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Let’s make a list of books to read in June 2025!
‘The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love’ by India Holton
You don’t need to ‘sign up’ or have ‘special elite access’ to join the Fishbird Central Book Club. Just read along with our chosen book for the month, and let us know how you like it!
We’ll forget to talk about the Book Club and our thoughts on the monthly book pick in our Fishbird Central Newsletter. We’d love to chat with you about anything else in the newsletter comments!
Join us as we read some great new titles and tick off some reading prompts!
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Happy Reading, Friends!
Series or Standalone?:
This is Book One in the Love’s Academic series.
'The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love' Back Blurb:
Professor Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare Deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination. For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Beth. When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. They’re hunting the rarest of species. But will these rivals discover something even more endangered – true love.
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is Book 2 in the ‘Assistant to the Villain’ series.
'Apprentice to the Villain' Back Blurb:
Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office. But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs – Kingsley’s included – point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies … including their nemesis, the king. Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge – protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie. It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun. But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?
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Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
'The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes' Back Blurb:
Cashed out from the NYPD after 24 years, Doak Miller operates as a private eye in steamy small-town Florida, doing jobs for the local police. Like posing as a hit man and wearing a wire to incriminate a local wife who’s looking to get rid of her husband. But when he sees the wife, when he looks into her deep blue eyes. He falls and falls hard. Soon he’s working with her, against his employer, plotting a devious plan that could get her free from her husband and put millions in her bank account. But can they do it without landing in jail? And once he’s kindled his taste for killing…will he be able to stop at one?
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is Book One in the Dark Lord Davi series.
'How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying' Back Blurb:
Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time. This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.
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‘How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying’ by Django Wexler
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
'Starter Villain' Back Blurb:
Inheriting your mysterious uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine. Sure, there are the things you’d expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead. Much harder to get used to . . . are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats. And the fact that in the overall organisation, they’re management.
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Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel based on a screenplay.
'The Nice Guys' Back Blurb:
1970’s Los Angeles. Down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March and hired enforcer Jackson Healy must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.
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Series or Standalone?:
This is Book One in the Cyrus Haven series.
'Good Girl Bad Girl' Back Blurb:
Six years ago, Evie Cormac was discovered, filthy and half-starved, hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a shocking crime. Now approaching adulthood, Evie is damaged, self-destructive and has never revealed her true identity. Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven, a man haunted by his own past, is investigating the death of champion figure-skater Jodie Sheehan. When Cyrus is called upon to assess Evie, she threatens to disrupt the case and destroy his ordered life. Because Evie has a unique and dangerous gift – she knows when someone is lying. And nobody is telling the truth.
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Series or Standalone?:
This is Book 3 in the Highway 59 series.
'Guide Me Home' Back Blurb:
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews has handed in his badge. A choice made three years before, which served justice if not the law, means that he may now stand trial. And his mother – an intermittent and destructive force in his life – is the cause of his fall from grace. And yet it is his mother’s reappearance that may also be his salvation. A black girl at an all-white sorority at a nearby college is missing, her belongings tossed in a dumpster. Her sorority sisters, the college police, even the girl’s own family, deny that she has disappeared, but Sera Fuller is nowhere to be found. A bloodstained shirt discovered in a woodland clearing may be the last trace of her. And Darren’s mother wants her son to work the case. Disillusioned by an America forever changed by the presidency of Donald Trump, Darren reluctantly agrees. Yet as he sets out to find a girl whose family don’t want her found, it is his own family’s history that may be brought painfully into the light. And a reckoning with his past may finally show Darren the future he can build.
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Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
'The McMasters Guide to Homicide' Back Blurb:
Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college-its location unknown to even those who study there-is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.
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