10 Self-Publisher Buchtipps | Top Ten Thursday №83

Richie hat die Schnauze voll.
Immer hat er sich an die Regeln gehalten, das Leben gab ihm trotzdem nichts. Er beschließt, es selbst in die Hand zu nehmen und seinem Leben ein bisschen auf die Sprünge zu helfen: er beklaut eine Tankstelle und flüchtet mit gut vierzehntausend Euro sowie einem geklauten Auto Richtung Süden.
Dumm nur, dass auf der Rückbank des Autos Leon schläft ...

Eine Geschichte über Selbstliebe und Freundschaft und darüber, dass es manchmal auch okay ist, wenn es nicht so läuft, wie man immer dachte, dass es laufen würde.

This is the story of how monsters saved their corner of the world. Whether they deserve to be saved is another story.

For years, High Seer Aurienne has lived with a single haunting truth—her visions will not save her people from the prophesied apocalyptic war that’s always haunted her nightmares. That all changes the day blacksmith Theo saves her life. She foresees Theo’s destiny to gather the continent’s five warring nations to stand against the invading forces. Suffering the soul-rending consequences of spirit necromancy, Aurienne finds herself fighting to survive a deadly web of assassination attempts, mind-shattering visions, and ruinous betrayal.

Theo cannot refuse when Aurienne asks for his help to save their people. He travels the length of the continent facing timeworn superstitions coming to life as he asks neighboring nations to join their cause. Refusing to let down the woman he is falling in love with—even though the fates whisper she will never love him back—he assembles an army of rebels fighting to retain their humanity as the corrupted magic of the land transforms them into the monsters of legend.

Saving the world does not come without cost. Standing against the conquering emperor, backed by his bloodthirsty goddess and moon-cursed army, Aurienne and Theo must decide whether to unleash forces more monstrous than the enemy they’re fighting against.

For the Shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down the deep well . . .

After decades of civil war, the Via Sancta has declared victory over humanity’s basest instincts. Anger, hatred and greed are suppressed by intricate Marks on the skin. Wards have tamed the wild psychic magic of the ley. Four of the six cities still stand, and if a few rebel Nightmages haunt the ruins of the other two, the Church has dismissed them as toothless.

Alexei Bryce is a priest in the storm-wracked southern capital of Novostopol. He hunts deviants whose Marks have inverted, driving them mad. When a prominent doctor violently turns, Alexei stumbles across a conspiracy at the highest levels of the Via Sancta. The trail leads to Kasia Novak, a tarot reader with dangerous secrets of her own. The cards say their fates are intertwined — but only if the threads aren’t snapped short.

Now the ley is rising again. A Nightmage has infiltrated the city, bent on finding Kasia. And Alexei discovers that his faith’s victory over the darkest recesses of the human soul is more fragile than he imagined.

What is your deepest desire? Money? Power? Revenge? Lust? I’ll give to you.

Malach is many things. Corrupter of the pious. Survivor of the Via Sancta’s bloody campaigns. Implacable enemy of all it stands for. He’s primal desire made flesh, and the thing he wants most is a child. Half-bloods are fragile creatures, but if this one survives, it will be monster, a savior — or both.

Society, suitors, and…serial murders?

As much as she desires to please her family, gently-bred herbalist Jessa Caldwell has no intention of making a suitable match—not when she’s seeking the truth about the taint of the fae that lies within her. If she’s to escape the madness brought on by fae-touch, she must devote her energies to seeking a cure.

But then mysterious tattoos begin to appear on the citizens of Avons. None recall receiving these harbingers of death, but all die at the hand of an untraceable killer days or weeks after being marked.

When the tattoo appears on her beloved mentor, Jessa seeks the Magistry with information on the case—yet they refuse to consider her findings, so she must risk both social censure and her own safety to hunt for the killer herself.

Her one possible ally represents her greatest fear—the encroaching Otherworld consuming her mind—and may well undo all her efforts to control her fae-touch. Yet if she forsakes the offered aid, the killer will go free.

Something sinister stalks the streets of her city, and she must decide…how far will she go to stop the killing?

Tattoo of Crimson, a gaslamp fantasy novel, is the first book in the Blood of the Fae series. If you like quick-minded heroines who solve cases with logic and intuition, beautiful yet deadly fae, and Otherworldly intrigues, then you’ll love this mystery set in a world of manners and mythical monsters.

Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

They stole his crown, so he stole their daughter…

For years Erik, the scarred king of the Ever Kingdom, has thought of nothing but vengeance against the man who killed his father and trapped him beneath the waves, making him a prisoner in his own realm.

Until his enemy’s daughter unintentionally breaks the chains on the Ever, and Erik makes her the unwitting pawn in his vicious game of revenge.

She’s innocent. He’s vicious. But he will take back what he lost, no matter the price.

Unless she steals his heart first.

Welcome to the passionate world of the Ever Kingdom where pirates, sirens, and fae collide with Vikings in a dark fantasy romance between a villain and the innocent princess who holds his heart.

A doomed love, a dangerous mission, and a kingdom on the brink of war...
A cast-off princess…

Born into a life of duty and sacrifice, Morgan Pendragon’s destiny has never been her own. Rumored to carry the tainted blood of the fae in her veins, her birthright is stolen from her when she is a mere child. Growing up in the shadow of her brother the king, she has been promised to the goddesses when she comes of age. So, when her brother commands that she seek out a fae weapon of legendary power, Morgan seizes the chance to break free from the chains of her fate.

A dangerous temptation…

As she travels, Morgan finds herself drawn into a strange group of outcasts, led by a dark and enigmatic warrior whose sharp wit and fierce beauty set her heart ablaze. But while Morgan struggles to reconcile her desires with her duty, she and her new comrades discover dangers that await them beyond anything in their wildest nightmares.

A slumbering kingdom awoken by blood…

Believed to have vanished generations ago, a fae kingdom dreaded by mortals is ascending once more, bound to reclaim what was lost by violence and bloodshed. As the fae world, with its intricate web of lies and mysteries, is slowly revealed to Morgan, she is led to the terrible realization that the secrets she carries in her blood make her a greater threat than she could ever have imagined.

The first in an action-packed new series brimming with magic, danger, and spellbinding slow-burn romance, Queen of Roses is perfect for fans of Holly Black, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Sarah J. Maas.

In the Kingdom of Kaloma, women are forced to marry by the age of 26. It’s the law.

In the remote village of Sevens, at the northernmost point of the kingdom, there lives an impoverished family with four daughters and a son. Without the means to make love matches, the daughters are trapped by their circumstances.

When one daughter discovers a golden key deep in the Whitling Woods, it may have the power to change everything...

Auri Fareview, practical and realistic, does what she can to serve her family. When she finds a golden key that could be the answer she needs to save her sisters from the unjust Kaloma Marriage Laws, she discovers the treasure might be more than she bargained for. Enchanted, it doesn’t just come with a price attached, it’s also home to an imprisoned god, who wreaks havoc on her body, her heart, and her soul. And those aren’t practical matters. He has the power to break her.

Nixus Uraiahs has lost track of how long he’s been imprisoned by the spell on the key. There have been six key-keepers, all of whom have failed to break the spell to free him, and Nix knows he’s the reason why they haven’t. So, he will hold this 7th key-keeper accountable to the bargain of the spell: three wishes and a price for each. There’s no hope in her freeing him, however. Nix knows she'll be like all the key-keepers who came before her. Except Auri approaches her wishes differently than any of the others, and Nix begins to see her as more than just a key-keeper. She intrigues him, proving her strength, surprising him, and enchanting him. Though he’s entrapped by the enchantment placed on the key, Nix realizes his heart is at risk of being captured by the seventh key-keeper. That is a risk he can’t afford to take knowing his villainy is just a single wish away.

"Stay away from him," people said.
"He's cruel."
"He's cold."
"He's damaged."

It's easy to judge a man because of his past. To look at Tristan and see a monster.

But I couldn't do that. I had to accept the wreckage that lived inside of him because it also lived inside of me.

We were both empty. We were both looking for something else. Something more. We both wanted to put together the shattered pieces of our yesterdays.

Then perhaps we could finally remember how to breathe.

Adeline Refaire never had to save a life before. But until she can successfully protect a young boy, she's stuck repeating the same Tuesday. And when this shopkeeper with a gift falls for the boy's half-brother, it puts more than her mission in danger.

Christopher Reynolds just needed coffee. His spontaneous search for caffeine was meant to be a distraction from a twenty-year-old cold case. But the no-nonsense crime blogger can't figure out why he finds Adeline so intriguing, or why visiting her store fills him with dread.

When Adeline discovers that Christopher’s mystery and her looping Tuesday are related, she must earn his trust to break the cycle. But as their attraction grows and they uncover the truth, it leads to risks that could break her heart. Or worse, leave her stuck in time forever.

Root of Time and Treasure is the first book in the Enchanted Elements fantasy romance series filled with pirates, mythic creatures, and New Orleans flair. If you like time loops, insta-love, and opposites attract low-steam romances then you’ll adore JB Lassalle’s exciting new world.