#BookReview: A Knot of Lies and Rebellion by J. Collette Smith

Synopsis: Emeuri dreams of becoming an attendant to a High Daughter in the Kingdom of Iridan — an impossible feat for a low-level worker like herself. But when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arises for a chance to audition for the role, Emeuri clamors for the coveted spot alongside girls from every village. When she pulls off the unthinkable and wins, she sets off for the opulent kingdom with high hopes for a better life. However, she soon discovers life in Iridan is not what it seems.

Secrets hide in corners of the palatial estates. Ones that whisper of an opposition brewing beneath the pristine surface. A disruption to Sovereign Beck’s order could topple his meticulous hierarchy — a change that would ruin everything Emeuri has worked for. Yet, a hint of promise carries those whispers and Emeuri finds herself consumed with the idea of freedom from the only life she’s ever known. But as attendant to the sovereign’s niece, plus her growing attraction for the sovereign’s nephew, Emeuri’s treasonous behavior could cost her life. 

After one of Emeuri’s letters home is intercepted, exposing the rebellion, Sovereign Beck sets out to make an example of her. With the one dream she’s had since childhood gone, Emeuri makes a dangerous escape to join the battle. However, when she becomes the top target for the sovereign, Emeuri’s quest for freedom may become her prison instead. 

#BookReview: The Q by Amy Tintera

Synopsis: Two teenagers from opposite worlds must fight their way through a vast walled quarantine zone in a dystopian America toward their only chance for survival.

Seventeen-year-old Maisie Rojas has spent her entire life in the Q—a post-pandemic quarantine zone that was once Austin, Texas. Born and raised behind the high security walls that sealed their fate, she's now a trusted lieutenant for one of the territory's controlling families.

Lennon Pierce, the charismatic son of a US presidential candidate, has just been kidnapped by his father's enemies and dropped out of a plane into the Q with nothing but a parachute strapped to his back. Lennon is given a temporary antidote to the disease and crucial intel for his father, but Maisie must get him out of the zone within forty-eight hours--or he will be permanently infected and forced to remain.

With unrest brewing both inside and outside the Q, reaching the exit is a daunting and dangerous task. But if Maisie and Lennon fail, it could mean disaster for the entire quarantine zone and its inhabitants—and could cost Lennon his life.

#BookReview: Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

Synopsis: In this daring tale of female agency and revenge from a New York Times bestselling author, a girl becomes a teenage vigilante who roams Victorian England using her privilege and power to punish her friends' abusive suitors and keep other young women safe. 

Adele grew up in the shadows--first watching from backstage at her mother's Parisian dance halls, then wandering around the gloomy, haunted rooms of her father's manor. When she's finally sent away to boarding school in London, she's happy to enter the brightly lit world of society girls and their wealthy suitors.

Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele's new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice. But can Adele save herself from the same fate as those she protects?

With a queer romance at its heart, this lush historical thriller offers readers an irresistible mix of vengeance and empowerment.

#BookReview: Demon Song (Black Moon, #2) by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Synopsis: A demon and a human find their happily-ever-after in this opposites-attract romance from Cassandra Rose Clarke

When "hell on earth" isn't just a saying anymore…

Newly minted demon hunter Helena Muir is adjusting to her new reality: yes, demons and dark magic nearly killed her. But the love of a demon also saved her. Aleksi Haakanen may be a demon, but he’s her tattooed rock-god demon, and together they put a stop to an evil worse than anything imaginable.

Or so they thought.

When new and ghastly monsters begin to wreak havoc from one side of the country to the other, Helena and Aleksi must track down and destroy them before the ungodly creatures remake the world in their own hellish image. Add in the fact that her demon-hunter family is trying to track down and destroy Aleski, and Helena has her hands full.

Especially since she has begun to fear that, for Aleski, hell on earth may be exactly what he’s wanted all along…

Black MoonBook 1: Singing with the Devil
Book 2: Demon Song

#BookReview: Grave Things Like Love by Sara Bennett Wealer

Synopsis: A contemporary YA romance with a paranormal twist: what happens when in between trying to decide which boy is the right boy, a girl finds out the funeral home her family owns might be haunted?

Elaine's home is a bit . . . different. It's a funeral home that has been in her family since the 1800s--and it's why everyone calls her Funeral Girl. And even though she's lived there her whole life, there are still secrets to be found.

When Xander, a cute new boy with a penchant for ghost hunting, arrives in town, Elaine feels an instant spark. His daring and spontaneous ways help her go from Funeral Girl to Fun Girl. Then there's Miles, Elaine's oldest friend, who she's starting to see in a completely new light.

After Xander convinces her to stage a seance one night, Elaine discovers that her home might be haunted by a kindred spirit--the daughter of the funeral home's original owner. But who wants to be haunted by the dead when there are boys to spend time with? After all, you only live once. . . . 

#BookReview: Blood Moon Prophecy (Legend of the Nyx #1) by Dilani Kahawala

Synopsis: Eleven years ago, Tilly Nyx did something she wasn’t supposed to. As a result, her mother was killed. Her village was destroyed. Her sister disappeared. And an ancient horror sent her into hiding.

Now sixteen years old, Tilly is determined to go home, even though she doesn’t know where home is or how to get there. All she has is the map that her mother made her swear to protect with her life.

Tilly soon finds herself plunged into the world where it all began—a world of oceans, sailing ships, and feuds between ancient magical families. She joins a fleet in search of the secret that her map holds, the secret that has been guarded by her family for thousands of years.

As Tilly learns how to cast sprites and make potions, she and her three friends must follow the trail of murky clues left by her ancestors before time runs out. But the closer they get to their destination, the more Tilly learns about her true identity–and everything is not as it seems.

#BookReview: Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros

Synopsis: The Kosa empire roils in tension, on the verge of being torn apart by a proletarian revolution between magic-endowed elites and the superstitious lower class, but seventeen-year-old Toma lives blissfully disconnected from the conflict in the empire with her adoptive family of benevolent undead.

When she meets Vanya, a charming commoner branded as a witch by his own neighbors, and the dethroned Tsar Mikhail himself, the unlikely trio bonds over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from the revolutionary leader, Koschei, whose forces have stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives will be at Koschei’s mercy.

A haunting fantasy following Toma, adopted daughter of the benevolent undead, making her way across a civil war-torn continent to save her younger sister as she discovers she might possess magical powers herself. 

#BookReview: Crossbones (Kingdom of Bones Trilogy #1) by Kimberly Vale

Synopsis: Never trust a pirate.

The Blood Bell tolls, marking the death of the pirate king and the start of the Trials—a heart-stopping competition where the reward is the Bone Crown. Only one contender can claim the coveted island throne; each will gamble life and limb to win.

Captain. Sister. Maiden. 
Csilla Abado yearns to prove her strength to the seasoned pirates who balk at her youth and to her elder sister who has always craved Csilla’s captainship. She will risk everything to become the first pirate queen, no matter the cost. 

Dealer. Son. Legacy. 
Kane Blackwater wants to leave behind the dirty gold and shady trades he’s made to keep his father’s ship, the Iron Jewel, alive. The Trials represent a new beginning—yet rumors of a secret heir are swirling, threatening his hopes of becoming the pirate king.

Stowaway. Daughter. Storm. 
Lorelei Penny longs for nothing more than to avenge her mother’s death. Stowing away on the Iron Jewel was supposed to get her closer to the killer, but instead she finds herself caught up in the deadly battle where loyalty and desire collide. 

Csilla. Kane. Lorelei. Each on a mission. The sea, however, has other plans. Dark tides are rising, and if they aren’t careful, they’ll surely drown.

#BookReview: The Liar’s Crown (Dominions #1) by Abigail Owen

Synopsis: Some shadows protect you…others will kill you in this dazzling new fantasy series from award-winning author Abigail Owen.

Everything about my life is a lie. As a hidden twin princess, born second, I have only one purpose—to sacrifice my life for my sister if death comes for her. I’ve been living under the guise of a poor, obscure girl of no standing, slipping into the palace and into the role of the true princess when danger is present.

Now the queen is dead and the ageless King Eidolon has sent my sister a gift—an eerily familiar gift—and a proposal to wed. I don’t trust him, so I do what I was born to do and secretly take her place on the eve of the coronation. Which is why, when a figure made of shadow kidnaps the new queen, he gets me by mistake.

As I try to escape, all the lies start to unravel. And not just my lies. The Shadowraith who took me has secrets of his own. He struggles to contain the shadows he wields—other faces, identities that threaten my very life.

Winter is at the walls. Darkness is looming. And the only way to save my sister and our dominion is to kill Eidolon…and the Shadowraith who has stolen my heart.

#BookReview: Cruel Venom Wine (Gorgon sisters #1). by Allyssa-desiré Brinker

Synopsis: A witchy Medusa retelling.

Greek gods only want submission from their magical followers. In Athen’s Plateau during the 1860s, there are plenty of worshipers who do just that.

But eighteen-year-old witch Meredith Gorgon would rather hypnotize her adorable baby diamondback rattlesnakes through harnessed crimson energy, taken from a parallel world. So when haughty fish-breath Trout—who is Poseidon himself—attacks her, she fights back using energy balls. But rather than the town coming to her aid, she's deemed "hysterical" and a traitor to the magical community.

As punishment for denying a god, the sheriff and Trout post a reward for her capture. They'd send her straight to the gallows. Meredith, won't give in without a fight. She and her rattlesnakes escape. In hiding, she enacts a poorly executed protection spell, and now anyone who dares to look directly into her eyes turns to stone.

Now, she must either fix her unruly powers and fight back against bounty hunters who care about greed over truth, or accidentally murder an innocent town with a single stare. Her army of rattlesnakes can’t save her now.

Trigger warnings: This novel contains an on-page execution by hanging, robbery, sexual assault, profanity, violence, and illegal activities. The author recommends mature readers ages 15 and up. 

#BookReview: The Midnight Ride by Ben Mezrich

Synopsis: From the celebrated, New York Times bestselling author comes a commercial thriller of an MIT grad student who unwittingly uncovers the hidden connection between the Gardner Museum heist and the most fascinating secret in American history.

THE CARD SHARK: Hailey Gordon is looking to make some fast cash to help pay her tuition when she’s caught counting cards at the Encore casino in Boston. She grabs her winnings and makes her escape. With guards closing in, she dives into an unlocked room to hide . . . only to find a dead body.

THE EX-CON: Recently released from prison, Nick Patterson hasn’t felt hope in a long time, but the job he “inherited” in prison promises to change that. He enters hotel room 633 to find that the person he was supposed to meet has been murdered. Next to the corpse stands a terrified young woman—Hailey Gordon.

THE PROFESSOR: American history professor Adrian Jensen learns of the death of his professional nemesis, Charles Walker, the night after he received Walker’s latest research. Skeptical at first, Adrian nearly deletes the file. But when one small, new detail catches his eye, he makes it his mission to uncover what could be one of the biggest secrets of the Revolutionary War.

All three strangers find themselves on the cusp of an incredible discovery—one that someone is willing to kill to keep buried.

#BookReview: Ironspark by C.M. McGuire

Synopsis: A teen outcast must work together with new friends to keep her family and town safe from murderous Fae while also dealing with panic attacks, family issues, and a lesbian love triangle in C.M. McGuires's kick-butt paranormal YA debut, Ironspark. 

For the past nine years, ever since a bunch of those evil Tinkerbells abducted her mother, cursed her father, and forced her family into hiding, Bryn has devoted herself to learning everything she can about killing the Fae. Now it’s time to put those lessons to use.

Then the Court Fae finally show up, and Bryn realizes she can’t handle this on her own. Thankfully, three friends offer to help: Gwen, a kindhearted water witch; Dom, a new foster kid pulled into her world; and Jasika, a schoolmate with her own grudge against the Fae.

But trust is hard-won, and what little Bryn has gained is put to the test when she uncovers a book of Fae magic that belonged to her mother. With the Fae threat mounting every day, Bryn must choose between faith in her friends and power from a magic that could threaten her very humanity. 

#BookReview: The Witch Hunt (The Witch Haven #2) by Sasha Peyton Smith

Synopsis: Deluxe edition with special embellishments on first printing only!

The lush and pulse-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Witch Haven follows Frances and her fellow witches to the streets of Paris where family secrets, lost loves, and dangerous magic await.

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.

#BookReview: The Witch Haven (The Witch Haven #1) by Sasha Peyton Smith

Synopsis: The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this atmospheric historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined? 

#BookReview: A Curse of Frost and Fate by Verika Sloane

Synopsis: ~*~ Immerse in a tale of fantasy, passion, and magick with this sizzling Nutcracker reimagining. Guaranteed HEA ~*~

[Previously titled: Twelve Nights to Forever]
THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE IS NO DOLL...
Christmas at her childhood home usually ends with Klara getting tipsy with her eccentric godfather. The night she was caught in the middle of a battle between a prince and a madman? That had to have been a dream. Being flung into a wondrous realm of fairies, magick, danger, and desire? Feels more real than her world ever did.

Prince Jaemis can claim no future, cursed by Mogran the Mouse King, cut off from his kingdom. Dark magick brought a dream come true in the middle of his waking nightmare. Klara is everything he wants and cannot have, but she must return to her realm before it is too late, before the veil between their worlds is no more. He doesn't want something to live for, when all he's marked for is death.

Klara's destiny is tied to the prince's somehow, and also to a sinister plot neither of them will fathom.
It's a battle to survive, to separate friend from foe, and to uncover secrets of the past that could change the future.

Because, as they say, true love is something more than a fairytale...

#BookReview: A Journey to Find Her Soul by Cara Chugg

Synopsis: Lilly Blyly is the epitome of a free spirit. She seeks freedom to exist in a world of kindness and unconditional acceptance. She also longs for the freedom to love and be loved but not held too tightly. She needs to breathe, make her own mistakes, and forge ahead in pure utopian fashion. Yet, as a visionary and artist, Lilly holds a sadness and feeling of disconnection within. Her moods bend and change, sometimes without warning, and move into darker, more haunting places. She lies in bed for several days, only rising to use the bathroom. She needs this escape. It is a time of recovery from the chaos of life. Lilly's journey has been long and arduous, but she has a story to tell. Overcoming childhood trauma, addiction, and mental illness, she has found her highest calling and shares her experience to empower and enlighten the collective. Lilly transmutes her pain into progress. We too can rewrite our stories, no matter how tragic or tumultuous. Follow Lilly on a journey to find her soul. Perhaps you may even find your own.

#BookReview: The Nine: Origins (The Nine #1) by Kes Trester

Synopsis: The power of the one is the is power of the many.
Eighteen-year-old Blake Wilder usually hides her ability to see pivotal moments in other people’s pasts and futures, but when a premonition compels her to save a classmate’s life, she’s drawn into a centuries-old paranormal society on the brink of civil war.

As she struggles to find her way within a world of political intrigue and shifting alliances, her path is complicated by a budding romance with Nicholas, the chancellor’s son, and her attraction to Jessie, a man who makes up the rules as he goes. However, Blake will soon learn the truism that all is fair in love and war, especially when power is at stake.

When she witnesses a series of bizarre murders that have not yet occurred, it’s not long before the killer learns of her visions. Blake must decide whether to trust her head or her heart in a race to unmask the murderer before she is the next to die. 

#BookReview: Realm of Lore and Lies (Fair Ones #1) by Claire Wright

Synopsis: Nothing is ever as it seems, especially when Fair Ones are involved.

In a land that harbours two realms, magical creatures and dangerous games are a way of life and death for the travelling Fianna clans. It is an honour to visit Tír na nÓg, even if the price is pretending Fair Ones don’t hunt humans for sport.
Ireland native Aisling never imagined she’d be alone, living a double life. But when your family shares the ability to see through Fae glamour, keeping secrets isn’t something you do for fun. You do it to stay alive.

A murder leaves Aisling motherless, thrusting her into the position of matriarch in a world she thought she’d never return to. Teaming up with an unlikely band of allies for a competition steeped in peril, she can’t resist the distraction warrior Setanta offers. Brooding, gorgeous and impossibly strong, he gives her a chance to be something she never could before—herself. 

Bonded by troubled pasts and deadly circumstances, the team of misfits must face damaging truths as they try to stop their worlds from colliding.

#BookReview: Such a Pretty Girl by T. Greenwood

Synopsis: Award-winning author T. Greenwood explores the often-flickering line between woman and girl in this vividly lyrical drama alternating between an West Village artists community in 1970s New York and present day, as a former child actress is forced to confront the darkest secrets of her youth when a controversial photo taken of her as a preteen on the night of the 1977 blackout ignites a media firestorm.

Living peacefully in Vermont, Ryan Flannigan is shocked when a text from her oldest friend alerts her to a devastating news item. A controversial photo of her as a pre-teen has been found in the possession of a wealthy investor recently revealed as a pedophile and a sex trafficker—with an inscription to him from Ryan’s mother on the back.

Memories crowd in, providing their own distinctive pictures of her mother Fiona, an aspiring actress, and their move to the West Village in 1976. Amid the city’s gritty kaleidoscope of wealth and poverty, high art, and sleazy strip clubs, Ryan is discovered and thrust into the spotlight as a promising young actress with a woman’s face and a child’s body. Suddenly, the safety and comfort Ryan longs for is replaced by auditions, paparazzi, and the hungry eyes of men of all ages.

Forced to reexamine her childhood, Ryan begins to untangle her young fears and her mother’s ambitions, and the role each played in the fraught blackout summer of 1977. Even with her movie career long behind her, Ryan and Fiona are suddenly the object of uncomfortable speculation—and Fiona demands Ryan’s support. To put the past to rest, Ryan will need to face the painful truth of their relationship, and the night when everything changed.

#BookReview: The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

Synopsis: They were cowriting literary darlings until they hit a plot hole that turned their lives upside down.

Three years ago, Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen were the brightest literary stars on the horizon, their cowritten books topping bestseller lists. But on the heels of their greatest success, they ended their partnership on bad terms, for reasons neither would divulge to the public. They haven't spoken since, and never planned to, except they have one final book due on contract.

Facing crossroads in their personal and professional lives, they're forced to reunite. The last thing they ever thought they'd do again is hole up in the tiny Florida town where they wrote their previous book, trying to finish a new manuscript quickly and painlessly. Working through the reasons they've hated each other for the past three years isn't easy, especially not while writing a romantic novel.

While passion and prose push them closer together in the Florida heat, Katrina and Nathan will learn that relationships, like writing, sometimes take a few rough drafts before they get it right.