When I started making this list, I honestly had 20 books on it, but trimmed it down to what seems like just the best of the best. There are new books from some of my favorite authors from last year (Rachel Hawkins, Lucy Foley, Marie Benedict), a TON of historical fiction, some juicy thrillers and even a little bit of fantasy/sci-fi! These are just the kinds of books I like to escape into during the darker winter months, going to another place and time and seeing notable figures from the past get into trouble.

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January

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

Publishing Date: January 4

In a reimagining of an Agatha Christie classic, six twenty somethings head to Meroe Island, a secluded destination in the middle of the Pacific with a mysterious past, for a carefree vacation, but soon realize they are more cut off from the world than they thought. When one of them goes missing and another turns up dead, the remaining four start to investigate what is truly happening on the island. I loved Rachel Hawkin’s take on Jane Eyre, The Wife Upstairs, and can’t wait to read this!

The Starless Crown by James Rollins

Publishing Date: January 4

A fantasy story that brings together a team of outcasts including a former soldier, a drunken prince, an imprisoned thief and a student who fortells an apocalypse as they go on the run from dangerous forces that want them dead, and try to save the world and themselves.

The Magnolia palace by fiona davis

Publishing Date: January 25

I love a New York city story, and this sounds so amazing! When 21-year-old Lillian, a sought-after artists’ model in the city , loses her mother, she stumbles into a job as a private secretary to Helen Frick, daughter of the famous industrialist and art collector. As her life gets entangled with the family, she is pulled into a complicated web of family drama and stolen jewels. Fifty years later, an English model is working on a photo shoot at Frick Museum, but when she is fired mid-shoot, she finds secret messages that could help her find the truth behind a famous murder in the Frick family.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

Publishing Date: January 11

When a local girl goes missing, Chloe Davis is taken back to the summer she was twelve and six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. Her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, and 20 years later, Chloe’s wedding has her facing her family trauma, while also trying to unmask the killer.

Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict

Publishing Date: January 25

Under-recognized by history, this book tells the story of Rosalind Franklin, the brilliant scientist, as she gets closer to a breakthrough in her work with DNA while dealing with the sexism of her colleagues. When she discovers the double helix structure, events take a turn that rational and analytical Rosalind could have never predicted.

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

Publishing Date: January 25

You know we love a rich person thriller, and this seems to fit the bill ! Helen has a handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and baby on the way, and at her first prenatal class she meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel smokes, drinks, and professes little interest in parenthood, but is a fun new addition to Helen’s life. However, her behavior starts to get more and more erratic, and when other people start to notice, it becomes clear that she could know more about their shared past and a dark secret.

February

The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull

Publishing Date: February 8

Another historic pick about Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother’s ill health, their brother Alexei’s secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin. Olga’s only escape from the seclusion of Alexander Palace comes from the grand tea parties her aunt hosts amid the shadow court of Saint Petersburg—a world of opulent ballrooms, scandalous flirtation, and whispered conversation. But as war approaches, Olga and her sisters trade their gowns for nursing habits, while troubling rumors about her parents trickle in from the front. When tensions run high and supplies run low, the controversy over Rasputin grows into fiery protest, and calls for revolution threaten to end three hundred years of Romanov rule.

The Christie Affair by nina degramont

Publishing Date: February 8

A fictional account of what happened leading up to Agatha Christie’s infamous 11 day disappearance, where after a nationwide search, she was discovered at a fashionable hotel in a beautiful spa town with no memory of what happened. The story imagines what her husband and his plotting mistress had to do with, and the two (fictional) murders that coincided with her reappearance?

Bright ruined things by Samantha Cohoe

Publishing Date: February 15

A YA reimagining of The Tempest centers on Mae, who has spent her life on an island, living off the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the island’s magic and its spirits. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. On First Night, when the Prospers and their high-society friends celebrate the night Lord Prosper first harnessed the island’s magic and started producing aether, things go wrong . Mae realizes that things aren’t what they see and Ivo, the reclusive, mysterious heir to the Prosper magic, may hold all the answers.

THE Paris Apartment by lucy foley

Publishing Date: February 22

Jess is looking for a fresh start, and while her half-brother Ben isn’t thrilled that she is coming to crash with him in Paris, she decides to go anyways. When she shows up, Ben is gone, his apartment is way nicer than expected and his neighbors are unfriendly. Where is Ben and who knows what in the building? I love a Lucy Foley mystery - The Guest List was one of my favorites last year!

This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel

Publishing Date: February 22

Natalie’s sister Kit has been missing for six months, since she went searching for meaning and found Wisewood, a private island off the coast of Maine, where guests commit to six-month stays. Prohibited from contact with the rest of the world guests focus on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.

The School of Mirrors

Publishing Date: February 22

Eloise and I are both very into French things right now, and this historical fiction looks magical! Set during the reign of Louis XV, the story is about Veronique, one of the impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France who are sent to a discreet villa in Versailles and trained by Madame de Pompadour as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into Versailles, and the Hall of Mirrors where they meet the King in disguise and live an indulgent life of silk gowns, delicious meals, and soft beds. When Veronique discovers her lover’s true identity, she is whisked away, sent to give birth to a daughter in secret, and then to marry a wealthy Breton merchant. The story also follows the King’s daughter by Veronique—Marie-Louise, who has never known her mother, let alone her father. She discovers a passion for healing and science, and becomes an accredited midwife, but eventually Veronique comes back into her daughter’s life, bringing with her the secret of Marie-Louise’s birth. But the new King—Louis XVI—is teetering on his throne and it’s a volatile time in France…and those with royal relatives must mind their step very carefully.

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