My main takeaway from going through all the July releases is that July is cosy crime month! There were so many fun and quirky mysteries abound (and plenty more that didn’t make my list). So I think we will all be well-stocked for when our next urge to sink our teeth into cosy crime hits us.
But don’t worry, there’s endless cosy fantasy, too!
Fantasy 🪄
Blood of Gods and Girls
Katja Kaine
Isn’t this cover just divine? The books this is compared to have me very excited about this (The Gilded Ones, Children of Blood and Bone, etc.) so I do hope it lives up to such lofty expectations. We’re dealing with a well-loved trope in this book of a young girl destined to be sacrificed – and absolutely not following through with that plan.
Blurb
A fierce feminist fantasy romance for fans of For She is Wrath, We Hunt the Flame, The Gilded Ones and Children of Blood and Bone.
When she bleeds, the Kingdom falls.
At five years old, Nisha was selected to be the Mortal Goddess – a vessel for the great Goddess Shantavi. But on her twelfth birthday, Nisha escaped the temple before she could be sacrificed at the hands of the Immortal King.
Now the Kingdom searches for its new Mortal Goddess and their eye has fallen on Ratna, the only family Nisha has left.
Helped by a Golden Eagle Warrior and the only boy she has ever trusted, Nisha must learn to embrace her power in order to liberate her people.
It’s time to take the Kingdom back.
Of Venom and Vengeance
Mikayla Bridge
A standalone fantasy is a rare thing these days, but here we are! I don’t love the cover for this one, but I do like the sound of the plot. This is also set in the same world as Of Flame and Fury, which I haven’t read yet, so I would feel I need to dip my toes in that one first. We’ve got dark family secrets and presumably a romance in this one – all the good things.
Blurb
Prepare for a deliciously dark standalone, set in the same world as Of Flame and Fury, where star-crossed enemies gamble with their hearts, their empires, and the fate of a lost god.
On an island ruled by pageantry and pain, power comes at an impossible price.Inna is the perfect heiress to the Pallo crime family: poised, cunning, untouchable. Behind this glamorous facade, she hunts for the sinister truth behind her older sister’s death. Despite the cover-up she’s been led to believe, Inna can feel an enemy lurking in the shadows, or perhaps even hiding in plain sight.
Rylan has sculpted himself into a talented thief. His heart may be guarded, but his purpose is clear: retribution for his family, murdered by Inna’s mother. Armed with illusion magic, Rylan plans to steal an ancient riddle from the Pallo vault, one that leads to a sleeping god. Whoever wakes the Serpent King will be granted any wish they desire. Rylan means to claim this power, and with it, Inna’s ruin.
But when Inna catches Rylan sneaking past her family’s security, he proposes a deadly alliance that each desperately needs but neither intends to keep – even as bitter attraction threatens to unravel into something more.
The Farewitch of Foxe Holler
Ellen Pauley Goff
This sounds like an adorable grumpy romance if ever I did see one. We’ve got a kitchen witch who can cure ailments with various recipes who gets mixed up with a warlock she really doesn’t want to get involved with, because he makes her an offer she can’t refuse to help him. Reluctant romance, do I hear you say? I sure hope so. Plus there’s a library involved.
Blurb
Steel Magnolias meets Practical Magic in this charming contemporary fantasy debut in which a thirty-something kitchen witch whose recipes have the power to heal is recruited to help a reclusive warlock and discovers love on the other side of the next bake.
Self-taught chef and baker Honey Frost is Foxe Holler’s resident Farewitch. Proud of her family’s legacy for curing all manner of ailments with the right recipe, Honey is determined to be the Farewitch the Holler can depend on, even if she’s taken on the role twenty years too early.
Honey’s normal routine is disrupted when the reclusive Warlock living at the edge of the Holler appears for the first time in decades with a peculiar request: he needs a Farewitch. It seems the Warlock has been struck with a mysterious curse-born illness.
Initially reluctant to get involved—warlocks and witches do not get along—Honey changes her mind when he offers compensations she can’t refuse— access to his infamous library of old texts and kitchen grimoires. Now Honey is the newest resident of his moody farmhouse, Knight Manor. Which happens to have one gorgeous kitchen. And a lot of secrets. And a Warlock that maybe…isn’t so frightful at all. Or old. Or bad looking.
Curing people should a piece of Hummingbird cake for any Farewitch, but the grumpy farmhouse and even grumpier Warlock aren’t keen to help with their own healing. And that’s not the only trouble. The Widow Witch, century-long scourge of the region, is due to blow into Foxe Holler for her annual visit and this time, she has business with the Warlock.
The Dragon Has Some Complaints
John Wiswell
Am I hooked by this one’s title (specifically the mention of ‘dragon’)? Maybe. This is a cosy fantasy involving dragons and I seriously don’t need anymore information than that. Specifically, this is about a dragon who used to have four heads but after an incident now only has three – and clearly also has some problems. #sold
Blurb
In this heartfelt and humorous fantasy from the Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a dragon whose three heads bear rather…different…personalities finds family in the most unexpected of places.
Garrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in Kardoša. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity, Bottomhead is like a feral cat, and Upperhead is under the delicate delusion that he is, in fact, human.
When a nearby battle goes awry, Garrodigh sneaks into an elite dragon rider academy, pretending to be tame to get free food and a warm bed. Lucky for him, rider Rania Albright is desperate enough for a dragon of her own that she overlooks his eccentricities.
As Garrodigh recovers under Rania’s care, all three heads start to turn, for the first time, in the same direction. Each wants to protect her from the invaders who killed their fourth head—the same invaders who seek to conquer Kardoša. When the academy comes under attack, can this wild dragon and his wilder rider save their homeland together?
This cozy fantasy intertwines epic battles with loving friendships, sharing an utterly unique perspective on what it means to be a “monster.”
Dominion
Jean Kwok
I really like the sound of this one – it’s described as Fourth Wing (but Chinese mythology) meets The Hunger Games, and that made my brain implode. It’s set in a world that’s split into four rival dominions (exciting!) where there are mages, warriors and, surely, romance.
Blurb
A woman with no past. A warrior with no future. Their love could save the world—or burn it down.
Fourth Wing—by way of Chinese mythology—meets The Hunger Games in a perilous world where a young woman with no memory and little magic may hold the key to uniting the Dominions and saving the mortal realm, from the New York Times bestselling author of Read with Jenna pick Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation.In a world divided into four rival Dominions, power is everything—and Rubi Morningtail has almost none. Three years after the Annihilation destroyed her homeland and shattered her memories, she lives as an Azure refugee in the Dominion of the Silver Tyger, scraping by as a ribbon dancer and hiding her little bit of singing magic. When she wounds a massive battle tyger on her doorstep, she draws the notice of Blake Axefire—supreme metal mage, leader of the royal tyger warriors, and the last man an Azure should trust. His sentence? Cast her into the Bonding, a brutal trial where tygers choose their riders and slaughter the rest. Surviving is unthinkable.
But survive she does. Now she’s stuck on Blake’s elite team racing to reseal the Anchors to the demon realm. With rebels striking, demons rising, and the Dominions at each other’s throats, Rubi must unlock the truth of her magic and her past…while resisting her dangerous attraction to the ruthless warrior who could be her redemption—or her ruin.
The Lord of the Wood
E.M. Anderson
I’m really intrigued by this one as the blurb makes it sound as though it’s cosy fantasy meet horror (fantasy). Which makes me pause for though, ngl. But the cover is pretty and there’s a clockmaker, so I’m also kinda insta-sold on that premise alone. And did I mentioned there’s an echanted forest?
Blurb
The cozy fantasy of TJ Klune meets the creeping horror of T. Kingfisher in this magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart…
Clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton lives a quiet life with his sister and her children, only dreaming of adventure. So when a wealthy client offers him a job that involves traversing Shiftleaf—an enchanted forest that claimed his father decades ago—he reluctantly accepts. The forest is treacherous, but the money will change his family’s lives.
The journey quickly turns perilous. Fleeing monstrous birds, Arthur stumbles upon a hidden vale where he meets the Lord of the Wood—a figure from his father’s many stories. Instead of the fairy prince Arthur always imagined, Ira is a morose man, slowly transforming into a beast, his power over a dying forest waning.
Arthur enjoys the safety of the vale, and Ira’s company. But he yearns for his family. To safely return home and rescue Ira from a cursed and lonely existence, Arthur and Ira must reach the heart of the wood to heal the forest. Except the farther they venture from the vale, the more beastly Ira becomes. If they can’t complete their mission before he turns completely, Arthur could lose the man he’s falling for—and never see his family again.
The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood
H.G. Parry
Arthurian legend, anyone? I’m honestly too easy to win over as soon as someone bandies about the word ‘Arthurian’. We’re talking 1941, WWII, dragons inthe London Underground and so much more. I think I need this book in my life. And of course, the main character is a librarian.
Blurb
From the author of The Magician’s Daughter comes a captivating historical fantasy where dreams come to life and Arthurian legends are reborn.
Wales, 1941. As the second world war ravages the globe and bombs fall from the sky, people all over the world begin to dream of King Arthur. The dreams spread like a fantastical plague, flooding people’s sleep night after night. Whispers arise of wonders and unexplained sights – dragons in the London Underground, and strange lights over Stonehenge. Self-proclaimed prophets claim they are miracles, heralding Arthur’s return at the time of Britain’s greatest need.
Elaine Ambrose has never dreamed of Arthur, and she doesn’t believe in miracles. A librarian at the British Museum, she wants only to protect the museum’s collection from the Blitz, and is frustrated to be sent instead to catalogue a reclusive professor’s private library on the coast of North Wales. But all is not as it seems. Soon Ellie must confront what she’s tried to ignore: she dreams not of Arthur, but of Nimue – the Lady of the Lake. And her dreams promise not salvation, but a return to the darkness of the last days of Camelot.
Sea of Charms
Sarah Beth Durst
I’m not putting this one in the sequel section because these books don’t seem to read in any particular order, but are simply set in the same world. I’ve thus far read The Spellshop and some of her other books, but I’m super keen to get more and more and more out of this cosy world.
Blurb
Sarah Beth Durst brings cozy fantasy romance to the high seas in Sea of Charms, the third magical adventure in the New York Times bestselling Spellshop series!
Marin had always belonged on the great blue sea. When the man she thought was the love of her life schemed to ruin her parents’ business, she did what her heart knew she fled to the sea.
Now working as a supply runner on her own boat, Marin sails from island to island, delivering a varied array of letters, flour, stories, and even the occasional enchanted statue. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers. Besides, she’s got the company of Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub. They’re the best crew she could ask for.
On one of her routine trips to the capital of the Crescent Islands Empire, Alyssium, Marin finds the city on fire and a revolution underway—so she offers transportation to Dax, a composer friend who refuses to leave behind his instruments. What starts as a rescue evolves into a Marin will keep Dax on as a (temporary) member of her crew if he becomes her pretend boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.
Against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile—and realizes that perhaps she isn’t saving him. Maybe it’s the other way around.
Theodora’s Tea Shop
Christy Anne Jones
We are certainly not running short of cosy fantasy these days! Honestly, this had me a tea shop. It sounds like we’re following a character on a journey of self-discovery, trying to find a mentor to learn some witchy skills. It’s also set in the 1920s, so that’s a bonus.
Blurb
A richly imagined, dark and dazzling cosy fantasy about learning to love ourselves by wondrous new Australian novelist, Christy Anne Jones.
Dorothy Louise Walcott should have died when she was fourteen. Instead, she grew into a timid young woman, frugal, ill, over-educated, and dreaming ceaselessly of running away to learn magic. When she hears of a woman who might apprentice her, she sets off on a journey to Alliaster, a city where spirits play cards with kings. Dot is determined to find the witch Theodora—empress of an underground syndicate peddling magic from the quaint façade of her tea shop. Theodora is everything Dot wants to be: beautiful, witty, confident.
However, Dot’s arrival heralds the unearthing of Theodora’s eldritch secrets, threatening to topple the witch’s empire and take them both with it.
Theodora’s Tea Shop is an atmospheric 1920s-inspired fantasy novel about magic, friendship and, of course, tea. It features twists and turns, found families, monstrous women, many heartfelt and cosy moments, and a creepy daemon who owns a department store. If you love Howl’s Moving Castle, you will adore this book.
Ravenous
Kresley Cole
Alright, this one we’re talking immortal beings like vampires, witches, demons and wolves – and it sounds savage and wonderful all at once. I’m assuming this one fits squarely into the romantasy category and therefore holds a bit of spice, too. I’m here for the witch queen and vampire princess – don’t they sound fun?
Blurb
From #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole comes a darkly seductive new series where immortal passion collides with ruthless power.
Beyond the mortal world lies the Skein, a realm of mythic beauty and savage desire ruled by creatures of legend. Here, vampires, witches, demons, and wolves wage war-and hunt their pleasures just as fiercely.Now, the Accession has begun, an ancient cycle of chaos and destiny that reignites old hostilities and forges fated bonds too hot to resist.
A witch queen on the rise defies the brutal wolf king who stands in her way. But when fate twists their battlefield into a bed of temptation, sworn enemies become something far more perilous. Lovers.
A vampire princess trades her crown for freedom, only to be bound to a scarred Berserker, a man whose possessive touch both terrifies and tempts her.
A Tangled Magic
Andrea Eames
This is described as Rapunzel meets Six of Crows and I think I just about can’t even imagine that combination. But we’re dealing with a woman with magical hair searching for lost memories (this is also described as for fans of The Bone Shard Daughter, so that makes sense). I love the sound of everything about this and am so keen.
Blurb
Rapunzel meets Six of Crows in this darkly imagined high fantasy for fans of T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone, The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and Disney’s Tangled, as a woman with amnesia—and magical hair—searches for her lost memories while navigating a web of royal intrigue, bone magic, and secret monasteries.
All her life, Netta has only known the Tower—its musty shelves of books she cannot read, ink-splattered quills, and endless scrolls of paper. Her mother, ambitious and analytical, has spent decades perfecting her greatest masterpiece: a spellbook of unspeakable power. Netta’s only companions are her long red Hair, which moves of its own accord, and a telepathic raven named Baldbeak. Her only amusement lies in crafting intricate embroidery from scraps of silk and thread.
When attackers storm the Tower, her mother and the spellbook vanish. Determined to find her, Netta ventures into a kingdom on the brink of civil war. The monarch lies dying, while pious Temple fanatics and the noble elite scheme for the throne, forging secret alliances and building hidden armies. For reasons she cannot yet fathom, all these factions seek Netta—and the dangerous, uncontrollable magic in her Hair.
But whom can she trust? The sharp-eyed pickpocket bent on revolutionizing the use of magic? The elusive black market trader known only as the Book Man? The charming magician who slips between shadow and light? From masked carnivals to opulent ballrooms, from hidden monasteries to catacombs, Netta must untangle a web of lies and intrigue – not only to find her mother, but also to uncover the true nature of the power that has shaped her life.
Sci-Fi 🛸
Moss’d in Space
Rebecca Thorne
I’m still yet to read a Rebecca Thorne, but I’m so excited about all of her books – they sound like so much fun. Plus, I really enjoy the dedication to puns in her book titles. I’m also very intrigued that this is classified as cosy sci-fi – because that’s something that hasn’t been explored nearly as much as cosy fantasy!
Blurb
USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Thorne delights in a brand new cozy science-fiction series…for fans of Martha Wells and Olivia Waite! Features original inside art!
Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said.
Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.
It’s entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.
Romance ❣️
Wild Goose Chase
Sarah Adler
An antique dealer, an inconveniently irresistible coworker and a taxidermied goose. Recipe for a good time, I reckon. It certainly takes a special something to make it onto my radar for contemporary romance these days, but this one had me at the goose.
Blurb
An antique dealer and his inconvenient(ly irresistible) new colleague must contend with an illicit stuffed goose and their sizzling attraction, from USA Today bestselling author Sarah Adler.
Antique store owner Callahan Leitner has an illegal taxidermy goose in his living room.
Why? It’s…complicated.
But it may end his career unless he finds a legitimate way to dispose of the bird ASAP. Unfortunately, there’s an unexpected wrench in his plans—the frustrating, effervescent Annie O’Neill.
Annie is happy to fill in for her uncle at his antique store; it’s the perfect opportunity to gain more experience before opening a shop of her own, and to finally meet his handsome young business partner. Unfortunately, Cal is nothing like the charming man she expected. She’s tempted to take his apparent dislike personally, until she stumbles upon the source of his the contraband waterfowl hiding upstairs.
When the goose goes missing, it puts both of their professional reputations on the line. As Cal and Annie attempt to track down the bird before it can be traced back to the store, their tentative alliance turns into something much deeper. Will the hunt for their felonious fowl lead to true love, or end in ruin?
Historical Fiction 🎩
The Secret Society of Librarians
Kate Thompson
It looks like there was another edition of this book released earlier this year, but that went completely under my radar so let’s pretend we didn’t know about it! The font? Love. The author? Keen. The words ‘librarians’? Sold. What more do we need? Though if you want more, read the blurb (we’re talking London & Poland WWII).
Blurb
The Secret Society of Librarians is a heartbreaking yet heartwarming wartime library-set novel, inspired by real people, real stories, and extensive research.
Meeting through real-life Secret Society of Librarians in London, two women form a close bond. When WW2 hits, they take their libraries underground, creating create a roaming underground library.
But when one of them is taken to Poland and a concentration camp, they think there is no chance of ever being reunited again…
This is an inspirational, true and compelling story about friendship, everyday bravery and the power of books, with a dual narrative set between London and Poland in the 1940s.
Mysteries 🔎
The Story Keeper
Kelly Rimmer
Okay, it’s a big ick to the cover, but, it’s Kelly Rimmer so we’re going to forgive. Have I read anything by Rimmer? No, not yet. But I’ve already decided that she’s a staple in my selection of historical fiction books on my shelves. Plus this one involves a forgotten book and a mystery, and those two things make for a great combination.
Blurb
A crumbling mansion, a forgotten book, and a mystery that could destroy them all . . .
Beneath the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, a family estate on the east coast of Australia, dark secrets lie buried. Fiona Winslow returns to restore the mansion she once called home, but what she uncovers is more than just decay – it is a mystery locked away for generations.
A forgotten book, The Midnight Estate, leads her into a story of love, loss, and betrayal mirroring her own. And as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must confront a chilling Is the true mystery hidden in the walls of her ancestral home, or within the pages of a book that seems to have chosen her?
A Gothic tale told across three timelines, The Midnight Estate is a haunting mystery entwining a family’s darkest secrets and a captivating book-within-a-book puzzle.
The Cloak and Dagger Club
Jackie McMahon
Did someone say 1920s Agatha Christie vibing crime? Yes, please. This one is inspired by Christie’s real-life Detection Club, which sounds exciting! Can’t beat some solid, cosy Golden-Age crime.
Blurb
Inspired by Agatha Christie’s real-life Detection Club, a murder among a group of golden age mystery writers meets a second chance romance in this debut novel from author Jackie McMahon.
London, 1930. Lucy Hubbard is on the cusp of achieving her dreams. With her first mystery novel debuting with strong sales and glowing reviews, she’s been invited by Horace Hazelmoor, the king of crime fiction, to join his elite group of writers—the Cloak and Dagger Club.
Thrilled at the opportunity, Lucy finds herself swept up into Horace’s glamorous world at the Ritz hotel. She’s even willing to put up with the inconvenient presence of her former fiancé, Frank Murray, the club’s rising star who is on track to eclipse Horace as Britain’s most popular crime writer.
But when Horace is found with a knife in his back, Frank is the police’s prime suspect. Despite their complicated history, Lucy knows he’s not capable of murder. With suspects galore and the danger rising, these two mystery writers must race to solve the crime—and fight their lingering feelings for each other—before the murderer strikes again.
How to Kill a Crime Writer
Sarah Lotz
I won’t lie, the title doesn’t make me think this is the most original concept ever come up with, but I loved the cover enough to give it the benefit of the doubt. And who doesn’t love a good, cozy whoddunit – particularly when the theme is bookishly on point?
Blurb
She wrote for a living. But who wanted her dead? When bestselling author Annie Morrissey is found dead, her daughter Niamh knows in her gut it’s no accident – even if the case needs a good edit.
The village is strangely uneventful.
The suspects are suspiciously normal.
The leads quickly turn into dead ends…
But when Annie’s final manuscript lands on the doormat, the pages humming with mystery and suspense, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.
This can’t be a coincidence.
Because if Niamh learnt anything from her mother’s crime fiction, it’s that there’s no such thing. And that village secrets never stay buried for long…
From the award-winning novelist & screenwriter, How to Kill a Crime Writer is a funny, mind-bending mystery that will stay with you long after the end.
The Masala Chai Mystery Club
M.J. Soni
Speaking of bookishly on point plot – how about a book club solving murders? This is touted as perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and The Thursday Murder Club, and I do declare that I would be one of those people. That being said, I’m not sure, going by the blurb, what sets this apart from all the other cosies out there – so I think I’ll be waiting to eyeball some more reviews before diving into this one.
Blurb
Suspects abound when a much-despised neighbor is killed, perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.
Retired librarian Neeti Shah was hoping for a restful life with her chai-loving friends, but when the body of a neighbor, a childhood friend of Neeti’s, turns up dead and the killer’s MO is similar to that of Neeti’s most recent book club read, things start to get out of control.
When Neeti hears a commotion at a neighbor’s house, she finds Rohit’s body sprawled across the bottom of the staircase with Agatha Christie’s The Dumb Witness nearby. Blackmailing his neighbors, threatening them with lawsuits, and calling them by nasty nicknames were only some of the hateful things that made him so disliked. But were they angry enough to kill?
Neeti is indebted to her old friend, and she’s determined to find his killer. But she can’t do it alone, so she enlists her mystery-loving friends, the Masala Chai Mystery Club, to get to the bottom of the murder.
But Neeti and her club members need to be careful. As more bodies turn up and more suspects start to appear, they’ll need to find the killer before they end up in hot water!
Shrink Solves Murder
Philippa Perry
I’m here for the cover and you know it. I think I’m on a bit of a cosy murder mystery binge at the moment, so this very much so appeals to me. Plus it’s not so much a detective as a pyschotherapist on the case – and doesn’t that sound so much more fun?
Blurb
A small-town psychotherapist draws on all her knowledge of the human psyche to solve the murder of a patient in this warm and witty mystery novel—by a real psychotherapist turned #1 internationally bestselling author.
Living in picturesque coastal Sussex, Patricia Philipps enjoys her quiet life—walking the cliffs, shouting at poorly disciplined dog owners, telling tourists to keep their distance from the crumbling cliff edges, and cold-water swimming.
Then a body washes up near Beachy Head, upending her carefully curated life as she discovers the deceased is one of her clients—her “Three O’Clock,” in fact.
The police chalk it up to suicide, but Pat sees things differently. She reads people. She understands them—their lusts, their loves, their quirks, their ticks, their tells, their deepest desires. She looks, she listens, she watches. And she never jumps to conclusions. After all, she spends her days listening to secrets, resentments, fantasies, and motives. She’s certain someone wanted Henry Clayton dead.
With her chaotic best friend Pritchard (part-time poet, full-time meddler) in tow, Pat swaps the therapist’s couch for the crime scene. It’s time to unpick the lies, untangle the egos, and catch a killer hiding in plain sight.
Sequels ➕
The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy
Brigitte Knightley
I am so, so excited to read this as soon as it’s out! I loved the first book – it was so much fun (and ugh, I love the covers), so I really need to know what’s going to happen next. If you haven’t jumped into book one yet, I highly recommend that you do!
Blurb
The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy in this swoony, witty, and heart-stoppingly romantic sequel to instant New York Times bestseller The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy.
Osric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Order’s motto is Harm to none. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark . . .
Until they don’t.
When Osric first bribed Aurienne to heal him, he never imagined those lines would begin to blur. But every healing session draws them closer together. He finds himself developing unwanted feelings for Aurienne as her capable hands heal his body—and his heart.
Aurienne’s perfect life has been flung into chaos in the form of a devastatingly handsome assassin. She should be in her research lab, not illicitly healing a Fyren every full moon—nor wrestling an attraction to him that threatens to slip into something else.
Things go superbly sideways when Osric and Aurienne discover more about the deadly Pox deliberately unleashed through the Tīendoms. The plague may be the work of another Order—an Order far nastier than either of them can handle.
As the lines between Osric and Aurienne continue to blur, the balance between peace and war, and love and hate, trembles, shifts, and hinges on a heartbeat.
Prince of Swords
Elise Kova
Book two in the Aracana Academy series by Elise Kova! I’ve got book one sizzling on my shelf waiting with great excitement to be read. I’m a big fan of Kova’s books so I expect great and mighty things from this.
Blurb
Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this New York Times bestselling fantasy romance series.
I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.
Clara Graysword is Oricalis’s most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time . . . until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara’s fate. If she dares to trust them.
But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she’s already deeply ensnared Prince Kaelis.
Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can’t escape—maybe she doesn’t want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot . . . and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.
Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger’s edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.
To change the world, Clara must risk everything—her power, her beliefs, and her heart.
Non-Fiction ✍🏻
Hidden Creatures
Dino J. Martins
I’m not going to lie, I went by this one a couple of times before I actually stopped to read about it. I love natural history and environmental science non-fiction books – and this one sounds right up my alley. It’s about parasites (and essentially how misunderstood they are) – celebrating their role in the environment. Why not?!
Blurb
Welcome to the hidden, squirming world of parasites—some of the most misunderstood creatures with whom we share the Earth (and our bodies).
“Astonishing, eye-opening, and inspiring.” —Chloe Dalton, author of Raising HareThere is the tapeworm, which can grow 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale; the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its needle-like mouth; and the most universal symbol of parasitic the leech. Long villainized as, well, parasitic, these creatures are actually a vital part of every ecosystem—and Dr. Dino Martins, an award-winning entomologist and biologist from Kenya, has made it his life’s mission to demystify these beguiling beings.
Hidden Creatures is a journey around the world ten times over—from Martins’ home in the wilds of East Africa, to the rainforests of the Amazon, to cities and backyards across the globe—and along the way, we encounter the brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures to investigate not only parasites but their hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, humans. Immersive, driven by an utterly infectious curiosity, and sure to transform every reader’s understanding of these organisms, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and introduces a monumental, charismatic new voice in science writing.
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