Fantasy

The Heart Trials by J. Elle

This is a YA dystopian romantasy that combines a deadly game with a dating show. We have the typical power dynamic where a powerful ruler surrounds himself with sycophants who live a privileged life. In this world they are the only people allowed to touch another person and fall in love. All others live in squalor with no hope of improving their lives. That is, until the ruler announces the Tournament of Hearts. The winning couple become highborn citizens with all the privileges that come with it. Our FMC Axira is a lowborn smuggler that gets into a sticky situation and makes a deal with the MMC Prince Caelus to enter the tournament to steal something for him. On the day the trials start, Caelus enters the tournament at his father’s command.

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September 13, 2026 0

Flickerstate by F. A. Davidson

I really like dark academia books with unique magic systems so was excited to read this book. The magic system here is definitely unique where magic users can manipulate different elements. Norah is our FMC and she can manipulate probability. When magic users use their magic, however, it can draw possibility beasts whose bites are deadly. When her father is bitten and his health quickly deteriorates, she joins the academy to follow a rumor that a cure can be found there. When she finds out that only senior research assistants are allowed in the archives—and you can only become one by winning a team trial designed to push your navigation abilities to the brink, Norah reluctantly joins a team.

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September 5, 2026 0

Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray

This is a slow burn Gilded Age book that combines mystery, magic, and romance. Vesper is a young, ambitious journalist with the failing Basalton Globe. The book opens with her attending a society gala with the hopes of interviewing an inventor introducing this recent magical invention. Vesper resents Basalton high society who use sorcery to fuel their luxurious lifestyles rather than help those less fortunate. Vesper briefly interviews the inventor, however a brief time later finds him dead in the garden. Two men are the police’s main suspects, with the prime suspect being industrialist Maximilian Kite.

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September 5, 2026 0

The Infinite State (The Decurion Saga #1) by Richard Swan

WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.

WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.

WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.

This book was a wild ride! Pater Aeternus, governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire, is run by the Eternal Father. He dictates your status, the work you can do, who you can marry, and women’s purpose is to have as many children as possible. The entire planet is heavily surveilled and even a whisper of discontent is immediately quashed. People are routinely snatched up and disappear forever (sound familiar?). Most are murdered. A few are “re-educated” and come back as fanatical loyalists.

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August 29, 2026 0

When Dealing With Dragons by Dana Swift

This book was so freaking cute!! A book about dragon veterinarians? At a dragon sanctuary? Yes, please!! Farren, the FMC, is attending the dragon academy so she can be a dragon vet like her father. She is a “lowly” copper crafter in their magic system. She is not popular and is teased by her classmates. James, the MMC, comes from a rich silver crafting family and is snobby and arrogant, and more importantly, Farren’s main competition for a college scholarship.

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August 2, 2026 0

Moss’d in Space (Moss’d in Space, #1) by Rebecca Thorne

I loved this book!!! It reminded me of one of my favorite SciFi shows, Farscape, and so I was hooked. Torian worked hard to afford to buy her own starship and captain her own ship. All she could afford was a tiny starship that had been abandoned for a century and was covered in moss. Torian got it running and to her surprise, the moss is an organic computer with a major attitude and abandonment issues. An immortal alien whose species was long thought to be extinct built it and forgot where he parked it. Thus begins Torian’s crazy ride.

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July 26, 2026 0

Death’s Daughter (Children of the Old Ones, #1) by S. A. Barnes

This was a fun, fluffy urban paranormal fantasy that features the daughter of Death, Jocasta, just trying to be normal at college. She’s got great friends and a complicated relationship with a TA, Carter. Instead of killing people she feeds on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. All is going well until a sexy guy named Devon, a descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target. When a friend of Jo’s is murdered, Jo becomes the number 1 suspect. As the body count rises, and Jo does everything she can to protect those she loves, she tests the limits of her power and doesn’t know who to trust.

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July 4, 2026 0

The Last Best Quest Ever by F. T. Lukens

This was such a cute and cozy YA fantasy that I smiled the entire time I read it. Ellinore is only 17 years old but has the best questing record of anyone in the kingdom. But, it’s all built on lies and Ellinore is tired of being a fraud. After she wins another quest, she shocks everyone by officially retiring at the royal feast. She goes home only to find her twin brother Zig has gambled his life by betting that Ellinore can retrieve the horn of the mythical Elder Beast, an almost impossible quest.

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June 14, 2026 0

Grave Empire (The Great Silence, #1) by Richard Swan

Wow. Just, wow. I don’t even know what I just read. It’s fantasy, it’s horror, it’s supernatural, it’s steampunk, it’s insanely, scarily, good. I don’t even like the horror genre and typically can’t read it because I’m a big scaredy cat, but Swan lulls me into a wonderful fantasy haze and then BAM. Horror. Lots and lots of horror. Not gonna lie. Scared the crap outta me. And yet. I can’t stop reading.

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June 14, 2026 0