Looking Back at the Books I Read in March 2023

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This past month started with a reading slump. I couldn’t concentrate on reading. Every time I tried, I got maybe one chapter in before getting bored or completely unfocused. Not to mention, I spent a lot of time writing and playing video games. With that being said, I did manage to read some books. Though not as many as I usually do. And most of those were read in the second half of March.

So, what did I read this month?

These are all the new books I read, not any that I decided to re-read along the way. If I did a review, I’ll share the link to those. Otherwise, I will do a quick review of the book or series (with the series getting the mini-review at the end of all the books in the list). Mostly, those will just be a quick blurb about what the book/series was about.

1. UnBreaking by L.D. Waters – 3.75 stars ♥
   • An interesting story following the consequences of making wishes without taking into account how it will affect other people. Zurilya wishes for happily ever after with a prince, who it turns out was in love with someone else, and ends up hating her because the two end up becoming immortal. So, when she gets the chance to break the spell by summoning the fae that originally granted the wish, she’ll go to any length to ensure the spell is broken. Which results in her enslaving the fae and breaking promises with those who try to help her along the way. She eventually realizes how selfish she has been her entire life and how her choices result in the suffering of others. Some things could’ve been more flushed out, especially the relationship between Calstar and Zurilya, or the ritual scene as I had no idea what was going on. And then the ending basically wiped away everything that happened throughout the book, though Zurilya keeps her memories so I guess she learned from her mistakes. If there is a sequel, I will read it to see what happens. But it was pretty much wrapped up by the conclusion with a ‘they went off into the sunset’ kind of moment. The author also did all the artwork that’s featured throughout the book, which I thought was cool.
2. Corsairs: Bethiah (Corsairs Brothers, Book 5) by Ruby Dixon – 3.5 stars ♥
   • I originally read this when it was a serial on Ruby Dixon’s website, so the only real ‘new’ thing I read was the epilogue. This book follows Bethiah, Dora, and Jamef as they figure out how to navigate being a triad together. Not only that but they each of to deal with their own issues. Dora is an illegal clone, Jamef’s cyborg parts are breaking down, and Bethiah’s ex Rhonda is causing a mess for anyone that crosses her path. There are plenty of characters we see and are mentioned in the other books in the Corsairs Brothers and Risdaverse series. I especially loved when all the cyborg men were in the same place together, as they are all gruff loners that have soft spots for their mates. It was a good book and I was surprised this was included in Corsairs Brothers rather than Risdaverse. Though Bethiah, Jamef, and Dora were a loose end that came out of that series, so it was nice to see their story.
3. The Fae Princes (Vicious Lost Boys, Book 4) by Nikki St Crow – 3.25 stars ♥
   • See my review for thoughts on this series.
4. Amidst Secrets and Shadows (A Court of Gilt and Shadow) by Stacy Jones and Harper Wylde – 3.75 stars ♥
   • This story picks up where the last one left off with Arawyn, Viper, Fear, Rathe, and Dom going to the Faery. Dom goes from being her would-be assassin to reluctant slave to unofficial mate. And she officially becomes mates with the other three men. However, while steps are taken forward in their relationship, Arawyn is not safe in the Faery. The regent of the Night Court and King of the Light Court both want her dead, each having stolen and killed her parents. So, she has to hide in plain sight to get through being summoned to the Light Court. I’m curious to see how the next installment will play out as tension is high, though it didn’t end on a massive cliffhanger.
5. Lady of Forsyth (Royals of Forsyth University) by Samantha Rue and Angel Lawson – 3.5 stars ♥
   • A short novella told from the perspective of Rath, Tristan, and Killian that tells their side of what happened the night in the laundry room and a little look into their life after Story’s mom was sent to jail but before they left the university. Each of the chapters following the events of the last book in the Lord’s story centers around one of the guys’ kinks or showcases how well Story knows each of the guys. So, we see their relationship in not a toxic light during those chapters.
6. Offside (Rules of the Game, Book 1) by Avery Keelan – 3.25 stars ♥
   • This book was both good and a drag. It could’ve benefitted heavily from editing a bunch of stuff out and tightening up the plot. Many elements were introduced then never brought up or hinted at for pages, then return in the most random way. There were also way too many points of conflict like it couldn’t decide where to focus being Bailey’s ex-boyfriend and his behavior, Chase’s past relationships and things he’s done, Bailey’s roommate drama, Bailey’s financial struggles, Bailey’s job at the school’s newspaper running the sports column, and many more. There was a lot of potential, but I think a lot of the elements fell flat and by the 70% mark I just wanted things to move along. Also, I think it would’ve been great to have more history regarding how Luke treated Bailey before the breakup, as we have next to no information of how it was when they were together since their freshmen year, nor how their break up would cause her to lose all her friends. We only get toxic after math but no hints that it was ever good between anyone.

My Rating System

Check out this post to see how my rating scale works, but the quick version is:

• 5 stars = Masterpiece. Nothing can literally be better than this. Not to mention, a major book slump happens afterward where I am unable to pick up another book for quite some time.
• 4 stars = One of the best books I’ve ever read, I couldn’t put it down and found little fault in it.
• 3 stars = A good book but there were some flaws, from editing to plot to you name it.
• 2 stars = Liked the book, but wouldn’t say it was something that was memorable.
• 1 star = Book wasn’t for me.

I almost never give a 5-star rating. Some books have come close, but something always held me back from giving it to those books. I also use .25 increments with the ratings, so there’s a range in each of those levels.

What is currently unfinished?

I figured I would add this section as these were things I started to read, but haven’t finished yet so I can’t exactly give them a rating quite yet. I am not DNF’ing these books. I will finish them at some point, most likely next month. I just have to get back to them. I got distracted or pulled away from them for one reason or another.

• Bloodmarked (Legendborn, Book 2) by Tracy Deonn
  • I’m at the 55% mark and enjoying it a lot so far. I started it back in December and just haven’t gotten back around to finishing it. I did read more, but the book slump was really getting to me so Bloodmarked was put down again as I couldn’t focus on reading.

What did I re-read?

Normally, I don’t go into books I re-read during these posts as I don’t count them towards my reading goal. But I figured since I’m already doing a post entirely on what I read, I might as well mention them. None of these were full re-reads; rather, I just read a few chapters from them. Or, more precisely, I read the scenes between the two love interests and skipped over the rest. Though, depending on the book, I may read more than that.

• Through Illusions and Deceit (A Court of Gilt and Shadow, Book 2) by Stacy Jones and Harper Wylde
• Empire of Ruin (Dirty Broken Savages, Book 4) by Eva Ashwood

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

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