Gateway Reviews

ROYAL HEIRS ACADEMY For fifty years, the kingdom of Ashland has been at peace, ruled by a strong leader, King Leander Eldana. And now, sixteen years after sending his grandchildren to be raised out of the public eye, it is time for him to bring them back into the spotlight. It is time for him to name an heir. But any leader of Ashland must be strong, to keep the peace in this country with its extensive bloody history. So King Leander knows that whoever succeeds him must earn their place on the throne. Ashland's future rests in the hands of his three heirs apparent... and a wildcard. Sent off to Almus Terra Academy, an infamous boarding school known for preparing the world's next generation of leaders, the three Eldana heirs must prove their worth. And thrown into the mix is Sadie Aurelia, a commoner from Ashland who has been given a scholarship... and the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to bring new blood to the throne. And unli...

THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH The world might be ending. For real, this time. At least, that's what all the recent visitors to Liz Flannery's bookstore have been saying. She's not sure she believes them. She lived through one deadly Storm, after all, and she's been sheltering in this abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey since. But with these rumors about a new Storm on the way... Liz might need to do some prep work to get the bookstore ready to weather another Storm. What she isn't prepared for is someone breaking into the store in the middle of the night. To be fair, Maeve didn't know anyone was living in the bookstore. She was just looking for her own shelter through the Storm. And as long as she's here, they might as well work together. But the Storm isn't the only threat bearing down on their lonely bookstore. THOUGHTS I adored th...

ON THE WINGS OF LA NOCHE Etrella "Noche" Villanueva is no stranger to death. She's been escorting souls to the other side for years. That's her job as a Lechuza, after all. But escorting someone you know, someone who died too soon, isn't an easy job. Something Noche is learning all too quickly. Because she's been stuck for weeks now, night after night visiting the lake where her girlfriend drowned. Visiting Dante's ghost, who she refuses to escort to the great beyond. Noche knows she'll have to. She has to say goodbye. That's how it works. But she just can't. And every day she shirks her duty, it feels more and more like her life is falling apart. She's not speaking with her best friend anymore. She's having trouble staying awake during class. And when a new kid moves to town, Noche finds herself strangely invested... even though she's absolutely not ready to move on. ...

THE WILDE TRIALS Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win the Wilde Trials, the elite competition held by her boarding school every year. Only a select few seniors are chosen each year to compete in a series of mental and physical tests designed to showcase Wilde Academy's core values. The winner gets money--lots of money. And that's money Chloe needs to help pay her little sister's medical bills. Chloe might have been chosen as one of this year's competitors, but the competition has never been steeper. She's working against kids who are smarter, who are richer, who are more popular. She'll be playing this on her merit alone. And of course her competition includes her irritating ex-boyfriend Hayes. When Chloe starts getting blackmailed during the competition, she turns to the only one she can think of: Hayes himself. Hayes, who broke up with her because she wanted to compete. Hayes, whose brother died in this com...

  Best                      First Place:             Every Time You Hear That Song Jenna Voris                                         ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dual-timeline historical fiction, Darren Purchase spots her ticket out of town in the scavenger hunt left in country star Decklee Cassel's will, but there's a lot more to Decklee Cassel's legacy than the tabloids ever knew. A historical love story with strong women at the core, Jenna Voris presents a story of ambition, desperation, and the regret of a one-way ticket out of town. Though the payoff of the contemporary leg of this dual-timeline story feels a little lackluster, this piece of historical fiction is worth escaping into a world where small town girls dare to dream. Runner...