#BookReview: The City Beautiful by @AdenPolydoros

Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania.
 
But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit, and thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. A boy who means more to Alter than anyone knows.
 
Now, with only days to spare until the dybbuk takes over Alter’s body completely, the two boys must race to track down the killer—before the killer claims them next.

Death lurks around every corner in this unforgettable Jewish historical fantasy about a city, a boy, and the shadows of the past that bind them both together.  

#BookReview: Briarheart by @mercedeslackey

Miriam may be the daughter of Queen Alethia of Tirendell, but she's not a princess. She's the child of Alethia and her previous husband, the King's Champion, who died fighting for the king, and she has no ambitions to rule. When her new baby sister Aurora, heir to the throne, is born, she's ecstatic. She adores the baby, who seems perfect in every way. But on the day of Aurora's christening, an uninvited Dark Fae arrives, prepared to curse her, and Miriam discovers she possesses impossible power.

Soon, Miriam is charged with being trained in both magic and combat to act as chief protector to her sister. But shadowy threats are moving closer and closer to their kingdom, and Miriam's dark power may not be enough to save everyone she loves, let alone herself.

#CoverReveal for What About Now? by Kaylee Ryan @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: What About Now?

Series: Everlasting Ink #4

Author: Kaylee Ryan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Small Town/Age Gap/Tattoo Artist

Found Family/Drunken Vegas Wedding

Guy Cover Design: Lori Jackson

Photographer: Michelle Lancaster

Special Edition Cover Design: Emily Wittig

Release Date: February 11, 2025

BLURB

NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan brings you a new standalone series surrounding five best friends who co-own a tattoo studio. "What About Now?" is an age gap, found family, drunken Vegas wedding, small town romance.

Brogan

I didn’t plan on hooking up with my new brother-in-law’s best friend… or marrying him.

Life hasn’t been easy, and it’s left me a little bruised, and a lot cautious. So, when I wake up in Vegas married to Maddox, I’m convinced it’s a mistake. A drunken accident that we should undo before anyone finds out.

But he doesn’t see it that way. He asks for six months. Six months to show me we could be something real. And I don’t know why I say yes, except maybe a part of me wants to believe him.

I’m not sure I deserve someone like him. But with every look, every touch, and every little gesture, Maddox is breaking down my walls.

That’s why the next time he asks "what about now?" I know I'm going to say yes.

Maddox

I always thought Brogan was off-limits. Our paths didn’t just cross, they tangled.

If things didn’t work out between us, it would hurt a lot of people. So I stayed in my lane, convincing myself it was for the best.

Until Vegas.

One too many drinks, a blurred wedding chapel, and a couple of shiny rings later, Brogan wakes up next to me… as my wife.

She’s ready to call it a mistake and move on, but I see it for what it is: fate handing me the chance I’ve been too scared to take.

So I make her a deal. Six months. I’ll prove we belong together, and if she still doesn’t believe it, we’ll walk away. No hard feelings.

But I’m not going down without a fight. Flowers, her favorite coffee—I’ll give her everything she never knew she wanted, including me.

And one of these times when I ask if she believes it yet that were meant to be, I just might get the answer I’m hoping for.

Because I’ve waited long enough to make her mine, and this time, I’m not letting her go.

#CoverReveal for Lovestruck by L.L. Collins writing as Liane Mae @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Lovestruck

Author: L.L. Collins w/a

Liane Mae

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Sport Romance/Instant Chemistry/He Falls

First/Pop Star & Football Player/Opposites Attract

Cover Design: Kari March, Kari March Designs

Release Date: February 6, 2025

BLURB

For Allie Witt, there’s one thing she’s always been successful with—her music. A former teen phenomenon, now at the top of her game in her late twenties, she has more awards and accolades than anyone else in the business.

But she doesn’t have the one thing that seems more and more unreachable: a guy who will stay. Oh, sure, they like the beautiful global superstar they see in the media. But what they get tired of quickly is the life she leads and the attention she garners.

After being dumped by her boyfriend of five years on opening night of her new tour, she runs—literally—into the hottest man she’s ever seen: Theo Nolan, star football player for the Florida Blaze.

Allie is convinced that love isn’t in the cards for her and that Theo will never be able to handle her chaotic life, but Theo isn’t letting their chance meeting go. He is determined to show her that it can be different.

Even though a new relationship is the opposite of what she needs in her life, Allie can’t deny their chemistry when he sets his sights on her. But can she trust him with her heart?

Allie must decide whether to surrender her heart to a love that defies expectations, or miss out on the one thing she’s written and sung about her entire career—true love.

#BookReview: Beasts of Prey (Beasts of Prey #1) by Ayana Gray

Magic doesn't exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffi. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome and magical creatures to pay off her family's debts and secure their eventual freedom. But the night her loved ones' own safety is threatened by the Zoo's cruel master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn't fully understand--and the consequences are dire.

As the second son of a decorated hero, Ekon is all but destined to become a Son of the Six--an elite warrior--and uphold a family legacy. But on the night of his final rite of passage, a fire upends his plans. In its midst, Ekon not only encounters the Shetani--a vicious monster that has plagued the city and his nightmares for nearly a century--but a curious girl who seems to have the power to ward off the beast. Koffi's power ultimately saves Ekon's life, but his choice to let her flee dooms his hopes of becoming a warrior.

Desperate to redeem himself, Ekon vows to hunt the Shetani down and end its reign of terror, but he can't do it alone. Meanwhile, Koffi believes finding the Shetani and selling it for a profit could be the key to solving her own problems. Koffi and Ekon--each keeping their true motives secret from the other--form a tentative alliance and enter into the unknowns of the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild magic and untold dangers. The hunt begins. But it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters or the hunted.

In this much-anticipated series opener, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the ancient creature menacing their home--and discover much more than they bargained for.