Spring/Summer Fling 2020
Last Update! Sorry I missed August because of Pavel 🙁 Of course, updates will continue throughout September because 400 books (90 YA) are being released (Publishing hates us all).
Running the week of March 19th (March 17th releases) through the week of September 7th (September 8th releases) subject to change because… well see above.
For those of you completely new and not just here for the updates, please see the next section for the introduction to this whole she-bang!
Oh as for why there are 400 titles… Yes, September and October are normally heavy months in the publishing world but there is, of course…
….Which has led to changed publication dates, stress, anxiety, and basically the world up-ended.
PLUS!
Sooooooooooooo publishers had already planned to have as much as possible (there are books releasing in November, but not as many as normal) released before November. AND THEN THE PANDEMIC HIT! That slammed a bunch of titles back from their original release date and BAM! You have 400 titles (90 YA) releasing in September. I don’t know the exact number for October, but it isn’t pretty.
Welcome to the Second Annual Spring/Summer Fling (Or first since last year was only summer…)
Screw the virus… no don’t do that… ick. Whether we are stuck inside exploring the great indoors or out and about one thing will never change, we always need books, books and MORE BOOKS! And authors and publishers need us more than ever. So here is the best kick-ass, CNMCC approved guide to spring/summer books…
ALSO! I’d like to note that I had done SO WELL not killing myself in June-August like last year…
and then this happened and publishing dates all changed and KABOOM.
The More Things Change….
What’s the same from last year’s kick ass guide to summer reading, “Summer Fling 2019“
ARCs, ARCs, and More ARCs, Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tours and author interviews
- As always, everything is subject to change, hence the on-going updates (even more so, the way things are in the world)
- This post is home base. I will do my best to update it more regularly with links to everything as it becomes completed.
What’s different?
- EVEN MORE, INCREDIBLE ULTIMATE BLOG TOURS WITH THE WRITE READS and their BBNYA Awards to support Independent Authors
- While this post is home base, I have created an actual Spring/Summer Fling 2020, dedicated PAGE. You can find the link to it at the top of the site:
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- I’m really quite proud of this but it is new so we will see how it goes. That page will have this post, of course, plus all post from the Spring/Summer 2020 category in one dedicated spot! I’m hoping at some point to have one for 2019, but let’s see how this goes, first!
- Expansion!
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- Go Big Or Go Home- If I’m going to do a second year, might as well expand. And so I did! How? Glad you asked…
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- Spring and Summer
- Last year I had two separate posts….Spring Has Sprung.. Get Excited! However, I didn’t go back and connect it with the review links or update it. So, it never got the full attention that the Summer Fling 2019, did. Since I’m a masochist with no life, I figured why not throw them together for one big party! Then again the world is pretty much without a life. So there’s that.
4. Backlist Titles! Because, why not?!
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- And boy has that gotten off to a bang. Haven’t regretted that one bit, so far. I should hit that list more often.
- Then the revenge of the backlist series started and I haven’t regretted that one bit either. Of course I blame Becky. Because she happened. And she has no regrets, either (she is linked all of this post- you would almost think she was co-conspirator or something).
Of course, ONE Thing will NEVER CHANGE…THE MASCOTS!
Back by popular demand from the Summer Fling 2019, and now Governor approved!
The Council of the Ninja Magic Conjuring Cats (CNMCC) return! CNMCC TAG ADDED 7/26 UNDER EXTREME DURESS you thought Liam was charging me through the roof for Pavel, Gomez and his services last summer? You have ALL sent their egos through the roof. But you wanted them, Governor Polis of Colorado approved them, and so you have them.
<DRUM ROLL PLEASE>
CNMCC Cat Executive Officer (CEO) Pavel AKA Floppy Ear
CNMCC Resting Bitch Face (RBF), Talent Agent and Chief Communications Officer (CCO)- Liam
CNMCC The Talent- Gomez “The Bey-Bey” – AKA Why We can’t Have Nice Things
Collectively Known as the Governor approved Council of the Ninja Magical Conjuring Cats (CNMCC):
Spring/summer fling from 2020
For those who weren’t around for the first Summer Fling 2019, I have provided a nifty link, if you want to check it out.
Good Girls Guide to Murder/All Your Twisted Secrets AKA- It’s me not you review…
Summary: Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting. What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill … or else everyone dies.
Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead. As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?
Category/Genre: Young Adult Murder Mystery/High School Thing that is now on the not my genre (in YA anyway) list along with Space Operas. It just isn’t my thing.
Released: March 17, 2020
Publisher: HarperTeen
Girls With Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1)/Girls with Razor Hearts- Suzanne Young – Review of both
Well then. Didn’t this kick off my backlist reads with a BANG. I didn’t plan on getting to my TBR’s this fast but then an ARC of Girls with Razor Hearts landed in my lap.
And thank you very much for warning me. I mean, yes. I knew this book was well regarded. BUT I DIDN’T KNOW. I didn’t know that I shouldn’t eat for the second half of Girls with Sharp Sticks don’t breathe, don’t eat. Just don’t do… anything. I MEAN WHAT THE MESS? And as the title for the review of Girls with Razor Hearts (and Girls with Sharp Sticks, really) indicates, that had me running around like there were fire ants up my ass. So there’s that. And any fears I head about other backlists books not keeping that trend up? Yeah. Well We’ll get to that.
But needless to say… no worries on that front as of yet.
Summary: The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Absent is the difficult math coursework, or the unnecessary sciences or current events. They are obedient young ladies, free from arrogance or defiance. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears.
As Mena and her friends begin to uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations will find out what they are truly capable of. Because some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Horror (I mean not traditional but- come on, man?!)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: March 2019/March 17, 2019
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune –Review Link
‘
Summary:A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy
Published: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #1) by M.R. Carey– Review
Interview with M.R. Carey – Link to INTERVIEW with M.R. Carey
Summary: The first in a gripping new trilogy, The Book of Koli charts the journey of one unforgettable young boy struggling to find his place in a chilling post-apocalyptic world. Perfect for readers of Station Eleven and Annihilation.
Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable world. A world where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly vines and seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will.
Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He knows the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture beyond the walls.
What he doesn’t know is — what happens when you aren’t given a choice?
Category/Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian/Apocalyptic
Released: April 14, 2020 (An Orbit series coming out rather quickly) The second book in the Rampart Trilogy, The Trials of Koli releases in September 15, 2020
Publisher: Orbit Books
The Silence of Bones by June Hur Review Link
Summary: I have a mouth, but I mustn’t speak; Ears, but I mustn’t hear; Eyes, but I mustn’t see.
1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Indentured to the police bureau, she’s been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder of a noblewoman. As they delve deeper into the dead woman’s secrets, Seol forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the inspector. But her loyalty is tested when he becomes the prime suspect, and Seol may be the only one capable of discovering what truly happened on the night of the murder. But in a land where silence and obedience are valued above all else, curiosity can be deadly.
Genre: Young Adult Mystery/Historical/Multi-Cultural & Diversity/Asian
Release Date: April 21, 2020
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Updated with Review: You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce
Summary: Cassandra Tipp is dead…or is she?
After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy–everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie’s infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far).
Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body–just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript. Then again, there are enough bodies in her past–her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother. Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story–but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods–and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare..
Genre: Adult Thriller/Suspense/Psychological/Gothic/Horror
Release Date: April 21, 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Updated with Spotlight–Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova
Summary: Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King’s Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata’s ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King’s Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people. Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred–or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned “hollow” during her time in the palace.
When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez’s top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it. But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom–and end the war that has cost her everything.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Royalty
Release Date: April 28, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Updated with Review: The Split by Sharon Bolton
Summary: No matter how far you run, some secrets will always catch up with you… The remote Antarctic island of South Georgia is about to send off its last boat of the summer – which signifies safety to resident glaciologist Felicity Lloyd. Felicity lives in fear – fear that her ex-husband Freddie will find her, even out here. She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he’s out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won’t give up until he finds her. But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie’s relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her.
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Suspense/International
Release Date: April 28, 2020
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff -Review Link
Aurora Rising Review (The Aurora Cycle #1) Review Link
Do not read the summary for Aurora Burning unless you’ve read Aurora Rising
Summary: First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first. Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces. And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri. Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV. Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Science-Fiction/Action & Adventure
Release Date: May 5th, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Books
Dark Skies by Danielle Jensen (Dark Shores #2 – but not exactly) Review Link
Danielle Jensen Interview-Interview Link
You can read on if you have not read Dark Shores (Review Linked because WHAT A BOOK)
Now the big question- Why don’t you have to read Dark Shores to read Dark Skies? I mean it would be good to do so. Dark Shores is incredible and it is the same world and, you know, context. However, this is not a direct sequel to Dark Shores. See the summary below.
Summary:
A RUNAWAY WITH A HIDDEN PAST
Lydia is a scholar, but books are her downfall when she meddles in the plots of the most powerful man in the Celendor Empire. Her life in danger, she flees west to the far side of the Endless Seas and finds herself entangled in a foreign war where her burgeoning powers are sought by both sides.
A COMMANDER IN DISGRACE
Killian is Marked by the God of War, but his gifts fail him when the realm under the dominion of the Corrupter invades Mudamora. Disgraced, he swears his sword to the kingdom’s only hope: the crown princess. But the choice sees him caught up in a web of political intrigue that will put his oath – and his heart – to the test.
A KINGDOM UNDER SIEGE
With Mudamora falling beneath the armies of the Corrupter, Lydia and Killian strike a bargain to save those they love most—but it is a bargain with unintended and disastrous consequences. Truths are revealed, birthrights claimed, and loyalties questioned—all while a menace deadlier and more far-reaching than they realize sweeps across the world.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Action&Adventure
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: May 5th, 2020
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Review Link
Summary:A desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter find a connection on the high seas in a rich, riveting fantasy set in a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic.
Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.
Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself. Deftly entwining swashbuckling action and Asian folklore in a land dominated by an imperial class, Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s inventive debut novel conjures a diverse cast of characters seeking mastery over their fates while searching for answers to big questions about identity, equality, and love.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Historical
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: May 5th, 2020
Ultimate Write Reads Blog Tour Venators: Legends Rise
Devri Walls Dream Cast Link
Because this is the third book in the Venators series and because it is the third in a three part blog tour for the Write Reads, I’m going to not put the summary for Legends Rise, here (Goodreads is linked above). However, below you can see my review for the first book Venators: Magic Unleashed and the cover reveal for Venators: Legends Rise. Also, an amazing video interview with author, Devri Walls. Once the second round the blog tour is completed for, Venators: Promises Forged (I will have an AMAZING GUEST POST coming from Devri Walls on June 2nd), I will link the review below (same for Venators: Legends Rise). Due to the Pandemic, let’s see how many times I have to say that this summer, there are two separate release dates, as of now. The original release date of May 12th still stands for the audible and e-book. The paperback is not set for release until September, AS OF NOW (as always, that could change).
Links:
Venators (Book #1): Magic Unleashed- Review
Venators (Book #3): Legends Rise – Cover Reveal and Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour Details
Devri Walls DreamCast from Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour for Venators (Book #2): Promises Forged
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: May 12, 2020 Ebook/Audible and September 22, 2020 (Paperback)
Publisher: Brown Books Publishing
House of Dragons (House of Dragons #1) by Jessica Cluess
Review Link
Summary: Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win? When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year, these five outcasts will answer the call….
THE LIAR:Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death. THE SOLDIER:Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again. THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.
THE THIEF:Ajax knows that nothing is free–he must take what he wants. THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Dark Fantasy/Mythical Creatures
Release Date: May 12, 2020
Publisher: Random House
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Review Link
Summary: A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party.
The bride The plus one The best man The wedding planner The bridesmaid The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Category/Genre: Adult Fiction Thriller/Crime
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins/William Morrow
Burn by Patrick Ness
Review Link
Summary: On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he’d hired to help on the farm…
Sarah Dewhurst and her father, outcasts in their little town of Frome, Washington, are forced to hire a dragon to work their farm, something only the poorest of the poor ever have to resort to. The dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye, though. Sarah can’t help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn’t have a soul, but who is seemingly intent on keeping her safe. Because the dragon knows something she doesn’t. He has arrived at the farm with a prophecy on his mind. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents in hot pursuit—and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Monsters
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Publisher: Random House
Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
Buddy Read Review Link
Summary: Les Misérables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris’s criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution.
In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger–the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh–Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city’s dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice–protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Historical
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Books
Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle
*Updated* With Review Link 6/10
*Updated*With Interview Link 6/11
Summary: When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned. At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two. As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Psychological
Release Date: June 9, 2020
Publisher: Park Row Books
The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell
Review Link
Summary: A queer retelling of “Snow White and Rose Red” in which teenage twins battle evil religious extremists to save their loves and their circus family.
Twins Rosie and Ivory have grown up at their ringmaster mother’s knee, and after years on the road, they’re returning to Port End, the closest place to home they know. Yet something has changed in the bustling city: fundamentalist flyers paper the walls and preachers fill the squares, warning of shadows falling over the land. The circus prepares a triumphant homecoming show, full of lights and spectacle that could chase away even the darkest shadow. But during Rosie’s tightrope act, disaster strikes. In this lush, sensuous novel interwoven with themes of social justice and found family, it’s up to Ivory and her magician love—with the help of a dancing bear—to track down an evil priest and save their circus family before it’s too late.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore/Adaptions
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Publisher: Clarion Books
Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay*Review Link Updated 6/8/2020
Summary:It all started with just one little lie. But we all know that it never ends there. Because, of course, one lie leads to another…
Growing up, Jane and Marnie shared everything. They knew the other’s deep-est secrets. They wouldn’t have had it any other way. But when Marnie falls in love, things begin to change. Because Jane has a secret: she loathes Marnie’s wealthy, priggish husband. So when Marnie asks if she likes him, Jane tells her first lie. After all, even best friends keep some things to themselves. If she had been honest, then perhaps her best friend’s husband might still be alive today… For, of course, it’s not the last lie. In fact, it’s only the beginning…
Seven Lies is Jane’s confession of the truth—her truth. Compelling, sophisticated, chilling, it’s a seductive, hypnotic page-turner about the tangled, toxic friendships between women, the dark underbelly of obsession and what we stand to lose in the name of love.
Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell The Legacy of the Mercenary King #1
Review Link
Summary: In this brilliant debut fantasy, a story of secrets, rebellion, and murder are shattering the Hollows, where magic costs memory to use, and only the son of the kingdom’s despised traitor holds the truth.
Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.
In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom’s royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia.
What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it..
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Epic
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Gallery/Saga Press
Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee *Review Link Updated/Posted 6/27*
Summary: Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.
And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life. Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soulguide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.
Genre: Young Adult Dark Epic Fantasy
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Page Street Kids
The Swap by Robyn Harding –*Review Added 6/3
Summary: A tale about the toxic relationship between two couples after a night of sexual shenanigans, and the manipulative teenager with an explosive secret at the center of it all.
Low Morrison is not your average teen. You could blame her hippie parents or her looming height or her dreary, isolated hometown on an island in the Pacific Northwest. But whatever the reason, Low just doesn’t fit in—and neither does Freya, an ethereal beauty and once-famous social media influencer who now owns the local pottery studio. After signing up for a class, Low quickly falls under Freya’s spell. And Freya, buoyed by Low’s adoration, is compelled to share her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Finally, both feel a sense of belonging…that is, until Jamie walks through the studio door. Desperate for a baby, she and her husband have moved to the island hoping that the healthy environment will result in a pregnancy. Freya and Jamie become fast friends, as do their husbands, leaving Low alone once again.
Then one night, after a boozy dinner party, Freya suggests swapping partners. It should have been a harmless fling between consenting adults, one night of debauchery that they would put behind them, but instead, it upends their lives. And provides Low the perfect opportunity to unleash her growing resentment.
Category/Genre: Adult Fiction Thriller/Psychological
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
*A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (Shadow Histories #1) By H.G. Parry*-Review Link Updated 6/20
Summary:
A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a genre-defying story of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world. It is the Age of Enlightenment — of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France, to the weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Historical
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Orbit
The Last Flight By Julie Clark
Review Link
Summary:
Category/Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller/Suspense/Mystery
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
*The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Anderson*Review Link Updated 6/29*
Summary:
This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting.
In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings under a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.
Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Historical/Alternative History/Action Adventure
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power
Review Link
HOLD ON TO YOUR EVERYTHINGS! RORY POWER IS BACK AND SHE IS COMING FOR YOUR EMOTIONS, YOUR NIGHTMARES, YOUR DEDUCTIVE REASONING
AND YOUR BASIC SENSE OF REALITY, REALLY.
Summary: From the author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a new twisty thriller about a girl whose past has always been a mystery–until she decides to return to her mother’s hometown where history has a tendency to repeat itself. Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of.
Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along. But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.
Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there? The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Mystery and Thrillers (they are kiding with this genre- right?) –– I’m going rogue here:
I mean fine… you can leave those- definitely Thriller- but uh- Family Drama? Contemporary Sci-Fi bending into Horror (it is what it is- she’s a force).
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Delacorte Press
*Updated With Review Link Of Crow Rider 7/6*
The Crow Rider (The Storm Crow #2) by Kalyn Josephson (Q&A Link)- Don’t read if you haven’t read The Storm Crow (Review Link)
Summary: Princess Thia, her allies, and her crow, Res, are planning a rebellion to defeat Queen Razel and Illucia once and for all.
Thia must convince the neighboring kingdoms to come to her aid, and Res’s show of strength is the only thing that can help her. But so many obstacles stand in her way. Res excels at his training, until he loses control of his magic, harming Thia in the process. She is also pursued by Prince Ericen, heir to the Illucian throne and the one person she can’t trust but can’t seem to stay away from. As the rebel group prepares for war, Res’s magic grows more unstable. Thia has to decide if she can rely on herself and their bond enough to lead the rebellion and become the crow rider she was meant to be.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Epic/Mythical Creatures
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Unravel the Dusk (Blood of Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim *Review Added 7/6* – Don’t read if you haven’t read Spin the Dawn (Review Link)
Summary: The thrilling sequel to SPIN THE DAWN, a magical series steeped in Chinese culture.
Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.
But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Publications
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay *Review Link Updated 7/10*
Summary: In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva.
But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government’s emergency protocols are faltering.
Dr. Ramola “Rams” Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie’s husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie’s only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child. Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink.
Category/Genre: Adult Thrillers/Psychological I’m adding Horror- Just because- also current social themes
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Publications
All These Monsters (Monsters #1) By Amy Tintera *Review Added 7/10*
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she’s ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance.
When Clara starts training with her teammates, however, she realizes what fighting monsters really means: sore muscles, exhaustion, and worst of all, death. Scrabs are unpredictable, violent, and terrifying. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Action and Adventure
Publisher: HMH Books
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust*Review Link Added July 4th*
Summary:
Category/Genre: Young Adult Dark Fantasy/Fairy Tales & Folklore/Country & Ethnic/Historical/Monsters
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour
Summary: A can’t-put-down, creepy thriller about the daughter of a horror film director who’s not afraid of anything—until she gets to Harrow Lake.
Things I know about Harrow Lake:
1. It’s where my father shot his most disturbing slasher film.
2. There’s something not right about this town.
Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker—she thinks nothing can scare her. But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she’s quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she’s never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father’s most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map—and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away. And there’s someone—or something—stalking her every move. The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola’s got secrets of her own. And if she can’t find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Horror/Thrillers & Suspense/Paranormal, Occult&Supernatural
Release Dates- UK: July 9th/USA: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Dial Books
Knightmare Arcanist by Shami Stovall (Frith Chronicles #1)
Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour- My Blog Tour Dates: Review Link Added- July 16th
Summary:
Magic. Sailing. A murderer among heroes.
Gravedigger Volke Savan wants nothing more than to be like his hero, the legendary magical swashbuckler, Gregory Ruma. First he needs to become an arcanist, someone capable of wielding magic, which requires bonding with a mythical creature. And he’ll take anything—a pegasus, a griffin, a ravenous hydra—maybe even a leviathan, like Ruma.
So when Volke stumbles across a Knightmare, a creature made of shadow and terror, he has no reservations. But the Knightmare knows a terrible secret: Ruma is a murderer out to spread corrupted magic throughout their island nation. He’s already killed a population of phoenixes and he intends to kill even more.
In order to protect his home, his adopted sister, and the girl he admires from afar, Volke will need to confront his hero, the Master Arcanist Gregory Ruma.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Magic/Dragons
Release Date: June 18, 2019 (Fourth Book in the Firth Chronicles, Plague Arcanist just released May 26th 2020) I have chosen to include the first book in the ARC section because of the Ultimate Blog tour, just as I did the Venators series, with the third book about to be released, as well.
Publisher: Capital Station Books
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
Oh the tears…
When I found out this had been pushed back to July…. there were so many tears. I mean but what more could the world need right now? ESPECIALLY, with Saturday Night Live on hiatus?? But yet, here we are because, well see the Venators’ changed date and the Colin Jost meme…. I’ve changed the youtube link below because the ones about the Corona Virus when Michael Che starts drinking are just priceless… and I miss them. So until July… enjoy the clips <le sigh>
Please understand that Colin Jost and Michael Che have been my comedic crushes for years now. I’m not a big fan of Saturday Night Live on the whole for about a decade now. Outside of their political skits, which they always nail, it just isn’t what it was (to me). But weekend update? There have been weeks where they were all I had to look forward to. Until I found John Oliver. Now them and John Oliver are still sometimes the only laugh I had to look forward to and that is a lifeline.
For those of you who don’t know?
So of course, while I expect this to be the best thing ever to read? It is going to be that much better on audible.
Summary: In these hilarious essays, the Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor learns how to take a beating.
If there’s one trait that makes someone well suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch–metaphorically and, occasionally, physically.
From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump.
You’ll also discover things about Jost that will surprise and confuse you, like how Jimmy Buffett saved his life, how Czech teenagers attacked him with potato salad, how an insect laid eggs inside his legs, and how he competed in a twenty-five-man match at WrestleMania (and almost won). You’ll go behind the scenes at SNL (where he’s written some of the most memorable sketches and characters of the past fifteen years) and Weekend Update. And you’ll experience the life of a touring stand-up comedian–from performing in rural college cafeterias at noon to opening for Dave Chappelle at Radio City Music Hall.
For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11). Told with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy–with a face you can’t help but want to punch.
Category/Genre: Adult Non-Fiction Memoir
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Publisher: Crown Publishing
The Safe Place by Anna Downes *Review Link Added 7/13*
Summary: Welcome to paradise…will you ever be able to leave?
Emily is a mess. Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.
Emily is desperate. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.
Emily is perfect. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Suspense/Psychological
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Cut To The Bone By Ellison Cooper *Review Link Added 7/16*
Summary:
A bus full of high school students has disappeared from Washington D.C. and FBI neuroscientist Sayer Altair must hunt down the culprit who has a link to her own past.
After grieving the death of her fiancé and almost losing her job, Agent Sayer Altair is finally starting to rebuild her life. Her research into the minds of psychopaths is breaking new ground and her strange little family is thriving. But Sayer’s newfound happiness is threatened when she is called in to investigate a girl’s body left inside a circle of animal figurines below a cryptic message written in blood. When they discover that the dead girl is one of twenty-four missing high school students, Sayer quickly realizes that nothing in this case is what it seems.
As the investigation draws her into a tangled web of fake identities and false leads, the trail soon begins to point directly to her own life. Now, Sayer must confront her painful past to uncover her connection to the deranged killer if she hopes to save the missing teens and protect everything that she loves.
Category/Genre: Adult Fiction/Thrillers/Mystery/Detective
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Ghost Wood Song By Erica Waters *Review Link Added 7/15*
Summary:
If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept.
Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness.
But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets.
In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing.
Family secrets, a gorgeously resonant LGBTQ love triangle, and just the right amount of creepiness make this young adult debut a haunting and hopeful story about facing everything that haunts us in the dark.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Publisher: HarperTeen
Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy*Review Posted 7/22*
Summary: For Marit Olsen, magic is all about strategy: it flows freely through her blood, but every use leaves behind a deadly, ice-like build-up within her veins called the Firn. Marit knows how dangerous it is to let too much Firn build up—after all, it killed her sister—and she has vowed never to use her thread magic. But when Eve, a fellow orphan whom Marit views like a little sister, is adopted by the wealthy Helene Vestergaard, Marit will do anything to stay by Eve’s side.
She decides to risk the Firn and uses magic to secure a job as a seamstress in the Vestergaard household. But Marit has a second, hidden agenda: her father died while working in the Vestergaards’ jewel mines—and it might not have been an accident. The closer Marit gets to the truth about the Vestergaard family, the more she realizes she and everyone she’s come to love are in danger. When she finds herself in the middle of a treacherous deception that goes all the way up to the king of Denmark, magic may be the only thing that can save her—if it doesn’t kill her first.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Historical
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Publisher: HMH Books
Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Interview Link Added *8/7*
Summary: In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.
Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.
Category/Genre: Adult Dark Fantasy/Horror/Occult
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Publisher: Ace Books
I Come With Knives (Malus Domestica #2) by S.A. Hunt Don’t read below if you haven’t read Burn the Dark- Review and Author Interview
Originally slated for May- changed due to Coronavirus
Summary: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets Joe Hill in S. A. Hunt’s I Come with Knives, a horror-tinged action-adventure about a punk YouTuber on a mission to hunt witches, one vid at a time. Robin – now armed with new knowledge about mysterious demon terrorizing her around town, the support of her friends, and the assistance of her old witch-hunter mentor – plots to confront the Lazenbury coven and destroy them once and for all.
Meanwhile, a dangerous serial killer only known as The Serpent is abducting and killing Blackfield residents. An elusive order of magicians, the Dogs of Odysseus, also show up with Robin in their sights. Robin must handle these new threats on top of the menace from the Lazenbury coven: but a secret about Robin’s past may throw all of her plans into jeopardy.
Category/Genre: Adult Horror
Release Date: July 21, 2020 (originally slated for May)
Publisher: Tor Books- A quick release trilogy with the last book originally slated for fall (waiting for new release date)
He Started It by Samantha Downing*Review Link Added 7/20*
Delayed from April due to Coronavirus
Summary: Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.
But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.
It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.
But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Suspense/Psychological/Crime
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
The Sin in the Steel (The Fall of the Gods #1) By Ryan Van Loan *Review Added 7/23*
Summary: A sparkling debut fantasy set in a diverse world, featuring dead gods, a pirate queen, shapeshifting mages, and a Sherlockian teenager determined to upend her society.
Buc and Eld: She’s a brilliant former street-rat, with a mind that leaps from clues to conclusions in the blink of an eye. He’s an ex-soldier, her champion and partner-in-crime. No…not in crime—in crime-solving. In this fast-paced, action-driven, second world fantasy, the teenager and the veteran are the Holmes and Watson of a world where pirates roam the seas, mechanical engines can change the tide of battle, mages speak to each other across oceans, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few.
The Kanados Trading Company hires Buc and Eld to restore the flow of sugar—a source of power and wealth in Venice-like Servenza—from the Shattered Coast. Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen. All Buc has to do now is sink the Widowmaker’s ship.
Unfortunately for Buc, the gods have other plans. Unfortunately for them, so does Buc.
Category/Genre: Adult Epic Fantasy/Action and Adventure
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #1) by Kit Rocha
Originally slated for May- changed due to Coronavirus
Important Note That Will Stay Highlighted (Added 7/31).
I read AND LOVED Deal with the Devil. However, Due To My Loss, Which Happened Just As I Was Going To Write And Post The Review, That Review, Did Not Happen. Please Know That I Completely Recommend It.
I Completely and Highly Recommend It, Raunchy Sex And All. I Cannot Underestimate This. “This” Being Both How Much I Liked It And (while I did not read, as much as I, skimmed it because of dry dock) The Abundance Of Highly Descriptive, Raunchy (NON-Romantic) Sex.
Summary: Nina is an information broker with a mission–she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.
They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process… Or they could do the impossible: team up. This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.
Category/Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Action & Adventure
Release Date: July 28, 2020 (Originally Slated For May)
Publisher: Tor Books
His & Hers By Alice Feeney *Review Added 7/25/2019*
Summary:
There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.
Anna Andrews finally has what she wants. Almost. She’s worked hard to become the main TV presenter of the BBC’s lunchtime news, putting work before friends, family, and her now ex-husband. So, when someone threatens to take her dream job away, she’ll do almost anything to keep it.
When asked to cover a murder in Blackdown—the sleepy countryside village where she grew up—Anna is reluctant to go. But when the victim turns out to be one of her childhood friends, she can’t leave. It soon becomes clear that Anna isn’t just covering the story, she’s at the heart of it.
DCI Jack Harper left London for a reason, but never thought he’d end up working in a place like Blackdown. When the body of a young woman is discovered, Jack decides not to tell anyone that he knew the victim, until he begins to realise he is a suspect in his own murder investigation.
One of them knows more than they are letting on. Someone isn’t telling the truth. Alternating between Anna’s and Jack’s points of view, His & Hers is a fast-paced, complex, and dark puzzle that will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Category/Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller/Suspense/Mystery
Release Date: July 28, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron
A Wicked Magic By Sasha Laurens * Buddy Review With Becky Added 8/2/2020*
Link To Becky’s Review
Summary: Dan and Liss are witches. The Black Book granted them that power. Harnessing that power feels good, especially when everything in their lives makes them feel powerless. During a spell gone wrong, Liss’s boyfriend is snatched away by an evil entity and presumed dead. Dan and Liss’s friendship dies that night, too. How can they practice magic after the darkness that they conjured?
Months later, Liss discovers that her boyfriend is alive, trapped underground in the grips of an ancient force. She must save him, and she needs Dan and the power of The Black Book to do so. Dan is quickly sucked back into Liss’s orbit and pushes away her best friend, Alexa. But Alexa has some big secrets she’s hiding and her own unique magical disaster to deal with.
When another teenager disappears, the girls know it’s no coincidence. What greedy magic have they awakened? And what does it want with these teens it has stolen? Set in the atmospheric wilds of California’s northern coast, Sasha Laurens’s thrilling debut novel is about the complications of friendship, how to take back power, and how to embrace the darkness that lives within us all.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Occult & Supernatural/ Thrillers & Suspense/ Fantasy/ Wizards & Witches
Release Date: July 28, 2020
Publisher: Razorbill
*Review Added 8/6*The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
Summary:
Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name—and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling whenshe finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.
The new season of Rachel’s podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation—but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered—and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases—and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.
Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?
Category/Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller/Crime
Release Date: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Court of Lions (Mirage #2) By Somaiya Daud
Buddy Read! Becky @ Crooks Books Review
Summary:
Category/Genre: YA Epic Fantasy/Social Themes/Prejudice&Racism
Release Date: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron
*The First to Lie By Phillipi Ryan *Review Added 8/8*
Summary:
Category/Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller/Suspense
Release Date: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Forge Books
*The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne By Elsa Hart*New ARC and Review added 8/11*
Summary:
Category/Genre: Adult Historical Mystery/Detective
Release Date: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Minotaur Books
The Challenger (The Contender #2) *Review Added 8/15* by Taran Matharu (Q and A) The Chosen (The Contender #1) Review
Do Not Read If You Haven’t Read The Chosen
Delayed from June due to Coronavirus
Summary: The first battle is over, but the Game is just beginning…
Carter and his friends have survived the qualifying round of the mysterious overlords’ twisted games, decimated by the loss of so many of their comrades during the fight. But they have no time to mourn, for the next round of trials is about to begin. When the group discovers that their next foe will be even more ferocious than the last, Cade leads them on a quest out into their strange new world to find anything that might give them an edge. But what they find in the wilds could prove to be even more dangerous than the impending battle… The stakes are higher than ever in this thrilling sequel to The Chosen.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Action & Adventure/ Survival Stories/ Time Travel/ Science Fiction
Release Date: August 11, 2020
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Safecracker by Ryan Wick
*Was Delayed Until Dec 2021 Now Completely Cancelled- No Reason Known*
Delayed from June due to Coronavirus
Summary: Safecracker Michael Maven’s latest job should be simple: steal a rare coin from a New York apartment.
Then the coin’s owner comes home with a beautiful woman. So he hides. Then she murders him. So he hides a bit better. Then she tries to take the coin herself, which is the last straw. While Maven narrowly escapes being killed himself, he’s then coerced by her boss, a sadistic drug lord, into a far more complicated, far more dangerous job.
If Maven fails to crack the safe of a rival cartel boss in Miami, his friends and family will die. If he succeeds, they still might. Which means he not only has to somehow pull off an impossible heist, but also outwit two crime bosses as well as the woman, his reluctant new partner. Safecracker is fast-paced, has tons of action, and it’s cinematic in the most appealing way: Maven owns an old movie theater that he uses to launder his money.
Category/Genre: Adult Thrillers/Suspense/Crime
Release Date: August 11, 2020
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
The Faithless Hawk (Merciful Crow #2) By Margaret Owen (Q and A) *Review added 8/19*
Merciful Crow (Merciful Crow #1) Review
Don’t read if you haven’t read Merciful Crow
Summary: As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word. Still she’s hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana’s merciless bid for the throne.
With the witch queen using the deadly plague to unite the nation of Sabor against Crows—and add numbers to her monstrous army—Fie and her band are forced to go into hiding, leaving the country to be ravaged by the plague. However, they’re all running out of time before the Crows starve in exile and Sabor is lost forever.
A desperate Fie calls on old allies to help take Rhusana down from within her own walls. But inside the royal palace, the only difference between a conqueror and a thief is an army. To survive, Fie must unravel not only Rhusana’s plot, but ancient secrets of the Crows—secrets that could save her people, or set the world ablaze.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Dark Fantasy/Action & Adventure
Release Date: Aug 18, 2020
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
*Ink and Sigil By Kevin Hearnes* New ARC Added 8/14
Summary: Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails – and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.
But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.
But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective – while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Contemporary/Action-Adventure/Paranormal
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Del Ray
Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1) By Jannella Angeles *Review Added 8/30*
Summary: In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes. As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.
The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost.
The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told.
The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Epic Fantasy/Performing Arts
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Twin Daggers by MarcyKate Connolly*Review Added 8/17*
Summary: Aissa’s life is a web of carefully constructed lies. She and her twin sister, Zandria, are Magi spies, magic users most believe to be extinct. And they’re on a mission for revenge.
This action & adventure spy thriller–a fantasy spin on Romeo and Juliet from New York Times bestselling author MarcyKate Connolly–is perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Elly Blake and is about to become your new obsession!
By day, Aissa and Zandria play the role of normal young Technocrats eager to fulfill the duties of their new apprenticeships. By night, they plot their revenge to retake their city from the Technocrats. But then Aissa is given a new mission: find the heir to the Technocrat throne, who is rumored to be one of the Heartless, and kidnap her. Born without a working heart, the Heartless survive with a mechanical replacement.
Aissa is more likely to be caught than to be successful, but she’s never been one to turn down an assignment, even if the hunt is complicated by a kind Technocrat researcher who is determined to find a cure for the Heartless. But when Zandria is captured by the Technocrats, Aissa will do anything to get her sister back. Even if it means abandoning all other loyalties–and missions–and deciding whether or not it’s worth risking everything on getting help from her sworn enemies.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Science and Technology
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Blink
The Heirarchies: A Novel by Ros Anderson
I won’t lie. I just found this book and the first thing I thought was– adult version Girls with Sharp Sticks…
I may be setting it up for failure but I’m holding out hope.
Seriously. This is what I told the publisher when I emailed them. I am not taking any chances. There won’t be ANY eating and reading.
Summary:
Your Husband is the reason for your existence. You are here to serve him.
You must not harm your Husband. Nor may you harm any human.
Sylv.ie is a synthetic woman. A fully sentient robot, designed to cater to her Husband’s every whim. She lives alone on the top floor of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife, and concealed from their child. Between her Husband’s visits, deeply curious about the world beyond her room, she watches the family in the garden, hears them laugh, cry and argue. Longing to experience more of life, she confides her hopes and fears only to her diary. But are such thoughts allowed? And if not, what might the punishment be?
As Sylv.ie learns more about the world and becomes more aware of her place within it, something shifts within her. Is she malfunctioning, as her Husband thinks, or coming into her own? As their interactions become increasingly fraught, she fears he may send her back to the factory for reprogramming. If that happens, her hidden diary could be her only link to everything that came before. And the only clue that she is in grave danger.
Set in a recognizable near future, and laced with dark, sly humor, Ros Anderson’s deeply observant debut novel is less about the fear of new technology than about humans’ age-old talent for exploitation. In a world where there are now two classes of women—“born” and “created”—the growing friction between them may have far-reaching consequences no one could have predicted.
Category/Genre: Adult Dystopian/Women
Release Date: August 25th, 2020
Publisher: Dutton
*Ink & Sigil (Ink and Sigil #1) By Kevin Hearne* New ARC Added
Summary:
Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white mustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails – and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.
But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.
But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective – while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Contemporary/Paranormal/Action & Adventure
Release Date: August 25th, 2020
Publisher: Del Rey
*Review added 9/1* As the Shadow Rises (The Age Of Darkness #2) by Katy Rose Pool
Review- Beware of spoilers for There Will Come A Darkness
I have linked my review to There Will Come A Darkness (Age of Darkness #1).
Don’t read the below unless you have already read There Will Come a Darkness…
I WILL TAKE WHAT IS MINE WITH BLOOD AND WITH FIRE…. AND I DID DAMN IT… NOW IT IS MINE. MWAHAHAHAHAHA
Summary:
Category/Genre: Young Adult High/Epic Fantasy
Release Date: September 1, 2020 (1 of 400 books being released)
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
*Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young * New ARC Added
Summary:
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Epic/Action and Adventure
Release Date: September 1, 2020 (1 of 400 books being released)
Publisher: Wednesday
One By One By Ruth Ware Is Worst Than The Guest List
Summary:
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Psychological
Release Date: September 8, 2020 (1 of 400 books being released)
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
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Backlist Books- Lord how this has gotten out of fast with everything that has been added towards the end….
Quick Note:
Girls With Sharp Sticks and Aurora Rising are above with their ARC counterparts Girls with Razor Hearts and Aurora Burning.
So far this is what the backlist books have done to me (except maybe Aurora Rising which I liked a lot but I wouldn’t say it kill me):
Here is the dissertation that is, the Nevernight review.
I’m really tempted to just say you know what by you know who and walk away but. whatever. And now that I’m through Nevernight, Godsgrave and Started Darkdawn? I really want to tell you all to go jump into one of those pig blood pit things. Byss and blood Kristoff is trying to kill me.
After completing the whole thing… I’ve come to the conclusion that this one 3800 dissertation was enough. No one needs a dissertation on each indiidual book.
I HOPE YOU ARE ALL DAMN WELL PLEASED WITH YOURSELVES.
Summary: In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
Category/Genre: Adult Fantasy/Dark Epic Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Released: August 2016
Pale Kings by Ben Galley (Emaneska Series #2)
If you haven’t read The Written (thank you to the Write Reads for introducing me to this amazing book- review is linked) don’t continue but READ THIS BOOK. The reason this is number 1 is because I’ve wanted to read it since I finished The Written but I’m stubborn and didn’t want to read it on my Kindle. I do that enough with my E-Arcs. I wanted the hard copy.
Summary: Emaneska is crying out for a saviour
The only question is:
Can they kill a child to save a world?
The Pale Kings are rising. Emaneska’s Long Winter remains as bitter as a blade between the ribs. War is fast approaching. Gods and demons are hovering on the horizon. Long-lost revelations arrive to haunt the lives of three men.
While Farden the Written mage busies himself digging up his past in the strange deserts of Paraia, the storm-clouds begin to gather for Durnus, Elessi, Cheska, and Modren.
Together with Farfallen and his dragon-riders, they must fight to survive against the Long Winter, the vicious machinations of the new Arkmage, and the arrival of something much deadlier than both combined. War, deception, and murder are quickly becoming the only paths to salvation…
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Self-Published
Released: February 2012
House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin Craig–Updated with Review Link
Summary: In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.
Category/Genre: YA Fantasy/Retelling
Publisher: Delacorte
Released: August 2019
Last Ones Left by Sarah Davis-Goff
Summary: Remember your just-in-cases. Beware tall buildings. Always have your knives.
Raised in isolation by her mother and Maeve on a small island off the coast of a post-apocalyptic Ireland, Orpen’s life has revolved around training to fight a threat she’s never seen. More and more she feels the call of the mainland, and the prospect of finding other survivors.
But that is where danger lies, too, in the form of the flesh-eating menace known as the skrake.
Then disaster strikes. Alone, pushing an unconscious Maeve in a wheelbarrow, Orpen decides her last hope is abandoning the safety of the island and journeying across the country to reach the legendary banshees, the rumored all-female fighting force that battles the skrake.
But the skrake are not the only threat…
Category/Genre: Adult Horror/Dystopian
Publisher: Flatiron
Released: August 2019
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
You had to see this coming, right?
Summary: In a dark, dark wood
Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.
There was a dark, dark house
Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?
And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room
But something goes wrong. Very wrong.
And in the dark, dark room….
Some things can’t stay secret for ever.
Category/Genre: Adult Thriller/Supsense
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
Released: April 2016
The Ghost and the Wolf by Shelly Leonn
Fun fact: This book was written, under a pen name, by a teacher I used to work with. She contacted me on LinkedIn and asked to send it to me. I’m thrilled!
Summary: Penelope, a student reporter, struggles to find her identity after a childhood of tragedy. Desperate to prove herself to her peers, she chases a story tip on a secret organization of teen urban explorers called “The Broken.” The group demands she complete a test before they let her write the story. While following the clues of their twisted scavenger hunt, she encounters Lex, a paranormal investigator with a knack for hacking, and together they work to uncover the organization’s darkest secrets.
As they tag along on some of the group’s urban exploration missions, they became entangled in the group’s inner fighting and their leader’s plans that turn out to be much more nefarious…and deadly…than they’d believed. Realizing her mistakes too late, Penelope will have to fight for her own life and the lives of her friends as she learns what it means to be one of the broken.
Category/Genre: YA Horror
Publisher: Owl Howl Press
Released: Sept 2019
So this was an unexpected addition chosen by Becky @CrooksBooks (go check out her awesome review of my recommendation to her- There Will Come A Darkness)
Buddy Read with Allisa White’s Book Blog
Three Dark Crowns (Book #1) By Kendare Blake- Review Link Added 5/14
One Dark Throne (Book #2) Review- Review Link Added 5/24
Two Dark Reigns Review Link Added 5/31
Five Dark Fates Review Link Added 6/7
Summary: In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions. But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: September 2016
Everything And All The Things Are Subject To Change… Like September for instance… with its 400 Books being released
And again there are many books coming that just haven’t released- September Releases- YAY
Not to mention this stupid little pandemic thing, mood reading, tornadoes, earthquakes, locusts, murder hornets…
Who else knows what else is coming (who saw 400 book releases in September back when I started in March- NO YOU DIDN’T YOU LIE)?!
So updates will go on like last year and I’m sure formatting will change. Many cringe-worthy grammar and spelling mistakes will be found.
In the meantime, hopefully, nothing gets snapped out of existence and I survive this madness yet again- because hey I managed to make it BIGGER (as did September’s 400 Books that are being released). YES, I’m TERRIFIED.
And apparently, I’m going to have to because getting to the finishing line is going to drown me in books, destroy my bank account, and require a new bookshelf. 400 Releases… it is unfortunate. So, yes Cap, we are going to have to do this all day.
Wow! You’ve got some amazing books listed, and I added some to my TBR based off this post, so thanks!
You are welcome! This is my second year doing this… although bigger. It is a beast but it is fun for the Summer (Spring/Summer). I hope it helps people *enables*… lol