Here are some top book titles for 2024

As a book reader, I can be very picky about the books I read. But with the new year, comes new books, here are five books that I am excited to read in 2024. 

Ruthless Vows (Book two of Letters of Enchantment duology)  by Rebecca Ross

I am breaking the rules here, as Ruthless Vows is coming out on December 26, 2023, so this book is out already, but I am excited about this release. Divine Rivals was my favorite book in 2023, and the ending left me in tears. I have a feeling that this book will also make me cry. Ruthless Vows is said to be the epic conclusion to Divine Rivals and is here to tie up loose ends. The book starts two weeks after the last book’s events, and that’s all I can say without spoiling anything that happened in Divine Rivals, but I have been counting down the days and soon enough this book will be in my hands. 

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal 

I always say if I see something more than once, it is a sign. I kept seeing A Tempest of Tea everywhere, so much so that I thought that it was already out. Not yet, the expected release is Feb. 20, but I was seeing this everywhere on Instagram, and I never read anything by Hafsah Faizal before, but that could make a read so much better if you go in knowing very little about anything. A Tempest of Tea is a mix of fantasy and historical fiction, and I love it when authors mix those two genres because they can make amazing stories if done right. The story follows Arthie Casimir, a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her tea room transforms into an illegal blood house by dark, catering to vampires who are feared by society. One day Artie’s establishment is threatened,  forcing her to make an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it, but she can’t do this job on her own. With a band of misfits, Artie makes a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittery vampire society called the Athereum, but this will be hard to do when not every member is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds. Arthie finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Wow, usually I am not one to read stories about vampires, but this book might change that.

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban

You are telling me this is a story about Victorian lesbians? Give it to me now, please! This was another I was seeing everywhere, but I thought the cover was very pretty. I am also a sucker for historical fiction and LGBTQ+ storylines; maybe I do like romance more than I say I do. I always have a hard time finding sapphic books. If I get lucky to find one, there is a good chance that I might not want to read it because I don’t find the plot interesting. This book takes place in 1857 and follows two girls named Beth and Gwen. The anxious debutante Beth only has one season to snag up a rich husband, or Beth and her mother will be out on the streets, but Beth doesn’t want to do this, playing the blushing ingénue makes her skin crawl, and she would rather be anywhere else but here. Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with no intention of finding a husband. Gwen figures she has plenty of security, as the only daughter of the rakish earl, from whom she has gotten all her flair, fun and less-than-proper party games. Gwen starts hatching her latest scheme instead of surrendering Beth to courtship. They should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s widowed mother, and have them get married instead. Sounds easy? There is one problem, their parents hate each other, but Gwen and Beth are up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard could parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be? As Gwen and Beth’s plans start to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage. Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else forever. Beth must reckon that she has caught feelings, hard, but not for her potential fiance. That’s the problem with matchmaking. Sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process. This sounds like this book could have everything I could ever want in a story about Victorian lesbians. I am so excited to read this

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton 

I know they say don’t judge the book by its cover, but, oh boy, when I saw this cover, I instantly wanted to read it. I have heard mixed reviews from beta readers about this book—oh, to be someone who gets to read a book before it’s released! Anyway, back to the point. I think reading books that have mixed reviews gives you a better reading experience because when you read it you come up with your own opinions and feelings about the book you read. This is another book with a plot that sounds interesting. For Sybli Clarion, the city of Severon is a wild, romantic dream, filled with cafes, cabarets and glittering nightclubs. She is eager to embrace the city after running away from home. Sybli had traded high society for empty pockets and barren cabinets. At least she has Esme, the girl who had offered Sybli a home, and maybe—if either of them dared—something more. Ever since Esme brought Sybli back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other: best friends, found family and secret crushes. Esme likes spending her nights tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, but Sybli craves excitement and needs money, so she plans to get both by stealing rare posters that crop up around town and selling them to collectors, and with rent due, Esme agrees to accompany and, more importantly, protect Sybli. When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl, doesn’t press charges. Instead, she invites Esme and Sybli to the Absinthe Underground, an exclusive club that she co-owns, and she reveals herself to be a green faerie, trapped in this world.  Maeve wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and she is willing to pay enough so that Esme and Sybli would never have to worry about rent again. With an offer like that, it’s too good to pass up, but Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and Sybli’s personal ties to the Fae could jeopardize everything she and Esme have carefully built. Magic and LGBTQ+ storyline? Sign me up!  I am very curious about how this story will end. I can’t wait to read it. The Absinthe Underground is expected to be released on Feb. 6. 

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray 

(There is no cover for this book yet)

Libba Bray can be a hit or miss for me. For example, I can not stand A Great and Terrible Beauty, but I love the Diviners series, and I have a feeling that this book will be a hit or miss. This book has been announced since 2020 and was supposed to be released last year, according to Goodreads but was pushed back for whatever reason, unless there was never a set release day for this book till now. I think another reason is everyone is hoping that at least one character from the Diviners would show up or be mentioned. For what this book is about, I hope not. I could go on a rant as to why, but we would be here all day, but I am excited for this book to come out, regardless if I am going to like it or not. 

But here is what Under the Same Stars is about. It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom’s Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now the tree is giving up its secrets at last. In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom’s Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is spreading messages around too but not for love. World War II is unfolding in their small town of Kleinwald, and the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis. In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall that separates the West from East Germany. Jenny also meets Frau Hermann, a kind old lady who has secrets of her own.

In 2020 New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are in the first weeks of COVID lockdown and hating Zoom school, but then an unexpected package arrives from Chloe’s grandmother that leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified girls who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak 80 years ago. 

Under the Same Stars is expected to be released on Oct. 1.