strange and random happenstance

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 23rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 672 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The breathtaking conclusion to Philip Pullman's Book of Dust! This landmark trilogy, set in the world readers first glimpsed in The Golden Compass, continues the story of Lyra: "one of fantasy's most indelible heroines" (The New York Times Magazine).

Picking up right where The Secret Commonwealth left off, this story finds Lyra alone in a city haunted by daemons, searching for her beloved Pan. Malcolm Polstead isn't far behind, searching for Lyra. And they are both racing toward the desert of Karamakan, following the trail of roses said to hold the secret of Dust.

Their allies and enemies are converging on the mysterious red building at the heart of the desert: Marcel Delamare and the military might of the Magisterium; the radical Men from the Mountains; scientists, scholars and spies; troops of witches and other people of the air. And awaiting them all is a previously unseen and chilling new threat that will change everything.

The intertwining odysseys of Malcolm and Lyra, their journeys both internal and external, will test their limits and challenge even their most dearly held beliefs.

As ever, Philip Pullman is using the language of fantasy to illuminate our world and to explore the deepest questions of what it means to be alive and awake to all the splendors and horrors around us. The extraordinary novels of The Book of Dust speak powerfully to today's readers and will take their place alongside the forever-favorites of His Dark Materials."

It's here! It's finally here! Yes, I'm slightly hyperventilating. What with Pullman's Long COVID I really never thought we'd see this day.

A Legacy of Blood and Bone by Millie Abecassis
Published by: Brick and Bloom
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: eBook, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Shannon Fay's Innate Magic and Alix E. Harrow's Starling House comes A Legacy of Blood and Bone - a spellbinding debut set in an alternate Belle Époque France, brimming with intrigue, dangerous magic, and a swooning, slow-burn sapphic romance.

"Blood is life. Bones are strength. Flesh is control. Skin is death."

Every blessed family knows this mantra, and Aubeline - gifted with blood magic and heiress to the powerful Sterraux line - is no exception.

When her father dies unexpectedly, Aubeline inherits the title of Countess. But her brother Renan soon challenges her claim, demanding the title of Count for himself - and quietly coveting guardianship of their young niece, Damarisse.

As sinister forces gather around Renan and his allies wield forbidden, deadly power, Aubeline must seek out unlikely companions to protect Damarisse, expose her brother's true intentions, and stop a catastrophe that could unravel their world.

She never expected her greatest ally to be Damarisse's new private teacher, Vinnie - a clairvoyant woman cursed with uncontrollable visions. Nor did she expect to fall in love with her, defying every rule of polite society and risking everything for a chance at love in a world built on blood and secrets."

There's something here that reminds me of Carnival Row at it's very best.

A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Howl's Moving Castle meets Little Thieves in this cozy fantasy about the teenage owner of a (mostly fake) magical curiosity shop and a girl cursed to turn everything she touches into magic.

Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father's shoppe hasn't sold anything magical in decades, and it's only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon's teeth Willow sells as charms, along with "enchanted" ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools' gold.

Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow's fakes into exactly what they're purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri's help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.

Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.

Desperate to keep her father's shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer's assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector's quest for the rarest magical object in the world - a quest that risks almost-certain death - she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined."

Yes, not all treasure is for sale, which is why there's theft. 

Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Shirley Jackson and Nebula Award finalist author Eden Royce pens a Southern Gothic historical fantasy story of a contentious funeral in her adult fiction debut.

Phee St. Margaret is a daughter of the Reconstruction, born to a family of free Black business owners in New Charleston. Coddled to within an inch of her life by a mother who refuses to let her daughter live a life other than the one she dictates, Phee yearns to demonstrate she's capable of more than simply marrying well.

When word arrives that her Aunt Cleo, long estranged from the family, has passed away, Phee risks her mother's wrath to step up and accept the role of pomp - the highly honored duty of planning the funeral service. Traveling alone to the town of Horizon and her aunt's unsettling home, Phee soon discovers that visions and shadows beckon from every reflective surface, and that some secrets transcend the borders of life and death."

I have been dreaming of the day when I can add this book to my shelves. How could I not with that amazing cover?

The Black Carnival by Harlequin Grim
Published by: Quill and Crow Publishing House
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 258 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The year is 1886 in New Sarum, England, and Atherton Graves only knows a life surrounded by corpses. Amidst a rash of child deaths, he alone suspects they are the product of murder. At least, that's what the ghosts in his mortuary tell him. But there's hardly time to hunt the killer; Atherton has just sold a cadaver to a spiritualist at the notorious Black Carnival, and the town gang known as the Disciples is not going to take that lightly. Caught between a serial killer, a circus bursting with foul characters, and his spiraling madness amongst the restless dead, Atherton will undoubtedly become the villain of his own story. The question remains: who, if any, will be unscathed by the rampant destruction he's invited?"

Side hustle in cadavers to a spiritualist? Tell me more.

The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1890, the tolling of the Traeger Hall bell announces that death has come to the estate, leaving orphaned Waverly Pembrooke to piece together the puzzle behind her relatives' murders.

In the present day, the hall's new owner, Jennie Phillips, realizes its dark legacy threatens not only the Traeger descendants but also, chillingly, Jennie herself."

I'm all about Cornwall lately, and Traeger is a very Cornish name. So I'm in.

A Play About a Curse by Caroline Macon Fleischer
Published by: Clash Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 216 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the viral phenomenon The Roommate comes a literary horror novel following a young playwright who conjures up a true tragedy through a Machiavellian curse when spurned by her mentor.

Enter COREY, a passionate young nobody, and her professor, MAXINE, an award-winning playwright and living legend of the American theatre. When Maxine shatters Corey's dreams of artistic collaboration after graduation, Corey seeks revenge. At a clairvoyant's den in a violet-lit Dallas strip mall, the young playwright unleashes a life-altering curse on Maxine.

Possessed by dark powers and even darker ambitions, Corey follows Maxine to a prestigious playwriting residency in Chicago where the women become fatally entwined. Through three acts, two interludes, and one curse, Corey pushes her mentor toward theatre's haunted margins, where reality begins to crumble.

Caroline Macon Fleischer's A Play About A Curse reads like an A24 film. Part psychological horror and part theatrical fever dream, Curse shadows a heroine-turned-villain as she confronts the supernatural power struggle between mentor and protégé, learning that to achieve our dreams, someone else must suffer a nightmare."

Anyone else love the Rosemary's Baby prequel movie Apartment 7A? Because this has similar spooky vibes.

The Midnight Knock by John Fram
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A locked-room mystery meets white-knuckle horror in this mind-bending thriller, where strangers must survive a deadly night in a remote Texas motel.

In the frigid west Texas desert, weary travelers converge at a lonely roadside motel nestled at the foot of a massive mountain. Ethan and Hunter have left behind a corpse, a fire, and a horrific act of violence. Kyla and Fernanda are fleeing for the border. Stanley and his granddaughter are returning from Mexico with a mysterious man in hot pursuit. All of them are on the run from something. All of them are hiding something.

And somehow, they're all connected to the motel’s other guest, an enigmatic woman named Sarah Powers.

Within hours, Sarah is dead. The strange twins who run the Brake Inn Motel inform the surviving guests that her murder demands justice. The guests are given an ultimatum: uncover the killer by midnight - or die when the protective lights around the motel go out.

Because something very old and very dangerous lurks in this corner of the desert. And it's hungry.

But nothing at the Brake Inn Motel is quite as it seems. As time ticks away, alliances fracture, secrets unravel, and the guests will not only have to confront the violence of the past - they will need to face the darkness within themselves.

A masterful blend of psychological tension, supernatural horror, and layered storytelling, The Midnight Knock pushes the boundaries of what a mystery can be. And with its unforgettable climax, this novel cements John Fram as a contemporary master of the genre."

If Drew Goddard had added a soupcon of supernatural to Bad Times at the El Royale. 

King Sorrow by Joe Hill
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 896 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful...calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.

Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll - and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot - is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library.

Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others - brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen - don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world.

But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year - or become his next meal."

I never thought Joe Hill would go all dark academia. I am SO here for it.

A Heart So Haunted by Hollie Nelson
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this evocative and stunning debut, secrets in the very bones of Harthwait House are disturbed when a new tenant moves in, for fans of Ashley Poston and A House with Good Bones.

Be wary the beds and the space beneath,
the cracks in the floors and the furnace teeth.
Keep your eyes from the shadows and tongue so still.
Because once Harthwait grows dark, the monsters become real.

Landry is ready to clean house - not just Harthwait, but the traumatic memories and family entanglements that haunt her. Left reeling from her aunt's sudden death, Landry knows she has to restore the old house and sell it for much needed cash. Preferably, before autumn arrives. But as renovations begin on Harthwait, she notices some peculiarities: motion sensors activate when no one is home, doors slam shut, and every night, at a quarter after midnight, the disembodied crying begins. Then, when she uncovers a hidden door during the renovations, she dares to open it.

Behind the door is a world of nightmares, some of which are hers, while others belong to a monster - who is trapped inside and desperate to get out. Both haunted by their pasts, Landry makes a deal with the monster, but as they develop feelings for each other, she realizes that the thing that looks like a beast may not be the most beastly thing after all.

This rich and spellbinding tale explores the idea of what we call home and who we call family."

If I house has a rhyme associated with it, run.

Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The odd couple of crime-solving returns in Olivia Blacke's Death at the Door, where a ghost and her living roommate find another mystery on their doorstep.

Ruby Young is slowly adjusting to her new life in Boston. A big part of that is her unexpected roommate - the ghost of the woman who lived there before. For Cordelia Graves, she may no longer be breathing, but it's still her apartment and Ruby is the somewhat unwanted houseguest. They're both happy they've managed to become friends, which is a miracle considering they struggle to communicate with each other. Cordelia even set Ruby up with her old job.

When Ruby discovers the body of a delivery guy at work, the new life she's been building hangs in the balance. The last time Cordelia dragged Ruby into a murder investigation, it was almost two ghosts living in the apartment, not one. Determined to protect Ruby, Cordelia tries to shield her from the investigation, but Ruby has other ideas. It will take both of them working together to navigate the fine line between the dead and the living to bring a killer to light."

But would Ruby haunt the apartment as well if she was killed? I mean, she's a far more recent tenant... 

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the deadly werewolf Asil is gifted five blind dates by some anonymous "friends," his reclusive life will never be the same, in this enthralling novel in stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series.

Includes two all-new stories as well as three previously published stories.

Dear Asil:

We are worried about you. A werewolf alone is a sad thing, especially at Christmastime. So we have a challenge for you: five dates in three weeks. We have taken the work out of it and connected you with five people from online dating sites. You should also know that we have informed the whole pack and instigated a betting pool. Have fun!

Sincerely,
Your Concerned Friends."

Finally all Asil all in one place! With a bonus. And yes. I am mildly obsessed with Asil, as I am with anything in the Mercyverse. 

Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time.

Three former Chosen Ones have joined together to spend their retirement in peace and quiet, running Second Life Books and Gifts in Salem, MA. A calm, peaceful, tourist-filled oasis, where they never have to worry about saving the world. Until some of the locals start summoning ancient creatures best left where they were...and they discover that their bookstore basement just may be the portal to the underworld. These ex-heroes may have thought they were done...but if they want to finish their retirement in peace, they’ll have to join together to save the world one last time.

Why leave saving the world to the young? Cozy mystery readers looking for an extra dash of magic will eat this story up: fun, funny, and heartwarming, it's a novel about community, second chances, and the healing power of scones."

Old Buffy in Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer is easily my favorite of the Buffy continuations, which is why I'm super hyped about this book. 

Firefly by Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker
Published by: Magic Cat
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first title in the forthcoming Night Creatures trilogy, created by two of the U.K.'s best- known book makers: Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker.

From two of the U.K.'s best-known book makers, Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker, comes a stunning picture book to ignite wonder in readers everywhere.

In the darkness of December,
Through the winter's deepest snowing,
When the world is steep in camber,
And all hope is downwards-flowing
Then's the time to seek what's glowing...

Written in lyrical verse, this story follows one sun-seeking child who discovers a meadow illuminated by fireflies: "fallen constellations" that dance like stars among the summer grasses, setting fears to flight. Enchanting to read aloud and exquisite to hold in the hand, each scene is rendered in spellbinding detail, showing the power of hope in a world steeped in darkness."

Fireflies are pure magic, as are the words of Robert Macfarlane. 

The Sister's Curse by Nicola Solvinic
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There's something in the water in Bayern County...

When mysterious drownings plague her small town, a detective haunted by her serial killer father must uncover whether revenge, ancient legends, or something darker lurks beneath the surface.

Lieutenant Anna Koray thought she'd finally found solid ground and escaped her past as the daughter of a notorious serial killer. A loving boyfriend, a loyal dog, a life that almost feels normal - except darkness has a way of seeping in. When she saves a boy from drowning, the strange marks on his body tell a disturbing story: something in the depths tried to drag him under.

Days later, another victim surfaces with identical marks and Anna's instincts scream that these are no accidents. Both victims are connected to the Kings of Warsaw Creek - men of the town's wealthiest and most influential families. And they have enemies.

Others whisper that there are witches in Bayern County, seeking revenge for a long-ago murder. Perhaps it's the work of Vivian Carson, the enigmatic bartender who's rumored to cast hexes on those who wrong her. Or maybe it's a secret coven who's been leaving serpentine symbols and skulls behind at the scenes of the drownings.

But Anna's investigation reveals an even more sinister truth: something is stirring in the water, and it wants the Kings to pay.

With time running out and more victims appearing, Anna must separate superstition from truth. But in Bayern County, where legends and curses run deep as the water itself, one wrong step could drag her into the depths - this time for good."

Eh, let the wealthy pay for their crimes with their blood.

Witches of Honeysuckle House by Liz Parker
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Haunted by a curse that kills someone close to their family every thirteen years, two sisters must come together to break the spell and save that which they hold most dear.

This enchanting novel explores the fraught lines between family and the secrets they keep, perfect for fans of Ava Morgyn and Heather Webber.

Florence and Evie Caldwell have long disagreed on how to break their family's curse, and tension has been high since their mother's death thirteen years ago. Honeysuckle House, the family estate where every Caldwell has lived, now only houses one of the sisters. Evie has crafted it into an enchanted bed and breakfast while Florence runs a magical bookstore in town, refusing to even set foot inside Honeysuckle House.

But when the house starts behaving dangerously and catches fire, Florence and Evie must set aside their differences and dig into past generations of their family and the town's history before the curse claims someone they love.

Witches of Honeysuckle House is an exploration of sisterhood, family, and the places we call home, perfect for readers who love the darker aspects of Weyward and the sister dynamics of The Crescent Moon Tearoom."

I mean, thirteen years isn't even a generation, so there will come a point where everyone is just dead unless the curse is broken...

The Book of Lost Stories by Trisha Ashley
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lost journal. A long-buried secret. A story waiting to be told.

Cleo Finch has loved gothic literature all her life. She's spent years researching and writing her thesis on the works of one gothic novelist in particular, Orlando Browne, and is determined to prove that Browne was the pen name of a female author, Alys Weston.

But as her best friend Tris never fails to remind her, she still hasn't succeeded in finding concrete evidence that proves this to be true.

That is, until Cleo's Uncle Ambrose unknowingly gifts her Alys' very own journal, forgotten in a stack of first-edition gothic novels.

As Cleo begins deciphering Alys' diary entries, she finds herself utterly absorbed by Alys' vivid descriptions of the people in her own life - particularly the rakish Lord Rayven - and the challenges Alys faced trying to keep Orlando's true identity a secret.

And so, newly inspired, Cleo sets aside her thesis to pen a gothic novel of her own..."

I have a friend who views that the holiday season cannot start until they read a Trisha Ashley book. This year my friend will have a new one to read!

The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From one of America's most beloved authors, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces, offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind of Harper Lee.

Harper Lee remains a landmark figure in the American canon - thanks to Scout, Jem, Atticus, and the other indelible characters in her Pulitzer-winning debut, To Kill a Mockingbird; as well as for the darker, late-'50s version of small-town Alabama that emerged in Go Set a Watchman, her only other novel, published in 2015 after its rediscovery. Less remembered, until now, however, is Harper Lee the dogged young writer, who crafted stories in hopes of magazine publication; Lee the lively New Yorker, Alabamian, and friend to Truman Capote; and the Lee who peppered the pages of McCall's and Vogue with thoughtful essays in the latter part of the twentieth century.

The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee's early short fiction and later nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee's youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan, The Land of Sweet Forever invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life.

This collection comes with an introduction by Casey Cep, Harper Lee's appointed biographer, which provides illuminating background for our reading of these stories and connects them both to Lee's life and to her two novels."

I am so excited for this collection, mostly for the nonfiction essays. 

Murder on the S.S. Cleopatra by Sara Rosett
Published by: McGuffin Ink
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Luxury, lies, and murder on a Nile cruise.

Join Blix Windway, an adventurous lady traveler, on a journey down the Nile in 1924. An eclectic mix of passengers boards the steamer, including a captain of industry, a former stunt-girl reporter turned lady of the manor, an archaeologist, an American teacher, a British doctor and his invalid wife, and a German photographer.

When a passenger is found dead, the elegant cruise turns into a floating crime scene. With everyone confined on board, tensions rise and secrets surface. Even her traveling companion, Hildy Honeyworth, is behaving as if she has something to hide. Blix must navigate the treacherous waters of the investigation and uncover the truth.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Nile River and the ancient wonders of Egypt, this classic whodunit is the second book in the 1920s Lady Traveler in Egypt series from USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett."

I adore Sara Rosett, and if you so happen to want a physical copy of this book and not just have it on an electronic device, might I advise you to check out her website... 

Apprehension/Red Star Hustle by Mary Robinette Kowal and Sam J. Miller
Published by: S and S/Saga Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two expertly crafted crime stories set in a far-future science fiction universe, from two award-winning authors known for their gripping plots and unforgettable characters - a short novel and a long novella that will thrill fans of space adventures, mystery, and intergalactic intrigue in this Saga Double.

Red Star Hustle
Aran, a happy-go-lucky high-class escort, is on the run after he's framed for the assassination of his famous filmmaker client. The last thing he needs is to fall for the studly and noble clone of a murderous puppet monarch while he's trying to stay one step ahead of an ace bounty hunter, who is trying to keep a fatal secret from her toxic boss/mom, which means she can't stop to worry about a little thing like whether her target might actually be innocent. Set within a universe of epic mech battles, and billions of human-made wormholes that make traveling to a distant star as easy as walking through a door or scheduling car service. This science fiction thriller by Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller is a crisscross of heartbreak, addiction struggles, queer messiness, and resisting evil empires, coming together in a space-hopping fight with the whole damn galaxy.

Apprehension
A family vacation arranged by Bonnyjean, a grieving mother, her son-in-law Jax, and her six-year-old grandson Tristan, quickly becomes disastrous as Tristan is kidnapped by a terrorist operation that is hoping to affect the planet's upcoming elections between rival parties. They believe Bonnyjean was given a secret by the double agent who died in her arms. However, not only is this a deadly misunderstanding, but it's also a dangerous one as Bonnyjean was last on Nahatanau when she was a special forces operative. Unfortunately, that was over thirty years ago, but she won't let the years nor her bad hip get in the way of rescuing her grandson. Beloved Hugo Award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal has crafted an intricate mystery of mistaken identity on an alien planet."

I mean, I literally will buy anything Mary Robinette Kowal writes. So this is a must buy for me with the added bonus of discovering Sam J. Miller. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Eden Royce, Harper Lee, Jaime Jo Wright, Jim C. Hines, Joe Hill, Liz Parker, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nicola Solvinic, Olivia Blacke, Patricia Briggs, Philip Pullman, Robert MacFarlane, Sam J. Miller, Sara Rosett, Trisha Ashley

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn't believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.

Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who've tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.

When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn't believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can't resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home - at the risk of losing her magic and her heart."

THE book I see everyone talking about this spring.

The Blue Maiden by Anna Noyes
Published by: Grove Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of Indie Next Pick and New York Times Editors' Choice Goodnight, Beautiful Women comes a transportive and chilling debut novel of two sisters growing up on an isolated Northern European island in the shadow of their late mother and the Devil.

It's 1825, four generations after Berggrund Island's women stood accused of witchcraft under the eye of their priest, now long dead. In his place is Pastor Silas, a widower with two wild young daughters, Beata and Ulrika. The sisters are outcasts: imaginative, oppositional, increasingly obsessed with the lore and legend of the island's dark past and their absent mother, whom their father refuses to speak of.

As the girls come of age, and the strictures of the community shift but never wane, their rebellions twist and sharpen. Ever capable Ulrika shoulders the burden of keeping house, while Bea, alone with unsettling visions and impulses, hungers for companionship and attention. When an enigmatic outsider arrives at their door, his presence threatens their family bond and unearths - piece by piece - a buried history to shocking ends. All the while Berggrund's neighboring island The Blue Maiden beckons, storied home of the Witches' Sabbath and Satan's realm, its misted shore veiling truths the sisters have spent their lives searching for.

A Nordic Gothic laced with the horrors of life in a patriarchy both hostile to and reliant on its women, The Blue Maiden is a starkly beautiful depiction of lost lineage and resilience."

Nordic Gothic, yes please!

Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black
Published by: Hodderscape
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Til Death Do Us Bard is a charming queer fantasy, perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes and Nettle and Bone.

Marriage isn't always sunshine and unicorns...sometimes it's monsters and necromancy.

It's been almost a year since Logan 'The Bear' Theaker hung up his axe and settled down with his sunshiny bard husband, Pie. But when Pie disappears, Logan is forced back into a world he thought he'd left behind.

Logan quickly discovers that Pie has been blackmailed into stealing a powerful artifact capable of creating an undead army. With the help of an old adversary and a ghost from his past, Logan sets out to rescue his husband.

But the further the quest takes him, the more secrets Logan uncovers. He'll need all his strength to rescue his husband - but can he save their marriage?"

I like to think that the surprise hit that is Legends and Lattes didn't spawn all these imitators but that all these books were out there waiting for an audience so that the authors could finally tell their tales that had been brewing in them for years.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
Published by: S and s/Saga Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Unicorn comes a new novel with equal amounts of power and whimsy in which a loveable cast of characters trapped within their roles of dragon hunter, princess, and more must come together to take their fates into their own hands.

Dragons are common in the backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad's job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart in part because he likes dragons, feeling a kinship with them, but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a prince's valet. Needless to say, fate has something rather different in mind..."

I mean, I just want to read the story for Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, AKA Robert!

The Wolf's Eye by Luanne G. Smith
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Under the full moon of World War I, a baleful curse threatens to tear apart a witch's found family in a novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.

Petra Kurková - a witch who wields magic worth its weight in gold - is tasked with combating the undead on World War I's eastern front. The battlefield has yielded a newfound closeness for her spellbound team, especially for Josef Svoboda, a recruiter for the Order of the Seven Stars. But Josef was bitten at the start of the war, leaving his blood tainted by a strain of the vlkodlak curse, which makes him a target of the Order's latest mission: slay the werewolves prowling the eastern front under the moonlight.

Petra refuses to give up on one of their own. From the hasty kill order of a clandestine society to the long-lost spells in an old grimoire to the unraveling mysteries of Petra's own past, the urgency to save Josef grows, particularly as his feral impulses become harder to control. The werewolves are closing in. So, too, are the bounty hunters eager to collect. As Petra's team finds itself at a magical crossroads, Josef devises an ambush of his own - one that could wipe out the cursed threat forever or endanger everything and everyone he loves."

Usually I avoid WWI and II, but there's something about adding in the supernatural that makes me drawn to it like a werewolf to a very juicy rabbit.

Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese
Published by: Henry Holt and Company
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Get ready to solve the mystery at the heart of this captivating new middle grade adventure about family - and a house with a mind of its own - from the award-winning author of Game of Fox and Squirrels and Every Bird a Prince, Jenn Reese.

Twelve-year-old Perigee has never met a problem they couldn't solve. So when their Dad's spirits need raising, Perigee formulates the Plan: a road trip to Dad's childhood home to reunite him with his estranged mother.

There's something in it for Perigee, too, as they will finally get to visit "Eklunds' Puzzle House," the mysterious bed and breakfast their grandparents built but never opened.

They arrive ahead of a massive storm and the House immediately puts Perigee's logical, science-loving mind to the test. Corridors shift. Strange paintings lurk in the shadows. Encoded messages abound. Despite Perigee's best efforts, neither the House nor Grandma will give up their secrets. And worse, prickly Grandma has outlawed games and riddles of any kind.

Even the greatest of plans can crumble, and as new arguments fill the air, the House becomes truly dangerous. Deadly puzzles pop up at every turn, knives spin in the hallways, and staircases disappear. The answer lies at the heart of the House, but in order to find it, Perigee and their new friend Lily will need to solve a long-lost, decades-old riddle... if the House itself doesn't stop them first."

I mean, come on! Stuck in a house during a storm and then the house tries to kill you? My dream read!

Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author's prickly son...until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha's Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan's novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series - after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer's block - is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn't have to deal with Siobhan's son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan's bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn't want Em around.

Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she's built - and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him. But when she discovers the reason for Kieran's initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan's novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she's truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter."

There's two ways it can go when helping a famous author, murder or romance. This is definitely romance.

The Stellar Debut of Galactica Macfee by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest installment in the warm and welcoming 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents of Scotland's most celebrated address navigating their enchanting and eventful lives.

Angus Lordie is approached in the park by a shadowy, Deep Throat-like figure with government secrets to share, who mistakes him for a journalist. Now Angus is privy to some controversial plans of the Scottish Parliament - but just what is he meant to do about it? Elsewhere, Big Lou's husband Bob hires a personal trainer who changes his entire outlook on life, much to Lou's dismay. At the schoolhouse, young Bertie Pollock's class has a new ringleader, Galactica MacFee, who quickly comes between Bertie and Olive. All this proves too much for Bertie to bear, and he flees to Glasgow with best friend Ranald Braveheart MacPherson in tow. And the indomitable Irene again finds herself in Edinburgh...and it looks like there might be romance in the air.

Meanwhile, Matthew, too, is keeping busy. He invests in a brand new Pictish Experience Centre, meant to allow residents to experience what life was like for Scotland's mysterious early people, the Picts. And they may have made a fantastic discovery - the earliest known work of Scottish literature! But what exactly do those mysterious Pictish runes say? As always, McCall Smith draws on his seemingly unlimited stores of goodwill and generosity in describing the goings-on of this beloved cast of characters."

This was my mom's favorite. What does it say that all her favorite series were Scottish?

Wives Like Us by Plum Sykes
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Take a grand English country house, one (heartbroken) American divorcee, three rich wives, two tycoons, a pair of miniature sausage dogs and one (bereaved) butler; put them all into the blender and out comes the impossibly funny Wives Like Us, the new novel from the best-selling author of Bergdorf Blondes and Party Girls Die In Pearls, Plum Sykes.

If you think the English countryside is all green wellies, muddy Land Rovers and grey-haired ladies in tweed, then you've never visited 'The Bottoms.'

Welcome to the rose-strewn county of Oxfordshire, and the tony Cotswold villages of Little Bottom, Middle Bottom, Great Bottom, and Monkton Bottom, recently annexed by a glittering new breed of female: the Country Princess.

Following a ghastly row about a missing suite of diamonds, Tata Hawkins has flounced out of Monkton Bottom Manor with her daughter, Minty, and Executive Butler Ian Palmer in tow, decamping to The Old Coach House to teach her husband Bryan a lesson.

But things don't go to plan: Bryan disappears to Venice with a bikini designer; Selby Fairfax, the glamorous American divorcée who has inherited the beautiful estate next door, is refusing Tata's overtures at friendship; Tata's best friends, Sophie Thompson and Fernanda Ovington-Williams, are distracted by their own heartache, and the posh Pennybacker-Hoare sisters are plotting to prevent Tata regaining her crown as Queen of the Bottoms. Worst of all, Ian has nowhere to store his collection of vintage Gucci loafers.

Will Tata ever return to the comforts of the Manor? Will Selby find her Prince Charming? Will the Pennybacker-Hoares prevail? With the help of a pig farmer-ess moonlighting as a Personal Assistant, a male model moonlighting as a stable hand and a London barrister moonlighting as a gentleman farmer, can Ian restore harmony to The Bottoms?"

A very Tottering by Gently vibe.

The Thunder of Stones by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 284 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Athens. A city where the ancient past and present tangle in a web of intrigue. As Saybrook and Arianna seek to unravel the truth about her brother's disappearance while on a clandestine mission for the Crown, they find themselves threatened by shadowy enemies - and a mysterious ancient talisman...

The winds of change have brought great joy to Lady Arianna and Saybrook, who have recently welcomed an infant son to their family. They are still adjusting to their new life when a letter arrives from Arianna's dearest friend and former comrade-in-chicanery inviting them to a gala 50th birthday celebration in Switzerland. With the blessing of their surgeon friend, they decide to make the trip, only to find themselves once again drawn into a dangerous web of political intrigue that may ignite war throughout Europe.

However, once in Geneva, Arianna and Saybrook learn that her half-brother is missing and feared dead while on a clandestine government mission to Greece, where revolutionary fervor - stirred by outcries from the infamous poet Lord Byron over Lord Elgin's "Marbles" and whether he is guilty of cultural looting - is rising against the rule of the Ottoman Empire. What to do? They are saved from having to make an agonizing choice when their friends offer to care for their son while they undertake the perilous journey to learn the truth...

But Truth proves dauntingly difficult to unravel. Unknown forces appear intent on sparking mayhem and the list of possible villains keeps growing - a traitor within the British consulate or local Turkish government; a woman claiming to be a reincarnation of the Oracle of Delphi; thieves who may be illegally selling antiquities...Nothing is as it seems, leaving Arianna and Saybrook uncertain of whom to trust as they seek to help the British government prevent war from breaking out in the region. And when explosives go missing from the armory atop the Acropolis, they are in a race against time, with their lives hanging in the balance..."

Sigh. I've been waiting for this book for eons! OK, two years, but it felt like eons! In fact typing this is the first time I've read the blurb, I preordered without reading it!

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A deliciously haunting debut for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Penner set in 19th-century Paris, blending Gothic mystery with a captivating sapphic romance as two estranged sisters - celebrated (and fraudulent) spirit mediums - come back together for one last con.

Paris, 1866. When Baroness Sylvie Devereux receives a house call from Charlotte Mothe, the sister she disowned, she fears her shady past as a spirit medium has caught up with her. But with their father ill and Charlotte unable to pay his bills, Sylvie is persuaded into one last con.

Their marks are the de Jacquinots: dysfunctional aristocrats who believe they are haunted by their great aunt, brutally murdered during the French Revolution.

The scheme underway, the sisters deploy every trick to terrify the family out of their gold. But when inexplicable horrors start to happen to them too, the duo question whether they really are at the mercy of a vengeful spirit. And what other deep, dark secrets may come to light?"

Fake mediums dealing with a real haunting? Oh, my, yes.

Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The fourth instalment in Ashley Weaver's delightful series, Locked in Pursuit follows safecracker Electra McDonnell fighting Nazis at every turn as World War II looms over London.

Safecracker Ellie McDonnell hasn't seen Major Ramsey - her handsome but aloof handler in the British government - since their tumultuous mission together three months before, but when she hears about a suspicious robbery in London she feels compelled to contact him. Together they discover that a rash of burglaries leads back to a hotbed of spies in the neutral city Lisbon, Portugal, and an unknown object brought to London by a mysterious courier.

As the thieves become more desperate and their crimes escalate, it becomes imperative that Ellie and Ramsey must beat them at their own game. Fighting shadowy assailants, enemy agents, and the mutual attraction they've agreed not to acknowledge, Ellie and Ramsey work together to learn if it truly takes a thief to catch a thief."

Yes, because it always works when you agree to not acknowledge chemistry...

She Left by Stacie Grey
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twenty years ago, she survived. This time she may not be so lucky.

On the night that changed everything, Amy Brewer walked out of a house party, trudging angrily away from the friends who made her feel like she didn't belong. Within the next hour, all five of those friends would be dead.

The Memorial Day Massacre, as it came to be called, rocked their small California community and Amy - the girl who had walked away just in time - couldn't escape the media circus...or the guilt.

Twenty years later, ten people with connections to the crime have been invited to a remote cliffside house by a journalist looking to do a story on the murders. But the group quickly learns the event is not what it seems. As a storm closes in and guests begin to die, Amy realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago... and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets."

Murder reunion! The only kind of reunion I'm all for!

Man's Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A failed actress must decide how much she will give up - and what lies she will overlook - in order to live a life of luxury, in this irresistibly suspenseful and slightly surreal debut that is The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Nightbitch.

Ever since her year as a scholarship student among the ultra-wealthy at a Manhattan private school, El knows what it is like to feel rich - to feel chosen. And being not chosen is her current living nightmare: at age thirty, she has given up her dream of becoming a famous actress, she has no passions, no great love, nothing to look forward to.

Then El meets a mysterious trust-fund Cambridge grad who holds the keys to the world she has long dreamed of. Bryce may not be particularly good-looking, charming, or interesting, but he has chosen her. El allows herself to be lulled by the ease and safety that his wealth provides, becoming Bryce's little pet, and giving up her job, friends, and apartment in short order. But when a series of disturbing and slightly surreal events reveal that Bryce is not quite what he seems, but something entirely more sinister, El must face the consequences when his darkness - and her own - are unleashed."

Always question those who you give up everything for...

The Hunter's Daughter by Nicola Solvinic
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.

Anna Koray escaped her father's darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She's now a decorated sheriff's lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father's shadow.

When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.

To Anna's horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father - and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?

But as she haunts the forest, using her father's tricks to the hunt the killer, will she find what she needs most...or lose herself in the gathering darkness?"

I love the Hannibal vibe of this. To be clear I mean the television show not the book.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth - strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries - is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who - or what - is at fault or lose everything she holds dear."

Rule number one that I adhere to, never go to an estate with a family chapel. Nothing good can come of it.

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A single mother working in the Gothic mansion of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets in the captivating new novel from the national bestselling author of Good Girls Don't Die and Horseman.

Harry Adams has always loved horror movies, so it's not a total coincidence that she took the job cleaning house for movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding graystone Chicago mansion, Bright Horses, is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes, as well as glittering awards from his career making films that thrilled audiences - until family tragedy and scandal forced him to vanish from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry has always tried to clean the house immaculately, keep her head down, and keep her job safe - she needs the money to support her son. But then she starts hearing noises from behind a locked door. Noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help, even though Javier lives alone and never has visitors. Harry knows that not asking questions is a vital part of working for Javier, but she soon finds that the sinister house may be home to secrets she can't ignore."

And what about that scandal!?!

Cloaked Deception by Timothy Zahn
Published by: Aethon Books, LLC
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 546 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Timothy Zahn, Hugo Award winner and # New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, comes this pulse-pounding political thriller.

A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe.

Those behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent people-all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too dangerous to be left alive.

What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?

At the same time, scientists have invented the world's first cloaking device, able to render its user almost completely invisible. It's the epitome of hidden-in-plain-sight-a game changer for any military. At least until three of the lead scientists are murdered and their work is stolen the night before their first demonstration.

Authorities have no idea the two crimes are connected.

There are ten days before the bomb is set to go off.

Can they unravel the trail of red herrings in time?

The clock is ticking..."

FYI this is a reprint of Cloak. But admit it, you actually don't care. You want the pretty new copy.

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

Pain is Dymitr's calling. His family is one in a long line of hunters who sacrifice their souls to slay monsters. Now he's tasked with a deadly mission: find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. To reach her, Dymitr must ally with the ones he's sworn to kill.

Pain is Ala's inheritance. A fear-eating zmora with little left to lose, Ala awaits death from the curse she carries. When Dymitr offers her a cure in exchange for her help, she has no choice but to agree.

Together they must fight against time and the wrath of the Chicago underworld. But Dymitr's secrets - and his true motives - may be the thing that actually destroys them."

Look. At. That. Cover. Seriously. Look. At. It. It's divine.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alana B. Lytle, Alexander McCall Smith, Andrea Penrose, Ashley Weaver, Christina Henry, Johanna Van Veen, Nicola Solvinic, Peter S. Beagle, Plum Sykes, Stacie Grey, Sydney J. Shields, Timothy Zahn, Veronica Roth