I don't often write posts for Top Ten Tuesday but when I browsed the list of prompts at the start of the year this one caught my eye. I read quite a few shorter reads last year and I just knew I had some books I wanted to talk about. When I began browsing my read list by number of pages I realised I actually had a large collection of shorter books to recommend.
I was originally going to limit it to under 150 pages but I have read some spectacular novellas which are a bit longer than that. These are all books which can be read in a single sitting though and I really think that’s enough when it comes to choosing books for when time is short. The books are listed in page length when any series is grouped together.
Taste (82 pages) & Lick (58 pages)
This weird little vampire romance duology wasn’t ever on my radar. I couldn’t find an interesting vampire romance to read for the Romanceopoly prompt last year and went down a google deep dive for something interesting and Taste popped up onto my radar. It was short, so I was guaranteed to be able to finish and complete that pesky reading prompt and it was on Kindle Unlimited so no need to buy anything new. It was perfect and now I’m annoyed practically no one has read this.
In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation (90 pages) (and the rest of the Halifax Hellions series)
This series was spectacular but this very first book in the little novella series was perfect. It was shorter than the next two but it wasn’t any less brilliant. I think I read all 3 books in a single weekend and this firmly placed Alexandra Vasti on my favourites author list. I still haven’t read a full length book from her.
The Wedding Bait (105 pages)
Not only was this a great romance novella but it features to older characters. Characters in romance novels are frequently mid twenties or early thirties like if you haven’t fallen in love with the one by thirty five you might as well give up hope. I seriously need to read more from Adele Buck but I simply forgot about her as an author.
Loving the Secret Billionaire (125 pages)
This might be the weakest read on this list but I decided to include because I did enjoy it. The two things which drew me to it were virgin hero and he was blind. I was intrigued by the concept and how it would be handled and it delivered a surprisingly sweet read.
Let It Shine (134 Pages)
Another historical romance on the list (why are there so many historical romance novellas?). This time it’s an Alyssa Cole book and there are actually 2 novellas from the author I love and both are set during more recent history. I rated this one five stars and I remember it being a powerful read. It dealt with some difficult topics and considering the short length of the novella still managed to make you feel the force of the story and not feel like you hadn’t explored things well.
Desire and the Deep Blue Sea (142 pages)
Olivia Dade is another author I adore, I’ll read anything and everything she writes. This was one of the earlier books I read from her before she got big and got amazing new covers and got herself fancy Afterlight editions of some of her books. It was a wonderful read. A fake relationship and hate to love? Honestly, it was like it was made for me!
All Systems Red (144 pages)
I think everyone is familiar with The Murderbot series at this point but I was late to the game reading. I’m not featuring all the books from the series as they aren’t all short and really the first book will tell you if you’re interested in investing in it all. It’s a strange little series, a robot designed for combat expect it developed self awareness and decided it would hack itself and do it’s own thing. I need to reread this whole series, I’ve only ever listened to the audiobooks so think I need to invest an read them second time around and then catch up on reading the rest.
One Night With the Sexiest Man Alive (158 pages)
This is now approaching the longer end of the books but I wanted to feature an Ainslie Paton book because she’s brilliant. I put off reading this for ages and I honestly couldn’t tell you why. It had the usual writing style I’ve grown to love from the author and it had strong characters who had excellent banter and it just worked ok. I have yet to finish the series (oops) but I know I’ll get to it soon(ish).
Snowspelled (170 pages)
This book was mostly the reason I didn’t want to restrict myself to less than 150 pages because I immediately thought of this book for this week’s theme but it wasn’t short enough! I decided to say sod it and have it a little longer. This is a perfect historical fantasy romance (yes, 3 genres in one here folks). It has a good mystery and an interesting plot. You honestly care about the characters and the magic system was interesting. I loved everything about it and kick myself I’m yet to finish the series.
The Chemistry of Familiar Objects (172 pages)
It feels wrong to feature multiple books from the same author, especially when these are the only books she has out right now. This is a new novella released this year and I loved it, it was actually my favourite read of January so how could I not include it? It may not be long but it made quite an impact.
Honourable Mention: A Night at the Tropicana (41 pages)
This little novella gets an honourable mention. It may have had a place within my top ten but I only finished it last night and couldn’t bring myself to evict one of my picks so instead it gets a bonus position. This really is a short read and it may not be enough of a read for some but for a quick escape it really is perfect. If you like Chanel Cleeton’s Cuba series then this is definitely one for you if you have a bit of time to spare and can’t decide on your next book.
What shorter books have you enjoyed in the past? Have you read any on my list or will you know you’ve heard a little about them?
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