Monday, August 24, 2026

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in Victorian London during Jack the Ripper's reign of terror, this gripping, original novel is perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Dana Schwartz, and Sarah Penner.

When Caroline Foster arrives at the Whitechapel Full Moon Society in search of her missing brother, she finds a dilapidated façade belying an interior as opulent as any exclusive gentlemen's club. In exchange for room and board, Caroline is hired as the Full Moon's maid, where she is given three orders: don't ask personal questions, stay out of the iron-barred room on the second floor, and remain in her bedroom from sunup to sundown on the full moon.

But when it is revealed that the previous maid was murdered - an early victim of Jack the Ripper - and her brother has left behind no answers, only more questions, Caroline begins to suspect her hosts might be hiding something. As more bodies turn up with a connection to the Society, Caroline fears she may have unwittingly stumbled into a bedtime story, the kind with monsters and curses, family secrets and ancient lore.

Tantalizing and pulsing, Elizabeth DeLozier's sophomore novel gives an exciting alternative look into the infamous Jack the Ripper story with a major, supernatural twist."

Ripperologist glee is vying with historical fantasy glee for dominance! 

Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A tantalizing pact between an ordinary woman and the silver-tongued son of the Devil is all that stands between Britain - and all hell breaking loose.

1851, London. All supernatural species have emerged from hiding, a result of The Great Revelation, led by Her Majesty, the vampiric Queen Victoria, and her dhamphir consort, Prince Albert.

Cora Hastings is the British government's Species Ombudsman, a human tasked with keeping the peace between supernatural creatures. It's run-of-the-mill work: enforcing the newly created shifting parameters, negotiating contracts between species, and generally making certain all Londoners are treated equally.

That is, until the Devil himself decides he wants to leave his hellish home and see the results of Prince Albert's greatest accomplishment, the Great Exhibition. His arrival could upset the uneasy peace between creatures, and worse - he's brought his son.

The Marquis of Hell is diabolically good-looking, unnaturally perceptive, and, well, a demon. Cora navigates her sinfully seductive diplomatic assignment as best she can, until she catches wind of a secret conspiracy set to come to fruition at the opening of the Great Exhibition. This leaves her with an impossible choice: Either Cora enters an unholy alliance with the Devil's son, or she watches as her world is torn asunder...."

A little more hellish Checquy. 

The Demon Overlord's Retirement Plan by M.H. Foster
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Demon Overlord retires to farm turnips in peace, only to find life in a small village far more chaotic than he ever could have anticipated in this laugh-out-loud debut cozy fantasy with teeth.

When destroying the world and killing the hero grows boring, what's a Demon Overlord to do but quit while he's ahead?

Galornus Prime was the Scourge of Nations, Ender of Hope, and Master of the Cardinal Sins. He had done everything worth doing. Some of it more than once.

His retirement plan was simple: get a goat, farm quietly, and avoid accidentally conquering anything. The plan didn't include soul-crushing town halls, after-school combat lessons with children, and a war with perhaps his most worthy nemesis yet: the rose-growing, seventy-three year-old widow next door.

Even in retirement, evil never sleeps...but it does plant turnips.

When corrupt officials and greedy merchants threaten his infuriatingly loveable neighbors, Galornus faces a new kind of challenge: saving the village without revealing he is the monster parents invoke to make children eat their vegetables.

The Demon Overlord's Retirement Plan is a cozy fantasy with teeth, where the hardest battle isn't defeating heroes - it's staying retired and learning how to live after 444 lifetimes of villainy."

Replace turnips with radishes and it's disturbing that I think this is my Dad's retirement plan.

Heir of Prophecy by Analeigh Sbrana
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She's a woman bound by fate, torn between two prophecies.

He's the Prince of the underworld, fated to either claim her or end her life.

Defying destiny is one thing...the heart, another.


Magic has always been at the periphery of Audra's life. As a human, she knows that magic exists, but it's as distant as the legends she grew up with. Until one day, magic returns, bringing with it the all too real Fae and upending Audra's life entirely.

Abducted by a cult of fae Priestesses, Audra finds herself conscripted into a magical war academy. The only hope of surviving this new world filled with guilds, magic, and danger is to band together with a group of her fellow prisoners. Though unlike the others, Audra's burgeoning magic is erratic and violent - just as the prophecy foretold. She must discover what it means to be the Heir, but time is running out. The Priestesses know the Heir moves among them, and they're determined to root them out, no matter what it takes.

As she struggles to mask her power, Audra's plagued by visions of a dark, seductive being with a conflicting truth. He doesn't want to save the world; he plans to reclaim it.

Now, Audra must choose: become the savior the cult demands or the catalyst the vision promises."

Kinda sucks to have only two options, neither good. 

The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this gothic historical tale, two girls must uncover the secrets of their haunted home before it's too late.

The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls has long stood as a place of secrets. The estate has housed hundreds of young women hidden away during their pregnancies, their homesick cries echoing through the halls, providing a haunting score to Grace Harrow's childhood.

Now, in the summer of 1947, the Home has been sold to a wealthy hotelier. Grace expects the new owner's daughters to be spoiled. Yet Rose, the eldest daughter - unaware of Mr. Harrow's abusive tendencies - is jealous of Grace's seemingly easy confidence. But as they're drawn into each other's lives, an unlikely friendship begins to form. Fortunately so, because not all of the wayward girls made it out...

One still lingers. Lurking in the shadows. Looking for vengeance.

To expose the truth buried in the walls of the Harrow Home, Grace and Rose must unravel a legacy of silence and cruelty. But Grace's father will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden, and if the truth comes to light, it could destroy both their families."

Harrow and Gothic just got together like peanut butter and jelly. 

Portrait of a Witch Undone K.S. Shay
Published by: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Thirteen stolen works of art. One haunted marsh.

And a Boston witch willing to risk everything for the friend she's already failed.

An atmospheric, eerie debut for readers of Starling House and A Discovery of Witches, Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist aficionados, witchy girls, burnt-out former gifted kids, New England history buffs, the coven curious, ride-or-die friends, folklore fanatics, and anyone who's ever wanted to wander through the looking glass.

Once, Maeve Ryan was the strongest witch of her generation. But Maeve messed up a spell to contact the Lady of the Fens, an eerie Revenant who lures the unwary to their deaths in the brackish marshlands of the North Shore. Maeve destroyed her reputation, hurt her best friend Ash, and tainted herself with unbound, wild magic that transforms witches into insane Revenants.

With unbound power eating away at Maeve's mind, all she wants is to get rid of her magic. Forever. But Ash's research into how the spell went awry leads in an unexpected direction: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and a link between the Lady and a decades-old art theft worth $500 million. When Ash disappears through a stolen painting's empty frame, Maeve has to follow.

Inside is the Other Marsh, a haunting, deadly realm where only the Lady's rules apply. Within this half-world lie secrets about North Shore's history, Maeve's failure, and the fate of the masterpieces that disappeared over three decades ago. But as Maeve fights toward the truth, she risks her friendship, her coven, and her life against enemies hiding in plain sight."

I love true crime meets fantasy, I hate that hand coming out of the picture frame. It cheapens the cover.

The Night Pool by Lauren Lee Smith
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Night Pool is a blood-soaked, page-turning horror set in the Gold Rush West, where three women must battle monsters both human and inhuman to survive - perfect for fans of Alma Katsu's The Hunger and Victor LaValle's Lone Women.

The American West is no safe haven for women - least of all in the Gold Rush town of Coloma, California. Not for Clara Tice, the blacksmith's strange and stubborn daughter. Not for Mei, the healer whose calm presence in the makeshift camp for Chinese immigrants contrasts sharply with her brother's hard-eyed pursuit of riches. And certainly not for Haloke, a Nisenan shaman's granddaughter whose native village has been devastated by smallpox, hunger, and the relentless greed of Outsiders.

One night, Clara and Haloke meet at the river's edge and watch in horror as Clementine Cobbs, the town beauty, is lured across the water. Together they witness something terrible in the Night Pool. Soon after, an unseen attacker descends upon the mining men of Coloma, abandoning heartless bodies one by one. As the gruesome killings in Coloma threaten to incite further violence, Clara, Haloke, and Mei find themselves unlikely allies - without the gangs, guns, or bravado of the men who claim Coloma's riches. The three women must work together to confront the evil that menaces them from both monsters and men.

A gripping tale of sisterhood, vengeance, and survival, The Night Pool explores the horrors of greed and lust, and the hidden strength of the most vulnerable among us."

Female supernatural Deadwood? Sign me up.

The Unheld by Luke Larkin
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Startling monsters and occult oddities abound in this chilling horror Western as a girl journeys across the haunted Montana Territory to rescue her father from an otherworldly creature.

Charlie's life is a lonely one. While other twelve-year-olds are in school, she spends her days skinning the animals her mercurial father hunts in the woods just outside their cabin. And the woods and its twisted creatures - an owl with four wings, a boar with two heads, a fox with gills - are becoming stranger by the day.

One night, a nightmarish beast appears and drags Charlie's father into the wilderness. To find him, she enlists the aid of two unlikely allies also in search of the beast: an Englishman with a connection to a mysterious occult society and a Northern Cheyenne policeman exiled for a crime he didn't commit. Yet as the trio prepare for the confrontation with the beast, Charlie must decide if her father, a brusque man who has always withheld his affection, is ultimately worth saving.

With its blend of Western grit and supernatural menace, The Unheld is an unsettling and atmospheric horror novel about loneliness, human connection, and how we find each other in a world that seems designed to alienate. With this assured debut, Luke Larkin marks his arrival in the genre and proves the American frontier still harbors untapped stories in its shadows."

I love occult and supernatural stories in the American West. And yet it's an undeserved love.

Any More Questions for the Corpse? by J.J. Unthank
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a young necromancer investigates a string of deaths in the hidden magical capital of England, the dead come back to haunt him - in more ways than one.

Twenty-one-year-old Malowin Gladstone was raised by the dead - two skeletons to be precise. While his parents keep a close eye-socket on him, he just wants to get through the rest of university without using any more of his much-loathed necromancy. A hope that gets all the more difficult when he's recruited by a secret Order to hunt a serial killer.

Dunwich, the hidden magical capital of England, has its fair share of oddities, its most recent being a series of murders that have the police at a dead end. But Detective Walters has an unorthodox suggestion. Who better to find a killer than someone who can talk to the dead? He proposes that Mal use his necromancy for good and solve the case before it goes stone-cold.

As more bodies begin to drop, Mal befriends several misfits who help him unearth the culprit. Among them, Des, a fledgling vampire; Hala, a magical empath; and Yu, a shapeshifting genius.

The team put their unique set of skills to the task, but as they get closer to digging up the truth, the group's ghosts come back to haunt them, and the killer won't rest until they're all dead and buried."

I mean, you think you're embrace being a necromancer if you were raised by skeletons. Perhaps it's the whole rebellion angle....

The Burn by Jonathan Sims
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the dark and twisted mind behind the podcast sensation The Magnus Archives comes a suffocating, socially charged nightmare that reveals how fear festers in the cracks of everyday life...

Beneath the streets of London, it hungers...

It's the hottest summer on record and the city is suffering. Prices are high, pay is low. And on one fateful morning five travelers find themselves trapped in a tube car deep in the London Underground.

It will change their lives forever.

By the time they leave the train they will be bound together as witnesses to a single horrific event. Something terrible, irreversible, and monstrous. Something hungry.

But they can't remember what it is.

On their own, they each begin to experience strange dissociative events. Time gets lost. Friends disappear. Something stalks them in the shadows. They make an unlikely team, but to remember what they encountered that day on the train, they will have to work together. Because now it's up to them to understand what horror they saw - and stop it in its tracks before it drags everyone else down below."

If Ben Aaronovitch did shit-your-pants horror.

The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From "modern Agatha Christie" (The Sunday Times, London) Janice Hallett, a follow-up to her blockbuster debut novel The Appeal, featuring the Fairway Players as they put on Agatha Christie's play The Hollow and find themselves embroiled in murder, blackmail, and betrayal once again.

Welcome back to Lower Lockwood. The Fairway Players return with Sarah-Jane and Kevin MacDonald as committee cochairs. This year, they have chosen to stage Agatha Christie's The Hollow. But auditions aren't their only problem: Sarah-Jane's sister, Nicky-Rose, is suddenly back in town under mysterious circumstances, having sold her home in Barbados, left her business providing entertainment on cruise ships, and moved back into their mother Carol's house.

As always, they're short on men, and new Player Fran Elroy-Jones enlists a young married couple and the husband's cousin to join. But no one wants to play the part of the hated Gerda, leaving Kevin and Sarah-Jane with no option but to reach out to an old member they know would be happy to perform in any role.

As with any production, tensions run high, and our intrepid lawyers Femi and Charlotte are tasked with uncovering exactly what happened on the opening night of The Hollow - and whether the correct person has taken the blame."

Never trust the veteran player who comes in at the last moment. They will die or they will kill.

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die Quietly by Katarina Bivald
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When DCI Ian Ahmed agrees - reluctantly - to convalesce on a remote island in the Stockholm archipelago, he expects nothing more than bitter winds, silence, and boredom. But just across the bay, a sleek, modern house stirs to life. Staff arrive in dark clothing, cleaning and prepping with military precision. And then Margrethe Cullenberg-Franzén appears - legend of the art world, notorious matriarch, and, as Ian soon learns, a woman used to bending the world to her will. She's come to the island to celebrate her eightieth birthday, dragging her fractious, resentful family with her - and inviting Ian and his enigmatic hostess, Berit Gardner, along for the ride.

But before the candles are blown out, Margrethe is dead - fallen from the cliff into the frigid sea during a stormy night. Accident? Suicide? Ian is certain it was murder. Trapped in a landscape of muted colors and long, creeping shadows, he and Berit begin to unravel the toxic family secrets festering behind Margrethe's imposing legacy. As winter deepens and the ice seals the island in silence, the question echoes louder: who stood to gain the most from the matriarch's fall? And how long will the killer wait before striking again?"

Exactly how remote is this island? Because, once you start it's easier for a killer to just do the lot.

A Body in the B and B by Katie Marsh
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: eBook, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's a perfect location for...murder.

When sisters Jennifer and Lizzie Christie inherit their aunt's dilapidated B and B, in the beautiful Lake District village of Lupton Water, the only thing they have in common is how much they hate their housemate, a Declan Moss.

The two of them fell out thirty years before, and now they're mid-life, mid-menopause, and about to be mid-disaster. And not just because Jennifer's cat Clementine and Rose's dog Gizmo have taken an instant dislike to each other.

But when Declan's body is found in the bathtub, the sisters are top of the suspect list. Can they and their pets bury the hatchet long enough to find out who the killer is? Or will they become the next victims?

The first in the Christie Sisters Mysteries series, perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton and Faith Martin."

A bed and breakfast always make me think of murder. Which is why I don't frequent them.

The Bravest Hour by Anna Lee Huber
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"British Intelligence Agent Verity Kent managed to survive four years of The Great War, slipping in and out of German-occupied Belgium and northeastern France, dodging serious consequences or capture. But as she faces her most dangerous - and devastating - challenge yet, her luck may have run out. Hopefully, her resilience has not...

November 1920. Dublin, Ireland. Verity's efforts to foil a contemptible plot by the traitorous Lord Ardmore and save countless lives - as well as the British government's reputation - has exposed her to detrimental scrutiny, bringing her contact with the Irish rebels to light. Crushingly, she finds herself incarcerated in Dublin Castle, the "Dread Bastille," where she must withstand interrogation from her own countrymen.

Despite her circumstances, Verity knows better than to talk - though decrying Ardmore to his face would be more than satisfying. For once again he has escaped culpability, scapegoating his associates. Her only hope is intervention from her shadowy superior. And yet, when rescue finally comes, Verity finds herself changed by what she has endured, perhaps for the worst.

Still, there's no time for respite or healing. Ardmore's latest nefarious objectives go beyond mere treason. Allegiances are shifting as the war between the Irish Republican Army and the British reaches a new fever pitch. If Ardmore is to be brought down, Verity and her husband, Sidney, must gather all the allies they can for one last stand.

But just when victory seems assured, one shocking and vicious turn of events changes everything. Now Verity must decide where her loyalty lies. And it may not be on the same side as the man she's loved to the grave and back."

Seeing as, while I'm an Anglophile, I am also of Irish descent, you can guess which side my loyalties lie with.

The Dazzling Magic of a Petit Four by Kathryn Rose
Published by: Chateau Boho Books, LLC
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 372 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Serena Vandenbusch arrives in Paris with a black cat on her shoulder and an urn in her arms. On the hunt for a secret mausoleum, she must be careful not to reveal her identity as a witch and finds refuge in a flower shop called Le Dahlia Noir, run by an older woman named Marie who also practices the craft. The era of jazz, cocktails, and the debauchery she knew from New York has followed her to Paris, and in early 1923, Serena is desperate to forget what happened on New Year's Eve and the tragedy that brought her to the City of Lights. But the past has not escaped Serena yet. Through the spellwork, potions, and tarot readings of Marie and her coven, Serena learns her past is on its way to find her, and though she has been able to lie low in Paris by selling charmed cakes that promise love, luck, and happiness, the time to find a secret mausoleum for the urn's final resting place is running out, and the only one who can help might very well be Alexandre, Serena's handsome customer with a secret of his very own. A cozy yet dark tale for fans of Practical Magic, The Great Gatsby, and Chocolat, The Dazzling Magic of a Petit Four is the perfect book for a wintery night full of love, magic, and desserts."

Serena Vandenbusch? Really!?! That's too Gossip Girl for me. To reminiscence of Serena van der Woodsen.

Murder at Rosecliff by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a troublemaking party crasher is found dead in a fountain during an elegant soiree in Newport, Rhode Island, newspaper editor Emma Cross Andrews must clear her own society reporter from suspicion of murder...

August 1903. Emma and her husband Derrick are among the men in white tie and tails and the women wearing white gowns from the House of Worth at Tessie Oelrichs's Bal Blanc, or White Ball, at Rosecliff, her grand cottage on Bellevue Avenue. There to cover the event of the season is young Ethan Merriman, society reporter for the Newport Messenger, the newspaper owned by Emma and Derrick.

It's an utterly charming affair until a stranger intrudes flaunting a green-striped necktie and matching vest in defiance of their hostess's theme. But his fashion crime is a mere misdemeanor compared to his intention to blackmail Mrs. Oelrichs by producing a compromising document supposedly signed by Tessie over a decade ago.

Insisting it's a forgery but terrified of scandal, she agrees to his terms, but the blackmailer will not live to see payday. His body is found face down in a fountain before the party's end. Beside him stands a very wet Ethan, who was seen being confronted by the man earlier in the evening. Coming to the aid of their luckless cub reporter, Emma and Derrick must sort through the white lies and blackened reputations to discover the identity of the true killer."

I've watched enough of The Gilded Age to know that that waistcoat led to his death.

Miss Morton Takes the Waters by Catherine Lloyd
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Victorian England, Bath is the destination to restore a lady's health. But after accompanying Mrs. Frogerton to the spa town, a poison-pen campaign and a locked-room murder lead lady's companion Caroline Morton into troubled waters...

On the advice of her doctor, Mrs. Frogerton has arranged a visit to Bath to take the waters and regain her health and good spirits. While she reflects on her own next steps in light of her changing circumstances, Caroline goes with her to ensure the good lady's well-being. Daily life in Bath takes on a routine of its own, with visits to the spa interspersed with social occasions and new acquaintances, including a group of women who live on Queen Square and gather to drink tea, play cards, and gossip.

When it comes to light that some of the ladies are recipients of poison pen letters, a rejuvenated Mrs. Frogerton offers to help. Sorting through the social dynamics of the group for motive and opportunity, she talks with the ladies while Caroline questions their companions.

The situation becomes more grave when Lady Greatmere, the oldest and most unpleasant of the ladies, is discovered strangled in her own locked drawing room, a half-finished epistle on her dressing table suggesting she might be the author of the poison pen letters. As Lady Greatmere's companion falls under the suspicion of the Bath constabulary, Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton attempt to read between the lines to force the killer to come clean..."

Oh, a locked-room mystery! 

Midnight at Pemberley by Regina Jeffers
Published by: Ulysses Press
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gothic romance where passion defies death and Mr. Darcy's darkest secret could destroy him - and the woman he loves.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy arrives in Hertfordshire, his proud reserve hides a secret far darker than Elizabeth Bennet could ever imagine. Beneath his impeccable manners and quiet intensity lies a hunger that defies nature itself - and a past shadowed by loss, betrayal, and blood.

Drawn to the spirited Elizabeth despite every warning of danger, Darcy struggles to protect her from the truth of what he has become. But when the mysteries of Pemberley's moonlit halls begin to unravel, Elizabeth finds herself caught between desire and dread, uncovering a love powerful enough to challenge immortality itself.

From candlelit ballrooms to graveyards veiled in mist, Midnight at Pemberley transforms Jane Austen's classic tale into a sweeping gothic romance of passion, redemption, and forbidden desire. With her signature mastery of Regency detail and emotional depth, Regina Jeffers reimagines the world of Pride and Prejudice in a story where love is eternal - and eternity comes at a price."

Regency Magic! Muppet arm flail! 

The Art of Charming a Changeling by Sylvie Cathrall
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A cozy slice-of-life romantic fantasy set in a Regency-inspired world where humans and fairies compete for artistic supremacy, from Sylvie Cathrall, author of A Letter to the Luminous Deep.

On her first day working in the prince's galleries, art conservator Florrie Hyverfell discovers that the most famous portrait in the collection is not only a fake - it's also inhabited by Vern, a fairy trapped in the forged painting.

Tracking down the stolen original is the only way for Florrie to save her job and for Vern to escape his canvas. Yet as they journey to a famed fairy museum to find the missing artwork, Florrie finds herself taking more than an art historical interest in the changeling painting's charming inhabitant."

This gives me chills. The child trapped in the painting in The Witches always terrified me.

Wolftamer by Maggie Rapier
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Legends don't die.

Saoirse and Faolan's quest for freedom turns into a battle for the fate of their entire world, in this aching and lush conclusion to the Magpie and the Wolf duology.

Faolan has escaped death. Twice.

After a lifetime chasing freedom and legends, he was finally on the brink of becoming one himself when it all went up in flames. Stranded on the Isle of Lost Souls, bound by an oath he did not make, Faolan is plagued by dreams of drowning and a past he swore never to revisit. The pirate in him wants nothing more than to raise hell and run away - but with no ship, and no way to untether his wife, Saoirse, from the land she's pledged herself to, Faolan is trapped.

And everyone knows who tamed the Wolf.

When their sinister rival King Maccus unveils an ancient godly relic - one with the power to unbalance their entire world - Faolan knows the game has changed. There's only one person who can hunt down the missing relics before Maccus can, and the Wolf of the Wild will do anything to protect his wife.

Even if that means leaving her behind."

Very Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann.

Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher returns to the charming fantasy world of Swordheart in this delightful and unexpected new romantic adventure.

Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages...

But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.

This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who's been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there, and he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.

But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart."

Aw, sexy sword man!

Brona by Terry Brooks and Delilah S. Dawson
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the world of Shannara with the sequel to Galaphile, and discover how the seeds of the greatest evil that the Four Lands has ever known inadvertently grew out of Galaphile's dream for peace - from the New York Times bestselling authors Terry Brooks and Delilah S. Dawson.

Years have passed since Galaphile Joss and his life partner, Nirianne, established Paranor as a way to bring harmony to the Four Lands. Now their two sons are becoming men in a land of peace and plenty. Admittedly, it is a land that their eldest child, Abronja, finds rather boring. At sixteen, he longs for a way to prove himself - a chance to show he is every bit the equal of his famous father. But when the excitement he has been longing for materializes, it is in the form of an old evil: a dark sorcerer whom his father had defeated but not destroyed. And who is now back, stronger and deadlier than ever.

Galaphile has always dreaded this wicked resurgence - and not just because of what it means for the wider world. Abronja was conceived while the dark sorcerer had control of Nirianne, and Galaphile has always feared that a spark of malevolence lives on in his beloved child.

Abronja, for his part, is certain he will never be corrupted by evil. He is fully committed to his father's vision for peace and is determined to make his name by finally destroying the monster that has targeted his family. But tangling with dark magic is not a thing to be taken lightly - especially for a young man as yet untested in the ways of the world. And when the repercussions of this encounter could have consequences for centuries to come..."

Yikes. Those consequences are a bit dire. Centuries to come!?!

Tales of a Treacherous Fate by Jennifer Delaney
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The darkness beneath never wished to be used at all. It simply wished to be free.

With trust fractured and our heroes separated across the burning face of Elysior, full-scale war looms closer. With Alma trapped in the clutches of the Countess, Kat, Emrys and Gideon must find a way to play the next game the Countess wishes to play in order to rescue her. Only time is running out and loyalties are a fickle thing as the surviving Fey are fleeing into the north, chased by the dark summoning of Montagor set on revenge.

New allies will be found in the strangest of places and ghosts from the past return to try and stop the next deadly twist in fates game.

But nothing is quite what it seems. As demons are unleashed upon the earth in their murderous legions, Kat and Emrys must call upon their very last resort for help...the Old Gods themselves.

For not all darkness is their enemy and fate is about to begin its final deadly game.

Tales of a Treacherous Fate concludes the Sunday Times bestselling gothic fantasy series that began with Tales of a Monstrous Heart - a sumptuous magical retelling of Jane Eyre, unmissable for fans of Rachel Gillig and Kaylie Smith."

Personally, I always worry that calling on the Old Gods means they're just going to destroy everything and start over.

Only One for the Orc by Isabelle Taylor
Published by: Harlequin
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A local bookshop employee falls hard for her polar opposite - who just happens to be an orc - in the second installment of Isabelle Taylor's Claw Haven monster romance series, perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes and Ruby Dixon.

In Claw Haven, Alaska, monsters are real - but fated mates? Bookseller Vi Harper doesn't believe, and it's up to one smitten orc to prove otherwise in this sweet and spicy romance.

Vi Harper is good at many things. Fixing problems for everyone in Claw Haven, for one. Keeping Sweethelm Bookstore running smoothly, for another. Above all, Vi is great at pretending she's got her life figured out. The truth is, she's a hot mess inside - especially when cocky, gorgeous orc Nick Wicker goads her in his infuriating way.

Nick has found his mate. That's the good news. The bad: he's already blown it. Every time Nick speaks to soft-spoken, overworked bookseller Vi, she seems to hate him even more. What's a lovestruck orc to do but stress-bake and look for some way to redeem himself? Even it means joining the book club.

Then a batch of apology brownies sparks one passionate night together and suddenly, sensible Vi is doing something completely out of character: offering her one-time enemy a friends-with-benefits arrangement. It's more than Nick dreamed. Phenomenal. And it won't be enough. Not until he's found a way to show her that sometimes, fate gets it exactly right..."

Can we say inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast!?!

The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps by Elizabeth Hrib
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 290 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fans of The Baby Dragon Cafe, Legends and Lattes and How to Train Your Dragon will fall head over heels for this cozy, spicy sapphic romantasy.

When burn nurse Eden who has a fear of dragon fire meets Vaela, a gorgeous but reckless dragon wrangler, things burn hot enough to light their small mountain town on fire.

Burn nurse Eden has accepted a job from her old mentor at the Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps, hoping for peace and quiet in Ember Ridge - a charming mountain town famous for singed tourists and reckless dragon riders. Instead, she arrives to find the infirmary in chaos.

Her mentor is stranded out of town, wild dragons are causing havoc and Eden is left running the infirmary on her first day. Worse, she keeps crossing paths with Vaela, the town's dragon wrangler, whose talent for surviving impossible situations is matched only by a talent for getting under Eden's skin.

Vaela is everything Eden hates: brooding, reckless and arrogant.

But when local dragons begin acting strangely and the kingsguard descends on Ember Ridge, whispers spread of the Wretch - the most feared dragon in the realm. Eden and Vaela are forced into an uneasy partnership to save the town, but every argument between them sparks into something hotter and far more dangerous than they expected.

Because falling for a dragon wrangler was never part of Eden's plan. But neither is watching Ember Ridge - and her guarded heart - go up in flames.

Filled with cozy taverns, chaotic dragons and a fiercely lovable found family, this cozy romantasy is the perfect escape for readers who like their fantasy warm, whimsical and fiery."

To the cover designer, do we really think in this world they'd be using the universal symbol for a hospital? 

Dreamers of the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of the Japanese sensation The Full Moon Coffee Shop, this charming and heartfelt standalone novel brings more lost souls to the enchanted café - where they might find some help from the cats who run it.

Under the energetic star of Neptune the doors to people's hearts are opening...

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a bright moon.

Under one such moon in August, Neptune pays the Full Moon Coffee Shop a visit, taking the form of a beautiful human called Sala. Sala's special talent is giving people dreams and helping them to open their hearts. As the cats work with Sala, they find new ways to guide people as their customers face personal conflict.

When Satsuki, returning home after she spent three years away with minimal contact, decides to introduce her new boyfriend to her mother Fujiko, she learns an unexpected truth about her family's past.

Meanwhile, Fujiko is struggling to come to terms with her true feelings about her place in life and author Wataru is facing writer's block after years of success. Can Sala and the cats help Fujiko and Wataru open their hearts?

Beautifully weaving together three people in a story about love in all forms, this heartwarming novel in the USA Today bestselling series highlights the importance of being true to oneself and recognizing one's innermost feelings."

How do I get a job working for the cats?

I Haunt It That Way by Isabelle Popp
Published by: Afterglow Books by Harlequin
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 284 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She wanted her dream cabin. She's getting her worst nightmare.

Creaky floorboards, crisp fallen leaves, chilly evenings by the bonfire...Thora Williamson thinks she knows what to expect when she moves into her family's long-abandoned mountain cabin for a fresh start. Instead, she gets the surprise of her life when Lee Halliday - her ex's best friend and her own personal nemesis - pulls up in the driveway.

What's even worse? The place is not a simple fixer-upper, and Lee is determined to help with the renovation. But no amount of elbow grease will fix the mysterious phone calls or the unsettling sense they're not alone.

The more Thora and Lee work together, the more it becomes clear this cabin has unfinished business...and so do they. As eerie autumn nights lead to unexpected sleeping arrangements - Thora wonders: Is the cabin trying to push them closer, or keep them here forever?

I Haunt It That Way is a spicy, fast-paced romance you can read in one sitting."

If you are not totally in love with this book's title AND sing it every single time you read it I'm sorry but we can't be friends. 

Practically Magic by Jen Calonita
Published by: Avon a
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On the eve of Halloween, a sister's well-intentioned love spell turns into a curse in this witchy, flirty rom-com perfect for fans of The Ex Hex, Gilmore Girls, and Practical Magic.

The Hadley sisters of Mystic Hollow are magic. Literally.

But for all the generations of witches behind her, Kat Hadley could swear that she's utterly invisible to boys.

Then she learns that her perfect older sister, Harriet, cast a curse to protect her from heartbreak. Kat is so furious, she loses control - and it's not just their sisterhood that shatters. It's magic itself.

Suddenly, every spell a Hadley witch has ever cast starts reversing. Spells to do good start bringing evil. Curses to repel suddenly attract. And the veil between worlds begins to thin. If Kat and Harriet don't do something fast, this Halloween might be Mystic Hollow's last.

As they race to repair the balance of magic - and their relationship - Kat notices that every crush who's ever rejected her is suddenly magically lovesick. Even her annoying class rival seems to have fallen under her spell. For the first time in her life, she feels practically magic. Who cares if it's all just a spell?"

And this is why you don't work magic on family members!

Some Kind of Haunted by Hazel Beck
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the USA Today bestselling authors of the Witchlore series, Hazel Beck, comes the first book in a cozy, autumnal horror romance duology set in a seemingly charming Midwestern town that harbors a deep, dark plot at its core - one that could spell the end of its two newest arrivals if they can't unravel the secrets woven into their late grandmother's yarn shop.

Home is where the haunt is.

Lexi Darling has always been a city girl through and through. New York is loud, crowded, and just chaotic enough to keep her mind off everything she'd rather not think about - especially the eerily realistic nightmares that have plagued her all her life. So when she and her twin brother, Logan, are summoned to the postcard-perfect town of Midas, Iowa, one golden October to handle an inheritance from the grandmother they never knew, Lexi figures it'll be a quick detour: sign a few papers, snap a fall foliage selfie, and catch the next flight home.

But Midas has other plans.

The town has been waiting for the Darling twins, and it's not about to let them leave. Their arrival stirs up a centuries-old curse, one that promises something dark and hungry will rise again by Halloween night. And the key to stopping it might just lie in their family's mysterious past. Now, trapped in Midas with the shadows closing in, Lexi has to team up with a group of stubborn locals to save the town...including Jack, the grumpy-but-unfairly attractive diner owner who drives her crazy in all the wrong ways.

As the nights grow longer and an uncanny evil creeps closer, Lexi must uncover the truth behind the curse before Midas - and everyone in it - is consumed. Because in Midas, some secrets refuse to stay buried - and some nightmares never end."

Oh, attractive diner owner? Sold! Gilmore Girls style. 

Murder Like Magic by Trisha Blanchet
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Being able to read minds should make it pretty easy to solve crimes, right? Right?

A sort-of-telepathic witch-slash-PI takes on a murder case in this light urban fantasy mystery, perfect for fans of A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer.

Tess Tulley is the proud proprietor of Mill City Investigations - the premier (if you ask her) private investigation business in her small Massachusetts city. Business is slow, especially after she blew up her credibility among her fellow Spinners (do not call them witches) by turning in her own uncle for a crime spree three years ago. Loyalty among Spinners is top priority, and Tess's decision to put the investigation over her coven has left her out in the cold.

So when the local "Officer Handsome" comes knocking with a bizarre murder investigation involving a dead Spinner, Tess is reluctant to take the case. Even more so when she learns the details: The victim was stabbed postmortem, there's no sign of who or what actually killed her, and the body was found in a pool of someone else's blood.

Left with few other options, Tess dusts off her investigative skills, revs up her so-so telepathy, and dives headfirst back into her old community of Spinners. If she's lucky, she'll be able to unmask a killer and figure out whose blood had been left behind at the crime scene - and why. If she's not lucky (and let's face it, she rarely is), Tess might just become the next casualty on a slab in the Mill City morgue."

Oh, the mysterious blood has me hooked!

Witchbane by Deborah Carr
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: eBook, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dancing with the devil's son.

1640 Jersey

Rue Underwood has long understood that her magic could kill her. In an age where witches are reviled and hunted gleefully by men like Elias le Cerf, the notorious Witchfinder, it's crucial that she remain hidden. But when whispers reach Elias's ears of Rue's abilities, he sends his new apprentice - his son, Theo - to find Rue and bring her in.

But after one chance moonlit meeting, everything changes.

In a world where witches burn, loving the enemy is the most dangerous magic of all..."

Rue and Theo should off the Witchfinder...

The Sunken, The Adored by Donyae Coles
Published by: Amistad
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling Lovecraftian horror story from the author of Midnight Rooms, in which a recently freed slave from America making a new life for herself in 1800 Venice finds the mysterious plague that killed her former master may have followed her to Italy...and now stalks the canals.

Venice, Italy, 1800's. The only survivor on a ship, Mercy disembarks in Italy, carrying two precious possessions: the first-ever camera that makes daguerreotype plates and a letter regarding an appointment meant for the dead slave holder.

The letter takes her to Umberto, an Anatomist. In his basement workspace, she learns he hired the man who formally owned her to capture images of dissected corpses. But that man is dead. With no other recourse for her or Umberto, Mercy assumes the position. In return for the sample plate she took, Umberto takes her to the home of the Contessa, a British woman who married into her title. Charmed by Mercy, she invites the young woman to stay for the season to take pictures.

Formerly enslaved, Mercy finds this new life of freedom heady, as she takes on the mantle of a photographer and guest in a decadent house of pleasure under the hospitality of an aristocrat. Under the Contessa's roof, she meets a diverse cast of friendly and strange individuals with whom she forms new bonds and friendships.

But all is not well in her new life. Something dark and hungry stalks the canals that snake through the city, biting at her heels. The same death that rode the waves with her now surrounds her in this strange place. What is this malevolence that haunts her? As she tries to understand this macabre force, she must grapple with a greater fear: that the horror that endangers her friends is herself.

The Sunken, The Adored is dark, eerie, and wholly original - at once unsettling and irresistibly addictive."

1800's as in 1830's? Because if not... 

Miss Beresford and the Beast by Mimi Matthews
Published by: Perfectly Proper Press
Publication Date: August 25th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A spirited Victorian beauty with a fondness for fairytales unwittingly falls under the power of a beastly, scandal-plagued nobleman in the first book in USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews's new Daughters of Somerset series.

Charlotte Beresford has spent far too long under the iron rule of strict governesses and unflinching finishing school teachers. When she's offered a brief window of freedom - an invitation to spend the summer with a recent acquaintance in a remote corner of Yorkshire, far from societal expectations - she jumps at the chance. Never mind that her new friend is odd, their chaperone questionable, and the village rumored to be cursed. Charlotte knows how to look after herself. All she must do is show a friendly face, keep her wits about her, and - above all - avoid the derelict manor house that stands on the edge of the moors...

Battle-scarred and bad tempered, Magnus Sterling never intended to return to England, let alone Yorkshire. But now he's inherited the title, it's his responsibility to settle his late father's affairs. It should be simple enough to do without riling up the superstitious locals. Indeed, they don't even need to know that the infamous son of the equally infamous Earl of Eversleigh is back on British soil. Magnus will keep to himself, and to the crumbling manor house, and for once in his miserable life avoid any cloud of scandal. A straightforward enough plan, or so he believes, until he catches sight of the bold, auburn-haired intruder infiltrating the grounds of his estate..."

Shades of The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla! I approve!

Friday, August 21, 2026

Season 54 - Nolly (2024)

Noele Gordon was the star of the British soap opera Crossroads until she was unceremoniously sacked. The character of Meg Mortimer was no more. The decision was, as with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a "purely financial" decision. But she would not go gently into that goodnight. This three episode miniseries concentrates on the spectacle of firing a beloved star at the height of her fame while completely missing the boat because the audience has no idea why she was fired other than allusions to her being a powerful woman. And while we are given an "answer" by the end, Noele herself never was, so why give her this knowledge? Was it so important to Russell T. Davies that Nolly knew? Because I couldn't care less. At no time do we actually connect with Nolly. Helena Bonham Carter is having fun camping it up, especially when on public transport, but that is all, a caricature of a biopic. Now, this lack of connection might be different for British audiences who grew up watching Noele Gordon, but for Americans, I think I speak for the majority of us by wondering why this was even made. Because, if you actually research what happened, RTD is playing fast and loose with history. Nolly's got the basic facts basically right, but they're manipulated and massaged to tell the story of this gay icon. Here's an idea, how about you actually show us why she's a gay icon instead of her bonding with the new actress of color, Poppy Ngomo, who actually wasn't on Crossroads and is a stand-in for another character entirely? The disconnect between who RTD thinks the audience is and who the audience is is astounding. This was obviously a passion project for him and as all his passion projects ultimately end up, it was meant for an audience of one. He made this for himself and no one else darlings. He was bitter he never got to write for Crossroads and so he rewrote the ending and filmed it just for his own amusement. This is literally the only explanation I have for this and for "Space Babies." Whatever RTD had once he no longer has. I just can't with him. The breaking point was actually taking the amazing character of Belinda Chandra, who was all about her career, and turning her into a mother. Women don't exist just to be mothers Russell! The only point to watch this show is Con O'Neill. He's been around forever, don't believe me he's appeared twice in the Inspector Morse universe, but his performance of Izzy Hands on Our Flag Means Death was a rebirth, for the actor as well as the character. While people complain that we didn't get a third season what would have been the point without Con O'Neill? Here he brings a gravitas to the executives. If Nolly didn't have him as an antagonist, this show really would have had nothing. As it is, it's still just a RDT fever dream that just happens to have a great actor in it.

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Season 53 - Tom Jones (2023)

With the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice A and E had a legitimate hit on their hands. This was something new for the cable channel known mostly for their show Biography, an attempt at a "classier" celebrity expose. Therefore when The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling was announced, it wasn't just announced, the red carpet was rolled out, Max Beesley was going to be the next Colin Firth, and if that wasn't enough, look, they have Mr. Bennet playing Squire Allworthy! Yet they forgot the old maxim about catching lightning in a bottle... There was no way that any ad campaign they could come up with would generate the same buzz as Colin Firth in a pond. And not to slight Henry Fielding, but it's not like he has the fan base of Jane Austen. And yes, I bought the official tie-in hardcover edition that Modern Library released and I honestly tried to read it. Honestly I did... But I literally gave up not even a full chapter into the book. There's something about me and Tom Jones that just doesn't connect unlike me and Austen. In fact, and this is slightly embarrassing to admit, I'm not even sure I watched the whole 1997 adaptation, which I might possibly rectify one day soon. I remember the beginning, vaguely, and then there was a happy ending... But don't hold me to anything in-between other than apparently Jackie Tyler from Doctor Who was in it. I did tape it. I just didn't bother to watch it. And after five minutes of this new version I would have been glad to go back and watch the 1997 version instead. The thing about the story of Tom Jones is that it's a romp. It's very farcical, I mean just look at the characters' names! There should be rumpy-pumpy music and, well, rumpy-pumpy. Just think of the version in the sixties with Albert Finney and that's what is expected. This was just joyless. It was a slog to watch and there were only four episodes! What's more, despite having many actors I like and admire I didn't have a single character I was rooting for and I felt embarrassed for Hannah Waddingham. Not to mention the complete lack of chemistry between the leads. The only thing that was positive about this adaptation was Sophia Western being born to Squire Western's son and one of his slaves. They used this as an opportunity to actually talk about slavery and the worth of a human being unlike in Queen Charlotte, where they create a fictional "great experiment" to move society forward into a fictional realm. Here we have a grounding in reality which makes sense historically and might also be why the show doesn't work. But I don't want to be the one saying that slavery is the reason this doesn't work, because every chance you get to decry slavery you should, I'm saying it's endemic of a greater issue, they didn't understand the source material. They could have gone the way of many adaptations of late and done their own thing, and that might have been better, more real, because to attempt to balance the history of the times with the sexual shenanigans of Tom just didn't work. You can't choose the middle ground, it's lazy storytelling, you have to pick a side so pick wisely.

Monday, August 17, 2026

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An apocalyptic novel about belief, religion, and the power of myth that blends the gripping, end-of-the-world storytelling of The Passage with the biting wit and epic queer romance that makes Natasha Pulley's books "delightful" (The Washington Post).

Jesuit priest Avelyn Brocken was born into a mining family in Hreodwater, a small, totally isolated salt town in the Fens of England. At age 16, he fled, abandoning his faith in the god of the mine - the Salt King - and the mythology that killed his whole family.

When a fellow priest is miraculously healed only to then be turned to salt after a visit to Hreodwater, Avelyn is sent by the Vatican to investigate. But in Hreodwater, the town's gentle doctor, Jericho, tells him that the priest is not the only one experiencing strange cures - and may not be the only one in danger from a substance in the mine that the locals call "salt light."

Avelyn and Jericho team up to protect the world from the salt light - but they may already be too late: strange happenings are occurring at mines all around the world. At an archaeological dig on the Dead Sea, electrical devices froth salt; at another salt mine in Russia, a KGB officer finds the bodies of five tourists who seem to have turned to salt; and at the huge salt works at Wieliczska in Poland, all communication is lost, and rumors circulate of total annihilation.

As salt light spreads, devastating cities around the world, Avelyn must decide what and who to believe - and whether his faith is strong enough to withstand an apocalypse."

I will read whatever Natasha Pulley writes. Bonus points for tormented priests. 

And the Sea Gave Up the Dead by William Friend
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Jennifer Thorne's Diavola and We Have Always Lived in the Castle comes William Friend's latest stunning novel where grief, mystery, and something undead haunt a young woman and her family, and soon, a dark history will repeat itself.

Some grief echoes. Some grief knocks.

When Morwenna receives a troubling call from her reclusive Aunt Bethan, she reluctantly returns to the family's crumbling chateau by the French seaside. Bethan has lived there alone for years - ever since her husband vanished in circumstances the locals are still gripped by. Some whisper she killed him. Others claim something older, and far worse, took him.

What Morwenna finds is a house warped by grief. Rooms shift when no one is looking. Time seems to shift there, too. And the deeper Morwenna digs, the more the chateau seems aware of her presence...hungry for it. Worse, it seems drawn to her children.

Local folklore speaks of revenants rising from the sea, of creatures returning when the veil thins and old hungers wake. As strange events escalate, Morwenna must uncover the truth about her uncle's fate and the beings the villagers believe still haunt the estate  - before history repeats itself. Because if the tales are true, something long buried is stirring...and it has been waiting for her family to return. The dead are not done with this house."

If H.P. Lovecraft went even more Gothic. 

The Halls of the Dead by S.M. Hallow
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A queer, gothic horror romance set in a necromancy-tinged London, sure to entrance fans of The Death of Jane Lawrence and Mexican Gothic.

London, December 1849

Irene Shallcross Haley has dedicated her life to necromancy, a forbidden, reviled art that is passed along through sentient grimoires bound in human skin. With her undead husband St. John - a marriage of kindred spirits and platonic convenience - she has been protecting the knowledge of generations of witches that came before her. Like any magic, it has come at a cost: her reputation, her relationship with her sister, and her soul. But when Irene's love, Agnes, is hanged for witchcraft, Irene refuses to let Agnes be one more thing that is taken from her.

A true resurrection has not been achieved in two thousand years, but Irene is determined. With the help of St. John, Irene bangs on the doors of the Halls of the Dead, demanding the third part of their triumverate back...or did she? Because the Agnes that awakens comes with both a hunger for raw flesh and a malignant ghost tied to her soul.

Necromancy is the art of saying no - no, I won't let you go; no, I won't let you be destroyed - and Irene's work is not yet done. She must find a way to bring Agnes back to her true self, she must navigate her feelings for her resurrected lover as well as St. John, and she must do all of this without catching the attention of Sir Silas Underhill, the man who sentenced Agnes to death.

Death is not the end of love. But Irene may realize it can actually be the beginning."

Well, if a resurrection goes bad, I do think it's the end of love...

The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft by Romuald Giulvo and Jakub Rebelka
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gothic meditation on legacy and mortality from the world of Lovecraftian horror.

Translated for the first time from the acclaimed French graphic novel, this imaginative blend of fiction and reality reimagines the final hours of the literary icon through a haunting, dreamlike lens.

As Lovecraft confronts the legacy of his life's triumphs and regrets, his world becomes an otherworldly cathedral of memory and reckoning - filled with cosmic echoes of the mythos he helped shape.

Written by Romuald Giulivo (Le Sourire De Sang) and with breathtaking art by Jakub Rebelka (Origins, Judas), this collection presents the thrilling five-issue limited series in one complete volume.

Collects The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #1-5."

Being such a fan of Jakub Rebelka because of the art in When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee, this is a must buy. 

Never Whistle at Night, Part II: Back for Blood edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Aist Jr.
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The bestselling Indigenous dark fiction anthology returns with a new selection of even more daring and sinister stories. From monsters to mutilation, Never Whistle at Night is back for revenge.

Featuring stories by:

Jessica Doe • P.C. Verrone • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Jim Terry • Jessica Johns • A.J. Eversole • Sonia Marie Barry • Shane Hawk • Stephen Graham Jones • Alicia Elliott • Mat RudeWalker • Shaawan Francis Keahna • Billy-Ray Belcourt • Jake Arrowtop • Alina Pete • Debra Magpie Earling • Joshua Whitehead • Tommy Orange • Ramona Emerson • Erica Tremblay • Kimberly Blaeser

They're baaaaaaaaaack!

As any savvy horror fan knows: the monster never truly dies. The team that brought you the bestselling dark fiction anthology Never Whistle at Night has risen, hungry, from the grave to summon more dark delicacies for your delectation. In these twenty-one brand-new, groundbreaking, gruesome stories - authored by both established and newly unearthed Indigenous talent and illustrated by renowned Cheyenne and Arapaho painter Brent Learned - the contributors are fully embracing horror: both supernatural horrors and the everyday horror of living under colonialist rule.

Featuring stories of unspeakable yet satisfying terror, from twisted psychological tales to gore-filled monster hunts, this new selection of sinister stories will sate your darkest appetites and leave you slavering for more. Never Whistle at Night, Part II: Back for Blood is a further celebration of Indigenous survival and the enduring tradition of transforming adversity into art."

Embrace the power of the written word!

The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A threatened mother and a relentless detective collide when a series of murders awaken something long buried in the New Mexican desert in this mesmerizing novel of literary horror, perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Stephen Graham Jones.

A mother's love is the oldest curse.

Fortuna Miércoles has finally moved her family to a better neighborhood across the Rio Grande, desperate to outrun the curse that's stalked her bloodline since her greatest grandmother crossed the desert with a cactus thorn splitting her throat. But burying a family's violent legacy - or her own haunting secret - isn't so easy. Twenty years ago, girls and women vanished into the Albuquerque night, their bones later unearthed on the mesa. The so-called Reaper was never caught. Now, beneath the dormant volcanoes called the Sleeping Sisters, the killings have begun again, and they've called forth something in Fortuna that she has long fought to keep buried...

Detective Jeanette Palacio has spent decades promising justice to the ghosts of her murdered cousins - alongside the memory of the other women she couldn't avenge. When a new body turns up in Fortuna's backyard, both women are pulled into a dangerous, ancient plot. Are the Sleeping Sisters awakening - or has someone in Fortuna's family set a trap?

Inspired by true events, The Sleeping Sisters begins as a taut mystery shot through with myth and a Chicana-Indigenous reimagining of the legend of the headless woman - but by its cataclysmic end has spiraled into a fevered, feral hymn to motherhood and a mesmerizing portrait of trauma and the monstrous bargains we make to protect those we love."

True events!?! Tell me more.

These Walls Remember by Del Sandeen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When two estranged sisters inherit a home possessed by the horrors of its dark past, they must work together to survive in this viscerally chilling Southern gothic novel from the critically acclaimed author of This Cursed House.

Do not go into the attic, the note warned.

But that's exactly what sisters Mickie and Delilah do when they inherit a distant relative's house in Savannah, Georgia. They intend to sell the property, divide the proceeds, and go their separate ways once and for all.

But 724 Hartford Street has other plans.

As the sisters learn about this house and its history, past wounds begin to fester and spill into the present: strange visions, memory lapses, unexplained accidents, and surreal echoes of the house's previous inhabitants - some of whom disappeared after living in the home. The sisters suspect the residents of the sleepy Savannah neighborhood know more than they're saying about what really happened there.

And then Delilah, once adamant about selling and never looking back, develops an uncanny attachment to the house, her personality changing in alarming ways. Mickie knows that she'll have to pull her sister from the home's clutches or they will both succumb to that which hungers in its walls."

As much as I would love to inherent a house I'm sure it would be haunted and try to kill me, so thanks but no thanks.  

The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A family moves into their dream home - only to discover that it hides an insatiable hunger - in this dread-laced and darkly outrageous domestic horror novel.

The new house is a fresh start for Claire and her family. It's a move away from the cityscape of a declining San Francisco and towards the quiet suburban life she has craved since her turbulent childhood; a step up the corporate ladder for her husband, Tom; and a safe haven for their two children.

Yet as they unpack their boxes, she senses something is wrong. Fresh flowers dry up, store-bought eggs are inexplicably hollow, and her daughter's favorite toy disappears. Claire soon confronts a series of impossible truths: The house is hungry. It's devouring anything that was once alive. And only Claire and Tom, the owners of the house, will remember that this "food" ever existed.

When Claire exploits the house's power in a moment of weakness, she and the house forge a fragile bond. But as its hunger intensifies and Claire loses control, she fears who else might be drawn to her home - and what sinister appetites they'll bring."

I mean, feeding the house is viable depending on how nice it is and the school system...

A (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A teenage ghost in love with life becomes bound to the house of the grieving artist who summoned her via Ouija board in this darkly funny YA paranormal.

One hot dog with banana peppers. That's all Hot Dog wants. An invisible teenage ghost, she haunts a food cart outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Until one night, she's accidentally summoned via Ouija board to a house party in Florida...where finally finally finally, people can see her.

All the party guests scatter, except for Logan: the cool artist girl who doesn't just see Hot Dog, she actually wants to talk to her. Logan, who isn't scared of Hot Dog's stitched mouth or chattering dress. Logan, who's grieving her own dead BFF - and called Hot Dog by mistake.

Hot Dog wants to prove it's not a mistake.

She can be Logan's new best friend. She can go to Logan's Halloween party. She can eat snacks, have sleepovers, and hang out. She can definitely smile without scaring people. Exactly like a real, human girl.

There's one problem: Hog Dog's not a real, living human girl, and something in Logan's sprawling house knows it. It scratches like rats in the walls. It opens a secret door in Logan's attic. It wants to drag Hot Dog into the nothingness where dead things go. And unless Hot Dog can confront the dark truth of how she died, it will unmake Logan too.

Gorgeously strange and stunningly written, this YA paranormal masterfully melds camp and creep into a beyond-the-grave coming-of-age."

I mean, at least haunting the steps of the MET means good people watching...

The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes
Published by: Celadon Books
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four childhood friends, eager for a taste of city life, swap rural Brazil for an apartment in Copacabana, Rio. But they have no idea of the fate that awaits them there....

Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo are your average students trying to make ends meet with part-time jobs, excited about the bright futures at their fingertips. So when their rent skyrockets, they struggle to keep their new lives and big dreams afloat. They need to make money however they can. In order to keep their apartment, the friends adopt an unorthodox plan and are soon sucked into a dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of Rio's elite.

What starts as a joke quickly spirals out of their control. As the four friends fall deeper into this dark underworld and earn more money, the stakes get higher and the consequences deadlier, revealing the devious depths that lurk within each of them and threatening not only their friendship but also their lives."

I mean, just like that episode of Atlanta, they're eating people right?

The Calamities by Chuck Wendig
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The heir to one of the world's most influential families reckons with the demonic secret of their power in this contemporary dark fantasy that melds occult magic with shocking family drama, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents.

Mourning Mayne knows he'll one day bear the duty of managing his family's vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy of cruelty, domination, and exploitation...and something even darker.

Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends - half-human, half-demon, and possessed of a dark magic born from buying human souls - and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families.

But when Mourning's estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that Mourning return to the fold, he has to decide whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.

Because along the way home, he will meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends. Alone, they have all struggled with the darkness of their natures...but together, they might find a path out of the shadows."

Tear it all down! Even it that means dragging the demons back to hell!

The Black Bird Oracle Deck by Deborah Harkness
Published by: Random House Worlds
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Cards, 52 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Diana Bishop's family oracle deck from the beloved novel The Black Bird Oracle comes to life in this magical 52-card deck from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness.

The Black Bird Oracle Deck is a recreation of the seventeenth-century deck that plays a pivotal role in The Black Bird Oracle, the fifth novel in the beloved All Souls series. Handed down in the Proctor family for centuries before witch and Oxford scholar Diana Bishop discovered its secrets, The Black Bird Oracle Deck features 52 oracle cards and a guidebook that invites readers into this powerful world of magic and divination. Wholly original and beautifully illustrated, the deck includes cards in the following categories:

I. Elements
II. Birds
III. Covens
IV. Tools
V. Principles
VI. Alchemical Processes
VII. Moon Phases
VIII. Magics

Cards are printed on high-quality paper with rounded edges and textural graining, and they are contained within a deluxe, clamshell box with a ribbon pull. A perfect gift for fans of the All Souls series or tarot enthusiasts, The Black Bird Oracle Deck will help readers divine the twisting paths of life."

I love when objects that are in books become a reality. It's like making the magic of reading that much more magical. 

Siren Says by Jennifer Michelle Herrera
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lush, spellbinding tale about a tenacious young woman who must harness her family's dangerous magic to put a stop to the sacrifices they've been making for more than a century.

Twenty-five-year-old Raven Wynn knows that the ancient plant magic running through her veins brings nothing but destruction. It doomed her Welsh ancestors. It killed her mother. It's the reason she's now bound by a painful curse - one that will destroy her if she can't find a way to break its hold.

When her estranged Aunt Delilah bursts into her life promising a cure, Raven seizes the chance. However, her freedom comes at a steep price: Once her magic is fully unleashed, she is more powerful - and more dangerous - than anyone thought possible.

Desperate to tame powers she never wanted, Raven makes a pact with Delilah: In exchange for learning to control her magic, Raven will capture one of the spirits that roam Delilah's hometown on May's Eve so that it may grant Delilah's secret wish. With the help of an enigmatic new friend, Cherry, as well as an infuriatingly handsome stoneworker, Idris, Raven learns that her task is even more perilous than she imagined - one false move and the spirits could trap her soul - forever.

A sumptuous escape into a world of Celtic spirits and botanical magic, Siren Says is a bewitching story of the unbreakable bonds between women, the interplay between goodness and power, and the capacity of love to mend our very souls."

Botanical magic has always fascinated me. 

The Blue Moon Café and 24-Hour Occult Emporium by Lexie Sharabianlou
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A magical witness protection program, a town in need of saving, and a sorceress-in-training...oh, and the human woman she's not supposed to fall for. The Blue Moon Café has a little bit of everything (except, you know, decent coffee).

In the tiny town of Pine Hollow, barista and fledging sorceress Talula Smith runs The Blue Moon Café and 24-Hour Occult Emporium, aka the worst coffee shop in town. The café's horrible reputation hides its true purpose: providing new identities and safe passage to at-risk magical beings while keeping humans far, far away. That is, except for town local Dahlia. Dahlia's devastating dimples, addiction to Talula's cocoa recipe, and keen observation skills keeps the smitten barista scrambling to ensure that her magical abilities (or, lack thereof) stay a secret.

But when big game hunters start preying on magical beings, her powerful sorceress mother is called away to track them down, leaving Talula and her barely-there magic in charge of The Blue Moon. With the impending Samhain festival to organize, magical refugees to help, half of the town turning against her, and her ever-growing feelings for Dahlia, Talula's magical destiny feels further away than ever. But as the hunters set their sights closer to home, it'll be up to Talula to master her craft, trust her heart, and bring her magical and human communities together...before she loses everything she loves."

I mean, can't they sure like two kinds of coffee, the bad for the ignorant and the good for those in need?

A Fellowship of Curses and Cats by J. Penner
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The cat distribution system is about to get magical.

Woodland elf Theo Brylar should be basking in bliss. He and his human partner, Arleta, have a thriving bakery, a baby on the way, and a bright future in Adenashire. But beneath his calm exterior, Theo's anxiety simmers - stirred by old grief, complicated family, and emotions he doesn't always understand.

Hoping to steady his nerves, Theo turns to eccentric wizard Ibus Ironflame, who offers him a supposedly soothing potion. What Theo gets instead is a magical mix-up: stray cats begin appearing on his doorstep...then multiplying until the bakery becomes Adenashire's first cat café.

As the cats take over his life, Theo worries he's juggling more than he can handle, and that was before his mother complicated things with a surprise visit. But with guidance from his forest lynx companion, Faylin, and Arleta's steady love, Theo may come to realize that even the messiest moments can lead to something unexpectedly beautiful - especially when surrounded by cats."

Everything is better with cats around.

Homeward for a Spell by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this cozy queer romantic fantasy from the award-winning authors of Homegrown Magic, two members of a motley crew of adventurers must confront monsters, hostile landscapes - and their growing attraction to each other.

Sage has made her living as a ranger, moving constantly between adventuring parties, but she's never had the chance to lead one. So when she's offered the opportunity to hire a crew of her own in pursuit of a rare magical artifact, it seems a dream come true - until she learns that they're headed into the most inhospitable part of the kingdom with winter looming. Still, it's a way to finally put her name on the map...and how bad could it really be?

Araphi has always loved music, in defiance of her powerful family's priorities. All she wants is one last occasion to perform before she marries a man she does not love for the good of the family. So when she sees a poster seeking a bard for a party, she eagerly sneaks away to audition, only to discover that the party in question is no festival but an adventuring party, led by a woman she's been fascinated with since she first laid eyes on her. It's an unexpected twist, but if she takes the job, she'll still be back in time for her own wedding...and how bad could it really be?

What follows is a life-altering journey for them both, filled with danger and misfortune as their ragtag band of adventurers - most of whom have just met - must learn to work together to overcome the many obstacles before them, not least the explosive chemistry between the rugged party leader used to watching her own back and the pampered city-girl bard, who may be far out of her element but is beginning to feel at home for the very first time."

I might be naive, but perhaps don't head out on a journey with winter looming?

I Punched an Alien and Now We're in Couples Therapy by Kimberly Lemming
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A zany and sexy romance about a woman who finds herself stranded on a far-off planet and mated to the warlord alien king, from USA Today bestselling author Kimberly Lemming.

It's not in Blair's nature to just give up. Not when she's beamed up to a spaceship and then dropped on an alien planet. Not even when she's in the middle of a forest fire surrounded by dinosaurs. And definitely not when she's captured by an arrogant alien king. If King Osid thinks he can break her, he's in for a shock. Blair lives by one motto: If you stay ready, you never have to get ready.

But absolutely nothing could have prepared her for finding out that she's that arrogant King Osid's mate.

Despite recent hiccups, the alien researchers are determined to get their breeding program back on track. With that in mind, Blair and Osid are bundled off to the research center for what they're told is couples counseling. As they face a series of increasingly dangerous challenges, it soon becomes clear the research aliens may have confused an episode of The Bachelor with Survivor. Bonding over their common enemy, and shall we say...encouraged by love darts, Blair and Osid let down their walls (and take off their clothes). When they discover that there are - somehow - even more secret plans in the works, another hilarious, steamy, over-the-top adventure is in store."

It's exhausting always having to be ready. But then again, apparently that will serve Blair well.

Guardians of Dawn: Suhwa by S. Jae-Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The stunning conclusion to the richly imagined Guardians of Dawn fantasy series from S. Jae-Jones, the New York Times bestselling author of Wintersong.

Shadows fade. Illusions break. The dawn returns.

Min Suhwa has always longed to see the greater world outside the small, cloistered convent in which she was raised. Hidden there for her safety when she was a small child, Suhwa has learned to keep her unusual illusion magic to herself, but when the Bangtan Brothers come to town to perform, she can't resist the chance to go see them for herself. But the world outside her convent is dangerous - the Morning Realms have fallen to civil war, and Huntsmen prowl the land in search of magicians and the fabled Guardians of Dawn, legendary elemental warriors with incredible powers. When Suhwa's illusion magic brings her afoul of one of the Huntsmen, she must flee for her life.

Meanwhile, the Guardians of Dawn and their allies are fighting a war on two fronts - against the northern insurrection seeking to claim the Sunburst Throne and destroy all magicians, and against the rising threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons. Zhara, Ami, and Yuli must travel to the Azure Isles to seek the Guardian of Water and save the Morning Realms from annihilation, restoring balance to order and chaos once and for all."

I know you want to read a stunning conclusion! 

The Queen's Bodyguard by Lauren Blackwood
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this sizzling modern fantasy romance, a magic-less queen intertwines her fate with a fierce Warrior, but their undeniable chemistry ignites a passionate struggle, growing hotter as their fiery personalities clash - from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood.

Queen Theora grudgingly agrees to make peace with the neighboring enemy who killed her predecessor and friend, making her the new monarch of Aranea, over a year ago. But that doesn't mean she's going to the negotiations unprotected.

Theora quickly selects Argos, a prickly and formidable Warrior with a ruthless reputation, to act as her bodyguard in disguise. They are technically married, but Theora has no intention of finishing the ritual that would bind their souls together. Argos is merely a means to end the conflict safely.

Argos may have his reasons for accepting this arrangement, but he refuses to be a pawn in Theora's political games. If she wants a bodyguard, she'll have to obey his sacred Warrior rituals, each one a show of defiance that frustrates Theora as much as it arouses her.

Theora doesn't expect to find her temporary husband so sexy, his possessive nature so addicting. And as peace talks begin, pretending to be married and in love is not nearly as difficult as pretending she doesn't desperately want him - all of him."

Hey, if you gotta sell the lie, then really sell it.

Lovers of the Empire Vol. 1 by Yudori
Published by: Takumigraphics
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"South Korea, 1929. Arisa Jo, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is the most eligible bachelorette in all of Gyeongsung (the capital city). With her Western dresses, movie star hairstyle, and assertive attitude, she embodies bold "Modern" values. Meet her opposite, Jun Seomoon, a young man from the countryside deeply rooted in tradition. When Jun is charged by Arisa's father to be her escort in the big city, these opposing forces create sparks. Through this unlikely connection, these teenagers open their eyes to new perspectives amidst the rapidly changing world they live in.

Coming off the heels of her acclaimed Raging Clouds, Lovers of the Empire proves Yudori to be a comic artist at the height of her creative powers. On the surface a sweet and funny will they, won't they romance, this story garners depth from its depiction of Korea at a crossroads: a city occupied by Japan, molded by Western influences, and facing a modernity that stirs inner conflicts within its citizens. Rendered in gorgeous full color, this period piece portrays a fascinating city in a tumultuous time, with two winsome characters at its heart."

If you need proof that graphic novels are truly art, pick up this volume. 

Unprecedented Times by Malavika Kannan
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Malavika Kannan establishes herself as an inimitable voice of Gen Z in this piercing coming-of-age debut novel.

Which comes first: experience or narrative? Rishi thinks she knows the answer as she arrives on campus for her first year at Stanford. A burnt-out youth climate activist, she used to want to save the world, but now she just wants to have gay sex. Her plan is set - she's going to leave behind the strict trappings of her Indian American childhood in Florida, study literature, experiment with love, and write all about it. Within a few months, she makes her first best friend, falls in love with her situationship, and promptly gets her heart broken.

What is not a part of Rishi's plan is the onset of the COVID pandemic. As the outside world becomes a terrifying place, she increasingly finds solace in the friendships she's made. Instead of virtual college, however, Rishi and her classmates join a farm collective, where their political discussions and growing disillusionment collide with sexual tension and responsibility. It's only when those relationships start fracturing under the stress of careless decisions, unrequited crushes, jealousies, and, yes, unprecedented times, that Rishi begins to question her own story.

Unprecedented Times captures the beauty, humor, pain, and straight-up chaos that exist in relationships between best friends and lovers, mothers and daughters, and between storytellers and themselves. Malavika Kannan's fresh, arresting novel is a testament to the power of self-narrative for Gen Z American women: of writing oneself into existence where no previous script exists."

Embrace the chaos of being.

The Crying Killer by Jess Lourey
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 317 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman's secret. A small town with a dark past. A serial killer bent on revenge. Lies kill in a shocking true crime-inspired thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of The Quarry Girls.

Tuesday Hendrickson has spent eight years running from memories of that night. Her sister's screams. Blood on the walls. And Arsen Bauer, a monster known as the Crying Killer, shot down in a barrage of bullets as he fled. Case closed.

Intending to build a safe new identity out of the ashes, Tuesday changed her last name and moved away. She's now a private investigator who guards herself and her daughter, Julia, like their lives depend on it. And maybe they do. Because unless she's imagining things, Tuesday has seen Arsen on the streets of Saint Paul. She'd know her sister's killer anywhere.

When bodies begin surfacing bearing the Crying Killer's brutal and unmistakable signature, Tuesday is certain he's coming for them. Except no one believes that but her. As her paranoia intensifies, she is left with a terrible choice: unearth the shocking secret she buried with her sister, or become the Crying Killer's next victim."

If you're trying to protect yourself perhaps change your distinctive first name? 

Murder on Charity Lane by Jo Nichols
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Months after the shocking murders at Marigold Cottages, eccentric landlady Mrs. B finds the peace and quiet a little too peaceful. That's why she invites her young friend CJ Moore to move into a now-vacant cottage: CJ is a suspect in the death of her employer, a wealthy Santa Barbara philanthropist who tumbled down the stairs of his mansion during a dinner party. The dead man's much-younger widow claims she saw CJ push him, but Mrs. B is certain that she's innocent. Why? Oh, just a feeling.

That's enough for her to summon the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Lily-Ann will marshal the facts, Hamilton will dig around online, Sophie and Nicholas will offer eyewitness testimony, and everyone will hope that Ocean keeps Mrs. B out of trouble.

Just as the tenants begin to suspect that Elsa is in fact the perpetrator, there's a second murder. A bloodier one. And with their tight-knit community in the crosshairs, they must prove her innocence - or accept her guilt."

Yeah, it wouldn't look good to be harboring a killer...

Maisy Bell is Missing by Kirsty Manning
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Intrepid reporter Charlotte "Charlie" James investigates the mysterious disappearance of a well-connected American tourist, unaware of the trouble that awaits her...

At a glitzy gala in the ballroom of the Ritz Hotel in pre-War Paris, young American tourist Maisy Bell meets an intriguing man and accepts his charming offer to take her on a day-trip. But when Maisy doesn't return to the Ritz the following day, alarm bells ring and Maisy's aunt Clementine files a missing persons report. The Paris police laugh the request away. Plenty of tourists 'disappear,' having lost themselves in foolish flings. After all, summer in Paris is the perfect time for pour un beau couple d'amoreux. Weeks pass with no sign of Maisy. Then Clemetine Bell starts to receive telegrams and ransom notes...

Enter investigative reporter Charlotte 'Charlie' James. As a young Australian journalist who moved to Paris to reinvent her life, Charlie James feels a kinship with this missing American graduate on the cusp of a dazzling career and adventure. As she follows Maisy Bell's designer footsteps around Paris, Charlie is plunged headlong into the heady world of diamonds, haute couture, opera, bohemian wine bars and soirees in grand country chateaux, before being pulled headlong into the sordid underworld.

Readers will adore this next adventure with Charlie James: glamourous, fearless and taking on the world, glass of champagne in hand."

Because the sordid underworld is always there, keeping pace with the wealthy. 

For Services Rendered by Will Thomas
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In London, 1896, private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker's world is upturned when his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Nightwine, previously believed dead, turns up with evil on his mind, launching devastating and secretive attacks against not just Barker, but his network of friends and close associates.

In 1896, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, would be reformer and revolutionary, turns up in London, running away from China's Imperial Qing Secret Service, who has placed a substantial bounty on his head for his political activities. Captured by those agents, he's imprisoned in the Chinese Embassy until he can be smuggled back to China to face execution.

In the meantime, private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn receive the unbelievable news that Sebastian Nightwine is both alive and in London. Not just that, it seems he's taking action against Barker and his close associates. At the same time, they've been hired to find this missing Sun Yat-Sen. With elements of the Chinese secret service, elements of the British government, and Nightwine himself all working against them, Barker and Llewelyn are at risk of being cornered by the deadliest set enemies they've yet faced."

Never good when you have three sets of people after you.

A Shroud of Snow by Sarah Hawkswood
Published by: Allison and Busby
Publication Date: August 18th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"December, 1145.

Hamelin Isenmongere, trader in iron and charcoal from Gloucester, is considered by many to be the most popular man in Worcester.

Why then is he found on the quayside near his warehouse with his head beaten in?

As the winter bites, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Walkelin begin the hunt for a killer.

However, matters are complicated when evidence leads them to Worcester Castle itself and the hunt for a spy in the midst of complicated political crosscurrents.

Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin must uncover whether the murder was an act of betrayal from close to home, or one that casts a shadow over the fight for England's crown."

Hints of Cadfael with a little Lovejoy. I approve.

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