{NEW} August TBR ✦
A Memory of Nightshade: A YA Epic Fae Fantasy
Book 2 of The Scented Court
by
A.L. Knorr
Synopsis: This book picks up exactly where A Blossom at Midnight left off. Here's the blurb:
Powerful enchantments. Danger lurking in every corner. Can this trio of unlikely friends serve the fae crown without triggering another disaster? Jessamine is heartbroken over a sudden tragedy. But her grief is short-lived when the throne delivers the flower-magic-wielding half-human an ultimatum: become a spy or face banishment. House arrest has left Laec itching with boredom. But still keeping his eyes and ears open for his Seelie queen, he’s suspicious of the winter kingdom leaving their lands for the first time in forty years and arriving at court… where dire predictions of darkness loom. Çifta longs to command her own future. But the heiress’s reprieve from an alliance with a ruthless royal feels temporary, as she fears revealing the truth of his cruel treatment will lead to war. As their paths converge at the famed Midwinter Festival, the three schemers uncover threads of a twisted plot. And with life, limb, and love on the line, they realize joining forces once again is the only hope of stopping an encroaching evil. Will their secret maneuvers bring them back into sovereign favor or leave them out in the treacherous cold?
I was very lucky to be invited to the review group by the author - and am so happy to have been provided with the next few books in the series. I first found this series through Booksprout and I am so glad I did. This is the second book in the series, with the first one being A Blossom At Midnight. I fell in love with the masterful way A.L. Knorr writes and she is seriously underrated - if you're a fan of The Folk of The Air and An Enchantment of Ravens; I have to recommend this series.
Haunting Miss Trentwood
by Belinda Kroll
Synopsis: It was a truth universally acknowledged that one's suitors and ghosts ought never mix, especially if the ghost was one's father. Resigned to spinsterhood in her English manor house, Mary Trentwood is horrified when her father's ghost crawls from his grave, and struggles as he spouts opinion after opinion about the most mundane things. Mistaking the newly-arrived and quietly handsome Alexander Hartwell as her father's solicitor—for who else would interrupt her mourning?—Mary soon realizes her father is adding matchmaking to his repertoire. Neither Mary nor her father realize Hartwell hunts a blackmailer, and shouldn't waste time seeking Mary's smiles. HAUNTING MISS TRENTWOOD is a cozy Victorian fantasy featuring sweet romance, found family, and ridiculous comedy-of-manners fun.
I read recently a short novella that is a part of the Trentwood series by the fly, and loved it's old timey writing style and historically accurate setting. It felt like reading Pride And Prejudice with physics and ghosts. So I VERY enthusiastically look forward to this, which is the first in the Trentwood series.
Mister Magic
by Kiersten White
Synopsis: Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic. But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has. Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since. After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?
[published August 8, 2023.]
I got my start in creepypastas. and one I found particularly intriguing as a kid was Candle Cove. I have always been fascinated with Lost Media, though the lost media I look into now it a lot darker than a child's cartoon - it still helped me connect to the plot. I cant wait to dig into this.
The Broken Places
By Blaine Daigle
Synopsis: When Ryne Burdette inherits his family's old hunting cabin deep in the Yukon wilderness, he wants to say no. Nothing much is left in that place except for unpleasant memories and the smoke of old burns. But after a tragic year, he sees a weekend trip to the cabin with his best friends as a way to recuperate and begin again. But there is something strange about these woods. As a winter storm moves in, the animals begin acting strangely, and the natural laws of the wilderness seem to fall apart. Then, the soft voices start whispering through the trees. Something is watching them. As the storm gets worse and the woods get darker, the three friends must dive into the darkest waters of the Burdette family lineage. Because the horrible truth is deep, resting in the shadowed places no one wants to look. Contains mature themes.
I'm a huge fan 0f nature-horror and I have watched The Ritual so much that I ended up buying it on DVD So I just HAD to show up for this book. I'm hyped to read it while I'm in Yosemite - the PERFECT place for it.
Dead of Winter
By Darcy Coates
Synopsis: From bestselling author Darcy Coates comes Dead of Winter, a remote cabin in the snowy wilderness thriller that will teach you to trust no one. There are eight strangers. One killer. Nowhere left to run. When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm.She couldn't be more wrong. Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.
As always Darcy Coates came to slay, I feel like she writes a new book every two seconds - But I ended up liking the last ARC I got of hers 'From Below,' so much that from now on she is always a instant buy and request.
The Last Girls Standing
by Jennifer Dugan
Synopsis: Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand. But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor—she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?
[published August 15th, 2023.]
Looking Glass Sound
by Catriona Ward
Synopsis: In a cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of a sun-drenched summer of his youth and of the killer that stalked the small New England town. Of the terrible tragedy that forever bonded him with his friends Nat and Harper in unknowable ways. Of a horror that has followed them over the years. Wilder has returned to the town decades later in an attempt to recount that summer's events in his memoirs. But as he writes, Wilder begins to fear his grip on the truth is fading, and events in the manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. He’s even started seeing a dark-haired woman down in the icy waters below the cottage, but nobody else can. No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does…
[published August 8, 2023.]
I literally clawed my way to an ARC for this one. I'm still surprised I got it because I came in so last minute, but I succeeded!
Boys in the Valley
By Philip Fracassi
Synopsis: St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys. Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania. Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future...a family. Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides. Others turn up dead. Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives — and perhaps their eternal souls — are at risk.
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
Synopsis: Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
I gave into peer pressure and am praying this isn't another ACOTAR disappointment. I don't wanna be scarred again. And booktok should NOT be trusted, but I am giving them a chance because-well-dragons.
Wow, your blog looks so much more professional than mine!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have some more books to add to my TBR!
Thanks @Paperwitches
Thank you so much that's very sweet <3 I appreciate the visit! And I hope you enjoy the new TBR reccs!
DeleteHi, new blog follower. I saw your post on a Goodreads Blogger Group and how you are just starting out with your blog. Really like the layout of your blog and nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Cassandra, I followed too - I appreciate it! It's still a WIP but I put a lot of time in it (:
Delete