Marissa's Staff Picks

4 stars

Cat Fisa isn't who she pretends to be. She's perfectly content living disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus, avoiding the destiny the Gods--and her dangerous family--have saddled her with. As far as she's concerned, the magic humming within her blood can live and die with her. She won't be a pawn in anyone's game. But then she locks eyes with an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south and her illusion of safety is shattered forever....

3.9 stars

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...

"Ever since the city of Bezim was shaken half into the sea by a magical earthquake, the Inquisitors have policed alchemy with brutal efficiency. Nothing too powerful, too complicated, too much like real magic is allowed--and the careful science that's left is kept too expensive for any but the rich and indolent to tinker with. Siyon Velo, a glorified errand boy scraping together lesson money from a little inter-planar fetch and carry, doesn't qualify....

4.3 stars

"The iconic Bridge Kingdom series begins: a sweeping, sizzling fantasy romance filled with political intrigue and passionate love, from the New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood"--

5 stars

"Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he's ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended's brother instead. Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden...

4.8 stars

"The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court-the body-father of the queen's new child-in an altercation which results in his humiliation. To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility...

4.5 stars

Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.