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.
Today, the topic is Books on My Winter TBR, and I have a few. I have several ARCS I plan on reading, and there are several releases I preordered. Let’s check them out.
1. House of Flame and Shadow (I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!)
Title: House of Flame and Shadow
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Crescent City #3
Page Length: 816
Publication Date: Jan. 30, 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub.
Synopsis: The stunning third book in the sexy, action-packed Crescent City series, following the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath.
Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she’s going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that’s no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.
Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he’s in the Asteri’s dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce’s fate. He’s desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri’s leash, his hands are quite literally tied.
In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt’s world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.
2. Otherworldly
Title: Otherworldly
Author: F.T. Lukens
Page Length: 320
Publication Date: April 2, 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Synopsis: A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
3. Fangirl Down
Title: Fangirl Down
Author: Tessa Bailey
Series: Big Shots #1
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Feb. 13, 2024
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: Wells Whitaker was once golf’s hottest rising star, but lately, all he has to show for his “promising” career is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs, and one remaining supporter. No matter how bad he plays, the beautiful, sunny redhead is always on the sidelines. He curses, she cheers. He scowls, she smiles. But when Wells quits in a blaze of glory and his fangirl finally goes home, he knows he made the greatest mistake of his life. Josephine Doyle believed in the gorgeous, grumpy golfer, even when he didn’t believe in himself. Yet after he throws in the towel, she begins to wonder if her faith was misplaced. Then a determined Wells shows up at her door with a wild be his new caddy, help him turn his game around, and split the prize money. And considering Josephine’s professional and personal life is in shambles, she could really use the cash… As they travel together, spending days on the green and nights in neighboring hotel rooms, sparks fly. Before long, they’re inseparable, Wells starts winning again, and Josephine is surprised to find a sweet, thoughtful guy underneath his gruff, growly exterior. This hot man wants to brush her hair, feed her snacks, and take bubble baths together? Is this real life? But Wells is technically her boss and an athlete falling for his fangirl would be ridiculous… right?
4. A Dark and Drowning Tide
Title: A Dark and Drowning Tide
Author: Allison Saft
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Sept. 17, 2024
Publisher: Del Rey
Synopsis: A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor’s murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic .
Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.
The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.
But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.
As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.
5. A Governess’s Guide to Passion and Peril
Title: A Governess’s Guide to Passion and Peril
Author: Manda Collins
Series: Ladies Most Scandalous #4
Page Length: 304
Publication Date: March 26, 2023
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: Jane Halliwell once dreamed of a home of her own—but those dreams (and her dowry) died with her father. Now, she works as a governess, preparing her charge for a future no longer within her reach. When her employer is murdered during a house party, however, Jane is forced back into the world of the ton. But stepping in as hostess will require working with the same lord who once broke her girlish heart.
Lord Adrian Fielding was too consumed with his job at the Foreign Office to pay young Jane much heed, but he always considered her a friend. Which is why he’s confounded by her icy demeanor now. More troubling still is his desire to melt the tensions between them. But his mentor’s murder means he must first find the culprit—and ensure Jane’s safety as she manages a house full of foreign dignitaries.
Only Jane insists on joining the investigation, and Adrian, despite all his diplomatic skills, finds himself seduced by her sharp wit and sparkling eyes. But with a vicious killer circling ever closer, will it soon be too late for their chance at forever?
6. The Briar Book of the Dead
Title: The Briar Book of the Dead
Author: A.G. Slatter
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: Feb. 13, 2024
Publisher: Titan Books
Synopsis: To the outside world, Silverton appears not to matter much at all. It sits on a remote mountain pass, far from the great cathedral city of Lodellan. It’s run by witches who, in the usual scheme of things, would be burnt. Yet a dispensation keeps the Briars safe for one simple, dangerous they are the custodians of the threshold between the civilised world and the Darklands, where Leech Lords hold sway. Vampires are especially feared by the ecclesiastics, for leeches steal souls as well as bodies, and mortal souls are the Church’s most valuable currency.
However, things are changing in Silverton, with new forces coming into play and ancient mysteries and sins refusing to stay buried − and Anni Briar, the first non-witch born into the family for three hundred years, will find herself at the centre of the maelstrom.
7. It Takes a Rake
Title: It Takes a Rake
Author: Anna Bennett
Series: Rogues to Lovers #3
Page Length: 320
Publication Date: Jan. 23, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Synopsis: She’s about to face her biggest challenge yet…
Since she was a girl, Miss Kitty Beckett has been adept at finding trouble: sneaking brandy, running away, and getting under the skin of the boy who, like her, was an apprentice to an architect. Now Kitty’s a talented heiress who can take a dry building plan and breathe life into it with her pencils and paints. Also? She can spot a rake at a hundred yards—and she won’t be tricked or charmed into marriage. Certainly not by a man who might interfere with her dreams. When Bellehaven Bay announces its first ever architectural design contest, she vows to win—with a little help from her childhood rival.
Turning her buttoned-up nemesis into a certified rake.
Leo Lockland, a hardworking architect with a gift for numbers, has returned home after a few years in London, and he has secrets. The biggest? He’s been in love with Kitty since they were both apprentices. She refuses to give her heart to any man, but Leo’s determined to beat the odds—even if it means learning how to be a rake. Fortunately, Kitty’s willing to tutor him in the nuances of fashion, flirtation, and seduction in exchange for his help with the contest. But the whole plan would fall apart if she knew how he felt, so he’ll have to be very convincing.
Let the lessons begin…
Leo proves to be a surprisingly quick study in the ballroom, on the beach, and in the bedchamber. Before long, he’s softening Kitty’s hard edges with his wicked words and kissing his way past all her defenses. Perhaps she’s a bit too skilled at teaching, because her lessons are threatening to backfire, putting her closely guarded heart in grave danger…
8. Draw Down the Moon
Title: Draw Down the Moon
Author: P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: Wren Nightingale isn’t supposed to have any powers. Born of magickal parents but not under a moon sign, she was destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren’s life is turned upside down, and she’s suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.
Lee Young has always known about his future at the Academia. He has one goal: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family’s reputation. But he wasn’t expecting to be attending alongside the girl he’s been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.
As Wren and Lee are thrown into the Academie’s gruelling trials, they quickly learn there’s something different–and dangerous–about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies–and murder. And Lee will have to decide who to protect–his family’s legacy, or the girl he loves.
9. Heartless Hunter
Title: Heartless Hunter
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Series: Crimson Moth #1
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Feb. 20, 2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.
Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?
Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.
10. Last Call at the Local
Title: Last Call at the Local
Author: Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: Jan. 2, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: Opposites attract when a free-spirited American singer-songwriter with ADHD teams up with a charming Irishman to revitalize his family’s pub in the next heartfelt romance from the author of Luck and Last Resorts.
Raine Hart is used to the challenges of living with ADHD. It’s why she ditched her life in Boston to busk around Europe as a traveling musician. No boss. No schedule. No one to disappoint but herself. But when a careless mistake in Ireland leaves her unable to perform, she sees no other option but to give up her nomadic life.
Since inheriting the Local, Jack Dunne has wanted to make the pub his own. But the baggage of running a family business and the intrusive thoughts that stem from his OCD make changing things a challenge.
Over a pint with handsome, tattooed Jack, Raine accidentally insults him and the pub. Instead of taking offense, Jack, impressed by her vision of what the pub could be, offers her a job bringing it to life.
But when Raine and Jack develop feelings for one another their opposite lifestyles won’t accommodate, it becomes clear the pub isn’t the only thing that needs reinventing. As the end of their business collaboration draws near, they’ll have to find a way past the limits they’ve placed on themselves or let go of a love that could last a lifetime.
Are any of these on your TBR? What do you plan on reading? Comment below!
Allison Saft is like so promising but parts of her books have driven me nuts so far! I’m super excited for that cicarelli book though! Mine is up at https://onereadingnurse.com/2023/12/12/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-friends-loved-and-recommended-in-2023-my-winter-tbr/
It looks like you have a lot of fun books coming up!
Definitely! I can’t wait to start them.
I’m so excited for House of Flame and Shadow too! And Otherworldy looks so much fun too (and I love that cover, as always 🙂 )
OMG their covers are always so gorgeous. I hope we both love HoFaS!
It looks like a great list, Julie. There is only one of these on my TBR, Last Call at the Local, but I may be adding some. I hope you enjoy them all.
Thanks, Carla! Last Call at the local sounds great, and I’ve enjoyed other books by the author. Hopefully this is just as good!
It’s still pending for me, but fingers crosses. 🤞
I am so excited for CC3!! I actually had to put my arc down & jump into CC2!! lol
I just convinced Luke to buddy read CC1 with me. It’ll be my 3rd time, but his first. He loved the TOG series. lol
Oh, I love that!!! I’m glad Ollie loves books so much now. Hoping to do that when he’s older. <3
I have Heartless Hunter too! I hope we both love it ❤️. And I’ve preordered the third book in the Crescent City series even though I still have not read books 1 and 2 yet. But you have to keep series together, right? 😂🤦🏻♀️🫶
Yes, definitely! It would be wrong not to get the third book. lol
Omg hello, so many of these weren’t even on my radar but I love the look of all of them. My TBR is weeping 😂 Last Call at the Local, Draw Down the Moon, A Dark and Drowning Tide… I hope you enjoy all of these reads!
lol – There are so many that sound fantastic releasing in 2024!! Thank you, Dini! 🙂
I’m so glad I saw this post! I wasn’t aware of The Briar Book of the Dead, but I definitely need to read it! Hope you enjoy all your winter reading.
I just got that one in the mail. it sounds so good!! Thank you! 🙂
Looks like a fun lineup. I hope you enjoy all these!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thank you so much, Susan!
What an awesome list, Julie! I had to add Draw Down the Moon and Heartless Hunter to my TBR, because they both sounded so great I couldn’t resist. And you know that as soon as my pre-order of House of Flame and Shadow arrives, I’m dropping everything to read it. Happy winter reading!
Me too, Leah! I’m planning on rereading the first two books to refresh my memory. Can’t wait!!
Same here – can’t just jump into that one with no prep! 😂
Ooooh what a great list! I’m excited for a quite a few of these, but this is my first time hearing about A Governess’s guide to Passion and Peril and it is going straight on my TBR. I hope you love all these 🙂
Thanks so much, Becky!