By the Horns by Ruby Dixon
Royal Artifactual Guild #2
Romantic Fantasy
September 2, 2025- Berkley
ARC

Occasionally I just need some Ruby Dixon to get me out of a book funk, which is why I read this book pretty much as soon as it hit my Kindle.

This is the second book in the Royal Artifactual Guild series, and features Gwenna, a former servant determined to join the Royal Artifactual Academy as an artificer, and Raptor, a Taurian who already works with the Academy and is tasked with finding a thief.

Their relationship begins like most do, with Gwenna helping an injured Taurian in sexual need when she needs a distraction from sensing a dead body in the alley. LOL. Sounds weird, but if you’ve ready any of Ruby Dixon’s backlist this should be right up your alley. Gwenna and Raptor have a sweet relationship, while solving a theft and murder mystery and trying to figure out a way for Gwenna to hide her necromancer abilities.

I’m hoping for a third book in this series.

The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg
Fantasy/ Fantasy Romance
September 2, 2025 by 47North
ARC

Nym, a beekeeper and healer, is raising her siblings after the death of her parents. Their family teeters on the edge of ruin every day, especially with her brother off fighting in a war. When she is called to travel to court to treat the mysterious illness of Prince Renn, she makes a plan to get in and out, and back to her family as soon as possible. But her healing craft, a magic that is forbidden in the kingdom, but is utilized by the Queen to heal her son, nonetheless, is greater than any who have come before. She ends up trapped in a terrible situation, working day and night with little rest.

A couple of things, the pacing until about the 50% is a bit slow, there is a lot of time spent describing Nym’s healing abilities and trying to figure out how to heal Renn. The worldbuilding is interesting, with a unique magic system, but trust me when I tell you that it’s a slow, meandering path to the buildup and climax. I would also like to mention that like other fantasies by this author, there is a touch of romance, but it’s extremely slow burn. Renn and Nym get to know each other over the course of their relationship as healer and patient, and it takes a while before the coldness between them thaws.

The latter part of the book is the big payoff, with twists and turns, and a truly surprising ending. Which is why I keep reaching for every new Charlie N. Holmberg release. She gets me in the end every time.