Topplin’ TBR Thursday 12/8/22

I love being able to draw attention to other book lovers out there that are encouraging me to pick up books, and that’s what this weekly meme will be all about. This is a thank you for adding to my toppling TBR pile. So, each week I’ll be sharing books that I added to my TBR along with the blogger, Bookstagrammer, BookTuber, etc. that convinced me to add it. They might not have even necessarily enjoyed it, but they shared it, and it grabbed my attention.

~ This Week’s Additions ~

Who Convinced Me??

Dini @ Dinipandareads

All she wanted for Christmas was a boyfriend for the holidays…
All he wanted was for her to take her crappy first dates elsewhere…

Quirky Holly Jackson was unlucky in love, yet her romantic heart refused to give up her search for companionship—even after her fiancé left her at the altar on Christmas Eve.

Grumpy restaurant owner Kai Kane wanted nothing to do with love after his last relationship crashed and burned. Romance was the last thing on his mind. Unfortunately for him, when an eccentric Holly kept entering his restaurant nightly with a different first date, his annoyance grew.

When Kai volunteered to help Holly find a suitor it was for one reason only: to get her out of his restaurant and on to a second date with someone at a different location.

Once Kai became Holly’s dating coach, her confidence grew.

It was all going great until Kai became increasingly jealous of the connection Holly developed with another man. The more Holly fell for Kai’s pick for her, the more overprotective he became.

Kai quickly realized that all wasn’t fair when it came to love and the holidays.

He was going to have to step up his game if he wanted a shot at the ultimate prize—being Holly’s favorite date.

*The Holly Dates is a steamy, full-length romantic comedy that will put you right in the holiday spirit.* 

Who Convinced Me??

Heather @ Heather Adores Books

I spent the night with a hot, grumpy stranger in an airport hotel.

No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was just sleeping. And… maybe a little cuddling.

Long story short, I embarrassed the heck out of myself. But at least I never have to see him again.

Except the universe is clearly out to get me, because Monday morning, I arrive at my new job and who’s the first person I see?

Hot stranger himself: Liam Donovan.

AKA my new boss.

AKA Annie, you are so freaking screwed.

While the HR rulebook doesn’t explicitly say you can’t share a bed with your boss, I can read between the lines. And I need this job.

Which is why I have to pretend that night never happened. Luckily for me, sexy as Liam—excuse me, Mr. Donovan—is, he’s surly, rude and totally not my type.

Or so I keep telling myself.

Because I’m starting to think there’s a warm, gooey cinnamon roll with extra frosting lurking beneath that impressive, muscular form.

I promised I’d never choose between my career and love.

But when a scandal threatens to break, that promise could prove impossible to keep…

So That Happened is a laugh-out-loud funny, swoony, closed door romantic comedy. Expect some mild language and suggestive jokes coupled with tons of chemistry and tension, but no explicit scenes.

Who Convinced Me??

Dini @ Dinipandareads

All’s fire in love and camping

Maddie is dreading her family’s holiday camping trip. A well-known flirt and borderline commitment-phobe, she’s never quite warmed to her stepmother’s attempts at finding her a perfect match. But this trip will be different. This time, she’s dragging along her best friend of fifteen years – Matt.

Matt’s been in love Maddie since they were kids, and despite numerous attempts at confessing, she has no idea. He’s a hopeless romantic at heart and a pushover when it comes to helping his friends. So, when Maddie begs him to camp with her for a weekend, it’s a simple yes.

They have no idea they’ll be stuck sharing a small tent. That small tent leads to cuddling, which turns to steamy nights. Each one afraid of breaking the spell, they don’t think about what happens after the trip is over. They just enjoy the newfound chemistry. But Maddie refuses to ruin their friendship, and Matt won’t stick around forever. So, when the sun comes up on their weekend, someone will have to take the leap if they have any chance of making it work.

Who Convinced Me??

Yvonne @ It’s All About Books

Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the number one New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.

Who Convinced Me??

Kayla @ A Couple of B’s

The Other Side of Night begins with a man named David Asha writing about his biggest regret: his sudden separation from his son, Elliot. In his grief, David tells a story.

Next, we step into the life of Harriet Kealty, a police officer trying to clear her name after a lapse of judgment. She discovers a curious inscription in a secondhand book—a plea: Help me, he’s trying to kill me. Who wrote this note? Who is “he”?

This note leads Harri to David Asha, who was last seen stepping off a cliff. Police suspect he couldn’t cope after his wife’s sudden death. Still, why would this man jump and leave behind his young son? Quickly, Harri’s attention zeroes in on a person she knows all too well.

Ben Elmys: once the love of her life. A surrogate father to Elliot Asha and trusted friend to the Ashas.

Ben may also be a murderer.​

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I only added one Christmas title this week, so maybe that’ll help me make a dent in my Christmas titles this week. I read Resting Scrooge Face from my Topplin’ TBR post last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Joanna for sharing it!

If you’d like to share what you added this week and who convinced you to add it, just shoot me a link so I can share it with others. 🙂

Happy Reading,

Alison