My 2022 End of Year TBR

I have done terrible at TBR’s this year, however I do have a list of books that I would like to try to read by the end of the year. Some of these I need to read for reviews, and some are the last books in a series that I would like to wrap up. So I am going to put this list out there and see what happens.

Need To Read For Reviews

Birthright by Kathryn Amurra | Soothsayer’s Path Book #3 | Historical Romance | Add to Goodreads

The daughter of a patrician woman who chose to marry beneath her class, Nerilla has witnessed firsthand the detrimental effects of following your heart. Determined to correct her mother’s mistakes, she has carefully selected the perfect patrician man to wed. The fact that the man is only marrying her to obtain her father’s legendary sword Ceres, which is to serve as her dowry, is of no consequence–that is, until that very sword is stolen right out from under her nose by a handsome thief with a charming smile and innocent eyes.

As an orphan with no memory of his birth parents, Jovian has been searching for the truth about his parentage for as long as he can remember. When a soothsayer tells him that to uncover the key to his past he must seek out the sword called Ceres, he can hardly believe his luck, for he has already stolen that sword from its owner. Unfortunately, he has also already sold it to a man bound for Neapolis.

A chance meeting between Nerilla and Jovian results in what they both know is an ill-advised arrangement. As they work together to find the sword, they discover secrets from their pasts that make them question everything they thought they knew. And they find themselves having to choose between pursuing the perfect plans they’ve laid or risking failure for the chance of achieving their true birthright.

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Mysterious Aisles by B.G. Hilton | The South Hertling Chronicles, #1 | Urban Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

In the Australian suburb of South Hertling stands the Handy Pavilion, a seemingly ordinary big-box hardware store with very extraordinary staff members. One of these is Axel Platzoff, a former supervillain. Tired of losing battles to Captain Stellar, Axel has taken gainful employment at the Pavilion as part of an amnesty offer from the International Criminal Court. And Axel is content, after a fashion.

But he arrival of the rival DIY Barn across the street threatens Axel’s job, and the jobs of all his new friends. Axel gains support and fights back, the only way he knows how — only to discover that there is far more to the sinister Barn than he had ever dreamed.

Part Urban Fantasy, part Workplace Comedy, ‘Mysterious Aisles’ follows Axel and a cast of dryads, accidental superheroes, animate garden gnomes, ghostly tradies, time-traveling cyborgs, ape-men, department managers and barristas in their struggle to keep their jobs and save South Hertling from incomprehensible forces of evil.

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To Steal the Sun by S.M. Carter | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

When Raik, the most cunning smuggler this side of the desert, finds where the Ivory King vaults his magical runes—he builds a crew to execute an elaborate heist.

Among them is Kahli Mahanta, a religious assassin with blind ambition. A young rogue, Kirin, with wit sharper than his arrows ought to be. And Amara, the so-called Nightspirit, whose raven-hair conceals even darker secrets.

It won’t be easy. They’re opposed by the curved blades of the magic-deranged, watched by a paranoid king, and hunted by gaunt beasts that click in the cold desert night… All the while discovering that trusting each other might be the most dangerous mission of all.

To Steal The Sun is a tale of unlikely heroes thrust together in a new refreshing fantasy. One cast in vibrant silks, fragrant spice, and the relentless glare of a radiant sun. 

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Of Demon Kind by Wendy L. Anderson | Kingdom of Jior Series #1 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

Prince Lorn of Jior is the only one left in the evil empire called the Kingdom of Jior. King Kullorn, his father, was the epitome of evil. Together they led demon hordes reaping death and destruction. When Kullorn is killed, Lorn must face the aftermath of their defeat alone. Years later, Lorn is accused of following in his father’s footsteps and also of kidnapping the Princess Lililaira of Skoria. Forced out of hiding, Lorn must risk capture, imprisonment and death to find out who is using his father’s name to start another war. During an unplanned rescue of the Princess, Lorn is badly wounded and they must fight to remain together as he is healed by her, body, heart and soul. Creating a passionate bond, together they embark upon a journey to clear Lorn’s name and fend off the war that threatens them both. 

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The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken | The Scarred Earth Saga #3 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

GODS SAVE THE QUEEN!

Ainsley Farmerson has always planned to break free of the family business—and the family drama. But what was once farming, smithworking, and bickering over the dinner table has turned into open warfare between sisters. Sides have been taken, lives are on the line, and Ainsley has no doubt which sister must be queen. She’ll do whatever is necessary to take down the soulless Beatrix. Even if that means joining forces with angry battle nuns, irritating monks, and overbearing centaurs.

Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan has no time for human beings. And yet . . . there is something about the uncontrollable princess that he can’t ignore. Maybe it’s the way her eldest sisters underestimate her. Or her bravery facing down dragons and mad queens from distant lands. Whatever the reason, Gruff is willing to fight by this human’s side. Not only for the entertainment value, but because she’s right. Beatrix must never be queen. So whatever he has to do, whoever he has to destroy, Gruff will battle beside Ainsley. Fast. Hard. And with absolutely no mercy . . .

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The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper | Wolf Den Trilogy #2 | Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads

The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glittering, yet precarious…
Amara has escaped her life as a slave in the town’s most notorious brothel, but now her existence depends on the affections of her patron: a man she might not know as well as she once thought.

At night she dreams of the wolf den, still haunted by her past. Amara longs for the women she was forced to leave behind and worse, finds herself pursued by the man who once owned her. In order to be free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is.

Amara knows her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.

We return to Pompeii for the second instalment in Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den Trilogy, set in the town’s lupanar and reimagining the lives of women long overlooked.

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Just Because

Sword of Desire by Jennifer Anne Davis | Reigning Kingdoms #2 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

Ackley has three goals—kill the traitorous king, put Owen on the throne, and reunite with Harley.

Ackley’s tasks should be simple since he’s trained his entire life for this. However, with so many Marsden soldiers depending on him to make it home alive, his obligations weigh him down. Now that the woman he loves is in the hands of his enemy, the temptation to drop everything and rescue her is pitted against trusting—and hoping—that Harley is exactly the woman he thinks she is.

Harley finds herself kidnapped and in the clutches of her abusive husband—a man she never thought she’d see again. Embedded with the enemy, she strives to make the most of this unique opportunity, but she has the growing suspicion her husband might already be two steps ahead of her. When survival clashes with what she desires most, sacrifices must be made.

In this stunning conclusion, lies are spun, hearts are guarded, and allies are found in the most unlikely places.

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Engines of Empire by Richard S. Ford | The Age of Uprising #1 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

This epic fantasy tells the tales of clashing Guilds, magic-fueled machines, intrigue and revolution—and the one family that stands between an empire’s salvation or destruction.

The nation of Torwyn is run on the power of industry, and industry is run by the Guilds. Chief among them are the Hawkspurs, and their responsibility is to keep the gears of the empire turning. It’s exactly why matriarch Rosomon Hawkspur sends each of her heirs to the far reaches of the nation.

Conall, the eldest son, is sent to the distant frontier to earn his stripes in the military. It is here that he faces a threat he could have never seen coming: the first rumblings of revolution.

Tyreta’s sorcerous connection to the magical resource of pyrstone that fuels the empire’s machines makes her a perfect heir–in theory. While Tyreta hopes that she might shirk her responsibilities during her journey one of Torwyn’s most important pyrestone mines, she instead finds the dark horrors of industry that the empire would prefer to keep hidden.

The youngest, Fulren, is a talented artificer, and finds himself acting as consort to a foreign emissary. Soon after, he is framed for a crime he never committed. A crime that could start a war.

As each of the Hawkspurs grapple with the many threats that face the nation within and without, they must finally prove themselves worthy–or their empire will fall apart.

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Primeval Fire by C.T. Rwizi | Scarlet Odyssey #3 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

Salo is dead—and the world he left behind is at war.

In the midst of their grief, Salo’s closest clan members begin to experience strange phenomena: visions visit one, while seizures plague another. The clan’s new mystic divines that an arcane signal from the far west is calling, so they set out toward the desert—and encounter a caravan of travelers following the same mysterious call.

Meanwhile, Salo’s loyal allies Ilapara and Tuk embark on a bold mission to raise Salo from the dead. And their sorcery works…or seems to. While the resurrected Salo ignores his friends’ warnings and forms dark alliances, Ilapara and Tuk struggle with their growing unease, even as they follow Salo westward on a quest in which the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

With magic spiraling into mayhem, is this the end of Salo’s saga—or an epic new beginning?

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The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S. Villoso | Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #3 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

The stunning finale to the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen trilogy where the queen of a divided land must unite her people against the enemies who threaten to tear her country apart. K. S. Villoso is a “powerful new voice in fantasy.” (Kameron Hurley)

Queen Talyien is finally home, but dangers she never imagined await her in the shadowed halls of her father’s castle.

War is on the horizon. Her son has been stolen from her, her warlords despise her, and across the sea, a cursed prince threatens her nation with invasion in order to win her hand.

Worse yet, her father’s ancient secrets are dangerous enough to bring Jin Sayeng to ruin. Dark magic tears rifts in the sky, preparing to rain down madness, chaos, and the possibility of setting her nation aflame.

Bearing the brunt of the past and uncertain about her future, Talyien will need to decide between fleeing her shadows or embracing them before the whole world becomes an inferno.

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What are you hoping to read this month?