interest; there were some character decisions that pissed me off but overall it was a solid series and entertaining read.

From my initial January TBR I also read Land of Big Numbers a collection of short stories about the Chinese experience written by Te-Ping Chen; Roommate the new Sarina Bowen M/M romance which as expected was luke-warm, I’m in the middle of trying to organize my thoughts for a full review of this title; and Bad Habits by Neve Wilder and Onley James another M/M romance which was my favorite read of the month more because of the premise of the book rather than the romance.

Aside from those books on my initial TBR I also read five additional titles:

Bully King by Andi Jaxon part of Kindle Unlimited (KU) a M/M bully romance which veered way too much into religion and guilt associated with being gay and religious for my tastes.
Behind Closed Doors (KU) by Anna Stone a lesbian romance novel which started off strong but then lost steam and kinda fell apart toward the end.
Wicked Saint (KU) by Veronica Eden which wasn’t anything special and could be confused for any number of the hundred of bully straight romances that seem to multiply overnight. This is the first book of the Sinners and Saints series and I was so unimpressed that I’m not gonna be reading the rest.
A Notorious Vow (KU) by Joanna Shupe a historical romance novel set in New York with a deaf hero. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Ms. Shupe.
Stripped Love (KU) by Baylin Crow an M/M romance between a stripper and a college student. I prefer Baylin Crow’s sports romances. This was just an okay book. This is book one of Guys Next Door series I haven’t decided whether or not all read more from this series; I’m gonna take it on an individual basis.

I did DNF two books in January which were Not my Romeo by Ilsa Madden-Mills, I didn’t like either main character I stopped reading about halfway through when neither character became likeable to me, and The Chase by Elle Kennedy. I’m not sure if I should even call this a DNF since I only read one chapter and wanted to stab my eyes at how annoying I found the main female lead’s voice in my head.

2021 Reading Goals and January TBR

Now that 2020, the year that sucked donkey balls, is finally, officially over we can all look forward to a better, healthier, and less orange turdy 2021.  My reading goal for 2021 is to read at least one hundred books.  I’m pretty sure that’s very possible; I had read almost sixty before I stopped giving a good fuck about anything last year in June.  So, 100 in 2021 is more than doable.  I also want to venture more out of my comfort genre of romance.  This year I want to read more horror, thriller, fantasy and sci-fi, as well as a non-fiction book or two.  I’ve read the preface of Obama’s Promised Land and now I can say that at least I’m trying.  I’m going to try, TRY to actually complete a couple of challenges this year.  The three I’m looking to complete are 2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge, The 52 Book Club Challenge, and Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.

This month I have twenty-four books in my TBR and I’m rather hopeful that I will get to all of them.  I want to either finish or catch up to the series I had started last year and for one reason or another I have stopped.  I am the absolute worst when it comes to actually sticking to a TBR since I tend to read whatever catches my fancy at that moment, but looking at the books on my list I’m pretty sure I can stick to it, mostly.

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen – “Gripping and compassionate, Land of Big Numbers traces the journeys of the diverse and legion Chinese people, their history, their government, and how all of that has tumbled—messily, violently, but still beautifully—into the present.” I was lucky enough to get an E-ARC from NetGalley for this one.  It’s set to be released on February 2.

Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans is a book of poems dealing with race, feminism, and queer identity.  Poetry is my first love and I am really looking forward to this volume.  I was lucky enough to get an E-ARC from NetGalley.  It is set to be released on March 9.

Roommate by Sarina Bowen is an M/M romance about second chances and a room to rent.  This is set to be released on January 12; I already have it on pre-order.

I want to catch up on the Giana Darling Fallen MC Series; I had read the first two books early in 2020 and then never got around to book 3 since then there have been two more books released.  Good thing that all of these books are part of Kindle Unlimited.

Good Gone Bad romance between the daughter of the MC president and a police officer.  Harleigh Rose was one of my favorite background characters of the first two books so I’m looking forward to her finding happiness with her cop. 

After the Fall this is a continuation of the couple from book 1, King and Cress, the student and the teacher.  I really loved them as a couple so I can’t wait to read more of their story.

Inked in Lies and Dead Man Walking I have not even read the blurbs on these two books.  All I know is that Inked in Lies is Nova’s story and Dead Man Walking is about Priest; both characters are introduced in prior books and are members of the Fallen MC.

Another series I stopped reading was the Green Creek Series by TJ Klune, I was waiting for the series to be completed before I continued with it.  I read the first two books in the series back to back and loved them.  I can’t wait to get back to Green Creek.

Heartsong and Brothersong the first is the story of Kelly and is mate Robbie while the Brothersong is about Carter and his mate Gavin

Not My Romeo by Ilsa Madden-Mills which is a sports romance and a straight one at that I’m not sure why this is on my TBR but it’s on my Kindle and I remember wanting to read it.  It is available through Kindle Unlimited(KU).

Bad Habits (Wages of Sin Book 1) by Neve Wilder and Onley James is an M/M romance about a hacker and a contract killer. Available in KU.

The Chase (Briar U Book 1) by Elle Kennedy is a romance about opposites attract set in the fictional Briar University.  I like Elle Kennedy’s writing and when this popped up as free in Kindle I had to pick it up. And it would totally fulfill one of the prompts for the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Set in a school.

I started reading Sam Mariano’s Morelli Family Series about 5 days ago and in that time I have read the first 4 books.  I’m going to continue the series and hope to finish it before the end of the month.  Be forewarned this series is a dark romance, bad things happen.  The main characters do bad things; no character in these books can be called heroes.  This series is rife with trigger warnings so be forewarned.  They are all found in Kindle Unlimited.  The books I still need to read are: 

Resisting Mateo Book 5 – There’s no blurb for this one but it must be read after the first four in order for it to make sense.

Coming Home Book 6 – Again no blurb, and not a stand alone.

Last Words Book 7 – Technically the last book of the series.  One could stop here and have read the complete series.

Entrapment Book 8 – A retelling of Book 1 but from the POV of the male lead. Also, includes deleted scenes from the other books.

Old Flame Book 9 – This is the book about Dante Morelli, the underboss of the Morelli criminal family.

After an almost five month hiatus from Cora Reilly’s Born in Blood Mafia chronicles, I’m ready to go back and finish the series.  I had previously read the first three books. These are all found in Kindle Unlimited.

Bound by Temptation – Liliana and Romero’s story.  I started reading this one when I finished book three but for some reason I only got a few pages in before I put it down and then forgot about it.  I’m hoping this time around I’ll be able to finish.

Bound by Vengeance this is about a character named Growl, I have no clue. He wasn’t part of the first three books.

Bound by Love – goes back to the couple in book 1 Aria and Luca.

Bound by the Past – couple from book 2 Valentina and Dante.

Bound by Blood is an anthology revisiting all the previous couples.

If time permits I also plan to read:

Risk Taker (Mixed Messages Book 3) by Lily Morton is an M/M romance. Best friends to lovers trope which I love almost as much as enemies to lover.

And because I’m a sucker for mass media and got totally sucked into Netflix’s Bridgerton series I plan to re-read Julia Quinn’s books that the series is based on starting with The Duke and I.

What are your reading goals for 2021?  Do you make a TBR and stick to it or make one and forget about it until the end of the month?