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Nerd Girl Loves Books

Book recommendations and short reviews just for you!

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Romantasy

The Heart Trials by J. Elle

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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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Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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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When Dealing With Dragons by Dana Swift

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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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To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1) by Brooke Fast

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Woohoo!!! What a wild ride! I love dystopian books and so many authors get it wrong, but not here. While we only get bits and pieces about how the world fell apart, there is enough information to fire you up against the powers that be. I look forward to learning more about this world in the next book.

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The Last Best Quest Ever by F. T. Lukens

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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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Seek the Traitor’s Son (The Burning Empire, #1) by Veronica Roth

Rating: 4 out of 5.

4.5 stars

This is the dystopian book I’ve been looking for the last couple of years! Earth has been ravaged by a fever that took more than half the population. Now the world is separated into two warring countries. Cedrae who shun the fever and do everything they can to avoid it and Telusar, who embrace the fever and worship it. All Telusar citizens are subjected to the fever. Those that survive the fever are gifted with powers. The powers are unique and varied.

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Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1) by Marion Blackwood

Rating: 4 out of 5.

4.5 stars

Wow. What a wild ride!! I lost a lot of sleep reading this one. This is the first book in an enemies-to-lovers romantasy series featuring fae, dragons, and magic. I love books that have trials that the main character must endure to achieve a goal. In this case, Selena is a fae trapped in the Seelie Court and controlled by dragon shifters. She’s part of a rebel alliance determined to free all trapped faes. Her only chance to gain her freedom is by entering the Atonement Trials: a deadly competition that pits fae magic users against each other. Only three people can win, and Selena intends to be one of them.

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Broken Souls and Bones (Stonegate, #1) by L.J. Andrews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a great first book in a new fantasy series. Lyra lives a quiet life in a small village. It allows her to hide her magical abilities – abilities that are not allowed to exist outside the authority of the King. Roark, the Prince’s guard and rumored assassin for the crown, invades her village. In order to save her best friend, she reveals her rare ability, is taken captive by Roark, and taken to the King where she’s forced to use her magic on his behalf.

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