Time once more for the scintillating joy that is My Favourite Reads!

February was an interesting reading month. I usually spread my reading across Kindle, Kobo and paperback but the good folk at Kobo were running a promotion where VIP members would get 100 bonus Super Points for every book they read in February. An offer I was more than happy to take up for two reasons. One, I have lots of unread books in my Kobo library and two, I’d earn extra points to trade for even more books. Perfect!

No favourite this month, just a bunch of good-uns.

.

The Winter Companion by Mimi Matthews

The Winter Companion is the final book in Matthew’s excellent Parish Orphans of Devon series and I think it might be my favourite (here are the links to my thoughts on book one, two and three). It was just lovely. Quite possibly because Neville was such a gentle giant and so kind to animals. There were horses in this story and being horse-mad from birth, that makes it smack in my zone.

But The Winter Companion was also a really sweet and satisfying romance between two darling people. A wonderful way to wrap up the series.

.

Keepers of the Lost Ark by J. Robert Kennedy

These James Acton thrillers are such a blast. The characters are a hoot, completely over the top but in a good way, the pacing fast, the action thrilling, and the archaeological mysteries intriguing.

As with the others I’ve read in this series, Keepers of the Lost Ark had plenty of humour to go along with the shooting and blowing stuff up. I like that a lot. It softens things. The Ark of the Covenant and religious parts were interesting too.

I’ll keep reading this series. It’s fun.

.

Lies by Kylie Scott

Oh, I loved this! Lies was a total hoot. Great premise, great romance, fantastic writing, brilliant banter… all the things I’ve come to expect from a Kylie Scott read.

The way Thom went from Mr Ordinary to Mr Awesome was seriously cool. There were plenty of laughs too, especially around Thom and Betty’s lacklustre sex life. Lots of action and danger and, of course, emotion.

Another hard to put down book from Scott.

.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

When it comes to writing sci-fi young adult romance, these two can’t seem to put a foot wrong. I raved about their Illuminae Files series and this Aurora Cycle series is looking as good.

The best thing about Aurora Rising? The characters – a bunch of misfits who should not gel at all but do. They fantastically done. Very different and likeable in their own (quirky) ways. I was barracking for all of them, even Zila who can get a bit excited with her disrupter.

I’m reading Aurora Burning now and it’s even better. Whoop!

.

The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas

I’m not sure how I came across The Thief on the Winged Horse. I have a feeling I saw something about it on Twitter and thought ‘that looks interesting’. And interesting it was too!

I guess this would be classed as magical realism. The story is centred around a family business that holds the secret to infusing magic into dolls that can make the holder feel incredible emotions, not necessarily good ones. Although the business was started by women, now only men can hold the magic knowledge. Into this tightly controlled family comes an intruder…

Inventive and an interesting take on sexism. Fab cover too.

.

False Prophet by James Hazel

This is the third book in the Charlie Priest series and it’s a cracker. With his dissociative disorder and penchant for getting into all sorts of messes, Priest makes a wonderful lead. Oh, and his brother is a serial killer, just for extra spice.

False Prophet had all the goodness of previous books, The Mayfly and The Ash Doll. They’re all crime novels but Hazel gives them almost a horror edge, which I adore and reminds me a little of Mo Hayder’s Jack Caffery series.

I’ll be auto-buying the next Charlie Priest.

.

Fair as a Star by Mimi Matthews

Another winning read from Mimi Matthews. As I’ve mentioned before when talking about her books, Matthews is never afraid to tackle difficult topics. In the case of Fair as a Star, it was the treatment of depression in the Victorian era.

A delightful, sweet romance. I hope there’s a sequel. There are characters I want to follow into the future.

.

Devoted by Dean Koontz

Last year I re-read my all-time favourite Koontz book Watchers (my thoughts on that here). In the afterword, Koontz talked about the popularity of the book and living up to it. He then went on to mention Devoted, which features dogs like Einstein from Watchers, and which he hoped would satisfy its fans. Devoted immediately went on my must-read list.

Was it as good as Watchers? Umm, no, but it was still wonderful. I suspect if I’d read this before Watchers I’d be raving because it’s the magic of the dogs and their extraordinary relationships with their human companions that makes these stories so emotional and heartwarming.

.

The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

This might be short but it packed a hell of a punch.

A thriller, The Last Thing to Burn is told from the perspective of ‘Jane’, a Vietnamese girl who, along with her sister, were trafficked to the UK. Jane has the misfortune to be sold to a reclusive farmer. She’s tried to escape many times but injury, isolation, cameras monitoring her every move, and the threat against her sister keeps her bound. It’s hopeless… but ‘Jane’ is stronger than her captor could ever imagine.

A tense, page-turnery thriller that tackles a horrible subject with skill.

.

What were your favourite reads of February? Share away. You know how I love to add to my book collection!

.