Oh Hello! I'm not sure what my plans are for the 'What I Read' Blogs in 2025, but if I choose to change it up this might be last one for a while. It was definitely a slower month, with a lot happening outside of this blog and book world. Still, I managed to get a few books read, and a lot of new favorites definitely snuck in. I'm excited for some of the ARCs I have to finish the year with and can't wait to share some of my reviews for end of the year!
What books are you looking forward to in December?
Puck and Prejudice by Lia Riley
Goalie for the Austin Regals, Tucker Taylor is benched due to health issues. So he decides to visit his sister in England. But an accidental plunge into an icy pond thrusts him back to 1812 where he comes face to face with a captivating blue-eyed woman who regards him as if he’s grown two heads. Lizzy Wooddash dreams of a life surrounded by books, engaging conversation, the presence of literary icons like Jane Austen, and... nary a husband in sight. But in Regency England, only widows like her cousin Georgie enjoy freedom and solitary pursuits, unencumbered by expectations. The only way to quickly become a widow is by marrying a dying man or killing a perfectly healthy one, neither of which Lizzy desires.
A visitor from the future might just be the husband of her dreams. Once married, they can figure out how to return Tucker to his proper time, and his absence—aka death—will make Lizzy the widow she always dreamed of becoming. Yet as sparks ignite, they soon realize that matters of the heart rarely adhere to carefully laid plans.
Accidental Demons by Clare Edge
But Bernadette Crowley is the perfect storm of magical accidents. For the youngest in a long line of witches, demons used to be no big deal. A spell and a quick prick of the finger, and a witch like Ber could summon a demon to do anything she needed—clean a mess, send a message, you name it.
But that was before Ber was diagnosed with diabetes. Now each time she tests her blood sugar, accidental demons are slipping into the human dimension…and causing absolute chaos.
Good thing Ber and her older sister, Maeve, know that every magical problem has a magical solution. They’ll just conjure a low-order demon to monitor her blood sugar! Bonus: they only have to bend one or two teeny, tiny rules. But before they know it, they’ve stumbled into deeper, more mysterious magic than they ever could have predicted. And soon it’s not just Ber’s magic but her entire coven that’s in danger.
Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart
Jessa has been raised to be the “perfect girl.” She is unfailingly polite, never rocks the boat, and always follows the rules―no matter what. Her friends love to give her a hard time for being such a goody two-shoes, but Jessa likes it this way. She knows what's expected of her, and she's happy to be the person her parents (and society) want.
When a freak storm takes out the power during a sleepover at Jessa’s creepy, old house, things go south before the pizza gets cold. Her friends are at each other’s throats, unexpected guests keep showing up (some more welcome than others), and it’s not just her brother serving up jump scares. A killer looking for the perfect girl has targeted Jessa, and she’ll have to reject everything she’s been taught if she wants to keep herself―and her friends―alive until sunrise.
Wake Up, Nat and Darcy by Kate Cochrane
Cut from the US women’s hockey team right before her third chance at gold, Natalie Carpenter is scrambling for a plan that’ll help her avoid moving back home. The answer: a guest-hosting gig on Wake Up, USA’s winter games coverage. Her cohost: Darcy LaCroix, Nat’s ex-girlfriend, one-time college teammate turned adversary.
Since leaving Team Canada, Darcy has worked hard to make a name in broadcasting. If her big break requires sharing screen time with the former cocky freshman who turned her world upside down, so be it. At this point, there’s nothing between them except history.
But audiences disagree. #PuckingHotties is trending hard, and Nat and Darcy agree to lean into it—for ratings, obviously. It’s not like Nat can forget the way Darcy broke her heart or their bitter team rivalry. Between working, traveling together and that irresistible spark, it’s getting hard to separate what’s real and what’s for the camera.
Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher
Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.
When Mariel's ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan … until Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back – with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.
But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party’s wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they’ve sworn to protect.
The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative” listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).
Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they’re caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies.
How to Steal A Galaxy by Beth Revis
Ada had no intention whatsoever to continue working for the rebel group that hired her to retrieve the government’s plans for a nanobot climate cleaner if they weren’t willing to pay her for it, but then they offer a different an undercover mission to a charity gala where Rian will be in attendance. Rian, meanwhile, has volunteered his services for the gala believing that the rare items up for auction will attract Ada’s eye. Hoping to catch her in the act and pin her with a punishable crime, Rian has no idea that Ada’s real mission is to convince him to join the rebels. And the rebels have no idea that Ada’s decided that kidnapping Rian is the most efficient means to an end.How to Steal the Galaxy continues the sexy, rip-roaring good time that Beth Revis began in Full Speed to a Crash Landing, with the return of Ada, Rian, and all the tension, twists, and turns that made the first novella so much fun.
Keep it in the Dark by Justin Arnold
Rowan Young knew where his life was heading. The headmaster’s son and golden boy of elite Vermont boarding school Mockingbird Prep, Rowan was set to inherit a legacy passed down through generations of forefathers.
Until a strange new student arrives to derail those plans.
Casper Belamy didn’t ask to be a vampire. But now that he is one, all he wants is to travel the world looking for more of his kind.
Before he can do that, he must accomplish an impossible task set forth by his adoptive family of vampiric royals: prove he can keep their kind safe and finish high school without being discovered.
If controlling his thirst wasn’t hard enough, he is forced to share a dorm with the headmaster’s son. And despite their instant dislike for one another, Casper can’t ignore the mouth-wateringly delicious scent of Rowan’s blood.
Thunder Song by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe
Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.
Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue between the miraculous and the mundane, the spiritual and the physical, as they examine the role of art--in particular music--and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.
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