October 2023 TBR

NetGalley:


Indie Authors:


Reading Challenges:

Buzzword Reading Challenge 2023 (magic-related words: magic in the title or related words. Example: Witch, Charm, Conjure, Spell…etc.)

2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge (a book with a double or triple number in the title: Any number between 10 and 999 count)

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023 (a star)

The StoryGraph Reads the World (Trinidad and Tobago)
The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge (a travel memoir)
Beat the Backlist 2023 (set or inspired by the 1700s or 1800s)
Scavenger Hunt (a book you had to read in school that you want to reread)
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023 (a romance with a fat lead)
2023 TBR Toppler (A 5-star prediction)
2023 Monthly Themes (October—Thrilltober)
2023 Reading Challenge (A Green Book: either a green cover or green in the title)
2023 ABC Challenge (J)
Romanceopoly 2023! (romantic suspense set in a country that you don’t live in)
2023 TBR Prompts (a book about mental health)

Goodreads Monday: Escapement by Kristen Wolf

This is a weekly meme where anyone can choose and highlight a random book from their Goodreads TBR. This meme was formerly featured on LaurensPageTurners and was taken over by Budget Tales Book Blog.


Cristofer Vaughn’s star is poised to rise. Everyone expects the dashing and gifted composer to soar to the heights of musical genius—an expectation that terrifies the young artist as much as it drives him.

Walking into the fire with Cristofer is his housekeeper, Henri, a passionate and handsome young woman who takes pleasure in dressing as a man. Tending to her famed employer’s domestic needs, Henri crafts a carefree life of routine and diversion behind which she hides the truth of a dark and tragic past. Possessed herself of an extraordinary musical gift, she loyally steers her employer through the tempestuous trials of his artistic and romantic pursuits—while carefully guarding his most closely-held secret.

But Henri’s deceptively simple life is ripped apart when a wealthy and ruthless patron grants Cristofer a spectacular commission, then unwittingly hires Henri—whom he believes to be male—to give piano lessons to his alluring wife, Ava.

The tension intensifies as Cristofer struggles to create music of epic proportions while Henri’s heart is swept away by Ava and a love more powerful than any she has ever imagined possible.

The ensuing entanglements rise to a dangerous pitch when Cristofer’s patron catches wind of a perverse duplicity within his circle and quickly mobilizes his henchmen to target the threat. Soon the only hope for Cristofer and Henri’s survival depends on one publicly exposing the other’s hidden truth—an act that would defy the bonds of love and friendship and bring all their lives crashing down.

Will Henri sacrifice her heart to stop the oncoming tragedy? Or will she find a way to save both her friend—and her truest love?