Top Ten Tuesday ★ 2

Look! I made a pretty lilac graphic for this and it is gorgeous!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to The Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

How it works:

I assign each Tuesday a topic and then post my top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join me and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information. You’ll find the schedule of upcoming TTT topics below so you can plan ahead. I’ll post a Linky here on the blog each week so you can link up your post (if you want). If you don’t have a blog, post your picks in the comment section below! Have tons of fun talking books and getting to know your fellow bloggers!

NOTE: If a weekly topic is listed as a “freebie”, you are invited to come up with your own topic. Sometimes I will give your topic a theme, such as “love”, a season, or an upcoming holiday. That just means that you can come up with any topic you want that fits under that umbrella.

 - Jana of The Artsy Reader Girl

Books on My Spring 2019 TBR List

Welcome to my second foray into the book meme that is Top Ten Tuesday! This week's topic is Books on My Spring 2019 TBR List. I'm not working off of a seasonal schedule. My system consists of sticky notes in my planner so I can change my mind on a whim. And I do, a lot. But, I'm going to give you a look at my planner's TBR list. It's basically my 2019 TBR Definite Reading List. Also, when I saw the prompt for this week, I actually had to ask Cortana if it was Spring already. Shockingly, it's true. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring!

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

Tidbit

I'm trying to conquer my fears of books not holding up to my high expectations, I've been in love with The Kiss Quotient for a very long time. A romance where the female protagonist is an aspie and the author is as well? And there is Asian representation in the book because the author is Vietnamese? Y'all. I actually cried when I heard about this book. There are books with main characters like me and they make me so happy that I cry! So, yes, I own a copy, but I'm terrified it isn't as amazing as I think it is. (There should be a name for this, if there is and you know it, let me know) But, I am working on it by putting this down in my planner!

City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

Five hundred years ago, magi created a weapon they couldn’t control. An infestation that ate magic—and anything else it came into contact with. Enemies and allies were equally filling.

Only an elite team of non-magical humans, known as sweepers, can defuse and dispose of infestations before they spread. Most die before they finish training.

Laura, a new team member, has stayed alive longer than most. Now, she’s the last—and only—sweeper standing between the city and a massive infestation.

Tidbit

I stumbled across this when I was going through one of my insomnia periods and the cover just kills me. Then, I won a pick-your-book giveaway on Twitter and look what's sitting on my shelf and it is just as gorgeous in person, y'all!

Fan the Flames by Katie Ruggle

In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder...

As a Motorcycle Club member and firefighter, Ian Walsh is used to riding the line between the good guys and the bad. He may owe the Club his life, but his heart rests with his fire station brothers...and with the girl he's loved since they were kids, Rory Sorenson. Ian would do anything for Rory. He'd die for her. Kill for her. Defend her to his last breath-and he may just have to.

Every con in the Rockies knows Rory is the go-to girl for less-than-legal firearms, and for the past few years, she's managed to keep the peace between dangerous factions by remaining strictly neutral. But when she defends herself against a brutal attack, Rory finds herself catapulted into the center of a Motorcycle Club war-with only Ian standing between her and a threat greater than either of them could have imagined.

Tidbit

Did y'all think I stopped with the Katie Ruggle love? No! I just needed a break because I was wanting to move to the Rocky Mountains and find myself a life out there too! I'm only, like, 40% kidding.

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets

From the national bestselling author of Breaking Wild, here is a riveting and powerful thriller about a woman whose greatest threat could be the man she loves.…

Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. After they’re separated from each other on another assignment, Marian is shattered to learn of Tate’s tragic death. Worse still is the aftermath in which Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life, and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women.

Hoping to clear Tate’s name, Marian reaches out to a retired forensic profiler who’s haunted by the open cases. But as Marian relives her relationship with Tate and circles ever closer to the truth, evil stalks her every move.…

Tidbit

I won an ARC of The Last Woman in the Forest from a Bookish giveaway and as you're reading this, I'm scheduled to be reading it but who knows what I'm actually reading given what's going on. But I'm really looking forward to reading The Last Woman in the Forest. It sounds like a book that would have been right up my alley before I got stuck in a book rut a few years ago. Let's wait and see!

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend...

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other... 

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

Tidbit

The Wedding Date was actually one of my very first requests to read as an official blogger and reviewer and I was approved for it. But it was via Penguin First Reads and I was told that my kindle app would read a PDF. It didn't. It showed it and it let you zoom in on it and it was not me-friendly. So I couldn't read it. BUT! I swore I would. And I've got a copy of the book and here I am scheduling it and everything.

Tiger Eye by Marjorie M Liu

He looks out of place in Dela Reese's Beijing hotel room- exotic and poignant, some mythic, tragic hero of an epic tale. With his feline yellow eyes, he's like nothing from her world. Yet Dela has danced through the echo of his soul and knows this warrior will obey her every command.

Hari has been used and abused for millennia. But he sees, upon his release from the riddle box, that this new mistress is different. There is a hidden power in Dela's eyes- and with her, he may regain all that was lost to him. Where once he savaged, now he must protect; where once he only knew hatred, now he must embrace love. Dela is the key. For Dela, he will risk all.

Tidbit

Okay, so I first stumbled across this series when I was ummm 16 or so in a used bookstore and I had to buy it because my last name is actually Liu too and Margaret and Marjorie are similar and it was just really funny to me. So I bought and loved these books, but I haven't read them since I was 19. I think I'm due for a reread, don't you?

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

Here is what happens when your mother dies.

It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.

That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone.

Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark.

Tidbit
I recently got news that I'll be receiving a review copy in the post so I'm going to be adding this darling into my schedule somewhere along the way. Somewhere.

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep

Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin series—an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance.

In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.

Tidbit
I received this as a review copy, read it, got really distracted by being shoved in an MRI tube. I'm rereading and reviewing, so be on the look out for that one!

The Start of Something Good by Jennifer Probst

An enriching story of family ties, broken hearts, and second chances from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

When Ethan Bishop returns to the Hudson Valley, his body and spirit are a little worse for wear. As a former Special Forces paratrooper, he saw his fair share of conflict, and he came home with wounds, inside and out. At his sisters’ B & B and farm, he can keep all his pain at a safe distance. But quiet time isn’t easy when a fiery woman explodes into his life…

It’s business—not pleasure—that brings Manhattan PR agent Mia Thrush reluctantly to the farm. Tightly wound and quick tempered, Mia clashes immediately with the brooding Ethan. Everything about him is irritating—from his lean muscles and piercing blue eyes to his scent of sweat and musk.

But as the summer unfolds and temperatures rise, Ethan and Mia discover how much they have in common: their guarded histories, an uncontrollable desire, and a passion for the future that could heal two broken hearts. But will their pasts threaten their fragile chance at a brand-new future?

Tidbit

I actually signed up for the release tour of the third book in this series and didn't realise it wasn't a standalone. So I'm reading the series! Y'all can tag along for the ride.

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick

A librarian's discovery of a mysterious book sparks the journey of a lifetime in the delightful new novel from the international bestselling author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper.

Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people--though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she's invisible.

All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend--her grandmother Zelda--who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda's past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.

Filled with Phaedra Patrick's signature charm and vivid characters, The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending.

Tidbit
I'm attempting to step outside the box with my books. This looks like something I'd enjoy, so I requested it and lookit, I got it. And I also found out the test results on Zeus at the same time. Things backslide. But it's out next week and I'm reading and buying it. And review will be coming! Look at me, getting things done!

Okay, y'all. I'm off. This was fun and laborious, I hope y'all enjoyed a peek at my schedule. How do y'all say 'schedule'? I say shed-yule, but my family says 'sked-jule'. I don't know why I'm weird, but I am.

Until next time, have a happily ever after!