Dual heroes’ journeys filled with magic and high-stakes romance.
Unlikely lovers face deadly trials.
Blue-eyed Inna Pallo, who dyes her auburn hair blond, is the new heir to the Pallo empire. She’s determined to investigate her sister’s death while training to take over the family business, the illustrious Horizon Club. The club’s allure is based on sprites—insectlike creatures whose magic makes people feel euphoric. The Pallos market the sprites as “harmless, floating baubles,” concealing their murderous potential, which they’re trying to keep hidden at all costs. Rylan, who has “shaggy blond hair, pale skin and green eyes,” is an orphan with cause to seek vengeance against the Pallos. He seeks the legendary hibernating Serpent God, who’s rumored to grant a wish to whoever finds and awakens him. But to do so he needs a journal that he suspects is hidden within the heavily guarded Pallo Vault. Rylan’s break-in attempt leads him to cross paths with Inna, who wants to find answers to her sister’s death, and they work together on a heist that sends them on the run—and into each other’s arms. Despite Inna’s unearned trust in Rylan, their slow-burn romance satisfies. Both embark on the quest of a lifetime, shedding their old skins and making surprising choices that transform them by the end. This stand-alone work following Bridge’s debut, Of Flame and Fury (2025), returns readers to the Republic of Salta and introduces new creatures and mythology.
Dual heroes’ journeys filled with magic and high-stakes romance. (content warning, map, excerpt from The Saltan Bestiary) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393441
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans.
Romantic complications between a trained killer and one of her captors drive this sequel to Watch Me (2025).
Appealing to readers who prefer their romantic dramas to be light on action and heavy on long passages of banter, bitter sibling arguments, and tortured reflections, Mafi continues the tale of Rosabelle Wolff, the flaxen-haired assassin from the dystopic Reestablishment, and magnetic, “impossibly stunning” James Anderson, her nemesis-turned-lover who’s still trying to take down the regime. Now desperate to accomplish several secret missions, Rosa easily escapes from one of The New Republic’s prisons, where she was left in the series opener, and, dressed in “a little kid’s cat onesie,” eludes all pursuers except for James, who can seemingly find her at will. Enigmatic Rosa responds unpredictably to many human contacts—including with violence, temporary death (one of her abilities), or a sudden panic attack. Along with the central pair of rivals and lovers, James’ older brother, Aaron, shares the narration. Bestseller Mafi tucks in several subplots, including, notably, a cameo from Juliette Ferrars, the protagonist of the original Shatter Me series, who’s undergoing a scarily difficult pregnancy. Amid the slowly simmering rising action, the author delivers a revelation and a twist that set up a potential series climax. Some ethnic diversity is present in the supporting cast.
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans. (Dystopian. 14-adult)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780063419056
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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