Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Hi there and happy Tuesday! I hope you’re having a great day. Today I’m highlighting the next 10 (maybe) books on my fall TBR. I have a few YA fantasies, sci-fi romance, historical romance, and contemporary romance, and they all sound so good. Which one would you pick to read?
1. Shadow of Light by Molly E. Lee
Series: Ember of Night #2
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2021
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Synopsis: Perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer and Tracy Wolff, the second novel in Molly E. Lee’s angels-and-demons YA series will keep readers turning pages until the very end.
Hell is no trip to Disneyland, but even Harley isn’t prepared for what she meets in each new circle.
With Draven’s twin brother at her side, she takes each new horror face on. Fear isn’t new to her, but the things that slither in this darkness may just ruin her in the end.
The clock is ticking as they try to locate the ancient artifact that will strengthen her powers and help her vanquish the Twelve Greater Demons now wreaking havoc on the world above. The ones she let free in order to save Draven’s life. Now he’s somewhere in this Hell, and if she doesn’t find him or the artifact, she’ll have succeeded in being the best Antichrist ever—and the world will pay for her choices.
With each new obstacle, she and Raiden grow closer, her soul torn in two as they search for his brother.
Each step gained feels like two steps back in this hell-hole, but the deeper they go, the more she feels her powers grow. The world above is at stake, but down here? Nothing is as it seems.
With Raiden at her side, Draven in her heart, and an artifact that will decide her fate, Harley will have to face every dark piece of her soul in order to get them all out of there alive.
2. Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mahalik
Series: Starlight’s Shadow #1
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Feb. 1, 2022
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Synopsis: The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.
Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.
With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.
But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.
3. Girls Before Earls by Anna Bennett
Series: Rogues to Lovers #1
Page Length: 320
Publication Date: Dec. 28, 2021
Publisher: St, Martin’s Paperbacks
Synopsis: WHAT A GIRL WANTS
To survive her difficult childhood, Miss Hazel Lively relied on two things:a tough outer shell and a love of books. Now, at the age of twenty-eight, she’s finally realized her life-long dream of opening a school for girls. She’s hoping that the wealthy families who flock to the shore for the summer will entrust their daughters to Bellehaven Academy―and help pay the way for less fortunate students. All Hazel must do is maintain a flawless reputation and raise a good deal of money. It’s a foolproof plan…till a sinfully handsome earl strides into her office.
WHAT AN EARL NEEDS
Gabriel Beckett, Earl of Bladenton, has had a monstrous headache since the day his teenaged niece became his ward. She’s been expelled from two London boarding schools and is doing her damnedest to scare off his potential fiancée. But Blade has a plan of his own―enroll his niece at Bellehaven Academy, where she’ll be out of town and out of his hair. He just needs to convince the buttoned-up headmistress with the soulful brown eyes to take on his niece.
LEAD TO AN IRRESISTIBLE DEAL
When Blade makes a generous offer to the school, it’s impossible for Hazel to refuse. But she has one non-negotiable condition: the earl must visit his niece every other week. Soon, Blade discovers there’s much more to Hazel than meticulous lesson plans. In moonlit seaside coves and candlelit ballrooms, their sparring leads to flirtation…and something altogether deeper. But the passion that flares between them poses a threat to Hazel’s school and Blade’s battered heart. They say a good thing can’t last forever, but true love? Well, it just might…
4. The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshy
Series: The Gilded Wolves #3
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Sept. 21, 2021
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: In love they breathed. In destiny they believed. In the end, will divinity be their demise?
After Séverin’s seeming betrayal, the crew is fractured. Armed with only a handful of hints, Enrique, Laila, Hypnos and Zofia must find their way through the snarled, haunted waterways of Venice, Italy to locate Séverin.
Meanwhile, Séverin must balance the deranged whims of the Patriarch of the Fallen House and discover the location of a temple beneath a plague island where the Divine Lyre can be played and all that he desires will come to pass.
With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself… but at a price they may not be willing to pay.
Returning to the dark and glamorous 19th century world of her New York Times instant bestseller, The Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi dazzles us with the final riveting tale as full of mystery and danger as ever.
5. The Storyteller by Kathryn Williams
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: Jan. 11, 2022
Publisher: Harper Teen
Synopsis: With the mystery of Maureen Johnson and Brittany Cavallo and the historical intrigue of Romanov, this enthralling story follows a teenage girl’s quest to uncover the truth behind her secretive great aunt Anna, who just might be the long lost Russian princess Anastasia.
It’s not every day you discover you might be related to Anastasia…or that the tragic princess actually survived her assassination attempt and has been living as the woman you know as Aunt Anna.
For Jess Morgan, who is growing tired of living her life to please everyone else, discovering her late aunt’s diaries shows her she’s not the only one struggling to hide who she really is. But was her aunt truly a Romanov princess? Or is this some elaborate hoax?
With the help of a supremely dorky, but undeniably cute, local college student named Evan, Jess digs into the century-old mystery.
But soon Jess realizes there’s another, bigger truth waiting to be revealed: Jess Morgan. Because if she’s learned anything from Aunt Anna, it’s that only you can write your own story.
Part mystery, romance, and historical fiction, this genre-bending YA will pull readers into one girl’s journey of discovering the impossible tale of a long-lost aunt—and through her, the importance of being true to yourself.
6. The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh
Series: Last Chance Scoundrels #1
Page Length:384
Publication Date: Feb. 22, 2022
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: In USA TODAY bestselling author Eva Leigh’s new novel a notorious rake and an innocent debutante strike a scandalous bargain…
When Kieran Ransome’s latest antics result in a massive scandal, his father issues an ultimatum: find a respectable wife or inherit nothing. But as one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels, Kieran doesn’t know any ladies who fit the bill. Or does he?
Celeste Kilburn is a society darling, beloved by influential members of the ton. But keeping a spotless reputation leaves little room for adventure and she longs to escape her gilded cage, especially with her impending engagement to a stuffy earl. When Kieran—her older brother’s best friend and an irresistibly attractive rogue—begs for her help, Celeste makes a deal: she’ll introduce him to the right social circles if he’ll show her the scandalous side of London.
7. Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
Page Length: 357
Publication Date: March 2, 2022
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: Reena Manji doesn’t love her career, her single status, and most of all, her family inserting themselves into every detail of her life. But when caring for her precious sourdough starters, Reena can drown it all out. At least until her father moves his newest employee across the hall–with hopes that Reena will marry him.
But Nadim’s not like the other Muslim bachelors-du-jour that her parents have dug up. If the Captain America body and the British accent weren’t enough, the man appears to love eating her bread creations as much as she loves making them. She sure as hell would never marry a man who works for her father, but friendship with a neighbor is okay, right? And when Reena’s career takes a nosedive, Nadim happily agrees to fake an engagement so they can enter a couples video cooking contest to win the artisan bread course of her dreams.
As cooking at home together brings them closer, things turn physical, but Reena isn’t worried. She knows Nadim is keeping secrets, but it’s fine— secrets are always on the menu where her family is concerned. And her heart is protected… she’s not marrying the man. But even secrets kept for self preservation have a way of getting out, especially when meddling parents and gossiping families are involved.
8. Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Defy the Night #1
Page Length: 496
Publication Date: Sept. 14, 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer comes a blockbuster fantasy series about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.
The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.
King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.
Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.
As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.
Set in a richly imaginative world with striking similarities to our own, Brigid Kemmerer’s captivating new series is about those with power and those without . . . and what happens when someone is brave enough to imagine a new future.
9. A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
Publication Date: Aug. 3, 2021
Page Length: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis: For fans of Wilder Girls and Ninth House comes a dark, twisty, atmospheric thriller about a boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past.
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.
Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.
It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.
And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself.
10. These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
Series: These Hollow Vows #1
Page Length: 464
Publisher: HMH
Synopsis: From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes.
Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she’ll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.
Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie’s only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.
Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.
All of these sound fantastic, and I’m not sure which one to read next. Which one would you choose? Comment below!
Fall, so far: depends on what you mean. Will just include my September reads
1. Wundersmith
2. The Day the World Came to Town
3. Hollowpox
Nice! I hope you enjoy them. Can’t wait to read your thoughts.
The cover of The Storyteller is shouting read me. I hope you enjoy them all, Julie.
Thanks Carla. That cover is fantastic!
Excellent list with lots of great TBRs! The Storyteller stands out to me as I had to add it to my own TBR. I hope you enjoy all of these when you get a chance to read them! 😀
Thank you! The Storyteller sounds great! I hope you get a chance to read it too. 🙂
I was obsessed with These Hollow Vows and definitely vote for that one to be read next!
Thank you! It sounds fantastic.
I’ve been seeing so much buzz for Bronzed Beasts! I’m guessing you’d recommend the series? 😉
I would! It’s a great ya fantasy series. 🙂
Great list! I can’t wait to read A Lesson in Vengeance.
It sounds fantastic! I hope you get a chance to read it soon! 🙂
Girls Before Earls sounds fun! Love that title.
I think so too. lol
Lots of popular titles that I’ve seen on a lot of lists today but also a lot that I’m now going to add to my TBR cos they look/sound so good! Girls Before Earls sounds super fun and Hunt the Stars looks great! Hope you enjoy all of these and happy reading, Julie 🙂
Thanks, Dini! I think I’m going to start Girls Before Earls this week. It sounds like a good one. 🙂
Looks like you have some good ones picked out! I hope you enjoy them all.
Thanks, Joanna! 🙂
I hope you will enjoy all of these! I can;t wait to read The Bronzed Beasts!
My post!
Thanks, Evelyn! I hope you enjoy it too!