Another month, another new releases post! And the awesome-sounding books just keep rolling in this year. Hopefully you’ll all find something good on this list, so let’s just get to the good part!

The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin // Jul 16

Blurb:

Every tree in the sacred Forest of Laida houses a soul. Though each of those souls will return to the mortal world for many future lives, not all of them deserve to.

Seycia’s father told her this story as a child — a story of the most holy place in the Underworld, The Forest of Laida, where all souls go to rest before embarking on a new life. But Seycia’s father is dead now, and his killer has put a target on her back.

After being chosen for her village’s human sacrifice ritual, Seycia is transported to the Underworld and must join forces with Haben, the demon to whom she was sacrificed, to protect the family she left behind from beyond the grave. In this story of love, survival, and what it means to be human, Seycia and Haben discover that the Underworld is riddled with secrets that can only be unlocked through complete trust and devotion, not only to their mission, but also to one another.

My Thoughts:

The concept of this one sounds so interesting, and I love the idea of the main character having to team up with the demon she was sacrificed to.

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

The Sin Soldiers by Tracy Auerbach // Jul 23

Blurb:

Red compound makes them angry. Yellow exhausts them. Blue drives them into a state of ravenous addiction. The thief Kai knows about the chemically controlled soldiers of the Eastern forces and their savage, deadly nature. When a robbery attempt at Club Seven goes wrong, Kai is captured by a handler and his bestial soldier-boy. She wakes up inside the military base with no idea what happened to her twin brother, Dex.

Things go from bad to worse when Kai is started on a drug and training regimen, and forced to take injections of blue compound. The scientists in charge plan to make her into a working soldier who will mine the mysterious power crystals beneath the desert. Kai becomes a victim of the bully Finn, a handsome but nasty soldier whose years on red compound seem to have erased his humanity. Still, she begins to pity the Seven Soldiers, including the monstrous boy who tried to rip her to shreds at the club. They appear to be nothing more than genetically enhanced, drug-controlled teenagers.

On the outside, Dex and his tech-savvy boyfriend try to crack the soldiers’ chemical code to find a weakness that will break the system. But Kai has already been drawn deep into her new world. Strong feelings for the soldiers she’s come to know have started to cloud her judgment. Can she escape and find Dex without becoming a monster herself?

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed another book by this author, and although that book was pretty different in premise, I’d love to try another of her books. And this one sounds like a unique idea that could be really gripping!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

Spellbound by Allie Therin // Jul 29

Blurb:

1925

New York

Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.

Rory Brodigan’s gift comes with great risk. To protect himself, he’s become a recluse, redirecting his magic to find counterfeit antiques. But with the city’s fate hanging in the balance, he can’t force himself to say no.

Being with Arthur is dangerous, but Rory’s ever-growing attraction to him begins to make him brave. And as Arthur coaxes him out of seclusion, a magical and emotional bond begins to form. One that proves impossible to break—even when Arthur sacrifices himself to keep Rory safe and Rory must risk everything to save him.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

My Thoughts:

The Prohibition Era is my favorite time period setting, and I especially love when it’s combined with magic and paranormal, so this book sounds like it’s right up my alley!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

I Love It When My Friends Touch Each Other’s Butts by Lucas Jackson // Jul 29

Blurb:

I have a serious problem. My friends are sexy, and I just don’t have time for them all. Let’s ignore that my girlfriend would be pretty damn angry if I pursued every one of them. Which she would. The truth is, I’m just one man, and I don’t have time for that many romantic entanglements. The webs of jealousy, passion, and deceit are beyond unmanageable. This leaves only one option, to write of wondrous fantasy and wishful projection. To live vicariously, be a voyeur to a world of naughtiness and lust involving the sexiest people I know. They are the actors, and this is their stage.

In this sizzling collection of erotic friend fiction, my beautiful friends will travel into space to find long lost love. They will navigate the streets of steam-powered Utah, on a mission of unfulfilled carnal hunger and revenge. Forbidden lust will be explored in simulations of photons and force-fields, while songs of great joy and desire are to be sung.

Instruments of pleasure will be used. Bodices will be busted. Ecstasy of the mind and flesh realized. Butts will be touched.

My Thoughts:

I’ll be honest with you all. I got a review request for this one, and I’m probably not going to read it, BUTT (get it?) I still think it deserves a shout-out for being so unique and intriguing. It’s “erotic friend fiction.” I’m especially fond of the person on the left of the cover who appears to have both boobs and butt all in the front. I vaguely skimmed the beginning of each story to see if it might be a book for me, and sadly I don’t think it would be, but it appeared to possibly include some f/f, m/f, and m/m romance (but don’t quote me on that because I’m not sure).

Goodreads | Amazon

The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hossain // Aug 13

Blurb:

When the djinn king Melek Ahmar wakes up after millennia of imprisoned slumber, he finds a world vastly different from what he remembers. Arrogant and bombastic, he comes down the mountain expecting an easy conquest: the wealthy, spectacular city state of Kathmandu, ruled by the all-knowing, all-seeing tyrant AI Karma. To his surprise, he finds that Kathmandu is a cut-price paradise, where citizens want for nothing and even the dregs of society are distinctly unwilling to revolt.

Everyone seems happy, except for the old Gurkha soldier Bhan Gurung. Knife saint, recidivist, and mass murderer, he is an exile from Kathmandu, pursuing a forty-year-old vendetta that leads to the very heart of Karma. Pushed and prodded by Gurung, Melek Ahmer finds himself in ever deeper conflicts, until they finally face off against Karma and her forces. In the upheaval that follows, old crimes will come to light and the city itself will be forced to change.

My Thoughts:

This is another author whose previous book I’ve read and enjoyed. He has an interesting take on djinn, which have become one of my favorite supernatural beings, and I’m definitely down to read more about them!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

The Last Hope by Krista & Becca Ritchie // Aug 13

Blurb:

A stunning conclusion to the sci-fi romance duology by writing duo Krista & Becca Ritchie, The Last Hope is filled with twists and turns you’ll never see coming.

Sacrifice all you have to survive.

Imprisoned for weeks on an enemy starcraft, Franny, Court, and Mykal have sat with an unfathomable revelation. But as they fight to stay alive, escaping prison means trusting a young mysterious stranger. He knows everything about their lost histories, and when answers aren’t given freely, the bonded trio are forced to join a mission. One that will determine the fate of humanity.

Legend says, a baby—the first of her species—has the power to cloak and teleport planets. Tasked with retrieving the infant, Court fears the baby is just a myth, and if they fail, they’ll never find the truth about their origins.

As Court and Mykal grow closer, their linked bond becomes harder to hide, and dynamics change when Franny begins to fall for someone new. Vulnerable and with no choice, the hunt for the baby sends the trio on a dangerous path to Saltare-1: a water world where their enemies can’t die and survival comes at a high cost.

My Thoughts:

I really liked the emotion and characters and relationship dynamics in the first book of this duology, and I’m really excited to see how it’s all going to end!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher