Happy “where’d all my money go?” new release Tuesday, everyone!
As you know, the most exciting day of the week in this community is the day that follows the one we all dread (Mondays for the nope) and today we’re going to highlight some of the new books chipping away at our bank accounts — but each one is so worth it.
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon is the much anticipated prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree.
Nash Morgan was always known as the good Morgan brother, with a smile and a wink for everyone. But now, this chief of police is recovering from being shot and his Southern charm has been overshadowed by panic attacks and nightmares. He feels like a broody shell of the man he once was. Nash isn’t about to let anyone in his life know he’s struggling. But his new next-door neighbor, smart and sexy Lina, sees his shadows. As a rule, she’s not a fan of physical contact unless she initiates it, but for some reason Nash’s touch is different. He feels it too. The physical connection between them is incendiary, grounding him and making her wonder if exploring it is worth the risk.
Too bad Lina’s got secrets of her own, and if Nash finds out the real reason she’s in town, he’ll never forgive her. Besides, she doesn’t do relationships. Ever. A hot, short-term fling with a local cop? Absolutely. Sign her up. A relationship with a man who expects her to plant roots? No freaking way. Once she gets what she’s after, she has no intention of sticking around. But Knockemout has a way of getting under people’s skin. And once Nash decides to make Lina his, he’s not about to be dissuaded…even if it means facing the danger that nearly killed him.
Title : Things We Hide From The Light Author : Lucy Score Series : Knockemout #2 Format : Physical Page Count : 580 Genre : Contemporary Romance Publisher : Hodder Books Release Date : February 21, 2023
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 5 star review
Headlines: Baggage in the middle Chemistry trumps baggage Giggling one minute, tearing up the next
Things We Hide From The Light was one of those rare reads that had me in love by a few chapters. I had a sense I was going to love the book front to back; and I did. Knockemout only gets better in my opinion, with Nash and Lina taking the spotlight and owning it.
If you were interested in Nash in book one (how could you not be), you’ll be surprised to find him somewhat changed in this book. I didn’t spend that much time thinking about Lina in the first installment but she owned the pages of this one. Lina was strong, determined and thrived on independence to a fault. The walls these two had to climb were pretty huge and the pages just melted away through their story.
There was a mystery and high stakes going on in the background; it had me worrying throughout for these characters and it got pretty tense towards the end. The culmination had me a mushy, leaky-faced mess but it was so worth the emotional ride.
There was plenty of the other beloved Knockemout characters in book two, so if you’re needing more Knox and Naomi or want to be invested ready for book three, Lucian and Sloane have you covered. This series truly makes found family the heart of everything, connecting the dots with the blood ties too.
“You take away the dark, the cold. And you remind me what it’s like to want to be here.”
A brand-new novella from the New York Times bestseller of Divergent
A thrilling, profoundly moving science fiction retelling of the Greek tragedy Antigone filled with inevitable doom, heart-break and one final act of courage.
Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.
Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.
But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.
Title : Arch-Conspirator Author : Veronica Roth Format : eARC Page Count : 128 Genre : Dystopian Retelling Publisher : Titan Books Release Date : February 22, 2023
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★.5
Micky’s 4.5 star review
Headlines: Greek tragedy retelling Dytopian patriarchy Female power
I ate this novella up in an evening and my thoughts are still on it afterwards. This was a completely full and satisfying story for its 128 pages. I really enjoyed the way Roth told this story in a pass-the-parcel POV keeping a totally coherent narrative voice and perspective of the story. Antigone was the central character, but those around her, good and bad were utterly compelling.
The story of Antigone, her siblings and her parents’ legacy was told in a dystopian earth, an earth that had many shades of familiarity but with a patriarchal dictator at its head. Females were precious for their uterus and therefore disempowered. There was a lot to unpack ethically interwoven into the fast pace of the story.
These characters were mostly shades of grey but with one much darker than the others. I liked seeing Antigone trembling with a sense of anarchy. Some characters really surprised me and the plot was tightly constructed.
I couldn’t put this novella down and I can see the tale staying with me; it’s memorable. I love a shorter story that packs all the punches.
“Sometimes I just stare into the future and don’t like anything I see.”
In this gorgeous and haunting fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she’s pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems.
Grace has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. The elegance of the dance seemed transcendent to an immigrant child of the working poor, and so, when she is orphaned, it is to the ballet that she flees.
Years later, Grace is on the verge of becoming the company’s new prima ballerina – though she is beginning to realise that achieving her long-held dream may not be the triumph she once envisioned. Then Grace attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa, and realises that the world may not be as small or constricted as she had come to fear.
But who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master’s secrets, she discovers that there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.
Title : Nocturne Author : Alyssa Wees Format : Physical ARC Page Count : 240 Genre : Fantasy Publisher : DelRey UK Release Date : February 21, 2023
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 4 star review
Headlines: Little bird and the beast The veil between worlds Darkly delicious
I saw this book being likened to beauty and the beast and phantom of the opera, having read it, I can see these themes but Nocturne is truly its own story. It was a book full of mystery, twists and turns eroded by darkness and fog. I really enjoyed the dark vibe, occasional horrorish vision and twisted tale it evoked.
The main character, Grace was an orphan of sorts, having experienced life of familial tragedy in the 1930s hardships of Chicago. Grace was a ballerina in a struggling dance company. However, this wasn’t only Chicago, there was a foggy veil between two worlds. That otherworldly place was sometimes scary but it became familiar and a place Grace came to want to exist in.
The other main character was the Master, her patron at the dance company. He was a mysterious, unseen character, in a private box at the theatre, spons0ring Grace for an unknown reason. How this story and relationship played out made me trepidatious for Grace but I came to settle into how things evolved. I hated the house and I didn’t trust the Master’s assistant.
Things got pretty messed up through a unique storyline as the two worlds collided and enmeshed. I couldn’t put the second half of the book down. This isn’t a neatly tied up story but there’s a cleverness and authenticity in where this tale ends.
Once upon a time, Monroe Sinclair was Brodan Adair’s best friend, but now he’s a stranger and one of Hollywood’s leading men…
It took Monroe Sinclair eighteen years to return home to Ardnoch after a fateful night that devastated her friendship with Brodan Adair. She fled her unrequited love for him, as well as her difficult family life, and tried not to look behind her. Only a daughter’s guilt could lure her back to the Highlands and the assumption that Brodan Adair rarely ever sets foot in their hometown. She can handle seeing the rest of the Adairs so long as she can avoid her ex-best friend and the only man she’s ever loved.
Nothing is more important to Brodan than family, and only his demons have the power to keep him from them. For years, acting was something he was lucky enough to be good at, yet it wasn’t his priority—Ardnoch and his siblings were. But when a ghost from his past returned out of the blue, Brodan tried to outrun its haunting, taking him further and further from home. When exhaustion finally forces him back to the family fold, the last thing he wants is to encounter another ghost. But that’s exactly what Monroe Sinclair has been to him.
When a promise to his nephew obliges Brodan to work with Monroe, it forces them to face their past. The explosive connection that has always existed between them resurrects truths long buried. Yet, just when they might be on the brink of a second chance, the ghost from Brodan’s past finally catches up to him and threatens not just their happiness, but their very lives.
Title : Only You Author : Samantha Young Series : Adair Family #5 Format : e-ARC Page Count : Genre : Romantic Suspense Publisher : Self-published Release Date : February 21, 2023
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ .5
Micky’s 4.5 star review
Headlines: Heartaches and longings Friendships that don’t last Suspenseful surprises
While I wasn’t ready for this to be the last book in this series, I devoured it because I have loved this series front to back. These stories are full of hard-fought connections and always with some suspense (sometimes rather dramatic).
Brodan was a tough sell as a main character. He was unforgiving, arrogant and hurtful…but only with Monroe which kind of made it worse. He’d show his heart and care to others then treated Monroe terribly. How on earth did the author pull this around? Well, all I can say is that Monroe, her story and her character sustained me through the dislike of Brodan until he could show a better side.
Monroe’s story was especially compelling. Her past and present were one big trial of limping through life while being battered by events. I really liked her and I enjoyed the walls she erected. These two were something of a slow burn in connection but earlier in other feelings. They definitely had all the elements of chemistry going on. The story was satisfying with a suspenseful twist from a direction I didn’t see which I appreciated.
Not ready to let the Adairs and this setting go? I am pleased after some minor sleuthing that the off-shoot series book one Beyond The Thistles starts with characters we’ve already met here and I liked them.
Thank you to the author for the review copy; this is my honest opinion.
Happy “where’d all my money go?” new release Tuesday, everyone!
As you know, the most exciting day of the week in this community is the day that follows the one we all dread (Mondays for the nope) and today we’re going to highlight some of the new books chipping away at our bank accounts — but each one is so worth it.
Only You by Samantha Young is book five in the Adair Family series. This book is Brodan Adair’s turn.
Murder at Haven’s Rockby Kelley Armstrong kicks off a new series with some familiar faces from the Rockton series. If you’re into mysteries and murder set in the Yukon, this is the world for you.
Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is a dark fantasy set in historical Chicago featuring a ballerina and her mysterious patron.
The Strangest Forms by Gregory Ashe is a YA mystery featuring the descendent of Sherlock Holmes from this prolific author and you can get yours hands on it on February 24, 2023.
Are there any titles out today you’re excited for? Let us know in the comments below!
New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton Novels had one of the most unique towns in crime fiction. Murder at Haven’s Rock is a spinoff, a fresh start… with a few new dangers that threaten everything before it even begins.
Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0
Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.
There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town’s construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.
Title : Murder at Haven’s Rock Author : Kelley Armstrong Format : eARC Page Count : 352 Genre : contemporary / mystery thriller Publisher : Minotaur Books Release Date : February 21, 2023
Reviewer : Hollis Rating : ★ ★
Hollis’ 2 star review
As much as I was looking forward to a fresh start for this spinoff series, while still featuring both characters and a similar setting to the original series, this felt a liiiiittle too samesies for my liking. I’m worried I have to maybe call time of death on this one even after only one book (even if, technically, the other series makes it more like book eight).
In this post-Rockton existence, Casey and Eric are trying to build a new home, with a similar purpose but less corrupt bureaucracy, but before they can even get their town finished, their residents installed, two workers have gone missing. Along the way there’s an unexpected dead woman to deal with, a miner and associated claims to navigate, and a new set of locals who will undoubtably be trouble for Haven’s Rock’s future.
This didn’t do anything wrong. There was no particularly heinous addition to the cast. We had a good red herring or two along the way to solving things. But.. neither did this feel like it added anything new. We just have different scenery and less hierarchy to contend with. Equally, the familiar faces felt fairly cardboard-y which certainly didn’t help with my overall feelings about wanting more time with them.
I may push on but this was not the exciting fresh take I expected it to be. But, you know, your mileage may vary if all you wanted was to not say goodbye to the main characters of series one.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
One bookshop. Fifty-one rules. Three women who break them all.
1950. Bloomsbury Books on London’s Lamb’s Conduit Street has resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the manager’s unbreakable rules. But after the turmoil of war in Europe, the world is changing and the women in the shop have plans.
The brilliant and stylish Vivien Lowry, still grieving her fiancé who was killed in action, has a long list of grievances, the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the head of fiction.
Loyal Grace Perkins is torn between duty and dreams of her own while struggling to support her family following her husband’s breakdown.
Fiercely bright Evie Stone was one of the first female Cambridge students to earn a degree, but was denied an academic position in favour of a less accomplished male rival. Now she plans to remake her own future.
As these Bloomsbury Girls interact with literary figures of the time among them Daphne du Maurier, Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien, Grace and Evie plot out a richer and more rewarding future.
Title : Bloomsbury Girls Author : Natalie Jenner Format : Paperback Page Count : 431 Genre : Historical Publisher : Allison & Busby Release Date : February 16, 2023
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 4 star review
Headlines: Delightfully book-centric Gender power struggles Empowering and hopeful
Bloomsbury Girls was a totally immersive read. Set in the 1950 in London, the impact of WW2 was still being felt. Rationing was coming to an end, the UK was opening up in a societal way and women were finding their voice in their own lives and those around them. However, nothing about this read was heavy, I found it light, easy and I really enjoyed it.
The story was set around Bloomsbury Books (bookshop) which piqued my interest straight away, not only that, it was set in a time of many famous authors and publishers. This book was name-drop central but authentically so. I loved seeing a glimpse of Du Maurier, mentions of Orwell and other writers. The focus of this book was a trio of women working at the bookshop, all very different but equally likeable. The rules of the shop were really something…
I loved Vivien’s spiky and fearless personna, Eve was shrouded in secrets but Grace’s humble and unassuming personality and circumstances was the one that I liked most. There was so much going on for each of these women. Feminism was a key theme in this book but seeing that emerge in a very personal way for each was different to how we sometimes see this.
The male characters were also engaging, I really liked Lord Baskin and Ash. The other men gave me serious side eye but that made for interesting reading.
This historical bookish read is so worth your time. The era is engrossing and the bookish context up any bookworm’s street.
Ilona Andrews invites you back to the #1 New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels series in this exciting new long novella featuring Kate, Curran and Conlan, some familiar faces, some new friends, and all the special brand of chaos they create!
Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan have left Atlanta, vowing to keep a low profile, and are settling into a new city and new house…but some things never change! Magical mayhem is about to erupt when Kate undertakes the rescue of a kidnapped youth, while Curran guards the homefront.
It should be a simple retrieval, but with monsters on land and sea, Kate’s got her work cut out for her. Still, she’s never let her blade dull or her purpose falter. And that low profile? It’s about to wash away with the raging tides!
Title : Magic Tides Author : Ilona Andrews Series : Kate Daniels – Wilmington Years (book one) Format : eBook (overdrive) Page Count : 163 Genre : urban fantasy / paranormal romance Publisher : NYLA Release Date : January 17, 2023
Headlines: Bliss being back with Kate and Co Family life under the radar Kate saves the day
The library hold arrived and I DEVOURED this up like a feast. How I have missed Kate Daniels and Curran (and Conlan). This was like being with old friends, with magic, gore, beasts and slime thrown in and I couldn’t be happier about it.
This series starts on the foundation of the previous series with a note of feminism woven throughout. That is, Kate goes off to save the world and Curran says ‘okay honey’. He’s a supporter, he worries about her, sure but there’s no masochistic psueo-protective bull shit we see so much in these kinds of PNR/UF shifter series. There’s no big feminist flag flying but Kate, Curran and others are all signed up to their own equality act and I love it. I realise I’ve gone off topic here, but oh well.
The story was strong, I liked Kate’s poor attempt of lying low and her mission to save some kids. She’s epic in battle and strategy as ever and the whole thing kept me hooked. I’d like to see some Julie if poss, even though she has her own series and I look forward to seeing the ex-consort and her beast lord make a hash of the HEA.
I would just have liked it to be longer. Please can we have a full book next? Pretty please!
Hollis’ 4 star review
Elle oh elle at Kate and Curran a) thinking they could ever lay low and b) that we were anywhere near finished with them. Though maybe that second point is more to the author duo than the characters but still! It applies.
In fact, the whole way through I was more or less on Keelan’s team. He knows the real deal, he knows what was up. IYKYK.
This was a fun “little” (snort, the acknowledgements at the end) reunion with Kate, Curran, and Conlan, and it was a delight from start to finish. Gone are the days that Kate has any doubt in her abilities and when the need arises she kisses her honey and off she goes and Curran doesn’t blink an eye. But nor is he off the hook for magical mayhem funtimes, thankfully. There is equal opportunity for asskicking for one and all in this family. And yes, that includes the eight year old.
Also, that one particular cameo. Even if it was just a phone call. I’m dying for more from that series. And Julie’s series. Every series. IA can’t stop, we won’t let them stop, I just need more more more.
I don’t really think this review has to be any longer than this because if you’re a fan, you’ve probably already read it. And if you’ve yet to start (why, why haven’t you started), it’ll either mean nothing to you or be spoilers. But suffice it to say there is clearly so much more still to be explored and discovered about this world, including the complicated mythology and worldbuilding and all the politics that go along with it. I sense something a’brewing. Which is great news because of the aforementioned lack of stopping I want from these two. But with book two already announced for June.. thankfully they seem to know what’s up.
The only downside to this book is the fact that I now want to reread the entire series. Again. Damnit.
A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
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.
Title : The Last Tale of the Flower Bride Author : Roshani Chokshi Narrator : Steve West Format : Hardcover/Audiobook / ARC Page Count : 304 Genre : Fantasy / gothic romance Publisher : Hodderscape / William Morrow Release Date : February 14, 2023
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was an utterly intriguing story full of otherworldly insinuations. It started with a relationship between Indigo and a man who became her significant other. He never really quite knew Indigo and so he longed for her secrets…that became a runaway train of suspense.
The story was told in some past and present and it tracked Indigo’s friendship with Azure during their teenage years. This past and present worked really well and each time the narrative switched I got swept up in that phase of time.
Did I like Indigo? I’m not sure, I did like the man of the piece and I did like Azure and some of the side characters. Despite the foreshadowing, that ending blew me away and I closed the book with a wow feeling and a sense of completion.
The writing in this piece is evocative, sometimes through a mist. The narrative was alluring, sensual but also twisty with an underlying evil at times. I loved the experience with this book and I think fans of A Dowry of Blood will love this.
If you’re an audio fan, Steve West narrates this absolutely brilliantly and brings such atmosphere.
Thank you to Hodderscape for the review copies.
Hollis’ 4 star review
When I first started reading this, I did not expect to be here, writing a review with a high rating and, dare I say, recommending it.
Initially, I found this hard to get into. The writing felt suffocating, constraining, and I could not get a read on the stylistic choice when compared to the setting. Not quite present day but not so many years in the past, either. It didn’t suit; felt ill-fitting and forced. But then the narrative started to reveal itself to be a bit magical, or wanting magic, steeped in whimsy and stories, mystery; much like our narrator himself. Who was he? Who was Indigo? What would they eventually be to each other? Did I even care?
The story, like most gothics, seemed shrouded in secrets and the unknown. Both characters carried some of this with them but only for one did it seem.. sinister. Unnatural. Somehow Chokshi made Indigo a character you didn’t want to watch but still couldn’t look away from. Or at least that was what I got from her.
Soon enough I had forgotten those early stumbles with the writing. I loved all the various fairytales that were brought up. I was enthralled by the glimpses of the past. Truthfully, other than for the big climax of reveals, I could’ve done without the adult timeline and stayed in the past. The strangeness of it all was just so fascinating. Uncomfortable. Captivating. Moreso by all the unknowable elements at play — was it real? Was it imagined? Who can say. But it’s that big finish that reframes so much of what we think we know early on. And the half can’t exist without the whole. Some of those reveals are heartbreaking. Traumatic. Others, surprising. Definitely foreshadowed. But still really well done (except the thing with the knife, that’s a bit of a head scratcher). In fact, it’s all that unveiled knowledge which makes me think this might actually be better on reread.
Having said that, I think best to go into this one without knowing much more than the vibes. Let this one take you by surprise. But maybe give it a sample first and see if the writing is something you can handle. That might be the biggest hurdle for readers to enjoy this one. But if you’ve read this author before, it won’t be a surprise.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 