I think I did pretty good last month – in the sense that I didn’t go overboard. I’m actually quite proud of myself!
I’m planning on doing a NetGalley Update post and an eBook Haul post – so those aren’t included. I did manage to snag a few eARCs last month, which surprised me. And I did haul quite a few Ice Planet Barbarians books LOL.
But let’s keep this intro on the shorter side, and jump in to what books I hauled last month!
The Splendor – Breeana Shields
ARC / GR
The Splendor isn’t just a glamorous hotel, it’s a magical experience that gives its guests the fantasy fulfillment of their dreams. But The Splendor didn’t make Juliette’s dreams come true. It ruined her life.
After a weeklong stay, Juliette’s sister, Clare, returns from the hotel changed. Her connection to Juliette―the special bond they once shared―has vanished. In a moment of hurt and frustration, Juliette steals their meager savings and visits The Splendor herself.
When she arrives, she’s taken in by the lush and sumptuous hotel. But as she delves more deeply into the mystery of the place, and how they make their illusions work, she grows more and more uneasy. The Splendor has a seedy underbelly, but every time she gets close to discovering something real, she seems to hit a wall.
Like a Love Song – Gabriela Martins
Paperback / GR
Fake boyfriend. Real heartbreak?
Natalie is living her dream: topping the charts and setting records as a Brazilian pop star…until she’s dumped spectacularly on live television. Not only is it humiliating—it could end her career.
Her PR team’s desperate plan? A gorgeous yet oh-so-fake boyfriend. Nati reluctantly agrees, but William is not what she expected. She was hoping for a fierce bad boy—not a soft-hearted British indie film star. While she fights her way back to the top with a sweet and surprisingly swoon-worthy boy on her arm, she starts to fall for William—and realizes that maybe she’s the biggest fake of them all. Can she reclaim her voice and her heart?
Rise Up from the Embers (Set Fire to the Gods #2) – Sarah Raasch & Kristen Simmons
Hardcover & Audiobook / GR
Two gods are dead. The Mother Goddess has returned. War is rising.
Fleeing war-ravaged Deimos, Ash and Madoc sail across the ocean to their only possible allies: the water and plant gods. But when Anathrasa attacks on the way, Ash leaps to the defense—by using a power she didn’t know she had.
When Madoc made the fire and earth gods mortal, he inadvertently transferred their magic to Ash. Now, if Ash can get energeias from the other four gods, she would be powerful enough to end Anathrasa once and for all.
But not all the gods want the Mother Goddess defeated. To stop her, Madoc will have to become the obedient son his mother always wanted, and Ash will have to take a merciless place among the gods.
To defeat an immortal, Ash and Madoc must fight like gods—even if it means sacrificing their humanity.
Glint (The Plated Prisoner #2) – Raven Kennedy
Paperback / GR
For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle. But one night changed everything.
Now I’m here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom’s army, and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it out of this in one piece. They’re marching to battle, and I’m the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war.
At the heart of my fear, my worry, there’s him—Commander Rip.
Known for his brutality on the battlefield, his viciousness is unsurpassed. But I know the truth about what he is.
Fae.
The betrayers. The murderers. The ones who nearly destroyed Orea, wiping out Seventh Kingdom in the process. Rip has power sizzling beneath this skin and glinting spikes down his spine. But his eyes—his eyes are the most compelling of all.
House of Eclipses – Casey L. Bond
Paperback / GR
Capture his heart.
Steal his crown.
Noor is the unwanted, unloved third born of the Aten, chosen vessel of the sun goddess, Sol. While she has no chance at inheriting her father’s title, what she truly longs for is peace from his unrelenting hatred. Hope builds that she may finally be able to claim that reprieve when a missive arrives from the House of the Moon.
The new Lumin, chosen of the moon god, Lumos, seeks to broker peace with the Kingdom of Helios for the first time in ages. He envisions open trade routes and an end to archaic rivalries. His dedication to this cause extends to visions of a union between the two families by marrying one of Aten’s daughters, if one of the matches is a fit.
A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone #2) – Scarlett St. Clair
Paperback / GR
Persephone’s relationship with Hades has gone public and the resulting media storm disrupts her normal life and threatens to expose her as the Goddess of Spring.
Hades, God of the Dead, is burdened by a hellish past that everyone’s eager to expose in an effort to warn Persephone away.
Things only get worse when a horrible tragedy leaves Persephone’s heart in ruin and Hades refusing to help. Desperate, she takes matters into her own hands, striking bargains with severe consequences.
Faced with a side of Hades she never knew and crushing loss, Persephone wonders if she can truly become Hades’ queen.
Gleam (The Plated Prisoner #3) – Raven Kennedy
Paperback / GR
King Midas made me the woman I am today. Notorious. Unattainable. His.
The thing about being confined is that you believe it’s to keep the bad out… Until you realize it’s about keeping you in.
I’m now in a strange kingdom surrounded by liars, with no allies of my own, but I won’t sit idly by and let myself wither. No, there’s something that’s bloomed from the pit of my repression. Something dark. Something angry.
But the last thing I expected was for my anger to call out to him. King Ravinger.
He’s sinister and powerful and entirely too seductive. I’ve learned my lesson with trusting manipulative kings, so why does my chest constrict every time he’s near? I need to tread carefully, or I’m at risk of losing much more than just my freedom.
Starlight (The Starlight Trilogy #1) – Lauren Jade Case
Paperback / GR
Natalia Whitebell wanted her eighteenth birthday to be a simple affair and not for there to be a giant scorpion, a wolf, and a body at her doorstep. But in a blink, it all disappears.
When she finally does get to celebrate with her best friend, there’s gossip from the Island locals about a new family having moved in and of a large dog running wild – but no mention of more.
She thinks she’s going mad. Until she’s attacked in her own home just one day later.
Rescued and taken in by the new family, Natalia discovers the world isn’t so black and white. Stuck in an endless war, there are Monsters and there are Creatures. And she’s one of them.
Unleashing Fire (Fallen Legacies #3) – Julie Hall
Audiobook / GR
The Forsaken hunger for vengeance, leaving Steel and I with no choice but to follow Camiel to the only place strong enough to protect me — Eden, an ancient, hidden city darkened by my family’s secrets.
But Eden isn’t the safe haven I expected, and family runs deeper than blood.
As Thorne grows stronger by the day, his Fallen forces threaten to raze London — and then the world — to cinders. In order to stop him, the entire angelic community has to unite, but ancient feuds and millennia of prejudice put everything at risk.
My heart knows where I belong — fighting besides my loved ones — but I have a secret that could doom them all. There’s a dark power growing inside me, hellish and spiraling beyond my control.
The realms have merged. The darkness calls to me. And there’s only one thing standing in my way… Steel.
Song of the Forever Rains (The Mousai #1) – E.J. Mellow
Audiobook / GR
The Thief Kingdom is a place hidden within the world of Aadlior. Many whisper of its existence, but few have found this place, where magic and pleasure abound. There, the mysterious Thief King reigns supreme with the help of the Mousai, a trio of revered and feared sorceresses.
Larkyra Bassette may be the youngest of the Mousai, but when she sings her voice has the power to slay monsters. When it’s discovered the Duke of Lachlan is siphoning a poisonous drug from the Thief Kingdom and using it to abuse his tenants, Larkyra is offered her first solo mission to stop the duke. Eager to prove herself, Larkyra accepts by posing as the duke’s potential bride. But her plans grow complicated when she finds herself drawn to Lord Darius Mekenna, Lachlan’s rightful heir. Soon she suspects Darius has his own motivations for ridding Lachlan of the corrupt duke. Larkyra and Darius must learn to trust each other if there is to be any hope of saving the people of Lachlan—and themselves.
Of Shadows and Elves (Of Goblin Kings #2) – Emma Hamm
Audiobook / GR
To save the Goblin King, she must risk her life on a journey to the ends of the faerie realm…
Freya couldn’t have known she would destroy the entire faerie court by beating the Goblin King. All she wanted was her sister back, not to imprison the king. But with her sister refusing to return home, Freya is left trapped in her own mess. She has to fix what she broke or the faerie realm will get infinitely more dangerous.
Bring the Goblin King back. Save the people she harmed. And do her best to avoid the temptation of falling into the Goblin King’s arms. Considering the Goblin King is locked away in a magical prison, at least one of her goals may be impossible to achieve…
…unless she’s willing to go through hardships unnumbered.
Heart of Fury (Vampire Royals of New York: Gabriel #2) – Sarah Piper
Audiobook / GR
Vampire prince Gabriel Redthorne knew better than to fall in love with a witch. Jacinda Colburn claimed his heart, then nearly shoved a stake through it. For that, he should end her life—brutally and without remorse.
But with old enemies closing in fast and a dangerous new evil terrorizing New York—an evil only Jacinda can stop—Gabriel has one choice: trust her, or they’re both going down.
Risking his heart again was never part of the plan, but when a sneak attack leaves Jacinda on death’s doorstep, Gabriel knows he’s in too deep to turn back now. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect his little moonflower. To stand by her side as they burn their foes to ash.
Sanctum (Blackwater Pack #1) – Hannah McBride
Audiobook / GR
A survivor on the run
Barely escaping with her life, Skye Markham and her mother flee their sadistic pack and seek sanctuary within Blackwater. Against all odds, Skye tries to create a new life for herself. A life she thought only existed in dreams is now within reach.
An alpha with a pack to protect
Remy Holt has spent years guarding his pack – his family – from threats as the next alpha in line. When the Blackwater pack decides to help the Markhams, Skye becomes one of his own … In more ways than one, if his wolf has anything to say about it.
A bond unlike any other
Enchanting the Elven Mage (Kingdoms of Lore #1) – Alisha Klapheke
Audiobook / GR
Today, Aury learned three things: One, she is the princess. Two, she might be a powerful mage. And three, a brutal mountain elf is on his way to the kingdom for their marriage.
Aury can’t escape her newly revealed royal parents quickly enough. If they think she is going to marry some vicious elven warrior mage, they have another thing coming. They claim she’s a mage too, but she has yet to prove it. She heads to the magic military order to get her rune-marked staff and learn everything she can. If she becomes the weapon they need instead of her not-if-she-can-help-it husband, they’ll send the mountain elf packing, right?
If they don’t, she will.
Filip is certain of three truths: One, he is bound to wed a stubborn mule of a princess. Two, the union will give his people the farmland they desperately need. Three, his nightmare of a bride has wild magic that will probably kill him before their wedding day.
Born at Dawn (Da’Valia Trilogy #1) – Christina Davis
Audiobook / GR
When a heist goes terribly wrong and the binding spell holding 17-year-old Neva’s powers at bay is shattered, the half-human thief knows she’s in trouble.
Neva has always hidden her Da’Valian heritage while working risky jobs to make a name for herself and serving at her family’s tavern, but she won’t be able to hide much longer. She can either risk the safety of those she cares about or seek out her mother’s people to gain control over her emerging powers.
The Da’Valia are beautiful, brutal creatures created by the god of war, and the austere Da’Valian soldier Astiand reluctantly agrees to take Neva to his clan under his protection. She makes unexpected friends, including the handsome fighter Emiliand, and a new enemy in the clan’s ruthless leader.
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