strange and random happenstance

Death Card by Jasmine Smith
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dark contemporary fantasy featuring witchcraft, tarot, death, and a bit of romance that's perfect for fans of Immortal Dark and Cinderella Is Dead.

On an ordinary Monday morning, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard receives the shock of her life. During a customer's tarot reading at her family's occult shop, she turns over the Death card and envisions the beautiful stranger stabbing her in the heart.

In order to determine why the girl, Joelle, wants to kill her, she'll have to keep her close. But the more time Mikaela spends with her soon-to-be murderer, the more irresistible she finds her.

As if imminent death isn't worrisome enough, witches are turning up with their magic stolen. And it's clear some very dark magic is at work. Mikaela, as the next Witch Queen of her coven, is tasked with figuring out who's behind the horrific acts - a mystery that will put her and her power to the test.

Death Card is a dark, pacy, and romantic fantasy about one witch's journey to find the strength to fight for herself, her future, and her beloved community."

Maybe avoid the person you saw killing you? 

Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me by Isabel Crowley
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hazel Lewis has a serious problem. The guy who hired her to conduct a seance before he died turned out to be a serial killer with a demonic contract, and the seance itself was a trap. Hazel escaped with her life, but not as she knew it: the bite of a demon is spreading through her body, letting the supernatural bleed into the world around her, and the now-dead serial killer is waiting to take over her body if she dies.

Hoping to contain the damage, Hazel moves to a small house in a remote location. She figures she'll stay on her own until she gets a handle on her new dark reality, but she soon finds out that she's not alone. There's the reporter demanding answers, the friendly neighbor with chemistry she doesn't need and problems he can't talk about...and the mysterious face she sees beyond her window, watching her every night with glowing red eyes.

Making her hunger.

Hazel knew a little bit about the world beyond the physical. Now she's learning how much she doesn't know, including who she can trust...and who she can become if she trusts herself enough to give in to the shadows stalking her dreams."

See, this is why I like reading about seances but not participating in them, so much can go wrong.

Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Delilah is dead. But her story is far from over. In this feminist supernatural suspense novel, she will find her peace - and give hell to the man who killed her.

Delilah's death was not swift or painless. A ghost at nineteen, business entirely unfinished, her last breath was angry. Someone killed her, but she doesn't know who.

Undead creatures stalk Delilah's spirit, eager to feed on her soul until nothing is left but a frightening poltergeist. She can't pass on until the violence of her death is balanced with a life for her life.

Her killer must be killed.

If anyone can find her murderer and keep the darkness at bay, it's Magda, the owner of the strip club where Delilah danced - and a powerful spirit medium. And when a young man comes to town seeking Magda's supernatural services, he can see Delilah. He can hear her, touch her, and make her feel alive again.

The three come together to search for Delilah's murderer. As the creatures close in, Delilah's soul weakens but her power as a poltergeist grows, allowing her to affect the living.

Delilah may be dead, but she won't waste this second chance - she'll take those who've harmed her down with her."

This is a week for mediums and I am loving it!

There Are Ghosts Here by Adrienne Tooley
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Willa has no memory of anything before arriving at Dorsey House, and when she meets two sinister girls who seem to already know her, she slowly begins to lose her grip on what is real...and what is a lie. A haunting contemporary speculative thriller for fans of Kill Creatures and We Were Liars.

Willa Childs doesn't know why she's at Dorsey House. The tragic accident that banished her to the mysterious reformatory perched at the edge of the sea is lost in the recesses of her murky memory. The Dorseys themselves offer no answers, and the only other wards, Caroline and Ivy, seem intent on keeping Willa in the dark - and on the outside of their obsessive friendship.

Yet as the days pass, it begins to feel like the sinister twosome knows Willa better than she knows herself. And as her memories gradually return to focus, the girls become even stranger, doing their best to convince Willa that she's been at Dorsey House before. Only, that's impossible.

Or is it? If they're telling the truth, Willa can no longer trust her own mind. The line between reality and nightmare begins to blur. Willa is certain Dorsey House is haunted, but by what? And if she can't remember leaving, how will she ever escape?"

Or, she's really being gaslit... 

She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"These violent delights have violent ends.

After surviving a shadowed childhood marked by ghost stories and loss, Mallory Webb is ready to start fresh as a theater major at her mother's alma mater, a sanitarium turned liberal arts university in Rhode Island. Landing the lead role in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet feels like a dream - until the blood-soaked spirit she suspects caused her mother's death resurfaces after years of quiet. With nothing to go on but cryptic symbols in an old college notebook, Mallory hopes the reason behind her mother's haunting lies somewhere on campus, and resolves to find answers before she meets the same fate.

She's surprised to make an unexpected ally in Ezra Pierce, the magnetic fourth year directing the play, and takes solace in their undeniable chemistry. But Ezra is a master secret-keeper, and it's clear he knows more than he's letting on about Saskia Garin, Mallory's elusive understudy whose past eerily mirrors her own.

When an ancient, bloodthirsty evil calls to collect on a bargain that dates back to the New England vampire panic, Mallory, Ezra, and Saskia will have to untangle the tragic ways in which their histories are linked - and face the devastating consequences of their own star-crossed love story."

Anyone who isn't Westworld should stop using that Shakespeare quote.

Dreamland by Olivie Blake
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake comes a tantalizing story of power, seduction, and the omens you'll ignore when everything you've dreamed of feels just within reach.

The headlines are calling it the "summer of exsanguination" in LA - girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season.

More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part time at the family store, and contending with her mother's disdain for the acting career Anya knows she's destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.

It's in this suffocating late summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA's most influential film dynasties. Soon, she's spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood Hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family's heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.

There's a magnetism to Jude that Anya cannot resist, despite warning signs that scream like sirens in the night. Because the villa holds generations of bloodstained history, and an occult family curse may even live within its walls - or within Jude himself.

In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil. When Anya comes face to face with a devil of her own, she'll learn just how far she's willing to go to get everything she's ever wanted."

It's Hollywood, she'll sign on the dotted line.

Night Songs by Alli Dyer
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this haunting family saga, a young woman must delve into her country star mother's music to break a curse that has plagued the women in her family for generations - before her time runs out.

On the morning of Rhea's eighteenth birthday, she makes a shocking discovery - her mother was the famed singer of some of country music's most iconic tunes, the legendary Lulabelle "Belle" Powers, and she's just inherited her massive estate. Eager to know more about this woman she barely remembers, Rhea travels to Nashville to retrace her mother's footsteps. But as she gets to know Belle's closest friends and learns more of her story, she can't help but think something is being kept from her.

It isn't until years later that her mother's best friend Hess reveals the truth - her mother believed all the women in her family were cursed to die at thirty-three - Belle's exact age when she passed away in a mysterious plane crash. Hess dismisses the curse as pure superstition, but Rhea feels something sinister stalking her, her own life beginning to mirror her mother's as she gets closer to her thirty-third birthday. Desperate for answers, Rhea delves deeper into her mother's music, uncovering Belle's last unpublished album Night Songs, which leads her back to her roots in ways she never could have imagined.

Alternating between Rhea's journey and Lulabelle's untold rise to country queen, Night Songs is an electric story of inheritance and resilience, love and freedom, and the power of music to connect across generations."

If Hess was her mother's best friend perhaps telling Rhea about the curse before she's about to turn thirty-three would have been nice?

Devil by Sierra Simone
Published by: Bloom Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone comes an ALL-NEW standalone romance in the Priest universe.

Birdie Cooper has nothing left.

Just one moment of weakness seven years ago - and she lost her job, her church, her only friend. Now she's working nights at a gas station to scrape together a living and a way to care for her sister, completely alone and separated even from the art that gave her life meaning.

Ryan Bell has never forgotten his first obsession.

He's been trying to find the tremblingly shy lecturer from his senior year of college after she abruptly disappeared after their first and only kiss. So when he comes upon a statue of Lucifer carved in Ryan's own likeness, two things become starkly apparent.

One: he knows how to find her now. And two: he's been haunting Birdie Cooper's memory as much as she's been haunting his.

Ryan can't offer love - or even an apology - but he can offer her a bargain, one crafted first and foremost to free him from his punishing obsession with her. If Birdie agrees to be his in every way for a single year, then he'll pay for her sister's care for as long as she's alive. And what does Birdie have left to lose anyway? The forbidden fruit is her only chance at salvation.

Unfortunately for Birdie, she might just be the only chance for his..."

I'd take this deal...

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First the flood
Next the sickness
Last the change

Visionary Korean author Kim Bo-Young unleashes a Lovecraftian nightmare of infection, transformation, and abomination.

While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. TVs throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the eastern coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she'd rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother's care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life.

Three years later, Haewon Village is home to horrors. The earthquake unleashed an ancient plague that transforms its victims into fishy monsters, and the government's lockdown has cut off any hope for help. Mu-young's niece is dead, and all that's left for her is to hunt villagers who break isolation. When an officious bureaucrat from Seoul arrives in the village, he stirs up even deeper trouble. Will Mu-young survive? Does she even deserve to?"

Yeah, she shouldn't have got on that train...

Reliquary by Hannah Whitten
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman is lured to her late fiancé's remote island estate - only to uncover eerie family secrets, a haunting past, and a monstrous hunger stirring beneath the sea in this deliciously atmospheric horror debut from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten.

When Claire's fiancé mysteriously dies of an unknown neurological illness, she's prepared to sink back into the lonely life she lived before. Orphaned by a freak boating accident in her childhood, she never expected to find connection like she did with Elias, anyway. Their relationship wasn't perfect - his coldness, his secrets, his strange aversion to the ocean - but what relationship is?

When Elias's family reaches out - his incredibly wealthy family, from whom he was estranged - and invites Claire to a three-day wake at Harrow Point, their family home on a private island, Claire is given the chance to find family again. To belong to something, just like she's always wanted. Just like Elias knew she was desperate to have.

Even if that family is a little strange. Even if their coastal home stirs up memories of the accident that killed her parents and sister. Even if Ash, Elias's older brother, seems insistent on Claire leaving as soon as possible.

As she dives deeper into the world of Harrow Point, she will uncover the nature of her own traumatic connection to the ocean. There is something swimming in the bowels of Harrow Point, and it is hungry..."

Final girl orphans, run from that island!

Stay Buried by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Children on the Hill comes a queer folk horror in which a woman must confront decades of secrecy and superstition to learn the truth about her mother's death.

Some towns stay isolated for a reason.

1919: Frankie O'Massey has always been the black sheep of isolated Boone's Ferry, Vermont. Her uncle, Dr. Thomas Endicott, has been training her in the science of medicine, something the townspeople are wary of. When a mysterious illness strikes the town, and the community suspects supernatural forces, the two desperately search for a logical explanation. Patient zero seems to be the town's knackerman - a recluse who collects dead and dying farm animals to make use of their parts.

2016: Siblings Ashley and Malcolm lost their mother two years ago. When their grandmother dies, they inherit a property in Boone's Ferry - a place they've heard of but their grandmother has always refused to talk about - and embark on a trip to their ancestral home. The idyllic town is full of autumnal décor, picturesque farmland, and small-town charm. But some of the townspeople aren't very welcoming - and they have some unsettling traditions, like leaving offerings to a vengeful spirit four times a year."

Widow's Bay meets The Wicker Man.

The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson
Published by: Hogarth
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this gripping debut, steeped in Welsh folklore, a husband and wife living in the beautiful but isolated mountains of Snowdonia stumble upon a buried Neolithic ruin - awakening a mysterious, ancient presence with its own dark designs.

Carwyn and his wife, Rhian, have lived a quiet life as sheep farmers in the remote Welsh mountains for decades, tending to ancestral land that has been in Carwyn's family for generations. But recent years have taken their toll: local friends lost one by one to old age or rising prices; the accumulation of debts; new English tourists, more every year, disrespecting the land - littering, camping on private property, needing to be rescued when they misjudge the elements.

When Carwyn finds a strange stone head in a disused corner of the farm, he realizes the artifact is just one piece of something much larger - something unfathomably old. Despite Rhian's protests, Carwyn becomes obsessed with unearthing the structure, and soon neglects the daily work of the farm to keep digging. Meanwhile, the sheep fall sick more easily than any season before, and a tragic accident on market day threatens to leave an increasingly isolated Rhian without a way to satisfy their ever-more-insistent creditors. Through it all, Carwyn becomes convinced that uncovering the site and determining its original purpose will be the key to solving everything. But there was a reason his ancestors kept the past buried, and in disturbing the earth, he has called forth a power greater and more terrible than he could have imagined.

Enthralling and atmospheric, Liam Higginson's The Hill in the Dark Grove expertly weaves together myth, psychological suspense, and supernatural horror, heralding a sparkling new literary talent."

I mean, when your ancestors don't leave guidelines, it's their fault as much as yours...

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a tale of love and betrayal set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.

They're called the Beautiful Ones.

Loisail's most notable socialites: the wealthy, powerful, beloved.

This spring is Nina's last chance to join their ranks, but the Grand Season has just begun and Nina's debut has already gone disastrously awry. Neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse - the haphazard manifestations of her powers making her the subject of malicious gossip.

So when entertainer and fellow telekinetic Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. He's traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. And he sees Nina not as a witch, but as something more. With Hector's help, Nina's talent blossoms, as does her love for him.

But great romances are just for fairytales. In the glittering, gossip-laden world of Loisail, where everyone conceals secrets, can their courtship survive?"

I have something to say, I hated the original cover of this book. Hated it. To have this amazing cover from Bramble just makes my day. 

World's Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seems Demon by Olivia Dade
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An oracle who can see the future teams up with the far-too-hot demon from her past to avert catastrophe, in this steamy paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Zomromcom.

Gwen Wexloff might be able to see the future, but not when it matters. Her visions invariably involve piddling issues, which means - unlike most oracles - she's spent her life predicting for everyday humans instead of international power brokers. After a clutch of brain-slurping zombies escapes from their walled-off compound, though, Gwen experiences the first genuinely world-altering vision of her life...and now she needs help.

Unfortunately, that help comes from Hugh Blacke, the same starchy (but annoyingly cute) demon who watched her bomb her oracle verification test years ago. To Gwen's dismay, the two of them will need to work together to unravel the deadly conspiracy behind the zombie breach, despite their complicated past and the secrets they're keeping.

Even with her newfound power, she couldn't have foreseen how quickly they'd both want more than a simple partnership. But the clock is ticking - and with the fate of humanity at stake, Gwen and Hugh will have to decide how much they're willing to risk for an unexpected, passionate love...and a future together that might prove very short indeed."

Deal with the zombies first.

Twice Bitten by S.E. Babin
Published by: Second Sky
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 331 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I was bitten by a vampire AND a werewolf. Now everyone wants a piece of me.

I never wanted to be a powerful witch. I'm happiest pulling espresso shots at the Three Beans café and keeping my magic secret.

But trouble is brewing...

When a turf war between vampires and shifters erupts outside the café, I get caught between the irresistibly charming Vampire Prime and the ruggedly handsome Shifter King. As these two apex predators blindly tear into each other, I am bitten, clawed, and left for dead.

My magic flares just in time to save my life, but there are...side effects. Suddenly, I find myself staring at customers' necks. And feeling suspiciously twitchy before the full moon.

It's impossible but...am I transforming into a vampire and a werewolf?

The Vampire Prime finds me immediately. Captivated by my scent, he tempts me with danger and luxury. The Shifter King is equally obsessed, and determined to claim me for his pack.

I am caught between them once more - but this time it's me that they're fighting over. And since my new blood brings strange new powers, it won't be long before I'm the most wanted prey in town...

Perfect for fans of Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris, the Fangs and Fur series is a thrilling urban fantasy adventure with a love triangle romance to die for."

An urban fantasy with humdinger of a twist. 

In What World by Bridget Morrissey
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two high school rivals begrudgingly reunite as adults to investigate the disappearance of their beloved former teacher, only to wind up traveling through a series of alternate realities together.

Total opposites, Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla Covington-French hated each other in high school. Now in their thirties, Marlowe is barely scraping by while Priscilla is wildly successful. Their rivalry should be long dead, yet both women remain connected through their mutual mentor, drama teacher Dallas Winthrop. Their unending tension has nothing to do with the fact that they've kissed. More than once.

When Dallas goes missing, each woman believes she can figure out where he is. Except this is no ordinary disappearance. Dallas has found a way to explore alternate versions of reality. While trying to follow him, Marlowe and Priscilla find other versions of themselves instead, surprised to learn not all Marlowes and Priscillas are fueled by hate. In fact, some Marlowes and Priscillas have very different strong feelings for one another...

The more Marlowe and Priscilla are forced to rely on each other, the harder it becomes to ignore their simmering attraction. But with every alternate reality they search, they only get further from their real life and responsibilities. Do they play it safe and hide behind their rivalry, or take a chance on each other that could permanently change the world as they know it?"

Or are they being manipulated by seeing all these other options their lives could have taken?

A Witch in Notting Hill by Alexandra Paige
Published by: Avon a
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, this cozy and whimsical romance follows an accident-prone witch and a hot grumpy occult bookstore owner who doesn't believe in magic as they travel across London to undo a spell gone awry.

When rising Hollywood actress and secret witch Willow James accidentally turns her manager into a cat while trying to escape her contract, she's sure she's hit her magical low point. Determined to fix her mistake, she journeys to London in search of a rare spell hidden within the famed occult bookstore, Coven and Codex. The last thing she expects? The shop's brooding, handsome owner, Oliver Hadley, who'd rather avoid magic altogether.

Together - with a ragtag group of friends (both human and feline) - Willow and Oliver must scour every corner of the city, from museums to festivals to bustling street markets, to find the missing pieces of the spell. Along the way, Willow's unpredictable magic and Oliver's skeptical heart will face the one thing they can't escape...love.

Filled with enchanting adventures, sparkling romance, and a dash of mischief, A Witch in Notting Hill is a sweet and spirited tale of discovering magic where you least expect it."

Personally I'd keep the manager as a cat...

You'll Be the Death of Me by Holly Michelle
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cole is spending the rest of his eternity as an overworked Afterlife Clerk, processing souls for the Afterlife Administration. But when he accidentally claims the soul of the wrong Verdella Rodgers, Cole and Verdella must race to fix his cosmic blunder - and try not to catch feelings along the way. A swoony and whimsical romp, You'll Be the Death of Me is a romance to die for.

Verdella "Dell" Rodgers is at the top of her game. As the chef de cuisine at San Francisco's hottest new restaurant and on the cusp of marrying the mayor's son in the social event of the season, her life is perfect. That is until the week before her wedding when she wakes up and finds herself very much dead.

Enter Cole, a charming but bumbling entry-level clerk in the Afterlife Administration who accidentally confuses Dell for a 95-year-old woman in Kansas with the same name, claiming the wrong soul. When Cole tries to fix his mistake, their worlds collide in life-and death-changing ways.

Now walking the city as a ghost only visible to Cole, Dell is frantic to get back to her perfect life but soon learns that it wasn't what it appeared to be, particularly when it came to the man she was about to marry and his high-profile family.

Meanwhile, Cole has no memory of who he was before working for the Afterlife Administration. As they try to uncover Cole's past and remedy Dell's future, they realize the mistake that brought them together might just be a twist of fate. With time running out to bring Dell back to the land of the living, she'll have to decide if the life she left behind is truly what she wants, or if Cole's untimely appearance could lead to an unexpected change that she didn't know she needed."

A change as in, staying dead!?!

The Magic We Made by Meg Cabot
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She doesn't believe in magic. He is magic. But when they meet, a spark is lit, and neither will ever be the same - in this charming new stand-alone in the Witches of West Harbor series from New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot.

Frankie
A trained therapist, Francesca Giovanni knows there's a scientific explanation for everything. Unfortunately, she lives in West Harbor, CT, a town that's recently exploded in popularity thanks to "witch tourism." Suddenly, witches are everywhere, offering locals their psychic services. Frankie's fine with this...until aspiring teenage witches begin to disappear, and strange things start happening in the lake house next door. Frankie suspects not all newcomers to West Harbor have the good of the community in mind - especially not her new neighbor, Ash Merit.

Ash
Ash Merit finds lost things - and people - for a living. All he wants is to help his clients, and maybe get to know the stunningly beautiful (and newly single) Dr. Frankie Giovanni a little better. But thanks to some troublesome young witches - not to mention his often faulty psychic "superpower" - everything goes wrong. If only Frankie wasn't so distractingly attractive...and so unwilling to admit there might not be a logical reason for everything, including the flames that ignite whenever the two of them kiss. Ash hopes to change that, but first he and Frankie have to find the missing girls, as well as the truth about what's happening in West Harbor…a truth that could change everything they thought they knew about themselves - and the magic of love."

People unwilling to believe in magic when the proof is right in front of them exasperate me.

A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O'Neal
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 543 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An epic, emotionally charged novel about love, art, and survival spanning 1900s colonial India to Blitz-era London by the USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids.

In the shadow of the London Blitz, artist Elsie Turner clings fiercely to her canvases, refusing to let war dim the colors that define her. The bombs test her nerve, but the struggle also stirs memories of her golden youth in India and of the long-lost love of her life.

The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie crosses cultural divides to forge an unlikely bond with Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes, dreams, and far-reaching ideas. What begins as shared sketchbooks and stargazing becomes first love and a secret correspondence. When Elsie's father is summoned to England, Elsie is severed from the world she knows - and is determined to preserve it through both her art and a connection with Tanveer that endures through the most tumultuous years of their lives.

Across four decades and two continents, Elsie navigates a journey from lush colonial India to war-torn London, amid landscapes of beauty, protest, and peril. As past and present collide, the most impossible choices and sacrifices are yet to be made in the name of love, war, and survival."

A more artistically bend to The Jewel in the Crown.

A Betrothed's Betrayal by Deb Marlowe
Published by: Deb Marlowe
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Regency-set Cozy Mystery featuring a charming Cotswold village, an intrepid heroine, a cast of quirky characters, a handsome but reserved carpenter, an attractive but suspicious constable, and a baby goat or two.

Lady Lisette Birtwhistle is feeling bereft and very much alone after ending her betrothal, then losing her brother, the Duke of Winbury, to an unexpected illness.

The duke knew his sister well, however, and has inexplicably left her the leases on nearly the entirety of Lockstone Hollow, a village near one of the ducal estates. Perplexed, but hopeful, Lisette travels to the small Cotswold village.

Her spirits lift a little when she finds a sleepy little spot in need of someone with her abilities in managing, organizing, and décor, but she is shocked to her core when a body is discovered in the village soon after her arrival - and it is her former fiancé.

With the help of some new friends, a cast of colorful local characters, a handsome but reserved carpenter, an attractive but suspicious constable, and a baby goat or two, Lisette must uncover secrets and expose lies in order to find the killer and clear her own name."

SO HERE for the baby goats!

Murder in Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashley
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Victorian London, valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must help the man she loves solve the murder that will finally uncover his mysterious past, from the New York Times bestselling author of A Silence in Belgrave Square.

Kat Holloway's beau, Daniel McAdam, has always had a past shrouded in mystery. He knows nothing about his origins, only that he was rescued from the streets many years ago. So when someone claiming to know where Daniel came from turns up dead moments before meeting with him, Daniel goes on the hunt for the killer. It soon becomes clear that to see justice served, Daniel will have to figure out who he truly is. When he asks Kat for her assistance, she readily complies, knowing she'll do whatever she must to protect the man she's come to love.

The quest takes Kat and Daniel deep into the East End, where they face dangerous foes from Daniel's rugged past who will stop at nothing to keep Kat and Daniel from uncovering their secrets. As Kat begins to learn things about Daniel's history, she fears that the darkest secret - his true name and lineage - will tear apart the tender bonds they've begun to form."

Either you trust that your bonds are strong enough or you don't help him!

A Killer Plot by E.C. Nevin
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the follow-up to A Novel Murder, mystery author Jane Hepburn is back and determined to keep her sleuthing skills in the pages of her novels. That is, until she's invited to a prestigious literary party in London - where the gathering of glamorous attendees may be hiding a killer.

Jane Hepburn has almost made it. After solving the murder of her literary agent at last season's crime-book festival, Jane receives a burst of internet fame that lands her an invite to a splashy book launch in London. Visiting beloved bookstores along the winding alleyway of Cecil Court, and brushing shoulders with famous writers and the editors and agents who made them stars, Jane is looking forward to a fun, murder-free weekend and a distraction from her own writer's block. The party might not be for her novel, but still, Jane's happy to celebrate her far more successful friend with free wine and plenty of books.

However, things take a turn for the worse when the hotshot editor is nowhere to be seen. And they really go south after Jane discovers a body in the bookshop cellar.

To ensure that another event isn't overshadowed by an unsolved murder, Jane and her two friends - debut novelist and star of the party Natasha Martez and clumsy publicity assistant Daniel Thurston - must put their sleuthing skills to the test. But nothing is as it seems at a party full of attendees with secrets they'd do anything to keep."

If Midsomer Murders has taught me anything, it's that authors are all prime suspects. 

Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Dr. Emilia McRoy stumbles upon a dead body in a haunted house, she resolves to find the killer before another body can fall.

Halloween isn't the only cause for fright in the fifth Scottish Isle mystery, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and Connie Berry.

It's the week of Halloween - or as they say in Scotland, All Hallows' Eve - and the town of Sea Isle is full of spooky celebrations. Dr. Emilia McRoy loves being part of her new community and is eager to help out in any way she can. But the festivities are interrupted when she and her assistant, Abigail, find a dead body in a haunted house. A real one. They're too late to save the victim, but they'll do whatever it takes to find his killer.

There's just one problem: There are too many suspects.

Constable Ewan would prefer the good doctor and her friends stay out of the investigations, but that isn't how Dr. Em rolls. As she and her gang investigate, they realize the killer is searching for something - and has no problem murdering anyone who gets in the way of finding it.

Dr. Em must stay one step ahead if she's to survive this Halloween season alive - either that or she might just end up the next victim."

The title didn't need that outline. It's tacky.

Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Following her powerful debut in The Witch's Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.

There isn't much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn't seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she's ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she's about to enter unknown territory.

Katie May has been estranged from her father - one of Appalachia's last infamous snake handling preachers - for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he's been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie's doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.

As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client - and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie's investigation to stop - by any means necessary."

The worst thing about investigating a murder by snake is that the killer might send the snake after you.

Don't Cross Mo Ellery by Birdie Horne
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A laugh-out-loud mystery following the indomitable hot mess Mo Ellery, whose job as a school crossing guard pulls her into an unhinged murder investigation.

Mo Ellery's 29th birthday is a disaster. After one small accident - the exposure of her boyfriend's genitals (well, maybe not that small) on a work video call - she manages to get fired, dumped, and kicked out of their overpriced Chicago apartment. Luckily, a sign appears to guide Mo to her new life: "Looking for flexible part-time work? Become a school crossing guard!" It's everything Mo has been looking for: health insurance. How hard can it be?

A few weeks later, Mo is adjusting to her new low-paying job, her bisexual reawakening, and her new neighborhood's wacky characters. There's Claudia, an old woman who refuses to let Mo help her cross the street, and Marlowe, a tween cell phone prodigy whose antics terrify her. But Mo's greatest nemesis is Poodle Dude, a guy with an SUV full of poodles who speeds through her intersection each morning...until the day he speeds into a sinkhole. Mo tries and fails to shield innocent eyes from his bloody corpse, but succeeds in accidentally becoming the guardian to his three poodles.

And that's not the worst of it: some of the locals are convinced that Poodle Dude was murdered. Their allegations are obviously ridiculous, but Mo, desperate for distractions - and for several hot neighbor-suspects - reluctantly agrees to help. But Mo the detective is just as chaotic as Mo the underemployed adult, and the three entitled poodles are not helping. When a second local dies under mysterious circumstances, it's going to take all of Mo's broadly applicable and transferrable skills to find the killer.

Murderers beware...DON'T CROSS MO ELLERY!"

Wait, crossing guards get health insurance!?! Looks like a Illinois thing.

Bridget and Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sequel to the unforgettable New York Times bestseller Gwen and Art Are Not In Love that invites readers on a quest chock full of wit, undeniable yearning, and second chances.

They fell in love. They fought a great battle. And they won. Now, Camelot's famous couples have fallen apart.

Newly crowned King Gabriel is having panic attacks in cupboards in-between council meetings. He can't tell Arthur just how not okay he is - so he's set him free, to find love with someone who can get through the day without breaking down.

Bridget has lost her spark for sparring, forfeiting again and again in the lists. When she's invited to join Gabriel's round table, she hopes it'll be the change she needs. But trying to navigate the post-happily-ever-after reality of a relationship with Gwen, when Bridget no longer feels like the dashing knight Gwen fell in love with, feels impossible.

With the kingdom still reeling from an attempted uprising, and rumored sightings of the holy grail, the questing beast, and the green knight happening across the country, the gang depart on a PR tour destined for disaster. Can Gabriel be the king his country deserves? Can Bridget get her jousting groove back? And will they find their way back to the courtly love that once seemed fated?

In the much anticipated follow-up to Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, Gabriel and Bridget set out on a daring quest to put love back on the table."

Because happily ever after isn't the end...

For the Love of the Quest by Alexandra Ammon Parthun
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The search for King Arthur's Excalibur invites danger - and potentially love - in this sapphic historical romance, perfect for fans of Cat Sebastian and Freya Marske.

Lady Edith Darling is supposed to live a quiet life in her family's manor. She is not supposed to go unchaperoned on a quest to find Excalibur. But Edith won't let that stand in her way, especially not when she's on this mission to honor her beloved grandmother's dying wish. Determined to prove her grandmother right, Edith packs her satchel with Arthurian legends, pastries, and her grandmother's ashes and runs off to hire a mercenary.

Thomasin Shaw leads the most feared gang in London. For years, she had the constabulary safely in her pocket, until a scandal involving the chief inspector's wife was brought to light. Now he's demanding an enormous sum of money - without which Thomasin will lose the protection of the police along with her criminal empire. But when the rich Lady Edith waltzes into her life seeking an escort for a treasure hunt, Thomasin sees a willing kidnapping victim and a massive ransom.

As Edith's clues lead them to underground chambers booby-trapped with arrows, doors locked with arcane puzzles, and even Arthur's fabled round table, Thomasin finds herself swept up in the quest - and in Edith herself. Edith is also drawn to Thomasin, despite the ruthless mask she wears. But the chief inspector won't let Thomasin forget her crimes, and Edith's father is intent on bringing her home. Every legendary quest has an ending, but finding Excalibur might not be enough to make this a happy one."

There HAS to be a secret society keeping all these Indiana Jones level puzzles in action.

The Wandering Inn by pirateaba 
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 640 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enter the Innverse: the massive epic fantasy world created by pirateaba that has become a LitRPG sensation, now for the first time in a physical edition!

"No killing Goblins."

So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.

It's a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn't belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.

In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn. She's an [Innkeeper].

Thus starts the first volume of The Wandering Inn, an epic fantasy series filled with heart and fear, magic, dragons, and monsters, adventurers and chess players…and humans pulled from the real world into a wondrous and deadly land where the game is to survive and these new pieces could decide who's the winner."

Your new LitRPG obsession. 

All the Queen's Curses by Alyssa Hollingsworth
Published by: Page Street YA
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Kit may be a princess, but her life is no fairy tale.

Chronically ill and abused by her new stepfather, Princess Kit finds solace in her kind stepsister Catharine. Yet the sisters may not be together for long - Catharine is intended to be wed to a prince of the Northern Isles.

Kit's mother, the queen, strikes a bargain with the fae to free her daughter from the king's abuse and give Kit a happier ending; the fae swaps Kit's ailing body for Catharine's before Catharine can depart. Horrified, Kit and Catharine abandon their home and travel north to find the fae who cursed them.

Kit and Catharine soon discover the prince is under his own fae curse. He offers to help the princesses. But Kit finds herself unsure she wants to switch back if it means she can't be with the prince - and worse, must return to her own suffering body..."

When dealing with the fae there are always moral dilemmas. 

These Vile Hearts by Melody Robinette
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A delightfully wicked, fizzy debut romantasy - an enemies to lovers tale about a desperate mortal woman and a cursed fae prince.

Maddox Sinclair has run out of options. No job means no health insurance - a death sentence for a type one diabetic like herself. She flees to the forest to make a desperate deal with a dryad queen: kill the Redwood King and be cured of the illness that threatens her life.

In the redwood treetops, Prince Castor, is cursed - anyone who loves him is doomed to die. Like Maddox, he has made an equally unwise pact with his brother, the Redwood King: get a mortal to fall in love with him by solstice and be free of his curse forever.

When Maddox mistakes Castor for the king, sparks fly and troubles ensue. Each must decide what is more important - survival and freedom, or the love they (kind of, almost) feel in their traitorous, vile hearts.

Darkly funny and brimming with magic, These Vile Hearts by Melody Robinette manages to be both wicked and warm, beguiling and moving - a richly woven story of survival and fate."

I love that we have this fairy tale world yet it has the serious real life concern of diabetes. 

Season of the Serpent by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa returns in the final installment of the Nameless Republic trilogy with a tale of villains, allies, and a world on the brink of destruction, perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Evan Winter, and James Islington.

The old world has fallen. Now is the time of serpents.

The continent is split. The islands have sunk. The empire of Bassa is no more. With the resistant Nameless Republic and the conquering Kangalaland on the brink of war, all must choose a side: ally, or fall. Oon's heroes and villains must rise from their ashes and meet a Third Great War.

Peace won't come easy. Long-lost family will fight to reach Danso before war erases him forever. Lilong has survived the island catastrophe but lost her power, and will do anything to get it back. And fate will find Esheme where it left her - will the dead queen rise again?

For Oon, the first season of the five states is a season of serpents. After the storms pass and winds blow, what will remain? And who will survive?"

Another epic cover by Dan Dos Santos! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alli Dyer, Alyssa Hollingsworth, Barbara O'Neal, Bridget Morrissey, E.C. Nevin, Jennifer McMahon, Lex Croucher, Meg Cabot, Melody Robinette, Olivia Dade, Olivie Blake, pirateaba, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama by Nancy West
Published by: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
Publication Date: November 24th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 264 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

"Fifty years, 450-plus programs, 2,250-plus episodes, and 250 awards: these are Masterpiece's achievements by the numbers, and they are a record to be proud of. Out of the thousands of TV shows produced in America since the 1950s, roughly thirty have reached the fifty-year mark. Most of these are soap operas, sports, or news programs. No other primetime dramatic series comes close to Masterpiece's longevity nor has won as man Emmy, Peabody, or Golden Globe awards. On a less tangible level, few programs have cultivated as loyal a viewer following." In 1961 when Minow gave his infamous "Vast Wasteland" speech television was undergoing a sea change. Gone were the anthology series and high art television produced in New York City, Kraft Television Theatre, CBS Playhouse, Goodyear Theatre, and Playhouse 90, and in were the lowbrow comedies produced in LA. In fact Gilligan's Island openly mocked Minow with their eponymous boat. But when The Forsyte Saga aired in 1969 on NET, the forerunner to PBS, the way back to quality anthology television and out of the "Vaste Wasteland" was apparent. Everyone was talking about the Forsytes and three months after its finale it was on Stan Calderwood's mind when he was in London. Stan would go on to be the first president of WGBH and he cold called the BBC. He needed content for the newly formed PBS and the BBC had it. A deal was quickly struck and on January 10th, 1971 Masterpiece Theatre launched with The First Churchills. A show not without its flaws, too many wigs and maybe a little too racy, but their audience was hooked. By the time the first season finished in 1972 they knew they had something special. Even Minow approved. The show, while initially more focused on literary adaptations, knew that if they maintained the same thematic relevance of tradition, nostalgia, and conventionality, they would maintain their audience because these are all things that Americans crave that their own country is unable to provide, especially in the sphere of television. Masterpiece Theatre was aspirational television. Just by being a viewer you were being educated and thought of as bettering yourself. Checking out history books from the library to compliment your viewing wasn't unheard of in the many letters they received from viewers over the years. While this occasionally has led to the show being viewed as having a superiority complex that only caters to white upper and middle class viewers the fact that after all this time it is still around, still competing, speaks to its success. In fact, while America is called a country without traditions, it certainly has created one on Sunday nights around the television.

If you're a fan of beautifully made books this will be an offense to you. What I thought would be a coffee table sized tome with copious pictures is a small volume that looks like it was made by a nearly defunct university press. The paper meets the "minimum requirements" for "Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials" and that is patently obvious. The font is minuscule and appears to have had no typesetting. The photographs are laughable and misidentified. As another reviewer pointed out, why is the the British DVD cover for Sherlock even in here instead of a picture from a press kit? In other words, if you were looking for a book whose very presence was worthy of a show named Masterpiece, this is not it. If you're a fan of Masterpiece though, this book might give you a little more of an historical framework with regard to the political climate when the show was formed and the fact that it lacks diversity. But that is all. It reads like a textbook, which isn't surprising as Nancy West is a professor at the University of Missouri. Though it doesn't read as a very good textbook. It reminded me too heavily of the introduction to television and film books I read in my undergrad comm arts classes. Except that this book has constant niggling errors. I mean, come on, when Wolf Hall aired it wasn't the only Tudor show to air in almost twenty-five years! Just a decade earlier Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone aired as did The Virgin Queen starring Tom Hardy. And yes, I know I shouldn't be saying that Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester, is the star of a show about Queen Elizabeth, but come on, it's Tom Hardy! And I'm sorry, but misidentify Brian Blessed in a photograph is actually a crime in my world. One would think creating a framework for this book wouldn't be hard, Nancy West could have even used The Best of Masterpiece Theatre from the thirty-fifth anniversary as a starting point, but no, instead she's all over the place. She's discussing personality traits of Worricker, a series literally no one watched, and doesn't really talk about shows from the seventies or eighties, focusing more on her favorite actors. Which is where this book gets weird. As you trudge through the morass of text the author's personality comes out more and more and she's a bit of an odd duck. She starts lusting after the vicars on Grantchester and any attractive man she feels needs a qualifier. I get that Andrew Davies and Pride and Prejudice paved the way for this, but in a scholarly approach to the history of the show, maybe talk about it in some sort of discourse, don't just drool. But the main problem of this book is that she hates America. She hates everything about this country from its supposed lack of culture and tradition and its need to psychoanalyze itself to its television. What did Thomas Magnum ever do to you!?! You know some of the biggest names from Masterpiece appeared on Magnum, P.I.? Ian McShane? Jenny Agutter? Francesca Annis? Julian Glover? Peter Davison? Any of these ringing a bell? Nope? Actually, not surprising. None of them are hot vicars. And yes, I think she's a fan of Fleabag. But if you want to read a book by a fan of this show, might I suggest Rebecca Eaton's autobiography? You'll get more insight than you'll ever find here.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: America, Anthology, Aspirational, BBC, Brian Blessed, Elitist, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Masterpiece, Nancy West, NET, Nostalgia, Rebecca Eaton, The First Churchills, The Forsyte Saga, Thomas Magnum, Tradition, Tudor, WBGH

Tom Batemen just can't catch a break, my sexy man from Da Vinci's Demons. I know at the moment things are looking up because of The Love Hypothesis and how he's basically starring in Reylo fanfic which is really funny if you know he's married to Daisy Ridley, but he has starred in so many wonderful shows that were cancelled before their time that I can't help but call out the injustice of it all. Jekyll and Hyde, damn, that one hurt. It was such a fresh interpretation of the story and yet deliciously retro and deco. But nothing hurt me more than Beecham House. I've been a Beecham House stan since day one. It's a unique period piece that covers a time in India that isn't much discussed and was a frothy soap opera as well. I mean, where else but in a soap opera would Mrs. Patmore be a drug addict, Henri Leclair be in an entirely inappropriate and regal bed, and someone actually trust Marc Warren? And unlike another show of this time, Beecham House was actually filmed in India. Yes, I'm looking at you Indian Summers. More like Malaysian Summers amiright! Rewatching this show I was actually more angry than sad followed by more sad once the anger had passed. Some of the best shows I've loved over the years have just unceremoniously ended. Am I drawn to that which is so unique it can't thrive? Do I have such odd taste that only a niche fandom supports the shows I love? Well, probably. But that's because I crave originality and despise the predictable. Which means I usually fall for that which is doomed. Though I would rather have one season of Beecham House than none. I would rather have my hopes dashed, once again, than never to have had hope in the first place. What struck me most this time wasn't just that this was another show cancelled before it's time starring Tom Bateman, it was another show cancelled before it's time starring Amar Chadha-Patel. Amar Chadha-Patel is a very talented actor who really came into his own as Boorman on Willow. Now Willow is a whole different kettle of fish. Not only was it cancelled by Disney after a certain fangirl had waited basically her whole life for the story to continue, but then they scrubbed it's existence. You can't legally watch the show anywhere. The sheer rage I feel at this is beyond anything I can express. But mainly it just makes me sad. See, sad again. Amar Chadha-Patel was stellar as Ram Lal in Beecham House, which was cancelled. Then in Year of the Rabbit as Detective Sergeant Keith he was fabulous, which was renewed and then retroactively cancelled. And then the aforementioned Willow. Could someone cut this guy a break!?! Because this is breaking my heart. Much as the fact that I will never see John and Margaret marry or John be reunited with his son August or if Violet will ever find a suitable match. So many things to regret. Oh well, onto the next show I'll fall for too hard that will then be cancelled.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amar Chadha-Patel, Beecham House, Cancelled, Da Vinci's Demons, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, India, Indian Summers, Jekyll and Hyde, John Beecham, Marc Warren, Reylo Fanfic, Tom Batemen, Willow, Year of the Rabbit

The Unknown by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it's happening again.

Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She's even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot.

Because New Avalon isn't your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums - until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.

Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realize all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island's previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.

Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island's alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy's diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon - and how to keep the island's terrible history from repeating itself."

The only flaw with this book is that it's release is a month too late for my annual tradition of reading the new Riley Sager for the Fourth of July weekend!

The Residency by C.D. Major
Published by: Canelo
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format:Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The opportunity of a lifetime, or the worst mistake of your life?

Life in London is hard for Ginny as a single mother barely scraping by. Once she was a promising artist with a glittering future ahead. On a whim, she applies for an artist's residency - all expenses paid - and is astonished to be accepted.

Soon, Ginny is on a boat to a remote Scottish island, her daughter by her side. But was she too hasty, attracted by the promise of security and a chance to make art again? Locals she meets are tightlipped about the man who is Ginny's benefactor, but she senses underlying fear. Her contract contains odd rules about avoiding the gallery at the vast property where she is living, and there is an undeniable eeriness to the place. If she didn't know better, she'd swear she could hear whispers, and that the people in the paintings were changing overnight...

By the time Ginny realises what a grave mistake she has made, she is stranded. Accepting the invitation has sealed her fate and the only way to survive is through escape - or sacrifice.

An atmospheric gothic suspense novel to send a chill down your spine and keep you reading late into the night."

Hopefully she can sacrifice her benefactor and get out.

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detective Ana Dolabra must prove a condemned man's innocence and confront a terrifying magical technology in this fantasy-mystery from the bestselling author of The Tainted Cup, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy awards.

The heir to one of the Empire's most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim's blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.

But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos.

As Ana investigates - her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears - she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal.

With their customary skill, Ana and Din pursue their adversary through the canton's wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses. Yet even they are not prepared to learn the horrifying secret behind their opponent's powers."

Blood for blood?

The Blighted Reeds by Tilly Wallace
Published by: Ribbonwood Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: eBook, 297 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The river remembers...and it wants its story told.

When Fern Oakby is summoned to the quiet village of Witherby, she expects a stubborn botanical nuisance. Instead, she finds a river strangled by unnatural reeds, a mill ground to a halt, and villagers who no longer dare to go near the water. At dusk, the reeds begin to sing...and something beneath the surface stirs.

As Fern and Millie investigate, they uncover an old tragedy, a drowned child, and a grief that has taken root and grown monstrous. The child's tale has been rewritten so many times that the truth has sunk beneath the surface, warping the magic that once flowed through the river.

With Millie's gift for uncovering hidden stories, the two women must confront a sorrow that refuses to rest - because something in the water is waking, and it remembers exactly who was lost.

To save Witherby, Fern and Millie must untangle a twisted tale before it claims another life. If they cannot rewrite the ending, the river will go on taking…and it might drown them all."

Stories written based in truth that need to be told before they claim another.

The Golden Monkey Mystery by Piu Dasgupta
Published by: Nosy Crow
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A thrilling adventure set in the jungles of 19th-century India from the author of Secrets of the Snakestone.

When twelve-year-old Roma discovers a golden leaf-eating monkey in her grounds of her boarding school, she can't believe it! Not only is it the rarest monkey in all of India, but its home is hundreds of miles away. What is it doing here?

If Roma can return the monkey to Assam and be the one to discover its secret habitat, she can prove once and for all that she is an exceptional scientist and worthy of a place at medical school.

But as she sets off on her quest, Roma gets swept into a daring jungle adventure featuring bandits, two annoying British children, tigers, and a mysterious magical jewel called the Snakestone. Roma has unwittingly become embroiled in a deadly plot involving her father. Will she make it out unscathed? And be able to follow her heart and succeed in her dream?"

More importantly, will she be able to make sure the monkey doesn't escape en route? 

Liars in Paradise by Olesya Lyuzna
Published by: The Mysterious Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With five days to clear her partner's name after a horrific crime, private detective Ginny Dugan infiltrates a cultish secret society on Long Island's Gold Coast in this champagne-soaked followup to Glitter in the Dark.

New York City, 1925. A night of high-stakes gambling at the Empire Club ends in gunfire and Jack Crawford is found at the center of the carnage - covered in blood, gun in hand. The club's ruthless owner offers Jack an ultimatum: find the real shooters within five days, or die for their crimes.

Ginny Dugan hasn't known Jack long, but as his partner in their detective agency, she needs to believe she's trusted the right man this time. Their only lead is Lila, the sole survivor of the massacre. They follow her to a queer dance hall in Glen Cove, a Long Island Gold Coast town whose glittering summer estates now stand empty in the November chill. Among those who knew Lila, one name keeps surfacing: Echelon, a seductive society where fortune is promised to those who surrender everything. Convinced the answers they seek lie within, Ginny and Jack infiltrate its ranks, where they encounter silent masked attendants, serpents sliding over bare skin, and members who seem to know more than they should - especially about Jack.

As the body count climbs and Jack's past resurfaces in unsettling ways, Ginny begins to doubt everything: her instincts, her partner, even her own reality. Maybe she was never in control. Maybe she was brought here to play someone else's game."

And maybe, don't get involved in the games of the wealthy and weird, they're dangerous. 

Respectable Murders by Joana Snowdon
Published by: Highland Quill Publications
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 226 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Easy To Fall In Love With Scotland. Harder To Survive The Fall.

Part of the Highland Mysteries series, which can be read in any order. Each case Joana and Brian take on stands on its own.

Joana has just about managed to unpack her kettle in her new Aberdeenshire cottage when DCI Fraser appears in need of a favour. Nothing straightforward, naturally. Someone is quietly murdering guests at Lord Montgomery's blue-blooded Highland matchmaking events, and Fraser wants Joana and Brian to ask awkward questions without upsetting the Scottish aristocracy. Or at least, not more than usual.

Brian insists on calling it the 'Toff Killer' case, a name Joana refuses to endorse, though he is insufferably pleased with it. The chase takes them through crumbling castles, affronted Highland cows, tartan-heavy soirées, and the most passive-aggressive tea rooms in the British Isles.

Joana and Brian bicker. They blunder. They occasionally border on brilliant. As the bodies pile up and the suspects become ever more blasé, their 'small favour' starts to look suspiciously like actual danger. Typical.

Respectable Murders is Book 4 in the Highland Mystery series, which can be read in any order. As much comedy as cosy crime, with a sleuthing pair who don't take themselves too seriously. Their friendship has outlasted most marriages, possibly because they can never agree on anything, though they're firmly on the same side when it matters. A proper whodunit with a fast, page-turning plot and the kind of dry British humour that can bite. And, as ever, Scotland steals the show.

Perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Raisin."

Oh, but I do love 'Toff Killer!'

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next thriller from #1 bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen combines a decades-old mystery with spine-tingling paranormal elements in this twisty novel of the seen and unseen.

Extrasensory perception.
The Gift.
A Sixth Sense.
Or something else....

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history.

Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era - no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet.

Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines - Betty's 1960s era of 5 o'clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley's quest to uncover the truth about the missing women - old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years."

Perhaps living in a time capsule is a good idea at the moment? I could do without the internet for a bit.

Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From mega-bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson comes this highly anticipated follow-up to her Edgar Award-winning, instant middle-grade bestseller Blood in the Water.

Ghost in the Night is another spine-tingling, can't-put-it-down murder mystery, this time set in America's Most Haunted City.

Savannah, Georgia, with its mossy trees and ornate old homes, is a place rich in history...and ghosts. Ghosts are what pique Harmony Roundtree's interest. Still reeling from her losses back home, Harmony wants to believe in ghost stories...but isn't sure what's real. When she goes on one of the many ghost tours around town, she takes a photo of what might be a ghost. Or is it a hoax?

With two new friends, Harmony sets out to investigate...and stumbles upon clues leading to an unsolved murder. The deeper she digs, the more Harmony realizes that what she saw on the ghost tour might be connected to a shocking crime. But making connections can be dangerous - even more dangerous than ghosts.

New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another action-packed mystery full of surprises and secrets that will give readers goosebumps."

Because someone willing to use the veneer of the supernatural to get away with a shocking crime is a dangerous person. 

Be Still My Unbeating Heart by Josh Winning
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A cozy vampire vacation mystery set in a seaside Italian village, featuring a reformed vampire, his magical talking cat, and a handsome, brooding detective.

Bastian may be a vampire, but he doesn't bite.

...Not anymore, at least.

These days, Bastian just wants to live his best undead life: visit charming Italian villages, maybe dance in the square with a cute boy, all with Whitby, his best friend (and magical talking cat) by his side. What he doesn't want? To stumble across a dead body on the beach, a girl who appears to have been killed by a vampire.

It wasn't Bastian. He swears - on his own grave.

But the local police chief doesn't trust Bastian, or any vampire, for that matter, so he assigns detective Nico De Luca to keep an eye on him until his trial. And while Bastian normally wouldn't complain about having a gorgeous, mysterious man by his side, he has more important things to worry about, because the police chief has called the Vampire Council, and if the real killer is still at large when they arrive, the whole town could be in danger. As more bodies begin to pile up, Bastian, Whitby, and De Luca must get to the bottom of who in Vernazza is framing vampires, before it's too late.

Charming, twisty, and laugh-out-loud funny, Be Still My Unbeating Heart by Josh Winning is a delightful romp through a swoon-worthy magical murder mystery."

Anyone think the cover looks like Reggie from Riverdale and Ace from Nancy Drew on holiday?

The Lunatics by Navessa Allen
Published by: Forever
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lights Out brings her signature high stakes, steamy romance, and suspenseful storytelling to a dark paranormal werewolf romance.

Layla Fitzpatrick lives a simple life, for a werewolf. And that's just how she likes it. Her childhood was less than ideal. She'd like to spend her adult years flying under the radar of more powerful preternatural creatures. Because she knows from experience what happens when they notice you.

Everything changes one early summer night when she attends a ritual bonding ceremony meant to join two werewolves together for life. Midway through, the spell becomes corrupted and she finds herself unexpectedly mated to the stuffiest shifter she's ever laid eyes on.

Michael Kolbeck is more man than wolf. He spends his days in a skyscraper, building his family's empire. At night, he prowls the streets of Boston, a city where shifters, witches, and vampires walk a delicate tightrope of ceasefire masquerading as peace.

Little do they know that Layla's arrival will act as the spark that ignites the fire, and that thin veneer of peace is about to vanish."

If you want to stay under the radar you don't go to rituals!

Flickerstate by F.A. Davidson
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Study In Drowning meets Neverworld Wake in this debut YA fantasy filled with lush world-building, heart stopping romance, and high-stakes competition that could be the key to everything.

Norah Sullivan has just discovered she's a navigator: a person who can manipulate probability. The same day Norah's navigation manifests, she and her father are swarmed by flickerbeasts. When a flickerbeast bites you, your risk of death skyrockets. And pretty soon, her father gets sick.

Desperate to find a cure, Norah applies to the Academy of Navigation, where there are rumors of restricted information on beast bites hidden in research archives. Once on campus, Norah learns that only senior research assistants are allowed in the archives - and you can only become one by winning a team trial designed to push your navigation abilities to the brink.

She'll need to rely on her roommates, as well as her peer mentor, the handsome Vik Souza, to win the competition. But trouble arises at every turn. There are tensions in the group, romantic complications, and unexplained student disappearances. As Norah gets deeper into the competition, she realizes not everything is as it seems, and the stakes are much higher than she ever could have imagined."

Ah, but when family is on the line, it's worth all the risks.

(Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A debut slow-burn work-nemesis romance set in a world where cryptids and monsters are a part of life...and someone has to do the paperwork.

Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids. But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy...from the safety of a desk. Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.

When one of Alexys's new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him. Determined to save her career - and to shield the Warden's family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job - she marches off into the monster-infested wilderness to find him herself.

Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt. But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark. Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries..."

I say, write the missing employee off, save yourself!

Adversary to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Published by: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"HR Update: The position of "adversary to the villain" has been filled. Evie Sage does not recall applying.

Evie has always tried to be helpful, loyal, and only mildly involved in treason. But with a dangerous prophecy threatening the very magic of Rennedawn - not to mention the race to claim its necessary artifacts before King Benedict does - things are starting to feel...less like a career path and more like a serious problem.

The prophecy won't stop pointing in Evie's direction. The Villain's magic keeps choosing her. And honestly, if you're going to be accused of evil anyway, you might as well commit.

Unfortunately, the more Evie leans into her alleged villain era, the more her boss starts acting like the hero of a completely different story. Trystan is getting closer - closer than is wise, advisable, or even remotely professional - and looking at her like she's already chosen a side. His.

Which is deeply inconvenient, because if Evie can't save the kingdom's magic, she might just become its greatest threat.

The hilarious fantasy romance series doesn't end at Adversary to the Villain! The thrilling conclusion to the series is coming soon!"

Eh, take the kingdom for yourself, go FULL evil.

Prince of the Sun by Emma Noyes
Published by: Emma Noyes
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Legally Blonde meets A Deal with the Elf King in the debut spicy standalone adult romantasy from the acclaimed author of How to Hide in Plain Sight, the Sunken City series, and the Soul of Shadow trilogy.

One hundred years ago, the elves appeared on Earth.

Beautiful, brilliant, and filled with unearthly grace, they swarmed the libraries and universities: Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Beijing. They made for the humans' fountains of knowledge with eerie precision, as if they'd spent millennia studying Earth before their arrival.

Once there, the Elf King made an announcement: we're looking for something, and once we find it, we will leave you in peace.

Quinn Kallister doesn't believe him. Seven years ago, she watched her father be murdered and her brother kidnapped by a pair of elves. Since then, she fought to gain admission to Harvard for one reason: to find the answers no one will give her. To do that, she must spy on Daerios Ariar, the most powerful and terrifying of the Sun Princes. Quinn is set on gaining the prince's trust and learning the elves' secrets - until an unwanted attraction begins to form between them that neither can deny."

Elves in dark academia!?! Be still my heart.

Alchemy of Souls by Adriana Mather
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times-bestselling author Adriana Mather, comes the next big YA fantasy romance Alchemy of Souls, following two magically bound teens as they race to solve the mystery of an ancient mystical key before it's too late.

Grayson Stone is no stranger to deception. Under the watchful eye of his uncle, the High Chancellor, he has been well-trained in all four types of magic, all while secretly working against his uncle's corrupt rule. Years of plans depend on him being marked Gifted during his University entrance exam, proving that he is the perfect heir and gaining his uncle's trust. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, and he has only one person to blame: Eloise Belrose.

Raised by a family of Laborers, Eloise is the most unlikely student to become a Mage, but through her hard work and long hours spent practicing she is finally admitted to the prestigious University of Magical Arts, guaranteeing safety and security for her whole family. Until things go very wrong, and she somehow becomes magically linked to Grayson Stone, the school's arrogant, annoyingly attractive, golden boy, putting not only her University acceptance, but also her and her family's lives at risk.

Eloise and Grayson are given less than two weeks to solve an impossible mystery - one that will give the High Chancellor even more power and control - or face the consequences. Forced to room together, with all the same classes, while pretending to date to hide their secret quest, sparks definitely fly. As their feelings grow more real it becomes harder to live the lies they've had to tell to survive. With time running out, will they be able to trust the bond between them or will their lies tear them apart forever?"

Trust each other a tear the world down!

The Iron Hex by Victoria S. Walsh
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She doesn't remember her past. But some memories come with a cost.

Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur - but with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she's managed to remain unnoticed by the empire's witch hunters.

Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.

Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something...and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.

Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent - and deeper into a past she can't recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire's capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire's forces as they draw ever closer...if she can remember how to control it in time."

Yeah, uncontrollable magic is a big no no.

Immortal Game by Allison Saft
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this Irish folklore-inspired sapphic fantasy from #1 New York Times bestseller Allison Saft, a chess grandmaster must team up with her fae rival to save the person she loves the most.

Six years ago, Shea Fury's sister was whisked away by the High King of the Otherworld, the ruler of the treacherous land of fae. Although Shea has spent the years since dreaming of rescuing her sister from captivity, the Iron Veil that separates the human world from that of the fae has made it only a wish. That is, until an invitation to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime chess tournament in the Otherworld arrives on Shea's doorstep. The winner of the tournament may ask the High King to grant one wish, and Shea is finally within reach of hers.

But entering the tournament and winning it are two different matters. Dark magic lurks around every corner in the Otherworld, and Shea's cutthroat opponents are willing to bend the rules to make their own wishes come true. To make it to the end - and to find her sister - she is forced to strike an alliance with her longtime rival, the sharply beautiful fae princess, Ciara of Bri Leith. One wrong move, though, and Shea could lose more than just the competition: She'd lose her sister, her dignity, and maybe even her life.

In Immortal Game, Allison Saft has written a high-stakes sapphic love story brimming with competitive tension set against a lush, Irish folklore-inspired fantasy world."

I mean, there's literally no way to win a game of chess against the fae. They cheat at everything.

The Castle and the Cloister by Laura E. Weymouth
Published by: Sand S/Saga Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Priory of the Orange Tree meets Black Sun in the thrilling launch of a political fantasy duology following three people - a refugee, a heretic queen, and a priest - as they attempt to shape the fortunes of a continent shattered by war.

Two centuries ago, the Inver clan conquered the nation of Honoria, ushering in an era of blood. Now, after a period of fragile peace, a king's whims may reignite the engines of war.

At the last stronghold of Honoria's sun goddess, Fia, a young postulant, seeks safety for her child, but the price of the cloister's protection will tear her from what she loves most and thrust her into a deadly game of deception.

Within the Inver's mountain fortress, Ariana is known as the apostate queen after abandoning her faith for a king. But old loyalties aren't easily severed. Ariana treads a dangerous path, striving for peace in a court made for conquest.

And deep in the heart of the mountain, the Inver Priest bides his time with small acts of rebellion. Blinded in the fight for the throne, he harbors a bitter grudge - one that could lead to Honoria's ruin or renewal.

Amid a landscape of enemies, allies, and intrigue, three lives intertwine. Each will have to risk the wrath of gods and kings to alter the course of nations."

I adore this cover so much that I want to build a stage set of it.

Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue
Published by: Requited
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Introducing an epic, slow burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel about a heroine forged in steel and rage, and the cursed immortal who might turn out to be as much her salvation as she is his, perfect for fans of Danielle L. Jensen and Callie Hart.

Never run. Never bow. Never die. Reya Connery became the Crimson Dagger, the most notorious thief in Rhiterra, by following a strict set of rules. One: There is no honor among thieves. Two: A good blade is key to any negotiation. Three: Only the dead keep secrets. And Reya has a secret that must be kept at all costs. But when a heist goes wrong on the eve of paying off her debt to a ruthless crime lord, Reya may need a new set of rules. And lots of coin. Fast.

Enter Caelan Halcyon, an immortal warrior whose magic makes him a valuable target - if the curse inching closer to his heart doesn't kill him first. There's just one person who might be desperate enough to try and get their hands on the fabled cure in time to save his life, someone whose legend claims they can steal anything: the Crimson Dagger. A male of honor, Caelan loathes everything the beautiful, cocky thief represents, yet knows that Reya is his last hope for survival.

Their search takes them to the edge of the known world, where Reya discovers that there is far more at stake than her and Caelan's own lives. Now, Reya must confront deadly foes, her growing attraction to the immortal who is as lethal as his jawline is perfect, and the rage she's spent a lifetime trying to bury. This time, her daggers aren't going to cut it, and the fate of all magic-born hangs in the balance.

Enter a world ruled by tyrants and thieves, where magic is outlawed, revolution brews, desire is dangerous, and an impossible cure may prove deadlier than the curse."

For fans of the Grishaverse.  

The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Acclaimed Tudor historian Tracy Borman weaves the dramatic history of the Boleyn family into a richly imagined novel of ambition, bloodlines, and the opulent and deadly court of Henry VIII.

When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to a newly anointed King Henry VIII, he sets in train events that ensure the Boleyn name will never be forgotten. His daughters Mary and Anne were young then, and though he was ambitious for his family to prosper, he could not imagine what would transpire in the two decades to come.

Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Tracy Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life. Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colorful tableau in which familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne's ever-loyal attendant Esther Frideswide and Thomas Boleyn's perfidious steward Robert Cranwell are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of the royal court. Henry VIII pursues Anne relentlessly, showering her with gifts as the Boleyns are catapulted to political prominence. But when she can't give him the son and heir he desperately seeks, the family faces a terrible and bloody fate. With lavish and compelling historical detail, Tracy Borman displays her keen gift for storytelling in this resonant novel of family, fate, and intrigue."

When you look at the Boleyn family as a whole you can barely imagine their power and their stupidity. 

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"He wants a wife. She wants to be jilted. This. Is. War.

Rich, handsome and titled Lord Ashford has every lady in England longing for his hand in marriage.

Everyone, that is, except Miss Lydia Hanworth - the only young woman Ashford wishes to marry.

Pressured into accepting Ashford's proposal, the announcement must be kept secret for ten days. Can Lydia free herself from her obligations before the engagement is publicly announced, without ruining her reputation? You can achieve an awful lot in ten days, after all..."

I mean, if she was willing to ruin her reputation, this could be so easy. 

The Nightingales by Emil Wilson
Published by: Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Based on a true story, an exquisitely illustrated, singular graphic novel about a life-changing friendship between a seventeen-year-old girl and the dying stranger who moves into her family's home.

It's the spring of 1985 and Lou Miller is weeks away from graduating high school when her father, Donald, invites his coworker, Jim, and his two dogs, Henny and Penny, to move into their home. Jim has been evicted from his apartment and fallen on hard times, but there is more to the situation than Lou or her mother, Annemarie, realize.

Jim's arrival upends the lives of this small-town Oregon family. As Annemarie grows increasingly uneasy about sharing her home with a stranger, Lou finds herself drawn to Jim's warmth, humor, and quiet resilience. Their unlikely bond carries Jim through the most difficult months of his life and gives Lou the courage to imagine a future beyond the bounds of her hometown.

Tender, surprising, and full of hope, The Nightingales is an unforgettable story about compassion, family, and the unexpected ways one person's life can alter another's."

Sometimes change and possibilities come from where you least expect them.

A Gray Cat Wanders by Karla Kuskin, Marcellus Hall, and Leonard Marcus
Published by: Astra Young Readers
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This collection of previously unpublished poems by masterful children's book author Karla Kuskin (1932-2009) will delight readers ages 4-8 who love animals and their distinct personalities.

A Gray Cat Wanders is a charming collection of never-before-seen poems from the late Karla Kuskin, beloved author of The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and many other picture books. Here, Kuskin's unique, witty voice weaves through each poem, creating an exquisite menagerie of verses about animals both mighty and small. Meanwhile, in the art, a gray cat wanders from page to page and can be seen, sometimes hidden, throughout the book.

Here is a treasury of animal poems that, coupled with acclaimed artist Marcellus Hall's playful illustrations, will instill in young readers a sense of wonder for the critters around us."

CAT!!!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adriana Mather, Allison Saft, C.D. Major, Emil Wilson, Emma Noyes, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Karla Kuskin, Laura E. Weymouth, Riley Sager, Robert Jackson Bennett, Sophie Irwin, Taylor J. LaRue, Tracy Borman, Victoria S. Walsh