Book picks similar to
Blinding Night by Chantal Gadoury
fantasy
romance
mythology
retellings
Cruel Beauty
Rosamund Hodge - 2014
And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
Cursed: a contemporary fantasy romance
K.K. Allen - 2021
Her fiery temper seems to perpetually land her in hot water, making her an outcast among her peers. When tragedy strikes and she’s sent to live with her only remaining family in the tiny coastal town of Apollo Beach, Katrina starts counting down the days until her eighteenth birthday.Only then will she finally be free.As Katrina learns the legends of her Ancient Greek ancestors, secrets from her heritage are exposed—secrets that her mother purposefully concealed. Her only solace is found in Alec Stone, the gorgeous guy next door. With his devastatingly charming smile, his persistent flirtation, and a love that sparks from the flames of friendship, he offers her a much-needed escape from the turmoil.If only she wasn’t cursed.As powerful forces threaten the lives in Apollo Beach, Katrina can’t escape the evocative world of mythological enchantment and evil prophecies that lurk around every corner.𝘊𝘜𝘙𝘚𝘌𝘋 𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝟷 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘎𝘖𝘋𝘚 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵,𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩,𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯.
Seasons of the Storm
Elle Cosimano - 2020
Every year, he must hunt the Season who comes before him. Summer kills Spring. Autumn kills Summer. Winter kills Autumn. And Spring kills Winter.Jack and Fleur, a Winter and a Spring, fall for each other against all odds. To be together, they’ll have to escape the cycle that’s been forcing them apart. But their creator won’t let them go without a fight.
Poison Princess
Kresley Cole - 2012
When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future--and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.But she can't do either alone.With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally trust Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?Who can Evie trust?As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side...In Poison Princess, New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces a dark and intriguing world, full of unspeakable danger and irresistible romance.
Crown of Coral and Pearl
Mara Rutherford - 2019
But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.
Unraveling
Elizabeth Norris - 2012
She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.And that was before she died... and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.
Heart of Mist
Helen Scheuerer - 2017
In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power.Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital.But the king isn’t the only one interested in Bleak’s powers.The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.Heart of Mist is the gripping first book in The Oremere Chronicles, a fantasy series of epic proportions.
Dead Beautiful
Yvonne Woon - 2010
She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.
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.
The Bone Witch
Rin Chupeco - 2017
Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha—one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.
The Bone Witch Trilogy:
The Bone Witch (Book 1)The Heart Forger (Book 2)The Shadowglass (Book 3)
The Siren
Kiera Cass - 2009
This means that, in general, you cannot form close bonds with humans. You can speak to us, and you can always commune with the Ocean, but you are deadly to humans. You are, essentially, a weapon. A very beautiful weapon. I won't lie to you, it can be a lonely existence, but once you are done, you get to live. All you have to give, for now, is obedience and time..."The same speech has been given hundreds of times to hundreds of beautiful girls who enter the sisterhood of sirens. Kahlen has lived by these rules for years now, patiently waiting for the life she can call her own. But when Akinli, a human, enters her world, she can't bring herself to live by the rules anymore. Suddenly the life she's been waiting for doesn't seem nearly as important as the one she's living now.
Legendborn
Tracy Deonn - 2020
A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.A flying demon feeding on human energies.A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.
Dinner with a Vampire
Abigail Gibbs - 2012
A place from which there is no escape...no matter how hard Violet tries.Yet all the riches in the world can’t mask the darkness that lies beneath the gilded surface, embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn.Violet and Kaspar surrender to a passion that transcends their separate worlds – but it’s a passion that comes at a price...
Soul in Darkness
Wendy Higgins - 2019
Their adoration for the mortal woman is so all-consuming that citizens begin to shower her with the very gifts and offerings they once left at the alter of Venus, goddess of love and beauty. But gods are known for their jealousy.Cupid, the god of love, takes pleasure in causing strife and mischief in the lives of humans. He uses love as a weapon, humoring in the weakness of people at the whims of their feelings. When his mother Venus approaches him about punishing the human girl who dares to steal her offerings and affections from the people, Cupid gladly accepts. Psyche's punishment is to be given to a mysterious creature who only comes to her in the dark of night under the pact that she will never lay eyes on him. She is terrified of this stranger, who the oracle described as a serpent. Her mate, however, is masterful in his dealings with his bride. He takes his time, morphing her fears into different sensations completely. Based on the Roman/Greek mythology of Cupid and Psyche by Lucius Apuleius, New York Times bestseller Wendy Higgins brings the tale to life, weaving layers that show exactly how a sacrificial lamb can be enchanted by an unseen monster.Adult Historical Fantasy. Standalone.
Cupid's Match
Lauren Palphreyman - 2017
And he'll hit you right in the heart . . . "Miss Black, we have a big problem.”Lila Black doesn't believe in matchmaking, let alone soul mates. So then why is she constantly being hassled by the Cupids Matchmaking Service? But this gilded, cherub-bedecked dating agency isn't exactly what it seems . . . and it’s about to turn Lila's entire world upside down. It turns out that Cupids Matchmaking is the real deal. As in, it's run by actual cupids—who don't look at all like they do in the paintings—and they have a serious problem with Lila's “match.” Because this guy shouldn't be in the system. He shouldn't have a match. And while he's irresistibly hot, he's also incredibly dangerous. Because Lila's true love match is Cupid. The original bad boy of love. And he wants her. Now Lila's once-normal teenaged world has exploded into a mythological nightmare overrun by crime-lord sirens, wrathful cupid hit men, magic arrows that cause no end of trouble, and a mischievous, not-so-angelic love god she can't seem to stop herself from falling for . . . Adored by 50 million readers on Wattpad, Lauren Palphreyman's smash-hit book is now in print for the first time.