Review: The Foxglove King (The Nightshade Crown #1) by Hannah Whitten

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The Foxglove King (The Nightshade Crown #1) by Hannah Whitten
Published March 14th, 2023 by Orbit UK
RRP AUD $32.99
★★★★☆

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In this romantic new fantasy series from author Hannah Whitten, a young woman’s secret power to raise the dead plunges her into the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court.

When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.

Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.

Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.

But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.

Review: Happy Place by Emily Henry

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Happy Place by Emily Henry
Published April 25, 2023 by Penguin Viking
RRP AUD $32.99
★★★★★

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A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Review: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

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The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
Published February 14, 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton
RRP AUD $32.99
★★★★☆

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Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.

But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage… or their lives.

Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Blog Tour | Review: Moonlight & Fire by Ashlyn Lance

Book details

Title: Moonlight & Fire
Author: Ashlyn Lance
Series: The Fallen Princess #1

Publication Date: February 23rd, 2023
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Pages: 296
Format: eBook, Paperback, Hardcover
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Blackwell’s
Add on Goodreads!

Rating: ★★★★

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There is salvation beyond the darkness. If only you’ll reach out and take it…

With Evenar on the edge of starvation, prophecies are the last hope for a kingdom in ruin. Their unwilling princess, Lunielle, is forced to uphold their demands, sending her on a journey that reveals the darkness that dwells beyond her world.

With the weight of her people’s survival on her shoulders, the princess encounters Aurion, a man with his own secrets to unravel. Working together to save their homes, they soon discover an inexplicable romantic pull that changes destiny and their lives forever.

But when a powerful lord of a mysterious realms falls for the ethereal princess and demands her hand be bound to his, she must decide—her people’s future or her own?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

From author Ashlyn Lance comes a captivating first in the series book, Moonlight and Fire—a coming of age tale set in a medieval world where magic still reigns. With epic romance, mythical creatures and page-turning battles, this is a book you cannot put down! Come along for the journey as Princess Lunielle grows beyond what she ever thought was possible!

Review: The Wicked In Me (Devil’s Cradle #1) by Suzanne Wright

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The Wicked In Me (Devil’s Cradle #1) by Suzanne Wright
Published 10 January 2023 by Piatkus
RRP AUD $32.99
★★☆

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No one really knows what they are. Only that they’re the first civilization. Aeons, they call themselves. They’re immortal. Powerful. Secretive.

And they’ll come for her.

Witch Wynter Dellavale knows that for certain. Because in unfairly trying to execute her, they started a chain of events they’re struggling to stop.

Needing safety, she flees to Devil’s Cradle, the home of monsters. A place for the outcasts, the fugitives, the crazies. A place ruled by the Ancients, seven beings who were once banished by the Aeons. Among the Ancients is the infamous Cain, brother of Abel and embodiment of jealousy — who, on another note, wants her in his bed.

There’s a heavy price for the safety the Ancients offer, but Wynter will have to pay it. She can’t take on the Aeons alone. And she has no intention of dying — been there, done that.

Not that she’ll be the easy prey the Aeons are expecting. They have no knowledge of the … thing that lives inside her. You see, when witches are brought back from the afterlife, they don’t always come back the same.

And they don’t always come back alone.

Review: The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent

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The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent
Published 16 August 2022 by Nasyra Publishing
★★★★★

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Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Review: The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception #2) by Elena Armas

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The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception #2) by Elena Armas
Published September 6th 2022 by Simon & Schuster UK
RRP AUD $22.99
★★★★☆

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Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. Luckily she has her best friend Lina’s spare key while she’s out of town. But Rosie doesn’t know that Lina has already lent her apartment to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram for the last few months. Lucas seems intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armor. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, and an irresistible accent. Oh, and he cooks.

Lucas offers to let Rosie stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing. And then he proposes an outrageous experiment to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: He’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly, online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s time in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough, for either her or her deadline.

Blog Tour | Review: A Blossom at Midnight (The Scented Court #1) by A.L. Knorr

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Title: A Blossom at Midnight
Author: A.L. Knorr
Series: The Scented Court #1
Publication Date: January 2022
Genres: Young Adult, Epic Fantasy
Format: eBook, Paperback, Hardcover
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository | Indiebound | Blackwell’s
Add on Goodreads!
Rating: ★★★★

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One earns a coveted place among royalty. Another is imprisoned by her betrothed, while the third is exiled until he can prove his worth. Can these three fae prevent a war?

Dreaming of escaping her simple country life and tired of keeping her winged familiars a secret, half-fae Jessica finds herself swept into a breathtaking world of an elite retinue of fae performers known as the Calyx. As she learns to master her abilities, Jess is expected to entertain at glittering balls in the richest kingdom in Ivryndi, alongside far more experienced and beautiful flora fae. She is sworn to secrecy as she discovers the source of their wealth–the perfumes that royals travel from far-flung and exotic kingdoms to possess. As her exciting new life—and magic—blossoms, Jess learns that her mother has been keeping a secret of her own, one that changes everything.

Rejection has left fae courtier Laec wallowing in wine and disdainful of what he sees in the mirror. When Queen Elphame offers him a foreign commission, he jumps at the chance for a fresh start, but when he meets a beautiful and mysterious stranger on the road, he soon learns that healing his heart may inflame the very trouble his queen sent him to prevent.

Beautiful and eligible Çifta believes in the importance of duty. Wishing to please her father, she agrees to marry a powerful unseelie prince. But when she discovers his cold heart and attempts to break the engagement, she suddenly finds herself in chains. Alone and trapped in a damp fortress, she cannot see a way out.

When a visit to another realm sparks a dark turn of events, it sets these three fae on a collision course. Will they wilt under pressure or become a thorny threat to evil?

Welcome to the continent of Ivryndi, where flora and fauna magic reign, and an unseelie prince with a mysterious power threatens it all. If you love stories steeped in the beauty of nature, slow-burn romance, and endearing characters (including a whole cast of insects and mammals) you’ll never forget, enter the dreamy otherworld of A Blossom at Midnight. At over 500 pages, this title delivers an epic-length fantasy experience by an award-winning author.

Review: King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1) by Ana Huang

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King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1) by Ana Huang
Published 8 December 2022 by Piatkus
RRP AUD $22.99
★★★★★

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She’s the wife he never wanted…and the weakness he never saw coming.

Ruthless. Meticulous. Arrogant. 

Dante Russo thrives on control, both personally and professionally.

The billionaire CEO never planned to marry—
until the threat of blackmail forces him into an engagement with a woman he barely knows.

Vivian Lau, jewelry heiress and daughter of his newest enemy.

It doesn’t matter how beautiful or charming she is. He’ll do everything in his power to destroy the evidence and their betrothal.  

There’s only one problem: now that he has her…he can’t bring himself to let her go.

***
Elegant. Ambitious. Well-mannered.

Vivian Lau is the perfect daughter and her family’s ticket into the highest echelons of high society.

Marrying a blue-blooded Russo means opening doors that would otherwise remain closed to her new-money family.

While the rude, elusive Dante isn’t her idea of a dream partner, she agrees to their arranged marriage out of duty. 

Craving his touch was never part of the plan. 

Neither was the worst thing she could possibly do: fall in love with her future husband.

Review: If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang

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If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang
Published 3 November 2022 by HQ Young Adult US
RRP AUD $19.99
★★★★★

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Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student in a sea of uber-wealthy classmates. But she has a plan: be top in the class, attend a prestigious university, secure a killer job, and finally lift her family out of poverty.

Then her parents drop a bomb — they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship. But that’s the least of Alice’s problems, because she has started uncontrollably turning invisible. As in completely, physically invisible.

Alice realises there’s an upside to her strange new power — unparalleled access to the secrets of China’s most rich and influential teens. Soon, Alice has a new plan: offer her invisibility services to find out what her classmates want to know — for a price.

But between balancing schoolwork, a growing relationship with academic-rival-turned-business-partner Henry, and stealing secrets, things start to fall through the cracks. As the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if helping her family is worth losing her conscience — or even her life.