Young Adult
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.
When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.
But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.
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A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson
Myra has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to control: she's a portrait artist whose paintings alter people's bodies. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor's wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead son.
Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear the boy's death was no accident. A killer stalks these halls--one disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to get out of the manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor's older son for help completing the painting before the secret she spent her life concealing makes her the killer's next victim.
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Always Jane by Jenn Bennett
Love—and Fen Sarafian—do not care about your summer plans.
Eighteen-year-old chauffeur’s daughter Jane Marlow grew up among the domestic staff of a wealthy LA rock producer, within reach of bands she idolizes, but never a VIP. Every summer, Jane and her father head to the Sierras to work at the producer’s luxury lodge at Lake Condor—a resort town and the site of a major musical festival.
The legendary family who runs the festival are the Sarafians, and Jane’s had a longtime crush on their oldest son, Eddie—doltish but sweet. So when a long-distance romance finally sparks between them, she doesn’t hesitate to cross class lines.
But Jane’s feelings about Eddie are thrown into question after she returns to the lake and reconnects with his alluringly intense brother, the dark horse of her placid summer plans. A fellow lover of music—and hater of the game—Fen Sarafian has been ousted from the family and is slumming it at a vinyl record shop. He burns for Jane like a house on fire and will do anything to sabotage his older brother, even if it means taking a wrecking ball to a multi-million-dollar music festival. Or Jane’s heart.
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The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson
After her eighteenth birthday, Hilde, a former orphan in 1930s Berlin, goes out into the world to discover her place in it. But finding a job is hard, at least until she stumbles into Café Lila, a vibrant cabaret full of expressive customers—and Rosa, the club’s waitress and performer. As the café and all who work there embrace Hilde, and she embraces them in turn, she discovers her voice and her own blossoming feelings for Rosa.
But Berlin is in turmoil. Between the elections, protests in the streets, and the beginning seeds of unrest in Café Lila itself, Hilde will have to decide what’s best for her future . . . and what it means to love a place on the cusp of war.
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So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens
Arek hadn’t thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he’s finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out magical swords yanked from bogs don’t come pre-sharpened), he and his rag-tag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next.
As a temporary safeguard, Arek’s best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except that she’s dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a spouse by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing.
With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life—starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong…until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along.
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Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
Jamal Lawson just wanted to be a part of something. As an aspiring journalist, he packs up his camera and heads to Baltimore to document a rally protesting police brutality after another Black man is murdered.
But before it even really begins, the city implements a new safety protocol...the Dome. The Dome surrounds the city, forcing those within to subscribe to a total militarized shutdown. No one can get in, and no one can get out.
Alone in a strange place, Jamal doesn't know where to turn...until he meets hacker Marco, who knows more than he lets on, and Catherine, an AWOL basic-training-graduate, whose parents helped build the initial plans for the Dome.
As unrest inside of Baltimore grows throughout the days-long lockdown, Marco, Catherine, and Jamal take the fight directly to the chief of police. But the city is corrupt from the inside out, and it's going to take everything they have to survive.
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Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden
Luca Mason knows exactly who he is and what he wants: In six months, he’s going to be accepted into the Australian Ballet School, leave his fancy private high school, and live his life as a star of the stage—at least that’s the plan until he falls down a flight of stairs and breaks his foot in a way he can never recover from.
With his dancing dreams dead on their feet, Luca loses his performing arts scholarship and transfers to the local public school, leaving behind all his ballet friends and his whole future on stage.
The only bright side is that he strikes up unlikely friendships with the nicest (and nerdiest) girl at his new school, Amina, and the gorgeous, popular, and (reportedly) straight school captain, Jordan Tanaka-Jones.
As Luca’s bond with Jordan grows stronger, he starts to wonder: who is he without ballet? And is he setting himself up for another heartbreak?
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My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham
Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of a river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she's felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her.
Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena's suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.
One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts―beauty, power, adoration―in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island.
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Live, Laugh, Kidnap by Gabby Noone
The only thing Genesis, Holly and Zoe seem to have in common is being stuck in Violet, Montana. Well, that and the fact that Hope Harvest Ministries is trying to ruin their lives.
Genesis lives on a commune that is now an echo of the New Age cult it once was. She’s witnessed power couple Pastor Jay and Ree Reaps transform their sleepy small town into a haven for online Influencers, who flock to Violet, the bible in one hand and Ree’s bestselling ACT LIKE A LADY, PRAY LIKE A BOSS in the other. Now, the Reaps have decided it’s God’s Will™ that they take over Gen’s ranch.
Holly is a begrudging tourist, forced to spend the summer with her estranged father as punishment for her unsavoury behaviour back in LA. To Holly, Hope Harvest is nothing but a gimmicky marketing ploy, but it’s threatening to put her father’s diner out of business and, for some reason, Holly cares.
All Zoe wants is to leave Violet, working thankless shifts at the diner to scrape together enough cash to start a new life with her girlfriend. But Zoe’s mother has lost everything to the church’s multilevel marketing schemes so the little money that Zoe manages to make goes right to debt collectors.
The only solution to their problems is to scam the scammers and protect what’s theirs. It shouldn’t take much – the Reaps’ golden son, an accidental kidnapping, some light blackmail – and the Reaps’ fortune will be in the girls’ much more deserving hands. As long as everything goes according to plan…
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Message Not Found by Dante Medema
Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey's, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.
To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years' worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she's really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized--a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa's death.
This compelling puzzle of a story, filled with engrossing twists and turns, is written in alternating prose and text message formats. Teens will gobble up this fast-paced page-turner.
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Gaslight by Rachael Rose
It’s a six-hour flight from New York City to Los Angeles.
For Maddie Goodwright and her mom, it’s six hours that will change their lives as they leave behind broken relationships and shattered dreams. But a new school, a new home, and a new group of friends can’t heal the wounds of the past. To move forward, Maddie will have to reinvent herself.
When Madde’s step-cousins take her to the local underground fight club, it’s only a matter of time before boxer Hayden Walker catches her eye. Strong, powerful, and confident—he’s everything Maddie isn’t, but definitely wants to be. Convincing Hayden to train her is hard, not falling for him will be even harder.
As Maddie transforms both inside and out of the ring, her past returns with a vengeance determined to ruin everything. Except this time he’s not ready for her to face him head on.
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Practical Demonology by Clare Rees
There have always been castles in the valley, and the people have always been under threat. They’ve always needed those thick walls, the protection of that enclosing stone. Non feels like she needs it more than most, because her mother was infected by the demons that live in the woods.
As the doctor’s daughter, Non had planned a career in medicine—partly to please her father, but also because it would keep her inside the protective walls of the citadel. When plague strikes the citadel, all the teenagers are evacuated to the ruined Cirtop Castle. While there, she's given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to study the demons that she’s always feared. But will she be brave enough to take it? In the footsteps of Jelly, Rees's brilliant and original debut novel, comes a new story of survival and community—and just a little bit of literal guts.
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Trigger by N. Griffin
For forever, Didi has had to be the best at anything her father demanded of her—the fastest runner, the master at chess, able to take down a deer with a bow and arrow at a dead sprint. If she fails, he denies her food. Clothes. Kindness. Yet he claims he loves her—he says he does—it’s why he pushes her. To be ready. Prepared. For anything. Ready to fight. Ready to…
…Didi is terrified of what he may one day ask.
But she might be more prepared than her father ever expected.
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Her Rebel Highness by Diana Ma
In Heiress Apparently, Gemma Huang’s big acting break led her to Beijing, where she uncovered an incredible family secret. This second novel in the Daughters of the Dynasty series delves further into Gemma’s complex and storied legacy, moving back one generation to tell the story of Gemma’s mother, Lei, as she finds love against the backdrop of 1980s China and the Tiananmen Square protests and makes a difficult decision that forever alters the course of her life.
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Romance
The Marquess Makes His Move by Diana Quincy
The new footman doesn't seem to know his place...
London's most renowned mapmaker is a woman...but nobody knows it. If anyone discovers that Rose Fleming is the power and talent behind the family business, the scandal could ruin them. Rose's secret is tested by the arrival of a handsome new footman who shows far too much interest in his new mistress. Rose battles an intense attraction to the enigmatic servant, but maintaining a proper distance isn't easy when you and temptation live under the same roof.
She makes him forget he has a score to settle...
Few have met the reclusive half-Arab Marquess of Brandon, who is rumored to live with a harem of beauties among his mother's people near Jerusalem. Brandon couldn't care less what society thinks of him, or that his fellow peers are disdainful of his common blood, but he won't stand for being robbed. That's why he's disguised himself as a footman in the home of a respected mapmaker who cheated Brandon out of his land. But the nobleman's plans for retribution are complicated by his growing attraction for the secretive lady of the house.
When Brandon uncovers the shocking truth about Rose's role in his stolen birthright, can a love born of deception really conquer all?
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A Relentless Rake by Anna Harrington
• An unapologetic rake attempting to cover up his past
• A rule-following heroine unafraid to speak her mind
• Thrilling action and mystery
• Passionate attraction that overrides their deepest resistance
Notorious rake Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St James, takes pride in displaying his sins. When he's tasked by the Home Office with finding the men who attempted to assassinate the prime minister, his hunt leads him to Olivia Everett, a most proper schoolmistress who wants nothing to do with a profligate nobleman like him.
Unknown to her, Olivia's brother, Henry, has been working with the revolutionary group planning to overthrow the government. Shocked and hoping to save her brother, Olivia agrees to help the persuasive earl. But they closer they get to uncovering the villains, the more Alec and Olivia will need to trust each other.
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How to Be a Wallflower by Eloisa James
Miss Cleopatra Lewis is about to be launched in society by her aristocratic grandfather. But since she has no intention of marrying, she visits a costume emporium specifically to order unflattering dresses guaranteed to put off any prospective suitors.
Powerful and charismatic Jacob Astor Addison is in London, acquiring businesses to add to his theatrical holdings in America—as well as buying an emerald for a young lady back in Boston. He's furious when a she-devil masquerading as an English lady steals Quimby's Costume Emporium from under his nose.
Jake strikes a devil's bargain, offering to design her “wallflower wardrobe” and giving Cleo the chance to design his. Cleo can't resist the fun of clothing the rough-hewn American in feathers and flowers. And somehow in the middle of their lively competition, Jake becomes her closest friend.
It isn't until Cleo becomes the toast of all society that Jake realizes she's stolen his fiercely guarded heart. But unlike the noblemen at her feet, he doesn't belong in her refined and cultured world.
Caught between the demands of honor and desire, Jake would give up everything to be with the woman he loves—if she'll have him!
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And that's all folks! I've got Live, Laugh, Kidnap preordered and I can't wait to get my copy. I was lucky to read an ARC of The Marquess Makes His Move and I absolutely loved it! I definitely recommend getting a copy! Let me know in the comments what you're reading this week!
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