New Books To Read
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
This week's blog post was supposed to be a kind of essay discussing different types of fantasy books I like to read.
Weeeeellllll....
That was before three new books came in. TO BE FAIR, 2 out of the 3 were very recently released at the end of March, and I simply held off on the other one that released a couple of months ago. So all are actually new, not just new to me.
I did actually take a picture of the books when I got them, but my phone is being a brat about sending them. So we'll see if I update these at a later date. Anywho, let's go ahead and take a look at the books I bought, shall we?
Show as little as possible. Make them think that illusion is all you have. Your life depends on it.
Augustine Montgomery is an Illusion Prime, the highest rank of magic user. The people who have seen his real face can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The people who've witnessed the full extent of his power are dead. Illusion isn't just his brand of magic. It's become his lifestyle.
One day Diana Harrison walks into the office of Augustine's premier PI corporation. Diana is also a Prime, a mage who bonds with animals through her magic and prefers their company to humans. Something precious has been stolen from House Harrison. Something Diana must recover at all costs before it perishes.
Augustine is cold, rational, and calculating. He doesn't get emotionally involved, but something about Diana disturbs the careful balance of Augustine's inner world. She asks for his help, and he can't refuse.
Neither Augustine nor Diana are who they appear to be. Both would die to keep their secrets. But the enemy they face is unimaginably powerful, and saving the life at risk will demand the ultimate price, one neither ever expected to pay - complete honesty.
This is the one I held off on. It released Jan 29, 2026, but I knew I had vacations coming up and I wasn't certain I was ready to set aside the funds for this, yet. Honestly, I'm glad I waited. As a novella, this thing would be so easy to devour. If I had taken it with me, I would have finished it in the first airport and then carried it around for the rest of the trip. So I decided to save it for when I knew I was buying the next book.
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 end: in a cataclysmic war.
This is the book that I've been waiting for. All year. Longer, actually, since the authorlords started hinting at it on their own blog. But I was p*tient. I bided my time. AND I didn't read a single excerpt on the site!!! I've waited ALL THIS TIME, avoiding any kind of hint, in order to be able to enjoy this without any expectations. I'm very much looking forward to this one. Now to find the time where I don't have to do anything except read...
I hate that woman.
Tyler Neumann has spent years looking for his father, and not because he wants to meet the man. No, he wants to destroy him. And he’ll manipulate whoever he can to exact his revenge.
Including Stella McCormick. She’s everything Tyler hates. Her wealth and privilege have protected her for her entire life, and Tyler thinks it's time she finally paid the price. Whether she’s ready to or not.
I hate that man.
Stella might not believe in love at first sight, but loathing at first sight—no question. From the moment she sets eyes on Tyler in her tattoo parlor, she knows he’s the devil planning to make her life hell.
Forced to play the part of his girlfriend and invite him into her family’s glittering circles, Stella quickly clocks Tyler’s ulterior motives. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and soon she doesn’t know which is worse: being blackmailed by a man who wants to ruin her, or that they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
This is an enemies-to-lovers dark romance with morally grey characters. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to readers. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book.
Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers / Forced proximity / Fake dating / Rom-com / Morally grey MMC / Black cat FMC / Blackmail / Kidnapping / Power imbalance / Age gap / Betrayal and redemption / Dark past / Revenge
I love me some Navessa Allen, and this book released at exactly the right time. I knew it was coming out, but I didn't know how soon. So, when I was adding the IA books to my cart, this one happened to show that it was already available and not just a preorder. Therefore, I added it to my cart. I don't know at what point I'll get around to it, but I might just do a reread of the first two books before I hit up this one. All in good time. At least with certain authors, I know what I'm getting into, I know the quality of the story I'm going to get out of it, and with Navessa, I'll get spice and laughter. It's a good pick-me-up kind of series. Anyway, that's the blog post for this week. The next few weeks might just showcase book reviews. Who knows?
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