Book Title: The Gender Game

Author: Bella Forrest
Series: The Gender Game #1
Release Date: September 24th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian

A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates's world by gender.

Women rule the East. Men rule the West.

Welcome to the lands of Matrus and Patrus.

Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet's life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes.

But one decision could save her life.

To enter the kingdom of Patrus, where men rule and women submit.

Everything about the patriarchy is dangerous for a rebellious girl like Violet. She cannot break the rules if she wishes to stay alive.

But abiding by rules has never been Violet's strong suit.

When she's thrust into more danger than she could have ever predicted, Violet is forced to sacrifice many things in the forbidden kingdom ... including forbidden love.

In a world divided by gender, only the strongest survive...

ARC Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Book Title: Three Dark Crowns

Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Three Dark Crowns #1
Release Date: September 20th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance

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.

Book Review: The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes

Book Title: The Darkest Magic
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Series: Spirit and Thieves #2
Release Date: June 28th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance

In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes's highly acclaimed Falling Kingdoms spin-off series, danger looms and the mystery deepens as two warring evils vie for possession of one elusive, powerful book.

Modern-day Toronto: Sisters Crystal and Becca Hatcher are reunited after reclaiming the Bronze Codex and narrowly escaping death. They have no one to trust but each other, and the only thing keeping them safe is the book that sent Becca's spirit to Ancient Mytica--the same book that their enemies would kill them for.

Ancient Mytica: Maddox grapples to keep his newly discovered powers under control, while the ruthless goddess Valoria hunts him down.

Modern-day Toronto: Farrell embraces his dark side as he unwittingly falls further under the spell of Markus, the mastermind leader of the nefarious Hawkspear Society, who will stop at nothing to find Crys and Becca--and the remarkable book in their possession.

ARC Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Book Title: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Series: The Nevernight Chronicles #1
Release Date: August 11th, 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.

The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

Book Review: The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

Book Title: The Dark Days Club
Author: Alison Goodman
Series: Lady Helen #1
Release Date: January 26th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance, Historical Fiction

New York Times bestseller Alison Goodman’s eagerly awaited new project: a Regency adventure starring a stylish and intrepid demon-hunter!

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

ARC Review: Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman

Book Title: Empire of Dust
Author: Eleanor Herman
Series: Bloods of Gods and Royals #2
Release Date: June 28th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fantasy

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat.

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt.

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing.

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor.

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

ARC Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Book Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series: The Conquerors Saga #1 
Release Date: June 28th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, High Fantasy

NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL.

And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first book in a dark, sweeping new series in which heads will roll, bodies will be impaled . . . and hearts will be broken.

Book Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Book Title: Illuminae

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Release Date: October 20th, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Book Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

Book Title: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: A Court of Thorn & Roses #2
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court--but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms--and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future--and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

ARC Review: The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Book Title: The Crown's Game
Author: Evelyn Skye
Series: The Crown's Game #1
Release Date: May 17th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Book Review: The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

Book Title: The Rose & The Dagger
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath & The Dawn #2
Release Date: April 26th, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Retellings, Fantasy

The much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

Book Review: Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Book Title: Firstlife
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Everlife #1
Release Date: February 23rd, 2016
Genres: YA Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

ONE CHOICE.
TWO REALMS.
NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…

Paperback of the Month: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

 Book Title: Rebel of the Sands
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Series: Rebel of the Sands #1
Release Date: March 18th, 2016
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

Book Review: The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Book Title: The Wrath & The Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath & The Dawn #1
Release Date: May 12th, 2015
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, Retellings

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

 

Book Review: The Queen of Traitors (#2) by Laura Thalassa

Book Title: The Queen of Traitors
Author: Laura Thalassa
Series: The Fallen World #2
Release Date: January 13th, 2016
Genres: Dystopian, Romance

They say I am a queen.
They say I married a monster. That I did so willingly.
They say he cannot die, that he does not age. That together, we rule a ravaged world.
They say I used to be one of them, but now I am a traitor.
They say many things, all which I cannot remember, but …

I fear what they say is true.

Then there is what they don’t say, what I see in their eyes—
The king terrifies them. He cannot be stopped. And, most worrisome of all …

He is coming for me.

ARC Review + Giveaway: Isadora by Ella Frank

Book Title: Isadora
Author: Ella Frank
Series: Masters Among Monsters #2
Release Date: January 13th, 2016
Genres: Paranormal, Erotica

A TRAGIC BEGINNING…

Isadora Nikitas understands what it means to be betrayed. That lesson was taught to her in the prime of her life, and when she is offered a chance to exact revenge, she finds it difficult to refuse. Instead, she entrusts her survival to a mysterious vampire known only as Diomêdês, a male who wants nothing in return but to watch over her—in every way imaginable.

Gifted with speed, strength, and immortality, she determines that her life will no longer be governed by the needs and wants of a mere man. She has cowered for the last time, and with her Ancient by her side, she thrives and blossoms into the most formidable female vampire in existence.

But, once upon a time, like all little girls, Isadora believed in love. She believed it because she once had it. So, when it comes along a second time, she knows that it’s possible—but when you love someone, they become your weakness. Unless, in fact, they become your enemy instead…

A MYSTERIOUS PAST…

Fulfilling your life’s prophecy should be empowering. At least, that’s what Elias Fontana always believed. But, as he stands guard over the beautiful vampire he’s taken hostage, his convictions start to crumble. Made to believe by his creators that he and two others have been designed to destroy a dangerous race, he has difficulty connecting his current reality to the woman he once loved.

A TANGLED TALE TO UNRAVEL…

When friends become enemies and enemies become lovers, who can you trust in the webs of lies and despair? And, when your life is at stake and blood has been shed, how much are you willing to sacrifice to fulfill your destiny?

Book Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

Book Title: Queen of Shadows
Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #4
Release Date: September 1st, 2015
Genres: YA Fantasy

The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

ARC Review: Alasdair by Ella Frank

Book Title: Alasdair
Author: Ella Frank
Series: Masters Among Monsters #1
Release Date: October 13th, 2015
Genres: Paranormal, M/M Romance

A DANGEROUS ALLURE
Bestowed with eternal life by the Ancient Vasilios, Alasdair Kyriakous is one of the most feared and ruthless vampires in existence. His name carries weight across all of the seven continents.

But he is a mystery to his kind, an anomaly among the self-indulgent. While he enjoys the pleasures of the flesh, he is exceptionally particular in his choice of partners and prides himself on his ironclad self-control.

Yet with one look his control will become a thing of the past, and Alasdair will discover that eternal life doesn’t always last forever…

A DEADLY ATTRACTION
Thrust into a world he could never have imagined, Leo Chapel awakens in his worst nightmare. Taken hostage by the dangerously mesmerizing vampire, Alasdair, Leo must rely on his intelligence to escape before he reveals a secret he isn’t even aware he’s hiding.

A FORBIDDEN DESIRE
Unaware that they’ve been brought together by an outside force and are little more than pawns to a higher power, Alasdair and Leo spend time trying to uncover the other’s secrets, the attraction between them growing stronger all the while.

But enemies are watching and preparing to act against them. When decisions that will alter lives and destinies have to be made—can a dead, grey heart learn to beat again?

BUY LINKS

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{READ MORE FOR ALLISON'S REVIEW!}

ARC Review + Giveaway: The Affiliate by K.A. Linde

Book Title: The Affiliate

Author: K.A. Linde
Series: The Ascension Series #1
Release Date: September 15th, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance

On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, seventeen-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen for one of the most prestigious positions in her homeland—an Affiliate to the Queen.

Or so she thinks.

When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems. Thrust into a world of dangerous political intrigue and deadly magic, Cyrene's position only grows more treacherous when she finds herself drawn to the one man she can never have...

King Edric himself.

Cyrene must decide if love is truly worth the price of freedom. Find out in this first book in USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s new Ascension series.

Book Review - The Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons

4.5 GREEK STARS! ★★★★☆ 

PURCHASE ON AMAZON: HERE

What if all the legends you’ve learned were wrong? 

 Brutally attacked by one god and unfairly cursed by another she faithfully served, Medusa has spent the last two thousand years living out her punishment on an enchanted isle in the Aegean Sea. A far cry from the monster legends depict, she’s spent her time educating herself, gardening, and desperately trying to frighten away adventure seekers who occasionally end up, much to her dismay, as statues when they manage to catch her off guard. As time marches on without her, Medusa wishes for nothing more than to be given a second chance at a life stolen away at far too young an age. 

 But then comes a day when Hermes, one of the few friends she still has and the only deity she trusts, petitions the rest of the gods and goddesses to reverse the curse. Thus begins a journey toward healing and redemption, of reclaiming a life after tragedy, and of just how powerful friendship and love can be—because sometimes, you have to sink in the deep end of the sea before you can rise back up again.

{CLICK TO READ MY 4.5-STARS REVIEW}