E. G. Bella

Happy Friday, and welcome to the fifth day of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! We’re almost done!

You can find all of the information about the Five Fall Favorites blog party by seeing my first post (click HERE), or by going to our wonderful host, Kate Willis’s, site (click HERE).

For a quick recap, each day this week, bloggers (me included) are each sharing their five favorite books under a variety of prompts – the goal being for us all to find some great new reads!

This week’s theme is all about who and where we’ve gotten our books from.

Today, we get to share five upcoming releases that we’re most excited for!

I love this topic because there are a good number of books I’m looking forward to right now, by authors who I admire and would love to support! From fantasy, to contemporary, to retellings, there are some exciting releases coming up! And I realized after curating this list, that my list is entirely by indie authors, so that’s also fun.

Let’s get right into those books! (I encourage you to visit Goodreads by clicking on each book’s title or the link beneath the cover, and add the ones you’re interested in to your TBR. I’m sure the authors would appreciate your support!)

If the Stars Awaken

Synopsis:

“Hush, little one, and you will see a starlit web of mystery.”

Queen Marinne awaits a sign from the Maker about her unborn child, but the heavens are worryingly quiet about everything except the new star taking over the sky.

Others look to the stars as well, but none more than the Starreader’s loyal apprentice, Dynast, who finds himself cast aside and left to search the skies for answers on his own.

Elite guard Arrow has no time to wonder about the star as he protects the royal family, a task that becomes harder when the Starreader interrupts the christening to prophesy the end of days.

Fear and confusion unsettle the kingdom, and a bid for survival turns into a desperate search for truth and hope.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Unearth the Tides

Synopsis:

𝐁𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬
𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Huxley Krew Gannon III always knew he would be a royal guard; defending the Crown is in his blood. And coming from a long line of Gannons, that means the job is to be taken seriously at all costs.

When tragedy strikes, Huxley is framed for treason, and his only option is to flee to Braka’s most feared place: The Wasteful Tides.

It’s rumored a monstrous beast haunts those waters, but what Huxley encounters is even worse: an elusive captain, magical herbs, a beautiful lady, and unearthed truths that could change the course of history.

Unearth the Tides is a fantasy retelling of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Filled with mystery, found family, and themes of truth and forgiveness, Unearth the Tides is perfect for those who love the coziness of the classics and the thrill of adventure.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Otherworld

Synopsis:

Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld—the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that her father has forbidden her from visiting.

Growing up in a lighthouse on a remote island, Orca has lived isolated from the world… until one day when she finds a cell phone washed up on the beach. Orca has her first conversation with Jack Stevenson, a young man whose older brother, Adam, has gone missing after crashing his seaplane off the coast. Orca becomes Jack’s lifeline and his reason to hope that Adam is still alive. While her father is away, she scours the island for the missing pilot—determined to help Jack find his brother and prove to her father that she’s strong enough to take on the world.

One stormy night, Orca finds Adam Stevenson collapsed on her doorstep. As she nurses him back to health, she finds herself spellbound by his inquiring mind and rugged good looks. Simultaneously, Adam is captivated by her wild beauty and pure heart. But with a ten-year age gap between them—and her father’s determination to keep Orca protected from outsiders—Adam knows they can never be together.

Resigned to give Orca up, Adam returns to the mainland—but Jack refuses to leave her trapped at the lighthouse. Blind to the fact that his brother is in love with her, Jack offers to show Orca the world she’s always dreamed of. But when she leaves her island for the first time, Orca begins to realize that the mainland may hold more dark secrets than she ever imagined… and the two brothers she helped bring back together may be the very people she tears apart.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

A Bond of Briars

Synopsis:

She is bonded to a spirit who demands her blood.
She follows a mother-in-law who resents her power.
She meets a man who challenges everything she’s ever believed.

After a fatal illness takes newlywed Caitrin’s husband, she finds herself obligated by duty and oath to care for her mother-in-law, Meara, at any cost…even if it means traveling to Croìthe, where magic of any kind is outlawed. Burdened by Meara’s bitter grief and weighty demands, Caitrin struggles to keep all of her secrets hidden and make a new life in the foreign land.

However, when the charming and charitable Callen Lockhart, a wealthy lord who is at odds with the town, welcomes her to Croìthe without judging her past, Caitrin worries that his generosity will come at a cost she is unwilling to pay.

Bonded to a spirit who empowers her to create spells and curses, Caitrin must either become the powerful cairline her mother had always wanted her to be or suffer the consequences of breaking free.

A Bond of Briars is a YA dark fantasy retelling of the Biblical story of Ruth, with fresh twists based on the original context and respun into a spooky cottagecore romance that is filled with dark magic and mysterious curses, sacrificial love and redemption.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Guild of Thieves

Synopsis:

“Being a thief is easy, but getting caught…now, that’s when it gets tricky.”

Dice is a street boy in the poor district of Raheren, forced to be what he must to survive. A liar, a cheat, and a thief. But just like all thieves in Arkrindon he abides by the rules of thieves, stick with your unit, stay in your district, and don’t get caught.

When Dice is jumped by another group of thieves trespassing in pickpocket territory, things quickly escalate. These aren’t just any thieves, this is a whole new breed of thieves, ones who don’t play by the rules. Rogues, burglars, and pickpockets have come together, abandoning districts and uniting under one man, Azic, the master of The Guild of Thieves.

For his freedom and the lives of his unit, the Guild presents a deal: Steal the King’s Jewel or watch everyone in his unit die. If Dice steals the jewel he’s dooming the kingdom but if he doesn’t everyone he cares about will pay the price.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

We just finished day five of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! This week is flying by! What are some of the books you’re looking forward to? Have you heard of any of the books I mentioned? I’d love to hear from you!

Again, check out Kate’s host blog here, for additional information, an awesome giveaway, and so that you can find even more book recommendations!

See you tomorrow for some more bookish fun!

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