Welcome to the tour for The Dragon Favorite, a dark fantasy by Onika Howdyn! Read on for more details!
The Dragon Favorite: Beginnings Duology
Release Date: March 10, 2024
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Robust world-building and lore…
A mother’s struggle with mental health…
Dark themes and equally dark villains…
Forbidden love and loyalty…
Spicy yet poetic adult themes…
An underground realm of magic and its wielders…
Reading between the strands of fate and prophecies
Dragons… (that’s a given)
Welcome to Jöro…
…a land once teeming with the majestic presence of dragons, known as the Draughtrìnd, now reduced to ashes by the insatiable greed of a malevolent king. Though the war between man and dragon has faded into the past, the lingering aversion towards magic and its wielders remains.
In the river city of Rau, Amalya dreams of adventure beyond her father’s cozy farm. When she stumbles upon a wounded dragon with the farmhand, Wesley, her dreams of adventure take flight. As the years pass, love and family gradually fade that memory into the background of her life, becoming the only remaining beacon of hope.
Now, Amalya finds herself trapped in the clutches of depression, forced to observe the vestiges of her joy in the eyes of her son. The realization that she will never genuinely reclaim that joy plunges her further into the depths of despair.
When a mysterious man arrives to help on the farm, Amalya feels an unexplainable sense of familiarity. Could he be her only chance to break free from the torment that has haunted her since motherhood? And what consequences must she face to reclaim her light?
How many times would you let your child get away with murder?
When you look down at your newborn baby, you realise they were right, those smug parents you’ve always rolled your eyes at: you’d do literally anything for your child. To make them happy, keep them safe.
So when Joseph Carver wakes one night to find his teenage son Max scrubbing the kitchen, hands wet with blood and panic flooding his voice as he promises it was an accident, he didn’t mean to do it, Joseph does the only thing he can. He helps Max bury the body.
Joseph thinks that’s the end of the nightmare. Until he finds Max with stricken eyes and bloody hands once again . . .
You’d do anything for your child – even cover up a murder.
SAM LLOYD grew up in Hampshire, where he learned his love of storytelling. These days he lives in Surrey with his wife, three young sons and a dog that likes to howl. His first three thrillers, The Memory Wood, The Rising Tide and The People Watcher were published to great critical acclaim.
My thoughts: There are a lot of dead bodies in this book, and lots of clever twists too. Joseph helps his son Max cover up what Max says is a terrible accident, but not reporting it is a serious crime. Especially when the brother of your victim is a psychopath who won’t stop till he finds out what happened.
Then Max, oops, kills someone else. But this isn’t a stranger, and it’s a little too close to home. Joseph is taking bigger risks and his wife’s getting suspicious. If he can just get Max through the summer and off to med school then it’ll be fine. It’s not fine.
Things get crazier and crazier, the whole family get drawn into the chaos, and then more twists turn everything you think you know upside down. I was absolutely hooked and lost count of the corpses. There’s also a strain of pitch black humour or possibly hysteria running through this very dark, very bloody book. Highly recommend.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The twistiest murder mystery you are ever likely to read?
A story about a family that does the unthinkable in order to save the life of one of its beloved members?
Both?
Or something else altogether?
You’ll have to read until the very last word in order to find out…
You think it will never happen to you: the ring of the bell, the policeman on the doorstep. What he says traps you in a nightmare that starts with the words, ‘I’m afraid…’
Sally Lambert is also afraid, and desperate enough to consider the unthinkable. Is it really, definitely, impossible to escape from this horror? Maybe not. There’s always something you can do, right?
Of course, no one would ever do this particular something – except the Lamberts, who might have to. No one has ever gone this far. Until Sally decides that the Lamberts will…
Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling author and her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. She writes contemporary psychological thrillers and, at the request of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, the new series of Hercule Poirot novels. She lives in Cambridge with her family.
My thoughts: Sophie Hannah is one of my very favourite writers, so getting to read this and be on the blog tour is very exciting.
Without spoiling the story, I actually think I would go further than the Lamberts if I was in their position. I would actually kill and get away with it (I have read so much crime fiction, watched CSI in every US city and so many other crime shows, I am pretty sure I could leave no trace).
The Lamberts, are a pretty ordinary family, Sally’s a bit quirky certainly, but other than that pretty normal. The document that purports to reveal what really happened is a mishmash of things, in some semblance of order, but the narrator is a question mark. Who is telling the story of the Lamberts and what happened?
When a member of their family is accused of a crime, Sally springs into action, rounding up her children and husband and going in search of allies. She knows that no one in her family committed this crime, but is at a loss as to how to prove it, and how to keep them all safe.
The story that unfolds will tell us everything we need to know about the Lamberts, their village, its residents, the Gaveys (boo! hiss!), the so-called crime, the truth about that incident, some history, and what happened next. Or will it? You will have to decide what you can believe.
Funny, very clever and a little confusing in a “huh? What?” way, this is a very different sort of crime novel but hugely enjoyable and entertaining.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Happy release day to author Jennifer Kropf and congratulations on the release of The Scarlet Star!
Inspired by the fairytale Beauty and the Beast and the Biblical story of Queen Esther, this mashup of high stakes, forbidden romance, and dangerous secrets isn’t the fairytale you know.
The Scarlet Star (Songs of the Adriels Book 1)
Release Date: June 18, 2025
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Fairy Tales/ Christian Fantasy
He’s a beast trapped in a palace, and she’s a beauty tangled in his web…
Nineteen-year-old Ryn Electus is captured and brought to the palace for a twelve-week trial period along with three of the fairest maidens in the kingdom to try and ‘steal the heart’ of a young, tormented King with a deadly secret. Unfortunately, the King appears to have no interest in the maidens and keeps getting himself into trouble.
But the King isn’t the only one with a dangerous secret. Ryn has been living in hiding all these years, until she’s dragged from her home and put on a public stage where she finds herself in the crosshairs of the Intelligentsia; a council of sages who serve the seven Celestial Divinities and conspire to destroy people like her. If the sages discover who Ryn really is, she’ll be dead by morning.
Things get even more complicated when Ryn learns what Xerxes is fighting against, the internal wars he’s waging on his own, and why he keeps getting himself into trouble.
However, shortly after Ryn arrives at the palace, an old priestess opens Ryn’s eyes to see the workings of false gods at war who are influencing the kingdom of Per-Siana at every turn, dragging the people into destruction and causing chaos. Ryn is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the gods, until she unexpectedly gains the favour of an ancient god who’s been “silent” for decades; the God Original, the first God, enemy of the Celestial Divinities, who beckons Ryn to shake up the very foundations of the domain.
Thus begins a battle fought in the shadows alongside a war of gowns and politics waged in the spotlight.
Ryn must do everything she can to hide that she’s a descendant of King Xerxes’s enemies, and she and Xerxes were born as rivals, destined to hate and destroy each other.
She has only weeks to decide which side she’s on.
This book is ideal for fans of The Selection Series by Kiara Cass and A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer and includes gorgeous character illustrations by Kyannah Durocher.
R&R Book Tours proudly presents the cover for The Frost Witch by Emberly Ash! You can pre-order this gorgeous dark romantasy now!
The Frost Witch (The Covenants of Velora Book 1)
Expected Release Date: August 5, 2025
Genre: Dark Romantasy
Enemies to lovers
Why choose
Witches
MCs bonded against their will
Dragons
Slow-burn spice
Found family
Shifters
Tall/Short MMC/FMC
Deadly trials
Meddling gods
Mental health rep
Forbidden love
Fae
Witches are not born. They are made.
I died alone in a frostbitten forest. It was not heroic. I did not die defending an innocent or hunting to feed my loved ones. I died because I was stupid and cowardly. I died running away. And that would have been the end of my story. Until the witches found me and made me one of their own.
Outcast by her coven more than three hundred years after her resurrection, Koryn faces certain doom. Without her coven’s magic to sustain her, she will wither away to nothing. But earning back their trust means betraying the last living member of her family—the family whose downfall came at Koryn’s own hands.
Offered a bargain she cannot refuse…
Four hundred years ago, the gods sentenced the continent of Velora to death. Now Koryn must make a desperate final bid to save Velora—and herself—by passing each test posed at the Seven Gates. Nothing less will prove her worth to her coven or save her family.
To make matters worse, she finds herself bound against her will to Garrick the Red, a legendary bounty hunter with a secret that makes him not just her rival, but her bitter enemy. She does not need him to protect her—Koryn stands alone.
But when an adolescent dragon appears from the forest and declares herself Koryn’s familar, her understanding of the world begins to shift. Koryn’s choices do not just affect her, but all the residents of a dying, desperate land.
Faced with a devastating choice…
For every gate she conquers, Koryn’s world grows more precarious. A deadly warrior turned bonded protector and forbidden lover. An adolescent dragon entrusted to her care. A powerful male from her past calling in a debt she is not ready to pay. And vengeful gods who demand their due, and force the frost witch to choose—her coven, her love, her dragon… or her soul.
Emberly Ash returns with an all new dark romantasy series perfect for fans of Sadie Kincaid, Carissa Broadbent, and Raven Kennedy. THE FROST WITCH is an epic dark fantasy romance with enemies to lovers, multiple bonded love interests, witches, an adolescent dragon, slow-burn spice, found family, and an expansive world of gods, shifters, and blood magic. The heat builds with each installment in this trilogy—have a cold drink ready. This universe is not for the faint of heart.
Triggers: starvation, dystopian world, prostitution, anxiety, murder, profanity, references to past sexual assault (not MCs), explict sexual content, graphic depictions of death, violence, and torture.
Adam’s wife, Maryanne, vanished without trace whilst on holiday in southern France, more than two years ago. Unexpectedly, he receives an enigmatic message. It prompts him to return to the scene of her disappearance. His efforts to piece together what happened force him to reexamine their relationship, coupled with his feelings of guilt.
Retracing events that led to that fateful day, he soon learns that his return has not gone unnoticed, and his efforts to find Maryanne are far from welcome. Adam is joined in his search by Abigail, Maryanne’s daughter from a previous marriage. It is February. The mistral is battering the streets and dark corners of the ancient towns across this area of France.
As more of Maryanne’s past is revealed, the search, enmeshed in a world of intrigue and deceit, with its past rooted in antiquity, becomes increasingly dangerous. They discover that some will do anything to stop them from uncovering the final, terrifying truth.
Robert Cole trained as a clinical psychologist but spent most of his career within the corporate business world, both in the UK and overseas. He has held senior positions in Human Resources within a number of large global companies.
Mistral is his second novel and is a powerful and sweeping drama set amongst the vineyards and picturesque towns and villages of the Languedoc and Provence areas of the South of France.
His well-received first novel, A Breeze Across the Aegean published in 2020, draws on his affinity with Greece and its diverse islands. He is currently working on a sequel.
In addition to the UK he has lived in Singapore, Cyprus, the Netherlands and South Africa. Currently he divides his time between Surrey and Uzes in France.
My thoughts: The mistral is a fierce wind that batters parts of France in winter and spring, this ferocious weather makes it unlikely for many tourists to be visiting, so Adam stands out even more as he hunts for clues to his missing wife’s location. The strange postcard he received convinces him that she’s still alive and in the region. But no one he speaks to, especially the artist Jean, will admit to knowing anything.
He’s joined by Maryanne’s daughter, Abigail, she too has never given up hope of finding her mother. Together they search for her. Fragments of memory of Abigail’s childhood in Dublin, the people her artist grandmother hosted at her home, come back to her, and the pair wonder if there’s a connection.
Adam’s friend Caroline, who lives in the region, helps him, despite not being keen on Maryanne, and he worries that his wife’s history of mental illness and disappearances, including taking Abigail to a house not far from where she disappeared, as a child. They find that place, but it’s been abandoned.
As they look into the photographer Jean, and his strange brother, who both think they’ve seen before, a curious connection between Maryanne and the cult of Mary Magdalene emerges. Could this have something to do with her whereabouts?
Both Adam and Abigail risk their own lives to find out the truth and get answers to what became of Maryanne, why she vanished when she did and where she’s been for three long years. The police have stopped looking but Adam has never given up hope.
Clever, full of twists, shocking moments, obsession and darkness, as well as the terrifying wild boars, sangliers, who make their homes in the forests and mountains of this part of France, this was an enjoyable, if sinister read. Adam and especially Abigail are great protagonists, brave, resourceful and incredibly lucky.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of Hate to Haunt You this week with a tour! Follow along for reviews and other great content – #rrbtHatetoHauntYouTour
Hate To Haunt You (Afterlife Incorporated Book 2)
Release Date: June 16, 2025
Genre: Sapphic Urban Fantasy
Slow burn
Hurt/comfort
Ghosts
Grim reapers
You always haunt the ones you love.
First, I got stuck as a ghost in the suburbs of Toronto. Now my reaper roommate is dying. Dying! Reapers aren’t even supposed to get the sniffles.
Turns out, we’re connected, and I don’t just mean a shared love of pineapple on pizza. Kelly and I have a rare and dangerous bond that’s draining my favourite reaper’s very essence away. If we don’t figure out how to break the link, Kelly is headed for a permanent sabbatical.
Now we’re exploring creepy corners of Afterlife, making risky deals with paranormal weirdos, and—worst of all—I might be falling for the reaper I’m literally haunting to death.
Being dead has never been easy, and there’s no way in hell I’m facing it alone. It’s time to save Kelly, even if it means breaking my own heart in the process.
Hate to Haunt You is the second instalment in the Afterlife Incorporated urban fantasy trilogy. It cannot be read as a standalone. Kelly and Ember’s romance? Still a work in progress.
My thoughts: I loved the first book in this series and was so excited to read this, I fell off my bed when I opened the email with my copy attached! Honestly, I am that clumsy.
After the crazy events of book one things have started to improve in Afterlife, and Ember is bored of all the constant meetings to discuss things. She wants to start getting things done, but none of the reapers have signed up to help.
Luckily her roommates and Kelly, her personal reaper and friend, are there to keep her spirits up, they’ve even got a new cat, that hopefully isn’t secretly a god-like being (aren’t they all, at least in their own minds?)
But something is very wrong with Kelly and it might be the connection between ghost and reaper that’s causing it. Their journey to uncover the problem and find a solution will take them to all sorts of new (to Ember, anyway) parts of Afterlife, bring them face to face with a soul-sucking ghoul, and stretch their connection to its limits. Also Ember might be falling in love with Kelly, if that’s even possible.
I really enjoyed this secret outing for Ember, Kelly and their friends, which was definitely darker than book one, but really gave the characters room to grow, for us to see more of Afterlife, and set up book three (yes!) to be even more shocking and probably make me cry. Kelly’s apathy about what’s happening to them was a bit frustrating and I felt for Ember, trying to do everything she could to save her friend, with Jupiter and X trying to help, even though as living people there were places they couldn’t go. I think after however long Kelly has been undead (I don’t know how reapers see themselves) they’re just not sure how to react anymore.
Check out The Last Dragon of Oz, a Wizard of Oz reimagining by Whitney L. Spradling
The Last Dragon of Oz
Release Date: March 3, 2025
Genre: Fantasy/ Why Choose Romance
Why Choose
Fated Mates
Enemies to Lovers
MFMM
Spice
Multi POV
Ace Rep
Disability Rep
Italian Myth/Folklore
Light Mafia Vibes
Baby Dragon
Standalone
HEA
There is no place like home. And sometimes, home isn’t a place at all.
Daciana DeRosa is content to live her pampered life, spoiled by her father. But when she finds a baby dragon in her yard, in a world where magic has long since disappeared, she has no other choice but to team up with three unlikely allies.
Nicolai Morelli, the Tin Man, is from a rival family. He wants nothing to do with Daci, but his ties to Oz are the only way she can get the baby dragon back to its home.
Matteo Rossi, the Scarecrow, goes along for the ride. Always looking for adventure and fun, he doesn’t expect to find himself in such a serious and troubling situation.
Leith Morgan, the Cowardly Lion, keeps everyone at arm’s length. As they journey through Oz, he finds it harder to keep away from Daci.
Their journey to the Emerald City is fraught with adventure, dangers, magic, fate, and a growing connection none of them can ignore. As they travel down the yellow brick road, Daci learns she’s not as in control of her life as she once thought. But fighting fate turns out to be harder than it seems, and it’s a lesson all four of them must learn.
*The Last Dragon of Oz is a Wonderful Wizard of Oz re-imagining. It is a why choose romance, meaning the main character will end up with three men at the end of the book. Please check content warnings as some themes may not be suitable for all ages.
We have another amazing fantasy coming out this week! The Gloom Sundered by Dana C. Brentson! Get it June 17th!
The Gloom Sundered: A Tale of Celuthia
Release Date: June 17, 2023
Genre: Epic Fantasy/ Dystopian/ Why Choose
⚡️Ordinary MCs in a Magical World
⚡️Plus-size FMC
⚡️Golden Retriever MMC
⚡️Friends to Lovers
⚡️Why Choose Spicy Romance
⚡️Political Intrigue
⚡️Magic Storms
The Storm is rising.
The Gloom is destroying Vortheim. These storms of unpredictable magic ravage the continent, swallowing anything they touch. Isalie Wylshard is a Still, an ordinary woman meant to serve the Ambient—the only ones with magic to protect against the Gloom. But Isalie won’t fit into the mold they’ve made for her, choosing instead to follow her best friend as he pursues his dangerous calling, even though he’s never noticed she’s in love with him.
Jentien Themori’s calling is to save people, battling the twisted creatures that emerge from the Gloom. When the opportunity to track these volatile storms arises, he and Isalie don’t hesitate to join the team. They expected danger, but they didn’t expect to be caught inside a city lost to the Gloom.
Stills are going missing, the Ambients’ protection is wearing thin, and Isalie is in the eye of a new storm—one pitting Ambient against Still—that will determine the fate of an entire city.
At Prebbles Flying Circus, the daring Eliza Gray captivates audiences with her breathtaking feats on horseback. Yet beyond the applause, she harbours a longing to find the family she lost as a child and discover who she truly is.
Fate, however, takes an unexpected turn when Eliza is unceremoniously knocked down by a curricle driven recklessly by Raven, Earl Purfoy. Dazed but intrigued, she cannot help but notice Purfoy’s commanding presence.
For his part, the dashing lord, is mortified at his carelessness and resolves to assist the spirited yet intriguing young woman. He deposits her in the care of his dearest friends, Corinna and Alick Wolfe, who encourage Miss Gray in her search for her family and sponsor her entry into London society. The glittering balls and scurrilous gossip of the ton are a far cry from the circus ring and Eliza finds herself the subject of intense speculation and unwelcome advances.
As a most accidental debutante, Eliza has to navigate the complexities of high society and her new friendships. Her quest for family and belonging becomes perilously entwined with Zadoc Flynn, an American heir in search of an English bride, and the unfathomable Lord Purfoy.
Can Eliza uncover the truth of her past and the family she longs for? And will it be Mr Flynn or Lord Purfoy, or indeed her new female friends, who help her find her place in the world?
In a tale of courage, passion, and self-discovery, this lost orphan must decide where she truly belongs.
Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.
My thoughts: It was nice to be reunited with some of the characters from An Unsuitable Heiress (although this can be read as a standalone) as Eliza Grey runs away from the circus to society, rather than the usual way round.
Desperate to find out where she comes from and whether her family are looking for her, she flees the only home she knows and almost gets squashed by Earl Purfoy’s curricle as he races home late at night.
Rescued by the Earl and taken to the home of his best friends’ and neighbours’ the Wolfes, she finds herself with kind and generous people who offer her help and support. Corinna Wolfe, having had a similar search for family some years before (see An Unsuitable Heiress) understands Eliza’s desire for family and offers to help her as much as she can.
As Eliza searches and spends time with her new friends, she and Raven Purfoy are drawn to each other, but a rival in the form of American Zadoc Flynn offers to take her back with him to raise his race horses in Kentucky. Raven is so busy worrying about other things (stupid things tbqh) and almost misses the chance to tell Eliza how he feels.
As Eliza finally finds out where she comes from and some family she can connect with, will she return to the circus, head to America or become Countess Purfoy?
Romantic and with a bright and determined protagonist, who wants to make her own way in the world, not depend on kindness or take advantage, this is a Regency tale with modern sensibility. Very enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 