Hello Readers! Sharing my August TBR seems a bit redundant since I recently shared My Trope-ical Readathon TBR, which spans the month of August. BUT there is one new book I’ve added since I made that post, and it’s unlikely that I’ll get through all the books on my readathon. So today I’ll be sharing my top priority books for the month in my August TBR.

Here’s my must-reads for the month!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I’d started reading this prequel to The Hunger Games series immediately after finishing my re-read of the series in July, but then paused my reading when I realized it would fit a prompt on my Trope-ical Readathon. Current reads are allowed as long as they are under 50% read.

Synopsis:

Ambition will fuel him.
Competition will drive him.
But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined—every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Goodreads

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Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

I’ve been on the waitlist for this Christina Lauren backlist on Libby and it finally became available. I’m reading this one to fulfill a very specific advanced prompt on my Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that started out as fan fiction. I’m currently reading this one—and I almost DNFed it—but I pushed through trusting one of my favorite writing duos. I have nothing against erotica, but it’s the boss/employee relationship that makes me uncomfortable. They seem to be delivering on a backstory to make up for that shocking first chapter, though.

Synopsis:

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.
 
Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office. 

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.

Originally only available online as The Office by tby789 — and garnering over 2 million reads on fanfiction sites — Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

Goodreads

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Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

This is my brand new addition to my TBR. I’d been invited to read this one, but I didn’t think I’d have time for it. I finally decided to squeeze it in after seeing it everywhere. And it’s just been picked up to be adapted, as well!

Synopsis:

The Martian meets 127 Hours in this “powerfully humane” (Owen King, New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.

Goodreads
Expected August 8, 2023

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My Billionaire Grump by Camilla Isley

My next two are free novellas I picked up via the author, which will be great for ticking off prompts quickly on my readathon.

Synopsis:

When Lucy planned a summer trip to Florence, she didn’t expect to have to go single. Or for the hotel manager to cheat her out of her river-view room. And especially not for a broody, handsome stranger to offer to swap rooms with her.

Offer is a euphemism. The mysterious George Emerson sort of brutalizes her into accepting the exchange. His gesture is as kind as the tone in which he poses it is barbaric, leaving Lucy rightfully confused.

What is it about this man that makes her heart race while simultaneously making her want to punch him in the face?

Only an unforgettable vacation under the Tuscan sun will unravel Lucy’s true feelings.

An enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine rom-com.

Goodreads

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Love or Hate by Camilla Isley

Another novella I picked up for free, which is available on the author’s website, and will quickly check-off a book for my readathon. From what I understand, this is also the sequel to My Billionaire Grump.

Synopsis:

When Anita has the perfect, movie-worthy coffee shop meet cute, she doesn’t expect for the same hot guy in a suit to evict her from her home an hour later.

As insta-attraction turns into insta-hate, these two will find themselves at odds with each other despite the fact that, no matter how hard they try, they don’t seem to be able to stop kissing…

An enemies to lovers rom-com.

This e-book is only available as a FREE download on my website…

Goodreads

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Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

This book has appeared on so many of my past (and current) TBRs. I’m determined to finally read it this month!

Synopsis:

Award-winning author Sonali Dev launches a new series about the Rajes, an immigrant Indian family descended from royalty, who have built their lives in San Francisco…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that only in an overachieving Indian American family can a genius daughter be considered a black sheep.

Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family who’s achieved power by making its own non-negotiable rules:

· Never trust an outsider

· Never do anything to jeopardize your brother’s political aspirations

· And never, ever, defy your family

Trisha is guilty of breaking all three rules. But now she has a chance to redeem herself. So long as she doesn’t repeat old mistakes.

Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha’s arrogance. And then he discovers that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life.

As the two clash, their assumptions crumble like the spun sugar on one of DJ’s stunning desserts. But before a future can be savored there’s a past to be reckoned with…

A family trying to build home in a new land.
A man who has never felt at home anywhere.
And a choice to be made between the two.

Goodreads

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Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings

My second ARC for the month, I love a good travel romance in the summer!

Synopsis:

Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out and ready to start fresh. Working as an intern for her perfect older sister’s start up isn’t exactly how Tilly wants to spend her summer, but the required travel around Europe promises a much-needed change of scenery as she plans for her future. The problem is, Tilly has no idea what she wants.

Oliver Clark knows exactly what he wants. His autism has often made it hard for him to form relationships with others, but his love of color theory and design allows him to feel deeply connected to the world around him. Plus, he has everything he needs: a best friend that gets him, placement into a prestigious design program, and a summer internship to build his resume. Everything is going as planned. That is, of course, until he suffers through the most disastrous international flight of his life, all turmoil stemming from lively and exasperating Tilly. Oliver is forced to spend the summer with a girl that couldn’t be more his opposite—feeling things for her he can’t quite name—and starts to wonder if maybe he doesn’t have everything figured out after all.

As the duo’s neurodiverse connection grows, they learn that some of the best parts of life can’t be planned, and are forced to figure out what that means as their disastrously wonderful summer comes to an end.

Tilly in Technicolor is Mazey Eddings’s sparkling YA debut about two neurodivergent teens who form a connection over the course of a summer.

Goodreads

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The Reunion by Kit Frick

I’ve enjoyed a few of Kit Frick’s previous books, so I couldn’t resist the invitation to read her latest YA thriller which is being compared to The White Lotus, a TV series I binged.

Synopsis:

From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins following a doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect:
The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place.
The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences.
The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.
The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

Goodreads
Expected August 29, 2023

Have you read any of these books yet? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!