Okay so where is the year going?! Because we swear we just posted our January reading wrap up! Also we created a Good Reads account if you wanted to follow along Little Sisters reading journey in real time.

Good Reads

In April little sister read 4 books and dnf’d 1 and big sister read 2. Every month we both have a good laugh at how very different our reading preferences are!!

As always, these are just our humble opinions! Reading is such a personal journey…each of us brings our own quirks and feelings to every story, and honestly? That’s what makes book chat so delightful. If you’ve read any of these books, we’d be absolutely thrilled to hear your thoughts in the comments. Love them? Hate them? Somewhere in the messy middle? We’re here for all of it! And if you have any recommendations for our TBR, drop them below! We’re always on the hunt for our next book obsession.

Little Sister

The Night We Met by Abbey Jimenez

Book 2 in the Say You’ll Remember Me Series

Rating: DNF at 52%

Oh my, what happened here?! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I did, in fact, DNF it. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t connect with the characters, and I couldn’t get behind the whole “crushing on your lifelong best friend’s girlfriend” storyline. The FMC and MMC were forgettable, and I’m just so upset that it came to this. I love Abby Jimenez, Yours Truly is literally a god-tier book of mine, so to have DNF’d this book is genuinely disappointing. I know there are mixed opinions on DNFing a book, but let me be the one to tell you that life is too short to read a book you’re not enjoying…DNF it, it’s not that deep.

Fighting Chance by Mads Rafferty

Book 2 in The Ice Hawks Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A sports romance with emotional depth that made me cry on many occasions, with a pathetically down-bad man with trauma who just happens to be a single dad? And he’s cheeky and flirty? And a fiery redhead who wants nothing to do with him but is also his nanny? Yeah, sounds too good to be true—but here we are! Mads Rafferty completely delivered and then some with book 2 in The Ice Hawks series. I am genuinely stunned and speechless over this story. She handled conversations of long-term illness, abandonment, childhood trauma, and infertility with such genuine care and consideration—it was beautiful. Definitely not just another sports romance.

I’m still thinking about these characters and this story, and I think I will be for a while. Please, please, please start this interconnected standalone series—it is definitely worth your time, and it’s on Kindle Unlimited, an added bonus if you will!

Unbound by Peyton Corinne

Book 3 in The Undone Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I was super excited for this book, but I don’t know, it kind of just fell flat for me. These characters deserve everything good in life, and my heart ached for their story, but it was just missing that spark I love so much in a romance book. This is a second-chance, dual-timeline, dual-POV story, and while I love a second-chance romance, the dual timeline in this book was confusing and I felt it lacked flow.

With that being said, this book handles topics of OCD compulsions, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and childhood sexual abuse gently and with immense care. Not my favourite in the series, but it sets up book 4 perfectly. I still recommend reading this series if you’re looking for an emotional sports romance.

A quote that has stuck with me…"Ask my daughter her favourite person, princess or magical creature…her mom, will be her answer for them all.”

Caught Up by Liz Tomforde

Book 3 in The Windy City Series (re read)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I sensed a reading slump coming on, so I went back to a series I know and love. Nothing will cure a reading slump quite like Liz Tomforde. This was obviously still a 5-star read, and I am simply obsessed with this universe, this friend group, and these love stories. Because what do you mean these aren’t my close personal friends? Kai and Miller’s dynamic in this book is actually even better than I remembered. She is so sharp and quick with her comebacks—she makes me laugh out loud. And Kai? Well, he is just perfect, isn’t he?

I’ve said it once, twice, thrice: if you haven’t read this series, read it.

The Awakening by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Book 1 in The Zodiac Academy Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

So, we needed to switch things up, and I had the sudden urge to jump into a fantasy/romance series—maybe because I’ve been rewatching The Vampire Diaries? Okay, so ummmm... why am I so late to this? An academy setting with different houses based on your powers? Yes, please! This follows Tory and Darcy Vega (Gemini twins) who are thrown into this alternate realm, Solaria, and now attend The Zodiac Academy. They figure out their powers, family history, friends, enemies, purpose, and love interests along the way. Can I just say Lance Orion and Darius Acrux are my newest obsession, yes they are both a bit morally grey…but I am here for it! Excited for what’s to come in this series!

Big Sister

Disney Adults: Exploring (And Falling In Love With) A Magical Subculture by AJ Wolfe

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

For someone like me who has been a Disney fan my entire life, this was such a fascinating insight into the world of adults who classify themselves as Disney super fans. I am by no means a Disney adult, but something about being immersed into the magic of Disney and revisiting some of my earlier Disney memories was so special. My first My favourite part of the book, was all of the interviews that the author sprinkled through the book with self professed “Disney Adults” from different backgrounds and walks of life. The thing that resonated with me the most was that their love of Disney, helped them find the the magic and whimsy in everyday life. That is something we can all learn from, no matter how serious or stressful our lives get we can always find the magic in something. I highly recommend this if you are a fan of anything Disney.

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalyrmple

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The author of this book, is the co-host of the Empire World History podcast which tracks the great empires of history. This book has been on by TBR for a while and I finally bit the bullet. It takes you from Tudor England, to the vast Indian subcontinent and tracks how the East India Company came to control most of it. This book is insightful and respectful of the nuances during this period of history. It provides both the British and Indian perspective, with an in-depth overview of a period of history I didn’t know much about. It was so well written and taught me so much, definitely on the list of one of my favourite historical non-fiction reads.

What did you read in April? Drop your favourite books in the comments below, and let us know if any of these are on your TBR. We’d love to hear what you thought if you’ve read any of them! Happy reading, and we’ll see you next month for May’s wrap-up! 📚

If you enjoyed this post, we would love for you to please like, comment and share this with people that might also enjoy our content. We see every like and comment, and genuinely appreciate the support. Feel free to subscribe to stay up to date with all out posts 🤎

Subscribe now

Feel free to use the link below to shop some of our favourites. Please note, if you choose to purchase anything through the link we will earn a small commission…at no additional cost to you ✨

Happy Shopping <3

Hello wonderful people, welcome back to another monthly reading wrap up!

This month we travelled to sunny California for a week. While we both managed to get stuck into our books on our long-haul flights, we didn’t pick up our books at all while we were there…and that’s totally okay. We were too busy pretending to be LA girls for the week and had the best time.

Little sister still managed to squeeze in 4 books (one of them was a re-read), and big sister read 2. Sometimes life gets in the way of reading, and that’s perfectly fine!

As always, these are just our humble opinions! Reading is such a personal journey…each of us brings our own quirks and feelings to every story, and honestly? That’s what makes book chat so delightful. If you’ve read any of these books, we’d be absolutely thrilled to hear your thoughts in the comments. Love them? Hate them? Somewhere in the messy middle? We’re here for all of it! And if you have any recommendations for our TBR, drop them below! We’re always on the hunt for our next book obsession.

Little Sister

In Own League by Liz Tomforde

Windy City Series Spin Off

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There was never any doubt in my mind that Liz Tomforde wasn’t going to deliver! What does she put in her books that makes them impossible to put down? This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Last year, I read her Windy City series and fell head over heels in love with everything and everyone in those books.

This spinoff follows Emmett Montgomery (MMC), the field manager of the Chicago MLB team, and Reece Remington (FMC), the team owner…yup, his boss. We meet Emmett in Caught Up (book 3) and Reece in Play Along (book 4). The tension, the yearning, the banter, the cameos, and the one-liners from BOTH of them quite literally had me throwing my Kindle across the room. And don’t even get me started on when the Rhodes brothers’ names appeared on my screen. Yeah, I was done—giddy, smiling, kicking my feet like these people are my close personal friends. I need to touch grass!

The question is: can you read this book as a standalone? Do you have to read the entire series? Technically, these are all interconnected standalone books, so you can read them randomly and out of order. But I highly recommend reading them in order, one, to get the full understanding of the found family and dynamics, but also because they’re just the most phenomenal contemporary romance books I’ve ever read.

Oh, did I mention? It was 5 stars!

Unsteady by Peyton Corrine

Book 1 in The Undone Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

The first book in this series follows our ice hockey captain Rhys (MMC) and fiery figure skater Sadie (FMC). A reverse grumpy x sunshine romance with amazing PTSD representation and depiction of a difficult home life. Personally, I struggled to connect with these characters, but I was still entertained. I just wished there was more of that “yearning” between them that I love to read in a book. I did enjoy the found family aspect between his teammates and her best friend, and it sets the series up nicely for other couples. I loved Rhys’ mum and dad—green flags who genuinely support their son. Very John and Edel Kavanaugh coded.

Unloved by Peyton Corrine

Book 2 in The Undone Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh my heart, I loved this!!! This follows Freddie (MMC) and Ro (FMC), who you meet in book one. If you’re a lover of Nathan and Hayley from One Tree Hill you will eat this up. This is a friends to lovers, super slow burn and they are just the most wholesome humans. This deals with parental sickness and loss, learning disabilities and a journey of self love and acknowledging your self worth. I genuinely forgot about the sports element all together…I was so engrossed in the journey of Freddie and Ro finding their way to each other.

The Right Move by Liz Tomforde

Book 2 in The Windy City Series (re read)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Over a year ago, I dove into The Windy City series, and it changed my life—hands down the best romance series I have ever read. I wanted to re-read the second book in the series, but there was so much on my TBR that I genuinely didn’t have time. But when I realised I had a 14-hour flight to LA and a 14-hour flight back home to Sydney, I quickly realised that was my time to literally sit and enjoy this book for the second time. And so I did. In two sittings, it was devoured. I knew what was going to happen. I knew the dynamic between Ryan and Indy. And yet, I was still utterly smitten by them. It was obviously still a 5-star read, and Ryan Shay is the standard for book boyfriends—argue with a wall.

My favourite quote: “How else would you get to live a thousand lives in the span of only one? The beauty of fiction is that it makes you feel things on a visceral level. You can cry with those characters, laugh with them. It teaches you to look at another’s perspective, to have empathy. In nonfiction, you simply learn about something instead of feeling it.” I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Liz Tomforde can do no wrong. If you haven’t read this series, please do!

Big Sister

The Rest is History: The official book from the makers of the hit podcast by Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are a fan of The Rest is History podcast series, witty banter or just history in general, I can’t recommend this book enough. I hated history in high school (I am not sure if it was poorly taught or I did not appreciate it), so podcasts like The Rest if History got me interested in history. It delved into historical events and people from the past in a unique and sometimes very funny way. The book is very similar to the podcast, but they examine history through the lens of some big questions, like “what are the top ten most disastrous parties in history” and “how pigeons won the war”. I listened to the audiobook, so it felt like listening to an eleven hour episode of the podcast. I laughed at almost every chapter and learned a few new fun historical facts along the way.

I’m Not the Only Murderer in my Retirement Home by Fergus Craig

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Cosy murder mysteries are one of my favourite genre of books, with the Thursday Murder Club being my favourite cosy murder series of all time. This book has a similar premise; retirement home, murder and all the hi-jinx you expect from a group of retirees. The interesting angle that this book takes is that everyone in the retirement home has a background in law enforcement or is a a serial killer. Whilst this was an easy read and had me hooked through the first half, the second half felt a bit dragged on and when we got to the whodunnit of the murder, it all felt a bit lacklustre. I enjoyed reading this and liked the characters, and recommend it if you’re a fun of the cost murder mystery genre.

What did you read in March? Drop your favourite books in the comments below, and let us know if any of these are on your TBR. We’d love to hear what you thought if you’ve read any of them! Happy reading, and we’ll see you next month for April’s wrap-up! 📚

If you enjoyed this post, we would love for you to please like, comment and share this with people that might also enjoy our content. We see every like and comment, and genuinely appreciate the support. Feel free to subscribe to stay up to date with all out posts 🤎

Subscribe now

Hello wonderful people, welcome back to another monthly reading wrap up!

Before we dive into what we read this month, you might notice that this is published under Plot Twist! Plot Twist is our brand-new bookish newsletter under The Daily Main Character that will be home to all our bookish content—monthly wrap-ups, reading guides, reviews, and all the book chat your heart desires. We’re so excited to have a dedicated space for all things books!

Now, can we talk about how February literally blinked and disappeared? Little sister powered through 5 books (and DNF’d 1—we’ll get into that), while big sister read 2. February might be the shortest month, but we still packed in some great reads. Let’s jump into what we thought!

As always, these are just our opinions. Reading is subjective, we all interpret stories a little differently—and that’s perfectly fine! If you’ve read any of the books we mention, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Little Sister

Magnolia Parks; A Long Way Home by Jessa Hastings

Book 3 in Magnolia Parks/Daisy Haites Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the third book in the Magnolia Parks/Daisy Haites series, but it’s Magnolia and BJ’s second book. Let me start by saying: WHAT WAS THAT ENDING? Nothing…and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for it. I could have conjured 100 different possible endings in my head, and still I wouldn’t have guessed that. There was a lot of growth in Magnolia and BJ’s relationship compared to the first book. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both still very toxic to each other, but learning about their past trauma made me look at them from a different perspective. Maybe that’s what happens when you finally understand the why behind the chaos. If you didn’t love their first book I urge you to keep reading!

The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden

Book 3 in The Housemaid Series

Rating: DNF (Did Not Finish)

This is the final book in The Housemaids series and I unfortunately had to DNF this at 55%. I felt it was too repetitive and followed the same setup and story as the previous books….someone is watching Millie…shocking!! Not a spoiler, it’s in the blurb—but this follows Millie and Enzo happily married with kids, living in suburbia. Even more than halfway through, I found that it lacked suspense, and I just wasn’t invested in the characters or the outcome.

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This is one of Carley Fortune’s stand alone books and I just felt like it lacked the tension and yearning that her other books had. While it absolutely screamed summer and the setting was perfection, there was something that didn't quite hit for me…and that’s okay. This is a best friend’s brother, secret romance, but I felt the story was more about the best friend than the romance itself. Felix (MMC) and Lucy (FMC) were perfectly fine, but I wasn’t screaming and shouting about them. I think I compared this too much to the Barry’s Bay series and those characters…they set the bar impossibly high. I still recommend this if you’re a lover of Carley Fortune or even just love a summer romance. Her writing is incredible and whilst these characters weren't my favourite, it was a solid read nonetheless.

Breaking Point by Mads Rafferty

Book 1 in The Ice Hawks Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

So yes, this was my first sports romance read of the year, and let me tell you—this book is so much more than just another ice hockey romance. While it has all the best tropes for a contemporary romance (fake dating, forced proximity (where she is his assistant), reverse grumpy x sunshine, and team group chats), there’s also amazing mental health representation that deals with both sickness and grief. It’s less on the spice and more on their emotional connection and genuinely showing up for each other. I loved Bella (FMC) and Grayson (MMC), and all the side characters felt like they deserved their place in the book and served a purpose. Bella is a strong FMC who has gone through a lot of trials and tribulations, and Grayson…our 6-foot-4 ice hockey player is so golden retriever coded with trauma. He was very much giving Isaiah Rhodes…(if you know, you know). Highly recommend if you’re looking for a fun sports romance with depth. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series, which comes out in April!

Daisy Haites; The Great Undoing by Jessa Hastings

Book 4 in Magnolia Parks/Daisy Haites Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Did I finish the book or did it finish me??? Four books in and Jessa Hastings continues to level up. Okay, so I am absolutely still processing that ending—because what do you mean we don’t have the next book for Daisy and Christian??? And what about Julian Haites, the most notorious crime lord in all of London? I need to know if they’re all okay. I need there to be light at the end of the tunnel. This book had me on the edge of my seat. From the toxic relationships to the unusual friendships and the high-stakes environment of it all, I was hooked. My heart ached for Julian Haites and Christian Hemmes—both highly emotional and complex MMCs who, at their core, just want to protect their families and loved ones. And Daisy... poor Daisy, just a girl who wants a normal life but keeps getting sucked into the dark underworld of high society London. The way Jessa Hastings writes, it’s so easy to follow, and you genuinely feel so much while reading. Highly recommend—an easy and heartbreaking 5 stars for me. There are still two more books that are yet to be released for Daisy Haites and I am desperate for them!!

Magnolia Parks; Into the Dark by Jessa Hastings

Book 5 in Magnolia Parks/Daisy Haites Series

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After reading Daisy Haites: The Great Undoing, I jumped straight into the fifth book (Magnolia Parks: Into the Dark) just to get any sort of crumbs of Christian, Daisy, and Julian. Am I slightly obsessed? Yes, absolutely! Not me getting attached to fictional characters again.

Okay, so right up until the 80% mark, I was sure this wasn’t quite a 5-star read for me, and here’s why: after the cliffhanger in Magnolia and BJ’s second book, I was expecting this one to dive headfirst into the matter at hand. Instead, there was a minor time jump (a few months), and the events that happened were reflected on and retold. The first half was essentially Magnolia rediscovering how to live and grieve after a tragic event—not much movement in the plot. While the tension and toxicity still existed within the couple, they have matured. For one, they’re finally in therapy! But this book is genuinely about the couple navigating their relationships with their parents and friends. The last 20% of the book, though? Insane. So emotional. I genuinely laughed and SOBBED. What a way to end Magnolia and BJ’s story. Another 5-star read!

Big Sister

Lies and Weddings: A Novel by Kevin Kwan

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book takes you from the sun drenched beaches of Hawaii, the enchanting cities of Morocco, the glorious English countryside and the glamour of Beverly Hills. Throw in a few over the top weddings, more family secrets than you know what to do with and the over-the-top antics of the worlds richest people, and you have the quintessential Kevin Kwan read. Lies and Weddings is a story of friendship, family, weddings (obviously) and laugh-out-loud situations that only some of the richest people in the world would find themselves in.

Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Newman’s are America’s favourite TV family, but every member of the family is something huge off camera. This was such a heartwarming story of the inner workings of a 1960’s Hollywood TV show, the struggles of what it means to be a women in that time and how you balance your on screen vs off screen persona. This is such a well paced book and definitely a page turner as I became so emotionally invested in the lives of Dinah, Del, Guy and Shep. At more than a few times in the book, I literally wanted to give each of the characters a big hug and tell them everything is going to be okay!

What did you read in February? Drop your favourite books in the comments below, and let us know if any of these are on your TBR. We’d love to hear what you thought if you’ve read any of them!Happy reading, and we’ll see you next month for March’s wrap-up! 📚

If you enjoyed this post, we would love for you to please like, comment and share this with people that might also enjoy our content. We see every like and comment, and genuinely appreciate the support 🫶🏻