March was a good reading month with twelve books read, although two will miss out on a mention today. The first, a romance, won’t make My Favourite Reads because I still don’t know how I feel about it. It was brilliantly written, but the hero’s treatment of the heroine at times… hmmm. Problematic. The second, a mystery, misses out because, despite the story being interesting, the heroine became grit-your-teeth annoying. A look at Goodreads and Amazon shows plenty of people loved her, but such is the subjectivity of reading.

Technically the writing craft books I’ve included were read over a few months rather than solely in March, but we’ll ignore that and include them anyway.

Anyway, my absolute favourite of the month, maybe even for the year so far, is…

.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

What an absolute joy of a book! Honestly, I cannot recommend The House in the Cerulean Sea enough. It was charming, funny, heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time. Weeks on and I’m still thinking about its characters. They were adorable!

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a fantasy featuring Linus, a straightlaced caseworker who assesses dangerously magical children and the orphanages that house them. A simple enough job if you follow the rules, and Linus does like his rules. Then he’s sent on special assignment to an island in a beautiful sea. What Linus discovers there changes his life.

Read it. It will steal your heart.

.

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffith

It’s taken me far too long to continue the Dr Ruth Galloway series, especially after enjoying the first book (The Crossing Places – my thoughts on that here) so much. Now I’ve bought the next four books and will be very glad I did if book two, The Janus Stone, is anything to go by.

An intriguing mystery set in interesting and atmospheric locations, and likable (if rather fallible) characters. Can’t ask for more from a good mystery.

.

One Night With Her Forgotten Husband by Annie West

I’m still tossing up whether One Night With Her Forgotten Husband has now usurped The Greek’s Forbidden Innocent (I talk about that here) for best Annie West ever. Hmm. Tricky. Maybe let’s call it a draw. Not that it matters. All I want to pass on is that this was a cracking read.

One Night With Her Forgotten Husband has all the elements I’ve come to expect from one of Annie’s stories – glamorous setting, compelling and sympathetic characters, loads of sizzling sexual attraction and passion – but this has something more. The mystery of how Ally came to wash up on Angelo’s island added a special layer of tension that kept me whipping through the pages. I had no idea who Ally was and neither did anyone else, including Ally herself. Such is the beauty of the amnesia trope!

Highly, highly recommended.

.

The Sanatorium by Sara Pearse

Take one creepy and isolated former tuberculosis sanatorium transformed into a minimalist hotel, chuck in a mysterious disappearance, a wild storm, and a few murders, and I am smack in my reading zone.

The Sanatorium proved wonderfully atmospheric. Great Swiss Alps setting, loaded with danger both inside the hotel and out. My only gripe was that the heroine Elin, a detective on vacation, seemed to lack skills. Certainly, she lacked confidence, which I can understand given her history, but that didn’t prevent me getting annoyed at her. Having said that, I still enjoyed the book. Quite a bit. But I’m a sucker for anything gothic.

.

The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort

A delightful romance between a grumpy and driven astronaut heroine and the cheerful and very hunky actor she’s been lumped with training in astronaut ways as preparation for a film role. Much shenanigans, soul-searching and adventure ensues.

Fun, escapist reading. Perfect for a rainy day, of which we’ve had a lot lately.

.

Atlantis Lost by J. Robert Kennedy

Another series that I can’t seem to stop reading. And I especially love how each book can be easily read as a standalone.

When husband and wife archaeology team Professors James and Laura Acton are sent of photo of a trident salvaged from waters off the Azores, they’re straight on a plane. Could this be a relic from the fabled city of Atlantis?

Hugely entertaining, as always.

.

World’s Greatest Sleuth by Steve Hockensmith

Oh, I adore this Holmes on the Range series. It is SO FUN.

World’s Greatest Sleuth is book five and finds our intrepid “detectorists” in Chicago at the World’s Fair, having been summoned by Otto’s publisher to compete in a World’s Greatest Sleuth competition. Naturally, much goes awry.

A hoot.

.

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

I really enjoyed Linwood Barclay’s fast-paced thriller Find You First (my thoughts on that here) so when I spotted Elevator Pitch on sale I snapped it up. The premise is fantastic. Elevators in Manhattan start behaving dangerously, plunging the world’s most vertical city into chaos. But who could be behind these acts of terror?

Like Find You First, Elevator Pitch raced along, rather scarily when it came to some of the elevator tragedies, and I thought the way Barclay brought the different story threads together was clever.

I may not feel the same about getting into a lift again. Although I’ll definitely check out another Barclay.

.

For the Authorly

.

Dear Writer, You’re Doing It Right by Becca Syme

I felt quite a bit better reading the final book in this Better-Faster Author Success: Quitbooks Bundle. While I enjoyed the first two, Dear Writer, You Need to Quit and Dear Writer, You’re Doing It Wrong, and certainly I learned a lot from them (changed some things too), they could be a tad depressing.

As the title suggests, Dear Writer, You’re Doing It Right was a lot more positive. And current too. It explores the difficulties many of us have had being productive and creative during the pandemic.

Like the other books, lots of practical advice and encouragement. A good series.

.

Newsletter Ninja 2 by Tammi Labrecque

An excellent companion edition to the first Newsletter Ninja. This time Labrecque takes an in-depth look at the different types of reader magnets authors can employ, and how to best get them to your newsletter subscribers.

Definitely one for your authorly toolbox (to match your copy of the original Ninja).

.

What books have you loved lately that you want to shout about?

.