Welcome to another TTT! If you live in the USA, I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Today’s topic highlights cozy reads, but since it’s so cold where I live and I’m fully embracing Christmas already I’ve chosen to narrow it further by sharing cozy wintry reads! When I think of books like this I think of rich, magical fantasies and lots of snow (I’m going to exclude Christmas books from this list because I’ll be doing Christmas books in a few weeks). Of course, there’s always romance to warm things up a little. I LOVE books that give me those cozy vibes, and I’m excited to see what everyone picks for this topic!

1. Frost by Kate Avery Ellison
“In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, compassion might get a person killed, and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone.”

Frost takes place in probably the coldest place ever: The Frost. It’s cold and snowy and windy, with blizzards and fires in the fireplace and short days, with long nights. And the writing is exquisite I loved it!

2. Nocturne by Syrie James
“When Nicole Whitcomb’s car runs off a Colorado mountain road during a blinding snowstorm, she is saved from death by a handsome, fascinating, and enigmatic stranger.Snowbound with him for days in his beautiful home high in the Rockies, she finds herself powerfully attracted to him. But there are things about him that mystify her, filling her with apprehension.”

3. The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye
“Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.”

Pasha’s birthday is coming up, so the Tsar instructs these two enchanters to engage in a magical battle to make Pasha’s birthday something special. The battle begins, and the beauty and opulence that encompasses St. Petersburg as a result of this magic is amazing. I won’t give too much away, but I absolutely must mention the intricate system of fountains and color-changing lights that fill the city’s canal system. That entire scene was beautiful, and is still my favorite in the entire book.

4. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
“They open a door and enter a world.” 

A world of snow and magic, that is! LOVE the coziness of this story!

5. Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
“Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.”

Russia always screams cold weather to me, and this book is so lush you can easily wrap up in it!

6. Hunted by Meagan Spooner
“Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.”

This is a breathtaking Beauty & the Beast retelling, and who doesn’t immediately think eternal winter when thinking of this story?

7. Caraval by Stephanie Garber
“Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.”

8. A Tale of Beauty and Beast by Melanie Cellier
“Alone, and with danger on every side, Sophie must navigate a magical castle and its even more mysterious master to discover the secret to breaking the curse.”

Another B&B retelling that I love!

9. Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier
“Whistling Tor is a place of secrets, a mysterious wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress of a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the region in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies of Anluan’s family and his people. The woods hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom. And Anluan himself has been crippled by a childhood illness.”

Ok, so I didn’t realize until I was writing out my thoughts on these books that I’ve picked three B&B retellings for this topic. lol. Whoops! But this one is so unique that you’d almost miss it. The magic and cozy vibes are definitely there, though.

10. Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle
“As the captain of Field County’s ice rescue dive team, Callum Cook is driven to perfection. But when he meets new diver Louise “Lou” Sparks, all that hard-won order is obliterated in an instant. Lou is a hurricane. A walking disaster. And with her, he’s never felt more alive… even if keeping her safe may just kill him.”

This is a very chilly, snowy romantic suspense about a search and rescue team of ice divers in the remote, wintry Colorado Rockies.

Which cozy, wintry books did you choose to talk about this week?

Welcome to another TTT! Thanksgiving is this week in the USA, so of course it’s time for the annual Thanksgiving/thankful freebie post! I’ve been hosting TTT fora very long time, so I’m always looking for ways to keep things fresh and new. I’ve done SO many “things I’m thankful for” posts, and for the most part I’m thankful for the same things every year! So what’s another great thing about Thanksgiving? Well, food. Duh. So I’m sharing books that have Thanksgiving foods on the cover! Let’s be honest, this is mostly pie (my favorite Thanksgiving food), but there’s a turkey in there somewhere! I cannot tell you how long I spent trying to find a book cover with rolls, my second favorite Thanksgiving food, on the cover. Full disclosure, I have read none of these, have no idea if they’re good, have no clue on the genres, and don’t even know what they’re about. Their covers just look yummy.

Shopping for a Turkey by Julia Kent
Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber
The Bakeshop at Pumpkin and Spice by Donna Kauffman, Kate Angell, Allyson Charles
Delightful by Adrianne Lee
There Better Be Pie by Jessica Gadziala
Pumpkin Roll by Josi S. Kilpack
How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie by Gina Henning
If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance by Paige Shelton
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford

Have you read any of these? I’m curious if they’re good.
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?
What topic did you choose for this week?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is “favorite ‘awwww’ moments in books”. Interpret this however you’d like. Can you think of times in books when characters have said/done something sweet, gone through a touching experience, had something work out just right in their life, gotten a cute new pet, had a baby, or been touched by something someone else did for them? To me, this topic means romantic, swoony moments between characters. I love those declarations of love and devotion, so today I’ve chosen to share some of the swooniest, most romantic, most lovey dovey things that book characters have said to each other.

1. “You’re like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but forgot I knew until I heard it again.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver

2. “For there are no limits to the stars, their numbers infinite. Which is precisely why I measure my love for you by the stars. An amount too boundless to count.”
– Kerri Maniscalco, Hunting Prince Dracula

3. “I am broken and healing, but every piece of my heart belong to you.”
– Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

4. “I think I died to be reborn with you”
― Jodi Meadows, Incarnate

5. “There is no end to our story.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

6. “I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I’d catch myself walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I’d seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I’d realize that you weren’t there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don’t tell me we don’t belong together.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

7. “I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you.”
— Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

8. “Your soul sings to mine. My soul is yours, and it always will be, in any world. No matter what happens.”
— Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone

9. “I have no need for a world without you in it.”
— Claudia Gray, A Thousand Pieces of You

10. “How could you not know?” His voice was full of wonderment. “You changed me utterly. You were like a…like a bright, wonderful bloom in a garden full of weeds. Like a graceful capital on a page of plain script, a letter decorated with the deepest, finest colors in all Erin. Like a flame, Caitrin. Like a song.”
― Juliet Marillier, Heart’s Blood

What’s your very favorite romance novel? What about your favorite romantic quote or scene? I’d love recommendations, or to hear your thoughts on the quotes I shared!

(This is a recycled list that I wrote up 4 years ago for a TTT Valentine’s Day freebie. Yesterday was pairing day for Broke & Bookish Secret Santa, which means I spent hours matching people up and emailing out assignments. My brain was just too worn out to write up a list today!)

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is on book series I’d like to either start, catch up on, or finish (regardless of whether or not the complete series has been released or if it’s still being written)! I was going to try and focus on just one of these options instead of two, but I don’t read nearly as many series as I used to. So here we go!

Series I’d Like to Start

(I’ve read no books in these series)

Bow Street Runners series by Lisa Kleypas

Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

Virgin River series by Robyn Carr

City of Love series by Juliette Sobanet

Stud Club series by Tessa Dare

Series I’d Like Finish

(I’ve read at least the first one and want to continue.)

Madigan Mountain series by Sarina Bowen, Rebecca Yarros, and Devney Perry
I’ve read the first one. Two to go!

Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn
I’ve read the first 5 and have 3 left!

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
I’m halfway through the third, and have a few left (some unreleased).

Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas
All I have left is the Christmas one, which I’ve been saving for my holiday reading this year!

Love by Numbers series by Sarah MacLean
I’ve read the first and half two left!

What series do you love?
Are there any series I’ve been dragging your feet on finishing?