2021 LODESTAR AWARD for BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

In 2024, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others. When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.

A drunken demon, a princess who lost her magic, and a deal to save them both… Rei Deimos, half succubus-half satyr, is a magic-sensing, chaos-wielding mess. When her brother decides she needs to get her life together, he kicks her out of their house. With nowhere else to go, Rei finds herself at the tavern of an inn, with nothing but a bottle of red wine to keep her company. It’s there that the grumpy demon runs into a mysterious cloaked figure who she soon discovers is Amora Lianna of Cerys, the runaway princess with one goal in mind: to find her missing magic. With Rei desperately in need of a job and a place to live, and Amora equally as desperate to find her magic, the two of them strike up a deal. Rei will help Amora find her magic and, in turn, secure a job as the princess’s royal advisor. As the two women embark on their magic-seeking quest, they encounter various fae, sip warm beverages, and devour delicious pastries, all while realizing they may need each other more than they initially thought. As love finds Rei and Amora, will it be enough to conquer the secrets that keep them up at night? Or will everything come crumbling down? _________________________________________________ CW: Mention of illness and death, non-graphic on-page murder and death, mild depiction of stress and sadness, adult content, profanity, giant spiders _________________________________________________ Your Guide to the Love X Magic Collection Between Mischief & Magic A drunken demon, a princess who lost her magic, and a deal to save them both... Vibes: Cozy Cottagecore, Grumpy X Sunshine, & Slow-Burn Coziness: 4/5 Spice: 1.5/5 Between Salt & Serenades A stubborn siren, a stranded selkie, and a deal to save the sea... Vibes: Seaside Adventures, Natural Enemies to Lovers, & Forced Proximity Coziness: 2/5 Spice: 2/5 Connect with Marissa: TikTok, Instagram and Facebook: @authormarissaserrao

Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year… Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind… From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair.

A drunken demon, a princess who lost her magic, and a deal to save them both… Rei Deimos, half succubus-half satyr, is a magic-sensing, chaos-wielding mess. When her brother decides she needs to get her life together, he kicks her out of their house. With nowhere else to go, Rei finds herself at the tavern of an inn, with nothing but a bottle of red wine to keep her company. It’s there that the grumpy demon runs into a mysterious cloaked figure who she soon discovers is Amora Lianna of Cerys, the runaway princess with one goal in mind: to find her missing magic. With Rei desperately in need of a job and a place to live, and Amora equally as desperate to find her magic, the two of them strike up a deal. Rei will help Amora find her magic and, in turn, secure a job as the princess’s royal advisor. As the two women embark on their magic-seeking quest, they encounter various fae, sip warm beverages, and devour delicious pastries, all while realizing they may need each other more than they initially thought. As love finds Rei and Amora, will it be enough to conquer the secrets that keep them up at night? Or will everything come crumbling down? _________________________________________________ CW: Mention of illness and death, non-graphic on-page murder and death, mild depiction of stress and sadness, adult content, profanity, giant spiders _________________________________________________ Your Guide to the Love X Magic Collection Between Mischief & Magic A drunken demon, a princess who lost her magic, and a deal to save them both... Vibes: Cozy Cottagecore, Grumpy X Sunshine, & Slow-Burn Coziness: 4/5 Spice: 1.5/5 Between Salt & Serenades A stubborn siren, a stranded selkie, and a deal to save the sea... Vibes: Seaside Adventures, Natural Enemies to Lovers, & Forced Proximity Coziness: 2/5 Spice: 2/5 Connect with Marissa: TikTok, Instagram and Facebook: @authormarissaserrao

The sequel is finally here! Shane and Ilya’s story, first seen in Heated Rivalry, continues in this long-awaited hockey romance from Rachel Reid. To the world they are rivals, but to each other they are everything. Ten years. That’s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they’ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family…from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything? Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship…Ilya wants it all. It’s time for them to decide what’s most important—hockey or love. It’s time to make a call. Game Changers Book 1: Game Changer Book 2: Heated Rivalry Book 3: Tough Guy Book 4: Common Goal Book 5: Role Model Book 6: The Long Game

Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate. Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night. Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great. As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option…

Seven authors enter the manor Can they survive the story within? When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author's shoes for some time. Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple, solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don't, the manor will take one of them for itself. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer's family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry. With the clever, locked-room thrills of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone with the ghostly horror of The Fall of the House of Usher, How to Survive a Horror Story is a bright, biting, thrill-ride that begs us to contemplate how the best horror stories come to be.

In this fable, the first man on earth to count the hours becomes Father Time. The inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. He returns to our world - now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began - and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

An enchanting, beautifully crafted novel that explores a mystery only heaven can unfold. Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years — from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge — so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his — and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. One by one, Eddie’s five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you’ve ever thought about the afterlife — and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure. It is a tale of a life on earth. It’s a tale of life beyond it. It’s a fable about love, a warning about war, and a nod of the cap to the real people of this world, the ones who never get their name in lights. Since its publication, it has sold over 14 million copies in 38 territories and in 35 languages.