Welcome to another TTT! This week is freebie week, which means you get to come up with whatever topic your heart desires! Don’t be surprised if I pop up in your comments letting you know I’m planning to put your topic on the schedule sometime in the future (with credit to you, of course!). This is Top Ten Tuesday’s 813th week in existence. That’s just over 15 and a half years! It’s hard to come up with new and unique topics, so I will take all the help I can get!

I chose to share my ten most recent 5-star reads. If you tend to trust my reviews and find that we frequently agree on books, then this is the post for you! It takes a lot to get 5 stars out of me, so trust when I say that these are some of the best of the best. In my opinion, anyway. :)

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst*
My Lucky Charm by Courtney Walsh*
And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison
Acting Merry by Martha Keyes*
Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
Falling by Christina Lauren
Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider
The Phantom of Drury Lane by Kate Bateman
The Promise of a Kiss by K.C. Bateman
The Dating Game by Jenny Proctor*
*no spice/closed-door romance

Have you read and enjoyed any of these as much as I did?
What topic did you come up with this week?

Welcome to another TTT! Today’s topic is: April Showers. There’s a lot of different directions to go with this topic: rainy day reads, books with rainstorm scenes, books that make you cry, books that give you happy tears, books to wash away a bad reading experience, books set in rainy places, books with rain/raindrops/umbrellas on the cover, blue book covers, etc. I decided to go with rainy book covers! You know how much I love a good book cover, so of course this is where my brain went!

Rain Delay by Allie Marie
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
It’s Raining Men by Julie Hammerle
Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja
Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar
A Fool for April by Ellie Hall
No One Aboard by Emy McGuire
Almost Home by Pam Jenoff
In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto
Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt

What topic did you decide to you for this week’s topic?
Can you think of any rainy covers I missed?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is: Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read (or Avoid) a Book. These words or phrases can be in the title, synopsis, marketing materials, reviews, author blurbs, etc. and immediately pique your interest or immediately make you say “NOPE”. I decided to pick ten of each today because WHY NOT!?

Makes Me Want to Read a Book

Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage
My favorite romance trope ever. Add this to a book and I am there.

Anything that alludes to a book’s level of cozy
I love cozy fantasies, but I also love books that are described as a warm cup of cocoa, worthy of being read under a blanket, taking place in small cafes or shops, low-stakes, relaxing, etc.

Stranded/lost/survival
Give me people who have been in a plane crash, have been shipwrecked, are lost in the wilderness, etc. and need to survive in the elements (and maybe fall in love with each other) and I’m excited.

Snowed in
I love a snowed in romance.

Atmospheric/Spooky
Spooky season is one of my favorite reading times because I love slightly chilly, spine-tingling reads that don’t keep me up all night in terror but give me that slight anxiety when I hear my cat run down the hall.

Dragons
I really love dragons.

Pirates
One of my first loves was a pirate hero in a romance novel, and I have loved pirate romances ever since.

Italy (but any country abroad, pretty much)
I love armchair traveling! Italy, Paris, Ireland, and Scotland are my favorites but I’m up for anywhere that’s not here!

Espionage/Spies
So exciting!

Christmas
Holiday romances give me so much joy.

Makes Me Want to Avoid a Book

Surprise pregnancy/baby
I just cannot.

Enemies to lovers
I have a very hard time watching a couple bicker and fight for the bulk of a story.

Any mention of a beloved pet
Unless I know FOR SURE that that pet survives the book with no harm or danger. I’ve been traumatized by books in the past, so it’s sad I have had to become so scared of books that mention animals in the synopsis. But that’s what I have to do to protect my mental health. Otherwise I will be anxious for the entire book.

Demons
I’m not going there!

Angels
I never like angel characters. Angels are never portrayed the way I want them to be.

“For fans of Nicholas Sparks”
His books are never happy! And people seem to think he writes romance, but his books are not romances!

Heart-wrenching
Again, I want to be happy!

Alpha/Pack

“Why Choose” Romance
Just not for me!

Mafia

What buzzwords or phrases make you want to read or avoid a book?
Do we have any in common?
Any books you’d like to recommend based on my first ten picks?