Monthly Reads: January 2013

Posted February 13, 2013 by Rowena in Features | 22 Comments


Rowena: It’s the first monthly reads recap of the year and I’m super happy with the amount of books that I read in this first month.  I read 20 freaking books which is quite the accomplishment, considering that Holly is the only person I know that has been able to read that many books in a month (plus more) consistently.

I mentioned in the last What Are You Reading post that I think I’ve met my quota because in the month of February, I’ve only read two books.  Yeah, I get that it’s still early days into the month yet but still, I need to get some reading done and I’m just, not reading.

Here’s a look at what I read last month:

  1. Perfect Fit by Carly Phillips (4 out of 5)
  2. Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski (3 out of 5)
  3. Shadow Woman by Linda Howard (3 out of 5)
  4. Nobody but Us by Kristin Halbrook (4 out of 5)
  5. The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare (4.75 out of 5)
  6. Fated by Carly Phillips (3.75 out of 5)
  7. That Weekend by Jennifer McKenzie (3.5 out of 5)
  8. Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton (4 out of 5)
  9. The Risk Taker by Kira Sinclair (2.75 out of 5)
  10. Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman (4 out of 5)
  11. Crazy Thing Called Love by Molly O’Keefe (4 out of 5)
  12. The Wedding by Julie Garwood (re-read) (4.5 out of 5)
  13. How to Get Over Your Ex by Nikki Logan (3.5 out of 5)
  14. Rising Tides by Nora Roberts (re-read) (4.25 out of 5)
  15. Inner Harbor by Nora Roberts (re-read) (3.5 out of 5)
  16. Love Irresistibly by Julie James (5 out of 5)
  17. Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James (4.75 out of 5)
  18. The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch (4 out of 5)
  19. Hysteria by Megan Miranda (3 out of 5)
  20. It Had to be You by Jill Shalvis (4.25 out of 5)
  21. Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) by Sarah Mlynowski (4.5 out of 5)
  22. Second Chance at Forever by Heather Lire (2.5 out of 5)
My favorite read of the month is shared between Love Irresistibly by Julie James and The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare.  Both books filled me up with all of the corny, cheesy romance goodness that I absolutely love and really, both Cade and Harry made me weak in the knee so yeah, I loved the hell out of their books.
My least favorite books are shared between The Risk Taker by Kira Sinclair and Second Chance at Forever by Heather Lire.  Both books didn’t work for me but for different reasons.  In the Risk Taker, I didn’t like the heroine at all and in Second Chance, the story line isn’t my favorite and my enjoyment of the book suffered because of that.

Holly: I cheated a bit with my count in Jan. Instead of counting Julia Quinn’s Second Epilogues as one read, I counted each of them separately. That bumped me up to 18 reads for the month. Not a great number, but not bad, either.

  1. About That Night by Julie James (re-read) 4.75/5
  2. Fall Into Me by Linda Winfree (re-read) 5/5
  3. To Sir Phillip. With Love: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  4. An Offer from a Gentlemen: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  5. It’s In His Kiss: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  6. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  7. When He Was Wicked: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  8. The Viscount Who Loved Me: The Epilogue II 3.5/5
  9. All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey 4/5
  10. In and Out by L.B. Gregg 3.75/5
  11. The Other Side of Us by Sarah Mayberry 3.75/5
  12. A Lot Like Us by Julie James (re-read) 4.25/5
  13. Soul Bound by Tessa Adams 3/5
  14. Love Irresistibly by Julie James 3.5/5
  15. Her Dark Night by Sharon Cullen 3/5
  16. Knight of Runes by Ruth A. Casie 3/5
  17. Shadow Woman by Linda Howard 3.25/5
  18. Archangel’s Storm by Nalini Singh 3.75/5

My favorite reads of the month were my Julie James re-reads. I’d forgotten how much I love Kyle and Jordan until I re-read their books. I also loved re-reading Fall Into Me by Winfree. I adore that book. ADORE. It’s probably one of my favorite books of all time. Maybe. Aside from re-reads, my favorite read of the month was All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey. I’ve been waiting a long time for Katie and Josh’s story. It was a great read.

My least favorite reads of the month were Her Dark Knight by Sharon Cullen and Knight of Runes by Ruth A Casie. Both had a lot of potential, but seemed to fall apart along the way.

This month we’re giving away:

GIVEAWAY ALERT: To enter the giveaway, you have to leave a comment on this blog post and tell us what your favorite and least favorite reads of January were.  All entries must be entered before the end of the month.  Also, please include a valid email with your comment.
Good luck!


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22 responses to “Monthly Reads: January 2013

  1. I read 21 books in January. My favorite of the month was Carly Phillips’s Perfect Fit, which I won from y’all (yay!) My least favorite was The Husband List, by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly. It was too predictable and I guess I just expected more from them.

    If I win, I’d love(in order) Julie’s Love Irresistibly or Shannon’s All He Ever Dreamed. Thank so much.
    mochfly(at)swbell(dot)net

  2. Kim

    My favorite read in January was Shadow Woman by Linda Howard. My least favorite reads (I prefer the term disappointing)were The Lady Most Willing, an anthology by Julia Quinn, Connie Brockway and Eloisa James and The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley.

    I’m glad to see that Julie James’ upcoming book is getting good buzz.

    penfield716(AT)yahoo(Dot)com

  3. my fave read was Racketeer by Grisham and least favorite was Zoo by James Patterson. It was a bit out there for my taste and I’m usually a big fan of his

  4. maered

    Fav reads of January were CL Wilsons fantasy epic. I devoured them in a month! And also Courtney Milan shorts. They were great.

    Least favourite have to be Shadow Woman by Linda Howard. Shes lost the magic.

    I would love to win Julie James or Tessa Dare! Thanks!

  5. I read 15 books in January. I started out strong and then work got in the way 🙁 My fav was a tie between Losing It by Cora Cormack and Trapped by Kevin Hearne. Least was Star Kissed by Cat Scofield a free novella that I picked up from Amazon. Since I already have the Tessa Dare in my TBR pile, I’d love either Love irresistibly or All He Ever Dreamed 🙂 Thanks for the fun update and giveaway!

  6. i read two books in january. the Exceptions by David cristofano and the sweetest thing by jill shalvis.

    love them all.

    i would love to read Love Irresistibly by Julie James .

    uniquas at ymail dot com

  7. My favorite January reads were Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley and Prince of Power by Elizabeth Staab (featuring a virgin hero – those are pretty rare in PNR). I didn’t read anything really bad last month.

    I would love to win Love Irresistibly or All He Ever Dreamed (I read the Tessa Dare book already – loved it).

    Jen(at)delux(dot)com

  8. I re-read the entire month away, so I’m not sure any of them really count, do they?

    Either way, I only re-read what I’ve enjoyed, so that skews the whole thing.

    Hope you start reading again soon, Rowena!

  9. Jane

    My favorite read was Molly O’Keefe’s “Crazy Thing Called Love.” My lease favorite read was Linda Howard and Linda Jones’ “Running Wild.”

    I would love to win a copy of Julie’s “Love Irresistibly.”

    janie1215 AT excite DOT com

  10. My favorite read in January was A Night like this by Julia Quin. I didn’t have a read that I did’t enjoy.
    I would love to read the Tessa Dare book.

    Crystal816[at]hotmail[dot]com

  11. Christy

    My favorite read this month was Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. It was awesome. Read it.

    I didn’t really have a least favorite, but the rest of my reads were just OK.

    I’d love any of the books!

    chkeating(at)yahoo(dot)com

  12. Na

    I read 10 months. My favorite was Reason to Breathe. Beautifully Damaged was a good read too. My least favorite was Barely Breathing (sequel). Nothing really stood out though so hoping for a few amazing reads this month.

    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

  13. My favorite read of January was Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. My least favorite was probably The Dangerous Days Of Daniel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. I did a lot of reading in January because I didn’t get out much in the cold.

    seriousreader at live dot com

  14. bn100

    fav read was devil in winter by Lisa Kleypas
    didn’t have a least fav read

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

  15. My favorie two books for Januaray were Kismet and Fated by Carly Phillips. Now I am looking forward to a couple of books I got from Gemma Halliday. I think my least favorite was Until You by Sadra Marton. The story line was good but it really seemed to drag. Had a hard tie finishng it.

    cfierstein@cox.net

  16. JessiG

    My favorite was Bad Boys of Red Hook, book #1 by Robin Kaye, although I also really enjoyed “Ravishing the Heiress” by Sherry Thomas. Didn’t really love “Making Him Sweat” by Meg Maguire.

    I’ve already read the Dare, would love either of the other books.

    eeyoressej at yahoo dot com

  17. My favorite January read was Stephanie Laurens’ The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae. I love finishing off the Cynster sisters trilogy and solving the mystery of the goblet. My least favorite was Lecia Cornwall’s Secrets of a Proper Countess. I just didn’t like the “hero” of the story. Thanks for the contest!

  18. The best book of January was Taming An Impossible Rogue by Suzanne Enoch. Worst book was Cherri On Top by Susan Donovan. The storyline was absurd and the characters were unlikeable. I didn’t even finish it.

  19. Favourite for January was Good for You by Tammara Webber. This was SO GOOD. Least favourite was Behind Palace Doors by Jules Bennett.

    I’d love a copy of Love Irresistibly. Looking forward to this one! 🙂

    hankts AT internode DOT on DOT net

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