#BookReview: Fade Into the Bright by Jessica Koosed Etting & Alyssa Embree Schwartz

Synopsis: Five Feet Apart meets Tell Me Three Things in this YA contemporary novel about two sisters, one summer, and a diagnosis that changes everything. 

Abby needs to escape a life that she no longer recognizes as her own. Her old life--the one where she was a high school volleyball star with a textbook-perfect future--has been ripped away. Abby and her sister, Brooke, have received a letter from their estranged dad informing them he has Huntington's disease, a fatal, degenerative disorder that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. And when the sisters agree to genetic testing, one of them tests positive.

Fleeing to Catalina Island for the summer, Abby is relieved to be in a place where no one knows her tragic history. But when she meets aspiring documentary filmmaker Ben--tall, outdoorsy, easygoing, with eyes that don't miss a thing--she's thrown off her game. Ben's the kind of guy who loves to figure out people's stories. What if he learns hers? 

#BookReview: Hurricane Summer by Asha Bromfield

Synopsis: Tilla has spent her entire life trying to make her father love her. But every six months, he leaves their family and returns to his true home: the island of Jamaica.

When Tilla’s mother tells her she’ll be spending the summer on the island, Tilla dreads the idea of seeing him again, but longs to discover what life in Jamaica has always held for him.

In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise—all in the midst of an impending hurricane.

Hurricane Summer is a powerful coming of age story that deals with colorism, classism, young love, the father-daughter dynamic—and what it means to discover your own voice in the center of complete destruction. 

#BookReview: A Pack of Storms and Stars (The Boulder Wolves #4) by @OWildWrites

Synopsis: The Boulder Pack is back with Liam's spinoff.

Till a mating link do us part.

That was rule #1 of the arrangement I struck up with my Alpha a few weeks after he arrived in Beaver Creek to solve a pack murder. Liam Kolane and I would have exclusive fun until my wolf clicked with its true mate or until I found a male keen on long-term, since Liam had zero interest in forever.

Well, he and I crashed and burned long before another male came along, because I broke our one and only other commandment: I got attached. And not only to my scarred and aloof Alpha but also to his sweet nine-month-old son.

The problem with breaking up with your Alpha? You remain his shifter, so you’re stuck seeing him every day. Another problem... some deviants presume he likes you enough to save you.

Good thing I have four older brothers who taught me to save myself.

Nikki and Liam’s story is a standalone, not suitable for children under 16 due to the graphic nature of some scenes.

#BookReview: She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard

Synopsis: An electric romance set against a rebel art scene sparks lethal danger for two girls in this expertly plotted YA thriller. For fans of E. Lockhart, Lauren Oliver and Kara Thomas.

The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.

Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, this sexy psychological thriller explores the intersections of love, art, danger, and power. 

#BookBlitz: Sailing to Byzantium by L.F. Ranner @RABTBookTours

 

Literary LGBTQ

Date Published: 5/29/21

Publisher: Blue Fortune Enterprises, LLC

Three friends, one life-changing summer.

Vana, the math prodigy with a voice that is 85% Sarah Vaughan, 10% Billie Holiday, and 5% Aretha Franklin and an attitude to match. Desperate to leave her chaotic family and become the independent woman of her imagination, she lands a summer job on an aging Greek cruise ship as a member of the house band.

Marko, who failed his university entrance exams, is on the trail of bouzouki god Markos Vamvakaris, in hopes of claiming his own artistic identity.

Stepan, agronomist, accordionist, occasional mystic, has spent the last ten years hopelessly, secretly in love with his only friend.

Stranded in the surreal microcosm of a cruise ship, the three friends stumble across a series of dark and dissolving frontiers: between love and friendship, memory and forgetfulness, sacrifice and redemption. On this voyage to the heart of an ancient world, can the bonds of a friendship forged in childhood survive the tests of tragedy and self-discovery?

#BookReview: A Pack of Love and Hate (The Boulder Wolves #3) by @OWildWrites

Synopsis: ONLY ONE CAN WIN.

Volunteering to duel alongside Liam Kolane against the ruthless Creek Alpha could get Ness killed, but the alternative, leaving her hot-headed Alpha to die alone in the dueling ring isn’t an option. Not even when he places ridiculous conditions on her, like not spending time alone with August, her intended mate.

Ness didn’t want a mate, but that was before August stepped back into her life, before he picked up the scattered pieces of her heart. Between their shared history and the magical tether that binds them, Ness finds herself falling dangerously hard for the sexy shifter.

But Liam’s heart is on the line. A heart that still beats for Ness.

Only one man can win her love, the same way only one Alpha can rise from the duel.

Let the fight begin...