February 2026 Reading Wrapup + Writing Update

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

February… What did I do again? My son had a birthday and we celebrated with family. Baseball season has commenced, so I’ve spent many hours at the field while my son practiced with his team.

You know I read book 1 of the Heated Rivalry series, but now I’ve introduced my big sister to the show, and it was a trip watching her react to how badly Ilya treated Shane in the first three episodes. I cooked a burnt sugar cake from an Instagram recipe, and it may have looked awful, but it tasted great! I’m gonna try to make the same cake again for Easter, I think. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

What else, what else? I saw Peaches live. This is my third time seeing her in concert. She always puts on a wild show and this time, she did not disappoint.

Writing-wise? I completed my black romance frenemies-to-lovers micro-drama script. Well, technically, I completed it the first week of March, but still. And… I submitted my book proposal, along with my completed manuscript for my vampire coming-of-age story, to a literary management company. I’m waiting to hear back. It’s all so surreal that I actually did that. Fingers crossed, guys!

And reading? I read six books (I told you I was busy!) Two of those six, I DNF’d, and they were popular books too. I don’t know. I just couldn’t get into them. Not all books are for everyone. All the books I actually completed got 4 or more stars. Let’s get into it!

Cage of Ice & Echoes (Book 2 of the Frozen Fate series) by Pam Godwin

I listened to this one on Audible. You can read my review for book 1 here. Frankie almost dies when she falls into an ice-cold lake, and then when she comes to and is nursed back to health, the first thing she wants to do is take Cole’s virginity. I kind of felt that that was unrealistic, but she’s horny for these two guys. And then Leo just had to accept that. Accept sharing her. In this book, I never got the sense that Leo was 100% on board with that, but he slowly warms up to it.

There was a bear running in a cave, but she shot the bear, and then ultimately Leo, I think, killed it. Then they ate bear for a while, but then they got super thin, but still managed to screw a lot.

It was interesting how when they finally made it off that island, after Leo learned to fly the plane, they were thrust into civilization. Interesting to see the two brothers adapt to nurse life and doctors coming in and out as they pleased, taking blood, doing tests, etc. The brothers were instantly jealous of her still husband, Monty.

We find out that yes, Monty is Wolf’s father, which is so sad, and Leo was Denver’s biological son and he still SA’d him. Cole was the son of Monty‘s father. They’re all fucked. What a disgusting, tragic life.

Frankie was very clear about how she and Monty were no longer married. But still, Monty wanted to help them because they’re family, but he also still wants her. So book 3 is the last one, and I’m curious to see how this all plays out. Does she eventually let Monty back into her bed?

There was a lot of information dumped at the end here, and it got confusing to me. All the sex got tiresome after a while. Like we get it, you’re hot for each other.

I didn’t like this one as much as the first one, but it made me understand why the author decided to not let Frankie have the hots for Wolf because Wolf would’ve been her stepson. Cole is Monty‘s half-brother and Cole and Leo are cousins. That evil man, Denver, sent that video with a riddle at the end that they have to solve still ’cause he’s like, there’s still somebody after you. He’s so evil, even in death, the way he was scheming about getting back at them ’cause he knew they were gonna try to kill him. He was horrible. A wild ride, guys.

4/5 stars

Tourist Season (Book 1 of The Seasons of Carnage trilogy) by Brynne Weaver

I listened to this on Libby. You can read my review for Butcher and Blackbird, the first book I read by this author, here. You can also read my review for Scythe and Sparrow here and my review for Leather and Lark here.

What saved this book for me was the chemistry between the two leads. They basically liked each other instantly until they figured out who the other was. And even when he found out who she was, he never came off as scary or threatening. He still thought that she was cute, and it was kind of unbelievable to me. If he really believed that she was the woman who was driving the car that killed his brother, why would he think that she’s cute or does little cute things? For the sake of the plot, I guess?

and she doesn’t even tell him, and I’m like, when is it coming? I’m waiting for her to admit that she’s not who she says she is. She was there the night his brother got killed, but she didn’t drive the car that killed him.

I also didn’t get how a small girl (how she was described) was able to incapacitate grown men. I guess she hit them over the head a couple times, and maybe she drugged some of them. When they first got together, I was like, wait what? They did it like four times in this book. They matched each other‘s freak.

Overall, an enjoyable read. It kept me wanting to continue hearing more. The trope of I don’t realize I love you until you almost die? I don’t really like that trope. But that’s just me.

4/5 stars

Guess Again by Charlie Donlea

I listened to this on Libby. This was my first book by this author. The twist in this I did not see coming. Very well done. There were some hokey moments in it, which I can’t get into without spoiling it. There were a lot of intricate pieces woven in together. Overall, really good and entertaining. It left it open to a sequel. The bad guy got away and murders again. We have to catch him.

I will definitely be reading more by this author.

4.25/5 stars

Heart of Frost and Scars (Book 3 of the Frozen Fate series) by Pam Godwin

I listened to this one on Audible. It was long. There are major plot points in here that shocked me. I suspected the bad guy for a minute, but I was still guessing throughout. I really enjoyed how they took out the bad guy. You just gotta read it. The bad guy actually admired Denver. Gross. It’s these two bad guys who had these horrific tendencies that made all these people’s lives hell. I’m glad our main characters got their happy ending. They deserved it after all they went through.

Everybody had to go through therapy. Some unrealistic stuff went down after we found out who the bad guy was. Their love language was definitely sex.

It got tedious at times. In the middle, when the two cavemen acted like cavemen, very immature cavemen at that, it got old. You know, you touch her and I’ll beat you up. When that happened, I asked myself, why do we like these two guys again, because they got really annoying. They went to jail because some guy flirted with her and why again does everybody want this girl?

It also got annoying how they kept referring to her as small and tiny and petite with small boobs. Something does get lost by book 3, especially when she gave them an ultimatum. Not cool and selfish. The surprises though is what did it for me overall.

4/5 stars

Thanks for reading!