Love features prominently in this month's reading roundup. Fitting for February, no?

Before we dive into the reviews, I feel like I should disclose that while Opium and Absinthe was the last book I finished, it was also the first book I started...back in January. I also was reading Still Not Over You at the same time as the Beatrice Harrow series, and I stopped everything to read the final book in the Stacked Deck series.

Also, in the spirit of transparency, I started and stopped two separate books after I finished Opium and Absinthe. They were Stealing Tranquility by J.L. Weil and The Mermaid's Escape by Kellie McAllen. I was excited about both of these books, and they each started off nicely, but then they both fell flat and felt like the storylines were advancing.

Then, feeling like I needed to detox, I started rereading the Haret Chronicles by Laurel Chase. It's a lot of fun, filled with dragons, vampires, mermaids, fae, and shifters. I'm in the last book now and will start tackling my TBR list once I'm finished. I also reread the Harem of Hearts trilogy by C.M. Stunich and The Marked series by G. Bailey and Cece Rose.

Okay, now for the reason we're all here.

Beatrice Harrow series

Author: Jane Washington

Bea is what's called a tainted creature - half human and half monster. In her case, she's half synfee, which is kind of like a siren, and powerful enough to catch the attention of both the human and synfee kingdoms. With the help of her friends, including the heir to the human kingdom, Bea must learn to control her darker urges and become a leader, uniting not just one but both kingdoms because there's a bigger threat out there.

Seen as nothing more than a tool by the humans and inferior by the synfee, Bea doesn't really fit in either world. She goes through so much crap, which is a nice way of saying that she's dodging assassination attempts left and right, and yet she keeps going. Because it's the right thing to do. She may be considered tainted and a monster, but she's quite possibly the most human of them all.

Author: Nicole Snow

Kenna is a down-on-her-luck author. Up against an impossible deadline and facing imminent eviction, she lets her brother talk her into moving into Landon's guest house. She knows it's a terrible idea. After what happened five years ago, Landon hates her. But, he's in a pickle, too. He's got a big job coming up and no one to take care of his cats. There's just one problem: Someone's on a mission to destroy Landon's security company, and now Kenna's on their radar.

I've read several books by Nicole Snow and this book was pretty typical of her work. It falls into the enemies-to-lovers genre, but I it was very tame compared to others I've read. There was no bullying, just a lot of arguing and walking away from each other. I figured out the bad guy pretty early on, but I enjoyed the chemistry between Kenna and Landon.

Snow & Goldy: Books 1 & 2 of The Happily Never After series

Author: Plum Pascal

This series is one big conglomeration of fairytale retellings. Pretty much every fairytale character you can think of is represented in some way. When they're all written, there will be ten total. So far, only the first five are available. It's pretty obvious by their titles which characters are the main focus of the first two books: Snow White and Goldilocks, although those are just nicknames in these tales.

The general premise is that the Underworld, led by Morningstar (the devil), is trying to take over their world. They're being held back by a weak barrier that's cracking a little more every day. According to a prophecy, they can only be stopped by ten witches, but no one knows who or where they are.

My favorite parts so far: the dwarfs are dragon shifters (did not see that coming); Goldy's tenaciousness; and Captain Hook is a good guy. I'll definitely continue with this series, though I'm not in any real hurry since there are still five unreleased books.

Author: Emilia Finn

Rob, part two of the so-called Devil Twins, and Emma have known each other since they were in diapers. At some point, their best friendship turned into something more. After missing each other for years, they finally find themselves together until an unexpected drama falls in Rob's lap.

I hate to see this series end - it's been so much fun! But this was a good one to end it on. I particularly liked how the author went almost full circle with a specific situation. I won't go into details on that to avoid spoilers. I am really excited about the new spin-off series she's working on featuring the Rosa brothers, who we met in the Checkmate series.

Author: Lydia Kang

Someone is murdering people in New York City and staging the crimes to look like a vampire is the culprit. When Tillie Pembroke's sister Lucy falls prey to this killer, Tillie sets out to find the truth with the help of a local newspaper seller. But Tillie has some personal demons to expel along the way. She's become addicted to opium after being prescribed it for a broken bone, and her sister's fiancé has set his sights on her hand all the while enabling her addiction.

I got this book as a Kindle First Read last fall but had been putting off reading something quite so serious. Like A Beautiful Poison, this book is brilliant. I had no idea who the killer was and the motive...woah. If you like mysteries, you need to add this to your shelf.