January 2026 Reading List

Reading for book club-

  

Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain #1) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

 

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain―and his entire nefarious empire―out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find. 

 

 

Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-

I honestly don't have high hopes for this one. I've read some negative reviews but I'm going to give it a try. 

 

Dragons of Deceit (Dragonlance: Destinies #1) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman 

 

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman return to the unforgettable world of the New York Times bestselling Dragonlance series as a new heroine—desperate to restore her beloved father to life—sets off on a quest to change time.

Destina Rosethorn—as her name implies—believes herself to be a favored child of destiny. But when her father dies in the War of the Lance, she watches her carefully constructed world come crashing down. She loses not only her beloved father but also the legacy he has left the family lands and castle. To save her father, she hatches a bold plan—to go back in time and prevent his death.

First, she has to secure the Device of Time Journeying, last known to be in the possession of the spirited kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot. But to change time, she’ll need another magical artifact—the most powerful and dangerous artifact ever created. Destina’s quest takes her from the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin to the town of Solace and beyond, setting in motion a chain of disastrous events that threaten to divert the course of the River of Time, alter the past, and forever change the future. 

 

 

Reading with The Mystery Book Club- 

I'll be caught up on this series after this one.

  

Trust No One (Agent Tori Hunter #8) by Roger Stelljes

 

In a cabin by a lake, a mother and father tuck their little girl into bed and kiss her goodnight. But they can’t enjoy the evening summer breeze—because this is no ordinary family on vacation. This is a family with nowhere left to run… and no one left to trust.

When FBI Agent Tori Hunter and Detective Will Braddock are called to a crime scene at a remote hunting cabin, they find blood everywhere. A small pink suitcase has been left behind, filled with children’s clothes and medicine. Has a family been murdered on vacation, or did they run just in time?

The team quickly tracks down the details of the family renting the cabin. But Braddock freezes at the last name. He claims to have never heard it before… but Tori can always tell when her partner is lying.

Furious that Braddock might keep something from her when lives are at stake, when two New York City detectives show up in Minnesota with questions for Braddock her fears are proved right... because there’s a murder case in Braddock’s past he never told Tori about. It took over his life just after his wife died, and forced him out of the city for good. Why did he keep it secret?

Tori has no time for games. Tracking down suppliers of the medicine from the cabin is her one lead to find this family before it’s too late. But with fingers pointing at Braddock, and her own instincts screaming that he’d never betray her or the shield, Tori will have to put her own career on the line to defend the man she trusts above all else—and find the real killer with a deadly score to settle.

 

 

 

Burden of Truth (Cass Leary #1) by Robin James 

 

To defend her client, she must dig up a town’s darkest secrets.

Defense attorney Cass Leary thought she’d escaped her hometown for good. But after leaving her high-paying job in Chicago, she decides to revisit her troubled past. When someone murders the beloved high school basketball coach and Cass steps in to defend the girl accused of the crime, she doesn’t expect the death threats that follow…

Confronting the town that shunned her as a child, she unearths secrets that some would kill to keep buried. And after her client confesses to the crime, Cass detects a widespread cover-up. If she doesn’t get to the bottom of it soon, the next fatalities may be the ones she loves…

Burden of Truth is the first book in series of high-stakes legal thrillers. If you like blood-pumping action, compelling characters, and twisted crime conspiracies, then you’ll love Robin James’s dark tale.

 

 

 

Pick it for me book-

  

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life—placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition—the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into—love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?—with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.