Category: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Wars.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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What I am currently reading:

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger

Four destinies collide in a unique fantasy world of war and wonders, where empire is won with enchanted steel and magical animal companions fight alongside their masters in battle.

A soldier with a curse
Tala lost her family to the empress’s army and has spent her life avenging them in battle. But the empress’s crimes don’t haunt her half as much as the crimes Tala has committed against the laws of magic… and her own flesh and blood.

A prince with a debt
Jimuro has inherited the ashes of an empire. Now that the revolution has brought down his kingdom, he must depend on Tala to bring him home safe. But it was his army who murdered her family. Now Tala will be his redemption—or his downfall.

A detective with a grudge
Xiulan is an eccentric, pipe-smoking detective who can solve any mystery—but the biggest mystery of all is her true identity. She’s a princess in disguise, and she plans to secure her throne by presenting her father with the ultimate prize: the world’s most wanted prince.

A thief with a broken heart
Lee is a small-time criminal who lives by only one law: Leave them before they leave you. But when Princess Xiulan asks her to be her partner in crime—and offers her a magical animal companion as a reward—she can’t say no, and soon finds she doesn’t want to leave the princess behind.

This band of rogues and royals should all be enemies, but they unite for a common purpose: to defeat an unstoppable killer who defies the laws of magic. In this battle, they will forge unexpected bonds of friendship and love that will change their lives—and begin to change the world.

I have been looking forward to read the Steel Crow Saga. But I kept pushing it back because I had books that needed to be reviewed ASAP. I am finally reading it and so far, I love it!!!

Steel Crow Saga is currently available for pre-order. Its expected publication date is September 24th. Be on the look out for my review after that date.

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I recently finished reading:

Holding On To Forever by Siobhan Davis and S.B. Alexander

Secretly dating Coach Parker’s daughter was never part of the plan. Neither was becoming her dealer…

ADAM
Returning to my drug-dealing past wasn’t on the agenda when I accepted the full ride to play ball at Cypress U. But Mom lost her job. And my sister’s medical bills are mounting. So, I’ve no choice but to change the playbook.

When Emily walks into my life, like a fallen goddess with the ultimate power to destroy me, I know I’m screwed. I should steer clear, but I’m the one supplying her poison of choice. Falling for her is a complication I don’t need, but the more she’s around, the harder it gets to walk away. She needs me, and I crave her more than the sport I love.

Now, it’s all on the line. Including the NFL career that’s tantalizingly close.

The stakes are high, but family means everything, so I’ll take my chances.

EMILY
It’s only a problem if it’s out of control. And I have it in hand.

Except a certain a-hole discovers I’m using again, and he threatens to rat me out to my folks. Mom’s president of Cypress U, and Dad’s the illustrious football coach. Appearances mean everything to them, and I’m a continuous disappointment. They told me I’d be out on my ass if I fell off the wagon, so keeping it a secret is my number one priority.

Until the super-hot all-star QB takes more than a passing interest in me. Adam gets me, in a way no guy ever has, filling my head with ideas of forever—and now, I want more.

Dating my dealer is a recipe for disaster, especially when it’s forbidden, but I can’t help myself.

Because I’ve fallen too deep.

And the hole is too large to crawl out of.

Siobhan Davis writes deliciously dark romances and Holding On To Forever is no exception. Normally, I would be “meh” about a drug dealer dating his client. But not with this book. The characters were achingly real and flawed.

Holding On To Forever is currently available for pre-order. Its expected publication date is September 15th. Be on the lookout for my review on that date.

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What books I think I’ll read next?

The Lost and the Scarred by T. Marie Alexander

ROX
When I was six, Wran Belmont found me buried in snow and gave me a place to live.

He became my best friend.

When I was fifteen, I gave him all of me—only for him to abandon me.

Now, he’s back and expecting the lost, scarred girl he’s left behind. I’m not that girl anymore. And while I may still have secrets, it will not be as easy for him to retrieve them this time around.

WRAN
When I was eleven, my father lost his job and became a pathetic excuse for a father. A few months later I found Roxanna Raine buried in snow, barely hanging on to life.

Her father was the reason mine was an alcoholic, and I thought about letting her freeze to death.

One look in her eyes and she became my kryptonite. I swore I would get my revenge, though, even if it was on the fair-skinned beauty.

When I was nineteen, I left Rox without an explanation—broken-hearted and even more lost.

Now, I’m back and I’ll do anything to make up for the stolen time.

I am looking forward to reading The Lost and the Scarred. I have read books by T. Marie Alexander before and had enjoyed them. Plus, the blurb got me hugely interested.

The Lost and the Scarred is currently available for pre-order. Its expected publication date is September 16th. Be on the lookout for my review on that date.

Nemesis by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

What would you do if your beloved girlfriend suddenly became your worst enemy? That dilemma’s all too real for Syl Skye.
As the last princess of the fair Fae, Syl is all things brightness and sun and white flame, but even though she’s Summer incarnate, she’s drawn to Rouen Rivoche, the dark Fae princess-assassin of the Winter Court.

They should be mortal enemies, but they’re best friends. Girlfriends. In love.

That is, until an old enemy puts Roue under a dark spell that makes her forget all about Syl, their lives and their love. Now Roue rules Dark Faerie as a cruel and cold Queen, and she wants nothing more than to destroy Syl and her fair Fae people.

Worse, both opposing Faerie realms stand on the brink of utter destruction, and only their queens, Syl and Rouen, can save them—and only if they can put their differences aside for two seconds and fight together as allies.

But how can you fight against an enemy when your true nemesis is on your team?

I am interested in reading Nemesis. I have read plenty of books where the Dark Fae and the Light Fae are at odds. But I haven’t read one where the leaders are dating. So, it should be interesting.

Nemesis is currently on available for purchase. Be on the lookout for my review on September 20th.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

Imagine that your husband has two other wives.

You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, and because of this unconventional arrangement, you can see your husband only one day a week. But you love him so much you don’t care. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself.

But one day, while you’re doing laundry, you find a scrap of paper in his pocket—an appointment reminder for a woman named Hannah, and you just know it’s another of the wives.

You thought you were fine with your arrangement, but you can’t help yourself: you track her down, and, under false pretenses, you strike up a friendship. Hannah has no idea who you really are. Then Hannah starts showing up to your coffee dates with telltale bruises, and you realize she’s being abused by her husband. Who, of course, is also your husband. But you’ve never known him to be violent, ever.

Who exactly is your husband, and how far would you go to find the truth? Would you risk your own life?

And who is his mysterious third wife?

Again, this is another book that I keep pushing off. But not this week. I will read it.

The Wives is currently available for pre-order. Its expected publication date is December 30th, 2019. Be on the lookout for my review after that date.

As Long as We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney

“My wife! I think she’s dead!” Matt frantically tells park rangers that he and his wife, Marie, were hiking when she fell off a cliff into the raging river below. They start a search, but they aren’t hopeful: no one could have survived that fall. It was a tragic accident.

But Matt’s first wife also died in suspicious circumstances. And when the police pull a body out of the river, they have a lot more questions for Matt.

Detectives Loren and Spengler want to know if Matt is a grieving, twice-unlucky husband or a cold-blooded murderer. They dig into the couple’s lives to see what they can unearth. And they find that love’s got teeth, it’s got claws, and once it hitches you to a person, it’s tough to rip yourself free.

So what happens when you’re done making it work?

The blurb for this book grabbed me. I love a good mystery/thriller and can’t wait to read this!!

As Long as We Both Shall Live is currently available for purchase. Be on the lookout for my review at some point in the next couple of week.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Survive the year.

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between. 

I am excited to read this book. Girls living in the wild for a year to release magic? Count me in. But my excitement is tempered. I have read mixed reviews.

The Grace Year is currently available for pre-order. Its expected publication date is October 9th. Be on the lookout for my review after that date.

What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr

In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr’s gripping standalone, a grandmother in her sixties emerges from a mental fog to find she’s trapped in her worst nightmare
Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she’s been committed to an Alzheimer’s Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she’s “not making it through the week,” Rose is convinced that if she’s to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.

The only problem is—how does she convince anyone that she’s not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn’t sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her.

With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel’s friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they’re holding all the cards.

I can’t wait to read this book!! The blurb had me hooked and I was excited when I got the email that I was approved for it.

What Rose Forgot is currently on pre-order. Its expected publication date is September 17th. Be on the lookout for my review after that date.

Snowfall on Cedar Trail by Annie Rains

Christmas is always bustling for Halona Locklear’s flower shop, but this year, she’s determined to take some time out to give her young son an extra special holiday. So she should be thrilled when hunky police chief Alex Baker wants to be their not-so-secret Santa. But Halona can’t get too close to Alex. He knows a truth she needs to keep hidden…for her boy’s sake.

Though Alex always had a thing for Halona, he never dared to pursue his best friend’s little sister. But he can’t shake the feeling that the gorgeous single mom and her little boy could use some holiday cheer, even if Halona refuses to let down her guard. But when ghosts of Christmas past threaten, Alex and Halona must decide what matters more: protecting their secrets or opening their wary hearts to new possibilities.

Another book that I can’t wait to read. I have read the previous two books in the series and loved them. I am hoping that Snowfall on Cedar Trail is just as good!!

Snowfall on Cedar Trail is currently on pre-order. Its expected publication date is September 24th. Be on the lookout for my review after that date.