April 2024 Standalone BOTM - Otherworldly, by F.T. Lukens

[Alaina]

New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.

Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.

Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.

Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.

**This BOTM thread will be open until May 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Aly]

Ch 1-8 (view spoiler)[ Knox is a sweetie and I feel bad that he's forgotten his past 'lives' in the human world. Hopefully this time he can stay, maybe a bargain with his queen? (hide spoiler)] I like winter, but a never-ending freezing winter sounds terrible.

[Aly]

Ch 9-16 (view spoiler)[ Okay, so this is more of a cozy fantasy. I like it so far and the crushing is pretty adorable. I also love Knox's list of human things to do (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Ch 17-24 (view spoiler)[ Oh no Knox! I hope he remembers somehow or maybe Ellery can convince the Goddess to give him his memories back? (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Ch 25-End (view spoiler)[ I'm happy everything worked out! I loved the found family aspect of this and that even Arabelle (Arabella? Idk) got to go back to the human realm for a while.

Things resolved fairly easily, but that's basically what I want in a cozy fantasy so I'm not too bothered. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Starting this now!

[Alaina]

Prologue: (view spoiler)[I have a feeling that everything will not be okay. But Knox is already adorable, and I'm excited. (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Alaina wrote: "Prologue: [spoilers removed]"

So cute!

[Alaina]

Ch 1-10: (view spoiler)[Okay, I'm intrigued as to how that worked. Also, how cool is that you can't do any harm to the contract. Other than that, not remembering everything when you go back is kind of sad. No memories and never knowing how long you will have to wait until you get called again. Kind of sad and lonely. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Aly wrote: "Ch. 1–8 [spoilers removed]: I like winter, but a never-ending freezing winter sounds terrible."

Never-ending winter sounds amazing, lol.

[Alaina]

Ch 11-20: (view spoiler)[I had a feeling he was going to forget everything.. but I thought he had a note? Hoping the Queen doesn't take too long to reverse his punishment. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ch 21-30: (view spoiler)[It was so interesting how the path was extremely clear on the way out. Well, I guess maybe it isn't, but at least Knox now has a choice. I'm sure the goddess isn't happy about the deal, but I mean, once he dies, he will become her familiar once again. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Aly wrote: "Ch 9-16 [spoilers removed]"

Right? It was freaking adorable!

[Alaina]

Aly wrote: "Ch 17-24 [spoilers removed]"

I'm really hoping the goddess will accept it!

[Alaina]

Ch 31-Finish: (view spoiler)[This was so freaking cute and I'm so happy he made this choice. I mean, I knew he was going to but still. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Aly wrote: "Ch 25-End ..."

I'm also happy she picked being an undead since she wanted to roam the world still.

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 1-5 (view spoiler)[This has pulled me in immediately with the Shades and how they killed Arabella and tried to take Knox back. Glad that Ellery was able to help him though. Now Ellery just needs to get over the fact that they don’t think supernatural things are real and help him even more. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Today is the LAST day to add comments!

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 6-11 (view spoiler)[Im wondering what will happen to Ellery after the deal has been fulfilled . Glad that he has his powers back now. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 12-17 (view spoiler)[The party was stupid. But im glad we get to see one of the ways that dead souls dont stay in the other world and come back as undead. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 18-22 (view spoiler)[The shades got what they deserved from the queen. Sad that Knox lost his memories but hopefully Bram will deliver the message. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Finished (view spoiler)[Well that seemed like they made it more dramatic than it was. All they did was look at Arabella’s notes and recreated the elixir of life then walk to the other world that really didn’t seem very epic. Glad Knox got a choice at least. (hide spoiler)]