The Demon and the Librarian (Monsters Hollow) (affiliate link)
Yuki
Accidentally summoning a sexy demon at work totally isn’t my fault. It’s because of that new addictive soap opera, The Young and the Monstrous, I tell you! They just had to introduce a new mega-hot demon character, so of course I needed to do some research! But my insatiable librarian curiosity has gotten me into hot water, because now I’m magically shackled to a demon who claims he’s my mate. That can’t be a real thing, right? It’s got to be some kind of demon trick…
Kassiel
Being summoned is every demon’s fantasy. Some wait centuries for the momentous occasion. At barely two hundred years of age, I get my lucky day! The Interdimensional Gong of Demonic Destiny rings for little ole me! Wooing Yuki should be a walk in the park, but my trusty seductive wiles aren’t working on my prickly mate—and the clock is ticking. I only have two weeks to convince him to accept our bond or it will be permanently severed. My work is cut out for me, but I’ll do whatever it takes to sneak into his heart.
The First Spark (Sparkwood: Scenes From A Small Town Book 1) (affiliate link)
I have a very big problem … in the form of one very petite woman.
Don’t get me wrong. I adore women, and if you ask any female in Sparkwood, you’ll learn the feeling is mutual.
With one tiny exception.
Oriana Thorne is a literal thorn in my side—a plucky, infuriatingly gorgeous, pain in the rear who rents the store next to mine.
We’ve disliked each other from the beginning, or at least since she marched into my shop and started issuing demands. Needless to say, I didn’t roll out the welcome mat after that meet-hate.
I’d love to avoid the woman until the end of my days, but as fate would have it, I need her help.
Without her approval, my plan to open a speakeasy beneath our shops is dead in the water.
Considering Oriana is as fond of me as I am of her, winning her assistance will be no easy feat.
So, when a faulty lock forces the two of us to spend the night together, it’s anyone’s guess if we’ll survive until morning.
But that’s a chance I’m willing to take. What’s the worst that can happen?
Mossy Creek: A Maggie Mercer Mystery Book 1 (affiliate link)
Welcome to Mossy Creek. We’re small and easy-going with a lot of community pride and camaraderie.
What we don’t have a lot of is crime. A close-knit laid-back little borough, so close to the southern border of Pennsylvania we’re almost in West Virginia. Townsfolk like to say: “We’re south enough to lend credence to our slight drawl, but sufficiently north of the Mason-Dixon to be ‘damn Yankees’.”
None of us were prepared for murder … especially involving a teenager.
The Master Jeweler: A Novel (affiliate link)
Harbin, China, 1925. Fifteen-year-old Anyu Zhang discovers a priceless Fabergé egg in the snow and returns it to the owner, Isaac Mandelburg, a fugitive and former master jeweler for Russia’s imperial palace. In gratitude, he leaves her his address in Shanghai and a promise of hospitality, forever altering her fate.
A dazzling world of jewelry shrouded in secrecy and greed awaits, when later Anyu arrives at Mandelburg’s jewelry shop as an orphan. Single-minded and relentless, Anyu will stop at nothing until she masters the craft of jewelry making. But she soon finds herself entangled in the treacherous underbelly of the city, where violent gangsters stalk the streets, vicious rivals seek to exploit her, and obsessive collectors conspire to destroy the people she loves.
From snow-crowned land to diamond-sparkling showrooms to a pristine island on the brink of war, The Master Jeweler chronicles an exciting journey of a bold prodigy artisan—including her losses and triumphs—in a glamorous yet perilous world of treasure.
The House at the End of the World (affiliate link)
In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortresslike stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting.
The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone—or something—they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over these men, an infinitely greater threat has arrived, one so strange even the island animals are in a state of high alarm.
Katie soon finds herself in an epic and terrifying battle with a mysterious enemy. But Katie’s not alone after all: a brave young girl appears out of the violent squall. As Katie and her companion struggle across a dark and eerie landscape, against them is an omnipresent terror that could bring about the end of the world.
All the Glimmering Stars: A Novel (affiliate link)
Anthony Opoka and Florence Okori are coming of age in Uganda in the 1990s. Outstanding students, they believe in being good humans before they are kidnapped and forced into the fanatical Lord’s Resistance Army.
In a legion of young recruits, no one gets closer than Anthony to powerful messianic warlord Joseph Kony and his darkest secrets. To stay sane as he spirals through chaos, Anthony clings to his childhood lessons about being a good human. Florence’s upbringing grounds her, too, helping her keep her dreams alive even as she’s pulled deeper into the insanity of Kony’s war.
At the lowest points of their lives, certain they’ll never go home, Anthony and Florence meet by chance, fall in love, and begin to dream of surviving their captivity. They devote their lives to helping their fellow child soldiers escape bondage and return to their families and redemption by following the stars.
By turns tender, shocking, moving, desperate, and ultimately triumphant, Florence and Anthony’s story is an epic drama of humanity, a life-affirming tale, and an experience readers will never forget.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3