Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings [2023 Edition]

Posted December 18, 2023 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 13 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. Bookish Wishes is a popular topic, and one I host twice a year (around Christmas and again in June)! List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wishes. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address or include the email address associated with your e-reader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone! I tested positive for covid on Friday, so this post is going to be fast so I can go back to bed. Please excuse any typos!

1. Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison
2. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
3. Kissing for Keeps by Martha Keyes
4. Powerless by Lauren Roberts
5. The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood
6. The Takedown by Carlie Walker
7. Borrowed Bride by Noah Hardy
8. Unleashed Holiday by Victoria Schade
9. Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain
10. Field Rules by Carla Luna

Here’s the link to my wishlist on Amazon. These and many more books can be found on there!

Have you read any of these?

I hope you have a very merry Christmas!


Cabin Crush by Kasey Stockton | Book Review

Posted December 15, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Cabin Crush by Kasey Stockton | Book ReviewCabin Crush by Kasey Stockton
Series: Gift-Wrapped Romance
Published by Golden Owl Press on October 27, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday - Christmas, Romance
Pages: 198
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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This Christmas, all she wants is him.

Rachael
I’ve had a crush on my brother’s best friend my entire life. Once, in high school, I even got a taste of what it would be like to be with him thanks to some well-placed incredible and humiliating. We always spend Christmas with Max’s family at our cabin, and every year I have to suffer through a blissful week with him in a completely platonic way. His steady stream of girlfriends have made him off limits . . . until now.

It’s Christmas.

We’re at the cabin together.

And Max Dawson is single.

Max
I’ve never looked forward to Christmas less in my entire life. My parents’ holiday will be ruined after I tell them my news, and to make matters worse, I blabbed to Rachael on the drive out to the cabin. Now she has to keep my secret until I’m ready to share with my family.

Which is probably why she’s acting so weird. Watching me. Touching me. Flirting. It would be terrible if I wasn’t enjoying it so much. But her brother has made it clear she’s off limits. And besides, I kissed Rachael once, and we all know how that ended.

So we definitely shouldn’t do it again.

Right?

There’s just something about a trope-filled Christmas romance, and Cabin Crush has a bunch of them! You’ve got brother’s best friend, childhood friends/grew up together, mutual pining (yet they both think their love is unrequited), forced proximity, and friends to lovers. I love all these tropes, and am honestly so happy to not see an enemies to lovers for once because that’s my least favorite and appears to be everywhere right now, across all genres. Anyway, this was cute! Even though some young teen drama happened that made things a little awkward for the two of them, Rachael and Max have a really sweet friendship. They’ve been pining away for one another for years, and that makes it even cuter.

I love a dual point of view, which you’ll get with this story. It’s so fun getting into the heads of the main characters, and it made me really like both of them. I really enjoyed the family cabin all decked out in Grinch-themed decorations. This cabin sounds like a very cozy and comforting place to be, minus the lack of heating in some of the rooms. I loved the two families, particularly the dads who were both super lovable and funny. I really enjoyed the coziness of the story. The families spend their time at the cabin watching Hallmark and other Christmas movies, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around the fire, baking and decorating cookies, doing puzzles, chatting on the couch, eating lots of yummy food, hiking, caroling, sledding, and more. There were some deeper, more difficult conversations to be had surrounding loss and grief, and I felt those were handled with reverence and added depth to the story. The romance itself was a little on the cheesier end of cheesy, even for a Christmas romance, but that’s ok! It made me smile. All in all, Cabin Crush is a very fun closed-door romance with a lot of Christmas cheer and characters you’ll love. I’m excited to read some of the other standalones in this series!


Almost Like Being in Love by Sariah Wilson | Book Review

Posted December 14, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 0 Comments

Almost Like Being in Love by Sariah Wilson | Book ReviewAlmost Like Being in Love by Sariah Wilson
Published by Montlake Romance on November 14, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday - Christmas, Romance, Time Travel
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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A modern-day Ohio woman and a seventeenth-century Scottish laird fall in love at first sight in a magical holiday romance by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love.

Maren Kelly and her friend Penny may be lost in the Scottish Highlands, yes. They may be caught in the blizzard of the century, sure. But despite their dire straits, Maren is going to honor her ailing mother’s wish for them to experience all the magic, mystery, and whimsy Scotland has to offer, even if she freezes to death trying. When they’re rescued by the dashing Duncan Campbell, who seems like he walked straight out of the seventeenth century, Maren is more than a wee bit bewildered.

Their shelter is Duncan’s castle in Highglen, a captivating village that feels somehow familiar…as does the laird himself. Brimming with holiday cheer and friendly, boisterous family members, Highglen is a safe haven in the frigid winter storm. Maybe it’s the carolers and the warm hearth—or Duncan’s comforting brogue and stolen kisses—but Maren feels as though she’s come home. And in Duncan, she may have found her long-awaited soulmate.

But is this a miracle that could last a lifetime?

Almost Like Being in Love is a sweet time travel romance, which I enjoyed quite a bit! It was such a fun book to curl up in bed with and read in the light of my Christmas tree. Maren and Penny get lost in a snowstorm one night and find themselves rescued by a seventeenth-century Scottish laird and brought to his castle. I was side-eyeing this concept a little until it’s revealed that this happens sometimes. A big storm comes to modern-day Scotland every few years, someone gets caught in it and is sent back in time to this castle, and there you have it. So these people at Highglen keep an eye out for people and help them and ask them for updates on what’s been going on in the world since the castle last appeared. Time is different for them, and it’s all kind of magical and interesting. I loved Highglen and the people who live there. I loved reading about their Christmas traditions and their relationships with one another. The romance between Maren and Duncan is sweet, but MAJORLY insta-lovey. Like, the biggest case of insta-love I’ve ever read. You have to just suspend your disbelief and also try to keep your eyes rolling from the melodramatic dialogue and declarations of love. It’s Christmas, so that’s much easier for me than during other times of the year. I thought the ending was really sweet, and I enjoyed learning about how time travel works in this world. Note that this story is all closed-door (just some kisses), which I particularly love in a Christmas story. If you’re looking for a quick, festive, sweet little treat of a book then this is definitely an option!


Making Merry by Kerrigan Byrne | Book Review

Posted December 13, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 0 Comments

Making Merry by Kerrigan Byrne | Book ReviewMaking Merry by Kerrigan Byrne
Series: Goode Girls #1.5
Published by Oliver Heber Books on December 1, 2020
Genres: Historical Romance, Holiday - Christmas, Romance
Pages: 113
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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There’s no room at the Inn…

Sprightly Victorian spinster, Vanessa Latimer, is stranded for the holidays in the Scottish Highlands by a relentless winter blizzard. She takes refuge at a centuries-old inn where the only available room is haunted by the ghost of a warrior who fell at Culloden Moor.

One who refuses to give up his side of the bed.

Johnathan de Lohr awakens to find a siren bathing in the chamber of sorrows that keeps his restless spirit imprisoned. Though he’s the ghost, John knows that the captivating woman will be the one to haunt him.

Unless they can figure out a way to set his tormented soul free.

Making Merry is such a charming, romantic, magical little story! I loved both Vanessa and Johnathan. Their connection, conversations, and banter were just delightful! They have a really sexy meet-cute, and things take off from there. I loved it when Vanessa taught Johnathan about what life is like in her time, and his surprise was so sweet. He’s so honorable, too. Such a gentleman. The romance takes place over one night, which would normally not be believable for me but it’s Christmastime so all bets are off. And Kerrigan puts a bit of a spin on the usual ghostly romance, which means readers get a little steam. Novellas often feel too short or rushed for me, but this was a very satisfying read! It could have been longer, but it was also perfect the way that it was. Both main characters were well-developed, with full backstories and actual personalities. I really liked the supporting characters, too. The ending is super lovely, and left me smiling. I want to read the rest of this series now. All in all, a win for me!


Top Ten Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List

Posted December 12, 2023 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 16 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! It’s time for another seasonal to-read list post! Normally I’d have put this on the calendar for next week, but next week is the Christmas/Santa’Bookish Wishes post so here we are! Winter is my favorite season, by far. I love the cold weather and the snow, which means blankets and hot cocoa and chamomile tea and cozy books! The coziest genre of books for me has always been fantasy. I love settling into an imaginary world and immersing myself in the lives of the characters. I always gravitate towards romantic fantasy, so that’s mostly my plan for this winter after I’m done with all my Christmas romances. But of course, I’m a mood reader so that means I’m throwing in some wildcards too! Sorry if I break your TBR with this list, but let’s call it even because I know you’ll break mine, too!

1. Solo for the Season by Martha Keyes

Cabin fever can spark unexpected flames

MAGGIE

After being dumped last Christmas, I’m taking extreme measures to ensure nothing and no one ruins my happy holidays this time around. I’ll be safely wrapped in a cocoon of kitschy Christmas decor, complete with surrounding winter wonderland at the ultimate holiday mountain cabin. So what if the countless elf figurines make me a little uneasy or if there are a couple hiccups with cabin maintenance?

There’s a bigger problem: the assistant manager happens to be one of (many) teasing classmates from my childhood and my former crush. He keeps showing up to my cabin to fix things. I’m more worried about what he might break….

WES

Here at Crystal Peaks Resort, I’ve got everything I need: tall trees, fresh air, and no cell phone service. This is my happy place, and if I prove to my boss I can handle the job, the management position here will be mine. Everything is falling into place.

Until the newest guest arrives. The quirky cabin she’s in is the bane of my existence, causing issue after issue. But the more I’m there, the more I realize the real obstacle between me and my future plans: proving to my boss I can keep a professional relationship with the guests. Or one guest in particular.

2. Christmas Cliché by Tara Sivec

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through L.A.,
Allie Parker’s famous twin sisters were driving her cray.
She fled to the mountains with a hostage in tow,
hoping to sleep through the holidays, which were a sh*t-show.
A crash in a blizzard, and a hot mountain man,
definitely wasn’t part of her evacuation plan.
Santas, and stockings, and creepy nutcrackers too,
everywhere she looks, it’s a crazy Christmas zoo.
But there are hugs, and smiles, and a beautiful view,
kisses and laughter, and no time to be blue.
Maybe this family, with their hot mountain man,
will make this a Christmas Allie can actually stand.

 

 

3. Snowed In by Catherine Walsh

Megan is dreading going home for the holidays. She’s the village pariah, the she-devil who left local golden boy Isaac at the altar four years ago and ran away to the big city. She could really do without the drama. Particularly as he’s engaged again, and she’s just been dumped for the fourth time this year.

Christian’s fed up of being on his own every Christmas. He doesn’t mind being alone , but he hates his family’s sad eyes and soft tones as they sit around coupled up. Because he’s actually, totally, fine.

So when Megan literally bumps into Christian in a Dublin pub, they come up with a pact to see them through the holiday season. They’re going to be the very best fake dates for each other, ever .

Rules are drawn up, a contract is signed on a wine-stained napkin. They will sit through each other’s family gatherings and be outrageously in love until freed from their annual obligations. After all, it’s only for a few weeks.

But with everyone home for the holidays, two big families to deal with alongside old friends, old flames and old feelings, things are bound to get messy. And when a snowed-in cabin and a little Christmas magic are added to the mix, anything could happen…

A swoonworthy and utterly gorgeous romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud and fall completely in love. Fans of Emily Henry, Sophie Kinsella and Abby Jimenez won’t be able to put this down!

4. An Unexpected Boyfriend for Christmas by Janette Rallison

One little lie can spin so wildly out of control…and yet turn out so well.

Scarlet’s grandmother wants her to bring her boyfriend home for what may be her grandmother’s last Christmas. Which wouldn’t be a problem…if Scarlet actually had a boyfriend. Scarlet’s sister came up with a bit of fiction to make Grandma happy in that regard.

We all have boyfriends, Grams. Really, we’re not going to waste our lives and die alone in a trailer full of cats.

Scarlet would totally skip the fake boyfriend performance, but her cousin Jane is bringing her boyfriend to Grandma’s too—and he’s Scarlet’s ex.

Yeah. Her rich, arrogant, all too sure of his own charms, ex-boyfriend. That guy. There’s no way she’s showing up solo to face him. Scarlet is stuck, last-minute, with Liam, a man she’s never met and knows nothing about.

Maybe it’s Liam’s extreme hotness that muddles Scarlet’s mind, but she has a hard time keeping certain facts straight—like his profession, and the fact that he’s not really her boyfriend…so she’s not supposed to kiss him.

She needs to stay on her toes because not keeping her story straight will land her and Liam in all sorts of trouble.

5. The Sea King by C.L. Wilson

He wasn’t supposed to choose her…

Seafaring prince Dilys Merimydion has been invited to court the three magical princesses of Summerlea. To eradicate the pirates threatening Calberna and to secure the power of the Sea Throne, Dilys vows to return home with a fierce warrior-queen as his bride. But politics has nothing to do with unexpected temptation.

She didn’t dare wed him…

A weathermage like her sisters, Gabriella Coruscate’s gentleness exemplifies the qualities of her season name, Summer. Yet her quiet poise conceals dangerous powers she cannot begin to wield. Better to live without excitement, she reasons, than risk her heart and lose control— until an irresistible Sealord jolts her awake with a thunderclap of raw desire.

Until evil threatens everything they hold dear…

When pirates kidnap Summer and her sisters, Dilys is in a desperate quest to save the woman he loves. Only by combining his command of the seas with the unleashed fury of Summer’s formidable gifts can they defeat their brutal enemies and claim the most priceless victory of all: true love.

6. A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.

Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.

7. 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.

8. The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

The Night Empire will rule all. Nothing can stand in the way of its might and power. Little by little, year by year, the Hurricane Wars take more and more from those who resists the empire’s supremacy. And yet, there is hope in the darkness. One lone light stands against the empire.

Talasyn was left on the steps of a Sardovian orphanage as a baby. All she has ever known are the Hurricane Wars, as her people fight for freedom from the tyranny of the Night Emperor Gaheris. But are they her people? Talasyn dreams of one day finding where she comes from – her true place, family, and the source of the Lightweave magic that flows through her veins like sunlight.

Alaric of House Ossinast, Master of the Shadowforged Legion and Gaheris’s only son and heir has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating the Sardovian Allford alliance with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, all Alaric can see is their extinguish all threats to the empire. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries and fails to kill her, his now greatest enemy slipping through his fingers. But a greater threat is coming. One that will overshadow the Hurricane Wars. Will these mortal enemies be able to come together to confront it or is everything that has been fought over for so long about to be destroyed?

9. Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle

Why date a mountain man? Because he knows how to pitch a tent. When Dahlia Weathersby’s sister disappears on what should have been a simple day hike, Dahlia immediately heads deep into the Colorado Rockies to find her. Knowing she’ll never survive the mountains alone, she convinces the local hermit―adorably grouchy survival expert Winston Dane―to be her guide. All it takes is a good helping of Dahlia’s charm…and just the teeniest bit of blackmail…before she’s got all six-foot-something of him wrapped around her finger. But even with her very own mountain man in tow, things aren’t going to be easy. There With everything the wilderness has to throw at them, it’ll take more than charm and some city girl ingenuity to make this trek anything but a disaster waiting to happen…and an adventure she’ll never forget.

 

10. The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter

A fast-paced, hilarious road trip rom-com about a woman with amnesia who discovers she’s the identical twin sister of a rogue spy… and must team up with a rugged, grumpy operative to stay alive.

It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory.

She only knows three things for certain:

1. She has a splitting headache.

2. The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run.

And oh yeah…

3. People keep trying to kill her.

She doesn’t know who. Or why. But when she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men there’s only one explanation: obviously. . . she’s a spy!

Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s not. She’s a spy’s identical twin sister.

Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear.

That’s easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they’re lying their way across Europe–dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister’s name.

But with every secret they uncover, the truth shifts, until she no longer knows who to trust: the twin she can’t remember or the mysterious man she can’t let herself forget…

What books are on your Winter (or Summer if you live on the other side of the world) TBR?
Have you read any of these?