Well, the last step in the total transformation of my life is done – I moved into my gorgeous new townhouse this weekend! It feels amazing to be settled, and I am so looking forward to all the new adventures we get into here.

Prior to my move, I spent February writing, reading and rejuvenating after the stress of the last few months, and I feel like I am back on the right page. Let’s look at what I got into.

What I Read

GRAND TOTAL: 2

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson ★★★☆☆
This book somehow managed to disappoint me and blow me away at the same time. The story of a princess running away from an arranged marriage wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but the characters were fresh and nuances and the setting drew me in immediately. There’s a love triangle – which isn’t usually my favorite – but I have never seen any author do what Pearson did and with such skill. We’re introduced to two men at the very beginning of the book – one is the prince whom our main character snubbed and one is an assassin sent to kill her. The catch? For the rest of the book – really until the very end – we don’t know which one is which. It was AMAZING and mostly made up for some slow pacing and lack of fantastical elements. Despite my hedging, I will definitely pick up the sequel and hope it gets even better from here.

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh ★★★★☆
I am a sucker for New Orleans stories, so this was an auto-buy for me. And it hit the mark! I was a little worried because vampires in New Orleans is a pretty common theme, but Ahdieh’s magical system was unique enough while still maintaining the amazing atmosphere of the city. I loved all the historical aspects and absolutely adored the heroine – she’s spunky and confident and undergoes a great character arc. The romance was a little insta-lovey to me but I still enjoyed it. The mystery kept me on my toes, and the ending was just enough of a cliffhanger to have me anxiously awaiting the sequel!

What I Wrote

I am seriously loving this new story of mine, and I made a solid dent in it in February. I didn’t quite write the entire first act, but it’s progressing quite a bit – a total of 11,748 words! Woo! I am also experimenting with my writing routine for this project which has been more fun than I thought it would be! You can read all about it here. It’s a win-win, so we’ll see if this continues to work for me.

Coming Up

March is the month where I really need to crank up my writing if I am going to meet my end of April drafting goal. So I am going to go big and try to crank 30,000 words this month!

I am also hoping to get some reading in!

• The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald
• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
• House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas (my most anticipated book of the year!)

What are your spring goals? Let me know in the comments!