Book Haul TBR by A Book Wanderer

November 2021 Book Haul

Hello Readers! Am I the only one who is a little overwhelmed that the end of the year is almost here? I’m hoping December takes its time, but I know it won’t. Thankfully I’ve met my reading challenge goal, read all the ARCs I have for the year, and finished my Popsugar Challenge for the year. Now I’m just not-so-patiently waiting for Popsugar to release the prompts for 2022!

Thankfully in November I added more ebooks than physical books, which is good since my shelves are bursting. Now that we’re getting to the end of the year, I’m getting all those 2022 ARCs. Some I was so excited for, I had to read them immediately! 😉 You can check out My November Wrap-Up to see what I read.

Let’s take a look at my haul for November!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

My eARCs









I was excited when an invitation arrived in my inbox to read these four festive short stories by four authors I’ve read and enjoyed before. I picked them up right away. They were the quick reads I needed as I was starting my busy month. Rowell’s and Baker’s were by favorites. All four of these are available now and free to Amazon Prime members, as well!

Model Home by J. Courtney Sullivan ⭐⭐⭐.50 (available 10/28/21)
If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (available 11/18/21)
The Marriage Test by Suzanne Redfearn ⭐⭐⭐.50 (available 11/23/21)
Oh. What. Fun. by Chandler Baker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (available 11/30/21)

My Review
Blog Tour with Excerpts and Giveaway coming soon!

The Certainty of Chance caught my eye on Netgalley and I was happy to see it was still available to request. It was such a lovely surprise! Festive, romantic, but with a serious side, as well.

Synopsis:

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT DECEMBER…

Madeleine Joy is feeling more meh than merry. When an Icelandic volcano erupts six days before Christmas, hazardous ash congests European airspace, canceling flights indefinitely—including the thirtysomething’s connection to Paris. Stranded alone in London, separated from her sister, and with the devastating one-year anniversary of her best friend’s tragic death just days away, Madeleine has never felt less festive. And as if things couldn’t get worse, the cute guy driving the cab to her hotel won’t shut up about carolers and tinsel…

Julian Halliwell is one of life’s sunny optimists. A former music journalist, he’s embraced his love for London by starting his own black cab business, enthusiastically ferrying passengers from one historic landmark to another. But life hasn’t always been easy for Julian. Having navigated several life-changing setbacks including a cruel betrayal by his former fiancée, Julian remains hopeful that he’ll meet somebody kind, who shares his love of music, his corgi named Winnie, and of course, the magic of Christmas time in London.

Despite being an unlikely match, fate seems determined to throw them together. But can the grieving American find joy again in a world where the lights have all but dimmed? 

From Jacquelyn Middleton, the award-winning author of UNTIL THE LAST STAR FADES, comes a heartwarming Christmas story of love, loss, serendipity, and the belief that what’s meant for you won’t pass you by.

Available 10/14/21
My Review

I’ve never read a book by Elle Kennedy, but I’ve seen many of you recommend her books, so when and invitation to read her newest novel Good Girl Complex arrived in my inbox, I couldn’t say no.

Synopsis:

She does everything right. So what could go wrong?

Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot is a people pleaser. Her demanding parents. Her prep school friends. Her long-time boyfriend. It’s exhausting, really, always following the rules. Unlike most twenty-year-olds, all she really wants to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents’ insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students of Garnet College.

Mac’s had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but when she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley, that ability is suddenly tested. Cooper is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to her ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life.

Despite his disdain for the trust-fund kids he sees coming and going from his town, Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. Hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he’s been keeping from her threatens the only place she’s ever felt at home.  

Available 2/1/22

I’ve read and enjoyed Serle’s previous two books, The Dinner List and In Five Years, so I was excited to add her newest book One Italian Summer to my tbr!

Synopsis:

When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Available 3/1/22

The synopsis for this debut is definitely what piqued my interest for Every Summer After. I’m here for all the angst!

Synopsis:

Five summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.

A magazine writer has to make a choice when she returns to the lake she grew up on, and to the man she thought she’d never have to live without, in this sweeping and achingly nostalgic romantic debut.

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser that has felt too true for the last decade, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until the day she gets a call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek.

Available 5/10/22

I’m a fan of David Yoon! I’ve read each one of the books he has released, so I was happy to be approved for his newest adult novel, City of Orange. He’s pretty much an auto-request author for me now.

Synopsis:

This imaginative and affecting new novel is beloved, bestselling, and award-winning author David Yoon at his finest: thought-provoking and heart-piercing, by turns funny and challenging, and at all times deeply human. 

A man who can not remember his own name wakes up in an apocalyptic landscape, injured and alone. He has vague memories of life before, but he can’t see it clearly and can’t grasp how his current situation came to be. He must learn to survive by finding sources of water and foraging for food. Then he encounters a boy–and he realizes nothing is what he thought it was, neither the past nor the present. 

City of Orange is a novel that is both harrowing and heartfelt, charged with a speculative energy but grounded in intimate character study. It is a novel about coming to grips with the worst that has befallen us and finding our way home again.

Available 5/24/22

One of the best bookish surprises I’ve had this year was getting an invite for Katherine Center’s next novel The Bodyguard. I had to read it immediately! And I was not disappointed. This one is FUN!

Synopsis:

She’s got his back. 
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindgerten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart. 
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret. 
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he comes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, like a jerk, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong??? 
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

Available 7/19/22
My Review

My Paperbackswap Books

My Paperbackswap books were finally back down to a manageable number this month!

My Free Ebooks

There have been so many romances with high ratings available for free lately! It’s hard for me to say no, especially when I never know what might be perfect to fulfill one of my Popsugar Reading Challenge prompts. Each one of these that belongs to a series can be read as a standalone.

Purchased

Amazon First Reads

It’s hard to resist the bookish-themed Amazon First Reads offers. Read Between the Lines also seems to be getting great early reviews! It’s about a romance between a bookseller and a reclusive author who love to hate each other. I’m intrigued!

Available 12/1/21

Here’s an outtake with my kitten, Gansey, who can’t resist trying to help when I’m taking book pictures. Especially if it involves florals. But don’t be fooled by his cute face. He had just tried to eat my flowers! 😉

Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!

10 thoughts on “November 2021 Book Haul”

  2. I’ve already read Good Girl Complex and enjoyed it. I’m reading The Bodyguard (and LOVING IT) right now because you said it was good. I can’t wait for you to read Second Chance Charmer. I loved that series. Book 2 is my fave.

    Reply

    1. Oh yay!! I’m so excited you’re reading The Bodyguard! I can’t wait to read your review. I probably picked up Second Chance Charmer after seeing you recommend it. 😉

      Reply

Let's Chat! (Comments are manually approved)