strange and random happenstance

The Brothers Hawthrone by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling, TikTok sensation Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson's half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem - efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.

Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can't resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London's most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.

Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson - with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather's fortune - must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win."

I think perhaps I should spend my birthday staycation just reading this series...

Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris
Published by: Entangled: Teen
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries in this fun and clever dark academia series...

High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching-band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world inside out - now, my life sucks. But it isn't all bad. I'm at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make serious weapons out of thin air.

Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I'm doing great.

Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince...and I'm not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He's intelligent and reasonable - and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.

He's also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that's at stake anymore.

It's the whole damn world."

Yeah, it's not Buffy, do I care, no. Yeah slayers and dark academia!

My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it's a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she's desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch - only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn't look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they're both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren't there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie's sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her."

I am in love with this cover, I mean, this is like the romcom of my dreams when I was younger.

Bite Risk by S.J. Wills
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Last Kids on Earth gets a lupine twist by way of Margaret Peterson Haddix in this eerie middle grade adventure set in a small town where all the adults are werewolves but the kids begin to suspect something else sinister is putting them at even greater risk.

When everyone's a werewolf, it's hard to spot the monster...

Thirteen-year-old Sel lives in the remote, isolated town of Tremorglade, where nothing interesting ever seems to happen. Well, unless you count the one night a month when the full moon rises and kids like him must lock up their parents while they transform into werewolves (though Tremorgladers prefer to call them Rippers). But that's the whole world's new normal since the Disruption changed everything well before Sel was born.

But when strange things begin happening in Tremorglade, like drones emitting sickening sounds and people behaving oddly, Sel and his friends begin asking questions about what's really going on in their small town. And suspiciously soon after they do, Rippers begin escaping on confinement nights, people start disappearing, and the kids suspect they're being followed.

Maybe there's a reason no one ever seems to leave Tremorglade...and it's up to Sel and his friends to figure out the truth someone doesn't want them to know before another full moon puts them all at a bite risk."

I mean, who doesn't want to read about teens in danger of their werewolf parents on a remote island? Because if you don't I don't think we can be friends. 

The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Duels, magic, and plenty of ghosts await in The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, the third book of T. L. Huchu's USA Today bestselling Edinburgh Nights series.

Everyone's favorite fifteen-year-old ghostalker, Ropa, arrives at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers' biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery - a locked room mystery, if an entire creepy haunted castle on lockdown counts. One of the magical attendees has stolen a valuable magical scroll.

Caught between Qozmos, the high wizard of Ethiopian magic; the larger-than-life Lord Sashvindu Samarasinghe; England's Sorcerer Royal; and Scotland's own Edmund MacLeod, it's up to Ropa (and Jomo and Priya) to sort through the dangerous secret politics and alliances to figure out what really happened. But she has a special tool - the many ghosts tied to the ancient, powerful castle."

What is it about books with an English Sorcerer Royal that always make me excited?

The German Baking Book by Jürgen Krauss
Published by: Weldon Owen
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Jürgen Krauss, called "possibly the best-loved contestant in Great British Baking Show history," comes a celebration of German home baking. Make classic German pastries, from apple strudel and stolen to show stopping celebration desserts such as Black Forest cake and "Blushing Maid." It's sehr gut!

The German Baking Book is a celebration of German home baking from Jurgen Krauss, who won the hearts of viewers and three Star Baker honors from the judges of The Great British Baking Show. A self-taught baker, Jürgen has drawn on the flavors, techniques, and memories from his childhood, his European travels, and his wife's Jewish heritage, to create a collection of authentic German baking recipes from his home to yours.

Jürgen's gentle charm can be felt with each delightful recipe. From German classics such as Black Forest gateau, and coffee cake, to festive bakes including lebkuchen and gingerbread, each of Jürgen's delicious recipes are crafted with care and simplicity.

The German Baking Book is a must-have for fans of The Great British Baking Show and home bakers with a love for classic and festive German baking.

British Baking Show Fan Favorite: Author Jürgen Krauss won the hearts of fans and three Star Baker honors from the judges on The Great British Baking Show.

Authentic German Recipes: Expand your culinary skills and fill the air of your home with the scent of fresh baked strudels, cookies, and authentic German breads.

Bake Like a Pro: The skills and recipes that helped Jürgen Krauss conquer the challenges of The Great British Baking Show deliver delicious results every time.

Treats for Every Occasion: From simple coffee cakes to elaborate holiday showstoppers to hearty breads, create authentic German sweets, breads and snacks that make every gathering delicious.

Full-Color Photography: The German Baking Book features gorgeous full-color photography to help inspire and ensure success.

Perfect Gift for The Great British Baking Show Fans: Fans of The Great British Baking Show will love Jürgen's charming recipes"

I love Jürgen. I wish everyone could win the show!

The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"Murder is no occupation for a lady...or is it?

1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible Duke (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right.

But the world isn't ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she's a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library.

Until her estranged Uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency, and laboratory, in his will.

Clara couldn't become a detective, could she?

The decision is made for her when one of her uncle's old clients comes to her for help with a case surrounding the local picture house and invites Clara to see the latest show, before they discuss the details.

But during the film, a fire suddenly engulfs the picture house, with tragic consequences.

It seems at first an accident, but Clara soon begins to question if it was in fact a carefully orchestrated murder.

She's suddenly in the middle of a deadly mystery and will discover her scientific skills make her a sleuth to be reckoned with...Can she catch the killer before they strike again?

The first in a brand-new, glittering Golden Age cozy mystery series. Fans of Verity Bright, Helena Dixon and T.E. Kinsey will be hooked from the very first page to the final breathtaking finale."

If Flavia De Luce was a flapper.

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo...in this evocative, twisting new novel from the author of Miss Aldridge Regrets.

Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she'd be there with her father. But now he's dead, and she's newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman - the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England - offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining.

Will's friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she's falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back. Especially when she is drawn to the brightest stage in town."

A wonderfully atmospheric mystery.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fiona Veitch Smith, GBBO, Jenna Levine, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jürgen Krauss, Louise Hare, S.J. Wills, Sharina Harris, Slayer, T.L. Huchu, The Inheritance Games, Vampires, Werewolves

The Albion Initiative by George Mann
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"George Mann's Newbury and Hobbes steampunk series concludes as our special agent heroes discover a plot of empire-changing proportions in The Albion Initiative..."

But as George said recently on my blog, it's not REALLY the end! Because I couldn't handle that.

The Icarus Plot by Timothy Zahn
Published by: Baen
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New science fiction series from the creator of The Cobra Series and Star Wars' Admiral Thrawn. 

There wasn’t much money to be made as a Trailblazer, searching out new worlds for possible development. Still, it was safer than the bounty hunter career that had cost Gregory Roarke his left arm six years ago. And thanks to his Kadolian partner Selene’s ultrasensitive sense of smell, they occasionally discovered a medically promising seed or spore they could sell under the table. It was a quiet life, uneventful and mostly legal.

Until Roarke was approached by two men with a proposal: track down a mysterious woman named Tera and, through her, locate a secret project called Icarus.

The challenge was intriguing. The unlimited budget was tempting. But Roarke had a more personal reason to accept the job.

The chance for long-delayed payback."

Timothy Zahn made me the reader I am today, so I definitely read everything he writes!

Augusta Hawke by G. M. Malliet
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sometimes it's safer not to know your neighbors' secrets.

Where are Niko and Zora Norman? Crime writer Augusta Hawke puts her sleuthing skills to the test to solve the mystery of her disappearing neighbors in the first entry in a new series.

While Augusta Hawke is a successful author of eighteen crime novels, since her husband's death she's been living vicariously through her Jules Maigret-like detective Claude and his assistant Caroline. Then a handsome police detective appears investigating a real-life mystery.

Where are her neighbors, the Normans? No one has a clue what's happened - except Augusta. Although she isn't nosy, spending all day staring out the windows for inspiration means she does notice things. Like the Normans arguing. And that they've been missing a week.

Once the Normans' car is found abandoned, Augusta senses material for a bestseller and calls on the investigatory skills she's developed as a crime writer. But she soon uncovers long-hidden secrets and finds herself facing real-life dangers her characters never faced...ones she can't write her way out of."

Shades of Jessica Fletcher eat your heart out!

Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling thriller writer Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-first novel of suspense featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, after receiving a box containing a human eyeball, uncovers a series of gruesome killings eerily reenacting the most shocking of her prior cases.

Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night, they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.

GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.

There seems to be no pattern to the subsequent killings uncovered, except that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze. Who or what is targeting her, and why?

Helping Tempe search for answers is detective Erskine "Skinny" Slidell, retired but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit - and still displaying his gallows humor. Also pulled into the mystery: Andrew Ryan, Tempe's Montreal-based beau, now working as a private detective.

Could this elaborately staged skein of mayhem be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for what is going on…and then her daughter disappears.

At its core, Cold, Cold Bones is a novel of revenge - one in which revisiting the past may prove the only way to unravel the present."

Because who doesn't want more Bones?

The Ruins by Phoebe Wynne
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Phoebe Wynne's The Ruins is a suspenseful, femimist Gothic coming-of-age tale with shades of Patricia Highsmith and Atonement, pitched against the sun-soaked backdrop of the French Riviera.

The most dazzling summer casts the darkest shadows.

Welcome to the Chateau des Sètes, a jewel of the Cote d'Azur, where long summer days bring ease, glamour, and decadence to the holidaymakers who can afford it.

Ruby Ashby adores her parents' house in France, but this August, everything feels different. Unexpected guests have descended upon the chateau - friends of her parents, and their daughters - and they are keen to enjoy the hot, extravagant summer holiday to its fullest potential. Far from England, safe in their wealth and privilege, the adults revel in bad behavior without consequence, while the girls are treated as playthings or abandoned to their own devices. But despite languid days spent poolside and long nights spent drinking, a simmering tension is growing between the families, and the sanctuary that Ruby cherishes soon starts to feel like a gilded cage.

Over two decades later the chateau is for sale, its days of splendor and luxury long gone, leaving behind a terrible history and an ugly legacy. A young widow has returned to France, wanting to purchase the chateau, despite her shocking memories of what transpired that fateful summer. But there is another person who is equally haunted by the chateau, and who also seeks to reclaim it. Who will set the chateau free - and who will become yet another of its victims?

With riveting psychological complexity, The Ruins captures the tangled legacy of abuse, the glittering allure of the Mediterranean - and the dark shadows that wait beneath the surface of both."

I was sold at Gothic and Patricia Highsmith, but the hints of Riviera add just the something extra.

Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two cousins who start a food stall at their local night market get a serving of murder in this first novel of a delicious new cozy mystery series by Jennifer J. Chow, author of Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn't seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it's a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale hasn't cooked in years, and she hardly considers Celine's career as a social media influencer as adequate experience, but because she’s just lost her job at her local bookstore, she feels she has no choice.

Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine's surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They're quite shocked that their bubble tea, in particular, is a hit - literally - when one of their customers turns up dead. Yale and Celine are prime suspects due to the gold flakes that Celine added to the sweet drink as a garnish. Though the two cousins are polar opposites in every way, they must work together to find out what really happened to the victim or the only thing they'll be serving is time."

I'm obsessed with anything bubble tea related. So THIS is in my wheelhouse. Though I am pretty sure most gold flakes aren't edible.... And that knowledge is thanks to Dynasty.

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The glittering RMS Queen Mary. A nightclub singer on the run. An aristocratic family with secrets worth killing for.

London, 1936. Lena Aldridge wonders if life has passed her by. The dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn't worked out. Instead, she's stuck singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho, and her married lover has just left her. But Lena has always had a complicated life, one shrouded in mystery as a mixed-race girl passing for white in a city unforgiving of her true racial heritage.

She's feeling utterly hopeless until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York. After a murder at the club, the timing couldn't be better, and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. But death follows her onboard when an obscenely wealthy family draws her into their fold just as one among them is killed in a chillingly familiar way. As Lena navigates the Abernathy's increasingly bizarre family dynamic, she realizes that her greatest performance won't be for an audience, but for her life.

With seductive glamor, simmering family drama, and dizzying twists, Louise Hare makes her beguiling US debut."

Strip it down and it's a locked room mystery, ON A BOAT! YAS!

A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sumptuous novel based on the fascinating true story of La Belle Époque icon Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, who shattered the boundaries of fashion with her magnificently sensual and enchantingly unique designs.

Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, and texture in ways few people can begin to imagine. But is the male dominated world of haute couture, who would use her art for their own gain, ready for her?

When she is deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is left penniless with an aging mother and her five-year-old daughter to support. Desperate to survive, Lucy turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her creative designs and her remarkable eye for color to take her place in the fashion world—failure is not an option.

Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her fashion label Lucile, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucy will live on as a trailblazing and innovative fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn. This is her story."

The interesting intersection of a Belle Époque icon AND the Titanic!

Twice Upon a Time: Selected Stories, 1898-1939 by L.M. Montgomery
Published by: University of Toronto Press
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Although L.M. Montgomery (1874-1942) is best remembered for the twenty-two book-length works of fiction that she published in her lifetime, from Anne of Green Gables (1908) to Anne of Ingleside (1939), she also contributed some five hundred short stories and serials to a wide range of North American and British periodicals from 1895 to 1940. While most of these stories demonstrate her ability to produce material that would fit the mainstream periodical fiction market as it evolved across almost half a century, many of them also contain early incarnations of characters, storylines, conversations, and settings that she would rework for inclusion in her novels and collections of linked short stories.

In Twice Upon a Time, the third volume in The L.M. Montgomery Library, Benjamin Lefebvre collects and discusses over two dozen stories from across Montgomery's career as a short fiction writer, many of them available in book form for the first time. The volume offers a rare glimpse into Montgomery's creative process in adapting her periodical work for her books, which continue to fascinate readers all over the world."

I mean, I HAVE to feature this book because of the editor right? Not just for L.M....

Joan by Katherine J. Chen
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint? From the acclaimed author of Mary B comes a stunning, secular reimagining of the epic life of Joan of Arc.

1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries.

In Katherine J. Chen's hands, the myth and legend of Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed, and brilliant. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of her life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.

With unforgettably vivid characters, transporting settings, and action-packed storytelling, Joan is a thrilling epic, a triumph of historical fiction, as well as a feminist celebration of one remarkable - and remarkably real - woman who left an indelible mark on history."

Always here for all things Joan.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Bubble Tea, G.M. Malliet, George Mann, Gothic, Jennifer J. Chow, Katherine J. Chen, Kathy Reichs, L.M. Montgomery, Louise Hare, Newbury and Hobbes, Phoebe Wynne, Tessa Arlen, The Albion Initiative, Timothy Zahn