August 2024 Wrap-Up
The Heiress Swap
Maddison Michaels
Evie Jenkins didn’t know what she was thinking by agreeing to switch places with her American heiress cousin. After all, she’s naught but a poor―and usually quite sensible ―companion. All she has to do is spend six weeks among London society, pretending to be an heiress…and ensure that absolutely under no circumstances does she accept any proposals of marriage.
When his cousin declares himself in love with a new woman visiting from the States, Alexander Trenton―the sixth Duke of Hargrave―is determined to prove that the young lady in question is just another American “Dollar Princess” desperate for an English title. She seems innocent enough, but Alex is determined to expose her…by thoroughly seducing the lovely and fiercely intelligent heiress himself.
What he assumed would be just one simple kiss erupts into something wild, uncontrollable, and much too public. Now the duke must save her reputation with a betrothal…little knowing that his charming Princess harbors a secret that would certainly ruin them both.
Immortal Longings
Chloe Gong
Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin will flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches.
Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.
Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.
Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.
Shadows of the Crown
Dakota Monroe
He’s the heir to the kingdom.
She’s the kingdom’s worst nightmare.
In the kingdom of Eldoria, where essence weaves the fabric of reality, whispers tell tales of the Silver Wraith – a legendary assassin born of forbidden magic. Ariella Mistaire, known for her lethal skill and striking silver hair, is drawn into a treacherous competition by the King, a game with trials veiled in secrets and lies.
As Ariella navigates a labyrinth of deceit, her rare affinity for all strands of essence marks her as both a valuable weapon and a potential threat. Among her adversaries is the enigmatic Prince Caspian, whose intentions blur the lines between ally and enemy.
But the trials are more than a test of prowess; they are a web of dark secrets. Amidst the cutthroat rivalry, Ariella uncovers unsettling truths that stretch beyond the castle walls. As hidden agendas come to light, she finds herself entangled in a plot that could alter her fate and the very fabric of Eldoria. What began as a quest for vengeance might lead Ariella to discoveries that challenge everything she knows about her world and herself.
In the heart of Eldoria, where magic breathes and shadows dance, the Silver Wraith must confront the truth of her past to forge the future of two worlds.
Second Edition
Cleo White
In retrospect, it might not have been the wisest idea to hand in my v-card to a hot librarian I picked up at my mother’s cocktail party.
In my defense, the man has a French accent, gray hair, and knows a lot about books. The cards were really stacked against me making good choices, folks.
I was probably naïve to expect a call after that, but when he didn’t, it hurt to accept he didn’t feel that same connection I did.
If that isn’t a sign you need to make a change, I don’t know what is. Too bad the “change” I get is six months in a remote French chateau, working as a nanny to an adorable little girl. Who happens to be the daughter of the single dad I had sex with in a grocery store parking lot.
Ellis Delvaux has made it clear he isn’t interested in a relationship. Unfortunately, when you’re a hopeless romantic spending that much time with someone you’re attracted to, in what might be the most beautiful place on the planet, things happen.
And sometimes, to avoid those things happening, you come up with a list of rules to facilitate six-months of secret, no strings attached sex with a man who is as off-limits as it gets.
What could go wrong?
The Heiress Masquerade
Maddison Michaels
Bridgerton gets a taste of The Princess Switch in this irrepressibly charming historical romance.
New York heiress Aimee Thornton-Jones knows her mother’s plans precisely―to ship Aimee to England and marry her off to an eligible, titled lord. Only Aimee has no interest in becoming another “dollar princess.” Instead, she concocts a daring plan: to swap places with her fair (but poor) cousin for six weeks as a trainee at her father’s company and prove she’s just as valuable as any son. There’s just the small matter of her father’s too-perfect protégé, who she’s certain is endangering the entire business.
Harrison Stone doesn’t know what to make of the determined young woman in his employ. She’s vexingly irksome, reckless with her safety, and riles him at every turn. Each day, he’s torn between shipping her home…or thoroughly kissing her pert mouth. But Harrison―who loathes a charlatan―is certain she’s hiding something. And with the company under threat of sabotage, he’s resolved to find out exactly who this young lady truly is.
But in this masquerade of secrets, all it will take is one illicit kiss to ignite the spark…and bring them―unknowingly―to the edge of disaster…
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine
At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent young fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the “gift” of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella: “Instead of making me docile, Lucinda’s curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally.” When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella’s life and well-being seem to be in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery as she tries to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way. Yes, there is a pumpkin coach, a glass slipper, and a happily ever after, but this is the most remarkable, delightful, and profound version of Cinderella you’ll ever read.
Gail Carson Levine’s examination of traditional female roles in fairy tales takes some satisfying twists and deviations from the original. Ella is bound by obedience against her will, and takes matters in her own hands with ambition and verve. Her relationship with the prince is balanced and based on humor and mutual respect; in fact, it is she who ultimately rescues him. Ella Enchanted has won many well-deserved awards, including a Newbery Honor.
Martha’s Patience
Sally Britton
Martha Gilbert’s third London Season looks no more promising than the previous two. Despite her best efforts, she has yet to receive an offer of marriage from the one man who matters, her escort and friend, Mr. Brody.
George Brody returns to London every year, going to the same parties, balls, and seeing the same people. The one bright spot to fulfilling the role expected of him by society is squiring Martha around town.
This year, Martha is determined to wed, and George must to decide if he wishes to remain friends or become something more.
Phoebe
Martha Keyes
Phoebe Matcham is finally home from London, having complied with her mother’s wish that she spend a season in town before committing to marriage with the man she loves. With butterflies in her stomach and visions of the future they promised each other, she awaits his arrival home from his year away. Never did she anticipate he would come home in love with another woman.
George Sydney arrives home from his tour of the Continent, ready to marry the girl he’s loved for years and sweep her off to France as soon as he possibly can. He can hardly believe his ill fortune, though, as he listens to Phoebe tell him of the soldier she is secretly courting.
When the very soldier arrives unexpectedly in town, Phoebe and George are faced with unraveling a situation that becomes more perplexing and knotty by the minute—one that must be untangled before George leaves back to France.
A Duke of a Time
Tamara Gill
They’re complete opposites. Society would never approve. But that doesn’t stop them from wanting more…
Greyson Everett, future Duke of Derby, has been exiled. Cut off financially and banished to the country by his disapproving father, he’s expected to repent and work like a commoner. If he has any hope of getting back to his real life, he’ll have to stay the course—and stop kissing his employer’s bossy, opinionated, and entirely too lovely daughter. It should be easy. But it’s not…
Hailey Woodville is grateful for all the hands that make light work of the chores on her father’s modest estate. Well, she’s grateful for most of them. Greyson is one of the worst workers she’s ever seen. His ineptitude at manual labor is exceeded only by his arrogance—and his beauty. She should stay away. Unfortunately, she cannot…
But soon, Greyson will need to determine if the price of happily ever after with Hailey is one that he’s able (and willing) to pay—and Hailey will need to decide if she can forgive Greyson the sins of his rakish past…
Addictive Contact
Ash Remington
The first step is admitting you have an intergalactic problem
It’s 2036, and the heroes of the War Of Isolation find themselves splintered. Against Ranbir’s wishes, Malik and Alexis set out across the galaxy on a three-hundred-year journey to the Praxi-birthing planet Vocury hoping for a peaceful second attempt at first contact. The diplomatic mission quickly devolves into chaos as the explorers discover life on Vocury, but it’s not who they’re expecting.
Two years after their friends have left them behind, Maya tempts Ranbir with one final mysterious mission of their own. With little to go on, Ranbir is forced to navigate through dangerous hijinks and hijacks as Maya leads him across the cosmos while keeping the details of their deployment to herself. Maya is hiding something, and it’s a secret big enough to undo everything they’ve fought for.
Violence, addiction, war, and mystery await both pairings even as they’re separated by space and time. The future of mankind again rests in the hands of a group of misfits, and without each other to lean on, they’ve never been more ill-equipped to deal with what’s coming.
La città dei vivi (The City of the Living: The True Story of Modern Rome’s Most Shocking Murder)
Nicola Lagioia
A spellbinding, best-selling work of true crime about one of the most shocking murders in recent Italian history and set in a Rome that will be a constant revelation to anyone who knows only the city’s well-worn tourist paths.
In March 2016, in a nondescript apartment on the outskirts of Rome, Manuel Foffo and Marco Prato, two “ordinary” young men from good families, brutally murdered twenty-three year old Luca Varani. News of the seemingly inexplicable crime sent shockwaves through Rome and beyond. What motivated such extreme violence? Were the killers evil or in the grip of societal evils? Did they know what they were doing? Or were they possessed? And if the latter, possessed by what?
Going beyond anything that has ever been written on the crime, based on months of interviews, court documentation, and correspondence with the killers themselves, The City of the Living not only reads like a fast-paced, revelatory thriller in the style of Lisa Taddeo’s Animal but is also a descent into the dark heart of Rome—a city plagued by corruption, drugs, hidden violence that sometimes erupts.
Nicola Lagioia leads us through a maze of betrayed expectations, sexual confusion, inability to grow up, economic grievances, crises of identity—progressively tightening the focus of the analysis to locate the point after which anything is possible. As hypnotic as Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, an heir to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, The City of the Living is Nicola Lagioia’s most gripping, bestselling, and critically acclaimed book to-date, the story not only of a crime but of a society and the human natures that make such a crime possible.
Echoes of the Raven
Ingrid Seymour
DANGER LURKS. READY YOURSELF.
Rífíor wants The Eldrystone more than anything else in the realm. Determined to find out its location, he subjects Valeria to unimaginable suffering, a mental torture so vicious that she vows to bring him to ruin.
However, an unexpected twist forces them into an uneasy alliance, and they must become partners on a perilous journey to the veil, the gateway to the fae realm.
Queen Amira, Valeria’s sister, is planning something terrible against the fae living in Castella, a deed that Valeria vehemently opposes. Desperate to avoid a crisis, Valeria sees reopening the veil as the only solution to save the fae and stop her sister from making a mistake she’ll forever regret.
Pursued by the queen’s guards, Valeria and Rífíor journey west accompanied by Jago, Esmeralda and her Romani troop. There are many hazards on the road, more than just Valeria’s and Rífíor’s passionate connection.
Valeria seeks answers to Rífíor’s secrets—the truth of his identity, The Eldrystone’s origin, and the mysteries surrounding her mother. Yet, he remains as guarded as ever.
Getting answers and opening the veil becomes a race against time, with the fate of the fae hanging in the balance. Can Valeria and Rífíor overcome the lies and betrayals and save the fae from Amira’s misguided anger? Or will their unbridled passion become everyone’s doom?
Cursed by Gold: A Cinderella Meets King Midas Retelling
Jamie Dalton
Everything he touched turned to gold…except her.
The first time Scarlet failed to steal the Bodian necklace from the palace, Fairy Godmother had forgiven her. The second time, she sent in reinforcements. But Scarlet can’t let that happen. It didn’t matter what the rules for Fairy Godmothers’ thieves guild were. Her family’s money was running out and if she couldn’t bring in money soon stepmother was going to marry her off to the highest bidder, no matter who that was.
Remme hadn’t eaten, felt the touch of another human, or worn anything comfortable in years. But when a thief tried to steal the one thing that could break his curse and they didn’t turn, everything changed. He just needed to figure out who she was and why she wanted the necklace. It should be easy for a king, but nothing was ever that simple when magic was involved.
Cursed by Gold is book one in the Once Upon a Curse series.
If you love the vibes of Throne of Glass, the trials of Hunger Games, the missing love interest of Cinderella and the untouchable curse of King Midas, Cursed by Gold is for you.
On a Wild Duke Chase
Tamara Gill
The game is on, and she intends to fight dirty. But then again, so does he…
Duke Dillon Viscount Leigh has secrets. The fact that his estate is nearly broke is merely one of them. So, he needs to marry an heiress and fast. The house party would’ve been the perfect place to find one, too—if only a certain noisy, stubborn, and entirely too beautiful miss hadn’t made it her mission to thwart him.
Isla Woodville liked Lord Leigh when she met him. But that changed the moment she overheard his requirements for a bride. Well, if he thinks he’s going to marry an heiress for nothing more than her deep pockets, he’s in for a rude awakening, because Isla will not let him get away with such cruelty. And she’ll enjoy every minute she spends ruining his not-so-noble intentions.
But when a kiss as passionate as it is untimely brings their game of cat and mouse to a fiery tipping point, Duke is forced to offer marriage to the last woman he ever expected—Isla. Is happily ever after even an option for two sworn enemies? Duke and Isla are about to find out…
Speak of the Duke
Tamara Gill
Speak of the duke and he shall appear…
Julia Woodville knew the kiss she’d shared with Lord Cyrus Franklin, known rake, couldn’t have meant as much to him as it had to her. And he proved her right by leaving London and marrying another. But now he’s back, and this time, she’s not about to let him anywhere near her heart…
Leaving Julia behind was one of Cyrus’s greatest regrets. But even now, pursuing her is out of the question. As a widower who must re-marry well to safeguard his daughter’s future, his own desires must be stifled. Even if pretending to be nothing more than her friend nearly destroys him…
But when Julia is almost compromised by a fortune-seeking suitor, Cyrus must protect her in the only way he knows how—by marrying her. Can their tentative union survive when Cyrus’s dark secrets are revealed? And more importantly, will Julia be able to forgive him?
Every Duke Has a Silver Lining
Tamara Gill
He can’t deny her anything…except maybe his heart…
Ashley Woodville didn’t mean any harm when she broke into Grady Kolten’s office. It was only a dare from her friends. She wasn’t supposed to get caught. And she certainly wasn’t supposed to talk the notorious gaming hell owner (and disturbingly sexy rogue) into showing her London’s wilder side. Falling for him? Also not part of the dare. But she did it anyway. All of it…
Grady has no interest in indulging the whims of a bored (if admittedly alluring) debutante. But the idea of her stumbling inadvertently into danger doesn’t sit well with him, either. So, he’ll take part in her ridiculous escapades and do his best to keep his emotional distance. It should be easy, considering how entirely unsuitable they are. Too bad he can’t seem to remember any of that when she’s in his arms…
She’s never met a challenge she wouldn’t accept. But will the walls around Grady’s heart—and the dark secrets of his past—be too much for even the daring Ashley to conquer?
Now it’s your turn!
Share your August reads and let’s discuss — what were your favorite reads from the past month? Or is there a book you’re looking forward to this month? Any new discoveries or treasured rereads? I’d love to see your recommendations and thoughts!
