The Friendship Fairies Save the Circus by Lucy Kennedy

The Friendship Fairies – sisters Emme, Holly and Jess – are excited to visit the travelling circus. But when they arrive, everything’s shut up because one of the clowns has lost his smile!

Meanwhile, the fairies’ mum is on another spy mission – to clear an infestation of Kweddies from a local warehouse. The furry creatures are so cute, she can’t resist bringing them home to visit. And that’s when Holly gets an idea ...

Can the Friendship Fairies help put a smile back on Diogo the clown’s face, and get the show back on the road?

Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer

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Some people are Christmas people, but Jill Jacobs is most certainly not. She hasn't been ever since her hometown love broke her heart on Christmas Eve three years ago. After that, Jill moved to L.A. to pursue her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She hasn't been home in years to avoid her ex, but this winter she finds herself back in drab, suburban Illinois for the holidays. After one very hazy night, Jill wakes up to a hometown that's filled with jolly neighbours, covered in pristine white snow, and seasoned with the smell of peppermint. She realises that this is more than just a bad hangover... she's stuck in a Heartfelt movie. One set in her town, starring real people from her life, including her family, her high school crush (uber perfect, owns a bakery, and definitely a Christmas Person), and of course, her ex-handsome as ever and now exclusively clad in plaid flannel. The only way out of this bizarro world is to complete the plot of the movie, including a holiday bake off and a cookie-sweet love story. To get home in time for Christmas, Jill must act out a picture-perfect holiday romance with the one that got away, all while her ex watches on. Fa la la la freaking la....

O'Brien Picture Books

O'Brien are still at it! Here's another two upcoming titles that I'm very excited to see on the shelves. These are going to do really well for Christmas!

Hollow by Taylor Grothe

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When Cassie Davis returns to her hometown in upstate New York, she's eager to mask her new autism diagnosis from her old friends. The group take a backpacking trip together to Hollow Ridge to celebrate her homecoming, but after the first night, Cassie wakes to an abandoned campsite - her friends all gone.

With severe weather approaching, and nearing sensory overload, Cassie meets a boy named Kaleb, who leads her to safety, to a place he calls The Roost - an off-the-grid compound lived in by a group of artists and outcasts. There, with Kaleb, Cassie begins to feel, for the first time in her life, that she can truly be herself.

But as the days pass, strange things start happening. Crows surround them, there are odd noises... But are the dangers in the eerie forest that surrounds them, or inside the Roost itself?

Any Way you Slice It by Meabh McDonnell

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Sieve. Measure. Mix ... Win

For Carrie Quinn, baking isn't just a hobby: it's her future.

Winning the Castlecreagh baking competition and becoming best young pastry chef in the country is the first step towards her dream. But when she and Dara Harte, handsome pastry prodigy and Carrie's sworn nemesis, are both disqualified from the competition, it seems like her future has crumbled.

Unless the pair can find a way to bake together. Can they rise above their rivalry and complicated home lives long enough to succeed? Or are they a disaster waiting to happen, any way you slice it?

Happy #BookBirthday! 25 Sep 2025

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

Revolting by Terry Deary

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Remember, remember the 4th of November... *

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the rich and powerful always look after their own and the working people are always revolting.

But every now and again, a new group actually manages to seize power, and it changes history.

In his new book, Revolting, bestselling Horrible Histories author Terry Deary takes readers on a hilarious and eye-opening journey through some of the most significant rebellions and uprisings that have happened through the ages, including:

• Ivaylo, the Bulgarian swineherd who managed to fight off the Mongols, slay the Tsar and marry his widow in the space of a year.
• Spartacus, a touch more modest in his aims, who mainly wanted to go home to see his mum.
• The two suffragists who posted themselves by Royal Mail to see the prime minister (a first-class idea, though Downing Street declined the parcel).

From the peasants to the slaves, the martyrs to the mutineers, Revolting celebrates the resilience and determination of those who dared to challenge the status quo through the ages.

* Turns out we've been getting the nursery rhyme wrong all these years. An explosive revelation.

The Stolen Child by W B Yeats and Erin Brown

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Written when W.B. Yeats was just twenty-one, 'The Stolen Child' remains one of his most popular poems. At this time, the young poet was inspired by the landscape of County Sligo and the legends and superstitions he heard from the locals there. 'The Stolen Child' tells of a boy taken from his home by the faeries and led 'hand in hand' into their world. With its enchanting refrain - 'Come away, o human child / To the waters and the wild' - and vivid images of magic and nature, it is a pleasure for readers young and old.

Here, the text is accompanied by radiant original art by Erin Brown, each illustration taking us on a visual journey through one of Ireland's most famous poems.

Moonsick by Tom O'Donnell

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High school senior Heidi Mills seemingly has it all: a charming (albeit pompous) boyfriend, loving (wealthy) parents, and an acceptance letter to Harvard (well, not yet). With her mom and stepdad away on vacation, this weekend she’s going to host a rager at their mansion to celebrate the end of high school. There’s just one catch: she has to make it through the next 24 hours. The full moon is coming tonight, and the worldwide werewolf epidemic that’s been running rampant for the past few years will awake those who are infected.

Safe in her home, with its state-of-the-art lockdown system to keep the monsters out, Heidi expects to wait out the night. But when two intruders show up to loot what they think will be an empty home, the life of privilege, ease, and safety that Heidi has taken for granted comes crashing down. Suddenly exposed to the realities of this virus and the way that the rest of the world has been living all this time, Heidi embarks on a dark adventure accompanied by the mysterious--but alluring--boy who broke into her house. But as she fights to survive the underbelly of a post-pandemic society, she'll learn that not all monsters have fangs.

Evil Duck and the Nest of Destiny by Chris Judge

Long ago, the ancient inhabitants of Planet Duck created three magical objects to protect their world – the Egg of Time, the Feather of Fortune and the Nest of Destiny. Individually, they each bring great power to their owner, but when all three are brought together they become the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, and Evil Duck has been searching for these items ever since he found out about them. Foiled with the Feather of Fortune, he’s now on the trail of the Nest of Destiny … and he’s teamed up with popstar Ed Quackers with the promise of making him the most famous popstar EVER! Can Eddie and Flo stop Evil Duck and his minions once again, before it’s too late?

Tastes like Candy by Jessica Lacy

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Everyone at Pritchett High wants an invitation to the Senior Scavenge, and this year, Violet Warren and her friends are the lucky ones. Eight girls will break into the Poison Apple Carnival for a nighttime scavenger hunt - a school tradition to welcome the best and brightest into their senior year.

But warm welcomes turn into gory goodbyes as the scavenger hunters become the hunted. One by one, Violet's friends are viciously murdered by a mysterious masked figure running loose through the carnival grounds. As she watches her friends die in a series of increasingly bizarre attacks, she must fight to survive while trying to uncover the killer's sinister motive.

Can Violet survive this roller coaster ride from hell?

Or will her head end up on a cotton candy pike?

Body of Water by Adam Godfrey

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Don't let the water drag you down...

It's been six years since Glen Masters lost his wife in a tragic accident. In hopes of reconnecting with his grieving teenage daughter, Lauren, he decides to take her on a road trip through the Appalachian mountains, where he has fond memories of their past as a family. But what was supposed to be a quick diner pit stop suddenly transforms into a nightmare when armed men stumble in, ranting about a mysterious and deadly "living water" that attacked several people up the road. The story the men spin seems to be the rantings of drunken lunatics, but soon Glen, his daughter, and the other diners find themselves hostages to both the gunmen and the inexplicably terrifying entity.

Because there's truly something wrong with the water, and it has no mercy.

Panic grows as the diners play witness to a nature-defying being that seeks only to swallow everything in its path. With help nowhere in sight, the group of strangers must work together to devise an escape, and ultimately, Glen will have to face his worst fears to reconcile with the past or risk losing everything.

No Escape by M A Bennett

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Estranged twins Mabel and Kai each receive an unexpected invitation to stay for a week at their grandfather's Parisian chateau. Neither remember meeting their grandfather, and neither had any idea that he was still alive.

The author of a notoriously difficult puzzle book, their grandfather is bed bound and dying. His last wish? For Mabel and Kai to solve it. The prize: unimaginable riches. The catch? They are trapped in the house until one of them wins ... or dies trying.

Their only other hope for escape is a mysterious student who has been working for their grandfather and seems to have eyes for both twins. But the walls are closing in and the contest takes darker and darker turns towards the supernatural. In this deadly game, there can only be one winner.

O'Brien Picture Books

Tis the season! O'Brien have released some beautiful new picture books, and I'm here to run through a few of them and give you some idea what they're like. Hint, these would make great presents!

I Killed the King by Rebecca Mix and Andrea Hannah

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After a decade of war, the kingdoms of Avendell and Istellia have finally agreed to peace. As nobles and magic-wielders from both countries arrive at remote Castle Avendell for an historic, all-night masquerade to celebrate, King Costis summons an unlikely group to his chambers: the crown prince, his Istellian bride-to-be, his personal guard, a wild beast tamer, and the palace’s questionable new healer. But before Costis can reveal why he has gathered them, the castle goes dark.

When the lights come back, the king is dead—murdered with the princess’s knife, in a weak spot only his guard knew of, and with venom from one of the beast tamer’s monsters lacing the blade.

With no clear killer—and everyone a suspect—they make a risky pact: tell no one until the treaty is signed. But when a winter storm seals everyone inside, and someone aware of the king's untimely death begins to pick off guests one by one, the six suspects must work together to discover who killed the king . . . before one of them is next.

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller

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There's a shortage of men in the kingdom of Amarra. After a failed rebellion against the matriarchy, most noblemen in the country are dead. Now the women of Amarra must obtain their husbands (should they want one) by kidnapping them from other kingdoms.

Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne, is determined to prove her worth by kidnapping a husband. And not just any husband. To outmaneuver her treacherous cousin, she needs the best. Fortunately, the second-born prince of their greatest enemy is widely known for both his looks and his sweet, docile temperament. He's the perfect choice to secure her claim to the throne.

Sanos, heir to the Kingdom of Brutus, has nothing but contempt for the idea of a society run by women. Trained from birth to fight, lead, and follow in his father's overbearing footsteps, his path has always been set. Until he takes his younger brother's place in a drunken prank and finds himself kidnapped, carted off to the Amarran Palace, and informed that he is to become the husband of Queen Potential Olerra. Sanos needs to escape before anyone learns his real identity, but the more he gets to know his captor, the less sure he is of what he truly wants.

A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford

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Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father’s shoppe hasn’t sold anything magical in decades, and it’s only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon’s teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools’ gold.

Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow’s fakes into exactly what they’re purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri’s help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.

Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.

Desperate to keep her father's shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer's assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector's quest for the rarest magical object in the world—a quest that risks almost-certain death—she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.

Happy #BookBirthday! 11 Sep 2025

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

The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller

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Chrysantha Stathos has won.

By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful airheaded girl, she has become a wealthy duchess. And, once her elderly husband dies, she will have all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted.

Or so she thought.

A man claiming to be the estranged grandson of Chrysantha’s lecherous late husband has turned up to steal her inheritance. To make matters worse, her little sister is going to be queen and is rubbing it in her face.

Chrysantha decides that the only thing to do is upstage Alessandra at her own wedding. And as for this grandson, he has to go. Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive with mysterious powers . . . No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

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They still haven't found the body of the first and only boy who broke Alessandra's heart—and they never will. Since then, all of her relationships have been purely physical. And now at eighteen years old, Alessandra is ready for more. The plan is simple:

1. Make the king fall in love with her.

2. Get him to marry her.

3. Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

It's no small task, but Alessandra wants a kingdom and is going to do everything within her power to get it. She knows the freshly crowned Shadow King will be her toughest target yet. Shrouded in a mysterious power, no one is allowed to touch him.

But, as forces combine to try and keep Alessandra from earning the king's heart, she wonders if perhaps she's already lost her own.

🖤✨ Girls Who Grab Power ✨🖤

Theme Week Preview Post

Whether it’s through velvet-lined manipulation, artifact-driven chaos, or righteous fury, one thing’s for certain: these girls aren’t waiting to be chosen. They’re choosing themselves.

This week on the blog, I’m diving into a quartet of fantasy stories that ask one burning question:
What happens when girls go after power - and won’t let go?

🔥 On the Throne or in the Shadows:

We’ll start with The Shadows Between Us and The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller - two sister stories where ambition wears silk, and seduction is just another weapon in the arsenal. Think court politics, deadly charmers, and heroines who smile sweetly while sharpening their knives.

🧵 Magic, Mischief & Mayhem:

Then we’re shifting gears with A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford - a standalone full of magical artifacts, sisterly bonds, and unexpected consequences. It’s the whimsical wild card of the week, but don’t be fooled - power comes in many forms, and not all of them are polite.

⚔️ Fury Isn’t Just a Word:

Finally, we end with What Fury Brings - Levenseller’s latest, and a departure from her signature court drama. Here, the focus sharpens on gender, justice, and the brutal cost of truth. The politics may be different, but the stakes? Just as deadly.

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Whether you love ambitious heroines, twisted courts, magical MacGuffins, or watching the patriarchy burn (with style), you’ll find something to devour this week.

💬 Come for the power plays. Stay for the betrayals, banter, and a tarot card or two.

🃏 #GirlsWhoGrabPower starts tomorrow!

Pastures New by Clare Balding

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Sometimes home is where you least expect it...

Alex has perfected the art of dodging responsibility during her almost 40 years - until an unexpected letter turns her life upside down.

She's inherited a crumbling sheep farm in wildest, wettest Wales. This was not her life plan. Not at all.

Now, her closest companion is a stubborn Welsh terrier, she's speed-reading The Idiot's Guide to Farming, and her arrival has set the village gossip mill spinning. With the farm near collapse and its community now relying on her, Alex sets out to uncover the truth behind her mysterious inheritance. Then she can finally get back to the carefree life she thought she wanted.

But as secrets surface, Alex finds her heart pulling her in a direction she never saw coming.

Will she pack her bags - or has she landed exactly where she's meant to be?

A Fellowship of Games and Fables by J Penner

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From cold rivalry to hot cocoa and warm hearts. The third in a heartwarming cozy fantasy series by J. Penner.

Jez, a grumpy Fennex, wants nothing to do with the cold, snow or bustling winter games descending on the charming town of Adenashire. She’d rather curl up for a nap. But a drunken boast lands her smack in the middle of the festivities and, even worse, fake dating her friend, Taenya, a woodland elf.

Plagued by chronic fatigue and past heartbreak, Jez has long guarded her heart. Not to mention she has a secret she’d rather not share. Yet, Taenya’s warmth and patience begin to melt her icy exterior. Together, the two women tackle challenges—from ice sculpting to scavenger hunts—and their pretend relationship sparks genuine feelings.

With the unwavering support of her friends, and amidst the cozy, festive cheer of winter, Jez discovers that love and acceptance are within reach, even for those who would rather hibernate in the shadows.

Happy #BookBirthday! 4 Sep 25

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

A Fellowship of Librarians and Dragons by J Penner

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Spilling the tea has never been so cozy... The second in a heartwarming cozy fantasy series by J. Penner.

In the quaint town of Adenashire, Doli Butterbuckle, a people-pleasing sunshine dwarf, is content with her simple tea magic and circle of friends. It's true she's never quite lived up to family expectations, but life is just fine—until her parents arrive with an inherited dragon egg and a charming gargoyle harboring a secret stroll into her life.

As Doli grapples with her newfound responsibility and discovers a long hidden side of herself, she must face an overbearing family, a sinister plot, and a mischievous dragon that refuses to stay out of trouble.

But with the help of her loyal friends and newfound love, Doli embarks on a heartwarming adventure, revealing that embracing her true self is the most enchanting path of all.

A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner

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She doesn't need to have magic in order to be magic.

In the heart of Adenashire, where elvish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, human baker Arleta Starstone works twice as hard at perfecting her unique blend of baking with apothecary herbs.

So, when her orc neighbour (and biggest fan) secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Langheim Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma.

Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, she'll need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.

Though Arleta may not yet believe in herself, she makes her way to Langheim - with the help of a very attractive woodland elf - and competes.

On this journey of mouthwatering pastries, self-discovery, heartwarming friendships and potential romance, Arleta will have to decide whether winning the Baking Battle is the true prize after all. But win or lose: her adventure is only beginning...

Escape to Adenashire for a charming cosy fantasy where every twist is a treat and every turn a step closer to home.