New Mysteries
-
How to Seal Your Own Fate
An April 2025 Library Reads Pick
“A brilliant follow-up that proves Kristen Perrin is here to stay...A thrilling story that ends with a big reveal you won't see coming, even though the clues were in front of you the entire time!”—G.T. Karber, international bestselling author of Murdle
New York Times bestselling author Kristen Perrin is back and better than ever with her second Castle Knoll Murder Mystery.
Welcome to Castle Knoll, the idyllic English village home to a surprising number of murderers.
Present day: Annie Adams is just settling into life in Castle Knoll when local fortune teller Peony Lane shares a cryptic message only hours before being found dead inside the locked Gravesdown Estate. Annie has no choice but to delve into the dark secrets of her new countryside home in order to find out just what Peony Lane was trying to warn her about, before her brand new life comes crashing down around her.
1967: Teenage Frances Adams, Annie’s great aunt, finds herself caught between two men. Ford Gravesdown is one of the only remaining members of a family known for its wealth and dubious uses of power. Archie Foyle is a local who can’t hold down a job and lives above the village pub. But when Frances teams up with Archie to investigate the car crash that killed most of Ford's family, it quickly becomes clear that this was no accident—hints of cover-ups, lies, and betrayals abound. The question is, just how far does the blackness creep through the heart of Castle Knoll? When Frances uncovers secrets kept by both Ford and Archie, she starts to wonder: What exactly has she gotten herself into?
As Annie and Frances investigate two new mysteries spanning decades, they’ll unlock the next level of secrets held in Castle Knoll’s dark heart. -
Big Bad Wool
In the highly anticipated follow-up to the breakout offbeat hit Three Bags Full, an enterprising flock of sheep must get to the bottom of just who—or what—is leaving a trail of grisly destruction in its wake.
With one solved mystery under their wooly belts, the time has come for the sheep of Glennkill to explore Europe. Together with their new shepherdess, Rebecca, they move into their winter quarters in the shadow of a French chateau. But their new home is far from idyllic. A number of sheep from a previous flock have disappeared, and deer are dying unnatural deaths in the forest. The strange goats from the neighboring pasture have a theory: a werewolf. Could that be real, or just a fantasy?
When a human falls victim, it becomes clear that even fantasies can be fatal. And the last thing the sheep want is to lose another shepherd. With the help of the goats next door, they follow the werewolf’s trail in a desperate attempt to save both themselves and Rebecca with sheep logic, courage, and woolpower.
This clever, tense mystery features the ultimate amateur sleuths as they ponder curious human motives, attempt to change their fortunes by eating tarot cards, and borrow a harebrained scheme from a not-so-secret spy in an attempt to thwart the beast that’s been stalking them. -
Shot Through the Book
In the twelfth installment of the Lighthouse Library mysteries, Lucy McNeil is back on the case, but this time she’s on the case alone.
The upcoming YA book festival at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library is bringing in renowned authors from all over the world. When best selling author Todd Harrison unexpectedly visits librarian Lucy McNeil at her Outer Banks beach house after a meeting, she is puzzled by his presence, since they’re virtually strangers. After she steps inside to get him a drink, she’s shocked to discover that he’s been murdered on her deck in the few minutes she left him alone.
Not knowing why he wanted to meet with her in private, or how someone managed to kill him in the time it takes to make lemonade, Lucy is determined to help with the investigation and figure out what happened. WhenHeather Harrison, Todd’s widow, shows up in town, her motivations aren’t inspired by grief. She’s intending to use her husband’s tragic death to launch her candidacy for state senator and her first order of business is to go after the local police force–and Lucy herself.
Caught between an intrusive fan club mourning Todd, squabbling authors fighting for prominence in his absence, and a politically ruthless widow, Lucy must roll up her sleeves and and catch the killer before the chapter closes on justice. -
Fair Play
"Louise Hegarty's genre-splicing debut is a treat--clever, confident, and always surprising, a mystery story that ingeniously escapes the locked room of the genre to take on the biggest questions of life and death."--Paul Murray, author of The Bee Sting
For fans of Anthony Horowitz and Lucy Foley, a wonderfully original, genre-breaking literary debut from Ireland that's an homage to the brilliant detective novels of the early twentieth century, a twisty modern murder mystery, and a searing exploration of grief and loss.
A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year's Eve. It is Benjamin's birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age Murder Mystery themed party. As the night plays out, champagne is drunk, hors d'oeuvres consumed, and relationships forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses the wrong person; someone else's heart is broken.
In the morning, all of them wake up--except Benjamin.
As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother's death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer. In this mansion, suddenly complete with a butler, gardener and housekeeper, everyone is a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems.
Will the culprit be revealed? And how can Abigail, now alone, piece herself back together in the wake of this loss?
Gripping and playful, sharp and profoundly moving, Fair Play plumbs the depths of the human heart while subverting one of our most popular genres.
-
The Library Game
In The Library Game, Tempest Raj and Secret Staircase Construction are renovating a classic detective fiction library that just got its first real-life mystery.
Tempest Raj couldn’t be happier that the family business, Secret Staircase Construction, is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Known for enchanting architectural features like sliding bookshelves and secret passageways, the company is now taking on a dream project: transforming a home into a public library that celebrates history's greatest fictional detectives.
Though the work is far from done, Gray House Library’s new owner is eager to host a murder mystery dinner and literary themed escape room. But when a rehearsal ends with an actor murdered and the body vanishes, Tempest is witness to a seemingly impossible crime. Fueled by her grandfather’s Scottish and Indian meals, Tempest and the rest of the crew must figure out who is making beloved classic mystery plots come to life in a deadly game.
Multiple award winning author Gigi Pandian masterfully weaves wit and warmth in the Secret Staircase Mysteries. Readers will delight in the surprises Secret Staircase Construction uncovers behind the next locked door. -
The Rivals
ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S 10 BEST MYSTERY NOVELS OF 2024 • A witty and thought-provoking mystery that reimagines the spy story to explore the nature of relationships in a digital age: the follow-up to Jane Pek’s “thoroughly modern twist on classic detective fiction,” The Verifiers (New York Times Book Review)
“Jane Pek’s writing is really fun and will keep you hooked.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Claudia Lin—mystery novel superfan and, until recently, clichéd underemployed English major—has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for chronically online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth. Unfortunately, along the way, she and her colleagues—tech savant Squirrel, and the elegant and intimidating Becks—have uncovered a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets.
In the wake of a client’s sudden death, Claudia convinces his ex, an industry insider, to turn on his employer and feed the verifiers information about what the powerful dating platforms are really up to. But even as Claudia starts to get a feel for this new genre—just call her Lin, Claudia Lin—she’s distracted by the possibility of romance with both Becks and a very charming target. She also fears that her beloved older brother is unwittingly being drawn into the matchmakers’ deadly web. And as Becks reminds Claudia: spy tropes dictate that someone you trust will betray you. -
Against the Grain
Detective Peter Diamond goes undercover at a seasonal festival in this delightful and bittersweet conclusion to the multi-award-winning series.
Detective Peter Diamond, chief of the Avon and Somerset Murder Squad, is taking a short holiday in the country. His former colleague Julie Hargreaves has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville (no relation to the Sherlock Holmes story, so he’s told). It turns out Julie’s invitation was not without ulterior motives. The woman who owns the village’s largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie’s ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose—but Julie’s been keeping secrets of her own, and can’t take her inquiry any further.
Diamond takes the bait; the case is a fascinating one, and he’s quite enjoying his incognito information-gathering, getting to know the villagers as they prepare for their annual Harvest Festival. The deeper into the cow dung Diamond mucks, the more convinced he becomes there was foul play. But maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. To protect his alias, he might have to learn how to operate a tractor or drive a herd of wayward cows. He might even be forced to attend a hoedown—not that he’d dance, not even to catch a killer. Or would he? The curmudgeonly detective has plenty to learn about himself as he tries on some new hats: undercover private investigator; village detective; country gentleman.
Over 30 years and 21 other novels, Peter Lovesey has bewitched his enormous fandom with the wry, stubborn, and fiendishly clever Peter Diamond. Now he brings his Anthony, Macavity, and CWA Dagger–winning series to a close with this delightful and bittersweet final installment. -
The Secret of the Three Fates
Following the atmospheric and award-winning gothic historical mystery debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall, USA Today bestselling author Jess Armstrong's heroine, Ruby Vaughn, returns in The Secret of the Three Fates, where the Scottish Hills hold ghosts of the past that threaten Ruby’s present.
American heiress Ruby Vaughn still hasn't entirely forgiven her octogenarian employer and housemate Mr. Owen for bringing the occult into their lives during her recent trip to Cornwall. He claims their journey to Manhurst Castle in the Scottish Borders is simply to appraise and acquire illuminated manuscripts for their rare books shop, however when Ruby discovers there are no manuscripts and receives news of a séance to be held that very night, she begins to grow suspicious about the true reason why they have come.
The Great War left grieving families willing to sacrifice anything for the chance to say goodbye to a lost loved one. Mr. Owen is no exception. He is desperate to speak to his son, but he doesn’t want to face the spirits alone. When the séance—hosted by a trio of mediums billing themselves as The Three Fates—goes awry, Mr. Owen’s secrets begin to unravel, threatening to reveal a history that he has been running from for half his life. Something Ruby knows all too well how to do.
When Ruby finds one of the Three Fates murdered the night of the seance, she and Mr. Owen quickly become the prime suspects. To clear their names, Ruby enlists the help of Ruan Kivell, the folk healer Pellar who helped her weeks before in Cornwall. As their investigation progresses Ruby and Ruan realize someone is determined to prevent them from uncovering the truth about what happened to the dead medium. -
We Three Queens
New mother Lady Georgiana "Georgie" Rannoch finds herself trying to separate fact from fiction when a murder occurs while a film is being made on the grounds of her estate in a new Royal Spyness Mystery from beloved bestselling author Rhys Bowen.
It's late 1936, and King Edward is in turmoil, having fallen in love with the scandalously divorced and even more scandalously American Wallis Simpson. He wants to marry her but knows that doing so will jeopardize his crown. Edward confides in his dear friend Darcy, Georgie's husband, and the couple agree to hide Wallis in their home while Edward figures out what to do.
But unbeknownst to Georgie and Darcy, Sir Hubert, the owner of the estate, has given a film crew permission to shoot a motion picture about Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn on the grounds. Trying to keep Mrs. Simpson hidden while raising a newborn baby seems like it couldn't be any more stressful for the Rannochs, until one of the stars of the film is found murdered on set. Georgie must solve the murder for king and country before scandal threatens to envelop them all. -
Tooth and Claw
In the tradition of Wait for Signs and The Highwayman, Craig Johnson is back with a short novel set in the Alaska tundra where a young Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear face off with powerful enemies who will do anything to get what they want.
Tooth and Claw follows Walt and Henry up to Alaska as they look for work after they both returned from serving in Vietnam. While working for an oil company in the bitter cold of winter, they soon encounter a ferocious polar bear who seems hell-bent on their destruction. But it’s not too long until they realize the danger does not lurk outside in the frozen Alaskan tundra, but with their co-workers who are after priceless treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.
Fans of Longmire will thrill to this pulse-pounding and bone-chilling novel of extreme adventure that adds another indelible chapter to the great story of Walt Longmire. -
Deadly Animals
Finding a dead body is not normal. But Ava is not a normal teenager. In this chillingly beautiful mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.
Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious fourteen-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night Ava loves nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings.
One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate and, fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back—not while teenagers continue to go missing.
Racing alongside the police or against them, Ava is determined to figure out who is hunting her classmates before she becomes the next prey. How hard can it be to track a killer? -
All's Fair in Love and Treachery
Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in this dazzling next installment in a captivating Regency-era mystery series with a feminist spin.
21 June, 1815. London may be cheering the news of Napoleon’s surrender at Waterloo, but Lady Petra Forsyth has little to celebrate after discovering that the death of her viscount fiancé three years earlier was no accident. Instead, it was murder, and the man responsible is her handsome, half-Scottish secret paramour Duncan Shawcross—yet the scoundrel has disappeared, leaving only a confusing riddle about long-forgotten memories in his wake.
So what’s a lady to do when she can’t hunt down her traitorous lover? She concentrates on a royal assignment instead. Queen Charlotte has tasked Petra with attending an event at the Asylum for Female Orphans and making inquiries surrounding the death of the orphanage’s matron. What’s more, there may be a link between the matron’s death and a group of radicals with ties to the aristocracy, as evidenced by an intercepted letter.
Then, Petra overhears a nefarious conversation with two other men about a plot to topple the monarchy, set to take place during three days of celebrations currently gripping London.
As the clock counts down and London’s streets teem with revelers, Petra’s nerves are fraying as her past and present collide. Yet while all’s fair in love and war, she can never surrender, especially when more orphaned girls may be in trouble. And to save their lives, the monarchy itself, and even her own heart, Lady Petra must face her fears with the strength of an army of soldiers and fight with the heart of a queen. -
Misery Hates Company
A young woman is invited to a mysterious relative’s estate and winds up entangled in a murder investigation in this witty historical mystery that pits the gothic eeriness of Crimson Peak against the comic absurdities of Knives Out.
Miss Marigold Manners may be steeped in the etiquette of her old-money Boston family, but she is also an accomplished, modern woman and an avid student of archaeology who can handle any situation with poise. When the death of her parents leaves her too destitute to pursue her academic career and she receives a letter from a distant relative on Great Misery Island, Marigold decides she must do what any person of superior sense and greater-than-average curiosity would: she mounts her trusty bicycle and heads up the craggy, fog-shrouded coast of New England for a date with fate.
Marigold arrives at Hatchet Farm, a moldering, gothic pile of a house inhabited by relatives so mired in the sins of the past, they have no future. She sets out to modernize the recluses with a brisk, ruthless efficiency, but her well-intentioned plans to manage their lives lead to malice—and murder. Marigold spies a body floating in the stormy waters surrounding the island, and her suspicions immediately turn to her hostile, weapon-wielding relatives when one of the local girls turns up missing. And she might not be the only one.
When another dead body is found in the garden of the estate, Marigold finds herself accused. She must enlist the help of an eccentric, colorful cast of friends and found family to save herself—and everything she holds dear. As secrets are uncovered and lies exposed, the question of “who done it?” turns into “who didn’t do it?” and Marigold must face a truth that shatters her steely poise and shakes her very sense of self. -
The Gardener's Plot
A woman helps set up a community garden in the Berkshires, only to find a body in one of the plots on opening day.
After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.
When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots... and there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.
The Gardener’s Plot takes readers to the heart of the Berkshires and introduces amateur sleuth Maggie Walker in Deborah J. Benoit’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut. -
The Author's Guide to Murder
"A pure delight from start to finish! Williams, White and Willig are in top form in this clever, engrossing whodunnit with a heart." --Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of The New Couple in 5B
Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.
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 literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.
The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky 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 together, 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? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?
A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance--this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it!
-
Murder in Highbury
First in a captivating new series, Jane Austen’s Emma Knightley entertains a different role in Highbury—going from clever matchmaker to Regency England’s shrewdest sleuth.
"Clever and charming, Vanessa Kelly brings Austen’s world in Highbury village to life with beloved characters, twisty hijinks, and a mystery that will keep you guessing." —Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Hidden Books
Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father’s health . . .
But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley’s tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar’s wife, has been discarded on the altar steps—the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck . . .
As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn’t simply who committed the crime, but who wasn’t secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman’s demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma—armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections—realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight.
“Brimming with all the wit and charm one can expect from a visit to Jane Austen’s world...the sequel we formerly could merely long for and imagine.” —Christina Dodd, New York Times bestselling author -
Murder Takes the Stage
In this delightful historical mystery, Phyllida Bright—amateur sleuth and Agatha Christie’s esteemed housekeeper—discovers a killer stalking the stages of London’s illustrious theaters.
Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm.
When a man named Archibald Allston is found dead in an armchair onstage at the Adelphi Theater, first impressions are that he died of natural causes. But the very next day, the unlucky actor playing Benvolio at the Belmont Theater is found with his head bashed in. And when a third victim turns up, this time with double-C initials, the fatal pattern is impossible to ignore.
With panic erupting among theater folk—a superstitious bunch at the best of times—Phyllida steps up to help with the investigation. The murderer’s MO may be easy to read, but can Phyllida uncover the killer’s identity before the final curtain falls on another victim? -
The Little Lost Library
Big clues come in small packages as Miracle Books owner Nora Pennington and the Secret, Book, and Scone Society attempt to solve a series of murders connected to a bibliophile’s missing books in the latest cozy mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams . . .
When an elderly Miracle Springs resident, Lucille Wynter, arranges for Nora to deliver an order of books to her creepy, crumbling Southern Gothic mansion on the outskirts of town, Nora doesn’t expect to be invited in. An agoraphobe, Lucille doesn’t leave Wynter House. But when Lucille doesn’t come to the door to collect her books, Nora begins to worry.
Forcing her way into Lucille’s dilapidated home, Nora is shocked to find rooms bursting with books and a lifeless Lucille at the foot of her stairs. After reading a note left behind by Lucille, Nora wonders if her death was an accident. Did she fall or was she pushed by someone seeking a valuable item hidden within Wynter House? Lucille’s children are clearly confident the house contains something of value, because they hire Nora to sift through the piles of books.
Nora’s obsession with Lucille’s collection becomes cause for concern among her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society—she’s even neglecting her bookshop! But Nora does find something valuable deep inside Wynter House—a revelation about Lucille’s terrible past . . . and a secret worth a small fortune. But there’s someone who’d do anything to keep the truth buried amid the moldering tomes, and it’s up to Nora and her friends to track down a murderer before Wynter House’s lost library claims another victim . . . -
The Grey Wolf
The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.
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. -
The Treasure Hunters Club
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone meets The Goonies in The Treasure Hunters Club--a rollicking murder mystery set in a seaside town filled with pirate lore, family secrets, unforgiveable grudges, secret societies, and of course, a treasure lost to time.
WELCOME TO MAPLE BAY, NOVA SCOTIA
For nearly a century, people have ventured to the idyllic seaside town of Maple Bay in search of a legendary lost pirate treasure, but locals know there's more than just gold buried in the sand. As the paths of three strangers converge in Maple Bay, the truth is about to be blown wide open. But not before the bodies start to pile up.
Peter Barnett is rapidly approaching 40 with little to show for it when a mysterious letter invites him to Maple Bay and the mansion his estranged family has called home for generations.
Seventeen-year-old Dandy Feltzen is isolated and adrift following the death of her beloved grandfather, until his final request and a tantalizing clue sets her on a mission to solve the mystery he spent his entire life chasing.
Cass Jones has given up on her dream of being a successful author when an unexpected opportunity lands in her lap: a housesitting gig in remote Maple Bay, where she stumbles on the perfect subject matter for her breakout book--and the handsome sailor who might be just the person to help her research it.
Peter, Dandy and Cass have never met, but they're on a collision course with each other and the mystery that has defined Maple Bay for two centuries, and none of them are prepared for the shocking truths that may or may not still be buried there.
New Sci-Fi & Fantasy
-
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame
With an armored, oath-bound hero reminiscent of The Mandalorian and the Asian-inspired epic fantasy of She Who Became the Sun, Neon Yang’s Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a stunning queer novella about a dragon hunter finding home with a dragon queen.
Few know the true identity of the masked guildknight of Mithrandon.
She barely remembers herself.
The masked guildknight—Yeva—was thirteen when she killed her first dragon. With her gift revealed, she was shipped away to the imperial capital to train in the rare art of dragon-slaying. Now a legendary dragon hunter, she has never truly felt at home—nor removed her armor in public—since that fateful day all those years ago.
Yeva must now go to Quanbao, a fiercely independent and reclusive kingdom. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper, but instead loved and worshipped. It is rumored that there, they harbor a dragon behind their borders.
While Yeva searches for the dreaded beast, she is welcomed into the palace by Quanbao’s monarch, Lady Sookhee. Though wary of each other, Yeva is shocked to find herself slowly opening up to the beautiful, mysterious queen.
As they grow closer, Yeva longs to let Lady Sookhee see the person behind the armor, but she knows she must fulfill her purpose and slay the dragon. Ultimately, she must decide who—or what—she is willing to betray: her own heart, or the sacred duty that she has called home for so long. -
Don't Sleep with the Dead
From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don't Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.
“A vibrant and queer reinvention of F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age classic. . . . I was captivated from the first sentence.”―NPR on The Chosen and the Beautiful
Nick Carraway―paper soldier and novelist―has found a life and a living watching the mad magical spectacle of New York high society in the late thirties. He's good at watching, and he's even better at pretending: pretending to be straight, pretending to be human, pretending he's forgotten the events of that summer in 1922.
On the eve of the second World War, however, Nick learns that someone's been watching him pretend and that memory goes both ways. When he sees a familiar face one very dark night, it quickly becomes clear that dead or not, damned or not, Jay Gatsby isn't done with him.
In all paper there is memory, and Nick's ghost has come home. -
The Book That Held Her Heart
Two people once connected by a vast and mysterious library are now separated and must overcome time and distance to reunite and bring peace to their worlds, in the final book of the Library Trilogy.
The fate of an infinite library hangs on one book, a book that holds the power to break the unbreakable. In the face of such forces, fragile things like hearts, worlds, and even family seem certain to fail.
The people most vital to Livira are scattered across time and space—lost, divided into factions, in mortal peril. Somehow she must bring them together and resolve the unresolvable argument that fuels the library’s war.
The bond between Livira and Evar has stretched and stretched again. Can it hold at the end, when things fall apart? Can it unite them against impossible odds?
This is the last chapter, the final page. The end threatens and no one—not characters, readers, or even the author—will emerge unscathed. -
The Bones Beneath My Skin
A spine-tingling standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune—a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.
There's nothing more human than a broken heart.
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC.
With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not.
Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn't exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her. -
The Last One (Standard Edition)
"Romantasy readers won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough." —Publishers Weekly
"Masterful storytelling with a female protagonist worth rooting for." —#1 NYT bestselling author Rebecca Yarros
Explosive and enthralling romantasy debut from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall...
Thrown into a desolate land of sickness and unnatural beasts, Kai wakes in the woods with no idea who she is or how she got there. All she knows is that if she cannot reach the Sea of Devour, even this hellscape will get worse. But when she sees the village blacksmith fight invaders with unspeakable skill, she decides to accept his offer of help.
Too bad he’s as skilled at annoying her as he is at fighting.
As she searches for answers, Kai only finds more questions, especially regarding the blacksmith who can ignite her body like a flame, then douse it with ice in the next breath.
And no one is what—or who—they appear to be in the kingdom of Vinevridth, including the man whose secrets might be as deadly as the land itself. -
Throne of Secrets
Two rivals torn apart by a dark memory reunite on a deadly hunt--and in an irresistibly twisted fairy tale--in the next steamy standalone fantasy romance from New York Times bestselling sensation Kerri Maniscalco.
A wicked prince determined to save his kingdom.
Gabriel Axton--infamous as the Prince of Gluttony, the self-proclaimed rake of rakes--has always lived for indulgence: in delicious food, in tantalizing women, and most of all, in the thrill of the hunt, where his love of danger can take over. But when his favorite adventure takes a deadly turn, he realizes something is very wrong in his demon court. With the clock ticking, he must turn to the only one who might uncover the truth: a journalist he has spent a decade avoiding...
A reporter hell-bent on finding the truth.
Adriana Saint Lucent has been on the hunt for years--if she could just report something damning enough about that no-good scoundrel Gabriel Axton, she knows others would finally see the demon as she does. But she never expected to turn up a rumor too terrifying to be believed: could the ice dragons to the north be growing restless? Drawn into the secrets of the Underworld, Adriana's investigation leads her into the place she dreads most...Axton's infamous court.
A dangerous rivalry--and deliciously twisted fairy tale.
To stop darkness from falling over their kingdom, Axton and Adriana will have to unite against an escalating danger. But with each holding tight to their own secrets, can they find the truth before it's too late? And what will they do with an equally troubling rumor: that they might not actually hate one another, after all? -
Buried Deep and Other Stories
A thrilling collection of thirteen short stories that span the worlds of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance trilogy, including a sneak peek at the land where her next novel will be set.
From the dragon-filled Temeraire series and the gothic magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy, through the realms next door to Spinning Silver and Uprooted, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Here, among many others, we encounter:
• A mushroom witch who learns that sometimes the worst thing in the Scholomance can be your roommate.
• The start of the Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg and bonds with the hatchling.
• A young bride in the Middle Ages who finds herself gambling with Death for the highest of stakes.
• A delightful reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.
• The first glimpse of the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.
Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise. -
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Hope is the thing with feathers. And hope is the thing with fire.
Featuring gorgeous golden yellow sprayed edges! Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade.
A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.
Arthur Parnassus lives a good life, built on the ashes of a bad one. He’s the headmaster of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six magical and so-called dangerous children who live there.
Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. And he is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth; Zoe Chapelwhite, the island’s sprite; and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.
But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.
And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.
Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.
Most Anticipated from Goodreads, Paste, Polygon, BookBub, and more. -
She Who Knows
Amazon Editors' Pick - August 2024
Gizmodo's New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books Releasing in August
Screenrant #1 Most Anticipated Book in Sci-fi Coming Out in August
⭐ "Readers will devour this." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
⭐ "While this book may be short, its impact is anything but small." —Kirkus (starred review)
Part science fiction, part fantasy, and entirely infused with West African culture and spirituality, this novella offers an intimate glimpse into the life of a teenager whose coming of age will herald a new age for her world. Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, this is the first in the She Who Knows trilogy
When there is a call, there is often a response.
Najeeba knows.
She has had The Call. But how can a 13-year-old girl have the Call? Only men and boys experience the annual call to the Salt Roads. What’s just happened to Najeeba has never happened in the history of her village. But it’s not a terrible thing, just strange. So when she leaves with her father and brothers to mine salt at the Dead Lake, there’s neither fanfare nor protest. For Najeeba, it’s a dream come true: travel by camel, open skies, and a chance to see a spectacular place she’s only heard about. However, there must have been something to the rule, because Najeeba’s presence on the road changes everything and her family will never be the same.
Small, intimate, up close, and deceptively quiet, this is the beginning of the Kponyungo Sorceress. -
The Lost Story
Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
“This is the book you’ve been waiting for.”—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.
Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.
Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.
Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
Romance & Heartfelt
-
Passion Project
“Passion Project will charm your pants off and carve itself a permanent place in your heart. Full of deep emotion and top-tier banter, this authentic, affectionate slow burn is absolutely worth the wait.” —Laura Hankin, author of One-Star Romance
“Not only a sparkling romantic comedy, but a thoughtful look at navigating grief and the hopefulness of opening yourself to new possibilities. Bennet is messy and relatable, and her chemistry with Henry is delicious, crackling, and immediate.” —Trish Doller, internationally bestselling author of Float Plan
If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.
When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.
As their “passion project” continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness. -
The Geographer's Map to Romance
Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.
Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.
Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either—except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They’ve been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn’t stopped him from stoically pining for her.
When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of Britain, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there's no navigational guide for the geography of the heart. -
A Five-Letter Word for Love
A heartwarming and humorous romance in which an unlikely couple fall in love over Wordle.
Twenty-seven-year-old Emily doesn't have a lot going well in her life right now. She dreams of a creative career but works as a receptionist in an auto shop. She longs for big city life but lives in a small town on Prince Edward Island. She craves a close group of friends but is stuck with irritating, car-obsessed coworkers.
What Emily does have is a 300+ day streak on the New York Times Wordle. But one day, with only one guess left and no clue what the answer is, she's forced to turn to one of her irritating, car-obsessed coworkers, John, for help--and in doing so, realizes that he might not be so irritating after all.
As they make their way, word by word, toward a 365-day streak, Emily is drawn into a surprising romance that will take her outside of her comfort zone--and challenge everything she thought she knew about happiness, success, and love.
-
The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right
When a young woman trades places with her noble cousin, their innocent ruse leads to true love in this sparkling new Regency-era romantic comedy of manners from the author of Mr. Malcolm’s List.
When Arabella Grant’s wicked aunt dies suddenly, both Arabella and her cousin Lady Isabelle cannot help but feel relieved. She’d made their lives miserable, and now Lady Issie is free to read to her heart’s content, and Bella is free from taunts about her ignoble birth.
Their newfound freedom is threatened, however, when Issie’s great-aunt commands her to travel to London for a come-out Issie has never wanted. Issie, who is in poor health, is convinced she’ll drop dead like her mother did if she drops into a curtsy before the queen. So when her great-aunt turns out to be nearsighted and can’t tell the noble Lady Isabelle from her commoner cousin Arabella, Issie convinces Bella to take her place. Bella can attend all the exclusive entertainments that her lower birth would typically exclude her from, and Issie can stay in bed, her nose in a book.
Bella agrees to the scheme for her cousin’s sake, but matters turn complicated when she meets the irresistible Lord Brooke. He begins courting her while under the impression she’s the rich and aristocratic Lady Isabelle, who, unlike Bella, is a suitable bride for an eligible young earl. And Bella, who is convinced that she has met “Lord Right,” worries what will happen when she reveals that he’s actually fallen for…the wrong lady. -
Is She Really Going Out with Him?
A LibraryReads Pick
A hilarious love story about a disillusioned divorcée who agrees to let her children play matchmaker.
Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.
From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love? -
Pickleballers
A pickleball newbie looking to recover from life’s swings and misses crosses paddles with love in this debut romantic comedy.
Meg Bloomberg is in a pickle. When Meg’s ex turns out to be a total player, 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. -
Sleeping with the Frenemy
"Irresistible... A vibrant second-chance love story about repairing community and romantic connection." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on A Dish Best Served Hot
The third book in the riotously funny Vega Family Love Stories finds self-assured firefighter Leo Vega trying to reignite the embers of a love gone cold.
Leo Vega's love life has been on life support since long before the gunshot wound that put him on leave from the fire department. Now, a year after his injury, he's hoping to both return to work and fix things with Sofi, the woman he's had a secret on-again, off-again relationship with for years.
Sofia Santana may be ready to mend fences with her best friend, Leo's sister, but she has no plans of letting Leo back into her bed or her heart. She's charting a new path for her future, and past mistakes have no place in it. Then circumstances push Sofi and Leo into a tense roommate situation. It's almost impossible to move on when Leo is there, reminding her what they had, every day.
With the help of Leo's mischievous grandfather, Sofi's equally devious grandmother and an adorably sweet rescue dog, Leo's determined to get the stubborn woman of his dreams to finally see that they belong together--for good this time.
Vega Family Love Stories
Book 1: A Proposal They Can't Refuse
Book 2: A Dish Best Served Hot
Book 3: Sleeping with the Frenemy -
Marriage & Masti
The third and final installment in Nisha Sharma's beloved Shakespeare-inspired rom-com trilogy--an ode to Twelfth Night--is the perfect friends to lovers romp featuring an accidental wedding, meddling families, and plenty of sizzling chemistry.
Veera Mathur has been through a lot in the past year. Both of her friends found soul mates, the man she fell in love with got engaged to another woman, and her father fired her before selling the family company. When her twin sister, Sana, tells her there is no way of getting her old life back, Veera feels lost at sea: a single, unemployed mess with a bad tattoo and tons of talent, but nowhere to go.
Deepak Datta hasn't had the best luck either. To secure enough board votes for the CEO position at his family's company, Illyria Media, he's ready to marry board member and famous beauty influencer, Olivia Gupta. That is until he wakes up to a get ready with me video announcing their separation. Despite his immediate relief, Deepak needs to do something fast to repair his image.
After a series of convenient mishaps bring them together again--including a literal shipwreck, way too many drinks, and a sunset elopement on the beach--Deepak and Veera realize their accidental wedding might be the solution to their career aspirations. Together, they plot against the very company that ruined their lives in the first place.
As they try to convince the world their friendship was a ruse for romance they've felt all along, the line between fake and real begins to blur. Now Veera and Deepak must ask themselves the terrifying question that has haunted them since the first time they met: will love ruin everything?
With her signature humor and heartfelt storytelling, Nisha Sharma writes a messy, spicy romance about identity, family honor, and love. In Marriage & Masti, readers are sure to love the highly anticipated finale of this beloved trilogy.
-
One Year Ago in Spain
“An utterly romantic story about second chances and the power of love.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood
A woman must woo her lover’s soul back into his body to wake him from a coma—or risk losing him forever—in this moving novel from the author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet.
Claire Walker has always had her life in perfect order, including her high-powered job at one of Manhattan’s top corporate law firms. Yet the one thing she cannot seem to find is a perfect love to complete it, until fate pushes Matías de León into her path. Matías is a Spanish artist who is everything that Claire is not: free-spirited and creative, chaos to her order. She falls for him, hard—and he for her.
A year later, however, Claire begins to question everything about their relationship. How can they possibly work long-term when they’re so different? Might it be best to end it before they are both in too deep?
Then tragedy strikes while Matías is visiting family, leaving him gravely wounded in a Madrid hospital. And when Claire drops everything to race to his side, she finds she is the only one who can see and talk to Matías’s soul, detached from his comatose body. But that soul has no memories of his year in New York, of her, or of their relationship. Claire soon realizes that in order to lure Matías back to his body, she will have to convince him to fall in love with her all over again. But can lightning strike twice? Can the same magic that brought them together once do so again? -
The Truth According to Ember
A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this witty and irresistible rom-com by debut author Danica Nava.
Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative” listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).
Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything. -
Let the Games Begin
Set against a sizzling-hot Greek summer filled with sunshine and souvlaki, Rufaro Faith Mazarura’s Let the Games Begin is a page-turning debut rom-com about two strangers at the top of their game.
"A debut deserving of a gold medal." —Kirkus (starred review)
"A radiant, joyful debut novel with a particularly fun setting." —ELLE
Athens, 2024. Olivia Nkomo has always been ambitious, smart, and an overall go-getter. Now that she’s graduated from university, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to land her dream job at the Summer Games. The first step? Securing her new internship, which will put her in the center of all the action, where she hopes to run into some of her favorite athletes.
Ezekiel “Zeke” Moyo, the heartthrob star runner of Team Great Britain, is more than ready to claim his title as the fastest man in the world, following in the footsteps of the greatest athletes of all time. His future to the finish line is looking bright—despite his recent breakup with celebrated gymnast Valentina Ross-Rodriguez constantly making headlines.
When Olivia and Zeke collide—literally—on the first day of training, sparks fly. As the games grow closer, so do Olivia and Zeke. But the competition starts stirring up uncomfortable memories from Zeke’s past . . . and Olivia’s internship doesn’t turn out to be what she expected. Will they be able to overcome these hurdles and achieve their dreams? Or will it come at the cost of their budding romance? -
The Rom-Commers
Featuring beautiful spray-painted edges with vibrant designed endpapers.
The New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center's next laugh out loud, feel good rom-com about writing your own story.
She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true? -
Summer Romance
“A BINGEABLE FIVE-STAR READ.” —ABBY JIMENEZ, New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly
The romantic and hilarious story of a professional organizer whose life is a mess, and the summer she gets unstuck with the help of someone unexpected from her past, by the bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script.
“I loved it—brims with heart, wit, and longing.” — CARLEY FORTUNE, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.
Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her...by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there? -
A Cyclist's Guide to Crime & Croissants
Vicariously tour the sundrenched Mediterranean Coast in this perfectly escapist new cozy mystery series starring American expat-turned-bike tour company owner in Southern France.
Perfect for fans of Donna Leon’s The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, M.L. Longworth’s Provençal Mystery series, and armchair travel!
Nine months ago, Sadie Greene shocked friends and family by ditching her sensible office job in the Chicago suburbs and buying a sight-unseen French bicycling tour company, Oui Cycle. Now she’s living the unconventional life of her dreams in the gorgeous village of Sans-Souci-sur-Mer. Sans souci means carefree, but Sadie feels enough pressure to burst a tire when hometown friends arrive for a tour, including her former boss, Dom Appleton. Sadie is determined to show them the wonders of France and cycling—and to prove she made the right move.
She hopes her meticulously planned nine-day itinerary will win them over, with its stunning seascapes, delicious wine tastings, hilltop villages, and, of course, frequent stops for croissants. When Dom drags his heels on fun, Sadie vows he’ll enjoy if it kills her. That is, until Dom ends up dead. The tragedy was no accident. Someone went out of their way to bring a permanent end to Dom’s vacation.
As more crimes—and murder—roll in, suspicions hover over Oui Cycle. To save her dream business, help her friends, and bring justice, Sadie launches her own investigation. However, mysteries mount with every turn. On an uphill battle for clues, can Sadie come to terms with her painful past while spinning closer to the truth—or will a twisted killer put the brakes on her for good? -
Love at First Book
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. -
You Should Be So Lucky
An emotional, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, queer mid-century romance for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over, about grief and found family, between the new star shortstop stuck in a batting slump and the reporter assigned to (reluctantly) cover his first season--set in the same universe as We Could Be So Good.
The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O'Leary's life. He can't manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he's living out of a suitcase, and he's homesick. When the team's owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he's ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he's already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.
Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he's barely even managing to do that much. He's had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he'd never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York's obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.
Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he'll never be someone's secret ever again, and Eddie can't be out as a professional athlete. It's just them against the world, and they'll both have to decide if that's enough.
-
Mistakes We Never Made
Bachelorette fan-favorite and New York Times bestselling author Hannah Brown delivers the perfect beach read with her fiction debut--"a fun, fast, epic rom-com" (Abby Jimenez, #1 New York Times bestselling author).
Emma Townsend can sum up her situationship with hot-as-hell romantic red flag Finn Hughes in one word: almost. They almost dated in high school. They almost hooked up after college. They almost took things too far one magical night. Their whole story is one series of "almosts" and "nearlys," and now they just kind of can't stand each other. Like, at all.
But this weekend, one of their mutuals is getting married . . . and Emma and Finn will have to pretend they don't remember how disastrous it was the last time they were in a room together.
Emma's doing a stellar job of playing it cool--until the bride goes missing. Now, with two days before the wedding, Emma and Finn are hitting the road in a sweet vintage sports car in hopes of salvaging someone else's happily-ever-after.
Yet somewhere between Emma's breakfast burrito throw down, a high-stakes kayak chase (it can happen), and an outrageous Vegas detour, these sworn enemies are crossing more than just state lines. As old feelings spark once more, Emma begins to question whether risking your heart is ever really a mistake.
-
The Library of Borrowed Hearts
A.J. Fikry meets The Bookish Life of Nina Hill in this charming, hilarious, and moving novel about the way books bring lonely souls together.
Two young lovers. Sixty long years. One bookish mystery worth solving.
Librarian Chloe Sampson has been struggling: to take care of her three younger siblings, to find herself, to make ends meet. She's just about at the end of her rope when she stumbles across a rare edition of a book from the 1960s at the local flea market. Deciding it's a sign of her luck turning, she takes it home with her--only to be shocked when her cranky hermit of a neighbor swoops in and offers to buy it for an exorbitant price. Intrigued, Chloe takes a closer look at the book only to find notes scribbled in the margins between two young lovers back when the book was new...one of whom is almost definitely Jasper Holmes, the curmudgeon next door.
When she begins following the clues left behind, she discovers this isn't the only old book in town filled with romantic marginalia. This kickstarts a literary scavenger hunt that Chloe is determined to see through to the end. What happened to the two tragic lovers who corresponded in the margins of so many different library books? And what does it have to do with the old, sad man next door--who only now has begun to open his home and heart to Chloe and her siblings?
In a romantic tale that spans the decades, Chloe discovers that there's much more to her grouchy old neighbor than meets the eye. And in allowing herself to accept the unexpected friendship he offers, she learns that some love stories begin in the unlikeliest of places.
-
King of Sloth
He'd never wanted anyone enough to chase them...until he met her.
Charming, easygoing, and rich beyond belief, Xavier Castillo has the world at his fingertips.
He also has no interest in taking over his family's empire (much to his father's chagrin), but that hasn't stopped women from throwing themselves at him...unless the woman in question is his publicist.
Nothing brings him more joy than riling her up, but when a tragedy forces them closer than ever, he must grapple with the uncertainty of his future--and the realization that the only person immune to his charms is the only one he truly wants.
***
Cool, intelligent, and ambitious, Sloane Kensington is a high-powered publicist who's used to dealing with difficult clients.
However, none infuriate--or tempt--her more than a certain billionaire heir, with his stupid dimples and laid-back attitude.
She may be forced to work with him, but she'll never fall for him...no matter how fast he makes her heart beat or how thoughtful he is beneath his party persona.
He's her client, and that's all he'll ever be. Right?
-
Happy Medium
"The perfect alchemy of romance, humor and quirky originality."—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year and The Good Part
"A sincere and sincerely funny romance."—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property's resident real-life ghost if she's to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash's Ashes.
Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she'd like to think she’s a beneficent one. So if "cleansing" the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who's she to say no?
Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn't the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that's had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.
Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen's strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she's beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.
“Sarah Adler nails the ultimate rom-com alchemy.”—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake
New Cookbooks
-
Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy: A Cookbook
120+ recipes for delicious, soul-warming comfort food . . . and getting it ready in a hurry—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Half Baked Harvest Every Day.
Colorful. Convenient. Comforting.
Mega-bestselling author Tieghan Gerard is busier than ever—always creating recipes, taking photographs, and collaborating with friends. In her fourth cookbook, she returns with a collection of more than 120 recipes that reflect the way she cooks now: simple ingredients, easy to get on the table, short on time yet big on flavor.
Having cooked for her large family from a young age, Tieghan loves the feeling of sharing great food—and now she wants to share that feeling with you. This collection leans into the comfort food she’s known for, but with an eye toward getting it ready in a hurry. With many recipes doable in one pot or pan, most in under forty-five minutes, and a more-is-more focus on flavor (but not ingredients), you’ll be feasting fast. Start your day with Maple Bacon Pancakes with Bourbon Maple Syrup, snack on Cheesy Roasted Shallot Bread, and make Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Bang Bang Sauce your family’s new favorite. Enjoy delicious twists like Sheet Pan Mac & Cheese with All the Crispy Edges, and, of course, finish it all off with something sweet, like a Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cake with Cream Cheese Icing.
Relying on basic ingredients and Tieghan’s signature knack for making sauces and dressings that you’ll want to double to keep on hand at all times, these recipes will make your meals feel like a warm hug. If you’ve ever needed a belly full of comfort and a plate bursting with fresh, unexpected flavors—and wanted it all right now—Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy is for you. -
Italian American Forever
120 go-to Italian American favorites for all the red-sauced, pan-fried, crispy-cornered, baked-until-bubbly comforting classics you’ll want to eat every night.
Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli may be a French-trained chef, an Iron Chef, and a short-order-chef to her daughter, Ava, but at her core, she’s an Italian American home cook. Her mom’s heritage was Sicilian and her dad’s people were from Bari; she pledged allegiance to her father’s marinara on weekdays and to her mom’s on the weekend and grew up eating at many of the red-checked-tablecloth trattorias throughout New York City. She still stops in to chitchat with the shop owners in Little Italy, where she buys the milkiest fresh mozz, the most thinly sliced prosciutto, and the crunchiest biscotti.
These are the recipes that are favorites for so many of us, whether your family is from Italy or not. From Fettuccine Alfredo, Whole Chicken alla Diavola, and Carmella Soprano’s Lasagna (yes, that Carmella Soprano) to Stuffed Artichokes so big and bursting that they’re a main course unto themselves, these 120 recipes and 115 stunning photos are a celebration of garlic and tomatoes, Parmesan, pesto, and all the meatballs, sausages, and tiramisu in between. There are both simple weeknight suppers and slowly simmered Sunday sauces, and they represent the food we make to celebrate, commiserate, and just to be—it’s Italian, it’s American, it’s all of us. -
Life's Sweetest Moments
From legendary and award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel, a baking book of more than 40 simple dessert recipes paired with heartwarming stories celebrating life's sweetest moments.
It's been more than 10 years since Chef Dominique Ansel opened the doors to his eponymous bakery and took the world by storm with the Cronut(R). Along the way he's discovered that behind every dessert, there's not just a recipe, but a story to share. From marriage proposals over a cup of hot chocolate, to the many first dates in the line outside his bakery, Ansel has come to realize that when there is pastry, there is a special moment behind it.
In Life's Sweetest Moments, you'll find 42 heartwarming and uplifting stories of Chef Dominique's loved ones and regulars, paired with simple, achievable, but no less indulgent recipes for desserts and baked goods perfect for home bakers of all levels, including:
- Crème BrûléeHazelnut CakeEarl Grey French Toast with Orange Blossom Maple SyrupThe Ultimate CookieCinnamon Rolls with Maple Mascarpone IcingTiramisuHot Chocolate with Pink Champagne MarshmallowsVanilla Bean Birthday Cake with Homemade Sprinkles
In this charming and beautiful book, the most accessible of Ansel's to date, you'll discover moving stories--like that of the two regulars, one an older woman who visited the bakery to buy a financier for her husband every morning, and the other an older man who every evening purchased after-dinner dessert tarts for his wife. It took years for Chef Dominique to realize they were, in fact, married to each other. When they requested a special dessert to celebrate their wedding anniversary, Chef Dominique combined their regular orders and created a Strawberry & Financier Fruit Tart.
Even when there's no grand occasion or a specific holiday--you can sprinkle in a little bit of love to the day with Life's Sweetest Moments, just because.
-
Does This Taste Funny?
Stephen and Evie Colbert invite you to pull up a chair as they share their favorite recipes from family and friends and offer a glimpse of food and fun in their South Carolina home.
“Hopefully reading this book and cooking these recipes will feel like hanging out with us at home. We basically live in the kitchen anyway.” —Evie and Stephen Colbert
As Evie and Stephen explain it, Does This Taste Funny? had its beginnings in the Covid lockdown. “We were all stuck together and couldn’t go out, so we cooked. We had all three kids back under one roof for the first time in a long time, and we had dinner each night as a family. Cooking together became a major source of entertainment.”
Now, the Colberts invite us into their kitchen and around their dining room table. Sharing Stephen and Evie’s favorite recipes, as well as those of their family and friends, this book offers everything from Party Food (called “party food” because “appetizers” implies something to follow when we all know that, often, this is the only course), to Seafood, to Poultry and Meat (“Evie and I have different relationships to meat. I like it. Evie can take it or leave it, and mostly she leaves it.”), to Desserts (“This is one of the largest sections of the book. Evie always reminds me that desserts are a great way to postpone clearing up.”), to Drinks (“I love cocktail hour. It feels like a reward for having gone so long without a cocktail”), all tied together with playful dialogue between Stephen and Evie and gorgeous shots of their food, family, and home. -
Dac Biet
A collection of contemporary, extra-special Vietnamese recipes, from beloved classics like Hanoi-Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and three variations of phở, to dishes with a New Orleans twist, like Southeast Asian Jambalaya and Sticky Fried Shrimp Bánh Mì—from Top Chef contestant and acclaimed chef Nini Nguyen
In Vietnamese culture, to be dac biet is to be special and luxurious, or, as chef and cooking instructor Nini Nguyen puts it, it means adding something a little extra, like salty caviar on top of squid-stuffed pork, a surprise note of ginger and lime in a dipping sauce, or sautéing shaking beef in farm-fresh butter for a creamy, delectable experience. Born and raised in New Orleans by Vietnamese immigrants, here Nini gives us recipes that fuse the best of Vietnamese and New Orleans cooking and clear directions on how to prepare and arrange them, making for a flavorful, unforgettable experience that proves that being a little extra is easy and just right.
Dac Biet includes one hundred delicious and vibrant recipes that celebrate the essential flavors of Vietnam—salty, sour, bitter, spicy, and sweet—and the bright and perfectly balanced dishes they create. Here are recipes for:
*Charbroiled Oysters in Chili Butter * Viet-Cajun Seafood Boil * Phở with Everything * Crispy Fish Sauce–Caramel Chicken Wings * Broken Rice with Pork Chops and Eggs * Crispy Noodles Covered in a Saucy Stir-Fry * BBQ Pork Ribs Glazed with Roasted Nước Mắm Sauce *Coconut Crispy Rice Crepes * and many more -
Jang
In the first book on the subject in English, South Korea's best chef shows readers how to cook with jangs--the sauces that are the essential building blocks of all Korean cuisine. In the 60 home-cook-friendly dishes, he demystifies jangs while showing how they can be used to make both Korean and Western dishes more delicious. * Named a Best New Cookbook of Spring 2024 by Eater and Epicurious
Like butter in French cooking or olive oil in Italian, jangs are the soul of Korean cuisine. These umami sauces are found in every meal, from soups and stews, to salads, marinades, and even desserts, adding depth and complexity to every dish. The foundation of the three main jangs--gochujang, doenjang, or ganjang--is simple. Soybeans, water, and salt are dried, aged, and fermented in earthenware pots, extracting flavor from their environment and slowly blossoming into intensely flavored jangs. Few understand these ingredients better than chef Mingoo Kang, who has dedicated his Seoul restaurant to the exploration of jangs. In his first cookbook, Kang expertly weaves jangs' history and methods into 60 accessible recipes to bring the sauces to life. Dishes like Fish Dumplings and Gang-Doenjang Bibimbap showcase the sauces' traditional Korean roots, while Western-inspired recipes like Doenjang Crème Brulee and Ssamjang Cacio e Pepe reinvent favorite meals. Through artisan profiles, sidebars, and step-by-step photographs, Jang uncovers one of the culinary world's best-hidden secrets. -
Koreaworld: A Cookbook
A vibrant exploration of Korean cuisine, both in Korea and in Koreatowns around the globe, with more than 75 bold, flavor-packed recipes and stunning photography from the New York Times bestselling authors of Koreatown.
“A whirlwind introduction to a whole new world of food and an entirely new perspective on Korean cooking.”—Ruth Reichl, journalist and author of The Paris Novel
Join chef Deuki Hong and journalist Matt Rodbard as they take an insider’s look at the exciting evolution of Korean food through stories of chefs and home cooks, as well as recipes that are shaping modern Korean cuisine, including sweet-spicy barbecue, creative rice and seafood dishes, flavor-bombed stews, and KPOP-fueled street food.
In Koreatown, Deuki and Matt explored the foods of Korean American communities across the United States. Now with Koreaworld, they show how Korean cuisine today is nothing less than an international culinary revolution, from the ancient plant-based cooking of famed Buddhist monk-chefs to modern charred-greens rice rolls and pork-stuffed fried peppers.
Koreaworld takes readers into the bustling metropolis of Seoul, where the modern-day barbecue scene is pushing into new territory with recipes like Smoked Giant Short Ribs cooked over hay and where the city’s third-wave coffee culture is exploding. Deuki and Matt also visit Jeju Island, where seafood dishes like Jeju Whole Fried Smashed Rock Fish rule supreme, and they explore the plant-based temple cuisine found in the rural province of Jeolla-do, with dishes such as Cold Broccoli Salad with Ssamjang Mayo. The tour continues with late-night food adventures in Los Angeles and stops in the kitchens of innovative chefs from New York City to Portland who are putting modern spins on Korean classics with dishes like Rice and Ginseng–Stuffed Roast Chicken, Grilled Kimchi Wedge Salad, Kkaennip Pesto, and Pineapple Kimchi Fried Rice. Filled with recipes, stories, and conversations of Korean food’s global evolution, Koreaworld is essential reading for anyone curious about the future of food.