📚Book Rec: A Sharpened Axe + 🔥Hot Releases

Hi! I’m Diana, the face behind Fae Reviews. New month, new edition of my videoletter Fae Bard. Find my book picks for this month and save time choosing what to read next.

Book of the Month

I would like to give a special mention to an author not so known, but that should. Let’s discuss Jill Beene’s Fan-Rom A Sharpened Axe, one of my top young adult books I read back in 2021.

A kingdom cursed to rot, and a Prince forced to open a competition to find true love…only then, can their problems be solved. Samiris is one of the Chosen. Unaccustomed to luxury, she’ll come to chastise their high society practices and find a way to improve the lives of the less favored. However, her father and sister hold her heart, and for them she is willing to do whatever it takes, even putting an effort to captivate the prince. Could she break the curse or will her heart perish instead?

I love stories with fierce female protagonists, and Samiris is one of those. She is not afraid to speak her mind and even grab a weapon, whether it’s to help sustain her family or defeat her enemies. A curse well known, but at the same time not well understood; The contrasts between a people starving and a minority bathing in wealth; The inevitable truth for when one adapts and forgets there’s something that can be done to make things better. You’ll explore this and more in this entertaining book.

If this catches your attention, know the author is working on a similar book, I believe set in the same world.

Upcoming releases

Let’s check out the upcoming and promising July releases I’m adding to my TBR:

A book continuation I’ve been dying to get my hands on, from a fresh but magnificent storyteller Melissa Kieran, comes A Queen’s Shadow, the second installment of her debut series Wolves of Morai. Kai and Isla still have too many enemies and puzzle pieces to put together and a promising but rocky future as the ruling couple of Deimos. Previously, we had mystery, steamy romance, political plays, battles with fantastical creatures, and more, and I believe we’ll keep seeing much of that. Expect it on July 27!

Another much-anticipated Fan-Rom from a rock in the genre, Jennifer Armentrout will be releasing next 18, the fifth book of her popular series Blood and Ash. In A Soul of Ash and Blood, Casteel has come to give us his point of view, and apparently reveal a couple of secrets indispensable to follow up with this incredible saga.

And from a well-established voice in Romance, Katherine Center comes with a new jewel, Hello Stranger, which reminds me of her breathtaking book How to Walk Away. Following a similar premise, Sadie’s life will take a 180 turn in the blink of an eye, after an unexpected health condition. Now, she’ll literally see life in a different, or blurry, way? It will be coming on July 11.

Dive Deeper

If you’ll like to explore more the literary world of Fantasy-Romance and its vast ocean of stories, I’ll leave you some further reading to help you make informed decisions and therefore, maximize your TBR and reading experience.

In this opportunity, you’ll find bellow the links to:

• My reviews on both Fan-Rom series, Blood and Ash and Wolves of Morai, as, as I mentioned, new releases are coming this month.
• A blog post where you’ll find explained all the books that make the aforementioned Blood and Ash series and what you can expect for the future.
• My special Fae Lounge addition where I dive into the mythical werewolf, a protagonist in the series we’re discussing in this issue.
• And the latest edition of my “On the Go” guide, which is an image or pdf, depending on what you prefer, that you can carry on your mobile everywhere you go with access to an interesting selection of books, right at your fingertips. Stopping by a library by chance and don’t know what to look for? Now you have your On the Go guide.

Finding what to read next and narrowing your options have never been easier. Thank you for watching. See you next month!

I have great news! Soon, you’ll be able to shop bookish paraphernalia in my new online story. Stay tuned for more details later.