This might turn out to be a pretty lengthy post, but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet.

For whatever reason I never wrote up my September Book Haul, so I’m going to combine last month and this months – and it’s actually a lengthy list of books – and I’m honestly not really sure how I accumulated so many.

No wonder my bank account hates me right now.

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Let’s start with the books I got in September:

 Part of Your World: A Twisted Tale (Twisted Tales #5) – Liz Braswell

Published: September 4, 2018

Bought: September 2018

What if Ariel had never defeated Ursula? Five years after the (twisted) events of the film, Ariel is now the queen of Atlantica, and Ursula is running Eric’s kingdom on land. But when the sea witch threatens Atlantica once more, Ariel finds herself returning to a world (and a prince) she thought she’d left behind forever.

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Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3) – Kerri Maniscalco

x 2 – Barnes and Noble Special Edition / Signed Edition from an Indie

Published: September 18, 2018

Bought: September 2018

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

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 A Curse so Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer

Published: January 29, 2019

Received via Brigid: September 2018

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

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Now for the books I got in October:

A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #4) – Ransom Riggs

Published: October 2, 2018

Bought: October 2018

Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma, and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in. But carefree days of beach visits and normalling lessons are soon interrupted by a discovery—a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob’s grandfather, Abe.

Clues to Abe’s double-life as a peculiar operative start to emerge, secrets long hidden in plain sight. And Jacob begins to learn about the dangerous legacy he has inherited—truths that were part of him long before he walked into Miss Peregrine’s time loop.

Now, the stakes are higher than ever as Jacob and his friends are thrust into the untamed landscape of American peculiardom—a world with few ymbrynes, or rules—that none of them understand. New wonders, and dangers, await in this brilliant next chapter for Miss Peregrine’s peculiar children. Their story is again illustrated throughout by haunting vintage photographs, but with a striking addition for this all-new, multi-era American adventure—full color.

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Grim Lovelies (Grim Lovelies #1) – Megan Shepherd

Published: October 2, 2018

Bought: October 2018

Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.

Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies is an epic and glittering YA fantasy. Prepare to be spellbound by the world of Grim Lovelies, where secrets have been long buried, friends can become enemies, and everything—especially humanity—comes at a price.

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Furyborn (Empirium #1) – Claire Legrand

Published: August 2, 2018

Bought: October 2018

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable–until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire’s heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world–and of each other.

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Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) – Sarah J Maas

x 3 – Target Special Edition / Barnes and Noble Special Edition / Books-A-Million Special Edition

Published: October 23, 2018

Bought: October 2018

Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…

With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.

As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

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Give the Dark My Love (Give the Dark My Love #1) – Beth Revis

Published: September 25, 2018

Bought: October 2018

When seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her home in the rural, northern territories of Lunar Island to attend the prestigious Yugen Academy, she has only one goal in mind: learn the trade of medicinal alchemy. A scholarship student matriculating with the children of Lunar Island’s wealthiest and most powerful families, Nedra doesn’t quite fit in with the other kids at Yugen, who all look down on her. 

All, except for Greggori “Grey” Astor. Grey is immediately taken by the brilliant and stubborn Nedra, who he notices is especially invested in her studies. And that’s for a good reason: a deadly plague has been sweeping through the North, and it’s making its way toward the cities. With her family’s life–and the lives of all of Lunar Island’s citizens–on the line, Nedra is determined to find a cure for the plague. 

Grey and Nedra continue to grow closer, but as the sickness spreads and the body count rises, Nedra becomes desperate to find a cure. Soon, she finds herself diving into alchemy’s most dangerous corners–and when she turns to the most forbidden practice of all, necromancy, even Grey might not be able to pull her from the darkness.

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Contagion (Contagion #1) – Erin Bowman

Published: July 24, 2018

Received via #booksfortrade: October 2018

 It got in us
After receiving an urgent SOS from a work detail on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is dispatched to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.
Most are dead.
But when the crew arrives, they find an abandoned site, littered with rotten food, discarded weapons…and dead bodies.
Don’t set foot here again.
As they try to piece together who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

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Flashtide (Flashfall #2) – Jenny Moyer

Published: November 14, 2018

Received via #booksfortrade: October 2018

Orion has survived the tunnels of Outpost Five, filled with mutant creatures and dangers around every bend. She has traversed the cordons, exposed to the radiation of the flash curtain and hunted by forces that want her stopped, dead or alive. Now, with Dram by her side, she has made it to the safety of the mountain provinces, where free Conjurors live and practice their craft of manipulating matter.

But Orion’s story is far from over.

With the effects of the flashfall spreading and the might of the protected city of Alara looming, Orion must travel into the hands of her enemies once again. Heart-pounding action and adventure await in this sequel to Flashfall.

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Lucky in Love – Kasie West

Published: July 25, 2018

Received via #booksfortrade: October 2018

Can’t buy me love…

Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—

She wins!

In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.

Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?

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Second Star (The Neverland Chronicles) – J.M. Sullivan

Published: March 5, 2019

Received via Netgalley: October 2018

Wendy Darling worked her entire life to rise through the ranks of the prestigious Londonierre Brigade. Now as a Captain, she has everything she’s always wanted, including a ship and crew of her own. But when the Brigade receives a strange transmission from the legendary James Hooke, lost a hundred years earlier in uncharted space and presumed dead, Wendy is willing to risk it all to rescue her hero. She races to the planet known only as Neverland; her mission to find the long-lost crew and bring them home.

But there is more to Neverland than meets the eye, and more to Hooke than what was written in history books. When Wendy crash lands on the ominous planet, she quickly discovers Neverland’s dark secret; a malevolent being known as The Shadow that’s looking for a host body to escape its eternal prison. To fulfill her mission, Wendy must decide whether to trust the dashing Hooke or the mysterious Fleet mechanic who goes by the name of Pan–and she has to decide quickly…

Before the darkness consumes them all.

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Outrun the Wind – Elizabeth Tammi

Published: November 27, 2018

Received via Netgalley: October 2018

The Huntresses of Artemis must obey two rules: never disobey the goddess, and never fall in love. After being rescued from a harrowing life as an Oracle of Delphi, Kahina is glad to be a part of the Hunt; living among a group of female warriors gives her a chance to reclaim her strength, even while her prophetic powers linger. But when a routine mission goes awry, Kahina breaks the first rule in order to save the legendary huntress Atalanta. 

To earn back Artemis’s favor, Kahina must complete a dangerous task in the kingdom of Arkadia— where the king’s daughter is revealed to be none other than Atalanta. Still reeling from her disastrous quest and her father’s insistence on marriage, Atalanta isn’t sure what to make of Kahina. As her connection to Atalanta deepens, Kahina finds herself in danger of breaking Artemis’ second rule.

She helps Atalanta devise a dangerous game to avoid marriage, and word spreads throughout Greece, attracting suitors willing to tempt fate to go up against Atalanta in a race for her hand. But when the men responsible for both the girls’ dark pasts arrive, the game turns deadly.

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The Revoltuion of Jack Frost – K.M. Robinson

Published: November 6, 2018

Received via Netgalley: October 2018

 No one inside the snow globe knows that Morozoko Industries is controlling their weather, testing them to form a stronger race that can survive the fall out from the bombs being dropped in the outside world—all they know is that they must survive the harsh Winter that lasts a month and use the few days of Spring, Summer, and Fall to gather enough supplies to survive.

When the seasons start shifting, Genesis and her boyfriend, Jack, know something is going on. As their team begins to find technology that they don’t have access to inside their snow globe of a world, it begins to look more and more like one of their own is working against them.

Genesis soon discovers Morozoko Industries is to blame, but when a foreign enemy tries to destroy their weather program to make sure their destructive life-altering bombs succeed in destroying the outside world, their only chance is to shut down the machine that is spinning out of control and save the lives of everyone inside the bunker–at any cost.

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Phew, that was a long haul. Now onto the short Wrap Up for October!

I didn’t end up getting to Escaping from Houdini unfortunately, but soon! I only read three books this month, and November might not be a great reading month as well, with NaNoWriMo starting on Thursday. But I am happy with what I read this past month!

A Curse so Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer – 5/5

ARC Finished – October 9, 2018

(See the September section of the Book Haul for synopsis)

I haven’t yet written my review for this book, I’m still collection my emotions about it, but know this, that I absolutely loved this book. It’s one of my favorite Beauty and the Beast adaptations. Harper was a fantastic character and pretty bad ass. Grey and Rhen need all the hugs in the world, and I cannot wait for the second book!

A full spoiler-free review will be coming soon!

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Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) – Sarah J. Maas – 4/5

UK Paperback Finished – October 14, 2018

Published: August 15, 2013

 Crowned by Evil.
Bound by Duty.
Divided by Love.

Celaena Sardothien, royal assassin, is the King of Adarlan’s deadliest weapon. She must win her freedom through his enemies’ blood – but she cannot bear to kill for the crown. And every death Celaena fakes, every lie she tells, put those she loves at risk.

Torn between her two protectors – a captain and a prince – and battling a dark force far greater than the king, Celaena must decide what she will fight for: her liberty, her heart or the fate of a kingdom…

It’s been a long time since I read this book – since 2013 – and I remembered none of it. It’s so fun re-reading this series and falling in love with it all over again. Knowing what happens up to Tower of Dawn it’s easier to seed the foreshadowing now, and it amazes me.

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Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) Sarah J. Maas – 4/5

UK Paperback Finished: October 21, 2018

Published: September 11, 2014

 

Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can’t bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back…

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king – for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

One word, ROWAN.

Yeah, I know. He’s not very nice to her, and she’s not very nice to him, but I still love them together. I flew through this book, and since I haven’t read it since its release in 2014, it was like reading it for the first time.

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I’ve started Queen of Shadows, so I’m about half way through my re-read of the ToG series. I really need to finish so I can start Kingdom of Ash because people online can be jerks about spoiling highly anticipated books, and I. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. Spoiled. For this book. So, realistically if I read anything in November it will be the ToG series.

Finally, I reached the end of this post! I guess, I didn’t really keep it short. I tried and failed. The wordcount I’m looking at right now, is pretty high, but surprisingly this isn’t my longest post ever.

Clearly I was pretty liberal with my book spending this month, but I did unhaul some and sell them to a used bookstore near me, so at least I’m a little less than even on the book front.

National Novel Writing Month is about to start (Thursday) and my upload schedule is going to change. I talked a little bit about this in my “Quick and Dirty” post, and I’ll mention it again on Wednesday’s post. On Wednesday, I’m going to be talking about my NaNoWriMo plans/strategy and the WIP I’ll be working on, so keep an eye out for that. But long story short, uploads will be only on Fridays, and they will be Weekly NaNoWriMo wrap-ups on my progress, word count, and I might share some short scenes or lines from my WIP.

Okay, now I’m really done – this post is longer than I anticipated, and if you’ve read through, and made it this far, thank you!

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What is your favorite book you’ve bought/borrowed/received/checked out recently? Let me know down below!

Kingdom of Ash hit shelves today, and I may have bought the three US exclusive copies…I’m just waiting for two of them to be delivered. And as much as I want to pick it up and start reading it, I have to wait. I’m currently re-reading Queen of Shadows and then Empire of Storms and then, I can pick up the finale. Since I read Tower of Dawn not too long ago, I don’t think I need a refresher of it. I definitely don’t want to wait too long to read it – apparently spoilers are already popping up on the internet – not cool.

Like, last page spoilers.

Don’t want to inadvertently come across it. Which means, once I’m done writing this, I’ll be getting back to reading!

So, in honor of Kingdom of Ash’s release, here are some High Fantasy YA recommendations. I’ve read all of these series and can vouch for my love of them. Some of these books I’ve talked about before on this blog, but there is one trilogy that I’ve never mentioned which I loved when I was a young teen.

These are the books that have helped convince and inspire me to try my hand at writing High Fantasy, and I’m so excited!

I’ll put the synopsis for the first book in each series below!

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The Icemark Chronicles – Stuart Hill

The Icemark is a kingdom in grave danger. Its king has been killed in battle, its enemy lies in wait, and its fate rests on the shoulders of one girl. Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, a beautiful princess and an intrepid warrior, must find a way to protect her land from a terrible invasion. She will forge an extraordinary alliance of noble Snow Leopards, ancient Vampires, and ferocious Wolf-folk. She will find unexpected strength in her friendship with a young warlock. And she will lead her allies to victory with her fierce battle cry: “Blood! Blast! And Fire!”

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The Witchlands – Susan Dennard

 In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she’s a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden – lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult’s true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls’ heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

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The Inheritance Cycle – Christopher Paolini

Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders?

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…

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Blade & Rose – Miranda Honfleur

A kingdom in turmoil or the love of her life. Which one will she save?

Elementalist Rielle hasn’t heard from her best friend in far too long. Yet no one at the Tower of Magic seems to care about Olivia’s silence, or the curtain of secrecy surrounding the distant capital. Before Rielle can investigate, she’s assigned a strange new mission: escort a paladin named Jon across the kingdom.

When whispers reveal mercenaries have killed the king, taken the capital, and that no one is coming to help, Rielle can’t leave Olivia in peril. But as infamous mages and deadly assassins hunt Jon, she can’t leave him unprotected either—especially as she finds herself falling for his strength, his passion, and his uncompromising goodness. Her past returns to haunt her, a werewolf stalks their steps, and an ancient evil is gathering, yet the restraints forbidding their love strain and snap one by one.

Saving Olivia and the kingdom means defying orders and sacrificing her every ambition, and could mean losing the man who’s become so much more to her than a mission. Which will she choose: her best friend and the kingdom, or the love of her life?

Dive into a medieval world sensual and dark, full of magic and greed, love and blades, where factions vie for influence and there are no easy choices.

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The Broken Lands – Carrie Summers

The Empire is heartless, but fate is crueler still.

Tainted magic spills from a crack between worlds. Quakes rattle the Atal Empire, opening rifts that split towns in two. As the land shatters and betrayals cleave the Emperor’s court, ancient power awakens in a flame-haired young woman.

Savra, a miner on a remote coast, lives in relative innocence of her Emperor’s savage rule. When she turns seventeen, she expects to be assigned sluice mining as her official Function. Everyone from her home village is a sluicer–unless they turn renegade and fugitive like Savra’s father. But when she’s suddenly torn from her home, turned pawn in the plots of madmen, a chance meeting with a young man provides the first glimpse of her tangled destiny.

For nineteen years, Kostan has been groomed for one thing: ascension to the throne. One of thirteen imperial Scions, he bears a wound that won’t heal until his twenty-first birthday. On that date, only the shape of the Scions’ scars will determine the next Atal Emperor.

Savra secretly fears she carries her father’s rebel blood. Kostan despises everything the Empire stands for. Neither desires a fight, but as the Empire crumbles around them, they stand on opposite sides of a war. Each could be part of Empire’s salvation, if only they could bridge the chasm dividing them.

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Air Awakens Series – Elise Kova

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

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 The Ember Quartet – Sabba Tahir

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

I want to talk about three Fantasy Series that I love and feel are underrated. I found two of these series through Facebook and the third I found scrolling through Amazon. They are all definitely High Fantasy and I often see them compared to Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass Series. While that might be a good selling comparison, each of these series are unique and engaging, and each book keeps me wanting more.

Each of these series has strong, capable female leads that are powerful in their own right. There’s romance, forbidden or otherwise, magic, action and betrayal. While I’m in the middle of two of these three series, each book has made me want the second, third, fourth, etc.

I could keep vaguely talking about the series, but maybe I should name them. Two of them I’ve talked about and reviewed some of the books, while I haven’t really talked about the other one, since it’s been so long since I read it. I’ll be linking Goodreads and inputting the synopsis of the first book in this post. I’ll also link the author’s websites as well.

If you’re looking for high fantasy books that aren’t mainstream, you definitely want to check these out.

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I’m going to start off with Elise Kova’s Air Awakens Series. Elise Kova has become more popular over the last few years, with her newer releases (Wish Quartet and Loom Saga), but I’m talking about her Fantasy debut Air Awakens and the following novels. When I found these books, I bough the first two right away, and I prayed that the first one wouldn’t flop. It didn’t. I remember reading the second one on a flight back from San Antonio and wanting to scream at the ending.

This has absolutely become one of my all time favorite fantasy series, and I’m definitely planning a reread. I love Vhalla and Aldrik so much. I gave the books to my friend and she loved them just as much. They are engaging and tell a compelling story, and holy crap Elise is such a talented writer. These books just leave you wanting more and more. Also the covers are gorgeous.

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

 Books in the series:

Air Awakens

Fire Falling

Tales from the Front (novella)

Earth’s End

Water’s Wrath

Crystal Crowned

 Even more exciting there is a prequel trilogy:

The Crown’s Dog

The Prince’s Rogue

The Farmer’s War

 And finally, just recently Elise revealed that there is going to be a sequel series (or trilogy) called Air Awakens – Vortex Chronicles, which I’m super excited for!

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The next series is Miranda Honfleur’s Blade & Rose Series. Initially I think Facebook showed me an ad for this series, and I probably took a screenshot, but if I remember I ended up finding it again on Amazon. It sounded like a fantasy I would like so I bought it. I didn’t realize that it was basically a brick of a book, and each book get’s significantly longer – the first book is 680 pages long, so be warned. If you’re someone who likes physical copies of books, this series is going to take up substantial space on your shelves and they are heavy to carry around.

I do have a review for Blade & Rose the first book in this series, so I’ll link that here. I really enjoyed the relationship between Jon and Rielle and how they work together. The magic system was a little confusing, but overall this book is just one exciting ride, and I found once I started it, I pretty much didn’t put it down until I finished it.

Then I purchased book 2…which I haven’t gotten to yet. It’s daunting at 742 pages.

I plan on reading the second and third book soon, so I can order book 4 without feeling like a turd for buying the series and not reading it. Also, I love the covers of these books, and I cannot wait to see were Miranda is going to take the series. The ending of book one left me anxious with anticipation.

A kingdom in turmoil or the love of her life. Which one will she save?

Elementalist Rielle hasn’t heard from her best friend in far too long. Yet no one at the Tower of Magic seems to care about Olivia’s silence, or the curtain of secrecy surrounding the distant capital. Before Rielle can investigate, she’s assigned a strange new mission: escort a paladin named Jon across the kingdom.

When whispers reveal mercenaries have killed the king, taken the capital, and that no one is coming to help, Rielle can’t leave Olivia in peril. But as infamous mages and deadly assassins hunt Jon, she can’t leave him unprotected either—especially as she finds herself falling for his strength, his passion, and his uncompromising goodness. Her past returns to haunt her, a werewolf stalks their steps, and an ancient evil is gathering, yet the restraints forbidding their love strain and snap one by one.

Saving Olivia and the kingdom means defying orders and sacrificing her every ambition, and could mean losing the man who’s become so much more to her than a mission. Which will she choose: her best friend and the kingdom, or the love of her life?

Dive into a medieval world sensual and dark, full of magic and greed, love and blades, where factions vie for influence and there are no easy choices.

Books in the series

Winter Wren (novella)

Blade & Rose

Court of Shadows

By Dark Deeds

Queen of the Shining Sea

The Dragon King

Immortelle

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Finally, the last series I want to talk about is Carrie Summer’s The Broken Lands Series. I found the first book in this series Heart of the Empire around the same time I found Blade & Rose and ordered both together. When it arrived at my house I stood in my kitchen and read the first six chapters and I was hooked. I’ve read book two, and holy crap I cannot wait to finish this trilogy with book three.

Carrie Summer’s has many books and many different series, and I’m so glad I found her, because I want to read everything she’s written.

Heart of the Empire is such a great book – review here – and so well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m trying to get all my friends to read it, because I know they’ll like it. Since I do have review for the first two books (book 2 review here) I won’t go into too much detail – feel free to check out the reviews, but Savra does not give up, even when all the odds may be stacked against her, and Kostan constantly strives to be the man he wants to be, even though the world would rather force him to be otherwise.

The Empire is heartless, but fate is crueler still.

Tainted magic spills from a crack between worlds. Quakes rattle the Atal Empire, opening rifts that split towns in two. As the land shatters and betrayals cleave the Emperor’s court, ancient power awakens in a flame-haired young woman.

Savra, a miner on a remote coast, lives in relative innocence of her Emperor’s savage rule. When she turns seventeen, she expects to be assigned sluice mining as her official Function. Everyone from her home village is a sluicer–unless they turn renegade and fugitive like Savra’s father. But when she’s suddenly torn from her home, turned pawn in the plots of madmen, a chance meeting with a young man provides the first glimpse of her tangled destiny.

For nineteen years, Kostan has been groomed for one thing: ascension to the throne. One of thirteen imperial Scions, he bears a wound that won’t heal until his twenty-first birthday. On that date, only the shape of the Scions’ scars will determine the next Atal Emperor.

Savra secretly fears she carries her father’s rebel blood. Kostan despises everything the Empire stands for. Neither desires a fight, but as the Empire crumbles around them, they stand on opposite sides of a war. Each could be part of Empire’s salvation, if only they could bridge the chasm dividing them.

Books in the Series –

Heart of the Empire

Rise of the Storm

Fate of the Drowned

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All of these authors are fantastic writers, who tell fantastic stories. I’m so happy that I can call them some of my favorites, and hopefully I’ve convinced you to check these series out. If you do, I’d love to know your thoughts. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you do.

If you like high fantasy adventures, where the fate of humanity is being fought for, and kick-ass women are fighting to survive and surmounting seemingly insurmountable odds, with magic and romance, then you’ll definitely want to check these books out!

 

 

It was a slow reading month; I’m not sure what happened. I had all these great plans to read so many great books, and nothing happened. Well, very little happened. I read whopping two books. Yep, only two. It was a slow month. I was supposed to be half way through my Throne of Glass series reread, instead I haven’t even started book two.

Most of September was spent working on giving my room a makeover and now my tiny room consists of nothing but books and my bed…okay that’s not entirely true, but my bed does take up a lot of my room space. Don’t get me wrong – I’m excited and happy that I’ve finally gotten a new bed and new shelves, but there is also something bittersweet about it all. Now that I’m probably about 80% done with my room – all major things checked off, October should be a pretty good reading month. That is why I’m actually including a TBR in this post.

I don’t usually like laying out what I’m going to be reading, because I never stick to it, but there are definitely two books that I WILL be reading this month, and I’ll get to those shortly. Anything else I read in October will be up to my mood, or maybe I’ll only read the two, since I gave myself a deadline to get these revisions for my SF WIP done by the end of the month. I lied. I’ve got to reread the whole TOG series before the release of Kingdom of Ash so I better get started on reading. But for the purposes of this TBR, I am only going to list the two I know for a fact I will be reading, and let’s just assume I’ll get TOG done.

On to the two books I read in the month of September.

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Book One:

Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas – 4/5

UK Paperback Finished – September 7, 2018

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her … but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead … quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

It’s been years since I read Throne of Glass, having not read it since it’s release in 2012, and I forgot how much I loved it, and it was nice falling back in love with the story. I also forgot how young the characters felt. It was nice going back to the beginning, and I’m excited and terrified about how Kingdom of Ash is going to wreck me.

 

Book Two:

Damsel – Elana K. Arnold – 3.5/5

ARC Finished – September 17, 2018

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.

However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her. 

I have a whole spoiler free review of this book – here – so I’m not going to go into a lot of details. I enjoyed the story for the plot, but there were some descriptions that didn’t sit well with me. This is definitely not your average YA Fantasy with a dark twist, and I would look at some reviews for this book if you were questioning whether or not it’s for you.

And that’s it for my wrap up!

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Now onto my October TBR – in no particular order.

Book One:

A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer

ARC

Published – January 29, 2019

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

 I’m lucky enough to call Brigid a friend, and she was so sweet to give me the chance to read her upcoming Fantasy early. I’m so excited to start this, and it’s been staring at me since Saturday when it came into my possession, but I told myself that I wasn’t allowed to start it until I’d moved all my books back into my room, and built my bed. Both of those tasks are done, so nothing is stopping me now! I also wanted a few hours uninterrupted because I’m pretty sure once I start reading this Beauty and the Beast adaptation, I won’t put it down until I’m finished. I’m super excited for this book!

 

Book Two:

Escaping From Houdini – Kerri Mansicalco

Hardcover

Published – September 18, 2018

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

I’ve been dying for this book ever since I finished Hunting Prince Dracula last year. I need more Cressworth. I love this series and the characters so much, that the book club I am a part of is reading Stalking Jack the Ripper as this “months” book. I’ve heard from two members so far that they’ve really enjoyed it. The meeting is on October 12, so I will know soon what everyone else thought. I don’t know why I didn’t read this the moment it came out, but I didn’t, and I’m excited to read it now!

And finally, I’m going to call the Throne of Glass Series – Books 2 – 5 (Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn) – though it’s only been a few months since tower of dawn, so I might skip that one since it’s still REALLY fresh in my mind.

That’s my Wrap Up & October TBR!

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As an extra little bonus update:

Every year Baltimore hosts the Baltimore Book Festival in the Inner Harbor, and I’ve gone for the last seven years. While I don’t often venture into Baltimore (not a city person at all) I do enjoy going down for the festival. This year I went to support Brigid who was on a panel with Nisha Sharma, author of My So-Called Bollywood Life – which I bought a copy of and got it signed. It wasn’t like most of the other panels I’ve ever been two, it was actually more of a conversation with Mathew Winner, who does The Children’s Book Podcast.

I was hoping the Podcast was going to be up on his website, but it doesn’t appear to be up yet, but if you’re interested, you should check out the website – https://lgbpodcast.libsyn.com/

 

Overall it was a nice afternoon two be there, and it was nice catching up with Brigid who I hadn’t seen in a while.

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Is anyone else re-reading TOG in preparation for KOA? Which is your favorite book?