#TBR #ToBeRead #ReadingList
Welcome to 2024! It’s a new year and I’m embracing new chapters of new books. I spent a lot of time reading last year, challenging myself to reach a pretty large goal of 150 books. I exceeded it by reading 200 books, but something I learned along the way is that I prefer quality over quantity. I have joined ARC and street teams for several of my favorite authors, so you’ll be seeing all of their works this year.
Check out what I’ll be featuring for January and make a plan to add your favorites to your To Be Read List!
January 9th | Waiting to Play – Evey Lyon
Vaughn Madden is hockey’s hotshot who moves to a small town, only to learn that Isla Chase has kept a nine-month secret from him.
It was one night trapped with a hockey god due to a hurricane. We shared one bed too. I also ignored the little fact that Vaughn has always been my brother’s rival on the ice. And when the storm cleared, so did Vaughn. Months later, he shows up in my hospital room in Lake Spark where it only takes one look at me and the man is counting back in his head, or maybe it’s my face that explains it all.
He’s going to be a dad. And I didn’t tell him.
His eyes inform me that he won’t let me off easy. He wants answers to why I kept this a secret—and he quite possibly needs a scotch for his nerves too. Vaughn is soon adamant that he isn’t going anywhere, especially as he is the new General Manager of our hockey team that trains in town. He also has a list of demands that I owe him due to my secret keeping. Hence, why I move into his house. I’m not sure if developing feelings for a man with a wicked smirk is good for me or our child, but he’s becoming more than my baby daddy. And it turns out that Vaughn’s head has been working overtime, because the family image that I’ve dreamed about is the game that Vaughn seems to have been waiting to play…
Vaughn and Isla bring you a heartwarming and steamy secret- and accidental-baby romance in forced proximity setting. Waiting to Play can be read as a complete standalone and is the third book in the interconnected Lake Spark Off-Season series which is part of the Lake Spark world. For lovers of small-town romance with a touch of hockey.
January 12th | The Grump’s Guide to Chaos – Valerie Pepper
She’s chaos and sunshine. He’s order and grumpiness. What could possibly go wrong?
When Tori Welch upends her career and comes home for a reset, she’s forced to stay at the local B&B instead of her mom’s house. And that would be fine, except her only regret in life happens to be the innkeeper.
Will Joseph likes order and rules. It’s what’s made him such a good firefighter all these years, and what’s helped make the B&B he runs with his brother thrive. In fact, the only person who ever turned his orderly world upside down left town twenty years ago.
Except now she’s back, staying in his B&B and suggesting they enjoy some no-strings-attached fun. When she agrees to the rules he puts in place to make it happen, he figures he’s safe.
Ha.
January 11th | Hotel King – Claire Marti
He’s her grumpy boss. She’s his nemesis. How thin is the line between love/hate?
Entrepreneur Ryan Michaels never loses. Well, except that time, a few years ago when he lost a promotion to spoiled rich girl, Charlotte “Charlie” Ray. Now he’s forced to hire his nemesis to secure funding to develop a string of luxury boutique hotels. Not only does she not fit his corporate vision, but she’s too damn attractive for her own good. And his.
Working as VP of Sales and Marketing for a luxury hotel is Charlie’s dream job. Too bad her boss is Ryan Michaels, the same pompous stick-in-the-mud that she remembers. If he tells her that this project is his legacy one more time, she might scream. Or maybe kissing him will get him to shut up?
Because that’s the other thing. The sizzling attraction between Ryan and Charlie is impossible to ignore. But everyone knows not to mix business and pleasure. Don’t they?
January 12th | Broadcast Blues – R.G. Belsky
Wendy Kyle took secrets to her grave— now, Clare Carlson is digging them up
New York City has no shortage of crime, making for a busy schedule for TV newswoman Clare Carlson. But not all crimes are created equal, and when an explosive planted in a car detonates and kills a woman, Clare knows it’ll be a huge story for her.
But it’s not only about the story—Clare also wants justice for the victim, Wendy Kyle. Wendy had sparked controversy as an NYPD officer, ultimately getting kicked off the force after making sexual harassment allegations and getting into a physical altercation with her boss. Then, she started a private investigations business, catering to women who suspected their husbands of cheating. Undoubtedly, Wendy had angered many people with her work, so the list of her suspected murderers is seemingly endless.
Despite the daunting investigation, Clare dives in headfirst. As she digs deeper, she attracts the attention of many rich and powerful people who will stop at nothing to keep her from breaking the truth about the death of Wendy Kyle—and exposing their personal secrets that Wendy took to her grave.
January 19th | Wine Country King – Claire Marti
Her big brother’s best friend. Only one bed. Will one hot kiss change everything?
Jack Cassidy heads the team opening the next in an exclusive line of boutique hotels, this one in wine country. Working with his best friend’s sister should make it easier, tapping into her expertise about the area and its wines. The pair have been friends for years, so sharing an apartment shouldn’t pose any issues… except for the simmering heat building between them.
Campbell Taylor’s one of only a handful of women to battle the all-boys club and go for the title of Master Sommelier. She didn’t rise to her position by being a pushover, but living and working with her brother’s best friend – the man she’s secretly crushed on for years – might prove to be her greatest challenge. How can she get him to see her as more than Cameron’s little sister? And will their undeniable attraction derail her dreams?
January 23rd | Stay Present – Kaylee Ryan
Ryder
Two years of silence and no goodbye—she slipped away and through my fingers, leaving me with nothing but questions… and a heavy heart from missing her.
I know what we had was real, that our love was once in a lifetime.
Now she’s back from her Parisian fashion internship, and I’m ready for answers, desperate to understand why she couldn’t just stay.
Jordyn
When I walked away, it was to protect him. Yet, all he knows, all he cares about, is that I left. Coming home is a bittersweet journey, each step heavier than the last.
While I’m no longer half a world away, the obstacles in front of us make it feel like we’ve never been farther apart.
I want to give him the answers he so desperately craves, and this time, I’ll get to say goodbye. However, what I didn’t plan on was Ryder’s fight. He’s not going to let me go so easily this time.
January 25th | The January Corpse – Neil Albert
Dave Garrett is a disbarred lawyer eking out a living in Philadelphia as a private eye. At noon on Friday a law school classmate offers him what looks like a hopeless investigation. Seven years before, a man named Dan Wilson disappeared. His car was found abandoned with with bullet holes and blood, but no body. A hearing is scheduled for Monday on whether Wilson should be declared legally dead. The police have been stumped for seven years. Organized crime warned off the first investigator to look into the case. Over the course of the weekend, the case takes Dave from Center City to the coal regions and back, where the story comes to what the critics called “a startling and satisfying conclusion.”
Nominated as a Best First Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America when it first appeared in 1990 and the first of a series of twelve.
January 25th | Monterey King – Claire Marti
A grumpy scarred veteran. A sunny wedding planner. A second chance at love?
When former Army Major Cameron Taylor comes home a hero from his deployment in the Middle East his scars run deep – both physically and emotionally. But he’s starting over, running a luxury hotel with his best friends. And Lucy Goodwin, apparently…his high school sweetheart who he’s never quite managed to forget.
There’s only one reason Lucy’s been engaged – and walked away – three times and now he’s standing right in front of her. Cameron Taylor is the man she’s never stopped loving, even when he left her “for her own good” all those years ago. There was nothing good about it, that’s for sure. Just like there’d be nothing good about trying to break down Cameron’s walls now. But that doesn’t mean she’s not tempted to try…
January 31st | Strictly Not Yours – Carrie Elks
I thought I knew everything about my rich, neat-freak doctor of a boss. Until I walked into a fight club and our eyes clashed across the ring…
Holden Salinger is a pediatric oncologist and for the last two years I’ve been cleaning his swanky New York apartment.
I know every intimate detail about him, from his overly large shoe size to his toothpaste tube rolling obsession.
But he doesn’t even know I exist. The man couldn’t pick me out in a police lineup.
Until I get a second job working at a local bar, only to discover there’s a secret back room. One with a boxing ring right in the center. And when I see him vault into it, muscles rippling, I realize he’s not the man I thought he was.
From the moment our gazes clash, the chemistry between us is sizzling. And when he becomes my unexpected savior, my heart takes a tumble I’m not expecting.
Falling for him is such a bad idea. If he finds out who I really am, he’d never want to touch me.
So let’s not tell him, okay?
Cinderella meets Fight Club in this gripping new romance from Carrie Elks. Find out why readers are falling for the Salinger Brothers today…
