For All of Us Romantasy Girls...

For all of us Romantasy girls...

 

First Lines Friday... Get Ready to Be Swept Away

 

"Astrid looked up from her grimoire to find an axe swinging directly for her head.

It's been six years since someone tried to kill her, yet her reflexes are still sharp; she throws herself sideways and spins to face her attacker, just as the blade sinks into the spruce tree--right where her neck had been a moment ago.

She staggers back, twisting her ankle when her boot snags on the uneven forest floor, and swallows the yell that creeps up her throat."

This is the "It" book of the day! So much anticipation for its' release! I was lucky enough to receive a digital ARC recently and have been devouring it! But I also snagged a beautiful hardcover copy when I recently signed up for BOTM this month and it is GORGEOUS! Beautiful end papers and stenciled pages. And the cover is reversible too! Reddish or Blueish, your choice. But the beauty of the book is second to the actual story. Today, we're just looking at that first line....

After Reading the First Lines, Would You Keep Going?

I did...

It's New Book Release Day! And it is Stacked!

It's an exciting day! Why? Because it's "New Book Release Day"! Here are the books on my TBR list....

Rites Of The Starling by Devney Perry...
A princess journeys across a cursed realm to find the truth about her family, only to discover her quest intertwines with the fate of a lost warrior.

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart. I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian. Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm? What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love? For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make. It’s time to discover the monster within.

Sequel to the Shield of Sparrows. This is a HUGE anticipated release! I've got Shield of Sparrows in my TBR pile and this one on order. I pre-ordered this during that big buy2/get1 one day sale at Target, but was notified yesterday it's on BACKORDER!!! Published by Entangled Publishing.

American Fantasy by Emma Straub...
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them for thirty years.

Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, her tastes have matured, and she feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzled, air-brushed t-shirts bearing the singers’ faces. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing before her, something is unlocked. “Maybe that was nostalgia after all, the music a direct vein to her childhood, the least complicated part of her life. A short cut to happiness.” Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the music of her youth, and the thousands of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she befriends one of the band members -- not just a celebrity but someone also in need of a friend -- she feels like anything is possible. But a lot can go wrong on a ship ruled by hormones and hope, frustration and fantasy.

Packed with wisdom, heart, and laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, youth, nostalgia, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.

This book has gotten so much positive buzz and sounds like a fun read for us "girls of a certain age". Sounds like a cruise I would want to go on! Definitely on my wishlist. Published by Riverhead Books.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke... A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

There has been so much anticipation for the release date for Yesteryear! OMG, I read this back at the end of January and was totally enthralled! I just couldn't stop reading! Read my review and add this to your TBR list! Published by Knopf.

Just Announce this morning... Reese's Book Club pick for April is Into The Blue by Emma Brodie which was also released today. Here's the publisher's blurb: “The truth is there’s no such thing as a normal life. There’s just the time you get and how you spend it.”

In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for Saturday Night Live; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her small Massachusetts town. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond, first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word.

Seven years later, in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

Blending unforgettable characters, explosive chemistry and yearning, and profound emotion, Into the Blue is a journey unlike any other—one that asks: What does it mean to diverge from the script to forge your own story?

I know nothing about this book, except that Reese announced it as her pick for April and that it was published today by Ballantine Books. I usually like her picks though and sounds like a good read. On my radar now and putting it on my wishlist.

What new books are you reading today?

 

Memoir Monday... and Get Your Scalpel Ready...

True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell... From Goodreads: Patricia Cornwell finally tells the story that rivals all of the works that precede her own.

Patricia Cornwell is best known for her international bestselling thriller series about forensic pathologist Dr Kay Scarpetta. Every story comes from somewhere, and Scarpetta's began when Patricia Cornwell embedded herself in a morgue.

In this achingly honest memoir, Cornwell excavates her own life, detailing her traumatic childhood being raised by neglectful parents, her father abandoning the young family on Christmas day, her mother being institutionalised twice, an abusive foster family, and developing a parental relationship with evangelist Billy Graham's wife Ruth. Cornwell depicts a harrowing hospitalisation and near-death car accident. She unflinchingly shares overcoming obstacles that later gave her the ambition to become an award-winning police reporter. From there it was research in a medical examiner's office that would turn into a full-time job. She would become a forensic expert and worldwide publishing phenomenon.

Cornwell leaves no stone unturned in this deeply candid account of her life, offering inspiring insight into what made her into the international sensation she is today

I have devoured every single Dr. Kay Scarpetta novel and can't wait to read Patricia Cornwell's memoir! Just in this short blurb from Goodreads, I have learned so much about the author that I had no idea, such as the fact that her research to become an award-winning police reporter lead to her full time job as a medical examiner. I thought it was the other way around. How much of Patricia Cornwell is in Dr. Kay Scarpetta? I bet this look into the author's life will give us some insight into that. 

Make a note of this and add True Crime: A Memoir to your TBR list! Especially if you love Dr. Kay Scarpetta and Patricia Cornwell's medical thrillers. And if you haven't read any of Patricia Cornwell's, start now! You will not be disappointed.

Being published by Grand Central Publishing on May 5th, 2026!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending along a DRC for me to read and review! Look for my review coming soon...

Happy Easter! Enjoy this Timeless Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter...

This Easter Sunday, enjoy a reading of Peter Rabbit. Although Peter is not an Easter Bunny and Easter is much more the Easter Bunny coming to visit, I think of Peter as the most famous bunny of them all, and this story is a classic...

The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a classic children's book by Beatrix Potter about a mischievous rabbit who disobeys his mother and sneaks into Mr. McGregor's garden, leading to a frantic chase and narrow escape. Written and illustrated by Potter, it was first published in 1902 and has since become one of the best-selling books in history, known for its cautionary tale about misbehavior and its charming illustrations.

We are taking a break from our regular Sunday Salon posts to enjoy Easter with my family and hope you are too. Next week, back to our regular Sunday Salon with lots of great books to discover. Happy Easter! 

Listening to this Curmudgeonly Old Lady...

 I just downloaded the audiobook courtesy of Macmillan Audio! I'm already hooked! The narration is great, l'm loving snarky Mabel and I can't wait to see where the story goes...

Originally I was thinking Mad Mabel was the female version of A Man Called Ove, but I think Mabel has a lot more to her than just being a curmudgeon... I think she's got some secrets buried somewhere...

Book and audiobook coming April 21st! Stay tuned for a review soon...

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the Advanced copy of the audiobook!

First Lines Friday... And This One You May Lose Your Head Over!

"Anne opened her eyes to darkness. And wood. Her face was pressed into the wood. And the left side of her body. She realize fabric as well. A thin fabric that covered her. Linen, she thought, from the smell of it--like wet grass--and the way the air moved through it. Just slightly, for the air here was very still. The linen was wet and sticky. "

Omg, the premise of this book just had me from the start! Hours after Anne Boyleyn is beheaded for not giving Henry VIII a male heir, she wakes up in a wooden box. She escapes, sews her head back on and begins a quest to kill Henry before he can marry Jane Seymour, who is carrying the child that will oust Anne Boyleyns daughter's claim to the throne. While she is plotting to do all this, she is posing as a commoner, something of a eye opener to her. Yes, this sounds like fun!

                  Would you keep reading after the first few lines?

The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann was published by Crown a division of Penguin Random House on March 24th.

Indie Next Pick for April... and You Don't Want to Miss This One!

 I love finding out what the Indie Next pick is every month! Do you know what the Indie Next pick is? It is the book picked from "the top nominations from independent booksellers across the country, showcasing the best of the best debuts and new releases in all categories and genres."

This month is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and let me tell you it is a "OMG, really?!" read. You just have to read it! In January I reviewed Yesteryear, you can read it by following this link. I loved it, and was so happy I was able to get an early review copy from the publisher, Penguin Random House!

Here's the blurb from the publisher...

A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

Mark your calendars for April 7th because that's when you can find Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke at your favorite local bookstore!

And if you'd like to find all the nominees for this month's Indie Next pick, you can find them on the American Booksellers Association website.

New Release Tuesday: Magic, Destiny & Rising Stars You Need Now

 New Books Tuesday...

There are always new books coming out, and today, these are my top choices of what you need to be grabbing to read this week...

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews... When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn't take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she's been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters' ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she's coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will in a cataclysmic war.

For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.

I Love this premise! What would you do if you wound up in your favorite book? Oh and THAT COVER!! I think it is gorgeous! I received a DRC of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews from Tor Publishing so keep your eye out for my review!

American Han by Lisa Lee... Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player.

But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended up: Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don’t want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn’t all it promised it would be.

Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee’s debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape.

I love these family stories, and I am looking forward to reading this. Another book with great potential! I received a DRC (digital review copy) from Algonquin Book to read and review this week. Thank you!

Starside by Alex Aster... Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals—the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic.

Every fifty years, the gates between them open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only one: vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic—she’s going to kill them.

First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords—ones that contain power—are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor—but a target.  

Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago—and who may now be the key to her survival.

But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…

Up for a bit of Romantasy?! I have heard so many early reviewers loving this. On my wishlist and published by Avon.

Other books out this week include Game On by Navessa Allen, the #3 in a addictive trilogy all over the internet, The Keeper by Tana French, A Spell for Saints and Sinners by Emily Carpenter, and In the Great Quiet by Laura Vogt.

What new books are you looking forward to?