Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

 

“Summer in Sand Lake isn’t complete without a trip to Meade Creamery—the local ice cream stand founded in 1944 by Molly Meade who started making ice cream to cheer up her lovesick girlfriends while all the boys were away at war. Since then, the stand has been owned and managed exclusively by local girls, who inevitably become the best of friends. Seventeen-year-old Amelia and her best friend Cate have worked at the stand every summer for the past three years, and Amelia is “Head Girl” at the stand this summer. When Molly passes away before Amelia even has her first day in charge, Amelia isn’t sure that the stand can go on. That is, until Molly’s grandnephew Grady arrives and asks Amelia to stay on to help continue the business…but Grady’s got some changes in mind… “ - taken from Goodreads.com

This book was slow to start off with and I found Amelia to be a bit wishy-washy. I loved the diary entries from Molly Meade that were interspersed throughout the story about her life during the last year of World War II and the start of what would be her business venture. I almost gave up on this book but once Grady Meade enters the story and takes over the ice cream stand, the story really picks up as Amelia comes into her own. Not without problems and confrontations, Amelia’s and Grady’s summer is a sweet story about standing up for what you believe in.

Visit Siobhan Vivian’s website.

The Betrothed by Keira Cass (The Betrothed book 1)

 

When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true.

But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I heavily skimmed the entire book in order to finish.

Hollis’ story is expected to be concluded with the publication of book two on May 4, 2021.

Visit Kiera Cass’ website.

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace (All the Stars and Teeth book 1)

“Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice.

She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer — the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder — and more peril — than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.” - taken from Goodreads.com

An annoyingly pampered and sheltered princess who doesn't understand the situation of her kingdom, check. A swashbuckling, handsome pirate with dark secrets of his own, check. And a fiance with strong magic of his own that will do anything for Amora, check. A mermaid who takes girl power to the next level, check.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy read that takes our ragtag crew across Amora’s kingdom to discover the depths to which she has been lied to and betrayed all her life. Never one to back down from a challenge, where she ends up at the end definitely propels the story to the concluding book. 

The story concludes with All the Tides and Fate on February 2, 2021.

Visit Adalyn Grace’s website

The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston

 

“The truth won’t stay buried.”

“Owen Foster has never wanted for anything. Then his mother shows up at his elite New Orleans boarding school cradling a bombshell: his privileged life has been funded by stolen money. After using the family business, the single largest employer in his small Louisiana town, to embezzle millions and drain the employees' retirement accounts, Owen's father vanished without a trace, leaving Owen and his mother to deal with the fallout.

Owen returns to Lake Cane to finish his senior year, where people he can barely remember despise him for his father's crimes. It's bad enough dealing with muttered insults and glares, but when Owen and his mother receive increasingly frightening threats from someone out for revenge, he knows he must get to the bottom of what really happened at Louisiana Frac--and the cryptic note his father sent him at his boarding school days before disappearing.

Owen's only refuge is the sprawling, isolated pecan orchard he works at after school, owned by a man named Gus who has his own secrets--and in some ways seems to know Owen better than he knows himself. As Owen uncovers a terrible injustice that looms over the same Preacher Woods he's claimed as his own, he must face a shocking truth about his own past--and write a better future.” - taken from Goodreads.com

This was an incredible mystery that begins with why Owen's father embezzled millions of dollars from the company he owned and devastates the small town in Louisiana where they live. Left a cryptic note by his father, Owen arrives home from boarding school to find out his mother is the target of threats. Soon after arriving in town, he stumbles into a part-time job at a pecan farm that his father held when he was Owen’s age. 

The story is told in alternating points of view between present-day Owen and his father Noah when he first arrives in Lake Cane. The mystery soon deepens into something neither Owen nor the reader could have ever imagined. Definitely worth the read.

Visit Ashley Elston’s website.

You Say It First by Katie Cotugno

 

“Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: her boyfriend Mason is sweet and supportive, she and her best friend Emily plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she even finds time to clock shifts phonebanking at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio, who gets under her skin from the moment he picks up the phone.

Colby is stuck in a rut, reeling from a family tragedy and working a dead-end job—unsure what his future holds, or if he even cares. The last thing he has time for is some privileged rich girl preaching the sanctity of the political process. So he says the worst thing he can think of and hangs up.

But things don’t end there.…

That night on the phone winds up being the first in a series of candid, sometimes heated, always surprising conversations that lead to a long-distance friendship and then—slowly—to something more. Across state lines and phone lines, Meg and Colby form a once-in-a-lifetime connection. But in the end, are they just too different to make it work?” - taken from Goodreads.com

This was my first book by this author but it certainly won't be my last. This was a cute rom-com about how opposites attract over a phone call about voter registration. Both Meg and Colby have family and personal situations that they need to overcome and work through before either of them could think about taking the next step in their relationship. Told from both their points of view, the reader gets to see how their words to each other can be powerful. A good read during this election season.

Visit Katie Cotugno’s website.

Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie (Bone Grace book 1)

“Bone ​Criers have a sacred duty. They alone can keep the dead from preying on the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes from sacrifice. The gods demand a promise of dedication. And that promise comes at the cost of the Bone Criers’ one true love.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers, a mysterious famille of women who use strengths drawn from animal bones to ferry dead souls. But first she must complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she’s also destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Yet when he finally captures one, his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

Sabine has never had the stomach for the Bone Criers’ work. But when her best friend Ailesse is taken captive, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means defying their traditions—and their matriarch—to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. Before they all die.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Is it acceptable to judge a book by it's cover? In this case, yes!. I love Charlie Bowater’s artwork and have thoroughly enjoyed every book I’ve read that she has designed the covers for. This is an epic fantasy told from the voices of Ailesse, Sabine, and Bastien. Thrown together during a ritual that has gone wrong, Sabine is the character who grows the most since she is no longer under the kidnapped Ailesse’s shadow. Just when you think you know where the story is going, the author throws you a shocking twist or wicked curveball. With a slight cliffhanger ending, readers will be eagerly awaiting the conclusion to this story. 

Book two, Bone Crier’s Dawn, is expected to be published on March 30, 2021.

Visit Kathryn Purdie’s website.

Visit Charlie Bowater’s website.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu (Skyhunter book 1)

 

“A broken world.

An overwhelming evil.

A team of warriors ready to strike back.

Talin is a Striker, a member of an elite fighting force that stands as the last defense for the only free nation in the world: Mara.

A refugee, Talin knows firsthand the horrors of the Federation, a world-dominating war machine responsible for destroying nation after nation with its terrifying army of mutant beasts known only as Ghosts.

But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front to Mara's capital, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? What secrets is he hiding?

Only one thing is clear: Talin is ready to fight to the death alongside her fellow Strikers for the only homeland she has left... with or without the boy who might just be the weapon to save—or destroy—them all.

Loyalty is life.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I absolutely adore Marie Lu. she writes the best closings/epilogues to her books that no other writer can dream to come close to. I was so excited to pick up the start of her newest series. As I started reading, my first thought was that this was going to be a redo of her Legend trilogy and some readers may see it that way. Please don't stop reading but continue on. I love Talin’s character and she definitely has not lived a sheltered life. And the way she risked her life for Red time and time again shows the true strength of her character. Talin’s friend circle is supportive and has a family feel to it. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. 

Book two is expected in 2021.

Visit Marie Lu’s website.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

“A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?” - taken from Goodreads.com

Okay, here's another book that I'm late to the party for. Fangirl has been on my TBR pile forever so I finally took a chance on the audio version. I loved Cath’s journey of self-discovery and independence during her freshman year at college. Cath’s anxieties begin when her twin sister Wren decides she needs her own space and doesn't want to share a dorm room with her. Cath stretches, not always willing, her wings and comes into her own. Cath’s story is interspersed with her popular fanfiction stories based on a Harry Potter-like book series. I adored Cath’s story and hated for it to end, but the ending was truly awesome. 

Visit Rainbow Rowell’s website.

 

Far From Normal by Becky Wallace

 

“Maddie McPherson is sick of Normal—both her hometown of Normal, Illinois and being the ‘normal’ sibling. But when she lands a summer internship with a sports marketing firm, she finally has a chance to crawl out of her genius brother’s shadow. Not to mention, a glowing letter of recommendation could secure her admission to her dream college.

But Maddie’s nickname is “CalaMaddie” for a reason, and when the company tasks her with repairing the image of teen soccer phenom Gabriel Fortunato, she wonders if she’s set herself up for embarrassment. Gabriel is a tabloid magnet, who’s best-known for flubbing Italy’s World Cup hopes. As Maddie works with him to develop “pleasant and friendly” content for social media, she also learns he’s thoughtful, multi-talented, and fiercely loyal—maybe even to a fault. Falling for a footballer is exactly how CalaMaddie would botch this internship, but with the firm pressuring her to get the job done, perhaps her heart is worth risking?” - taken from Goodreads.com

This was another super cute, sports-related rom-com from this author. Maddie McPherson wants to follow in her aunt’s footsteps and work in sports marketing. Getting a summer internship with her aunt’s firm is her first step. When Maddie has a bike accident at a soccer game on the beach, little does she know that her savior will turn out to be her first big project, soccer bad boy Gabriel Fortunato. In order to improve his image, Maddie soon realizes that Gabe is not his public persona. She soon finds herself trying to draw a line between work and pleasure.

Visit Becky Wallace’s website.

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess (House of Dragons book 1)

“Win at all Costs.”

“Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win?

When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year, these five outcasts will answer the call....

THE LIAR: Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death.

THE SOLDIER: Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again.

THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.

THE THIEF: Ajax knows that nothing is free--he must take what he wants.

THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.”

In the beginning, I thought that I would struggle to remember everything about the five main characters of the story but, I was quickly proven wrong. Four are thrust into the challenge to the death to become the next emperor and the fifth competitor takes matters into their own hands. And Dragons! All five have their own dragon and are characters in themselves in the story. I was pleasantly surprised and shocked by all the twists and turns that take place leading up to the ending. Now to patiently wait for the continuation of the story.

Book two, War of Dragons, is expected in 2021.

Visit Jessica Cluess’ website.