Staff Picks

I absolutely LOVED These Violent Delights and it's sequel, Our Violent Ends. Based off of Romeo and Juliet (but with gangs), it's a great historical enemies-to-lovers romance set in 1920's Shanghai. I loved the strong female main character and engaging plot, as well as the political elements that are sprinkled throughout. It was incredibly well written, and still managed to have surprising plot twists, despite it being a retelling. I'll definitely be reading it again sometime soon.

 

Publisher's description:

In 1926 Shanghai, eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, heir of the Scarlet Gang, and her first love-turned-rival Roma Montagov, leader of the White Flowers, must work together when mysterious deaths threaten their city.

 

This blew me away. Incredible world building and character development. And the romance! So good! If you've read A Court of Thorns and Roses and don't know what to read next, pick this up!

 

Publisher's description:

Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate. Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember. In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water. But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone. When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

 

Unraveled by Shannon Messenger is an absolutely breathtaking addition to the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, and it’s easily one of the most intense, emotional, and gripping entries yet. The story dives deeper into Sophie’s struggles than ever before, blending high-stakes action with powerful character growth and jaw-dropping twists that will leave readers reeling. The emotional depth is unmatched—filled with heartbreak, fierce loyalty, and just the right amount of romantic tension to keep your heart racing. Messenger’s writing shines with sharp dialogue, vivid worldbuilding, and a sense of urgency that never lets up. As the characters face impossible decisions and dark secrets come to light, you can feel the series maturing alongside its readers. Whether you’ve been a fan from the start or are catching up, Unraveled proves that this story still has so much more to give—and it’s more magical, intense, and unforgettable than ever.

 

Publisher's description:

Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me. It'll be better for everyone that way. Those were the last words Keefe Sencen wrote to Sophie Foster before he ran away to the Forbidden Cities. He didn't want to leave, but it was the only way to keep his friends safe while he figured out how to control his scary new powers and searched for answers about his past. What he found was so much more than adventures in Humanland. Where did he go? What did he do? And who did he meet while the rest of his friends worked to solve the mystery of Stellarlune? The answers go far beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined and give Keefe the power to change his destiny.

 

What would the world look like if the bad guy won? Kelsier has had enough of this dark world. He brings together a group of unlikely people and tries for the impossible: to overthrow the godlike villain who has been in power for centuries. Will they do it? There's only one way to find out!
 

Publisher description:

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark. Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot. But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed. This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?.

 

I loved this book! It's the story of an ambitious dragon who might be destined for evil. It seems like it's for older kids than the Wings of Fire: Original Series.

 

Publisher's description:

Long before the SandWing and the Dragonet Prophecy, Darkstalker, half NightWing and half IceWing, is hatched under the three moons--born into a divided heritage, he is destined to become the most powerful and dangerous dragon Pyrrhia will ever know, and it will take the combined efforts of a SeaWing named Fatham and a NightWing seer named Clearsight to come up with a way to save all the kingdoms from his anger.

 

 

Ever wanted to step inside your favorite book series--literally? That's what happens in this new book by the author The Dead Romantics. Eileen is feeling a bit lost in real life, so she retreats into her fave cozy read, only to end up actually living inside it in an adorable fictional town!

 

Publisher's Description:

English professor Eileen "Elsy" Merriweather feels frozen in place after her fiancé breaks up with her a week before their wedding. Thankfully, there's the promise of a "week of wine and happily ever afters" when her Super Smutty Book Club vacations together in a cabin in the Catskills. When Elsy gets lost in a storm on the way there, however, she winds up in Eloraton, the fictional small-town setting of bestseller Rachel Flowers's hit Quixotic Falls series, the romances that brought the Super Smutty Book Club together in the first place. Flowers died before she could finish the series and Eloraton is stuck at the point where she stopped writing. The owner of the local bookstore, Anderson Sinclair, is the only person aware there's anything odd about the town. He warns Elsy not to make ripples or change things, but she feels compelled to help her favorite characters find the happy endings their author planned for them.

 

Area X is in a remote and mysterious wilderness and is considered an abandoned, disastrous area. In Annihilation, the12th expedition is an adventurous and a thrilling suspension faced by four brave and smart women. In their experience at Area X, these women are faced with harrowing and unbelievable destinies, and the narration of the story is coming from the perspective of a biologist.

 

Publisher description:
Four women -- a biologist, a psychologist, a surveyor, and an anthropologist -- set out on a scientific expedition to Area X, a quarantined zone that defies all attempts to map its terrain or understand its nature. Eleven previous missions have failed; is the twelfth time the charm, or will these intrepid explorers join their predecessors as casualties of Area X?

 

A very cute story that has a really refreshing take on death that I hadn't seen before. The theme takes a gentle and meaningful approach to dealing with grief and the unanswered question of what comes next after death, endearing you to its characters to the point where you feel like you yourself are experiencing their feelings, all in a cute and cozy setting, taking place primarily in a tea shop with a bunch of kooky and interesting characters popping in for a drink away from busy life. FUN!

 

Publisher's description:

A ... queer love story ... When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he's definitely dead. But even in death he's not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days. Hilarious, haunting, and kind; an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.