#BookReview: Blood Crescent (Divine #1) by Stevie McCoy

Synopsis: A missing mother. A magical birthright. Can she uncover the secrets of her family legacy before the bloodline runs dry?  

My name is Chrystal Dylan, and I was born with the worst super power ever, a lightning rod for supernatural energy that attracts vampires like cat nip to feed from. Nothing like being an all you can eat buffet, until one decided to “save” me from that fate by triggering my transition into the very thing killing me.

Considering that was the least of my problems, I have a council looking to eliminate all anomalies threatening to expose them to the human world, it just so happens that I’m one of them, and so is my best friend Victor. I won’t go down without some answers, including what they did with my mom.

Blood Crescent is the first novel in the exhilarating Divine Series of YA paranormal fantasies. If you like hidden magical realms, fresh new takes on vampire lore, and heartfelt journeys of self-discovery, then you’ll love Stevie McCoy’s spellbinding coming-of-age tale.

#BookReview: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Synopsis: Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. 

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.

#BookReview: Pliés, Pranks, & Hocus-Pocus (Lyssa's Holiday Hijinks #1) by C.J. Kavanaugh

Synopsis: Pranks are the best thing about Halloween — until a ghost pulls one on you.

When 11-year-old Lyssa Klarken discovers the legend about her ballet school being haunted is true, she thinks she’s won the candy-filled jackpot.

But treats turn to tricks when Nadia, the ghost of a star ballerina, starts pranking her. Nadia only agrees to leave Lyssa alone if she frees her from her unfinished business. There’s just one problem: Nadia can’t remember what that is.

Lyssa has six days to figure it out and save Nadia from torment. If she fails, the tables will turn: Lyssa will be haunted for the rest of her life. Can she solve the mystery before the curtain rises on October 31st? 

#BookReview: Wilds, Warnings, & Little Wolves (Lyssa's Holiday Hijinks Book 1) by C.J. Kavanaugh

Synopsis: Camping is a real snooze-fest—unless you meet a werewolf.

Eleven-year-old Lyssa Klarken hates camping. Until she learns Candis Campground is home to a wealth of werewolf rumors.

When they arrive at the campsite, a poster for a missing boy catches her eye. Later that night she finds a wolf pup with a suspiciously high IQ who looks oddly familiar. Could the rumors be true after all?

Only one way to find out.

#BookReview: Forbidden Blossom (Skyline Mansion #1) by Nola Li Barr

Synopsis: A decades-old scandal. A mysterious inheritance. Can a young woman survive a family desperate to keep their past buried?

2010. Anne Huang never cared to call anywhere home. But her carefree lifestyle of blogging and travel is interrupted when a stranger with ties to her family bequeaths her a fortune. And with no knowledge of her history, she soon finds herself thrown in with a nest of billionaire vipers determined to lock away their skeletons.

1946. Seventeen-year-old Rose Chen’s quiet life is shattered when she’s dragged from Taiwan and forced to immigrate to the U.S. And her nightmare continues when she arrives in San Francisco, only to be shipped off by her parents to serve in a wealthy American’s household. But her dutiful-daughter status soon comes under threat when her risky friendship with her white employer’s son transforms into something taboo.

Confronted by jealous rivals, Anne battles distrust and hidden agendas as she tries to understand more about her birthright and learns the value of love. And as Rose wrestles with her complicated feelings in a private journal, she unwittingly leaves a stunning legacy to a granddaughter she’ll never know…

Can their lives come full circle to close one door and open another?

Forbidden Blossom is the heartfelt first book in the Skyline Mansion women’s fiction series. If you like soul-searching heroines, paths to self-discovery, and stories of perseverance and inner strength, then you’ll adore Nola Li Barr’s generation-spanning tale.

#BookReview: Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2) by Katee Robert

Synopsis: He was the most beautiful man alive.
And if I wasn't careful, he was going to be my death.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Psyche and Eros that's as sinful as it is sweet.*

In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there's always a price to pay. Psyche knew she'd have to face Aphrodite's ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake...or for Aphrodite's gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow.

Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can't do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros's life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and loyalties shift, she realizes he might take her heart after all...and she's not sure she can survive the loss.

This title will be released on January 18, 2022.

#BookReview: Ski Weekend by @rektokross

Synopsis: Six teens, one dog, a ski trip gone wrong . . .

Sam is dreading senior ski weekend and having to watch after her brother and his best friend, Gavin, to make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Again. Gavin may be gorgeous, but he and Sam have never gotten along. Now they’re crammed into an SUV with three other classmates and Gavin’s dog, heading on a road trip that can’t go by fast enough.

Then their SUV crashes into a snowbank, and Sam and her friends find themselves stranded in the mountains with cell phone coverage long gone and temperatures dropping. When the group gets sick of waiting for rescue, they venture outside to find help—only to have a wilderness accident leave Sam’s brother with a smashed leg and, soon, a raging fever. While the hours turn to days, Sam’s brother gets sicker and sicker, and their food and supplies dwindle until there isn’t enough for everyone. As the winter elements begin to claim members of the group one by one, Sam vows to keep her brother alive.

No matter what.

Filled with twists, secrets, and life-changing moments, Ski Weekend is a snow-packed survival thriller featuring a diverse cast of teens that will appeal to fans of One of Us is Lying and I Am Still Alive.

#BookReview: Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) by Katee Robert

Synopsis: He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell... he was, quite simply, mine.

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth... a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…

A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet. 

#BookReview: The Reaper's Call (Bloodcaster Chronicles Book 3) by R.L. Perez

Synopsis: An assassin on the run. An angel through time. A powerful immortal enemy.

Cora Covington, once feared assassin, is on the run with the last remaining survivors of her demon coven. But as she struggles to retaliate against her power-hungry father, she realizes the cost to defeat him is more devastating than she feared.

Vince Delgado walks the line between Reapers and Timekeepers, desperate to get back to Cora. The more he uncovers about the Timekeepers, the more secrets he finds buried within the timeline... until he comes face-to-face with a deadly threat that transcends the laws of time.

Cora and Vince must rely on their skills—and the strength of their love—in order to survive. But when their enemies align, the star-crossed lovers must confront their battles head-on before the world is torn apart.

Even if it destroys them both.

**This book contains strong sexual content**

#GuestPost with Evelyn Rainey: Back of the Book Blurb

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