Earl Grey Books

Now that we’re getting closer and closer to the end of the year, I thought it would be a good time to look back at some of the new releases I was most excited for this year to see what I’d read, what I’d lost interest in and what I was still excited for. So today we’re going to do exactly that, and we’ll jump in right away.

Lost Interest

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

I borrowed a copy of this from the library earlier this year but ended up returning it unread. I’d been so excited for it, but once I actually had it in my hands I just wasn’t interested in it anymore.

Love Somebody by Rachel Roasek / Yonder by Jabari Asim

I’ve not thought about either of these books since about January. At the time of their releases, they weren’t available at my library and I haven’t heard anyone talk about them since so they just completely dropped off my radar.

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

This is a clean historical romance and that’s just not my jam. HR is reasonably tame with smut (considered to fantasy romance or something), but I just get a little bored if all the steamy stuff takes place off page.

The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe

I also borrowed and returned this one to the library unread. I lost basically all interest in reading Australian literary fiction/short stories after last year, but I thought if anyone could still suck me in it’d be Mirandi Riwoe but not this time. Maybe I’d pick it up again down the road, but who knows.

Still to Read

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White/The Kindred by Aleicha Dow

I considered putting these two in the lost interest section, but when I thought about it, I’d still consider reading them if I got the chance. Right now, neither of them are available in my library and they aren’t ones I think I want to buy so they’re just going to get shelved on that long list of ‘maybe one day’.

A Duke for Diana by Sabrina Jeffries

I probably should’ve known that I wouldn’t get around to this one, considering that I’m reading Sabrina Jeffries’ books in an order and this is way, way down the list. I’ll definitely pick this one up at some point, but I think it’s probably another year or two down the track—maybe this series will even be finished by then.

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

I really thought I’d get to this one but it just didn’t end up happening. Every April/May, I participate in my friend Helen’s Eurovisionathon, which is a readathon where we read books from the different countries competing in Eurovision that year. This one in Romania, but I ended up having something already for this year so this will probably end up being my pick for 2023.

A Symphony of Savage Hearts by Lana Pecherczyk

I definitely thought I’d be getting around to this one too, but I found so many other indie fantasy romances this year that I fell behind on this series. I still absolutely love it—it’s one of my favourites for sure, but I have a few others I want to try before getting to this one. I’m on book three right now, and this is book six so I definitely have a bit to catch up on. The plan is to read book three in December and move onto the others in 2023.

Silverborn by Jessica Townsend

Alright, this one is not my fault. I believe it was meant to be published around October this year, but it ended up being pushed back a whole year. Admittedly I haven’t read book three yet, but I remember that one had also been pushed back originally so holding off on reading it seemed like a good idea and I guess I was right.

Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

I thought I’d pick this one up immediately, but I read a lot of Katee Robert this year and I needed some time to catch up on other things. I’m still planning to finish off the Wicked Villains series, which I have the last two books to go on, before swinging back around to this series. I’m hoping to do that in December so I can get back to this series in 2023 as well.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

I’m currently waiting for my hold of this one to come into the library, but I’m still 8th on the hold list so I’m not sure I’ll even get it before the end of the year. I’m still excited for this so whenever I get it, I’ll be excited to have it.

Everything For You by Chloe Liese

My lovely friend Mel sent me this one for my birthday in October, so it’s waiting for me as soon as I read the previous book in this series. I’m considering holding off on this to read Chloe Liese’s newest release (and first traditionally published title), and then going back to this series in early 2023 but we’ll see.

A Relentless Rake by Anna Harrington

I really haven’t been reading historical romance much this year so I’d honestly kind of forgotten about this one. I think I’ll end up trying to borrow this from my library or as an eBook because I’m just not sure whether I want a physical copy but this definitely isn’t high up on my list of priorities.

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

I actually read about half of this as a library eBook, but then I got sick and didn’t finish it before it was returned. I was really enjoying it, but I don’t foresee myself having time to read it before the end of the year between everything else, but I’ll try and get back to it in the new year.

In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet

I had a similar thing happen with this one, but I had a physical copy out from the library that had to be returned. I do really want to come back to this, but again it’ll be in the new year.

Read

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

I read this one at the end of September and actually kind of hated it. I had pretty high hopes for it because it’d gotten some amazing reviews, but it didn’t work for me at all.

Only A Monster by Vanessa Len

This was definitely my first read from this list and I absolutely loved it. I just had a lot of fun reading this and I’m excited to see this series continue next year.

The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

This is a very recent read—I finished it midway through this month but I held off sharing my review as this was a part of my book club. That review will be out early next month, but I did really, really enjoy this.

Lore Olympus, Volume 2 by Rachel Smythe

I read this one back in July, and absolutely loved just like the first one. I know volume three is already out as well, but I haven’t gotten around to picking that one up yet and again, that’ll probably be something for the new year.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Last but not least, I read this one just last week and absolutely loved it. I talked about this in the review I did for it, but I think I enjoyed this even more than The Love Hypothesis which I really loved early this year. I cannot wait for Hazelwood’s next book which is out next year.

And that’s all of them. I’m actually pretty impressed with how many of these I did actually read. Honestly, when I make lists like this, especially ones on the longer side, I’m always amazed if I get through anything so five isn’t bad at all.

But what about you? What books were you anticipating this year and how many did you get to?