Cover Artist: Edward Bettison Secret powers Secrets coming to light Self-discovery Forced proximity Assassins Time travel (Soft) enemies to lovers True slow burn Corrupt government Found family Powerless office assistant Olivia Ramirez’s only desire is to stay safe in her pod—sixteen floors above a world where superpowers run amok and neon ads flash over ruined cities. When soldiers surround her building, the last person she expects them to hunt is her—the ex-telekinetic who blew up her future eight years ago when she accidentally triggered a deadly riot and lost her power.
Olivia escapes with a ragtag crew of bounty hunters—including Kaz, the team’s resident hothead and irritable ex-assassin. Their first heated run-in unleashes something new in her: powers she can’t control when Kaz is present. With every new power released against Kaz, one terrifying possibility emerges: she may be someone’s secret weapon sent to terminate him. Olivia’s not some juiced-up assassin, though. She’s an assistant! Right?
The only person who can help Olivia gain control and unravel the mystery behind her powers is the one man who thinks she’s plotting to kill him. Trusting Kaz won’t be easy. Trusting herself again might be even harder.
Rite of Unity Release Date: August 6, 2026 Genre: Dystopian
The Bachelor meets The Handmaid’s Tale
• Dystopian • Love Triangle • Morally Grey Love Interest • Deadly Trials • Forbidden Romance • Slow Burn • Oppressive Patriarchal Society • Arranged Matching • Deadly Trials • Not a traditional HEA • Standalone
You have until twenty-eight to be chosen. Marry or die.
In the Covenant States, marriage isn’t a choice. It’s a countdown. Every woman is watched, ranked, and evaluated until a man selects her or her time runs out.
Maryn Veil has always known the rules. She just never expected to be chosen by him.
When Elias Hale, the president’s son and the most powerful bachelor in the nation, selects her for his Rite of Unity, Maryn finds herself in a world of televised trials, formal balls, and twelve women competing for the same future. The prize is safety. The cost is everything she thought she was.
Elias is not what she expected. Thoughtful, genuine, and desperate to be better than his father, he’s the kind of man she could almost believe in. But someone else is watching from the shadows, and he sees Maryn far more clearly than she’s comfortable with.
As the trials tighten and the stakes become impossible to ignore, Maryn begins to understand that surviving the rite and surviving the Covenant are not the same thing. And that the most dangerous thing she can do, in a system built on compliance, is want something for herself.
Rite of Unity is a dystopian standalone with a slow-burn love triangle and a world where the wrong choice doesn’t just cost you everything. It erases you entirely.
We don’t often get mashups like Loman Master but we’re here for it! Dystopian mafia romance? Let’s go!
Loman Master
Release Date: March 20, 2026
Genre: Sci-Fi/ Dystopian/ Mafia Romance
Touch her and die energy
Forced proximity
Morally gray MMC
Possessive/Ruthless mob boss
Strong FMC but with amnesia
One bed
Who did this to you
Hurt/comfort
Contract marriage
Forced proximity
She doesn’t know who she is.
He’s a brutal mob boss.
Joon Ren maintains perfect, sadistic control of his planet Kryo… until he buys a young woman with amnesia from militants pursuing her. He names her Ha-Yun, and she turns into the eye of a deadly storm when his people object to her presence and a mysterious rival threatens Ren’s leadership.
Stubborn and resourceful, Ha-Yun struggles to recover her memory while working as Ren’s servant. Flashbacks of harrowing experiences come to her as she navigates his hostile world. Painful memories trickling back help her rediscover herself: her precise aim with throwing knives and her comprehensive weapons knowledge. As Ren’s competitors lash out she must choose between Ren’s obsessive protection and the traumatic past she escaped.
And she must choose soon. Kryo won’t wait for her to decide, and her past is close behind her.
We’re thrilled to announce the release of Viridian by Ashley R. O’Donovan! Get your copy today!
Viridian: The Demon and the Savior Book Two
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Genre: Dystopian Romantasy
Forbidden love
Russian mob vibes
Reluctant heroine
Ghost puppy sidekick
Supernatural abilities
Shatter Me meets Divergent but with ghosts
The dead don’t scare me.
But seeing my first love alive? That terrifies me.
The plan was simple. Kill Marco, rescue the Avids, and disappear with Malachi forever. Then Cade stepped back into my life and shattered everything I thought I knew.
He’s been part of Solace all along, working for the Syndicate, searching for me for years. But I’m not the girl he once loved. Marco’s pretty prison turned me into something darker, something that speaks to ghosts and has a hunger for revenge.
The Volkovs are planning something big, the Syndicate is crumbling from betrayal, and someone is playing both sides. With Aurora at my side and the Avids rising in rebellion, we have one chance to strike back.
Then a century-old secret surfaces that changes everything and has me questioning who to trust, what I’m fighting for, and who I even am. What if every choice brings me closer to becoming exactly what Marco wanted me to be—the demon they all fear?
Now I need help from the dead … before I end up joining them.
We’re proud to present the cover for Above the Ashes. A dark dystopian fantasy by K.M Lister!
Above the Ashes (Survivors of the Smoke #1)
Expected Release Date: January 12, 2026
Genre: Dark Dystopian Fantasy
🏜️Post-apocalypse
🔮Deadly curse
🖤Slow burn
🚫Can’t touch
🛏️Forced Proximity
💘He Falls First
✨Reluctant Allies
🧭The Quest
🤫Hidden truth
She’s running from her curse. He’s running from his past. Neither can outrun Fate.
In a ravaged world torn apart after The Darkest Day, Eleri Fos, the half-Fae, half-Witch Princess of The Underworld, finds herself stranded in the desolate Upperworld and cursed with a deadly touch. Eleri’s only hope is to journey East in search of a rumored entrance back to her realm. Along the way, she crosses paths with a wanted trio of humans—Kai Eogeum, a mysterious protector; Jaycen Ryuk, his troubled companion; and Rina Yarrow, a faithful young woman—who are on their own perilous mission. Despite the fear and distrust her heritage evokes in herself and others, Eleri gradually finds herself drawn into their quest. Feeling an inexplicable pull toward Kai, the group’s enigmatic leader, she struggles to conceal her deadly gift and true identity.
Kai Eogeum is a man burdened by his own secrets and a haunting past. Carrying the guilt of those secrets, Kai feels a connection to Eleri he doesn’t quite understand. As they navigate a landscape filled with danger—from cannibalistic foes to the search for a sinister figure known as The Siren—Kai must confront his growing feelings for the mysterious being in their midst.
Together, Eleri and Kai’s intertwined journeys reveal a deeper connection and a destiny that neither can deny. As they face old wounds and new revelations, they must decide whether their fragile alliance can withstand the truths that come to light and whether love can bloom even in a life defined by ruin and fear. The end of the world was only the beginning.
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.
Gethan Dick’s stunning debut is a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel, fizzing with energy, anger, fear and ultimately hope. Water in the Desert Fire in the Night will appeal to fans of Claire Kilroy, Megan Hunter and Cormac McCarthy.
Here is a novel about hope, wolves, companionship and resilience, hunger and gold. It’s about an underachieving millennial, a retired midwife and a charismatic Dubliner who set out from London after the end of the world to cycle to a sanctuary in the southern Alps.
It’s about packing light and choosing the right companions and trousers: what’s worth knowing, what’s worth living, and holding on to your sense of humour in moments big and small. It’s about the fact that the world ends all the time. It’s about what to do next.
GETHAN DICK was born in 1980 in Belfast and grew up in the west of Ireland. She moved to London for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. She then studied at Camberwell College of Art and shifted her creative practice towards text-based and co-created visual art. She moved to Marseille, France, where she has lived since 2011, working as one half of visual-arts duo gethan&myles with her partner, Myles Quin. They have two children, and in her spare time she swims, cycles, jumps off rocks into the sea or heads for the hills.
My thoughts: this was an interesting, thought provoking, funny, and thrilling book about what to do after the end of the world. Four people who live in the same street in Streatham, South London, meet properly for the first time after a mysterious illness has wiped out much of humanity and many animals. Society has collapsed and most of what we rely on has vanished.
Our narrator, Anduz, was raised by her communist parents in Cuba, before they moved to the UK, she’s a fascinating character, fluent in Spanish and German as well as English, she’s the funny, wry observer and protagonist. Joining her are retired midwife Sarah, stoner philosopher Pressure Drop, originally from Dublin, and Adi, who doesn’t quite believe the world he knew has gone.
Sarah has friends in France, living in a place that’s self-sufficient and safe, they just have to get there first. So on bikes with panniers packed full of essentials, the foursome set off, first for the coast to find someone who will sail them to France, and then across the country to their new home.
They meet with many different people along the way, some more welcoming than others, all just trying to survive. There are high points and terrible low ones, fear, love, friendship, community, violence, wild animals and heartbreak.
Through it all we see the relationship between the characters as they travel, evolve and strengthen. They must depend on each other at times for their survival. Their disparate skills and knowledge all that keeps them alive and moving forward.
I really enjoyed this book, I think it’s one that will stay with me for a while after reading, little thoughts popping up every now and then, moments from the book, things my brain is quietly weighing up in the background drifting through. For a first time writer, it’s an accomplished and intelligent debut and deserves to go far.
*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 Never Bound by Everly Claire! You can read it now on Kindle Unlimited and grab book one in the series for only $0.99!
Never Bound (The Unchained) Publication Date: April 25, 2025 Genre: Dark Dystopian/Forbidden Romance
💀Enemies to Lovers
💔 Who did this to you? (Her to HIM!)
🌑 Dark dystopian world
👑 Rich, naive good girl x her dad literally OWNS him!
🔥 Whips & chains & cuffs, oh my (mostly the bad kind 😈)
🕰️ Slow Burn
📇 He has no name, just a number (really!)
❌ They’re literally not allowed to touch!
👊 Touch her & you’re gonna 💀 (twice)
🎭 Plotting, scheming, twists and reversals!
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In an alternate 2025, our world is built on the backs of slaves. Louisa is the daughter of the enemy who’s become my master, and I’m not even allowed to look at her, let alone touch her.
But I’ve already done way more than that. By day, they make me scrub floors and weed the garden. By night, I ignite her in dark basements and secret rooms.
She used to think slaves weren’t people, but I’ve opened her eyes to the horror of her world, and there’s no going back.
But I’m here on a mission to find my sister. And Louisa is about to discover that when I charmed my way into her bed, it wasn’t just because I wanted her. It was because I wanted something from her.
But now? I do want her. Forever, preferably. But the world thinks I belong in a cage, and I’ve got new enemies determined to put me in one. They’re plotting to blow our secret right out of the water. In this snake pit, neither of us knows who to trust.
But when they go after Louisa, I’ll prove that even though I’m a slave, she belongs to me in every way that matters — even if it costs me everything I’ve fought for.
NEVER BOUND, book 2 in a dark dystopian forbidden romance series THE UNCHAINED, picks up where Never Broken left off. The books must be read in order. Never Bound ends on a hard cliffhanger and picks up in Never Lost, scheduled for release in summer 2025. Together, all three books form a complete arc with a guaranteed HEA.
Never Broken: books2read.com/u/3yJBwV Never Bound: books2read.com/u/mdx2v5
Welcome to the tour for Covalence, the first book in a new YA Dystopian series by Andie L. Smith! Fans of Divergent, The Giver, and The Uglies will love this one!
Covalence (The Bonded Series #1)
Publication Date: October 2024
Genre YA Dystopian
Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Forbidden romance
He fell first
Ensemble cast
Girls in STEM
Strong FMC
Seventeen-year-old Mineral Vyotto always planned on running away from the City and its annual Covalence Ceremony-a tradition forcing her to Bond with another of her Kind. In a hidden cavern outside the City gates, she starts collecting parts and Building a plane so she can bolt before the Ceremony takes place.
But when Covalence is moved up and she’s almost caught by the Officials, Mineral finds herself and her fate at the hands of Amory Thames-an arrogant, opinionated Orderly with powerful parents who could ruin her chance at freedom. With only four weeks to escape the City before the Ceremony, Mineral and Amory must work together to find a way out-even if it means keeping Society’s biggest secret to themselves and putting the lives of everyone they love at risk.
Ruth is a law-abiding elder, working out her national service, but she has secrets. Her tireless research into the disease that killed her young daughter had an unexpected outcome: the discovery of a vaccine against old age. Just one jab a year reverses your biological clock, guaranteeing a long, healthy life.
But Ruth’s cure was hijacked by her colleague, Erik Grundleger, who hungers for immortality, and the SuperJuve – a premium upgrade – was created, driving human lifespan to a new high. The wealthy elite who take it are dubbed Supers, and the population begins to skyrocket. Then, a perilous side-effect of the SuperJuve emerges, with catastrophic consequences, and as the planet is threatened, the population rebels, and laws are passed to restore order: life ends at 120. Supers are tracked down by Omnicide investigators like Mara … and executed…
Mara has her own reasons for hunting Supers, and she forms an unlikely alliance with Ruth to find Grundleger. But Grundleger has been working on something even more radical and is one step ahead, with a deadly surprise in store for them both…
Eve Smith writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her.
Longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize and described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut novel, The Waiting Rooms, set in the aftermath of an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award and was a Book of the Month in the Guardian, who compared her writing to Michael Crichton’s.
It was followed by Off-Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine, and ONE, about survival in a world ravaged by climate change.
Eve’s previous job at an environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places. She lives in Oxfordshire with her family.
My thoughts: Eve Smith likes to write books that give you the creeps, and this one is no different. Scientists have discovered a “cure” to ageing, essentially to death, but of course there’s an evil scientist and his billionaire backers who want to live forever – even if it does send you psychotic and mean you have to be put down by law enforcement like a rabid raccoon.
Ruth was one of those scientists, but she was searching for a cure for a rare disease, one that killed her own daughter, not eternal youth. A colleague took her formula and now chaos. Those who can afford it extend their lives, while those who can’t continue to die at the same rate. There is hatred from the have-nots that spills over into violence as poverty sky rockets, resources are stretched to their utter limits. New rules are introduced to manage resources and keep the world turning, but the rogue scientists are still out there and more dangerous than ever.
Teaming up with an investigator, Mara, Ruth heads to Jamaica on the trail of her nemesis. He supposedly died with the rest of his team in an explosion, but they’ve recently learnt that’s not true, and a sighting of one of his associates, has them on the move.
They will learn the extreme lengths this dangerous man has gone to and fight for their lives, and the future of humanity.
And I will have nightmares. Because honestly, if this was a real thing, I can easily imagine certain individuals being very keen on this and wrecking utter havoc with it. More so than they already are.
It was a really good read, but not a particularly settling one. So be prepared.
*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 