December 30th Book Releases

A homecoming to Rome, Kentucky, sparks a new romance—and lots of drama—between two old family friends, from the New York Times bestselling author of When in Rome, Practice Makes Perfect, and Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Madison Walker left Rome, Kentucky, determined to prove she could make it in the culinary world. But after years of chasing success in New York, all she has to show for it is a shattered confidence and a desperate need for a fresh start. Coming home isn’t part of the plan—until an unexpected job offer lands in her lap, giving her a chance to rebuild everything she’s lost: the head chef position at a new farm-to-table restaurant in her hometown. The only catch? It comes from James Huxley, owner of Huxley Farm, her brother’s best friend . . . and the last person she wants to work for.

James has always played it safe, keeping his head down and doing what’s expected of him in the family business and never contemplating anything different—until now when Madison’s happiness is on the line. He’s loved her quietly for years, knowing she’s never seen him as more than an annoyance. Now that she’s back, he’s determined to change that–even if it means he can only ever be her friend. The one problem? His charming, wildly successful younger brother, Tommy, seems determined to win her over first.

Then Tommy is called away on business and Madison and James are tasked with launching the dreamy farm-to-table restaurant on their own. But as the town starts meddling in their relationship, Tommy’s pursuit of Madison grows more relentless, and Madison’s fears threaten to hold her back, keeping things strictly professional becomes impossible. And when an unexpected disaster on opening night collides with a long-simmering sibling feud, both Madison and James will have to face their biggest insecurities—and decide if love is worth the risk or if some dreams are safer left untouched.

From the bestselling author of the Kingdom of Lies series comes a slow-burn romantasy set in a Roman-inspired world ruled by merciless vampires. Filled with breathtaking combat, vengeful gods, and magical creatures, We Who Will Die is the epic first installment in an enthralling new series perfect for fans of Carissa Broadbent, Jasmine Mas, and Rebecca Yarros.

Life in the perilous Thorn district is a constant battle for Arvelle and her younger brothers. And the vampire standing on her doorstep is about to turn their world upside down.

Faced with an unthinkable choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to do the impossible: kill the emperor, an ancient vampire created by the god Umbros. But first, she must enter the Sundering—an arena where only the fastest, strongest, and deadliest survive long enough to be selected for the emperor’s elite guard.

She quickly draws the ire of the Primus, the powerful figure charged with protecting the emperor. But the vampire under the armor is the last person Arvelle expects to encounter in the emperor’s court.

With her brothers’ lives in the balance, Arvelle has no choice but to ally with the man who once shattered her heart… and with the emperor’s sadistic son, Rorrik—two vampires whose motives are impossible to pin down. Rorrik holds the key to understanding the powers Arvelle is developing—abilities that would put a price on her head if discovered by the emperor.

To survive the arena and complete her mission, Arvelle must get to the bottom of a conspiracy that will change everything she thought she knew about herself—and the two vampires who are deeply entwined with her destiny…

A modern-day dark academia fantasy with a twist, perfect for fans of Babel and A Deadly Education.

Warren University has stood amongst the ivy elite for centuries, built on the bones―and forbidden magic―of its most prized BIPOC students…hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way.

Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister.

Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can’t convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.

Discover the new compelling novel from Sunday Times bestselling thriller writer, James Patterson…

My name is Elinor Gilbert. And I am the Invisible Woman.

No, not the kind who can walk through walls, or make a deck of cards look like it’s shuffling itself. The other kind, facing uncertainty in middle age.

Once a top FBI agent, Elinor had faded into obscurity, her past mistakes casting long shadows. But when a call from her former boss offers a shot at redemption, she can’t resist. Her infiltrate the opulent world of a New York art dealer suspected of laundering money for a notorious drug cartel.

Suddenly disguised as a grandmotherly nanny, nothing can prepare Elinor for what she encounters behind closed doors of his brownstone family home.

Surveillance is second nature. Babysitting is not.

But as the risks increase and dark secrets are unveiled, she also develops an unexpected love for the young charges she’s hired to protect.

Can she betray the trust of those who have come to depend on her to get the job done?

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PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON

‘It’s no mystery why James Patterson is the world’s most popular thriller writer … Simply nobody does it better.’ JEFFERY DEAVER

‘No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent – which is what Jim has, in spades.’ LEE CHILD

‘Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It’s what fires off the movie projector in the reader’s mind.’ MICHAEL CONNELLY

‘James Patterson is The Boss. End of.’ IAN RANKIN

‘The master storyteller of our times’ HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

‘One of the greatest storytellers of all time’ PATRICIA CORNWELL

Welcome to the idyllic yet eccentric retirement community of The Ocean’s Edge—where retirement has never felt so deadly.

Disco is dead, there’s a serial killer on the loose, the coffin dodgers are solving cold cases, and only the neighborhood cat knows where all the proverbial bodies are buried.

When sharp-tongued sugar heiress Diana is ousted from the empire she helped build, she retreats to a posh 55+ paradise expecting peace, maybe even a pool boy. Instead, she finds a ragtag group of retirees with a knack for solving cold cases—and a disturbing knack for attracting new ones. She quickly finds herself entangled with this quirky yet capable team of senior sleuths: a psychic, tarot-reading twin duo, a retired detective, a conspiracy-minded tech guru, and a nurse who might just talk to animals.

Among tarot cards, a talking cat, and dark web dives, this misfit crew uncovers more than just bingo night secrets. Because in a place this sunny, the shadows run deep, and someone at The Ocean’s Edge has blood on their hands.
As the group begins investigating cold cases, darker truths emerge, uncovering clues that tie back to mysterious pasts, hidden traumas, and residents with more secrets than memories.

Hilarious, heartwarming, and deliciously twisted, The Retirees is a witty, tightly woven, charming, cozy mystery that reminds us it’s never too late for redemption, reinvention, or revenge—and that sometimes the most unexpected heroes come with walkers, wisdom, and wildly colorful personalities.

A larger-than-life new biography of country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton.

In Ain’t Nobody’s The Life and Times of Dolly Parton, Martha Ackmann chronicles the life of an American Original. From her impoverished childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Dolly Parton has exceeded everyone’s expectations except her own. During a time when the Beatles set the standard for contemporary music, Dolly appeared on a local country music television show that her high school classmates thought was pure cornpone. The day after her high school graduation, she boarded a bus for Nashville, but record executives turned her down. One said her voice sounded like a screech owl.

When Dolly finally got her foot in the door, her talent and focus catapulted her to the top of country charts, the pop world, and movie stardom. Yet her success came at a price. Shunned by many in Nashville who saw her ambition as a betrayal of her country music roots, Dolly became the target of death threats, lawsuits, and a judge who threatened to throw her in jail. She nearly collapsed on-stage and later succumbed to depression that pushed her to the brink, but she refused to be counted out and came back stronger than ever developing Dollywood, the amusement park that became the economic engine of East Tennessee, and founding the Imagination Library that provides free books to children around the world. Her philanthropy to health organizations led to creation of the Moderna COVID vaccine. And, finally, she returned to her roots, recording bluegrass albums that became the most celebrated of her unparalleled 60-year career.

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool is a deep dive into the social, historical, and personal forces that made Dolly Parton one of the most beloved and unifying figures in public life and includes interviews with friends, family members, school mates, Nashville neighbors, members of her band, studio musicians, producers, and many others. It also features never before seen photographs and unearthed documents shedding light on her family’s hardscrabble life. More than anything, Martha Ackmann’s fresh and animated new book proves Dolly Parton knows just who she is and she ain’t nobody’s fool.

FIRST SHE ROARED. THEN SHE RAGED. NOW IT’S TIME FOR HER REIGN.

Aurora Pavan wanted to change her world.

She wanted to protect her people, not because they paid taxes, but because they deserved to live without fear. She wanted Pavan to be a home that welcomed everyone–remnants, stormhunters, and witches included.

For the first time in her life, she did not dread the duty into which she was born. She wanted it.

Then she met him. The Stormlord–the man who wielded the same magic as she, but with the intent to destroy rather than save. The Aurora Pavan who came home from that confrontation was not the same girl that had braved the wildlands and joined a rebellion. She was no longer the girl who was ready to change the world, ready to rule.

But she’s the queen now all the same. And her kingdom needs her.

If only she can keep the new darkness inside her at bay.

The series that USA Today called “bright, electric, and imaginative” continues: Aurora Pavan rises to take her throne in this third installment of the Stormheart series by New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack.

A Japanese cultural historian shares a path to joyful living drawn from her nation’s unique approach to spirituality and nature, offering a blend of memoir, cultural reporting, and practical guidance for anyone struggling to find balance in our turbulent modern world.

Everyone’s in the pursuit of happiness, but few know how to attain it. Millions around the world have turned to Japan for advice on finding their Ikigai, or summoning The Courage to Be Disliked. Japan’s spiritual traditions hide in plain sight, forming the basis of so much of what we love about the country’s culture. Without Japan’s spiritual sustenance, Jiro wouldn’t dream of sushi; Hayao Miyazaki’s films wouldn’t spirit us away; and Marie Kondo wouldn’t spark joy.

In her book Eight Million Ways to Happiness, Hiroko Yoda offers the culmination of her decade-long odyssey into the spiritual heart of her homeland. Readers follow Hiroko as she trains as a Shinto shrine-dancer, partakes in Buddhist funeral rituals, ascends holy mountains with Shugendo ascetics, and meets one of Japan’s last living itako, a traditional mystic. Her stories—personal, cultural, and historical—offer life lessons for readers of any background.

Hiroko awakens readers to the idea of a traditional spiritual flexibility that seamlessly coexists with the modern secular world, fortifying us through life’s inevitable ups and downs. We are all subject to forces beyond our control, but we are also part of a bigger natural system that can strengthen us—if we learn how to reconnect with it.

Award-winning Colombian author Laura Restrepo weaves contemporary themes and ancient myth in this story of star-crossed lovers in a world on the brink of collapse.

Retelling the mythical love story between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon in the refugee camps of the present day, Song of Ancient Lovers is a sublime ode to love and desire as forces shaping human history, with power that rivals forces of destruction.

Ethereal in its weaving of the real and the mythical, the contemporary and the ancient, this is the story of Bos Mutas, a young writer traveling from South America to northern Africa in search of traces of his obsession. His research unveils the Queen of Sheba as unyielding and committed to her independence, with remarkable influence both in her time—over Solomon and all the subjects in her expansive kingdom—and on thinkers and artists across the centuries, from Thomas Aquinas to Gérard de Nerval, Frida Kahlo to Patti Smith. He also finds traces of her influence in the magic made of devastating circumstances by women he meets on his journey, especially Zahra Bayda, a Somali midwife who has taken it upon herself to show him around.

Stunning and evocative, Song of Ancient Lovers is a triumph of imagination and reverence for the spirit that connects us across boundaries of time and geography.

Translated from the Spanish by Caro De Robertis

A tea leaf reader in nineteenth-century England falls in love—and in danger—with a reclusive alchemist in an enthralling historical fantasy by the author of Salt & Broom and Grimm Curiosities.

Cornwall, 1854. The people of Roche have always whispered about the recluse in the black granite tower that looms above the moorland. But one young woman is driven to discover the truth behind the old tales.

Her life overshadowed by family tragedy, Mina Penrose escapes her lonely days by working at The Magpie, a cozy tearoom on the village’s edge. Lately she’s been seeing shapes in the sodden leaves that hint at the future. After one such omen, Mina stumbles upon a murdered man on the heath. Villagers immediately suspect Harker Tregarrick, a living, breathing mystery who never ventures beyond the bounds of his centuries-old estate.

Until the day after the murder, when the handsome and compelling recluse visits The Magpie…leading to a meeting that will change both their fates. Captivated by a man around whom danger and rumors of death swirl, Mina has never felt more alive. Can she uncover Harker’s heartbreaking history—and the truth about the murder—before tragedy strikes again?

From “the authority queer consumers need” (Daniel Reynolds, editor-in-chief of Out), Out magazine finance columnist Nick Wolny’s fun, witty, and practical step-by-step guide to personal finance—a life-changing roadmap to financial independence for queer people to secure their futures in a challenging world.

When Nick Wolny became a personal finance editor, he noticed how often typical money advice clashed with the exuberance of queer culture. Once he dug deeper, Nick identified why certain financial obstacles hit queer people harder—and how behaviors of seeking out acceptance can have a major impact on our hearts, minds, and wallets. In Money Proud, Nick shares his financial expertise through a lavender lens to help you construct your roadmap to financial independence and personal prosperity.

Written with smart humor and jam-packed with finance tips, Money Proud  includes:

-The only money map you’ll ever need to plan for your financial goals
-A guide for unlearning homophobic money advice you didn’t realize you internalized
-Simple ways to make more money and control spending, without dulling your lifestyle
-Investment strategies to build your legacy and make your money work smarter for you—today
-Practical, stylish PSAs on life’s many money-related to-dos, including how to make sense of your taxes, cultivate gayborhood-like community from anywhere, and create a purpose-driven and lucrative career

Honing in on the nuts and bolts of financial wellness, Money Proud includes illuminating data alongside powerful anecdotes from queer people who have successfully overcome their money obstacles. At a time when anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and queerphobic mudslinging dominate our culture, financial independence is the key to securing your future.

Living a life with pride means not only embracing who you are, but also cultivating practices that support who you want to become. And reading is fundamental!

Welcome to your brand-new wordplay obsession

From the creators of the hugely popular online puzzle platform, Minute Cryptic, comes this step-by-step guide to the fun and excitement of cryptic puzzles.

With over 160 different clues for you to solve, each chapter takes you through a different wordplay concept essential for unlocking cryptic crossword clues. As you complete the book, you’ll build your skills and combine what you’ve learned so far, so that, by the end, you’ll be able to take on the full cryptic crossword puzzle with total confidence.

This is a must-have games book for anyone who loves wordplay, brain training or simply some puzzling fun.

Give yourself a new challenge and step into the world of Minute Cryptic…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Devney Perry comes a gripping romance set in 1983 where a woman’s search for the truth about her father’s death entangles her with the small-town sheriff and a legend of lost Montana gold.

Living in Dalton, Montana was not what I had planned for this winter. But after my father’s sudden death, I uprooted my life to move into his tiny, lakeside cabin and settle his estate. My friends tell me to sell his place and move on. But this winter is my chance to say goodbye. To remember a man who’d loved tales of Montana lore.

Taking a temporary teaching job seemed like the perfect way to keep myself busy on lonely days. Cleaning out the cabin should have been simple. Except the more I learn about my father’s life, the more questions I have about his death.

The last thing I need is a crush on Sheriff Cosi Raynes. Not only is his son my student, but his life is rooted in Montana, while mine is headed . . . anywhere else.

Yet as I uncover a trail of strange clues Dad left behind about a lost legend of Montana gold, staying away from Cosi is not an option. Neither is denying the attraction between us. And my winter of healing becomes a race for answers.

I came to Montana to bury the past. Now I’m falling for the man who might just be my future. And either I’ll solve this mystery. Or the person in Dalton determined to hide the truth will make sure I die trying.

Sequel to A Touch of Gold and Madness, Book 2 in Celestials of Arcadia.

Hope is but a wicked torment.

A land steeped in tainted magic poisons the human world. Kinetics are hellbent on eliminating the Elementals. And the man who once swore to protect them is gone.

Still reeling from the events that transpired at the King’s Palace and Chrome’s devolution, Gray takes her place as the Elemental queen, guiding her people through the dangerous, magical land of Arcadia as they seek safety from the onslaught of Kinetic attacks. Desperate to find and restore Chrome to the man she fell in love with, Gray accepts the unlikely aid of someone she once thought dead, and a mysterious newcomer who should not exist at all.

As an Infernal, Chrome’s Kinetic and Elemental abilities have been replaced with shadows and death. Lacking everything that once kept him tethered to his loved ones, his existence has been narrowed down to a single cause: serve the ancient Tempest queen Celaena, who seeks to gain control of the magic fueling Arcadia. Yet, in his moments of lucidity, he recalls a more powerful desire: Gray, his queen.

And nothing will stop him from ensuring she rules in darkness at his side.

Don’t miss out on the thrilling and heart-wrenching sequel to the dark fantasy romance, A Touch of Gold and Madness. A Shade of Chrome and Malice features a morally black antihero, a resilient princess turned queen, and a world dripping in malice where hope might be everyone’s downfall.

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller The Anxious Generation, this new book for kids and tweens is a comprehensive guide for living a happy and exciting life that isn’t hijacked by a smartphone.

Jonathan Haidt’s blockbuster book, The Anxious Generation, has sparked a global conversation about the effects of smartphones and social media on young people’s development, and has inspired millions of parents, teachers, and leaders to take action. Now, Haidt and Catherine Price, author of the bestselling How to Break Up with Your Phone, have teamed up to create a new book that speaks directly to kids. Their goal? To empower young people to stand up for themselves by choosing a life not dominated by screens and social media.

Whether or not kids already have smartphones or social media accounts, this engaging guide is packed with surprising facts, a graphic novel, interactive challenges, secrets that tech leaders don’t want kids to know, and real-life anecdotes from young adults who regret getting smartphones at a young age and want to help the next generation avoid making the same mistakes.

But this isn’t just a book about what not to do. It’s a bold, optimistic, and practical guide to growing into your most authentic, confident, and adventurous self. Readers won’t just discover how to avoid becoming the next Anxious Generation. They’ll learn how to become amazing.

Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers—one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her—are the only ones searching for the truth.

Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before—and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.

Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.

But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.

Reclaim your life from the relentless cycle of narcissistic abuse with this clear, actionable four-step plan.

There is no winning with a narcissistic partner—and no one should have to play their game to survive. In Break Up with Narcissism, Dr. Alina Kastner, clinical psychologist and expert in narcissistic relationships, delivers the ultimate guide to freeing yourself from narcissistic abuse.

For anyone who feels trapped, hopeless, or broken in their relationship, this book offers a lifeline. With empathy and expert insight, Dr. Kastner exposes the damaging myths that promise change if you “just try harder” and replaces them with an accessible four-step

Recognize the abuse dynamicProtect your emotional healthBreak freeHeal
Blending professional guidance with the compassionate tone of a nurturing friend, Break Up with Narcissism is the empowering roadmap to rediscovering your strength, your worth, and the joy of being fully yourself again. This is your beginning—and your breakthrough.

First he came for my mother.

Then, he came for me.

Now he wants to take everything.

My mates have been stolen from me. With rage ringing in my ears and fire in my veins, it’s up to me to show the world why I am the regina of the Boneweaver pack.

But my fifth mate, my enigma, my beast shrouded in darkness has been hiding things from everyone. He is bound to my father in a way that is impossible to undo. What secrets lie in his past?

The final stand approaches and all things end in the shadows…

This is the fifth and final full length book in a New Adult MFMMMM 5 book contemporary fantasy romance series that must be read in order. The heroine has five fated mate love interests that will eventually form a bonded group. It is medium burn with 18+ spice starting from book 1. Each book has a cliffhanger ending but the series will finish with a HEA.

Length:148k

Tropes: Academy, villains get the girl, hate-to-love, fated mates, rejected mates, found family, mid-burn, trauma

Please see author’s website for content warnings: www.ektaabali.com/themes

Prequel: Her Vicious Beasts: The Beginning (Free and must be read first)

#1 Her Feral Beasts

#2 Her Rabid Beasts

#3 Her Psycho Beasts

#4 Her Tortured Beasts

#5 Her Monstrous Beasts

For a father and daughter, it’s a journey through the four seasons in a poignant short story about memories and everlasting love by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Wingate.

Olympic silver medalist Kalista Brooks has built a successful life in California, complete with a thriving sports technology company and a handsome fiancé. But when her father’s heart condition takes a critical turn, she rushes home to Atlanta. There, her father makes a surprising to relive favorite memories from all four seasons in just one month at their old farmhouse in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

With help from the community and her long-lost sidekick Calvin Calhoon, Kalista creates a tapestry of cherished moments—dogwoods in bloom, homemade blackberry jam, autumn bonfires, and a magical winter evening that will live forever in her heart. But as father and daughter share these precious weeks together, Kalista discovers that time has a way of revealing what matters most. In the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains where she grew up, she learns that sometimes the sweetest seasons of life come when we least expect them.

The truth of one woman’s private life reveals the terrifying depths to which people will go to deceive in a twisting novel of suspense from USA Today bestselling author Brianna Labuskes.

When journalist Holland Tate is granted an interview with Catriona Bouchard, her former best friend turned mega-popular tradwife, she jumps at the chance to also possibly rewrite their bitter ending. But at the Bouchards’ gated compound, what she finds is not the independent woman she once knew. Cat may have six beautiful children and be married to the man she calls the love of her life, but she’s a ghost of her former self.

With each passing hour behind those locked gates, Holland uncovers dark secrets, darker obsessions, and hidden motives that shine a new light on the events that ended their friendship. Cat’s beautiful life, it seems, is nothing more than an ugly lie.

Even as danger mounts, Cat sticks to the narrative she’s selling: She lives a perfect life with her perfect husband. Holland came to the compound to get the killer story behind that glossy image. Now all she cares about is getting out of there alive.