Book picks similar to
River Tale by Jau N.


fantasy
lgbt
netgalley
reviewed

Kiss of the Royal


Lindsey Duga - 2018
    Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword should make them an unstoppable pair—if only they could agree on...well, just about anything.But Ivy’s magic can only fully unlock with Zach’s help, and he’s not exactly cooperating.Zach believes Ivy’s magic is dangerous. Ivy believes they’ll never win the war without it. Two warriors, one goal, and the fate of their world on the line. But the more they argue, the more they fall for each other. And only one of them can be right…

The Scapegracers


Hannah Abigail Clarke - 2020
    They have been published in the Portland Review and PRISM International. They graduate college at Miami University of Ohio in May.

Iron & Velvet


Alexis Hall - 2013
    I’m a paranormal private investigator, which is like a normal private investigator except—and stop me if you’re having trouble following this—more paranormal. This business comes with a few basic rules: don’t start drinking before noon, don’t get your partner killed, don’t sleep with the woman who killed him.Last year I broke all of them.The only rule I didn’t break was the one that said don’t work for vampires. But then a dead werewolf showed up outside the Soho shag palace of Julian Saint-Germain—a bloodsucking flibbertigibbet who’s spent the last eight centuries presiding over an ever-growing empire of booze, sex and hemoglobin. I shouldn’t have taken the job. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a supernatural smackdown between a werewolf pack and a vampire prince. Even if the vampire prince was dangerously my type. But what can I say? I was broke, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and I gave up on making good decisions a long time ago.This book is approximately 77,500 words

The Unbroken


C.L. Clark - 2021
    Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale.

It Takes Two


Harper Bliss - 2015
    Will Ella be able to overcome her fear of tying the knot and give Kay what she wants more than anything? Find out in this sequel to Amazon No.1 best-seller At the Water's Edge.It Takes Two is a 15.000 words lesbian romance novelette and the sequel to At the Water's Edge

The Winter Duke


Claire Eliza Bartlett - 2020
    Not her books or science experiments, not her family's icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and twelve siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness.In the space of a single night, Ekata inherits the title of duke, her brother's warrior bride, and ever-encroaching challengers from without—and within—her own ministry. Nothing has prepared Ekata for diplomacy, for war, for love...or for a crown she has never wanted. If Kylma Above is to survive, Ekata must seize her family's power. And if Ekata is to survive, she must quickly decide how she will wield it.Part Sleeping Beauty, part Anastasia, with a thrilling political mystery, The Winter Duke is a spellbinding story about choosing what's right in the face of danger.

Djinn: Cursed


Erik Schubach - 2016
    She has to fight for her life and her friends when an old evil comes knocking. The wishes of the people around her just complicates the situation as she can hear them all, spoken or not. When she finds herself with wings as a result of an errant wish, she must enlist the help of some new friends to try to end the curse that plagues her line.

The Second Sister


Rae D. Magdon - 2014
    Ripped away from the only home she has ever known, Ellie is forced to live at Baxstresse Manor with her two new stepsisters, Luciana and Belladonna. Luciana is sadistic, but Belladonna is the woman who truly haunts her. When her father dies and her new stepmother goes suddenly mad, Ellie is cheated out of her inheritance and forced to become a servant. With the help of a shy maid, a friendly cook, a talking cat, and her mysterious second stepsister, Ellie must stop Luciana from using an ancient sorcerer’s chain to bewitch the handsome Prince Brendan and take over the entire kingdom of Seria.

Jane, Unlimited


Kristin Cashore - 2017
    Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is directionless. Then an old acquaintance, the glamorous and capricious Kiran Thrash, blows back into Jane’s life and invites her to a gala at the Thrashes’ extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens. Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.”What Jane doesn’t know is that at Tu Reviens her story will change; the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But every choice comes with a price. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. At Tu Reviens, anything is possible.

Bewitching Laramy


J.D. Light - 2019
    At first, it had seemed like she just might convince the hard-edged, over-literal beauty to be hers… but almost overnight, things changed. Laramy stopped returning her texts and seemed to be avoiding her at all costs. It didn't deter her. She had a goal and that goal was to be mated to the gargoyle. So, she changed tactics, showing up at during the classes Laramy taught at the training facility, each time working harder and harder to gain her attention… until Laramy told her if she wasn't serious, then to leave her alone. So, apparently, Briec was going to have to act like a grown-up. Should be too hard, right? A misunderstanding when angry words are spoken causes Briec to change everything about herself, leaving Laramy feeling responsible and sad. She never wanted Briec to change. She loved the crazy garnet witch just the way she was. Now she has to figure out how to convince Briec of that, while dealing with feelings she's never had to deal with before… like jealousy. Bewitching Laramy is a Terra Mortis short. It would help if you've read the Terra Mortis series for the sake of knowing the background characters, but not knowing them won't take away from the romance.

Hopes and Dreams


P.J. Trebelhorn - 2020
    There aren't many prospects for true love, but she keeps hoping she'll find it somehow. She dreams of owning the small movie theater she manages, but that takes money, which is hard to get when you live paycheck to paycheck.Victoria Thayer has fallen for a woman more interested in her money than her heart for the last time. When she runs into Riley, the first girl she ever had a crush on, at their high school reunion, she's hoping there might just be a chance for the kind of relationship she's always wanted. But Victoria can't help wondering if Riley too is only after her money, and Riley can't seem to forgive the fact that Victoria was part of a group of kids who used to bully her.When hopes and dreams are on the line, will true love find a way?

Of Silver and Shadow


Jennifer Gruenke - 2021
    Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet


Charlie N. Holmberg - 2016
    She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found


Moïra Fowley-Doyle - 2017
    It starts with simple items like hair clips and jewellery, but soon it’s clear that Rose has lost something bigger; something she won’t talk about.Then Olive meets three wild, mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel and Rowan. Like Rose, they’re mourning losses - and holding tight to secrets.When they discover the ancient spellbook, full of hand-inked charms to conjure back lost things, they realise it might be their chance to set everything right. Unless it’s leading them towards secrets that were never meant to be found . . .

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy


Alyssa Cole - 2019
    But her romance had ended in heartbreak, and now, back in NYC again, she's determined to rediscover her joy--so of course she runs into the woman who broke her heart.When Likotsi and Fabiola meet again on a stalled subway train months later, Fab asks for just one cup of tea. Likotsi, hoping to know why she was unceremoniously dumped, agrees. Tea and food soon leads to them exploring the city together, and their past, with Fab slowly revealing why she let Likotsi go, and both of them wondering if they can turn this second chance into a happily ever after.