Adult Fiction

(Cerulean Chronicles, 2)

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES, #1 USA TODAY and #1 INDIE BESTSELLER!

Hope is the thing with feathers. And hope is the thing with fire.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade.

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life, built on the ashes of a bad one. He’s the headmaster of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six magical and so-called dangerous children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. And he is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth; Zoe Chapelwhite, the island’s sprite; and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home―one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from―Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

Most Anticipated from Goodreads, Paste, Polygon, BookBub, and more.

From debut author Maiga Doocy comes the charming tale of an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival as they venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell that can break the curse between them—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together. 

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics. He can summon butterflies with a song or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Though such minor charms don’t earn him much respect, anything more elaborate always blows up in his face, and so Leo vowed long ago never to use powerful magic again.

That is, until a mishap with a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime rival, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and absolutely insufferable. The only thing they can agree on is that revealing the curse between them would mean the end of their respective magical careers. They need a counterspell, and fast.

Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To break the curse, they will have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.

Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.

Retired soldier Damiskos and his lover Varazda have been living together in Boukos for a month, and their future is beginning to look bright. Then Damiskos receives a letter summoning him home to Pheme-where his parents are deeply in debt, his brother is being hunted by loan sharks, and an unwanted arranged marriage looms.

And that's before Damiskos is charged with murder.

Fortunately, he's not alone. Old friends are back in Pheme. And Varazda-eunuch, sword-dancer, and spy-has solved mysteries before. But saving his lover from execution and from marriage will take time, and with only days until Dami's trial, time is running out.

Strong Wine is the third book in the Sword Dance trilogy, the conclusion of Dami and Varazda's story from Sword Dance and Saffron Alley. This time with fake fortune tellers, real courtroom drama, and ... fertilizer?

Five years ago, Damiskos's brilliant military career was cut short, leaving him with a permanent disability and scars that are not all physical. Adrift and still grieving, he tries to find meaning in an unsatisfying job.

Work takes him to the remote seaside villa of an old friend, where, among an odd assortment of guests, he meets the eunuch sword-dancer Varazda. Enigmatic and beautiful but distinctly prickly, Varazda is the antithesis of the straightforward and serious Damiskos. Yet as they keep getting in each other's way at the villa, their mutual dislike is complicated by a spark of undeniable attraction.

Then the villa's guests begin to reveal their true characters and motives-no one here is what they seem-and Damiskos finds himself at the centre of a bizarre web of espionage, theft, and assassination. Varazda may need Damiskos's help, but not as much as Damiskos, finally awakening to a new sense of life and purpose, needs Varazda.

Sword Dance is the first book in the Sword Dance trilogy, an m/nb romance set in an imaginary ancient world, with murderous philosophy students, sex acts named after fruit, and love blossoming in the midst of mayhem.

High heat. Low stakes. Sharp steel.

The cozy, low stakes of Legends & Lattes meets the scorching bodyguard fantasy of Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash in this enemies-to-lovers romance where, yes, the swords do cross.

A USA Today bestseller!
A New York Times Best Romance of 2024
An Indie Next pick
A LibraryReads Hall of Fame pick
A LitHub most anticipated book of 2024

Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family's wealth, something that Matti has been trying―and failing―to do for the past ten years.

What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.

Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn't plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible―and inconveniently handsome―wool merchant like Matti.

However, neither Matti's business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti's wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti's house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca's secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?

"There's nothing in fantasy or queer romance that Marske can't do."―Sarah Rees Brennan

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Heavy is the conscience that must keep its secrets.

No one expected Arix Sable to claw her way to victory and become the Black Hand. Even Arix never expected the price she would have to pay for her triumph. But beating her competitors was only the first step in taking her place at the new king's side. Now, the real test has begun.

There are new challenges to face, now under the grueling spotlight of her new position. As she steps into her new role, Arix wonders if more of herself than just her appearance was stripped away to make room for the new magick that now thrums in her veins. With her Five Fingers, an inner circle to assist and guide, Arix may have found a new family, and new confidence, to build the world she sees for Rökkur.

But more than just the council watches her now. It seems that the gods are turning to look, taking an interest in the success or the failure of the new Black Hand. All eyes watch; all eyes wait for a mistake.

THE BLACK CROWN is a dark fantasy novel with a focus on the rise from her to villain, with intricate religious and magical worldbuilding.

If you love villain origin stories filled with magical items and magical creatures, political intrigue, morally gray characters, and retribution, then you'll love The Black Kingdom trilogy.

THE BLACK KINGDOM TRILOGY READING ORDER:
Book 1: The Black Hand
Book 2: The Black Crown
Book 3: The Black Kingdom

Not all heroes are saints. Not all villains are monsters.

Arix Sable is a free-spirit. She roves through the cities of Rökuur, slipping nimble-footed into ornate halls, and nimble-fingered into the pockets of those who cross her path. Her self-taught talent and luck has kept her out of the dungeons, but even Arix can’t survive on luck forever.

Caught in an alley and coerced into a deadly competition to become the king's personal sorcerer, The Black Hand, Arix realizes that her way to freedom won’t be an easy one. Fearing that she’ll be found out for her lack of magical ability, Arix fights against a gambit of skilled individuals, all clawing for the ultimate victory.

With only one path left in front of her, Arix struggles to find her footing in the competition, and must use her old skills to survive. Can she learn to find her place in this new world without becoming a pawn in a power-hungry game? And will she be able to distinguish between friend and competitor as their numbers dwindle?

THE BLACK HAND is high fantasy novel with a focus on the rise from hero to villain, with intricate religious and magical worldbuilding.

If you love villain origin stories filled with magical items and magical creatures, political intrigue, morally gray characters, and retribution, then you’ll love The Black Kingdom trilogy.

THE BLACK KINGDOM TRILOGY READING ORDER:

Book 1: The Black Hand

Book 2: The Black Crown

Book 3: The Black Kingdom

By: Micah House (Author), 2024, Paperback

The Blanchard family were left devastated by the events they faced in THE HOUSE OF DUQUESNE. The losses the family suffered have taken months to come to terms with, but now they are settling into their new normal. 

In this fifth novel of THE BLANCHARD WITCHES series...the Blanchard family may be absent a few faces, but their indomitable family love is carrying them through. Unfortunately, stretches of peace never last too long for these valiant witches.  A new (and somewhat inexperienced) enemy has plans to wipe out the entire Blanchard clan.  And as if that is not trouble enough, one surviving foe from Duquesne House is still out there, biding his time to seek his revenge.

While Demitra holds down the home front, guiding her grieving family into brighter days, Artemis travels the country on the hunt for Seth and Yasmine, once beloved Blanchards, now turned fiendish vampires. Their daughter Hera has been changed forever by their abandonment, but her stepmother Miranda will do whatever she can to give Hera the stability and love she needs. 

And the Blanchards have lived through too many inexplicable events to continue under the public radar.  A reporter from a major news network is digging into the events of The House of Duquesne, and the mysteries of the Blanchard family.  The walls between the natural and supernatural world is crumbling, and perhaps it is about time, for some of the Blanchard witches are HALF SICK of SHADOWS.

By: Micah House (Author), 2021, Paperback

Welcome back to Daihmler County, Alabama. Come sit on Blanchard House porch and visit a spell, but don't get too cozy. The Autumn leaves aren't the only things changing as more problems emerge for the Blanchard witches.

As the second novel in The Blanchard Witches series opens…Olympia's youngest daughter Nacaria (who has been cursed to the shadows for two decades) has been freed from her sentence, but she has not come home. As the family tries to figure out why, a rescue mission seems necessary. Olympia’s middle daughter, Demitra, has mourned her late husband for years. Now she has a new beau, but her sister Artemis is suspicious of him. Is he who he says he is or is he up to something? And Fable is continuing to conceal her secret pregnancy not knowing what the family will do if they discover her baby was fathered by the werewolf they recently destroyed.

While the love that fills Blanchard House may be magical, that love will be tested as secrets are revealed and a deadly enemy must be faced down. Not everyone will make it out alive as the prodigal daughters come home.

By: Micah House, 2021, Paperback

Things are not always easy for the Blanchard family of Daihmler, Alabama. Over the last few years they've experienced more than their share of tribulations, even for a family of witches. Through the many ups and downs they have always had each other, but that was threatened at the end of Book Two as one of their own suddenly disappeared from a family cookout.

In the third novel of The Blanchard Witches series, the story picks up where PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS left off. The family is shocked to have just witnessed one of their own disappear right before their eyes, but there is little time to react as more Blanchard vanish from existence. Those who remain must search the past to find their loved ones. They will encounter relatives they have only heard about through family lore while facing delicate challenges in unfamiliar worlds. And someone will make a mistake which will alter the future of the Blanchard family forever.

You don’t want to miss this one! It’s when everything changes. Join the Blanchard as they face one of the greatest foes they've come up against...time.

The Vector City Supers trilogy concludes with Sadie and Joan’s relationship being tested like never before.

Being a hero can sometimes really blow.

Sadie Eagan has everything she’s always wanted: a stable relationship with her superpowered girlfriend, her dream café, great friends. She also has self-doubt about running her own business and wonders when she’ll stop faking it ’til she makes it. And what’s with the odd distance between her and Joan?

Joan Malone knew there would be growing pains now that she’s one of Vector City’s Superheroes. All the grunt work she has to do as Spark is much more stressful than her days in villainy (so many SuperWatch claims). Conflicting schedules means less time and snuggles with Sadie. Plus her twin brother’s acting weird, her old friends are hiding things, and she feels like she’s losing control.

A group of norms who want to restrict the use of superpowers tries to gain access to power-suppressing technology. They’re also getting more vocal in their disdain and demands. Sadie wants to support Joan and the Supers but struggles with how to go about it. Joan’s trying not to be framed or blamed for her past. It doesn’t help that a Hero from another city has gone rogue to save the world by any means necessary.

Sadie’s learning how to own her power while Joan can’t quite embrace change. Their future is hindered by the threat of external forces and, okay, how hard it is to open up about feelings. They’ll have to fight side by side for themselves and each other to keep their love blazing bright.

By R.F. Kuang, Paperback

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.

By: N.K. Jemisin, Paperback, 2021 (The Great Cities, 1)

Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a "glorious" story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City.

In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power.

In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her.

In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.

And they're not the only ones.

Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She's got six.

Amara was human long ago. As a child, a chance encounter with her own demon sealed her fate to haunt a fear island forever. When her latest victim arrives, she can't help but feel her humanity stirring deep within her, and a dark envy fed by questions of why she was never saved.

Erin is terrified. She just survived an accident at sea, and despite washing up on a deserted island with a beautiful woman, night terrors begin to bleed into her waking life. Is this place, and this mystery woman, her salvation? Or will they lead to her demise?

R.F. Kuang, Paperback

Fantasy / Historical The war is over The war has just begun Three times throughout its history Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars Though the third battle has ended the war still rages for Rin Haunted by the atrocity she committed to save her people the shaman and warrior is on the run from her guilt the opium addiction that holds her like a vise and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with fearsome power While the young warrior welcomes death she must remain alive until she avenges the traitorous Empress who betrayed her homeland Rin’s only hope is to join forces with the enemy of her enemy—the powerful Dragon Warlord who plots to destroy the Empress But Rin soon learns that the Empress and the Dragon Warlord are not what they seem leading her to contemplate the unthinkable: using the Phoenix’s deadly power once more Because there is nothing Rin won’t sacrifice to save her country and exact her vengeance