Book spotlighting this week is the lyrical YA historical fantasySONGBIRDS OF THE VEILby Steven McClellen.
Songbirds of the Veil
Release Date: Aug 4, 2026
Genre: Edwardian Historical Fantasy/ Young Adult ⦁ Portal Fantasy / Hidden World ⦁ Labyrinthine Jungle Expedition ⦁ Fierce / Scamp Heroine ⦁ Grandfather-Granddaughter Bond ⦁ Fountain of Youth Mystery ⦁ Ticking Clock ⦁ Survival Quest ⦁ Missing Journal Pages ⦁ Dystopian Resource Control (Tyrannical Authority) ⦁ Enemies to Allies ⦁ Magical Artifact / Talisman
To save her grandfather, she'll have to survive the Amazon. To find the truth, she'll have to cross the Veil.
In 1908, fifteen-year-old Ramona Grey lives a quiet, scamp-like existence in Key West, caring for her dying grandfather. As the legendary explorer who first discovered a miracle serum within the Amazon Rainforest, he now relies on that very medicine to live. But now, the world's supply is gone.
The tyrannical Authority has hoarded the final drops, leaving cities in darkness and the sick in despair. When the U.S. Navy and the Authority launch a covert expedition to find the hidden source-a magical portal buried deep in the labyrinth of the Amazon-they coerce Ramona's grandfather into leading the way. Used as leverage in their deadly bargain, Ramona is thrust headfirst into a perilous journey.
From the creators of Spellcaster comes a thrilling new reality competition where the stakes are higher than ever. Welcome to Immortality Island, where contestants are literally thrown to the sharks.
Hunting her was meant to be easy . . . until desire got in the way.
Twenty human spellcasters. One deadly island. Four cutthroat vampire masters. Only one caster can make it to the end . . . and win a place in a vampire clan for eternity. After her doctor discovers a brain tumor and gives her months to live, Joni Mullins sees winning the show as her last chance at survival.
Sterling Alder is a vampire master with a personal vendetta and a mission: destroy her. But on Immortality Island, survival isn’t just about magic—it’s about temptation, betrayal, and falling for the one person he should never want.
Twenty human spellcasters. One deadly island. Four cutthroat vampire masters. Only one caster can make it to the end . . . and win a place in a vampire clan for eternity. After her doctor discovers a brain tumor and gives her months to live, Joni Mullins sees winning the show as her last chance at survival.
Sterling Alder is a vampire master with a personal vendetta and a mission: destroy her. But on Immortality Island, survival isn’t just about magic—it’s about temptation, betrayal, and falling for the one person he should never want.
Nikki Jefford is a third-generation Alaskan nomad married to an amazing Frenchman. She loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt! Books, travel, TV series, hiking, writing, and motorcycle riding are her favorite escapes. The dark side of human nature fascinates her, so long as it’s balanced by humor and romance.
To get in on the fun and adventure, visit Nikki at her website for release alerts, updates, exclusive giveaways, and a free story when you subscribe to her newsletter: https://nikkijefford.com/newsletter/
Jazzing it up this week as I am spotlighting the audiobook version of ARMORED HOURS by Stephaine Hansen! Set in 1920s Paris of the Plains, Armored Hours is a thrilling tale of love and mystery interwoven with hints of magical realism.
Armored Hours (Reincarnated Souls Book One)
Release Date: July 7, 2026
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Narrators: Eric Smies & Elise Arsenault @blush_audiobooks @tantoraudio
Featuring
⦁ Historical romantasy ⦁ Girl squad ⦁ Opposite sides of the track ⦁ Loveable rogue ⦁ Prohibition era ⦁ Matchmaking mother ⦁ Dandy friends
The girls had forged a bond together like iron that could not be broken. Claudia, Kiersten, Lina, and Florian were on the brink of making history with their powerful feminist movement, but then they suddenly disappeared without a trace. Alexander was a desperate bootlegger who was willing to risk it all to search for them. Not only were they in cahoots with him to help smuggle feminist contraband and forbidden booze, but Claudia had also unknowingly captivated his heart. He vowed to find them at any cost, but little did he know that their disappearance was part of a much bigger and sinister plot from the upper echelons of society.
Stephanie Hansen is a PenCraft and Global Book Award Winning Author as well as an Imadjinn finalist. Her debut novella series, Altered Helix, released in 2020. It hit the #1 New Release, #1 Best Seller, and other top 100 lists on Amazon. It is now being adapted to an animated story for Tales. Her debut novel, Replaced Parts, released in 2021 through Fire & Ice YA and Tantor Audio. It has been in a Forbes article, hit Amazon bestseller lists, and made the Apple young adult coming soon bestsellers list. The second book in the Transformed Nexus series, Omitted Pieces, released in 2022. Her debut spicy paranormal romance, Ghostly Howls, released 2023. Her debut historical magical realism, Armored Hours, released 2024. She is a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community, so she tries to incorporate that into her fiction.
Follow Stephaine and her on Instagram @stephaniehansenauthor TikTok: @stephaniehansenauthor
Shining out spotlight this week, we have the thrilling dark fantasy BOUNTY OF BLOOD AND NAILS by N.K. Brown. A tale of magic, betrayal, and forbidden love… Is being the bad guy worth losing everything?
The Bounty of Blood and Nails (The Devil’s Huntress Book 1)
Tam is a heartless, ruthless bounty hunter—or so her handler would have you believe. With her ability to use forbidden blood magic, Tam tracks and captures her prey. The same blood magic that curses her to a life of servitude under a cruel handler—one wrong move and not only her life, but her family’s will be at stake. But when she’s sent to a remote, superstitious northern town where even a glimmer of magic will send you to the gallows, she’s forced to confront the darker consequences of her work. After the murder of her bounty, innocent townspeople are blamed—and Tam’s conscience begins to stir. But there’s no turning back. Her handler raises the stakes, and her next mission is even more dangerous: infiltrate the royal castle and capture the enigmatic Prince Bellinor. Disguised as a maid, Tam is drawn into a world of deadly secrets, where her words are whispered into the prince’s ears through an ancient magic she’s never faced before. To get close to the prince, she befriends his loyal bodyguard, Clement, but the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Clement’s destiny is tied to the prince. With time running out and the castle tightening, Tam is forced to watch the trial of the people blamed for her own prior actions. But will she complete the mission—or risk it all as she falls in love with the person whose life she must destroy?
N. K. is a veterinarian and a proud mother of three. Originally from Stratford-Upon-Avon, she now lives outside of Boston.
Finally ready for the career change she has always wanted, she joined Jericho Writers and is an alumnus of their Ultimate Novel Writing Course 2023/24. She loves to write in the SFF genre, usually with a dark and speculative twist. An animal or two will usually pop up somewhere in her writing!
When not reading or writing or reading about writing, you can find her out on a long run, lost in her imagination (or in a good audiobook) as she plans her next novel.
Learn more about N.K. and her books on Instagram @nkbrownauthor
A reluctant king. A temporary guard. A threat neither can outrun. Let’s dive into the recently released BETWEEN BLADES AND VOWS!
Between Blades and Vows: A Reverse Bodyguard Romantasy
Release Date: June 24, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Featuring 🤍 Reverse bodyguard 🌿 Mental health rep (PTSD, depression, & anxiety) ⚔️ Training sequences (but SHE trains HIM) 🤍 Forcêd proximity 🌿 Touch HIM and ☠️ ⚔️ Tension & angst
The war might be over, but King Rian Dronias knows peace is fragile. He just didn’t expect his biggest problem to arrive in the form of his new bodyguard. When the captain of the King’s Guard goes on his honeymoon, Rian reluctantly holds a competition to find a temporary replacement. The winner? Erualys Valora, a renowned warrior from a neighboring queendom with a reputation for being unstoppable…and insufferable. She’s the last person he wants guarding him—and the only one bold enough to call him out when she discovers the threats he’s been hiding. But as danger closes in, the king and his temporary guard will have to face the truth: the deadliest risk might not be the assassins in the shadows, but the spark igniting between them.
Neena Laskowski lives in Michigan with her husband and their two pets. She earned her master’s in Secondary Education and bachelor’s in English and Classical Studies from the University of Michigan. When she is not reading or writing about morally grey characters, you can find her camping, painting, or spending time with her family and friends.
For upcoming ARC opportunities and to be among the first to see cover reveals, character art, and more, be sure to join Neena Laskowski’s newsletter or follow Neena on social media @neenalaskowski
Debut author Megan Phillips is caught in our spotlight today. Starfire’s Heiris book one in her new The Soul of Serentyn series, where “Destiny called her. He awoke her.”
Starfire's Heir (The Soul of Serentyn Book One)
Release Date: June 23, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Cover: @mariaspada.design
Featuring
⦁ Slow Burn ⦁ Romantasy ⦁ Found Family ⦁ Fated Mates ⦁ Long Lost Princess ⦁ Hidden Magic ⦁ Prophecies ⦁ One Bed ⦁ Sword Wielding FMC ⦁ Fierce FMC
Lexa Andrever has always believed she was nothing more than a farm girl. But when a stranger reveals she is the lost heir of a distant realm, Lexa discovers she alone stands between the kingdom and the deathly darkness pressing at its borders. Written into an unsettling prophecy, carrying a responsibility she never sought, Lexa sets off for her homeland with Griff Narvene, the warrior sworn to protect her.
As she grapples with her new role as prophesied savior, the inscrutable soldier stirs something deep within... To keep the shadows at bay, Lexa must harness the powers of her birthright to protect the people and home that demand her duty. With the fate of the kingdom-and a fragile new love-at stake, can she survive long enough to save them both? CW: 18+
Megan grew up in Maryland and now calls Virginia home—though her heart sets up camp wherever her characters drag it. With a degree in sociolinguistics and an ear for the way language shapes identity, she has spent years sketching voices, lives, and entire kingdoms in her mind. When she’s not writing, she shares her days with her husband, young son, Newfoundland dog, and horse. Starfire’s Heir is her debut novel.
Follow Megan and her debut novel at @meganphillipsauthor on Instagram.
Cursed. Hunted. Coveted… Caught in the spotlight this week is the dark fantasy CURSE OF THE MOONFLOWER by Sam Dorsett. Let’s read on!
Curse of the Moonflower (Scars of Somnium #1)
Release Date: April 21, 2026
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Featuring ⬇ ⦁ Werewolves, Witches, Vampires & Demons ⦁ Multiple POVs ⦁ Traumatized FMC & MMC ⦁ Fated Mates (Multiple perhaps?) ⦁ Found Family ⦁ Reluctant Allies to Lovers ⦁ Touch her and d!e An ancient curse runs through Vessa Lemaire's veins—the gods have destined her to wed the banished vampire ruler of the Underworld, who will stop at nothing to seize his betrothed. She discovers this only days after the horrific death of her mother, forcing her to leave her shattered life behind.
For three years, she lives under the protection of a werewolf and his mate, an oracle. Until one day, a vision befalls the seer—a chance for her to find permanent asylum, right alongside the man who despises vampires most.
Axe Skornokovy is a soldier of vengeance, hell-bent on eliminating vampires and the powerful demigod from which they were sired. As Vessa tries to find her place among his pack of feuding wolves, she must keep her secrets close. She must come to terms with the fact that Axe is more than capable of turning on her, even as it grows difficult to ignore the tantalizing force which conspires to bring them together. For if they give into it, they will spark a war destined to bleed into the realm below.
Sam has been obsessed with wolves since she was eight. Growing up in Missouri, when she wasn’t sketching them in her notebooks, she was weaving stories in her mind where bold heroines would run alongside them. Nowadays, when she isn’t writing, listening to metal music, or picking flowers, she devotes herself to a menagerie of ten animals (and counting).
Follow Sam and her books on IG: @authorsamdorsett, and TIKTOK @sam_dorsett
Spotlighting this Thursday is the intriguing “Once Upon Midnight Walk“ by Tetyana Walker. In a kingdom where the sun never sets, and only men are born with magic, Agnes Peregreene had to grow up entirely too soon… Let’s read on!
Once Upon a Midnight Walk
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Featuring
⦁ Strong and cunning heroine ⦁ Forced partnership ⦁ Slow burn romance ⦁ Enemies to lovers ⦁ "Who did this to you" ⦁ A LOT of bickering & yearning ⦁ Angst and tension with historical romance undertones
After her mother’s death, Agnes devoted her life to caring for her younger sister. Bound by a vow she refused to break, she ensured no price was too great for Solomia’s well-being. But when Solomia is betrothed to a known wife-killer, Agnes is forced to confront the reality of her own powerlessness. Before Agnes can find a way to save her sister, she is handed a death sentence of her own. Desperate to buy time, she strikes a frantic bargain with the Aclanian king—she will venture into Nocturna, the realm of ever-night, and retrieve a long-lost talisman in exchange for her life and her sister’s freedom. Lost in a realm unlike any other, Agnes must rely on her cunning mind to survive. Determined to return home successful, she sets on a path of discovery, unraveling secrets that a mysterious and wealthy man named Odeon Nox has spent years trying to keep buried. Secrets that come with a price neither one of them is prepared to pay. Step into this standalone fantasy romance, set between a realm of sunlight and castles and a world of night and cities rivaling 1920s New York. Every choice has a price, and every heart hides a secret.
The book is filled with art and images to help immerse you in this story. If you’re a fan of Jane Austen, Sarah J. Maas, and V.E Schwab, this book is a worthy read!
Tetyana Walker was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2012, she moved to the United States to attend college and pursue a degree in business. Today, she is a proud wife and mother with a successful career in software sales.
Tetyana has loved reading for as long as she can remember. Growing up, she spent her summers in a tiny rural village in Kyivska Oblast with no internet, cell service, or even indoor plumbing. Her days were spent helping her grandparents care for their small farm, and every spare moment was dedicated to reading outside in the quiet countryside.
Her world changed completely when she read the Harry Potter series at the age of eight and discovered the magic of fantasy. She hasn’t looked back since.
Today, Tetyana is a self published author, who enjoys writing character-driven fantasy filled with strong women, unbreakable female friendships, and slow-burn romance between enemies, all set in all kinds of magical worlds.
Featured in our spotlight today is the newly released I KNEW HER ONCEby R.M. Carpus.
I Knew Her Once
Release Date: June 2, 2026
Genre: Gothic Suspense/ Horror
Grieving novelist Rose Harper flees to the sleepy town of Griffin Bay to find a new muse, revive her writing career, and leave the past behind. She finds a place to stay, lands a job, and the plot ideas begin to flow. Things are looking up.
Until strange, unexplainable things start happening and she winds up entangled in Griffin Bay’s poisonous web of lies. There’s something not quite right about her new home, and it isn’t long before she realizes that some stories, like secrets, were never meant to be told.
R. M. Carpus is the co-founder of Wraith House and a member of the Horror Writers Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and professional writing from Saint Joseph’s University and lives in Seattle, always on the lookout for orcas, Brandi Carlile, and Eddie Vedder. Her forthcoming Gothic suspense novel, I KNEW HER ONCE, releases summer of 2026.
A YA high-seas fantasy adventure is in the spotlight today with Against All Wavesby Chelsea Ray! Providing the perfect mix of a slow-burning romance with scheming crewmates, deadly sea creatures, and found family with a dash of magic. Let’s read on!
Against All Waves
Release Date: August 2025
Genre: YA Fantasy
Featuring ⦁ Slow-burn Romance ⦁ Scheming Crewmates ⦁ Deadly Sea Creatures ⦁ Found Family ⦁ Magic
Shes a pirate. He’s a prince. Together they must conquer sea and land.
As a pirate, and only female crewmember, eighteen-year-old Elle fights daily to prove her worth despite being deemed bad luck. Facing dangerous waters, she secretly searches for her mother who had mysteriously disappeared. But she must tread carefully, for the tyrant captain of The Turbulence, her father Velis Whitlock has one rule: never to speak the name of Elle’s mother.
Axel Ardanian’s life has been laid out for him since birth. Soon to be ruler of the peaceful island of Glendora, he decides to share what the island has produced for centuries: a remedy known to cure any sickness. But during his travels to other lands, he witnesses the harsh realities of poverty and greed, which he fears will threaten the land he loves. To protect Glendora, the council and his father agree that Axel must unite with one of the kingdoms through an advantageous marriage.
When The Turbulence targets and attacks Axel’s ship, his and Elle’s lives are suddenly intertwined. In the end, both will have to choose to face their fears and protect what they hold dear to their hearts but also the truth that lingers between them.
Chelsea Ray is a hopeless romantic who is addicted to iced lattes and all about happily ever afters. She writes fantasy adventure with swoon-worthy banter and heroines who persevere, which you will find in her debut novel, 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔.
When she’s not writing, you will find her training horses, playing with her corgi, or spending time with her husband on their small Kansas ranch.
Learn more and follow Chelsea at IG: @chelsearaywrites TIKTOK: @chelsearaywrites
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 