Welcome back, Boozy Book Club

I know that there are those of you out there for whom today’s date holds no special significance. It’s August, sure, but it’s still summer. It’s still hot as menopause outside, and there aren’t enough snocones in the world to make up for it, but other than that it’s just a month like any other.

Of course, teachers and parents (and nerdy home schoolers … my god will someone think of the poor loser homeschool parents, please) are all too aware that freedom is fleeting, school supplies in Target are dwindling, and August is the hottest circle of hell. August 1st: we want to be in the pool working on our back stroke, but instead we are working on Back to School.

But thanks to books and booze, we have something to take your mind off the heat and the horribleness of the end of summer: BOOZY BOOK CLUB IS BACK. That’s right, it’s time to find the best urban fantasy, the best YA, the best new releases, the best thrillers, the best romance, the best smut and read them and get drunk and discuss them. IT’S THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR.

If you’re ready right now to get this party started, you are in luck. Our August book club picks are coming out in quick succession.

Day Zero and Arcana Rising by Kresley Cole

If you remember one of our earliest book club picks was Poison Princess by Kresley Cole, the first in the Arcana Chronicles series. We loved her awesome blend of apocalyptic madness, magic, hotness and young adult yearning. It was literally the booziest of all the book club hangouts.

SO drunk. Even Kresley was impressed (she told us). After Poison Princess, she introduced one of the hottest love triangles of all time in book 2, Endless Knight, and tried to make us choose teams in Dead of Winter. Her books end on enormous cliff hangers. And now, we finally get to know what happened to Jack.

Day Zero is out today and gives background information on all the incredible Arcana Chronicles characters as a companion to the series. Want to know more about what Death was doing and feeling and thinking about Evie just days before the Flash? Dying to know more about Fortune and Jack? It’s all there.

Synopsis:

Arcana means secrets, and these Arcana Chronicles short stories from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole are filled with them. Experience firsthand the beginning of the end and behold the apocalypse through the eyes of characters you only thought you knew.

Ashes to ashes . . .

Evie Greene’s story of the Flash is just one of many. All over the world, those connected in some way to the lethal Arcana game—like Death, Jack, and Fortune—must first survive a horrifying night of blood and screams.

We all fall down.

Some will have to grapple with new powers; all will be damned to a hellish new existence of plague, brutality, desolation, and cannibalism. Find out who they lost, why they endure, and what they sacrificed in order to live past Day Zero. . . .

Wait a minute … I thought we were going to find out what happened to Jack at the end of Dead of Winter? SPOILER ALERT: We better. In Arcana Rising, the 4th official book in the series, that comes out on August 15th.

Losses mount and deadly new threats converge in this fourth action-packed tale of the Arcana Chronicles by #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole.

WHEN THE BATTLE IS DONE . . .

The Emperor unleashed hell and annihilated an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind—but Circe struck back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies.

AND ALL HOPE IS LOST . . .

With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter’s reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other a seductive nightmare.

VENGEANCE BECOMES EVERYTHING.

To take on Richter, Evie must reunite with Death and mend their broken bond. But as she learns more about her role in the future—and her chilling past—will she become a monster like the Emperor? Or can Evie and her allies rise up from Richter’s ashes, stronger than ever before?

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m looking forward to Evie having to team back up with Aric. Or HOOK back up with Aric. ToMAYto, toMAHto.

So, if that isn’t clear, Arcana Rising is our main book for August. Right now, you are thinking: what if I haven’t read any of the Arcana Chronicles yet? Can I hop in on book 4? Well, no. You would be lost, but also you would miss out on TONS of awesome stuf happening in the first three books. If you can, join us in the whole series. If you can’t, read at your own pace and come back to talk to us about it when you get the chance right here on our Goodreads thread.

Or … you can skip it altogether and read our optional book.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Look, we realize that for those of you who are new to the Arcana Chronicles, jumping in to a new series 4 books in sounds like a daunting and crazy task (although we think it’s totally worth it), so for you we are giving you the optional book The Hating Game this month. Out August 2nd, this book is definitely up ALL of our alleys.

Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

You guys, maybe you don’t realize it, but Boozy Book Club is back with a vengeance. You don’t even know! Go download Day Zero today, get ready for The Hating Game (tomorrow) and Arcana Rising (August 15th).

Buy Arcana Rising by Kresley Cole

Buy The Hating Game by Sally Thorne