#BookReview: In the Shadow of an Obsession (Fareview Fairytales Book 5) by @maciaurora

Unbeknownst to Jessamine Fareview who’s still asleep under the spell cast by her mother, she’s been abducted and carried off into the Kaloma landscape by a stranger who calls himself the Master. Only the man left a Johesha Malinor, captain of the Royal Guard, who abandons his post to follow. After infiltrating the Master’s household, Johesha has also become ensnared in the stranger’s web of enchantments. When he discovers a way to wake the sleeping Jessamine, Johesha sets into motion the Master’s dark plot against the Fareview family.

As Jessamine and Johesha work together to find a means to escape the enchanted manor, they find themselves drawn to one another, and fall into a forbidden love affair that risks both of their lives if discovered. When the opportunity to escape presents itself, they flee from the manor only to run headlong into another trap set by the Master, who separates them with a spell. Now isolated from one another, Jessamine and Johesha must find a way not only to bring the Master to his knees, but find a way back to one another despite the magic keeping them apart.

#BookReview: Wish I Were Here by @melissawiesnerauthor

Opposites attract when a buttoned-up professor and a carefree doorman team up to restore a missing identity in this magical romance, perfect for fans of Sophie Cousens and Ashley Poston.

Type-A mathematician Catherine Lipton’s carefully calculated life goes awry when a university’s human resources system rejects her employment paperwork. Soon after, her credit card is declined. At the Social Security office, Catherine makes a shocking discovery—she’s disappeared from the government’s records, and there’s no evidence she exists at all.

The one person who offers to help is Luca Morelli, her attractive but aggravating doorman who spends more time flirting with Catherine’s neighbors than he does enforcing the building rules.

Left with no other options, Catherine reluctantly agrees to enlist the help of Luca’s well-connected Italian family. Soon, she finds herself following Luca into a smoky bar to meet the Mafia, breaking into the records room of a local hospital, doing a little light stalking, and having a surprising amount of fun–all while growing closer to Luca.

As Catherine begins to unravel the mystery behind her missing identity, she may discover that the “real” Catherine is someone she never expected.

#BookReview: Babel by @kuangrf

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

#BookReview: The Specimen by @byjaimafixsen

Walk carefully, lest you become a part of Dr. Burnett's collection…

1826. Isobel Tait finds herself, by chance, staring at a tiny human heart floating in a jar. It should be of little consequence; Dr. Burnett is renowned for his collection of oddities and medical specimens, and this, a juvenile heart with a damaged mitral valve, is not the strangest thing on display. Except that the condition is rare, and that Isobel's young son, who has been missing for months, suffered from the ailment. 

A phantom pulse beats in Isobel's ears. She knows something here isn't right.

Missing persons cases are all too common in Edinburgh, where people simply vanish like mist. But Burnett is obsessed with his specimens – how far would he go to acquire a new one? Determined to investigate, Isobel joins his staff as the keeper of his collection. What she'll unearth, though, is far worse than any of her nightmares…

Based on true crimes, The Specimen is a mesmerizing story about one woman's search for truth and vengeance in the darkest of places—where the deadliest secrets lie hidden in plain sight, on a freshly dusted shelf.

#BookReview: Where Golden Feathers Fall by @ryghpedersenwrites

The enemy are at the gates and the heir must be protected at all costs. The only problem is…she has vanished.

Princess Algaia Domonov’s world is turned upside down when she discovers she may not be the daughter of the dryads she always believed herself to be. As she ponders her possible new identity, enemy forces from the North reach the border, and conscription is enacted, calling on one able-bodied person from each family to fight…except for her own. Not seeing her status as a reason for exemption, Algaia flees the safety of the palace to join her subjects at war.
However, life in a military camp isn’t like the one she is used to and it is only her stubborn determination to protect her people and be worthy of the crown she will one day bear, that keeps her from shedding her hidden identity.

Attracting the cruel and uninvited attention of the camp Commander, forces her to form new alliances in order to survive. When the Captain of her scouting team takes on her punishment, feelings begin to brew between the more experienced soldier and the young princess. But no matter how right it feels, Algaia knows it is forbidden for a royal to fall in love with a human.

When training ends abruptly and the real war begins, could her desire to pave her own path mean the downfall of her country and the death of the man she loves? Or, will the hard lessons she has learnt beyond the palace walls, help her to save them all?

#BookReview: The Shattered King (The Shattered King, #1) by @cnholmberg

A captive healer and a mysterious prince are drawn to each other in the midst of war and magic in a beguiling dark fantasy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the warfront. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can.

But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is nothing like Nym has ever seen before, nothing she could ever imagine treating. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment―only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness―even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.

#BookReview: A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos, #0) by @say_shannon

In A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

#BookReview: The Road to Yesterday by Maryellen Donovan

For readers who found comfort in Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, a 9/11 widow’s memoir of rediscovering joy and finding love again after the violent loss of her husband.

One sunny Tuesday morning, Maryellen Donovan’s beloved husband, Steve Cherry, lost his life in the 9/11 attacks—rocking her to her core, and changing her family forever.

Maryellen’s life and love with Steve was all she could have hoped for; in the wake of his death, she was inconsolable. But ultimately, she had no choice but to be strong for her two young sons—and even when deep in the grip of hopeless despair, she found solace in her deep faith and belief that, with the support of friends and family, she would eventually find love and happiness once again. Her route to her happy ending proved long and winding and full of obstacles—cancer, family conflict, even more loss—but she always found a way forward, no matter the setbacks she encountered. 

An inspirational story that will provide hope to anyone who’s experienced unfathomable loss and loneliness, The Road to Yesterday is a testament to the idea that there is always a path to love and joy—if only you’re determined enough to keep yourself open to it.

#BookReview: The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide

Set in Regency England, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is a queer historical fantasy of magic, murder, high heat and humour.

Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse. Until he learns the head negotiator is to be Dashiell sa Vare, an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten, a man their rigid class structure forbids him to love.

Locked in the mouldering grandeur of Monterris Court (a house more haunting manifestation of dynastic ambition and ancestral guilt than home), the first dead body is troubling. The second, a warning that someone doesn’t want the contract to go ahead. But while Nic and his wife-to-be team up to banter their way through a secret murder investigation, it’s Dashiell he can’t stop thinking about. What would be worse? To love and have to let go, or to wholly deny the yearning of one’s heart forever?

Perfect for fans of Freya Marske and Alexis Hall, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is the perfect blend of gothic and romantic – including a locked room murder mystery, forbidden love and otherworldly automatons.

#BookReview: Gifted & Talented by @olivieblake

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

Where there’s a will, there’s a war.

Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.

Or at least, so they like to think.

Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You're welcome! If only her father's fortune wasn't her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.

Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he's losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.

Eilidh, once the world's most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she'd been his favorite all along.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?

#BookReview: Ring by @michellelernerauthor

"Ring" takes you on an unforgettable odyssey through the depths of human emotion, from the hollows of grief to the heights of newfound hope. In the backdrop of a snow-covered sanctuary designed to aid the dying, Lee, a middle-aged non-binary person from the Midwest, grapples with the unbearable weight of losing their young adult daughter. Abandoning their previous life and even the comfort of a longtime spouse, Lee is driven by a quest for closure―or an end to it all.

Enter Ring, a seemingly ordinary dog with an extraordinary role. Brought by Robert, a terminally ill man preparing to make his final walk through the sanctuary's Seven Pillars, Ring becomes the catalyst for Lee's own rebirth. As Lee befriends other souls at the sanctuary, each embroiled in their own battles―from Catherine and Samu, the spiritual leaders, to Viviana, a war veteran scarred by trauma―they are nudged toward a revelation that challenges their initial reasons for coming to this remote haven.

The novel deftly weaves themes of loss, hope, and healing, set against the spirituality-infused environment of the sanctuary. It presents a compassionate view on suicide, grappling with the complex questions it raises about the value and sanctity of life. As Lee engages with mindfulness practices and meditation, the story emerges as an enlightening guide for anyone walking the fine line between despair and hope.

Don't miss this emotional journey that tackles the raw, intricate facets of grief, and leaves you pondering the restorative powers of companionship and the human spirit. Ideal for readers coping with loss, struggling with suicidal thoughts, or seeking a deeply spiritual narrative, "Ring" promises to resonate long after the last page is turned.

#BookReview: Fire Study (The Chronicles of Ixia #3) by Maria V. Snyder @mariavsnyderwrites

The apprenticeship is over—now the real test has begun.

When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder—able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, she faces mistrust and fear in Sitia. What’s more, she keeps discovering new, unusual sides of her abilities. As the Council debates Yelena’s fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before…

The road to Ixia is fraught with peril and sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills. But the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Along the way, she’ll encounter allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty, and be forced to confront an impossible choice as whispers of war emerge.

Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the lands she holds dear.

#BookReview: The Lost Book of First Loves by RaeAnne Thayne

From New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne comes a brand-new story about two women, a family secret and a lost manuscript that changes everything…

Raised by her literary icon father Carson Wells, Allison Wells always felt loved, even though her mother died when she was a teen. But when she takes a DNA test on a whim and discovers she has a sister that she’s never heard about before, it’s clear there are things her father never told her before he died. Determined to meet Juniper—her half sister—and unravel the truth of what happened all those years ago, Ali finds herself taking a job as Juniper’s intern. She’ll eventually figure out a way to tell Juniper the truth of their relationship. But she never could have imagined what would happen next…

Juniper Connolly has always been incredibly healthy…until she wakes up in the hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest, with her new—and recently fired—intern to thank for saving her life. It’s clear June needs to de-stress her life a little, so when Ali offers her the use of her family’s cabin in a small Wyoming town, June has no reason not to go. But when she arrives in the small town, her life will never be the same.

Under the wide-open spaces of the Wyoming summer sun, Ali and June will untangle the secrets and lies their lives were built on to discover who they really are and what family really means. But even more than that, they'll build a real relationship with one another and finally become sisters. 

#BookReview: The Sun and Its Shade (The Night & Its Moon #2) by Piper C.J.

I love you...

Nox's tear-filled words echo across the sand as she and Amaris are torn apart. They've battled fiercely to find each other again, and have barely reunited when Amaris is taken away by the queen's dragon.

Injured and desperate, Amaris is forced to navigate her new surroundings with the help of Raascot's enigmatic general if she hopes to stay alive. At the same time, across the land and running out of options, Nox forms a partnership with the continent's league of peacekeeping assassins, begging their help to find Amaris and forge some stability between the kingdoms.

As wounds heal and new relationships blossom, Nox and Amaris must confront impossible obstacles and stretch their magic to its limits if they are ever to create a world that might finally reunite them for good. The odds are narrow, the stakes are high, and one question remains: Is it fate, love, or something else entirely that binds these two women together?

In the enthralling follow-up to The Night and Its Moon, bestselling author Piper CJ redefines love and trust through an authentic fantastical portrayal of queer experiences, found family, and the gray areas that define us all.

#BookReview: Blood Over Bright Haven by @mlwangbooksnews

Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)

#BookReview: A Fire Endless (Elements of Cadence, #2) by @beccajross

East and West. Humans and Spirits. Breccans and Tamerlaines. The Isle of Cadence has always held itself and its residents in a tenuous balance. But now Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, has pushed everyone and everything in his path off-kilter in a bid to claim dominion over all.

In the West, Adaira struggles to adjust to the more brutal, bitter ways of life among the Breccans. Striving to find her place in the clan, she swiftly realizes that it just might be the last role she desires to hold. And while magic blooms effortlessly for the Breccans in the west, the spirits continue to suffer beneath Bane’s harsh power, felt in every gust of wind.

In the East, Jack is adrift without Adaira until he sings to the ember-weak fire spirits, acquiring a dangerous mission he never expected. One that is destined to lead him westward. Likewise, Torin and Sidra are consumed by a new mystery as sickness spreads first amongst the crops, and then to the people of the Tamerlaine clan. While Sidra desperately searches for a cure, Torin dares to strike a bargain with the spirits—a precarious folly anytime, but especially now as the days grow darker.

With the island falling further out of balance, humans and spirits alike will need to join together to face Bane, and Jack’s gift with the harp will be called upon once more. Yet no one can challenge the North Wind without paying a terrible price, and the sacrifice required this time may be more than Jack, Adaira, Torin, and Sidra can bear to pay.

In the stunning conclusion to the Elements of Cadence duology, A Fire Endless finds the delicate balance between the human and faerie realm threatened by Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, whose defeat can only come through fire, song, and heart-rending sacrifice.

#BookReview: The Dawn and Its Light (The Night and Its Moon #4) by @piper_cj

All that remains… If Nox and Amaris are ever to have the life together they've always hoped for, they will have to use all the power and strength within them to protect their continent. When powerful enemies from Sulgrave wielding unspeakable access to magic threaten to shatter their world for good, they must join with Raascot's military, the reevers, and an unlikely ally from the mountains to have any hope of saving their kingdoms. Together, their forces press north across deadly wastelands, facing unknowable threats, impossible battles…and new questions of what their fate truly holds. Their entire lives have been building toward this moment. Caught between faith and frenzy, questions and identity, love and lust, past and present, Nox and Amaris's story draws to an explosive conclusion as they fight once and for all to protect their people, their future, and each other.

#BookReview: The West Wind (The Four Winds #2) by @alexandriawarwick

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE NORTH WIND COMES A DARKLY REIMAGINED TALE OF FORBIDDEN LOVE, INSPIRED BY THE GREEK MYTH OF HERO AND LEANDER AND THE SCOTTISH BALLAD TAM LIN. 
 
Brielle of Thornbrook has dedicated her life to the abbey. She spends her days forging iron and her evenings studying the Text, all in preparation of becoming an acolyte. Twenty-one years on this earth and she has never touched a man. And she never will.
 
But when she finds an injured stranger in the forest, Brielle can’t resist the urge to help him. The encounter leads her to the realm of Under, where the air breathes rot, and the fair folk dance and whisper. Where she discovers that the man she helped is actually a Zephyrus, the West Wind, Bringer of Spring.
 
There are few Brielle can trust in Under, least of all Zephyrus. He is charming, dangerously so, and never has a man so thoroughly ensnared her. As she embarks on a journey through the eerie banks and caves of Under, Brielle finds herself in a perilous situation. For here is where faith and heart collide – and where she risks not only her future… but her life.
 
Beloved by readers on TikTok, The West Wind is a standalone fantasy romance sprinkled with Greek lore, the second in the Four Winds series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair and Raven Kennedy.

#BookReview: Heart of the Sun Warrior (The Celestial Kingdom, #2) by @suelynntan

After her perilous quest to free her mother, Xingyin thrives once more in the tranquility of her home. But her fragile peace is threatened by the discovery of a strange magic on the moon and the unsettling changes in the Celestial Kingdom as the emperor tightens his grip on power. While Xingyin is determined to keep clear of the rising danger, the discovery of a shocking truth spurs her into a treacherous confrontation.

Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions venture to unexplored lands of the Immortal Realm, encountering legendary creatures and shrewd monarchs, beloved friends and bitter adversaries. With alliances shifting quicker than the tides, Xingyin has to overcome past grudges and enmities to forge a new path forward, seeking aid where she never imagined she would. As an unspeakable terror sweeps across the realm, Xingyin must uncover the truth of her heart and claw her way through devastation--to rise against this evil before it destroys everything she holds dear, and the worlds she has grown to love... even if doing so demands the greatest price of all.

The stunning sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess delves deeper into beloved Chinese mythology, concluding the epic story of Xingyin--the daughter of Chang'e and the mortal archer, Houyi--as she battles a grave new threat to the realm, in this powerful tale of love, sacrifice, and hope.

#BookReview: The Antlered King (The Raven's Trade #2) by Marianne Gordon @theivyandtheoak

In this stunning conclusion to the Raven’s Trade duology that began with The Gilded Crown, Hellevir’s bargains with Death to save the ones she loves—including the princess she risked everything to bring back to life—may just lead to the ultimate sacrifice.

Hellevir’s gift to raise the dead once thrust her into the center of a court filled with backstabbing and treason, where she became duty bound to protect Princess Sullivain, the sole heir to the kingdom’s throne and target of many rivals eager for the crown. But the more Hellevir risked to keep Sullivain alive, and the more deeply she fell in love with the princess, the greater the cost became—for Hellevir’s power can only be granted by the strange figure who rules the afterlife, and there is always a price to pay.

Now Hellevir may have risked too much, and Sullivain has become obsessed with consolidating power to vanquish her foes once and for all—by whatever means necessary. Cast out to the fringes of a country on the verge of civil war, Hellevir is torn between protecting her heart or giving what little she has left to finish what she started. Yet, her connection with Sullivain runs deeper than the mortal world, and saving her friends and family might mean risking the woman she is still bound to by soul and blood.

To stop a war, Hellevir must unravel the last of Death’s riddles and decide, once and for all, who deserves to live, what a life is worth, and whether she can pay the price. This explosive finale to the Raven’s Trade duology is sure to satisfy fans of dark fantasy and queer romance.