#BookReview: Salt Kiss (Lyonesse, #1) by Sierra Simone

Synopsis: Tristan Thomas is lost. After leaving the Army, the young former soldier is in limbo. Until, that is, he’s hired by Mark Trevena, the owner of Lyonesse—DC’s ultra-secret club—to be Mark’s new bodyguard. He’s drawn into Mark’s dark, seductive world of power and desire, and slowly drawn to Mark himself, even though Mark is everything Tristan knows he shouldn’t want: cruel and wicked and shamelessly amoral.

But protecting Mark isn’t Tristan’s only duty: soon, Mark asks him to guard his soon-to-be bride as she travels home from Ireland on Mark’s yacht. Tristan is jealous—and hurt to learn that the object of his obsession is engaged—but the soldier in him is made to obey orders, and he goes to fetch Mark’s bride for him.

Isolde Laurence is nothing like Tristan expected, however. Young, quiet, and sharp, she’s being pushed into this marriage by her family, and as the two travel back to America, Tristan finds himself fascinated with Isolde and the glimpses he gets of the lonely but determined woman behind her reserve. And the fascination is mutual: one night, while sailing under the cold stars, they share a searing kiss.

From there, it’s a fast fall into the forbidden. But in Mark Trevena’s world, the fall is only the beginning…

The Lyonesse trilogy is a queer, kinky contemporary retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, set in the same world as the New Camelot series. Readers will not have to read New Camelot to enjoy Lyonesse, although readers who enjoyed New Camelot will find all the things they loved about the trilogy here: MMF ménage, plenty of the angsty forbidden, and a sweeping retelling of a familiar story.

#BookReview: Love Me Do by @LindseyKelk

Synopsis: She may have given up on love – but she can still play Cupid for somebody else . . .
Lovelorn Brit Phoebe Chapman has barely set foot in her sister’s house in the Hollywood Hills when she’s swept up by lovable Bel, her sister’s personal trainer, and handsome Ren, the sweet and sensitive carpenter next door.

Bel has a head-over-heels crush on Ren but Ren has no idea Bel even exists. Certain that the two of them are meant to be together, Phoebe offers to play matchmaker.

Caught up with writing love letters and an unexpected friendship with a reclusive 82-year-old film star, Phoebe finds herself falling for the real Los Angeles – but is that all she’s falling for?

A feelgood, sunshine-filled, friends-to-lovers romcom, Love Me Do is a dreamy summer love story, perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Emily Henry.

#BookReview: Neverwraith by @ShakirRashaan

Synopsis: Bel-Air meets Cloak & Dagger in this explosive and innovative paranormal debut…

Being the new kid is always gonna land you in it.

Yasir Salah isn’t like the other guys in his new suburban Georgia high school. Lately, he can feel something shifting in his body. Raw. Edgy. Volatile . Like his eyes changing colors and heat on his skin when some alpha bro comes for him…or how just a grin from the gorgeous, untouchable girl at school sends vibrations shooting through his entire body.

Only it’s not just being at a new school. It’s a new town. New rules. New flow . And everything feels way smaller than his ex-life in Atlanta. All he can do is what he’s been keep a low profile and try to not be noticed…and keep his anger under control.

But they never warned him.
They never told him what he is.
And they sure as hell didn’t tell him that the world is gonna need him.

#BookReview: House of Marionne (House of Marionne #1) by J. Elle

Synopsis: Rich is the blood of the chosen

17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins. 

Until someone discovers her dark secret.

To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever. 

If caught, she will be killed.

But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training. 

When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.

Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.

#BookReview: Bonesmith (House of the Dead #1) by Nicki Pau Preto

Synopsis: Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince.

Ready your blade. Defeat the undead.

In the Dominions, the dead linger, violent and unpredictable, unless a bonesmith severs the ghost from its earthly remains. For bonesmith Wren, becoming a valkyr—a ghost-fighting warrior—is a chance to solidify her place in the noble House of Bone and impress her frequently absent father. But when sabotage causes Wren to fail her qualifying trial, she is banished to the Border Wall, the last line of defense against a wasteland called the Breach where the vicious dead roam unchecked.

Determined to reclaim her family’s respect, Wren gets her chance when a House of Gold prince is kidnapped and taken beyond the Wall. To prove she has what it takes to be a valkyr, Wren vows to cross the Breach and rescue the prince. But to do so, she’s forced into an uneasy alliance with one of the kidnappers—a fierce ironsmith called Julian from the exiled House of Iron, the very people who caused the Breach in the first place…and the House of Bone’s sworn enemy.

As they travel, Wren and Julian spend as much time fighting each other as they do the undead, but when they discover there’s more behind the kidnapping than either of them knew, they’ll need to work together to combat the real danger: a dark alliance that is brewing between the living and the undead.

#BookReview: The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade

Synopsis: Sutton going missing is the worst thing to happen to Casey, to their family. She’s trying to help find her sister, but Casey is furious. And she can’t tell anyone about their argument before Sutton disappeared. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Sutton manipulated everyone around her, even stole an heirloom bracelet from Casey. People don’t look for missing Black girls--or half-Black girls--without believing there is an angel to be saved. 

When Sutton reappears, Casey knows she should be relieved. Except Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life, including how she made Casey miserable. There’s something unsettling about the way she wants to spend time with Casey, the way she hums and watches her goldfish swim for hours. 

What happened to Sutton? The more Casey starts uncovering her sister’s secrets, the more questions she has. Did she really know her sister? Why is no one talking about the other girls who have gone missing in their area? And what will it take to uncover the truth?

#BookTour: Food Stamp Warrior by John Deaton @brassknuxbooks @RABTBookTours

Memoir

Date Published: September 19, 2023

Publisher: ‎Brass Knuckle Books

 

JOHN DEATON'S RAW AND COMPELLING MEMOIR

 

From brass knuckle beatdowns on the schoolyard to showdowns with the SEC on the national news, every second of Deaton’s life has been a fight for survival. This book is the raw, wild John Deaton story, straight from the source. Born in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit — the kind of place the city cordoned off with warning signs and growing up surrounded by hustlers, addicts, abusers, gang bangers, and the downtrodden, Deaton became a fighter, with violence becoming second nature.

Deep down however, all he wanted was to escape. Deaton’s escape would take him to law school, where he starved and battled cancer, while his peers lived off privilege. He became a marine, an attorney, a millionaire, a father — but the unexamined trauma from his past haunted and nearly broke him. This memoir is Deaton’s confession, his exorcism, his proclamation to fellow survivors: Don’t give up. Our birth is not our fate. We make our own fate.

Food Stamp Warrior is written with the depth of setting found in Hillbilly Elegy and the razor-sharp, unpretentious voice of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. In a time of uncertainty and economic instability, Deaton's story is one of perseverance, resilience and empowerment.