Archives de catégorie : Fiction

THE SOUL THIEF de Madeline Te Whiu

In this gripping story, debut author Madeline Te Whiu creates an unforgettable world rife with grave secrets and suspenseful romance.

THE SOUL THIEF
by Madeline Te Whiu
New Dawn Publishing, 2022 – 2023
(via Kaplan/DeFiore)

Book 1: THE ASSASSIN THIEF (October 2022)

Betrayed by her queen.

Haunted by her gifts.

Forgotten by her people.

Telium was once the most feared assassin in all Alkoria. Now she lives out her days in exile as she fights for dominance over her dark gifts.

But all that changes when an errant Fae warrior enters her domain. Drawn by rumours of a powerful being said to be borne from the shadow of the dark goddess Tenebris.

With their kingdoms on the brink of chaos, he calls for her aid in his mission to defeat the Mad Fae King and prevent an all-out war.

But the road to the Fae capital of Meannthe is a long one, and haunted by memories of her past, Telium must decide if she can risk losing dominance over the darkness in her soul.

Book 2: THE SOUL THIEF (November 2023)

Telium’s greatest mistake has cost her more than she can bear. With the revered King of Thresiel dead, the fragile balance between kingdoms is crumbling, and she may be too broken to stop it.

Now, the mission she lost everything to prevent is resurging. Her traitorous lover is gone, and someone far more menacing has stepped in to take his place.

Forced before an unforgiving Queen to pay for her crimes, Telium is ordered to stop the rising rebellion. With her soul bonded to another, Telium faces a world of corruption, fickle gods and well-buried secrets. She must bargain with her life to protect her people, whatever the cost.

In the thrilling second instalment, Madeline Te Whiu returns us to a world of heartbreak, deadly power and treacherous betrayal.

Madeline Te Whiu is a debut author. Madeline is a veterinary nurse residing Perth, Western Australia along with her husband, dog, two cats and small flock of chickens. Her passion for books began when she was growing up in rural South Australia. She has always had an avidity for reading with her favourite authors are Victoria Aveyard, Sarah J Maas and Peter V Brett, just to name a few.

YOUR DARK SECRETS d’Elle Marr

This propulsive up-all-night read seamlessly blends globe-trotting adventure, suspenseful thriller, and rivals-to-lovers romance, perfect for fans of The Flight Attendant and The Recovery Agent.

YOUR DARK SECRETS
by Elle Marr
Hyperion Avenue, July 2024
(via Kaplan/DeFiore)

A Los Angeles PR exec and her private investigator ex uncover a dangerous conspiracy led by the world’s most powerful people, whose deadly sights are now set on them.

Addison Stern is unparalleled when it comes to spinning a story. A ruthless PR executive, Addison is the star employee of the infamous Ovid Blackwell Group where the rich and famous go to hide all their secrets.

Connor Windell, on the other hand, is in the business of finding out information others would rather keep hidden. He used to be LA’s top private investigator until a betrayal from his ex-girlfriend ruined his reputation and sent him into early retirement. That ex? None other than Addison Stern.

Connor has one chance to redeem himself and salvage his career, but he needs Addison’s help. Addison would rather lick the bottom of her Jimmy Choo than assist, but with some good old-fashioned blackmail, she agrees to team up for one job. But when that job proves bigger than either imagined and they uncover a dangerous hidden web of influence led by the world’s most elite and powerful people, they’ll have to rely on each other to expose the truth…and stay alive.

From the Vegas strip to the beaches of Monaco, this globe-trotting adventure is filled with misplaced trust, competing motivations, and more than a little sexual tension. This gripping romantic thriller will have you up reading all night!

Elle Marr is a #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of thrillers. Originally from Sacramento, Elle graduated from UC San Diego before moving to France, where she earned a master’s degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She now lives and writes in Oregon with her family. Her latest book The Family Bones earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called it a « mesmerizing psychological thriller. »

HARD GIRLS de J. Robert Lennon

Two estranged twin sisters as they hunt down their elusive mother in this razor-sharp crime novel from « master of the dark arts » J. Robert Lennon (Kelly Link).

HARD GIRLS
by J. Robert Lennon
Mulholland Books, February 2024
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Jane Pool likes her safe, suburban existence just fine. She has a house, a family, (an infuriating mother-in-law,) and a quiet-if-unfulfilling administrative job at the local college. Everything is wonderfully, numbingly normal. Yet Jane remains haunted by her past: her mercurial, absent mother, her parents’ secrets, and the act of violence that transformed her life. When her estranged twin, Lila, makes contact, claiming to know where their mother is and why she left all those years ago, Jane agrees to join her, desperate for answers and the chance to reconnect with the only person who really knew her true self. Yet as the hunt becomes treacherous, and pulls the two women to the earth’s distant corners, they find themselves up against their mother’s subterfuge and the darkness that always stalked their family. Now Jane stands to lose the life she’s made for the one that has been impossible to escape.

Set in both the Pool family’s past and their present, and melding elements of a chase novel, an espionage thriller, and domestic suspense, HARD GIRLS is an utterly distinctive pastiche—propulsive, mysterious, cracked, intelligent, and unexpected at every turn.

J. Robert Lennon is the author of ten novels, including Familiar, Broken River, and Subdivision, and the story collections Pieces for the Left Hand, See You in Paradise, and Let Me Think. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

LONELINESS & COMPANY de Charlee Dyroff

Set in a near-future tech-ruled world, LONELINESS & COMPANY is about a loveable weirdo tasked with teaching an AI to be human who becomes more open to the world in the process.

LONELINESS & COMPANY
by Charlee Dyroff
Bloomsbury, May 2024
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Lee graduated from the top of her class at the Program and expected a placement at a top company. Instead she’s sent to collect data for a company nobody’s ever heard of that’s trying to teach an AI to act as “a true friend.” Lee begins voyeuristically: gathering information online and observing her outgoing roommate Veronika. But then the team learns that their company is secretly trying to cure loneliness, an emotion erased from society decades ago but somehow returned and spreading rapidly; the “true friend” AI is one of the few tech ventures that hasn’t yet failed. The company becomes desperate. Lee’s pressured into not just inputting data she finds online, but giving the AI the data of her own real-world experiences. She’s pushed into a zany mindset of chasing experiences to feed the AI.

LONELINESS & COMPANY will appeal to fans of Hilary Leichter’s Temporary and the bizarre humor of living in a tech-ruled world of Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This. It’s thematically kin to Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun and the work of Alexandra Kleeman.

“Naturally intelligent. An inventive, timely, and perceptive story about human connection and being alive.” —Emily Austin, author of Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead

“Tender and hopeful, Dyroff’s story glimmers with humor, empathy, and profound insights into the inner workings of the human heart and psyche.” —Gina Chung, author of Sea Change and Green Frog

“This is a tender, visionary, wide-hearted book that offers itself as a course corrective to our hyper-quantified, algorithm-craven age.” —Hermione Hoby, author of Virtue

Charlee Dyroff is a writer from Boulder, Colorado. She received an MFA from Columbia University and some of her work has appeared in Gulf Coast, Lapham’s Quarterly, Guernica, The Best American Food Writing of 2019, and elsewhere.

NATE PLUS ONE de Kevin van Whye

A fun new, gay rom-com from the author of Date Me, Bryson Keller!

NATE PLUS ONE
by Kevin van Whye
Random House Children’s, May 2022

Seventeen-year-old Nathan Hargreaves has done the bravest thing a gay teen can do: he’s come out to all those around him. But when he and his Mom are invited to his extremely wealthy paternal Aunt’s wedding retreat in South Africa, he’s filled with dread because he knows that all eyes will be on him— the gay boy. Disaster strikes when his Mom can’t make it and Nate will be forced to brave his extended family alone. Enter Jai Patel. Jai is an indie musician whose band is hoping to get their big break through a talent competition. When Jai’s band loses their lead singer weeks before the big competition, Nate steps up to help his friend out. The truth is, Nate is starting to feel more than friendship for the other boy and he’s pretty sure that Jai feels the same way. So, when Jai volunteers to be his plus one to the wedding, Nate’s looking forward to what will be the most perfect first date ever. That is, until Nate’s secret ex-boyfriend enters the picture.

Kevin van Whye is a gay writer of color born and raised in South Africa, where his love for storytelling started at a very young age. At four years old, he quit preschool because his teacher couldn’t tell a story. Kevin’s love affair with stories led him to film school, where he studied scriptwriting. Date Me, Bryson Keller is his first novel. Kevin lives in Johannesburg, and when he’s not reading, he’s writing books that give his characters the happy rom-com endings they deserve.