January TBR

New Year, new pile of books to read! Actually it’s the same (enormous) pile of books, but here’s to whittling it down throughout the year! I didn’t actually have any particular books in mind that I wanted to read this month, so I just dove into my TBR pile and picked out a few that I thought looked interesting.

Here’s what I’m planning to read this month –

Shift by Em Bailey – The rumor mill is spinning when Miranda Vaile arrives at school along with whispers that she murdered her parents. But Olive Corbett wants nothing to do with the new girl. After “the incident,” Olive’s been the subject of too much gossip, and now she just wants to take her pills and stay under the radar. But even from the sidelines, there’s no ignoring the fact that there’s something not quite right about Miranda. How can this mousy girl step right into the popular group, become the queen bee’s best friend, and slowly seize control herself? It’s almost parasitic. But who would ever believe crazy Olive, the girl who has a habit of letting her imagination run away with her? And what if Olive is Miranda’s next target?

Fearless by Fiona Higgins – Six strangers from across the world meet on the tropical island of Bali to attend a course designed to help them face their fears. Their backgrounds are as diverse as their fears – which range from flying, public speaking and heights, through to intimacy, failure and death. Friendships and even romance blossom as the participants are put through a series of challenges which are unusual, confronting and sometimes hilarious. A week of fun in the sun suddenly turns into something far more serious, however, when the unthinkable happens – a tragic disaster that puts the group in deadly danger, testing the individual courage of every member.

Masked Innocence by Alessandra Torre – The man was sinful. It wasn’t just the looks that made him dangerous, it was the cocky confidence that dominated every move, every touch. And the frustrating yet ecstatic fact about the whole package was that he could back it all up… Julia Campbell never knows what to expect with win-at-all-costs Brad De Luca. And she’s starting to like it that way. She gave up safe, conventional relationships when she let the elite divorce attorney seduce her into his world. Now that he’s determined to strip her naked of every inhibition, she’s in danger of falling too deep and too fast. But their affair begins to feel even more dangerous when a murder leaves a trail of suspicion that points straight to the mob… and Brad. Trusting a man with a bad reputation and a past full of secrets seems like a mistake. But when she’s forced to make a choice, the consequences will take her further than she could ever have imagined.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson – Emily’s best friend Sloane disappears, almost without a trace – the only thing left behind is a to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that wallflower Emily wouldn’t normally do, and definitely not without her best friend. But what if completing the list could bring Sloane back? Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a stranger? Um… Go skinny dipping? Wait… what? Emily only has the summer to check everything off Sloane’s list. The question is, what will she find at the end of it?