Her Forgotten Sea

After saving the life of a handsome human, Arielle becomes fascinated with life on land, willing even to trade her mermaid fins for legs. To be human for more than a year and a day, she must marry her true love, and she must give up all memory of her past. Accepting this, she is stranded on the Brighton beach, where she is found and adopted by a pair of spinsters. She adapts to her new life, until one evening in a crowded ballroom she meets a handsome man she recognizes. She doesn’t know who he is or how she knows him, but she senses that at one time she loved him…

Lord Patrick Alexander loves his eldest brother, truly he does. But how can it be fair that the Duke of Marsham gets everything without asking, including the admiration of every young lady he meets? Lord Patrick wouldn’t begrudge him that if his brother’s admirers didn’t include Miss Arielle Farley, the most unexpected and charming girl he’s ever met.

Can Arielle unravel the duke’s connection to her past and marry her true love in time? And can Lord Patrick win over the girl of his dreams instead of coming in second place to his brother yet again?

Enjoy this YA retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” set in a Regency England where Faeries are real and magic is an acceptable accomplishment for young ladies.

Her Forgotten Sea is available October 10, 2023, from Amazon and your favorite bookstore or library!

The Beast’s Magician

With her father’s estate entailed, Isabelle Morton has but two options for securing her future: marriage or becoming a governess. Having no interest in her village’s most eligible bachelor, she’s prepared to choose the latter, until she receives an unexpected job offer involving magic, books, and best of all, no spoiled children.

Thomas Hughes, the reclusive Duke of Harborough, has an ulterior motive for hiring his beautiful new magician. To break the Faerie curse that stole his own magic and hideously transformed him, he needs to fall in love. But with claws and fangs, he can hardly look for a wife in a London ballroom.

Can Isabelle see past the fur and the fangs to save the man beneath? Is the monstrous duke even worth saving?

Enjoy this YA retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” set in a Regency England where Faeries are real and magic is an acceptable accomplishment for young ladies.

The Beast’s Magician is available July 18, 2023, from Amazon and your favorite bookstore or library!

Her Fae Secret

Eleanor Maybury and her sisters have spent the last five years secretly dancing in Faerie every Seventh Night. Now they’ve come to London for a debut Season in hopes of finding a good match. But the Faerie Queen’s invitation will end as soon as they get engaged. Could Eleanor possibly fall deeply enough in love to choose marriage over their precious visits to Faerie?

Due to the restoration of peace, James Weston has returned to England after seven years of service as a magician in the Royal Navy. He isn’t looking for a wife; he’s looking for a new career path. But he can’t deny that Eleanor is everything he’s ever wanted and more.

Can their love survive her family’s secret?

Enjoy this YA retelling of Grimm’s “Twelve Dancing Princesses,” set in a Regency London where Faeries are real and magic is an acceptable accomplishment for young ladies.

Her Fae Secret is available April 18, 2023, from Amazon and your favorite bookstore or library!

The Thunderstone Theft

The Minister of the Treasuries has been brutally stabbed. Unfortunately for Miss Ella Highmoore’s godfather, the murder happened right on his doorstep, and now he’s the primary suspect. Ella knows her godfather is innocent, and she resolves to solve the crime and clear his name. A chance meeting with a young man named Charlie sets them both on the path to adventure and romance as they take on the challenge together. But Charlie has a secret, and when the truth comes out on the night of the prince’s ball, it looks like the end of their relationship. Ella is determined, however, that it won’t be the end of her investigation. She seeks the last few clues on her own, winding up in grave danger at the hands of the killer, and only Charlie knows enough about the case to rescue her.

Join the unstoppable Miss Ella Highmoore on the streets of Messene, a city based loosely on historical Regency London.

The Thunderstone Theft is available on January 10, 2023, from Amazon and from your favorite bookstore or library!

Undone

She must destroy the most powerful magical object of the age… or the dragons will destroy her family.

Four hundred years ago, a hero with an enchanted sword defended the kingdoms from increasingly violent dragons. Their numbers decimated, the dragons forged a treaty with the fairies to entrap the Dragon-killer and destroy the sword. But fairies are nothing if not treacherous…

The sword, as powerful and dangerous as ever, has fallen again into the claws of the dragons. In return for their help rescuing her sister, Zia has rashly promised to destroy it. Unfortunately, she has no idea how.

Together with her sister Meri and the all-knowing Talking Dog, Zia must find a way to finish off the sword for good, navigating fairies, wizards, love, magic, and another unwanted prophecy. If she doesn’t, she’ll never see her parents or younger siblings again…

This is the third and final book in the completed Charmwood Chronicles trilogy, which should be read in order. The two previous books are Sabryn and Firstborn.

Firstborn

When fifteen-year-old Zia’s cursed and exiled older sister reappears only to be captured by the fairies, Zia is determined to use her magic and join the rescue. But between visions, prophecies, infuriated dragons, and a sword that shouldn’t exist, Zia may be getting into more than she bargained for.

This is the second book in the Charmwood Chronicles trilogy. While it can be read without reading the previous book, Sabryn gives helpful background. Because this is the middle book in a trilogy, several things are left unresolved until the final book, Undone, coming September 13, 2022.

Books I’ve Read: 2021

In 2021 I read a lot. But most of that was bingeing sweet romances and cozy mysteries, not MG and YA. I did read a handful of YA that I loved this year, though, and I’m glad to share them now. (If you want the full list, including the romances and cozies and the few nonfiction titles, my email subscribers get access to everything.) A few of the YA books include some adult situations, violence, or language that may not be suitable for younger readers, so I’ve marked them as PG13.

A lot of these books knocked my socks off, to be honest. I always love Patricia C. Wrede’s books (as you can see by how many of them I reread this year), and Naomi Novik has quickly become one of my new favorites. The Night Circus and Instructions for Dancing were both gorgeous and heartbreaking, and I’m already thinking of rereading Dear Hero. I hope you find some books to enjoy!

The Westing Game—Ellen Raskin

Daughter of the Forest—Juliet Marillier (reread, PG13)

Son of the Shadows—Juliet Marillier (reread, PG13)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon—Kelly Barnhill

Child of the Prophecy—Juliet Marillier (reread, PG13)

The Graveyard Book—Neil Gaiman

The Silence Between Us—Alison Gervais

Holes—Louis Sachar

The Good Hawk—Joseph Elliott

Sorcery and Cecelia—Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (reread)

A Deadly Education—Naomi Novik

Mairelon the Magician—Patricia C. Wrede

Magician’s Ward—Patricia C. Wrede

Beauty’s Cursed Sleep—Mary E. Twomey

Spindle’s End—Robin McKinley (reread)

Children of Blood and Bone—Tomi Adeyemi (BIPOC)

Dear Hero—Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

Beauty—Robin McKinley (reread)

The Lady Jewel Diviner—Rosalie Oaks

The Moria Pearls—Rosalie Oaks

The Sapphire Library—Rosalie Oaks

The Crossover—Kwame Alexander (BIPOC)

The Rose Legacy—Jessica Day George

Tuesdays at the Castle—Jessica Day George

Merci Suarez Changes Gears—Meg Medina (BIPOC, Newbery)

The Night Circus—Erin Morganstern (PG13)

Instructions for Dancing—Nicola Yoon (BIPOC)

More than His Best Friend—Sally Henson

When You Reach Me—Rebecca Stead

A Thief in Time—Cidney Swanson

The Blue Castle—L.M. Montgomery

Pure—Catherine Mesick

Thirteenth Child—Patricia C. Wrede (reread)

Across the Great Barrier—Patricia C. Wrede (reread)

The Far West—Patricia C. Wrede (reread)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington—Janae Marks (BIPOC)

Anne of Green Gables—L.M. Montgomery

Anne of Avonlea—L.M. Montgomery

The Bear and the Nightingale—Katherine Arden

Rule #1: You Can’t Date the Coach’s Daughter—Anne-Marie Meyer

Ink and Bone—Rachel Caine

Off Limits: the Best Friend—Kat Bellemore

The Girl in the Tower—Katherine Arden

The Last Graduate—Naomi Novik (PG13)

Sabryn

Sabryn’s throat erupted in pins and needles, and she began coughing uncontrollably. The spasm passed quickly, replaced by something on the back of her tongue, causing her to gag. She spit it out into her hand. An emerald and a ruby twinkled in her palm. She gaped, a second too slow to close her hand.

Saby, what is that?” Li gasped.

The royal family of Alondra is forbidden to have magic. When a fairy’s curse forces eighteen-year-old Princess Sabryn to flee the kingdom in search of dragons and the all-knowing Talking Dog, she’s faced with unexpected choices: should she embrace the wild magic now bursting from her, uncontrolled? And how much should she risk to save the kingdom that won’t welcome her back?

Books I’ve Read: 2019 and 2020

I love books. I love talking about books and recommending books, but most of all I love reading books. In light of this, I’m posting the list of books I read last year. Technically this time it’s a year and a half—I started keeping track in June 2019. This list is just MG/YA—join my newsletter  to get the full list, including adult books and nonfiction, plus the books I started but chose not to finish. Any titles with links will take you to the book reviews I’ve posted about them. You’ll see some that I read aloud to my boys (ages 6 and 4). I marked some as rereads, meaning I’ve read them multiple times before. Some of the others I’ve read before as well, but if I read them as a kid I’m not counting that as a reread, since it’s been a while.

2019

Smoky the Cowhorse—Will James

Shadows—Robin McKinley (reread)

Fairest—Gail Carson Levine

Forgive Me, I Meant to do It—Gail Carson Levine

A Tale of Two Castles—Gail Carson Levine

The Language of Spells—Garret Weyr

A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends)—Tiffany Schmidt

The Creature of the Pines (Unicorn Rescue Society)—Adam Gidwitz

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone–J.K. Rowling (reread)

Sweet Home Alaska—Carole Estby Dagg 

Chalice—Robin McKinley (reread)

What to Say Next—Julie Buxbaum

The Only Alien on the Planet—Kristen D. Randle (reread)

A Tale Dark and Grimm—Adam Gidwitz

Ink, Iron, and Glass—Gwendolyn Clare

Ogre Enchanted—Gail Carson Levine

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban–J.K. Rowling (reread)

The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande (Unicorn Rescue Society)—Adam Gidwitz and David Bowles

Shadows: the Books of Elsewhere—Jacqueline West

The Trumpeter of Krakow—Eric P. Kelly 

2020

Rebel of the Sands—Alwyn Hamilton

Cheshire Crossing—Andy Weir

Jo’s Boys—Louisa May Alcott

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making–Catherynne M. Valente

New Kid—Jerry Craft

Sorcery and Cecelia—Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (reread)

Book of Enchantments—Patricia C. Wrede (reread)

The Sun is Also a Star—Nicola Yoon

The Spiderwick Chronicles (The Field Guide/The Seeing Stone)—Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

Spinning Silver—Naomi Novik

The Hero and the Crown—Robin McKinley

The Ickabog—J.K. Rowling

The Giver—Lois Lowry

The Wind in the Willows—Kenneth Grahame (read aloud with boys)

The BFG—Roald Dahl (read aloud with boys)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire—J.K. Rowling (reread)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—Roald Dahl (read aloud with boys)

Little House in the Big Woods—Laura Ingalls Wilder

James and the Giant Peach—Roald Dahl (audiobook with boys)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh—Robert C. O’Brien

Awaken—Skye Malone

The Birchbark House—Louise Erdrich

Walk Two Moons—Sharon Creech

The Tale of Despereaux—Kate DiCamillo

Matilda—Roald Dahl (read aloud with boys)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—J.K. Rowling (reread)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—C.S. Lewis (read aloud with boys)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince—J.K. Rowling (reread)

Prince Caspian—C.S. Lewis (read aloud with boys)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—J.K. Rowling (reread)

Amulet: the Stonekeeper—Kazu Kibuishi

The Belles—Dhonielle Clayton

Island of the Blue Dolphins—Scott O’Dell

What was the best book you read last year? Leave a comment below!