We love a good cozy fantasy and we highly recommend you check out Diffidence and the Rift by Amy Crook! You can now find it at your favorite retailer!
Diffidence and the Rift
Release Date: May 29, 2025
Genre: Cozy Fantasy/ MM Romance
MM romance
Half-orc/human
Crushes to lovers
Open-door spice
Found family
Unusual magic
Fiber arts
Lots of tea, this book will make you hungry
Diffidence Obedience Atonement Smythe is a grad student who prefers to never use his full name. Ever. He’s finishing a Ph.D. in Extemporaneous Magic, and his research project for his dissertation is closing the Rift between worlds that he accidentally opened when he was thirteen. Obviously, caffeine is an important part of his life.
Ergi Thusol-Von Klempt is a half-orc who works in the infamous Goblin Market, selling magical pastries to those who need them – or, in Diff’s case, just want them. He’s got bubblegum-pink hair, lovely lilac skin, and a smile like sunshine, at least if you ask Diff. Ergi is intrigued by his frazzled, but handsome, frequent customer.
The Goblin Market is a magical space that anyone can find if they truly need it, and most people visit once or twice if at all. Diff is there several times a week as he untangles the layered mysteries of the Rift, and has had years to develop his crush on Ergi.
In this cozy urban fantasy, Diff and Ergi find some solutions to life’s problems in the Market, along with the courage to talk to each other.
Diff might even find a future beyond the Rift that has consumed over a decade of his life.
❄️Monster x mortal
🔥Primal
❄️Daddy kink
🔥Age gap
❄️Revenge
🔥Temperature play
❄️Fated mates
🔥Double peened monster
❄️Touch my mate and 💀
🔥Forest witchery
❄️Breeding and knotting
Jack
I’m a monster, a beast, a creature of shadow and legend, something children are warned about while they snuggle up by the cozy fire. I am cold, frigid, lifeless death. I’m Jack Frost.
Cursed to an eternity of wandering the woods, reaping the souls of worthless humans once every year, my existence is bathed in blood and isolation. Until her — my litill snær. Her presence in my woods brings light to the dead of Winter for the first time in a long time. But could she truly learn to love a beast?
Elisa
I hate Christmas. All these cheery, happy, nuclear families huddled around the fire make me nauseous. It’s a time to celebrate with the ones you love. But everyone I loved died, leaving me alone. Which is why I decided to travel this year for the holidays. I thought that getting away for a while might help bring some holiday cheer back into my life.
I’ve never been more wrong. Now I’m stranded half way around the world with a man I’ve never met, isolated in a snowed-in cabin. And there’s something out there, something lurking in the shadows of the woods, something watching me.
Frost is a dark Christmas story featuring a monster that falls for a mortal. While the story does end with a sweet HEA, the path there is bathed in blood. Proceed with caution.
We’re celebrating the release of The Shadowless this week! Make sure to grab a copy of this beauty right away!
The Shadowless (At the corner of Eden and Darkness Book One)
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Genre: Dark Romantasy
🥀 Modern faery tale vs real-life suspense
🥀 White and black magic
🥀 Family dysfunction
🥀 Hidden realms
🥀 He falls first
🥀 Twists and turns
Mae Dawson returns to her family’s cabin to look for her missing sister. One night, she goes to sleep only to awaken in the depths of the woods surrounded by eerie and indiscernible voices, which lead her to her sister’s grave.
Trying to piece her life back together, Mae juggles college and a romance with her best friend-turned-boyfriend, Benji. Yet, everything unravels when strange late-night calls come from beyond, and a malevolent force begins to invade her friends.
Adding to her unease is the presence of a mysterious stranger, Brandon Sills, who seems to lurk in the shadows, watching her every move. Despite the warning bells ringing in her mind, Mae feels an inexplicable attraction to him.
As mortal and magical forces conspire against her, Mae must trust Brandon to uncover the secrets of the fae—secrets that could change her life forever, if she is able to survive.
We have a fantastic book recommendations for you all today and a chance to win a copy of your own!
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light
Release Date: September 2022
Genre: NA Dark Fantasy/ Gaslamp Fantasy
✨Magic
✨LGBTQ+ Rep
✨Morally Grey Characters
✨Betrayals
✨An Exiled Prince
✨Assassins
✨High-Stakes Fantasy
✨Multiple POVs
✨Political intrigue
Four magicians abuse their magic to gain power in a corrupt Victorian inspired world.
In the Kingdom of Verchiél only a handful of people known as Incarnate can use magic. Equally feared and respected, they are revered as saints and indulged like gods. But the sudden deaths of Verchiél’s rulers unleashes a power struggle between four Incarnate, each seeking power to fulfil their own desires.
Gabriel, a charismatic socialite who takes darker paths to avoid slipping back into powerlessness.
Zoe, the daughter of a disgraced merchant, determined to carve a new path for her life.
Niklas, an exiled prince trying to escape the ghosts of his past.
Silje, an assassin who will stop at nothing until she’s seized the adoration she has always been denied.
Infighting and betrayal run rampant as each becomes worse than their problems in order to solve them.
We’re celebrating the release of All the Dark Souls by A.M. Dunnewin, the first book in a new COMPLETED trilogy!
All the Dark Souls (The Dark Souls Trilogy #1)
Release Date: November 11, 2025
Genre: Dark Gothic Romantasy
Strong FMC
Morally grey MMC
Found family
Slow burn
He falls first
Gothic romance
The first book in a new trilogy set in the same world as The Benighted Saga.
Joss Brevyn is the last heir in a long line of executioners. Although a woman, the same rules still apply: kill the condemned within three tries, or be tortured and killed. Joss has yet to miss her mark, and even though she spends her free time as a healer, the town views her only as a deathsman. So when she and her assistant, Henrik, stumble upon a beaten man on the way home, both are hesitant to reveal who they really are. The only problem is, so is he.
Aric Kayden has seen better days. After failing to assassinate his last victim, he’s left bleeding on the side of the road until he’s found and taken in by Joss and Henrik, two seemingly innocent locals. Healing from his wounds, Aric is still haunted by the target he didn’t kill, especially by those who paid him. Despite the undeniable attraction between him and Joss, Aric can’t bring himself to tell the truth: that the masked figures who hired him knows where he is, and his original target is the mysterious prisoner who was recently sentenced to death. Forced to uphold the deal, Aric’s only job now is to make sure the execution goes as planned and eliminate whoever intervenes.
Bound by their duties, both Joss and Aric assume this next kill will be easy. But then one of them has a change of heart, sparking a chain reaction that could leave one-or both-of them dead.
We’re thrilled to announce that The Fortune Games by Mira Specter is now available, perfect for fans of morally grey love interests, rivals with insane chemistry, and high-stakes secrets!
The Fortune Games
Release Date: November 27, 2025
Genre: Romantic Thriller/ New Adult
Rivals to lovers
Love Triangle
Elite university
Slow burn tension
Toxic attraction
Secrets and lies
“Sexy. Unputdownable. Viciously funny.”
A razor-sharp romantic mystery about money, mayhem, and the price of ambition — perfect for fans of Nightshade and Legally Blonde.
They say all fortunes come with a curse. I should’ve believed them.
A few days ago, I was just Vera: law student, scholarship kid, newest intern at the prestigious Saidi firm. I had plans, ambition, and the perfect date lined up with the campus golden boy.
Then I woke up to find a suitcase full of money at the foot of my bed—and a note. I had seventy-two hours to spend it all and leave no trace… or risk losing everything.
At first, I thought it was a joke. Then strange things started happening. Secret clubs I was somehow connected to. Questions I couldn’t answer. A high-society family with a dark past. And then there were them:
Bastian Saidi—my boss’s infuriating, dangerously magnetic nephew, whose smile hides more secrets than his family fortune. And Enzo Woods—charming, elusive, and far too good at making trouble look beautiful.
Somewhere between expensive dinners, sleepless nights, and impossible choices, I started to realise the truth: this isn’t a prank. It’s a test—one that could destroy me, or make me into something else entirely.
Because in this world, money is never free, and love might be the most expensive thing of all… after the price we pay for our lies, of course.
This sharp, darkly hilarious romantic thriller is perfect for readers who love morally grey love interests, rivals with insane chemistry, high-stakes secrets, billionaire drama, and heroines who are a little too smart for their own good.
A love that will change them forever A treasure that will bring them home
West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen’s settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.
Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.
Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather’s farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.
Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their own reality.
As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history.
Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip/dual time and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a Vice President and former chairman and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. RIPPLES THROUGH TIME (dual time historical romance published by Headline Review 21st November 2025) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).
My thoughts: I really enjoy these dual timeline romances, this one set in early Britain during the time of the Saxons and Viking raids and modern day Herefordshire.
As farmer Noah and his neighbour Alix grow closer and search for the missing hoard of gold that his sister and her rubbish boyfriend stole from his land, in 873, Viking raider Eirik is injured and healer Merewen helps him and takes him back to her village, where her father is in charge.
The two couples, separated by hundreds of years, are similar in many ways, they are all good, genuine people who deserve happiness and good fortune. Noah works hard, looks after his sheep and is a good neighbour, Alix has been disappointed in love, and having moved to Hereford to be nearer her grandfather and start again. Eirik is also starting over, having been left for dead by his uncle, Merewen is another hard worker, acting as healer to her community and dealing with her jealous sister.
A necklace Alix’s grandfather gives her seems to connect to the past, both she and Noah have seen glimpses of another life, and are both confused and fascinated by this. Noah’s farm seems to be the same place the Eirik and Merewen meet, the land contains an ancient stone structure, which acts as a conduit between time periods.
*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 thrilled to announce the release of Sage Haven by Paige Alexandria! This is the first book in The Black Sigil of Naphal series!
Sage Haven (The Black Sigil of Naphal)
Release Date: November 19, 2025
Genre: Dark Romance
• Dual-POV
• First in a Series
• Forced Proximity
• Forbidden Love
• Secret Pasts/Secret Society
• Trauma Recovery/Mental Health Rep
• Morally Gray MMC
• Captor/Captive Dynamic/Kidnapping
• Dark Romance
• Slow Burn
• BDSM
• Music as a Healing Element
• Redemption Arc
• He Calls Her “Wildflower”
SAGE
I ran to disappear. Providence was supposed to be a quiet and untouched place. A fresh start. But then I met Reich Davidian.
Nothing escapes his gaze. Every word from his lips is a blade. And even as instinct begs me to turn away, something in me keeps finding its way back to him.
But I know that every storm hides a calm at its core. And I think I’ve found his.
The only question is if it will be the end of me.
REICH
I was made to destroy monsters. But she isn’t one of them. Instead, she’s the complication that could ruin everything.
Sage Holquinn is untamed, broken, and reckless enough to trespass on my property without realizing whose territory she’s stepped into. I should’ve turned her away. But distance is no longer an option.
She thinks she’s escaping the darkness.
She doesn’t realize she’s running straight into mine.
A sweeping tale of secrets and survival set against the mystical backdrop of Nepal, and the tropical heat of 1940s Malaya.
In the heart of bustling Kathmandu, Chloe Rai’s quaint bookshop is a sanctuary for those seeking solace within the pages of timeworn stories. But when she discovers a collection of letters hidden within the crumbling walls of a forgotten Rana palace, her world begins to intertwine with a narrative from a different time and place.
Penned in the 1940s by a woman named Alice Lacey, the letters tell the story of the Malayan Emergency, a time of turmoil and conflict. As Alice’s life becomes intertwined with that of Anil, a Gurkha officer, their bond is tested by the chaos and violence surrounding them. Chloe’s discoveries not only reveal family secrets, but also mirror her own struggles in the present. As she delves deeper into Alice’s story, she begins to understand the power of the past in shaping the present.
With a rich cultural backdrop and a poignant exploration of friendship, resilience, and truth, ‘The Bookseller of Kathmandu’ is a beautifully woven tale that showcases the enduring power of storytelling. Join Chloe on a journey through time as she uncovers the truth and learns to navigate the complexities of her own life.
If you enjoy captivating storytelling, then you won’t want to miss ‘The Bookseller of Kathmandu.’ And if you loved ‘The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu,’ then you will be enthralled by Chloe and Alice’s intertwined stories…
Ann Bennett is a British author of historical fiction. Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s Quest, was inspired by researching her father’s experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and by her own journey to uncover his story. It won the Asian Books Blog prize for fiction published in Asia in 2015, and was shortlisted for the best fiction title in the Singapore Book Awards 2016.
That initial inspiration led her to write more books about WWII in Southeast Asia – Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife, A Daughter’s Promise, Bamboo Road: The Homecoming, The Tea Planter’s Club, The Amulet, and The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu. Along with The Lotus House, published in October 2024, they make up the Echoes of Empire Collection.
Ann is also the author of The Oriental Lake Collection – The Lake Pavilion and The Lake Palace, both set in British India during the 1930s and WWII, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, set in French Indochina.
The Runaway Sisters, USA Today bestselling The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home and The Forgotten Children are set in Europe during the same era and are published by Bookouture.
Her latest book, The Stolen Sisters, published on 29th November 2024 is the follow-up to The Orphan List (published by Bookouture in August this year) and is set in Poland and Germany during WWII.
A former lawyer, Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and lives in Surrey, UK. For more details, please visit her website.
Giveaway to Win a Paperback copy of Fortune Teller of Kathmandu (Open to UK and Europe only)
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story of love told through letters and a diary, hidden inside a beautiful old palace in Kathmandu. Chloe runs a bookshop, and her husband’s second cousin Rajesh comes to see her, asking if she would take his late father’s books. Inside one of these volumes is a letter from a British woman, Alice, to Anil, Rajesh’s father, a former Gurkha who had been stationed in what was then British Malaya, now Malaysia.
As Chloe looks through the books, she finds more letters, and when Rajesh finds his father’s diary, they piece together a love story set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency.
Reflecting on Alice’s life, Chloe works through some of the issues of her own, and as they unravel the secrets of the past, forms a friendship with Rajesh, helping him learn more about his often distant father.
Enjoyable, moving and with a rather lovely ending, this was an interesting love story that illuminated a time not taught in history lessons, at least not in mine, and brings both modern Kathmandu and 1950s Malaysia to life.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
**Terms and Conditions –UK and Europe entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.**
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.
ramblingmads 