I’m gonna be real here for a second: I HATE Valentine’s Day. I think it’s a stupid capitalist holiday created to make people spend money. I hate seeing all the red and pink everywhere. And I know that makes me a bit of a grinch but hey, I’m not against romance! I just think you should be telling the person/people you love that you love them every day, not just on this one day.

So I didn’t want to write an entire post on love and relationships in books. Don’t get me wrong, as much as I am a grinch I do like a good romance when it’s done well. But there are amazing books out there without romance! And sometimes I just don’t want to read about romance, I just want some good action and fighting and politics and friendships, y’know?

I wanted to share both sides: some of my favorite books without any romance (for those of us feeling non-romantic) and some books with my favorites couples (for those us feeling like reading about some romance).

A cross between Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber and The Three Musketeers, For the Killing of Kings is the first in a new fantasy trilogy by Howard Andrew Jones.

Their peace was a fragile thing, but it had endured for seven years, mostly because the people of Darassus and the king of the Naor hordes believed his doom was foretold upon the edge of the great sword hung in the hall of champions. Unruly Naor clans might raid across the border, but the king himself would never lead his people to war so long as the blade remained in the hands of his enemies.

But when squire Elenai's aging mentor uncovers evidence that the sword in their hall is a forgery, she's forced to flee Darassus for her life, her only ally the reckless, disillusioned Kyrkenall the archer. Framed for murder and treason, pursued by the greatest heroes of the realm, they race to recover the real sword, only to stumble into a conspiracy that leads all the way back to the Darassan queen and her secretive advisers. They must find a way to clear their names and set things right, all while dodging friends determined to kill them - and the Naor hordes, invading at last with a new and deadly weapon.

Howard Andrew Jones' powerful world-building brings this epic fantasy to life in this first book of his new adventure-filled trilogy.

eARC provided by St. Martin’s Press for review (via NetGalley)

Alright listen up you all! This book has been criminally under-exposed, seeing as how it comes out in less than two weeks and I’ve seen it absolutely nowhere except on NetGalley! If you’re a high fantasy fan, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

This book had pretty much everything I love – a cast of characters that all have their own strengths and weaknesses and are all fun to read about; magic!; an innovative world setup that I haven’t seen before; fight scenes on both small and large scales; and epic quests (or not so much as a quest as a fleeing from a recently discovered murdery conspiracy).

Hey, friends! Mackenzie and Shari here. We’re always mentioning how fun it would be to do more joint posts, so we’re taking every opportunity to do one. 😉

M: I definitely say something like this every time the month comes to an end but like, how is January over?? I swear we JUST started 2019. APPARENTLY, time has no regard for my feelings so a month has passed already.

S: Tell me about it! It hurts me because I just want the days to SLOW DOWN so I can enjoy them more, you know? It looks like we both had a great reading month though — let’s share our wrap-up!

Here’s our set of mini reviews this week!

Shari’s Minis:

"Hilarious and charming. The most lovable duo since Frog and Toad." --NYT-bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, Dav Pilkey

Narwhal and Jelly . . . and Otty?! Exuberant Narwhal and skeptical Jelly test the waters of adding a new friend to their pod when they meet Otty the super-adventurous otter in the fourth book of this blockbuster early graphic novel series!

Dive into three new stories about the joy of adventure and the power of friendship! In the first story, Otty the otter makes her debut splash; while Narwhal greets her with immediate enthusiasm, Jelly's not so sure about her...mostly because he worries she'll take his place as Narwhal's best friend. Readers will easily see why Narwhal's so excited to meet Otty, a boisterous explorer who even has an aunt who's a real live sea captain! But readers will also relate to Jelly's uneasiness seeing his best friend making a new pal.

Jelly tries to work out his jealousy in story two, and in story three, the new trio say "Ahoy, adventure!" and discover they all have more in common than they thought . . . including a love of waffles! Jelly also takes over the "Super Waffle and Strawberry Sidekick" comic providing a sidekick's-eye-view of defeating the dreaded dEVILed egg!

If any of you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you have heard me talk about Tamora Pierce at one point. If you somehow missed that or don’t follow me on Instagram, then here’s the gist of what I say when I talk about her: “SHE’S MY FAVORITE AUTHOR YOU HAVE TO READ HER BOOKS!” She’s written a lotttt of books, and started back in 1983, when YA was barely a category of books. I feel like she is one of the pioneers of YA, and especially of female young adult heroes. Since she has so many books out (and in the same universe) a lot of people have asked me where the best place to start is. I thought I’d make a little guide to help with that! And to hopefully convince you to read her books 😈