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November 3, 2026

10 Before the End (Plus 2) – November 2026 TBR Book List

The countdown to 2027 is on, but my TBR is still overflowing! Discover which books I’m hoping to squeeze in before saying goodbye to 2026.

Welcome, my sweet book friends!

If you’d prefer to listen to this book list, you can check out the full episode on The Bookmarks ‘n Blankets Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or listen below.

I invite you over to X (aka Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram to let me know what you thought of any of the books on my list, what you’re reading this month, or what new releases you are excited to read. I would love to engage with you!

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The countdown to the end of the year is officially on, and I have a few more books I’m hoping to squeeze in before we say goodbye to 2026!

I’ve been seeing the popular 10 Before the End trend all over social media, where readers share the 10 books they want to read before the year is over. Of course, I couldn’t resist joining in on the fun! But if you’ve been following my reading journey for a while, you know I always choose 12 books for my TBRs. So naturally, I had to put my own little spin on the trend and make it 10 Before the End (Plus 2).

For this final stretch of the year, I’ve picked 12 highly anticipated books that I’ve been eager to get my hands on. My reading mood has shifted quite a bit lately, and after spending so much time immersed in magical worlds, I’m ready to take a little break from fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good fantasy adventure, but right now I’m craving something different.

This TBR is a fun mix of contemporary romance, historical romance, Christian fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and even a little horror. I’m in the mood for heartwarming love stories, compelling characters, emotional journeys, and a few dark, suspenseful reads that will keep me turning the pages late into the night.

As a mood reader, I know better than to make any promises about finishing all 12 books before December 31st. My reading plans have a funny way of changing depending on what I’m craving at the moment! But these are the stories calling my name right now, and I’m excited to see how many I can cross off my list before the year comes to a close.

In this episode, I’m sharing 12 highly anticipated books I’m hoping to read before the end of the year, why I’m excited to dive into each one, and what makes these stories stand out to me.

So grab your favorite cozy blanket, pour yourself something warm, and settle in as we chat about the books I’m hoping to read before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve!

November New Releases

These are in order based on release date.

Thief of Hearts by Sariah Wilson

Thief of Hearts

by Sariah Wilson

Not Rated
Pride and Practicality by Pepper Basham

Pride and Practicality

by Pepper Basham

Not Rated
To Bless a Baron at Christmas by Gabrielle Meyer

To Bless a Baron at Christmas

by Gabrielle Meyer

Not Rated
Just for the Camera by Sarah Adams

Just for the Camera

by Sarah Adams

Not Rated
Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore

by Emily Krempholtz

Not Rated
Cat Dragon and the Snow Fairies by Samantha Birch

Cat Dragon and the Snow Fairies

by Samantha Birch

Not Rated
Last Room at the Mistletoe Motel by Cassandra Joelle

Last Room at the Mistletoe Motel

by Cassandra Joelle

Not Rated
An Edge Sharp Enough by Jesse Q. Sutanto

An Edge Sharp Enough

by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Not Rated
Didn't Ski You Coming by India Tungate

Didn’t Ski You Coming

by India Tungate

Not Rated
Lights, Camera, Christmas by Courtney Walsh

Lights, Camera, Christmas

by Courtney Walsh

Not Rated

12 Highly Anticipated Novels I Want to Read Before the End of the Year

When I read the book, the review button will appear. Just click to read it.

1
Feels Like Home by Courtney Walsh

Feels Like Home

by Courtney Walsh
GoodReads:4.45
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:10/19/2026
Genre:Contemporary Romance
Subgenre:Closed-Door Romance
Series:#1 in The Copper Ridge Romance Series

Book Summary

Hattie Holbrook is the perfect blend of spit and polish, of humor and grit… growing up with eight siblings will do that to a girl, especially when six of them are boys.

Hattie has a dream to transform the old hunting lodge on her parents’ Montana ranch into a wedding venue and off-the-grid vacation destination. Silverwood might be a small town, but with its proximity to Glacier National Park and thousands of tourists each year, and Hattie knows there’s no one better than her family to provide an authentic outdoor experience.

After a year of blood, sweat, and tears, the lodge is almost ready, just in time to host her pro hockey player brother’s wedding. Everything is going to be perfect. She’s thought of every detail and planned for every possible disaster.

Except the return of Noble Kane.

In Hattie’s mind, Noble is nothing but trouble. He’s known for it. If he can’t find it, he makes it. He’s the distraction she absolutely does not need, but thanks to her well-meaning mother, he’s her lodge’s first and only guest.

Winning the bull-riding World Championship should have Noble feeling some kind of way. Years of training, sacrificing, and giving everything to the sport had finally paid off.

But all he feels is empty. Listless. Alone.

His dream? To go back to the one place that felt like home. Never mind that when he left over a decade ago, he pretty much burned every bridge.

He’s back in Silverwood to set things right, to make amends, to pay for his mistakes, and to own up to what he did all those years ago. And it’s instantly clear that the person who’s going to be hardest to win over is the one, he only now realizes, who matters most of all.

He’s got two weeks to prove he’s changed and convince Silverwood to accept him. Two weeks to confess secrets he’s been holding onto for thirteen years. Two weeks alone with Hattie in an old hunting lodge that’s full of memories…

What can possibly go wrong?

2
Cowboy, Take Me Away by Juliana Smith

Cowboy, Take Me Away

by Juliana Smith
GoodReads:4.14
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:10/20/2026
Genre:YA Romance
Subgenre:Cowboy Romance, Closed-Door Romance
Series:#2 in The Willow Creek Series

Book Summary

Brimming with Southern charm and irresistible cowboys, Juliana Smith is back with another YA feel-good romcom in the Willow Creek series.

“I just want you, Felicity. Heartbroken or perfectly happy, however I can get you, I want you just as you are.”

Felicity “Flick” Hart knows exactly how romance is supposed to happen. After years of devouring love stories, she’s ready for her own: the butterflies, the first kiss, the happily-ever-after. So senior year becomes Operation: Break the Firsts. First date. First love. First heartbreak, if necessary. The biggest thing holding her back is her close relationship with her lifelong best friend, Knox Turner.

Unfortunately, Knox has spent most of his life in love with Flick.

When Flick asks for help navigating the dating world, Knox agrees to be her “relationship coach,” which somehow involves fake dates at fall festivals, getting lost in a corn maze together, and way too many moments that feel dangerously real. But while Flick is busy searching for the perfect romance, the lines between practice and reality start to blur.

As Flick struggles with her absent mother’s supposed return, and Knox wrestles with expectations from his close-knit farm family, both are forced to confront what they truly want—and whether they’re brave enough to risk the friendship they’ve always relied on.

Between pumpkins, haunted houses, and years of unspoken feelings, Flick may finally discover that the love she’s been searching for has been beside her all along.

3
One Wild Chance by Grace Worthington

One Wild Chance

by Grace Worthington
GoodReads:4.46
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:09/02/2026
Genre:Contemporary Romance
Subgenre:Cowboy Romance, Closed-Door Romance
Series:#1 in The Chance Brothers Ranch Series

Book Summary

She isn’t supposed to care about the ranch.
She definitely isn’t supposed to fall for the oldest Chance brother.
And she’s absolutely not supposed to trust him with her heart a second time.

Summer Daniels built her life on land she doesn’t own, for a family that could take it back the second Jaxon Chance decides he wants it. Even though she works for Lucky Chance Ranch, Wildflower Farms is hers—the one thing she’s built entirely on her own. She’s got no interest in reliving the past, and even less interest in the infuriating hockey player who broke her heart on his way out the door after high school.

Jaxon Chance built his whole identity on hockey. A career-ending injury just took that away, and it’s sent him back to the last place he ever wanted to be—his family’s horse farm, now failing under a mountain of debt. The only way to save it is to run the place alongside his three brothers, under the terms of a will that gives them no choice.

What he didn’t plan on was Summer Daniels, running her business on his family’s land, making him remember exactly what he walked away from.

But somewhere between their first fight and long days working the horses side by side, something shifts. Summer stops bracing for the day he leaves again. And Jaxon stops pretending he wants to go.

The farm is what brought him home. But she might be the reason he finally stays.

4
To Catch a Suitor by Sarah Adams

To Catch a Suitor

by Sarah Adams
GoodReads:3.68
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:02/25/2020
Genre:Historical Romance
Subgenre:Regency Romance, Closed-Door Romance
Series:#2 in The Dalton Family Series

Book Summary

She needs to move on. He wants to let her go. Will they finally be able to go their separate ways even though their hearts seem to have other plans?

Elizabeth Ashburn is madly, deeply, irrefutably in love with her best friend. They know each other better than their own minds. There is only one problem: To him, she is Little Lizzie, and nothing she does seems to replace the idea in his mind. No matter. It is her first Season, and she is determined to make a match with a gentleman—any gentleman—who will help her steal her heart back from Oliver Turner and his sea-blue eyes.

Oliver Turner can remember the exact day that Lizzie grew up. And now, he cannot see her as anything besides the beautiful woman stealing his breath—no matter how much he needs to. He won’t marry her. He can’t. He loves her too much for that. Now, he simply needs to help marry her off so that she will officially be out of his reach.

5

A Secret Correspondence

by Kasey Stockton
GoodReads:4.40
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:08/20/2025
Genre:Historical Romance
Subgenre:Closed-Door Romance, Regency Romance
Series:#4 in The Hearts of Harewood Series

Book Summary

Her letters revealed everything but the thing he most needs—her name.

Samuel Harding has a flair for fashion, a talent for flirtation, and a reputation as Harewood’s most charming dandy. But beneath the cravats and clever repartee lies a heart recently bruised from watching the woman he loved marry his cousin. With his pride wounded and his faith in love faltering, Samuel has found unexpected solace in a series of anonymous letters—witty, wistful, and altogether unlike anything his well-ordered world has ever offered.

What began as a curiosity has become a refuge, the secret correspondence revealing more of his true self than he ever intended to share. And the more he writes, the more he falls—for a woman he’s never met… and who may not be a stranger at all.

6
To Dance with a Duke by Gabrielle Meyer

To Dance with a Duke

by Gabrielle Meyer
GoodReads:4.34
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:06/09/2026
Genre:Historical Romance
Subgenre:Christian Fiction, Closed-Door Romance
Series:#2 in The Dollar Princess Series

Book Summary

For those who love The Gilded Age and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

In 1884, Ames Welby, the Duke of Severton, is desperate. His ancestral home is falling apart, his tenant farmers are starving, and his family name is tainted by a mysterious scandal that keeps people away. With no fortune and no time, he does the unthinkable—marries for money. But Lily Parker, the American heiress he weds in haste, is no pampered socialite. She’s practical, passionate, and has a plan to restore Pickering Castle—and the reputation of the five reclusive Welby brothers.

Inspired by her love of matchmaking and her longing for connection, Lily invites four eligible young women to a summer house party, hoping to spark romance and rebuild the family’s future. What follows is a whirlwind of mischief, mismatched couples, and unexpected love. But when Lily’s belief in true love clashes with Ames’s fear of family curses and social ruin, their fragile marriage is put to the ultimate test.

As storms rage and secrets unravel, Ames must will he fight for legacy—or for the woman who’s taught him that love is the most daring risk of all?

7

Memory Lane

by Becky Wade
GoodReads:4.04
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:02/14/2023
Genre:Contemporary Romance
Subgenre:Christian Fiction, Closed-Door Romance
Series:#1 in The Sons of Scandal Series

Book Summary

After surviving a trauma several years back, Remy Reed relocated to a cottage on one of Maine’s most remote islands. She’s arranged her life just the way she wants it, spending her time working on her wood sculptures and soaking in the beauty of nature. It’s quiet and solitary—until the day she spots something bobbing in the ocean.

Her binoculars reveal the “something” to be a man, and he’s struggling to keep his head above water. She races out to save him and brings him into her home. He’s injured, which doesn’t detract from his handsomeness nor make him any easier to bear. He acts like a duke who’s misplaced his dukedom…expensive tastes, lazy charm, bossy ideas.

Remy would love nothing more than to return him to his people, but he has no recollection of his life prior to the moment she rescued him. Though she’s not interested in relationships other than the safe ones she’s already established, she begins to realize that he’s coming to depend on her.

Who is he? What happened that landed him in the Atlantic Ocean? And why is she drawn to him more and more as time goes by?

There’s no way to discover those answers except to walk beside him down memory lane.

8

The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple

by Joanna Davidson Politano
GoodReads:4.05
My Score:N/A
Spice:None
Published:04/09/2024
Genre:Historical Drama
Subgenre:Christian Fiction, Mystery

Book Summary

Peter Driscoll, an underground investigator to the wealthy, has never met anyone like Lily Temple. The beautiful silent-film actress spins fairy tales and plays frivolous roles in front of the cine-camera, but beneath the costumes and stage makeup is a woman with a quick wit–and a murky past.

Peter has been tasked with locating the legendary Briarwood Teardrop, an exquisite sapphire, which Lily wears beneath her gown. In order to stay close to her and hopefully unravel the mystery of her story–and the sapphire–Peter employs Lily’s help on a case, which leads to a useful partnership. But as they are investigating together, Peter is also investigating Lily. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger they face. And the closer he gets to Lily, the clearer it is that he needs her even more than she needs him.

Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano whisks you away to Edwardian England in 1903 for a whimsical and layered tale that treads the crooked line between real and make-believe.

9

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

by Jaime Jo Wright
GoodReads:4.10
My Score:N/A
Spice:N/A
Published:01/22/2019
Genre:Historical Drama
Subgenre:Mystery, Gothic, Christian Fiction

Book Summary

Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother–who is battling dementia–compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns–and with it, Heidi’s fear for her own life.

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?

10
Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak

Look What the Cat Dragged In

by Jason Rekulak
GoodReads:3.68
My Score:N/A
Spice:N/A
Published:10/13/2026
Genre:Mystery & Thriller
Subgenre:Horror, Spooky Season

Book Summary

Meet Penny Padgett, a twenty-seven-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion. Godfrey follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening. Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force.

Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat…

Fully illustrated with sixty pages of original artwork, Jason Rekulak’s new novel is intensely plotted, wonderfully frightening, and wildly clever.

11

The Paris Apartment

by Lucy Foley
GoodReads:3.64
My Score:N/A
Spice:N/A
Published:02/22/2022
Genre:Mystery & Thriller

Book Summary

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

12

The Last Word

by Taylor Adams
GoodReads:3.66
My Score:N/A
Spice:N/A
Published:04/25/2023
Genre:Mystery & Thriller

Book Summary

Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.

One day, she reads a poorly written–but gruesome–horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?

As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?

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