In June, I read 17 books, bringing my total for the year to 84 books read. I also DNFed a handful, but we won’t talk about those. Of the 17 I finished, several were really good.
The Secret Thread, by Eve Chase. I really enjoyed this dual timeline/historical fiction/mystery mashup. The MC was very vivid in both timelines, and I loved seeing how she became who she was.
When Dealing with Dragons, by Dana Swift. This was a unique read for me. I loved the world and the culture, and I thought the characters were well done, too. I’d love to read more in this world!
Don’t Forget to Write, by Sara Goodman Confino. I absolutely loved this! The MC’s parents, particularly her dad, were horrible, but her aunt Ava was so inspiring! The voice was phenomenal and I just loved every page. Great ending, too.
That is the price of magic – not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.
Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches – people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst – into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.
When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, and his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.
But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.
I…didn’t really like these characters—or this world—so it’s kind of surprising I kept reading. It was a quick read, so that helped. Everyone here was morally grey, so that was a problem for me. Katherine was not really a likable person, and I’m still undecided about Silas. That’s my takeaway, and I have no desire to reach more about these people.
Julia Bianco lives in L.A. Witch Season is her debut novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Copper-crafter Farren Walsh is set on following in her father’s footsteps to become a dragon veterinarian. The only thing more powerful than her love for these magnificent creatures is her hate for those who exploit them for their precious metal. That includes her classmate, an arrogant dragon racer named James Murphy, whose silver-crafting family represents the worst of human greed and dragon abuse―plus, he’s the biggest competition for the college scholarship she desperately needs.
When James strongarms his way into interning at her family’s dragon sanctuary for the summer, it puts everything at risk. Farren isn’t just the plain copper-crafter she seems. She’s hiding a secret that could not only change her life, but their society as a whole. And James, trying to find refuge from his controlling father, harbors his own secret, years-long crush on Farren. Hating James might be harder than she thought, but Farren can’t risk getting too close: the fate of an endangered species is at stake.
This was a cool world/culture. A little dark—the descaling and the class hierarchy—but I really enjoyed the world. The history of the different types of dragons, the way they made metal, the characters, all this combine to make a unique read, and one I really enjoyed. I liked both James and Farren (and Farren’s family) and enjoyed getting to know them more and watching them change. I’d love to read more in this world.
Dana Swift studied English and Advertising. When Dealing with Dragons is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)
2024: Jo O’Mara, a young writer, lands a job working for Mimi Mott, a wealthy style icon and legendary founder of a decorating empire. Newly widowed and in her seventies, Mimi is preparing to auction off her possessions, through them finally telling the story of her early life. Famously private, Mimi has kept her past shrouded in mystery. Jo doesn’t dare reveal how closely it touches her own.
Tasked with collecting the untold tales behind each auction lot, Jo peels back the layers of Mimi’s origin story and discovers it’s far darker than anyone ever suspected.
1969: Mimi and her sister, Pamela, live in a cramped, musty staff cottage on the grounds of Rushwood, an idyllic English country estate owned by the Caswell family, their demanding new employer. Working alongside their gardener parents, the girls have been raised with their hands in the soil and know only a traditional, simple life—but spirited Mimi hungers for more.
When the Caswells’ adult children, Nancy and Lawrence, arrive at Rushwood for the summer, the sisters are drawn into a privileged, intoxicating world, unsettling their own, and passions spark under the blazing sun—until a shattering death at Rushwood’s high-society party tears Mimi and Pamela apart.
Now time is running out. Jo discovers both a missing auction piece and a missing sister and vows to find them no matter how dark the secret they expose—or the cost to herself.
This was a fascinating read! I loved Miriam’s/Mimi’s POV in the ‘60s, and I also loved Jo’s timeline in the present day. I did not much like younger Pamela, however older Pamela was great. I was pretty much enthralled with this from the very beginning, through its twists and turns, its dark days, the glimmers of hope and sunlight. Everything woven together until the complete pictured merged together in the light of the present.
Eve Chase is a bestselling author. The Secret Thread is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Ballantine | Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.)
After her parents’ deaths, Aria Jones is sent to live with her reclusive starlet aunt at the Chateau Marmont, the hotel on Hollywood Boulevard with a notorious reputation.
Left alone to wander the hotel, Aria sees everything-all the ways people wheel and deal for fame. But the Marmont isn’t meant for young girls with big hearts, and Aria discovers an insidious secret that will haunt her childhood.
As she matures, she finds solace in the hotel’s library. Her sole goal is to be as inconspicuous as possible. Until one day, the hotel is sold to mysterious rock star Theo Winchester and his troubled daughter, Adele. Will Aria realize there’s more to life than being invisible?
This ended up being such a wonderful read! Poor Aria lost her parents and then got thrown into the deep end of craziness in Hollywood—with no road map. I found life in the hotel to be fascinating and horrifying, too. Lots of strong, vivid characters that I loved reading about, mixed with the ugliness of the casting couch era. I loved seeing Aria grow and change and become such a strong woman who can help and inspire other women.
Natasha Lester is a bestselling author. The Chateau on Sunset is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Ballantine | Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.)
Anne of Brittany was a child when her realm was invaded, her home besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.
Now her treasury is empty, her land occupied by her enemies, and she is ordered, under threat of renewed war, to become queen of her conquerors and marry the King of France.
This marriage means her country’s annexation. But Anne promised her father that Brittany would never be conquered.
Defiantly, she betroths herself in secret to France’s greatest enemy. But in a world where courts may spy on each other by magic, there is only one way to solemnize this illicit union.
Anne takes her court deep into a legendary forest, where the court diviners’ skill cannot reach. The world thinks they are only a hunting party, coursing after unicorns. But that is a lie, a trick, a feint. No one in living memory has seen a unicorn. All Anne wants is this secret wedding, which is her only hope of salvation.
But when against all hope a unicorn appears and a stranger out of legend stumbles from the trees and falls at her feet, Anne is plunged into a world of enchantment where a doomed sovereign might find the power to change her own and her country’s destiny—or be lost in the shadows forever.
This was a lovely fantasy/historical fiction read! I truly loved reading Anne’s story and this wonderful fictional twist. Anne was a great character, and the supporting characters were also believable to read. I really enjoyed all aspects of this, and found Katherine Arden’s writing to be as beautiful as always.
Katherine Arden was born in Austin. The Unicorn Hunters is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)
Octavius the Maestro. Fola the Brain. Bilal the Olympian. Perdita the Artist. Romeo the Failure.
These are the five heirs of the illustrious billionaire Leontes Button. Adopted and viciously trained with their father’s infamous “Button Method” to prove his hypothesis for creating prodigies—child geniuses—the Button siblings have had no choice but to be brilliant according to their father’s impossibly high standards.
Until he is murdered at his annual Prodigy Ball.
Now, all who attended the ball are required to stay in the Button Manor while the police investigate. But the officers have their work cut out for them—each of the Button siblings has something to hide, but The Heirs aren’t the only ones with secrets. After all, Leontes Button was especially good at making enemies. . .
This felt a tiny bit like The Inheritance Games—except I liked all the heirs in those books. This? Not so much. Romeo was the only one here I actually liked. The other four I was ambivalent about at best. Leontes Button was obviously a horrible person, so I didn’t feel bad for him. This was an interesting sort of closed-room mystery with lots of red herrings, but it didn’t take me long to read and it held my interest. As long as you’re not expecting terribly likable characters, you should be good.
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is a bestselling author. The Heirs is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review.)
After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.
Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.
It’s a Katherine Center novel, so of course it was heartwarming, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny. The idea of being trapped on a cruise with my entire family is…overwhelming. Doing that six weeks after you walked away from your own wedding at the altar, and for your own sister’s wedding…well, I can’t imagine.
JoJo and her obsessive over-thinking and analyzing/planning really made me laugh because, same. Cooper…man, everyone needs a Cooper in their lives. These two are so absolutely perfect for each other! I loved their banter, their fighting, the way they had each other’s back no matter what. Watching JoJo slowly come to realize how perfect they are together was so much fun. Loved this read!
Katherine Center is a bestselling author. The Shippers is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Kaylin has been warned to steer clear of the lords of the Barrani High Court. She’d be more than happy to oblige, but it’s a bit difficult considering she lives with ten of them, all sent to the green to gain power or die. With Kaylin’s help, they finally escaped their imprisonment. But their attempts at freedom had devastating consequences—and a price that has yet to be paid.
The first warning sign is the Consort’s invitation to visit the High Halls—a Barrani invitation, which means an immediate visit.
The second sign is less subtle: Kaylin finds Nightshade’s unresponsive body. He hovers on the edge of death, beyond saving through Kaylin’s healing power. No one can explain his state, nor why she’s powerless to save him. And if she and her Barrani friends can’t figure out a way to bring him back, he’ll be lost forever.
Yet even as Kaylin struggles to keep Nightshade from death, there is deeper magic at play, a growing threat with the potential to affect the entire Barrani race. Factions are shifting, new lines are being drawn—and Nightshade’s near assassination is only the beginning. Can Kaylin uncover the nebulous forces that threaten the balance of Barrani—and their entire world—before it’s too late?
I’ve been reading this series for years, and I’ve loved every book. I loved this book. Kaylin is so relatable to me: she’s impulsive, has a temper, and just doesn’t understand what’s going on half the time—she’s me 90% of the time—and I enjoy reading about her. I also enjoy this world and its different cultures immensely. The secondary characters are great (Okay, I do get the Cohort mixed up all the time), and I’m always fully invested in the story.
Michelle Sagara lives in Toronto. Cast in Blood is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade Publishing | Hanover Square Press in exchange for an honest review.)
In this standalone and companion novel to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman, Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the printed word, The Mountains We Call Home is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky life: examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life.
I loved reading the continuation of Cussy’s story! She’s such a remarkable character, yet relatable in so many ways. The things she experiences are horrible, yet somehow, she keeps pushing forward and helping everyone around her. I love reading about her life and her experiences, and the sense of hope that fills every page of her story.
Kim Michele Richardson is from Kentucky. The Mountains We Call Home is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks Landmark in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 