Current Books
READING MARCH 2025
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in the first book of a Norse-inspired fantasy romance duology from the author of The Bridge Kingdom series.
“THE must-read fantasy of 2024!”—Jennifer L. Armentrout, author of From Blood and Ash
AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.
Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. And it’s been foretold that such magic will unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.
Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she has sworn to protect.
READ FEBRUARY 2025
“The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years because it’s about real people… Impossible to put down.” ―Stephen King
The smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo is a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.
Goodreads Choice Award Winner
Locus Finalist
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.
READ JANUARY 2025
A New York Times and USA Today bestseller
From New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage and You Shouldn’t Have Come Here comes a chilling family thriller about the (sometimes literal) skeletons in the closet.
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.
While going through their parents’ belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.
Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.
READ DECEMBER 2024
“A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn’t look away.” – Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Champion of Fate
Enemies-to-lovers doesn’t get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling author Kristen Ciccarelli’s latest romantic fantasy.
On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.
Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?
Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to The Crimson Moth duology, a romantic fantasy series where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.
MID MONTH INDIE PICK – READING DECEMBER 15 – JANUARY 14 2025
AN ORPHAN WITH A MYSTERIOUS EGG.
Frances West returns to her birth city of Castor’s Grove, searching for answers about who she really is. Her only clue: a purple and gold Fabergé egg that was a gift from her biological parents. On her own for the first time, Fran is determined to prove that she’s capable of succeeding without anyone’s help.
Until she discovers that Castor’s Grove is teeming with magical creatures, and she might need a guide after all.
A FAIRY WHO JUST WANTS TO GET INTO A FRATERNITY.
Ivan Dream isn’t from an elite noble family like most fairies, but he’s determined to make something of himself by becoming a Phi Eta Gentleman. To get accepted, all he needs to do is steal a badge from the Knights, an order devoted to the destruction of all things magic.
EACH HAS WHAT THE OTHER NEEDS.
Fran is willing to trade, but only if Ivan provides information about her family.
But when Ivan discovers more than he expected, will he be able to tell Fran? Or are there some truths about ourselves that we’re better off not knowing?
Explore the city of Castor’s Grove with Fran and Ivan in this sweet paranormal romance that’s sure to keep you turning the page.
READ NOVEMBER 2024
Following her parents’ inevitable divorce, sixteen-year-old Chloe Archer is forced to relocate to a new school in a new town.
The only part of that she’s worried about, though, is having to hide the abuse she receives from her twisted, unstable mother, and making sure her reckless twin sister stays out of trouble.
As Chloe begins to navigate a life she never thought possible by making new friends and even falling in love, she must quickly decide if love and friendship are worth her two worlds colliding – or continue living in two separate worlds and eventually succumb to the madness that is forcibly taking over.
MID MONTH INDIE PICK – READ NOVEMBER 15-DECEMBER 14 2024
There is but one lesson humans are slow to learn and quick to forget: the fae lie…
When half-fae Bronwyn is caught fleeing the scene of a robbery, a Crusader arrow finds its mark. But as her roguish partner-in-crime Eoin tends to her wounds, a spark between them replenishes Bronwyn’s magic — revealing her as part-Siren. And quite possibly cursed.
Meanwhile, word is spreading of the two thieves and the illegal magic they left behind them. To escape discovery, Bronwyn and Eoin accept a dangerous yet tempting job: a wedding heist that leads them into the depths of the fae realm.
But August, the merciless vampire lord of the Selene Court, is used to getting what — and who — he wants.
In a land of deception, seduction and meddling gods, Bronwyn puts her life on the line, only to discover temptation may be her undoing. And time is running out for her to make a choice, before she’s stuck on the wrong side of a looming war.
The Curse of the Siren is a steamy, plot-driven romantasy with magic, political intrigue, and two tempting MMCs.
READ OCTOBER 2024
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell it.
Connecticut, 1666: An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood. The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector.
The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil.
To Abitha, a recently widowed outcast, alone and vulnerable in her pious village, he is the only one she can turn to for help.
Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan – one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake.
This terrifying tale of bewitchery features more than two dozen of Brom’s haunting full-color paintings and brilliant endpapers, fully immersing readers in this wild and unforgiving world.
MID MONTH INDIE PICK – READ OCTOBER 15-NOVEMBER 14
Mary
For years, the fear of love had paralyzed me, the wounds of my past still raw and deep. But something inside me shifted, and I found myself ready to take a chance on opening my heart again. And then I met Onyx Walker, with his magnetic charm and daring nature. He was an army soldier, constantly putting himself in danger for his country, but I couldn’t help but fall for him. His smile lit up every room he entered, and his touch was addicting. But as we grew closer, I couldn’t ignore the nagging fear that my past would come back to haunt us. Yet despite it all, I couldn’t resist the pull towards him – maybe because he was the first person who made me feel truly alive again.
Onyx
Ever since my mother’s passing, life had lost its vibrancy and color. Sorrow consumed me, and drowning in it seemed like the only way to cope. But that all changed the night I met Mary Patterson. From the moment I laid eyes on her, her beauty captivated me. Yet, there was a sadness behind her smile, as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. A part of me felt drawn to fix that, to help her find true happiness. As I looked into her eyes, I saw a strong and confident woman trying to break free from the demons that haunted her. And I knew deep down that I wanted to be the one to guide her through that journey, to help her tear down the walls she had built out of fear.
