#BookReview: My Broken Crown (Stonehurst Prep #3) by Steffanie Holmes

Synopsis: I was baptized in bloodshed.
To the bloodshed, I return.

I've ascended my throne. I wear my crown of thorns.
Fancy that? I'm Queen of the August crime family.
I'll rebuild my father's kingdom in blood and fire.
With three broken princes at my side.

Eli, Noah, Gabriel.
My golden boy, my dark horse, my rock god.
My family.
They are mine, and I am theirs.

There aren't enough bullets on earth for the retribution I’ll rain down on those who try to hurt them.

Et in morte fidelitas.
Even in death, loyalty remains.

I'll bleed for them. I'll kill for them.
Stonehurst Prep will never be the same.

The third installment of the Stonehurst Prep series is a 100,000 mature high school/new adult romance with mafia and enemies-to-lovers themes.

#BookReview: The Paid Bridesmaid by @SariahWilson

Synopsis: From Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of Roommaid, comes a captivating romantic comedy about what happens when a wedding party mixes business with romance.

Rachel Vinson is a bridesmaid for hire: part confidante, part wedding planner, and one hundred percent pretend BFF. Discretion guaranteed. Her next gig is a destination wedding—livestreamed and sponsored—for an Instagram influencer. That means a paradise of new contacts, which could be a boon to her already booming business. If Rachel can keep the very handsome and slightly too interested best man at bay, that is.

High-tech entrepreneur Camden Lewis must know: Who is this gorgeous, intelligent, and mysterious woman? Too good to be real. Convinced she’s a corporate spy out to tank his company, Camden’s not letting her out of his sight. But the constant surveillance is also opening his eyes to things about Rachel that he likes. If she’s a spy, she’s certainly the cutest one he’s ever seen.

As the week’s worth of wedding events march along, Rachel and Camden are learning almost everything there is to know about each other. Rachel’s made a career out of always a bridesmaid…but perhaps there’s a chance for her own trip down the aisle?

#BookReview: Wrapped In Black (The Original Sinners #6.4) by Tiffany Reisz

Synopsis: It’s the UnHoly Trinity’s first Christmas in New Orleans. Nora decides she, Søren, and Kingsley need to celebrate with a very special gift-giving game—not a boring White Elephant exchange, but a Black & Blue Elephant exchange where the gifts hurt as much to receive as they do to give. And Nora already knows exactly what she wants…

This erotic holiday novella takes place shortly after the events of “Christmas in Suite 37A” (Michael’s Wings).

#BookReview: My Secret Heart (Stonehurst Prep #2) by Steffanie Holmes

Synopsis: Now you know my secret.

Bit of a doozy, isn’t it?

Sorry 'bout that.

The problem is, someone else knows too.
Someone dangerous.
Someone who’s already buried me once.
This time, they’re determined to finish the job.

Three broken princes stand between me and my doom:
The fallen king with his thirst for vengeance.
The rock god who sings of blood and stars.
The sweet one who’s drowning in hate.

Three spoiled princes who own my heart of ice.

Keeping them secret is the only way to save them.
By my betrayal will drive them into my enemy’s hands.

Alea iacta est.
Let the die be cast.
Welcome to Stonehurst f**king Prep.

#BookReview: Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams

Synopsis: As infants, twin sisters Charlie Yates and Magnolia Heathwood were secretly separated after the brutal lynching of their parents, who died for loving across the color line. Now, at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie is a young Black organizer in Harlem, while white-passing Magnolia is the heiress to a cotton plantation in rural Georgia. 

Magnolia knows nothing of her racial heritage, but secrets are hard to keep in a town haunted by the ghosts of its slave-holding past. When Magnolia finally learns the truth, her reflection mysteriously disappears from mirrors—the sign of a terrible curse. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Charlie's beloved grandmother falls ill. Her final wish is to be buried back home in Georgia—and, unbeknownst to Charlie, to see her long-lost granddaughter, Magnolia Heathwood, one last time. So Charlie travels into the Deep South, confronting the land of her worst nightmares—and Jim Crow segregation.

The sisters reunite as teenagers in the deeply haunted town of Eureka, Georgia, where ghosts linger centuries after their time and dangers lurk behind every mirror. They couldn’t be more different, but they will need each other to put the hauntings of the past to rest, to break the mirrors’ deadly curse—and to discover the meaning of sisterhood in a racially divided land.

#BookReview: League of Liars by Astrid Scholte

Synopsis: In this fantasy thriller, four teens charged with murder and the illegal use of magic band together to devise the ultimate jailbreak. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows and How to Get Away with Murder. 

Ever since his mother was killed, seventeen-year-old Cayder Broduck has had one goal--to see illegal users of magic brought to justice. People who carelessly use extradimensional magic for their own self-interest, without a care to the damage it does to society or those around them, deserve to be punished as far as Cayder is concerned. Because magic always has a price. So when Cayder lands a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apprentice under a premier public defender, he takes it. If he can learn all the tricks of public defense, the better he'll be able to dismantle defense arguments when he's a prosecutor. Then he'll finally be able to make sure justice is served.

But when he meets the three criminals he's supposed to defend, it no longer seems so black and white. They're teenagers, like him, and their stories are . . . complicated, like his. Vardean, the prison where Cayder's new clients are incarcerated, also happens to be at the very heart of the horrible tear in the veil between their world and another dimension--where all magic comes from.

League of Liars is a dark and twisty mystery set in a richly-drawn world where nothing is as it seems, rife with magic, villains and danger.

This title will be released on February 22, 2022.

#BookReview: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Synopsis: Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.

Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…

This title will be released on February 22, 2022.