Top 10 books on my Spring 2022 TBR | Top Ten Tuesday

Cinderella is married to The Prince, and the Evil Stepsisters are banished to a pocket dimension for their punishment and rehabilitation. It’s Happily Ever After.

Or is it?

Jane and Charlie have been imprisoned for two years now, serving a sentence especially chosen by their stepsister as justice for her sufferings. It seems that they’re the only two people in the world besides Ellen who know that Ellen’s “sufferings” were a carefully manipulative campaign to win a prince and a crown; the two stepsisters merely collateral damage.

But now, trouble is brewing at the castle: death threats, torn gowns, ruined books.

Is Ellen up to her old tricks, or is someone really trying to kill her? And when even their closest friends didn’t believe them innocent the first time, can Jane and Charlie escape the blame a second time if Ellen does die?

Ghosts, grifters…and a missing heir in 1890s Europe.

It’s easier to conduct a séance when the dead aren’t trying to contact you.

As Molly Dark knows all too well, the problem with being able to see ghosts is that they never tell you what you wish to know.

For instance, how a proper young lady like Miss Dark is supposed to support an impoverished family after her father has died a ruined man.

Or how she is going to impersonate a missing princess long enough to steal a fortune out from under the collective noses of a whole family of royal monsters.

Or exactly why the charming imposter claims to be none other than Grand Duke Vasily Nikolaevich, when he certainly isn’t a prince…or a vampire.

Alas, the dead normally have something far more unsettling to impart…

Return to the Bête Epoque, an 1890s Europe ruled by monsters, in Miss Dark’s Apparitions! Leverage meets The Parasol Protectorate in this whimsical historical fantasy caper. Be the first to join Miss Dark in the spooky mansions of 1890s Europe – preorder Tall & Dark today!

What would you do if the world’s biggest K-pop star asked you to prom? Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon, this hilarious and heartfelt novel brings the glamour and drama of the K-pop world straight to high school.

Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed. Whether by her more successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, or her more outgoing best friend, everyone except Elena seems to know exactly who they are and what they want. But she is certain about one thing – she has no interest in going to prom. While the rest of the school is giddy over corsages and dresses, Elena would rather spend her time working to save the local community center, the one place that’s always made her feel like she belonged.

So when international K-pop superstar Robbie Choi shows up at her house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever. Because the one person who always accepted Elena as she is? Her childhood best friend, Robbie Choi. And the one thing she maybe, possibly, secretly wants more than anything? For the two of them to keep the promise they made each other as kids: to go to prom together. But that was seven years ago, and with this new K-pop persona, pink hair, and stylish clothes, Robbie is nothing like the sweet, goofy boy she remembers. The boy she shared all her secrets with. The boy she used to love.

Besides, prom with a guy who comes with hordes of screaming fans, online haters, and relentless paparazzi is the last thing Elena wants – even if she can’t stop thinking about Robbie’s smile…right?

Are you afraid of the bogeyman?

Eighteen-year-old Sparrow can’t remember a time when she wasn’t. And neither can her mother—or the trolls, imps, gnomes, and faeries who all live in the Glade and call it home. Though Sparrow’s weak heart keeps her wheelchair bound, she and her mother have dedicated their lives to protecting the Glade, especially from the worst bogeyman of them all: the skin-stealing, poison-ingesting witch called Black Annis.

But one night, Sparrow makes a terrible mistake, and everything she once held dear is taken from her. The Glade is no longer a sanctuary, and the only way Sparrow can save her mother and her friends is to journey out into a monster-ridden world that wasn’t made for her or her wheelchair. Joined by her half-goblin friend, Rush, Sparrow will have to confront her fears before the ones they love are lost forever.

A Daughter of the Trolls will appeal to fans of European folklore and the darker Grimm Brother’s fairytales. This is a spine-tingling young adult fantasy adventure about evil witches, monsters, and the imperfect heroes who face them all. You’ll join Sparrow and her faerie friends on a life changing journey where they face not only their outer demons, but their inner ones as well.

Every surface of the land creeps with monsters.

Intense. Delightful. Unrelenting. A no-nonsense heroine, a sword of questionable origin, and a plot that sinks its claws in and does not let go. Grab a reading buddy and buckle in. This is one hell of a ride.” – Melissa Wright, Bestselling YA Fantasy Author

I escaped from the first wave of monsters with a magic sword, a kidnapped duke, and a big chip on my shoulder.
It’s not enough for me to run. Not when this tide threatens to sweep over the entire world.
I’m the only one who can warn people of what’s coming. I’m the only one who knows the truth. And I’m the only one who holds a sword able to fight against the tide of plague and monsters … or am I?

Author’s Note: This is dark, intense, romantic (not steamy), unrelenting and contains cliffhangers because all the best stories do. Read at your own risk.

To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood…

Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, seventeen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father’s approval.

But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon’s closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher’s innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

In her hunt for the truth, she encounters Eojin, a young police inspector also searching for the killer. When evidence begins to point to the Crown Prince himself as the murderer, Hyeon and Eojin must work together to search the darkest corners of the palace to uncover the deadly secrets behind the bloodshed.

“Lauren Blackwood’s can’t-miss debut is a magical, Ethiopian-inspired remix of Jane Eyre.” – Harper’s Bazaar

What the heart desires, the house destroys…

Andromeda is a debtera―an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she could earn her license. Now her only hope of steady work is to find a Patron―a rich, well-connected individual who will vouch for her abilities.

When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, she takes the job without question. Never mind that he’s rude and demanding and eccentric, that the contract comes with a number of outlandish rules… and that almost a dozen debtera had quit before her. If Andromeda wants to earn a living, she has no choice.

But she quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, the reason every debtera before her quit. But leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option because―heaven help her―she’s fallen for him.

Stunningly romantic, Lauren Blackwood’s heartstopping debut, Within These Wicked Walls, ushers in an exciting new fantasy voice.

“An intricate magic system, a grimly humorous Black heroine, AND a heart-thumping romance? This book leaves nothing wanting.” – Jordan Ifueko, New York Times bestselling author of Raybearer