Marissa's Staff Picks


Showing 1 - 20 of 24  There are a total of 84 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Her royal spyness"
Star rating for Her royal spyness
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
A penniless twenty-something member of the British nobility, Lady Victoria puts her sleuthing talents to work when an arrogant Frenchman, who is determined to gain control of her family's eight-hundred-year-old estate for himself, ends up dead in her bathtub.
Book cover for "Soulless"
Star rating for Soulless
Series:
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Description:
Buffy meets Jane Austen in the first book of this wickedly funny NYT bestselling series about a young woman whose brush with the supernatural leads to a deadly investigation of London's high society.
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social...
Book cover for "A psalm for the wild-built"
Star rating for A psalm for the wild-built
Series:
Monk & robot volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
"In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk & Robot series gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor...
Book cover for "Boyfriend material"
Star rating for Boyfriend material
Series:
Material volume 1.
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Description:
"Wanted: One (fake) boyfriend Practically perfect in every way Luc O'Donnell is tangentially-and reluctantly-famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything. To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver...
Book cover for "A discovery of witches"
Star rating for A discovery of witches
Series:
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series, from the author of The Black Bird Oracle.
Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on Netflix
“A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People).

Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her...

6. Dune

Book cover for "Dune"
Star rating for Dune
Series:
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny. In the far future, the son of Duke Leto Atreides leads a struggle against the Emperor from the desert planet of Arrakis, where his family has lived in exile for many years at the Emperor's command.
Book cover for "The outsiders"
Star rating for The outsiders
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.
Book cover for "A duke for Diana"
Star rating for A duke for Diana
Series:
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
"Anyone who loves romance must read Sabrina Jeffries!" —Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author comes a dazzling new series perfect for fans of Bridgerton, featuring a talk-of-the-ton trio of young women who've eschewed working as governesses to utilize their talents for fashion, food, and music, by running their own party planning enterprise, Elegant...
Book cover for "Grave mercy"
Star rating for Grave mercy
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.
Book cover for "Saving Francesca"
Star rating for Saving Francesca
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Before there was Eleanor and Park, there was Francesca and Will.
A compelling story of romance, family, and friendship, with humor and heart, perfect for fans of If I Stay, The Spectacular Now, and Looking for Alaska.
Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys' school that pretends it's coed by giving the girls their own bathroom.  Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly...
Book cover for "Jellicoe Road"
Star rating for Jellicoe Road
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.
Book cover for "Red, white & royal blue"
Star rating for Red, white & royal blue
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
"What if Alex Claremont-Diaz, the half-Mexican son of the first female president of the United States, fell in love with Prince Henry, England's heir? The two heartthrobs are arch-nemeses at first. After a scandalous mishap at a wedding, however, they are required to pretend to be best friends lest their enmity spark an international incident. Not surprisingly, their hate turns into a bromance. When Henry kisses Alex, the First Son goes into a mild...
Book cover for "Succubus Blues"
Star rating for Succubus Blues
Series:
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore: free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling,

...
Book cover for "Darkfever"
Star rating for Darkfever
Series:
Fever novels volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
Mac is stunned to discover that her sister's murder was far more than a random act of violence and resents the awakening of a mysterious ability to sense the Fae and their talismans, a talent that sends her on a quest to find a mystical book of dark power.

15. Beloved

Book cover for "Beloved"
Star rating for Beloved
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
After Paul D. finds his old slave friend Sethe in Ohio and moves in with her and her daughter Denver, a strange girl comes along by the name of "Beloved." Sethe and Denver take her in and then strange things begin to happen. Set in rural Ohio several years after the Civil War, this profoundly affecting chronicle of slavery and its aftermath is Toni Morrison's greatest novel, a dazzling achievement, and the most spellbinding reading experience of the...

16. 1984

Book cover for "1984"
Star rating for 1984
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities. Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."...
Book cover for "Interview with the vampire"
Star rating for Interview with the vampire
Series:
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly sensual, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force--a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
Book cover for "Naked in death"
Star rating for Naked in death
Series:
In Death series volume 1.
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
In the year 2058, technology completely rules the world. But for New York City Detective Eve Dallas, one irresistible impulse still rules the heart: passion... Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all--and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire--and a suspect...
Book cover for "The last wish"
Star rating for The last wish
Series:
Witcher novels volume 1.
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures, the first chapter in Andrzej Sapkowski’s groundbreaking epic fantasy series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games.
The New York Times bestselling series
Over Fifteen Million Copies Sold Worldwide
World Fantasy Award Winning Author
...
Book cover for "Two rogues make a right"
Star rating for Two rogues make a right
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"Will Sedgwick can't believe that after months of searching for his oldest friend, Martin Easterbrook is found hiding in an attic like a gothic nightmare. Intent on nursing Martin back to health, Will kindly kidnaps him and takes him to the countryside to recover, well away from the world. Martin doesn't much care where he is or even how he got there. He's much more concerned that the man he's loved his entire life is currently waiting on him hand...