strange and random happenstance

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

While I have been very vocal about theatrical releases not belonging on Masterpiece, I feel like The Chaperone is one exception I can make. After all it is adapted from Laura Moriarty's book by Julian Fellowes and it stars Lady Cora herself, Elizabeth McGovern. In fact, because apparently executives who make these decisions think we're dumb and one actor can't play two different characters with the same name, the "chaperone" was renamed Norma from Cora just so Elizabeth McGovern could play the role. I remember when the book came out it made quite a splash, I have a copy around here.... Somewhere. Which is why I was hesitant to watch the movie before I read the book. And in another aspect of my life I've been very vocal about, I eventually just gave up planning to read the book first and watched the movie because of Haley Lu Richardson. Yes, I finally watched this movie because of season two of The White Lotus. Because if there's one thing I was adamant about before watching this movie it was that they had to get Louise Brooks right. Once I saw Haley Lu Richardson on The White Lotus I was no longer worried and it was finally time to watch this movie. It didn't hurt that I was subscribed to the PBS channel on Amazon at the time. I don't know what I actually expected of the movie, after all it's called The Chaperone, not Louise Brooks, but I certainly expected more Louise Brooks. Instead we're following around Cora/Norma in New York City as she tries to solve the mystery of why she was given up for adoption and what this revelation means for her going forward. She doesn't have a loving marriage, she doesn't even know if she knows what love is, but seeing Louise dance sparked something in her and she decides she needs to do a bit of soul-searching. Honestly I found it all rather boring and trite until it ended up being downright unrealistic with her and her husband living together in polyamory with both their male lovers. Because that had to be so realistic for Kansas during WWII right!?! Now I'm not saying that this type of thing didn't happen, I just think the way it's portrayed here with everyone living openly only within the confines of their house is unrealistic. I mean Cora/Norma is passing off her lover as her brother! Hasn't anyone in town noticed they're a little too close? The thing is, this rather radical lifestyle could have been used as a counterpoint to Louise's own life. She didn't play by anyone's rules. She was born to be a star and she became one. She was the torchbearer for sexual liberation and Cora/Norma becomes sexually liberated, and yet there seems to be no connecting the two women's journeys. They are both in the same room but aren't interacting. It's just the weirdest feeling watching this. Because you only get glimpses of Louise's story and I wanted to yell at the screen to follow her. What was she doing while Cora/Norma was in the park being told she was given away just because she didn't fit in with her family's plans and she will never meet her siblings. I know, I know, I was wanting something I was never going to get. On the other hand, if they ever decide to actually make a movie about Louise Brooks I know who I want to play her. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dance, Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Haley Lu Richardson, Julian Fellowes, Laura Moriarty, Louise Brooks, Polyamory, Sexual Liberation, The Chaperone, The White Lotus, Theatrical Release

I have never met someone of the female persuasion who doesn't hold a strong opinion on which is their favorite adaptation of Little Women. My friend Marie favors the 1949 version because she's a huge fan of Margaret O'Brien of Meet Me in St. Louis fame. And I totally admire Marie's bravery in embracing being entirely wrong because the best adaptation is obviously the 1994 version with Winona Ryder. Accept no substitutes! Especially if they're trying to foist that horrible 2019 Greta Gerwig version on you. Beth isn't a framing device and Florence Pugh is incapable of passing for twelve! Why did that have to be the last film I saw in theaters before the pandemic!?! It has wormed its way into my brain and is sadly never to be forgotten because of it's proximity to pandemonium. This miniseries was the latest adaptation save the Greta Gerwig version and I had literally no desire to see it. The main reason I didn't want to watch this was because it was filmed in Ireland. I know, that seems a really weird reason to not watch a show, but everyone knows what the March's house and environs look like because you can literally still go there. I've been there, and while this adaptation might have had some accuracy with regard to the interior layout what the hell was that color the house was painted!?! Those trees, what is up with those trees around "Walden Pond!?!" Oh, and the fact that the newspaper where Jo sells her story in "Concord" is in Eliza Scarlet's office, I'm even more exasperated by the Ireland choice. But then again three of the most important roles, including Marmee, are played by Brits. And I want to make it clear, I'm not against casting Brits in American roles or vice versa, it's just that this is perhaps one of the most famous American books of all time, which wasn't even published in the form we know in England, to have such a British presence behind the scenes is odd. I mean, it made me not watch it for eight years. And now that I have watched it, there's still a disconnect. It feels off. And not just because Laurie is played by Ruby Sunday's horrid boyfriend from the last season of Doctor Who. There are views that feel more Heidi Thomas's than Louisa May Alcott's. The character I have always related to most is Beth, and not just because of the name thing, because anyone who knows me knows I hate the diminutive Beth. She's a homebody, someone fine with staying put but not being left behind and here she's an agoraphobe. This didn't sit right with me. It's complicating and belittling her character at the same time. As for the changes to the other sisters? Oddly enough I think Maya Hawke was a great Jo and it was nice to see Willa Fitzgerald not being pursued by Ghostface. And yes, I am still bitter about the lack of an ending on the Scream television show, why do you ask? Also we will not be discussing season three because who knows what that even was supposed to be. But the changes to Amy? Oh my. I didn't think it was possibly to hate her all the more but they made her destruction of Jo's book far more premeditated and pathological. Though, again, one actress playing Amy just doesn't work because a woman can not play twelve. It doesn't matter how immature she acts or the cut of her clothes or the braiding of her hair, she comes across as someone playacting as a child and it's creepy and off-putting. So in the final anlysis, yes, it's a fine adaptation, not without it's flaws, but it's not the 1994 version with Winona so why settle for less? 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: American, British, Concord, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Ghostface, Greta Gerwig, Heidi Thomas, Ireland, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Maya Hawke, Miss Scarlet, Orchard House, Walden Pond, Willa Fitzgerald, Winona Ryder

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Beth Durst brings cozy fantasy romance to the high seas in Sea of Charms, the third magical adventure in the Spellshop series!

Marin has always belonged on the great blue sea.

Betrayed by love, Marin lives and works as a supply runner, sailing from island to island, delivering an array of goods with Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub as her crew.

On one of her routine trips to the capital, Alyssium, Marin finds a revolution underway - and her friend Dax in the line of fire.

What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a member of her crew if he pretends to be her boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.

But against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile - and realizes that perhaps she isn't saving him. Maybe it's the other way around.

Sea of Charms is a cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself.

Read in whatever order your heart desires, but don't miss The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse."

Who else has had their signed, and personalized, copy preordered for months? I know it's not just me.

Eclipse of the Crown by A.K. Caggiano
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third installment of A.K. Caggiano's Villains and Virtues series perfect for fans of Sydney J. Shields and Kimberly Lemming, a demon lord and the baroness who's wormed her way into his heart try to find time to admit their feelings for each other. If only the world would stop ending long enough for them to do so...

Their destinies are irrevocably entangled, but will their bond finally be the realm's ultimate undoing?

Nothing about Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne's evil destiny has gone according to plan. The reason? A certain noblewoman who has somehow enmeshed herself in his softening heart.

Now back amongst his peers at Yvlcon, the preeminent congregation of the vilest and most unscrupulous villains, Damien's moral growth is threatened - and just when he was learning to be a little less evil too. Consequently, Lady Ammalie Avington, Daughter to the Baron of Faebarrow, finds her own virtue in peril when faced with so much temptation, namely in the form of a domineering blood mage she can't - or doesn't want - to say no to.

But a burgeoning romance is doused in the coldest of baths when the Grand Order of Dread commands Damien to once again face the swirling vortex of entropy that's been hunting them across the realm. The coming eclipse points to devastation and destruction, and with prophecy being, well, prophecy, annihilation seems impossible to avoid.

But there's an entire fortnight before the world is supposed to end, and surely that's enough time to find some way around it...or at the very least to confess one's devotion before it all burns down around them."

Or confess your devotion just as the flames are licking at your heels so you don't have to deal with rejection?

Tales of a Deadly Devotion by Jennifer Delaney
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the instant Sunday Times bestseller Tales of a Monstrous Heart comes the highly-anticipated sequel, with slow-burn romance and forbidden magic, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

As Fey wage hopeless war against the oncoming storm of mortal conquest, Fairfax Manor lies in ruins. The first witches of Blackthorn forged the ancient fortress from their very souls to keep those of their bloodline safe. No one is safe now.

Katherine Woodrow might have survived persecution at the Institute of Magic and journeyed across the divided lands of Elysior to study magic with the legendary Lord Emrys Blackthorn himself, but losing her heart and almost her life wasn't on the curriculum.

All magic has a price, and in this irresistible tale of gothic allure, shadowed by sorcery and slow-burn desire, it's a price so steep that Alma would rather have died than see Kat pay. But the dark isn't finished with Kat yet. And Alma, a shapeshifter, will stop at nothing to save her, drawing on the power of the beasts that simmer beneath her skin and even facing the secrets of her own past to help her friend.

And there's no time to lose. Because more demons are escaping from the cursed texts the mortals failed to guard. The world is slipping back into darkness. And something is returning...

A tale of deadly devotion."

It's always sad whenever the Gothic ruin you call home is no longer a haven.

Spellcast by Sophie Jordan
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan is back with an epic romantasy set in the world of A Fire in the Sky, about a girl on the hunt for the witch who cursed her, unaware of her own dormant power…waiting to emerge.

For ten long years, Arden has been invisible, trapped in her village by a spell she cannot break. She listens to friends chatter, watches her family grieve, but can never touch, speak, or be seen. Living like a ghost among those who've forgotten her, she dreams of vengeance against the witch who cursed her.

Until one fateful day, her village is devoured in flame, and everything changes.

From the wreckage rises a pride of dragons that can transform into humans. Their piercing eyes slice through her curse, and for the first time in a decade, Arden can be seen.

Swept off to the Crags by the enigmatic alpha dragon, Tage, Arden is forced into a world of fire and power, where danger lurks in every shadow. Though she plots her escape at every turn, Tage's fiery intensity and undeniable magnetism spark an unwilling response in her.

But Arden's fate is bound to a secret she has yet to uncover, a magic older and more perilous than she could ever imagine. With war on the horizon, Arden must decide whether to trust the dragon she swore to defy, harness the wild magic around her, or risk losing everything.

Sometimes all it takes to break a curse...is to cast another spell."

Stick with the dragons. ALWAYS choose the dragons.

A Tangled Magic by Andrea Eames
Published by: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rapunzel meets Six of Crows in this darkly imagined high fantasy for fans of T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and Disney's Tangled, as a woman with amnesia - and magical hair - searches for her lost memories while navigating a web of royal intrigue, bone magic, and secret monasteries.

All her life, Netta has only known the Tower - its musty shelves of books she cannot read, ink-splattered quills, and endless scrolls of paper. Her mother, ambitious and analytical, has spent decades perfecting her greatest masterpiece: a spellbook of unspeakable power. Netta's only companions are her long red Hair, which moves of its own accord, and a telepathic raven named Baldbeak. Her only amusement lies in crafting intricate embroidery from scraps of silk and thread.

When attackers storm the Tower, her mother and the spellbook vanish. Determined to find her, Netta ventures into a kingdom on the brink of civil war. The monarch lies dying, while pious Temple fanatics and the noble elite scheme for the throne, forging secret alliances and building hidden armies. For reasons she cannot yet fathom, all these factions seek Netta - and the dangerous, uncontrollable magic in her Hair.

But whom can she trust? The sharp-eyed pickpocket bent on revolutionizing the use of magic? The elusive black-market trader known only as the Book Man? The charming magician who slips between shadow and light? From masked carnivals to opulent ballrooms, from hidden monasteries to catacombs, Netta must untangle a web of lies and intrigue - not only to find her mother, but also to uncover the true nature of the power that has shaped her life."

I wonder if she ever uses her hair in her embroidery?

Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mother and daughter must break their family's curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Forgery of Fate.

1940s Hong Kong
When Japanese soldiers invade her hometown, Ha Yut Ying makes an unlikely escape - by turning invisible. But her miraculous survival is only the beginning. After the war is over, she's sent to Hong Kong to live with her distant father and glamorous stepmother, who end her dreams of becoming a singer and turn her into the family's servant. As the years pass, Yut Ying learns the hard truths of betrayal and ambition, of forbidden love and devastating loss, and discovers that sometimes the only way to endure is to disappear.

1960s San Francisco
Marigold has always had a knack for uncovering secrets, but nothing prepares her for the day she accidentally witnesses her mother vanish before her eyes. The moment fractures their bond, leaving questions that shadow her entire childhood. But when her mother's condition suddenly deteriorates, Marigold is convinced she's the only person who can save her. To do so, she must journey into the secrets her mother never shared and uncover the tragic, fairytale-tinged history their family has fought to forget.

A story of mothers and daughters, the scars they inherit and the magic that binds them, Fishbone Cinderella is a tender and enchanting exploration of what it means, at last, to be seen."

I mean, wouldn't your first reaction to your mother disappearing before you eyes be wonder?

Eight Enchanting Elixirs by Lynn Cahoon
Published by: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon's irresistible kitchen witch, Mia the caterer, once again works magic with a meal - and with a murder - in an Idaho town with a lot of community spirits...

Mia's grandmother is feeling stress about an ex who's returned...from the dead. Mia's boyfriend is confined to his home for six weeks in a desperate attempt to get his fluffy Maltese pup, Cerby, trained as a hellhound. And Mia herself is being hassled by the coven, which is suddenly questioning the validity of her witch credentials!

Suspected of cheating on her exam, Mia is pressured to retake it. When she not only passes but moves up a level, national coven rep Suzanne Parker is furious. Parker, a relative of a witch hanged in Salem, threatens Mia with a witch's worst nightmare. When she's found dead the very next day, the coven suspects kitchen witch's potions contained an extra, very lethal ingredient.

With all this toil and trouble, Mia has no choice but to prove that she's a good witch - in every sense of the word..."

What is a witch's worst nightmare? Because I can think of a few...

Such a Witch by Sarah Henning
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cliques clash and sparks fly in this delightfully fast-paced read that's part fluffy rom-com, part murder mystery with a (literal) witch hunt. The perfect pick for Wednesday fans.

Pretty, popular, and a total witch, Embry Woodcross is queen bee at Raven's Head School for the Magically Gifted. Entering senior year as head prefect, Embry is a celebrated fashionista and unrivaled solver of problems big, small, and unattractive. (She's quite generous with her handcrafted magical beauty products.)

When she meets Oakley Riddle, clueless transfer student and ultrarare vampire, Embry's mission is clear: take the new girl under her wing and make sure she's not thrown to the (were)wolves. Coven mate Rye Knighton may scoff at Embry's aggressive benevolence, but Raven's Head students reward her with love and appreciation...

Until one good deed too many makes Embry the lead suspect in a murder investigation.

Suddenly, the same people who begged Embry for enchanted acne potions are convinced she's a cold-blooded killer. Apparently, everyone loves a witch until something bad happens, and then it's all pitchforks and anecdotal evidence. As everything she's ever done is used against her, Embry teams up with Rye to find the real murderer, clear her name, and maybe fall in love along the way."

I mean, being a witch will always be a double-edged sword. 

Hell to Pay by Lora Beth Johnson
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ocean's Eight meets Six of Crows in this YA fantasy heist novel about a teenage con artist and her ragtag crew teaming up for their toughest job yet: stealing a soul from the Afterlife.

Elle Fields comes from a long line of thieves who specialize in breaking into the Afterlife to steal secrets - and magic - from the dead. But after her parents' disappearance and her brother's death, Elle is left adrift, without even her crew to rely on.

Until a mysterious stranger offers her a job she can't refuse: stealing a soul from the Afterlife. If Elle can get it done, it could be the key to restoring the life she lost.

The only problem is getting her crew back together. Oh, and the fact that the job's impossible - but Elle is confident that she'll be able to work it all out.

After all, how hard could it be to raise the dead?"

So it feels a bit sexist that they're comparing it to Ocean's Eight and not Ocean's Eleven. Or better yet, Ocean's Twelve, the best in the series. 

Marian Heretic Volume 1 by Tini Howard and Joe Jaro
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bold new vision of religious horror and rebellion!

Sister Marian is many things: a Mother Superior, a witch hunter, and a devout follower of a Goddess the Holy Father Church refuses to acknowledge.

When the Church declares her order heretical, Marian agrees to serve as its personal enforcer - delivering nightly judgment across the city of Vespers in exchange for her Sisters' survival.

But with every soul she condemns, Marian feels her own slipping further into darkness. Can she ultimately protect the faith that guides her even as the Church weaponizes her to destroy it?

From writer Tini Howard (Catwoman, Excalibur, Assassinistas) and artist Joe Jaro (Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer) comes a bold new take on nunsploitation where theology meets heavy metal.

Collects Marian Heretic #1-5."

I think you can gather from Sister Marian's habit that this is all about the nunsploitation. And not just by habit...

These Godly Lies by Rachelle Raeta
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A god stilled the hands of time for Anna in These Immortal Truths. Now, those stolen hours come due in These Godly Lies, the stunning and sweeping conclusion to the Peaches and Honey duology.

"She assumed they had forever. She knows better now."

After spending eight centuries witnessing the world's cruelty, Anna has finally found peace in the simple life she's made for herself with Khiran, the shapeshifting god who gifted her with immortality.

It is, she knows, too good to last.

When her existence - and her stolen immortality - is discovered, Anna and Khiran must abandon the home they have built together if they hope to escape the wrath of the all-powerful god they call The First. But they can't hide forever, and fighting means certain death - until they learn that they may not be the only immortals who wish to see The First fall.

With everything at stake, only one thing is certain: Fear isn't only for mortals. Fear is for them all."

The question is, does gaining immortality make you even more afraid of death?

The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman and Riley Sager's Middle of the Night, comes a sweeping, atmospheric thriller following a group of friends and the power given to them by the trees...

Rule 1: When the trees whisper, listen.

Rule 2: Don't go into the woods alone.

In the small mountain town of Whisper Ridge, the girls were inseparable. Joey, Quinn, Sophie, and Elena. Together, they channeled magic in the woods, living by six simple rules. The first being: when the trees whisper, listen.

But all rules are forgotten, all bonds broken, when Quinn is found dead in the trees.

In the aftermath, the friends scattered. All except Joey, who still can't move on. Until now, over a decade later, she again hears the trees whisper.

Those woods remember some of Quinn's last words, and for the first time, Joey realizes she may learn the truth of what happened to her best friend. And so, the friends return to Whisper Ridge, to the woods that once held their magic and their secrets. But unearthing the truth about Quinn puts them all in danger, and in order to survive they'll need to channel their power for the first time in fifteen years to finally put the past to rest."

Not to be a drag, but the blurb is kind of spoiling Middle of the Night's more supernatural elements...

A Penance for Crows by Shannon Morgan
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unnerving, hypnotic, modern gothic thriller set on a remote Irish island, where an artist is caught between deadly secrets, ancient superstition, and echoing madness. For fans of Simone St. James, Eve Chase, and Jennifer McMahon.

Off the southern tip of the Beara Peninsula lies Beanna Dubh, an island of savage beauty, its jagged cliffs lashed by Atlantic winds and infested by thousands of crows. Untouched by 21st-century advances, the islanders live under the strict rule of the church, while clinging to old superstitions of the crows as harbingers of disaster. To this desolate, unforgiving place Grizela Urquhart fled, seeking sanctuary from brutal bullying in her native Glasgow.

40 years on, Grizela still remains an outsider - the eccentric painter viewed with distrust and barely tolerated. The feelings are mutual, for she has discovered there are as many secrets on Beanna Dubh as there are crows.

When she stumbles upon the body of a young priest with a diabolical symbol drawn on his chest, the crows darken the skies, and Grizela is plagued by demonic whispers only she can hear. The islanders' suspicions fall on her, but she fears the answers lie in her tortured past.

As mass hysteria grows, Grizela scrambles to protect the innocent - a quartet of young girls she has taken under her wing. When she uncovers dark truths behind the girls' mysterious midnight gatherings, her grip on reality unravels and she is faced with an impossible choice: do the unthinkable to protect the girls as the whispers urge, or come out of hiding to face the sins of her past."

Is leaving the island an option?

Black Point by Jacqueline West
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In an insular small town steeped in Norse traditions, a local teen grapples with dark secrets from the past rising to the surface in this "spine-tingling thrill ride" (School Library Journal, starred review) by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West.

Lucia Sorenson holds on hard to the things she loves. Her tiny hometown clings to the bluffs above the Mississippi River, threatened by weather and time. Unlike most people her age, Lucia plans to stay after graduation and help her grandfather run the Viking Museum of Black Point. Maybe then she can keep everything her ancestors built from washing away.

When the Black Point Hotel, a supposedly haunted local landmark, is bought by an outsider, the town is shaken - and for Lucia, fresh changes arrive in the form of the owner's nephew, Max. As Lucia gets to know Max, she begins to question her role in the town's rituals and to see the place, and herself, with new eyes.

But the town is flooding, and old secrets are rising to the surface. Soon Lucia will have to choose between the home she thought she knew and the hideous truths hidden underneath."

Stephen King via Midsummer. 

The Séance Garden by Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a cheesy ghost tour in one of California's oldest towns stumbles upon an actual haunting, a skeptical historian of the occult becomes entangled in solving a murder case.

When Professor Harper Grae loses a bet with a friend, she finds herself on a local nighttime tour of "haunted" locations in Monterey. Harper's a lifelong non-believer in the occult, though her academic career is devoted to the historical and societal significance of witchcraft, ghosts, and medicinal poisons of all sorts. But her skepticism immediately gets tested when the tour stumbles on the body of local artist Delilah Mason - who's found murdered on the grounds of a nearly two-hundred-year-old mansion, once home to the infamous Perles family.

On the night Mason's body is found, Harper catches sight of something in the house that she can't shake, something that's impossible to explain, at least not rationally. Soon the murder investigation reveals that this is the second time a woman has been found murdered beneath a sprawling cypress tree in the gardens of the Perles Mansion. And when Harper's closest friend is questioned by the police, Harper fears the authorities will fail to uncover the real killer.

As Harper asks questions around town and digs deeper into the supernatural speculation and rumors surrounding the murders - two women killed in similar circumstances, separated by nearly two centuries  - she sees evidence she can't ignore that the notorious mansion truly is haunted by the ghost of Isabel Perles.

What will it cost Harper to rethink everything she's always believed to admit that the veil between the living and the dead might actually be crossed?"

Remember to always take head that advice of Sherlock Holmes...

We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The remaining members of a ghost hunting show return to the haunted manor that may have killed their friend in this "moody, character-driven" (School Library Journal, starred review) contemporary gothic debut perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting and Delicious Monsters.

Four teens went into the manor, three came out.

In July, Georgia Perry and Jules Park - secret girlfriends, covert art thieves, and cohosts of a popular YouTube ghost hunting show - step into a haunted house to steal a priceless painting. A few short hours later, there's a knife in Jules's chest and Georgia is waking up in a pool of blood with no painting and no memory of how she got there.

Now it's October, and Georgia is underwater. She hasn't been to class in weeks, and she's avoiding her old crew - and only friends - like the plague. But when the three remaining thieves get a call from the man who paid a hefty sum to keep them out of jail, demanding that they return to finish the job, Georgia has no choice but to return to her old life.

As the estranged friends scramble to steal the painting with no cover story and no leader, they quickly realize that something is very, very wrong, and it's not just the suffocating memory of Jules or the prying eyes of their viewers. Between the strange shadows that begin to trail them and the nightmares plaguing Georgia's sleep, only one thing is certain: something followed them home from De Lys manor, and it will do anything to keep them from going back."

Anyone else think the girl on the cover looks like Billie Eilish?

Indie Darling by Lauren Nossett
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brilliant, breakout novel from ITW THRILLER AWARD-WINNING author Lauren Nossett - a mystery set in Nashville, where a Dolly Parton-loving private detective is drawn into the disappearance of an enigmatic pop star.

Nashville is a city of two faces, where the glitter often masks the grit.

Kelly Williams, a Dolly Parton-loving, sports-car-driving private investigator in Nashville, helps women. Sisters in search of lost siblings. Wives determined to uncover affairs. Daughters haunted by men lingering outside their windows. Clients trust her because she listens, she believes them, and over the years she's honed a specialized skill set.

Her latest client is Sarah Owens, better known as Seraph, the magnetic and polarizing lead singer of the indie sensation The Garden Snakes. After a series of threats turns violent, she hires Kelly to identify her assailant. With feminist anthems, cryptic lyrical easter eggs, and an electrifying stage presence, Seraph has built a fiercely loyal following - and attracted a number of critics. At that level of fame, her attacker could be anyone.

Then, in the middle of a Nashville performance, Seraph is shot on stage. The ambulance carrying her disappears. As the city reels and conspiracy theories swirl, Kelly is pulled into a dangerous web of secrets involving Seraph's bandmates, her troubled past, and the high cost of stardom.

Propulsive and atmospheric, Indie Darling is both a page-turning mystery and a powerful meditation on art, obsession, and the perils of being a female artist in a celebrity-obsessed world."

Fame and the deadly cost of it have always intrigued me.

You've Reached Margo by Nancy Savage
Published by: Mont House Press
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 275 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ivy Miller talks people out of dying for a living.

This time it may cost her own life.

When Ivy answers a crisis line call from a frantic young woman named Margo, she has no idea it will change her life.

Hours after Margo tearfully announces her intention to end it all, she's found dead. The police call it suicide, but Ivy knows better. Margo didn't sound like she'd given up. She sounded scared.

Defying her employer, Ivy heads to Margo's hometown, Hickory's End, looking for answers. All she finds is silence.

No one wants to talk about Margo. In fact, no one wants to talk at all.

It soon becomes clear Margo uncovered something before her death. Something worth keeping her quiet for.

Now Ivy is in town asking the same questions.

And in Hickory's End, people who ask questions don't always make it out alive.

You've Reached Margo is a dark and unsettling psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Nicola Sanders and Natalie Barelli."

Get out before you get killed!

Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of 56 Days, a page-turning thriller about two women whose shattered lives come crashing together around a house whose secrets could bury them both.

If these walls could talk, they'd scream...

When Ellie moves to 1 Delaney Row, she hopes to find a fresh start - a place where no one knows her name, her history, or her secrets. But what she doesn't know is that her new home is already hiding someone else's secrets - and the people determined to keep them are watching her.

As Ellie starts to unravel the house's disturbing backstory, coming closer to the shocking mystery at its center, she unwittingly puts herself on a deadly collision course not just with her new home's history, but with her own as well.

A puzzle box of a thriller full of mind-boggling twists and turns, Buyer Beware is a chilling exploration of the dark secrets that any house can hold - and of the lengths we'll go to start over."

If the secrets in this house are so dangerous to certain people, why did they let someone else move in?

The Night Hunter by Natalie Moss
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a remote corner of the South African bush, two sisters reunite to bury a family secret once and for all, but when they're stranded among the wild animals, they find a predator far more dangerous waiting for them in the shadows....

When their conservationist mother passes, Danielle and her estranged sister Grace must return to their isolated family house nestled within a wild-game reserve. While Grace, their mother's favorite, clings to nostalgia, only Danielle carries the knowledge of her final request: "Find the storehouse...Burn everything inside."

To ease the pain of their homecoming - and the tension between them - each sister invites two friends on the two-day journey into the bush. What starts as a safari adventure, turns into a nightmare when one of them is murdered the first morning at the campsite. In the chaos that follows, they crash their vehicle, stranding them, with no way to call for help.

Now, with dwindling supplies and only one rifle, Danielle must lead them on foot across miles of merciless savannah. They have days of walking ahead…if they survive that long. As the group navigates land where every rustle could mean death, a truth emerges: someone is sabotaging their escape.

Breathtaking and tense, The Night Hunter maps the treacherous terrain of family duty and loyalty as the two sisters confront what they’ve spent years trying to forget."

I never thought to invite friends just so that they could be picked off first.... It's a valid plan.

Death at the Village Garden Party by Debbie Young
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: eBook, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bunting. Fairground rides. Music...Murder. What more could you want from a garden party?

Alice Carroll is happily settled in the Cotswold village of Little Pride, running her beloved Curiosity Shop and cautiously planning the next chapter with her partner, Robert. So when Robert buys the neighbouring Cold Bottom estate, Alice offers to help him win over its eccentric residents by reviving the village's once-loved summer garden party.

But between grumbling fairground workers, gloomy villagers and a downpour that would dampen anyone's bunting, the day doesn't quite go to plan.

Then a guest stumbles into the marquee - and he's dead before his body hits the ground.

Can Alice untangle old rivalries and strange secrets to find the killer? Or will Cold Bottom's fresh start end in another funeral."

A very Father Brown death. I love it!

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"November 1924. The glitzy and glamorous Endeavour sails from England to New York with 2,000 passengers - and a killer - on board.

When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the foot of a staircase, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare it a tragic accident. But James Temple, a strong-minded inspector, is certain there is more to this misfortune than meets the eye.

Birch agrees to investigate, and they form an uneasy partnership. Uncovering a web of surprising connections between the passengers aboard the Endeavor, running from the crew cabins below deck to the palatial suites of first class, their inquiries lead to the theft of a priceless painting. Its very existence is known only to its owner...and the dead man.

With just days remaining until they reach New York, the search for the culprit is fraught with danger.

And all the while, the passengers continue to roam the ship with a killer in their midst. One who is poised to strike again."

Obviously use the painting as bait!

Murder on Devil's Ridge by Irina Shapiro
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The girl lies on the ancient stone, her brown hair falling loosely onto the crude altar. Her narrow little arms are crossed just beneath the strange, angular dagger protruding from her chest.

Nurse Gemma Bell and her new husband, Inspector Sebastian Bell, are visiting his family in Suffolk when a neighbor discovers the brutal murder of a young girl, high on Devil's Ridge. Left alone to examine the body while Sebastian breaks the devastating news to the girl's father, Viscount Ravenel, Gemma finds disturbing wounds that suggest calculated ritual, not random violence. And before long, whispers from the village reach her of Pagan sacrifice and ancient blood offerings.

With no local police, the desperate viscount begs Sebastian and Gemma to investigate. And as the couple question the manor's servants and family, they uncover forbidden desires, bitter resentments, and desperate ambitions lurking behind respectable façades.

When another child vanishes from her bed, the investigation takes on terrible urgency. Racing against time to prevent another death, Gemma risks everything to uncover the truth. But in this close-knit, isolated community, could the killer's next target be the outsider nurse who knows too much?

A richly atmospheric Victorian mystery. The next thrilling read for fans of Andrea Penrose, Anna Lee Huber, and the Lady Sherlock mysteries."

Reminiscent of Tana French's In the Woods.

The Clockmaker's Murder by Emily Organ
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 278 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A murdered clockmaker. A stolen masterpiece. An observatory full of secrets.

London, 1889. When elderly clockmaker Horace Whitby is found bludgeoned to death in his workshop at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, suspicion falls on the woman who discovered his body - Charlotte Mellor, who makes her living selling the time, carrying her pocket watch from banks to shipping offices each day to keep London's clocks in step with Greenwich.

Convinced of Charlotte's innocence, Emma Langley and her friend Penny Green begin their own investigation. But Charlotte has not been entirely truthful with them - and the world of the Royal Observatory is far more secretive than it appears. Behind its gates lie bitter professional rivalries, a decades-old family feud, and whispers of a clock so valuable that powerful men have been scheming over it for years.

As Emma and Penny dig deeper, they attract dangerous attention. Someone has been watching them. And not everyone investigating Whitby's murder wants the truth to come out...

Emma Langley returns in this enthralling Victorian mystery - a tale of ambition, betrayal and murder in the shadow of the Royal Observatory."

Wait, could people really make a living selling the time? 

The Laudanum Ladies' Society by Elisabeth Hobbes
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 353 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a London that insists women remain quiet, dutiful, and dull, two unlikely conspirators discover a secret that awakens everything society tells them to suppress...

Jenny Rosewood - single, clever and nearly thirty, heaven forbid - has long disguised herself as a man to attend nighttime lectures and chase knowledge forbidden to her. But when an accidental alteration of her uncle's sleeping draught unleashes a dizzying rush of freedom, Jenny sees an opportunity.

Together with Gwen Walters, a pharmacist's wife hidden in her husband's shadow, they form a covert sisterhood where London's ladies gather to indulge in their secret tincture under the guise of afternoon tea.

Soon, society's most proper ladies are sipping their way toward inspiration, rebellion and risk.

Because once women taste freedom, no amount of decorum can force it back in the bottle."

They do know laudanum is bad right!?!

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the beloved, award-winning author of the modern classics Lost Children Archive and Tell Me How It Ends comes her most powerful and page-turning novel yet: the tale of a mother and a daughter starting over, searching for a new story.

This story begins when a mother and her daughter take off on a trip. It is a summer of rapidly changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They've landed in Sicily, near the ancient ruins where the mother's grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. The narrator's marriage has collapsed, her mother is losing her memory, and her daughter is on the threshold of adolescence, starting to ask difficult questions and form complex memories. How do you begin again? the narrator wonders, pondering her family line. How do you begin again if you got the beginning wrong?

While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives as a duo - cooking meals side by side, reading out loud to each other, playing chess, bickering and making up - her daughter takes the reins of the story, and their journey soon becomes a quest for origins, not just to the familial past across continents, languages, and generations, but also farther back, to a mythical and even geological past.

Beginning Middle End evolves into a road novel of exquisite tenderness, spanning four generations of women. In their travels through Sicily, mother and daughter cross paths with the island's migrants, storekeepers, and elders, and also its volcanoes, its winds, and its waters. Weaving myths, ancient philosophy, and natural history with fleeting moments of contemporary life, the unforgettable characters in this novel take us on a journey across time, and confront some of life's primary questions: How do stories shape our children's memories and imagination? How do we situate ourselves deeply in the world while accepting our transience in it? How are a family's memories made and what happens when they disappear?

Warm, funny, and poetic, this novel is an ode to imagination and possibility in dark times."

I think everyone feels that they got the beginning wrong. 

Fossil Feud by Maggie North
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The hunt for fossils - and love - is on in this steamy, STEMinist romance about two opposing paleontologists who join forces to prevent a fraudulent dinosaur discovery, but accidentally dig up feelings for each other along the way.

Renegade paleontologist Ripley Adams is this close to digging up a fossil treasure and vindication. She's spent the last three years in academic exile after her ex-boyfriend stole her work, betrayed her trust, and broke her heart in one fell swoop. If she can unearth a complete specimen of her newest discovery - a never-before-seen missing link between dinosaurs and birds - it will put her back on the map and finally restore her ruined reputation.

But when unfairly hot Oxford professor James Smithson crashes Ripley's dig site, she realizes she's not the only one searching for redemption in the Montana dirt. James is convinced a splashy new fossil is a fraud, and he needs Ripley's help to prove it. She'd tell the buttoned-up Brit where to stick his suspicions, but the fake fossil is eerily similar to hers...and the fraudster is her ex.

The race is on to reveal a T-rex-sized discovery. Polar opposites Ripley and James will have to find common ground if they're going to take down a hoax that could ruin them both. And as they dig deeper into their unlikely attraction, Ripley's excavation boots won't be the only things getting a little dirty...."

I mean, if the lead is dressed EXACTLY like Dr. Ellie Sattler on the cover, you know this book is a must read for me!

Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third installment of this witty Regency romcom series, a headstrong chaperone is torn between following her rigid principles or her heart.

Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm's way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.

From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice's School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn't pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too - as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?"

Or, take down the aristocracy from the inside?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.K. Caggiano, Chelsea Iversen, Elisabeth Hobbes, Elizabeth Lim, Emily Organ, Irina Shapiro, Juliet Blackwell, Lauren Nossett, Lynn Cahoon, Maggie North, Sarah Beth Durst, Tom Hindle, Valeria Luiselli, Virginia Heath