Tuesday Tomorrow
Death Card by Jasmine Smith
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A dark contemporary fantasy featuring witchcraft, tarot, death, and a bit of romance that's perfect for fans of Immortal Dark and Cinderella Is Dead.
On an ordinary Monday morning, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard receives the shock of her life. During a customer's tarot reading at her family's occult shop, she turns over the Death card and envisions the beautiful stranger stabbing her in the heart.
In order to determine why the girl, Joelle, wants to kill her, she'll have to keep her close. But the more time Mikaela spends with her soon-to-be murderer, the more irresistible she finds her.
As if imminent death isn't worrisome enough, witches are turning up with their magic stolen. And it's clear some very dark magic is at work. Mikaela, as the next Witch Queen of her coven, is tasked with figuring out who's behind the horrific acts - a mystery that will put her and her power to the test.
Death Card is a dark, pacy, and romantic fantasy about one witch's journey to find the strength to fight for herself, her future, and her beloved community."
Maybe avoid the person you saw killing you?
Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me by Isabel Crowley
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Hazel Lewis has a serious problem. The guy who hired her to conduct a seance before he died turned out to be a serial killer with a demonic contract, and the seance itself was a trap. Hazel escaped with her life, but not as she knew it: the bite of a demon is spreading through her body, letting the supernatural bleed into the world around her, and the now-dead serial killer is waiting to take over her body if she dies.
Hoping to contain the damage, Hazel moves to a small house in a remote location. She figures she'll stay on her own until she gets a handle on her new dark reality, but she soon finds out that she's not alone. There's the reporter demanding answers, the friendly neighbor with chemistry she doesn't need and problems he can't talk about...and the mysterious face she sees beyond her window, watching her every night with glowing red eyes.
Making her hunger.
Hazel knew a little bit about the world beyond the physical. Now she's learning how much she doesn't know, including who she can trust...and who she can become if she trusts herself enough to give in to the shadows stalking her dreams."
See, this is why I like reading about seances but not participating in them, so much can go wrong.
Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Delilah is dead. But her story is far from over. In this feminist supernatural suspense novel, she will find her peace - and give hell to the man who killed her.
Delilah's death was not swift or painless. A ghost at nineteen, business entirely unfinished, her last breath was angry. Someone killed her, but she doesn't know who.
Undead creatures stalk Delilah's spirit, eager to feed on her soul until nothing is left but a frightening poltergeist. She can't pass on until the violence of her death is balanced with a life for her life.
Her killer must be killed.
If anyone can find her murderer and keep the darkness at bay, it's Magda, the owner of the strip club where Delilah danced - and a powerful spirit medium. And when a young man comes to town seeking Magda's supernatural services, he can see Delilah. He can hear her, touch her, and make her feel alive again.
The three come together to search for Delilah's murderer. As the creatures close in, Delilah's soul weakens but her power as a poltergeist grows, allowing her to affect the living.
Delilah may be dead, but she won't waste this second chance - she'll take those who've harmed her down with her."
This is a week for mediums and I am loving it!
There Are Ghosts Here by Adrienne Tooley
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Willa has no memory of anything before arriving at Dorsey House, and when she meets two sinister girls who seem to already know her, she slowly begins to lose her grip on what is real...and what is a lie. A haunting contemporary speculative thriller for fans of Kill Creatures and We Were Liars.
Willa Childs doesn't know why she's at Dorsey House. The tragic accident that banished her to the mysterious reformatory perched at the edge of the sea is lost in the recesses of her murky memory. The Dorseys themselves offer no answers, and the only other wards, Caroline and Ivy, seem intent on keeping Willa in the dark - and on the outside of their obsessive friendship.
Yet as the days pass, it begins to feel like the sinister twosome knows Willa better than she knows herself. And as her memories gradually return to focus, the girls become even stranger, doing their best to convince Willa that she's been at Dorsey House before. Only, that's impossible.
Or is it? If they're telling the truth, Willa can no longer trust her own mind. The line between reality and nightmare begins to blur. Willa is certain Dorsey House is haunted, but by what? And if she can't remember leaving, how will she ever escape?"
Or, she's really being gaslit...
She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"These violent delights have violent ends.
After surviving a shadowed childhood marked by ghost stories and loss, Mallory Webb is ready to start fresh as a theater major at her mother's alma mater, a sanitarium turned liberal arts university in Rhode Island. Landing the lead role in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet feels like a dream - until the blood-soaked spirit she suspects caused her mother's death resurfaces after years of quiet. With nothing to go on but cryptic symbols in an old college notebook, Mallory hopes the reason behind her mother's haunting lies somewhere on campus, and resolves to find answers before she meets the same fate.
She's surprised to make an unexpected ally in Ezra Pierce, the magnetic fourth year directing the play, and takes solace in their undeniable chemistry. But Ezra is a master secret-keeper, and it's clear he knows more than he's letting on about Saskia Garin, Mallory's elusive understudy whose past eerily mirrors her own.
When an ancient, bloodthirsty evil calls to collect on a bargain that dates back to the New England vampire panic, Mallory, Ezra, and Saskia will have to untangle the tragic ways in which their histories are linked - and face the devastating consequences of their own star-crossed love story."
Anyone who isn't Westworld should stop using that Shakespeare quote.
Dreamland by Olivie Blake
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake comes a tantalizing story of power, seduction, and the omens you'll ignore when everything you've dreamed of feels just within reach.
The headlines are calling it the "summer of exsanguination" in LA - girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season.
More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part time at the family store, and contending with her mother's disdain for the acting career Anya knows she's destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.
It's in this suffocating late summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA's most influential film dynasties. Soon, she's spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood Hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family's heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.
There's a magnetism to Jude that Anya cannot resist, despite warning signs that scream like sirens in the night. Because the villa holds generations of bloodstained history, and an occult family curse may even live within its walls - or within Jude himself.
In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil. When Anya comes face to face with a devil of her own, she'll learn just how far she's willing to go to get everything she's ever wanted."
It's Hollywood, she'll sign on the dotted line.
Night Songs by Alli Dyer
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this haunting family saga, a young woman must delve into her country star mother's music to break a curse that has plagued the women in her family for generations - before her time runs out.
On the morning of Rhea's eighteenth birthday, she makes a shocking discovery - her mother was the famed singer of some of country music's most iconic tunes, the legendary Lulabelle "Belle" Powers, and she's just inherited her massive estate. Eager to know more about this woman she barely remembers, Rhea travels to Nashville to retrace her mother's footsteps. But as she gets to know Belle's closest friends and learns more of her story, she can't help but think something is being kept from her.
It isn't until years later that her mother's best friend Hess reveals the truth - her mother believed all the women in her family were cursed to die at thirty-three - Belle's exact age when she passed away in a mysterious plane crash. Hess dismisses the curse as pure superstition, but Rhea feels something sinister stalking her, her own life beginning to mirror her mother's as she gets closer to her thirty-third birthday. Desperate for answers, Rhea delves deeper into her mother's music, uncovering Belle's last unpublished album Night Songs, which leads her back to her roots in ways she never could have imagined.
Alternating between Rhea's journey and Lulabelle's untold rise to country queen, Night Songs is an electric story of inheritance and resilience, love and freedom, and the power of music to connect across generations."
If Hess was her mother's best friend perhaps telling Rhea about the curse before she's about to turn thirty-three would have been nice?
Devil by Sierra Simone
Published by: Bloom Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone comes an ALL-NEW standalone romance in the Priest universe.
Birdie Cooper has nothing left.
Just one moment of weakness seven years ago - and she lost her job, her church, her only friend. Now she's working nights at a gas station to scrape together a living and a way to care for her sister, completely alone and separated even from the art that gave her life meaning.
Ryan Bell has never forgotten his first obsession.
He's been trying to find the tremblingly shy lecturer from his senior year of college after she abruptly disappeared after their first and only kiss. So when he comes upon a statue of Lucifer carved in Ryan's own likeness, two things become starkly apparent.
One: he knows how to find her now. And two: he's been haunting Birdie Cooper's memory as much as she's been haunting his.
Ryan can't offer love - or even an apology - but he can offer her a bargain, one crafted first and foremost to free him from his punishing obsession with her. If Birdie agrees to be his in every way for a single year, then he'll pay for her sister's care for as long as she's alive. And what does Birdie have left to lose anyway? The forbidden fruit is her only chance at salvation.
Unfortunately for Birdie, she might just be the only chance for his..."
I'd take this deal...
A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"First the flood
Next the sickness
Last the change
Visionary Korean author Kim Bo-Young unleashes a Lovecraftian nightmare of infection, transformation, and abomination.
While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. TVs throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the eastern coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she'd rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother's care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life.
Three years later, Haewon Village is home to horrors. The earthquake unleashed an ancient plague that transforms its victims into fishy monsters, and the government's lockdown has cut off any hope for help. Mu-young's niece is dead, and all that's left for her is to hunt villagers who break isolation. When an officious bureaucrat from Seoul arrives in the village, he stirs up even deeper trouble. Will Mu-young survive? Does she even deserve to?"
Yeah, she shouldn't have got on that train...
Reliquary by Hannah Whitten
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A young woman is lured to her late fiancé's remote island estate - only to uncover eerie family secrets, a haunting past, and a monstrous hunger stirring beneath the sea in this deliciously atmospheric horror debut from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten.
When Claire's fiancé mysteriously dies of an unknown neurological illness, she's prepared to sink back into the lonely life she lived before. Orphaned by a freak boating accident in her childhood, she never expected to find connection like she did with Elias, anyway. Their relationship wasn't perfect - his coldness, his secrets, his strange aversion to the ocean - but what relationship is?
When Elias's family reaches out - his incredibly wealthy family, from whom he was estranged - and invites Claire to a three-day wake at Harrow Point, their family home on a private island, Claire is given the chance to find family again. To belong to something, just like she's always wanted. Just like Elias knew she was desperate to have.
Even if that family is a little strange. Even if their coastal home stirs up memories of the accident that killed her parents and sister. Even if Ash, Elias's older brother, seems insistent on Claire leaving as soon as possible.
As she dives deeper into the world of Harrow Point, she will uncover the nature of her own traumatic connection to the ocean. There is something swimming in the bowels of Harrow Point, and it is hungry..."
Final girl orphans, run from that island!
Stay Buried by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Children on the Hill comes a queer folk horror in which a woman must confront decades of secrecy and superstition to learn the truth about her mother's death.
Some towns stay isolated for a reason.
1919: Frankie O'Massey has always been the black sheep of isolated Boone's Ferry, Vermont. Her uncle, Dr. Thomas Endicott, has been training her in the science of medicine, something the townspeople are wary of. When a mysterious illness strikes the town, and the community suspects supernatural forces, the two desperately search for a logical explanation. Patient zero seems to be the town's knackerman - a recluse who collects dead and dying farm animals to make use of their parts.
2016: Siblings Ashley and Malcolm lost their mother two years ago. When their grandmother dies, they inherit a property in Boone's Ferry - a place they've heard of but their grandmother has always refused to talk about - and embark on a trip to their ancestral home. The idyllic town is full of autumnal décor, picturesque farmland, and small-town charm. But some of the townspeople aren't very welcoming - and they have some unsettling traditions, like leaving offerings to a vengeful spirit four times a year."
Widow's Bay meets The Wicker Man.
The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson
Published by: Hogarth
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this gripping debut, steeped in Welsh folklore, a husband and wife living in the beautiful but isolated mountains of Snowdonia stumble upon a buried Neolithic ruin - awakening a mysterious, ancient presence with its own dark designs.
Carwyn and his wife, Rhian, have lived a quiet life as sheep farmers in the remote Welsh mountains for decades, tending to ancestral land that has been in Carwyn's family for generations. But recent years have taken their toll: local friends lost one by one to old age or rising prices; the accumulation of debts; new English tourists, more every year, disrespecting the land - littering, camping on private property, needing to be rescued when they misjudge the elements.
When Carwyn finds a strange stone head in a disused corner of the farm, he realizes the artifact is just one piece of something much larger - something unfathomably old. Despite Rhian's protests, Carwyn becomes obsessed with unearthing the structure, and soon neglects the daily work of the farm to keep digging. Meanwhile, the sheep fall sick more easily than any season before, and a tragic accident on market day threatens to leave an increasingly isolated Rhian without a way to satisfy their ever-more-insistent creditors. Through it all, Carwyn becomes convinced that uncovering the site and determining its original purpose will be the key to solving everything. But there was a reason his ancestors kept the past buried, and in disturbing the earth, he has called forth a power greater and more terrible than he could have imagined.
Enthralling and atmospheric, Liam Higginson's The Hill in the Dark Grove expertly weaves together myth, psychological suspense, and supernatural horror, heralding a sparkling new literary talent."
I mean, when your ancestors don't leave guidelines, it's their fault as much as yours...
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a tale of love and betrayal set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.
They're called the Beautiful Ones.
Loisail's most notable socialites: the wealthy, powerful, beloved.
This spring is Nina's last chance to join their ranks, but the Grand Season has just begun and Nina's debut has already gone disastrously awry. Neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse - the haphazard manifestations of her powers making her the subject of malicious gossip.
So when entertainer and fellow telekinetic Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. He's traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. And he sees Nina not as a witch, but as something more. With Hector's help, Nina's talent blossoms, as does her love for him.
But great romances are just for fairytales. In the glittering, gossip-laden world of Loisail, where everyone conceals secrets, can their courtship survive?"
I have something to say, I hated the original cover of this book. Hated it. To have this amazing cover from Bramble just makes my day.
World's Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seems Demon by Olivia Dade
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An oracle who can see the future teams up with the far-too-hot demon from her past to avert catastrophe, in this steamy paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Zomromcom.
Gwen Wexloff might be able to see the future, but not when it matters. Her visions invariably involve piddling issues, which means - unlike most oracles - she's spent her life predicting for everyday humans instead of international power brokers. After a clutch of brain-slurping zombies escapes from their walled-off compound, though, Gwen experiences the first genuinely world-altering vision of her life...and now she needs help.
Unfortunately, that help comes from Hugh Blacke, the same starchy (but annoyingly cute) demon who watched her bomb her oracle verification test years ago. To Gwen's dismay, the two of them will need to work together to unravel the deadly conspiracy behind the zombie breach, despite their complicated past and the secrets they're keeping.
Even with her newfound power, she couldn't have foreseen how quickly they'd both want more than a simple partnership. But the clock is ticking - and with the fate of humanity at stake, Gwen and Hugh will have to decide how much they're willing to risk for an unexpected, passionate love...and a future together that might prove very short indeed."
Deal with the zombies first.
Twice Bitten by S.E. Babin
Published by: Second Sky
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 331 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"I was bitten by a vampire AND a werewolf. Now everyone wants a piece of me.
I never wanted to be a powerful witch. I'm happiest pulling espresso shots at the Three Beans café and keeping my magic secret.
But trouble is brewing...
When a turf war between vampires and shifters erupts outside the café, I get caught between the irresistibly charming Vampire Prime and the ruggedly handsome Shifter King. As these two apex predators blindly tear into each other, I am bitten, clawed, and left for dead.
My magic flares just in time to save my life, but there are...side effects. Suddenly, I find myself staring at customers' necks. And feeling suspiciously twitchy before the full moon.
It's impossible but...am I transforming into a vampire and a werewolf?
The Vampire Prime finds me immediately. Captivated by my scent, he tempts me with danger and luxury. The Shifter King is equally obsessed, and determined to claim me for his pack.
I am caught between them once more - but this time it's me that they're fighting over. And since my new blood brings strange new powers, it won't be long before I'm the most wanted prey in town...
Perfect for fans of Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris, the Fangs and Fur series is a thrilling urban fantasy adventure with a love triangle romance to die for."
An urban fantasy with humdinger of a twist.
In What World by Bridget Morrissey
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Two high school rivals begrudgingly reunite as adults to investigate the disappearance of their beloved former teacher, only to wind up traveling through a series of alternate realities together.
Total opposites, Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla Covington-French hated each other in high school. Now in their thirties, Marlowe is barely scraping by while Priscilla is wildly successful. Their rivalry should be long dead, yet both women remain connected through their mutual mentor, drama teacher Dallas Winthrop. Their unending tension has nothing to do with the fact that they've kissed. More than once.
When Dallas goes missing, each woman believes she can figure out where he is. Except this is no ordinary disappearance. Dallas has found a way to explore alternate versions of reality. While trying to follow him, Marlowe and Priscilla find other versions of themselves instead, surprised to learn not all Marlowes and Priscillas are fueled by hate. In fact, some Marlowes and Priscillas have very different strong feelings for one another...
The more Marlowe and Priscilla are forced to rely on each other, the harder it becomes to ignore their simmering attraction. But with every alternate reality they search, they only get further from their real life and responsibilities. Do they play it safe and hide behind their rivalry, or take a chance on each other that could permanently change the world as they know it?"
Or are they being manipulated by seeing all these other options their lives could have taken?
A Witch in Notting Hill by Alexandra Paige
Published by: Avon a
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, this cozy and whimsical romance follows an accident-prone witch and a hot grumpy occult bookstore owner who doesn't believe in magic as they travel across London to undo a spell gone awry.
When rising Hollywood actress and secret witch Willow James accidentally turns her manager into a cat while trying to escape her contract, she's sure she's hit her magical low point. Determined to fix her mistake, she journeys to London in search of a rare spell hidden within the famed occult bookstore, Coven and Codex. The last thing she expects? The shop's brooding, handsome owner, Oliver Hadley, who'd rather avoid magic altogether.
Together - with a ragtag group of friends (both human and feline) - Willow and Oliver must scour every corner of the city, from museums to festivals to bustling street markets, to find the missing pieces of the spell. Along the way, Willow's unpredictable magic and Oliver's skeptical heart will face the one thing they can't escape...love.
Filled with enchanting adventures, sparkling romance, and a dash of mischief, A Witch in Notting Hill is a sweet and spirited tale of discovering magic where you least expect it."
Personally I'd keep the manager as a cat...
You'll Be the Death of Me by Holly Michelle
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Cole is spending the rest of his eternity as an overworked Afterlife Clerk, processing souls for the Afterlife Administration. But when he accidentally claims the soul of the wrong Verdella Rodgers, Cole and Verdella must race to fix his cosmic blunder - and try not to catch feelings along the way. A swoony and whimsical romp, You'll Be the Death of Me is a romance to die for.
Verdella "Dell" Rodgers is at the top of her game. As the chef de cuisine at San Francisco's hottest new restaurant and on the cusp of marrying the mayor's son in the social event of the season, her life is perfect. That is until the week before her wedding when she wakes up and finds herself very much dead.
Enter Cole, a charming but bumbling entry-level clerk in the Afterlife Administration who accidentally confuses Dell for a 95-year-old woman in Kansas with the same name, claiming the wrong soul. When Cole tries to fix his mistake, their worlds collide in life-and death-changing ways.
Now walking the city as a ghost only visible to Cole, Dell is frantic to get back to her perfect life but soon learns that it wasn't what it appeared to be, particularly when it came to the man she was about to marry and his high-profile family.
Meanwhile, Cole has no memory of who he was before working for the Afterlife Administration. As they try to uncover Cole's past and remedy Dell's future, they realize the mistake that brought them together might just be a twist of fate. With time running out to bring Dell back to the land of the living, she'll have to decide if the life she left behind is truly what she wants, or if Cole's untimely appearance could lead to an unexpected change that she didn't know she needed."
A change as in, staying dead!?!
The Magic We Made by Meg Cabot
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"She doesn't believe in magic. He is magic. But when they meet, a spark is lit, and neither will ever be the same - in this charming new stand-alone in the Witches of West Harbor series from New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot.
Frankie
A trained therapist, Francesca Giovanni knows there's a scientific explanation for everything. Unfortunately, she lives in West Harbor, CT, a town that's recently exploded in popularity thanks to "witch tourism." Suddenly, witches are everywhere, offering locals their psychic services. Frankie's fine with this...until aspiring teenage witches begin to disappear, and strange things start happening in the lake house next door. Frankie suspects not all newcomers to West Harbor have the good of the community in mind - especially not her new neighbor, Ash Merit.
Ash
Ash Merit finds lost things - and people - for a living. All he wants is to help his clients, and maybe get to know the stunningly beautiful (and newly single) Dr. Frankie Giovanni a little better. But thanks to some troublesome young witches - not to mention his often faulty psychic "superpower" - everything goes wrong. If only Frankie wasn't so distractingly attractive...and so unwilling to admit there might not be a logical reason for everything, including the flames that ignite whenever the two of them kiss. Ash hopes to change that, but first he and Frankie have to find the missing girls, as well as the truth about what's happening in West Harbor…a truth that could change everything they thought they knew about themselves - and the magic of love."
People unwilling to believe in magic when the proof is right in front of them exasperate me.
A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O'Neal
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 543 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An epic, emotionally charged novel about love, art, and survival spanning 1900s colonial India to Blitz-era London by the USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids.
In the shadow of the London Blitz, artist Elsie Turner clings fiercely to her canvases, refusing to let war dim the colors that define her. The bombs test her nerve, but the struggle also stirs memories of her golden youth in India and of the long-lost love of her life.
The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie crosses cultural divides to forge an unlikely bond with Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes, dreams, and far-reaching ideas. What begins as shared sketchbooks and stargazing becomes first love and a secret correspondence. When Elsie's father is summoned to England, Elsie is severed from the world she knows - and is determined to preserve it through both her art and a connection with Tanveer that endures through the most tumultuous years of their lives.
Across four decades and two continents, Elsie navigates a journey from lush colonial India to war-torn London, amid landscapes of beauty, protest, and peril. As past and present collide, the most impossible choices and sacrifices are yet to be made in the name of love, war, and survival."
A more artistically bend to The Jewel in the Crown.
A Betrothed's Betrayal by Deb Marlowe
Published by: Deb Marlowe
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A Regency-set Cozy Mystery featuring a charming Cotswold village, an intrepid heroine, a cast of quirky characters, a handsome but reserved carpenter, an attractive but suspicious constable, and a baby goat or two.
Lady Lisette Birtwhistle is feeling bereft and very much alone after ending her betrothal, then losing her brother, the Duke of Winbury, to an unexpected illness.
The duke knew his sister well, however, and has inexplicably left her the leases on nearly the entirety of Lockstone Hollow, a village near one of the ducal estates. Perplexed, but hopeful, Lisette travels to the small Cotswold village.
Her spirits lift a little when she finds a sleepy little spot in need of someone with her abilities in managing, organizing, and décor, but she is shocked to her core when a body is discovered in the village soon after her arrival - and it is her former fiancé.
With the help of some new friends, a cast of colorful local characters, a handsome but reserved carpenter, an attractive but suspicious constable, and a baby goat or two, Lisette must uncover secrets and expose lies in order to find the killer and clear her own name."
SO HERE for the baby goats!
Murder in Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashley
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In Victorian London, valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must help the man she loves solve the murder that will finally uncover his mysterious past, from the New York Times bestselling author of A Silence in Belgrave Square.
Kat Holloway's beau, Daniel McAdam, has always had a past shrouded in mystery. He knows nothing about his origins, only that he was rescued from the streets many years ago. So when someone claiming to know where Daniel came from turns up dead moments before meeting with him, Daniel goes on the hunt for the killer. It soon becomes clear that to see justice served, Daniel will have to figure out who he truly is. When he asks Kat for her assistance, she readily complies, knowing she'll do whatever she must to protect the man she's come to love.
The quest takes Kat and Daniel deep into the East End, where they face dangerous foes from Daniel's rugged past who will stop at nothing to keep Kat and Daniel from uncovering their secrets. As Kat begins to learn things about Daniel's history, she fears that the darkest secret - his true name and lineage - will tear apart the tender bonds they've begun to form."
Either you trust that your bonds are strong enough or you don't help him!
A Killer Plot by E.C. Nevin
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In the follow-up to A Novel Murder, mystery author Jane Hepburn is back and determined to keep her sleuthing skills in the pages of her novels. That is, until she's invited to a prestigious literary party in London - where the gathering of glamorous attendees may be hiding a killer.
Jane Hepburn has almost made it. After solving the murder of her literary agent at last season's crime-book festival, Jane receives a burst of internet fame that lands her an invite to a splashy book launch in London. Visiting beloved bookstores along the winding alleyway of Cecil Court, and brushing shoulders with famous writers and the editors and agents who made them stars, Jane is looking forward to a fun, murder-free weekend and a distraction from her own writer's block. The party might not be for her novel, but still, Jane's happy to celebrate her far more successful friend with free wine and plenty of books.
However, things take a turn for the worse when the hotshot editor is nowhere to be seen. And they really go south after Jane discovers a body in the bookshop cellar.
To ensure that another event isn't overshadowed by an unsolved murder, Jane and her two friends - debut novelist and star of the party Natasha Martez and clumsy publicity assistant Daniel Thurston - must put their sleuthing skills to the test. But nothing is as it seems at a party full of attendees with secrets they'd do anything to keep."
If Midsomer Murders has taught me anything, it's that authors are all prime suspects.
Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When Dr. Emilia McRoy stumbles upon a dead body in a haunted house, she resolves to find the killer before another body can fall.
Halloween isn't the only cause for fright in the fifth Scottish Isle mystery, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and Connie Berry.
It's the week of Halloween - or as they say in Scotland, All Hallows' Eve - and the town of Sea Isle is full of spooky celebrations. Dr. Emilia McRoy loves being part of her new community and is eager to help out in any way she can. But the festivities are interrupted when she and her assistant, Abigail, find a dead body in a haunted house. A real one. They're too late to save the victim, but they'll do whatever it takes to find his killer.
There's just one problem: There are too many suspects.
Constable Ewan would prefer the good doctor and her friends stay out of the investigations, but that isn't how Dr. Em rolls. As she and her gang investigate, they realize the killer is searching for something - and has no problem murdering anyone who gets in the way of finding it.
Dr. Em must stay one step ahead if she's to survive this Halloween season alive - either that or she might just end up the next victim."
The title didn't need that outline. It's tacky.
Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Following her powerful debut in The Witch's Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.
There isn't much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn't seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she's ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she's about to enter unknown territory.
Katie May has been estranged from her father - one of Appalachia's last infamous snake handling preachers - for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he's been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie's doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.
As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client - and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie's investigation to stop - by any means necessary."
The worst thing about investigating a murder by snake is that the killer might send the snake after you.
Don't Cross Mo Ellery by Birdie Horne
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A laugh-out-loud mystery following the indomitable hot mess Mo Ellery, whose job as a school crossing guard pulls her into an unhinged murder investigation.
Mo Ellery's 29th birthday is a disaster. After one small accident - the exposure of her boyfriend's genitals (well, maybe not that small) on a work video call - she manages to get fired, dumped, and kicked out of their overpriced Chicago apartment. Luckily, a sign appears to guide Mo to her new life: "Looking for flexible part-time work? Become a school crossing guard!" It's everything Mo has been looking for: health insurance. How hard can it be?
A few weeks later, Mo is adjusting to her new low-paying job, her bisexual reawakening, and her new neighborhood's wacky characters. There's Claudia, an old woman who refuses to let Mo help her cross the street, and Marlowe, a tween cell phone prodigy whose antics terrify her. But Mo's greatest nemesis is Poodle Dude, a guy with an SUV full of poodles who speeds through her intersection each morning...until the day he speeds into a sinkhole. Mo tries and fails to shield innocent eyes from his bloody corpse, but succeeds in accidentally becoming the guardian to his three poodles.
And that's not the worst of it: some of the locals are convinced that Poodle Dude was murdered. Their allegations are obviously ridiculous, but Mo, desperate for distractions - and for several hot neighbor-suspects - reluctantly agrees to help. But Mo the detective is just as chaotic as Mo the underemployed adult, and the three entitled poodles are not helping. When a second local dies under mysterious circumstances, it's going to take all of Mo's broadly applicable and transferrable skills to find the killer.
Murderers beware...DON'T CROSS MO ELLERY!"
Wait, crossing guards get health insurance!?! Looks like a Illinois thing.
Bridget and Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The sequel to the unforgettable New York Times bestseller Gwen and Art Are Not In Love that invites readers on a quest chock full of wit, undeniable yearning, and second chances.
They fell in love. They fought a great battle. And they won. Now, Camelot's famous couples have fallen apart.
Newly crowned King Gabriel is having panic attacks in cupboards in-between council meetings. He can't tell Arthur just how not okay he is - so he's set him free, to find love with someone who can get through the day without breaking down.
Bridget has lost her spark for sparring, forfeiting again and again in the lists. When she's invited to join Gabriel's round table, she hopes it'll be the change she needs. But trying to navigate the post-happily-ever-after reality of a relationship with Gwen, when Bridget no longer feels like the dashing knight Gwen fell in love with, feels impossible.
With the kingdom still reeling from an attempted uprising, and rumored sightings of the holy grail, the questing beast, and the green knight happening across the country, the gang depart on a PR tour destined for disaster. Can Gabriel be the king his country deserves? Can Bridget get her jousting groove back? And will they find their way back to the courtly love that once seemed fated?
In the much anticipated follow-up to Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, Gabriel and Bridget set out on a daring quest to put love back on the table."
Because happily ever after isn't the end...
For the Love of the Quest by Alexandra Ammon Parthun
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The search for King Arthur's Excalibur invites danger - and potentially love - in this sapphic historical romance, perfect for fans of Cat Sebastian and Freya Marske.
Lady Edith Darling is supposed to live a quiet life in her family's manor. She is not supposed to go unchaperoned on a quest to find Excalibur. But Edith won't let that stand in her way, especially not when she's on this mission to honor her beloved grandmother's dying wish. Determined to prove her grandmother right, Edith packs her satchel with Arthurian legends, pastries, and her grandmother's ashes and runs off to hire a mercenary.
Thomasin Shaw leads the most feared gang in London. For years, she had the constabulary safely in her pocket, until a scandal involving the chief inspector's wife was brought to light. Now he's demanding an enormous sum of money - without which Thomasin will lose the protection of the police along with her criminal empire. But when the rich Lady Edith waltzes into her life seeking an escort for a treasure hunt, Thomasin sees a willing kidnapping victim and a massive ransom.
As Edith's clues lead them to underground chambers booby-trapped with arrows, doors locked with arcane puzzles, and even Arthur's fabled round table, Thomasin finds herself swept up in the quest - and in Edith herself. Edith is also drawn to Thomasin, despite the ruthless mask she wears. But the chief inspector won't let Thomasin forget her crimes, and Edith's father is intent on bringing her home. Every legendary quest has an ending, but finding Excalibur might not be enough to make this a happy one."
There HAS to be a secret society keeping all these Indiana Jones level puzzles in action.
The Wandering Inn by pirateaba
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 640 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Enter the Innverse: the massive epic fantasy world created by pirateaba that has become a LitRPG sensation, now for the first time in a physical edition!
"No killing Goblins."
So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.
It's a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn't belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.
In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn. She's an [Innkeeper].
Thus starts the first volume of The Wandering Inn, an epic fantasy series filled with heart and fear, magic, dragons, and monsters, adventurers and chess players…and humans pulled from the real world into a wondrous and deadly land where the game is to survive and these new pieces could decide who's the winner."
Your new LitRPG obsession.
All the Queen's Curses by Alyssa Hollingsworth
Published by: Page Street YA
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Kit may be a princess, but her life is no fairy tale.
Chronically ill and abused by her new stepfather, Princess Kit finds solace in her kind stepsister Catharine. Yet the sisters may not be together for long - Catharine is intended to be wed to a prince of the Northern Isles.
Kit's mother, the queen, strikes a bargain with the fae to free her daughter from the king's abuse and give Kit a happier ending; the fae swaps Kit's ailing body for Catharine's before Catharine can depart. Horrified, Kit and Catharine abandon their home and travel north to find the fae who cursed them.
Kit and Catharine soon discover the prince is under his own fae curse. He offers to help the princesses. But Kit finds herself unsure she wants to switch back if it means she can't be with the prince - and worse, must return to her own suffering body..."
When dealing with the fae there are always moral dilemmas.
These Vile Hearts by Melody Robinette
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A delightfully wicked, fizzy debut romantasy - an enemies to lovers tale about a desperate mortal woman and a cursed fae prince.
Maddox Sinclair has run out of options. No job means no health insurance - a death sentence for a type one diabetic like herself. She flees to the forest to make a desperate deal with a dryad queen: kill the Redwood King and be cured of the illness that threatens her life.
In the redwood treetops, Prince Castor, is cursed - anyone who loves him is doomed to die. Like Maddox, he has made an equally unwise pact with his brother, the Redwood King: get a mortal to fall in love with him by solstice and be free of his curse forever.
When Maddox mistakes Castor for the king, sparks fly and troubles ensue. Each must decide what is more important - survival and freedom, or the love they (kind of, almost) feel in their traitorous, vile hearts.
Darkly funny and brimming with magic, These Vile Hearts by Melody Robinette manages to be both wicked and warm, beguiling and moving - a richly woven story of survival and fate."
I love that we have this fairy tale world yet it has the serious real life concern of diabetes.
Season of the Serpent by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa returns in the final installment of the Nameless Republic trilogy with a tale of villains, allies, and a world on the brink of destruction, perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Evan Winter, and James Islington.
The old world has fallen. Now is the time of serpents.
The continent is split. The islands have sunk. The empire of Bassa is no more. With the resistant Nameless Republic and the conquering Kangalaland on the brink of war, all must choose a side: ally, or fall. Oon's heroes and villains must rise from their ashes and meet a Third Great War.
Peace won't come easy. Long-lost family will fight to reach Danso before war erases him forever. Lilong has survived the island catastrophe but lost her power, and will do anything to get it back. And fate will find Esheme where it left her - will the dead queen rise again?
For Oon, the first season of the five states is a season of serpents. After the storms pass and winds blow, what will remain? And who will survive?"
Another epic cover by Dan Dos Santos!
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