ARC Review: The Shrouded Queen by Ashley Tropea

Title: The Shrouded Queen
Author: Ashley Tropea
Series:  
Genre: Mythology/Adult Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: June 16, 2026
Edition: Ebook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

   As a slave to the Ashoran royals, Samira has always known she was expendable. So when the vicious Kaldfolk attack the palace, she is ready to die as a decoy for her princess. But when she’s captured instead, she’s forced to impersonate the princess and survive through brutal trials designed to awaken her divine powers—all under the watch of her dangerously intriguing, shape-shifting captor.
   Amunet Khada—now queen of Ashorah—is on the run following the king’s death. With only her guard-with-benefits, Jasim, by her side, she must evade treacherous allies while racing to contact her father—the god of the underworld—before her long-promised powers slip beyond reach.
   While Amunet embarks on a quest through the wastelands, Samira learns the true reason for the attack and unlocks secrets in her past that could change everything. And with threats growing on all sides, Samira and Amunet must decide...who can they trust?

In the first book in this romantasy duology inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology, a slave and a princess switch places during an enemy attack, igniting parallel journeys of love and survival.

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Bulk Review: Non-Fiction Pt. 2

Continuing on my journey of reading non-fiction. I planned to read some earlier in the year but I hadn't gotten around to it until now. 

I meant to post this before the end of the year, oops. 
 

ARC Review: The Rise of Scarlett Heroux by Elizabeth Watson

Title: The Rise of Scarlett Heroux
Author: Elizabeth Watson 
Series: The North Stars Saga #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Romance/New Adult
Publisher: Elizabeth Watson Books
Publication Date: February 25, 2026
Edition: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop |

 

 

Synopsis:

   Welcome to Soleil: magic is illegal, politics are deadly, and falling in love is the most dangerous act of all.
When Scarlett Heroux witnesses her father’s assassination from mere inches away, her world shatters. The 22-year-old heiress to a political dynasty is thrust into her newly inherited seat in Parliament, compelled to fulfill her father’s revolutionary dream of opening Soleil’s borders to a world of magic her people have long rejected.
   After Scarlett reveals her intention to open Soleil’s borders to magic, she is threatened, assaulted, and knocked unconscious. She flees to her mother’s homeland where she discovers magic flowing through her veins and a fated bond she shares with her childhood friend, the handsome Brayden Maddox. Their smoldering connection—and years of mutual pining—ignites into a blaze when magic pushes them together. Yet as bodies and magic entwine, Scarlett resists surrendering to fate. How can she choose pleasure when the cost is leaving her country to the politicians behind her father’s murder?
   With Brayden at her side, Scarlett returns to expose Soleil’s corrupt underbelly and open the borders. But another assault pushes Brayden to use his still-illegal magic to protect Scarlett, and the long arm of the law comes for them both. Scarlett must use her new powers to free Brayden and see her persecutors arrested by any means necessary—legal or not.
   If she fails, she’ll pay with her life.

 

The Rise of Scarlett Heroux is the fast-paced first installment in a new adult trilogy. A sizzling romantasy full of seething betrayals and forbidden magic. 

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ARC Review: Unbound by Peyton Corinne

Title: Unbound
Author: Peyton Corinne
Series: The Undone #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance/New Adult/Sports Romance

Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Edition: Ebook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's | 

 

 

Synopsis:

   Paloma Blake is, at best, antagonistic. But beneath the hairspray, attitude, and promiscuity is a scared girl whose trauma runs deep. Still, the walls she’s built are strong, ensuring everyone only sees Paloma’s sexy façade. Everyone except for Bennett.
   Bennett Reiner, the carefully controlled, neurodivergent goalie, has his routines and sticks to them, which helps him keep a hold on his OCD compulsions and the crippling anxiety that comes with them. The quiet and meticulous Bennett sees everything, especially the girl beneath Paloma’s ever-present masks. And he always has.
   Unbeknownst to their friends, Bennett and Paloma were each other’s first real love, which ended in crippling heartbreak. Bennett still doesn’t know what happened, and Paloma is determined to stay away from the comfort she used to find only in his arms. For years, Bennett has remained her protective shadow, coming to Paloma’s rescue whenever she asked, keeping her as close and safe as she’ll let him. But, like a tumultuous sea to a constant shore, Bennett and Paloma find each other once more.
   Alternating between scenes from their past and present, Unbound contrasts the tentative tension and passionate beginnings of first love with the devastating loneliness and deep yearning of having that love ripped away from you without truly knowing why. As Bennett discovers the truth about Paloma’s past, the threads to his careful control start to come unbound, and both begin to realize that letting go of everything else might be worth it, if it means they both get the real love they once shared again.

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Bulk Review: Manga pt. 10

 

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I've been very lucky these past couple of years with my library having manga for me to read. I haven't been adding most of these to my 'Read' shelf on StoryGraph, mainly because I'm too lazy and I sometimes read multiple volumes in one day.