Cirrus@Austlit

'Disguised as a governess, the last fairy in Britannia infiltrates the household of the Gloucester family to fulfil a vital mission on behalf of her exiled people.

'On the run after offending the Royal family, two infamous magical engineers set out to commit the crime of the century on behalf of a wicked enchantress.

'For one night only, the Gate Sinister can be opened between worlds, clearing the way to the long-lost Forest of Arden. For one night only, all things are possible…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

'I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

'I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

'But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

'And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

'To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

'And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.' (Publication summary)

'Several years into their marriage, Beauty and her once beastly husband are at a crossroads. Though they still love each other, they have not been able to have children nor talk about the problems that have beset them since the fairy curse was lifted. Instead, she devotes herself to the roses in their garden while he composes music to charm the most discerning Parisian audiences.

'But Beauty secretly longs for the Beast with whom she fell in love, and her husband fears he’s no longer the creature she most desires. When Peregrine, Beauty’s enigmatic fey sister-in-law, comes to visit, she sparks off a chain of events that will either heal the marriage or leave it in irretrievable tatters.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible – and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to make it choke. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan – and who will suffer most if she does. But as the ghosts of her past become harder to control, Asher realises she has no choice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Due to a fortuitous combination of luck, caution and common sense, Lucy makes it to fourteen without seeing the Mist—carnivorous, ravenous, rolling in through the forest from the sea every few years.

'Then her mother sends her to the forest for potion ingredients. Determined to prove her maturity, Lucy goes eagerly.

'The Mist rolls in, and Lucy must choose: carnivorous Mist, or cursed bones?

'A rich, dark fantasy for everyone who believes in doing whatever it takes to keep your loved ones safe.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'THE DARK WILL RISE. WHO WILL FALL? WHO WILL STAND?

'The ancient world of magic is no more. Its heroes are dead, its halls are ruins, and its great battles between Light and Dark are forgotten. Only the Stewards remember, and they keep their centuries-long vigil, sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns.

'Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, Will is ushered into a world of magic, where he must train to play a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark.

'As London is threatened by the Dark King's return, the reborn heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war begin to draw battle lines. But as the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the dark fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World - in addition to running several bookshops, of course! Merlin also has a quest of his own: to find the Old World entity who arranged the murder of his mother. Their investigations attract attention from enemies of the Old and New Worlds. Soon they become involved in an even more urgent task to recover the grail that is the source of the left-handed booksellers' power, before it is used to destroy the booksellers and rouse the hordes of the mythic past. As the search for the grail becomes strangely intertwined with both their quests, they start to wonder… Is Susan's long-lost father a bookseller, or something altogether more mysterious?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'From fantasy master Garth Nix comes a new world of angels, heroes, gunpowder and high magic.

'The icon-maker and angel-summoner Liliath, long-believed dead, has woken from her century-long sleep to pick up the threads of a plan that has already destroyed one kingdom and may yet destroy another. To succeed, Liliath must bring together Agnez the musketeer; Simeon the doctor; Dorotea the mage; and Henri, one of the Cardinal's clerks, and take them into utmost danger ...

'Set in an alternate 17th century where angels can be summoned (and controlled) by those with a talent for magic, Angel Mage is an action-packed story of angels, heroes, gunpowder and high magic.'  (Publication summary)

'Twenty-seven years after his failure to save the telepathic Tulina, Graeyan returns to witness the death of the herd leader and try to reconcile with the man he once loved.'

Source: Rocket Stack Rank (http://www.rocketstackrank.com/2019/03/Scapes-Made-Diamond-Shauna-OMeara.html). (Sighted: 2/4/2020)