Despite being incredibly busy and having to adjust to a new all-around schedule, August was a good month for reading. The final books of two series I'd been waiting on released, I discovered a crossover series from an author I really like, and learned that two series I'd been interested in are finally complete. I also reread another of my favorite series, Seraph Black by Jane Washington, and started a couple of other books that have been on my TBR for awhile.

Gallows Bridge (The Harlequin Crew book 5)

Author: Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

I had been waiting awhile for this one to come out. I really enjoy this author duo, even if mafia/gang stories aren't my favorite. All of the characters in this series are morally gray, except for the true villain. He's 100 percent evil. Book five picks up right where book four ended, literally. The five main characters have to come up with a plan to finally take out Sean, who is like a dang cockroach and just keeps coming back. His obsession with Rogue is scary, to be honest, and his master plan to 'break her' is psychotic. Side note: they changed the covers, so this one looks dramatically different from the first four.

The Death Witch (The Coven: Fae Magic book 4)

Author: Chandelle Lavaun 

She did it again! Wow, what an ending to this season of The Coven Saga. I can’t wait for the next season to start. Truly, this is one of those situations where it's hard for me to give a synopsis without giving away spoilers about the rest of this season and the series as a whole. This season focuses mainly on Saffie, a fae-witch who was cursed in 1693 as part of a larger plan to eventually face Lillith, the fallen angel who's set on destroying the world. If you want to read this series, you need to start at the beginning with The Lost Witch. There's a prequel novella that you can get by joining the fan group.

Aria (The Happily Never After series book 3)

Author: H.P. Mallory

I'm honestly not sure why I let so much time pass from when I read book two. Maybe because the series wasn't complete yet? Anyway, I really do enjoy fairy tale retellings. This series has all the leading ladies of my favorite fairy tales, with each book focusing on a different one, although this one had the star of book two pretty heavily featured. Anyway, in this interwoven tale, there are ten 'chosen ones' who will one day unite to protect the world from the horrors of hell. Aria is Ariel, the little Mermaid. In this version, she's been cast out by her power-hungry father, Triton, and is living with her aunt, working to keep monsters inside a trench that's started to break open. When she rescues Captain Hook from a kraken, everything changes, then changes even more when she meets the human prince with whom she's now engaged.

Author: Alex Lidell 

This series read a lot like the Power or Five series, also by Lidell and one of my favorites of all time. It all made sense in the final book when there was a small crossover with one of the characters from that series, which made me want a follow-up book or series really badly! When Sam accepts a job to steal a mysterious object, she has no idea it will land her in a reform academy for supernaturals. She knows she's different, but she had no idea she's a witch. The last witch in existence, to be exact, and a coveted 'weapon' for both the shifters and vampires.

Broken Bonds and Savage Bonds (The Ties That Bond series book 1 & 2)

Author: J. Bree

This is a series that I've seen recommended over and over, but I've held off on starting it because it was incomplete. Well, the final book comes out at the end of September, so I decided to dive in, and I've enjoyed the journey so far. At the time of writing this post, I've read all of the books available, but I only finished the first two in August. Oleander (Oli) has been on the run since she was 16, but now her Bonds have found her and dragged her back. What they don't understand is that she wasn't running from them; she was running to protect them from the same evil that held her in its tortuous grasp for two years.