2024 | January Book Haul – The Staircase Reader

Book Haul

Welcome to my first book haul of 2024!

Last year, I tried to share and update my blog with physical book hauls… but in all honesty, there was a stretch of time when I wasn’t buying physical books. Instead, I was loading up my kindle with ebooks and stocking my ku library with new releases! So this year, my book hauls are going to look a little different than the years that came before. This year, I’ll be sharing all the books I added to my library. Some will be physical copies. But there will also be ebooks, audio books, and at the end of every month I’ll add the books that are currently sitting in my ku library. I think this will help me to keep better track on all the books I had intended to read.

So let’s get started with this January Book Haul!

Physical books I added to my bookshelf:

The only book I added to my physical shelf this month is Chase Wilde Comes Home by Jennifer Ryan. I found this beauty at my local Dollar Tree! I always make it a mission to stop by there and scan the book section when I’m in town. There wasn’t much, and I thought I reached the moment when i would finally walk out of there empty handed, and then this book caught my eye. I have no idea what this novel is about, the cover caught my attention and wouldn’t let go! I’ll definitely be reading this one sometime later in the year.

Jennifer Ryan – Chase Wilde Comes Home | Amazon: https://amzn.to/48G5Vkp

Blurb:

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan begins a brand-new series with a western set romance between a former soldier and the mother of his child. Perfect for fans of Diana Palmer, Linda Lael Miller, and BJ Daniels.

They’re tough, tender, and sometimes tormented; they’re the Wildes of Wyoming, three brothers whose family ties are as strong as their wills.

Chase Wilde never expected to fall in love, especially with Shelby Payne. Years before, one passionate night had drawn these two lost souls together. Then Chase left on deployment with the Army, while Shelby raised their baby alone. Now he’s back, a wounded warrior determined to turn his life around. Shelby knows what it’s like to lose everything, including her own family. So she offers him a bargain: if he can prove himself to be the man he says he is, she will let him into their daughter’s life…and maybe even into hers.

Chase knows it will take a lot to prove to Shelby that there’s more between them than the single night they spent together. She’s everything he’s ever wanted, including the voice of reason he needs to reconcile his past and be the man he wants to be for them both. But just as their lives come together, she’s torn away from him by a dangerous person from her past, and saving her means saving himself . . . because he can’t live without her.

eBooks I added to my kindle:

Thanks to several authors for posting freebies in their emails! I added five ebooks to my kindle this month! I think I’m most intrigued to read Find Me by Michelle Mankin! I will, definitely, be adding this one to my reading list soon!

Michelle Mankin – Find Me | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3SgpRUm

Blurb:

Almost forty-one-year-old Annabelle Morris, wife to multi-billionaire record label executive Charles Morris of Zenith Productions, and mother of two is at a crossroads in her life.

Separated from her husband after walking in on him having sex in the public restroom of a charity event she was hosting, she has arrived on the island of St. John alone and rejected, determined to re-evaluate her life and her marriage.

She’s tired of being her husband’s showpiece while he pretends she doesn’t exist.

She’s tired of trying to make their marriage work for the sake of their two teenage boys.

When she meets Johnny Lightning, a sexy but mysterious piano-playing, bearded sailor, she is tempted to break vows she has never before broken.

But Johnny is much younger than she is and seems to be hiding more than a few secrets of his own.

From the laid-back sandy beaches of the Caribbean to the elite circles of Dallas high society, Annabelle is forced to make critical choices.

Is a chance for happiness worth the risk of giving up the life she has always known?

Worth jeopardizing her own and possibly even her children’s future?

In the end, will she stay on her present course or brave a new and uncharted one?

Find Me, Remember Me, and Keep Me is a full and complete novel in three separate parts. A standalone Tempest spin-off.

_________

Nicole French – Bad Idea | Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vWH9OT

Blurb:

Repeat after me: stay away from the hot girl.
The beautiful girl.
The f**king ray of sunshine in the middle of your delivery route.

Layla Barros is everything I never knew I wanted. Everything I’ll never have.

She’s an innocent young student.
I’m a convicted felon.

She’s rich girl from a nice family.
I’ve got nothing but a broken home.

But if I’m an addict, she’s my drug. I can’t stay away, even though I know I’ll ruin her in the end.

She might be the girl of my dreams, but I was always a bad idea.

_________

S.L. Sterling – Memories of the Past | Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ugbNlQ

Blurb:

Thomas was the love of my life, or he was supposed to be. Instead, he became the guy who broke my heart, crushed my spirit, the last guy I ever dated, and the reason I never wanted to date again.

All this, I decided at seventeen, right after we graduated, which coincided with the day he left. He had his truck packed. We’d talked about running off together, eloping. Instead, Thomas explained he was leaving, joining the rodeo, and I could come if I wanted.

If I wanted!

I thought we shared a dream, but it didn’t include running off to join the western equivalent of a circus. Not with him. Not with anyone. I knew better.

So, he left, and I decided to make a life on my own.

I spent the next few months learning all I could about the small bookstore my aunt owned. I gradually took over as she aged, until one morning she woke and announced that she was ready to retire. She had picked a retirement community nearby, she wanted to relax, sleep in and hang out with the old people, like herself.

I’d begun to clean up the place, sorting through boxes of books she’d packed away and began setting them out. I’d let people make me an offer since I was short on space. That was when Thomas appeared. His father had passed, and the community was buzzing with rumors that he had returned to sell the property.

He’d come in looking for a good read or so he claimed. Instead I shoved a book at him and told him to take it. I hoped I’d never see him again, but I was wrong. He returned, with the book, his note told me to read the book and I’d understand. So, I read it, and I understood nothing.

It was Aunt Vi’s diary. She too had never stopped pining for a cowboy who left her behind.

Maybe he thought he was saving me. Perhaps I missed what I was supposed to understand all together. All I knew was that I didn’t want to face him. One look at him told me it would be all to easy to fall into those strong arms again and I knew I still loved him, even if he didn’t love me in return.

_________

Mackenzy Fox, Dakotah Fox – Celeste & Callan | Amazon: https://amzn.to/491nlbG

Blurb:

A second chance, high school sweethearts, small town romance with a jilted bride heroine and a Mr. Fix It lumberjack, down to earth hero from dynamo writing twins Mackenzy Fox and Dakotah Fox…

It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.

The dress.

The invitations.

The fifty grand my parents lent us for the wedding.

Until he didn’t show up.

Jilted at the altar.

Gone just like that.

I’m a laughingstock.

I’ll never live this down, especially since it made the news.

My only salvation is moving back to my hometown, Stoney Creek.

Except my ex and high school sweetheart still lives there.

Callan Bassett isn’t like regular guys. He’s not only tall, dark and handsome, but he can fix anything. Everything except my broken heart.

Now I’m working alongside him at the Bassett Brothers Distillery and things are sure to be awkward.

For one, he’s no longer the boy I left behind. He’s grown into a man who lumbers wood around, is a complete alpha but a teddy bear underneath. And he only seems to have eyes for me.

Then he tells me he never got over me.

My heart has always belonged to him, but so much time has passed.

We’re not the same people we once were.

But Callan Bassett knows what he wants and he isn’t letting this second chance get away.

And he’s going to prove it.

Throw in an adorable dog called Sunny, a wedding dress sacrifice, a man who looks good even covered in mud and it’s safe to say I’m royally screwed.

Celeste & Callan is a heart stopping prequel novella that leads into the exciting brand new series centred around the Southern family: Bassett Brothers Bourbon.

There will be 5 full length books after this, as each sibling (4 brothers and 1 sister) will have their own books, releasing in 2024. Each book in this Southern, small town series is written as a stand-alone. Every book has a happily ever after.

_________

Echo Grayce – Penalty Box | Amazon: https://amzn.to/41QhNy7

Blurb:

I’m the bad boy who will stain his soul to keep her safe.

She’s a runner.
Always has been…at least, she’s always run from me.
Our history repeats relentlessly.
Longing.
Secret trysts.
Pounding hearts.
Fiery stolen kisses.
Her retreating back.
Now she’s home, hunted by someone sinister.
The lesser of two evils, I’m the unlikely lifeline she reaches for.
Becoming her salvation means plunging my hard-won, respectable life into ruin.
But I’ve never had the strength to turn away from her hold on me.
I’ve always been hers.
She’s always been mine.

Savannah Bryant has run away from me—from us—for the last time.

ARCs I Received For Review Purposes:

I received several ARCs this month. One released in January, the others will be releasing very soon, in February! EEK! I can’t wait to start each of these!

Cary Hart – Single Southern Flirt | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3O6DTXF

Blurb:

Falling for my brother’s best friend is the last thing I expect to do when I return home to
Magnolia Grove, heartbroken and ringless.

But catching my fiancée banging his Harvard grad intern made me rethink my life choices, like
ditching my education to play house.

No more pretending, and no strings. All I need now is some careless fun while I rebuild my life,
one odd job at a time.

Single, southern, flirt, Matty Lincoln is the perfect distraction. The professional football
player had big dreams, and no back up plan.

After a career ending injury lands him back in our hometown, I find myself falling fast and hard
for my old crush.

Now he’s simultaneously fixing up my house, and my heart, making me feel things I wish I
didn’t.

And our little rendezvous? Yeah, it’s about to make big waves in our small town.

_________

Maggie Cole – Seeds of Malice | PreOrder: https://amzn.to/3SqsR23
Seeds of Malice is set to release on February 1st, 2024

Blurb:

From International bestselling author Maggie Cole comes a new deliciously warped dark romance about a villain and his unsuspecting pawn.

I’m a pawn in a twisted game I never agreed to partake in.

There’s no getting out.

Dax Carrington decides all the moves.

He’s always two-steps ahead of me.

An animal disguised in warm, privileged, snakeskin, he’ll sink his teeth into every inch of my soul until he owns all of it… all of me.

When I’m at my lowest, he’ll blindside me, pulling me back into his arms, continuing to win the match that I don’t know how to play and just want to escape.

The only problem?

In Dax’s world, the plot ends once he’s the last one standing and there’s nothing left but dust—including me.

Seeds of Malice is book one of the Wilted Kingdom duet. It’s a dark college bully romance between the rich kid and the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Dax and Ivy’s story continues in Book 2 of the Wilted Kingdom duet, Thorns of Malice. See author note for content warnings.

_________

Brighton Walsh – Possessive Heart | PreOrder: https://amzn.to/48GDt2m
Possessive Heart is set to release on February 1st, 2024

Blurb:

I’m her brother’s best friend, and for the past ten years, I’ve also been Addison McKenzie’s dirty little secret.

My pro-hockey player lifestyle kept me from her, but I thought we had a good thing going. Burning up the sheets whenever I visited home worked well for us.

Or so I thought.

When a season-ending injury sends me back to Starlight Cove, I find out she thinks of me as nothing more than a mistake.

She’s trying her hardest to ignore my presence, but being snowed in together is making that difficult.

So is sharing a bed.

Old habits die hard, and it’s no surprise we fall right back into each other. Undeniable chemistry was never our problem, though. Making it last in the real world was.

But I’ve been in love with Addison for years. And I have no intention of giving up on us now.

eBooks in my kindleunlmited Library:

My kindleunlmited library is packed with books and I’ve been sitting here wondering which I should read next.. I have old releases, new releases, and a few randoms. I’ve been wanting to read K. Bromberg’s newest series along with Melanie Harlow’s recent series. And then I added Lex Martin in the midst of it all, along with A.L. Jackson…. UGH! What’s a reader to do. I haven’t been this conflicted in a long time.. So help me out, what should I read next?

Here are the 20 books I plan to read very soon.

Lex Martin – Tight Ends & Tiaras | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/47QiadG
Melanie Harlow – Hideaway Heart | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3S8WYd3
Melanie Harlow – Make-Believe Match | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/4b5gobm
K. Bromberg – Off The Grid | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3UeG3bk
K. Bromberg – On The Edge | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3OcAJS9

Bink Cummings – 23 Hours | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3UeGGSe
H. Hunting – Shattered Truths | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/4b7jmMz
A.L. Jackson – Love Me Today | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/4b5gobm
A.L. Jackson – Don’t Forget Me Tomorrow | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/48Edsk5
Adriana Locke – Like You Love Me | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/494vPPf

Brighton Walsh – Defiant Heart | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/47LY3gt
Brighton Walsh – Protective Heart | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3HAEI7r
Brighton Walsh – Fearless Heart | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/42gG1C6
Brighton Walsh – Reckless Heart | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3UlpzOG
Kaylee Ryan – Stay Present | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/42jYv4E

Catharina Maura – The Wrong Bride | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/4bbRHtJ
Hayley Faiman – Filthy Alpha | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3OjeB8F
Victoria Ashley – Beautiful Savage | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3SueSZ1
Walker Rose – Bourbon Lullaby | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3uTkFOv
Hope Ford – It Just Feels Right | kindleunlimited: https://amzn.to/3uVjSg4