Hi all! My brain has been mostly drowned in Christmas preparations (and the bit that's staying afloat is clinging to my and my friend's writing projects for dear life), but winter is here, or will be tomorrow, and that means it's time for a new season of reads.

 

Winter 2024–2025 Reads

1. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (December 6). In other years, this might've been my most-anticipated read of the season, and I quite possibly would've already read it (or would be ravenously watching the library listing in hopes that it would come in sooner rather than later). Because I'm kind of behind on Sanderson books, I'm less hyped at the moment, but I am still excited to read this once I'm properly caught up! I have heard mostly good things from the friends who have read it, and I'm looking forward to finding out where the rest of the story goes.

2. Rescuing a Supervillain by H.L. Burke (December 23). In contrast to Wind and Truth, I already have read this one, since I got an early copy from H.L. Burke's recent Kickstarter. This is such a sweet, fun story; I absolutely loved it. Sam (a temporarily-benched superhero) and Bea (a cat-shifter thief trying to escape her former team) are such good characters, and I like their arcs both individually and together. Also! There are cats! Who doesn't love cats?

3. Captive Dance by Kendra E. Ardnek (January 10). This is the sequel to Pumpkin War, but I am much more excited about Captive Dance than I was about its predecessor. Why? Because it's a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling with what sounds suspiciously like an antagonists-to-lovers romance, and I think it's going to be so fun. After all, the Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairy tales, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Kendra does with it!

4. The Shapeshifter Drives a Bargain by Claire Trella Hill (February 3). This is another Tales of Karneesia story, a short romantasy from the world of The Erlking's Daughters. This series is a little hit-or-miss for me — some I really enjoy; some I'm a bit meh on. That said, this combination of Beauty and the Beast with Rumplestiltskin sounds interesting; I'm interested to see what Claire has planned for that. Hopefully it'll be good!

5. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett (February 11). Confession, I still need to read book two in this series . . . but I very much liked book one, and I'm looking forward to seeing our prickly, nerdy scholar friend navigate the challenges of Faerie. Hopefully I'll be caught up with the series by the time this comes out!

What book releases are you excited for this winter? Am I missing any? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

Lost Kerchiefs Release Week: The Handmaid's Blood

Hello, friends! Welcome to release week for the Lost Kerchiefs Arista Challenge! Aka, the week in which we launch seven new Goose Girl retellings into the world and hope they land well. For this week, I'll be sharing snippets and fun facts here on Dreams and Dragons, while Light and Shadows will host interviews with each of the authors. We're starting out the group release with Kendra E. Ardnek's new short story, The Handmaid's Blood, a villain-twist retelling featuring compulsion magic, political intrigue, and an unexpected alliance. Read on to learn more, including some behind-the-scenes info from Kendra on how The Handmaid's Blood came to be!

About . . .

The Handmaid's Blood

Three drops of blood bind her to the princess’s will.

But three drops of blood bind the princess to her mother’s will. And when her mother’s will is to travel to the neighboring kingdom as a bride to its doom, the princess sees only one way out. Can the handmaid carry on the charade long enough to prevent a war? Or is compulsion magic not even enough to disguise a handmaid as a royal?

Find it on: Amazon || Goodreads || Full Series

Kendra E. Ardnek

Kendra E. Ardnek is the self-proclaimed Arista of Fairy Tales. Having just gotten married and moved across the state, she doesn’t know who she is anymore, but once she figures that out, she fully intends to create a new author bio just as silly as her previous bio.

Find her online at: Website || Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Newsletter || Instagram || TikTok || Tumblr || Amazon 

The Handmaid's Blood Fun Fact: Changing Plans

While I knew from the start that this retelling would involve compulsion-flavored-blood-magic, I didn't have much else set in stone for this retelling. I really thought that the princess was going to be evil and the handmaid's quest for freedom was going to be the center of it. However, as soon as I sat down to write, I discovered that the handmaid was actually sympathetic to the princess and happy with her lot, and it was the princess who felt trapped. 

Then I had the issue that the original setup for the princess's mission was just a little too close to Elindala's goals in Pumpkin War, and just a little too vague for me to properly foil within the word constraint of the Once Upon a Twisted Time tales. It was actually this plot point that held me in a writer's block coma right up until the day before I needed to upload it to Amazon, when I suddenly realized that there was a much simpler scheme that the queen could employ to get her war, and then everything fell into place from there. I did have a hot minute where I didn't think Falada was going to properly make his way into the story, but then the handmaid and princess both wandered their way into the stable and I knew I had my Goose Girl retelling. 

So, all told, I think this was a fun first stab at the fairy tale, and I should do it again sometime. 

~~~

Are you excited about the Lost Kerchiefs releases? Have you ever changed your plans on a project at the last minute, and how did that work out for you? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

Hello, everyone! Much as I hate to admit it, fall is rapidly approaching . . . but at least that means we have a new season of reads to spotlight! Some of you may be saying "Isn't it a week early for this list, Sarah?" — and you are correct, but next week is the Silmaril Awards ceremonies, and the week after is the Lost Kerchiefs release celebration, so we're doing our Fall Reads round up now. As is mostly usual, I'll post the full list here, but if you just want my top five, you can hop over to Light and Shadows for that. So, without further ado, let's find out what this season has in store for us!

Before we get into that, though, a couple quick reminders! First, ARCs are available for Illusion's Reign and the other Lost Kerchiefs stories! So, if you're interested in getting your hands on any of those early in exchange for a review, make sure you sign up ASAP. The blog/social tour form should be available soon as well, so keep an eye out for that. Second, today is the final day to vote in the Silmaril Awards! Go cast your vote for who you think is the most epic hero and heroine, most silver tongue, most nefarious villain, and so on — awards ceremonies begin on Monday!

Fall 2024 Reads

1. Her Fake Superhero Boyfriend by H.L. Burke (September 9). This is another superhero rom-com from H.L. Burke, this time featuring a variation on one of my favorite romance tropes (which goes by many names, but I usually describe as "the rogue and the princess"). I've read this one already, and I absolutely loved it — it was fun to see KC again and get to know him better after having met him in Wishing on a Supervillain, and Mira was such a sweet and fun heroine. Definitely would recommend this one, especially if you enjoyed Wishing!

2. The Handmaid's Blood by Kendra E. Ardnek (September 23). The highlight of the fall reads list is usually the Arista Challenge release group, and this year is no different! We start off the Lost Kerchiefs with a short story retelling from Kendra, focusing on the princess's handmaiden who takes her place. This is another of Kendra's hero/villain swap retellings, and I look forward to seeing how that twist plays out here.

3. Wind Charmer by Meredith Leigh Burton (September 24). Our second Lost Kerchiefs story! This one looks like it'll be the closest to the original Goose Girl fairy tale out of all the retellings, though Meredith has, of course, put her own unique spin on the tale, including interpreting the princess as being on the autism spectrum. I'm definitely curious to see how this version of the story will turn out.

4. Friend and Faux by Erudessa Gentian (September 25). This is a contemporary AnimeLit retelling of the Goose Girl — AnimeLit meaning that it borrows tropes and themes often found in anime and manga, similar to Japanese light novels. I'm not super familiar with the genre, but I'm sure it'll be interesting to see how Erudessa has used it to reimagine this fairy tale!

5.  Arabella's Song by Meagan Myhren-Bennett (September 26). This retelling blends The Goose Girl with the Pied Piper, which is not a combination I ever would've expected. Honestly, this might be the Lost Kerchief (other than my own) that I'm most looking forward to, simply because I really want to know how Meagan is going to blend those two stories! It also sounds like she's making more use of Falada than most Goose Girl retellings do, though, which should also be cool.

6. Illusion's Reign by Sarah Pennington (September 27). It's my book! I have been hard at work putting the final polishes on Illusion's Reign over the last couple weeks, and I am so excited to share Onora's story with y'all. I am also excited to be done with proofreading (bane of my existence), but that's neither here nor there. I love Onora, and I can't wait for y'all to meet her . . . and her cat. I do quite love her cat. Y'all will find out why when the book comes out. If you haven't already, make sure you preorder the ebook before release! The price will go up by a dollar or so once the book actually comes out.

7. Collusion by H.S.J. Williams (September 27). Behold! A book that is not a Goose Girl retelling! I realized when making this list that Collusion and Illusion's Reign are release-day twinsies, and I genuinely could not be more delighted. I loved Moonscript when it came out several years ago, and I've been eagerly anticipating the sequel ever since. I admit that there is a fair chance this book will wreck me — Hannah is very good at writing angst — but I also have no doubt that it will come out to light and beauty and hope in the end.

8. Goose Princess by Tricia Mingerink (September 30). Back to the Lost Kerchiefs! Speaking of long-awaited sequels, Goose Princess is the final Beyond the Tales book from Tricia Mingerink. It's another blended fairy tale, combining The Goose Girl and The Wild Swans, which I've thought for a long while would be a natural fit together. And, of course, series fans will be happy that Alex just might get his happily-ever-after.

9. Curse of Silence by Erin Halbmaier (October 1). Our final Lost Kerchiefs story is a mystery retelling of The Goose Girl, which should be a lot of fun! Plus, we have a childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, and that's always a delight.

10. Splintered Life by W.R. Gingell (October). While the exact launch date for the second Shattered Worlds Kickstarter hasn't been announced yet (at least not that I can find), we know it's coming in October, and we do have a prelaunch page. In any case, I am very much looking forward to more of Viv and Luca! I read Splintered Mind, the first book in the series, earlier this month, and I loved it, though the vibe is a little different from the City Between and Worlds Behind series. I will definitely be backing this as soon as it comes available!

11. Wyldling Armor by A. R. Grimes (October 8). Ok, full disclosure, I have not read the first two books in this series . . . but it's a portal fantasy series, and I've been meaning to get back to reading more of those, so it's on my TBR. The concept sounds really cool, and I think the series might touch on some of the themes I really like to see in portal fantasy, so it should be worth a look, at least.

12. The Death of Clara Willenheim by Charlotte Lesemann (October 29). This is not precisely fantasy (though there is apparently a ghost in it) and is therefore not my usual fair . . . but I have been enjoying Gothic stories more of late, and I'm always down for a good mystery. The blurb is definitely enough to make me curious as well — we have an imprisoned heroine, secret passages, and more.

13. One Must Die by multiple authors (October 31). Another mystery story! This one looks and sounds delightfully steampunky as well — it's been a while since I found a good steampunk story. Some early reviewers are comparing it to Clue, and the book has an interesting conceit wherein each of the involved authors wrote a version of the story from a different character's point of view. That sounds like it was probably hard to coordinate and edit . . . but if it was well-done, it could be super cool! I'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

14. Valley of Dragons by Christina Baehr (November 15). We wrap up the season with the final Secrets of Ormdale novel! I cannot believe that this series is already ending, but I also cannot wait for the ending. The hints and snippets Christina has shared on her socials are simply tantalizing, and after the last couple books, I desperately need a good happy ending for our heroine (and hero). I have no doubt that Christina will deliver just that.

What book releases are you excited for this fall? Am I missing any? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

February Doings!

Hello, all. February is over, and March is over, which means it's time for another Doings! post. This has been a long and tiring month — exactly what I expect February to be most years, actually, but not what it usually actually is. The past several years, I've gone into February with dread and found it wasn't half as bad as I feared. This year, I went into the month with an impressive level of optimism, and now I am tired.

Writing!

• This was . . . well, it was a frustrating month, writing-wise. Technically, it was very productive, as I added about 30K more words to Daughters of Atirse #2, which is the same number of actually-drafting words I wrote in January. Unfortunately, I was hoping for about 10K more than I actually achieved, thus my frustration.
• Why the (comparatively) lower wordcount? There are two factors in play in the answer to that question. For one thing, in January, I spent multiple Saturday mornings doing writing sprints with the RealmSphere group, while in February, I had to set up my own sprints if I wanted them . . . and, of course, I had relatively few free Saturdays to spend sprinting. For another thing, I had a lot more days when I came home really tired from work, had a hard time starting my evening writing session (or focusing once I'd started), and ended up saying "I wrote something, and that'll be good enough; I'm going to bed."
• The fact that I was also navigating a section of the book where I had fewer clear ideas of what happens when also didn't help. I had several key scenes figured out, but I didn't have a good idea of exactly what connected them, and navigating that is always tricky. I am almost to the point where that problem should start to clear up, thankfully.
• As for other writing projects: I made a little progress on my D&D adventure (not as much as I should've, but still better than nothing, given that it was not at any point this month my first, second, or third priority), and I did not work on my DOSA Files story. Originally I was going to wait to write it until I finished Onora's story, but at this point, I'm halfway wondering if taking a week or weekend mostly off from Onora to focus on that might help more than it would hurt.

Reading!

• My reading was another pretty mixed bag, though I did get to some books I'd been meaning to read for a long time, and almost everything I read was new to me.
• The month started out strong with Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, which I meant to read back at Christmas and didn't get to — it's not a Christmas book, but it has some significant Christmas-related scenes. I'm not sure why it has Christmas when it's not set on Earth, but . . . it's a middle grade novel, and it's fun and whimsical without lacking heart. And while it does flirt with a trope that has made me put books down in the past (magical secret world that looks down on the mundane world outside), it gets a pass by being very clear about the fact that the secret world has its problems too and also by being a little more justified in its secrecy and closed-off-ness than some other secret worlds I can think of but won't name here. It's not a perfect book, and I guessed several of the twists, but it was a fun read.
• The fun thing about February is that it's Blind Date with a Book month. I only had two blind dates this year: Dragonsong, which I've meant to read for a while, and The Tiger's Wife, which I'd never heard of before now. Dragonsong was a good book with an interesting world and, of course, dragons, but I had a really hard time getting through the first half because I kept wanting to give side characters a good shaking. It picked up in the second half, though, which happened to be the half that involved more dragons. As for The Tiger's Wife, it was magical realism set in the Balkans, about a young doctor and her memories of and relationship with her grandfather and her grandfather's memory of his past. I had mixed feelings about it — it's well-written, and it uses a little-known fairy tale in a very interesting way, but it's also vaguely depressing in the way many literary fiction books seem to be, and so I don't think I'm likely to reread it.
• My other three new-to-me reads all fell in the category of "didn't love it, didn't hate it." I'd heard good things about the Detective Conan manga series, but the first book didn't wow me — the mysteries are good, and the concept is interesting, but there's a major side character who makes me mad. I plan to try to continue the series in order to give it a fair trial, but yeah. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off is a creative nonfiction thing about the cultures and practices that surround knitting, and it was ok, but I like her more memoir/autobiographical books better. Lawless is a book with a cool concept — Western-dystopian-ish sci-fi retellings of the book of Judges — but it's also an anthology, and as is typical of anthology, I really enjoyed some stories ("The Mark," a retelling of Gideon, was probably my favorite), really disliked others, and had no strong feelings one way or another about the rest. Also . . . it's Judges. "Every man did what was right in his own eyes" and all that. I appreciate some well-applied grittiness, but sometimes it went a little further than what I, personally, was comfortable with.
• We finish up with the rereads. Rumplestiltskin's Bargain is another of Kendra E. Ardnek's Twisted Time series, and it's a pretty cool take on the story of Rumplestiltskin. And DragonKnight was, of course, excellent. It's my favorite in the DragonKeeper Chronicles, and returning to the story is always a joy. And I got to read it alongside someone who was discovering it for the first time, so that was also a lot of fun. Definitely a good way to finish up the month.

 Watching & Playing!

• I watched exactly one thing this month that wasn't a short-form YouTube video, and that was The Princess Bride right before Valentine's Day. As always, it was a delight. I think I shocked the rest of my family by saying that not only was I definitely interested in watching something on my surprise-free-evening, but I also had a very specific movie I wanted to watch! But I had seen a lot of Princess Bride-related posts in the previous weeks, and I hadn't watched it in a while, so it seemed like a good time. And, again, it was.
• Also, because I want to keep this section interesting, I'm expanding it to include other types of non-book media I enjoyed during the month, specifically podcasts and video games. I made this decision in large part because I've been listening to the Wolf 359 podcast, and it is so good. I technically started it back in January, but I really got hooked this month. It's a sci-fi story about a small crew on a deep space mission orbiting a star far from earth, and the storyline slowly expands from sitcom-style shenanigans to intrigue, betrayal, and mystery. I'm about halfway through Season 2, and again, it is so good. If you are a fan of either Star Trek or Schlock Mercenary (or, you know, sci-fi in general), check it out! Also! It's only about sixty episodes long, so it won't take that long to get through, especially if you (unlike me) listen to podcasts more than just on one half of your commute.
• I've also been doing some gaming, sometimes as a reward for actually finishing my to-do list early and sometimes as a way to give my brain a break between tasks. Mostly I've been playing through The Stanley Parable: Ultra-Deluxe, which is a re-release that came out a few years ago and has quite a bit of new content. I know this game isn't for everyone, and it does get a bit nihilistic or absurdist at times . . . but it's fun, and a lot of it is about storytelling — the types of stories we tell, the ways in which we tell them, and also what it's like when your characters (or your players, if you're a D&D DM, which is a form of storytelling as well) repeatedly defy you. So, obviously, I appreciate that element.
• And, in usual Sarah fashion, I'm finally playing the Portal 2 co-op levels with my sister. We did one gaming session together this past weekend in which we completed the first two sets of levels, and we had a grand time solving the puzzles together, being silly with the gesture function, and snarking back at GLaDOS when she makes sarcastic comments at us. I introduced my sister to Portal a couple years ago via playing simultaneously with her one summer, and I'm really glad I get to play with her again. (It's anyone's guess when we'll play next, but . . . y'know. Hopefully it won't be too long.)
• (Also, in case anyone, including my future self, was about to say or think something to the effect of "You know, the fact that you've been gaming might also have something to do with your lower wordcount this month," I just want to clarify: I had five gaming days across the entire month of February, one of them was also my highest wordcount day of the month, and all but one of them were on days I wrote at least a thousand words. The games are not the problem here. My brain, my schedule, my energy levels, my characters, and my outline are.)

Life!

• This has been a busy month, but not in a way that produces a lot of stuff worth talking about.
• Grad school stuff is still going well, though it's definitely picking up with some larger and more effort-intensive assignments. I'm still enjoying the class reasonably well, but I'm also ready for it to be done. The biggest assignment of the class is due this weekend, and I'm very thankful that I've been able to use some stuff I've already done for work to put it together so it's not taking quite as much time.
• On the topic of work: I expected this month to be dominated by the start of Lent, and that has taken up a lot of my time and attention . . . but much more of my energy has been taken up by funerals and tech troubles. We had internet-connectivity issues with our livestream towards the start of the month that were super annoying and time-consuming to sort out and that required me to stay late a few times and come in early one day. I did get comp time, so I'm not complaining, but it wasn't fun for me or anyone else involved. We've also had funerals pretty much every weekend, which has been . . . a lot. Funerals aren't hard, exactly, on my end, but they are energy-intensive due to the fact that there's so many moving parts and so many things that get decided at the last minute. And, of course, you're working with the family, who's grieving, and you're trying to find the balance of "be gentle and patient because they're going through a hard time" and actually, you know, getting all the necessary info so the program can be printed on time. It's a great ministry and a wonderful opportunity to show love to people when they need it most, but, again, it's energy intensive at the best of times, and February is not the best of times.
• Ok, this has been very depressing; let's find something more cheerful to report.
• Valentine's Day happened! I didn't do anything much for it, but my mom made cheesecake with strawberry topping, and it was delicious.
• Also, two days after Valentine's Day, I got to have brunch and writing time at a French-Asian inspired cafe near my house, and that was both tasty and fun. I don't go often because it's expensive, but that particular morning I had some other stuff going on that meant I could justify the trip. I got milk tea, a croquette, and some little mochi cheese pancake-things with a cream cheese filling, none of which I'd tried before, and all of which were tasty. This particular cafe does a lot of filled breads and scones and such, and I kind of love it.
• In yet more food-related news, my Baking Yesteryear recipe for the month was chocolate potato cake. This is one of the first really good recipes I remember seeing in Hollis's videos, so obviously it was pretty high priority. The cake is more like a spice cake than a birthday cake in terms of texture and flavor, but it is very tasty! You would not guess that there's potato in there. I know this for a fact, as, when I took it to Bible study and asked people what they thought the secret ingredient was, absolutely no one suggested half a potato. I don't think I'd make this cake often, as I don't like washing the potato-masher and it's more of a chocolate chip cake than a chocolate cake, but I would make it again.
• Moving on to something non-food-related: I finally finished the shawl I've been working on! I expected to use two full skeins, but ended up stopping earlier than that because I decided the shawl was long enough (and also using up the second skein would've taken me until June, probably, at the rate I was going). I'm still waiting for an opportunity to wear the shawl, but I probably won't get that for a couple weeks yet, possibly another month.
• We'll wrap up with the latest in D&D news. In our long-running campaign, we had several sessions' worth of diplomacy and intrigue, which . . . went a lot better than it could've, though not quite as successfully as we hoped. Long story short, we're less popular in-world than we used to be, at least in my character's home country, but we exchanged our popularity for peace by proposing and arranging a treaty that ended a war and freed a people group that was being abused and oppressed, so . . . worth it. And, I mean, we might be less popular, but we're also not considered criminals anymore, so that's also a win. (Again, long story short: absolute ages ago, we went to warn someone about a fiend we were tracking, the guy we were warning was in league with the fiend and tried to kill us, and then we were blamed when he died. And, yes, that was because one of our party members killed him, but it was self-defense, not murder.)
• I also had my first session of a new campaign with an online friend, her daughter, and some of her friends/family, and I think that went well. It's a 4e campaign instead of a 5e campaign, and the DM's style is kind of different from that of the DM of the other campaign I'm in, so those things will take some getting used to. I had fun, though, and I like my character (a half-elf rogue named Mythe), and I'm excited to learn more about the other player characters, so it should be good. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

March Plans

• I have one more week in my current grad school class! Again, I'm ready to be done with it. At least the last week is fairly light in terms of workload. Then I have about a week's break before the next class starts. I admit that I'm not looking forward to the next class — it's on editing, layout, and publishing, which is very much in my wheelhouse, but it's also basically one big group project. Besides that, looking at the syllabus, I'm pretty sure that between my day job and the fact that I've self-published seven books, I'm already past a lot of what they're going to cover. I don't say that thinking I know everything there is to know about editing, layout, or publishing — I know there's more I can learn — but, again, it looks pretty basic, especially for a graduate-level class, and I suspect the main thing I'll get out of this class is finding out exactly how much I dislike using Google Docs for formatting.
• Speaking of writing and publishing: I'm once again aiming for adding 40k to Daughters of Atirse #2 in March. I don't think I'll finish the book this month, even though that was my original goal, but I think I can get close. I also hope to draft my DOSA Files submission, probably during the break between grad school classes.
• That said, I'm also going to try to make a point of not jumping straight into trying to write on evenings when I'm really tired, as lately that just seems to result in me having trouble focusing and getting far more easily distracted than I usually am. But I'm also not going to fall into the trap of saying "Oh, I'll just watch one or two YouTube shorts and then I'll get started." Instead, if I'm tired enough that I can tell it'll be a problem, I plan to give myself between fifteen and thirty minutes (depending on just now tired I am) to do something that will actually recharge my brain — long enough to read a bit, watch something a little more substantial than shorts, play a level or two of a game, or do another activity of that nature. I hope this'll help — though I also hope that it won't be necessary and that escaping February will also free me from enough of my tiredness that I'll be able to write more easily.
• As for work: it's the month of Easter. I will continue to be busy, and I will probably only get busier as the month goes on — but at least we don't have any funerals scheduled for this month! And I already have some good designs for a few of the graphics I'll need, so I have that going for me.
• I didn't get to any ARCs in February, so I'll need to prioritize those in March. I'm also planning to reread at least some of the Prydain Chronicles (technically, I already started on that, but I haven't finished any yet) and hopefully read the Emily Wilde books that I keep hearing are so good. I also have beta reading to do! I may try to get a good bit of that done this weekend, actually.
• I also need to find a good next project for crafting. I have a good idea of something I want to do, but I can't find a free pattern for it, and I'm currently debating whether I like the idea enough to spend money on it. Whatever I do, it's going to be something short and satisfying to balance out all the time I spent on my shawl!
• I'm also trying to figure out some stuff with my blogs and my online presence in general, and I probably should work on that in March . . . but it's anyone's guess if I'll actually have the time or energy for it. We'll see.

How was your February? Any plans for March? What's your strategy for writing while tired? What's something good you've read recently? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

February Is Fantasy Month: Favorite Romance Tropes

Hello all! With Valentine's Day just behind us, I think it's safe to say that many of us have romance on the brain. So, what better time than now to talk about some of my favorite romance tropes? And to link in with February is Fantasy Month again, for every trope, I'm going to include a few fantasy book recommendations that I think really showcase what I'm talking about.

Favorite Romance Tropes

1. Slow Burn. I think my love for this trope is well-established — the surest way to make me enjoy a romance is to make it a good slow-burn, where the question isn't isn't "Will they or won't they?" but rather "How long will it take both of them to realize what's going on?" After all, half the joy of a slow burn is spotting it long before the characters do and then making much of hand-touches and smiles and definitely-not-dates. Whether this takes place over the course of a series or in a single book, I'm certain to enjoy it.
   If you want to read this, try . . . For a single-book slow-burn, I happen to be very fond of my most recent release, Song of the Selkies. Not only does it have a proper "crockpot romance" (which is to say, everything is lovely and tender and there's pining), it comes with bonus Faramir and Eowyn vibes. That said, I would also classify Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones as this type of romance — even though the book is short, the love story is drawn out and clever readers see the romance coming long before the characters will admit it. And for a series-long slow-burn, there's W.R. Gingell's City Between.
2. Princess and Rogue Parings. This is a another trope that I've mentioned loving plenty of times and that I enjoy writing as much as I enjoy reading. Happily, this dynamic shows up fairly frequently: a man — perhaps an actual rogue, perhaps just someone with roguish traits — who's been living only for himself meets a woman caught up in what everyone else needs (or expects) her to be. As a result, he finds a reason to be selfless, and she has a chance to be seen and loved solely for herself. And for the reader, that means we get two characters who probably play off each other in really fun ways, probably a healthy dose of snark, and a redemption arc. Plus, it frequently overlaps with the Ladykiller in Love trope, in which a guy known for liking the ladies in general, but not getting permanently attached to any of them, finds himself head-over-heels in love — probably with the one woman who'd never fall for his usual advances. What more could a girl want?
   If you want to read this, try . . . So many good choices — though some of my favorites examples of this trope are actually in movies, not books (and not always fantasy movies either). But probably my favorite bookish example (aside from Howl) is found in   Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Bard Eanrin may not be a rogue, but he shares most of the essential characteristics, and Starflower certainly fits the princess profile . . . and their relationship is one of my favorite aspects both of this book and the series as a whole. I also love the way this plays out in books 3 and 4 of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and you'll also find it in a lot of H.L Burke's Supervillain Rehabilitation/Romance Project books. (I'm pretty sure Accidentally a Superhero would be the best example, but I haven't read that one yet.)
3. Friends to Lovers. This frequently overlaps with the slow-burn trope, but there's just something lovely about seeing a pair of friends turn into something more, or in reading an established romance where it's clear that the couple cared about each other as friends long before they even thought about kissing. I especially love the childhood-friends-to-lovers variant and the idea that these two characters have always been and always will be by each other's sides.
   If you want to read this, try . . . If you want the childhood friends version of this, pick up Lady Dragon, Tela Du  or Snowfield Palace, both by Kendra E. Ardnek. (It's also in the backstory for Through a Shattered Glass, just saying . . .) On the other hand, if you'd like a version that overlaps with the next trope on this list, you'll probably be very pleased with the romance in the DragonKeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul, which has a lovely antagonists-to-friends-to-lovers-to-happily-married-couple sequence over the course of books two through five.
4. Antagonists to Lovers. This is more commonly known as enemies to lovers, but I'm using the broader term of "antagonists" because the category of books I'm describing includes everything from legitimate, blades-at-the-throats enemies to people who are more just . . . rivals, or who annoy each other until they start to see things differently. In any case, the journey as couples in this trope come to see from one another's perspectives, sympathize with someone they disliked, and usually find some kind of redemption in the process is just so lovely to read . . . and the fact that the characters usually have a lot of deliciously snarky and charged interactions, as well as begrudgingly tender moments, doesn't hurt either.
   If you want to read this, try . . . For actual enemies to lovers, you can't go wrong with An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson or Gothel and the Maiden Prince by W.R. Gingell. On the other hand, if you're looking for characters who are merely antagonistic, but not necessarily outright enemies, pick up A Thieving Curse by Selina R. Gonzalez or Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer.
5. Married Adventure Couples. Does this count as a romance trope? I don't know, but I absolutely love when a fictional couple gets married and then continues having adventures and being awesome, with the added benefit of being secure in their relationship so they know they already have each other's backs and becoming a fabulous battle couple (if they aren't that already). It's both a nice change of pace from the drama of pre-marriage couples and a reminder that "happily ever after" doesn't mean nothing interesting ever happens again.
   If you want to read this, try . . . As already mentioned, this appears in the last two books in the DragonKeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul. It's also heavily present from book 4 onward in Kendra E. Ardnek's Bookania Quests series — and, conveniently, book 4 is one of the series entry points. Unfortunately, I can't think of many other examples — if you know of any, make sure you let me know!

What are your favorite romance tropes? What are your favorite books including those tropes? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Hello, everyone! It's just a few days until Christmas, but today is also the first day of winter, which means it's time for my list of this winter's book releases that I'm most looking forward to! This is a rather short list — only six books — but I also have a suspicion that I'm missing some books, as Goodreads has gotten less and less cooperative about actually sorting things by release date when I ask it to. Still, we do have some releases that I'm quite excited about!

Winter 2023–2024 Reads

1. Behind the Curtain by W.R. Gingell (December 15). This released just last Friday, and I proceeded to devour it over the course of the past weekend. I can say with absolute confidence that it's the best yet in the series (and book five is going to have to be absolutely amazing to beat it). We have so much good stuff here! Most prominent is both backstory and character development for the mysterious-but-delightful Camellia (which I can't say much about because spoilers, but trust me that it's absolutely superb). But my favorite part of the book is probably the interactions between Athelas and Harrow — they have such a good dynamic, and it's lovely how, in helping Harrow heal, Athelas is also healing himself. (Also, their scenes include some of my very favorite tropes, which is always fabulous.)

2. Wishing on a Supervillain by H.L. Burke (January 9). Another of H.L. Burke's supervillain/superhero romances! This one features a superhero and a supervillain who have to cooperate to fulfill the in-world version of a Make-a-Wish kid's wish. I have an ARC of this book, and I'm super excited to read and review it, especially since other ARC readers say this is one of the best SVR-verse books yet.

3. Drake Hall by Christina Baehr (January 14). If you're thinking "wait, I thought I saw a version of this post without this book . . ." no you didn't. Well, actually, yes, you did, because Goodreads and Amazon conspired to be unhelpful, and therefore I somehow misplaced the release date for one of my most-anticipated releases of the season until I got my ARC the morning this post came out. But I have realized my mistake, and I cannot wait for more cozy Gothic dragons and adventures (and more of Edith, who is rapidly taking her place as one of my favorite heroines of the year).

4. Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup (February 5). Some of you may be aware of Jill Bearup's series of Fantasy Heroine YouTube shorts, but for those who haven't had the pleasure and delight of experiencing them: what starts up as a loving send-up of assorted fantasy romance tropes develops into a tale of adventure and intrigue (and romance) featuring Lady Rosalind Hawkhurst, a practically-minded thirtysomething widow who is astonishingly trope-resistant and would probably get along splendidly with Isabella of Masque. Just Stab Me Now is based on the series, but it expands the story and adds more plotline from the author's side of things . . . and I cannot wait to actually read it.

5. Pumpkin War by Kendra E. Ardnek (February 28). This is a Cinderella retelling set in the same world as To Destroy an Illusion (which just released last week!). The blurb promises intrigue and a sort of enemies-to-lovers romance (except half of the romance doesn't think they're enemies), so that should be cool. I'm also interested to see more of Kendra's take on the fae. While I wasn't overawed by what I saw in Illusion, there were some very interesting elements, and I want to find out if those are the exception or the rule.

6. Rumpelstiltskin's Bargain by Kendra E. Ardnek (February 29). It feels very fitting that a Rumpelstiltskin story is coming out on February 29. Don't ask me to explain why; it just seems right. This is the next in Kendra's series of hero/villain-swap short story retellings. Some of the past retellings in this series (like The Wolf's Daughter) have been amazing, though others have been just ok, and I'm hoping that this one will fall more on the "wow" end of that spectrum.

What book releases are you excited for this winter? Am I missing any? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

October 2023 Doings!

October is over, and only two months remain before the end of 2023. No, I can't believe it any more than you can, but there are two calendars right beside me, and both have only two pages left before they run out of days. (Which means I should probably make or buy some new calendars for 2024, now that I think about it.) And those last two months will go fast, given that we're just about to the holiday season . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we go rushing on ahead, time to recap October's Doings!

Writing!

• We'll start with the good news: Eat Local Read Local went very well. The event had an excellent turnout — over 500 people, if I recall the stats I was given correctly — and I sold a very decent number of books, considering that it was my first time actually doing the selling and that I ended up in the YA/Kids tent instead of the YA/Adult tent (where I think I would have done better). Plus, I got to meet several other authors who I didn't know were local, and several friends came out to see and support me. (One person came all the way from Maryland — that would be the lovely Wyn Owens, who surprised me so much I had to sit down. Then she and I got a late lunch/early dinner after the event and had a chance to chat, and that was fun.)
• On the downside, I didn't accomplish either of my writing goals for this month. Oh, I wrote, certainly! I put down bout 20,000 new words in October, and I had some very good writing days towards the end of the month.
• Unfortunately, only about 4,000 of those words were on Bastian Dennel #4, as first my characters were fighting me, and then other things got in the way of working on it.
• That means I got 16,000 words on my short story challenge piece, and if you can't tell, it's kind of not a short story anymore. It is, in fact, threatening to become a novella. I'm trying to finish it, but these things take time. It's also very character-driven, which means everything takes longer. (On the upside, I am really enjoying the story. It's a platonic Beauty and the Beast wherein the Beast gets stuck with a pair of orphans staying in his manor, and I think you can guess where this is going. Accidental adoption arcs are just delightful.)
• That said, part of the problem is also that there was a week straight where I didn't write because of grad school stuff. But I'll discuss that in the Life! section.
• Even if I didn't hit my goals, though, I did get more words on pages, so I can be pleased with that.

Reading!

• Given that this was October, I had every intention of going all-in on spooky season reads. That . . . did not happen. The closest things I had to spooky reads were my reread of the Miss Sharp's Monsters trilogy (10/10; they were good the first time around, and they're better on the reread) and my foray into the Dresden Files graphic novels, which were surprisingly good. Specifically, I read Welcome to the Jungle and Ghoul Goblin, both of which take place early enough in the series timeline that I'm not going out of order. I wouldn't give them a blanket rec, but they were fast, fun, exciting reads, and they're a bit lighter on the Content that I dislike in the main series.
• Aside from the Dresden graphic novels, my other new reads were almost all at the beginning of the month. I finished Of Fire and Ash fairly early in the month, and my opinions remain the same as what I said in September: it's a good book with cool worldbuilding, but it's not a new favorite.
• I did enjoy Fugitive Telemetry, which is the sixth Murderbot Diaries book. Sci-fi murder mysteries are fun, and Murderbot remains a delightfully snarky and uniquely non-human narrator. As for A Little Persuaded, well, I already posted my thoughts on it, but in short, I liked it.
• As for the rest of my rereads, they were all roughly as good as I expected them to be. I didn't enjoy Magyk quite as much as I did when I first read the series, which was sad, but not a surprise. On the other hand, the first three Knight and Rogue books remain excellent. They're also the series that got me hooked on the fantasy-mystery combo, so revisiting them has been fun.

Watching!

• Time for watching stuff is still hard to come by, but I did block out enough ten-minute chunks of time to rewatch Over the Garden Wall. I started in early October and finished on Halloween, which feels appropriate. I still don't get as into it as other people do, but it's a good show, and it's light enough to watch when I'm tired, but also has enough depth to be satisfying.

Life!

• The highlight of the month was my visit to the Maryland Renaissance festival, at which I had a grand time! I love Ren Faires, and Maryland has an especially good one. I got to see several shows this time, including one on various street gambling cons throughout history that I thought was very interesting. Plus, I watched all three jousts, which were fun. They're not fully scripted like some jousts are, but they also do have a storyline running through them. Sir Keegan, in whose section I sat all three times, didn't win, but he was definitely a crowd favorite!
• Of course, Ren Faires are even better with friends, and getting to see Wyn Estelle Owens at this one was absolutely lovely. She arrived a bit later than intended, but we still had a nice time exploring and chatting.
• Outside of the Ren Faire, the thing that took up most of my time and energy was grad school. If you read last month's Doings!, you may remember that I mentioned that the assignment I was working on then should have been boring but straightforward, but instead ended up far more difficult than expected. That pretty much consumed all my free time (and some of my not-so-free time) for a week and a half, and it got to the point where the professor had to actually tell me to back away, take a day or two off, and calm down so that I wouldn't go mad. Thankfully, I did finally get it done, and done well at that. It just took rather longer than intended.
• Then I had a week's break before my current class started up. Said class is on grant writing. I'm currently in the second week of the class and I really, really don't like it. Basically the only thing going for it is that the workload isn't horrible. Otherwise — the topic stresses me out, the professor has yet to impress me (and also has yet to grade my first week's assignment, which I submitted a week ago), and it's just not a good time.
• On the work front, I've been kept pretty busy with regular weekly stuff, the Advent newsletter (it's almost Advent, y'all; can you believe it?), and all the various October events. At least the livestream issues seem to be staying resolved, and I have some extra tools now to try if they pop back up.
• I also did some baking this month and tried out two new recipes. One is a pumpkin cake that I made for work; it turned out very moist and tasty. I did substitute a maple glaze for the original frosting, and I think that was a good choice. The other new recipe was King Arthur Baking's Rustic Sourdough, and that was also good. It's not as strong a sourdough flavor as my usual recipe, but it's much faster, and it makes two loaves instead of one, both of which are good things. I don't think it'll replace my usual recipe, but it's a good alternative option.
• Oh, and I have to mention the D&D campaign I play in. That's been intense lately. The last several sessions have involved multiple attacks on my character's family, which resulted in certain members of that family (notably, my character's dad) temporarily dying, as well as our party sorcerer fighting a young blue dragon almost one-on-one . . . and the almost is because the dragon called in help. Not the sorcerer. (Our guy won, for the record. It was magnificent.)

November Plans

• I'm starting off the month with another author event. Tomorrow (or November 4, for those not reading this post the day it goes up), I'll be at Doxacon, which is a very small one-day convention for Christian fans of fantasy and sci-fi. I'm sharing a table/booth/something with Heather Halverstadt (who I also shared a table with at Eat Local, Read Local) and L. Jagi Lamplighter, both of whom attended as vendors last year. It should be a good time.
• As for my actual writing, I had hoped to start my Song of the Selkies prequel this month . . . but alas, I have other manuscripts I need to finish first. My new goal is to wrap up both my challenge story and Bastian Dennel, PI #4 by the end of November so I can start the SotS prequel in December. I know I'm close to the end of both of those stories, so I think that's doable.
• Work and grad school will probably continue as they have been. Even though November and December are busy months at work, I am looking forward to getting to do Advent and Christmas designs — I've said this before, and I'll say it again: this season has the best colors and imagery. Hopefully it'll be enough to make up for the frustrations of the grant writing class.
• November is also both my birthday month and Thanksgiving, both of which I'm looking forward to. I'm especially excited for Thanksgiving — we'll have the usual Bible study potluck, but more importantly, my sister should be coming down for a few days. I cannot wait to see her again.
• As for my reading . . . I should be working to catch up on some of my reading goals, but realistically, I'll probably continue my rereads and otherwise mood-read my way through the month.
• And . . . yeah. I think that's everything.

How was your October? What are you looking forward to in November? Did you go to any Renaissance Festivals this year? What are some of your favorite seasonal media (aside from Christmas books or movies)? Do you have more of a problem with your books turning out longer or shorter than expected?
Thanks for reading!

 

Stolen Songs Release Party: Interview with Enna

 

Hello, everyone! You thought we were done with the Stolen Songs releases? Well, we have one more book to celebrate: Kendra E. Ardnek's A Little Persuaded, which releases today! This is the final-for-now installment in the Austen Fairy Tale, and it blends The Little Mermaid with Jane Austen's Persuasion. Today, you can meet the main character, Enna, in a short interview — and tomorrow, swing by Light and Shadows to get my thoughts on the book as a whole.

About . . .

A Little Persuaded

Seven years ago, the mermaid Enna loved a human prince, but fate was against them. Now Kelantis is in danger and her journey to save it has brought the prince back into her life.

Find it on: Amazon || Goodreads

Kendra E. Ardnek

Kendra E. Ardnek is the self-proclaimed Arista of Fairy Tales. She lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her dragon babies and massive herd of mini-giraffes, and she is still waiting for one of of her fifty nutcrackers to come to life and marry her. When not writing, you can usually find her sitting in a random box, and she's frequently known to act before she thinks.

Find her online at: Website || Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Newsletter || Instagram || TikTok || Amazon 

Interview with Enna

Welcome to the blog! To start, tell us a little bit about yourself: who you are, what you do, anything that you feel is important for us to know to understand what makes you, you.

Hello, I am Enna, the younger daughter of King Elliot of Kelantis. I ruined my beauty by ... some foolishness when I was younger, and so I spend my time now devoted to the people. Seeing to their needs. Making sure that the city is secure. Going to land if we need to retrieve information from the humans. That sort of thing.

A very noble duty all round. Who would you say has had the biggest influence (for good or ill) on your life thus far? What was the most important thing you learned from them?

Probably Lady Mussle, who is the Guardian of the ocean's magic. I'm her apprentice now, but even before that, she was always like a mother to me, after my own mother's death. Probably the greatest lesson she ever taught me is that even if the people never appreciate my sacrifices, as long as I know I am in obedience to the will of Austere and am serving in their best interests, that is what matters.

An important lesson to learn. Now, at this point, you’ve lived both above and below the waves, with both humans and merrin. What’s something that you think Merrin do well that humans could maybe take lessons from? On the flip side, what’s something that humans do well and Merrin could stand to adopt?

I think that the humans could learn to care less about the passing of time. The difference between the hours of day are ... less noticeable under the sea than they are on land. As for the Merrin, I think they could learn to care less about the physical appearance. My people are vain. 

That seems to be a common trait with mer-folk in many story worlds. What was the hardest part about leaving your home in the sea (even temporarily) to live on land?

The fact that I was doing it in defiance of my father's orders. It was necessary, though I don't know now what we're going to do with the information I gathered, but I know he is unhappy with me. 

I'm sorry; it's always hard to be in conflict with family. To finish up, what is the one thing you hope people most remember about you?

As I said, it doesn't matter how I'm remembered, as long as I know that I made the right choices and the necessary sacrifices. 

That's a very noble attitude . . . one more people could stand to adopt. Thank you for answering my questions! And thanks to all my readers for reading!

Are you excited to read Enna's tale? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Hello, everyone! I am running around like mad, and my head is full of selkies. I may have brainstormed another sequel to Song of the Selkies in the last couple days, because obviously I need another book on my to-write list. (It's going to be great as soon as I get around to writing it, y'all.) I think I need about ten more of me so I can write all the books, work, keep up with blogging . . . oh, and read all the books coming out this fall, 'cause we have some really good ones. And I do mean really good. 

(Normally, this is where I'd tell you that there's a pared-down list over on Light and Shadows, but there are so many good books coming out this season that I couldn't actually pare the list down basically at all — I just kind of squished most of the Stolen Songs into one item. This is, I will note, an absolutely delightful problem to have, and now I'm inflicting it on the rest of you. You're very welcome.)

Oh, one last thing — if you haven't already, make sure you go vote in the Silmaril Awards! We have some excellent finalist lineups this year (and, I'm told, some very close races), and I'm super excited to see who wins!

Fall 2023 Reads

1. Second Chance Superhero by H.L. Burke (September 9). You may have caught my review of this book when it released just last week. I won't repeat myself too much, but to sum up: this is a superhero romance (emphasis on the romance) featuring estranged high school sweethearts, snark, and a lot of varied and fun to read family dynamics. It's also an excellent fall read, so go pick it up and thank me later.

2. When on Land by Kendra E. Ardnek (September 18). Here we have the first of many Little Mermaid retellings (and Kendra E. Ardnek releases) on this list! I'll be reviewing this in just a couple days, so I'm not going to say a lot, but it's an interesting take on the fairy tale.

3. Song of the Selkies by Sarah Pennington (September 19). Have you preordered my selkie role-swap take on The Little Mermaid yet? I've been working like mad this last month (especially the past week) polishing it up and getting it ready for y'all to enjoy. The more I work on it, the more obsessed I am with this book and these characters. Normally, by the time a book release rolls around, I'm very much ready to be done and move on to the next thing, but with Song of the Selkies . . . I just cannot stop thinking about it. (That may be why I already have four more books planned in the series, actually.) And given the reactions of my beta readers, I don't think I'm the only one . . .

4. My Fair Mermaid by Sarah Beran (September 21). I quite enjoy My Fair Lady (even if I have Opinions about the ending), and I'm super excited to see what happens when it's combined with The Little Mermaid. The concept certainly sounds like it has a lot of potential! I have an ARC of this, and I'll be reviewing it next week, so check back to see if it holds up to my hopes.

5. Black and Deep Desires by Claire Trella Hill (September 26). I don't normally go in for vampire stories — or vampires in general, outside of JinYeong and Grand Duke Vasily — but this came highly recommended by the authors of those exceptions, so of course I had to sign up for an ARC. And, y'all, I have already read that ARC, and I loved it so much. It has all the eerieness and mystery you'd expect from a Gothic novel, and the characters are magnificent. Especially Salem, who buries himself in books so he can't become more of a monster than he feels he is and who quotes Shakespeare at people when they bother him (or he wants to bother them). I'm still not a vampire fan, but y'all, I will definitely be rereading this book.

6. Steal the Morrow by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt (September 26). This Oliver Twist retelling is set in the same world as the Turrim Archive, the first book of which I've previously raved about on this blog. I'm super excited to return to the world and see what else Jenelle has in store for us there. I've also never seen someone retell Oliver Twist before, and I'm very curious how that's going to come together. As a note, this is one in a whole multi-author series of classics retold, which you should definitely check out! Steal the Morrow is just the one I'm most excited about.

7. Dark & Stormy by Suzannah Rowntree (September 29). On one hand, the release of this book means the series is almost over, and that is a tragedy. On the other hand, I am so excited for one more adventure with this crew. Especially an adventure in which we get to meet Grand Duke Vasily's family (who are both vampires and bonkers, though apparently those two are not connected?) and hopefully see the fulfillment of all that's been growing between various members of the crew. And, of course, attempting to steal a fortune out from under the noses of a clan of bloodthirsty vampires sounds like it'll be a magnificent heist.

Note/Correction: I have been informed by Suzannah herself that this is, in fact, only the halfway point in the series. I am OVERJOYED. Everything else I said still stands, except that I suspect we will not exactly be seeing the fulfillment of any crew members' arcs. Not that I'm complaining. I will absolutely not complain about having three more books than expected of Molly and Vasily figuring themselves and each other out.

7. Unexpected Encounters of a Draconic Kind and Other Stories by Beka Gremikova (October 1). To be perfectly honest, I've seen so much about this book that I thought it had already released. But apparently it doesn't come out for another few weeks. It sounds super fun, though, with lots of clever stories in it. (Just reading the summaries, I can take a guess at some of the twists, and I look forward to finding out if I'm right or not.) And can we just appreciate that cover? It's gorgeous and I love it, and I wish I were that good at cover design.

8. Wormwood Abbey by Christine Baehr (October 6). Like Black and Deep Desires, this book comes highly recommended by W.R. Gingell and Suzanne Rowntree, and so I have very high hopes here. It's giving me vibes of Miss Percy's Pocket Guide, but Gothic instead of Austen-inspired. (Side note: I am apparently having a very Gothic summer and fall, what with this, Black and Deep Desires, Dream by the Shadows, and, of course, Dracula. It's grand.) I love a good dragon story, plus we have family secrets and, to quote the blurb, "the perils of friendship." I really think I'm going to enjoy this one!

9. Locks of Gold and Eternity by Abigail Falanga (October 18). Back to the Stolen Songs releases! This is the sequel to A Time of Mourning and Dancing, one of the Tattered Slippers releases from back in 2020. It has pirates in it, along with a human princess who's been turned into a mermaid (which is an interesting flip on The Little Mermaid). I was a bit meh on the first book in the series (didn't love it, didn't hate it), but I'm reasonably interested to see where it goes.

10. A Little Persuaded by Kendra E. Ardnek (October 19). This blend of Persuasion with The Little Mermaid is the final entry in both the Stolen Songs releases and the Austen Fairy Tale series. Having recently learned something more about the story of Persausion, I have some guesses about how it's going to go, and I am very much looking forward to finding out if I'm right or not. And I'm sure it'll be lovely to return to the world of this series for one last adventure.

11. The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher (November 7). Y'ALL. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING. WE'RE GETTING AN AERONAUT'S WINDLASS SEQUEL. I am so hyped. I know plenty of people have been waiting even longer than I have — it's been nearly ten years since The Aeronaut's Windlass released — but that does not make me any less excited. I cannot wait to rejoin Captain Grimm, Gwen, Bridget, Benedict, Rowl, and the rest for this new adventure. Also, yes, I do think this means it's time I reread book one, just as soon as I finish working through my ARCs . . .

12. To Destroy an Illusion by Kendra E. Ardnek (December 12). As with Steal the Morrow, this is one instance in a whole multi-author series that includes multiple books I'm interested in. But I am most interested in this one, partially because I beta read it and partially because it's retelling a really obscure fairy tale. Having beta read it, I can say with confidence that it's a very cool book and that I really like how Kendra wove the pieces of the story together. As for the rest of my opinion, you'll have to wait for my official review.

What book releases are you excited for this fall? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!