TOP 12 of my best reads of 2023 📚
For this end of the year, I'm sharing with you my best reads of 2023 🥰
# 12: Seasons Volume 1, An Autumn to Forgive You by Morgane Moncomble
Themes: Contemporary romance, dark academia, investigation
Summary :
An aspiring lawyer, Camelia is passionate about unsolved crimes. That's good, Rory Cavendish, his former executioner, has just died mysteriously. The alleged culprit of the murder is him. Lou McAllister. Rory's best friend. The boy who humiliated her ten years ago and whom she has never forgotten since.
Camelia seizes this chance to solve her first investigation... and satisfy her thirst for revenge.
Lou has always been the black sheep of his family, but he never expected to end up in prison for murder. From one day to the next, he found himself abandoned by everyone he trusted. The only person who can get him out of there is her. Camelia O'Brien. Rory's first victim. The girl he hurt when he was younger and who has haunted his thoughts ever since.
Lou is ready to do anything to be forgiven for his sins... and start from scratch.
Find out more: An autumn to forgive yourself
#11: Never Again Colleen Hoover
Themes: Contemporary romance, domestic violence, love triangle
Summary :
It's those we love who can hurt us the most.
Lily Blossom Bloom did not have a very easy childhood, between a violent father and a mother whom she found submissive, but she was able to get by in life and is on the verge of realizing her life's dream. : open a flower shop in Boston. She has just met a neurosurgeon, Lyle, charming, ambitious, visibly as attracted to her as she is to him. Lily's path seems clear-cut. However, she still hesitates a little: it is not easy for her to embark on a sentimental affair, with parents like hers and Atlas, this young man she met as a teenager, left her with memories both wonderful and painful. Is Lily's path ultimately that simple? Are the most obvious choices the best?
A young woman's path to finding herself and breaking the cycle of violence.
Can love excuse everything?
Find out more: Never again
# 10: Angélique, Volume 1: Marquise of Angels by Anne Golon & Serge Golon
Themes: French history, French literature, historical romance
Summary :
Barely leaving the convent, Angélique learns that Baron de Sancé, her father, has promised her to the rich and disturbing Joffrey de Peyrac, Count of Toulouse, a lame and scarred man with a sulphurous reputation.
To save her family from poverty, the young girl has little choice. But how to live with this husband who scares her? Will a sumptuous palace, Joffrey's original character, his taste for science and the arts be enough to seduce her?
The independence of the Count of Peyrac provokes the resentment of the Church and of the king himself, victor of the Fronde which has just ravaged France. To what obscurantism, to what secret interests does the man that Angélique has learned to love risk being sacrificed?
Find out more: Angélique, Volume 1
#9: The Ace of Spades by Morgane Moncomble
Themes: Contemporary romance, bodyguard
Summary :
Child star, Daisy Coleman is the most fashionable singer of the moment. She has everything to be happy, except the one thing she has always wanted: Thomas Kalberg, her brother's best friend... and the only man incapable of loving her.
Thomas always ignored Daisy's advances, this young girl who followed him everywhere with her eyes. But here he is back after four years of absence, and everything has changed. By becoming her bodyguard, his only goal is to protect her at all costs. The hardest part, however, turns out to be keeping her distance... Because Daisy has become a woman, and she intends to prove it to him.
Sociopath or not, Thomas Kalberg will fall in love with her. She makes a promise to herself.
Find out more: The Ace of Spades
#8: A Palace of Thorns and Roses, Volume 3: A Palace of Ashes and Ruins by Sarah J. Maas
Themes: Romantasy, fae
Summary (volume 1):
While hunting in the snowy woods, Feyre only wanted to feed her family. But she did the irreparable thing by killing a Fae, and here she is taken by force to Prythian, kingdom of the immortals.
There, however, his prison is a magnificent palace and his jailer is not a monster. Tamlin, a Fae High Lord, treats her like a princess.
And what is this evil that is gnawing at the kingdom and risks spreading to that of mortals?
Obviously, Feyre is not a simple prisoner. But how could a young human girl of such modest origins come to the aid of such powerful lords?
His freedom, in any case, seems to be at this price.
Find out more: A palace of ashes and ruins
#7: Tales of Verania, Volume 3: Secrets of Magic by TJ Klune
Themes: Fantasy, MM romance, dragon, magician
Summary (volume 1):
Once upon a time, in an alley in the slums of Lockes Town, a rather lonely young man named Sam Haversford accidentally turned a group of teenage goons to stone.
Of course, this attracts the attention of a higher power and Sam is torn from the only world he knows to become the apprentice of the Witch King, Morgan of Shadows.
At fourteen, Sam enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning him the nickname Sam of Wilds.
At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle. Sir Ryan Foxheart, the most beautiful dream imaginable.
Naturally, everything falls apart over the years when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, when Sam can't control his magic, when a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the king sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan's boyfriend, while Sam falls deeper and deeper in love with someone he can never have.
Find out more: The Tales of Verania, Volume 3
#6: Crescent City, Volume 1: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Themes: Fantasy, romance, angel, fae
Summary :
Related by blood.
Tempted by desire.
Unchained by destiny.
Bryce, a young half-fae, half-human woman, has the perfect life: she works during the day at an antiques dealer selling magical artifacts and parties all night with her friends savoring every pleasure that has to offer. Lunathion – better known as Crescent City. But one day, a terrible murder will shake the foundations of the city, as well as Bryce's world.
Two years later, her work seems like a dead end and she plunges into oblivion by scouring the most famous clubs. But when the murderer strikes again, Bryce finds herself drawn into the investigation and must team up with Hunt, a mysterious fallen angel whose dark past haunts her every step. The latter is the personal assassin of the archangels and he must protect the young woman, even if he has little interest in her.
In search of the truth, Bryce and Hunt will get to know each other and explore the underbelly of the city to the darkest levels of Anfer where things that have slept for millennia awaken...
Find out more: Crescent City, Volume 1
#5: Myrina Holmes, Volume 1: Demons and Wonders by Anna Triss
Themes: Romantasy, demon, investigation
Summary :
I am Myrina Holmes, the best Tracker in Infernum, responsible for neutralizing supernatural creatures who flout our laws.
In my world, demons are legion! Fourteen to be precise: seven dedicated to the cardinal virtues and seven dominated by the deadly sins.
A marginal hybrid, I don't belong to either camp, which suits me. I love my job and my life on Earth when I'm not on a mission. Except of course when mysterious corpses literally fall from the sky to torture my brain and my succubus half-sister starts dating the most execrable Hybresblood there is, Kelen Wills.
A powerful sinner, commander-in-chief of an elite army, he does not embody ONE capital sin, no: he has all seven of them! With a predilection for lust, anger, pride and gluttony, but keep that detail to yourself...
In short, the odious character decided to seduce me, probably because I am the only woman to resist his dubious charms.
This Hybresang can still go to hell, because I have other midnight demons to whip.
T W.
Find out more: Myrina Holmes, Volume 1
#4: The Apothecary's Notebooks (novel), Volume 1 by Hyuga Natsu & Touko Shino
Themes: Imperial China, conspiracy, poison
Summary :
A young apothecary facing the mysteries of imperial power...
At seventeen, Mao Mao leads a dangerous life. Trained from a young age by an apothecary from the capital's slums, she found herself kidnapped and sold as a servant in the women's quarters of the imperial palace. To escape death in this fortress cut off from the outside world where plots and machinations follow one another, the young girl must hide her knowledge – in short, blend in with the crowd.
But when the suspicious deaths of newborn princes set the court in turmoil, Mao Mao's passion for his art took over. Through observation, she discovers the pot of roses... and finds herself spotted by Jinshi, a mysterious high official with a strange beauty. Guessing her talents, he promoted her to personal taster of one of the emperor's favorites. However, in the middle of this nest of snakes, the slightest misstep could be fatal to the young girl...
Discover the hidden face of the holy of holies of the imperial city! In this world of women governed by men, Mao Mao will need all her sagacity and all her knowledge to unravel the court intrigues... A phenomenal bookstore success in Japan soon adapted for the small screen, this novel allows us to discover a fascinating period of history and an incredibly endearing heroine.
Find out more: The apothecary's notebooks, Volume 1
#3: A Palace of Thorns and Roses, Volume 4: A Palace of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Themes: Romantasy, fae, power
Find out more: A palace of silver flames
#2: The Saga of Auren, Volume 2 & 3 by Raven Kennedy
Themes: Romantasy, myth revisited, fae
Summary (volume 1):
When New Romance takes hold of the myth of King Midas
“Gold. Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built in the heart of the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold. Even me. » At 15, Auren escaped a dark fate by being taken in by King Midas, who turns everything he touches into gold. For ten years, she has felt pampered and protected from the dangers inside her golden cage. And above all, she devotes limitless love to King Midas. Until war threatens the Kingdom of Highbell. To ensure victory, Midas decides to make a deal at Auren's expense. Suddenly, Auren's certainties are shattered. His trust is broken, his love questioned. What if everything she thought she knew about Midas turned out to be wrong?
TW.
Find out more: Auren's Saga, Volume 2 & Auren's Saga, Volume 3
#1: The Color of Lies, Volume 1 by Erin Beaty
Themes: Romantasy, marriage, conspiracy, espionage
Summary :
In Demora, it is the matchmakers who make and break unions, and thus shape the romantic and political landscape of the kingdom. Sage Fowler, sixteen years old, is not the ideal match: undisciplined and rebellious, she is also a bastard. However, his uncle manages to get him an appointment with one of the most famous matchmakers in the country – his only chance to find his place in good society. But a big surprise awaits him: his frankness and quick wit do not get him a beautiful marriage... but on the contrary an apprenticeship with the matchmaker.
But war threatens. It is therefore escorted by a troop of seasoned soldiers that Sage will have to cross the country in the company of the most beautiful parties in the region to reach the capital and attend the most anticipated matrimonial event of the last five years. But on the way, one of the soldiers offers to help the army by spying on its behalf...
Find out more: The color of lies, Volume 1
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The photos were taken with the Kawaii Journal reading notebook .
Also find my YouTube video on the same subject 👇
And I wish you all a very happy holiday season 🎇!