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 I Enjoyed That Were out of My Comfort Zone, and I realized I don’t read a ton of books out of my comfort zone. lol So, I’m doing Books with Numbers in the Title instead.
1. One Dark Window
Author: Rachel Gillig
Page Length: 432
Publication Date: Sept. 27, 2022
Publisher: Orbit Books
Synopsis: Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.
Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
2. Two Wrongs Make a Right
Author: Chloe Liese
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: Nov. 22, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.
Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.
Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash their hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.
To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder, what if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
3. Three Kisses, One Midnight
Author: Roshani Chokshi, Evelyn Skye, & Sandhya Menon
Page Length: 288
Publication Date: Aug. 30, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: The town of Moon Ridge was founded 400 years ago and everyone born and raised there knows the legend of the young woman who perished at the stroke of twelve that very same night, losing the life she was set to embark on with her dearest love. Every century since, one day a year, the Lady of Moon Ridge descends from the stars to walk among the townsfolk, conjuring an aura upon those willing to follow their hearts’ desires.
“To summon joy and love in another’s soul
For a connection that makes two people whole
For laughter and a smile that one can never miss
Sealed before midnight with a truehearted kiss.”
This year at Moon Ridge High, a group of friends known as The Coven will weave art, science, and magic during a masquerade ball unlike any other. Onny, True, and Ash believe everything is in alignment to bring them the affection, acceptance, and healing that can only come from romance—with a little help from Onny’s grandmother’s love potion.
But nothing is as simple as it first seems. And as midnight approaches, The Coven learn that it will take more than a spell to recognize those who offer their love and to embrace all the magic that follows.
4. Four Weddings and a Duke
Author: Michelle McLean
Page Length: 416
Publication Date: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: As the middle—and least marriageable—sister in a bevy of swans, Lavinia Wynnburn is quite content being the odd duck out. This way, she’s free to commit social faux pas without anyone much noticing. Until the Duke of Beaubrooke turns up the morning after a ball, asking for her hand in marriage.
Alexander Reddington doesn’t particularly care for social niceties, nor is he particularly good at them. But now that the spare has become the heir, he must marry…and soon. When he stumbles into the same corner as a socially awkward wallflower, he knows he’s found the perfect wife: one who won’t bother him to attend every simpering event of the season.
Only, Alexander’s shy and pretty new wife is finding her new position surprisingly exciting and keeps accepting every invitation that flutters past their door. And worse luck, he might even be falling for her. Now he must hide the truth about why he really proposed…before his unexpectedly happy marriage is dashed to pieces.
5. Song of the Six Realms
Author: Judy I. Lin
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Synopsis: Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn’t remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.
With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. The young man is strangely kind and awkward for nobility, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he’ll set her free of her indenture.
But the Duke’s motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he’s not just some country noble: He’s the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.
The Duke needs Xue’s help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war… but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
6. Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Six of Crows #1
Page Length: 465
Publication Date: Sept. 29, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Synopsis: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager
A runaway with a privileged past
A spy known as the Wraith
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes
Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
7. The Seven Year Slip
Author: Ashley Poston
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: June 27, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.
And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.
Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.
Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.
After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.
An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
8. Nine Tailed
Author: Jayci Lee
Series: Realm of Four Kingdoms
Pub. Date: Aug. 1, 2024
Page Length: 346
Publisher: Montlake
Synopsis: An enemy on her tails, an innocent at her side, and a dangerous power within her that could destroy them all. Jayci Lee melds Korean folklore with modern Americana in this fiery new series.
In a race to stop an ancient evil from destroying the worlds as they know them, Sunny comes to a startling, heartbreaking if she chooses love—everything will burn.
Sunny Cho aspires to be the dullest, least interesting person in any given room, which can be challenging for a nine-tailed fox spirit. So she drifts from city to city—staying clear of any and all attachment—and keeps her fox buried deep inside her. It is better this way. She would rather live as half of herself than risk losing control of her terrible powers.
Ethan Lee, a friend she left behind eight years ago, is a brilliant and distractingly hot PI. When he tracks her down and asks her to help him find his brother’s murderer, Sunny knows her uneventful life is about to be turned upside down.
Traversing the mortal realm and the world of gods, Sunny and Ethan discover their quest is much more dire than mere vengeance, and their friendship might be…more. An ancient evil is stirring, and Sunny is faced with an impossible save the worlds from annihilation or claim the love fated by the heavens.
9. Ten Thousand Stitches
Author: Olivia Atwater
Series: Regency Fairy Tales #2
Page Length: 288
Publication Date: July 19, 2022
Publisher: Orbit books
Synopsis: Regency housemaid Euphemia Reeves has acquired a faerie godfather. Unfortunately, he has no idea what he’s doing.
Effie has most inconveniently fallen in love with the dashing Mr Benedict Ashbrooke. There’s only one problem; Effie is a housemaid, and a housemaid cannot marry a gentleman. It seems that Effie is out of luck until she stumbles into the faerie realm of Lord Blackthorn, who is only too eager to help Effie win Mr Ashbrooke’s heart. All he asks in return is that Effie sew ten thousand stitches onto his favourite jacket.
Effie has heard rumours about what happens to those who accept help from faeries, but life as a maid at Hartfield is so awful that she is willing to risk even her immortal soul for a chance at something better. Now, she has one hundred days – and ten thousand stitches – to make Mr Ashbrooke fall in love and propose. . . if Lord Blackthorn doesn’t wreck things by accident, that is. For Effie’s greatest obstacle might well prove to be Lord Blackthorn’s overwhelmingly good intentions.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
10. The Forgotten One
Author: Catherine Bybee
Series: The Heirs #2
Page Length: 384
Pub. Date: Nov. 12, 2024
Synopsis: Sarah McNeilly is a rare find in the tabloid industry. She won’t ignite gossip. She finds the truth. And for once, that’s what her boss wants. With her job on the line, Sarah’s latest assignment is to identify the elusive “Maximillian Smith,” unearth his connection to the billionaire Stone family, and dig up some dirt.
Yesterday Max was an ordinary workingman, concerned with little more than the price of gas. Now he suddenly has a family, jaw-dropping wealth, and an avid (if clumsy) reporter on his trail. With the press threatening to destroy his new life, he needs to release his real story strategically, and Sarah is the key—not to mention an adorable yet invaluable resource for finding his mother.
As Max and Sarah team up to peel back the ugly layers of Max’s past, they stumble heart-first into their fiery attraction. But when their research threatens their newly built trust, it’s their future that is on the line.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
Kindly take a moment to explore my books (indie author). I would be delighted to hear the thoughts of writers and enthusiasts like yourself. Thank you.