Hollow Eyes by A.J. Francis

The city had been empty for decades; empty of the living, that is. It had been forsaken for almost as long as Estin had been dead. Horrors lurked in the shadows of the ruins around him, waiting for the rains to end for their chance to stalk the streets once more. It was the last place he expected to find a little girl, lost and alone. And he was so hungry...

Curse Breaker Books 1-3 by Melinda Kucsera

Curse Breaker Books 1-3 features the first three books of the Curse Breaker Series in one action-packed boxed set. Curse Breaker Enchanted Sarn wants to be like everyone else, not a mage with a power he can barely control. But he must hide his magic in a country run by a group that wants to destroy all magic. But that magic comes in handy when he wakes up far from home with only his cloak to protect him from monsters and murderous trees. How will Sarn return home in time and unravel the dark conspiracy that’s destroying it before his son pays the ultimate price? Curse Breaker Darkens When a disembodied voice warns him that a demon is after his mage, Jerlo sets off to find the man who could summon it. He swore an unbreakable oath to protect Sarn, no matter the cost. In a country run by a group that wants to destroy all magic, mages and demons shouldn’t exist. But they do, and Jerlo’s in a fight, not just for his life but for his soul. Even if he risks both, how will he save Sarn without magic? Curse Breaker Faceted Sarn spies on the men responsible for his best friend's death with his young son in tow. And those men are hunting for magic-stealing rocks to fuel a zealot's quest. When their greed leads them into a forbidden cavern, they release an ancient monster, and it's hungry for a certain mage and his son. Who will survive the dark terror lurking under the mountain? Curse Breaker Books 1-3 contains the first three books of the Curse Breaker Series: Curse Breaker Enchanted, Curse Breaker Darkens, and Curse Breaker Faceted. It’s an epic fantasy adventure starring a loving father, his young son, and the people and monsters that dwell in an immersive world of intrigue and adventure. Get Curse Breaker Books 1-3 now if you love found family, reluctant heroes, and magical mayhem, then this is the book for you!

Renia by Karl Forshaw

The Halls of Venn are the seat of both knowledge and power in the great continent of Luna Ruinam. Renia, a scribe with a tragic past, spends her days expertly copying books that do little to satiate her desire for knowledge. When a fateful commission lands on her desk, she finds herself tasked with transcribing a book coveted by assassins from the southern continent. Its theft throws the scribing halls into chaos and threatens to destroy the fragile peace that exists between their nations. Haunted by dreams of her past, Renia must learn to master her impulses and awaken her long dormant magical abilities if she is to prevent war. Fate, it would seem, is eager to grant her wishes. Yet she must risk everything to pursue it, and pay the bloody price it demands.

Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li

Iris Galacia's tarot cards do more than entertain gamblers. With the flip of her fingers she can predict the future and uncover a person's secrets. Under the watchful eye of her mother, she is already on thin ice for pursuing a passion in the family business, but then cracks start to form, and eventually she falls through. She is given an ultimatum: earn a thousand coins or leave the business, and the family. Enter Marin Boudreau, a charming young person who can scale buildings and break off door knobs, who comes for her help to rescue a witch who's been falsely imprisoned in Excava Kingdom. And Marin is willing to pay a high sum for her talents. But saving a prisoner from royal hands isn't easy, nor is leaving home for the first time in eighteen years. Now Iris must learn to trust in herself, Marin, and this new magical world, while racing the clock before the royals decide the fate of the witch, and before any secrets catch up to her. TELL ME HOW IT ENDS features LGBTQ+, disabled, neurodivergent, cultural, and mental health representation. The main character, Iris Galacia, is a lesbian tarot reader with anxiety and autism. The second main character, Marin Boudreau, is an aromantic asexual non-binary person with ADHD.

Children by Bjorn Larssen

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Gods make lousy parents. All Magni wants is peace and quiet, but when your father is the God of thunder, you don’t get to live the life you want. When Thor destroys all his son knows and loves, Magni vows to bring prosperity and end the violence… forever. But can you escape cruelty in a universe built on it, or the shadow of your father when everyone calls you by his name? Maya, her rage more powerful than she knows, wants freedom to pursue her own destiny. Neither torture nor blackmail can make her obedient or pretty enough for Freya, her foster-mother and Goddess of love. Fighting for independence and revenge, can a mere human win a game where Gods dictate the rules? 2020 Stabby Nominee –Best Self-Published/Independent Novel The book includes strong language, depictions of sexual, physical, and emotional violence. For full list of triggers, which may contain spoilers, see: https://www.bjornlarssen.com/children-tw

The Blood of a Dragon by Jack Adkins

Anuka Sandbar is the most interesting half-goblin alive. Just ask him. While searching for his famous father, a roguish young half-goblin swashbuckler and his unlikely companions are enslaved by pirates. An emissary of the Silver DragonLord Augmaximitis buys them and offers them freedom if they can find the source of illegal DragonsBlood flooding the country. They soon discover that success could trigger a war between Dragons that would destray the mortal races. How will they choose between gaining their freedom and dooming the world?

Bared Magic by Sara R. Cleveland

A Goldilocks-inspired fantasy romance with just a hint of spice. The girl with the golden hair... Siphons are rare creatures, supposedly born of the union of human and fae blood. How she got her ability doesn’t much matter to Wynne; all she knows is it’s a death sentence or worse if the wrong people find out about her gift. It’s too bad she was never very good at minding her own business. ... and the bear who stole her heart An old curse grows stronger, leaving Callum Bertram sleepless and desperate. He thinks he’s found a temporary solution until a pretty young woman accidentally uses up his sleeping charm. Now, this werebear suddenly finds himself craving something more than a good night’s sleep.

Cabin Girl by E.G. Bella

Eight years ago, young Éirinn O’Connell’s papa disappeared at sea. Many sleepless nights later, in the rolling hills of 1600’s Ireland, Éirinn has given up on his return – while her mama continues to watch the horizon, her grasp of reality slipping. Desperate to provide for her and her sister, Éirinn learns all she can of medicine and spends her days struggling to assist villagers who shun her for her crooked back. Then in one brutal night, Barbary pirates raid her village, and Éirinn is dragged from her family and the only home she’s ever known. Set on a course to Morocco, and amidst a crew as turbulent as the ocean around her, Éirinn is forced to tend to the sick quartermaster. In addition, she must serve as cabin girl to the infamous Captain Gills, a hard-hearted man bent on thwarting her every attempt to return home…to the family she prays still lives. As Éirinn searches for a way home, she soon finds that all is not what it seems aboard The Lonely Eye. Unrest brews and mutiny whispers. Allies appear in unexpected places. A cunning enemy plots. Who can she trust? Will her God carry her through the storms? And how can she survive the Captain’s constant torment? The answers are unlike anything she expects.

Red Right Hand: A Post-Apocalyptic Superhero Novel by Chris Tullbane

"If life’s taught me anything, it’s that you scrap and claw for every moment you can get. And if you’re a Crow like me, you don’t let a little thing like dying get in your way." Following the events of See These Bones, Damian is back at the Academy of Heroes as the Free States' most unlikely potential Cape. He has a new name, a new reputation, and a whole host of new questions about his own past. If he's going to find answers to those questions, let alone survive another year at the Academy, he'll need to learn a skill the orphanage never taught him: teamwork. Nothing's ever easy, is it?

Beneath the Gods' Tree by S. Kaeth

Amanah knows all-too-well the dangers of catching the attention of the upper class of Arruk. Using her position as a guard to steal secrets of healing and help other lower class people means she works hard to remain unnoticed. Fellow guard Taunos is boisterous, laughing, larger than life–and always around. He attracts attention as easily as breathing, which makes being associated with him dangerous. Better to stay far away, regardless of her attraction to him and his easy calm. But when Amanah inadvertently insults a magistrate, she must flee the city to avoid his vengeance. She takes a last-minute job escorting a pair of noblemen to another town–a job Taunos is also hired for. Along the way, she’s forced to reveal her stolen healing skills to keep the small group alive, and finds more support from Taunos than she ever would have dreamed. His confident charm becomes hard to ignore as he sees her as no one else has, even when she’s doing her best to be invisible. But opening herself to romance might be as dangerous as the wildlife and bandits they face in the wilderness, and pursuing her dreams of becoming a healer could attract the ire of those in power. This book has: so much banter; strong sibling relationship; strong friendships; friends-to-lovers (low steam); gay side characters; main character anxiety rep; diverse cast with immersive worldbuilding; action and adventure, wilderness survival style; low fantasy (none of the main group displays clear magic on page); single PoV, third person past tense

Empire's Passing by Marian L Thorpe

Gwenna, Principe of Emparias, is witnessing an empire’s fall. She must not only predict the future, but create one – without the advice and support of her father. Her partner Lynthe is challenging her leadership; her mother and Sorley are struggling to find their own futures without the man they both loved. Can she shape the world envisioned by Cillian, the world they have all worked towards for the last thirty years? Lena, newly bereft, can find no peace in the walls of a fort or the duties of a general. In a divisive decision, she chooses to travel east, to find her son, to judge the progress of the war for herself, and to search for both memories and a future. Where is home for the falcon, when there is no falconer to hold out his arm?

A Song for the Road by Catherine Labadie

An outcast in her tight-knit community, Larkspur endures her poor health with help neither from her family nor her fickle sweetheart. At a yearly moon festival she beseeches the spirits for better luck...but they lead her to a foundling elf child she did not want and a quest she did not ask for. Yet she and the mute spryte form a bond over their shared struggles. When danger arrives at their cottage, Larkspur sets out with the girl she's named Gentian from the country of her homefolk into the land of songs and tales itself. Through leagues of treacherous border woods lies miraculous Beledan, where dwarven chieftains quarrel amongst themselves and, far to the north, the mysterious elves marshal for war.

Silver and Blood by Trina L. Talma

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Most of the human population of Morstan lives in walled cities, though very few people know the real reason those walls were built. Stories tell of strange creatures like elves, vampires and shape-shifters, but to most people, these are only stories. Zania Corthinn, an ordinary girl from the city of Ocrisia, is about to find out the truth behind those stories -- and a few things about herself as well. "You'll see many more things you never believed in, before you've been with us very long."

Warlock of Muscovy by Brien Feathers

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When words fail, bring out the guns, swords, and death spells. Marina is the daughter of Tsar Alexander the Cruel, the most powerful warlock. She's also a princess of the Court of White Rose. The only problem is that she's mundane—she has no magic. On her sixteenth birthday Marina fled from her father's tsardom to the revolutionist side of Muscovy, and five years later she's doing all right, working as a seamstress in the United Workers' Factory. Despite the political police, the never-ending witch hunt, and her best friend living as an orange cat, she's happy. She gets along with her cottage mates and is even seeing a guy... until the city blows up, she's implied in the sabotage, her guy turns out to be an enemy, her friends are murdered, and an alchemist maniac hunts her down for a blood vendetta. With the Red Army and the Alchemist Federation on her heels, Marina runs back to the Court of White Rose, but when death follows her home she must uncover a prophecy, reconcile with the warlock, and stop an oncoming war. It's a tall order for a seamstress. The first book in the Sun War Trilogy, this intensely dark tale of magic and mayhem is full of grey characters that blur the line between good and evil. Content warning for strong language, graphic violence, and intimate situations.