Thursday, July 17, 2025

Murder Between Friends by Liz Lawson


“Grace, Henry, and Ally grew up together on the same block. They used to be best friends--until Grace's testimony put Henry's brother, Jake, away for killing their English teacher. Now, two years later, Ally and Henry hate Grace, and Grace is doubting what she thinks she saw that night. 


It feels like everyone's getting a second chance, then, when due to a mistrial, Jake is suddenly released. And Henry knows his brother is innocent, but when Grace reaches out to say she’s rethinking what she saw the night of the murder, Jake’s reaction is confusing. He doesn’t want Henry—or Grace--getting involved.


For Ally not getting involved isn’t an option, and there’s nothing Grace can say to convince Ally she’s not the enemy. But can Ally afford to push Grace out when she’s one of the only other people willing to believe in Jake’s innocence?  


The clock is ticking. Jake’s new trial date is about to be set, and he's sure to be found guilty again unless there's new evidence to prove he's innocent. Grace, Henry, and Ally are going to have to decide whether you can trust an old friend now that they’re your enemy. - taken from Goodreads.


Told in three different points of views, this trio of former friends work together to clear one brother’s name and uncover who the real culprit is. Suspenseful until the end.


Visit Liz Lawson’s website.

Saturday, July 12, 2025

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith

 

“Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen.


High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.


But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin… and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.


Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart—and at the center of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything Ivy knows.” - taken from Goodreads.


This book was pitched as The Cruel Prince meets The Selection and boy was that correct. It is also a twist on the history of English royalty where a fae queen sits on the throne. Ivy Benton is determined to find out what happened to her older sister Lydia during her disappearance. Fallen from society because of her sister, the family’s hopes are dependent on the match Ivy can make during her season. The stakes are raised substantially when the Queen announces that her son, Prince Bram, will be looking for a wife. Can Ivy survive the brutal season that she is about to face?


No word yet on a second book, but with that ending, there better be one on the horizon,


Visit Sasha Peyton Smith’s website.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Salvacion by Sandra Proudman

 

“Lola de La Peña yearns to be free from the societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She spends her days pretending to be delicate and proper while watching her mamá cure the sick and injured with sal negra (black salt), a recently discovered magic that heals even the most mortal of sicknesses and wounds. But by night, she is Salvación, the free-spirit lady vigilante protecting the town of Coloma from those who threaten its peace and safety among the rising tension in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.


But one night, a woman races into Coloma, barely alive, to tell the horrifying tale of how her town was obliterated by sal roja, a potent, deadly magic capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with and the man who wields it: Damien Hernández. And when Hernández arrives the next day with a party of fifty strong and promises of returning Alta California to México, Lola knows it’s only a matter of time before he brings the region under his rule—all Hernández needs is the next full moon and the stolen, ancient amulet he carries to mine enough sal roja to conquer the land. Determined to protect everything she loves, Lola races against time as Salvación to stop his plans. What she didn’t count on was the distracting and infuriating Alejandro, who travels with Hernández but doesn't seem to share his ambitions. With the stakes higher than ever and Hernández getting closer to his goals, Lola will do anything to foil his plans, even teaming up with Alejandro—who she doesn’t fully trust, but can’t help but fall in love with.” - taken from Goodreads.


This gender swapped Zorro story was slow to start but the ending was worth the read,


Visit Sandra Proudman’s website.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

 

“By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.


Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.


Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.


When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.


For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.


As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.


And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.” - taken from Goodreads.


A haunting twist on The Hunger Games that kept me turning the pages until the end.


Visit Ava Reid’s website.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

 

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim


“Truyan Saigas didn't choose to become a con artist, but after her father is lost at sea, it’s up to her to support her mother and two younger sisters. A gifted art forger, Tru has the unique ability to paint the future, but even such magic is not enough to put her family back together again, or stave off the gangsters demanding payment in blood for her mother’s gambling debts.


Left with few options, Tru agrees to a marriage contract with a mysterious dragon lord. He offers a fresh start for her mother and sisters and elusive answers about her father's disappearance, but in exchange, she must join him in his desolate undersea palace. And she must assist him in a plot to infiltrate the tyrannical Dragon King's inner circle, painting a future so treasonous, it could upend both the mortal and immortal realms. . . .” - taken from Goodreads.


An incredible twist of the Beauty and the Beast tale that is every fantasy lover’s dream. 


Visit Elizabeth Lim’s website.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Our Infinite Fates by Lauren Steven

 

“They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one.


Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers.


The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:


1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first.

2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.

3. Try not to fall in love.” - taken from Goodreads.


Visit Laura Steven’s website.

The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee

 

“She’s read every romance…except her own…


Irene Park loves romance novels—so much so she’s made a career of them as an online book reviewer with a massive following. But Irene’s real life dating story? Non-existent. So when she starts her freshman year of college, she sets her sights on finding true love using the one thing she really understands…romance book tropes.


If only it were that easy.


Enter Aiden Jeon, Irene’s online book review rival and biggest nemesis. When Aiden challenges her to see who can find love-by-trope first, he becomes the one person standing in her way to getting everything she wants both professionally and personally, too. So when the competition takes an unexpected turn, forcing the two of them to have to partner in the ultimate trope, fake dating, Irene is not prepared for everything she believed about romance, and Aiden, to flip on its head.


As Irene tackles the challenges of college life, struggles to figure out what she really wants for herself, all while trying to win the race for love, Irene realizes the answers may not be found in a romance novel. Happily Ever Afters seem so easy on page. But for Irene to find her ultimate HEA, she’ll have to get her nose out of the book and become the main character of her own story.” - taken from Goodreads.


Visit Susan Lee’s website.