#BookReview: Rings of Fate (Curses and Crowns, #1) by Melissa de la Cruz

Synopsis: She’s a barmaid who doesn’t believe in fairy tales. He’s a prince cursed to live one.

Aren Bellamore has no interest in being anyone’s princess. She’s too busy running the Raven’s Beak tavern, fending off unwanted marriage proposals, and dreaming of escape. But when a brush with death and a dangerously handsome stranger upend her life, Aren finds herself bound to a bargain that could change everything.

Prince Dietan has carried the cursed Rings of Fate ancient weapons of devastating power since childhood. The magic is killing him, and the enemies are closing in. To make the journey to reverse his curse, he needs a bride to hide his secrets. Aren wants freedom. Pretending to be his fiancée should give them both what they want.

But as their perilous journey pits them against political schemes, monstrous Kilandrar, and a growing attraction neither can deny, the line between make-believe and destiny begins to blur. And the fate of two kingdoms may depend on whether a cynical barmaid and a cursed prince are willing to risk their hearts.

#BookReview: The Divine (The Gifted, #3) by Katie Galvin @onemorechapterhc

Synopsis: Daggers drawn. It’s time for war.I wouldn’t be done until I held the heart of a god in my hand.

Chiara is a captive of Vitus, the god of life. He plans to kill her and in doing so shatter the barrier between the godly and mortal realms. If he succeeds then everything Chiara knows and loves will be destroyed. More than that, she will lose Callum.

The daughter of death, Chiara has only known darkness. She is a monster. A weapon. A killing machine. And – if she can escape Vitus – the mortal realm’s only hope.

But even hope might not be enough when it comes to war with the gods. For Chiara and Callum to win, Vitus must die and only a god can truly kill a god. It seems nothing can save them, except perhaps death itself…

#BookReview: The Broken (The Gifted, #2) by Katie Galvin @onemorechapterhc

Synopsis: Daggers ready. The battle is beginning.Every night I kill and I kill and I kill. And do you know what I do while I’m soaking my hand in blood? I enjoy it. 

Cursed with a gift from the God of Death, and robbed of every person she has ever loved, Chiara lives only for destruction. Her heart is closed.

So when she is summoned by her bitter enemy the new king, Callum, to embark on a life-threatening journey into the godly realm, her answer, of course, is no. No matter that the future of the mortal world is at stake.

But Callum is no ordinary enemy. Their hatred stems from passion. She can never forgive what he has done, and yet Chiara’s dark soul still craves his.

But Gods don’t wait for human hearts to heal. War is coming. To save mankind, Chiara and Callum must join forces. When fighting the gods, Chiara is about to learn that it’s a fine line between life and death, vengeance and mercy…enemies and lovers.

#BookReview: Persephone's Curse by Katrina Leno

Synopsis: The Hazel Wood meets Laini Taylor in this gorgeous speculative tale of sisterhood, ghosts and old family curses.

Are the four Farthing sisters really descended from Persephone? This is what their aunt has always told that the women in their family can trace their lineage right back to the Goddess of the Dead. And maybe she's right, because the Farthing girls do have a ghost in the attic of their Manhattan brownstone —a kind and gentle ghost named Henry, who only they can see.

When one of the sisters falls in love with the ghost, and another banishes him to the Underworld, the sisters are faced with even bigger questions about who they are. If they really are related to Persephone, and they really are a bit magic, then perhaps it’s up to them to save Henry, to save the world, and to save each other.

#BookReview: Bonds of Blood and Duty by @jen_a_egerton @cranthorpemillner

Synopsis: Humans are not just unwelcome in Brigantium.

They are a threat to be extinguished.

As sister to Brigantium’s king and wife of a ruthless fae lord, Evelin’s life is ruled by duty. 

But when her second child is inexplicably born human, everything changes. To protect her baby from certain death, Evelin is forced to flee.

Desperate, and with her children in tow, she seeks refuge with the only person she hopes she can trust – her estranged university friend Trystan, now the ruler of a rival kingdom.

As war brews on the horizon and her husband’s spies circle, Evelin must harness her magic to conceal her son’s true nature. But as she grows closer to Trystan, a forbidden romance threatens to unravel everything she’s fought to protect.

In a world where bloodlines dictate fate and duty demands sacrifice, Evelin must choose between a fragile peace, forbidden love, and the fierce instinct to protect her children – before the bonds holding her world together are shattered beyond repair.

#BookReview: I, Medusa by Ayana Gray

Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine. 

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

#BookReview: This Gilded Abyss (The Titan's Wrath Trilogy, #1) by @rebeccathornewrites

Synopsis: Sergeant Nix Marr is a damn good soldier. She’s also desperate to leave her haunted past deep in the bioluminescent ocean, buried alongside her best friend, Quian. So, when Subarch Kessandra, Valkesh’s favorite royal–and Nix’s loathed ex–requests Nix’s help investigating a massacre in the abyssal city of Fall, Nix refuses. Vehemently.

She should have known Kessandra would fight back.

Consigned as Kessandra’s bodyguard, Nix grudgingly boards the Luminosity, a luxurious submersible that offers the only transportation to Fall. But Kessandra wasn’t truthful–surprise, surprise–and her “investigation” isn’t about the massacre, but rather what caused it: an illness that incites its victims into a violent craze.

When another royal is brutally murdered, Nix and Kess realize the disease has spread–and no one on the Luminosity is safe. If they’re going to survive until Fall, they’ll have to trust each other… but considering Kessandra is responsible for Quian’s death, that won’t be easy.

#BookReview: A Fate So Cold (A Fate So Cold, #1) by @amandafoody & @cl_herman @torteen

Synopsis: A Fate So Cold is the first of a new blockbuster duology from the New York Times bestselling authors of All of Us Villains, Amanda Foody & C. L. Herman.

For most of the year, Summer reigns peacefully over Alderland. Then, for six brutal weeks, Winter rages, obliterating towns and wreaking casualties. Magicians bond with powerful wands of Summer to defend the nation, a duty that costs many their lives.

Domenic Barrow never wanted such responsibility―but destiny hasn’t granted him a choice. The greatest Summer wand has awakened for the first time in a century, warning that an icy cataclysm looms on the horizon. And despite his reputation as the least suited of his classmates, the wand Chooses Domenic to wield it.

Ellery Caldwell spent years striving to be a perfect Summer magician―and burying her fears of her own power. But her worst suspicions are proven true when she accidentally creates the first ever Winter wand.

Now, as the unprecedented Chosen Two, Domenic and Ellery must thwart the oncoming cataclysm together. And in trying to fulfill their destinies, they wonder if they were brought together for a second fate: to fall in love.

Until they discover the unthinkable truth. The Chosen Two aren’t fated allies, but eternal rivals, and the only way to save their home is for one of them to slay the other.

This is no love story. It's a tragedy.

#BookReview: The Nameless Land (The Witch Roads, #2) by @kateelliottsff @torbooks

Synopsis: Surprising betrayals, surprising alliances, and surprising discoveries of heritage abound in this energetic sequel to The Witch Roads.

When the royal party finds themselves in a land they never believed they could access, it will take all of Prince Gevulin's (admittedly impressive) diplomatic skills to forge a coalition with an unlikely group of would-be allies.

Meanwhile, as Elen mourns her lost love, an unwelcome visit to the land of her birth brings back the traumatic memories of the childhood she shared with her sister.

And a surprise visit from an unwelcome family member threatens to derail the plans of multiple opposing factions.

Loyalty cannot be demanded, only won

#BookReview: Monster, Monarch, Maiden by @raecarsonpics

Synopsis: A sweeping stand-alone fantasy from award-winning and bestselling master of the genre, Rae Carson. After she loses everything, Bria will do whatever it takes to survive—even pledge herself to a secretive young man on a perilous quest. Breathtaking adventure and swoon-worthy romance for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Ava Reid, and Rebecca Ross.

Bria Angarsold isn’t supposed to be a hero. She’s just a mountain girl. A mountain girl with a near useless Gift, living an idyllic life with her sister and her parents, running the family’s thriving inn. But then the raiders come, and Bria’s family is destroyed.

One of the last survivors of the raid, Bria isn’t sure she’ll live to see where the captors are taking her. Until the caravan crosses paths with a mysterious traveler and Bria’s luck changes again.

With no family or home to return to, Bria swears her life to this moody, secretive young man. Titus has been chosen to complete a perilous quest—one that will make Bria question everything she’s ever believed, from the magic that weaves through their world to the very gods themselves. As the journey unfolds, Bria realizes she has something—someone—new to believe in. She’d follow Titus to the Edge of the World, sworn oath or not, even if neither of them stands a chance at returning from it.

But Bria Angarsold is a survivor. She isn’t useless, and neither is her Gift. And this is her story.

Shadow and Bone meets Divine Rivals for an exhilarating journey and a slow-burn romance from the author of the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns.