upper young adult fantasy

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Upper YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 528 pages
Author: Lydia Gregovic
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: September 29th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Love will be tested in this high-stakes, spellbinding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Weaver Bride, hailed as “your next romantic fantasy obsession” (I. V. Marie, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Consequences).

Lovett Tamerlane is engaged.

A silkwitch whose magic can only be harnessed through marriage to a Weaver, Lovett was facing life in the cloisters when Eliot Lear offered the deal of a an invitation to the Vainglory to compete for wealthy Weaver heir Noé Alaire’s hand in marriage, in exchange for her solving his sister’s murder.

While they both got what they wanted, the competition was full of surprises. Lovett never expected to fall in love . . . and Eliot never anticipated that she’d betray him.

Now Lovett has one to take down her fiancé’s father—Bastian Alaire—and end his corrupt Weaver reign at any cost. But though the Vainglory may be over, danger still lurks at Fortblanche. And when Bastian presents Lovett with one last challenge—solve a murder that occurred within his walls, before the day of her wedding—she realizes the tests aren’t over. To pass this one, she’ll have to partner with the only person she hates more than her future his son, Noé.

But as Lovett will learn . . . sometimes love and hate are two sides of the same coin.

Thank you Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

DECENT CONCLUSION.

This one kind of had me on a rollercoaster.

I’m glad I went with the audiobook because I feel like that helped with the pacing. I kept checking how much time was left because this sucker was dragged out quite a bit.

I still found the world interesting and I like the magic system and how it functions. I’m not sure having a murder mystery as the main plot point was strong enough to hold its own though. For trying to take down a major antagonist I wish there would have been something else?

I also am still a fan of Lovett. And I like the way the romance went. I like these kind of romantic sequences and only wish we got more of them on page together. It did increase in the second half and really grew on me. I liked the banter and how down bad this side of the love triangle was for Lovett.

While the ending wrapped things up well enough, it did wrap things up FAST. I was surprised with how much time was left when we got to those critical moments. I wanted an epilogue or something to see how things were in the *after*.

Overall a fan of Gregovic’s writing and look forward to reading another book from her!

Overall audience notes:

New Adult Fantasy Romance
Language: mild
Romance: closed door
Violence: moderate-high

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Upper YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: K.A. Linde
Publisher: Bloom Books
Release Date: October 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

New York Times bestselling author K.A. Linde introduces the Royal Houses series with House of Dragons: the story of Kerrigan Argon, a half-Fae, half-human, as she seeks her place in an unforgiving world filled with magic, mayhem, and romance. A YA romantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and V.E. Schwab.

She’s the half-Fae outcast. He’s the cursed prince. Their choices could reshape the realm.

Ten years ago, half-Fae, half human Kerrigan Argon was discreetly dropped off onto the steps of Draco Mountain with nothing but a note. Her life changes completely as she’s swept into the care of the House of Dragons—an elite training program for gifted Fae.

On the year of her seventeenth name day, each student will be chosen by one of the twelve houses of Alandria to enter society.

Everyone is chosen…except Kerrigan.

So, she strikes a bargain with the Dragon Society: convince a house to select her or give up her birthright forever. With the unlikeliest of allies—Fordham Ollivier, the cursed Fae prince, who escaped his dark throne—she must chart her own destiny to reshape the world.

Thank you Bloom Books for the gifted ARC.

I’LL CONTINUE THE SERIES.

This wasn’t on my radar but when surprise book mail shows up and I thought, what the heck, let’s try it. And it made me realize I’ve been missing dragon based fantasy books.

I do think there’s a little confusion on writing style vs. content. The writing came across as definite YA while some of the content/plot points leaned a little more NA/Adult. Not necessarily a BAD thing but it did throw me a little and I wish the characters had been 20+ instead of 17.

The overall story though was pretty solid and I liked the slow burn romance too. There was good banter and chemistry and the beginnings of a strong found family. I’ve missed the era of series that go over 3 books so I’m looking forward to reading through all of these. I adore the new covers too!

Overall audience notes: