Three Books I'm Reading Now, 2/9/26 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm listening to V. L. Bovalino's non-swooning romantasy novel (featuring a female knight, one of my current-favorite elements), The Second Death of Locke; I'm listening to the first in Ariel Sullivan's futuristic sci-fi romance series, Conform; and I'm reading both an electronic advance copy (oops--this one was published January 20) and a gorgeous hardcover edition of Linda Wilgus's intriguing debut novel The Sea Child.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 The Second Death of Locke (The Hand and the Heart #1) by V. L. Bovalino

Captain Grey Flynn is a knight pledged to protect the mage Kier, who she has known since she was a child. She is not only blade but a source of magic, a well. Unbeknownst to others, she and Kier have gone through a forbidden process to become tethered, so that magic flows between them like an unspoken language. But Grey is also secretly in love with Kier.

Early in the story Grey, Kier, and choice members of their army are assigned to the protection of a young woman and told to spirit her through the mountains to safety. But she is not who the army thinks she is...and Grey herself is hiding an enormous secret about her own identity, which not even Kier knows.

I'm listening to The Second Death of Locke as a library audiobook on Libby.

Bovalino writes young adult novels under the name Tori Bovalino; this is her first book for adults.

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02 Conform (Reform #1) by Ariel Sullivan

Ariel Sullivan's futuristic world is centuries past a catastrophic world war that eliminated much of the human race, and things are run by an elite group of powerful people called the Illum. They mandate marriage and procreation and, in secret, far more.

Young adult Emeline lives a largely solitary life. She spends her days viewing holograms of artwork (the book references actual works of art) and designating many of them for permanent destruction, per her instructions from an unseen boss.

Then an Illum does the unthinkable: for the first time in decades, an Illum intends to take a Mate. And it's Emeline.

She's thrust into a whirlwind, mingling with powerful people, attracted to her prescribed Mate, yet also drawn to a mischievous young man who makes her think about the world differently than she ever has. But the love triangle that is taking shape has repercussions beyond anything Emeline could imagine.

The next installment in this series, Sullivan's first, is scheduled for publication in March under the title Beneath.

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03 The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus

In early 1800s England, Isabel, a desperate young widow after the Napoleonic Wars, must flee her London home for the Cornish coast where she was found as a small girl, wet and alone.

Upon her return she realizes that in her absence, rich folklore has grown up around her, and the locals believe she is the daughter of a sea spirit.

When some of the smugglers who regularly run up and down the coast show up at her door with their injured captain, Jack, Isabel thinks of her husband, injured in war and now gone, and she takes in Jack to nurse him back to health.

A Revenue Officer who aims to hang any smugglers he can threatens not only Jack's, but Isabel's safety. Meanwhile Isabel is trying to figure out the truth about her past.

I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Ballantine and a beautiful hardcover edition of this title courtesy of Ballantine Books.

This is Linda Wilgus's first book.