Welcome to another TTT! I know I say this every time one of these quarterly to-read posts shows up, bit this year is flying! I can’t believe Fall is here! It’s time for changing leaves, cinnamon treats, throw blankets, and cozy candles. This is also when I start grabbing for cozy books like fantasies, Gothic thrillers, Fall-themed contemporary romances, and spooky tales with that atmospheric bite. This really might be my favorite season for reading. Today I’m sharing 10 books I’m hoping to get to over the next couple months before my Christmas reading begins. Ah, I’m so excited for this entire time of year!
Can’t Help Falling by Courtney Walsh
I just started this one, and it’s fun so far! I love the Fall feelings and the cute small town setting.
Sometimes all it takes to start a fire is a single match. . .
Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate.
He wasn’t when I confessed my love to him on his wedding day, and he isn’t now. I should probably say that I wasn’t the bride when that happened. I don’t have the best timing.
He’s got a temper, he’s moody, and he has a history of being misunderstood and making big mistakes.
I, on the other hand, make pumpkin cupcakes, spend my Friday nights curled up with a beloved romance novel and long to be kissed in the rain.
Owen is my best friend’s older, off-limits brother and the only boy I ever thought I loved. Which is laughable because he only ever saw me as his kid sister’s dorky friend.
But that was a long time ago. And I’m over him. Mostly.
Until he comes back to Harvest Hollow like some kind of hero, showing up just in time to pull me out of my burning house and make me feel all the things I told myself I’d never feel again.
But I have questions. Why is Owen back? And does he remember our secret friendship or the day I’ve spent the last eight years trying to forget?
I know better than to get hung up on Owen again. Especially now, when he’s sworn off relationships and thinks romance is a farce. And I’m something of an expert—at least to the people who listen to my podcast, The Hopeful Romantic.
Never mind that nobody would guess their local bookshop owner is the one doling out popular weekly relationship advice.
Never mind that I’m basing all that advice on the hundreds, (thousands?) of romance novels I’ve read over the years and not on personal experience.
And especially never mind that Owen is making me question everything I believe about all of it.
Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller
Assistant professor Clara Fernsby is nothing if not driven. She’s wanted to teach history since she was fourteen, and she hasn’t let anything stand in her way—not even the love of her life. And it all paid off in the end, because she landed a well-paid position at a private liberal arts college fresh out of grad school, and this year, she’s finally up for tenure.
When Theodore Harrison is brought on for the fall semester as a visiting scholar, it’s an unwelcome blast from Clara’s past. She hasn’t spoken to Teddy since a falling out ten years ago. Now that he’s here, she’s reminded of their shared history at every turn: autumns spent at a sleepaway camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she traded battered books and burned CDs with a quiet, dark-haired boy—and fell in love with him.
That boy might’ve been her best friend, but the man teaching HIST-322 is a total stranger. But as they spend evenings working on a shared project and brainstorming over drinks at a college bar, Clara realizes she’s at risk of falling all over again. Given their history, she knows there’s every chance he’s not interested. But history’s all down to interpretation, and this time around, she’s got no intentions of repeating it.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
The hype is real. If you haven’t read Fourth Wing yet, you absolutely must. It’s probably my favorite books of 2023. Don’t read the synopsis for Iron Flame below if you haven’t read Fourth Wing yet! It’s spoilery.
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
A contemporary gothic fairy tale about a small town haunted by the history it can’t quite seem to bury and the canny, clever young woman who finds herself drawn to the house that sits at the crossroads of it all.
Starling House is odd and ugly and fully of secrets, just like its heir. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but it might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden, and it feels dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.
But she isn’t the only one interested in the house, or the horrors and wonders that lie beneath it. If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it. She’ll have to dig up her family’s dark past and let herself dream of a brighter future. She’ll have to go down, down into Underland, and claw her way back to the light.
Starling House is the sweeping, romantic new novel from New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner Alix E. Harrow.
Happily Haunted Afters by Brittany Kelley
Nothing is spookier than a second chance at love.
I’m done juggling dead-end jobs and deadbeat boyfriends. It’s time to nail down my goal of owning a hotel — and fix my friendship with my ex-best friend, Jack Colson. He’s a big shot investor, and I’m going to need one. Nailing him barely crosses my mind.
I might actually get my life in order, especially if I snag the deep (and deeply weird) discount for staying an entire weekend at my dream property. It’s hard not to fall in love with the place. Though I could do without the creepy doll that lives there, the noises Jack insists are raccoons, and the eerie AF abandoned hotel I’d need an even spookier amount of money to renovate.
The worst part is, I’m falling for Jack… again. He’ll never invest if he finds out I have feelings for him. But as we work through the phantoms of problems past, we’ll have to figure out if the property is infested with rodents — or something else that goes bump in the night.
Happily Haunted Afters is a spooky, spicy standalone small-town romantic comedy with a happily ever after guaranteed.
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
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.
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t set foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind; plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instil fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.
Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli
The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games. Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.
Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to get free and pay him back for every moment of misery.
When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight when she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.
But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. She doesn’t understand why she was freed, and she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is wiped off the gameboard, permanently.
Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.
This glittering fae romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer Armentrout, and Raven Kennedy. Trial of the Sun Queen is the first book in a trilogy with an eventual happy ever after.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.
The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.
Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.
Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.
Forged by Magic by Jenna Wolfhart
A heartwarming, feel-good fantasy romance…with a helping of spice and only a pinch of danger.
Trapped in a tower by the emperor who conquered her homeland, Daella yearns for an escape. But as one of the few half-orcs left in the world, she knows she’ll never be free, much less find her own happily ever after.
Destiny takes an unexpected turn when the emperor offers her a deal. To earn her freedom, she must journey to the mysterious Isles of Fable and track down wielders of outlawed dragon magic. Eager to seize her chance, Daella agrees.
When a brutal storm tosses her ship off course, she washes up on the wrong island—right at the feet of Rivelin, a gruff but handsome elven blacksmith, who seems more likely to stab her than help her. To her surprise, he offers her shelter until the next ship passes through in six weeks’ time.
Daella soon realizes he’s hiding something big. It could be the very magic she’s been tasked to hunt down—the key to her long-awaited freedom. But as they bicker over the flames of his forge, her heart kindles with something she’s never felt before.
When his secrets finally come to light, Daella must decide what’s more her freedom from the wicked crown or the desires of her heart.
Forged by Magic is a complete, stand-alone fantasy romance novel set in the whimsical world of Falling for Fables.
What kinds of books do you enjoy reading in the Fall?
Have you read any of the ones I picked?
