recommendations

My Go-To Romance Reads

Welcome to part 2 in this series getting us into the romantic mood.

Itโ€™s almost Valentineโ€™s Day, and whether you have someone to celebrate with or not (or even still), itโ€™s a great time to just bury ourselves in a cute, romantic book. I mean, my boyfriend already knows this.

While Iโ€™m always excited and open to read new romantic contemporaries or fantasies/thrillers that have strong romantic elements in them, there are definitely comfort romances I gravitate towards when I just wanna curl up with a cozy blanket and a hot drink on a cold February night.

If that sounds like something youโ€™re looking for, I wanted to share some of my go-to romances with you. Maybe youโ€™ll find a great read out of the list. Or even better, maybe we can swap favorite romances in the comments below!

This is my list. I hope you enjoy!

Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turnerโ€™s summer isnโ€™t going the way sheโ€™d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasnโ€™t been able to manage her motherโ€™s growing issues with anxiety. And now sheโ€™s been rejected from an art show because her work โ€œhas no heart.โ€ So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isnโ€™t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a strangerโ€™s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, sheโ€™ll become the kind of artist sheโ€™s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isnโ€™t as straightforward as it seems . . . and that maybeโ€”just maybeโ€”she canโ€™t change her art if she isnโ€™t first willing to change herself.


This is my favorite trope, best friends to lovers, with the angst of unrequited love. I also love the exploration of Abbyโ€™s identity in her art, but her growth throughout Cooperโ€™s process of finding out she liked him tested her and made her and their relationship even stronger. Altogether a really cute and solid read.

Continue reading “My Go-To Romance Reads”
anticipations, discussion

2022 Five Star Predictions

I have never tried this before because I can barely predict what books I read each year. But Iโ€™ve been seeing a number of these posts pop up over the last month and I thought Iโ€™d see how accurate (or not) Iโ€™d be predicting books Iโ€™ll enjoy this year (if I even read them).

Iโ€™ll post something in December then to look back on these predictions. Until then, here are the ones I feel Iโ€™ll really enjoy!

Book of Night by Holly Black

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus

In Charlie Hallโ€™s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferencesโ€”but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someoneโ€™s feelingsโ€”and memoriesโ€”but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hiddenโ€”a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlieโ€™s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclearโ€”and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sisterโ€”all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isnโ€™t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.


Iโ€™ve been getting into dark academia lately. I absolutely adored A Deadly Education and Ninth House. I have no idea if this will be absolutely amazing but the synopsis has me super excited.

Continue reading “2022 Five Star Predictions”
anticipations

Anticipated Books Coming February 2022

Happy February everyone! As we all wait for the winter to wrap up, let us cozy by the warmth and continue to read books! Once again, we at DTRH have prepared a list of anticipated reads for the next month. This time, Andge and I have a very similar list and there are so many books that we are looking forward to getting our hands on. As usual, I have linked the goodreads pages for your convenience!

Feb 1

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi
Castle in their Bones by Laura Sebastian
These Deadly Games by Diana Urban
The Iron Sword (The Iron Fey #2) by Julie Kagawa

Feb 15

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe
House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2) by Sarah J. Maas
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Feb 22

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Only a Monster by Vanessa Lens
League of Liars by Astrid Scholte


And that’s a wrap! Are there any that we missed that you’re really looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below if you’d like short descriptions of each novel in addition to their goodreads link!