​Garrick has been lost to all who knew him for over a year, haunted by a mistake. He hoped that Brenna, the woman he loved, would think him dead. This falsity would have continued to succeed - if he hadn't come across her left for dead in a carriage surrounded by dead men. Brenna gave up on Garrick and is due to wed another man. But she may need Garrick around to save her life once more.

Another excellent entry in the Falling for a Stewart series from Jeanine Englert. You expect some changes between books, but I was almost as shaken as Garrick but how much had occurred - it's bold to do something like that and it really paid off. I also really enjoyed seeing Garrick and Brenna together again and I'm looking forward to Ewan's book (which I hope is on the horizon!).

Moira must choose her husband before her father chooses one for her - and the first man he chose for her was an awful match that she has no intention of repeating. So the choice seems obvious once she discovers Rory, Laird Death, who only has months to live. Rory needs an heir before he dies and Moira's proposal is the only one he is likely to get. But he'll have to convince her father - or elope.

I loved this book so much I'm now in the process of debating whether or not I can fit another physical book on my already cramped shelves (I bought and read the Kindle version, so this is A Big Deal). The premise is so intriguing and so well executed. I've read longer books that failed to deliver as well as this one has. Jeanine Englert may be my new favourite author of Scottish romance.

The Convergence is coming to Tova, a city ruled over by its priests - and a city due for upheaval. The Sun Priest, Naranpa, is too busy to do anything about it, as she must outmanoeuvre her political enemies of risk losing her title. Elsewhere, Xiala is given a ship, a crew, and cargo due in Tova before the Convergence. But that cargo includes Serapio, a blind man whose destiny is steeped in blood.

I really enjoyed this, for the most part. Roanhorse has created some fascinating, flawed characters that I didn't know what to make of - which usually would bother me, but didn't on this occasion. Roanhorse's writing is impeccable and perfectly fits the epic fantasy genre here, showing just how much range she has underneath the sci-fi/fantasy umbrella. Overall, an excellent book, but it stumbled at the last hurdle. Novels like this one obviously need to set up the sequel - however, it was done at the cost of this book's climax.

Note: I first preordered this on Kobo back in 2021, only for the preorder to fail when the publisher (presumably) yanked it and then went radio silence for months, before throwing it onto Kindle only. I was very annoyed by this, which delayed my reading of this book. But it was worth the wait.

​Briar is a soul singer, a magician who can heal. But her magic offers no protection when the Nameless Ones come to her new home and abduct her sister. Briar immediately wants to rescue her - though this will mean travelling and joining forces with strangers who have secrets that can endanger their lives, as well as the entire kingdom.

For a while now, I've felt that something is missing from trad published YA fantasy. I can't say exactly what it is, but I guess I'll be cliche and say they're missing...the magic. The Crystal Tree brought back the magic for me. It threw me right back to my childhood in the 1990s and was the comforting blanket that I very much needed. This is a brilliant indie YA fantasy - and beautifully written too.