Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases from Q3/Q4 2025

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases from Q3/Q4 2025

1. Splendor of the Land (The King's Men, # 3) by Connilyn Cossette
2. The Governess & the Rogue (Somerset Stories, # 6) by Mimi Matthews
3. Against a Crescent Storm (The Balkan Legends, # 3) by AL Sowards
4. Fallen City by Adrienne Young
5. Brimstone (Fae & Alchemy, # 2) by Callie Hart
6. And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens
7. The Last Wish of Bristol Keats (Bristol Keats, # 2) by Mary E Pearson
8. The Marriage Method (The Crinoline Academy, # 2) by Mimi Matthews
9. Thorns & Fire (The Ashes of Thezmarr, # 2) by Helen Scheuerer
10. Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

Which books are on your summer TBR list? Let me know!

Can't Wait for Alchemy of Secrets

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

Alchemy of Secrets

By: Stephanie Garber

Expected Publication: October 7, 2025 by Flatiron Books

336 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The HOTLY ANTICIPATED adult debut novel by the beloved, #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series

It starts with a class in an old movie theater.

Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

A Curse for True Love - Review

A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, # 3)

By: Stephanie Garber

Publication: October 24, 2023 by Flatiron

386 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.

Oh my heart. After the cliffhanger ending of The Ballad of Never After I jumped into A Curse for True Love immediately. Like, I finished and almost simply flipped the next page found book 3 on my Kindle, and just kept reading. I highly recommend having A Curse for True Love to read lined up if you plan to read The Ballad of Never After. 

So we start with Evangeline having just lost her memory of the last year. She doesn't remember anyone she's met in the Magnificent North. She wakes up to Apollo telling her that he's her husband (true), and then he proceeds to fill in minimal gaps with a few historical rewrites. Evangeline doesn't know the difference. She does have some instinctual, residual feelings. I think this is actually a scientifically proven thing in some ways. Our brains can remember when we've left a task incomplete even if we can't always remember what that task was., Evangeline feels an urgent sense that she needed to tell someone something very important. But she can't remember who and she can't remember what. She has some instinctual feelings about Apollo. She has some instinctual feelings about other characters as well--some she's met before and some she hasn't. I was annoyed that she didn't trust her instincts as much as I wanted her to, yet I could see why she wouldn't. 

Jacks is heartbroken. He knew Time would take something from him, but he didn't think that something would be taken from Evangeline instead. He blames himself. Yet he's just so relieved that she's still alive--considering he witnessed Chaos murder her out of bloodthirst. He wants so badly for her to remember him and her feelings for him. Yet he also knows that her forgetting is actually less painful for her. But not less painful for him. At the same time, he can't have gone through all of that just for someone else to kill her. And yet it seems she's still being sought after by multiple people trying to harm her. Jacks has a fulltime job trying to keep her alive. And thus they keep getting thrown together. 

Evangeline has the smallest sparks of remembering when she's near Jacks, and that makes her want to be near him more. I wondered how long the memory loss would drag on. And thankfully, they all came back in one whoosh eventually rather than trickling out over the course of the entire book. But that's all I'll say about that before we spoil too much.

Favorite quotes:

-Her heart still hurt, as if it had been broken and only jagged bits remained. She put a hand on it, as if to keep more pieces from breaking off. And once again, she was struck with the inescapable feeling that among everything she'd forgotten was one thing more important than all the rest, more important than anything.

-...but some things were worth hurting for...

-"I do understand, and I hope you understand that as long as you treat me like an untrustworthy captive, I will act like one instead of like your wife."

-Instead she was exhilarated. It felt as if she'd found a bit of her old self. And it was one of her favorite pieces. It was the part of herself that loved to hope.

-But she wasn't supposed to want to kiss him. It wasn't fair of [...] to hate her a little for it. But feeling hateful was the only thing that made it possible for him to leave. And he really needed to leave.

-...the curse had been cast out of terror, and curses that come from a place of fear always turn out a little twisted or become far more terrible than intended.

-"I've seen you try before. I've seen you want something more than anything else in the entire world. I've seen what you're willing to do. How far you were willing to go. You haven't even come close to that now."

-"There is never necessary evil, just poor choices, and I fear you're about to make one, boy."

-"Being yours does not make you mine."

-"I don't believe you, [...]. I might not remember everything about you. But I know you. I know that I know you, and I don't believe there is anything you can't do."

-"I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. "I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save [...] could end in a firey explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns."

-"I'm not going to hurt you." "I feel as if that's what people always say just before they hurt you."

The rest of my favorite quotes spoil too much so I won't include them. 

A Curse for True Love is a good ending to a fun trilogy. I enjoyed all of the fairytale vibes. I liked the story curse, which was still present and working through this story. I loved Evangeline and Jacks and Lala. And I was happy with how everything ended. My only wish is that we had a little more time where the characters were happy together before it was over. Of course, the ending was left open for other stories in this world, and I'm 100% here for them. A Curse for True Love gets 4 Stars. Have you read A Curse for True Love? What did you think? Let me know!

The Ballad of Never After - Review

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, # 2)

By: Stephanie Garber

Publication: September 13, 2022 by Flatiron Books

416 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she'll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can...

The Ballad of Never After starts where Once Upon a Broken Heart left off. Evangeline is angry with Jacks for betraying her. He cursed Apollo in a suspended sleep and had Evangeline framed for murdering him. Jacks is trying to get Evangeline to open the Valory Arch which is said to hold either the greatest treasure or the most terrible monster of the Valors who were the first royals of the Magnificent North. Evangeline has sworn she won't open the arch no matter what, and now partnering with Jacks is also completely out of the question.

Yet, Jacks is always there. He's constantly saving Evangeline from danger and near-death experiences. Then another curse that affects Apollo and Evangeline happens. Time is running out for Apollo to wake before the next heir to the throne takes over. And now, Evangeline is in even more danger as she's being hunted by the curse of the Archer and the Fox. Jacks is her best hope at survival, and it turns out that opening the Valory Arch is the best option for removing the curses upon Evangeline and Apollo. So they begin their search in earnest to find the four missing stones needed to open the arch. 

The Ballad of Never After is the perfect kind of torture. The wishy-washy back and forth of whether or not Jacks actually has feelings for Evangeline drove the story for me. She is coming to terms with her own emotions. And even though Evangeline would not have said she was in love with Apollo, it seemed like she wanted him well because that was just the right thing to do and because he was innocent in all the curses. Evangeline and Jacks grow so much closer as the story progresses. And it was pretty clear which direction things were headed in. And I was all for it. Speaking of wishy-washy, I loved the inclusion of the story curse. It was mentioned and played upon in the previous book, but The Ballad of Never After, out of the three books in the series, used this plot device the most. It led to feelings of uncertainty because you couldn't even trust the information that Evangeline was getting from any source. Pretty smart if you ask me.

Jessica from A GREAT read had warned me that the cliffhanger from The Ballad of Never After was pretty brutal and that I would want to have book 3, A Curse for True Love, to dive straight into. I thought I was prepared. I was so not prepared for that ending. Oh, the heartbreak. I would truly have hated that cliffhanger if I'd had to wait a year before getting into the next book. And I'm so thankful I could dive right into the next part of the story. As a matter of fact, I literally did. I finished this book and immediately picked up the next book. Like not even minutes to breathe or process. 

Favorite quotes:

-"Since I met you, my first love was turned to stone, I was turned to stone, then I was turned into a fugitive, multiple people have tried to murder me, and you poisoned my husband--"

-And when Liana reached the last page of every story, she never said, The end. Instead, she always turned to Evangeline and asked, What do you suppose happens next? They live happily ever after, Evangeline usually proclaimed. Most characters, she believed, deserved it after all they'd been through. Her mother, however, felt differently. She believed most characters would stay happy for now, but not forever. Then she'd point out things that would certainly work to wreak havoc in their future--the apprentice to the villain who was still alive, the evil stepsister who'd been forgiven but was still out there somewhere waiting to attack once more, the wish that had come true but wasn't quite paid for, the seed that had been planted but had yet to grow.

-Jacks often told Evangeline that heroes didn't get happy endings, but in that moment, Evangeline wasn't looking for happiness. She just wanted a break.

-"Ballads never end happily, everyone knows that."

-But sometimes reason was no match for feeling.

-Evanegline's hope had always burned brighter than her fear.

-Winning at love was less about succeeding in a battle and more about continuing to fight, to choose the person you loved as one you were willing to die for, over and over.

-Evangeline wanted to give love and be loved and feel love at just the sight of someone.

-But it was so hard. All of it hurt. It hurt to want him. It hurt to be rejected by him. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to cry. It hurt even more when she tried not to cry.

-"If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you." [...] "There is nothing of equal value to me."

So many of these quotes are just basic human emotions that anyone can relate to. Reason outweighed by feelings, hope burning bright, winning at love, just wanting to love and be loved, hurting in all the ways.

The Ballad of Never After was so juicy. It was a wishy-washy, "I don't know what to believe", book with all the best parts of the series if you ask me. Book 2 in a trilogy can sometimes be a dud. The buildup of book 1 has it ranked higher, and the conclusion of book 3 ranks it higher, and then book 2 is often the dud that carries the story between these two points. But The Ballad of Never After is easily my favorite in this series. I'm giving it 4.5 Stars. Have you read The Ballad of Never After? What did you think? Let me know!

Top Twelve New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2024

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2024

1. Lexi Ryan
2. Lauren Tarshis
3. Tessa Bickers
4. Stephanie Garber
5. Penn & Kim Holderness
6. AL Sowards
7. Peter Brown
8. Sophie Cousens
9. Amy Buchanan
10. Katie Holt
11. Ali Hazelwood
12. Rebecca Robinson

Which authors were new to you in 2024 that you enjoyed? Let me know!

All Things Halloween Review - Once Upon a Broken Heart

Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, # 1)

By: Stephanie Garber

Publication: September 28, 2021 by Flatiron Books

408 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--How far would you go for happily ever after?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...

Another book it's been a month before writing the book review for. Unfortunately, that means, I've forgotten some of the finer details. 

Evangeline is sure that her first love has been spelled into marrying her stepsister. She's so sure of this that she makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts despite knowing that his deals are often twisted and the requestor ends up regretting the deal almost always. There's a hint of a connection between Jacks and Evangeline upon meeting and their deal. The deal is that Jack will stop the wedding in exchange for 3 kisses of his choosing from Evangeline. Without spoiling things too much, he stops the wedding by turning everyone into stone. 

Evangeline immediately regrets her decision because she didn't want anyone turned to stone. Not Luc (the guy she's been in love with for a long time), not Marisol (her step-sister), and definitely not all the wedding guests either. Evangeline does what is necessary to right the wrong (I'm not going to tell you how), but that results in a good bit of time passing in her life and the characters, essentially, do their best to move on with their lives. Yet Evangeline still has to fulfill her part of the bargain. 

Since I finished this book just shy of two months before writing my review of it, I'm forgetting some of the details. I don't remember exactly how Evangeline got the invitation to go to this other kingdom in an attempt to wed their prince so that he could become king. But regardless, Evangeline realizes that her life is stuck as is and this is an opportunity, however small, for her to find love. Evangeline tries so hard to fall in love with Prince Apollo that she ignores common sense. She ignores that he's pretty much been spelled to like her the same way Luc was spelled to like Marisol. She has no history to back up any relationship or trust with Marisol. But I will say that I waffled back and forth on whether I thought Marisol was an ally or an enemy. 

I wondered based on the description if Jacks would call in the kisses for himself at strategic times, but apparently, his kiss is fatal to anyone who isn't his true love. Maybe this is backstory given through the Carvel series so people who have read it would have already known, but I haven't read it so I was unaware, and thus disappointed to find out Evangeline was supposed to kiss others, even though I still assumed that Jacks would end up being the male love interest. Evangeline has to process how she feels about Apollo, Luc, and yes Jacks so far into the story. 

The cliffhanger ending has me dying to get my hands on book 2, The Ballad of Never After, but my cheap self has to wait for that to go on sale since I have so many other books that I'm behind on reading. In the end, I feel like Once Upon a Broken Heart deserves 4 Stars. It was a solid start to a series that I'm looking forward to finding out more about. Jacks was probably my favorite part of the story. Have you read Once Upon a Broken Heart? If so, what do you think? Let me know!

*Sorry for the scattered review. That tends to happen when I get backed up on book reviews.

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.