Recommendations based on "Calling the Shots"

A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards—a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape—for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world—and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?Book One of The Arcana Academy Series

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are three obstacles in her way.The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons ... See problems one and two.The Complete Steel & Stone Series: Book 1: CHASE THE DARK Book 2: BIND THE SOUL Book 3: YIELD THE NIGHT Book 3.5: FEED THE FLAMES Book 4: REAP THE SHADOWS Book 5: UNLEASH THE STORM

All Gideon wanted was a friend.After waking up in the afterlife to discover he died, Gideon has nowhere to go. The world around him feels strange, utterly false, and he struggles to let go of the past he was ripped away from.Gideon never expects his new, monstrous friend to nibble his way into his heart, or give him purpose in death. His wings are soft, his body strong, and his skull face oddly compelling, but what point is there in desiring more when their future is meaningless?All Aleron wanted was his kindred.Having been violently separated from his twin, Aleron is left behind in Tenebris. Unlikely events lead him into an adventure with a pretty human, who entrances him more with every step they take. Gideon is funny yet confusing, and he makes desire sink into Aleron like a frustrating set of claws.Aleron’s heart is big, it’s ready to love, and it’s fond of the male he has in his keeping. But things do not always go as promised, even when Aleron is given the potential to have everything he wants.Will Aleron be able to keep those important to him close, or will he come to regret the choices he’s made?

One, two, death is surrounding you. Three, four, you'll fight even more, Five, six, grab your crucifix, Seven, eight, learn more of your fate, Nine, ten, battle every now and then. Paige Alice knows heartache, yet she still has so much to deal with being the ghoul queen. She'll have to pull up her big-girl panties, steel her heart, and get on with queenly duties... only she didn't realize it would involve an up-close-and-personal with the devil himself.

Baldr the Beautiful is dead. Desperate to get back to his privileged role as Ooinn's favorite son, Baldr strikes a bargain with Hel, the terrifying half living and half skeletal queen of the realm of the dead. He offers her the only thing he's got: knowledge from the living world. Hel gives him three days. If he can teach her something new, she will return him to the realms of the living. But the icy Hel seems completely impervious to Baldr's charms. What's worse, she already knows everything. By the end of the third day, Baldr realizes he's only got one chance left to impress her. Returning to his former life depends on Baldr the Beautiful seducing the most formidable woman in the Nine Realms.

AngelicaAfter four years, I'm forced back to the metropolis of Cebrene and away from the haven I created in Antium City. My safety is now in danger, so I need to bide my time before I can leave this place again.My baba is the Godfather of the Night of the Kouvalakis family and I am his only child. I know he is keeping many secrets from me, and a past I hardly remember keeps plaguing me.When two strangers barge into my life, I can't get them out of my head. But neither would be good enough for a mob princess, a title I would pay good money to get rid of.One is a mysterious man I met by chance, in a not-so meet-cute. He's straight up irresistible and everything I shouldn't want. I know nothing about him but I keep wanting more and more.The other is an intruder, the embodiment of darkness, a constant shadow. I am drawn to him and he has become my safety net. But why did he choose me?

Dead men tell no tales When Corporal Kaylin Neya is assigned front desk duty—a task hated by every Hawk—the only thing she can look forward to besides an endless stream of complaints is visits from a dotty old woman. She always brings baked goods along with information passed on by her friends…who happen to be ghosts no one else can see. But then the old woman’s invisible friends have news about Severn Handred: his unusual weapon has caught their attention. Concerned, Kaylin accompanies the woman home because she has a few questions to ask these so-called ghosts. Sadly, Kaylin can also see them. And she can see other spirits in the woman’s house as well—four children who’ve been trapped there for decades. When Kaylin looks into the deaths in the records at the Halls of Law, something doesn’t add up. Factor in a building that isn’t supposed to exist, and nothing makes sense. But Kaylin is a Hawk, and she’s determined to free the trapped ghosts of the children, even if she’s suddenly landed in the middle of the bad kind of Barrani history. Someone doesn’t want the past to be uncovered, and they’re perfectly willing to destroy Kaylin if it preserves the secrets of the dead… “A satisfying combination of contemporary-feeling secondary world, city-based fantasy, and go-big-or-go-home epic.” —Tor.com on the Chronicles of Elantra series

 An unexpected duty   For three hundred years, Princess Dria has avoided the drama of the royal court by training as a battle mage. When her father summons her back to court just as she begins to rise up the ranks, she’s furious. Even worse, she must work with her estranged brother Ralan on a mission to Earth. But as soon as Dria arrives at Moranaia’s new outpost, her brother drops the leadership of the entire place into her hands. Now she’s in charge of fortifying a new outpost on a planet she’s never even visited.   An abhorrent task   Prince Vek of the Unseelie has spent millennia as his father’s enforcer, working in the shadows to eliminate evil, but after sparing his nephew Fen from the king’s judgement, Vek must tread carefully. One false move, and he will lose the king’s trust—and Fen’s life. But when the king gives Vek a new, more sinister task, Fen becomes the least of his worries. The Moranaians have a new colony on Earth, and King Torek wants the energy source that’s contained within. Vek must retrieve that power—even if he has to kill the Moranaian leader to get it.   A threat unknown   From the moment she catches Vek sneaking into the cavern, Dria knows the truth—the dark and mysterious prince is her soulbonded. But she’s certain he’s up to no good, and although she’s drawn to him, there is no way she can trust him. His reputation, and that of the Unseelie in general, precedes him. Unfortunately, more than desire is awakening. As they dance around their budding attraction, Dria and Vek uncover a deathly illness lurking among the fae—and a sinister plot that will damage both their worlds.

No rest for the wicked... or anyone else! Welcome to the world of Marla Mason, part-time goddess of Death and former chief sorcerer of the Felport. It is a a world full of snark, violence, weirdness, bad choices with surprising consequences, friendship, betrayal, villainous living severed heads, magic motorcycles, axes made of fragments of moonlight, monsters from beyond the multiverse, and other delights. Alternating one month in the mortal world and one month in the underworld, while Marla is on Earth, she tries to do good and remember what it means to be mortal-often having to remind her adversaries of their own mortality. In Lady of Misrule, Marla awakens for her month on Earth and finds her allies missing, and an old enemy causing trouble in her home city of Felport. If that wasn't bad enough, a charming gentlemen from beyond the multiverse has decided that murdering gods might make for an amusing pastime. He figures he will start with Marla. Now, with the help of her former apprentice Bradley Bowman, Marla must rescue her friends, crush her enemies, and eliminate the aforementioned existential threat-before her month runs out and she returns to the underworld. Cover art by Lindsey Look