Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her. Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason. Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

From Sydney J. Shields, the breakout author of The Honey Witch, comes An Arcane Study of Stars, a historical dark academia fantasy filled with ancient secret societies, a swoon-worthy rivals-to-lovers romance, and dangerous deals made after dark. Perfect for fans of The Atlas Six and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. When Claudia Jolicoeur is rejected from Cygnus University, a devilish stranger named Dorian appears in her nightmares and offers her a bargain: he will get her into Cygnus if she learns how to free him from a prison of stars. He takes a bite of her soul to seal the deal, and Claudia wakes to a letter from the High Sage of Cygnus stating she will take the place of Odette Dufort, a Rhetoric student who passed away. Her arrival raises suspicions, rumors that she had a hand in Odette’s death spread like wildfire, and Cassius MacLeod, the High Sage’s apprentice and Claudia’s fellow Rhetoric student, seems hellbent on humiliating her. Determined to clear her name, she searches for any evidence that could prove her innocence. When someone—or something—starts slipping her pieces of Odette’s diary, Claudia uncovers a horrifying truth: over the last century, celestial witches at Cygnus have been murdered. Odette was one of them, and Claudia could be next. For her own protection, Claudia needs to free Dorian—and fast. By night, she studies the stars, slowly unraveling the mystery of Dorian’s prison. By day, she and Cassius wage rhetorical war as debate partners in class. What begins as a fierce rivalry devolves into something deeper, darker, and dangerously sensual. As Claudia inches closer to the truth, she must decide: would trusting Cassius be the last mistake she ever makes?

To err is human. To avenge is Divine. Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition. Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next. But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents' whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city. Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die. Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort. Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning. Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway. The Poison Daughter is a standalone dark fantasy romance that combines the vigilante justice for abusive men of Promising Young Woman with a romantasy arranged marriage and a dash of vampires.

Fates collide and passions ignite in New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s steamy adult fantasy debut about three characters torn between chasing, betraying, and craving each other: a princess caught between duty and desire, the fearsome warrior king she’s promised to, and the assassin now tasked with hunting them down. WARRIOR. King Maddox Kyronan’s fire magic has earned him a ruthless reputation on the battlefield, but now his land is slowly burning. Ky’s only chance to save his people is to enter a marriage alliance with the neighboring nation of Astranza, and hope that their royal family’s power to manipulate the weather will help his kingdom flourish once more. He just needs to ensure no one finds out how this blaze began. PRINCESS. With enemies advancing on Astranza, Princess Jory’s home needs the protection of the fearsome warrior king, but she is hiding a dangerous secret: her family’s magic is fading. Tempting as it is to reject her duties and run away with her childhood friend, Asher, Jory knows that she is the kingdom’s last hope. When she meets her intended, Jory is surprised to discover that beneath Ky’s daunting exterior is a compassionate and sharp-witted man who sets her heart aflame. But what will he do when he realizes she’s deceiving him? ASSASSIN. Asher’s done what he must to survive, even if that means getting his hands dirty. Once a young nobleman in Astranza’s palace, where he and Jory caused mischief together, now he’s part of the Hunter’s Guild, employing much darker skills. When a lucrative job comes his way, Asher can’t say no—until he discovers the targets. Someone wants Ky and Jory dead. With the Guild watching, Asher must decide what he’s willing to do to protect the woman he loves. A tale of three complex characters torn between chasing, betraying, and craving each other, Warrior Princess Assassin marks the beginning of a thrilling new fantasy trilogy filled with enchantment, adventure, and passionate romance.

Set in a corrupt surveillance state ruled by the masked elite, this true enemies-to-lovers dystopian romance that’s Conform meets V For Vendetta follows a mercenary who botches the assassination of the president’s son and ends up forced to marry him. The first thing you’ll learn in New Found Haven is that mercy doesn’t exist. The second thing is that, from the highest glass atrium in the Heart to the windowless slums of the Boundary, the Veyra are always watching. The last lesson is the hardest, but you must remember it: Love outside of your ring is a death sentence. The city is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. Obedience is demanded. Rebellion is crushed. Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, he’s the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, he’s entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when he’s forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the government’s brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride as lethal as she is unwilling. Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her tied to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt heart of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested. Their union is no love story—it’s a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating each other or burning the city to the ground together. In a world where passion has consequences and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution. Or the fire that consumes them both.