March put the U.S. smack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and pretty much all of my creative interests took a massive hit. Very little writing. Very little reading after the shelter-in-place order. But before everything went topsy-turvy, I fell into some of my favorite books of the year, as well as books that made a big ol’ emotional impact. The former…? Recipe for Persuasion and The Empire of Gold. The latter? Messy and The Priest. And then there were some gorgeous contemporary romances to lighten things up a little—like Melissa Blue’s The One I Want and Katrina Jackson’s Layover.

The Reading Rundown:
The One I Want by Melissa Blue (contemporary romance)
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty (out 6/30, fantasy)
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev (out 5/26, contemporary romance, women’s fiction)
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (speculative fiction, LGBTQ+ dystopian fiction)
Layover by Katrina Jackson (contemporary romance)
The Wedding at Riverview Inn by Molly O’Keefe (contemporary romance)
Messy by Katie Porter (erotic romance)
The Priest by Tiffany Reisz (erotic fiction, mystery)

Currently reading: I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones

The TBR/wish list:
The Damned by Renée Ahdieh
Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas
The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe