The Forged Empire (The Kingdom Within, #3)

The Forged Empire (The Kingdom Within, #3) By Samantha Gillespie
Publication date: July 15, 2025
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Historical Romance, Young Adult
Summary:

She married a prince. She loved a soldier.
Now she must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save them all.

As the specter of war looms, Meredith Ethan, and Connor are thrust into a final, desperate struggle for freedom. With Stonefall reclaimed and the plague’s grip finally broken, they must now race to forge new alliances before Theros-the ruthless King of Talos-brings his twisted vision of an empire to life.

But Theros’s ambitions run deeper than conquest-and Meredith is at the heart of his plans.

As betrayals mount and loyalties are tested, she finds herself caught between the prince she married and the soldier she never forgot.

And beneath the weight of destiny, Meredith must decide who she truly is:
a queen who must learn to believe in her own strength… or a pawn in a game she can no longer control.

In a war where survival means sacrifice, the price of freedom may be everything.

The final battle is here. And only one legacy will endure.

—

EXCERPT:

A tremor starts in my hands again, subtle but insistent. I clench my fists, willing it to stop.

“My lady?” Anabella appears near the foot of the staircase, her wide eyes fixed on me, worry plain in her gaze.

My pulse pounds harder in my ears, and the air feels thick, suffocating. A bead of sweat traces a line down my temple, and I lift a trembling hand to brush it away. The motion betrays me. My uncle’s eyes narrow, alarm darkening his expression.

The Dollmaker

The Dollmaker By Morgan Shamy
Publication date: February 28, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Young Adult, Historical, Mystery
Summary:

No one is safe. Not when the Dollmaker lurks in the shadows.

When Dawn Hildegard’s best friend Rose is kidnapped by “The Dollmaker,” a crazed serial killer who creates “art” from women’s bodies, she drops everything to find her—including her dream of becoming a doctor. 

With the help of a handsome new acquaintance and his mysterious brother, they set off to find the killer. Although they quickly become friends, Dawn cannot shake the uneasy feeling that the brothers know more about the murders than they admit.

As more and more victims are found murdered and displayed throughout town, Dawn must use her wits to find Rose before it’s too late. And before she too becomes the Dollmaker’s next victim.

—

EXCERPT:

He slowly began to pace in front of her, his shaded head tipped in thought. His legs were long in the dark, though he wasn’t much taller than her. Bits of slanted light streamed in from the floorboards above them, highlighting the divots of his face. She still couldn’t see him clearly.

“I’ve never had anyone find me before,” he said. “And I take pride in the fact that no one does. I lead a quiet life, and uninterrupted life, and now… you’ve interrupted it.”

Book Blitz: Lavender in Bloom

Lavender in Bloom by Lily Velez
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: July 25, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary:

It’s the year 1802 in Avignon, France…
Noah Capet has spent most of his young life living simple and unvaried days in the hushed countryside of southern France. 

Quiet, reserved, and diffident, his preference for existing is to do so in solitude, keeping to himself both in town and on his family’s farm—a predilection that’s altogether disrupted when a newcomer to town by the name of Jeremie Perreault begins an unremitting quest to befriend him. 

Jeremie is everything Noah is not. Charismatic and gregarious, he leaves a trail of charmed admirers in his wake wherever he goes. Expressive and idealistic, he talks without end about his deep love for old books and his spirited dream to one day travel the world on a literary pilgrimage. 

Over the course of a single summer, the two form an unlikely friendship, but just as quickly as it develops, it soon entirely dissolves as they’re forced to face the truth of what has unexpectedly emerged between them.
Lavender in Bloom is a tender and tragic coming-of-age story about first love and self-discovery, and a poignant reminder that time is fleeting and always takes with it the choices we’re too afraid to make.

♥ ♥ ♥

—

EXCERPT:

“I think of you almost every moment, Noah. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I am utterly tormented by these things I feel for you.”

It was as if lightning had struck Noah. He was paralyzed by the admission, stricken silent, and at his core, an inferno devoured him. Its heat filled his veins, spread from ligament to ligament, muscle to muscle. Jeremie had once read aloud a poem regarding a phoenix making its nest in a person’s bosom.

Noah felt the phoenix now, felt her awakening, shifting, extending her wings and beating them powerfully so that he was left breathless, but no more breathless than by what Jeremie did next.
Jeremie came to him at once, erasing the last of the distance between them, and this time, Noah didn’t back away.