Happy #BookBirthday! 31 Aug

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book publishing on our lists.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

The bloody plague is finally past, but what fresh horror lies in its wake?

Princess Imogen of Goslind has lived a sheltered life for three years at the boarded-up castle—she and the rest of its inhabitants safe from the bloody mori roja plague that’s ravaged the kingdom. But Princess Imogen has a secret, and as King Stuart descends further into madness, it’s at great risk of being revealed. Rations dwindle each day, and unhappy murmurings threaten to crack the facade of the years-long charade being played within the castle walls.

Nico Mott once enjoyed a comfortable life of status, but the plague took everyone and everything from him. If not for the generosity of a nearby lord, Nico may not have survived the mori roja’s aftermath. But does owing Lord Crane his life mean he owes him his silence?

When Lord Crane sends Nico to search for more plague survivors in the castle, Nico collides with a princess who wants to break out. They will each have to navigate the web of lies they’ve woven if they’re going to survive the nightmares that lie ahead.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received SIX books - and we've read THREE of them (and, unusually these days, posted a review on one!)

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

In Between Worlds by Nicola Pierce

In 1849, the Thomas Arbuthnot set sail for Australia.

Onboard were 194 Irish girls.

I heard the emotion in Sarah’s voice as she asked, ‘Will we ever come back?’

‘Come back where?’

‘Home,’ said Sarah. ‘Do you think we will ever see Ireland again?’

Maggie and Sarah are on their way to Australia. Their homes and their lives have been devastated by famine, with death coming to so many. Even when they sought refuge in the workhouse they found horror and heartbreak there.

When the girls are given the chance of a new life on the other side of the world, they know they have to say yes – no matter the price.

On board ship, they are caught in between worlds. How will they find the courage and strength to build new lives in a strange land?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a fraught week here, but with some scrambling and rearranging we still managed to keep to our posting schedule.

Yours From the Tower by Sally Nicholls

Tirzah, Sophia, and Polly are best friends who’ve left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. The year is 1896, and Polly is teaching in an orphanage, Sophia is scouting for a rich husband at the London Season, and Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters buzzing with atmosphere and drama, the friends air their dreams, hopes, frustrations, and romances. Can this trio of very different young women—one industrious, one artful, and one in exile—find happiness and love near the dawn of the Edwardian era?

Dropped! by Alice Kuipers

Dex is dropped onto a deserted tropical island to be a player in a social media competition. Dex is one of six contestants on Dropped! , an internet reality show. He’s glad to escape his real life after being dumped by his girlfriend, Lola, and destroying his social life. He and the other contenders have to spend five days on a deserted island, and the person who gains the most likes and followers will be the winner. The prize is a ton of money and status as an influencer. Keeping people watching is the challenge, and Dex will do whatever it takes. He needs to win―it’s the only way to get Lola and his popularity back. But on the island, away from his ex, he finds himself flirting with the gorgeous and popular Amina. When Dex keeps placing behind Amina, he realizes he has to be more daring to get the engagements he needs. But how extreme will he need to be? And is it worth it to win?

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there are TWO PLUS ONE books on our lists publishing!

People to Follow by Olivia Worley

Ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of being “cancelled” could be their lives.

A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body.

Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars--including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators—it’s about to turn into a nightmare.

When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these nine little influencers find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game…and one of them might be pulling the strings.

With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled—like, literally—before their #1 follower strikes again.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received THREE PLUS ONE books - and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

In New York City, bookseller Cassie Andrews is living an unassuming life when she is given a gift by a favourite customer. It's a book - an unusual book, full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. And at the very front there is a handwritten message to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that any door is every door.

What Cassie is about to discover is that the Book of Doors is a special book that bestows an extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it, and soon she and her best friend Izzy are exploring all that the Book of Doors can do, swept away from their quiet lives by the possibilities of travelling to anywhere they want.

But the Book of Doors is not the only magical book in the world. There are other books that can do wondrous and dreadful things when wielded by dangerous and ruthless individuals - individuals who crave what Cassie now possesses.

Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is, it seems, Drummond Fox. He is a man fleeing his own demons - a man with his own secret library of magical books that he has hidden away in the shadows for safekeeping. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all . . .

Because some doors should never be opened.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! It's terrible weather here, so we are curling up with some lovely books.

Creeping Beauty by Andrea Portes

Bitsy is no one’s ideal princess.

She’s heard it all: that it’s a shame she’s so plain, so lacking in grace. That the best thing for her to do is simply wait (and wait some more), and hope some prince will grant her a happy ending.

Then Bitsy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls down, down, down.

Into a world where cutthroats and con artists are more common than curtsies. Where no one ages and everyone is beautiful. Where an inscrutable evil rests at its core.

A land where Bitsy’s fate and her future are solely in her own hands—and neither are what she expects.

The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre retelling of one of the most beloved fairy tales: where instead of falling asleep to await her prince, this sleeping beauty finally wakes up.

Tag, you're Dead by Kathryn Foxfeld

When teen reality star Anton Frazer unveils his latest stunt - a live-streamed, citywide game of Tag in which the prize is to be one of his live-in acolytes - his fans go wild. The whole world is watching.

The contestants are kitted out with body cams, GPS trackers and pressure sensors that, if activated by a competitor, will send them out of the running. They venture into night-time London to hunt each other down.

Four contestants in particular have alternative motives for being there, secret reasons to want to win despite the risk: money, revenge, obsession, and fame. And one of them will stop at nothing to be the victor at the end of this adrenaline-and-fear fuelled night...

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there are FOUR books on our lists publishing!

Blog tour: L Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future Vol 39

 

The Best New SF & Fantasy of the Year

L. Ron Hubbard; Kevin J. Anderson; S. M. Stirling; Lazarus Chernik; Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Samuel Parr; Spencer Sekulin; L. H. Davis; Devon Bohm; Arthur H. Manners; David Hankins; David K. Henrickson; J. R. Johnson; Elaine Midcoh; Marianne Xenos; Jason Palmatier; and T. J. Knight

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received SEVEN books - and we've read FOUR of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Bear Behind by Sam Copeland and Pippa Curnick

Meet Ivor, a little boy in a big world, who absolutely, categorically, definitely does NOT like any sort of attention. So it’s more than a minor catastrophe for Ivor to discover on his first day of school that he has a great big . . .

BEAR BEHIND!

And as the bumbling bear begins to cause chaos and calamity, Ivor’s hope for a normal first day at school quickly fades . . .

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a good week on the blog, with a #BookBirthday after the last two weeks of not having any!

Double Trouble at the Dead Zoo by Alan Nolan

Dublin, 1859

Bram: Boy seeking adventure (and things to write about)

Molly: Part-time sneak thief and full-time Dublin legend!

When Bram and his best pal Molly meet a lonely boy called Sanjit in Dublin’s Natural History Museum, they can see he needs some friends. So they, along with Molly’s gang, The Sackville Street Spooks, take him under their wing.

Sanjit tells them the tale of the dread (and very dead) pirate, Captain Lamprey and his links to the Museum. Soon the new shipmates find themselves outwitting vagabonds and villains, hot on the trail of a mysterious long-lost treasure … the Rajapur Ruby!

But little do they know that not everyone they come across is who they claim to be!

Where CAN that ruby be?

The Snow Girl by Sophie Anderson and Melissa Castrillon

I wish the snow girl would come to life. Then I would have a friend, a real friend I could trust, and I wouldn't feel so alone.

When Tasha builds a snow girl with her grandpa, all she wants is for her to be real. If only wishes on snow could come true... Then Tasha meets Alyana, a friend made of wishes, starlight, snowfall and magic. But when your best friend is made of winter, what do you do when spring comes?

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book on our lists publishing!

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan (Major spoilers in review)

In this queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do , perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder , the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed.

“Shocking, captivating, and utterly chilling. A delicious thriller that will have you tearing through pages to get to the end, where you won’t be disappointed.” —Jessica Goodman, bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us

Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand.

But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor—she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FIVE books - and we've read FIVE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Name Drop by Susan Lee

When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.

When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.

It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.

As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a pretty quiet week - no #BookBirthdays again, but everything else is as normal!

Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston (mild spoilers in review)

Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work.

The choice is leave the house with nothing or continue in the hope of solving the six interconnecting escape rooms within this house.

Once there, the participants soon discover Puzzle House is far deadlier than it appears, and that making their way through the rooms may be a matter of life and death. Someone is watching their every move, toying with them, turning them against each other. With their lives on the line, they are forced to wonder, is it all just a deadly game created by a gleeful sadist, or something far more sinister?

Lotus by Jennifer Hartmann

To the rest of the world, he was the little boy who went missing on the Fourth of July.

To me, he was everything.

My heart hasn't been the same since he disappeared, but I've learned to build my life around that missing piece.

Twenty-two years later, the last thing I expect is for that missing piece to come back.

His name is Oliver Lynch, and this is his story.

This is our story.

The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore (Major spoilers in review, seriously do not read if you want to be unspoiled, you are officially warned)

Radcliffe Prep. The third most haunted school in the country, where a student disappearance isn't uncommon and no one dares stay in the library after dark. And Este Logano enrolls with the hopes of finding her dead father.

Not literally, of course. She doesn't believe in ghosts. Going to her dad's school just seems like her best hope at figuring out who he was.

But then Este meets Mateo, who is maybe-probably-definitely-a real ghost. And an annoying one at that.

When Mateo frames Este for the theft of a rare book from the library's secret spire and then vanishes, Este will have to track him down or risk being expelled and leaving Radcliffe early just like her father did.

Except following her father's footsteps might be more dangerous than Este ever anticipated. As she investigates the library with its secret passageways, hidden tunnels, and haunted halls, she learns that the student disappearances aren't just myth. And if she isn't careful, she'll be next.

Reminder, there are SPOILERS below this cut, this is your very last warning!

#Bookpost

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received THREE books - and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.