Adult Winter Reading: Candlelight Dinner

Aicha, the daughter of a Moroccan freedom-fighter, was born for battle. She has witnessed the death of her people, their starvation and torture at the hands of the occupiers, and it has awakened an anger within her. An anger that burns hot and bright and that speaks to Aicha’s soul. Only Aicha’s secret lover, Rachid, a rebellion leader, knows how to soothe her. But as the fight for Morocco’s freedom reaches its violent climax, the creature that simmers beneath Aicha’s skin begs to be unleashed. It hungers for the screams of those who have caused her pain, and it will not be ignored.

In a Jenga-stacked megacity where glowing blue flowers hum in the dark and palace doors open into secret worlds, getting a job in the Divine Gardens is almost impossible–like being plucked from obscurity by a carnival claw machine. But Cyprin has spent her whole life trying. Her only chance is winning the annual flower pageant, dominated for five years by Purcell: brilliant head gardener, unbearable rival, and the one person Cyprin can’t stop thinking about.

All his life, Sir Cameron has stayed as far away from danger as possible. He is quite frankly too handsome to die a pointless death in battle. But then the Church hands down a prophecy to his fellow knights: the only way to defeat their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, is to kill Sir Cameron. Short of ideas, Cameron throws himself on the mercy of the one person who now actually wants him to survive: the mad sorcerer.

In a world divided into four rival Dominions, power is everything–and Rubi Morningtail has almost none. Three years after the Annihilation destroyed her homeland and shattered her memories, she lives as an Azure refugee in the Dominion of the Silver Tyger, scraping by as a ribbon dancer and hiding her little bit of singing magic. When she wounds a massive battle tyger on her doorstep, she draws the notice of Blake Axefire–supreme metal mage, leader of the royal tyger warriors, and the last man an Azure should trust.

On her first day working in the prince’s galleries, art conservator Florrie Hyverfell discovers that the most famous portrait in the collection is not only a fake–it’s also inhabited by Vern, a fairy trapped in the forged painting. Tracking down the stolen original is the only way for Florrie to save her job and for Vern to escape his canvas. Yet as they journey to a famed fairy museum to find the missing artwork, Florrie finds herself taking more than an art historical interest in the changeling painting’s charming inhabitant.

Corinthe has spent a lifetime longing for excitement outside her sleepy human village. As a dhampir born of a human mother and vampire father, her unique abilities make her desired by those who lurk across the Feyline–the boundary that keeps the magical realm in perpetual twilight where vampires hold dominion. To stay safe, she’s concealed her supernatural strength and taste for blood from her human neighbors, but when her yearning for excitement accidentally exposes her gifts, she is captured to sell to the highest bidder.

Warren University has stood amongst the ivy elite for centuries, built on the bones–and forbidden magic–of its most prized BIPOC students… hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way. Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she’s been hiding a terrible secret–and a Beast inside her. It feeds on violence and chaos, but she restrains its urges by playing vigilante on the city streets. Until one night, Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal an elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack and discovers a new world of danger–literally.

“An unlikely lord finally meets a problem he can’t flirt his way out of in this adventurous and slyly light-hearted queer cozy fantasy featuring pirates, dragons, kidnapping, tea, and other high-fantasy delights”–Publisher.

An outcast burdened with a curse. A mercenary out for himself. A kingdom that must be saved… The Fulcrum is failing, and demons are slipping into the mortal world. No one is safe.

Fellas, is it gay to kiss your BFF while on a quest through the forest you’re unqualified for? Juniper O’Reilly is good at only two things: demolishing a pint of mead and finding the perfect skincare routine. Everything else–taking care of the farm, bartering for goods, any sort of manual labor–falls to Juniper’s best friend, the absurdly capable, endlessly patient Mo Elmthorn. But when Juniper accidentally volunteers them both for a quest to kill a fearsome monster, he knows he’s finally gotten in over his head.

A magical witness protection program, a town in need of saving, and a sorceress-in-training…oh, and the human woman shes not supposed to fall for. The Blue Moon Cǎfe has a little bit of everything (except, you know, decent coffee).