Books Recently Added To My Goodreads TBR #11 📚

Let me know if you’ve read any of the books below, and what you thought of them! 😸

Title: Four Dead Queens
Author: Astrid Scholte
Publication Date: February 2019
Publisher:
Genre: YA Fantasy, Mystery

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Kassie

Synopsis: “Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but in fact, she’s one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia. Varin runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead.

With no other choices and on the run from Keralie’s former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens.

An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent.”

Title: From the Wreck
Author: Jane Rawson
Publication Date: April 2019
Publisher: Picador
Genre: Australian Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Simon

Synopsis: “When George Hills was pulled from the wreck of the steamship Admella, he carried with him memories of a disaster that claimed the lives of almost every other soul on board. Almost every other soul.

Because as he clung onto the wreck, George wasn’t alone: someone else – or something else – kept George warm and bound him to life. Why didn’t he die, as so many others did, half-submerged in the freezing Southern Ocean? And what happened to his fellow survivor, the woman who seemed to vanish into thin air?

George will live out the rest of his life obsessed with finding the answers to these questions. He will marry, father children, but never quite let go of the feeling that something else came out of the ocean that day, something that has been watching him ever since. The question of what this creature might want from him – his life? His first-born? To simply return home? – will pursue him, and call him back to the ocean again.

Blending genres, perspectives and worlds, Jane Rawson’s From the Wreck – winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel- is a chilling and tender story about how fiercely we cling to life, and how no-one can survive on their own.”

Title: Violet’s Storm
Author: Tanya Benoit
Publication Date: 2014
Publisher: self-published
Genre: Romance

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? A friend from my hometown wrote this!

Synopsis: “You’ll never have me; you’ll never control me, to hell with you Brady Kelly!”
Violet Ryan is daughter of wealthy shipwright CEO whose dream is to one day take over the family empire. While business is on the forefront of her ambition, she dreams of an existence where love and finance can live in harmony.
However, when Ryan’s Shipwrights merge with Kelly and Son’s, it seems like the perfect arrangement for everyone, until Sean Kelly is murdered in cold blood.
Brady, the new Lord of Kelly’s keep is beside himself with grief, rage and immense inner torment. Having only just recently lost his mother, he now has to deal with the tremendous loss of the father he had only just begun to know.
Seeking vengeance and retaliation, Brady does the only thing he can do; abducting the tantalizing and sensual daughter of his named killer, Robert Ryan.
No longer recognizing the monster who has taken her captive as the kind, considerate and attentive Brady Kelly who catered to her every need when she first arrived in Galway, she will have to learn to live with him. Although he’s transformed into a savage beast with a quick temper, uncontrolled emotions and unpredictable punishments, Violet vows to persevere.
Deadly attraction.
While living as Brady’s captive is challenging enough; the last thing she needs is her heart getting in the way. She will need to dig deep within herself in order to ride out the storm of emotion flooding her heart and remember that within the beast, lives a man.”

Title: Vicious
Author: V. E. Schwab
Publication Date: 2013
Publisher: TOR Books
Genre: Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Ummm, who hasn’t heard of this? LOL

Synopsis: “Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?”

Title: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Publication Date: 2014
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Dystopian

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Whitney

Synopsis: “Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.”

Title: A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publication Date: January 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance (Retelling)

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Ellias

Synopsis: “Fall in love, break the curse.

Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s pulled into a magical world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.”

Title: Flame in the Mist
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publication Date: 2017
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance (Retelling)

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Lala

Synopsis: “The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath.

So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace.

The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.”

Title: Daughter of the Pirate King
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Publication Date: 2017
Publisher: Feiwel Friends
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance, Adventure

Goodreads Link
How did I hear about it? Alli

Synopsis: “Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.”