When the weather gets warm some people think of pools, BBQ’s and sunshine. We like all of that too, but our book loving hearts always think about what books we plan to read on the plane, the beach, by the pool, or when you’re hiding in the bathroom at the family gathering so you don’t have to explain your blogging career to your mother’s coworker’s second cousin – you know, normal summer stuff.
There is never a shortage of summer books out there, but here are some you will want to pick up no matter the season!
THE GIRL IN RED, by Christina Henry (Berkley) – June 18, 2019
Remember that already sort of dark story about a little girl in a red cape who goes to bring her grandma some baked goods only to be stalked by a wolf who then eats her dear, old gran? Yeah, this is darker. Christina Henry’s THE GIRL IN RED isn’t the old folktale you used to read. This version is an edgy, empowering, addictive, post-apocalyptic retelling with Red (aka Cordelia) facing incredible danger as she fights her way through the woods to get to her grandma’s house. Warning: this may ruin nature hikes for you forever…
Synopsis
Since the Crisis came, decimating the population and sending those who survived into the quarantine camps, it hasn’t been safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night. Sometimes, there are men. And sometimes, there’s something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Red doesn’t like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn’t about to let herself get eaten up just because she’s a woman alone in the woods.
SALVATION DAY, by Kali Wallace – July 9, 2019
Talk about an intense ride! SALVATION DAY will have you on the edge of your seat, that’s for sure! Government coverups, a deadly virus and a spaceship – SOLD! This story takes place over a 24 hour period, but you might tear through it in less. It’s just that gripping!
Synopsis
Zahra knew every detail of the plan. House of Wisdom, a massive exploration vessel, had been abandoned by the government of Earth a decade earlier, when a deadly virus broke out and killed everyone on board in a matter of hours. But now it could belong to her people if they were bold enough to take it. All they needed to do was kidnap Jaswinder Bhattacharya—the sole survivor of the tragedy, and the last person whose genetic signature would allow entry to the spaceship.
But what Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the ship—a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead. And then they woke it up.
THE WOLF’S CALL, by Anthony Ryan (ACE) – July 23, 2019
If high fantasy is more your jam, than look no further! Anthony Ryan’s THE WOLF’S CALL will fill the void that Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones fans have as they wait for the spin-off shows! Plus this book (the first in the Raven’s Blood Series) is a spin-off of sorts, picking up some time after Ryan’s bestselling Raven’s Shadow Trilogy ended. It’s thrilling, intriguing and will hook you immediately! Bonus, you don’t have to read the Raven’s Shadow Trilogy to enjoy this book, but after you finish THE WOLF’S CALL, you won’t be able to resist!
Synopsis
Peace never lasts. Vaelin Al Sorna is a living legend, his name known across the Realm. It was his leadership that overthrew empires, his blade that that won hard-fought battles—and his sacrifice that defeated an evil more terrifying than anything the world had ever seen. He won titles a plenty, only to cast aside his earned glory for a quiet life in the Realm’s northern reaches. Yet whispers have come from across the sea—rumors of an army called the Steel Horde, led by a man who believes himself a god. Vaelin has no wish to fight another war but when he learns that the woman he lost long ago has fallen into the Horde’s grasp, he resolves to confront this powerful new threat.
CRY PILOT, by Joel Dane (ACE) – August 6, 2019
If you like fantasy with a heavy dose of military plot-line, this is for you. CRY PILOT reads like a well crafted video game, but with more heart. It would have been easy for this story to be all intense, all the time, but with the “found family” story weaved in, you will find an unexpected amount of family here. The stakes are high for these characters making this book impossible to put down.
Synopsis
There’s only one way for a man with Maseo Kaytu’s secrets to join the military: by volunteering for a suicide mission as a ‘cry pilot.’ He cheats the system to survive, but you can’t fake basic training. Assigned to a squad of misfits, Kaytu leans how to fight, obey, and trust. Yet the more he bonds with his fellow recruits, the more he risks exposure of his criminal past. But keeping his secret is about to become the least of his problems. Kaytu discovers that his platoon is being deployed against a new kind of rogue bio-weapon. One that has torn apart every military force it’s ever faced…
BRAVE THE TEMPEST, by Karen Chance (Berkley) – August 6, 2019
It was so refreshing to enter a world with mages, vampires and demons again. We love sci-fi and epic, sweeping fantasy, but there is something so wonderfully comforting about the supernatural world. This urban fantasy is heavy on the romance, but the political undertones are super intriguing as well. You will swoon, you will ship and you won’t be able to stop reading.
Synopsis
Cassie Palmer has been chief seer of the supernatural world for a little over four months. In that time, she’s battled two gods, fallen in love with two men, and confronted the two sides of her own nature, both god and human. So it’s not surprising that she currently finds herself facing two adversaries, although they have a single purpose: to wipe out the supernatural community’s newest fighting force, leaving it vulnerable to enemies in this world and beyond. To prevent catastrophe, the vamps, mages, and demons will have to do the one thing they’ve never managed before and come together as allies. Cassie has the difficult task of keeping the uneasy coalition intact, and of persuading her own two opposing forces, a powerful mage with a secret and a master vampire with a growing obsession, to fight at her side. She just hopes they can do it without tearing each other apart.
