Fortune may favor the bold, but lately, it hasn’t favored Bree Faust. Raised in the neon-lit embrace of Fortuna Casino & Resort, Bree is a twenty-two-year-old with more than a smattering of freckles and a sense of loyalty that runs deep. When change is thrust upon her again, she finds herself at a major crossroads and is torn between embracing her legacy as Lady Luck or drawing a card for a new life filled with unknowns. Enter Vinh Lott, a twenty-nine-year-old with a fierce protective streak and a heart scarred by fire. A reserved software engineer moonlighting at his parents’ new restaurant, Vinh is the steady rock Bree never knew she needed. When fate brings them together in the chaos of the casino, Bree faces the biggest gamble of her life—trusting Vinh to be both her anchor and safe harbor in the greatest storm she has ever faced. As obstacles loom, from Bree’s demanding grandmother, the return of an antagonistic former friend, and the temporary nature of Vinh’s stay on the coast, their love story unfolds against the glittering backdrop of a casino resort. Will Bree and Vinh beat the odds, or will they lose it all in the grand game of love? Lane O’Neil’s debut novel is more than a romance; it’s a journey through abandonment, trust, and self-discovery. With heartwarming moments, an action-packed climax, and scorching-hot scenes, Lady Luck is a passionate read with laugh-out-loud moments that will make you believe in the magic of love, even in the eye of the storm. 

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

In the spirit of her bestselling series,  Pillow Thoughts , Courtney Peppernell returns with a new, empowering collection of poetry and prose. From heartbreak to dreaming of and finding a new love to healing the heart to ultimately finding peace, the themes in this book are universal but also uniquely individual to readers. Just as moving and endearing as Peppernell's previous books,  I Hope You Stay  is a reminder of the resilience and hope needed after heartache and pain. The book is divided into five sections, with poems ranging from free verse to short form. These words are a light in the deepest hours of the Hold on. The sun is coming.