A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan

 

“Mina Rahman has a plan for her future:

• Finally win the Golden Ivy student film competition

• Get into her dream school across the country

• Leave New York City behind once and for all

Mina’s ticket to winning the competition falls into her lap when indie film star—and known heartbreaker—Emmitt Ramos enrolls in her high school under a secret identity to research his next role. When Mina sets out to persuade Emmitt to join her cause, he offers her a deal instead: he'll be in her short film…if she acts as a tour guide to help him with a photography contest.

As Mina ventures across the five boroughs with Emmitt by her side, the city she grew up in starts to look different and more like home than it ever has before. With the competition deadline looming, Mina's dreams—which once seemed impenetrable—begin to crumble, and she’s forced to ask herself: Is winning worth losing everything?” - taken from Goodreads.

Mina Rahman cannot wait to Leave New York City and head to California to attend film school. In order to make her dreams come true, she is determined for her school’s film club to win a prestigious competition. Her golden ticket arrives at her school in the form of Emmitt Ramos, a up and coming bad boy movie star, who is there to prepare for an upcoming role. The two make a mutual deal. Emmitt will appear in the film if Mina will help him with a photography contest he has entered. When the pressure of Mina’s home life and desire to escape from her parents begins to affect her various relationships, will she risk everything and everyone in order to leave NYC? A great story about who and what makes a family and home for a person.

Visit Tashie Bhuiyan’s website.

Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland

 

“It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided—between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. Ever since the Great Rust, a catastrophic event that blighted the arcane force called the Dynamism and threw America into disarray, the country has been rebuilding for a better future. And everyone knows the future is industry and technology—otherwise known as Mechomancy—not the traditional mystical arts.

Laura disagrees. A talented young mage from Pennsylvania, Laura hopped a portal to New York City on her seventeenth birthday with hopes of earning her mage’s license and becoming something more than a rootworker

But six months later, she’s got little to show for it other than an empty pocket and broken dreams. With nowhere else to turn, Laura applies for a job with the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps, a branch of the US government dedicated to repairing the Dynamism so that Mechomancy can thrive. There she meets the Skylark, a powerful mage with a mysterious past, who reluctantly takes Laura on as an apprentice.

As they’re sent off on their first mission together into the heart of the country’s oldest and most mysterious Blight, they discover the work of mages not encountered since the darkest period in America’s past, when Black mages were killed for their power—work that could threaten Laura’s and the Skylark’s lives, and everything they’ve worked for.” - taken from Goodreads.

Rust in the Root is another great historical fantasy by Justina Ireland. Told in an alternative history of the US Great Depression during 1937, Laura Ann Langston has dreams of sing her abilities in the mystical arts to create cakes that are works of art. Down on her luck in New York City, Laura must join the Negro Conservation Corp in order to survive. Never properly trained in her abilities, she and her mentor learn that dark and dangerous forces are behind the Great Blight that will test their abilities.

Visit Justina Ireland’s website.

With and Without You by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

 

“If high school seniors Siena and Patrick were a superlative, they'd be the Couple Most Likely to Marry. They've been dating for three solid years, and everyone agrees they're perfect for each other. But with college on the horizon, Siena begins to wonder whether staying together is the best idea. Does she really want to be tied down during possibly the most transformative years of her life? So she makes a decision to break up with Patrick, convincing herself it's for the best. Before she can say the words, though, he beats her to the punch: his family is moving out of state. Caught off guard by the news, Siena agrees to stay with Patrick, believing their relationship will naturally fizzle out with time and distance. But over a series of visits throughout the school year, Siena begins to see a different side of Patrick--one that has her falling in love with him all over again.” - taken from Goodreads.

After three uneventful years of dating, Siena is ready to break things off with Patrick. Before she can end their relationship, Patrick announces that he is moving from Phoenix to Austin, Texas for their senior year of high school. The two decided to try their relationship long distance. Taking place over the next year, will Siena decide to stay with Patrick or finally end things between the two of them?

Visit Emily & Austin’s website.

It’s All in How You Fall by Sarah Henning

 

“Gymnast Caroline Kepler has three state balance beam titles, a new trick even most elites can’t do, and chronic, undeniable back pain. While she might never be an Olympian, she has dreams of leveling up to elite, making Nationals, and competing in college. But when one epic face-plant changes all that and Caroline’s back pain goes from chronic to career-ending, her dreams are shattered and her life is flipped upside down.

Enter Alex Zavala, a three-sport athlete who’s both incredibly cute and incredibly off-limits. He offers to give Caroline a crash course in all the sports she’s missed, and she has an offer for him in return: For every sport Alex teaches her, she’ll play matchmaker for him. Deal done, Caroline “dates” new sports with Alex for the rest of the summer, which is loads more fun than wallowing in despair. Just as Caroline starts to see herself as more than her past athletic successes, she picks up something she didn’t bargain for: a big fat crush on Alex. Turns out life was way easier when it was just layout-fulls and beam burns....” - taken from Goodreads.

I enjoyed this sports themed teen romance. It is a bit heavy on the sports, especially gymnastics but any Olympic fan will have no problem with all of the details. Caroline Kepler's gymnastics career comes to a screeching halt due to a back injury. Devastated to retire at the age of 15, Carolyn is adrift until her brother's best friend Alex offers to give her a crash course in ball sports. To pay him back for his kindness, Caroline offers to fix him up with his longtime crush, her friend Sunny. But it isn't too long before Caroline realizes the true depths of her own feelings for Alex when they sneak up on her unexpectedly. The true question is, does he feel the same about her?

Visit Sarah Henning’s website.

Fangirl, Vol. 2:The Manga by Sam Maggs

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first volume in the series, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Cath just wants to hang out with her twin sister and write fanfiction. But now that they’re at college, her sister doesn’t have time for her. And life keeps pulling Cath further and further out of her shell. For the first time ever, Cath has her own social circle. There’s Nick, her handsome classmate who wants her to write short stories with him… And then Levi, who keeps showing up when she isn’t looking for him … Actually … maybe Cath’s circle is more of a triangle?” - taken from Goodreads.

So I discovered at the cliffhanger ending of volume 2 that readers are being treated to four volumes in total. Now to wait.

To be continued with volume 3 due out on August 8, 2023.

Flip the Script by Lyla Lee

 

“The first rule of watching K-dramas: Never fall in love with the second lead.

As an avid watcher of K-dramas, Hana knows all the tropes to avoid when she finally lands a starring role in a buzzy new drama. And she can totally handle her fake co-star boyfriend who might be falling in love with her. After all, she promised the producers a contract romance, and that’s all they’re going to get from her.

But when showrunners bring on a new girl to challenge Hana’s role as main love interest—and worse, it’s someone Hana knows all too well—can  Hana fight for her position on the show while falling for her on-screen rival in real life?” - taken from Goodreads.

Hana’s story of being the lead actress in a K-drama was delightful. As a Korean American, it’s not smooth sailing for her. She reluctantly agrees to fake date her co-star Bryan, a K-pop idol in his own right, to boost the show’s ratings. When the producer brings on her friend Minjee for a love triangle, Hana’s feelings and her desire to be a star take center stage in ways she never thought possible. This book was a sweet rom-com, coming out story for the ages, even if the ending was a bit too perfect. 

Visit Lyla Lee’s website.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

 

“Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she's Deaf. So when she's accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she's excited for the chance to prove herself. But her semester gets off to a rocky start as she faces professors who won't accommodate her disability, and a pretentious upperclassman fascinated by Delaney's unusual talents.

Colton Price died when he was nine years old. Quite impossibly, he woke several weeks later at the feet of a green-eyed little girl. Now, twelve years later, Delaney Meyers-Petrov has stumbled back into his orbit, but Colton's been ordered to keep far away from the new girl... and the voices she hears calling to her from the shadows.

Delaney wants to keep her distance from Colton -- she seems to be the only person on campus who finds him more arrogant than charming -- yet after a Godbole student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit-hole of deeply buried university secrets. But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them -- and their forbidden partnership -- apart.” - taken from Goodreads.

Lane is excited to start at Godbole and get out from underneath her overprotective parents. Deaf, she soon finds herself struggling with her classes and her professors are no help. When the mysterious and aloof Colton Price offers to help her catch up, Lane is quickly drawn into the secretive mission of Godbole where not everyone survives. A dark and twisted tale that will leave readers wondering what is going on.

Visit Kelly Andrew’s website.

Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater (Dreamer trilogy book 3)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, Call Down the Hawk or Mister Impossible, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

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

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher of the first book.

“This is the story of the Lynch family.

Niall and Mór escaped their homeland for a new start, and lost themselves in what they found.

Declan has grown up as the responsible son, the responsible brother--only to find there is no way for him to keep his family safe.

Ronan has always lived on the edge between dreams and waking... but now that edge is gone, and he is falling.

Matthew has been the happy child, the brightest beam. But rebellion beckons, because it all feels like an illusion now.

This world was not made for such a family--a family with the power to make a world and break it. If they cannot save each other or themselves, we are all doomed. ”- taken from Goodreads.com

This is the story that wraps up the story of the family Lynch, all of the good and the bad. Picking up after the events of Mister Impossible, none of our characters are in a good place. Without spoiling any details, Stiefvater wraps up the story nicely for everyone involved.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website.