What If We Met In A Bookstore by Callie McLay (PG)
She's ready to turn a new page... He doesn't want the story to be over.
When Briar Verlice finds out her favorite bookstore in Homer, Alaska, is on the verge of closing, she jumps at the opportunity to save it. But her high school crush and former classmates are back in town, making her plans a lot more difficult. When an array of riddles comes into her possession, they trigger a memory from a time she disappeared without a trace. While digging into the clues, Briar discovers the reason for her disappearance might stray into the realm of fiction and magic.
Peter West, dreaming of becoming a successful escape room artist, is striving to build a career from crafting unique puzzles. When he gets the offer of a lifetime, he sets out to create an escape room worthy of his small town. But when riddles Peter never devised begin to surface before construction on the attraction even begins, so does a wild secret-one that demands the escape room be built as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly reunited with the girl who's held his heart since high school, Peter's reality is shattered when the bookstore becomes a literal place of escape. Can they unravel the mysteries before life as they know it comes to an end?
Song of the Selkies by Sarah Pennington (PG)
Undercover in a foreign land, a princess discovers the secrets behind a generations-old enmity.
The youngest princess of Atìrse, Ceana always planned to marry for the good of her people and let love come later. With her sisters' marriages ensuring peace with the nearby human kingdoms, Ceana sets her sights on their last unallied neighbor: the magical and reclusive selkies. The two peoples have experienced a wary peace for generations, and the time seems ripe for a deeper alliance that will benefit both kingdoms. The last thing Ceana expects is for Fionntan, king of the selkies, to take the proposal as a grave insult.
With relations between the two peoples suddenly precarious, Ceana is determined to set things right. Aided by her grandmother, she disguises herself as a selkie and travels to their hidden home of Emain Ablach, where she hopes to discover the reason behind King Fionntan's reaction. But the more she learns about the selkies, the more she uncovers long-kept secrets of her people — and her heritage — that shake the foundations of how she viewed the world. Her growing friendships with and affection for some of the selkie nobility, including King Fionntan himself, further complicate matters, especially as her admiration for the selkie king begins to blossom into something more. No relationship built on a lie can survive, but revealing her true identity as an Atìrsen princess will doom her efforts towards peace.
In order to bridge the divide between selkies and humans, Ceana will have to overcome generations of selkies' suspicion and reveal the insidious evil that's taken root in her homeland. But the greatest obstacle to her success may be her own heart.
Wormwood Abbey by Christina Beahr (G)
As a Victorian clergyman’s daughter, Edith Worms has seen everything — until a mythical salamander tumbles out of the fireplace into her lap.
When a letter arrives from estranged relatives, Edith is swept away to a crumbling gothic Abbey in the wilds of Yorkshire. Wormwood Abbey isn't just full of curious beasts and ancient family secrets: there’s also a tall, dark, and entirely too handsome neighbour who is strangely reluctant for her to leave.
An unexpected bond with her prickly cousin Gwendolyn gives Edith a reason to stay in this strange world — especially when it turns out that Edith herself may have a role in guarding her family's legacy.
But not all of the mysteries of Ormdale are small enough to fit in her lap...and some of them have teeth.
WORMWOOD ABBEY, Book 1 of The Secrets of Ormdale, is a cosy gothic novel of mystery, dragons, and the perils of friendship, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries.
Article By Amelia Nichole
I write science fiction and fantasy with a mad dash of mythology and history thrown in for good measure. I'm a professional copywriter, a homeschool graduate, and published short story author. When I'm not writing or reading something, you can find me painting birds or gardening.