Cover Reveal: THE BOUND WITCH (The Osseous Chronicles #3) by Ivy Asher

THE BOUND WITCH (The Osseous Chronicles #3)

by Ivy Asher

Release Date: July 28, 2021

About the book:

What do you do when you thought it was all over, only to realize it's all just begun? 

I died. 

I looked into Rogan Kendrick’s eyes, told him I loved him…and then I died. 

So how the hell am I standing naked in the middle of a morgue, doing my best not to freak the fuck out? 

I’m a Bone Witch, or at least I was before Rogan bound us together. Blood magic now flows through my veins too, and I think somehow the man I shouldn’t love, the one who betrayed me, who couldn’t choose me…has saved me. 

If the High Counsel finds out they’ll hunt us, and they won’t be the only ones. A certain bastard demon did promise to see me soon. 

ARC Review: A WAR OF SWALLOWED STARS (The Celestial Trilogy #3) by Sangu Mandanna

A WAR OF SWALLOWED STARS (The Celestial Trilogy #3)

by Sangu Mandanna

Release Date: June 29, 2021; Sky Pony

From Goodreads:

A prince without his kingdom. 

A kingdom without its princess. 

The destruction of the stars themselves. 

War is destroying the galaxy. Esmae has vanished without a trace. A terrifying, ravenous beast is devouring the stars one by one. Titania is offered a gift that may well be a curse. Alexi, the exiled prince, is asked to pay a heavy price for his mistakes. And far, far away, on a dark, mysterious planet, a sleeping god stirs awake. 

War or family. 

Pride or peace. 

ARC Review: DON'T HATE THE PLAYER by Alexis Nedd

DON'T HATE THE PLAYER

by Alexis Nedd

Release Date: June 15, 2021; Bloomsbury YA

From Goodreads:

By day, Emilia is a field hockey star with a popular boyfriend and a mother obsessed with her academic future. But by night, she’s kicking virtual ass as the only female member of a highly competitive eSports team. Emilia has mastered the art of keeping her two worlds thriving, which hinges on them staying completely separate. 

When a major eSports tournament comes to her city, Emilia is determined to prove herself to the male-dominated gaming community. But her perfectly balanced life is thrown for a loop when a member of a rival team—Jake—recognizes her . . . 

From an exciting new talent, this sweet and charming YA romance will win the hearts of gamers and non-gamers alike.

ARC Review: THESE FEATHERED FLAMES (These Feathered Flames #1) by Alexandra Overy

THESE FEATHERED FLAMES (These Feathered Flames #1)

by Alexandra Overy

Date Published: April 20, 2021; Inkyard Press

From Goodreads:

A queer retelling of “The Firebird,” a Russian folktale 

When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm. 

But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned. 

As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.

ARC Review: LUCKY GIRL by Jamie Pacton

LUCKY GIRL

by Jamie Pacton

Release Date: May 11, 2021; Page Street Kids

From Goodreads:

A hilarious and poignant reflection on what money can and cannot fix 

58,642,129. That’s how many dollars seventeen-year-old Fortuna Jane Belleweather just won in the lotto jackpot. It’s also about how many reasons she has for not coming forward to claim her prize.

Problem #1: Jane is still a minor, and if anyone discovers she bought the ticket underage, she’ll either have to forfeit the ticket, or worse . . . 

Problem #2: Let her hoarder mother cash it. The last thing Jane’s mom needs is millions of dollars to buy more junk. Then . . .

Problem #3: Jane’s best friend, aspiring journalist Brandon Kim, declares on the news that he’s going to find the lucky winner. It’s one thing to keep her secret from the town — it’s another thing entirely to lie to her best friend. Especially when . . . 

ARC Review: SUNKISSED by Kasie West

SUNKISSED

by Kasie West

Release Date: May 4, 2021; Delacorte Press

From Goodreads:

A lighthearted and swoony contemporary YA romance by fan-favorite author Kasie West about a girl who finds that a summer spent at a family resort isn’t as bad as she imagined…and that falling in love is filled with heartache, laughter, and surprises! 

After being betrayed by her best friend, Avery is hoping for a picture-perfect summer. Too bad her parents have dragged her and her sister to a remote family camp for the entire summer. And that’s not even the worst part. Avery also has to deal with no internet, a cute but off-limits staff member, and an always-in-her-face sister. 

But what starts as a disaster turns into a whirlwind summer romance as Avery embarks on an unexpected journey to figure out what she truly wants and who she wants to be.

ARC Review: SHIPPED by Meredith Tate

SHIPPED

by Meredith Tate
Release Date: May 18th 2021; G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

Can two IRL enemies find their happily ever after online? 

Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are Gene Connolly Memorial High School's biggest rivals. While the two have been battling it out for top student, it's a race to the bottom when it comes to snide comments and pulling the dirtiest prank. For years, Stella and Wes have been the villain in each other's story, and now it's all-out war. 

And there is no bigger battle than the one for valedictorian, and more specifically, the coveted valedictorian scholarship. 

But Stella and Wes have more in common than they think. Both are huge fans of Warship Seven, a popular sci-fi TV drama with a dedicated online following, and the two start chatting under aliases--without a clue that their rival is just beyond the screen. They realize that they're both attending SciCon this year, so they plan to dress in their best cosplay and finally meet IRL. 

ARC Review: BLADE OF SECRETS (Bladesmith #1) by Tricia Levenseller

BLADE OF SECRETS (Bladesmith #1)

by Tricia Levenseller

Release Date: May 4, 2021; Feiwel & Friends

From Goodreads:

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power. 

Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims' secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees. 

Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world's known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely. 

A teenage blacksmith with social anxiety accepts a commission from the wrong person and is forced to go on the run to protect the world from the most powerful magical sword she's ever made.

ARC Review: 10 TRUTHS AND A DARE by Ashley Elston

10 TRUTHS AND A DARE

by Ashley Elston

Release Date: May 4, 2021; Disney-Hyperion

From Goodreads:

It's Senior Week, that magical in-between time after classes have ended but before graduation, chock-full of gimmicky theme parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn't be more ready. Class salutatorian and confident in her future at LSU, she's poised to sail through to the next phase of her life. 

But when the tiny hiccup of an unsigned off-campus P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to set things straight without tipping off her very big and very nosy extended family. Volunteering to help at a local golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia's mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there'll be no hiding the fact that she's at the golf course instead of all the graduation parties happening at the same time. Unless, that is, she can convince the Fab Four--her ride-or-die cousins and best friends Sophie, Charlie, and Wes--to trade phones with her as they go through the motions of playing Olivia for the week. 

Sure, certain members of the golf team are none too pleased with Olivia's sudden "passion" for the game. And sure, a very cute, very off-limits boy keeps popping up in Olivia's orbit. But she is focused! She has a schedule and a plan! Nothing can possibly go wrong . . . right?

ARC Review: PRIDE AND PREMEDITATION (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #1) by Tirzah Price

PRIDE AND PREMEDITATION (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #1)

by Tirzah Price

Release Date: April 6, 2021; Harper Teen

From Goodreads:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman who desires a law career must be in want of a case. So when seventeen-year-old Lizzie Bennet hears about a scandalous society murder, she sees an opportunity to prove herself as a solicitor by solving the case and ensuring justice is served.

Except the man accused of the crime already has a lawyer on his side: Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious Pemberley Associates law firm. Lizzie is determined to solve the murder before Darcy can so that she can show the world that a woman can be just as good as a man. (The fact that Darcy is an infuriating snob doesn’t help.) But there’s still a killer on the loose, and as the case gets more complicated, Lizzie and Darcy may have to start working together to avoid becoming the next victims themselves.

ARC Review: WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE

by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Release Date: April 20, 2021; Viking Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

An academic enemies-to-lovers YA with all the nerdy drama, high school antics, and heartpounding romance of the Netflix original series Never Have I Ever 

Since high school began, Alison Sanger and Ethan Molloy have competed on almost everything. AP classes, the school paper, community service, it never ends. If Alison could avoid Ethan until graduation, she would. Except, naturally, for two over-achieving seniors with their sights on valedictorian and Harvard, they share all the same classes and extracurriculars. So when their school’s principal assigns them the task of co-planning a previous class’s ten-year reunion, with the promise of a recommendation for Harvard if they do, Ethan and Alison are willing to endure one more activity together if it means beating the other out of the lead. 

Cover Reveal: ROYAL SPY (Fate of Eyrinthia #2) by Heather Frost

ROYAL SPY (Fate of Eyrinthia #2)

by Heather Frost
Release Date: May 20, 2021

YA Fantasy Romance

From Goodreads:

A DECOY recruited to be a spy. 

A PRINCE compelled to become an assassin. 

A SERJAH pressured by an unwanted crown. 

A WORLD covered in shadows. 

Mere months ago, Clare was just a kitchen maid. Now, she is a decoy for Princess Serene and a novice spy, caught in the royal family's web of secrets. While journeying to Mortise to finalize the princess’s betrothal to Serjah Desfan, Clare lives for the stolen moments she has with Bennick, the bodyguard who is quickly claiming her heart. But when a notorious assassin is hired to kill her, Clare’s life and the alliance hang in the balance. 

In Ryden, Grayson prepares to leave for Mortise with his brother, Liam. Their orders are to ignite a war between their enemies, and Grayson has been tasked with assassinating Princess Serene. It may cost his soul, but he is ready to comply, as long as he gets something in return: freedom for Mia, the girl he loves. But the more time he spends with his brother, the more he begins to wonder if Liam is what Grayson wishes he had the courage to be . . . a traitor. 

ARC Review: DOWN COMES THE NIGHT by Allison Saft

DOWN COMES THE NIGHT
by Allison Saft
Release Date: March 2, 2021; Wednesday Books

From Goodreads:

He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness. 

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself. 

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

Review: WE FREE THE STARS (Sands of Arawiya #2) by Hafsah Faizal

WE FREE THE STARS (Sands of Arawiya #2)

by Hafsah Faizal

Date Published: January 19, 2021; Farrar, Straus and Giroux

From Goodreads:

The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan he set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, and finally returning magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return. 

As the zumra plots to overthrow the kingdom’s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power into a weapon, to wield not only against the Lion but against his father, trapped under the Lion’s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat—a darkness that hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of her sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dare not unleash. In spite of the darkness enclosing ever faster, Nasir and Zafira find themselves falling into a love they can’t stand to lose…but time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made. 

Blog Tour, ARC Review + Excerpt: THE IRON RAVEN (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1) by Julie Kagawa

THE IRON RAVEN (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1) 

by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: February 9, 2021; Inkyard Press

Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy; Folklore and Fairytale; Paranormal romance

About the book:

Wicked faeries and fantastic danger... Welcome to book one of the new trilogy in New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey fantasy series, as infamous prankster Puck finally has a chance to tell his story and stand with allies new and old to save Faery and the world. 

"YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF ME..." 

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool... King Oberon's right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night's Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before. 

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck's longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten. Filled with myths and faery lore, romance and unfathomable dangers, The Iron Raven is book one of a new epic fantasy trilogy set in the world of The Iron Fey.

ARC Review: INTO THE CROOKED PLACE (Into the Crooked Place #1) by Alexandra Christo

INTO THE CROOKED PLACE (Into the Crooked Place #1) 

by Alexandra Christo

Release Date: October 8, 2019; Feiwel & Friends

From Goodreads:

Into the Crooked Place begins a gritty two-book YA fantasy series from Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom. 

The streets of Creije are for the deadly and the dreamers, and four crooks in particular know just how much magic they need up their sleeve to survive. 

Tavia, a busker ready to pack up her dark-magic wares and turn her back on Creije for good. She’ll do anything to put her crimes behind her. 

Wesley, the closest thing Creije has to a gangster. After growing up on streets hungry enough to swallow the weak whole, he won’t stop until he has brought the entire realm to kneel before him. 

Karam, a warrior who spends her days watching over the city’s worst criminals and her nights in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself. 

And Saxony, a resistance fighter hiding from the very people who destroyed her family, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her revenge. 

Cover Reveal: BLUE SHADOW PROPHECY (Chimera Book #2) by Anca Antoci

BLUE SHADOW PROPHECY (Chimera Book #2)

by Anca Antoci 
Release Date: January 31, 2021

About the book:

It started with a prophecy, a kidnapping, and a curse. Then it got worse! 

Joining the Resistance to fulfill the prophecy — dismantle the Council and free the chimera, Rae’s life went from ordinary to exciting overnight. It didn’t last long. 

Kidnapped by a witch with her own agenda, Rae uncovers a web of lies woven to conceal the true extent of her magic. To survive she must concede to her captor’s terms but there is a silver lining —  Michael, her vampire guardian is also held captive with a curse. Rae sets out to break the curse to sway the vampire’s allegiance.  But nothing ever goes according to plan. 

Blue Shadow Prophecy is the second story in the Chimera Trilogy. If you enjoy magical realism, supernatural creatures in a fantasy setting, give this trilogy a try!

Can't-Wait Wednesday: BLESSED MONSTERS (Something Dark and Holy #3) by Emily A. Duncan

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa of Wishful Endings. It highlights books to be released that readers are most excited for. It is based on Jill, from Breaking the Spine's 'Waiting on' Wednesday.

My Can't-Wait Wednesday pick for this week is-

BLESSED MONSTERS (Something Dark and Holy #3)

by Emily A. Duncan
Release Date: April 6, 2021; Wednesday Books

From Goodreads:
The startling conclusion to the instant New York Times bestselling Something Dark and Holy trilogy 

The girl, the monster, the prince, the queen. 

They broke the world. 

And some things can never be undone. 

In Emily A. Duncan’s Blessed Monsters, they must unite once more to fight the dark chaos they've unleashed—but is it already too late?

ARC Review: THE IRON RAVEN (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1) by Julie Kagawa

THE IRON RAVEN (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1) 
by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: February 9, 2021; Inkyard Press

From Goodreads:

You may have heard of me... 

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool… King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten. 

ARC Review: RUTHLESS GODS (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan

 RUTHLESS GODS (Something Dark and Holy #2) 
by Emily A. Duncan
Release Date: April 7, 2020; Macmillan

About the book:

The stunning sequel to instant New York Times bestseller, Wicked Saints 

"Ruthless Gods opens the door to a world of fallen gods and eldritch horrors... Gruesome, grotesque, and so, so glorious." - Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows 

Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who--and what--he’s become. 

As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. Their paths are being orchestrated by someone…or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer. 

In her dramatic follow-up to Wicked Saints, the first book in her Something Dark and Holy trilogy, Emily A. Duncan paints a Gothic, icy world where shadows whisper, and no one is who they seem, with a shocking ending that will leave you breathless.