Lost in Paradise by Rachel Lacey

SOMETIMES LOVE HAS TO BE LOST BEFORE IT CAN BE FOUND… Nicole Morella boards a private Mediterranean cruise with one goal: to reclaim herself after her divorce. When she sits next to a beautiful blonde in the ship’s lounge, she’s knocked off balance by the immediate attraction between them, and it’s not just because Nicole hasn’t found her sea legs yet. Fiona stirs things in Nicole that haven’t been stirred in a long time, but a fiery kiss turns dangerous when the ship is hijacked. The women launch a daring escape, leaving them adrift in an empty lifeboat. Fiona Boone has been adrift most of her life, but never in such a literal sense. She’s a survivor, though, so when they land on a deserted island, Fiona’s ready to do whatever it takes to stay alive until they’re rescued. In the meantime, she can’t get enough of the feisty woman she’s stranded with, despite her usual fiercely independent nature. Although they’re lost, Fiona finds something unexpected in the comfort of Nicole’s touch. But when an injury puts her life in jeopardy, they begin to worry help won’t arrive in time. If she survives their ordeal, Fiona might just face her biggest challenge yet: falling in love.

The Witches of Crannock Dale by Thomas M. Kane

Spies. Witch-hunts. A little girl who asks dangerous questions. Eleven-year-old Mara wants to go on being her pappy’s little girl forever, but when knights of the official church arrest her favorite aunt on trumped-up charges of witchcraft, she leaves her safe childhood world behind. Shocked by adults’ willingness to accept injustice, she runs away from home to rescue her aunt from execution. She finds that respected members of her community are using her aunt as a scapegoat to cover up their own collaboration with foreign agents. As Mara schemes to protect her family from these conspirators, she deduces that they are part of a larger plot which threatens her entire nation, and which her country’s leaders fail to see. That problem is too large for a child to solve, but it will define Mara’s life.

The Dragon Eater (The Tharassas Cycle Book 1) by J. Scott Coatsworth

SPSFC 2023

Raven’s a thief who just swallowed a dragon. A small one, sure, but now his arms are growing scales, the local wildlife is acting up, and his snarky AI familiar is no help whatsoever. Raven's best friend Aik is a guardsman carrying a torch for the thief. A pickpocket and a guard? Never going to happen. And Aik's ex-fiancé Silya, an initiate priestess in the midst of a magical crisis, hates Raven with the heat of a thousand suns. This unlikely team must work together to face strange beasts, alien artifacts, and a world-altering threat. If they don’t figure out what to do soon, it might just be the end of everything. Things are about to get messy.

Alien Song: An Alien Shifter Romance (Alien Wolf Tales #5) by Honey Phillips

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Review by ChelseaK on 2026-01-16T13:58:32Z

Rescued by the Cursed Phoenix (Rescued From Ruin) by Vala Stone

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Review by ChelseaK on 2026-01-16T13:43:07Z

Bound to the Vampire: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Hillcrest Hollow Shifters #4) by Vala Stone

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Review by ChelseaK on 2026-01-13T16:53:06Z

Snowed In With the Ice Dragon: A Small Town Christmas Romance (Monsters and Mistletoe Series) by Vala Stone

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Review by ChelseaK on 2026-01-08T16:01:12Z

Warmed Up by her Brother's Best Friend: A Small Town Age Gap Curvy Girl Short Romance by Julia Stone

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Review by ChelseaK on 2026-01-08T01:27:51Z

Revenge of the Druid Queen by Sydney Faith

Every realm in the West offers a fortune for captured druids. Mel is a shipwrecked barmaid with no past or future—until she meets Cormac. During a tavern brawl, she collides with the brash stranger, igniting long-buried druid powers. Suddenly, fragmented memories resurface: a husband who cursed her kingdom, a stolen throne, and a wasteland of dark magic teeming with wraiths and bloodthirsty undead monsters. When bounty hunters witness her forbidden magic, Mel must flee or face execution. Desperate to break the curse before it devours the realm, she reluctantly hires Cormac's crew to protect her on the journey to reclaim her stolen crown, end the curse, and discover what truly happened—all while concealing her druid blood and true identity. Yet traveling with a band of outcast wanderers means dodging both their enemies and those hunting her. With the cursed lands expanding and her past threatening to unravel everything, Mel and Cormac must battle monsters, bounty hunters, and the deadly consequences of their entangled lives. Perfect for fans of action-packed fantasy adventure, epic quests, and heroes with a taste for trouble.

Alien Song: An Alien Shifter Romance (Alien Wolf Tales #5) by Honey Phillips

A grumpy alien single dad, a fearless diver, and a bond stronger than the tide. Ariella was born to dive. Modified to withstand Cresca’s alien oceans, she’s always been at home in the deep—until the day she saves a drowning child and meets the girl’s father, a huge, brooding Vultor warrior with eyes like molten gold. Suddenly she wants more than just her isolated waters. Valrek has spent years alone on the sea cliffs, shunned by both humans and Vultor. He’s devoted himself to raising his daughter in solitude—until a human female crashes into their world like a storm tide, fearless, bright, and far too tempting. She challenges him. She tempts him. And she makes his beast want something he swore he’d never have. A mate. But Ariella’s past is surfacing—and if she doesn’t choose between her future and her heart, she could lose both. Because when a Vultor warrior loves, he doesn’t let go. Each book in the Alien Wolf Tales series can be read as a standalone romance. This sweet and spicy fairy tale retelling is intended for mature readers.

Mountain Man’s Winter Treasure: A Steamy Instalove Romance (Wildwood Valley Firehouse #4) by Lilah Hart

He watched her for weeks in silence. Now they're snowed in together. I was freezing to death in someone else's house when he showed up. The power was out. The snow had buried the doors. I'd already accepted that this house sitting gig might be the last decision I ever made. Then headlights cut through the storm, and a man climbed out of a truck like he'd driven straight out of my darkest, most desperate fantasy. Broad shoulders. Dark beard. Eyes that looked right through me. He didn't say much. He got the fire going, checked the pipes, made terrible instant coffee. And when I asked his name, he gave me one word. Wolfe. He told me he was staying. Protocol, he said. He couldn't leave me alone with no heat and no way out. But the way he looked at me had nothing to do with protocol. I didn't know he'd been watching me for weeks. I didn't know he'd memorized my schedule at the roadhouse, that he'd stared at his menu every time I came to take his order because he couldn't trust himself to look at me. I didn't know that when my name came through on that emergency call, his heart stopped. But I was about to find out. 🔥 Forced Proximity ❄️ Snowed In Romance 🐻 Grumpy Hero / Sunshine Heroine 👀 Secret Pining 🌸 Virgin Heroine 💘 Instalove 😍 He Falls First Mountain Man's Winter Treasure is an OTT age-gap romance featuring an alpha hero and V-card heroine. It's a forced proximity firefighter romance with lots of steam that's designed to be read in only 1 hour. If you like short, steamy instalove novellas, you’ll love the entire Wildwood Valley Firehouse series!

Mountain Man's Winter Sweetheart: A Steamy Instalove Romance ((Wildwood Valley Firehouse #3) by Lilah Hart

Snowed in with a rugged firefighter. Falling wasn’t optional. I don’t do distractions. I have a plan. A timeline. A future that doesn’t include this tiny mountain town—or the firefighters who pack into the roadhouse every night, loud and charming and impossible to ignore. Especially him. Hux is six-foot-three of trouble wrapped in flannel. A smile built to break hearts. A laugh that fills the room. I’ve watched him flirt his way through every shift, and I’ve kept my distance for a reason. Then the snowstorm hits. He stumbles through the door half-frozen, collapses on my counter, and wakes up to find me standing over him with a bowl of soup I don’t remember deciding to make. Now we’re trapped. The roads are impassable. The power’s flickering. And somehow, Hux has ended up in my kitchen—following my rules, watching me like I’m something worth seeing. He’s not what I expected. Under the jokes and easy charm is something steady. Something real. Something that makes me forget why I was so determined to leave in the first place. The storm won’t last forever. Neither will the forced proximity. Neither will the heat that builds every time he looks at me like he’s already chosen. He says he’s serious about me. And that terrifies me more than the storm ever could. ❄️ Snowed-In Romance 🔥 Firefighter Hero 🏔️ Small-Town Mountain Setting 🍲 Caretaker Moment 🧣 Forced Proximity 💕 Instalove Sparks 🛡️ Protective Hero Energy 🌨️ Winter Storm Isolation 💫 Opposites Attract 🏡 Found Family Vibes Mountain Man's Winter Sweetheart is an OTT age-gap firefighter romance featuring an alpha hero and V-card heroine. It's a forced proximity ex-military, lumberjack romance with lots of steam that's designed to be read in only 1 hour. If you like short, steamy instalove novellas, you’ll love the entire Wildwood Valley Firehouse series!

Rescued by the Cursed Phoenix (Rescued From Ruin) by Vala Stone

Have I just stumbled from one monster, straight into the clutches of another? Ava I have a habit of doing what people tell me I shouldn’t. Like eating that extra cookie, or you know, dating the bad boy. When I try to get out of this latest pickle, running is my only option. A dark gloomy mansion in the middle of the woods, surrounded by an ominous fence. Yeah, that’s not where you expect to find salvation. But the man that swoops down on me, pulling me from the snapping jaws of danger… He sets my blood on fire and makes my heart melt with his care and his cute pet cat. Lucius I just want to be left alone. The world is a dangerous place and I want nothing to do with it. But when pretty Ava stumbles onto my doorstep, I can’t help myself. Parts of me ignite that I thought had long ago turned to ashes. To keep her safe, to keep us both safe, I must let her go. I should send her away. To break my curse, to rescue her from ruin, I might have to break all my rules. I might have to ignite all the flames and make the ultimate sacrifice. Rescued by the Cursed Phoenix is a short, steamy novella that is part of the Rescued From Ruin shared author series. It features one sexy, cursed Phoenix, a plucky damsel in distress, and a very wise matchmaking cat.

The Lunar Quartz Library by Melanie Steele

At thirty-five, Esme thought her life was set—until a magical book offered her a whole new chapter. Esme has lived the same quiet, bookish life for as long as she can remember—mornings spent sorting rare tomes at the beloved Goldsteins' Bookshop, evenings sipping tea in her tiny flat, and weekends buried in classics and comfort reads. Then a curious delivery arrives: an oversized book with a lock, but no keyhole. It doesn’t appear on any inventory list—and it doesn’t seem to belong to this world. When the Goldsteins' bookshop, where Esme has worked for half her life, suddenly shuts its doors, she finds herself adrift. Her routine is gone, her future uncertain, and the quiet, bookish life she’s always known begins to unravel. When a mysterious stranger shows up claiming the book belongs to another realm—and that Esme is the only one who can unlock its secrets—she’s offered a chance to start again. But stepping into her new role as Librarian of the Quartz Falls Library won't be easy. Esme must learn to wield magic, confront enemies who want the library sealed forever, and—most daunting of all—believe that she’s worthy of a life beyond the quiet edges of the world. A heartwarming, whimsical tale of transformation and quiet courage, this low spice cosy fantasy is perfect for fans of The Spellshop, Legends & Lattes, and The House in the Cerulean Sea. 🌙 Tropes & Themes You’ll Love 🙋 Midlife Protagonist ✨ Sweet romance 🏡 Found family 📚 Light academia 💐 Strong female friendships 🌈 LGBTQ+ rep 🧠 Neurodivergent rep ❤️ A comforting, low-stakes fantasy full of heart

Hide & Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin by Sunny Dhillon

In 2018, Sunny Dhillon resigned as a journalist with the Globe and Mail. His blog post announcing his departure went unexpectedly viral. It was a decision that had been long brewing and Dhillon posted the piece with the hope that it would lead to “meaningful reflection on the lack of diversity in Canadian journalism and the problems therein.” But he was not optimistic. In this sharply funny memoir, shaped as a series of letters to his daughter, Dhillon explains why he was not hopeful. From his earliest memories, his experience of being Canadian was shaped by race, and as a child he’d often found himself confused by what he should do when the fact he was “different” was raised. His first reaction was to hide – from his skin colour, from his native tongue and even from his name. Until he realized he didn’t feel the need to hide anymore, that he didn’t want to hide anymore. With warmth, honesty and lots of humour, Dhillon shares his journey so that his daughter will not have to struggle through the lessons he took too long to learn, so that she will know who she is and be proud. Sunny Dhillon is a former news reporter whose viral essay “Journalism While Brown and When to Walk Away” highlighted the significant challenges that journalists of colour can face. Sunny worked as a print reporter for ten years. He has also appeared on television and radio and has spoken at conferences. He is passionate about racial justice and continues to write on that theme. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of British Columbia. He and his young family now live in Ontario, where Sunny attends law school. This is his first book.

Syncopation by Whitney French

In this speculative and intoxicating novel, French offers readers an intricate future-world that resonates so powerfully with our own, as it explores a people gripped in the war-torn politics of migration, memory-keeping, labour and survival. In the aftermath of a Memory War, society is fragmented into strange new cultures, castes and coalitions. Set against a backdrop of retrofitted food garages, microchip-sorting factories and hyperloop terminals, Whitney French brings us a dazzling novel-in-verse where memory is the highest currency and love, like all revolutions, is dangerous, unruly and singed with hope. O and Z are two young women searching for purpose in a world where a decades-long earthquake reverberates through the Earth's crust, and the population scrambles to hide from deadly acid rain. Descended from space pirates, O is drawn to the sky, while Z is earthbound, a skilled forager with connections to the black market. The two become travel companions and lovers until, torn between choosing their values or each other, a fateful decision must be made at the el Corazón space station. In this speculative and intoxicating novel, French offers readers an intricate future-world that resonates so powerfully with our own, as it explores a people gripped in the war-torn politics of migration, memory-keeping, labour and survival. About Whitney French: Whitney French (she/her) is a writer, educator and publisher. She is the editor of the award-winning anthology Black Writers Matter (University of Regina, 2019) and Griot: Six Writers' Sojourn into the Dark (Penguin Random House, 2022). Whitney is a Black futurist who explores memory, loss, technology and nature in her work. She is a certified arts educator and an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Colombia. She is also the co-founder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist press in Canada.

Beneficiary by Joann McCaig

A novel about what it means to face the world as a woman on her own terms from the award-winning author of The Textbook of the Rose and An Honest Woman. Seren was doomed to a country club cage and a leash of pearls until out of the blue on a Tuesday night in 1969, she found herself suddenly saying “no.” More than fifty years later, she looks back on her life and each choice that followed, beautiful, tragic and completely her own. Leaving her family for the freedom of the 1970s, Seren began a quest to discover how to live in this world as her true self—a quest that would take her from the heady countercultural milieu of communal houses on Vancouver Island through marriage and motherhood, divorce, and an unexpected inheritance that changed everything. Suddenly wealthy, Seren must wrestle with money, with class, and what it means to have more than most. What does it mean to live truly, through tragedy and heartbreak? How do we create ourselves in a world that keeps changing? What does it mean to have money when so many people don’t? A richly written, fiercely feminist novel imbued with real bravery, Beneficiary weaves the past and the present in a rich tapestry of life. JoAnn McCaig is the author of The Textbook of The Rose and An Honest Woman. She is the proud owner of Shelf Life Books, an independent bookstore in her hometown of Calgary, AB.

Shoebox by Sean Paul Bedell

Shoebox is a gritty and emotional exploration of the human condition, Steve Lewis, a dedicated paramedic, faces the devastating aftermath of a fatal accident that casts a dark shadow over his once-passionate commitment to saving lives. Plagued by guilt and grief, he finds his career, family, and very existence at risk as he navigates the complexities of trauma, both personal and professional. As Steve grapples with the high stakes of his job amidst the scrutiny of a community that admires yet questions him, each life he saves rekindles his passion for his work, reminding him of the profound connections he can forge through compassion and care. About Sean Paul Bedell: Author of the novels Shoebox and Somewhere There’s Music, Sean Paul Bedell has been writing and publishing for more than 30 years. Sean was a longtime paramedic and captain with the fire service. Bedell has worked in the finance, insurance, and aerospace industries. He is a leading safety expert and has provided safety consultation to private and public sector entities, including transportation, mining, manufacturing, and construction operations. Sean holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation. He was a director with Capital Health, the precursor of Nova Scotia Health and he was appointed by the Minister of Labour to Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Board. Sean is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, The New Brunswick Writers’ Federation, and the Nova Scotia Writers’ Federation. He served on the board of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia for many years, including as president. Sean was instrumental in the creation of the Jampolis Cottage writing retreat centre. Sean is married to Lisa, and they live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with their golden retriever, Maggie. They have two grown children, Amy, and Luke. Sean enjoys reading, travel, music, hiking, kayaking, golf, and spending time at the cabin on North Mountain.

WOMEN AMONG MONUMENTS: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik

What does it take for a woman to don the mantle of genius — a title long reserved for male artists? From her studies in Montreal to a dead-end job in Berlin, a midnight tour of Paris, a bankrupt art residency on the Toronto Islands, and a mysterious sculpture garden in the Karoo desert, South African—Canadian author and professor Kasia Van Schaik considers what it means for a young woman to call herself an artist and claim a creative life. Drawing on a diverse web of literary and cultural sources and artistic icons — from Georgia O’Keeffe to Ana Mendieta, Gertrude Stein to Jamaica Kincaid, Leslie Marmon Silko to Bernadette Mayer — Women Among Monuments asks, What, beyond a room of one’s own, are the necessary conditions for female genius? Where does the inner flint of artistic permission come from? What is the oxygen that keeps it burning? In her memoir interwoven with incisive biographies of female solitude, constraint, and perseverance, Van Schaik blazes a trail for more inclusive artmaking practices, communities, and monuments. Kasia Van Schaik is the author of the linked story collection We Have Never Lived On Earth, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her writing has appeared in Electric Literature, the LA Review of Books, the Best Canadian Poetry, and the CBC. Kasia holds a PhD in English Literature from McGill University and lives in Montreal.

Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby

Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive is due to be released on March 1, 2026. Extraordinarily powerful, both edgy and foreboding, Alison’s layered character-driven stories search for happiness and hope in an unhappily-ever-after world. More about Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive: Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive blurs the lines between horror, catastrophic speculative fiction, and psychological realism in a collection that might best be described as weird fiction. These connected stories offer dark reconstructions of lives brimming with desperate loneliness. They allow us to bear witness to the life-altering love of sisters, brothers, mothers… the life-altering love that buoys them as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of childhoods they merely survived. About Alison Gadsby: Alison Gadsby lives and writes in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her short fiction appears in Blank Spaces, The Temz Review, The Ex-Puritan, Blue Lake Review, and many other literary journals in Canada and abroad. She holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia, and a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from York University. She is the founder/host of Junction Reads, a prose reading series in the west end of Toronto where she lives in a multigenerational home that includes several dogs. She enjoys writing novels, but is always writing weird, dark and strangely funny short stories. You can find links to her work at www.alisongadsby.ca and more information about Junction Reads at www.junctionreads.ca

Stan On Guard by K.R. Wilson

Stan On Guard, forthcoming with Guernica Editions on March 1, 2026. Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite immortal keeping his head down in Toronto and recounting some of his experiences. Tróán is an immortal Trojan princess who thought she’d killed Stan in post-war Berlin but who now knows he survived. Yes, technically Stan can die. He has just managed not to for 3200 years. As their stories braid together toward a final reckoning they take us through a subversive retelling of the Odysseus story, the resistance of pagan Lithuania against Papal crusaders, the decline of Friedrich Nietzsche in a German clinic, the arts scene in belle epoque Paris, and the descent of Europe into the horrors of the Great War. Strap in. Stan On Guard is the follow-up to K. R. Wilson’s tragical-comical-historical novel Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia, which was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour. About K. R. Wilson: K. R. Wilson is a Toronto-area writer. His novel An Idea About my Dead Uncle won the inaugural Guernica Prize in 2018, and his novel Call Me Stan was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal. His follow-up novel Stan on Guard will be published by Guernica Editions in 2026 and his SF-noir Tendrils by Palimpsest Press in 2027. His work has appeared in various literary journals and the flash fiction anthologies This Will Only Take a Minute (Guernica Editions) and Sticks and Stones (Chicken House Press). He can be found at www.krwilson.ca and on social media at @krwbooks.

Marmalade Parade by Matthew Joudrey

Marmalade Parade is a mesmerizing short novel that explores themes connected to different forms of memory. Memory as construct that is both built, destroyed, and altered daily, its reliability fleeting. A first-person narrator arrives at a house set high in the mountains in an undisclosed, remote location. He is confused, disoriented, and guarded. The home is owned by a man who is suffering from an illness affecting his memory. Both must navigate their combined gaps in memory to determine why they’ve been brought together. M. C. JOUDREY is an award winning Canadian writer, artist and designer. His second novel Of Violence and Cliché was released 2013, followed by his collection of short storiesCharleswood Road: Stories in 2014 (nominated for a 2015 JohnHirsch Manitoba Book Award). His novel Fanonymous was released in 2019 and won the Independent Publisher gold medal for best work of fiction for Western Canada. It was also nominated for two Manitoba Book Awards, including the Margaret Laurence Award for best work of fiction. M. C. Joudrey has been a member of the submission selection committee for the CBC Short Fiction Prize and a jury member for the Manitoba Book Awards. As a designer, his work has been awarded two Alcuin Design Book Awards and the Manuela Dias Manitoba Book Award for Design. He is also a bookbinder and a number of his works are held in galleries internationally.

Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josée Poisson (translated by Flora-Lee Bendit)

Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josée Poisson (translated by Flora-Lee Bendit) which is forthcoming with Guernica Editions March 1, 2026. This is a fascinating and intriguing fictional story steeped in history about Madame de Pompadour — Louis XV’s long time mistress, friend and advisor. In Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties, costume historian Geoffroy Le Hideux recognizes the coat of arms of Madame de Pompadour on a blood-stained dress found hidden in the walls of the lyse Palace. In a genealogical investigation taking her from Montreal to Paris, Lou Ashby, a successful communications agent at a television station called La Chane, meets Geoffroy. Together they will expose a secret that alters what was considered historical fact: Madame de Pompadour did not have descendants. But what if she had? Why hide the fact that she had a son who, contrary to historical belief, survived childhood?

Flint in the Bones by Eva St. John

In a city where history bites back, murder is just the beginning. Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby thought she’d left her home behind—along with its plague outbreaks, random time-shifts, and tendency to accidentally host people from the 1600s during breakfast. But when a dangerous practitioner escapes custody in London, Bish is forced back to Norwich, a city where ancient maps hide deadly shortcuts, angry nuns have scores to settle, and Puritans throw acid at those they don’t approve of. Armed with only a gun she can’t fire, a spaniel who thinks he’s a wolf, and a partner who dresses like a rejected Bridgerton extra, Bish must stop a killer before wild magic unravels the city’s fragile balance. But keeping her own forbidden talents hidden is just as dangerous as catching the murderer. And in a place where past and present bleed together, the only way to solve this mystery might be to embrace the very magic she fears. Grab the brand new adventure from Eva St. John, author of the bestselling Quantum Curators series

The Old Crones Club: A Fairytale Retelling from the Wicked Witches by Jennifer Taylor-Gray

Fairytales made witches villains. Now they’re taking their story back. Tibby never thought she’d end up in a prison for witches. She isn’t one, or so she claims. But on her first night at the Grimm Brotherhood’s Reformation Centre, she meets four infamous witches the world has branded wicked. As they share their real stories, Tibby begins to wonder if they’re not so different after all. When the Brotherhood threatens to erase their memories and their magic, the women stage a daring escape. But freedom isn’t enough. To truly reclaim their power, they must untangle the twisted fairytales written about them, confront the men who tried to silence them, and light a fire that could spark a rebellion. In a world built to turn women against each other, Tibby has to choose: stay quiet and survive, or rise and be remembered. A witchy fairytale rebellion for fans of Alix E. Harrow, T. Kingfisher, Naomi Novik and Gregory Maguire.

A Mage's Mentor by Stephen Jarocki

Twenty years after her mother’s mysterious disappearance, Sinccah sets out to find answers in the untamed province of Ucksland. Hoping to bolster her meager magic skills, she seeks out the old mage guarding the caravan. While talking to him, she discovers that the pendant her mother left her might hold a secret. Unfortunately, before she can uncover anything, the caravan is attacked and the pendant is stolen. Determined to get the pendant back at all costs, Sinccah makes an agreement with the local lord, Ucksil, and is sent into a goblin-infested wilderness. If she can find the powerful mage living in southern Ucksland and convince him to help, she’ll be one step closer to learning the truth. As she begins her search, she stumbles upon a member of a despised race of creatures who inexplicably agrees to guide her to the mage. But after decades of hostility between his race and her own, can he truly be trusted? With an uneasy truce lingering between them, the two companions navigate a land where peace is fragile and disdain runs deep. Yet as they struggle together, genuine conversations begin taking place and Sinccah starts to wonder at the truth of what she’s been taught. But even if she can overcome the murderous bandits, are they truly the greatest threat, or does something darker lurk in the shadows? If Sinccah can’t learn who to trust, her very life will be at risk and she’ll never find the answers (or purpose) she’s seeking.

Edenlost: The Borderless City: Book one of the Edenlost saga: a dystopian urban fantasy adventure by Alexandra Kathleen Blade

A perfect city. A memory slipping away. A power that cannot be ignored. Leyla wakes up in Edenlost, a city both dazzling and unsettling. She doesn’t remember how she got there and doesn’t know who to trust. Beneath the city’s radiant surface, shadows whisper, secrets grow, and a power she never knew she had begins to stir. The more Leyla seeks answers, the more Edenlost reveals itself as a maze of hidden truths, intense emotions, forced alliances, and revelations that shake everything she thought she knew. Friendships become lifelines, love burns silent but fierce, and supernatural forces call to her—pushing her toward choices she may not be ready to make. Eedenlost: The Borderless City is a dystopian urban fantasy filled with magic, mystery, and emotional depth. A cinematic story that plunges the reader into an adventure with a courageous yet vulnerable heroine, unexpected twists, awakening powers, and bonds destined to change everything. Perfect for readers who crave: • immersive and emotional urban fantasy • mysteries and hidden truths behind a perfect city • strong, relatable female protagonists • supernatural powers and gripping suspense • deep friendships and heart-wrenching romance • a vivid, cinematic reading experience Edenlost is not what it seems. Neither is Leyla. Step into the Borderless City and experience the story to the fullest.

Blackwater by Emily Blakeney

There is much to be done when the kingdom isn't looking. Iona Strider is a ruthless pickpocket cursed with a disobedient shadow. Violent, too. Worse, she can’t remember who cursed her, or why. But she does know one thing: with each passing day, her control of the shadow dwindles. In her relentless pursuit of answers, she winds up stealing from the wrong man: Captain Liam Blackwater of the Wraith. A man who, according to legend, might just turn the Silver Seas red. Blood-bonded together by a dishonest mistake, Iona begrudgingly teams up with the handsome rogue to embark on a bloody, swashbuckling quest in the hopes that she can break the curse of her shadow once and for all. Alas, it’s never that simple. Especially when Liam and Iona can’t keep their hands off each other. But as they carve a path through the realm, disastrous secrets of the kingdom are revealed, and when shocking revelations of her true past come to light, Iona must decide whether she is to become the kingdom’s villain, or something else of her own making.

An Oath Sworn by M.T. Kadisin

M.T. Kadisin's debut novel in the Saga of the Stone King series masterfully blends dark fantasy, political intrigue, and reluctant heroism. Grady, a clanless dwarf, lives an ordinary, lonely, and forgettable life. Until a mysterious Poster changes everything. Drawn into a brutal experiment by the ruthless Keyrdegen Salzum, Grady is molded into the perfect soldier: obedient, unthinking, unbreakable, extraordinary. But, as the truth behind the warlord's plans comes to light, Grady must fight to reclaim his will-and his identity. An Oath Sworn is a tale of control, resistance, and the cost of becoming a hero in a world that would rather you remain a victim.

Errant Gift by Rhys Price

A young shepherdess named Tali and her father abandon their flock to seek out a fallen star that speaks to them in wondrous visions and whispers. Under the star’s guidance, they are rewarded with a new life of luxury and status they could never have imagined. Everything seems blissful until Tali’s father is asked to partake in a strange ritual that may cost him his life. To her horror, he willingly agrees. Nine years later, swarms of Nemagraws—nightmarish creatures of unknown origins—have begun to spread across the land. Caught in their path of destruction is bookish Dale who fled the comforts of home when his parents were arrested on charges of treason. Armed with nothing but a keen knowledge of botany, Dale searches for his brother Finley, a fabled warrior who might be their best hope of saving the family from ruin. But when he finally finds Finley living with a mysterious cult, he realises that his brother will be of no help at all. Unbeknownst to Tali and Dale, their journeys are bound by a common enemy—one whose aims are far greater and darker than any have yet perceived.

Shattered Peace: A Miss-Fortunate Adventures Saga by Megan Russ

...the world broke more than 2000 years ago. After the gods fixed the world, they took magic and left. Now the seeds of darkness are spreading. The time of heroes has returned... Secretly nestled in the heart of the ancient forest, there is a tree that towers over all others. Within its embrace, the future generation of warriors trains for the day their nation calls upon them. An elven outcast with a secret to keep. A rare free human with something to prove. These two young monks have just graduated from training within the Monastery of the Leaf. With their training days behind them, it is time for them to find their place in the world. Have you ever wondered how the heroes began their journey? Let’s go back to the beginning. This coming of age, found-family, action-driven adventure will introduce you to these young heroes before their call to destiny. What dark horrors will they face along their journey? Find out within the pages of this Homebrew 5e-inspired story. The Beginning of the Miss-Fortunate Adventures Saga: Aearth, is a world that broke due to a Great War 3000 years ago. A world that lost its magic when the Gods knit the world back together. Sealing the magic into the world itself. They turned their backs on a world that could no longer feel their touch. Now darkness rises on the horizon. Will the heroes rise in time to save Aearth or will this world shatter for good? You can learn more about Aearth before Shattered Peace by reading ~ Lore by Megan Russ Dark Fantasy Horror Low Magic Found Family Action Adventure Martial Combat Fantasy Combat Spice Free Language/Alcohol/Smoking 5e Inspired Fans of Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms and Dark Sun will enjoy this 5e homebrew inspired story. Fans of epic fantasy like Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time may find familiar tropes and grand adventures in the Balance of Fates Series.

A Djinnfernal Conspiracy: Saga of the Bearer: Book 1 by W.E. Singh

He's not ready to save the world. Zander Chung is having a spectacularly bad day. Sentenced to death by video call and hunted by homicidal appliances, he's been shipped off to the Egyptian Afterlife — where gods have agendas, djinn hold grudges, and dying was just the start. To survive (and find a way back) he'll have to rely on allies he definitely wouldn't have chosen himself and face powers far older and stranger than anything he imagined. But every bargain has teeth, and some debts bite back hard. Can Zander cheat fate a second time, or will the Afterlife decide it's keeping him? Perfect for fans of Wyrd Sisters, Rivers of London, and darkly funny fantasy steeped in myths, magic, and deliciously dangerous chaos.

The Legend of Damndrake by N.E. White

Damndrake was stolen on her hatchday, and her family scattered, before she was set adrift in the sea. After twenty-four years surviving the brutal White Wastes, she has Blaze now, her adopted sister with a secret that could get her killed or sent to the Blasted Sands. But trying to build a stable life in human-dragon society is a challenge Damndrake didn't think she'd fail again and again. When she's banished from yet another territory, finding a home for them both seems impossible until she's recruited to the Draghi Firegard. Her life takes a turn: a new purpose, home, and maybe the spark of something more—until their past catches up to them. The same dragon who tried to steal Blaze a decade ago is back, and this time, he’s not leaving empty-clawed.

The Black Bane: The Chronicles of Mealduth: Book 1 by L. Lyons

In a cursed corner of Avellion, a dark forest infected with the Black Bane spells death to all who enter — except one… When an old priest arrives at Kailas Darkchar’s door with a bag of gold, she’s right to be suspicious. His ancient sect is rumoured to practise dark magic. The priest claims Kailas has the power to enter the forest and retrieve the bones of his god. But not even the money she so desperately needs is enough to convince her. A member of a despised race, she’s lived her life in the shadows, believing her unique immunity to magic is useless in a world that embraces it. Forced to flee for her life, she meets a powerful stranger with eyes of gold who promises to protect her. But can he be trusted, or is he part of a darker scheme? Hunted by an army of holy warriors intent on fulfilling their ancient prophecy, Kailas is the only one who can stop the world from being plunged into darkness — and that may cost her soul…

In My Time of Dying by Sherrie a Bakelar

When Eloise Fontaine passed away from a heart attack, she left behind a pile of her belongings, a horse and her unfinished business. It now falls to her twin sister, Ebony, to fulfill Eloise' final Calling, Find the Farm Boy and save the kingdom, before Ebony passes away herself. Goaded on by her sister's ghost, Ebony sets out from her humble cottage to find the Farm Boy and help in his quest to regain his kingdom, usurped decades before by the Wizard King. What's a hedge witch to do?

Godless: An Epic Fantasy Adventure: Book One of the Xaidra Cycle by Edward Nile

It is the Third Cycle of known Xaidran history. Three thousand years of civilization. Three thousand years of questions. Three millennia of worship to the Pantheon. Mortals of Xaidra live their lives according to their Faiths, each born beholden to one of the Gods. Most find themselves Faithful to one of the Siblings, the seven Gods who safeguard the Balance of human souls. Seven Gods competing to tip that Balance in their own favor. In this world of ancient monuments, sacred incantations and powerful sprite Elementals, mortals find themselves mere pawns in the battle for souls. A battle Belkas, the War God, seemed to be winning. Until the Silence. In the turmoil of battle, those Faithful to Belkas looked to the sky and saw their Godmoon darken. Their deity's presence was gone. Belkas’s Harbinger slain. As the Belkan war clans reeled from the vanishing of their God, a child was born. A deformed creature, a Godless abomination cursed by the eyeless Fates. ---- Twenty years have passed. For twenty years disciples of a lost Faith have wandered Xaidra, fighting one another, killing and dying in worship to a God that seems to have abandoned them. The Silence weighs heavier on the older generations, on those who lived with the comforting presence of the War God since birth, only to find Belkas gone. Kael never knew the touch of War, never experienced the electrifying power of his Faith. Born on the day of the Silence, he never knew a life without that strange emptiness. To Kael’s generation, the Silence is commonplace. Even as they fight and kill in one-sided obeisance to a vacant God. Another emptiness plagues Kael. Born a misshapen, horned thing, considered an inhuman creature by his peers, Kael has fought to prove himself his entire young life. And all of it has come to nothing. Exiled, alone, without Faith or purpose, Kael begins his journey. ---- And Asra follows. Daughter of a War priestess, Asra yearns for escape more than anything. A release from obligations, expectations. A political marriage to the new Harbinger of War looms in Asra’s future, and she looks to any diversion, any way to delay the inevitable. Even so far as to hunt down the deformed son of a rival War priest. Even so far as to bring back her friend’s horned head. Asra’s hunt begins. All the while, the fabric of Xaidra itself begins to unravel, the Balance shaken again under the threat of War.

The Witch and the Woodcutter by L.S. Walker

This is not a story of magic. This is a story of persecution... The Far Isles are in a witch-hunting frenzy. Neighbour turns against neighbour, women are hanged from trees, and girls are thrown to the pyre. At the head of this fever is the Inquisitorum: the branch of the Church dedicated to the ways of hunting witches, their subsequent torture, and execution. Beorn is the woodcutter for the small town of Brexton. He lives a solitary life in the woods that provide him his livelihood, far from civilisation and inquisitive eyes. He takes no part in the witch-hunting frenzy that grips the kingdom, but nor does he lift a hand in defence of those condemned to die. He lives by a simple rule: I don't get involved. That is until a young witch is dragged into the town square to be burnt at the stake. The sight of her breathes life into old ghosts Beorn had long thought buried. Against his better judgement, he breaks his one rule. What follows is an adventure across a kingdom. Beorn will be faced with many challenges: thorn-helmed knights, black-robed Inquisitors, a head-strong young witch, and even his own world view.

Knee-Deep in Cinders by Ashley Capes

Freedom. Magic. Vengeance. Vilas is a man consumed by anger. Kept prisoner in the city that slaughtered his people, he dreams of the day his magic is unsealed so he can burn everything to ash. When the city's queen asks for his help hunting down rebel cultists, he agrees in exchange for his freedom, his magic, and a night in her bed. Given access to only a fraction of his magic and forced to work alongside a jailor who can seal it entirely, a quick escape is impossible. Vilas knows his freedom hinges on his wits—and his self control. But every day he's reminded of the horrors done to his people, testing the limits of his restraint. Can Vilas outwit the queen and have his revenge on the city, or will his all-consuming rage be his undoing? Knee-Deep in Cinders is a thrilling, standalone dark fantasy novel. If you love morally grey characters, underdogs, and quests for vengeance, lose yourself in Knee-Deep in Cinders!

The Throne of Ash: A thrilling Tudor-esque fantasy with all the deceit, politics and Courtly romance of the Tudor era by Lissy Porter

A Queen. A Princess. And a Consort who must be chosen to ensure the future of the Throne of Ash. The Queen's Face masks all—even the woman who wears it. None may see her without it, not even her Consort responsible for ensuring she brings forth a healthy daughter to succeed her. If he fails, being cast aside is the most favourable of outcomes. When Queen Cecily unknowingly determines on her sister's lover as her Consort, ambition, jealousy, and the demands of courtly etiquette threaten the stability of the Throne of Ash. Princess Bess knows only too well her responsibilities towards her sister, the queen, but when one of the powerful noble families attempts to ensnare both sisters with one lover, there can only ever be one winner. The Throne of Ash is a Tudor-esque fantasy in which women rule, and men are kept in the background, of little use, aside from when a Consort must be chosen. Then, court intrigues, and politics come to the fore in a deadly game of politics and etiquette that sets sister against sister. The Throne of Ash has never been more on fire.

A Little Feral by Maria Giesbrecht

In A Little Feral, Maria Giesbrecht navigates faith, family, and personal resurrection through a voice at once wild, intimate, and quietly rebellious. Written in the aftermath of leaving a conservative Mennonite upbringing, these poems chart a parallel journey of breaking away—from father, from God, from the confines of obedience. Giesbrecht’s language is lyrical and unflinching, a cadence that moves between tenderness and defiance, weaving ancestral memory with moments of stark revelation. A Little Feral asks readers to reimagine where holiness might be found—in the fractures of family, in the undoing of inherited faith, and even in the loneliness of a world shaped by patriarchy and exile.

The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery

Moving on is hard—even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo faces a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter forever. The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s journey from teenage pregnancy in Iran through exile to Canada, exploring questions of sexuality, identity, and survival with extraordinary imagination and heart. What makes this novel particularly compelling is its bracingly effective central conceit—first-person narration by the protagonist’s sock puppet. This approach provides a unique lens for the examination of female shame, neurodivergent experience, and the courage required to break free from internalized oppression. It’s a story about finding authentic voice and reconnecting with the people you love told through a lens that’s moving and refreshingly unconventional. This promises to be a standout debut novel from an already acclaimed author whose memoir Fuse won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award and whose short fiction collection Widow Fantasies is a finalist for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards.

Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges

Weird Babies is a short story collection about weird babies: a miraculous set of reincarnated quadruplets, babies born from the bellies of trout, babies who are destined to molt like tarantulas, babies who hatch from piles of warm clothes. It’s also about the weird baby living in each of us—the tenderest part of ourselves that longs, at whatever the cost, to be loved.

Wound Archive by Anna Veprinska

Wound Archive is a collection of minimalist poems that document the concurrent ending of a relationship and the onset of a chronic invisible illness. These fragmentary pieces turn woundedness—both emotional and physical—into an act of linguistic reformation. The symbol of the wound recurs throughout, tracing the ways heartbreak and illness inhabit the body, and how the corporeal becomes a portal to the incorporeal: god, ghosts, healing. Tender and precise, Veprinska’s work reveals how brevity can hold the vastness of ache.

Valhalla The Valkyries Fire by A. J. Torres

Fire. Blood. Darkness. The tears of her parents were all she could remember. Valhalla Ӧnníka has lived with the Aesir since her fifth spring, since the day the God of Mischief took everything from her. Taken in by the Aesir and valkyries, she found some contentment, but past wounds have a way of returning. Years later, a clue embedded in the back of a dragon leads her to a confrontation with the god who murdered her family. Though training with blade and flame had made Valhalla fierce in her own right, she was still no match for him. Barely escaping with her life, the All Mother ordered Valhalla to cease her investigation, instead giving her a new focus. A mysterious letter found its way into the halls of Asgard, addressed solely to her. She was to meet with the High Queen of the lands of Veerence. Death. Submission. Pain. Nightmares were all he ever knew. Alistair Hilliard II was the High Prince of Veerence. His life should’ve been one of luxury and indulgence, and would’ve been were he anywhere else. Being born a man in Hilliard’s royal family, his duty was to obey, keep silent, and endure. By night, he belonged to the women of high society—a thing to be used—and by day he was charged with protecting the High Queen and her heir. The Prince was stretching ever closer to the end of his rope, worn ragged by the cost his duties levied upon his body, mind, and soul. Alistair’s mother had grown increasingly distant since his twenty first name day. His sister, whose personal mission to see him suffer through nightly torments, had gone quiet. Terrible rumblings began to spread, rumors of an attempt on her life. Regardless of her hatred for him, she was still Alistair’s little sister and it fell upon his shoulders to find out the truth. When Valhalla and Alistair’s paths cross, their fates will intertwine, finding themselves at the center of events that will reshape Midgard and ripple across the nine realms.

We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us by Roxanna Bennett

We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us marks a striking formal shift for Bennett, moving away from the recombinant sonnets that defined her previous three volumes. Infusing disability poetics with concepts of collage, Bennett enacts the improvised experience of disabled persons navigating an inaccessibly constructed world, using whatever comes to hand to make meaning and survive. Though her approach has evolved, her voice remains as singular, incisive, and powerful as ever.

Gitwaałtk by Crystal AJ Smith

Gitwaałtk tells the story of a young Indigenous woman who loses her sister to the Highway of Tears and embarks on a journey with her nux nux (spiritual beings) to find—and bring to justice—the person responsible. Weaving prose, poetry, and oral tradition, Smith’s novel traces a path through grief toward healing, where family, community, and culture become sources of strength and reclamation. The story is at once a personal act of remembrance and a larger statement on resistance, love, and spiritual continuity.

Living History: Essays on A. F. Moritz by Jim Johnstone

Living History gathers new essays from some of Canada’s most respected poets and critics—among them George Elliott Clarke, Robyn Sarah, and Karen Solie—to illuminate the life and art of A. F. Moritz. From his early publications to his tenure as Toronto’s Poet Laureate, the collection explores how Moritz’s lyric vision continues to shape Canadian poetry and the ways in which history, politics, and the natural world intersect in his work. Thoughtful, personal, and scholarly, Living History brings one of North America’s most celebrated poets into sharper focus.

The Fall-Down Effect by Liz Johnston

Exploring protest, climate change, and fractured family relationships, Liz Johnston’s eagerly anticipated debut novel, The Fall-Down Effect, asks what we really owe people in our lives when we are fighting for a greater cause. As a child in the late 1980s, Fern is the wild heart of her tree-hugging family—quick-tempered and yearning to spend every minute in the woods of the small Pacific Northwest logging town where they live. She is also most like her environmental activist mother, Lynn, who chafes against the demands of motherhood and yearns for the protests of her youth. As tensions escalate, Lynn leaves her partner, Tom, and their three children, telling herself she will devote her life more fully to fighting for the earth. At nineteen, Fern commits her own radical act of protest in the town, which authorities label ecoterrorism. When Fern goes underground, her parents and siblings—responsible grad student Sylvia and budding artist River—struggle to make sense of her actions while also trying to cover up her absence. Fern’s secret proves impossible to keep, and when she becomes a wanted woman, the rest of the family trades blame. Years later, when Lynn takes shelter from a forest fire in the home she left so many years before, the family is forced to confront their regrets during a fraught, baggage-filled reunion.

The Tinder Sonnets by Jennifer LoveGrove

Unabashedly confessional and radically vulnerable, The Tinder Sonnets rallies against the long-standing demand that “women of a certain age” politely accept being rendered non-sexual. Each poem is based on a date, relationship, or contemporary dating insight, and highlights how misogyny impacts the way we connect in the modern world–or don’t. Juxtaposing folklore and the natural world against the digital sphere of texting and dating apps, this is poetry that defies invisibility and instead confronts and subverts it through a discerning feminist lens. While experimenting with the traditional form of the sonnet, these sonically textured poems are playful and wry, erotic and joyful, all while refusing to shy away from palpable anger, frustration, and disappointment. Centering strength and resilience in the face of a resurgence of misogynistic chauvinism, The Tinder Sonnets is a staunch refusal to recede from view, to cede sexual space, or to be quiet and polite.

Seldom Seen Road by John Degen

When the body of local environmental activist Paul Robichaud washes up on the bank of a river in the small northern town of Burnt River, blunt-force wounds to his head suggest it was murder. Mark Roth is jarred out of his retirement reverie and drawn into the case. He has the least solid claim on the art of solving murders, but he is driven by the insistent busybody nature of the recently retired. Profoundly hard-of-hearing after a career in musical performance, and equally disappointed with finding himself alone in his world after the death of his beloved wife, Mark stubbornly and clumsily puts himself in harm’s way to draw out the truth. Constable Jeremy Roth, Mark’s long-lost cousin, is the muscle of the group, patrolling the northern highways for the local police detachment and investigating on the ground. Mark’s beloved daughter, Stephanie, building her name as a criminologist at the university in Thunder Bay, gets to the details of the matter using her academic credentials and her innate puzzle-solving instincts. Who dumped Robichaud into the frigid spring run-off? Is there a connection between his death and both the largest uranium refinery in the world and the local small-time pot trade? How do Robichaud’s wife, Kim Keranen, daughter Algoma, local real estate developer Gillian Larch, and her pot-head son Bobby fit into the puzzle? And who is The Albanian? Mark ignores all official advice and his own precarious health as he digs deep into the secrets of his new town. But the town is looking back at him—observing, plotting—and it may prove more than a match for Mark’s loved ones, and deadly to him.

Here's to Letting Go by Blaine Thornton

The city’s quietest stories are often found in its homeless population. Blaine Thornton weaves their audience through their life as they learned that safety wasn’t necessarily at Home. Blaine leads us through the loneliest places, and brings us back into resilience through poetry, prose and narrative. Thornton takes us through sleeping under the pines, sketchy rooming houses, and couches that come with the worst cost. They also reveal how just looking for assistance can sometimes further endanger a young trans, non-binary person. Through poems and prose, Blaine shines a light on what it takes to come back, to survive, and how Love sometimes wins.

Super Canucks by Matthew Del Papa and Andy Taylor

Super Canucks centres not on your typical big city superheros, but those who live in and around Canada’s more often overlooked locales, from the frostbitten shores of a Newfoundland outport to the restless streets of Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their mission? Tackle the chaos sweeping across the Great North: megalomaniac supervillains, sinister megacorporations, frightening wildlife, and—most terrifying of all—the creeping, existential fear of growing old. All the stories push the boundaries of a genre historically ruled by spandex and punchy slogans to ask the same question: what is it that really makes someone a hero—super or not? Super Canuck contributors: Pauline Barnby, Dwain Campbell, Matthew Del Papa, Matthew Heiti, Casey Lawrence, Melanie Marttila, Premee Mohamed, Christopher O’Halloran, Jim Robb, Niall Spain, and Andy Taylor.

The Darrian Shift by Noah Flynnt

A hidden bond. A rising darkness. A battle no one is ready to fight. When ancient stars whisper and mountains bleed light, a past long buried begins to stir. As Siver Pell makes its final preparations for winter, the ice and snow herald hunters from beyond the storms, merciless and unyielding, leaving the townsfolk with an impossible choice: stand and die, or vanish into the dark beneath their feet. Umar, a leader with more secrets than scars, must gamble everything on a desperate escape. Cerin, an enigma whose blades speak louder than her past, vanishes on a mission no one else would dare. And deep in the cradle of the mountain, shadows awaken, offering salvation… or something far more dangerous. In a world of haunted silence and dying light, every heartbeat matters. And some sacrifices aren’t just remembered. They’re carved into stone.

The Loss of the Star's Tranquility by Travis M. Riddle, Tobias Begley

When guests set foot on the Star's Tranquility, a flying resort island, what they can expect is luxury. The best food and amenities...a dream vacation, guaranteed. But their voyage has taken an unexpected detour, crashing in the Unclaimed Lands—an uninhabited forest teeming with deadly monsters and unknown magic. There won't be much-needed bonding time for the strained Harteus family, runaway Drea is farther from home than she ever planned, and reluctantly-retired filmmaker Raymond isn't sipping cocktails poolside any time soon. Stranded in a place where even the plants want to kill you, there's no time to kick back and relax. It's more than most of the wealthy guests can handle, and it's way above the waiters' pay grade, but they'll have to learn to work together if they want to survive. A brand new mystery adventure set within the world of Tobias Begley's Mana Mirror!

The Hunger of the Dragon: Dark Viking Fantasy by R.M. Schultz

Divine remnants are hoarded, stolen, and killed for. These items grant powerful magics to those with the strength to wield them. The war of the gods has passed, leaving Midgard without direction, but vengeance and the battle for control has just begun. A berserker of the Raven must protect her magical items from those bent on stealing them while a Wolf warrior renounces her clan to pursue the impossible—harnessing the magics of the Dragon. A thief of the Wolf is led astray and will never regain what is taken from him. They protect their own, claim what they can, and rise to power in waves of glory. But when a mysterious new clan emerges seeking to conquer all, the Ravens and Wolves must safeguard their divine remains or destroy each other. The resulting war will determine the fate of each clan as they succumb to the hunger of the Dragon and the forbidden runes.

Born of Shadow by Nicole Conway

The girl they condemned may be the only one who can save them, if they don't execute her first. Violet was born to be wicked. Surviving as a street urchin in the island city of Sol'Karr, she struggles to stay one step ahead of the city guards. And when a burglary gone wrong lands her in a jail cell, her nefarious Viperi bloodline could send her straight to the executioner's sword. Her last hope comes in the form of a job offer from a mysterious man who may not be who he claims. If she accepts, she'll be working for The Zenith's Call, an organization who guards the world's most powerful magical artifacts—a task that requires highly skilled agents willing to risk their lives. They believe Violet may have the skills to join them, if she can prove herself trustworthy, but when someone tries breaking into the Call's vault, rumors of Violet's treachery fly like arrows, and she's threatened with banishment back to a jail cell. Now the only option she has left to prove her innocence lies in hunting down the real thief. But embracing her wicked Viperi abilities to catch an expert criminal could be what finally condemns her once and for all. If you like Brandon Sanderson and Rick Riordan, you'll devour Nicole Conway's fast-paced, imaginative series.

A Comedy of Monsters by K.M. Harrell

Welcome to the kingdom of Zadea, where the monsters are in charge, the humans are mostly snacks, and political diplomacy often involves poison, sarcasm, or murder—sometimes all three. At the heart of it all lies Azwick, a sentient, brooding castle with a flair for sarcasm and an unlimited number of vases. As the reluctant host to King Einyuck (part ogre, part tyrant, all emotionally stunted), Azwick is stuck babysitting a royal court full of murderers, misfits, and magical morons. There's the Bixler, the meat contractor that the king has bamboozled into warding his heretic son. Whose maturity will bring about a curse that will destroy the entire realm. He just happens to mature six months every day (Einyuck didn’t mention that), and Marbus, the Assistant Minister of Bureaucratic Mishaps, has weaponized incompetence into an art form. When a time rift brought about by the heretic prince is about to wipe out the whole planet, Azwick might have a secret to share that could save them all. But who knows if he'll tell? *Think* Monty Python meets *Game of Thrones* by way of an extremely haunted *This Old House* If you like your fantasy dark, your monsters witty, and your castles judgmental, *A Comedy of Monsters* is your next favorite read. Just don’t drink the blood wine.

Jane is the End by Chanchito Massoni

Jane works for the Ministry of Magic, approving your spells, checking your permits, and making sure you have your papers in duplicate to prove it. Her life is an ordinary one, that is, until the world ends and everything goes to hell. Now Jane finds herself thrust into an adventure to save the universe from...herself. It is a journey full of space, cats, and demigods in a race against the 4rth dimension. But can Jane figure out how to keep herself from destroying the universe? Can Jane figure out Jane?