I did not plan for August to have a theme, but it showed up anyway. I spent the whole month falling for men I probably shouldn't: a disaster prince, an actual overlord, and now an assassin's mark. Turns out my type this month was "morally grey and a little bit dangerous," and I regret nothing. Here's what got me, spoiler-free.
The Four-Book Spiral: The Assistant to the Villain Series, Hannah Nicole Maehrer
I reread the whole series back to back and then inhaled the newest book, four books in about two weeks, and I would happily do it again tomorrow. The setup is a sunshine assistant who takes a job with the most feared man in the kingdom and treats it like the best decision she's ever made, plus the grumpy overlord who is catastrophically down bad about it from roughly page one.
The banter is the entire personality of these books, and I quoted an unreasonable amount of it in the chapter rooms with zero regrets. But don't let the comedy fool you: this series has teeth, and it kept handing me gut-punch reveals wrapped in the funniest packaging imaginable. Grumpy villain, sunshine assistant, a sign-language frog named Kingsley, and a found family worth burning kingdoms for. If you want a fantasy that makes you wheeze laughing on one page and quietly stab you the next, start with Assistant to the Villain and clear your calendar.
The Tarot Duology That Undid Me: Arcana Academy and Prince of Swords, Elise Kova
I reread Arcana Academy and somehow came out more unwell than the first time, then went straight into Prince of Swords and have simply not recovered. The tarot magic is still the best system I've read in ages: a girl who can ink any card with the right powder and a drop of her own blood, locked up for it, then dragged into a fake engagement with the prince she's certain killed her mother. Clara thinks five moves ahead and still has the biggest heart in the room, and I adore her for it.
And Kaelis. Morally grey, secret-hoarding, fell-first-and-hard, the exact hate-him-then-accidentally-trust-him slow burn that obliterates a sleep schedule. Book two turns him into the most devoted man in romantasy and turns me into a person with a numbered list of theories and no chill whatsoever. Fair warning that the spice climbs from book one, and that Prince of Swords ends on a cliffhanger diabolical enough that I will simply riot if book three doesn't come soon.
What's on the Nightstand Right Now: The Dark in Her Veins, M.K. Lobb
Fresh off two villain obsessions, I went looking for a third, so I just started The Dark in Her Veins. It's a noir romantasy set in a world where sin is a literal, fatal disease, following an assassin who gets tangled up with the shadowy target she's supposed to kill. Assassin and mark, morally grey, forbidden. I'm only a few chapters in, so no verdict yet, but it is deeply on brand for the month I've had.
That's the nightstand for August. Tell me who wrecked you this month. I'm always building the next stack.
