#AudiobookReview: Sea of Charms (Spellshop #3) by @sarahbethdurst

Synopsis: 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. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers, and she wouldn’t trade the freedom of the sea for anything. Her only companion is a sea serpent, Perri, whom she saved from a fisherfolk’s net.

One day, she sails to Alyssium and discovers the city is on fire. There’s 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 isn’t saving him ― maybe it’s 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.

#AudiobookReview: The Girl with a Thousand Faces by @sunyidean

Synopsis: From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.

When Mercy Chan washed up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, she was thrust into the horrors of World War II. She only survived by hiding in Kowloon Walled City, an infamous, ghost-infested slum full of lost and traumatized civilians. Since the end of the war, she has rebuilt her life and found work with the local triad as a ghost-talker, dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt this place. These days, the filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon feel like home.

But the past she can’t remember won’t let her go. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. Unnervingly, it claims to know Mercy―and her forgotten childhood. As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.

33 years before, mere days ahead of the Japanese invasion, Sung Siu Yin and her mother flee Hong Kong, intending to hide out on her mother's ancestral island home. It’s beautiful, tranquil, and remote. . . but also inhabited by ghosts ever since the entire village drowned in a storm many years ago. Still, it’s better than living under occupation.

But as the war drags on and isolation sets in, Siu Yin is increasingly drawn into the island's grim past―a past that may still have a hold on the present. There is a darkness lurking beneath that idyllic ocean, and it has been waiting many years for someone to return.

"The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction.”―Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors

#AudiobookReview: Empire of Death (Death, #6) by @penelopebarsetti

Synopsis: With my father indisposed, I become Queen of the Southern isles -- and it's the heaviest responsibility of my life. I know the Barbarians will come for the kingdom, and I have to prepare for war.

But I don't have to do it alone...because Wrath is with me. My advisor and my protector, he helps me secure the aid of my allies, helps me remember my strength. And when I become lost in despair, he tells me I can do this. That I'm the only one who can do this.

The God of the Underworld is my silent partner, a powerful ally that no one can see, and it becomes clear there's nothing he won't do for me. He watches my back when I trust no one else to do it. He helps me move pieces across the board against the Barbarians. My mother and brother grow suspicious of my powers, and I grow tired of telling them lies.

Despite being swallowed by misery, as time goes by, it becomes harder not to fall for this man. And he doesn't bother hiding it either. Wears his heart on his sleeve and bares his loyalty like the crest in his armor.

Except there's no way for us to be together...ever. He says there's no escape for him in the Underworld, that this is all we'll ever be. That he'll help me win this war and then leave me to find someone I deserve.

But he's the man I want -- and I won't stop until I find a way.

#BookReview: Gifted (Gifted #1) by @author.mavi

Synopsis: “Because… you’ll become a legend, Legionnaire. You just don’t see it yet. But I do. And the gods do too.”

Over forty years ago, a foreign ruler conquered a fractured kingdom and forged it into one Empire. Then, he purged the gods from history.

Elaine Lyanthian was only twelve when she joined the Imperial Army to escape poverty and starvation. Twelve years later, she’s one of the few women who have survived its brutal ranks. But despite enduring everything the army threw at her, greatness is not in her plans. After a messy affair with her general, she’s stopped believing her luck will ever change.

But there are forces, both ancient and new, that would bend her fate to their will.

When the Emperor himself Gifts her into the prestigious Legion of Barrymore, her world tilts on its axis. The Legion is led by the cold and feared Alexander Courtenay, and so Elaine finds herself not just a soldier among millions, but one of the elite Thirty Barrymore Legionnaires.

Determined and stubborn, Elaine rises to meet her new path. But Barrymore isn’t the end of her road—it’s only the beginning.

There, she will forge the family she never had, experience a forbidden and all-consuming love, and discover the strength to transform from the hollow, hopeless girl she once was.

As Elaine learns the true cost of loyalty, love, sacrifice, and friendship, a strange power begins to stir in her veins. And as the Empire trembles on the edge of rebellion, she’ll come to realize her role in its salvation may be far greater—and far more dangerous—than she ever dared to imagine.

A rebellion rises.
A Legionnaire is challenged.
A family is forged.

#BookReview: The Serpent's Bride (Bloodlines #1) by @kathrynannkingsley

Synopsis: I will disguise myself as the vampire’s bride. I will win over his family. And then I will murder every last one of them. 

All my life I’ve been training to take revenge on the vampire who killed my parents. But Raziel Nostrom is a prince of the city’s most powerful mafia clan—completely untouchable.

When I learn that Raziel is marrying a woman he’s never seen before, I know my chance has finally come…

I will disguise myself as Raziel’s sacrificial bride. I will gain access to his vicious and beautiful family. And I will murder every last bloodsucking one of them.

Raziel is just as ruthless and deadly as I expected, but I had no idea how magnetic he would be up close, with an intoxicating smile and ruby-red eyes that seem to look right into my soul. There’s a dangerous tension between us that I’m struggling to ignore.

I have to strike fast. Every second I wait brings new danger to my life—and my heart. But as I sharpen my blades and prepare to take my revenge at last, I need to face the truth…

I’m falling in love with Raziel Nostrom.

The first book in a spicy vampire romantasy series perfect for fans of true enemies-to-lovers romance and marriages of convenience tropes. Readers who could not get enough of The Serpent and the Wings of Night and Haunting Adeline will love The Serpent’s Bride.

#AudiobookReview: A Fortnight to Forever by @alyciaeanderson_author

Synopsis: Every hundred years, she wakes for fourteen days.

Quinnève Liogenoriggia has been cursed to aid a stranger once each century. Bound to a cruel spell woven by a jealous prince, the only way to break it is to fall in love and be loved in return. But two weeks has never been enough...and love was never the point. Until now.

Mavromichaeli Bassiano is a washed-up knight with nothing left to fight for, until Quinn crashes into a tavern brawl and binds herself to his side. Sarcastic, broken, and entirely unqualified for heroism, Mav agrees to help break her curse mostly because he doesn’t believe in love, especially not the kind that has a countdown.

Together with a meddling hedge witch, a star-born cat, and a fugitive cartographer, Quinn and Mav cross treacherous landscapes, misfire magical potions, and inch closer to something real. But as time slips away, Quinn must decide whether to risk heartbreak for the first time in centuries, and Mav must prove that love isn’t about time at all.

A romantasy full of lyrical longing, sharp banter, and soul-deep devotion, A Fortnight to Forever is for readers who know love is the truest form of magic and the cruelest kind of countdown.

#BookReview: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Synopsis: Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

#BookReview: The Book of Heartbreak by @excusemyreading

Synopsis: A Middle Eastern legend get a magically romantic modern makeover perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

A young woman must find a way to end the curse on her heart before it claims her forever in this delightfully witty fantasy romance.

Sare Silverbirch has already had her heart broken three times. A fifth heartbreak will stop her heart forever. Such is the nature of the curse she was born under, which forces her to live a life without letting anyone get too close.

When her mother dies unexpectedly and her heart breaks for the fourth time, Sare begins to urgently question the curse. Where did it come from? Why her? And rather than accept it, could there be a way to break it? 

Her questions lead her to Istanbul where she meets Leon, a seer who helps her track down the mysteries of her mother’s past. But Sare’s heart is a fragile thing and their blossoming romance poses a great risk to her survival. Especially when she discovers that her fate is in the hands of celestials beyond this earthly realm.

Now the heavens are stirring, for they have a stake in Sare’s destiny—and they don’t like their plans being overturned. 

The Book of Heartbreak is a dazzling, haunting romantasy sure to break—and mend again—the hearts of readers everywhere.

#BookReview: Vicious Princess (The Trials of Death and Honor, #1) by @karolinawilde

Synopsis: There are only three rules at Ezkai Always obey your instructor. Never leave the Castle Grounds without permission. Don’t ever screw your instructor.

I break one before orientation even begins. Can you guess which one?

When I arrive at the unforgiving fae city with the snowy mountains looming over it, I have two 

Join the legendary Order of ancient soldiers.
Climb the ranks and gain the power I need to avenge my family’s murder.
But before I can join the Order, I must survive six months of ruthless training. Failure means exile… or death.

That, I can handle despite being the only human among the brutal, beautiful fae who would love to see me bleed. I’ve survived worse–my body is riddled with a thousand scars that serve as a reminder.

What I didn’t expect?

The hot, mysterious soldier I spent one passionate night with… is now my instructor.

When he offers to mentor me—recognizing the ambition burning inside me—I know I should say no. It’s too risky.

But I want what he’s offering. I want to rise to the top. And maybe… I want him, too.

Vicious Princess is a seductive, blood-stained romantasy for fans of Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, and Kushiel’s Dart, where power, passion, and vengeance collide.

#BookReview: The Dragon Wakes with Thunder (The Dragon Spirit, #2) by @ksongwrites

Synopsis: A young woman who wields the unimaginable power of the dragon spirit must decide who to support—and who to love—in this enthralling fantasy that reimagines the legend of Mulan.

The explosive sequel to The Night Ends with Fire!

The war may be over, but Hai Meilin is still paying a heavy toll. In spite of securing victory for the kingdom of Anlai, she is imprisoned upon her return. Her crime? Wielding a sword as a woman.

In the palace, Meilin is an outcast and a social pariah. But beyond the imperial walls, the legend of the woman warrior has taken on a life of its own. To the east, a new rebel leader needs Meilin to helm his people’s revolution. In the south, a former enemy prince, now a prisoner of war, seeks Meilin’s aid in restoring balance to the Three Kingdoms. And back home in Anlai, Liu Sky, Meilin’s commander and first love, requires Meilin by his side in his bid for the throne.

Pulled in all directions by those who seek to use her for their own ends, Meilin vows that this time, she will not be so quick to trust. Yet there is one she cannot help but listen to—for he dwells within her.

Beyond any human machinations, the sea dragon Qinglong has his own plans for the spirit realm. During the last war, Meilin wielded his power to cheat death and attain victory for Anlai; now the dragon has come to collect his dues. Meilin’s mother warned her long The spirits demand blood. And Qinglong is ravenous.

#BookReview: Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all.

#BookReview: Voidwalker (Beasts of the Void, #1) by @authorsamaclean

Synopsis: Fionamara is a smuggler. Antal is the reason her people fear the dark.

Fi ferries contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village self-sufficient - free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to Antal's immortal species for centuries.

Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many, and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now, mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection, and the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.

When Fi gets planted with a stash of smuggled energy, a long-lost flame recruits her for a reckless heist that escalates into a terrorist bombing - and a coup against the reigning immortals, with Fi's home caught in the crossfire.

She's always known the dangers of her trade - and of the power she's wielded since childhood, allowing her to see the secret doors between dimensions, to walk the Void itself. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she'll have to make with him, a forced partnership to reclaim his city that begins as a desperate bid for survival, only to grow into something far more dangerous.

A revolution.

And a temptation - for how sweet the monster's fangs might feel.

From the author of the instant Sunday Times-bestselling The Phoenix Keeper comes an era-defining new fantasy universe where spicy romantasy meets the Cosmere, unmissable for fans of the world-building scale of Sarah J. Maas and the world-shifting stakes of Rebecca Yarros.

Voidwalker will be your next romantasy obsession, a deliciously feral story that started with just two words: "bite me".

#BookReview: The Late-Night Witches by @auraleewallaceauthor

Synopsis: An enchantingly warm and funny novel about family, love lost and found, discovering who you are, and how difficult it is to slay a vampire from the beloved national bestselling author of the TikTok sensation In the Company of Witches.

Cassie Beckett’s life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she’s really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet.

That is, until the vampires arrive.

As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie’s tenuous grip on normalcy, she’s forced to come face-to-face with long–disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty rid the island of vampires, or let them win. (Both options suck, in more ways than one.)

Armed with her family, newfound friends, and a baby in a spectacularly garlicky onesie, Cassie must learn what it is to be a witch and how to fight for what she loves before time runs out. Because on Halloween night, the stakes will be higher than ever before...and it’s up to Cassie to finish what the witches that came generations before her started.

#BookReview: Crown of the Dunes (Ballan Desert #2) by @s.c.grayson

Synopsis: War brought them together. Forging peace could tear them apart.

Back in Kelvadan after narrowly escaping death, former exile Keera is now hailed as a hero for protecting the Great City against the lord of the clans. Forced to lie low as her injuries heal, she discovers the city’s position is more precarious than ever. Now, she faces an impossible betray the city that offered her a home, or be the Champion Kelvadan needs. Worst of all, the enemy forces are led by the man to whom she has given her heart.

After spending his life running from his destiny, Erix finds himself thrust into leadership after the death of his cruel mentor. With the clans of the desert at his command and Keera ripped from his grasp, he wants nothing more than to march on the city that took her—but the desert has other plans. As the Ballan Desert continues to punish those who fractured her magic, sowing division among the clans, Erix desperately seeks to restore the dunes he swore to serve and exact revenge on those who stole Keera away.

Left to navigate ever-changing sands and even more quickly shifting alliances, Erix and Keera must fight to find their way back to each other, even when the desert seems determined to keep them apart.

#BookReview: The Unraveling of Michael Galler by Steven M. Rubin

Synopsis: For fans of nuanced, slow-build narratives, a psychological family drama about a teenager whose entanglement in an intense, complex new relationship exacerbates his obsession over his greatest fear.

After observing multiple terminal effects of varying illnesses of those close to him that he perceives as cancer, Michael Galler gains a heightened cognizance of the physical threats that can grow unknowingly inside a person. As a result, he dedicates himself to healthily fortifying his body against any comparable assault.

While growing up with his loving, widowed father and the younger brother he feels compelled to protect, Michael is able to balance the pressures of his young life—academic achievement, high school athletic competition, and even training for the Boston Marathon. But as he moves toward college life, he develops a promising relationship with a girl who too easily fills the gaps of his motherless upbringing—and his long-held fear of what he now thinks of as capital-C Cancer begins to take over. Everything he experiences, he experiences through the filter of trying to outrun a disease he thinks is pursuing him.

A dramatic coming-of-age tale with a dark psychological twist, The Unraveling of Michael Galler explores the motives of a teenage boy so overwhelmed by an obsessive fear that he loses his grip on reality.

#BookReview: The Surrogate Mother by @fmcfaddenauthor

Synopsis: Abby wants a baby more than anything.

But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.

Or all of her nightmares.

Because it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby's child has dark, twisted secrets.

And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

#BookReview: Toni and Addie Go Viral by @melissamarrwriting

Synopsis: Mistakes Were Made meets Delilah Green Doesn't Care in a charming lesbian romance from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr

Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding―is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more…

On a whim―and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind―Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show.

Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.

#BookReview: In Death's Hands (The Threads of Fate #1) by Laure M. Camail

Synopsis: What if the one who was meant to take your life chose instead to save it?

When Liv was four, Death broke every sacred rule to spare her life after a tragic accident. Ever since, she's been haunted by near-death experiences and hunted by shadowy forces desperate to "correct" her fate.
Now 24 and stuck in a purposeless life, she’s thrust into a dangerous world of immortal beings, forgotten gods, and an ancient order woven into the fabric of reality. Nathan, her enigmatic and impossibly handsome rescuer, hides secrets of his own, including his connection to the godlike Origins and the Fates that weave the world's destiny.
As Liv discovers her unique and unsettling place in their fractured world, she must uncover why she exists outside the Tapestry of Life—and why it might unravel everything if she survives. With her life in the balance, Liv must decide if she can trust Nathan to protect her heart as well as her soul—or if his dark past will doom them both.
In Death’s Hands is a romantasy filled with danger, forbidden love, and the ultimate question: can we defy fate without breaking the world?

#BookReview: House of the Beast by @lokhelle

Synopsis: NATIONAL BESTSELLER!

“As darkly whimsical as the most beloved fairy tales and soaked in gothic atmosphere. The gorgeous and evocative illustrations bring to life an unforgettably lush and hypnotically romantic story.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

Step into the dark coming-of-age fantasy debut from The Legend of Korra illustrator Michelle Wong, where a young woman bound to a mysterious god seeks revenge on her aristocratic family in a story of divine rituals, brutal magic, and twisted love—featuring illustrations throughout by the author.

Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma found solace in solitude—so long as her mother was by her side. But when illness strikes, Alma reaches out to the father she’s never known and uncovers a dark she’s a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods, and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, a harbinger of death.

To save her mother, Alma agrees to sacrifice her arm in a blood-soaked ceremony that binds her to the Beast. But the cure never comes, leaving her trapped in a hostile, gothic estate—despised by her relatives and used as a pawn in her father’s schemes.

Now vengeance drives her, guided by the god who shadows her every step. He appears only to her—a beautiful, monstrous prince—whispering that she’s destined to reshape the world. With his dark magic fueling her, Alma sets out to destroy the House that took everything from her. But as their bond deepens and their plans grow more perilous, she must decide if her god’s honeyed words—and her forbidden feelings for him—are leading her to victory, or dragging the mortal world to ruin.

“A beguiling tale of strange gods, cosmic horrors, and ruinous revenge, House of the Beast dazzled me. With compelling characters and masterful world building, Wong’s debut is sure to become a celebrated classic.”— Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child

If you enter the House of the Beast, prepare to 

Morally grey characters with toxic, codependent relationships (M/F, M/M)Vengeful heroine and her chaotic-evil trickster godSlow-burn yearning and forbidden attractionFamily rivalries and court intrigueDeadly trials and divine bargainsNightmare realm full of monsters and secretsMagic, violence, and madnessStunning black-and-white art by the author woven through the textFor fans of One Dark Window, Blood Over Bright Haven, and A Study in Drowning