by Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion Children's

Release Date: April 2021

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, High Fantasy, Adventure

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

by Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Release Date: April 2021

Published by: Roaring Brook Press

Publication date: May 4th 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Perfect for fans of Rick Yancey and Marie Lu, The Ones We’re Meant to Find is a sci-fi fantasy with mind-blowing twists, ready to burst onto the YA scene, from the critically-acclaimed Descendant of the Crane author, Joan He.

Cee awoke on an abandoned island three years ago. With no idea of how she was marooned, she only has a rickety house, an old android, and a single memory: she has a sister, and Cee needs to find her.

STEM prodigy Kasey wants escape from the science and home she once trusted. The Metropolis—Earth’s last unpolluted place—is meant to be sanctuary for those committed to planetary protection, but it’s populated by people willing to do anything for refuge, even lie. Now, she’ll have to decide if she’s ready to use science to help humanity, even though it failed the people who mattered most.

THE ONES WE’RE MEANT TO FIND is a scifi-fantasy about two sisters, Cee and Kasey. Cee has been stuck on an abandoned island for just over three years. Kasey is stuck too; it’s been three months since her sister went missing from their home, a technologically advanced floating city that protects its populace from a polluted, climate-change wrecked outside world. Of the pair, Cee is much more of a social butterfly whereas Kasey is introverted and makes decisions based off of logic rather than emotions.

🌊 🚣‍♀️ 🌎 🧪️🤯 💔 ⏳ 🛁

The initial idea came to me in a dream: I had a very vivid image of a girl diving to the bottom of a sea, in search of something or someone. As I tried to figure out the “what”, my mind went back to the books I was reading as a teen. Some of my favorites at the time were YA Dystopias such as The Hunger Games and Legend. They left a deep impression on me, particularly in how they signalled the relatability of their main characters. A single scene with a younger sibling, for example, could frame a protagonist as human and vulnerable before they went on to topple dictatorships or save the world. I wanted to subvert that. What if, I wondered, the girl in my dream is searching for her younger sister, but that sister is more than a storytelling device? And so came the heart of the story.

This is hard! I listened to a lot of music while writing this book, including many instrumental tracks and some songs in Chinese. A song with English lyrics that encapsulates the book would be THE NIGHT WE MET by Lord Huron.

I have to pick the obvious here: the beach (not a tropical one), with a tumbler of hot tea.

If you love twists and questions of mortality, I’d recommend:

The hardest part of writing any book, but especially a second book, is silencing the noise. You always have your inner critic that will give you a hard time, but with each book, you also start hearing the voices of readers, your publisher, etc. The fear of disappointing people mounts. But to write, you really have to filter all of that out.

I just turned in a book that’s code named “mountain book” (TOWMTF was called “ocean book”). I’d also love to get back into Chinese fantasy sometime soon J

Joan was born and raised in Philadelphia but still will, on occasion, lose her way. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that stories were her favorite kind of art. She studied psychology and Chinese history at the University of Pennsylvania and currently writes from a desk overlooking the city

waterfront. Descendant of the Crane is her young adult debut.

For updates, please sign up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c5rvdL. For business related inquiries, please contact her literary agent, John Cusick of Folio Lit.

by E.M. Moore

Published: April 12th 2021

Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Fantasy

Goodreads | Amazon

Welcome to the school for shifter rejects…

Unwanted.

Dismissed.

Cast away by their mate, the renounced are directed to attend university together by the Pack Council to salvage what’s left of their shattered lives. The objective? Reform, impress, or get the hell out.

There’s no room in the packs for wolves who don’t conform. Who can’t breed future heirs.

With living feral, a.k.a. certain death, as the only alternative, the rejects need to win back their true mate—or find an appropriate alternative—before they’re banished from the packs forever.

The Rejected Mate Academy series is an M/F wolf shifter romance. The first book, Untamed, will more than likely release sooner than the current pre-order date. For news and announcements on this series, please join E. M. Moore’s Facebook group or subscribe to her newsletter.

by R.A. Smyth

Release Date: February 2021

Genre: Contemporary, Dark, Polyamorous, Reverse Harem, Young Adult, High School

by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Published: February 14th 2021

Genre: Reverse Harem, Romance, Contemporary, Dark, New Adult, High School, Suspense, Mystery, Romantic suspense, Fiction, Polyamorous

Once upon a time I met four monsters and thought the world would come to an end at their hands.

But I was a fool.

Because I didn’t understand the bigger picture.

That the enemies I thought I knew would become the reason for my entire existence. My strength. My pain. My life. My love.

The big bad wolf has teeth and claws as sharp as iron, and the danger before my eyes is blinding. So blinding that I didn’t see the true danger lurking in the dark.

But now my eyes are wide open and I see it all.

Alone and afraid and running out of time, I’m not afraid of monsters anymore.

I’m counting on them to come for me.

Because if they don’t, this foolish girl might be lost forever in the dark.

If you are like me and like to take a sneak peak at all the reviews in a series, just go and read this series. It is worth it. Now with the disclaimer, that my review my contain spoilers if you haven't read the previous 3 books.

This is one of the most bittersweet books I have read in a while: I am happy that Caroline & Susanne gave us the ending Tatum, Saint, Blake, Kyan and Nash deserved, but I am also sad their journey is over.

in this fourth and last instalment in the Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep series, Tatum has been kidnapped by Saint's father since he discovered she can be used to produce a vaccine and can sell them to the highest bidder (Seriously, this book was like looking at a parallel window to the craziness we are currently living). Susanne & Caroline were that naughty with the massive cliff-hanger in book 3 and made us wait holding our breaths, but luckily the boys rescue Tatum and you follow them throughout the journey of outsmarting Saint's father, surviving and ending the whole organisation that caused the pandemic and among other atrocities.

I like that we also get to learn a bit more about Tatum's family background and how we get more time with Kyan's crazy uncle who is having his own series (now available to read, by the way).

Overall, Caroline & Susanne build up this story to be more than just a RH bully-romance and I liked how the relationship between the guys and Tatum has built and change throughout the 4 books, even with Nash being part of their tight group to the point where they would do anything for each other. The ending did justice to our beloved characters and let's just say that everyone got what they deserved..... *smiles wickedly*

Now for the important things, I think my favourite guy is Kyan because I am attracted to his fierceness and craziness so there you go. Also, throughout the story he was the one that always made me laugh by poking at Saint so..... There. I said it. 🦑🦑

Thank you to Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti and Erica Collins for giving me early access to QUEEN OF QUARANTINE to write an honest review about the book.

Genre: Adult, Romance, Bully, Enemies to Lovers, Sports
Gooodreads | Amazon

Violet

The fresh start I was supposed to have by transferring to Whitman is starting to feel more like a big bag of dirt. And when things couldn’t get worse, I come face to face with an enemy of the past.

But it seems I’d fallen into some sort of alternate universe. Because instead of making my life hell, Reed Hayes had become my unforeseen protector in the havoc that has become my life.

The Better Bully is an easy to read enemies to lovers bully sports romance book.

This story was a bit different than my usual bully romance reads. The bullying was not as graphic and even though the author tells us the last year of high school was rough for our main character (Violet), we don't really "see" any of the bullying. By the time the "NOW" story starts following, the bullying is something in the past (when they were teenagers), yes, there's animosity between the characters, a lot of sarcastic banter between them, but none "hardcore bullying". I liked that this story is focused on "now that we are adults, things are different" to the point of Reed staying away because Violet would be more intriguing that he may have predicted.

I was a bit outraged (as much as Reed) that Violet started this whole thing because she was fiercely defending her older and nerdy brother and the brother LITERALLY WAS OBLYVIOUS to everything that was happening to Violet in high school.

Overall you have the perfect combination of topics to have an enjoyable romance: ex-drama, a past that might make the relationship complicated, the brother not liking the past and the relationship and situations forcing the 2 characters to interact all the time.

A few things that made this book enjoyable were:

1) The back and forth between Reed and Violet.

2) The different POVs. We get to see what's happening from Reed & Violet's POV and that adds a lot to the story.

3) The back story and the impact that is having in the "NOW" events.

So if you are looking for a light romance read with a bit of bullying with an enemies to lovers trope, I recommend THE BETTER BULLY.

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

Glimpsed is a charming, sparkly rom-com that follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true. It’s got geeky fandom, enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and a hint of magic!

A Few of the Main Characters:

Charity – seventeen, has some abandonment issues, is juggling a lot at school, and is a fairy godmother.

Noah – another student at Charity’s high school and a diehard Trekkie; nursing a broken heart from getting suddenly and thoroughly dumped a hot minute before junior prom.

Vindhya ­­– Charity’s current Cinderella (Cindy); currently in robotics club and soon-to-be (if everything goes to plan) Homecoming Queen.

Sean – a former Cindy; currently a male ballet dancer and school It Boy.

Memom – Charity’s grandmother, also a fairy godmother.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

I love them all, but Noah is my favourite. I love his confident nerdiness, his unabashed passion for Star Trek, and his determination to remain completely himself even when that isn’t winning him popularity points. I love that he is able to admit (eventually) when he’s wrong. He’s smart, funny, and shamelessly in-touch with his inner child. And, quoting Charity, “he looks like Ross Lynch.” (Not waxed-chest, bleached-hair, cool guy Ross Lynch. More like “Harvey Kinkle” Ross Lynch.)

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

Even though I know that most people, if they’re talking about a problem, just want a sympathetic ear…even though I’ve seen that episode of Parks & Rec…I still can’t help myself. There’s something inside me that says all problems must have solutions. The words come unbidden out of my mouth, “Have you tried—?" I guess what I’m trying to say is that it came pretty naturally for me to write a book about a girl who legitimately believes it’s her job to fix everyone else’s stuff. And I loved exploring—in a really whimsical way—the question of: “What does it mean to truly help others? How do we engage with people who are struggling without imposing our own will on them or diminishing their dignity?”

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Maybe Problem by Ariana Grande. As a fairy godmother, Charity is fixing A LOT of problems in Glimpsed—her own and other people’s—and she’s pretty convinced that if she could just get Noah off her back, that would be one less problem for her to deal with.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

Noah is the easiest to cast—we’d need Ross Lynch, obviously. For Charity, how about Mary Mouser (Sam Larusso in Cobra Kai)? I’m not even going to try to cast the rest! There is practically a cast of thousands in Glimpsed. JLHS is a very diverse school, and—sad to say—there seems to be a really limited number of teen Japanese, Latinx, and Indian actors. So lots of the cast will have to be new up-and-coming actors that I can’t wait to meet! But if you guys have ideas, send them to Netflix with the subject line “please make a Glimpsed movie” (copy me, please, because I’d love to know too)! 😉

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

There is kind of a lot of eating in Glimpsed, so there are a few different ways you could go with this:

- You could have a cozy night at home with Star Trek themed foods like Romulan Ale and the Klingon delicacy gladst. (You can easily find recipes for these and more on line. The Star Trek fandom is legit.)

OR

- You could order some Thai take-out. Pad Thai is always a great choice.

OR

- Head to a coffee shop or bakery that has good cream cheese croissants. Wash them down with tea or orange juice. (But definitely don’t order coffee. Charity would not approve.)

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish GLIMPSED?

For contemporary romance with snarky, fast-paced dialogue, try Abigail Johnson’s books, especially If I Fix You and Every Other Weekend.

For a book that will make you laugh out loud, try Gloria Chao’s Rent a Boyfriend.

For a good enemies-to-lovers story, I enjoyed Tweet Cute by Emma Lord.

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

Before getting published, I would have said, “Nothing! It’s all fun, and I enjoy creating every step of the way!” Now that I’m published, to be honest, I would say, “EVERYTHING! It’s all hard!” There are lots of other people invested now who are looking over my shoulder with certain expectations…and that creates some pressure that I never had to worry about before. Will Smith once said that success is the enemy of creativity. Not that I will ever have anywhere near the talent or success of Will Smith, but I have to agree that the hardest part of creating something new is trying to figure out how to step out of the shadow of what you’ve done before.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a fun new romcom with a little bit of magic! I can’t talk too much about it because it’s not sold yet and is still very much a work in progress. But if you want updates about that and future books, you can subscribe to my “sporadic news” on my website gfmiller.com and follow me on Instagram @author.gfmiller. See you there!