A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice
By: Rebecca Connolly
Release Date | April 5
Genre | Historical Fiction
Everyone knows the story behind the sinking of the Titanic, but what about the captain who navigated the icy waters to answer their distress call? A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice is about the captain of Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, who came to the rescue of those aboard the Titanic and his thoughts during the rescue. Is the journey futile or will he be able to save those who can survive the frigid water?
Kate Connolly is one of those passengers. Despite her third-class ticket and being one of the last to receive help, she is able to land a seat on one of the few remaining lifeboats; as she bobs in the water, listening to the screams of others, she has to wonder if rescue is possible or is she destined to die among the stars and ice?
(PS - if this intrigues you, check out Luck of the Titanic, which is another Titanic-based book you'll be bound to enjoy!)
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Alone Out Here
By: Riley Redgate
Release Date | April 5
Genre | Science Fiction
The year is 2072 and like warned, the earth is doomed for catastrophe and the only way to survive the impending volcanic eruption is up.
Whilst the world's most important and intelligent individuals oversee the rapid construction of the spaceship destined to save humankind, their children are brought in for a weekend tour of the Lazarus, a high-tech prototype the current spaceship is based on. It should have been a normal tour except, the apocalypse arrives earlier than planned and only those aboard the Lazarus survive.
This is their new world, the only surviving world filled with frozen animal DNA, random human artefacts and fifty-three terrified teenagers. From the panic arise leaders who take charge in searching for a habitable planet but as isolation and fear begin to fracture the group, the struggle for control increases and First Daughter Leigh Chen must decide what side she stands on - the side of the mission or the side with her humanity.
Hotel Magnifique
By: Emily J. Taylor
Release Date | April 5
Genre | Fantasy
Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor is presented as a must-read for lovers of The Night Circus and Caraval. With the backdrop of a Belle Époque inspired hotel, you as a reader follow Jani and her discoveries of and within the legendary Hotel Magnifique.
When Hotel Magnifique comes to town, Jani sees the glittering lights as a way for her and her younger sister to escape and the only way to do so is become part of the staff. But soon they realise that underneath the glamour lies dangerous secrets which scare them enough to quit except, their contracts are unbreakable. It is up to Jani to save her sister and free all from the Hotel Magnifique even if it means having to risk everything she loves.
Find the full review | HERE | for Hotel Magnifique
The Younger Wife
By: Sally Hepworth
Release Date | April 5
Genre | Mystery
The husband is remarrying but to do so he must first divorce his current wife who cannot speak for herself. The daughters believe the new wife is nothing but a scammer, she's younger than them and clearly only marrying their father for his money. With their mother in a precarious situation, it is up to them to uncover the truth.
And for the younger wife - well, she has secrets of her own.
Very Bad People
By: Kit Frick
Release Date | April 5
Genre | Young Adult
Six years ago, her mother drove into a lake - with her and her two siblings inside. They survived, her mother did not and the truth behind the "accident," like their survival, is a mystery to all. Now sixteen, Callie has transferred to her mother's old boarding in hopes of peeking into her past and finding answers behind the "accident."
What Calliope did not expect when attending Tipton Academy is an offer to join Haunt and Rail, a secret society whose existence holds power over the campus. A secret society she soon finds out may have a link to her mother's death. How far would Haunt and Rail go to obtain victory and do they hold the answers she is searching for?
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier
By: Sarah Bird
Release Date | April 12
Genre | Historical Fiction
July 3, 1932 - Evie stands in shock watching the Starlite Palace burn, wondering how she became someone who would cause another to kill themselves. The point of her moving to Galvest0n was to escape her past and become somebody good, somebody who gave back, somebody like a nurse.
A plan that was quickly dashed upon her arrival as she was swept into the foreign world of dance marathons. All that she craves is there - love, purpose, family but to achieve what she craves, she must overcome what she fears most - the spotlight.
Blood Will Tell
By: Heather Chavez
Release Date | April 26
Genre | Thriller
Five years ago, a frantic call from her sister brought her to the scene of a car accident, with her sister drunk and confused upon her arrival. Six girls partied that night, one was never seen again.
Frankie has always protected her younger sister, Izzy, regardless of whether or not Izzy wanted that protection but Frankie is loyal and that night five years ago proves it. When an amber alert pops up on her phone describing her truck as the kidnapper's vehicle, Frankie's loyalty is once again tested because the only people who have access to the truck are herself and her sister. But this time round she needs to decide what lengths she is willing to go to protect her sister because she knows that the danger from that horrifying night is not over.
The Children on the Hill
By: Jennifer McMahon
Release Date | April 26
Genre | Horror
1978: Dr. Helen Hildreth is a renowned psychiatrist known for her compassionate nature for all patients but at home, Dr. Hildreth is known as a grandmother passionate about teaching her grandchildren, Vi and Eric, how to take care of their belongings, craft delicious meals, and show what healthy relationships can be through love and attention. Then one day, she turns their world upside down when she brings home a child - Iris, whose nature is silent and skittish and whose behaviour is nothing like Vi has seen before.
And Vi doesn't care because Iris's presence means shel'll have a new playmate, a new addition to the Monsters Club she and Eric created. It is a club dedicated to creating all types of monsters and figuring out how they can be defeated. Before long, Iris's nature transforms and the silent and terrified girl she first was slowly slips away allowing her to become one with Eric and Vi. They do everything together from watching drive-in movies to hunting monsters because as they all know, monsters are everywhere.
2019: Lizzy Shelly, host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us is heading to Vermont to find the monster who abducted a young girl. Lizzy knows better than most that monsters are not something of fantasy, monsters are real and her sister is one of them.
I'll Be You
By: Janelle Brown
Release Date | April 26
Genre | Mystery
Growing up, they were gorgeous identical twins who completed the other perfectly and sometimes, their parents couldn't tell who was Sam and who was Elli and then Hollywood discovered them. Together, they became B-List child stars, often playing the same role but as adults, their togetherness fractured and they have gone separate ways.
Elli has removed herself from acting and dedicated herself to having the perfect suburban life which by all standards she currently has. Sam never willingly left acting and her failed career is something she's never recovered from or the booze or pills she's needed to survive life for the past fifteen years. It was her behaviour that drove them apart and it is why when she receives a call from her father asking about Elli, she's baffled.
It turns out Elli's life is not as perfect as it seems - her husband's leaving her, she recently adopted a two-year old, she's just checked into a mysterious spa, and nobody's been able to reach her since. As Sam struggles to complete the puzzle of her sister's life and why she would have disappeared, she realises that their bond never left and their link is more complicated than she knew.
Prison of Sleep
By: Tim Pratt
Release Date | April 26
Genre | Science Fiction
Prison of Sleep by Tim Pratt is the completion to the Journals of Zaxony Delatree duology and an intriguing multiverse sci-fi release in April to keep your eyes out for, especially if you enjoyed the first novel - Doors of Sleep. Continuing on with Zaxony's journey, you are thrust back into his life of never ending new worlds and brief relationships but at least this time he has Minna and there is no longer an evil scientist hunting him for his blood.
Except now Zax has a new issue, Ana his old and previously thought insane companion has resurfaced and proven herself sane and healthy. She now belongs to the Sleepers, a group of travellers who willingly travel between worlds. It turns out Zax's magical power is from a foreign parasitic alien who has taken Zaxony as host, a parasite that secretes the chemical necessary for his travel. A chemical Zaxony is soon told that impacts the fabric of the universe as every time he travels, the parasite grows.
Ana is desperate to recruit Zax to their cause and stop the alien growing on him but she is not the only one interested in the parasite. There is a cult who serve the Prisoner and who want the parasite to free their god. Together can they stop this cult and if so, what next for Zaxony and his parasite?
