Where has the summer gone? I can’t believe it’s already time for another haul post – thankfully this one is significantly smaller than June’s. I’m really proud of myself, while I hauled a few books, I actually only bought ONE in July. Meaning, I spent my money only once, in thirty-one days on a book. All the books, besides one, came into my possession either through Books for Trade on Twitter, or through a subscription box and one I acquired as a birthday gift! After buying and acquiring so many books last month, I’m glad I only added 8 to my ever-growing library in July.
Call It What You Want – Brigid Kemmerer
UK Paperback
This one shouldn’t surprise you. If Brigid has a new book out, I will buy every copy I can. This is more for collection purposes and just supporting a friend!
When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.
Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.
When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship…
The Cursed Sea – Lauren DeStefano
Hardcover
I’m excited to have this book! I read The Glass Spare recently (here’s my review) and loved it and was dying I didn’t have the second one to the duology. My brother and his girlfriend got me this as a birthday present and I cannot wait to dive in!
Wilhemina Heidle, the exiled princess of Northern Arrod, the girl thought dead by her family and friends, must return home. The only way to save Loom, the cursed prince of the Southern Isles, is to revisit the castle and discover the origins of her own curse.
But home is very different from how she left it—Wil’s unstable elder brother is now king, leading a war against the Southern Isles. And the rest of her family must reckon with the truth of what happened to lead to Wil’s exile. With time running out, Wil must navigate the dangerous secrets within her family if she’s going to find the truth and save the boy she loves.
When she’s finally able to reach Pahn, nothing goes as planned, and suddenly Wil and her allies are fighting for their lives, again and again, as the Southern King is out to punish his children for all they’ve done. Traveling across cursed seas and treacherous kingdoms, Wil, Loom—and his ruthless sister Espel—have to work to make peace with their own struggles if they hope to secure the future of their kingdoms.
But when their plans lead them right back to evil marveler Pahn, and to Baren—who is more dangerous than ever—can Wil and her friends outsmart their enemies, this time, for good?
Amid Stars and Darkness & Between Frost and Fury – Chani Lynn Feener
ARC / ARC
These have been on my radar for a while now and was able to snag them in a trade. I’m always interested in new to me sci-fi books as I don’t think there are enough of them. I don’t know when I’ll get to these, but my plan is hopefully before the year is out – at least for the first one!
Delaney’s entire world is thrown into chaos after she is mistaken for Lissa Olena, an alien princess hiding out on Earth in order to escape an arranged marriage.
Kidnapped by the princess’s head bodyguard, Ruckus, and imprisoned in an alien palace, Delaney is forced to impersonate the princess until Olena can be found. If she fails, it will lead to an alien war and the eventual enslavement of the entire human race.
No pressure or anything.
Factor in Trystan, the princess’s terrifying betrothed who is intent on unraveling all her secrets, and her own growing feelings for Ruckus, and Delaney is in way over her head.
Rosemarked – Livia Blackburne
ARC
This is another book that has been on my radar for a while, and like the previous two, when I saw I was able to grab them during a trade, I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve heard good things about this book, so I’m excited that I can finally read it!
A healer who cannot be healed . . .
When Zivah falls prey to the deadly rose plague, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she fully succumbs. Now she’s destined to live her last days in isolation, cut off from her people and unable to practice her art—until a threat to her village creates a need that only she can fill.
A soldier shattered by war . . .
Broken by torture at the hands of the Amparan Empire, Dineas thirsts for revenge against his captors. Now escaped and reunited with his tribe, he’ll do anything to free them from Amparan rule—even if it means undertaking a plan that risks not only his life but his very self.
Thrust together on a high-stakes mission to spy on the capital, the two couldn’t be more different: Zivah, deeply committed to her vow of healing, and Dineas, yearning for vengeance. But as they grow closer, they must find common ground to protect those they love. And amidst the constant fear of discovery, the two grapple with a mutual attraction that could break both of their carefully guarded hearts.
A Whole New World – Liz Braswell
Paperback
I got this through a trade for two reasons – my friend absolutely loves Aladdin, so I figured she’d like this one, and after having read Part of Your World this year (review here) I’ve been wanting to give the other Twisted Tales a read!
What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?
When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.
What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.
Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson
FairyLoot Exclusive Edition
GR / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Yes, I have two physical copies of this book, and I downloaded the audiobook. I absolutely loved this book and kind of wish there was more to the story. I want more. I always want more when it comes to her books, and I’m so glad I read this so close to release, as the hype hasn’t died yet!
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
The King – Jennifer L. Armentrout
1,001 Nights Paperback
This is the second novella follow-up to her Wicked Trilogy and I * think * I read The Prince last year after having finished the final book in the trilogy. And I say * think * because it was a year ago, and I do kind of remember having an intense urge of needing this book. Now it’s in my hands, but I’ll probably wait to read it since, I’m still working my way through Jen’s backlist and the Wicked trilogy is on it. This is also the only book I spent money on in July.
As Caden and Brighton’s attraction grows despite the odds stacked against a happily ever after, they must work together to stop an Ancient fae from releasing the Queen, who wants nothing more than to see Caden become the evil Prince once feared by fae and mortals alike.
Writing The Universe 