Everything I Read This Month: January 2025

Everything I Read in January 2025

Without really planning to, I kicked my January 2025 reading off with a bang, reading 12 books over the course of the month. Onyx Storm was the biggest hit on my list, both in terms of the build up and in terms of my enjoyment. Besides that and the Crowns of Nyaxia romantasy series, I focused mostly on contemporary romance with a dash of historical fiction. My first two books of the year — Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams and Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez — really set a good stage in terms of delightful rom com mixed with thoughtful writing. As much as I love a well-written serious book, this month (especially since the 20th…) has really called for some lightness, and many of these books certainly delivered!

Of the 12 books I read this month, here are my top 4 favorites:

• Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
• The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
• When in Rome by Sarah Adams

Table of Contents:

January 2025 In Books

Onyx Storm by Rebecca yarros

5/5 Stars

What a wild ride! As I expected, Onyx Storm really threw me for a loop — various loops, really — and not just because I hadn’t re-read the first two books in the Empyrean series. Rebecca Yarros sure knows how to keep her readers on their toes through her gripping, ever-changing plot lines, and I loved the excessive amounts of witty banter throughout this novel. Between Andarna as an angsty teenager dragon and Violet really coming into her own in her confidence and leadership ability, Onyx Storm kept me engaged from start to finish. The slow burn romance between Violet and Xaden was intriguing, as well — a bit of a different side of their relationship than earlier on, but offered some great insights into their character development.

Without spoiling anything, I definitely was confused at the ending and have been debating just what happened with friends who have finished the book. I might need to do a re-read of this one because I think there are details I missed the first time around.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros is available from Amazon here.

Curious about the Empyrean Series?
Check out my reader’s guide to this romantasy series here!

Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams (When in Rome series Book 3)

4.5/5 Stars

A delightfully quaint rom com of a book, Beg, Borrow, or Steal is an enemies to lovers romance between two feuding elementary school teachers in the small town of Rome, Kentucky. The duo is forced to confront their animosity when the Jack moves in next door to Emily. In a lot of ways, it felt like an Emily Henry book — witty banter, situational comedy, and so on — and that is a compliment. Plus, there’s a cute cat. Really, a fun read all around, and part of a series of overlapping characters that can be read out of order (I started the first in the series after this one!).

Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams is available from Amazon here.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

5/5 Stars

I absolutely loved Just for the Summer, so I was eager to read more from Abby Jimenez. When Part of Your World came up on Kindle Unlimited*, I downloaded it immediately. Set in the same universe as Just for the Summer, this book follows Alexis Montgomery, an ultra-wealthy ER doctor/heiress who falls for a younger guy who is basically her opposite in every way. Rom com chaos and cuteness ensues. Plus, there’s a baby goat. Cannot recommend it enough.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez is available from Amazon here.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 1)

5/5 Stars

This romantasy series has been on my TBR for a while, and I picked it up after a friend recommended it. And, wow, I can see why it is popular! Kind of a mix of Hunger Games/ACOTAR/Fourth Wing, this series ticks all the fantasy boxes. There is danger, magic, slow burn romance…what more could one ask for? Book one did a great job laying the groundwork for the series and setting the characters and plot up. It is action packed and currently available on Kindle Unlimited*!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent is available from Amazon here.

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 2)

5/5 Stars

Picking up right where The Serpent and the Wings of Night leaves off, this book takes everything we learned in book one and turns it on its head — in a good way! The political intrigue and world building lore that went into this book — and the series in general — is pretty impressive, and there is another book in the series, as well as a couple standalone volumes that I need to look into.

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent is available from Amazon here.

The Luckiest lady in London by Sherry Thomas (The London Trilogy Series Book 1)

5/5 Stars

After having listened to Sherry Thomas’ The Lady Sherlock series as audiobooks, I was curious about the author’s foray into romance novels. A friend recommended The Luckiest Lady in London to me and I absolutely loved it. This book is really a mix of The Lady Sherlock series and Bridgerton, in all the best ways.

The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas is available from Amazon here.

Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas (The London Trilogy Series Book 2)

3/5 Stars

After loving The Luckiest Lady in London, Private Arrangements was a bit of a let down. The dual timelines felt disjointed, and relevant character traits or actions were dramatically revealed too late, in my opinion, leaving me confused for the better part of the book. It was entertaining enough, over all, and generally a lighthearted read, but didn’t inspire me to continue with the series.

Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas is available from Amazon here.

PS: I hate You by Lauren Connolly

4/5 Stars

I listened to this as an audiobook and really enjoyed it. The characters frustrated me at times, which I guess is the point, but there was a lot of good banter and relatable moments. It starts out bleak — the main character’s brother dies of cancer but his surprise last wish is for his sister and best friend to go to the states he missed to spread his ashes — and I almost DNF’ed. However, the narrator was good so I continued on and ultimately got sucked in. It was ultimately a cute story (weird word choice considering the plot I just described, but you’ll see what I mean if you read it), though so much of it could have been avoided if the characters ever had honest conversations with each other. Either way, still a good book and I would recommend it.

PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly is available from Amazon here.

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

3/5 Stars

Oh, I wanted so badly to love this book (the paperback has plaid on it!), and there were parts that I definitely did like, but I could not get past certain aspects of it, primarily the sex scenes. I am in no way opposed to spicy books (I mean…Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, the list goes on), but this one just made me uncomfortable. The protagonist goes to Scotland to scatter her dad’s remains (a lot of death in this month’s reading journal…) and runs into a grumpy guy who quickly turns love interest with a secret. That secret impacts the spice of the book which is pervasive and explicit in an uncomfortable way. I don’t know, it just was not for me; I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with my review. I did like the Scottish lore and landscape descriptions throughout, though, so that’s why it is a 3 star read for me.

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson is available from Amazon here.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

5/5 Stars

I read this for a book club my friend started and really wasn’t sure what to make of it. The book has sat on my TBR shelf for a while now, with it’s eye catching cover of classic art and neon pink type (kind of 2006 Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette vibes), but I just hadn’t picked it up. Well, once I did, I could hardly put it down. Basically, the book’s protagonist decides to sleep through a year by taking sleeping meds (a clearly bad idea that, shockingly, does not go well). It was a strange premise, but the writing pulled me along and I found that, in a twisted way, I actually liked it. It was almost like watching a car crash. It felt like an antidote to The Secret History type books, where they romanticize intellectual malaise to pretend they’re not just bad people.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh is available from Amazon here.

Eleanor of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier

4/5 Stars

Eleanor of Avignon was an interesting read, made all the more interesting by the author’s note at the end where she discusses the Covid-19 experience and how it inspired this story about plague in the fourteenth century. There were parts of the book that I had a hard time following, characters that seemed to come and go, but the attention to historical detail was fascinating. Early on in the book, the protagonist meets and cares for a dog, and I want to confirm that the dog is fine throughout the book. Others, not so much.

Eleanor of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier is available from Amazon here.

When in Rome by Sarah Adams (When in Rome series Book 1)

5/5 Stars

Technically, this book takes place before Beg, Borrow, or Steal, which I listed towards the top here, but this series can be read individually or out of order. Anyway, When in Rome caught my attention from the start — an awkward car-trouble meet cute (not unlike Part of Your World, actually) between an incognito music star and a small town baker. Said music star picked Rome, Kentucky, because she loves Audrey Hepburn and Roman Holiday and that was the closet Rome to her Nashville home. Like, what more could you ask for? Witty banter ensues, of course, along with some hard-hitting lines that had me highlighting and sending these photos to all my reader buddies:

TLDR: it’s great, read it, and check out Beg, Borrow, or Steal along with it!

When in Rome by Sarah Adams is available from Amazon here.

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