#BookReview: The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30) by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis: The first in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching.

A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side of reality. . . .

Armed with only a frying pan and her common sense, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching must defend her home against the monsters of Fairyland. Luckily she has some very unusual help: the local Nac Mac Feegle—aka the Wee Free Men—a clan of fierce, sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men.

Together they must face headless horsemen, ferocious grimhounds, terrifying dreams come true, and ultimately the sinister Queen of the Elves herself. . . .

#BookReview: A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld #32) by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis: The second in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching.

Something is coming after Tiffany. . . .

Tiffany Aching is ready to begin her apprenticeship in magic. She expects spells and magic—not chores and ill-tempered nanny goats! Surely there must be more to witchcraft than this!

What Tiffany doesn't know is that an insidious, disembodied creature is pursuing her. This time, neither Mistress Weatherwax (the greatest witch in the world) nor the fierce, six-inch-high Wee Free Men can protect her. In the end, it will take all of Tiffany's inner strength to save herself . . . if it can be done at all.

#BookReview: Dreaming of a Heart Lake Christmas (Heart Lake #1) by @booksby_sarah

Synopsis: When sparks start flying, these total opposites discover Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

To raise enough money to start her own business, Nola Bennett needs to sell “The Castle,” her beloved grandmother’s historic house, and get back home to the city. But Heart Lake’s most eligible bachelor is insisting she hang on to the property. He may be one of the hottest, grumpiest men she’s ever seen, but Nola has no time to pine over her high school crush.

All woodworker Tanner Dean wants for Christmas is some peace and quiet, but that’s not going to happen with infuriating, irresistible Nola Bennett back in town. How can he persuade her to keep The Castle out of the hands of greedy developers when sizzling attraction flares every time they’re together? And the more time he spends with Nola, the harder it becomes to picture a future without her—unless he can convince her, once and for all, that Heart Lake is exactly where she belongs. 

#BookReview: At Home on Marigold Lane (Highland Falls #5) by @AuthorDebMason @readforeverpub

Synopsis: True love deserves a second chance.

For family and marriage therapist Brianna MacLeod, moving back home to Highland Falls after a disastrous divorce feels downright embarrassing. Bri blames herself for missing the red flags in her relationship and worries she’s no longer qualified to do the job she loves. But helping others is second nature to Bri, and she soon finds herself counseling her roommate and her neighbor’s daughter. Bri just wasn’t expecting them to reunite her with her first love . . .

Caleb Scott knows his failed marriage has been tough on his stepdaughter, so he’s grateful she’s found someone to confide in . . . even if it’s Bri MacLeod. Seeing Bri brings up feelings he’d thought were long buried. He knows it’s not the right time for either of them to be rekindling a relationship, but being with Bri feels right—like coming home. He’ll just have to convince her that risking her heart again might give them exactly what they both need . . . a second chance.

#BookReview: Violet Made of Thorns (Violet Made of Thorns #1) by Gina Chen @actualgina

Synopsis: A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.

#BookReview: Blood Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #3) by J. Bree

Synopsis: After three years on the run, I’m back in a Resistance camp, chained to a chair as the resident monster.
Everything I ran from, all of the villains of my past, they’re all here to take another bite out of me. But this time, I’m not alone.
With my Bonds desperately trying to reach me and new friendships I never expected, I start to believe that maybe I won't become the weapon they want me to be. Maybe I’ll be a monster of my own creation.
When loyalties are questioned and Bonds are tested, everything I thought I knew gets turned upside down. Who are my friends, and who are my enemies?
Are Bond ties stronger than blood?

*Blood Bonds is a full length reverse harem PNR novel with material that may be difficult for some readers. This book will end on a cliffhanger. It's recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations.

#BookReview: The Love Scribe by @amy_meyerson @parkrowbooks

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of  The Bookshop of Yesterdays comes a charming novel about a woman with a special gift—her stories help people fall in love.

 

When Alice’s best friend, Gabby, is reeling from a breakup, Alice writes her a heartfelt story to cheer her up. While reading it in a café, Gabby, as if by magic, meets the man of her dreams. Thinking the story might have some special power to it, Gabby shares it with her sister and other friends, who all find instant love. Word of mouth spreads, and Alice stumbles upon a new calling—to be a love scribe.

But not all the love stories she writes unfold as expected. And while Alice tries to harness her extraordinary gift, she is summoned to a mansion in the woods where she encounters the reclusive Madeline Alger and her mysterious library. As Alice struggles to write a story for Madeline, her most challenging assignment yet, she’s forced to confront her own guarded heart. Because maybe—just maybe—there’s a love story waiting to be written for her, too.

Emotional, deeply imaginative and brimming with valuable life lessons, The Love Scribe explores love, fate and the power of stories when we choose to believe in them. 

#BookReview: Riven (Riven #1) by @mindeearnett @BalzerandBray

Synopsis: From acclaimed fantasy author Mindee Arnett comes an epic, adventurous story of a young mercenary magic-user trying to escape the oppressive island of Riven—and a young noblewoman trying to change it forever.

Mars Darksvane wants out. Out from under the thumb of Una, the crime boss who pulled him off the streets as a child and trained him as an assassin; out from the island country of Riven, where magic, in the form of a dangerous material called Ice, allows the rich to live in luxury and keeps the poor in thrall. Mars is a secret adept—a person born with the ability to channel the magic that flows beneath Riven—and while his power gives him abilities useful to an assassin, it also makes him a target. And when his last mission ends in tragedy, Mars finally decides it’s time to escape to the mainland. No magic, no history, a new life on his own.

But Una has other ideas. If Mars wants his freedom, he’s going to have to perform a final job: protecting Fura Torvald—the heiress of the rich and powerful Torvald kith, and the daughter of the last man Mars was sent to kill—and stealing from her a mysterious object known only as the Primer.

Mars has no interest in Fura or whatever the Primer is, nor in Riven’s corrupt and oppressive politics; he just wants to do his job and get out. But as Mars comes to know more about Fura, the Primer, and the true nature of the power in Riven, he realizes that he will soon have to take a side in a fight he has avoided his entire life. Which side, however, he does not yet know.

Mindee Arnett, the acclaimed author of Onyx & Ivory, returns with a sweeping, pulse-pounding new fantasy adventure set in an unforgettable world in which the power you have can set you free, or bind you in chains forever.

This title will be released on January 10, 2023.

#BookReview: The Den by Cara Reinard

Synopsis: A family estate is to die for in a gripping novel of psychological suspense by the author of Into the Sound.

Nothing brings the four Fox siblings together like their detestable father’s heart attack—and a hefty inheritance to be divided equally. At his deathbed is his oldest daughter, Valerie; her irresponsible sister, Lucy; and their two embattled brothers, Christian and Jeremy. Even the former housekeeper, Marisol, who’s been with the family for forty years, is on watch. All Valerie hopes for is an amicable reunion, despite the damages of the past.

By punishing means, Stefan Fox raised his children to be competitors. The cruel lessons now serve them well in a game of life and death. When it comes to the family fortune, the rules are simple: fewer siblings means a bigger share.

After a suspicious accident, Valerie knows the worst is yet to come—and confiding in the wrong person could be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done. 

#BookReview: Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho @cavalcar @InkyardPress

Synopsis: The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?

#BookReview: The Last Huntress (Mirror Realm #1) by @LenoreBorja

Synopsis: Alice Daniels has a problem. Her reflection keeps misbehaving when she looks in the mirror--and the longer she ignores it, the harder it tries to get her attention. On her eighteenth birthday, she learns why: she is a huntress, someone gifted with the power to enter mirrors and the magical world that exists beyond. But with this power comes immense responsibility, for in the Mirror Realm lurks an evil that has infected the human race for centuries: demons. It is up to her and her three huntress sisters--with the help of one handsome and overbearing protector--to hunt and banish this evil one demon at a time, thereby keeping the chaos in check. But when an ancient god pays Alice a visit that turns deadly, it is clear the Mirror Realm is more than it seems, and she soon finds herself in a race against time to save the life--and soul--of the one man the gods are determined to never let her have.

The Last Huntress is a story of redemption and sacrifice, the bonds of true sisterhood, and the impossible, sometimes frightening, things we'll do for love.

#BookReview: Dark Tides (Kingdom of Bones Trilogy #2) by @Kimberlyvale_

Synopsis: When love is an anchor, the sea can swallow you whole.

Csilla Abado has a full plate after becoming the first Queen of Bones. While leading Cerulia, sending fleets to hunt for Dominic Rove, and recruiting new crews to the cause, she must also find a way to mend the lingering crack between Limbo and the mortal realm. Otherworldly creatures are spilling through, threatening more than just the island kingdom. When Lorelei and Nara go missing, the crew takes sail once again to find them and stop the worst of the villains, Magnus, before he can slip through the crack. As their leader, Csilla takes every decision head-on, but her sister's death weighs on her, and if she doesn't learn to let go, she could end up alone in her fight.

After the events at Crossbones, Kane Blackwater is desperate to find the traitorous Dominic Rove, but when his desperation sends him to Death's Cove, he's met by creatures that should be locked away in Limbo. He returns to Cerulia with this knowledge and an evil, magic-laced wound that’s slowly seeping through his body. When Lorelei suddenly goes missing, he joins the search, but his time is running out and he must decide what's more important to him: her life or his own.

Lorelei Storm isn't the same since her return from the realm of Limbo. A menacing and powerful magic rests under her skin, and she fears it as much as she craves its potential. She tries to keep this secret from her found family, but when she accidentally hurts someone, she finds she can no longer hide her ability. She flees only to be caught, alongside Csilla’s first mate Nara, by an Incendian Scout and taken as prisoner. But Lorelei finds out the scout is also an emberblood, and if she must, she will use her enemy to learn how to control her powerful new magic.

Jaron Thorne was raised to hate and hunt pirates. Becoming his fire god's champion and wielding his obsidian sword has given him even more purpose in ridding the kingdoms of every last pirate. Fighting runs through his veins, but when Magnus's whispers send him to steal away the only living stormblood, he ends up taking an extra captive: an archer whose frosty demeanor intrigues him as much as he hates it. But as he learns more about the world he thought he knew, Jaron must learn to control his inner-flames or risk burning down everything around him, including his chance of finding his lost brother.

As the war between gods and mortals builds to a crescendo, Csilla, Kane, and Lorelei must not only protect their world from destruction, but also their hearts from looming devastation. The seas darken and not everyone will survive the rising tides.

#BookReview: Flight 171 by @amychristinepar @GetUnderlined

Synopsis: Devon Marsh is haunted by secrets. Like the identity of the person who killed her twin sister, Emily, in a hit and run accident last Halloween, which Devon has vowed to uncover. Like the things Devon said to Emily just before she died.

But she’s determined to start fresh when she boards a four-hour flight along with her classmates for their senior class ski trip. Devon never could have guessed those secrets would surface in the most terrifying way when a supernatural creature hijacks their flight and gives the students a deadly ultimatum:

Choose one among them to sacrifice before the end of the flight. Or the plane will crash.

As the clock ticks down, the creature slowly unearths the passengers’ deepest, darkest secrets—and reveals that one of the teens on the plane is responsible for Emily’s death. The students must agree on a sacrifice, or there won’t be any survivors. But can Devon find a way to stop the creature, or will she give in to her anger and let revenge take control?

#BookReview: Wildbound (Forestborn #2) by @ElayneABecker @torteen

Synopsis: The thrilling follow-up to Elayne Audrey Becker's debut YA epic fantasy, Forestborn, full of forest magic and a kingdom on the brink of war.

With the assassination of Telyan's king, the time for peace has passed.

Determined to make up for his failure to procure the stardust, Helos finds work as a healer at Fendolyn's Keep, the military garrison to which Telyan's exiled royals--and half its civilians--have fled. Racing against the Fallow Throes' ticking clock, he endeavors to repair his relationship with Prince Finley and fight off the gathering shadows in his head, as the base around him prepares for war.

Half a continent away, his sister Rora is doing everything she can to reawaken the land and end Eradain's slaughter of magical beings. Still reeling from the revelation that Eradain's violent monarch is her half-brother, she journeys to the kingdom determined to infiltrate his court in disguise--and finds the seeds of rebellion are already stirring.

With a magical illness running rampant and the continent arming for battle, the three realms' long-feared destruction seems inevitable. But the two shifters they believed would bring about Alemara's ruin may in fact hold the key to its survival.

#BookReview: The Marriage Box by Corie Adjmi @BooksparksPR

Synopsis: Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New Orleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then she gets in trouble--and her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn.


In this new and foreign world, men pray daily, thanking God they're not women; parties are extravagant events at the Museum of Natural History; and the Marriage Box is a real place, a pool deck designated for teenage girls to put themselves on display for potential husbands. Casey is at first appalled by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets Michael, she's enticed by it. Looking for love and a place to belong, she marries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she begins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn't want her to go to college--he wants her to have a baby instead.


Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave one behind in order to find her way?

This title will be released on May 2, 2023.

#BookReview: Forestborn (Forestborn #1) by Elayne Audrey Becker

Synopsis: TO BE BORN OF THE FOREST IS A GIFT AND A CURSE.

Rora is a shifter, as magical as all those born in the wilderness--and as feared. She uses her abilities to spy for the king, traveling under different guises and listening for signs of trouble.

When a magical illness surfaces across the kingdom, Rora uncovers a devastating truth: Finley, the young prince and her best friend, has caught it, too. His only hope is stardust, the rarest of magical elements, found deep in the wilderness where Rora grew up--and to which she swore never to return.

But for her only friend, Rora will face her past and brave the dark, magical wood, journeying with her brother and the obstinate, older prince who insists on coming. Together, they must survive sentient forests and creatures unknown, battling an ever-changing landscape while escaping human pursuers who want them dead. With illness gripping the kingdom and war on the horizon, Finley's is not the only life that hangs in the balance. 

#BookReview: When Stars Come Out (When Stars Come Out #1) by @ScarlettStClai1 @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Anora Silby can see the dead and turn spirits into gold coins, two things she would prefer to keep secret as she tries to lead a normal life at her new school. After all, she didn't change her identity for nothing.

Hiding her weirdness is just one of many challenges. By the end of her first day, she's claimed the soul of a dead girl on campus and lost the coin. Turns out, the coin gives others the ability to steal souls, and when a classmate ends up dead, there's no mistaking the murder weapon.

Navigating the loss of her Poppa, the mistrust of her mother, and Roundtable, an anonymous student gossip app threatening to expose her, are hard enough. Now she must find the person who stole her coin before more lives are lost, but that means making herself a target for the Order, an organization that governs the dead on Earth - and they want Anora and her powers for themselves.

From the brilliant mind of A Touch of Darkness's bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair comes a crossover reimagining of Orpheus and Eurydice, in a darkly unique fantasy world.

#BookReview: The Last Hill: The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII by Tom Clavin, Bob Drury

Synopsis: Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's The Last Hill is the incredible untold story of one Ranger battalion's heroism and courage in World War II.

They were known as “Rudder’s Rangers,” the most elite and experienced attack unit in the United States Army. In December 1944, Lt. Col. James Rudder's 2nd Battalion would form the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler’s homeland at last. In the process, Rudder was given two objectives: Take Hill 400 . . . and hold the hill by any means possible. To the last man, if necessary. The battle-hardened battalion had no idea that several Wehrmacht regiments, who greatly outnumbered the Rangers, had been given the exact same orders. The clash of the two determined forces was one of the bloodiest and most costly encounters of World War II.

Castle Hill, the imposing 1320-foot mini-mountain the American Rangers simply called Hill 400, was the gateway to a desperate Nazi Germany. Several entire American divisions had already been repulsed by the last hill's dug-in defenders as—unknown to the Allies—the height was the key to Adolf Hitler's last-minute plans for a massive counterattack to smash through the American lines in what would become known to history as the Battle of the Bulge.

Thus the stalemate surrounding Hill 400 could not continue. For Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, there was only one solution: Call in Rudder's Rangers. Of the 130 special operators who stormed, captured, and held the hill that December day, only 16 remained to stagger back down its frozen slopes. The Last Hill is replete with unforgettable action and characters—a rich and detailed saga of what the survivors of the 2nd Ranger Battalion would remember as “our longest day.”

#BookReview: A Merry Little Meet Cute by @andimjulie Sierra Simone

Synopsis: Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone—a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.

Forced to keep her work as Bianca under wraps, Bee quickly learns this is a task a lot easier said than done. Though it all becomes worthwhile when she discovers her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of career rehab. Nolan’s promised his bulldog manager to keep it zipped up on set, and he will if it means he’ll be able to provide a more stable living situation for his sister and mom.

But things heat up quickly in Christmas Notch, Vermont, when Nolan recognizes his new co-star from her ClosedDoors account (oh yeah, he’s a member). Now Bee and Nolan are sneaking off for quickies on set, keeping their new relationship a secret from the Hope Channel’s execs. Things only get trickier when the reporter who torpedoed Nolan’s singing career comes snooping around—and takes an instant interest in mysterious newcomer Bee.

And if Bee and Nolan can’t keep their off-camera romance behind the scenes, then this merry little meet cute might end up on the cutting room floor. 

#BookReview: Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett @Jenn_Benn

Synopsis: Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there.

What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame.

Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…