My most anticipated reads of 2022 can be split into two categories, upcoming releases and books I’ve hoarded but not read. I’m ashamed to say this but I have books that I got for Christmas 2020 still sitting on my shelf😬 One of my goals for the upcoming year is to actually read the books I own… but of course, I’m still going to buy some new ones. I know many people only care about upcoming releases so I’ll share the ones I’m most excited for first!

📚Upcoming Releases

Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen is set to release on July 26th. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC so I’m actually reading this book right now. I don’t really know anything about it other than the synopsis but that was enough to pull me in.

• Synopsis:

A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.

The Night’s Chosen by E.E. Hornburg is NOT an upcoming release but book two in the series, The Shadow’s Heir, will be releasing in May. The cover or synopsis hasn’t been released for the second book yet. I absolutely loved The Night’s Chosen, though, and will actually have a five star review up for it soon after this post. I’ll include the synopsis for book one below.

• Synopsis:

CHOSEN OF THE MOON GODDESS. DESTINED TO RULE. FATED TO MARRY.

A QUEST TO SAVE HER FAMILY, KINGDOM, AND HEART.

In this retelling of Snow White, for the past five years Princess Eira has run from her impending wedding. As much as she loves her goddess and kingdom, she’s searched the kingdoms for another way to rule as queen someday while also choosing her own husband. Yet, Eira’s claim to the crown falls into jeopardy when her father, King Brennus, is poisoned and fated to a sleep of living death and Eira is next on the assassin’s hit list – who happens to be her stepmother, Queen Amelia. After Eira escapes Queen Amelia’s clutches she journeys to the northern Paravian mountains in search of an enchanted cup to save her father.

Yet Eira’s quest is more than she anticipated with evading Queen Amelia’s guards, traveling with the one man she shouldn’t be with, and having to bargain with the ancient dragon guarding the enchanted cup. She’ll have to decide how to save her family and kingdom, even if it means sacrificing her heart and all she’s wanted her whole life.

To Snap a Silver Stem by Sarah A. Parker is the sequel to To Bleed a Crystal Bloom. It’s due to release July 9th. I rated To Bleed a Crystal Bloom three stars BUT I think the story as a whole has potential. There is no synopsis for this book yet so I will include the synopsis for To Bleed a Crystal Bloom.

• Synopsis:

What a pretty flower to keep locked in a big, rocky tower.

Nineteen years ago, I was plucked from the heart of a bloody massacre that spared nobody else.

Small. Fragile.
An enigma.

Now ward to a powerful High Master who knows too much and says too little, I lead a simple life, never straying from the confines of an imaginary line I’ve drawn around the castle grounds.
Stay within. Never leave.
Out there, the monsters lurk. Inside, I’m safe … though at a cost far greater than the blood I drip into a goblet daily.
Toxic, unreciprocated love for a man who’s utterly unavailable.

My savior. My protector.
My almost executioner.

I can’t help but be enamored with the arcane man who holds the power to pull my roots from the ground.

When voracious beasts spill across the land and threaten to fray the fabric of my tailored existence, the petals of reality will peel back to reveal an ugly truth. But in a castle puddled with secrets, none are greater than the one I’ve kept from myself.

No tower is tall enough to protect me from the horror that tore my life to shreds.

One of my absolute most anticipated reads for the year is House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas. This is the sequel to Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood and is due to release February 15th. It will be my Valentine’s gift to myself😍

• Synopsis:

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal―they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what’s right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.

📚Already Released

On my Goodreads review for Castles In Their Bones, somebody commented and asked had I read Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. Apparently the two books have some similarities and since I enjoyed Castles In Their Bones, I added Three Dark Crowns to my TBR.

• Synopsis:

When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz is another that I received an ARC for. I really don’t know anything about it other than the synopsis but it sounds SO good.

• Synopsis:

Some curses can’t be outrun.

The secret to Redd’s past is locked away in a 400-year-old box that mysteriously appears every year on her birthday. For her entire life, her mother has kept them running from whatever lurks inside it. But Redd’s had enough of not knowing who she is. So when the box shows up where only she can find it, she opens it…and awakens a link to the evil her mother fought to keep dormant.

John lives in an old-fashioned village, a place of exquisite beauty and abundance. But such splendor demands that the villagers commit dark and unspeakable acts. When the link with Redd is unlocked, the village council believes they have an alternative. John is sent to find the one girl who could possibly save them…by making the ultimate sacrifice.

Eleanor sets off from England to America in 1587, pregnant and desperate to leave her ties with the devil behind. But when the captain of the ship refuses to take her and the other settlers further than Roanoke Island, what should be the beginning of a better life turns into a horrendous struggle to survive. Eleanor’s desire to see her daughter live at any cost will curse her and everyone around her for centuries to come…

Follow as Redd, John, and Eleanor’s stories twine together in a mash-up of dark contemporary and historical fantasy. The Curse That Binds Us delves into the nuances of good and evil, the price of loyalty, and the extremes we will go to for those we love.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier is the newest addition to my collection. It’s a fairytale retelling and I’m always here for that so I picked it up for literally no other reason. It’s book one of a six book series so hopefully I love it.

• Synopsis:

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives: they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift—by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all…

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth was a five star read for me. As soon as I finished it, I knew I needed more by this author so I bought The Wild Girl. I hope to read this in the next month or so.

• Synopsis:

Dortchen Wild fell in love with Wilhelm Grimm the first time she saw him.

Growing up in the small German kingdom of Hessen-Cassel in the early Nineteenth century, Dortchen Wild is irresistibly drawn to the boy next door, the young and handsome fairy tale scholar Wilhelm Grimm.

It is a time of war, tyranny and terror. Napoleon Bonaparte wants to conquer all of Europe, and Hessen-Cassel is one of the first kingdoms to fall. Forced to live under oppressive French rule, the Grimm brothers decide to save old tales that had once been told by the firesides of houses grand and small all over the land.

Dortchen knows many beautiful old stories, such as Hansel and Gretel, The Frog King and Six Swans. As she tells them to Wilhelm, their love blossoms. Yet the Grimm family is desperately poor, and Dortchen’s father has other plans for his daughter. Marriage is an impossible dream.

Dortchen can only hope that happy endings are not just the stuff of fairy tales.

I 100% only bought Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare because one of my favorite booktubers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, raved about it. I’ve read one short story and one novella by Dare and wasn’t super impressed so I hope this book is better.

• Synopsis:

In this lush and seductive novel, exciting new author Tessa Dare takes desire to brazen heights.

Ever the bold adventuress, Lucy Waltham has decided to go hunting for a husband. But first she needs some target practice. So she turns to her brother’s best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to hone her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion–one that could send all her plans up in smoke.

Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of long-buried secrets. He keeps a safe distance from his own emotions, but to distract Lucy from her reckless scheming, he must give his passions free rein. Their sensual battle of wills is as maddening as it is delicious, but the longer he succeeds in managing the headstrong temptress, the closer Jeremy comes to losing control. When scandal breaks, can he bring himself to abandon Lucy to her ruin? Or will he risk his heart and claim her for his own?

Another book PeaceLoveBooksxo made me buy is The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. I’ll be honest, the cover makes me cringe but I’m still excited to read it😂

• Synopsis:

They’re rebels, scoundrels, and blackguards—dark, dashing men on the wrong side of the law. But for the women who love them, a hint of danger only makes the heart beat faster…

STEALING BEAUTY
Dorian Blackwell, the Blackheart of Ben More, is a ruthless villain. Scarred and hard-hearted, Dorian is one of London’s wealthiest, most influential men who will stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on those who’ve wronged him…and will fight to the death to seize what he wants. The lovely, still innocent widow Farah Leigh Mackenzie is no exception—and soon Dorian whisks the beautiful lass away to his sanctuary in the wild Highlands…

COURTING DESIRE
But Farah is no one’s puppet. She possesses a powerful secret—one that threatens her very life. When being held captive by Dorian proves to be the only way to keep Farah safe from those who would see her dead, Dorian makes Farah a scandalous proposition: marry him for protection in exchange for using her secret to help him exact revenge on his enemies. But what the Blackheart of Ben More never could have imagined is that Farah has terms of her own, igniting a tempestuous desire that consumes them both. Could it be that the woman he captured is the only one who can touch the black heart he’d long thought dead?

I want to try out writing fiction this year so I bought Save The Cat! Writes A Novel by Jessica Brody. Almost every author I follow recommends this book so I figured it would be a good place to start. I doubt I’ll review it but I still wanted to include it.

• Synopsis:

SAVE THE CAT!® by Blake Snyder is a popular screenwriting book series and storytelling methodology used by screenwriters, directors, and studio execs across Hollywood. Now, for the first time ever, bestselling author and writing teacher, Jessica Brody, takes the beloved Save the Cat! plotting principals and applies them to the craft of novel writing in this exciting new “workshop style” guide, featuring over 20 full beat sheets from popular novels throughout time.

Whether you’re writing your first novel or your seventeenth, Save the Cat! breaks down plot in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method so you can write stories that resonate! This book can help you with any of the following:

Outlining a new novel
Revising an existing novel
Breaking out of the dreaded “writer’s block”
Fixing a “broken” novel
Reviewing a completed novel
Fleshing out/test driving a new idea to see if it “has legs”
Implementing feedback from agents and/or editors
Helping give constructive feedback to other writers

But above all else, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamentals and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work!

Final Thoughts:

I think that is all of my most anticipated reads for 2022 but I’m sure I’m forgetting about something. Let me know what books you’re most excited for this year! Thanks for reading and have a great day!