BP Note: Once again you get a slightly late two-fer. Lots of work related travel and still wading through all that didn’t get done. These last couple of months have been tense for so many reasons. Hopefully this extended list gives you some escape. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
Happy reading!
~E
- Contemporary Romance
- Cosy Fantasy
- Epic Fantasy
- Fantasy
- Fantasy Romance
- Gothic
- Cosy Mystery
- Historical Mystery
- Mystery
- Paranormal Romance
- Science Fiction Romance
- Urban Fantasy
Contemporary Romance
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery – 1 Oct (Canary Street Press)
Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.
But her plans go from cozy to chaotic when Nick and Dana plead for Christmas at the family cabin in memory of their late father, Julie’s ex. She can’t refuse, even though she dreads their reactions to her new man when they realize she’s been hiding him for months.
As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.
Pickleballers by Ilana Long – 12 Nov (Berkley)
Meg Bloomberg is in a pickle. When Meg’s ex turns out to be a total dink, she and her bestie take off for a mood-lifting pickleball excursion to Bainbridge Island. It’s supposed to be an easy lob, a way to heal, not the opening serve to a new courtside romance that’s doomed to spin out.
No matter how Meg tries, she can’t shake her feelings for Ethan Fine. A charismatic environmental consultant and Bainbridge local, Ethan seems like the real dill. But when Meg discovers that Ethan is sabotaging her home court, she decides the match is over.
It’s time for Meg to take control of her own game. And maybe, just maybe…love will bounce back.
A Legend in the Baking (Sugar Blitz #2) by Jamie Wesley – 19 Nov (St. Martin’s Griffin)
August Hodges was supposed to be the silent partner in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. Emphasis on silent. That is until his impromptu feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity goes viral, making him the hottest bachelor in town. With a new location in the works, August and his partners decide to capitalize on this perfect opportunity to help cement their place in the community. But the hiring of his best friend’s younger sister, the woman who has haunted some of his best dreams for years, was as much of a shock as his new-found fame.
Social media manager Sloane Dell fell hard for her brother’s best friend the moment she met him more than a decade ago, but that teenage infatuation cost her dearly. Still, she accepts her brother’s request to revamp the bakery’s social media presence to take advantage of August’s newfound popularity, knowing it’s the big break her fledgling career needs. She’ll just ignore the fact that August is still August, i.e. sexier and sweeter than any man has a right to be. And that he drives her crazy with his resistance to all her ideas.
They vow to leave the past in the past. But when an explosive make-out session makes it clear their attraction burns hotter than ever, Sloane and August are forced to reconsider what it means to take a risk and chase your dreams.
As they’re both about to find out, all’s fair in love and cupcakes.
Church Girl by Naima Simone – 26 NOv (Afterglow Books)
Aaliyah Montgomery isn’t just ditching her wedding. She’s also fleeing her suffocating small town and her family’s expectations. She’s got plans—for college, for finding herself. But landing a job in Chicago that fits her schedule isn’t easy. Good thing Von Howard is desperate to find a live-in nanny. Bad thing that he’s a gritty, grumpy, gorgeous tattoo artist carrying as much baggage as he has ink.
Von’s new hire is inexperienced and a fire hazard in the kitchen. She’s also all thick curls, thicker curves, and a distracting mix of innocence and sensuality. After the upheaval of a divorce, he just needs a nanny, not a sneaky link. Meanwhile, Aaliyah is bonding with his seven-year-old and showing an unexpected flair for tattoo art. Who could resist?
Yet deep down, Aaliyah’s still running—from her feelings and her fear of losing herself to someone else’s expectations again. Even as their pasts return to haunt them, their undeniable heat says maybe it’s time to stand and fight for a love they didn’t see coming.
Cosy Fantasy
The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski – 1 Oct (Atria)
Ever since the untimely death of their parents, Anne, Beatrix, and Violet Quigley have made a business of threading together the stories that rest in the swirls of ginger, cloves, and cardamom at the bottom of their customers’ cups. Their days at the teashop are filled with talk of butterflies and good fortune intertwined with the sound of cinnamon shortbread being snapped by laced fingers.
That is, until the Council of Witches comes calling with news that the city Diviner has lost her powers, and the sisters suddenly find themselves being pulled in different directions. As Anne’s magic begins to develop beyond that of her sisters’, Beatrix’s writing attracts the attention of a publisher, and Violet is enchanted by the song of the circus—and perhaps a mischievous trapeze artist threatening to sweep her off her feet. It seems a family curse that threatens to separate the sisters is taking effect.
With dwindling time to rewrite their future and help three other witches challenge their own destinies, the Quigleys set out to bargain with Fate. But in focusing so closely on saving each other, will they lose sight of themselves?
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong – 5 Nov (Ace)
Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…
Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.
Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.
Epic Fantasy
Wheel of the Infinite (updated and revised) by Martha Wells – 19 Nov (Tor Books)
Every year in the great Temple City of Duvalpore, the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure another year of peace and harmony for the Celestial Empire. Every hundred years the sacred rite takes on added significance. For it is then that the very fabric of the world must be rewoven. Linked by the mystic energies of the Infinite, the Wheel and world are one. Should the holy image be marred, the world will suffer a similar injury. But a black storm is spreading across the Wheel. Every night the Voices of the Ancestors – the Wheel’s constructors and caretakers – brush the darkness away and repair the damage with brightly colored sands and potent magic. Each morning the storm reappears, bigger and darker than before, unraveling the beautiful and orderly patterns. With chaos in the wind, a woman with a shadowy past has returned to Duvalpore.
A murderer and traitor – an exile disgraced, hated, and feared, and haunted by her own guilty conscience – Maskelle has been summoned back to help put the world right. Once she was the most revered of the Voices, until cursed by her own actions. Now, in the company of Rian – a skilled and dangerously alluring swordsman – she must confront dread enemies old and new and a cold, stalking malevolence unlike any she has ever encountered.
Fantasy
Take Back Demons (Diamond Universe: Sierra Walker #2) by Casey Blair – 15 Oct (Self)
“They can’t keep you.”Sierra successfully brought magic back to the world, but it’s left her with two big problems.
First, now she needs to steal Nariel back from the exile the angels forced him into to save their worlds. But she’s also in dire need of magic weapons, because the mages are doing everything in their power to take her magic and her life.
Both of those needs take her to the world of demons, where Nariel has his own ideas for how Sierra can get her hands on enough power to protect both of their worlds.
With mages coming after her with magic weapons of their own, Sierra needs every bit of magic she can wield. But she messed up before, and badly. So how can she trust herself to wield more power than any human ever has when failure would cost Nariel’s life, too?
The History of the World Begins In Ice (Spiritwalker Collection) by Kate Elliott – 22 Oct (Fairwood Press LLC)
Phoenician spies, well-dressed men, revolutionary women, and lawyer dinosaurs—eleven vivid stories are now gathered in one place by RT Reviewers’ Choice winner and Nebula, World Fantasy, Norton, and Locus Awards finalist Kate Elliott.
When the emporer of Rome needs a rare book stolen from a well-guarded woman, he hires a rogue with his own dangerous secrets . . .
An elderly man retires at last, seeking peace to write his final masterwork on architecture . . . until that peace is disturbed by an outbreak of magic.
Everyone knows the story of Dido and Aeneas. But only Beatrice knows the correct version.
A shapeshifting sabertooth cat falls into the arms of two beautiful palace attendants . . . all too eager to pet him.
A powerful mage and his wife travel into enemy territory on an urgent mission . . . Surely the expedition will go exactly as planned . . . right?
These standalone stories and six others are accompanied by wonderful illustrations from fourteen featured artists. Eleven short essays that delve into the whys and wherefores of the setting and characters round out the volume.
Bindle Punk Jefe (Bindle Punk #2) by Desideria Mesa – 29 Oct (Harper Voyager)
Prohibition is in full swing, and the glamorous life of upper-class Kansas City is everything Rose (Luna) Lane ever hoped it would be. Being married to her best friend isn’t so bad either, considering their agreement to keep their real love lives out of the public eye. However, try as she might to continue her life of anonymity, her popularity as a land developer’s wife—and as a successful club owner—draws even more attention to her personal endeavors. Soon, the balancing act between the life of Luna and Rose becomes a full-time job itself, making visiting home harder than ever before.
However, her haven, which once offered a place of acceptance, is growing more hostile. Her community of brujas criticizes her methods of using magic for economic and social gain while consorting with nefarious witches of the North. Meanwhile, the Pendergast Machine is running at full force, pushing his will and money all over the city. Keeping her true identity and powers a secret while posing for the society papers gets all the more dangerous as new enemies start to question her origins…and old ones creep up from dark realms.
The pressure could force Rose to do questionable things for the greater good, distancing herself from her loved ones and who she wants to be. She may have mastered her earth magic, but she still has a lot to learn about the heart…
Take Back Worlds (Diamond Universe: Sierra Walker #3) by Casey Blair – 19 Nov (Self)
“That’s why I’m here. To be the one person who will not budge.”Sierra established herself and the world as a power to be reckoned with, and now her problems are as big as they get.
She knew returning to the world that betrayed her would be hard, but she didn’t expect the most powerful mages would work against her rather than with her against their common enemy, the most powerful beings in the universe.
With the angelic tyrants of the universe stealing a whole world’s power, Sierra’s magic alone isn’t going to be enough to fight them, especially since she can’t figure out how to make her magic work with Nariel’s. Sierra and Nariel will have to bring together more magic than ever before and unite down to their souls to defeat the angels before they can destroy all the worlds, and to finish what she started.
Taking back their power, once and for all.
Feuds (Tales of Valdemar #18) by Mercedes Lackey – 26 Nov (DAW)
The Heralds of Valdemar are the kingdom’s ancient order of protectors. They are drawn from all across the land, from all walks of life, and at all ages—and all are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and more. These inborn talents—combined with training as emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, warriors, and more—make them indispensable to their monarch and realm.
Sought and Chosen by mysterious horse-like Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. The Heralds of Valdemar and their Companions ride circuit throughout the kingdom, protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.
Join a variety of authors as they ride with Mercedes Lackey to the beloved land of Valdemar and experience the many facets of this storied high fantasy realm.
Fantasy Romance
Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa – 8 Oct (Angry Robot)
The kingdom of Farsala is broken and black clouds hang heavy over the arid lands. Former Grand-Mage of the High Court, Cyril Laverre, has spent the last decade hiding himself away in a ramshackle hut by the sea, trying to catch any remaining fish for his cat familiar, Shoestring, and suppressing his guilt over the kingdom’s ruin. For he played his part – for as the King, Eufrates Margrave, descended further and further into paranoia, violence and madness, his Grand-Mage – and husband – Cyril didn’t do a thing to stop him.
When Shoestring wanders away and dies one morning, Cyril knows his days are finally numbered. But are there enough left to have a last go at putting things right? With his remaining lifeblood, he casts a powerful spell that catapults him back in time to a happier period of Farsalan history – a time when it was Eufrates’s older sister Tig destined to ascend to the throne, before she died of a wasting disease, and a time when Cyril and Eufrates’s tentative romance had not yet bloomed. If he can just make sure Eufie never becomes King, then maybe he can prevent the kingdom’s tragic fate. But the magical oath he made to his husband at the altar, transcending both time and space, may prove to be his most enduring – and most dangerous – feat of magic to date…
Featuring a formidable Great Aunt, a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, an awkward love quadrangle and a crow familiar called Ganache, this charming story is imminently easy to read and sure to satisfy fans of fanfiction who like their fantasy lite.
Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs #1) by Maiga Doocy – 15 Oct (Orbit)
Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.
He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.
That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.
Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.
Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.
First Light (Shadowlands #1) by Elizabeth Hunter – 29 Oct (Recurve Press LLC)
Lachlan Murray disappeared without a trace. As his girlfriend, twenty-nine-year-old Carys Morgan refuses to accept the police’s explanation—that he simply left her. She travels to Scotland to seek help from Lachlan’s twin brother Duncan, and learns she was right—Lachlan didn’t leave her, he left her world to return to his own.
The Shadowlands are a mirror of the world Carys knows. Every human in her world also exists in this one with one key difference—magic.
Humans aren’t supposed to be able to wield the magic of the Shadowlands, but when Carys learns she can talk to dragons, she’s drawn deeper into a complicated world that would as soon kill her as keep her. And if magic and murder weren’t enough to overcome, she must navigate complicated feelings for two identical men from vastly different worlds.
Silent Circuit (Mysterious Fields #2) by Celia Lake – 15 Nov (Celia Lake)
On the summer solstice, Thessaly’s world was changed forever, with an unexpected death. Now, she’s frantically trying to figure out what’s going on and what happened. The Fortiers – the family she will be marrying into – won’t tell her anything. Her fiancé, Childeric, has turned nasty. And he’s challenging to fill the Council seat left open by Thessaly’s beloved aunt. Thessaly has to step carefully but she’s already the centre of unwanted gossip.
Vitus wants nothing more than to support her, but he’s wise enough to know that his presence can’t possibly help anything. Weeks ago, he dared to kiss Thessaly – at her request. The gossip since then has put him in a difficult position, and she doesn’t dare see him, even in the most proper circumstances. He’s thrown himself into building his business as best he can and into his studies about new forms of magic.
Something has to change, but neither of them can figure out what they can do. Individually – and eventually together – they need to find the power to move forward and make their own choices. A gift from Thessaly’s aunt and an utterly unexpected outcome of Childeric’s challenge open a door to new possibilities.
The second book in the Mysterious Fields trilogy follows Thessaly and Vitus’s story and romance – but their happily ever after won’t come until book three. Join them as they learn more from books and each other, share their desires, and name the many challenges they want to overcome together. Set in 1889, this book about the magical community of Victorian Britain should be read after Enchanted Net, book one in the trilogy.
Gothic
Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher – 5 Nov (47North)
It’s 1851 in old York. Lizzy Grimm struggles to save her late father’s charmingly creepy yet floundering antique shop, Grimm Curiosities. Then, during a particularly snowy December in this most haunted city in England, things turn…curiouser.
Lizzy meets Antony Carlisle, whose sister suffers from the same perplexing affliction as Lizzy’s mother—both stricken silent and unresponsive after speaking with ghosts. Working closely together to fathom what power has transformed their loved ones and why, Lizzy and Antony discover an important her father’s treasured set of rare books on ancient folktales, enchantments, and yuletide myths. Books that a persistent collector is awfully keen to purchase. Books Lizzy can’t bear to sell.
Every bewitching passage and illustration opens a doorway to something ancient and dangerously inviting. Keys to a mystery Lizzy and Antony are compelled to solve—even if doing so means unleashing one of this bright holiday’s darkest myths.
Cosy Mystery
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Kamogawa Food Detectives #2) by Hisashi Kashiwai – 8 Oct (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
We all hold lost recipes in our hearts. A very special restaurant in Kyoto helps recreate them…
Chef Nagare and his daughter Koishi serve their customers more than delicious food at their Kamogawa Diner down a quiet street in Kyoto. They can help recreate meals from their customers’ most treasured memories. Through ingenious investigations, these “food detectives” untangle flavors and pore through old shopping lists to remake unique dishes from the past.
From the swimmer who misses his father’s lunchbox to the model who longs for fried rice from her childhood, each customer leaves the diner forever changed—though not always in the ways they expect…
A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (SCYTHE #1) by Maxie Dara – 8 Oct (Berkley)
Kathy Valence is forty-two, mid-divorce, and pregnant with her ex’s baby. She’s also a modern-day grim reaper employed by S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), but frankly that’s the easiest part of her life right now. Or at least it was, until her latest client’s soul goes missing.
When she finally tracks down seventeen-year-old Conner Ortiz, he angrily denies he died of natural causes, despite what his file says. He insists that someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E. murdered him, and he demands Kathy find out who and why.
Kathy has only forty-five days to figure out what happened to Conner and help him move on before the boy’s soul is doomed to roam the Earth as a ghost forever. She’s forced to rely on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and some sneaky moves by Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career. . .and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.
Murder of a Suffragette (London Ladies’ Murder Club #4) by Marty Wingate – 28 Oct (Bookouture)
Fellbridge Hall, England: Mabel Canning is thrilled to be organising a suffragette conference. But when all the women are settled in the sprawling country mansion, she barely has time for a sip of gin before chaos ensues. Leading suffragette Annie Harkin has been found murdered in her bed, clutching a white feather in her outstretched hand…
As the guests clamour for justice for Annie, young police officers Ned and Ted arrive in time to trip over the banners and be roundly ignored. And with a killer on the loose, the suffragettes swiftly vote for Mabel and her pals to take control. When it comes to solving mysteries, there’s nobody equal to the London Ladies’ Murder Club!
But soon it’s clear many a suffragette is hiding a secret under her sash. Eccentric veteran of the cause Dorothea Goose is acting rather flighty; why is she so afraid of the police? Would Annie’s rival go this far to replace her as leader? Or has someone taken a life to stop the cause of women’s lib?
Then Mabel uncovers what happened to Annie’s closest comrade in the years before the war, and she is sure the answers lie in the past. But will Mabel be elected as the killer’s next victim? Or can she crack the case and save the fight for Votes for Women?
The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White – 5 Nov (William Morrow)
There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for this literary American show-off (or Americans in general), finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.
The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky, sexy erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book a historical novel about the castle’s lurid past and its debauched laird, who himself ended up creatively murdered. But the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.
Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? Is the murder of the long-ago laird somehow connected with the playboy author’s unfortunate demise? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?
Historical Mystery
Rough Pages (Andy Mills #3) by Lev A.C. Rosen – 1 Oct (Forge Books)
Private Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has been drawn back to the Lavender House estate for a missing person case. Pat, the family butler, has been volunteering for a book service, one that specializes in mailing queer books to a carefully guarded list of subscribers. With bookseller Howard Salzberger gone suspiciously missing along with his address book, everyone on that list, including some of Andy’s closest friends, is now in danger.
A search of Howard’s bookstore reveals that someone wanted to stop him and his co-owner, Dorothea Lamb, from sending out their next book. The evidence points not just to the Feds, but to the Mafia, who would be happy to use the subscriber list for blackmail.
Andy has to maneuver through both the government and the criminal world, all while dealing with a nosy reporter who remembers him from his days as a police detective and wants to know why he’s no longer a cop. With his own secrets closing in on him, can Andy find the list before all the lives on it are at risk?
A Tainted Heart Bleeds (House of Croft #2) by Sophie Barnes – 29 Oct (Sophie Barnes)
Adrian Croft’s worst fear has been realized. His wife, the sweet woman who swept past his every defense, is a cunning spy working against him. Forced to play a dangerous game where one wrong move could see him destroyed, he must unravel her secrets while hunting a far more sinister threat.
Samantha knew her decision to marry her target would come at a price. Now, having lost her husband’s trust and affection, she’ll do whatever it takes to win it all back – abandon past loyalties, spill her secrets, and catch a killer. But will it be enough to undo the damage?
-One series, one couple, and the brutal challenges they must face-
Mystery
The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19) by Louise Penny – 29 Oct (Minotaur Books)
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.
That’s only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny’s #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading “this might interest you”, a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.
Including Three Pines.
Eight Very Bad Nights by Tod Goldberg, editor – 29 Oct (Soho Crime)
Curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg, this collection of eleven delightful and twisted Hanukkah capers will entertain you through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.
In Stefanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” an unstable pharmaceutical rep tries not to kill anyone at her family dinner on the last night of Hanukkah; in Ivy Pochoda’s “Johnny Christmas,” a taciturn Gulf War vet commissions a tattoo from a man he knew from his prison days, a man not named Christmas but Goldfarb; in David L. Ulin’s “Shamash,” it’s the last night of Hanukkah, and a live-at-home adult son considers doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment; in James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries,” a pair of detectives solve a curiously unprompted murder during the holiday season.
This captivating collection contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals, and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, offering something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales.
With stories by: Ivy Pochoda, David L. Ulin, James D.F. Hannah, Lee Goldberg, Nikki Dolson, J.R. Angelella, Liska Jacobs, Gabino Iglesias, Stefanie Leder, and Jim Ruland, plus a foreword and story by Tod Goldberg.
Paranormal Romance
Deja Brew (Elemental Love #3) by Celestine Martin – 1 Oct (Forever)
Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway has had the wackiest October ever. Her cooking powers are on the fritz, she failed to land a career-saving job, and she embarrassed herself at the town’s Halloween party. Just before midnight, she makes a desperate wish for a second chance to fix her life. The next morning Sirena wakes up and realizes that she’s repeating the entire pumpkin spice-flavored month. Even sweeter, she runs into Gus Dearworth, whose magic leaves her spellbound.
A former reality star, Gus moved to Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart, but his restless magic is tempting him to return to the spotlight. And his secret crush on Sirena is making him want to try something dangerous like fall in love again. When Sirena realizes he can help her fix her powers, Gus makes her a deal. If she’ll help decipher a mysterious cookbook in his collection, he’ll help get her magical groove back.
Every encounter offers a new adventure—from tasting menus, harvest mazes, and a growing attraction that’s taking on an irresistible enchantment of its own. But as the month winds down and the wish grows stronger, Sirena and Gus have a decision to make. Will their second chance be their happy-ever-after ending or a bittersweet memory?
Necromancers Don’t Raise (Singsong City #5) by Juliann Whicker – 16 Oct (KU)
n the heart of Singsong City, Cassandra Clarence, recently departed, finds refuge in the Necromancer, Oswald Mercury’s, enchanted mansion. But when it comes out that she was murdered, along with her friends, she is drawn back into the world of the living. With the help of an unlikely ally, she must unravel the mysteries of her own death before they consume her chance at having a new life. Will she find her killer and maybe love, or will the shadows of her parent’s past drag her back into the grave?
A Light in the Dark by Audrey Greene – 19 Nov (Pen & Page Publishing)
The yearly floods in Stonecreek inevitably claim lives, but when Valerie pulls a refugee from the turbulent waters, she uncovers a dark secret about her home.
For most, there is sanctuary to be had in their high-walled homes.
For outsiders shunned by those in power, there is only exile or death.
To create a better future for Stonecreek, Valerie must become a light in the dark—even if it means she joins the ranks of those doomed to be purged from the city-state’s stony streets.
Science Fiction Romance
Pets in Space 9 (Pets in Space #9) by van Natta, Carol et al – 8 Oct (Pets in Space)
Dive into 10 never-before-published tales from award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling authors R.J. Blain, Honey Phillips, Carol Van Natta, Kenzie Kelly, S.J. Pajonas, Demelza Carlton, Leslie Chase, Greta van der Rol, E.G. Manetti, and Evelyn Lederman. Each novella features extraordinary pets — from a telepathic feline on a distant planet to a brave dog in a futuristic city — standing by their heroes through love, danger, and epic quests.
Immerse yourself in worlds where love knows no bounds and pets steal the spotlight. With stories full of action, mystery, and romance, this anthology has something for everyone. You’ll cheer for the intrepid heroes and heroines who fight to save their friends and find their happily-ever-afters. Plus, every purchase supports Hero Dogs, a charity that provides trained service dogs to veterans and first responders.
And the Mighty Will Fall (NeoG #4) by K.B. Wagers – 19 Nov (HarperCollins Publishers)
With the fourth stand-alone NeoG novel, Die Hard meets A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this nail-biting, action-filled story that’s as much about found family as it is about survival when a peaceful transition of power in the Mars Orbital Station goes terribly wrong as rebels decide this is the moment to make their move, leaving two NeoG members stranded inside a ticking time bomb.
When you’re trapped in space, there’s no way out.
The mission of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard is to ensure the peace and security of the solar system. Commander Maxine Carmichael and Lieutenant Commander Saqib Vahid are at the Mars Orbital Station (MOS) to help facilitate the official handover from NeoG to Mars civilian control as part of the ongoing negotiations. Members of the extreme wings of the fight for Martian independence refuse to remain silent, and are willing to resort to violence to make their voices heard; Max and Saqib find themselves fighting for their lives. The attacks both on the MOS and the ground of Mars sets off a chain reaction that could destabilize the last few years of cautious peace.
The leader of Free Mars, Sylvia Moroz, knows better than anyone how fragile harmony is, having seen for decades the Coalition of Human Nations’ inability to negotiate for peace. Without any assurances—and knowing her splintered people all too well—anything less than complete liberation will only lead to more bloodshed. She’s not opposed to fighting, but when there’s an attempt on her life, she finds she must look for help from the NeoG and Commander D’Arcy Montaglione. The pair will have to overcome their past to figure out who they can trust and how to stop the attacks on the ground before more lives are lost.
Trapped inside the station, Carmichael and Vahid are scrambling to not only get to the bottom of the attackers’ motives, but also to simply survive. Because with the rest of the Zuma’s Ghost crew stuck down on Mars, it’s up to them to do what they can to keep the MOS from fully falling into the wrong hands…and keep Mars from descending into all-out war.
Urban Fantasy
Candle & Crow (Ink & Sigil #3) by Kevin Hearne – 1 Oct (Del Rey)
Al MacBharrais has a most unusual job: He’s a practitioner of ink-and-sigil magic, tasked with keeping order among the gods and monsters that dwell hidden in the human world. But there’s one supernatural mystery he’s never been able to solve: Years ago, someone cast twin curses on him that killed off his apprentices and drove away loved ones who heard him speak, leaving him bereft and isolated.
But he’s not quite alone: As Al works to solve this mystery, his friends draw him into their own eccentric dramas. Buck Foi the hobgoblin has been pondering his own legacy—and has a plan for a daring shenanigan that will make him the most celebrated hobgoblin of all. Nadia, goth queen and battle seer, is creating her own cult around a god who loves whisky and cheese.
And the Morrigan, a former Irish death goddess, has decided she wants not only to live as an ordinary woman but also to face the most perilous challenge of the mortal world: online dating.
Meanwhile, Al crosses paths with old friends and new—including some beloved Druids and their very good dogs—in his globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of his curses. But he’s pulled in so many different directions by his colleagues, a suspicious detective, and the whims of destructive gods that Al begins to wonder: Will he ever find time to write his own happy ending?
The Bloody Ruin Asylum & Taproom (Sam Quinn #7) by Seana Kelly – 1 Oct (NYLA)
I’m Sam, the werewolf book nerd owner of The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore & Bar. My husband, Master vampire Clive, has been asked to go to Budapest to interview for a position in the Guild, a council of thirteen vampires who advise the world’s Masters. The competition for the recently vacated spot is fierce. I worry about Clive, as it quickly becomes apparent that the last person to hold the position didn’t leave voluntarily.
Ever the supportive wife, I’m tagging along. I researched Budapest and had a long itinerary of things to do. That is, I did. When we arrive, we find out that the Guild headquarters is in the ruins of an abandoned insane asylum. Awesome. If there’s one thing I love, it’s being hounded by mentally unstable Hungarian ghosts.
Let’s just say this isn’t the romantic getaway I’d been hoping for. With Clive in top secret meetings and a bunch of creepy Renfields skulking around corners, nowhere is safe. I want to help Clive because I know he really wants the job, but the other Guild members are ancient and scary powerful. Between you and me, I thought Vlad would be taller.
Wish us luck! We’re going to need it.
Alibi by Sharon Shinn – 12 Nov (Fairwood Press)
eleportation makes everything possible.
It allows Taylor Kendall to live in Chicago, work in Houston, and take a part-time job tutoring the teenaged son of the richest man in America. But the more time she spends in Duncan Phillips’ lavish home, the more uneasy she becomes. She adores Quentin, who is suffering from a fatal degenerative disease. She’s strongly attracted to Bram Cortez, who heads up security for the household. But she’s growing increasingly afraid of Duncan Phillips, who makes it clear he has no interest in his dying son—and far too much interest in Taylor.
When Duncan Phillips turns up dead, Taylor’s on the short list of suspects who could have killed him. Sure, she was in Atlanta on the night of the murder. But Atlanta is only a few minutes away by teleport . . .
The Legacy of Arniston House (Edinburgh Nights #4) by T.L. Huchu – 12 Nov (Tor Books)
Ropa Moyo is a wannabe magician, can speak to the dead, and has officially given up being an intern. Leaving Scottish magic behind, she now works for the English Sorcerer Royal. But just as she adjusts to working for the English, an old enemy reveals a devastating secret about her Gran, and Ropa’s world falls apart.
Outraged, she rushes home, but finds her grandmother dead – murdered – with no killer in sight. What’s more, she’s the prime suspect. In her quest to find the true murderer, Ropa becomes caught in the dark tendrils of a cult, hell-bent on resurrecting an ancient power. Ropa must use her wits, her magic, and call in all favors to stop the ritual – and clear her name.
Partner in Crime (Magic, Mayhem, and the Law in Precinct #153 #2) by G.P. Robbins – 19 Nov (Pen & Ink Publishing)
What should have been a break in a long chain of unsolved robberies leads Detective Valor Lovell into the dark world of murder, organ theft, and the black market. His informant, Miranda, shines light on the thefts tearing through Cauldron City and how they connect to the dead weight case continuing to thwart the detectives of Precinct #153.
To complicate matters, her security is his problem.
One underground group wants her dead. Another wants her alive but out of the hands of law enforcement. But the third, as mysterious as the woman determined to change her colors, could lead to the downfall of everything he holds dear.
The monthly Must Have list is a compilation of the upcoming release titles that we, The Book Pushers, just can’t wait to get our hands on. Don’t see a title you’re excited about listed here? Add it to the comments section below. Let us know what you’re looking forward to!