Happy book birthday to these new releases this week!
Five Broken Blades by. Mai Corland (paperback release)
It’s the season
for treason…
The king of Yusan must die.
The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.
He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.
And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.
They can agree on murder.
They can agree on treachery.
But for these five killers―each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal―it’s not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other…but only one can take the crown.
Let the best liar win.
Immortal Rose by. Alexandra Bracken
Members of the ancient House Rosebourne have a strange gift born of a fairy ancestor: the ability to infuse fragrance with magic capable of manipulating mind, body, and emotion.
When a shocking murder leaves the kingdom of Albion vulnerable to a coup, royal spymaster Hugh Thornton seeks the one person who can help: Viola Lockwood, the last living Rosebourne and secret heir to a fraught legacy.
Livid at the silver-eyed aristocrat who had her thrown in jail to force her compliance, Viola nevertheless comes to an agreement with him. In exchange for crafting Immortal Rose, the singular perfume capable of saving Albion, illegitimate Viola can seize the life—and fortune—that should have been hers.
As Hugh and Viola race to find the perfume’s lost fairy ingredient, hidden deep in Albion’s dark underbelly, neither can deny the scorching attraction building between them—especially as the attempts on Viola’s life grow increasingly brazen.
But a terrible truth lurks in the heart notes of their kingdom—and while every bargain has a cost, Immortal Rose may demand more than Hugh and Viola can ever pay.
Full Throttle by. J.K. Maclaren
When Juliette Marchmont becomes the first female driver in F1, she knows it’s her one shot to prove she has what it takes to win. She has sceptical managers, rivals, and fans to prove wrong, all while driving the worst car on the grid…and her teammate is the man who broke her heart.
Dominic Hastings is the Prince of F1, but all his composure and accolades couldn’t stop his own father from firing him after a disastrous performance last season. He’s desperate to show his distant, secretive father and the rest of the racing world that he’s far from finished…but can he survive working with the woman who destroyed his life?
Forced to train in close quarters, Dominic and Juliette butt heads on and off the racetrack. As the competition grows ever more heated, and their connection undeniable, they start to wonder if the bruised love between them might be repaired after all…but they can’t afford distractions. Teammates or no, only one driver can emerge as world champion, and each is willing to do whatever it takes to cross the finish line first.
The Calamities by. Chuck Wendig
The heir to one of the world’s most influential families reckons with the demonic secret to their power, in this contemporary dark fantasy that melds occult magic with shocking family drama from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents.
Mourning Mayne knows he’ll one day bear the duty of managing his family’s vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy, which is one of cruelty, domination, and exploitation… and something even darker.
Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends—half-human, half-demon, and possessed of dark magic born from buying human souls—and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families.
But when Mourning’s estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that he return to the fold, Mourning has to make a decision whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family, or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.
Because along the way home, he will meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends. Alone, they have all struggled with the darkness of their fiendish nature… but together, they might find a path out of the shadows.
The Best I Never Had by. Amy Buchanan
They staged a romance, faked a breakup, and this time around, anything can happen—even something real.
Thea Pappas has always been the storm in her own life—fiery and unpredictable—traits that led her and her younger sister, Addy, through a series of foster homes. But with Addy’s whirlwind engagement, Thea is determined to be the perfect maid of honor, even if she finds it odd that she hadn’t heard of the fiancé until the ring was on Addy’s finger. She believes she can survive a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains with a group of strangers without causing any trouble.
But upon arrival, Thea realizes these aren’t strangers. Among the familiar faces is Owen Hayes—the man who, three years ago, paid her to pretend to be his girlfriend at a family wedding. Now, he’s looking at her with the same panicked expression.
Owen’s life has always been about control—managing his mother’s matchmaking schemes, his family’s expectations, and the career path he never truly chose. Thea was his one rebellion, a beautiful lie that ended with a “heart-destroying” fake breakup. Now, with his younger brother’s wedding underway and his mother on the prowl, Owen begs Thea to reprise their roles. One week. Same fake breakup. No feelings.
But as old sparks reignite and the lines between pretense and reality blur, Thea and Owen will have to choose: carry on their greatest performance yet or admit the truth—that it was never fake at all.
The House That Eats the Dead by. Max Doty
A family moves into their dream home—only to discover that it hides an insatiable hunger—in 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 home—and what sinister appetites they’ll bring.
The headlines are calling it the “summer of exsanguination” in LA—girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season.
More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part time at the family store, and contending with her mother’s disdain for the acting career Anya knows she’s destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.
It’s in this suffocating late summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA’s most influential film dynasties. Soon, she’s spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family’s heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.
There’s a magnetism to Jude that Anya cannot resist, despite warning signs that scream like sirens in the night. Because the villa holds generations of bloodstained history, and an occult family curse may even live within its walls—or within Jude himself.
In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil. When Anya comes face to face with a devil of her own, she’ll learn just how far she’s willing to go to get everything she’s ever wanted.
The Queen’s Bodyguard by. Lauren Blackwood
In this sizzling romantic fantasy, a magicless queen intertwines her fate with a fierce warrior to ensure her safety during high-stakes peace negotiations—until their electrifying chemistry ignites an unexpected and perilous new alliance—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood.
In a matriarchal society with nature-based powers, Queen Theora Umbra is the new, unexpected ruler of the thriving Aranean colony. Her predecessor was assassinated by a rival queen, igniting a year-long war. To finally bring peace, Theora must now grudgingly engage in diplomacy with an unscrupulous enemy.
But peace talks mean no armor or weapons, and Theora has no intention of following her predecessor to the grave. To protect herself, she needs a weapon of a different sort—a bodyguard. But the only way to bring one along without suspicion is to marry one. She quickly selects Argos, a prickly and formidable Warrior with a fearsome reputation, to be her new husband. Once peace is secured, she can easily annul the marriage, and they can go their separate ways.
But like all Warriors, Argos’s ruthless tendencies can only be tempered by dominant will and powerful magic . . . magic that Theora lacks. With the help of a trusted advisor who knows her secret, Theora might just be able to assert her command over Argos and get through peace negotiations alive. But she doesn’t expect to feel so affected by Argos’s protective personality. Pretending to be married and in love is not nearly as difficult as pretending she doesn’t desperately want him—all of him.
The Queen’s Bodyguard unleashes a torrent of blazing romance, set against a vibrant fantasy world with webs of corruption and sexy scheming.
The Shadows That Listen by. Louisa Carmody (paperback release)
In this sizzling romantic fantasy, a magicless queen intertwines her fate with a fierce warrior to ensure her safety during high-stakes peace negotiations—until their electrifying chemistry ignites an unexpected and perilous new alliance—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood.
In a matriarchal society with nature-based powers, Queen Theora Umbra is the new, unexpected ruler of the thriving Aranean colony. Her predecessor was assassinated by a rival queen, igniting a year-long war. To finally bring peace, Theora must now grudgingly engage in diplomacy with an unscrupulous enemy.
But peace talks mean no armor or weapons, and Theora has no intention of following her predecessor to the grave. To protect herself, she needs a weapon of a different sort—a bodyguard. But the only way to bring one along without suspicion is to marry one. She quickly selects Argos, a prickly and formidable Warrior with a fearsome reputation, to be her new husband. Once peace is secured, she can easily annul the marriage, and they can go their separate ways.
But like all Warriors, Argos’s ruthless tendencies can only be tempered by dominant will and powerful magic . . . magic that Theora lacks. With the help of a trusted advisor who knows her secret, Theora might just be able to assert her command over Argos and get through peace negotiations alive. But she doesn’t expect to feel so affected by Argos’s protective personality. Pretending to be married and in love is not nearly as difficult as pretending she doesn’t desperately want him—all of him.
The Queen’s Bodyguard unleashes a torrent of blazing romance, set against a vibrant fantasy world with webs of corruption and sexy scheming.
Wrecked by. Bree L. Mina (paperback release)
Fate is a fickle thing.
It can lead you down a path of pain, or it can take you on a journey toward happiness.
There is no equity in the unpredictable.
Fate is inevitable.
Not everyone is destined for a happy ending.
Not every story will work out in the end.
Not every love is meant to survive.
Some believe we are in control of our destiny. That we determine the outcome of our lives, the people we love, and the path we walk.
But I didn’t choose to survive a plane crash.
I didn’t choose to be trapped on an island with the man who once crushed my soul.
I didn’t choose to reopen my heart to a love so powerful that the end of it would be unsurvivable.
I didn’t want to fall in love with my sister’s fiancé. To feel the insurmountable pain that followed my rescue. Or let go of a man that would own my heart until the day I die.
But I am no longer allowing fate to decide my future.
This next path is mine.
*Please note this book is a romantic tragedy. The conclusion of this book is the conclusion of this story. There will not be a cliffhanger. This book does not end with an HEA; however, the events of this book inspire the story in book two. Book two will have an HEA*
The Poison Daughter by. Sheila Masterson (hardcover release)
To err is human. To avenge is Divine.
Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition.
Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next.
But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents’ whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city.
Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die.
Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort.
Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning.
Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the impossible: Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway.
The Poison Daughter is a standalone dark fantasy romance that combines the vigilante justice for abusive men of Promising Young Woman with a romantasy arranged marriage and a dash of vampires.
Are you getting any new books this week?
Happy Reading!
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