#BookReview: A Steep and Savage Path by J.J.A. Harwood

Synopsis:
From the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author of THE THORNS REMAIN comes an enemies-to-lovers journey to the underworld unlike any other, for fans of THE CRIMSON MOTH and THE CRUEL PRINCE

An immortal vampire. A mortal bride. A vow that even death can’t break. 

Irina is about to be married to a dead man. She is the willing village sacrifice for the Wedding of the a desperate ritual designed to lay the hungry vampire that has been terrorising her Transylvanian village to rest. Irina’s beloved sister’s soul is trapped in the land of the dead. If Irina can retrieve it, she could bring her back – but Irina would need a guide, one who can walk between the living and the dead.

Irina strikes up a deal with her new husband – if he agrees to get her safely there and back again, then he can drink her blood as much as he wants.

They begin a perilous journey through the afterlife together, in which Irina realises Stefan isn’t the cruel and terrifying monster that she thought. In a land of three-headed beasts, winged creatures and walking corpses, the last thing Irina would have expected was to fall in love.

Only, Irina learns that by bringing Stefan to the land of the dead she has put him in grave danger, and will be faced with an impossible choice. Will they be able to make it out, undead or alive?

#BookReview: Whisper of War and Storms (Heirs of Elydor #1) by C.L. Mecca

Synopsis:

A spellbinding, epic romantasy adventure of tangled secrets and dark magic for fans of Sarah J Maas, Callie Hart, Rebecca Yarros and Jennifer L Armentrout. A lost princess. A forbidden love. A destiny she never knew awaited her.

When a forgotten ring reveals Mevlida Brennan’s true heritage as the long-lost princess of Aetheria, a kingdom of immortals and magic, her world is turned upside down. But there’s just one problem—Mev didn’t know she was missing.

Thrust into a realm on the brink of war, Mev is caught between her newfound legacy and a dangerous political game. A powerful king holds the key to restoring the ancient portal that connects their realms, but his son, Kael, stands in her way. Brooding, relentless, and dangerously irresistible, Kael is sworn to protect his people—even if it means kidnapping Mev to keep her from uncovering the truth.

As dark forces rise and her dormant powers awaken, trust is a luxury neither can afford, yet their hearts may leave them no choice. Mev must embrace her destiny or risk losing everything. Because the storm isn’t coming—it’s already here.

In a battle of elemental magic, loyalty, and love, one whisper could spark a war.

#BookReview: What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone #1) by Harper L. Woods

Synopsis:
Once, we’d worshipped them as Gods.

For nearly 400 years, the Veil has protected us from the Fae of Alfheimr. In their absence, our lives have shifted from decadence and sin to survival and virtue under the guidance of the New Gods. I’ve spent my entire life tending to the gardens next to the boundary between our worlds, drawn to the shimmering magic like a moth to the flame.

Then, we died on their swords.

All of that changes the day the Veil shatters, unleashing the fae upon our world once again. The magic of faerie marks those of us they mean to take, but the Mist Guard protecting Nothrek will kill us all before they let the fae have us. There’s no choice but to flee everything I’ve ever known, not if I want to live to see my twenty-first birthday as a free woman.

Now, they’ll claim what’s theirs.

But before they capture me, Caelum saves me from the Wild Hunt. Fae-marked and on the run, he is able to fight back in ways I only dream of. From tentative alliance to all-consuming passion, our bond strengthens as the fae close in and evil lurks ever nearer. With my life on the line, he is everything I shouldn’t dare to want and a distraction I can’t afford. I can’t seem to stay away, not even with something greater on the line.

My heart.

Author’s Note: This book is intended for readers who are 18 and older. It contains mature language, graphic violence, and explicit content with darker elements. This is book one in a series and ends in a cliffhanger.

#BookReview: The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard

Synopsis:
A bladesmith blessed by the stars. A prince with a dangerous secret. A god bound in shadows. From USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard comes a scorching new romantasy that will leave you spellbound.

“His Imperial Majesty King Zarek requests your presence as his esteemed guest.”

When the gold-dusted court invitation arrives at Suraya Saab’s forge, she believes it’s a joke. Nobles might seek her skills as a bladesmith—one of few who can imbue her work with precious jadu, the last source of magic in the realm—but she has no qualifications as a potential bride for the crown prince. Still, the invitation is the chance at adventure, and the means to finally visit the capital city her late mother loved.

But what awaits her in Kaldari is nothing she could have imagined—and fraught with danger. It’s not the crown prince, but his impossibly handsome, illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who captures her interest…and her ire. The invitation isn’t a quest to find a suitable bride, but a veiled hunt for the Starkeeper—a girl rumored to hold the magic of the stars in her blood. And across the city, unrest is brewing between the noble houses and the rebel militia.

When the rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run, trying to deny their simmering attraction and the knowledge that Suraya herself might be the Starkeeper. But Roshan is guarding secrets of his own. And with no control over the power stirring within her, Suraya has drawn the attention of a dark god, an immortal whose interest might be the biggest threat of all.

#BookReview: Of Prophecies and Pomegranates by T.C. Kraven

Synopsis:
A spicy retelling of Persephone and Hades and the first in the Dark Fates series, centering around Greek deities and Otherworlders, for fans of Sav R. Miller, Jaysea Lynn, and Katee Robert.

Persephone, Goddess of Spring, struggles to meet the impossible demands of her overbearing, manipulative mother, Demeter. Sequestered to the Upper Realm, far from the politics and intrigues of Olympus, Persephone begins to crack under the pressure, sure that she will never be enough.

But the Fates have other plans, and when Persephone meets Hades, brooding God of the Underworld, she finds that they may have more in common than she could have ever believed. He calls to the darkness dwelling deep inside of her with a kinder hand than any she's ever known. Over secret rendezvous, the two connect and wild passions ignite.

When Persephone's very freedom is threatened by an arranged marriage, she must decide to either remain the obedient, subservient wallflower her mother forced her to be, or to stand on her own, embracing herself and the dark power inside of her in the Kingdom only Hades can offer.

As Queen of the Underworld, Persephone blossoms into power far greater than any the Olympians have ever witnessed, but the scorned Goddess of the Harvest won't make it easy for her to leave. Facing war and famine but aided by fellow Olympians Artemis, Hecate, Dionysus, and Hephaestus, Persephone and Hades fight for their freedom and their realm, until Zeus steps in with a devastating edict.

In this irresistible, epic love story, the forbidden romance between an empowered Persephone and delectable Hades sets in motion a chain of events that will challenge the very fabric of Olympus. T.C. Kraven's traditional debut Of Prophecies & Pomegranates is a steamy, tantalizing start to a series that champions kink dynamics and queer representation.

Rich bonus features: 
Gorgeous full-color artwork inside 
New chapters 
A guide to the deities of the Dark Fates series 
And more!

#BookReview: The Tale of Kore (The Fruit of Life and Death, #1) by Amanda L. Rautio

Synopsis:
In the heart of academia, Corey, an ambitious master’s student, yearns for a life beyond the confines of dusty books and lectures. After making a fateful wish, Corey becomes a key player in a cosmic drama that unfolds following a re-enactment of an Ancient Greek mystery cult dedicated to Demeter and Persephone. 

Whisked away to the shadowy depths of the Underworld, Corey discovers a world teetering on the brink of chaos. Dark forces stir, with ancient gods either missing or perishing. To restore balance, Corey must brave the labyrinthine passages of the Underworld, confront mythical beasts, and uncover long-buried truths to revive the goddesses of justice, memory, and spring—before true darkness takes hold.

#BookReview: Homegrown Magic (Homegrown Magic #1) by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos

Synopsis:
A delightful queer romantic fantasy full of friends-to-lovers chemistry, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic from two acclaimed YA authors making their adult debut.

Yael Clauneck is more interested in drinking and flirting than joining their powerful family’s business. They’re on the precipice of a predetermined life when they flee their own graduation party, galloping away in search of . . . well, they’re not sure, but maybe the chance to feel like life can still be a grand adventure.

Margot Greenwillow—talented plant witch, tea lover, and greenhouse owner—has never felt further from adventure in her life. She’s been desperately trying to keep what remains of her family’s magic remedies business afloat. So when Yael, her childhood friend and former crush, rides back into her life, she’s shocked. But perhaps this could be a good thing. After all, Margot could use an assistant in the greenhouses.

Yael has no experience or, honestly, practical skills, but they’re delighted to accept the job. They can lay low for a while, flirting with Margot and figuring out what to do next. Meanwhile, Margot has plans of her own—but plans are notoriously unreliable, and unlikely to survive a swiftly blooming mutual attraction, not to mention the machinations of parents determined to get their heir back . . . no matter the cost.

#BookReview: Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things (Sisters of Light and Shadow #1) by Breanne Randall

Synopsis:
A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic.

In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the memory required.

Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationships with her judgmental oldest sister, Thalia, and her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.

But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power.

Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters and the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to keep the town and all she loves safe. But will she have anything left of herself?

#BookReview: Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy #1) by Stephanie Burgis

Synopsis:
In a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down.

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the "wizard" she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he's in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?

#BookReview: The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah

Synopsis:
In this sapphic Snow White retelling, if Snow is to save her kingdom from being ravaged by the Blight, she’ll have to kill the Evil Queen’s daughter…if she doesn’t fall in love with her first.

When her glass coffin unexpectedly shatters, Snow White awakens to anything but a dream. The land is rotting. The animals have mutated. In the twenty years that have passed since Snow bit into the poisoned apple, the kingdom of Roanfrost has transformed from a luscious wild land to a blight-ravaged nightmare. In search of answers and a way to restore her kingdom to its former glory, Snow sets out on a dangerous journey that will test the strength she never knew she had.

Friends will become foes.

New alliances will form.

The Queen with the blood red lips will stop at nothing to seize her power as well as her heart.

If Snow has any chance to survive and restore not only her kingdom, but all of Garedenne, her only option is to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. But the path to becoming the Seasonkeeper is more treacherous than she could ever imagine—because the wild things have awakened and Snow’s darker impulses yearn to set them free.

#BookReview: The Plot Twist by Eleanor Goymer

Synopsis:
This love story is a work in progress…When romcom author Allie Edwards crosses paths with bestselling crime novelist – aka publishing dinosaur – Martin Clark at a party, they discover they both have crippling writer’s block, overdue manuscripts and precisely zero words to show to their respective editors.

With deadlines looming, Allie and Martin decide to switch plots and tell each other’s stories. In the writing process, Allie not only gains a father-figure in Martin, but also meets gorgeous events caterer Will, the answer to the leading man-shaped hole in her life and her lack of spicy material.

Caught between love and her career, what could possibly go wrong?

#BookReview: Order of Swans (The Blue Swan duology #1) by Jude Deveraux

Synopsis:
In this spellbinding, fantasy-rich novel, a woman is swept into a world where she has the power to alter fairy tales, and change a kingdom’s destiny…

To Kaley Arens, a PhD student and expert in folklore, fairy stories have always had a power and an allure beyond mere entertainment.

It’s only when Kaley accompanies her lifelong friend Jobi on a visit to his home that she realizes how much she still has to learn. Bellis isn’t the remote island that she believed it to be. It’s another world—a stunningly beautiful and seductive one, with its own royalty, its own rules, and inhabitants who breathe life into the tales she was taught were fiction.

Kaley’s presence is no simple holiday. She has a mysterious connection with Jobi and with Bellis, and abilities that may help determine this world’s fate. Tasked with locating a lost prince, Kaley and her companions—the enigmatic Tanek, a member of the Order of Swans, and Sojee, Kaley's colossal bodyguard—journey through a land both thrilling and terrifying, where the uncanny and the familiar go hand in hand.

But in fairy tales, heroes and villains are easy to discern. Here, nothing is quite as it seems. And though Kaley is discovering that she can change the outcome of the fairy tales she knows so well, her own story is unfolding in ways impossible to predict, with a destiny she could never have foretold…

#BookReview: Collision (Better #1) by Carrie Leighton

Synopsis:
There is no rose without a thorn. There is no passion without torment.

Vanessa Clark, a second-year college student, has a visceral love of books and rain and an unbreakable bond with her best friends. Marked by her parents' difficult divorce, she found comfort in Travis, apparently the good guy that all mothers—including hers—would like next to their daughter. With him she hopes to be able to build a happiness that she has been missing for too long now. After two years, however, even that love seems to have cracked and only rubble remains in Vanessa's heart. At least until, in class, she meets new classmate Thomas Collins for the first time.

With a body covered in tattoos, green eyes in which it is all too easy to get lost, and a troubled past, Thomas is an explosive mix of charm and arrogance. He and Vanessa, so different from each other yet deep down so similar, fit together like pieces of a puzzle, giving life to a tormented relationship, made up of moments of passion and glimpses of tenderness, furious quarrels and reconciliations.

But Vanessa wants more, she dreams of true, romantic and all-encompassing love, the kind of love story told in the novels that she never gets tired of reading. Thomas, on the other hand, shuns every bond, feeling as though a perennial tangle of thorns is agitated in his chest. And yet, if understanding each other is difficult, parting is impossible.

#BookReview: Strike and Burn by Taylor Hutton

Synopsis:
A breathless romantic thriller that doesn’t just toe the line between danger and desire—it burns it to the ground.

Honor Stone is all alone in this world. No family, no money, no future. So when she locks eyes with Strike Madden—in the morgue of all places—she’s not in the mood to be seduced. Sure, he’s drop-dead gorgeous, and the sizzle of attraction between them is undeniable, but she’s reeling from her identical twin sister’s murder. It’s the wrong time, wrong place, wrong everything.

Still, the enigmatic billionaire hires Honor as an artist to spearhead his carefully curated erotic animation studio—a job they soon find to be a dangerous mix of business and pleasure.

But when her twin’s obsessive killer targets Honor, the painful secrets of Honor’s traumatic past will finally be exposed with devastating consequences. Strike will stop at nothing to protect her, uncovering his own bone-chilling demons—a beautifully broken, dark side that doesn’t scare Honor…

It consumes her.

#BookReview: Those Fatal Flowers by Shannon Ives

Synopsis:
Greco-Roman mythology and the mystery of the vanished Roanoke colony collide in this epic adventure filled with sapphic longing and female rage—a debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.Before, Scopuli. It has been centuries since Thelia made the mistake that cost her the woman she loved. As the handmaidens charged with protecting Proserpina, the goddess of spring, Thelia and her sisters are banished to the island of Scopuli, cursed to live as sirens—winged half-woman, half-bird creatures. In luring men to their death, they hope to gain favor from the gods who could free them. But then ships stop coming and Thelia fears a fate worse than the underworld. Just as time begins to run out, a voice emerges, Proserpina’s voice; and what she asks of Thelia will spark a daring and dangerous quest for freedom.Now, Roanoke. Thelia can't bear to reflect on her last moments in Scopuli, where she left behind her sisters. After weeks drifting at sea, Thelia’s renewed human body is close to death. Luckily, an unfamiliar island appears on the horizon—Roanoke. Posing as a princess arriving on a sailboat filled with riches, Thelia infiltrates the small English colony. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that this place is dangerous, especially for women. As she grows closer to a beautiful settler who mysteriously resembles her former love, Thelia formulates a plan to save her sisters and enact revenge on the violent men she’s come to hate. But is she willing to go back to Scopuli and face the decisions of her past? And will Proserpina forgive her for all that she’s done?Told in alternating timelines, Those Fatal Flowers is a powerful, passionate, and wildly cathartic love letter to femininity and the monstrous power within us all.

#BookReview: The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson

Synopsis:
She's written dozens of smash hit novels as a ghostwriter. Too bad no one knows it.

Aspiring author Bryony Page attends her first writers conference bursting with optimism and ready to sell her manuscript with long-shot dreams of raising awareness for The Bridge, her grandmother's financially-struggling organization where she teaches ESL full-time. But after a disastrous pitching session, she stumbles into correcting another author's work in a last-ditch attempt to make a good impression with the agent. And she, as it turns out, is spot on.

No one is more surprised than Bryony when the agent offers her the opportunity to be a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict, popular rom-com novelist. Bryony agrees on one she'll write books for this vain, demanding woman just as long as Jack Sterling, literary agent of the legendary Foundry Literary Agency, works to sell her own book too.

What nobody predicted, however, was that Bryony's books would turn Amelia Benedict into the Amelia Benedict, household name and bestselling author with millions of copies sold around the world.

And just like that, the Foundry Agency can't let her go.

But on a personal note, Jack is realizing he can't either.

#BookReview: Remember to Eat & Other Stories by Meryl Ain

Synopsis:
For fans of Hilma Wolitzer and Jhumpa Lahiri comes a collection of short stories about a mother and daughter as they navigate their changing roles through tumultuous times. 

Following a Jewish family from before World War II to the not-too-distant future, this collection of loosely linked short stories explores the experiences of Marjorie, a baby boomer; her mother, Alice; and the friends and family that make up their community over the decades. As they each pursue higher education and choose career paths, both mother and daughter encounter challenges as they make choices within a changing society—from in-law problems to illness to antisemitism and beyond. 

Sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, Remember to Eat takes on themes including patriarchy, technology, the changing role of women, the challenges of raising children, the COVID-19 pandemic, complex family relationships, and what it means to be a Jew with empathy and insight. Ultimately, the twenty-two stories contained in these pages offer not only an intimate journey into these women’s lives but also an illuminating portrait of the times in which they live.

#BookReview: Daughter of Shadows and Ash (Araceli’s Blade #1) by Ember Johnson

Synopsis:
When her loved ones are brutally slain, Alora vows to hunt down the men responsible. Through her journey of grief and revenge, she becomes an assassin. Unintentionally becoming a symbol of hope for the people of the war torn land.

Fate had other paths for her to take.

After spending a passionate night with a handsome stranger, she finds herself face to face with him once again in the throne room of the Sunnevean King. After completing the king's assessment, she's betrothed to the hateful prince, her fated mate who she hasn't seen since their last and only night spent together.

As dark forces gather threatening to tear two kingdoms apart, Alora must choose: to cling to her vow of vengeance and lose herself to the shadows, or embrace the light of love and risk everything for a future she never dared to imagine.

#BookReview: Cherry Auction is now 7 Days (Carnal Games #1) by Stasia Black

Synopsis:
She destroyed my life when we were just 17. Now she’s on the auction stage in front of me…

When Domhnall’s best friend throws a vrgin auction, Domhnall doesn’t care to bid.
Innocents aren’t his thing.
He prefers experienced women who can handle his darkness... So he leans back in his chair, sipping his drink, bored out of his mind.
The room is dim, all eyes on the velvet curtain. The auctioneer hypes up the event, promising a “gorgeous prize.”
Domhnall yawns, barely glance at the stage…
Then she steps out. Silk. Heels. Chestnut curls hiding her face.
Domhnall’s chest tightens. There’s something familiar about her. No, it couldn’t be. He’s been tricked by her ghost too many times before.
But then she lifts her head.
Domhnall’s glass slips from his hand, crashing to the floor. The world blurs as recognition hits him like a fist.
It IS her. The woman who destroyed his life.
The one he swore to kill if he ever saw again.
She’s standing there like she doesn’t remember him. Like she didn’t carve betrayal into his skin nine years ago.
But Domhnall remembers everything…
And now, she’s for sale?
He wasn’t planning to bid tonight… But others are making offers, threatening to steal her out from under him. He won’t let it happen.
This time, she belongs to him.

Note: formerly called Cherry Auction

TWs: Please note this is a dark romance with kidnapping, dub-con, and intense themes of mental illness, abuse and trauma (including references to past childhood abuse). A full list of trigger warnings can be found on the author’s website.

#BookReview: Immortal (The Celestial Kingdom, #3) by Sue Lynn Tan

Synopsis:
As the heir to Tianxia, Liyen knows she must ascend the throne and renew her kingdom’s pledge to serve the immortals who once protected them from a vicious enemy. But when she is poisoned, Liyen’s grandfather steals an enchanted lotus to save her life. Enraged at his betrayal, the immortal queen commands the powerful God of War to attack Tianxia. 

Upon her grandfather’s death, Liyen ascends a precarious throne, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.

But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal… even if it means losing her heart.