‘Tis the Season for Spicy Reads: My December 2023 TBR

Hey there, romance readers – It’s time for my December TBR!

We’re in the final stretch of 2023, and I feel like I barely made a dent in my TBR! These are the five books I want to read before ringing in the new year.

But before getting started, this is a friendly reminder to be aware of your triggers and to check for any necessary trigger warnings associated with the titles below. 

Let’s jump right in and discover the books that are about to become our new obsessions.

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

Sinners Duet, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Billionaires
• Dark Romance
• Dual POVs
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Stalkers

I loathe Alastor Shaw.

The city of San Francisco thinks we’re rival artists.

In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground.

We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch.

Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game.

I’m fixated on her for a different reason…

She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted.

Only she can make me lose control.

I don’t know if I should protect her at all costs… or destroy her before she ruins me.

Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…

Get your copy of There Are No Saints from Bookshop or check your local library! This book is also available with Kindle Unlimited. 

Sinner by Sierra Simone

Priest, Book Two

For readers who enjoy

• Age-Gap Romance
• Brother’s Best Friend Romance
• Forbidden Romance
• Friends-to-Lovers

I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended to be. I don’t believe in goodness or God or any happy ending that isn’t paid for in advance. In fact, I’ve got my own personal holy trinity: in the name of money, sex, and Macallan 18, amen.

So when the gorgeous, brilliant Zenny Iverson asks me to teach her about sex, I want to say yes, I really do. Unfortunately, there are several reasons to say no—reasons that even a very bad man like myself can’t ignore.

1. She’s my best friend’s little sister.

2. She’s too young for me. Like way too young.

3. She’s a nun. Or about to be anyway.

But I want her. I want her even with my best friend and God in the way, I want to teach her and touch her and love her, and I know that makes me something much worse than a very bad man.

It makes me a sinner.

Get your copy of Sinner from Bookshop or check your local library! This book is also available through the Kindle app.

What book are you most excited to read this December? Tell me in the comments below!

Forgery by Tate James

Valenshek Legacy, Book Two

For readers who enjoy

• Age-Gap Romance
• Contemporary Romance
• Crime
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Mafia Romance

Dreams. Goals. Plans.

You envision a dream, set a goal, and formulate a plan. I had diligently pursued all of these steps. I was on my way to obtaining my degree, engaging with breathtaking works of art, and unexpectedly falling into bed with my professor.

Yeah, that last bit wasn’t part of the grand scheme, but even I had to admit that it wasn’t an unwelcome deviation.

Ironically, despite my meticulous planning, attention to detail, and even despite my own deceptions, I ended up being the one deceived. Being manipulated and used.

He didn’t desire me for who I was; he merely coveted my connections.

He yearned for me because of my access to his prized painting.

And when he absconded into the night with the piece he’d been willing to betray me for, he shattered my heart.

Except, he got caught, and in doing so he inadvertently revealed my biggest secret.

My forgery.

Get your copy of Forgery from Bookshop or check your local library! This book is also available with Kindle Unlimited. 

Find Me by Ashley N. Rostek

WISTEC, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Age-Gap Romance
• Friends-to-Lovers
• Slow-Burn
• Stalkers
• Why Choose

One year ago…

My family is gone. My parents. My twin sister. All of them murdered by the man who has stalked me for years. He nearly killed me, too. But I got away and he’s still out there, searching for me. He won’t find me. At least, I hope not. Thanks to WITSEC, I’ve been given a new life with a new identity.

The present…

My uncle, my only living relative, has helped me glue myself back together and given me the tools I’ll need to survive. I’m not fixed and my grief is heavy, but I’m at a point where I can put one foot in front of the other to try to move on.

I know my future will be hard and lonely. I must stay strong and focus on the good. I’m getting a second chance at life. I am safe. My new home is beautiful. The four brothers who live next door are even more so. Little do I know that Colt, Creed, Keelan, and Knox will soon become my everything. It’s as if my lonely heart screamed out for someone good to find me. Four answered back.

Get your copy of Find Me from Kindle Unlimited or check your local library! 

Hollow by Karina Halle

A Gothic Shade of Romance, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Age-Gap Romance
• Friends-to-Lovers
• Gothic Romance
• Paranormal Romance
• Why Choose

Ever since she was a child, Kat Van Tassel knew that her parents had arranged for her to marry her best friend, Brom Bones, when she became of age. That was until Brom mysteriously vanished from the secretive village of Sleepy Hollow when he was just a teenager.

Now, at nineteen, Kat is fulfilling the tradition of attending Sleepy Hollow Institute, a shadowy and prestigious school that is run by her powerful family. There she starts to fall for her new teacher, the enigmatic, smart, and much older Ichabod Crane, whose fascination with dark magic and the occult brings out a new side of Kat—in more ways than one.

Until Brom Bones suddenly appears in her class. Her childhood friend doesn’t remember what happened to him in the four years that he’s been gone, all he knows is that he’s back in Sleepy Hollow for good. The only problem is, he’s not the same man that Kat knew. Cocky and brash as a youth, this Brom is violent and prone to bouts of madness. It doesn’t help that his reappearance coincides with gruesome decapitations that are plaguing the town, with rumors swirling about a vengeful ghost called The Headless Horseman.

Determined to get to the bottom of the murders and Brom’s volatility, Crane takes Brom under his wing to study him, and they begin to grow close, just as they do with Kat. But the more that the threesome submits to their sexual desires on the path to the truth, the more dangerous Sleepy Hollow becomes. The Headless Horseman might claim them as his next victims…if something even more terrifying doesn’t get to them first.

Get your copy of Hollow from Bookshop or check your local library! This book is also available with Kindle Unlimited. 

Thirsty for more book recommendations? Check out Three’s Company: The Ultimate Guide to Ménage.

Don’t forget to share which book you will add to your TBR. Comment below!

Stay spicy, 

AJ 💋