Moon Dust by Millie Abecassis

"A short and brutal sci-fi thriller with an emotional twist of an ending. [...] I’m still recovering. Read this." — L.N. Holmes, author of The Floating Castle An underground lab. A dead scientist. A mysterious machine he was trying to destroy. Syd didn’t think things could get worse than being the reluctant leader of her own crime family—which she hates. That was before she found the dead body of Dani, the lead chemist of the family’s underground lab, and next to him, a mysterious machine he tried to hammer down. According to her late father’s notes, it’s a time machine, and Dani used it to steal the recipe for moon dust, a highly addictive drug that made the family’s fortune. Except Dani didn’t only bring a recipe back from the future. He also brought back a deadly pathogen that’s killing everyone underground. Moon Dust is a gritty thriller with sci-fi and horror elements in a huis-clos setting that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Heart of Vanris by Nikki McCormack

Kasiel and his unit have made a name for themselves. Enough of one that they are now being sent to the northern capital to be paraded before the people as heroes and to escort the khevarin’s daughter back south with them. It is a mission that should give them all a much-needed break from fighting and allow Kasiel time to recover from his injuries. What starts as a simple assignment becomes more complicated when the khevarin’s strong-willed daughter decides Kasiel and his unit will continue serving as her personal guards. With the war ongoing and rumors of possible political alliances in the air, protecting her may prove far more dangerous and disruptive than they imagined. Still new to life as a soldier, Kasiel is unprepared for the complex matters of royalty and politics, especially while still learning to navigate the ever-complicated challenges of leadership and love.