Monday, April 1, 2024

Tuesday Tomorrow

Secrets and Sacrifices by Cath Lauria
Published by: Aconyte
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Explore a new world of monsters and manners in this darkly captivating regency romance with an eldritch twist from renowned roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu.

When Cassandra Wright's father was accused of murder her whole life fell apart, leaving her with no prospects, no money, and a broken engagement. But Cassandra always suspected foul play. Five years later, she's determined to discover the truth.

With her childhood friend Thomas reluctantly acting as her new husband-to-be, Cassie must talk her way into the home of her former fiancé, who she's convinced knows more than he ever let on. Once inside she'll have to navigate the pitfalls of polite society while attempting to dig deep into her father's life.

There are dark, twisted secrets lurking in the shadows, and Cassie must unravel them before they can consume her."

I mean, as a HUGE fan of Regency Magic, I have to ask, why hasn't anyone mashed-up Lovecraft and Austen before!?!

Panya: The Mummy's Curse by Mike Mignola
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Thousands of years before Hellboy, the B.P.R.D., and Ragna Rok, there was Panya.

As a girl in ancient Egypt, she witnessed the fall of a dynasty and was gifted - or cursed - with abilities. As she ages, Panya aids those she passes as she journeys to seek out a mysterious light...

Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson join creative forces with artist Christopher Mitten and colorist Michelle Madsen to bring Panya's story to life.

Collects Panya: The Mummy's Curse #1-#4 and bonus material."

I mean, firstly, I love the world of Hellboy. Secondly, I love ancient Egypt. Combining them? Genius!

Empire of the Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson
Published by: Crimson Fox Publishing
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 476 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nice Victorian ladies don't run off to find legendary lost cities. One trifling little arrest shouldn't have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it's only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she's holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There's just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins - and avoid being violently disposed of - she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can't seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there's more than Ellie's scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren't just looters. They're after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson's smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy."

But but I LOVE Romancing the Stone and The Mummy and men who tear off their shirts at a moments notice like Captain East in Austenland

Draw Down the Moon by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestsellers P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast return with Draw Down the Moon, the first book in a new duology set in a dark and magickal world filled with incredible danger and irresistible romance.

A mystical school. A mysterious death. A magickal romance.

Wren Nightingale isn't supposed to have any elemental powers. Born of magickal parents but not under one of the four fated astrological full moons, she is destined for life as a Mundane - right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren's life is turned upside down, and she's suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna - a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.

Lee Young has always known about his future at the academy. He has three goals: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family's reputation. But he wasn't expecting to be attending alongside the girl he's been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.

As Wren and Lee are thrown into the academy's grueling trials, they quickly learn there's something different - and dangerous - about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies...and murder.

And Lee will have to decide what to protect: his family's legacy, or the girl he loves."

Everything about this book sounds awesome, but it's the title that gets me. I have always loved the concept of drawing down the moon.

Call Forth a Fox by Markelle Grabo
Published by: Page Street YA
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sapphic twist on the classic fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red, perfect for fans of Holly Black.

The western wood is where Ro's father built their garden, taught her to forage, and told her tales of the faeries who live there - how to summon them, how to protect herself, and warnings of what they are capable of. Now, her father is gone, the garden has withered, and their family is struggling. Her mother and sister want to move into town, but Ro doesn't want to give up the memories of her father and his stories - or the charming village girl who shares Ro's love of the trees. The forest isn't ready to let Ro go either.

One winter night, on her way home from foraging, Ro encounters a bear attacking a fox. She fights the bear to save the fox's life, only to see the bear turn into a boy after her sister shoots him with an arrow. When the boy wakes, he has no memory of who he is - all he knows is Ro's name and that he has to kill the fox.

Ro never believed in the faeries from her father's stories, but she can't deny the magic surrounding her and that both the boy and the fox are victims of a faerie curse. She'll have to remember everything her father taught her in order to extract herself from this deadly game and keep her precious fox out of harm's way."

Oh oh, who's the fox!?! Is it the village girl she loves?

The Proper Thing and Other Stories by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the end of the world to the beginning, with a nice charcuterie plate to sustain us on the way, it's time for another journey through the eccentric, eclectic short fiction of Seanan McGuire. From dangerous holidays to the beauty of the library, from the power of cheese to the power of love, this volume will take you from the past to the future, sometimes on the same page. Learn about the insecurities of the superheroic world, and how hard some people will work to survive the end of absolutely everything. Discover what everyone knows, and watch what happens when the cultural foundations are pulled from under your favorite cuisine. See what people will do when all else is lost, and watch what happens on the day the music dies. And when all that is through, visit our magical cheese shop for something truly delicious, impossible and unique. We have a little something for everyone in our box of delights. Don't be afraid - just reach in, and choose a treat to improve and enhance your day. We've been waiting for another trip to the store on the corner, where they sell Wensleydale and wishes side by side. Come along now, let's go."

Another stunning edition from Subterranean Press that also adds to Seanan McGuire's copious output. She has to support those cats somehow!

The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox
Published by: Graydon House
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars and the rise of the floriography craze in Europe, two sisters separated at birth are bound together by a secret language of flowers passed down to them by the mother they never knew. When Cornelia leaves her cruel uncle's home to join Napoleon's army as a traveling naturalist, her ability to heal any wound and bring soldiers back from the brink of death earns her praise - and exposes her to those who would exploit her powers for themselves.

Meanwhile, Lijsbeth lives in indentured servitude, her only respite her time spent flower arranging. When she meets a young English soldier and falls in love, Lisjbeth must decide whether to flee the clashing of two great armies at Waterloo or risk everything by staying. As the English and French armies collide in Waterloo, the sisters finally cross paths on opposite sides of the war.

With the sisters reunited on the battlefield, they must work together to solve the mystery of their mother's death, while surviving the war raging around them."

Flowers and the Napoleonic War! That's my jam.

The Orchids of Ashthorne Hall by Rebecca Anderson
Published by: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A ghostly estate. A handsome caretaker hiding a secret. And the intrepid Hyacinth Bell, who is set on solving the mystery of both.

1887, the Cornwall coast

For years, rumors have flown through the village of Suttonsbury about Ashthorne Hall - that its occupants hoard pirate treasure, that a ghost walks its halls - but botanist Hyacinth Bell cares only about the estate's extensive, one-of-a-kind orchid collection. As an independent woman, she is eager to focus on her career, even if it means waiting to pursue a romantic relationship. After all, love - like an orchid - must be nurtured and tended before it can bloom.

What she doesn't expect is to be swept away by Lucas Harding, the manor's caretaker, upon their first meeting. He is handsome and charming, and the connection between the two is nearly instantaneous. Hyacinth is certain this autumn will be the season that everything good in her life takes root.

But then strange things start happening in the seemingly empty halls of the estate: unexplainable noises, items appearing, then disappearing from her room, threatening messages, and glimpses of a woman in white who vanishes into the dark. Lucas dismisses Hyacinth's worries, insisting that there is no ghost at Ashthorne Hall, but Hyacinth suspects he is withholding information and decides to investigate the mystery herself.

Armed with little more than her instincts and her courage, Hyacinth must venture deep into the shadows of Ashthorne Hall to uncover the truth Lucas is keeping secret before she herself falls victim to the dangers hidden in the estate."

Please please say this goes all Wilkie Collins by way of Jane Eyre.

Something Kindred by Ciera Burch
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Magical realism meets Southern Gothic in this commanding young adult debut from Ciera Burch about true love, the meaning of home, and the choices that haunt us.

Welcome to Coldwater. Come for the ghosts, stay for the drama.

Jericka Walker had planned to spend the summer before senior year soaking up the sun with her best friend on the Jersey Shore. Instead she finds herself in Coldwater, Maryland, a small town with a dark and complicated past where her estranged grandmother lives - someone she knows only two things about: her name and the fact that she left Jericka's mother and uncle when they were children. But now Jericka's grandmother is dying, and her mother has dragged Jericka along to say goodbye.

As Jericka attempts to form a connection with a woman she's never known, and adjusts to life in a town where everything closes before dinner, she meets "ghost girl" Kat, a girl eager to leave Coldwater and more exciting than a person has any right to be. But Coldwater has a few unsettling secrets of its own. The more you try to leave, the stronger the town's hold. As Jericka feels the chilling pull of her family's past, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her mother, her childhood, and the lines between the living and the dead."

I mean, I'd choose a creepy town that doesn't want you to leave over the Jersey Shore any day.

Lark by Anthony McGowan
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 120 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Things are getting tense at home for Nicky and Kenny as they wait for a visit from their estranged mother. To escape, they go for a walk on the moors, taking their little Jack Russell terrier with them. But what should have been a laugh, a lark, turns deadly when the weather changes and they are caught in a blizzard. Nothing will ever be quite the same again..."

Blizzard on the moors!

The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 800 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young midwife travels west to the New Mexico Territory to care for women in need and faces dangers more harrowing than the ones she's fleeing in this epic tale of survival, redemption, and love from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series.

1857: In a bid to outrun her past, Carrie Ballentyne accepts a nursing position with a doctor in the New Mexico Territory. She knows the journey from New York to Santa Fe will not be easy, but she relishes the adventure. However, nothing could have prepared her for the wilderness she encounters. Its vastness and power are awe-inspiring, stunning in both beauty and brutality. To endure, she must learn to rely on her fellow travelers - and one enigmatic man in particular. As the small, tight-knit group tackles challenge after challenge, she feels her heart opening to this rugged land - and the people willing to risk so much for one another.

The trip west is only the beginning of Carrie's challenges, though. In Santa Fe, she compassionately helps women bring new life into the world, making her beloved among new mothers. Soon, however, she realizes that her employer and his wife are keeping secrets from her, and she must ferret out the truth to protect their young daughter. But to save the little girl she's come to cherish, Carrie will have to confront the demons in her own past - a feat that will take all of her bravery with the help of the man she's grown to love and depend on above all others.

With its vivid descriptions of the breathtaking western landscape and its irresistible characters, The Sweet Blue Distance is the unforgettable story of one woman's courage to heal herself, her family, and the women entrusted to her care."

When you need a good doorstop historical fiction you should always turn to Sara Donati, she never disappoints.

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
Published by: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Literary icon Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies shares an inventive and emotional novel about storytelling and her homeland of the Dominican Republic.

Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn't want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories - literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.

Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas, and the cemetery becomes a mysterious sanctuary for their true narratives. Filomena, a local woman hired as the groundskeeper, becomes a sympathetic listener as Alma's characters unspool their secret tales. Among them: Bienvenida, the abandoned second wife of dictator Rafael Trujillo, consigned to oblivion by history, and Manuel Cruz, a doctor who fought in the Dominican underground and escaped to the United States.

The characters defy their author: they talk back to her and talk to one another behind her back, rewriting and revising themselves. The Cemetery of Untold Stories asks: Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried? Finally, Alma finds the meaning she and her characters yearn for in the everlasting vitality of stories.

Readers of Isabel Allende's Violeta and Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead will devour Alvarez's extraordinary new novel about beauty and authenticity, and will be reminded that the stories of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end."

Jasper Fforde meets magical realism.

The Monstrous Misses Mai by Van Hoang
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 348 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A determined young woman in 1950s Los Angeles walks a darker city than she ever imagined in a spellbinding novel about the power to make dreams come true - whatever the sacrifice.

Los Angeles brims with opportunity in 1959 - though not for aspiring fashion designer Cordelia Mai Yin, the first-generation child of Vietnamese immigrants, who finds the city unkind to outsiders and as dispirited as her own family. When Cordi rents a cheap loft in an old apartment building, she quickly warms to kindred souls Tessa, Audrey, and Silly. They also want better things and have pasts they'd rather forget. That they all share the same middle name makes their friendship seem like destiny.

As supportive as they are of each other, it's a struggle just to eke out a living, let alone hope to see their wishes for success come true. Until an ever-present and uncannily charming acquaintance of the landlord's offers a solution to their problems. He promises to fulfill their every dream. All it takes is a little magic. And a small sacrifice.

As one surprisingly effective spell leads to another, their wishes get bigger. But so does the price they must pay. Amid the damaged seams of her life so far, Cordi must realize her own power in order to rip free, without losing everything she's worked so hard to achieve."

Never enter into any agreement that requires a sacrifice.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the multimillion-copy bestselling A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a gripping thriller following one teen's search for the truth about her mother's shocking disappearance - and even more shocking reappearance - during the filming of a true crime documentary.

Lights. Camera. Lies.

Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom's mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can't wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn't sure it's real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And - could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead...

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl's search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is."

Family can be murder.

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nothing brings neighbors together like someone else's secrets... At Shelley House, the walls have ears, and they're attached to a ragtag duo of busybodies ready to pry, snoop, and generally annoy their neighbors into solving a crime.

Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling has lived in Shelley House longer than any of the other residents, and if you take their word for it, she's as cantankerous as they come. But Dorothy has her reasons for spying. And none of them require justifying herself to Kat Bennett.

Twenty-five-year-old Kat has never known a place where she felt truly at home, and crumbling Shelley House is no different. Her neighbors find her prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat's plagued by a guilty secret from her past.

When their apartments face demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy agree on just one thing: they must save their historic building. But when someone plays dirty - and one of the residents is viciously taken down - Dorothy and Kat seek justice. The police close the investigation too soon, leaving it up to the unlikely amateur sleuths - with a playful Jack Russell terrier at their side - to restore peace in their community."

Batteries Not Included meets Only Murders in the Building.

Star Wars the High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment by George Mann
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 96 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hardcover illustrated collection of six Star Wars: The High Republic stories from the pages of Star Wars Insider written by New York Times bestselling author, George Mann. This volume includes an exclusive story only available in this collection.

A collection of six tales set during the galaxy far, far away featuring the Jedi Knights of the High Republic, including an exclusive story printed here for the first time! In addition to the stories, this collection also includes behind the scenes interviews and a guide to the second phase of The High Republic stories."

My man George bringing us some more High Republic adventures.

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