Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

 

“Seventeen-year-old Finley has only ever had one to become a famous podcaster. This includes coming up with the perfect pitch to land her on her school's podcast team. But when her football-obsessed boyfriend, Jensen, decides to also try out—and uses her idea—she's left confused and betrayed. 

Determined to get back at him, Finley and her friends try to find the perfect revenge scheme, but quickly discover that Jensen is almost-impossible to best. Keyword, almost. 

By chance, Finley discovers a knack for kicking and decides to take Jensen's spot on the football team. To help her train, she recruits Jensen's cute but conceited nemeses, Theo. Soon the two discover that their connection runs deeper than football. But Finley can't let herself get distracted, and Theo has secrets of his own. Is true love really better than the perfect revenge?   - taken from Goodreads.

So Jensen was a horrible boyfriend who backstabs Finley and takes her idea and what she perceives as her future. She wants to take what's important to him, the kicking position on the school’s football team. Theo offers to help train her for the tryouts. What begins as a revenge plot soon turns into something more. What will Finley do when it come down to it, take revenge or follow her heart?

Visit Kasie West’s website.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow book 1)

 

“The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.” - taken from Goodreads.

This is a unique twist on Chinese history through a science fiction lens. Zetain is the ultimate feminist anti-hero who will continue to rebel against society’s constraints against women to the end. Soon caught between the boy she knew before joining the military and the boy she is ultimately paired with, Zetian is determined to live her own life. With that shocking reveal at the end, readers will be ready to conclude Zetian’s story with the next book. 

The story concludes with Heavenly Tyrant, out now.

Visit Xiran Jay Zhao’s website.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox

“Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.

It’s a killer guest list . . .

DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl

ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume

KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . .

Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.” - taken from Goodreads.

This mystery opens to the night of Sophie’s 16th birthday party and someone falling to their death from the balcony. But who is it? Told from four different points of view, beginning on the previous day, readers will slowly uncover the mystery behind that fateful day. Who falls to their death? Is the house truly haunted or is it everyone’s imagination? The ending will truly shock you.

Visit Kelsey Cox’s website.

Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis

“Eighteen-year-old Mirabella “Mira” Owens grew up in Timber Plains, Kansas hearing all about the local legend—that werewolves had, many years ago, traveled to their small Midwest town to protect humans from the growing threat of a vampire enclave. Just a story of course, a fairy tale, one Mira had stopped believing in when she was young—just like she stopped believing in the idea of her mom returning, after she up and left without a trace when she was only thirteen.

Mira is grown up now, starting freshman year at the nearby Lakeland University. College feels normal, exactly the thing she’s been craving most... except for one particular classmate: Julian Santos, a mysterious boy with long hair, golden eyes, and a coldness that seems directed exclusively at Mira for reasons she can’t understand and he won’t explain.

When Mira receives an unaddressed letter from her mother, she’s told the world isn’t as it seems. She suspects her mom might be telling the truth when she stumbles across strange animal tracks on a hiking trail, and when she’s miraculously saved from a twenty foot drop by the one and only, Julian Santos.

The problem? Julian would have had to jump the length of the cliff to catch her, making him incredibly fast and strong beyond belief. When she confronts him about this, he denies everything.

But when a Blood Moon rises, Mira soon finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient, magical war, with Julian on the other side of the line. She discovers there’s much more truth to the old town legends than she could ever have anticipated—and her family’s historic role in it will change her world forever.” - taken from Goodreads.

What happens when you learn that the folk tales you heard as a child turned out to be true? When Mira discovers that her town is protected from the wrath of vampires by werewolves, her world is turned upside down. Her mother, who disappeared without a trace years earlier, sends her a letter with a mysterious necklace in it. It turns out that her role in the town's history is not what she expected. Who can Mira count on when her life is suddenly on the line? Why has her mother finally made a reappearance in her life?

Book two, Blood Lust, is due out on Sept. 8, 2026.

Visit Britney S. Lewis’ website.

Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Ann Liang

 

“Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.” - taken from Goodreads.

When Leah flubs her congratulatory message in Chinese to her cousin on her wedding, her mother has had enough. Deeply embarrassed, her mother enrolled Leah in an immersive cultural experience in China to regain some respect from their family. Unfortunately, the one boy who is the cause of two of the most traumatic experiences in her life, is on the trip as well. She is determined to get back at Cyrus. But what happens when her heart has other plans?

Visit Ann Liang’s website.

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

 

“On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.

Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.

As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.

Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.” - taken from Goodreads.

This was an incredible read that was full of nonstop action, great worldbuilding, political intrigue, and a mutual attraction that cannot be denied. Having to join forces with a rival to save her farm and phoenix, Kelyn Varra soon finds out that everything isn’t what it seems. In a race to save everything that she holds dear, will she make it on the other side unscathed? 

Visit Mikayla Bridge’s website.

Kill Creatures by Rory Power

“Last summer, Luce, Edie, Jane, and Nan took a boat out for one final swim in the river. It was a perfect summer night.

But the only one who returned that night was Nan. Edie, Jane, and Luce disappeared, and Nan’s story has always been the She has no idea what happened. The girls went ahead, and it was as though they vanished into thin air.

Now, one year later, all of Saltcedar has gathered at the river for a memorial. Nan even recreated the outfit she wore that fateful day last summer. And when Luce climbs out of the water, no one is more surprised than Nan.

Because Nan killed her. Right before she killed Edie and Jane.” - taken from Goodreads.

Well that was creepy and that ending was completely unexpected. Definitely worth the read to see why Nan killed her “best friends.”

Visit Rory Power’s website.

Carving Shadows Into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer (Forging Silver Into Stars book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Forging Silver Into Stars, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Dangerous magic. Fateful choices. Broken promises.

The King's Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Gray's life, one false move could end everything.

Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges--and unlikely adversaries.

After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen's side, with magic on her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can't trust anyone--including the man she thought she loved.

Cast apart, Tycho, Jax, and Callyn must learn to wield the magic that is dividing their kingdom. As the magical scravers attack from the north and the king's rivals gain strength, time is running out.

War is looming. Love is tested. And magic could be the only answer. . .” - taken from Goodreads.

For some, this second book in the trilogy may drag out a bit, I did devour the entire book in just over one day. Even though our main characters are separated for most of the story, each provides a different aspect of the story that builds to the ending. And that ending! Readers will be invested to see how the story finally plays out.

Book three, Sparking Fire Out of Fate, is due out January 27, 2026.

Visit Brigid Kemmerer’s website.