books
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Best Books of 2023 (so far)
These are the 9 books or series that I’ve given 4.5 or 5 stars to in 2023. I like to think I’m pretty picky about my 5 stars. A 5 star read for me is something I could not put down, it played into my emotions, I was invested in the characters. Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci Samantha is an interior decorator with a high-end (and good-looking) clientele. She gets snowed in with four of them. Jace, Reed, Alec, and Cole are the best of friends are love to worship women … together. Both filthy and funny! This might have been my first “why choose/ reverse harem” read, and…
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House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. As…
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The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby
They took too much.Left too little.I had nothing to lose…until him. ***************** ~Lana~ I didn’t expect him.I didn’t want to fall in love.But I can’t let him go. Logan Bennett makes the world a safer place.He’s brilliant.He’s a hero.He locks away the sick and depraved.But while he’s saving lives, I’m taking them. Collecting the debts that are owed to me. Ten years ago, they took from me. They left me for dead.They should have made sure I stayed dead. Now I’m taking from them.One name at a time. I’ve trained for too long.I’ve been patient.I can’t stop now. Revenge is best served cold… They never see me coming, until I…
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Twisted Series by Ana Huang
The Twisted series by Ana Huang is a #BookTok sensation; all of the hype! Twisted Love: Brother’s best friend tropeAlex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest. A crack. A melt. Twisted Games: Bodyguard tropeStoic, broody and arrogant, elite bodyguard Rhys Larsen has two rules: protect his clients at all costs…
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The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee is the second book in the Montague Siblings series. I have done a post on the first in the series, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, and recommend reading that first to avoid any potential spoilers if you haven’t read it yet. It’s been a year since Felicity got home following the disastrous grand tour she took with her brother, Monty, and she’s got big plans! The first of which is to avoid becoming a housewife, popping out children left and right. Secondly, become a physician in a world dominated by men. Felicity learns that her idol is marrying…
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A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab
A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab is the third book in the Shades of Magic series. I have done a post on the first in the series, A Darker Shade of Magic, and the second, A Gathering of Shadows, and recommend reading these first so you are not spoiled in anyway for the series if you haven’t read them yet. The precarious balance that has been maintained between the four London’s is now at it’s breaking point. Power has been building in White London, while Red London has been quite distracted lately. Kell is struggling to find his place within his new responsibilities. Lila needs to gain control…
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The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a middle-grade fantasy novel. Every year, the youngest baby in the Protectorate is taken from their mother and left in the forest as sacrifice for the “evil” witch. Every year, the witch comes to rescue the baby that these horrible people from this village just left in the woods. Xan, the witch, nourishes these babies with starlight on her way across to forest making them healthy and strong. The people on the other side of the forest await her arrival every year, wishing to adopt the special child and give it a loving home. One year, Xan “accidentally” feeds a…
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Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is the first book in an adult fantasy series. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because it’s all it took for me to run to my library, and I think it will do the same for you. We’re following Mia Corvere who seeks revenge for the murder of her father and ruin of he family name. She attends an assassin school. There is magic involved. Need I say more? The ONE major critique I have of this book is the dang footnotes. Some are telling you more about the setting, or history of the world, while some are just snarky remarks that you may…
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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is the first in a young adult fantasy series loosely a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Originally a trilogy, now being expanded into 6 core novels and 2 novellas. Feyre is responsible for keeping her family fed since her mother’s death, and father’s injury. She’s become an excellent hunter out of necessity, while her sister’s play the damsel’s in distress. On a hunt, in the desperate months on winter, Feyre finally spots a deer, an animal that could feed her family for weeks, or trade for other necessities. She then notices a large wolf stalking the prey as well. It’s…
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The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Diviners by Libba Bray is a young adult paranormal novel. Set in 1926 New York, we’re following Evie O’Neill who’s recently been sent off to live with her strange Uncle after misbehaving. Uncle Will is a professor, who runs a creepy museum, and is obsessed with the occult. Evie has been hiding an enormous secret, her supernatural abilities that only ever get her into more trouble. However, after strange crimes begin occurring across New York, Evie uses her powers to help solve them. This book is very character driven (aka slow paced…) with a super interesting underlying plot involving supernatural powers, ghosts, and crime which made me keep reading,…
