Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett

“Sometimes to find the good, you have to embrace the bad.

Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there.

What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame.

Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…” - taken from Goodreads.com

This is a great story about a swoony romance between childhood best friends as well as a heartwarming mother-daughter relationship that comes to life after harmful secrets are discovered.  An excellent read and a great reminder as to why I should read more books by this author.

Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen.

Visit Jenn Bennett’s website.

Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan

“A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.

How do you make one month last a lifetime?

Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents’ rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.

Karina is my girlfriend.

Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.

T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?” - taken from Goodreads.com

This was an incredible story about two students who seem to be complete opposites but actually fall in love while pretending to date. Karina is relieved when her super restrictive parents go away for a month and leave her grandmother to watch her and her brother. When her English teacher asks her to tutor the school’s resident bad boy, she is not thrilled. Karina soon realizes that Ace Clyde isn’t what he seems. Thrown together, the two soon discover that they have a lot in common. As their feelings grow deeper, Karina and Ace help each other work through their differences with their respective parents.

Visit Tashie Bhuiyan’s website.

The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White (Camelot Rising book 3)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Guinevere Deception, and The Camelot Betrayal, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Check out Book Series Recaps for a refresher of the first two books.

“While journeying north toward the Dark Queen, Guinevere falls into the hands of her enemies. Behind her are Lancelot, trapped on the other side of the magical barrier they created to protect Camelot, and Arthur, who has been led away from his kingdom, chasing after false promises. But the greatest danger isn’t what lies ahead of Guinevere—it’s what’s been buried inside her.

Vowing to unravel the truth of her past with or without Merlin’s help, Guinevere joins forces with the sorceress Morgana and her son, Mordred—and faces the confusing, forbidden feelings she still harbors for him. When Guinevere makes an agonizing discovery about who she is and how she came to be, she finds herself with an impossible choice: fix a terrible crime, or help prevent war.

Guinevere is determined to set things right, whatever the cost. To defeat a rising evil. To remake a kingdom. To undo the mistakes of the past...even if it means destroying herself.

Guinevere has been a changeling, a witch, a queen—but what does it mean to be just a girl?” - taken from Goodreads.com

This is the book in which we finally find out who exactly Guinevere is and who she will choose. She questions everything and everyone in her circle. Unfortunately, this story just dragged on for me. And the ending, I am not really sure about it. Guinevere decides who she wants to be but everyone’s future is left dangling.

Visit Kiersten White’s website.

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len (Monsters book 1)

“It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .

. . . she is not the hero” - taken from Goodreads.com

This was an incredible start to a planned trilogy. Summer is going great for Joan, especially when her cute coworker Nick asks her out on a date. But the day doesn't begin as she hoped when a strange occurrence finds that Joan has traveled forward in time and missed her date. Arriving back at home, her grandmother tells her the truth about the family. They are monsters with the ability to steal time from humans to travel in time. Shocked by this news, Joan is warned never to tell anyone the truth about herself. 

Wanting to explain to Nick why it seems she stood him up, they are interrupted by the sudden arrival of a rival monster family. Trying to save them both, Joan finds herself in the middle when Nick reveals that he is the fabled hero whose destiny is to kill all monsters. With her family dead, Joan is determined to change the timeline to save her family and stop Nick. 

Book two will be published in 2023.

Visit Vanessa Len’s website.

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Check out Epic Reads if you need a recap of the first book. 

“Karina lost everything after a violent coup left her without her kingdom or her throne. Now the most wanted person in Sonande, her only hope of reclaiming what is rightfully hers lies in a divine power hidden in the long-lost city of her ancestors.

Meanwhile, the resurrection of Karina’s sister has spiraled the world into chaos, with disaster after disaster threatening the hard-won peace Malik has found as Farid’s apprentice. When they discover that Karina herself is the key to restoring balance, Malik must use his magic to lure her back to their side. But how do you regain the trust of someone you once tried to kill?

As the fabric holding Sonande together begins to tear, Malik and Karina once again find themselves torn between their duties and their desires. And when the fate of everything hangs on a single, horrifying choice, they each must decide what they value most—a power that could transform the world, or a love that could transform their lives.” - taken from Goodreads.

Boy was this book a whopper. Lots of secrets and connections are made as to the characters and their backstories are well-developed. This was a bit of a slow read all the bulk of the action comes at the end. Both Malik and Karina find their paths. In the end, things weren't quite what I expected but satisfying nonetheless.

Visit Roseanne A. Brown’s website.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle (Wings of Ebony book 1)

 

“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue's taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon—a hidden island of magic wielders.

Rue is the only half-god, half-human there, where leaders protect their magical powers at all costs and thrive on human suffering. Miserable and desperate to see her sister on the anniversary of their mother’s death, Rue breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do Not Leave Law and returns to Houston, only to discover that Black kids are being forced into crime and violence. And her sister, Tasha, is in danger of falling sway to the very forces that claimed their mother’s life.

Worse still, evidence mounts that the evil plaguing East Row is the same one that lurks in Ghizon—an evil that will stop at nothing until it has stolen everything from her and everyone she loves. Rue must embrace her true identity and wield the full magnitude of her ancestors’ power to save her neighborhood before the gods burn it to the ground.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Rue has spent her whole life in the east row neighborhood of Houston with her mother and little sister. All that changes when her mother is shot dead on their front stoop and the father she has never known whiskers her away to the magical unknown island of Ghizon. One year later, Rue takes a forbidden trip to see her sister, She quickly becomes aware of how her two separate worlds are on a collision course towards destruction. 

A haunting fantasy that deals with magic, genocide, racism, and vengeance.  Perfect for the fans of the Orisha trilogy by Tomi Adeyemi or The Hate U Give.

Book two, Ashes of Gold, is due out on January 11, 2022.

Visit J. Elle’s website.