Some months, I read with a plan. This was not one of those stretches. I followed my mood straight into a run of romantasy that left me a little wrecked and very happy about it, then came up for air with something completely different. Here's what actually kept me up too late this quarter, spoiler-free, so you can add any of them to your own stack without me ruining a thing.
The One I Reread Just to Survive the Sequel: The Moonfall Series, Sarah A. Parker
I went back and reread When the Moon Hatched before the sequel came out, partly to refresh the world (dragons that curl into moons when they die is still one of my favorite pieces of fantasy world-building) and partly because I wasn't emotionally ready and wanted to stall. Raeve and Kaan live in my head rent-free. Kaan calling her "moonbeam," his whole patient, devoted, green-flag heart. I don't know how a book carrying this much grief can also feel this tender, but Parker pulls it off.
Then The Ballad of Falling Dragons landed, and it buried me. It's my favorite of the series so far, and apparently, I'm not the only one who felt that way, because it went straight to number one. If you slept on When the Moon Hatched, now is the time. Book one is waiting, book two is out, and the fall is worth it.
The Slow Burn I Keep Thinking About: Gods & Monsters, Amber V. Nicole
I read The Book of Azrael and The Throne of Broken Gods back-to-back and did not come up for air. Dianna is the whole reason. She's fierce and funny, and a lot more morally tangled than the "villain" framing lets on. Under it all is her love for her sister, and that's what gives the story its heart. The enemies-to-lovers slow burn with the World Ender is the kind that actually earns its payoff, no shortcuts taken.
I've hit pause at book two on purpose. I'm waiting for the special editions to catch up before I keep going, because I want the pretty shelf copies for a series I already know I'll hold onto. There are more books out and a new one coming later this year, so I have plenty of Dianna ahead of me. No complaints.
What's On the Nightstand Right Now: Off Campus, Elle Kennedy
After all those gods and dragons, I wanted something that would just make me happy, so I picked up The Deal. I did not stop at one. I went straight through The Deal and The Mistake and moved right on to The Score, which is where I am now. So much for pacing myself.
If the premise feels familiar, it's because The Deal is the book behind Off Campus, the Prime Video show everyone has been watching this spring. I watched first, so I already had the faces. The book gave me everything underneath them. I came for the hockey and stayed because I saw a little too much of myself in Hannah, a woman who leads with her work and keeps everyone at arm's length. Garrett turned out to be the rare cocky captain whose arrogance made me laugh instead of groan. I laughed, I cried, and I think I loved it more than the show, which I honestly didn't expect. New favorite hockey captain, and a bit of a personality shift.
The Mistake didn't level me the way The Deal did, but it charmed me into a happy four stars. Logan's voice is so funny, the friendship at the heart of it was the surprise I didn't know I wanted, and then the last stretch snuck up and got me right in the feelings. Some books wreck you, and some just make you grin the whole way through. This one made me grin.
Here's the part that feels almost too well timed: the Collector's Editions of the last two books, The Goal and The Legacy, landed yesterday. I pre-ordered both, so they're already on my shelf as you're reading this, because apparently I've fully committed to the pretty-shelf-copies lifestyle for this series.
The Score is also the current Lunaria Society pick. If the show left you not ready to leave Briar University, this is the easiest on-ramp there is. Come read along.
A Few More That Earned Their Spot
I don't have room to gush about everything, but these stayed with me this quarter: To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast (a brutal dystopian debut with Hunger-Games-in-a-prison energy), The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (my contemporary breather between all the fantasy, and a good one), and Shield of Sparrows and Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry (yes, I reread one of them, no regrets).
That's the nightstand for now. Tell me what's on yours. I'm always building the next stack.
