Categories: New Adult, Dark Academia, Dark Romance, Romance, Mystery, Series
Alexโs Corbeau-Greenโs world is burning down around him, and Ophelia Winters is desperate to prove she didnโt light the fire.
When Ophelia first accepted a scholarship from Sorrowsong, an elite university in the Scottish Highlands, she wanted nothing more than to destroy Alex and his family at any cost. But that was before she knew him, before they became each otherโs everything. Now, after an unthinkable betrayal and the disappearance of his father, Alex is forced to return to New York, desperate to forget what they had, and salvage the damage done to his family. In Scotland, Ophelia is left reeling, alone . . . and watched.
With a new anonymous tormentor threatening to release evidence that Ophelia and Alex committed a murder on campus, itโs clear that theyโre going to need each other once again. But can they find a way to trust each other, and repair the love that they had? And even if they canโwill it be enough this time to keep them alive?
I loved Nightshade so I had to get this book ASAP.
I have to say this book is less dark academia and mystery than the first book and more romance. I did feel like the mystery of the stalker and where Alex’s dad was hiding out got a little lost in the romance between Ophelia and Alex. I would have loved more breadcrumbs about the stalker and Alex’s dad. The stalker reveal felt a bit anticlimactic too and the way the situation played out was just sad.
Speaking of Alex, if I was rating this book just because of him alone, it’s 5 stars. He is dealing with depression, dealing with his horrible father in hiding and trying to keep his mom and sisters safe. Plus he is so madly in love with Ophelia and needs her so bad…it broke my heart so bad to see him try and hold on and not fall apart. I feel like this is Alex’s book. It shined a light on his troubles, his vulnerabilities and the story really focuses on mental health and depression. I don’t know if I’ve loved a male character as I love Alex – he’s just so gentle with the women in his life. Okay, maybe he is just outnumbered and they wear him down ๐ but the way he loves them is just amazing and all I wanted was for him to feel loved back. He’s just trying his best and I needed him to have a happy ever after with Ophelia.
And the romance? Ugh, my heart…Alex and Ophelia are my favorite young couple and they have the best banter. And I love their inside jokes and things only that is special to them like the crossword puzzles, and the “until midnight” sayings. ๐ฅฐ They are the cutest couple ever when they aren’t trying to push the other away. They even try to have a long distance romance. They are two broken people, who find each other in the midst of grief, depression, revenge and secrets. They had so much to work to do in their relationship…and I love that they DO work things out. There is spice, but with them I feel like their spicy moments are fun and heartfelt.
Also, the secondary characters are great. Ophelia finally has friends, and I love Colette, she is so funny! I also love how Bella who isn’t her “friend” actually, tells her off because sometimes Ophelia needed it! She’s found a family with Alex’s mom and sisters, she grows and accepts help and open up to people. And Vincenzo? He is such a goofball and made me laugh.
Quotes From the Book:
“Right people, wrong universe. That’s what she thinks about us.” – Daybreak by. Autumn Woods
“To be loved by Alex Corbeau-Green is unlike anything I’ve ever known.” – Daybreak by. Autumn Woods
“A relationship won’t fix your depression, no matter how much you love her.” – Daybreak by. Autumn Woods
“She’s everything. She’s the words, the clues, the black spaces that hold the whole puzzle together.” – Daybreak by. Autumn Woods
Final Thoughts:
This is Alex’s book and I love Alex so I’m biased. The romance is a 5 star, the whole book and how it flowed I’d actually give 4 stars so I’m settling at 4.5. This sequel is filled with trauma, heartache, mental health issues like depression, but so much love also and even some hope. Alex’s love is amazing – he loves his mom and sisters like crazy and his love for Ophelia? Never ending. As for Ophelia, she grows, finds friendship and even a family (Alex’s family) – she learns to open up to others. Did the mystery about the stalker and even Alex’s dad become a little lost among the romance drama? I think it did a little. The stalker reveal felt anticlimactic and overall it was a sad situation. I wish it played out differently. But despite that issue this story had me in a chokehold because of the romance and Mr. Alex Corbeau-Green. Alex and Ophelia has been through so much and I’m glad they get their happily ever after! Can’t wait to see what this author writes next.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three Wโs:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
This is the last week of July – here we go! We got back to school next week for the kiddos, so I’ll have a little more quiet time to read, or so I like to think. ๐
A bracelet. A curse. And golden fishbones to be returned to the sea …
Guangdong, 1940. When Ha Yut Ying narrowly escapes Japanese soldiers by turning invisible, she knows her new-found magic must be kept a secret. But her mother, whose dreams foretell the future, suspects her daughter has changed, and warns her of a curse upon their family. For her protection, she gives her a gold bracelet whose links are shaped like fishbones.โ
After the war, Ha Yut Ying is sent to live with her father and his second wife, who have become wealthy factory owners in Hong Kong. Her stepmother, jealous of her beauty, forces her to work in the family’s shoe factory.
But when Yut Ying collides with a boy on a bicycle on her way to work, she loses her bracelet. The boy is Tommy Yeung, scion of a local soymilk tycoon. And their encounter will change both of their destinies forever…
New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan is back with an epic romantasy set in the world of A Fire in the Sky, about a girl on the hunt for the witch who cursed her, unaware of her own dormant powerโฆwaiting to emerge.
For ten long years, Arden has been invisible, trapped in her village by a spell she cannot break. She listens to friends chatter, watches her family grieve, but can never touch, speak, or be seen. Living like a ghost among those whoโve forgotten her, she dreams of vengeance against the witch who cursed her.
Until one fateful day, her village is devoured in flame, and everything changes.
From the wreckage rises a pride of dragons that can transform into humans. Their piercing eyes slice through her curse, and for the first time in a decade, Arden can be seen.
Swept off to the Crags by the enigmatic alpha dragon, Tage, Arden is forced into a world of fire and power, where danger lurks in every shadow. Though she plots her escape at every turn, Tageโs fiery intensity and undeniable magnetism spark an unwilling response in her.
But Ardenโs fate is bound to a secret she has yet to uncover, a magic older and more perilous than she could ever imagine. With war on the horizon, Arden must decide whether to trust the dragon she swore to defy, harness the wild magic around her, or risk losing everything.
Sometimes all it takes to break a curseโฆ is to cast another spell.
From #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole comes a darkly seductive new series where immortal passion collides with ruthless power.
Beyond the mortal world lies the Skein, a realm of mythic beauty and savage desire ruled by creatures of legend. Here, vampires, witches, demons, and wolves wage warโand hunt their pleasures just as fiercely.
Now, the Accession has begun, an ancient cycle of chaos and destiny that reignites old hostilities and forges fated bonds too hot to resist.
A witch queen on the rise defies the brutal wolf king who stands in her way. But when fate twists their battlefield into a bed of temptation, sworn enemies become something far more perilous. Lovers.
A vampire princess trades her crown for freedom, only to be bound to a scarred Berserker, a man whose possessive touch both terrifies and tempts her.
An incubus spy and a cunning vampiress strike a dangerous bargain for survival, and profit, but lust becomes the one gamble neither expected.
And when a wolf and an enchantress from opposing clans dare to make peace, their forbidden attraction could doom the Skeinโฆor spark a love that defies the gods.
Brimming with intrigue, bloody mayhem, and scorching heat,โฏRavenousโฏplunges readers into the world ofโฏImmortals Untoldโwhere magic kills, surrender triumphs, and immortal hungers can never be satedโฆ
An antique dealer and his inconvenient(ly irresistible) new colleague must contend with an illicit stuffed goose and their sizzling attraction, from USA Today bestselling author Sarah Adler.
Antique store owner Callahan Leitner has an illegal taxidermy goose in his living room.
Why? Itโsโฆcomplicated.
But it may end his career unless he finds a legitimate way to dispose of the bird ASAP. Unfortunately, thereโs an unexpected wrench in his plansโthe frustrating, effervescent Annie OโNeill.
Annie is happy to fill in for her uncle at his antique store; itโs the perfect opportunity to gain more experience before opening a shop of her own, and to finally meet his handsome young business partner. Unfortunately, Cal is nothing like the charming man she expected. Sheโs tempted to take his apparent dislike personally, until she stumbles upon the source of his the contraband waterfowl hiding upstairs.
When the goose goes missing, it puts both of their professional reputations on the line. As Cal and Annie attempt to track down the bird before it can be traced back to the store, their tentative alliance turns into something much deeper. Will the hunt for their felonious fowl lead to true love, or end in ruin?
Alexโs Corbeau-Greenโs world is burning down around him, and Ophelia Winters is desperate to prove she didnโt light the fire.
When Ophelia first accepted a scholarship from Sorrowsong, an elite university in the Scottish Highlands, she wanted nothing more than to destroy Alex and his family at any cost. But that was before she knew him, before they became each otherโs everything. Now, after an unthinkable betrayal and the disappearance of his father, Alex is forced to return to New York, desperate to forget what they had, and salvage the damage done to his family. In Scotland, Ophelia is left reeling, alone . . . and watched.
With a new anonymous tormentor threatening to release evidence that Ophelia and Alex committed a murder on campus, itโs clear that theyโre going to need each other once again. But can they find a way to trust each other, and repair the love that they had? And even if they canโwill it be enough this time to keep them alive?
ine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light.
Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home, all set over the course of one life-changing week in Paris.
Julia Glover has brought her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Piper, to Paris for the first timeโbut they know it will also be their last trip here together. Julia is dying, and as the mother and daughter desperately try to make memories together as the clock ticks down, the world opens up around them. Piper meets a cute French waiter, who might just understand her better than anyone sheโs ever met, and Julia meets a man at a dive bar and struggles with how to tell him the truth about her future.
Rock star Jackson Quickโs glory days are behind him. He had a handful of hit songs thirty years ago, but he hasnโt toured in a decade. This week, heโll launch his reunion tour in Paris, the city where it all began. But he wants more out of life than being defined by fame. When he meets a woman who finally sees him for who he is at his core, the ground shifts beneath his feet.
Henry McGee has been writing hit songs for decadesโincluding Jackson Quickโs biggest hit, City of Light. But his secret is that every love song heโs ever written is for a woman named Celeste, whom he loved a lifetime ago, when they were both teenagers in Paris during World War II. He has spent eighty years believing she diedโbut when a letter arrives telling him the opposite, heโs on the first flight to France. Can he break through the haze of her dementia, using the songs heโs written all these years, to remind her of who they once were to each otherโand to tell her he came back for her?
Henryโs granddaughter, Melody, has just discovered that her husband of twenty years, Gilles, a French cosmetics executive, is having an affair. When she confronts him, he tearfully apologizes and begs her to forgive him. But can she? And, perhaps even more importantly, does she want to? Or is there a different kind of life out there for her if she chooses to be alone?
These intertwining storiesโplus several othersโunfold over a few breathtaking spring days, as an unforgettable group of Americans in Paris must find their way to their own versions of happily ever after in the City of Light.
Marin is a supply runner with her own boat that she sails from island to island, delivering whatever anyone will pay her to deliver: letters, flour, even the occasional enchanted lemur. Itโs a lonely life, but itโs hers, and she wouldnโt trade the freedom of the sea for anything. Her only companion is a sea serpent, Perri, whom she saved from a fisherfolkโs net.
One day, she sails to Alyssium and discovers the city is on fire. Thereโs been a revolution, and the empire has fallen. Marin, with Perri, begins transporting refugees, finding them new homes where they can start over. One such refugee is Dax, a composer who refuses to leave behind his instruments, no matter how much she tries to emphasize the gravity of the situation. Intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, and his charming smile, Marin discovers perhaps she isnโt saving him โ maybe itโs the other way around.
From the acclaimed author of The Spellshop, Sea of Charms is a delightful cosy fantasy for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune.
Set in a corrupt surveillance state ruled by the masked elite, this true enemies-to-lovers dystopian romance thatโs Conform meets V For Vendetta follows a mercenary who botches the assassination of the presidentโs son and ends up forced to marry him.
The first thing youโll learn in New Found Haven is that mercy doesnโt exist. The second thing is that, from the highest glass atrium in the Heart to the windowless slums of the Boundary, the Veyra are always watching.
The last lesson is the hardest, but you must remember it: Love outside of your ring is a death sentence.
The city is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. Obedience is demanded. Rebellion is crushed.
Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, heโs the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, heโs entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when heโs forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the governmentโs brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride as lethal as she is unwilling.
Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her tied to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt heart of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested.
Their union is no love storyโitโs a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating each other or burning the city to the ground together.
In a world where passion has consequences and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution. Or the fire that consumes them both.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!
This weekโs topic is:
Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Havenโt Read
I don’t have 10 today, only 7!
Every Spiral of Fate by. Tahereh Mafi – I haven’t read it because someone advised me to wait until the next book comes out first. So I’ve been waiting!
Rites of the Starling by. Devney Perry – I borrowed this right away (surprised it was available), but for some reason I couldn’t get into it. I’m trying again with the audiobook.
This Shattered Tempest by. Thea Guanzon – I actually have this as an arc, but I wanted to wait nearer to publication to read this. I may give in and read it earlier though!
Version 1.0.0
Daybreak by. Autumn Woods – have been waiting on this for a year! And I will read it as soon as it is delivered to me this week.
Scorched Earth by. Danielle L. Jensen – I haven’t read it yet because I feel like I need to read the previous books since it’s been so long between books!
July 7:ย Book Titles That Include the Word โ[insert word of your choice here]โ (Pick a word and share ten book titles that include that word!) July 14:ย Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors (Share books from your to-read list that are written by authors youโve never read before.) July 21:ย Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free (Stolen from Emma @ย damppebbles.com) July 28:ย Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Havenโt Read (this is aย throwbackย topic from 2022) August 4:ย Cover Freebie (Pick any topic related to book covers. You can make up your own topic or pick one from the list of previous ones!) August 11:ย Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years (Stolen from Anne @ย HeadFullofBooks) (This might be tricky if you donโt use a reading tracker like Goodreads, but the idea is to share what you were reading on August 11th of 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. If you have no idea, pick a book you loved that you read at any time during each of the last ten years. And if you still have no idea, pick a book you loved that was published during each of the last ten years. Make this work for you!)
Categories: Young Adult, Horror, Survival, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Paranormal
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.ย All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Entangled: Mayhem Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
They’re being huntedโฆ
When sixteen-year-old Georgie and her troublemaking brother are shipped off to the wilderness for their stepmotherโs newest reality show, Georgie is convinced itโll be the worst experience of her life. Two weeks. No phones. Hiking. Camping. Cameras catching every humiliating second.
Then she meets Mack Gray. Tattooed, unreadable, andโamong a cast of kids already branded as troubleโheโs the one sheโs sure is dangerous.
One night, the counselors are chanting affirmations around the fire. By morning, theyโre gone.
But the kids are not alone.
Georgie can feel it, stalking them from the shadowsโwatching, waiting, picking them off one by one. Whatever it is, it isnโt just hunting.
Itโs playing.
And in this game, there seems to be only one ending: no one gets out alive.
Content Warning: violence, death, injuries, mention of murder and different crimes, gore
Gingerbread Bones is a young adult horror that definitely brought on the thrills and chills. It starts off a little slow with the world building – a group of delinquent teens are sent to the wilderness to be filmed for a reality show. The messed up part is the person who sent Georgie and Hamish (siblings) is their own step-mother who is some popular parenting influencer. That’s already messed up but things get worse and then the story really picks up.
The group is split up and then they realize someone or something is hunting them in these dark woods. There is a Hansel and Gretel twist to the story and it does not shy away from paranormal activity and horror. But even with those elements I found this to be a fun read because of the characters! Yes, they are teenagers and act like it but I didn’t find it annoying, I found it entertaining. They are all there for some petty and/or big crimes they have committed or their parents just want them to learn a lesson, but when they are put together there are some crazy interactions, some of them making me laugh out loud because they are all kind of losing it (I don’t blame them). Things get crazier when we realize what is hunting them and the ending is wild and climactic, exactly what I wanted from a young adult thriller.
I liked that this had a combination of mystery, thriller, suspense, even a tiny bit of romance, plus a close bond between two siblings. I enjoyed this one despite the slow start and this one has supernatural/paranormal elements so just go with it and try to suspend your belief.
Final Thoughts:
This one gave me some thrills and chills with the setting and the situation that the kids are put in. I enjoyed the drama between the characters and the wild ending was entertaining. It had a slow start but it does pick up nicely. This is a good one to read for fall when you are in a spooky book kind of mood!
+ Counting down to back to school for the kiddos! I still have to do back to school shopping but I’ve been so lazy after our guests left Hawaii.
+ I have been on a roll with reading though – I feel like once the bar mitzvah was over, a weight lifted off my chest and I could devote more time to reading.
+ Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love – still listening to this
+ The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes (Netflix) – finally watched this and it was pretty good.
+ Wicked For Good (Netflix) – definitely loved the first movie more, but I still got teary eyed at the end when Elphie and Glinda sing their duet.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Bloom Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Beyond the mortal world lies the Skein, a realm of mythic beauty and savage desire ruled by creatures of legend. Here, vampires, witches, demons, and wolves wage warโand hunt their pleasures just as fiercely.
Now, the Accession has begun, an ancient cycle of chaos and destiny that reignites old hostilities and forges fated bonds too hot to resist.
A witch queen on the rise defies the brutal wolf king who stands in her way. But when fate twists their battlefield into a bed of temptation, sworn enemies become something far more perilous. Lovers.
A vampire princess trades her crown for freedom, only to be bound to a scarred Berserker, a man whose possessive touch both terrifies and tempts her.
An incubus spy and a cunning vampiress strike a dangerous bargain for survival, and profit, but lust becomes the one gamble neither expected.
And when a wolf and an enchantress from opposing clans dare to make peace, their forbidden attraction could doom the Skeinโฆor spark a love that defies the gods.
Brimming with intrigue, bloody mayhem, and scorching heat,โฏRavenousโฏplunges readers into the world ofโฏImmortals Untoldโwhere magic kills, surrender triumphs, and immortal hungers can never be satedโฆ
Content Warning: violence, death, someone wanting to commit incest
This author has been around a long time and she used to write paranormal romance – the one series I was hooked on was The Arcana Chronicles though I have yet to read the last book. So I was going into this story with hope the series would be like that one…but here are my thoughts.
World Building: This world has everything: berserkers, witches, valkyries, vampires, shifters, demons…I don’t remember if the fae appeared in the book but they were mentioned. The Accession has started which means everyone is at one another’s throats, or being bound to one another. I think the Skein – this world, is fascinating but things moved on too quickly because there are so many POVs that I felt like I didn’t get a good feel of each place.
Characters: There are 15 POVs. Yes…15…and I almost DNF’d this book because of it but it is in third person so it helped a little. I actually couldn’t listen to the audiobook because of this. There is one narrator and he had to do all 15 and I just wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t DNF but I skimmed to the characters that I was interested in, which were Lia and Arctos – a vampire and a berserker which made for such a strange combination but they respected one another’s space and was the only one not doing anything sexual. Inkletter (I could not get over his name, he went by Ink thank goodness) and Nadje (Incubus and vampire) had a spicy start that actually made me laugh out loud because of how his body part was described. Thane and Ditch are a wild pair (werewolf and witch)…anyway there are too many POVs so connecting with some characters was difficult. Also Lia’s brother is awful, he is trying to mate with her, I was wondering if we were in the Game of Thrones! I almost couldn’t read this book because of it but I pushed on to see if there was someone who would finish him! ๐
Romance: With such a large cast, there was lots of spice in this one, lots of insta-lust situations. I think that’s why I gravitated towards Lia and Arctos who are just trying to get past being enemies to being friends since they were forced to marry. I’d like to see how their relationship grows. The one couple that did love each other was already married, Torben and Dagny – I did love them! Lowell and Meera’s story though infuriated me by the end. Thane and Ditch are the wild ones, wild for one another which was amusing with how they tease one another.
Story: This was chaotic. Did I almost DNF? Yes. But did I also skim and push through? Yes! I’ve only read one series from this author and yes it also had a big cast, but for some reason that felt more streamlined than this was. Also, I don’t remember the writing being like this where it made me cringe a lot – just some of the sexual situations and descriptions made me cackle out loud. Now did I find a spot in this chaotic story that kind of drew me in? Yes, with Lia and Arctos story because they were the only ones not in a sexual haze. With them I could focus on world building and the politics. So even in the chaos, I was slightly entertained, I just had to find the characters that I connected to.
Final Thoughts:
This wasn’t quite what I expected and I couldn’t finish the book as an audiobook because there were so many POVs to follow, so having the ebook helped a lot. I think there are some good concepts in this book, especially with the political intrigue happening with each of the species and having them bond outside of their species makes things even more complicated but also interesting. I just wish there wasn’t so much going and POVs to follow. Also some of the writing and language just didn’t work for me. This is one of the series where I’m not sure if I will pick up the next book, it will probably depend on my mood and reviews from other readers. If you like all of this author’s body of work, I think you will like this because you are used to her writing. It was just different from what I read from her so for me it was a mess, but a sometimes entertaining mess.
Since we are in July, pretty much the halfway point between the year, I wanted to showcase my favorite reads so far of 2026. A bunch of these had high ratings from me or if they didn’t have super high ratings, it was a book I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Wicked Onyx by. Debbie Cassidy
Blurb:
In a ruthless magical academy where sheโs cursed and powerless, the last Onyx must unravel dark family secrets and navigate dangerous alliances to reclaim her legacy and make those who betrayed her pay.
You donโt graduate Nightsbridge Academyโyou survive it.
Born into a sorcerer bloodline, cursed, and cut off from my power, I was accustomed to being an outcast. For generations, my bloodline carried the weight of a crime committed by our ancestor. But my motherโs death changed everything. She left a clue that could prove our innocence: an ancient text hidden deep beneath Nightsbridge Academy.
The Academy is a fortress of power, housing the most dangerous incantors and sorcerers, conscripted to keep Horrors and Echoes at bay. And as the last surviving Onyx, Iโm owed admission.
My plan is simpleโfind the book and expose the Imperium as the liars they are.
But I didnโt plan for the whispers that haunt my dreams. Or the complication of feelings I shouldnโt be capable ofโstirred by two men bound to the very institution Iโve come to destroy. One sees too much yet says too little. The other is steady, protective, and always in my corner.
I canโt have either.
Yet when Iโm in their presenceโฆmy curse begins to crack.
If they discover my true purpose, Iโm dead.
But some truths are worth dying for.
The Imperium cursed my bloodline. Stripped us of our magic. Branded us as traitors. And now they will pay.
The rightful queen and her fire-breathing dragon must fight against corruption and overcome the betrayal of the man she loved in the searing conclusion to the Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology that began with A Fate Forged in Fire.
Aemyra Daercathian is a queen on the run. Having failed to take รird Lasair and betrayed by her husband-whom she grew to trust and ‘and was beginning to fall for during her time in captivity-Aemyra is forced to retreat with a raging desire for revenge. But before she can settle the score and fulfill a sacred promise to kill Fiorean, her forces must rest and replenish their strength.
No one can know the truth.
Even though Aemyra has a fierce dragon and a large army of elemental wielders called Dรนileach standing behind her, she has lost what’s most important to her-her fire magic. Haunted by her love for her enemy, and unsure if she is even goddess-blessed anymore, Aemyra vows to do right by her people. Even if that means she must make a new kind of alliance, one that could mean winning back her kingdom. At a cost to her heart…
From the ashes, Aemyra must emerge a new kind of queen, but will she be the dawn for her people or the fire that burns everything to the ground?
Trouble has always followed Torres, and by eighth grade, his reputation feels impossible to escape. Beneath the tough exterior, he struggles with low self-esteem and doubts his ability to be anything more than his past mistakes. He leans on his friends Carlos and Arlin, but even their bond may not be enough when the pressure starts to build.
When a new teacher, Ms. Jenkins, refuses to give up on him, Torres is pushed to see himself differently. Now he must decide if he has the courage to believe in his own worth and choose a better future.
In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American womanโs vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way.
Lost in the streets and smoldering rubble of Occupied Germany, Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American soldier spots a gaggle of mixed-race children following a nun. Desperate to conceive her own family, she feels compelled to follow them to learn their story.
Ozzie Philips volunteers for the army in 1948, eager to break barriers for Black soldiers. Despite his best efforts, he finds the racism he encountered at home in Philadelphia has followed him overseas. He finds solace in the arms of Jelka, a German woman struggling with the lack of resources and even joy in her destroyed country.
In 1965, Sophia Clark discovers sheโs been given an opportunity to integrate a prestigious boarding school in Maryland and leave behind her spiteful parents and the grueling demands. In a chance meeting with a fellow classmate, she discovers a secret that upends her world.
Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one womanโs vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of formsโfamilial, parental, and forbidden, even love of selfโcan be transcendent.
Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone elseโs story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parentsโboth gods, albeit minor onesโshe dreams of leaving her familyโs island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.
In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athenaโs favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddyโs promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.
When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identityโnot as a victim, but as a vigilanteโand with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.
Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heartโs deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.
Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.
In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful.
Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.
Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House.
But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its centerโฆat the side of a violent prince.
To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to readโand composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death…and love.
The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores darker themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all readers. Please see the author’s content note at the beginning of the book.
Former con artist Kasira expected to spend her life as a soldier, miserably working off her prison sentence by hunting down magical creatures for the fanatical kingdom of Kalthos. But when the Kalish ambassador arrives with a non-negotiable assignment, Kasira finds herself swept into the biggest con of her life: infiltrating the Library of Amorlin.
As the heart of all magic and the protector of magical creatures throughout the six kingdoms, the Library is historically politically neutral. Kasira is meant to pose as the new Assistant to spy for the ambassador and destabilize the Library from the inside, clearing the way to dethrone its Librarian.
But when she arrives, Kasira learns that the Library is not all she was told it would be. Neither is the prickly, handsome Librarian, Allaster, whose own monstrous secrets are about to catch up with him.
Swept into the enchanting world of the Library, Kasiraโs reluctant con is jeopardized by her growing affection for the wondrous life the Library promisesโฆand by her complicated, burgeoning attraction to Allaster. As the ambassadorโs game closes in, Kasira must decide where her loyalties lie: to her newfound home, or to her own survival?
Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper.
Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesnโt even like in the hopes of winning her prickly motherโs approval.
She just also happens to be a demon hunter.
Ever since her father’s murder, she’s been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider. . . . Until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she’ll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.
But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about. Not when the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv’s fatherโs death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, and fast. All while trying to ace her classes, not fall for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?
He stole her throne, she’s come back to reclaim it.
Anne was a reckless, arrogant royal who had never tasted defeat. After a brutal betrayal on her wedding night, Anne vanishes from the kingdom she was meant to rule. Years later, sheโs returns from the graveโno longer a princess, but a terror of the seas. Known only as Blackbeard, sheโs hunting down the men who destroyed her, one by one. Vengeance doesnโt come without a cost. Brutal bargains with a demon collar her, and bind her to a dark promise.
When she captures Lieutenant Robb Maynardโa too-handsome, too-calm officer loyal to her enemyโAnne intends to trade him for leverage. Instead, she finds herself locked in a dangerous game of secrets and seduction, where the greatest threat isnโt a bladeโbut the way he looks at her.
Like sheโs still a woman worth loving.
And while she knows better than to believe in anything but pain… Anne must decide if life is worth the riskโor if trusting the wrong man will cost her everything she has built.
A full list of trigger warnings can be found on the author’s website. Your mental health is important; read at your own risk.
The Shadows that Listen is an unputdownable dystopian romantasy with a delicious slow burn romance, from debut author Louisa Carmody. Perfect for fans of Crescent City and Silver Elite.
It’s been five years since the world was brought to its knees by an immortal war. Daemons crawled from the depths of hell and the sky bled gold as the angels arrived. Humanity thought it was saved, but the angels did not come to protect us.
Amara is a human warrior working for the Angel Intelligence Agency. She spends her days searching for those who don’t make it home after curfew. But when her boyfriend Jeremy goes missing, she decides to venture into the shadows to bring him back. Even if it means death.
Nathaniel is an archangel tasked with leading the destruction of humanity, for which he cares little. He doesn’t have time to protect little humans running around in the dark, especially those who stab him in the stomach.
But Nathaniel and Amara will soon realise they share a foe, one that lurks in the shadows and stalks them from the skies. She might long to kill him, but Amara knows that having an angel at her side is the only way to find the man she loves.
The shadows lengthen. They listen. Who will survive the night?
In this debut gothic fantasy, the first book of an enthralling fantasy romance trilogy, a young woman who can see the dead strikes a deal with a magnetic and dangerous purveyor of dark secrets to save her brotherโs life.
Three years ago, Leena Al-Sayer awoke with a terrible power. She can see the dead.
Since then, she has hidden herself from the world, knowing that if she ever reveals her curse she will be locked away in an asylum.
When her beloved brother, Rami, falls fatally ill, Leena is faced with a terrible CHOICE: Let him die or buy the expensive medicine that will save his life by bartering the only valuable thing she hasโher secret.
The Saint of Silence, a ruthless merchant who trades in confessions and is shrouded in unearthly rumors of cruelty and power, accepts her bargain, for a deadly price. Leena must find the ghost of Percival Avon, the last lord of Weavingshawโor lose her freedom to the Saint forever.
As Leenaโs search takes her and the Saint to Weavingshaw, she finds the estate and the surrounding moors to be living thingsโhungry for blood and sacrifice. Fighting against Weavingshawโs might, Leena must also fight her growing pull toward the enigmatic Saint himself, whose connection to Percival Avon remains a mystery.
As the house begins to entomb them, time is running out on their desperate hunt for answers. For Leena has come to see that here in Weavingshaw, the dead are not hushedโand some secrets are better left buried with them.
Twelve stories. Twelve months. Once chance to heal her heart…
When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her thereโs a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldnโt come as more of a shock. Partly because she canโt remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months agoโฆ The gift is simple โ twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him. Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tillyโs year of books show her how to love again?
Four friends made a promise to live one night like it was their last.
That night changed everything.
Ten years ago, Mila Ferguson left behind a devastating fire, a stolen kiss, and a shattered circle of friends in her hometown of Hartโs Landing. But when a crisis brings her back, Mila just wants to get in and get out, unscathed by her motherโs constant criticism and unseen by her former crush, Everett McKean.
Only โฆ Everett is everywhere. The townโs attractive, beloved mayor has resisted settling down, but heโs never stopped wondering about Mila. Having her back in Hartโs Landing is the second chance he didnโt know he was waiting forโand heโs not about to waste it.
As Mila slowly opens her heart to Everett and begins to rebuild her fractured friendships, she wonders if coming home was exactly what she needed. But old wounds threaten to open again when questions emerge about what really happened the night Mila left. Whoโs really responsible for the fire that destroyed the bakery? And will knowing the truth free Mila from the past, or ignite a blaze that burns down the future sheโs trying to build?
People say you can never truly come home again, but sometimes coming home isnโt about where youโve been. Itโs about who youโre brave enough to become.
Sexy, heartfelt, and steeped in small-town charm, Hartโs Landing is a story of forgiveness, friendship, and finding the family who loves you no matter how far you wander.
Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this New York Times bestselling fantasy romance series.
I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.
Clara Graysword is Oricalisโs most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time . . . until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Claraโs fate. If she dares to trust them.
But the most dangerous alliance of all is one sheโs already deeply ensnared Prince Kaelis.
Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she canโt escapeโmaybe she doesnโt want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot . . . and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.
Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the daggerโs edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.
To change the world, Clara must risk everythingโher power, her beliefs, and her heart.
Carriwitchet, the violent, rugby-esque game played atop winged beasts, was once Taissa Choโs whole life, and she was once the United Kingdomโs most promising player. Until her nemesis, rival player Kion Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. Expelled from the sport in disgrace, Taissa has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Kionโs team plummet to the bottom of the league.
So when Taissa is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she canโt refuseโeven if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. Itโs close to a dream come true . . . except for that pesky clause in her contract that demands she and Kion enter a fake relationship in order to garner some much-needed positive PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Taissa and Kion only have two things in their love of the game, and their undying hatred for each other.
Yet as a mysterious illness befalls the winged creatures of the entire leagueโputting both the beastsโ lives and the very sport itself at stakeโthe athletes find themselves partnering up in other ways, determined to crack the case of the eerie sickness. As their investigation takes them on a whirlwind adventure, Kion and Taissa are prepared for anything . . .
Anything, that is, but their fake-for-the-cameras relationship to maybe, just maybe, become something real after all.
Hundreds of years before the Illum ruled supreme, humanity risked everything to rebuild after a devastating war in this explosive dystopian romance and prequel to Conform.
Twenty-three-year-old Sasha Cadell knows time is running out in the underground city, filled with survivors of the nuclear fallout six years ago. She works in the Expansion Sector, trying to escape the memories of those she lost. Her bleak existence is upended when Tristian Hayes, a stunningly handsome, frustratingly determined commander of the Force, recruits her to join him and his elite team of soldiers as they embark on a secret mission to the surface.
Sasha is thrust into brutal training with stakes far beyond mere survival. The fate of the remaining humankind depends on their successโor failure. As she confronts her own demons, Sasha finds both allies and foes in the training program, as well as a sizzling attraction between her and Tristian that threatens the walls sheโs built around her heart.
But under the surface, secrets and deception run as rampant as illnesses. And not everyone will survive the rise of a power more terrifying than anything theyโve ever known.
Nothing can rain on Quincy Monroeโs parade. Sheโs a woman-in-STEM with a PhD in atmospheric sciences, the host of a successful online weather show, and has one million followers on her meteorology Instagram.
Quincy has spent endless hours forging her path in this male-dominated field, becoming one of the best in the industry. And with a new job opportunity, nothing can derail her success. Except for the ill-timed arrival of Sebastian Dunn.
Sebastian is her best friendโs brother, her long-suffering academic and professional rival, and a flashy TV weatherman from New York City that everyone swoons over. Everyone but Quincy.
Over a scorching Florida summer and record-breaking hurricane season, Sebastian and Quincy are forced into close proximity. Setting aside their grudges to chase storms and stay alive is one thing, but can they weather the inevitable collision of their hearts?
A woman with no past. A warrior with no future. Their love could save the world-or burn it down.
In a world divided into four rival Dominions, power is everything-and Rubi Morningtail has almost none. Three years after the Annihilation destroyed her homeland and shattered her memories, she lives as an Azure refugee in the Dominion of the Silver Tyger, scraping by as a ribbon dancer and hiding her little bit of singing magic. When she wounds a massive battle-tyger on her doorstep, she draws the notice of Blake Axefire- supreme metal mage, leader of the royal tyger warriors, and the last man an Azure should trust. His sentence? Cast her into the Bonding, a brutal trial where tygers choose their riders and slaughter the rest. Surviving is unthinkable.
But survive she does. Now she’s stuck on Blake’s elite team racing to reseal the Anchors to the demon realm. With rebels striking, demons rising, and the Dominions at each other’s throats, Rubi must unlock the truth of her magic and her past…while resisting her dangerous attraction to the ruthless warrior who could be her redemption-or her ruin.
She has become everything she ever wantedโฆ and everything she despises.
Samara wakes in a prison cell as her worst nightmare: Sheโs a vampire, cursed with bloodlust that horrifies her. And though she now has the magic sheโs always desperately craved, itโs a secret she must guard with her undead life.
Because this same magic marks her as an enemy of all vampires. Especially Raphaelโtheir king.
Now, as a vampire, Samara is haunted by an inescapable thirst. In her sleep, she claws at her throat, trying to ease the pain. But when sheโs around Raphael, her fangs ache for a deeper reason she canโt explain.
A mystical bond ties Samara to Raphael as her sire, preventing her from fleeing before he can discover her identity as the very witch heโs been hunting for centuries. Instead, she must journey with him to the Southern Vampire Kingdom. A journey that has her sharing both his carriageโฆ and his bed.
There, Raphael offers her another bargain: Yield to her vampire nature and master her abilities, and he will help her break the bond.
But if she lowers her guard too much, if her control over the powers she barely understands slips and Raphael learns sheโs the necromancerโฆ
Enter a world of forbidden magic . . . where falling in love could be the last mistake you ever make.
Nina Veyr has a dangerous secretโillegal magical abilities she cannot explain. If the city of Valveronโs enforcers found her, she would be executed . . . or worse. For years, Nina has stayed in the shadows, picking pockets and smuggling enchanted relics to get by. Then she steals from the wrong man.
Max Antonin is the most powerful crime boss in the city. Cold, deadly, and breathtakingly attractive, Max has his sights set on Nina, and nothing will stand in his way. But when Nina is framed for a shocking murder, Max offers to help her find the true killers. She knows she canโt trust himโthat deals with a devil always come at a cost. But thereโs no way she can survive on her own.
As they follow a trail of bodies into the cityโs underworld, Nina feels a dangerous attraction pulling her ever closer to him. But can she trust her life and her heart to the cityโs most ruthless criminal?
Categories: Steampunk Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Series
Enter a world of forbidden magic . . . where falling in love could be the last mistake you ever make.
Nina Veyr has a dangerous secretโillegal magical abilities she cannot explain. If the city of Valveronโs enforcers found her, she would be executed . . . or worse. For years, Nina has stayed in the shadows, picking pockets and smuggling enchanted relics to get by. Then she steals from the wrong man.
Max Antonin is the most powerful crime boss in the city. Cold, deadly, and breathtakingly attractive, Max has his sights set on Nina, and nothing will stand in his way. But when Nina is framed for a shocking murder, Max offers to help her find the true killers. She knows she canโt trust himโthat deals with a devil always come at a cost. But thereโs no way she can survive on her own.
As they follow a trail of bodies into the cityโs underworld, Nina feels a dangerous attraction pulling her ever closer to him. But can she trust her life and her heart to the cityโs most ruthless criminal?
Content Warning: violence, death, medical horror
World Building:ย The world building for this story really fascinated me – it’s got steampunk elements. There is magic and science, which took some time to grasp but for the most part I think it was explain pretty well. There was lots of political intrigue which made the story move quick. I didn’t expect the body horror – the medical experiments done on people. We also get to explore the underground crime world in Valveron.
Characters: Nina is a surgeon’s assistant but on the side she is delivering dead bodies to make money. The money is needed to help her mom who isn’t in good health. But then she is framed for the murder of a top official and things go haywire for her. Max, is one of the Cursed – basically a modified Vampire, with elemental powers. He is a tortured MMC with a dark past and a crime boss. Together Nina and Max become reluctant allies looking to find the “buyer” of these bodies because it might give them all the answers they are searching for. There are a few other characters we meet that form Max’s found family, and I loved a few of them.
Romance:ย Nina and Max are enemies then reluctant allies turned into lovers and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them fall in love because it doesn’t start off on the right foot. I love their banter and I didn’t mind that this wasn’t as spicy as I was expecting. There was only one spicy scene. But I love their forced proximity, and the build-up between them was great. I love seeing Max open up because Nina sees past his scars and happy that Nina has someone that cares about her.
Story:ย There is a lot of world building and it took a little time to understand the magic/science system in this story but I actually found it refreshing and something way different than the books I’ve been reading. The steampunk elements made it even more interesting. I enjoyed the characters, the found family and the banter and romance. The ending makes me eager to see what will happen in book two!
Final Thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read from this author but definitely not the last and I’ll be checking out her last series because I had so much fun reading this one. I liked the magic and science (though there is a lot of information to process about it), and the steampunk fantasy setting. I love the banter and romance between Nina who is a woman that doesn’t give up and Max who is a tortured man – I love them together! There was lots of action, and political intrigue to make this story move fast. I’m looking forward to book two.
I’ve seen Stacking the Shelves on a few blogs and I decided to do it to replace my book haul posts because, why not? It is hosted by Reading Reality and this is how the meme is described: “Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Donโt forget audiobooks!so go check out her blog!”
Book Purchases – (ebook or physical)
Nothing this time around but I’m VERY tempted to buy some!
Night Witch is the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Spellcaster with an intense enemies-to-lovers arc, a steamy heat level, magical creatures, super high stakes, and an epic family saga.
Be careful what you witch for.
Welcome to year two at Weatherstone Collegeโฆ
Last year, after coming face to face with darkness and lethal monsters, Logan Kingston, my sworn enemy and sometimes ally, brought my first year to an explosive ending. Thereโs a bond between us that I canโt explain, but I just know heโs hiding something. Maybe I donโt fully trust any spellcaster, but thereโs no denying my draw to him.
Iโm not going to lie, I havenโt felt myself since then, and Iโm dreading returning to Weatherstone.
Perfect if you love: โข Sexy Stalking + Dirty Talking โข He Gives Her His Clothes โข Forbidden Romance โข Touch Her & D!e โข Elemental Magic โข Dark Academia โข “Mine”
**I was reading Night Witch but I DNF’ed 20% in, and not because it is bad, but I just don’t care about the characters.**
If I am to survive Valkyrie training, I must earn my wings. If I am to survive Kain, I must make a choice that could burn our world to ash.
Iโm broken. My fae magic doesnโt work and nobody knows I exist. My sister, on the other hand, is bound for glory. She has been selected to train to be a Valkyrie at the mythical Featherblade Hall. I am destined to die alone, in my tower.
Only, when the Valkyrie come to collect my sister, they take me instead.
Iโm not the only one who thinks theyโve made a terrible mistake. Every other fae here is waiting for me to die. Except one. Kain, the disgraced fire-fae combat trainer. The gods took his wings away, he canโt leave Featherblade, and he makes no secret of his blazing desire for revenge.
And somehow, he knows Iโm the only one who can help him. He doesnโt know my secret, thank the fates, but his burning gaze never leaves me.
I know I should avoid him. I canโt think straight when heโs near me, and heโs as lethal as Featherblade is.
But, the only thing harder than earning my wings and becoming a Valkyrie? Conquering my searing obsession with the unhinged fire-fae, before it gets everyone killed.
Fae Vikings meet romantasy in this enemies to lovers series in an academy/war college setting. If you love villain gets the girl stories and obsessive burn-the-world-down-for-her MMCs then this is for you. The spice is deliciously slow-burn and builds with each book.
Perfect for fans of Allison Saft and Catherine Bakewell, a grumpy mage and a familiar matchmaker navigate their surprising connection in Mara Rutherford’s newest cozy fantasy novel.
Winslow Green is known far and wide for her ability to match mages with the perfect animal familiar. Though she doesn’t possess any magic, she has a knack for knowing what her customers need, even if they can’t see if themselves.
Still grieving the tragic death of his last familiar, Bastian Triplehorn reluctantly seeks Winnie’s aid in finding a new partner. She’s determined to live up to her reputation, despite Bastian’s excessive grumpiness. Until the inexplicable happens: Bastian sparks a familiar bond with Winnie instead.
Impossible to deny, the two agree to help each other until they can solve the mystery of their connection. As Bastian and Winnie train for a royal mage competition that could solve all their problems-or ruin their lives forever-Winnie gets a taste of what it’s like to have magic herself. And Bastian discovers that all of these unfamiliar feelings are a little like magic, too.
Set in a world of insatiable immortals, their eternal rivalries, and the humans trapped between them, MORTAL THINGS is a cinematic and sweeping new fantasy from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marie Lu, perfect for fans of Heartless Hunter and A Darker Shade of Magic.
Rose Lin Fairchild didnโt believe in gods, but one chose her anyway.
Rose despises Raven, the god of Death. His mysterious commands. His mercurial moods. His closed heart. But most of all, she loathes that she was forced to become his Harbinger, a human mercenary tasked to fulfil their godโs every want and whim. Still, she would do it again, because being a Harbinger is the only thing keeping her best friend alive.
When a murder rocks the world of the gods, Rose is suddenly thrust into the immortal realm’s spotlight as Raven’s heir. This is her chance to free her friend once and for all. But in order for her to ascend, she must first prove herself to the other godsโand the one person standing in her way is a fellow Harbinger.
รtienne Beauchard is notorious for his sly wit and charming good looks. Rose canโt stand that he is the one assigned to test her abilities, but as their initial hostility evolves into an intense attraction, they find that the godsโ secrets go deeper than they ever expected. Something is wrong in the immortal world, something that threatens to break their bond and engulf them all in war.
As Rose and รtienne fight to uncover the truth and trust each other with their hearts, they realize that everything hinges on the same How far would you go to save the person you love?
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, comes a rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.
Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighborโwho just happens to be a secret multi-millionaireโleaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.
It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesnโt fit in at her new school; worse, sheโs failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Juliaโs family. Damion doesnโt buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And heโs determined to prove it.
To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Juliaโs trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemyโand the enemy is falling for him.
As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?
A family moves into their dream homeโonly to discover that it hides an insatiable hungerโin this dread-laced and darkly outrageous domestic horror novel.
The new house is a fresh start for Claire and her family. It’s a move away from the cityscape of a declining San Francisco and towards the quiet suburban life she has craved since her turbulent childhood; a step up the corporate ladder for her husband, Tom; and a safe haven for their two children.
Yet as they unpack their boxes, she senses something is wrong. Fresh flowers dry up, store-bought eggs are inexplicably hollow, and her daughter’s favorite toy disappears. Claire soon confronts a series of impossible The house is hungry. It’s devouring anything that was once alive. And only Claire and Tom, the owners of the house, will remember that this “food” ever existed.
When Claire exploits the house’s power in a moment of weakness, she and the house forge a fragile bond. But as its hunger intensifies and Claire loses control, she fears who else might be drawn to her homeโand what sinister appetites theyโll bring.
When sixteen-year-old Georgie and her troublemaking brother are shipped off to the wilderness for their stepmotherโs newest reality show, Georgie is convinced itโll be the worst experience of her life. Two weeks. No phones. Hiking. Camping. Cameras catching every humiliating second.
Then she meets Mack Gray. Tattooed, unreadable, andโamong a cast of kids already branded as troubleโheโs the one sheโs sure is dangerous.
One night, the counselors are chanting affirmations around the fire. By morning, theyโre gone.
But the kids are not alone.
Georgie can feel it, stalking them from the shadowsโwatching, waiting, picking them off one by one. Whatever it is, it isnโt just hunting.
Itโs playing.
And in this game, there seems to be only one ending: no one gets out alive.
Seventeen-year-old Harper Westbrook isnโt afraid of monstersโฆshe is one.
For the past three years, sheโs been one of the Blood Boundโgirls and women cursed with a bloodlust only satisfied by killing terrible men. Once every three months, she trades in her pom-poms for a lethal throwing axe. Her life is led by a strict set of rules to keep her dark secret as hidden as the bodies she buries.
And her number one rule? Stay away from Grayson Jones.
The boy she was totally falling for until the night her curse manifested, everything went horribly wrong, and she killed his father. It was self-defense. Or at least thatโs what she keeps telling herself.
Grayson is an investigative reporter for their school paper, and heโll stop at nothing to find the truth behind his fatherโs gruesome death.
As he follows new clues down darker and darker pathsโto an unbelievable world of mythical beasts and the men who hunt themโGrayson doesnโt realize heโs on a collision course with Harperโs biggest secrets. Now, she must stop him before he exposes her family to the Hunters, even if it means risking her life and heart.
Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogenโs bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.
When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogenโs power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts herโthe only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.
The Jinn queen and the enigmatic ruler of Tulan are to be married in a magical, enchanted ceremonyโbut Cyrus, tethered by a blood oath to his bride-to-be, can find nothing to celebrate in this union. Heโs falling ever more deeply in love with the one person oathbound to kill him.
Sworn to an ancient, unbreakable magic, Alizeh can only fulfill the prophecy to free her people by ensuring Cyrus dies by her own hand. And Cyrus is forced to await his end all while Prince Kamran inches closer, ready to take his place by Alizehโs side.
The countdown to murder coils tensions ever tighter, but the historic wedding has already drawn deadly attention. To prepare for war and protect her people, Alizeh must finally discover her magicโand outrun the enemies trying to stop her.
Alizeh and Cyrus, along with Kamran and their friends from Ardunia, must flee on dragon-back to begin the perilous journey into the legendary mountains of Arya, where a firestorm of revelations, magical discoveries, and fresh allies awaits them. Every allegiance will be tested, every darkness uncovered, and when the shattering secrets of the Tulanian king are finally revealed . . .
Nothing, and no one, will be the same.
Desperate confessions, impossible decisions, unfathomable magical powerโand a love so devastating it rewrites destiniesโEvery Spiral of Fate is the shimmering, breathtaking fourth volume in a saga that continues to transcend expectations.
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