Five Fall Favorites: Thursday – Books I Wish Had a Sequel (2025)

Welcome to the 10th annual Five Fall Favorites blog party! Kate Willis and Rebekah Morris are the hosts of this fun yearly event. This is my first year joining the FFF party, and I’m excited to be here with you all today!

This year the FFF participants were split into teams. I’m on team Walnut along with a a handful of other blogs.

Also on my team are:
Skai

Madisyn

Abigail

Bethany

Kelsey

Kate

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_{This post includes affiliate links, which simply means that if you click on one of them and make a purchase, I’ll also make a small commission at no extra cost to you.}

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Thursday’s Prompt: Books That I Wish Had a Sequel

1. Failed Protocol by Cindy Bonds –

Olivia Lloyd left the U.K. to work in Texas as head of security for a tech firm. Her training in the British Army gave her a chance to get into the SAS—Special Air Service. But she washed out, with the help of her uncle and his contacts. Now, here at her uncle’s request, she’s lonely and miserable after running away from her last life-altering loss.

Kenton Matthews’ recon days are over. He now works as a detective in Dallas, offering assessments for security when high-value targets come to town. But a request from an old friend has his heart pounding, as the threat to the large tech firm holds more than just a breach of security.

Kenton is determined to battle the failed mission from long ago and will do everything he can to protect Olivia from facing the same torturous man her uncle faced. But can Olivia trust the one man her uncle deems more than worthy?

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I had this one on my TBR along with some of Cindy Bonds other books, and ended up winning a copy in a giveaway she was running for the book launch.

I still haven’t read and of her older books yet, but really enjoyed this one! I would love to see it get a sequel, although I’m pretty sure it’s intended as a stand alone there’s a side-character (Kenton’s partner) that I think would be fun to get a sequel for.

2. A Ruse for Romance by Maisie Finley –

Lady Amelia Ashford has a problem. As a wealthy heiress, she can’t help but are the men pursuing her drawn to her heart—or her fortune?

To uncover the truth, Amelia and her spirited best friend, Seraphina, devise a clever ruse. They’ll host a house party, invite a group of eligible gentlemen, and swap identities. As “Miss Seraphina Moore,” Amelia hopes to find a love that sees beyond her wealth.

But their scheme takes an unexpected turn when Julian Lockwood, a charming and uninvited Viscount, crashes the party. With his quick wit and undeniable allure, Julian threatens to unravel her ruse—and her heart.

Can Amelia stick to her plan—or will love rewrite the rules?

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This is another case of a story that captured my attention and refused to let go. The characters were all so unique and in part I blame Laura Beers’s for her delightful clean regency series, but I wanted more! I loved meeting this interesting group of individuals in this one, and would love to see another book (or two) featuring one (or more) of them in their own story!

3. The Super Big Favor by Nuria Munzo –

When your grandmother is so tired of loose ends, she uses her last will and testament to guarantee you’ll tie the knot.

Antonia Torres likes to think she thrives on chaos; she just quit her museum coordinator job in Puerto Rico to move to NYC as a most recent example. The promise of inheriting and revitalizing the building that holds her grandparents’ arts community center and family legacy was too much to pass up. And yet, according to grandmother’s stipulation, pass it up she will, if she’s not married.

Art history professor Matthew Larabee knows a win-win situation when he sees it. His sister’s college friend blows back into his life like an autumn gale—if an autumn gale were in desperate need of lodging and a marriage certificate. She needs to marry, and he, not having the snappiest of conversation skills, needs to get on the tenure-track by winning over NYU administrators with his married-man stability and charming choice of a wife.

All seems good-to-go tying that knot for an eventual amicable dissolution, until untying starts looking less win-win by the day. Who knew letting go of someone who lights up your soul and fills every empty crevice would be so conflicting?

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Okay, so I’ll be honest in saying that I really don’t know how another story would work here… The story it this one was pretty well wrapped up by the end and so it might be a bit of a stretch… (Or, maybe not…? There is one character who could definitely use her own book!)

Anyway, I adored this couple, I mean they were just so cute together! I would definitely love a little more time with them!

4. The Reluctant Pioneer by Julie McDonald Zander –

Matilda Koontz cherishes her life as a wife and mother on a Missouri farm, but her hardworking husband wants to claim free farmland in the Pacific Northwest. When he suggests selling the farm to trek two thousand miles across the Oregon Trail, she balks.

But in the spring of 1847, Matilda and Nicholas Koontz and their sons embark on a grueling journey westward. Fresh graves testify to dangers of disease, accidents, starvation, and a multitude of hazards threatening her family and her beloved’s dream.

With new struggles at every turn, Matilda wonders how she can protect her sons on such a perilous journey. Will they reach the trail’s end? Will the babe growing inside her womb survive?

When tragedy strikes, the question How can she possibly continue?

*This pioneer woman’s journey is inspired by a true story.*

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Again, I’m not sure where the story would go from here, but it had gripped me so much by the end that I definitely would have loved to have a sequel to look forward to! Maybe something later on, ten or twenty years down the road when her boys were grown? I could see that being an interesting tale, if told. Especially after all they faced and witnessed in this emotional account.

5. A Waltz With Traitors by A. L. Sowards –

The Former Russian Empire, 1918

Czech soldier Filip Sedlák never wanted to fight for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. So at the first opportunity, he defected to the Russians. Now he and others like him have formed the Czechoslovak Legion. Their goal: leave the chaos of Russia, sail to France, and help the Allies defeat the Central Powers, thereby toppling a hated empire and winning an independent Czechoslovakia.

With the fall of the tsar, Nadia Linskaya’s life is in ruins. Her family is dead, her lands are confiscated, and her aristocratic world is gone forever. But Nadia is determined to elude the Bolshevik agent who destroyed her family and find a way to survive in this changed world.

When Nadia takes refuge with the Czechoslovak Legion, the last thing she expects is an ally. But when Filip proposes a sham marriage to ensure her safe passage across Siberia, she takes it. Neither Filip nor Nadia expect real love, not when the legion has to take over the longest railroad in the world—and then hold it against Bolshevik counterattacks, partisan sabotage, Allied intrigue, and a set of brutal Siberian winters. At risk is the future of Czechoslovakia, the fate of Russia—and their hearts.

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I loved this one!! The story, the characters, the heavy yet hopeful tone? It was such a beautiful and emotional read, and I would love to find a similar story.

Is this book perfect? No, of course not, but at the time that I read it this was everything that I’d hoped for and more!

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Giveaway Time:

This year, thanks to having so many contributions, and to celebrate this being the tenth anniversary, the giveaway will have two winners!

Rafflecopter giveaway

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FFF is a yearly bookish blog party hosted by:

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