On the Shelf: February 2022

February saw me traveling all over the place via my reading list! I definitely felt the chill of winter on Christopher Golden's Road of Bones, a gripping and terrifying adventure that will leave you unsettled long after you've finished. A journey to Sabaa Tahir's Ember in the Ashes quartet was a helluva ride in its own way. I had A Sky Beyond the Storm on hold for a year and then had to re-request it to finally get my hands on it. And then it was a nonstop nail-biting angstfest with characters we've watched grow since the first book. Also, I think this last one had a higher body count than the entire Hunger Games series. (I might be exaggerating, but that's how it felt!) Sabaa Tahir puts her readers through the wringer just as thoroughly as Elias, Laia, and Helene—and I wish we could see all of it play out onscreen in an epic, big-budget, multi-season streaming series.  

Another author who is relentless in the best way and also needs a TV show? Shelly Ellis. Truth, Lies, and Mr. Grey, out at the end of this month, picks up where The Three Mrs. Greys left off and goes full-tilt until its ominous close. And all the characters exist in shades of grey. Nothing is black and white in Ellis's steamy, scandalous, world—and her books are all the more delicious for it!   

The Reading Rundown:
Truth, Lies, and Mr. Grey by Shelly Ellis (out 3/29, suspense/thriller, mainstream fiction, women's fiction)
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden (horror, thriller)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (out 8/23, paranormal romance)
Once Upon a Dream by Sierra Simone (erotic romance, story collection)
The Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (young adult fantasy, series-closer)
The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells (paranormal romance)
The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams (contemporary romance)

Backlists and Rereads: A Lady's Code of Misconduct and The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran.

Currently Reading: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (out 4/26) and An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn.

TBR/wish list
Crowbones by Anne Bishop (3/8)
The Emma Project by Sonali Dev (5/17)
The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa (4/5)
At the Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone (5/1)
The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (8/16)
Fake it Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (6/21)