Academy of Outcasts by Larry CorreiaAcademy of Outcasts #1

 

Title: Academy of Outcasts

Series: Academy of Outcasts #1

Author: Larry Correia

Publisher: Aethon Books

Release Date: October 7, 2025

All Oz Carnavon ever wanted was to become a master mage.Except, to do so requires the natural gifts or wealth necessary to secure an appointment to one of the prestigious magical academies in the Core City at the center of the seven realms. Oz had neither.

He was born without magical talent, serving in the elemental plane of fire, a nightmarish hellscape of treacherous lava and vicious monsters, where life is cheap, and escape is rare. But Carnavons never give up.

When Oz fakes his death to get out of his family’s contract and crosses the Nexus gate to sneak into the Core, everything seems to be going according to plan… Until he gets blamed for an assassination attempt on the fire realm’s ambassador.

Now, Oz must become a fugitive in a vast magical city, while trying to earn a place among the magical academies which have nothing but disdain for his kind.

And the clock is ticking, because in one week, the most dangerous wizard in the realm of fire is coming to track him down and drag him back to hell.

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I liked this new world.

The Academy of Outcasts stars Oz Carnavon. Oz was born into the plane of fire in Fogo, where he and his family live in servitude. He dreams of becoming a mage, but unfortunately, he was not born with the gift. What he does have is tremendous determination. Oz decides to teach himself the craft, fakes his own death, and flees the plane of fire to seek acceptance into one of the prestigious academies in Core City, the heart of the seven realms.

His quest is interrupted almost immediately: as soon as he crosses over, an attack is launched, and Carnavon is blamed for it. Time is running out. The authorities are hunting him, and it seems unlikely he’ll reach any academy in time.

The Academy of Outcasts is packed with action. Carnavon is extremely easy to root for—he’s worked incredibly hard for the little power he’s gained, and he’s already lost so much. Along the way, he picks up both friends and foes, and the supporting cast is full of memorable characters.

I'm excited for the next book, Magic and Bullets.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Their Double Lives by Jaime Lynn Hendricks

Title: Their Double Lives

Author: Jaime Lynn Hendricks

Publisher: Scarlet

Release Date: May 20, 2025

Living a double life always comes with a cost.

A down-on-her-luck waitress at a posh New Jersey country club, Kim Valva couldn’t be living a more different life from the carefree socialites she serves. Her live-in boyfriend recently cheated on her, her social life is in shambles, and her dog needs a life-saving surgery that she can’t afford. Then her luck seems to change when a mysterious figure identifying themself only as The Stranger contacts her with an offer she can’t refuse: Put a pill in the new member’s drink and, when he dies, she’ll have enough money to fix her dog and her life.

Her target turns out to be Tony Fiore—Kim’s bad boy ex-boyfriend from high school. Fifteen years have passed, and he now goes by Anthony Fuller. He’s cleaned up, made tens of millions, and his gorgeous fiancée, twenty-two-year-old PJ Walsh, is on his arm.

PJ had her own agenda from the second she met Anthony. Find him, trick him, marry him, kill him. It was supposed to be easy, but she finds that while living her double life, the lines blur between who she is and who she’s pretending to be.

Stunned to see Tony again, Kim can’t bring herself to go through with spiking his drink. Instead, it is PJ who dies horrifically at the table just as dinner ends. Was someone else at the club—member or worker—tasked with poisoning PJ just as she had been instructed to do to Tony? Who would want both of them dead? With no one to trust and The Stranger to answer to, Kim must peel back the layers of deceit to reveal a deeply buried truth, more shocking than she could ever imagine…

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The whole time, I just wanted the dog to get his surgery!

Kim Valva is a waitress at a posh New Jersey country club. She’s single after her boyfriend walked out. Her only love now is her wonderful dog, Murphy. But Murphy needs expensive surgery, and Kim has no idea how to pay for it. Then she gets a call from “The Stranger,” who offers her money—but in exchange, she must kill a new member at the club. At first, Kim is undecided, but she’ll do anything for Murphy.

When the day arrives, she realizes the target is her high school boyfriend, Tony Fiore. Tony now goes by Anthony Fuller, and he’s rich and well-connected. When Kim sees Tony, she knows she can’t kill him. She decides to return the money The Stranger had given her—when suddenly Anthony’s young fiancée, PJ Walsh, dies instead!

Was there someone else who wanted to kill Tony, and they killed PJ by accident? Or were both of them the intended targets?

The Double Lives turned out to be a pretty twisted novel with revenge at its core. Kim was a likable character, but the best part was that no dog died in this book.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

 

The Perfect Murder by Amanda McKinney

 

Title: The Perfect Murder 

Author: Amanda McKinney 

Publisher: Storm Publishing

Release Date: September 18, 2025 

Every bestselling thriller needs the perfect murder. Savi Portman just wrote one—and now it’s coming true.

Savi Portman’s debut cozy mystery has made her a #1 bestseller and publishing’s newest star. When life gets tough, writing is her escape.

Until someone commits a murder straight from her work-in-progress thriller.

Surveillance cameras place Savi near the scene that night. Witnesses say they saw her. The evidence is mounting—but she swears she was home asleep.

Savi has written the perfect crime. Now she has to prove she didn’t commit it.

Once you start reading, there’s no turning back. A keep-you-up-all-night page-turner for fans of Alice Feeney, Freida McFadden and Listen for the Lie.

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A perfect murder?

Savi Portman has just become the number-one writer after the massive success of her debut cozy mystery. Everyone wants to talk to her and see her. Her publisher is eager for a second book, but Savi can’t seem to write another cozy. Instead, she wants to write a psychological thriller. Every day, the words pour out onto her laptop, and she can’t stop. Then the unthinkable happens: a man is murdered exactly the way Savi described a character’s death in her manuscript.

How is this possible?

Soon, the police are knocking on her door—and she becomes the number-one suspect.

Why is this happening?

Who is setting her up?

The Perfect Murder was pretty addictive, with twists that landed at just the right moments. Savi is quite a character! Was she being framed, or was she guilty? You’ll have to read the novel to find out.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

Title: Everyone Here Is Lying 

Author: Lying by Shari Lapena

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Release Date: July 25, 2023

Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

“The most addictive book I've read in ages—so slick and disquieting and clever. Just brilliant.” —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Family Remains

“Lapena is a master of manipulation.” —USA Today

Welcome to Stanhope. A safe neighborhood. A place for families.

William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbors become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Nothing will prepare you for the truth.

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What happened to Avery?

Nine-year-old Avery Wooler is missing.

What we know from the very beginning: William Wooler is having an affair with his neighbor, Nora. William is a physician, and Nora has been volunteering at the same hospital. The day Avery disappears, Nora ends the affair, and William arrives home earlier than expected. He finds Avery alone. She says she was sent home from school and walked. In a rage, William strikes her. He apologizes and decides to leave. That’s the last thing we see.

Detectives Gully and Bledsoe are assigned the case of the missing child. They soon realize that many people in the neighborhood are hiding secrets, and any of them could be responsible. Of course, William quickly becomes the prime suspect. Did he do it?

I enjoyed Everyone Here Is Lying, but not as much as the other books I’ve read by her. There were a few good red herrings. I guessed part of the mystery fairly early, but the other part caught me by surprise. The ending, though it felt a bit rushed, was satisfying in a fist-pumping kind of way.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs