This month of February, I jumped head first into the romance genre and it was so much fun! This is not a genre of books that I have ever intentionally spent a lot of time reading, so to make that my primary focus for the month of February was a mental shift. But I participated in a couple of February reading bingo’s and read-a-thon’s on Instagram which helped me in knowing what authors and titles to try! It was a refreshing break from my normal thriller and fantasy reads, and now I have a couple of new favorite authors that I plan to follow for future releases.

Here’s a quick recap of what I read in February.

February 2024: Reads, Ratings & Reactions

five stars

Caught Up (Windy City #3), Liz Tomforde
Mile High (Windy City #1), Liz Tomforde
Night Shift, Annie Crown
The Cheat Sheet, Sarah Adams
The Right Move (Windy City #2), Liz Tomforde

three stars

Bride, Ali Hazelwood
He’s Not My Type (Vancouver Agitators #4), Meghan Quinn
Line of Scrimmage (Out of Bounds #1), Erin MacKenzie
Never Meant to Stay, Trisha Das
When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall #1), Sarah A. Parker
XOXO, Axie Oh

two stars

Forbidden Bond, Ashlie Silas
Meet Me in the Penalty Box (Orchid City #1) , Cali Melle

overall favorite & runner-up

My favorite read of February was The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams. This was a recommendation that came from one of the romance read-a-thon’s I did - the organizers set up an Instagram group chat for us and one of the first things I did was ask people for recommendations! The Cheat Sheet was recommended so many times I knew I couldn’t leave it off my list for the month, and I’m so glad I didn’t. It’s what is considered a “closed-door” book, which means the majority of romantic encounters happen off the page. But reading this book I never felt like that part of the story was missing - and to be honest it was a bit refreshing to not have rather descriptive scenes included after some of the “romantasy” that I read last year! Here’s the description of The Cheat Sheet in case you’re interested:

“The friend zone is not the end zone for Bree Camden, who is helplessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. The only problem is that she can’t admit her true feelings, because he clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their relationship. But those abs . . .

Nope! Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for Bree. IN any case, she has other things to worry about. After a car accident ended her chance at becoming a professional ballerina, Bree changed paths and now owns her own dance studio, with big dreams to expand it. But one more rent increase could mean the end of the studio entirely.

Then, as usual, Nathan comes to the rescue and buys the entire building. A stubborn Bree is not happy about and decides to rebel with a couple — okay, maybe more than a couple — of tequila shots. Then her plan backfires as she spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter. One viral video later, the world thinks Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple. Before they can really talk about her confession, Nathan’s publicist proposes a big opportunity that could mean financial security for Bree. The catch? They have to pretend to be in love. For three whole weeks.

What will happen when Bree gives in to the feelings she’s been desperately hiding for so long, and could she be imagining that Nathan is actually enjoying it? Sarah Adams scores more than touchdowns in this exciting romantic comedy.”

My runner-up favorite for February is the Windy City series by Liz Tomforde. There are three books currently released and the fourth is to be released later this year. It’s a sports romance series with each book featuring a different athlete. The first book is about a hockey player, the second about a basketball player, and the third about a baseball player. All three of them had my emotions riding a roller coaster! As a new romance reader, they were a great entry point into the genre for me, and I definitely plan to read more by Liz Tomforde in the future.

Total book count so far: 36/150