Posts in "recap"

January 25, 2026

Direbound by Sable Sorensen

The basics

Title: Direbound

Author:

Series: The Wolves of Ruin #1

- Dire Bound (2025)
- Fury Bound (2026)
- Book 3

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Goodreads Summary:

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting. And Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will.

Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

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Posted by Amber • No comments
January 22, 2026

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

The basics

Title: Kings of the Wyld

Author:

Series: the Band #1

- Kings of the Wyld (2017)
- Bloody Rose (2018)
- Outlaw Empire

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Goodreads Summary:

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best -- the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
November 6, 2025

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree

The basics

Title: Bookshops and Bonedust

Author:

Series: Legends and Lattes #2

- Legends and Lattes (2022)
- Bookshops and Bonedust (2023)
- Brigands and Breadknives (2025)

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Goodreads Summary:

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it.

What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine. Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
October 5, 2025

The Will of the Many by James Islington

The basics

Title: The Will of the Many

Author:

Series: Hierarchy #1

- The Will of the Many (2023)
- The Strength of the Few (2025)

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Goodreads Summary:

The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
September 28, 2025

Silver Elite by Dani Francis

The basics

Title: Silver Elite

Author:

Series: Silver Elite #1

- Silver Elite (2025)
- Broken Dove (2026)

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Goodreads Summary:

Psychic gifts are a death sentence and there are rules to survival: Trust no one. Lie to everyone. And whatever you do, don’t fall for your greatest enemy.

TRUST NO ONE.

Wren Darlington has spent her whole life in hiding, honing her psychic abilities and aiding the rebel Uprising in small ways. On the Continent, being Modified means certain death—and Wren is one of the most powerful Mods in existence. When one careless mistake places her in the hands of the enemy and she’s forced to join their most elite training program, she’s finally handed the perfect opportunity to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks.

LIE TO EVERYONE.

But training for Silver Block can be deadly, especially when you’re harboring dangerous secrets and living in close quarters with everyone who wants you dead.

AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T FALL FOR YOUR GREATEST ENEMY.

As the stakes grow ever higher, Wren must prove herself to Silver Block. But that’s easier said than done when your commanding officer is the ruthless and infuriatingly irresistible Cross Redden, who doesn’t miss anything when it comes to her. And as war rages between Mods like her and those who aim to destroy them, Wren must decide just how far she’s willing to go to protect herself . . . and how much of the Continent is worth saving.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
August 15, 2025

Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

The basics

Title: Magnolia Parks

Author:

Series: Magnolia Parks Universe #1

- Magnolia Parks (2021)
- Daisy Haites (2021)
- The Long Way Home (2022)
- The Great Undoing (2022)
- Into the Dark (2024)

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Goodreads Summary:

She is a beautiful, affluent, self-involved and mildly neurotic London socialite. He is Britain's most photographed bad-boy lothario who broke her heart. But Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine are meant to be, and everyone knows it. They're in the stars... just suspended in a strange kind of love that looks like hurting each other a lot of the time: She dates other people to keep him at bay; he sleeps with other girls to get back at her for it. But at the end of their every sad endeavour to get over one another, it's still each other they crawl back to. But their dysfunction is catching up with them, pulling at their seams and fraying the world they've built; a world where neither has to ever let the other go completely. As the cracks start to show and secrets begin to surface, Magnolia and BJ are finally forced to face the formidable question they've been avoiding all their lives: how many loves do you really get in a lifetime?
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Posted by Amber • No comments
July 18, 2025

The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

The basics

Title: The Shadow Cabinet

Author:

Series: Her Majesty's Royal Coven #2

- Queen B (2024)
- Her Majesty's Royal Coven (2022)
- The Shadow Cabinet (2023)
- Human Rites (2025)

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Goodreads Summary:

Hidden among us is a secret coven of witches. They are Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. They protect crown and country from magical forces and otherworldly evil. But their greatest enemy will come from within.

There are whisperings of a prophecy that will bring the coven to its knees, and five best friends are about to be caught at the centre. Life as a modern witch was never simple … but now it’s about to get apocalyptic.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
July 17, 2025

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The basics

Title: Apprentice to the Villain

Author:

Series: Assistant to the Villain #2

- Assistant to the Villain (2023)
- Apprentice to the Villain (2024)
- Accomplice to the Villain (2025)

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Goodreads Summary:

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs―Kingsley’s included―point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?
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Posted by Amber • No comments
July 1, 2025

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The basics

Title: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Author:

Series: Emily Wilde #1

1. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (2023)
2. Emily Wilde's Map of the Other Lands (2024)
3. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (2025)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
June 21, 2025

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

The basics

Title: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Author:

Series: Ernest Cunningham #1

1. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (2022)
2. Everyone on This Train is a Suspect (2023)
3. Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret (2024)

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Goodreads Summary:

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I'd killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it's a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
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Posted by Amber • No comments
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