This is where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

---

✦ BLURB ✦

10:00am: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02am: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03am: The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05am: Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Happy #BookBirthday! 30 Oct 2025

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

The Final Shelter by Rob Ramos

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Former conservation scientist Phoebe Jones is weary of humanity's descent into a dystopian society. When a mysterious silver card arrives with an invitation, Phoebe learns she's been chosen to take shelter in a secret bunker and help rebuild humanity. Skeptical but intrigued, Phoebe begins to investigate.

What catastrophic event are they preparing for?

Why are people already being chosen?

What do they know... that we don't?

The search for answers leads her to fascinating biblical prophecies, clairvoyant predictions, and alarming signs of the end of days, such as earthquakes, a blood-red moon, and broad public disorder. As global tensions rise, Phoebe realizes she must act. However, the journey to the bunker becomes an extreme test of her principles, trust, and faith.

Layered with mystery, suspense, and intrigue, The Final Shelter is a thought-provoking dystopian novel that blends realism with mysticism, culminating in a provocative story that unfolds into a powerful mystery-thriller twist.

Final Cut by Olivia Worley

---

✦ BLURB ✦

When recent high school graduate Hazel Lejeune gets the lead role in a slasher film, it feels like a dream come true. This is her chance to break into the industry, build her reel, and prove to her mom that this "gap year" can turn into a career. So what if it's set in the nothing town of Pine Springs, Louisiana-the same place her father, the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders fifteen years ago? But when Haze arrives on set, she gets much more than she bargained for. The shoot is plagued with suspicious "accidents." Mentions of her dad dot the entire script. And then, a gruesome murder shocks everyone to the core. Now, it's clear there's a real killer on set-one who's determined to finish the film at all costs. But is this merely a copycat, or is the wrong Slasher behind bars? As the body count rises and reality blurs with fiction, Haze must unmask the killer before she becomes a real-life final girl...or before the killer flips the script and makes her the next victim.

Undead and Unwed by Sam Tschida

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Tiffenie may be three hundred years old, but she’s still a hot mess. The vampire is tragically single, works a dead-end job at a blood bank, and spends her nights marathoning Hallmark Channel movies with her cat.

When Tiffenie inherits a fixer-upper home in Valentine, Vermont, thanks to a case of mistaken (okay, stolen) identity, she seizes the chance to get her life back on track. With her newly undead neighbor (it was an accident!) in tow, Tiffenie is determined to live out her holiday rom-com dreams in this picture-perfect town.

But between the mystery of her stolen identity, small-town drama, and the arrival of her insufferable vampire ex-boyfriend Vlad, getting her happily ever after with a hot Christmas tree farmer won’t be easy. To uncover what she truly desires, Tiffenie must embark on a journey of self-acceptance for the first time in her immortal life. Luckily, it’s never too late to start therapy.

Beasts of Prey by Geoff Jones

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Earth has been devastated by a comet.

Just before impact, alien caretakers collected human specimens and placed them in a wildlife preserve on an orbiting starship.

A small group led by Sierra Preston and David Williams escaped, only to find the ruins of Earth inhabited by vicious creatures known as gorgers.

The group returned to the alien ship, determined to convince the caretakers to release the remaining human specimens and help them defeat the gorgers.

​

Unfortunately, the aliens have a different agenda.

Happy #BookBirthday! 23 Oct 2025

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

The Vanished Girl by Natasha Mac A'Bhaird

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Sycamore Hill Boarding School, Donegal, 1963

Clare, Rose and Molly are happy to be back at Sycamore Hill, getting ready for the school musical and training hard at hockey. When new girl Amy joins their class in the middle of term, she's a bit of a puzzle to solve. Amy's vague about her home and is never allowed leave the school grounds with the other girls. Clare wonders if she's a film star or millionaire in disguise!

But then a new nun unexpectedly joins the staff and Clare and friends begin to fear Amy's secret is something darker. Could Sr Eva be there to spy on Amy - or harm her? Who can the girls trust?

Clare, Rose and Molly vow to use their detective skills to get to the bottom of this new mystery before it's too late.

---

Boarding school fun, a mysterious new classmate, and a secret that could change everything 🏫✨

---

Pre-Reading Thoughts
I adored the first book - it captured that Chalet School/Enid Blyton energy so well, with a mix of hockey sticks, midnight snacks, and just enough danger to keep things lively. My hope going in was that book two would keep the charm while upping the mystery.

---

Post-Reading
As I thought…
The tone is spot on: spirited school life with hidden layers of tension. The balance between everyday boarding school routines and the undercurrent of danger is beautifully handled.

It surprised me by…
How much I enjoyed the historical details - slipped in so seamlessly that you don’t realise you’re learning until afterwards. Also, the new nun? Deliciously unsettling.

---

Music Pairing
🎵 Featured Song: “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore (1963 release = era-appropriate girl power anthem)
🎶 Vibe Album: The Best of Dusty Springfield (all 1960s atmosphere with a bittersweet edge)
🎧 Artist Recommendation: The Shangri-Las (teen drama, mystery, and melancholy in perfect harmony)

---

Vibe Check
🎨 Colour palette: Navy blue uniforms, pale stone walls, candlelight yellow
🎶 Soundtrack: Hockey sticks clattering, echoing footsteps in corridors, whispered secrets after lights-out
🍂 Season: Early spring term, crisp and full of restless energy
😌 Mood: Curious, suspicious, adventurous
🌹 Scent: Ink-stained paper, beeswax polish, and the faintest whiff of mystery

---

Tarot Pull
From the Cosy Witch Tarot: The High Priestess 🌙
This card embodies hidden knowledge, intuition, and secrets waiting to be revealed—just like Amy’s mystery at Sycamore Hill. It’s a reminder that not everything is as it seems, and trust your instincts.

---

For Fans Of
📖 The School at the Chalet by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
📺 Call the Midwife (for the 1960s setting, period detail, and quiet shadows under wholesome surfaces)

🃏 The deck had opinions: [King of Wands] — [The girls show wisdom and loyalty towards each other]

🐾

The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs

---

✦ BLURB ✦

A princess desperate to win back the prince who broke her heart follows him to his kingdom's prestigious military academy - and in doing so, falls in love, saves the realm, and continues to look fabulous, in this romantic debut fantasy.

Prince Domhnall and Princess Clia are a perfect royal match - or so everyone says. Until Domhnall ruins everything by refusing to propose.

Heartbroken but determined, Clia makes the perfect plan: Follow Domhnall to Caislean Costa, the military academy he's attending. Show she can protect her kingdom. Secure the betrothal. Sure, the castle has a brutal reputation. But how hard can dueling really be?

Warrior Ronan promised himself he'd never lose his focus. He fought and sacrificed for his place at Caislean Costa, and he has no time for blonde princesses who waltz intro arenas like they're attending a ball. Even if she and her otter-like pet are...well, cute.

He doesn't want to be intrigued by Clia. But her hunger to prove herself is something he understands. He tells himself there's no harm training her. Even if his heart does race around her. Even if Domhnall is his best friend.

But as they say, love is a battlefield - and unfortunately for them all, a very real war is looming on the horizon. It's a fight that will threaten all their kingdoms...and test all their hearts.

Household Lore by Liza Frank

If you’ve ever wondered which windowsill herbs repel the supernatural, which way you should hang up a horseshoe, or whether your dog can talk, crack open this book and take a tour around the beliefs and traditions that lurk under the stairs, inside the cracks and behind every cobweb of your home.

In every culture, folklore is passed down the generations, helping us to protect and maintain our sacred spaces and giving us advice should we accidentally knock a fork off the table or want to dabble in some doorway divination. With each chapter dedicated to a different room in the house, you’ll learn how to navigate your home harmoniously.

• Discover how your roof can predict the future and what to do should a witch decide to land on it.
• Tiptoe into the bedroom and uncover what the ancients had to say about aphrodisiacs and how to escape supernatural interference while asleep.
• Sit down in the dining room and lift the lid on unsavoury indigestion remedies and what the old wives recommended for a hangover.
• From the rafters to the cellar steps, from the garden path to the kitchen cupboard – your home is chock-full of secrets waiting to be revealed

True Friends at Fernside by Sheena Wilkinson

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Fernside House, nestled at the end of a quiet road, is waiting for eighty girls to disturb its holiday peace ...

Cousins Robin and Linnet are back at Fernside and school life is busier than ever - with the animals at Rowanbank, a new science class, netball rivalry and fun in the dorms.

But the end-of-term exams are not the only test for the girls. As the lower fourth face the good and the bad times of growing up and the cancellation of the Christmas Show, a surprise 'new' girl challenges them to understand what it really means to be a true friend at Fernside.

Happy #BookBirthday! 16 Oct 25

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

Making it up as you Go Along by Patricia Forde

Learn how to write stories from Laureate na nÓg (Ireland's children's literature laureate) and bestselling author of The Wordsmith, Patricia Forde.

In this fun and practical illustrated guide, young writers can learn from some of Ireland's most beloved authors, including Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) Catherine Doyle (Twin Crowns), Pádraig Kenny (Stitch) and Derek Landy (Skullduggery Pleasant), and discover how to:

• Find that spark inspiration for your story
• Craft and develop twisty plots
• Create brilliant characters
• Build spectacular new worlds

Also includes imaginative exercises, accessible explanations of writing terms and engaging illustrations by beloved Irish artist Mary Murphy.

The Ravenous Sky by K D Kirchmeier

---

✦ BLURB ✦

In this heart-pounding adventure perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, two teens must venture into the unknown to save humanity from dragon-like monsters.

Thomas and Cassie found hope where the shadow road ended. Now they must forge a future for themselves and their newfound community of people left behind after the blitz ravaged their homes. But the journey ahead is dangerous.

Thomas and Cassie separate, each seeking important clues to the origin of the blitz, while surviving threats at every turn. They must find a way to send the terrifying dragon-like monsters back where they came from. Could answers lie in a mythical world beneath our own?

This post-apocalyptic adventure blends heartfelt friendship with high stakes action in an unforgettable tale of survival against all odds.

Useless Etymology by Jess Zafarris

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Did you know that an "astronaut" is literally a "star sailor," that a thesaurus is, in fact, a "treasure trove" of words, and that someone who is "sinister" is actually just "left-handed"?

Have you ever wondered why English isn't considered a Romance language if 60% of our words are Latin-derived?

Did Shakespeare really invent 1,700 words, and if not, why the heck do we say that he did?

Why is the English language stuffed with so many synonyms?

Let's be real: English can seem pretty bonkers. And, well, sometimes it is. But through thorough thought and a pinch of curiosity, method can be found within the madness of our modern tongue-even within the disparate pronunciation of the words "through," "thorough," and "thought."

Derived from Germanic, Romance, Hellenic, Semitic, African and Native American languages, English contains multitudes. It has been (and continues to be) transformed by war and conquest, art and literature, science and technology, love and hate, wit and whim.

Useless Etymology takes readers on a time-traveling adventure to unlock the beauty, wonder, and absurdity within our everyday words, how they came to be, and the unexpected ways their origins weave a global, cross-cultural labyrinth of meaning.

Filled with fun facts and delightful discoveries, this is an enlightening read for anyone who wants to know more about why the English language works the way that it does.

The Grand Central Cinema Club by Alan Nolan

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Dublin, 1937

At the Grand Central Cinema on O'Connell Street, the children of Dublin watch their Hollywood heroes on the silver screen.

When Sylvie meets tenement boy Jem and his daredevil sister Juno, they bond over their love of movies. But an accident means Juno will miss the latest film at the Grando, so they hatch a plot to hijack the movie reel and do a top-secret private showing instead!

Meanwhile, a sneak thief called The Magpie has his eye on the Grand Central Cinema too. Can Sylvie and Jem revive Juno's ailing spirits by bringing the movies to her? And will they foil The Magpie's feather-brained plan in time?

Happy #BookBirthday! 9 Oct 25

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

Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room by Hugh Bonneville

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Rory Sparkes is a boy with a head full of dreams. He might become a strongman and travel the world with the circus. Or he might try to make it as a cowboy - that would be a fan-tas-tic second best. Although at the moment he'd settle for missing his maths lesson and making his torch work properly.

As he plots to help his best friend, Guy, earn enough money to buy the latest top-of-the-line model boat (so they can set sail for South America), the circus rolls into town and everything spirals out of control. With Guy needing help doing odd jobs for the terrifying Madame Lowe, and with Clare, Rory's annoying older sister, planning a dastardly prank, will Rory's plans ever work out? Let's see ...

Filled with brilliantly funny illustrations from Lorretta Schauer.

The Two Lives of Ema by Julia Pérez Villegas – Silvina Eduardo

Alex knows that his dog Ema loves to eat and is afraid of storms, but he doesn’t know what her life was like before he rescued her.

Who did she live with? When was she born? What was her name? Alex knows that things happened to Ema in her previous life that she’d rather forget, and that in this new life, Alex will help her do just that.

A book about animal respect, unconditional love, and second chances. Put on the magic glasses and discover Ema’s past.

The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis

---

✦ BLURB ✦

When Haden Romero and her rival, Deacon Rex - alongside their bands, including Haden's ex, Cairo - are stranded on their way to a rock festival, she thinks missing the gig is the worst thing that could happen.

She's wrong.

Marooned in treacherous swamplands with no way out, the group stumbles upon an eerie, decaying house. It seems like a safe haven, a place to wait out the storm.

The house, however, isn't just abandoned - it's been waiting for them.

Bodies begin to pile up. The walls start to close in. Twisted secrets come to light. And unless Haden and the others can survive long enough to escape, the house will claim them - forever.

Where the Shadows Hide by Amy Clarkin

---

✦ BLURB ✦

The chill intensified, and Archer opened his eyes to see the candles extinguish one by one …

PSI – Paranormal Surveyance Ireland – are in deep water. When the operators of a luxury cruise ship ask for their help with a series of unexplainable events, Raven and the team are hopeful that this case, for once, won’t endanger their lives.

As they try to blend in with the wealthy passengers, it quickly becomes clear to Davis, Fionn and the others that there is more lurking in the shadows than they've realised. With the eerie encounters escalating and rising tensions threatening to tear the team apart, time is running out for PSI. Can they save the ship – and themselves – before it’s too late?

Last Chance Live! by Helena Haywoode Henry

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Last Chance Live! is the most popular reality show in America-and eighteen-year-old death row inmate Eternity Price's last chance to live. Getting cast on the show could win her clemency preventing her execution... if she can convince the viewing audience she deserves a second chance. The catch? If America doesn't vote for her, she loses the chance to appeal her sentence, and she'll be executed within a week of being eliminated from the show. And since Eternity's been unpopular her whole life, she's terrified America won't pick her. But any chance of getting out of prison and back to her little brother Sincere, no matter how slim, is better than rotting away in her cell.

Eternity never expected to find her first real friends in a reality TV house full of people battling for survival after being convicted of capital crimes, but that's exactly what happens. So when she gets the opportunity to sabotage them and secure her own victory, she has a choice to make: protect the friendships and acceptance she's always longed for at the cost of her own life, or sacrifice her newfound community. Eternity must ultimately decide what forgiveness, family, and freedom mean to her, and how far she'll go to win a game where the stakes are literally life or death.

The House with no Keys by Lindsay Currie

✦ BLURB ✦

When a strange invitation shows up in Sarah's backpack, the Delta's learn that their favorite funhouse, The Delta Game, is about to get some serious competition. The "Mystery Mansion" is opening just miles away and the ominous and cryptic owner has invited Sarah, West, and Hannah to come test it on opening day. It claims to be the biggest and best escape house ever, and based on the photos of gleaming rooms filled with high-tech puzzles, it just might be.

What's more, the kids have been offered a ten-thousand-dollar prize if they escape the house. For some reason, West and Hannah seem very interested in the cash prize, but the three friends are torn because they really don't want to be a walking advertisement for a competitor to The Delta Game. After all, that funhouse changed their lives, Sarah's life especially.

But maybe the only way to keep the funhouse, and their friend William Taters in business, is to accept the invite to this new Mystery Mansion, escape it in record time, and show just how lame and easy it is by comparison. The trio arrive at the mansion on opening day, armed with their "fortune favors the bold" attitude. But they quickly learn that nothing is as it seems . . . and unfortunately this time, not everyone plays fair.

Happy #BookBirthday! 2 Oct 25

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

Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Nobody knows who started the Darkive. It's a database filled with first-hand accounts of strange, unexplained experiences. Ghosts; paranormal entities; weird anomalies. Each one is stored with a bank of evidence to prove the story. Are you ready to dive in?

Adam didn't think his camping trip with his best friend, Sol, could get any worse. Stumbling upon an abandoned ghost town, they find themselves playing a strange game of hide and seek. But who or what is trying to find them? And can Adam stay one step ahead?