#BookReview: The Rising Tide (Elevation #2) by Helen Brain

Synopsis: Ebba is back, and she’s starting the learn the rules of the game. But what – and who – will she have to sacrifice to fulfill the den Eeden prophecy and save the world from the Second Calamity? The second book in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral Trilogy.

Sixteen-year-old Ebba den Eeden is dealing with all the typical teenage things: first boyfriends, mean girls, overbearing aunts – and, of course, navigating the political schemes of a murderous dictator, running a farm to feed an entire city, preventing the genocide of 2,000 teenagers trapped inside South Africa’s famous Table Mountain, and saving the world from another apocalypse by reuniting four ancient amulets with the help of her ghostly ancestors. Just another day for a den Eeden! In The Thousand Steps, we met Ebba, a red-headed mixed-race teen with a mysterious birthmark who spent sixteen years underground when nuclear war caused massive sea level rise and flooded her home city of Cape Town. Now a second apocalypse is on the way, and according to an old family prophecy, Ebba is the only one with power to stop it. With Hal imprisoned, the Colony running out of food, Micah off leading the Resistance with a gorgeous new sidekick, and the Second “Calamity” only days away, Ebba must listen to her instincts, even if it means destroying the things she holds most dear. Who can she trust to help take down General de Groot and find the missing amulets – and who will betray her? In the second installment of Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral trilogy, Ebba will learn the impossible decisions – and great sacrifice – that sometimes come with destiny. A dystopian fantasy that plays out on the shores of South Africa, for lovers of Akata Witch and Children of Blood and Bone.

#ReleaseBoost for Hidden While In Sight by Amber Warden @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Hidden While In Sight

Series: Wicked Defenders #1

Author: Amber Warden

Genre: Dark Romance

Tropes: Mafia, Hurt/Comfort

Obsessive Hero/Stalker Vibes

Release Date: June 28, 2024

BLURB

Diego digs up dirt for the cartel, dirt they use to ensure business runs smoothly. Only this time, he’s assigned to the perfect rich family with the perfect rich life: a successful lawyer husband, two well-behaved kids, and a trophy wife.

It’s a life someone who grew up in the streets could never have.

But as Diego watches the family, he begins to notice things. There’s a nervousness to the children. The wife has an obsessive focus on maintaining her body. And tension rises every time the husband comes home.

Until one explosive night when it becomes obvious their life isn’t so perfect.

Diego witnesses what unfolds and becomes more and more fixated on the wife, Hannah. With every revealed secret, his obsession grows. Because she really is perfect to him.

Hannah belongs with Diego. Whether she wants to or not. Her and her kids.

And no one gets to touch what belongs to him.

Wicked Defenders is a series of mafia adjacent standalone romances, containing morally grey heroes that are sweet caregivers to those they love but don’t hold back on anyone else. These stories include dark themes and tragic scenes, but each book ends with an HEA.

#BookReview: What We Devour by Linsey Miller

Synopsis: The story of a girl who must tether herself to a violent ruler to save her crumbling world.

Lorena Adler has a secret—she holds the power of the banished gods, the Noble and the Vile, inside her. She has spent her entire life hiding from the world and her past. She’s content to spend her days as an undertaker in a small town, marry her best friend, Julian, and live an unfulfilling life so long as no one uncovers her true nature.

But when the notoriously bloodthirsty and equally Vile crown prince comes to arrest Julian’s father, he immediately recognizes Lorena for what she is. So she makes a deal—a fair trial for her betrothed’s father in exchange for her service to the crown.

The prince is desperate for her help. He’s spent years trying to repair the weakening Door that holds back the Vile…and he’s losing the battle. As Lorena learns more about the Door and the horrifying price it takes to keep it closed, she’ll have to embrace both parts of herself to survive.

#BookBlitz: Five Hundred Moons by Buzz Anderson @RABTBookTours

 

Historical Fiction

 

 

Spain is on the move in California and in turmoil at home. As wars ensue and revolutions brew, a Gypsy woman flees her captors, a young soldier dreams of a future, and a French naval officer conquers a dancer’s heart.

On the crescent shores of the great bay, a priest battles inner demons while pursuing men’s souls. An Ohlone chief worries. He does not understand his spirit guide, the Lioness. He hopes the shaman’s life force in his young daughter will point the way.

Set during the latter half of the turbulent eighteenth century, Five Hundred Moons spans nearly five decades and two continents as we follow the spirited Carmona family, Alta California’s Ohlone people, the zealous Junípero Serra and his Franciscan missionaries, and the heavy-handed Spanish military that sought to control them all. As richly drawn as the landscapes they inhabit, my characters meet indignity and deprivation with resourcefulness and compassion in the timeless search for where they fit in a world undergoing monumental change.

#BookReview: It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts

Synopsis: ALKA CHELRAZI IS ON A MISSION:
1. Infiltrate Blackwater Academy 
2. Win the Great Game 
3. Burn Wizard society to the ground 

As a child, Alka witnessed her parents' brutal murder at the hands of Wizards before she was taken in by an underground rebel group. 

Now, Alka is deep undercover at the most prestigious school of magic in the Republic: Blackwater Academy, a place where status is everything, where decadent galas end in blood-splattered duels, where every student has their own agenda. To survive, Alka will have to lie, cheat, kill, and use every trick in her spy's toolkit. And for the first time in her life, the fiercely independent Alka will have to make friends in order to recruit the misfits and the outcasts into her motley rebellion. 

But even as she draws closer to victory — to vengeance — she sinks deeper into danger as suspicious professors and murderous rivals seek the traitor in their midst, and dark revelations unravel her resolve. Can Alka destroy the twisted game...without becoming a part of it?

#BookBlitz: Jacob's Melody by Jacqueline Diaz @RABTBookTours

Harmony in Autism

Children's Book

Date Published: May 7, 2024

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

Meet Jacob, an autistic friend who sees the world in his own way. Struggling to make friends, he discovers the power of music- and music therapy- with the help of a caring teacher. In the rhythm of challenges and quiet moments, Jacob finds his unique voice, proving that being different is extraordinary. Join Jacob's musical journey, where every note tells a story of belonging and strength.

#BookReview: My Contrary Mary (Mary #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Synopsis: Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and . . . queens?⠀
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Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she's a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is an Eðian (shapeshifter) in a kingdom where Verities rule. It's a secret that could cost her a head—or a tail.⠀
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Luckily, Mary has a confidant in her betrothed, Francis. But after the king meets a suspicious end, things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis are forced to navigate a viper's nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary's secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll.⠀