Happy Friday Junior, and Backlist Blast day! I’m so happy to see that so many of you have decided to join Backlist Blast, and in order to make your post for this meme more visible (and your blogs, Insta, or Twitter accounts too), I have decided to add a link-up form/widget to the bottom of every Backlist Blast post from now on! So, don’t forget to add your links to the form, so that all readers can see your posts.

Backlist Blast is a meme that is meant to encourage book bloggers to feature and talk about backlist books (meaning books that were published 6 months ago, or earlier). We all get excited about all of the newest books coming out, but many of us also have a looming TBR of books published 6 months ago or earlier that we still need to read! The main purpose of this meme is to talk about those books, and remember why we wanted to read them in the first place. Another purpose is for readers to find out about awesome backlist books that they might have never heard of before! For more information on the meme, and for optional themes, please see the info page here.

– My Backlist Blast Choice –

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

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I added this book to my TBR the moment that I found out that it was set in historical Russia, and also had magic. I’m ashamed that I haven’t read it yet, but my excuse is that I didn’t own a copy until January, when my Boxing Week Book Outlet haul arrived in the mail. Hopefully I will get to it this year! Have any of you read this one? Or is it on your TBR too? Let me know in the comments!

– About the Book –

Title: The Crown’s Game
Author: Evelyn Skye
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Published: May 17, 2016
Source: Personal Purchase

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip-smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love…or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear—the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

– About the Author –

Evelyn Skye is the NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author of THE CROWN’S GAME and its sequel, THE CROWN’S FATE. New series–CIRCLE OF SHADOWS–coming Winter 2019. Evelyn was once offered a job by the C.I.A., she not-so-secretly wishes she was on “So You Think You Can Dance,” and if you challenge her to a pizza-eating contest, she guarantees she will win. When she isn’t writing, Evelyn can be found chasing her daughter on the playground or sitting on the couch, immersed in a good book and eating way too many cookies. She can be found online at www.evelynskye.com and on Twitter @EvelynSkyeYA.

– Link-up –

Welcome to the new link-up feature! Please link up your Backlist Blast post specific to this week, rather than your blog or social media account in general. You can either share a blog post, an Instagram post, or a tweet from Twitter on here (or all 3 if you so desire)! I also welcome any feedback regarding the link-up!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING MY BACKLIST BLAST POST! HOW HUGE IS YOUR BACKLIST TBR, AND WHICH BOOK/BOOKS DO YOU THINK YOU’LL GET TO FIRST? WHY? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!