The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.



In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.

The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.

But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power – and the devastating love that could be her downfall.



After sooo many people recommended this series to me, I finally took the plunge... and I enjoyed it!

Everyone and their mama knows that I'm picky about heroines and Oraya had plenty for me to pick apart. But for every moment she irked me, she made me so proud of her too. She was the human daughter of the vampire king and her whole life was lived in terror. Constantly looking over her shoulder, trusting no one, and always on the brink of having to defend herself. When she joins the Kejari, she goes in with one goal — win at all costs. It was the start of a horrifying adventure and a journey toward her true path. She annoyed me to no end, but I was excited to see her triumph.

Raihn was hard to like in the beginning but this male quickly grew on me. He did a lot of the unexpected and I didn't doubt for one minute how much he truly valued Oraya. I loved whenever they got the chance to fight together. It was them against the world... until it wasn't. Raihn did some things that were hard to forgive and boy did Oraya make him work for it.

When I got to the end I found myself wishing for more. Raihn and Oraya had fought for most of this story and I wanted to spend more time with them as a couple. I can only hope to see more of them in the books to come.

My personal notes on the book:
* am I the only one tired of the whole "the heroine is the most beautiful, strongest, powerful person on Earth and the hero worships at her feet" trope? What is wrong with them being on equal footing?
* the amount of times Oraya said she won the Kejari when she only won because Raihn gave her the win.
* will all of the side characters get a story? Oops, just checked and saw that The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is about Mische.


PER THE AUTHOR:

I’ve been freaking out teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since I was roughly nine years old. Since then, my stories have gotten (slightly) less depressing and (hopefully a lot?) more readable. Today, I write fantasy novels with a heaping dose of badass ladies and a big pinch of romance. My books include the Crowns of Nyaxia series, the War of Lost Hearts series, and hopefully many more to come!

I live with my husband, one very well behaved rabbit, one very poorly behaved rabbit, and one perpetually skeptical cat in the extremely underrated state of Rhode Island.

You can find me around the internet on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Visit carissabroadbentbooks.com for more information.

Wed to the Ice Giant by Layla Fae

Arranged Monster Mates #1
Paranormal Romance, dual POV, explicit heat, 137 pages

As king of the ice giants, I must have heirs. But our customs do not satisfy me. I do not want a giantess who will bear me a child and then leave to be with another. I would much rather pursue a union the human way: find a partner who will share my bed, bear my children, and stay by my side.

Until death do us part.

One drop of blood is all it takes to get a match. And when I see her, my cool blood rushes faster in a daze of heat. Only one thought is clear in my mind: she belongs to me. I must claim her before my subjects to prove once and for all this female will not take lovers. She will be mine forever.

I will show her vigorously how different I am from puny human males. And once she knows what it means to be with the king of the giants, she will never want to leave.

What is Love? by Jen Comfort

Answer: From the Latin word for crossroads, this is knowledge so common as to be obscure, the pursuit of which engages millions daily. Question: What is trivia?

Trivia is the magic in the mundane, the connection in the commonplace, and Maxine Hart’s second-favorite pastime. A self-proclaimed Brooklyn street rat and a high school dropout, Maxine has never been a fan of formal education, but thanks to her ADHD “superpowers,” she’s a glutton for knowledge—and a good fight. And when Maxine enters the trivia game show Answers!, her brilliance, coupled with her penchant for big bets, devastates her competition. Even record-holding, 76-time-winner Teddy Ferguson.

Or was it their kiss the night before they faced off that threw the buttoned-up professor off his game?

Now, Maxine and Teddy cross paths again in a high-stakes tournament against all-time Answers! winners, including undefeated champion Hercules McKnight. With nothing in common but an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a desire to win, Maxine offers Teddy a deal: combine their strengths to shore up their weaknesses. She’ll push his tolerance for risk and improve his buzzer speed, if he’ll find creative ways to fill in the gaps in her education.

Except neither one of them foresaw just how scintillating learning could be…

The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride by Kati Wilde

The Dead Lands #1
Fantasy Romance, dual POV, explicit heat, 180 pages

Some might call Princess Anja of Ivermere brave for offering herself up as a bride to Kael the Conqueror, a barbarian warlord who'd won his crown by the bloodied edge of his sword. It was not courage that drove Anja from her magic-wielding family’s enchanted palace, however, but a desperate attempt to secure a kingdom of her own — even if she has to kill the Conqueror to do it. She expects pain beneath his brutal touch as she awaits her chance. She expects death if he discovers the truth of her intentions.

Raised in the ashes of the Dead Lands, Kael fears nothing — certainly not the beautiful sorceress who arrives at his mountain stronghold. And no matter how painful his need for her, he has no use for a bride who would only tolerate his kiss. Yet the more of Anja's secrets he uncovers during their journey to return her home, the more determined he becomes to win the princess's wary heart.

The Wastelander by E.S. Luck

Book #1
Post-Apocalyptic Romance, dual POV, explicit sex, 356 pages

Born in a secure compound amidst the ashes of a world long dead, Claire Ainsley knows her place in the world: work her assigned job, live with her assigned husband, and keep her head down and her mouth shut. She knows what every compound resident has been the world outside is a Wasteland, and the only thing more terrifying than leaving the compound is being forced to confront those who live outside—the ones left behind.

But her safe, contained life is destroyed when she narrowly survives an attack conceived by a conspiracy from within the compound itself. Only by fleeing into the terrifying Wasteland, a vast wilderness peopled by bloodthirsty, cannibalistic Wastelanders, can she escape a violent end at the hands of her fellow compound dwellers.

Captured by the very savages she feared, she is saved by John Madigan, a mysterious and capable survivor—and a Wastelander. She tries to deny the instant chemistry she feels with a man that is one moment terrifying, the next patient and caring, but eventually, neither of them are able to resist the blazing passion between them. But the Wasteland is harsh, and her time with John fleeting. As his own personal mission comes to an end, he must return to his ancestral homeland, leaving her with little choice but to learn to survive without the man whose protection is her only salvation in a harsh, uncompromising post-apocalyptic landscape.

The Wasteland of this world has not been kind to those unchosen.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Cerulean Chronicles #1
Rating -
Release - March 17, 2020
Genre - Fantasy / found family
POV - Single 3rd person
Heat - none aside from a kiss
Source - ebook from the library
Length - 393 pages



I know, I know. I'm late to this author and the stunning way they put together words. Who knew I was truly missing out?

Linus Baker was the epitome of a perfect social worker—he genuinely cared about children and their safety; he prided himself on remaining objective; and he took meticulous notes and prepared detailed reports. When he's given the task of investigating an orphanage that has been given the highest classification, he knows, before he even steps foot on the island, that he's in over his head.

These characters quickly won my heart and I was so sad to let them go when I got to the end.

1. Talia is a female gnome, with a love of gardening, gardening tools, and digging holes (for reasons);
2. Theodore is a wyvern, who communicates with chirps, collects treasure, and is generally fun-loving;
3. Phee is a sprite who is coming into her own powers with the help of Zoe (an adult sprite). There's a fierceness to this little girl that is hard to ignore;
4. Chauncey is a little boy of a species no one recognizes. He wants everyone to get along and his greatest wish is to be the best bellhop in all the lands;
5. Sal is a gentle soul who, after many years of abuse, is easily frightened. He's slowly healing and I lived for every moment of his recovery; and
6. Lucy is the antichrist, however, if you look beyond the moniker he had no choice but to have, you'll find a mischievious little boy who enjoys all things death and grossness. There's a sweetness to him that defies every preconceived notion of who we think he should be.

As the story progressed, I found myself developing a certain degree of fondness with everyone and my capacity for caring only grew as the story did. I loved watching Linus flounder with everything he knew and all of the things he was learning. He discovered a zest for life on this island, with these people. A level of self-awareness, a sense of questioning the world around him and the way we treat others. A newfound hope and appreciation for the differences between us all.

This story took a firm jab at discrimination and I can't wait to read the sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea.

Check out the incredible fan art for The House in the Cerulean Sea. The creator captured these characters BEAUTIFULLY!!

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, and the Green Creek Series for adults, the Extraordinaries Series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

Visit https://www.tjklunebooks.com for more information.

Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon

Rating -
Standalone
Release - July 2, 2024
Genre - Fantasy Romance / enemies to lovers
POV - Heroine 1st person
Heat - explicit to filthy
Source - eARC from NetGalley
Length - 536 pages




After many, many years of a tentative truce, two kingdoms were on the brink of war. The only thing that has kept the people blessed is the seven years committed to the tower. One person from each faction must sacrifice these years to calm the goddess. Two people prepared to be shut off from the rest of the world, their people, their freedom.

Princess Candra was not prepared. As a last minute fill-in, this spoiled brat had no idea what she was in for. There was no one to dress her, bathe her, prepare her meals, or generally make her life easier. She had to do everything herself, including preparing and administering her medicine. Girl was absolutely clueless and provided me with endless fun, at her expense.

So there Candra was, with a chronic blood illness, trapped in a tower with one of the enemy. However, Nemeth was far from the bad guy. He took care of her, shared his supplies with her, and made her fall helplessly in love with him. And when I thought that was all for this story... the author gifted me with so much more.

There was danger and intrigue, honor and betrayal, tons of love and sexy times.

If you weren't a fan of this author before reading this book, you'll be one after.



Ruby Dixon is an author of Science Fiction Romance. She likes fated mates, baby-filled epilogues, and cinnamon roll heroes. She also likes to write biographies of herself in the third person, because it feels more important that way.

Ruby also loves coffee and dirty books and will probably be a cat lady at some point. :)

Visit http://www.rubydixon.com for more information.