Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Books on My Spring 2024 To-Read List!
Hello Readers! My reading so far this year has been very slow, so my Spring TBR will be mostly full of the advanced reader copies I need to get to, with one new book and one backlist book, as well. When I took a look back at My Winter TBR, I was a little bummed to see I’d only read five and a half books from the list. (I’m currently over halfway through the lengthy eighth Outlander book! 😅) Therefore, one book from my winter tbr will be making another appearance on my spring list.
Let’s see what I have planned to read this spring!
1
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
Synopsis:
What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?
After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.
But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie,” and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.
Goodreads
Published March 5, 2024
This thriller was on my Goodreads Want-to-Read but I didn’t have any immediate plans to read it until a copy showed up in my mailbox from Celadon. The reviews are GLOWING, so I’ll be picking this one up sooner rather than later.
2
The Trail of Lost Hearts by Tracey Garvis Graves
Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Tracey Garvis Graves takes readers on a life affirming journey, where two lost souls find the unexpected courage to love again.
Thirty-four-year-old Wren Waters believes that if you pay attention, the universe will send you exactly what you need. But her worldview shatters when the universe delivers two life-altering blows she didn’t see coming, and all she wants to do is put the whole heartbreaking mess behind her. No one is more surprised than Wren when she discovers that geocaching―the outdoor activity of using GPS to look for hidden objects―is the only thing getting her out of bed and out of her head. She decides that a weeklong solo quest geocaching in Oregon is exactly what she needs to take back control of her life.
Enter Marshall Hendricks, a psychologist searching for distraction as he struggles with a life-altering blow of his own. Though Wren initially rebuffs Marshall’s attempt at hiker small talk, she’s beyond grateful when he rescues her from a horrifying encounter farther down the trail. In the interest of safety, Marshall suggests partnering up to look for additional caches. Wren’s no longer quite so trusting of the universe―or men in general―but her inner circle might argue that a smart, charismatic psychologist isn’t the worst thing the universe could place in her path.
What begins as a platonic road trip gradually blossoms into something deeper, and the more Wren learns about Marshall, the more she wants to know. Now all she can do is hope that the universe gets it right this time.
Goodreads
Expected March 26, 2024
This is the book that also appeared on my Winter TBR but I couldn’t get to it. I’ve seen some positive reviews, though!
3
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
Synopsis:
A sapphic opposites-attract romance with Mazey Edding’s signature sparkling voice!
Winning the lottery has ruined Opal Devlin’s’s life. After quitting her dead-end job where she’d earned minimum wage and even less respect, she’s bombarded by people knocking at her door for a handout the second they found out her bank account was overflowing with cash. And Opal can’t seem to stop saying yes.
With her tender heart thoroughly abused, Opal decides to protect herself by any means necessary, which to her translates to putting almost all her new money to buying a failing flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina to let the flowers live out their plant destiny while she uses the cabin on the property to start her painting business.
But her plans for isolation and self-preservation go hopelessly awry when an angry (albeit gorgeous) Pepper Smith is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper states she’s the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and isn’t moving out. The unlikely pair strike up an agreement of co-habitation, and butt-heads at every turn. Can these opposites both live out their dreams and plant roots? Or will their combustible arguing (and growing attraction) burn the whole place down?
Goodreads
Expected April 16, 2024
I enjoyed my first book by Eddings, so I’m excited to pick this one up. The cover is so very spring-y, as well! 🌷
4
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Synopsis:
A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
Goodreads
Expected April 23, 2024
No, I’m not one of the lucky few to get an ARC of Emily Henry’s next book, but she is a must-read author for me.
5
Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis
Synopsis:
So many ways to torpedo your career and your love life…So little time.
A woman accidentally reveals all her secrets in this witty and charming novel from the author of Eight Perfect Hours.
Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.
But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.
As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.
Goodreads
Expected May 21, 2024
I’m a huge fan of Louis’ books, so I was thrilled to get an early copy of her next romance.
6
Savor It by Tarah DeWitt
Synopsis:
Summer won’t last forever.
Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win―something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.
Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.
A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…
Filled with spicy summer fun, small-town charm, and Big Feelings, this highly anticipated romcom is Tarah DeWitt’s best yet.
Goodreads
Expected May 21, 2024
This will be my first book by this author, but several of her books are waiting on my TBR. I’m excited to give her a try!
7
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Synopsis:
She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?
Goodreads
Expected June 11, 2024
I didn’t know if I was going to get approved for an early copy of Center’s newest book, so I was very happy when this one finally showed up in my inbox.
8
The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor
Synopsis:
A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.
Marlowe Thompson understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who was more romantic. One with emotional depth.
But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.
As the semester heats up with yearning love notes and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?
Goodreads
Expected June 18, 2024
I enjoyed Kaylor’s previous book, so I was happy to be invited to read her next one, as well!
9
Right Where We Left Us by Jen Devon
Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of Carly Fortune and Lucy Score, Right Where We Left Us is a searing and unforgettable romance
Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk―and the occasional messy hookup.
When a wedding at the Brady’s vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan, having fiery TJ constantly close is the ultimate distraction that he absolutely can’t afford. When forced proximity begins to chip away at their armor, buried tensions resurface, old wounds urge confrontation, and once-in-a-lifetime love demands one last chance to finally get it right.
Goodreads
Expected June 18, 2024
Devon’s debut was my favorite book the year I read it, so I’ve been anxiously awaiting this next one which takes place in the same world.
10
Dune by Frank Herbert
Synopsis:
Frank Herbert’s classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time.
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad’Dib—and of a great family’s ambition to bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
Goodreads
Dune has appeared on several of my TBRs, but I’ve been unable to make it happen. I enjoyed the recent film adaptation and now the second film is out, so I’m hoping to finally get to the book soon!
Do we share any books on my Spring TBR? Let me know in the comments!
I needed to add Katherine’s to my list (I guess it’ll keep until the Summer TBR); Lia’s looks interesting (that cover though!); and I’ve been seeing a lot about Tracey’s books recently (probably an author I need to read about). Happy spring TBR-ing!! 🙂
I’ve read 3 of Tracey’s books, but The Girl He Used to Know is probably my favorite so far!
So excited for Funny Story, also I want to read Sarah DeWitt, she has great reviews and I love her covers
I’m always excited for a new Emily Henry book! Hopefully it’s one we both enjoy. 🙂
I’d not heard of a lot of these books before but I love the covers. I struggled reading Dune until I tried the audiobook and then I found it easier to get into the story. Happy reading!
My Spring TBR
I’m not a big audiobook listener, although I wish I was! But sometimes it does help. I did that with Lord of the Rings. 🙂
Funny Story’s on my list too, I was late to the party with Emily Henry but now she’s an auto-buy author. I might pick up The Romcommers later in the year.
I’ve read and enjoyed everything since Henry wrote Beach Read, but someday I want to read her earlier books and see how I feel about those, as well. I’m also working on Center’s backlist!
Late Bloomer looks interesting!
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
The cover is stunning, at least! Ha!
A great looking list! I failed most of my Winter list but I enjoyed making it so I’ve done a new one for Spring 😂
I hope that you enjoy these when you get to them!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/03/19/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-spring-2024-list/
That’s me. Even if I don’t succeed at crossing off every book on my seasonal TBRs, they were fun to make! 😉
They are 🤣 I can guarantee that the Blog Tour ones will be done so that’s something 🤣
I hope you enjoy Dune when you get to it!
Hopefully I can finally commit to it!
My reading has also been slow, and it keeps getting slower. I hope you love all these!
I’m trying not to be too hard on myself about it and just focus on enjoying what I do read, but it’s hard when I have ARCs I’ve committed to and keep getting invitations for more. 🤦♀️😃
That looks like a nice blend of books. I hope you enjoy them!
Happy reading! Here’s my TTT this week.
I was happy to see it was a nice mix of genres and not just all romance. 😃
LOL! I know the feeling—though I usually get stuck in a rut of all fantasy.
I’ve been picking up more fantasy lately and that has been fun to revisit!
I’ve heard your first book on the list is good. I loved The Rom-Commers and Late Bloomer. I hope you love all of these.
It seems like Listen for the Lie is everywhere right now! So happy to hear you enjoyed The Rom-Commers and Late Bloomer. Makes me even more excited for them both!
A lot of these sound really good. I tried to read Dune last year but I couldn’t get into it. I hope you enjoy all of these.
Yeah, if I pick up Dune and can’t get into it, I’ll be okay setting it aside. My daughter enjoyed it, so I’m hoping I will too, but it’s not one of those must-reads on my list. 🙂
I loved Dune so much years ago and the second Dune movie made me want to reread it! Lovely list 🙂
Fingers crossed I can get to it!!
Funny Story sounds good! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Yeah, I’m excited to pick up Funny Story!
Listen for the Lie is one I finished yesterday. I LOVED it! It was so good. I hope you do too!!
Oh yay!! It seems to be EVERYWHERE right now. I’m behind several books, but I should get to it in April.
I hope you enjoy it!!
I didn’t realise Funny Story was out so soon – might have to get a hardback copy! Love the sound of Better Left Unsent and Savor It x
I almost forgot about Funny Story, too! I thought it was releasing in summer. Last year I ordered a UK version of Happy Place so I could have a paperback. 😃 I should probably just go ahead and do that again this year.
I actually read the Graves book. It was wonderful. I liked it a lot. I will be reading a lot of books on your list, too. Numbers 5-9 are sure things (I have ARCs), but I will read Henry at some point
I was happy to see you’d enjoyed Graves’ book. Sometimes hers are just okay for me. I’m hoping this one will be one I enjoy more. And I look forward to hearing what you think about 5-9. Fingers crossed we both enjoy them all!
You have lots of interesting books to look forward to reading. I hope you enjoy reading all of them.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/spring-2024-tbr-ten-books-i-hope-to-read
Thank you!
Yes, a great list, Dedra. I forgot about Lia Louis’ book. It should be on my list. I have a few of these on my TBR, but only The Rom-Commers made it on my list today. Good luck finally getting to Dune.
If I wouldn’t have gotten an ARC for Louis’ book, I probably would have forgotten about it too. I’m used to her books coming out later in the year. Fingers crossed we both enjoy The Rom-Commers!
Great list! There are a few on here that I’m hoping to eventually read but a few that I’m now planning to add to my TBR 😃 Jen Devon’s book in particular looks/sounds so good. I hope you enjoy all these reads, Dedra!
Thanks Dini! If you haven’t read Devon’s Bend Toward the Sun, I highly recommend it!
I haven’t but it’s on my TBR and I’ve heard so many amazing things about it. Defo keen to pick it up asap!