#BookReview: Blood of Desiderium (The Divide, #1) by Ali Stuebbe

Synopsis: In the lands of Deyadrum, where every Fae possesses power, Princess Emma is the only one forced without. Confined in the walls of her palace by her father, she’s desperate for a taste of freedom.

That is, until she discovers the truth: everything she thought she knew was a lie, for something evil plagues her lands - promising death and darkness.

A betrothal that tests her.
A mysterious vigilante who teases her.
A Dark Prince who doesn’t trust her.
And a phantom that invades her dreams.

Emma must try to escape her father’s torturous grip as she journeys to find a way to save her people…and herself.

But Emma has dark secrets of her own. And a game she has to play.

Can she overcome her grief and fears to save her people before the darkness that lurks within consumes her?

Just remember, even that which appears true may be deceiving.

Trigger Warnings:
-Violence/Gore/Death
-Grief
-Profanity
-Mental health themes
-Mention of suicidal intent
-Torture
-Overall dark themes

*This book is a NA Dark Fantasy Romance that is 18+ with explicit language and sexual scenes. BoD is the first book in 'The Divide' series and ends on a cliffhanger.*

#BookReview: Fair Rosaline by @natashasolomons

Synopsis: Was the greatest ever love story a lie?

The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

Shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet, Fair Rosaline is the spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best known tale, which exposes Romeo as a predator with a long history of pursuing much younger girls. Bold, lyrical, and chillingly relevant, Fair Rosaline reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers: it's a feminist revision that will enthrall readers of bestselling literary retellings such as Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

#BookReview: Witches get stuff done (Starfall Point #1) by @mollyharperauth

Synopsis: Juggling newfound witchy powers, a house full of ghosts, and verbal battles with the handsome local librarian is almost too much for a new witch to manage. A new witch with a coven, however, can get so much more done...

From the moment Riley Everett set foot in Starfall Point, magic bubbled inside of her. But with only her late aunt's journals and a cantankerous live-in ghost butler to instruct her on all things witchy—including her newly inherited Victorian haunted house—Riley seeks out a coven for sisterhood and support. The last person she expects to be drawn to is the town's frustrating, yet ridiculously attractive head librarian.

Edison Held knows almost everything there is to know about Starfall Point, but Shaddow House was always off-limits, thanks to its elusive owner. If he can convince the new owner, Riley, to let him take a peek inside, there's so much he could learn. But as he gets closer to Riley, he's fascinated by her dazzling wit and fiery spirit. Edison will do whatever he can to help Riley keep her family legacy alive, especially if it means spending more time with the captivating new witch in town.

Bestselling author Molly Harper wields a magical pen in this hilarious, delightful witchy romcom perfect for readers of The Ex Hex and Payback's a Witch.

#BookReview: Her Radiant Curse (Six Crimson Cranes #0.5) by @LizLim

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of SIX CRIMSON CRANES comes a tale of two sisters—one as beautiful as the other is monstrous—who must fight to save each other when a betrothal contest gone wrong unleashes an evil that could sever their bond forever.

One sister must fall for the other to rise.

Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts.

Now seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point.

Weaving together elements of The Selection and Ember in the Ashes with classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Helen of Troy, and Asian folklore, Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching fantasy that explores the dark side of beauty and the deepest bonds of sisterhood.

#BookReview: A Glamour of Blood by L.E. Sterling

Synopsis: Blade Runner meets Divergent in this gritty, high-energy, and noir-inspired dystopian read...where what you see isn’t always what is.

Bounty hunter Serena Rogue has survived almost everything. The plague. A brutal battle that touched—in eerie and wondrous ways—every citizen. Now the breathtaking towers of Dominion City are smoldering ruins, the citizens are dying of hunger…and someone has been snatching the children left to the streets.

Serena was once one of those kids, and she won’t stop until she finds whoever is behind this. Even if it means having to strike some kind of peace treaty with the one man who wants her dead. Because Nolan Storm isn’t one to cooperate when he can kill—especially if it’s someone who betrayed him.

Now an evil is rising from the ashes of Dominion City—shrouded in power, mystery, and a history almost as long as civilization itself—and Serena and Nolan don’t have a choice. The only way they’ll survive the Order is by working on the same side.

But enmity and attraction are a lethal combination. One that can make Serena and Nolan the most dangerous people in Dominion City…if they don’t kill each other first.

#BookReview: A Divided Heart by Alessandra Torre

Synopsis: Can you love two men at once? Is there any future in that?

Brant loves me fiercely. 
A brilliant tech billionaire who has owned my heart for four years, he keeps proposing, and I keep turning him down. 
I can’t marry him, not with all of the secrets between us.

Lee uses me wildly.
As grouchy as he is cocky, he's interested in getting me into his bed and little more.
There’s no reason for us to work, but I can't stay away from him.

I have to make Lee mine. If I don't, all of this will be for nothing.

Go ahead, judge me. You have no idea of the agony my heart is in.

If you think you’ve heard this story before, trust me - you haven’t.

#BookReview: The Eternal Trade by Leigh Walker

Synopsis: I knew his true nature, but little did I know that my own feelings for him would prove even more dangerous.

The deal is simple. Enter the Trade. Save the prince. But can I truly reclaim what I have lost? 

Devastated by the loss of her mother and sister, eighteen-year-old Victoria sees little purpose in life. But when she discovers a mysterious letter among her belongings, she is transported through a time portal to the Kingdom, a dangerous land cloaked in darkness.

Forced into an engagement with Dominic, a prince whose alluring looks and unwavering loyalty belie his vampiric nature, Victoria must learn to navigate a world of blood and deceit.

As she delves deeper into the Kingdom's mysteries, Victoria realizes that her arrival may not have been by chance. Despite having no memory of it, she has visited the Kingdom many times before.

Victoria knows that the prince and his family pose a threat. But Dominic also holds the key to her secret past and, more importantly, her future...if only she can survive long enough to uncover it.

Book 1 of 3 in the completed Kingdom of Eternal Night trilogy.

#BookReview: Knock Knock, Open Wide by @UnshavedMouse

Synopsis: Knock Knock, Open Wide weaves horror and Celtic myth into a terrifying, heartbreaking supernatural tale of fractured family bonds, the secrets we carry, and the veiled forces that guide Irish life.

Driving home late one night, Etain Larkin finds a corpse on a pitch-black country road deep in the Irish countryside. She takes the corpse to a remote farmhouse. So begins a night of unspeakable horror that will take her to the very brink of sanity.

She will never speak of it again.

Two decades later, Betty Fitzpatrick, newly arrived at college in Dublin, has already fallen in love with the drama society, and the beautiful but troubled Ashling Mallen. As their relationship blossoms, Ashling goes to great lengths to keep Betty away from her family, especially her alcoholic mother, Etain.

As their relationship blossoms, Betty learns her lover's terrifying family history, and Ashling's secret obsession. Ashling has become convinced that the horrors inflicted on her family are connected to a seemingly innocent children's TV show. Everyone in Ireland watched this show in their youth, but Ash soon discovers that no one remembers it quite the same way. And only Ashling seems to remember its a small black goat puppet who lives in a box and only comes out if you don’t behave. They say he’s never come out.

Almost never.

When the door between the known and unknown opens, it can never close again.

#BookReview: The Raven Key (The Famirian Chronicles #1) by Harper L. Carnes

Synopsis: Possessed. Dangerous. Monster. Seth Cunningham is haunted by the words his mother yelled after she tried to drown him in the pond behind their house, when he was six.

It’s been almost twelve years since that night, but Seth is still struggling to live a normal life alongside his horrific nightmares and sense of loss. He finds some comfort when a romance sparks with Gabriel, a kindhearted college senior that isn’t scared off so easily by Seth’s past, or his pain.

But something inside him is awakening. It speaks to him in a voice only he and the ravens that serve it can hear. A presence that carries with it a terrible hunger that becomes hard to resist.

To save himself and those he loves, Seth will have to search out the truth of who he was meant to be, and the dark past his mother fled.

#BookReview: Her Dark Love (Dark Spell, #1) by Isra Sravenheart

Synopsis: Those drawn to the dark side don't always start out that way. There is always a trigger that sends them into that vile world. It turns out that Lady Isra of the Dark didn't always reside in the shadows. She too, had a light side as you will soon discover.

Isra has come a long way to the prestigious Wingdom's Academy to learn the art of magic. The classes are dull but Isra quickly finds a companion in Everilda. They click instantly striking up a rapport.

Isra finds Everilda to be rebellious towards the craft whereas Everilda finds Isra too innocent especially when it comes to romance. Imagine Everilda's shock when she discovers her part-time plaything Jonathan has taken a liking to Isra. Isra is naïve and inexperienced in love but she sees Jonathan as quite charming and instantly takes a shine to him.

“Everilda went out so I was alone, I ran into this handsome stranger named Jonathan. He's kind and gentle. I've never known love before, never mind a love so enchanting as this.”

Little does Isra know that she, Everilda and Jonathan are in an intense love triangle but she is sure to find out as Everilda grows tired of Jonathan's insolence

“Now on a cold, dark night. I witness none other than Jonathan and Everilda together. Oh, how could she do this to me? They've been carrying on behind my back all this time! How can I ever trust either one of them again?”

Amidst all of this, the light bringer Samuel has learned of Isra's tragic plight and sends in his loyal servant Astrid the raven to keep an eye on Isra since Samuel believes Isra's heartbreak is just the ticket to send her tumbling into obscurity. Samuel also brings in in another light being, James, to attempt to keep Isra on the light path. Astrid takes an instant dislike to James. However, James and Astrid's conflict quickly turns into a rivalry.

But with Astrid watching Isra can the light get to her in time to stop her from becoming the ultimate dark foe that everyone has proclaimed her to be?

USA Today Best-Selling Author Isra Sravenheart takes us back in time to when Isra and Everilda are at the tender age of seventeen. Enter in the tall, dark, brooding Jonathan into their world and both witches falling for him? Hell is going to break loose. Darkness is calling. You can't resist it.

#BookReview: Salt Kiss (Lyonesse #1) by Sierra Simone

Synopsis: Tristan Thomas is lost. After leaving the Army, the young former soldier is in limbo. Until, that is, he’s hired by Mark Trevena, the owner of Lyonesse—DC’s ultra-secret club—to be Mark’s new bodyguard. He’s drawn into Mark’s dark, seductive world of power and desire, and slowly drawn to Mark himself, even though Mark is everything Tristan knows he shouldn’t want: cruel and wicked and shamelessly amoral.

But protecting Mark isn’t Tristan’s only duty: soon, Mark asks him to guard his soon-to-be bride as she travels home from Ireland on Mark’s yacht. Tristan is jealous—and hurt to learn that the object of his obsession is engaged—but the soldier in him is made to obey orders, and he goes to fetch Mark’s bride for him.

Isolde Laurence is nothing like Tristan expected, however. Young, quiet, and sharp, she’s being pushed into this marriage by her family, and as the two travel back to America, Tristan finds himself fascinated with Isolde and the glimpses he gets of the lonely but determined woman behind her reserve. And the fascination is mutual: one night, while sailing under the cold stars, they share a searing kiss.

From there, it’s a fast fall into the forbidden. But in Mark Trevena’s world, the fall is only the beginning…

The Lyonesse trilogy is a queer, kinky contemporary retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, set in the same world as the New Camelot series. Readers will not have to read New Camelot to enjoy Lyonesse, although readers who enjoyed New Camelot will find all the things they loved about the trilogy here: MMF ménage, plenty of the angsty forbidden, and a sweeping retelling of a familiar story.

#BookReview: Silence and Shadow (Blood and Moonlight #2) by @ErinBeatyWrites @fsgbooks

Synopsis: The sequel to Erin Beaty’s buzzworthy YA medieval fantasy-thriller Blood and Moonlight, Silence and Shadow is full of swoony romance, dangerous magick, and murder—perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Mary E. Pearson. 

After confronting a killer and fleeing her home to be with each other, Cat and Simon arrive in the sprawling city of Londunium pretending to be a newly married couple, but don’t expect to keep up the ruse for long. Cat looks forward to honing her healing magick at the local Selanae university, but instead finds a council of ruthless leaders threatening to erase her non-Selanae "husband’s" memories to protect their secrets. 

Terrified to lose him, Cat takes desperate steps to keep him safe. But when a string of mutilated bodies turns up in the woods outside the city, and Simon is recruited to profile the killer, Cat is pulled back into a world of murder, mayhem, and magick—one that threatens to swallow her, and everything she loves, whole.

This title will be released on October 3, 2023.

#BookReview: Lotus by Jennifer Hartmann

Synopsis: "All these years, I've never given my heart to anyone… The truth is, I didn't have a heart to give. My heart was with a ghost."

To the rest of the world, he was the little boy who went missing on the Fourth of July. But to Sydney Neville, he was everything. Her heart hasn't been the same since her best friend disappeared, but she's learned to build her life around that missing piece. 

Twenty-two years later, the last thing Sydney expects is for Oliver Lynch to return. Having been captive underground for decades, he's unfamiliar with the strange new world that awaits him―but he's alive. He's here. And no matter how he's changed, he and Sydney both still feel the connection that runs between them.

But as their reborn friendship begins to feel like something more, Sydney and Oliver realize there are still jagged, painful truths creating space between them. The walls Sydney's built don't want to come down, and as Oliver hunts for his missing memories and lost time, he realizes his nightmare is not yet over.

With nothing as it seems, is there space for love to bloom in this dark place?

#BookReview: Hellfinder by @pstokesbooks

Synopsis: Winter Break turns deadly when Rory Quinn and her treasure-hunter grandmother travel to Iceland in search of an enchanted artifact. Their mission is to recover a blood-smeared stone that legend says will lead whoever possesses it to the nearest doorway to Hell. The client' s grandson, Einar, took the stone at the request of his favorite heavy metal band. As part of a publicity stunt, the band plans to open the closest doorway, rumored to exist deep inside one of Iceland' s many volcanoes, in just three days. Along with Einar' s twin brother, Gunnar, Rory and Gram will need to navigate glaciers, ice caves, and volcanic tunnels in search of the missing artifact. But can the three of them recover the stone before the band unleashes anything evil into the Icelandic wilderness? As the team grows closer to Einar, Rory is growing closer to Gunnar, too. But she can tell he' s keeping secrets from her. Big ones, that when revealed, will cause her to question almost everything she' s ever believed.

This title will be released on August 29, 2023.

#BookReview: Neverwraith by @shakirrashaan @EntangledTeen

Synopsis: Bel-Air meets Cloak & Dagger in this explosive and innovative paranormal debut…

Being the new kid is always gonna land you in it.

Yasir Salah isn’t like the other guys in his new suburban Georgia high school. Lately, he can feel something shifting in his body. Raw. Edgy. Volatile . Like his eyes changing colors and heat on his skin when some alpha bro comes for him…or how just a grin from the gorgeous, untouchable girl at school sends vibrations shooting through his entire body.

Only it’s not just being at a new school. It’s a new town. New rules. New flow . And everything feels way smaller than his ex-life in Atlanta. All he can do is what he’s been keep a low profile and try to not be noticed…and keep his anger under control.

But they never warned him.
They never told him what he is.
And they sure as hell didn’t tell him that the world is gonna need him.

This title will be released on August 29, 2023.

#BookReview: In the Roses of Pieria (The Blood Files, #1) by Anna Burke

Synopsis: Award-winning author Anna Burke delivers the shivers in this daring queer dark fantasy romance teeming with sensuous vampires, dark academia, plant horrors, and terrifying fungal fae.


When Clara Eden is offered a job as an archivist working for eccentric estate owner Agatha Montague, she thinks her prayers have been answered. Soon, she finds herself sucked into her research world, captivated by a romantic correspondence thousands of years old. But as her feelings for her employer's assistant, Fiadh, deepen, so does her suspicion that something about Agatha Montague isn't right. Unfortunately for Clara, it is far too late to run by the time her suspicions are confirmed..

#BookReview: Yours for the Taking by @Gabrielle_Korn @StMartinsPress

Synopsis: The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what's left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it's hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won't be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.

Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring—she's built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.

Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she's instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline's orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there's something much larger at play. As Ava, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline's system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do—and who she is willing to sacrifice—to keep her dream alive.

At once a mesmerizing story of queer love, betrayal, and chosen family, and an unflinching indictment of cis, corporate feminism, Yours for the Taking holds a mirror to our own world, in all its beauty and horror.

This title will be released on December 5, 2023.

#BookReview: Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff; Nina Croft

Synopsis: The sun is dying...and it's happening way too damn fast.

With the clock ticking, the Nine Planets' only hope of survival rests on a fancy space station and the alien artifact it's carrying. Which is why it really sucks when some jackass doesn't want the universe saved and blows that station up-while you're still on it.

So if your only choices are flaming death or stealing a flying hunk of space junk-you pick that busted-ass spaceship. Even if it leaves seven strangers with deadly secrets trapped together: a princess, a prisoner, a con artist, a warrior, a priestess, a mercenary, and an asshole in charge of us all.

Now every faction in the galaxy is hunting this ship-from the Sisterhood to the Corporation, and the rebellion's joining in on the fun, too. We just need to stop drinking, fighting, and screwing long enough to evade them all and save the freaking universe...somehow.

Because apparently the only thing standing between a dying sun and ultimate salvation is seven unlikely misfits...ahem, heroes.

#BookReview: Brutal Prince (Brutal Birthright #1) by Sophie Lark

Synopsis: He’s No Prince Charming…

Callum Griffin is the heir to the Irish Mafia. He’s ruthless, arrogant, and he wants to kill me.

We got off on the wrong foot when I set a (very small) fire in his house.

Our families believe a marriage pact is the only thing that will prevent all-out warfare.

I think I might need to murder him while he sleeps.

This would all be a lot easier if Callum wasn’t so damned good-looking.

But I’ve got a lockbox around my heart. Because even if I’m forced to marry him…

I could never love a brutal prince.

“Brutal Prince” is the explosive first act in the epic “Brutal Birthright” series. It’s a stand-alone Dark Mafia Romance, complete with HEA and no cliffhangers. It contains blazing hot bedroom scenes for mature readers only!!!