June 23 new book releases lead with a heavy hitter. It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell tops the list where 141,637 people have it on their want-to-read pile, and that’s before it’s even on shelves. Plenty more behind it. Let’s dig in.
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It Could Have Been Her
Author Lisa Jewell
Genres Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Suspense Thrillers, Domestic Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell brings the suspense to this shocking new thriller about a lost dog, a missing woman, and a house of long buried secrets.
Jane Trevally is walking her dogs on her country estate when a small white terrier appears, alone and with no sign of the teenaged girl he’d been staying with nearby. When the teenager is reported missing, Jane offers to return the dog to his registered owner, hours away in London. Arriving at a run-down house called Thornwood in the deepest backwaters of Hampstead, she is immediately on alert—because Jane has a dark history with this house.
The man who answers the door is not the man that Jane remembers from her past. He is cagey, and claims to know nothing about the missing teenage girl. Then, through the window of the house, Jane catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman.
Conjuring her memories from twenty-five years ago, Jane knows this unsettling house holds the key—to the missing teenager, to her own traumatic story, and to the dark secrets of the past.
Jane Trevally is walking her dogs on her country estate when a small white terrier appears, alone and with no sign of the teenaged girl he’d been staying with nearby. When the teenager is reported missing, Jane offers to return the dog to his registered owner, hours away in London. Arriving at a run-down house called Thornwood in the deepest backwaters of Hampstead, she is immediately on alert—because Jane has a dark history with this house.
The man who answers the door is not the man that Jane remembers from her past. He is cagey, and claims to know nothing about the missing teenage girl. Then, through the window of the house, Jane catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman.
Conjuring her memories from twenty-five years ago, Jane knows this unsettling house holds the key—to the missing teenager, to her own traumatic story, and to the dark secrets of the past.
Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home (Collector's Edition: Jessa's Version)
Collector's Edition Release
Author Jessa Hastings
Genres Literature & Fiction, New Adult & College Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Featuring the original cover, foiled edges and case, a silk ribbon, full-color endsheets, and all-new exclusive art!
How many loves do you get in a lifetime? And are Magnolia and BJ each other's one and only?
It's been nearly a year since everything happened between Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine on the steps of the Mandarin Oriental, and since then it seems like everything has changed.
Magnolia has a life in New York now and BJ appears to have finally let go and moved on.
But when they both wind up back in London and are thrust together once again, they find themselves asking their age-old question: How many loves do you actually get in a lifetime, and, most important―are they each other's?
Nine Lives
Author Catherine Steadman
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Women's Divorce Fiction, Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
These are your neighbors. One is a killer.
When she begins to peer into the lives' of her glamorous neighbors, one woman discovers a terrifying secret in this riveting psychological thriller with nine lives worth of twists, from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, a Reese's Book Club pick.
"Catherine Steadman more than delivers on the brilliant twists and thrills I’ve come to expect from her writing." —Lucy Foley
A riveting thriller about nine terrible secrets hidden behind the pastel-colored façade of one of London's most upscale enclaves, Nine Lives is catnip for suspense readers everywhere and perfect for fans of modern classics like The Girl on the Train and The Woman In the Window.
When she begins to peer into the lives' of her glamorous neighbors, one woman discovers a terrifying secret in this riveting psychological thriller with nine lives worth of twists, from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, a Reese's Book Club pick.
"Catherine Steadman more than delivers on the brilliant twists and thrills I’ve come to expect from her writing." —Lucy Foley
A riveting thriller about nine terrible secrets hidden behind the pastel-colored façade of one of London's most upscale enclaves, Nine Lives is catnip for suspense readers everywhere and perfect for fans of modern classics like The Girl on the Train and The Woman In the Window.
All We Hunger For
Author Anna Mercier
Genres Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction, Teen & Young Adult Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult Dystopian, Special Edition Books
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A young woman sneaks her way into a magical baking contest but gets pulled into an elusive aristocrat's lavish world and his nefarious plan as rebellion brews in their city―for fans of A Magic Steeped in Poison.
In Anespérer, where magic comes alive through artistic skill, Elara Rousseau knows she'll never be selected for the Objet d’Art. The high-stakes baking competition will elect a new Souverain to join the ruling council, and someone from the slums would never be considered. But when a brooding figure from her past sneaks her into the Objet, Elara has the chance to compete for a better future... as long as no one uncovers her traitorous secret.
Nikolas Dupont will do whatever it takes to impress his powerful father, a Souverain who hasn't officially recognized his son―like handpick a contestant to win and become his father's political pawn. But Elara is more than he bargained for, and she ignites his own subdued passions.
Against all odds, Elara excels and becomes a hero to the city's poor, all while Nik’s faith in his father crumbles and the sparks between them burn brighter. As the competition heats up, Elara and Nik must choose: fight to win the competition and secure a future of safety for them both, or use the power of Elara’s art to spark a revolution.
In Anespérer, where magic comes alive through artistic skill, Elara Rousseau knows she'll never be selected for the Objet d’Art. The high-stakes baking competition will elect a new Souverain to join the ruling council, and someone from the slums would never be considered. But when a brooding figure from her past sneaks her into the Objet, Elara has the chance to compete for a better future... as long as no one uncovers her traitorous secret.
Nikolas Dupont will do whatever it takes to impress his powerful father, a Souverain who hasn't officially recognized his son―like handpick a contestant to win and become his father's political pawn. But Elara is more than he bargained for, and she ignites his own subdued passions.
Against all odds, Elara excels and becomes a hero to the city's poor, all while Nik’s faith in his father crumbles and the sparks between them burn brighter. As the competition heats up, Elara and Nik must choose: fight to win the competition and secure a future of safety for them both, or use the power of Elara’s art to spark a revolution.
The Very Definition of Love
Author Sophia Benoit
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Historical Romances, Enemies to Lovers Romance, Fake Dating Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A plucky yet innocent wallflower writing a dictionary of bawdy slang arranges her own marriage to the ultimate the town rake. As sexy as it is witty and as charming as it is irreverent, The Very Definition of Love is Emily Henry for the regency era.
1816– Harriet Barrington may be on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, but she’s fine with that. It gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.
While researching late in the library during a party, Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with notorious rake, Lord Alexander. To save her reputation and her younger sisters from ruin, Harriet has no choice but to slightly kidnap Alexander and strong arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work, for Alexander, that’s women.
But soon Alexander’s rakish existence is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry about how much she actually likes her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little… complicated. After all, who better to teach her the very thorough meaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling?
Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.
If Carrie Bradshaw wrote a Regency romance…. Meet an irresistible new voice in sex and relationships columnist and lifelong romance fan, Sophia Benoit.
Tropes
Enemies-to-lovers / Marriage of convenience / There’s only one bed / Yearning / A misunderstanding / He teaches her / Regency era / Rake x wallflower
1816– Harriet Barrington may be on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, but she’s fine with that. It gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.
While researching late in the library during a party, Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with notorious rake, Lord Alexander. To save her reputation and her younger sisters from ruin, Harriet has no choice but to slightly kidnap Alexander and strong arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work, for Alexander, that’s women.
But soon Alexander’s rakish existence is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry about how much she actually likes her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little… complicated. After all, who better to teach her the very thorough meaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling?
Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.
If Carrie Bradshaw wrote a Regency romance…. Meet an irresistible new voice in sex and relationships columnist and lifelong romance fan, Sophia Benoit.
Tropes
Enemies-to-lovers / Marriage of convenience / There’s only one bed / Yearning / A misunderstanding / He teaches her / Regency era / Rake x wallflower
When You Loved Me
Author Beatriz Williams
Genres Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Mysteries, Contemporary Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.
Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.
Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.
As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.
A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.
Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.
Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.
As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.
A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.
Scandal of the Summer
Author Alexandra Vasti
Genres Literature & Fiction, Romantic Comedy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A desperate debutante meets a ragtag smuggler in this sexy Regency romp by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.
Eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore has had enough of the Marriage Mart. After offending yet another Very Important Marquess―and imperiling her father’s diplomatic career―Ruby flees London for the holiday house of a glamorous (and better yet, absent) princess. Armed with a forged invitation and accompanied by her like-minded friends, Ruby arrives at the Cornwall estate expecting a summer of blissful freedom.
Instead, she discovers a derelict mansion and the most suspiciously charming man she’s ever met.
Former privateer and current con artist Captain Malcolm Archer has dragged his ramshackle crew into a new life. Posing as staff at a princess’s abandoned estate provides the perfect cover for Archer’s smuggling scheme (not to mention free rent). Everything’s going according to plan―until an unorthodox London heiress crashes the party.
But when Archer and his crew attempt to frighten off their uninvited guests, Ruby’s unfazed by insect invasions and sham sea monsters. Harder to ignore? The scorching heat between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. As sparks fly, deceptions run wild―because in this Great Cornish Fake Off, the only thing riskier than telling the truth is falling in love.
Eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore has had enough of the Marriage Mart. After offending yet another Very Important Marquess―and imperiling her father’s diplomatic career―Ruby flees London for the holiday house of a glamorous (and better yet, absent) princess. Armed with a forged invitation and accompanied by her like-minded friends, Ruby arrives at the Cornwall estate expecting a summer of blissful freedom.
Instead, she discovers a derelict mansion and the most suspiciously charming man she’s ever met.
Former privateer and current con artist Captain Malcolm Archer has dragged his ramshackle crew into a new life. Posing as staff at a princess’s abandoned estate provides the perfect cover for Archer’s smuggling scheme (not to mention free rent). Everything’s going according to plan―until an unorthodox London heiress crashes the party.
But when Archer and his crew attempt to frighten off their uninvited guests, Ruby’s unfazed by insect invasions and sham sea monsters. Harder to ignore? The scorching heat between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. As sparks fly, deceptions run wild―because in this Great Cornish Fake Off, the only thing riskier than telling the truth is falling in love.
It's All River
Author Carla Madeira
Genres Family Life Fiction, Women's Divorce Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, American Literature
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A SUMMER/FALL 2026 INDIES INTRODUCE SELECTION
AN INDIE NEXT SELECTION (JULY 2026)
BRAZIL’S #1 BEST-SELLING LITERARY SENSATION
The seductive and shocking story of a twisted love triangle, It’s All River flows through the rapids of humanity.
“Lucy was a virgin-whore. A dreamer. She wanted to test her power. She wanted men to fast for her, to grovel, to pay tithes.”
Lusted after by everyone she meets, Lucy is the town’s most deviant and desired whore―and proud of it. But there is only one man who has captured her attention: the somber, ever-suffering Venâncio, a carpenter with a dark secret―and a wife. Once upon a time, Venâncio and Dalva, his angelic teenage sweetheart, were a shining example of marital bliss and the envy of all their neighbors―until tragedy left them estranged in their own home.
But Venâncio doesn’t desire Lucy the way other men in town do. In fact, he wants nothing to do with her. And if Lucy fails in seducing Venâncio, what becomes of her? Consumed by an insatiable need for Venâncio and driven mad by a growing obsession with Dalva, Lucy makes a decision that forever changes their three lives.
Introducing one of Brazil’s most daring and best-selling authors to English-language readers, and masterfully translated by Alison Entrekin, It’s All River is a taut, provocative allegory of violence and forgiveness that grips and stuns the whole way through.
Night Witch
Author Jaymin Eve
Genres Dark Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Witch Romances, Gothic Romances
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Night Witch is the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Spellcaster with an intense enemies-to-lovers arc, a steamy heat level, magical creatures, super high stakes, and an epic family saga.
Be careful what you witch for.
Welcome to year two at Weatherstone College…
Last year, after coming face to face with darkness and lethal monsters, Logan Kingston, my sworn enemy and sometimes ally, brought my first year to an explosive ending. There’s a bond between us that I can’t explain, but I just know he’s hiding something. Maybe I don’t fully trust any spellcaster, but there’s no denying my draw to him.
I’m not going to lie, I haven’t felt myself since then, and I’m dreading returning to Weatherstone.
Perfect if you love:
• Sexy Stalking + Dirty Talking
• He Gives Her His Clothes
• Forbidden Romance
• Touch Her & D!e
• Elemental Magic
• Dark Academia
• "Mine"
“A fun, magical enemies to lovers read that you don’t want to miss!”—Jasmine Mas, New York Times bestselling author of Blood of Hercules
Be careful what you witch for.
Welcome to year two at Weatherstone College…
Last year, after coming face to face with darkness and lethal monsters, Logan Kingston, my sworn enemy and sometimes ally, brought my first year to an explosive ending. There’s a bond between us that I can’t explain, but I just know he’s hiding something. Maybe I don’t fully trust any spellcaster, but there’s no denying my draw to him.
I’m not going to lie, I haven’t felt myself since then, and I’m dreading returning to Weatherstone.
Perfect if you love:
• Sexy Stalking + Dirty Talking
• He Gives Her His Clothes
• Forbidden Romance
• Touch Her & D!e
• Elemental Magic
• Dark Academia
• "Mine"
“A fun, magical enemies to lovers read that you don’t want to miss!”—Jasmine Mas, New York Times bestselling author of Blood of Hercules
Abby Offsides
Author Anna McCallie
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
In this witty and heartfelt debut, a woman's impulsive journey across the pond after a broken engagement leads her to a new love—and a new version of herself.
Seeking a fresh start after leaving her cheating fiancé, Abby McIntyre makes a series of spontaneous decisions: She quits her job. She books a one-way flight to the UK. She even gets bangs!
Newly arrived in Liverpool, she lands a job with the Mersey Football Club and meets Lachlan Ramsay, the recently recruited Scottish star midfielder. Both lonely in a new city, the pair bond quickly, and Abby finds it nearly impossible to deny their chemistry—despite the nagging guilt she feels about Lachlan’s mysterious wife who didn’t relocate with her husband.
When Abby’s housing falls through, Lachlan insists she move into his massive penthouse. As they spend almost every waking moment together, Abby wonders if it’s possible that the world-famous footballer could be falling for her, too. But with her job and his marriage dependent on them staying firmly in the friend zone, can Abby risk being caught offside?
Crackling with witty banter and palpable sexual tension, Abby Offsides is at once a smoldering, slow-burn romance and a nuanced exploration of one woman’s journey to reclaim her own dreams and desires after years of living life on autopilot.
Seeking a fresh start after leaving her cheating fiancé, Abby McIntyre makes a series of spontaneous decisions: She quits her job. She books a one-way flight to the UK. She even gets bangs!
Newly arrived in Liverpool, she lands a job with the Mersey Football Club and meets Lachlan Ramsay, the recently recruited Scottish star midfielder. Both lonely in a new city, the pair bond quickly, and Abby finds it nearly impossible to deny their chemistry—despite the nagging guilt she feels about Lachlan’s mysterious wife who didn’t relocate with her husband.
When Abby’s housing falls through, Lachlan insists she move into his massive penthouse. As they spend almost every waking moment together, Abby wonders if it’s possible that the world-famous footballer could be falling for her, too. But with her job and his marriage dependent on them staying firmly in the friend zone, can Abby risk being caught offside?
Crackling with witty banter and palpable sexual tension, Abby Offsides is at once a smoldering, slow-burn romance and a nuanced exploration of one woman’s journey to reclaim her own dreams and desires after years of living life on autopilot.
The Girl on the Beach
Author Carol Snow
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Suspense Thrillers, Murder Thrillers, Domestic Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A missing child tears a family apart in this switchback roller coaster of a psychological thriller that builds to a final, jaw-dropping twist, perfect for fans of Jennifer Hillier and Lisa Lutz.
On the surface, Sonia and Graham Starr were a glamorous couple: She, the sleek entrepreneur; he, the boyishly handsome painter with an irrepressible zest for life. They had everything money can buy and the one thing it can’t—a precious, precocious four-year-old named Roxie. But when Roxie disappears into the Pacific Ocean on a perfect August afternoon, their world crumbles around them.
Months later, Roxie’s twenty-one-year-old former nanny, plagued by guilt and confusion, returns to the Starrs’ beach house on the “American Riviera,” the rarefied stretch of land around Santa Barbara where the mountains meet the sea. Her first night back, she gazes out at the sand, only to see a child who bears a striking resemblance to Roxie. When she calls out, the child runs away.
Colleen never believed that Roxie, who was afraid of the surf, would run into the ocean on her own. Now, she is determined to get to the truth, even if it means facing her greatest fears.
The Girl on the Beach asks us who we trust when we can’t trust ourselves.
On the surface, Sonia and Graham Starr were a glamorous couple: She, the sleek entrepreneur; he, the boyishly handsome painter with an irrepressible zest for life. They had everything money can buy and the one thing it can’t—a precious, precocious four-year-old named Roxie. But when Roxie disappears into the Pacific Ocean on a perfect August afternoon, their world crumbles around them.
Months later, Roxie’s twenty-one-year-old former nanny, plagued by guilt and confusion, returns to the Starrs’ beach house on the “American Riviera,” the rarefied stretch of land around Santa Barbara where the mountains meet the sea. Her first night back, she gazes out at the sand, only to see a child who bears a striking resemblance to Roxie. When she calls out, the child runs away.
Colleen never believed that Roxie, who was afraid of the surf, would run into the ocean on her own. Now, she is determined to get to the truth, even if it means facing her greatest fears.
The Girl on the Beach asks us who we trust when we can’t trust ourselves.
Chase Me If You Can
Author Heather Frances
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Action & Adventure Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Two storm chasers find a love that could blow them away in this electric debut romance.
Wedding photographer Sloane Michaels might spend most of her year running after brides, but she lives for the six weeks each spring she chases tornadoes instead. When the prestigious magazine Nature Shots announces a cover contest, Sloane knows that winning could be the chance she needs to break up with taffeta for good and establish herself in landscape photography.
The last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of reckless “Wild Wes” Talbot. A legend among storm chasers, he’s been Sloane’s close, personal frenemy for the last decade and is the man to beat for the cover contest.
Sloane isn’t surprised when Wes gets in an accident that jeopardizes his season. But with an active weather pattern emerging, she doubles down on her need to beat Wes fair and square, and begrudgingly invites him to join her for the remainder of the season.
As they race through hail, high winds, and stormy skies, Sloane realizes that Wes might be more than the rich, flirty, Texas wildcard she thought she knew — and that the feelings blooming between them are more charged and dangerous than the storms they’re chasing.
Wedding photographer Sloane Michaels might spend most of her year running after brides, but she lives for the six weeks each spring she chases tornadoes instead. When the prestigious magazine Nature Shots announces a cover contest, Sloane knows that winning could be the chance she needs to break up with taffeta for good and establish herself in landscape photography.
The last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of reckless “Wild Wes” Talbot. A legend among storm chasers, he’s been Sloane’s close, personal frenemy for the last decade and is the man to beat for the cover contest.
Sloane isn’t surprised when Wes gets in an accident that jeopardizes his season. But with an active weather pattern emerging, she doubles down on her need to beat Wes fair and square, and begrudgingly invites him to join her for the remainder of the season.
As they race through hail, high winds, and stormy skies, Sloane realizes that Wes might be more than the rich, flirty, Texas wildcard she thought she knew — and that the feelings blooming between them are more charged and dangerous than the storms they’re chasing.
The Sixth Nik
Author Daniel Kraus
Genres Monsters & Creatures Horror, Science Fiction Short Stories, Space Operas, Genetic Engineering Science Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Perfectly aligned for readers of Ian M. Banks The Culture series and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, The Sixth Nik is a galaxy spanning adventure from the New York Times-bestselling author of Whalefall and Angel Down.
Deep into space, far past the triworld outposts, beyond range of the lethal trollbot internet, soars The Sickness: a ship woven from biomatter and capable of reacting to every need of its human crew. Sisilla, a 9-year-old cultist with a brain enhanced by arcane tech known as “niks,” has boarded to investigate the enigma of Fém—a plague-riddled planet that has abruptly gone rogue.
The mysterious crew includes a faceless assassin, a beautiful engineer jigsawed by plastic surgery, a peyote-addicted medic, and—most lethal of all—a rugged, NonModded captain with a score to settle with Sisilla. Other dangers abound. A hacked robot begins to believe Sisilla is its daughter. The Sickness itself is mutating, possibly even pregnant. And the secret of Fém is more horrific than anyone could have imagined. To survive, Sisilla will need to forsake her predetermined fate and embrace the unknown.
Deep into space, far past the triworld outposts, beyond range of the lethal trollbot internet, soars The Sickness: a ship woven from biomatter and capable of reacting to every need of its human crew. Sisilla, a 9-year-old cultist with a brain enhanced by arcane tech known as “niks,” has boarded to investigate the enigma of Fém—a plague-riddled planet that has abruptly gone rogue.
The mysterious crew includes a faceless assassin, a beautiful engineer jigsawed by plastic surgery, a peyote-addicted medic, and—most lethal of all—a rugged, NonModded captain with a score to settle with Sisilla. Other dangers abound. A hacked robot begins to believe Sisilla is its daughter. The Sickness itself is mutating, possibly even pregnant. And the secret of Fém is more horrific than anyone could have imagined. To survive, Sisilla will need to forsake her predetermined fate and embrace the unknown.
Reasons to Be Loved by You
Author Hannah Brown
Genres Friendship Fiction, Women's Friendship Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
From New York Times bestselling author and Bachelorette fan-favorite Hannah Brown, a rom-com beach read full of witty banter, emotional authenticity, and female friendship—perfect for fans of Emily Henry’s Funny Story and Carley Fortune’s One Golden Summer.
Perfectionist and former pageant girl Nikki Bennet is looking forward to relaxing at her family’s lake house in Georgia for the Fourth of July. Even though it’s been two years since she was on the reality dating show LovedBy, she still hasn’t recovered from finding out on national TV that her fiancé, Aaron, had been dating another woman all along.
But when she arrives home, her little brother makes a surprise announcement: he’s engaged to his girlfriend, Cara—the “other woman” Aaron had been seeing behind Nikki’s back. And what’s worse? They intend to have the wedding this summer, right here at the lake.
Hoping to stop her brother from making the biggest mistake of his life, Nikki discovers an unlikely ally in Cara’s brother, Nate. While their bond begins as shared shock over their siblings’ rushed nuptials, it quickly deepens into something more. Nikki knows Nate is completely wrong for her—he’s a laidback country boy, she’s a driven LA influencer—and yet he’s a welcome distraction from the mess of her love life… as well as the growing sense that her family’s been hiding something from her, something she may not be ready to hear.
But as fireworks light up the water, can Nikki and Nate really stay focused on preventing this wedding? Or will all the reasons they’re wrong for each other lead to an even more unlikely love story—their own?
Perfectionist and former pageant girl Nikki Bennet is looking forward to relaxing at her family’s lake house in Georgia for the Fourth of July. Even though it’s been two years since she was on the reality dating show LovedBy, she still hasn’t recovered from finding out on national TV that her fiancé, Aaron, had been dating another woman all along.
But when she arrives home, her little brother makes a surprise announcement: he’s engaged to his girlfriend, Cara—the “other woman” Aaron had been seeing behind Nikki’s back. And what’s worse? They intend to have the wedding this summer, right here at the lake.
Hoping to stop her brother from making the biggest mistake of his life, Nikki discovers an unlikely ally in Cara’s brother, Nate. While their bond begins as shared shock over their siblings’ rushed nuptials, it quickly deepens into something more. Nikki knows Nate is completely wrong for her—he’s a laidback country boy, she’s a driven LA influencer—and yet he’s a welcome distraction from the mess of her love life… as well as the growing sense that her family’s been hiding something from her, something she may not be ready to hear.
But as fireworks light up the water, can Nikki and Nate really stay focused on preventing this wedding? Or will all the reasons they’re wrong for each other lead to an even more unlikely love story—their own?
Whisper Creek
Author Allison Brennan
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Crime Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Allison Brennan delivers a pulse-pounding thriller about one family fighting for their land against both human enemies and Mother Nature.
After the sudden death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat. She and her family hope to expand their operation, but times are tough and making ends meet is more expensive than she imagined, much less trying to grow. Many of their neighbors in Cooke County have thrown in the towel and agreed to sell their farms to a local businessman, but despite similar pressure, Ellen refuses to let her dreams die.
On top of the usual hardships, a series of recent storms has left the region partly flooded, and as the heavy rain begins again one morning, all the members of the McKenna family jump into action to protect their land and animals. Ellen’s oldest son discovers an injured dog—and the dog leads him to a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion. Then, Ellen’s younger kids go to check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming.
Before anyone can figure out what’s really going on in their idyllic rural valley, the storm picks up again in intensity, and the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm--and her family—Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.
Allison Brennan's talent for twisty, tense pacing combines with a deeply drawn family drama and the unforgiving power of nature in this compelling standalone thriller.
After the sudden death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat. She and her family hope to expand their operation, but times are tough and making ends meet is more expensive than she imagined, much less trying to grow. Many of their neighbors in Cooke County have thrown in the towel and agreed to sell their farms to a local businessman, but despite similar pressure, Ellen refuses to let her dreams die.
On top of the usual hardships, a series of recent storms has left the region partly flooded, and as the heavy rain begins again one morning, all the members of the McKenna family jump into action to protect their land and animals. Ellen’s oldest son discovers an injured dog—and the dog leads him to a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion. Then, Ellen’s younger kids go to check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming.
Before anyone can figure out what’s really going on in their idyllic rural valley, the storm picks up again in intensity, and the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm--and her family—Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.
Allison Brennan's talent for twisty, tense pacing combines with a deeply drawn family drama and the unforgiving power of nature in this compelling standalone thriller.
Long Island Girls
Author Gabrielle Korn
Genres LGBTQ+ Coming of Age Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction, Women's Friendship Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
An unforgettable novel of love and belonging, set in the indie music world of the early 2000s.
The only thing Susan loves more than music is Eliza, and both keep breaking her heart.
The first time Susan and Eliza meet, it's 2005, and Susan is barreling down the Long Island Expressway driving a group of friends to an indie rock show. Eliza is a surprise addition to the backseat, and she doesn't quite fit in; she's a little too pretty, and she doesn't know anything about music, but Susan is drawn to her anyway. Their flying sparks lead to combustion when Susan recognizes Eliza as the girl from a nude photo boys have been sending around. They part ways, and Susan assumes that’s the end of it. Susan goes off to college and onto a career in Brooklyn's indie music scene, where she navigates a toxic job at a small record label and learns hard lessons about who exactly has the privilege of making art under late-stage capitalism.
In 2015, in her twenties, Susan has a chance run-in with Eliza on a dating app, and they finally embark on a relationship. But Eliza is plagued by her traumatic past, which involves people Susan is still involved with, and that's where it all falls apart again. Over the next few years, Susan's career takes off, she helps dismantle a predatory work environment, and meets someone new who might actually be good for her. Yet she can't stop thinking about Eliza. What might have been, if things had gone differently? And who might Susan become if she could only let Eliza go?
At once a hilarious-yet-tender coming of age story; a steamy, complicated romance; and an authentic celebration of queer joy, Long Island Girls is for anyone who has ever struggled to stop getting caught up in "what-ifs" and start appreciating what is.
The only thing Susan loves more than music is Eliza, and both keep breaking her heart.
The first time Susan and Eliza meet, it's 2005, and Susan is barreling down the Long Island Expressway driving a group of friends to an indie rock show. Eliza is a surprise addition to the backseat, and she doesn't quite fit in; she's a little too pretty, and she doesn't know anything about music, but Susan is drawn to her anyway. Their flying sparks lead to combustion when Susan recognizes Eliza as the girl from a nude photo boys have been sending around. They part ways, and Susan assumes that’s the end of it. Susan goes off to college and onto a career in Brooklyn's indie music scene, where she navigates a toxic job at a small record label and learns hard lessons about who exactly has the privilege of making art under late-stage capitalism.
In 2015, in her twenties, Susan has a chance run-in with Eliza on a dating app, and they finally embark on a relationship. But Eliza is plagued by her traumatic past, which involves people Susan is still involved with, and that's where it all falls apart again. Over the next few years, Susan's career takes off, she helps dismantle a predatory work environment, and meets someone new who might actually be good for her. Yet she can't stop thinking about Eliza. What might have been, if things had gone differently? And who might Susan become if she could only let Eliza go?
At once a hilarious-yet-tender coming of age story; a steamy, complicated romance; and an authentic celebration of queer joy, Long Island Girls is for anyone who has ever struggled to stop getting caught up in "what-ifs" and start appreciating what is.
Tillinghast
Author Clare Cavenagh
Genres Horror Occult & Supernatural, Vampire Horror, Literary Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A dark and utterly original literary horror debut, following a priest whose bloodthirsty life has extended far longer than any mere human's—and is upended when a stranger comes to town
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he’s allowed himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and has always ended in a shallow grave in his cellar. There’s a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it is simple enough that he has his needs, and that when they become unbearable, he fulfils them. In his long and lonely life, he has met only one other like him—the woman he still yearns for, the one who made him what he is.
Then a girl arrives, searching for him. She has his last name, and bears an uncanny resemblance to that woman, awakening memories Tillinghast had long suppressed; the connection he feels for her is immediate and overwhelming. She’s also sick, very sick, with symptoms Tillinghast recognizes all too well...and only he knows how to cure her.
Inspired by the real events of the New England vampire panic of the nineteenth century, Tillinghast is a novel to sink your teeth at once a gripping, atmospheric horror that turns the classic monster narrative on its head; a literary work of exceptional prose about giving into--or resisting--our impulses; and a remarkably moving father-daughter story that will leave you unexpectedly hopeful—and rooting, despite your every instinct, for the killers.
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he’s allowed himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and has always ended in a shallow grave in his cellar. There’s a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it is simple enough that he has his needs, and that when they become unbearable, he fulfils them. In his long and lonely life, he has met only one other like him—the woman he still yearns for, the one who made him what he is.
Then a girl arrives, searching for him. She has his last name, and bears an uncanny resemblance to that woman, awakening memories Tillinghast had long suppressed; the connection he feels for her is immediate and overwhelming. She’s also sick, very sick, with symptoms Tillinghast recognizes all too well...and only he knows how to cure her.
Inspired by the real events of the New England vampire panic of the nineteenth century, Tillinghast is a novel to sink your teeth at once a gripping, atmospheric horror that turns the classic monster narrative on its head; a literary work of exceptional prose about giving into--or resisting--our impulses; and a remarkably moving father-daughter story that will leave you unexpectedly hopeful—and rooting, despite your every instinct, for the killers.
Checking You Out
Author Jennifer Chen
Genres Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction, Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance, Teen & Young Adult Romantic Comedy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
XO, Kitty meets Dash & Lily in this rom com about two teens falling in love via letters left in their favorite library books - even if in real life they think they have nothing in common.
Lizzie Wei is a huge book nerd, and proud of it. And when she realizes there is a mysterious reader who has been checking out all of her favorite books from the library, she can’t help but get a crush on someone she’s never even met. Her friends make it their mission to find Lizzie’s long lost book soulmate and convinces her to leave notes for her crush. But what if the person Lizzie is looking for, isn’t at all what she expects?
Dylan Lin loves reading, secretly anyway. Ever since a bullying incident at his last school, he’s hidden his love of fantasy novels, instead leaning into his jock persona. Now he's the tennis team captain, runs every day, and actively avoids reading. So, when he decides to start volunteering at a kitten nursery, and his super cute co-volunteer Lizzie asks if he likes reading, he says no. He never expects the look of complete and utter disappointment on Lizzie’s face.
Lizzie is certain her secret crush isn’t Dylan. It can’t be! But when he accidentally makes an obscure reference to her favorite book during their volunteer shift, she’s not so sure anymore. Can Lizzie forgive Dylan for lying? And can Dylan be brave enough to be himself?
Lizzie Wei is a huge book nerd, and proud of it. And when she realizes there is a mysterious reader who has been checking out all of her favorite books from the library, she can’t help but get a crush on someone she’s never even met. Her friends make it their mission to find Lizzie’s long lost book soulmate and convinces her to leave notes for her crush. But what if the person Lizzie is looking for, isn’t at all what she expects?
Dylan Lin loves reading, secretly anyway. Ever since a bullying incident at his last school, he’s hidden his love of fantasy novels, instead leaning into his jock persona. Now he's the tennis team captain, runs every day, and actively avoids reading. So, when he decides to start volunteering at a kitten nursery, and his super cute co-volunteer Lizzie asks if he likes reading, he says no. He never expects the look of complete and utter disappointment on Lizzie’s face.
Lizzie is certain her secret crush isn’t Dylan. It can’t be! But when he accidentally makes an obscure reference to her favorite book during their volunteer shift, she’s not so sure anymore. Can Lizzie forgive Dylan for lying? And can Dylan be brave enough to be himself?
Little Wild
Author Laura Evans
Genres LGBTQ+ Genre Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Folklore
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Suffolk, 1937. As the English countryside swelters in a historic heat wave, preparations for a party at Snare House are in full swing. The Winthers’ only daughter, Joanie, is returning from a summer in Europe, a flying visit before she leaves for university in Oxford. Only Margaret, long-time ward of the family and Joanie’s closest friend, knows the Joanie won’t be going to Oxford. Instead, the two will be leaving the stultifying society they know to live together in London, as lovers.
Then the pair is discovered, and everything goes wrong. Banished to a cabin in the nearby woods, Margaret is alone with her estranged father. As summer curdles into fall and magpies throng the forest, Margaret begins to lose herself. Her dreams turn dark and terrifying, and she wakes from them with dirt on her soles and scratches on her back. Everything suggests that a perverse power is awakening within her—perhaps the very one which led to her mother’s ostracism and eventual death. If she can harness it, Margaret may be able to secure an approximation of the love she’s always craved—but at what cost?
Little Wild is at once a feminist fairy tale, a haunting meditation on the dangers of desire, and a gripping debut from a talented new voice.
Then the pair is discovered, and everything goes wrong. Banished to a cabin in the nearby woods, Margaret is alone with her estranged father. As summer curdles into fall and magpies throng the forest, Margaret begins to lose herself. Her dreams turn dark and terrifying, and she wakes from them with dirt on her soles and scratches on her back. Everything suggests that a perverse power is awakening within her—perhaps the very one which led to her mother’s ostracism and eventual death. If she can harness it, Margaret may be able to secure an approximation of the love she’s always craved—but at what cost?
Little Wild is at once a feminist fairy tale, a haunting meditation on the dangers of desire, and a gripping debut from a talented new voice.
In Every Possible Way
Author Alicia Thompson
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction, Romantic Comedy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
One woman’s luck changes in an instant when she hits her head and wakes up in Ireland, in this whimsical, whirlwind romance from USA Today bestselling author Alicia Thompson.
After yet another disastrous date where Jess is too awkward, too earnest, too whatever, she’s ready to put her romantic daydreams aside. Other than an enchanting Irish accent, her latest date is no prince charming. Then the night goes from bad to worse when she’s mugged in the parking lot and hits her head. Hard.
Hard enough that when Jess wakes up, she’s in Ireland.
The first person she meets is Eamonn, a quiet, gruff mechanic. Since Jess is stranded with no passport, cell phone, or way to get home, Eamonn becomes her reluctant knight in shining armor.
Over the next forty-eight hours, they meander through the cobblestone streets of Dublin and explore the Irish countryside, sharing their deepest fears, quiet hopes, and softest aches. It’s a connection that is as electrifying as it is terrifying, because what if Jess falls asleep and Eamonn vanishes like a dream? But a love like this—touched by magic and a little bit of luck—is never quite as it seems.
After yet another disastrous date where Jess is too awkward, too earnest, too whatever, she’s ready to put her romantic daydreams aside. Other than an enchanting Irish accent, her latest date is no prince charming. Then the night goes from bad to worse when she’s mugged in the parking lot and hits her head. Hard.
Hard enough that when Jess wakes up, she’s in Ireland.
The first person she meets is Eamonn, a quiet, gruff mechanic. Since Jess is stranded with no passport, cell phone, or way to get home, Eamonn becomes her reluctant knight in shining armor.
Over the next forty-eight hours, they meander through the cobblestone streets of Dublin and explore the Irish countryside, sharing their deepest fears, quiet hopes, and softest aches. It’s a connection that is as electrifying as it is terrifying, because what if Jess falls asleep and Eamonn vanishes like a dream? But a love like this—touched by magic and a little bit of luck—is never quite as it seems.
Skin Contact
Author Elisa Faison
Genres LGBTQ+ Family Life Fiction, LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Polyamory Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Unmoored by her mother's sudden death, Frances has never felt so diminished, or so old. She's painfully aware that strangers no longer look at her the same way - and that she's now, at thirty-two, older than the great aunt for whom she was named, who was killed in the seventies under mysterious circumstances involving an extramarital affair.
Her husband, Ben, will do anything to help Frances regain her vivacity and sense of purpose. So when Frances suggests that they open their marriage, Ben complies.
Over the next two years, they explore their sexualities and latent kinks; they navigate jealousy, betrayal, desire, and obsession; they defend their choices - and their new identities - to confused friends. They do all of this together, as a team. But when Ben finds himself falling in love with another woman, just as Frances realizes she's ready to settle down and have a baby, they are forced to confront the consequences of their experiment.
Her husband, Ben, will do anything to help Frances regain her vivacity and sense of purpose. So when Frances suggests that they open their marriage, Ben complies.
Over the next two years, they explore their sexualities and latent kinks; they navigate jealousy, betrayal, desire, and obsession; they defend their choices - and their new identities - to confused friends. They do all of this together, as a team. But when Ben finds himself falling in love with another woman, just as Frances realizes she's ready to settle down and have a baby, they are forced to confront the consequences of their experiment.
Winner Takes All
Author Emily Martin
Genres Feel-Good Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, Workplace Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
When two rival music executives wake up married in Las Vegas with no memory of tying the knot, they have to recreate their night together while competing to sign the band of their dreams in this smart and sexy rom-com that combines Book Lovers with The Hangover.
Talent scout Eleanor Thompson arrives in Las Vegas with one sign the popular alt-rock group Dempsey to her record label and subsequently save her job. Unfortunately for her, Adam Shaw—former colleague and the man who recently poached the top performing artist from Eleanor’s roster—has the same idea. When Adam crashes Eleanor’s dinner meeting with the band, it sets them off on a night of shot-fueled one-upmanship that ends with matching wedding rings. Some people might be able to laugh off a drunken Vegas marriage, but Eleanor and Adam are not some people.
They soon realize annulments are a lot easier to get on TV, especially when you factor in a missing ID, a run-in with casino security, and a band still expecting to be wooed before hitting the stage for the final show of their national tour.
With only a few hours until the party where Dempsey plans to announce their new record label, Eleanor and Adam embark on a wild dash around Vegas to fix the previous night’s mistakes. Between meeting an attorney in the back of a strip club, getting blackmailed into playing the newlywed game, and a surprisingly deep moment outside a karaoke bar, Eleanor and Adam begin to fall for one another. Do they dare place a bet on love? Or will they keep their cards close?
Talent scout Eleanor Thompson arrives in Las Vegas with one sign the popular alt-rock group Dempsey to her record label and subsequently save her job. Unfortunately for her, Adam Shaw—former colleague and the man who recently poached the top performing artist from Eleanor’s roster—has the same idea. When Adam crashes Eleanor’s dinner meeting with the band, it sets them off on a night of shot-fueled one-upmanship that ends with matching wedding rings. Some people might be able to laugh off a drunken Vegas marriage, but Eleanor and Adam are not some people.
They soon realize annulments are a lot easier to get on TV, especially when you factor in a missing ID, a run-in with casino security, and a band still expecting to be wooed before hitting the stage for the final show of their national tour.
With only a few hours until the party where Dempsey plans to announce their new record label, Eleanor and Adam embark on a wild dash around Vegas to fix the previous night’s mistakes. Between meeting an attorney in the back of a strip club, getting blackmailed into playing the newlywed game, and a surprisingly deep moment outside a karaoke bar, Eleanor and Adam begin to fall for one another. Do they dare place a bet on love? Or will they keep their cards close?
Thrilling Tales of Modern Men
Author Danny McBride
Genres Humor, Psychological Fiction, Short Stories Anthologies, American Literature
Publication Date June 23, 2026
From the beloved creator and star of
The Righteous Gemstones
and
Eastbound & Down
comes a wild collection of short stories featuring Danny McBride’s signature dark humor.
There are many sides to Danny he starred as the iconic character Kenny Powers in the cult classic HBO show Eastbound & Down, a series he also wrote and created, just as he did with Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones. He’s produced horror films (Halloween) and starred in sci-fi ( Covenant). But ever since he was young, he’s been writing short fiction, and it’s always been private. Until now.
There’s a washed-up sitcom actor who takes revenge on the coyote who killed his dog. There are two young runaways who decide to part ways, but not before one last big adventure. There is The Modern Age Town of Southern America National Park, which boasts the most realistic reenactments of suburbia since the disaster happened. There is an amateur magician who gets in way over his head with a deadly stunt in a local mall.
These stories take viciously unexpected tragic and comedic turns. While each one is addictively unpredictable, when taken together, these darkly funny, strangely emotional, and occasionally brutal tales provide an indelible look at the fragile masculinity of modern American culture.
There are many sides to Danny he starred as the iconic character Kenny Powers in the cult classic HBO show Eastbound & Down, a series he also wrote and created, just as he did with Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones. He’s produced horror films (Halloween) and starred in sci-fi ( Covenant). But ever since he was young, he’s been writing short fiction, and it’s always been private. Until now.
There’s a washed-up sitcom actor who takes revenge on the coyote who killed his dog. There are two young runaways who decide to part ways, but not before one last big adventure. There is The Modern Age Town of Southern America National Park, which boasts the most realistic reenactments of suburbia since the disaster happened. There is an amateur magician who gets in way over his head with a deadly stunt in a local mall.
These stories take viciously unexpected tragic and comedic turns. While each one is addictively unpredictable, when taken together, these darkly funny, strangely emotional, and occasionally brutal tales provide an indelible look at the fragile masculinity of modern American culture.
Green City Wars
Author Adrian Tchaikovsky
Genres Science Fiction Adventures, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Philip Marlowe meets
Redwall
in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans.
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means.
A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.
The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.
If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means.
A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.
The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.
If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
Worse Than Strangers
Author Kyleigh Leddy
Genres Small Town & Rural Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Mothers & Children Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A debut novel for fans of Jane Austen, Elin Hilderbrand, and Gilmore Girls, Worse Than Strangers is a Nantucket-set retelling of Austen’s Persuasion about finding romance, second chances, and a new path in life.
Rose and Lily are best friends first, mother-daughter second, which is good because right now, Lily could really use a friend. Recently fired from her NYC magazine job and heartbroken, Lily has fled to the family cottage in Siasconset. She is shocked when she stumbles across her first love at the grocery store holding hands with his new fiancé—a fiancé he never mentioned on their many, many late-night phone calls.
Rose has secrets, too. A therapist about to start her own private practice, Rose’s world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage, Thomas Wentworth: the one person she thought she would never see again and the man who has always (unfortunately) held her heart.
A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set against a backdrop of blue and purple hydrangeas, swollen brick sidewalks, tall sea grass, and uniform, shingled houses, Lily and Rose Gardner’s summer journey of second chances, healing, and hope begs the question: Can you repeat the past, and is it ever too late to try again?
Rose and Lily are best friends first, mother-daughter second, which is good because right now, Lily could really use a friend. Recently fired from her NYC magazine job and heartbroken, Lily has fled to the family cottage in Siasconset. She is shocked when she stumbles across her first love at the grocery store holding hands with his new fiancé—a fiancé he never mentioned on their many, many late-night phone calls.
Rose has secrets, too. A therapist about to start her own private practice, Rose’s world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage, Thomas Wentworth: the one person she thought she would never see again and the man who has always (unfortunately) held her heart.
A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set against a backdrop of blue and purple hydrangeas, swollen brick sidewalks, tall sea grass, and uniform, shingled houses, Lily and Rose Gardner’s summer journey of second chances, healing, and hope begs the question: Can you repeat the past, and is it ever too late to try again?
We Became Wild: A Novel
Author H.D. Carver
Genres Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories, Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Death & Dying, Teen & Young Adult Friendship Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Reeling from the death of their best friend, two girls hike the Pacific Crest Trail in her honor in this fierce young adult debut.
Seventeen-year-old Lottie Mitchell is a liar. She might also be a horrible person—because someone good wouldn't have caused the death of her best friend, Val. Messina, Lottie's other best friend, has her own secrets to worry about—she's running from her terrifying, abusive stepfather. When the friends learn that Val had planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, they set off into the desert with Val’s ashes and her beloved copy of Wild to fulfill her dream. The only problem, aside from being woefully underprepared for the treacherous terrain and the fast-approaching fire season, is that without Val playing peacekeeper, Lottie and Messina are at each other's throats. The secrets they carry are heavier than their packs, and they’re going to have to find their trust in each other—and themselves—if they’re going to survive.
We Became Wild is a gripping, feral story about grief, friendship, and what it means to be a woman alone in the world.
Seventeen-year-old Lottie Mitchell is a liar. She might also be a horrible person—because someone good wouldn't have caused the death of her best friend, Val. Messina, Lottie's other best friend, has her own secrets to worry about—she's running from her terrifying, abusive stepfather. When the friends learn that Val had planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, they set off into the desert with Val’s ashes and her beloved copy of Wild to fulfill her dream. The only problem, aside from being woefully underprepared for the treacherous terrain and the fast-approaching fire season, is that without Val playing peacekeeper, Lottie and Messina are at each other's throats. The secrets they carry are heavier than their packs, and they’re going to have to find their trust in each other—and themselves—if they’re going to survive.
We Became Wild is a gripping, feral story about grief, friendship, and what it means to be a woman alone in the world.
Doe
Author Rebecca Barrow
Genres Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction, Teen & Young Adult Horror
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Thrilling crossover YA Horror perfect for fans of Krystal Sutherland and Tiffany Jackson, where the captain of a high school cheer team is caught in a bitter rivalry and turns to an ancient, supernatural creature for help, not knowing she’s just made a deal with a devil and could lose everything that matters, including her life.
Maris Larsen is the captain of the West Eaton High cheer team. She’s Coach’s favorite and the team worships her. Being on the team makes her feel special—powerful. When she’s leading the girls on the mat, Maris doesn’t have to think about her dead-end life in a dead-end town. She can forget about her depressed mother and absent father and the fact that her girlfriend doesn’t really love her. But when newcomer and Coach’s new golden girl, Genevieve Ray, joins the team, the only thing going right in Maris’s life is suddenly in jeopardy. A bitter rivalry develops between the two, but Maris is determined to take Genevieve down. The knife she needs to wield comes to Maris in her dreams.
While sleepwalking, Maris is visited by a monstrous, decaying beast in the shape of an enormous deer. Doe is an ancient, tired creature who has been wandering, trapped in her current form for decades. She cannot die, but she cannot go on living as she has. Only a girl related by blood to those who bound her in this form can free her, but those girls she loved died years ago—murdered in a fire.
But Maris is somehow linked to Doe’s beloved girls—linked by blood—and so she has the power to free Doe, to unleash her immense power. In Maris’s dreams, she and Doe form a bond, but Maris doesn’t know the creature from her dreams is real. Maris doesn’t understand the danger she’s in. She only knows Doe has promised her a way to win her battle with Genevieve. But for Maris to win, someone has to die, and the only real winner in the end will be Doe.
Maris Larsen is the captain of the West Eaton High cheer team. She’s Coach’s favorite and the team worships her. Being on the team makes her feel special—powerful. When she’s leading the girls on the mat, Maris doesn’t have to think about her dead-end life in a dead-end town. She can forget about her depressed mother and absent father and the fact that her girlfriend doesn’t really love her. But when newcomer and Coach’s new golden girl, Genevieve Ray, joins the team, the only thing going right in Maris’s life is suddenly in jeopardy. A bitter rivalry develops between the two, but Maris is determined to take Genevieve down. The knife she needs to wield comes to Maris in her dreams.
While sleepwalking, Maris is visited by a monstrous, decaying beast in the shape of an enormous deer. Doe is an ancient, tired creature who has been wandering, trapped in her current form for decades. She cannot die, but she cannot go on living as she has. Only a girl related by blood to those who bound her in this form can free her, but those girls she loved died years ago—murdered in a fire.
But Maris is somehow linked to Doe’s beloved girls—linked by blood—and so she has the power to free Doe, to unleash her immense power. In Maris’s dreams, she and Doe form a bond, but Maris doesn’t know the creature from her dreams is real. Maris doesn’t understand the danger she’s in. She only knows Doe has promised her a way to win her battle with Genevieve. But for Maris to win, someone has to die, and the only real winner in the end will be Doe.
The Man Who Watched the Trains Go by (Romans Durs)
Author Georges Simenon
Genres Psychological Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A private confession leads an ordinary Dutchman to abandon his family for a life on the run in Georges Simenon’s existentialist masterpiece.
Kees Popinga has always played by society’s rules. A dutiful husband and father, he owns a house in a nice neighborhood and holds down a responsible job in the shipping industry. Fantasies of escape, of rebellion, are kept carefully contained—until the night Kees’s boss makes a private confession. Having recklessly bankrupted the firm, he plans to fake his own death.
Kees is not only shocked; he’s exhilarated. Abandoning his home and family, he is soon a violent fugitive, wanted by police in Amsterdam and Paris. Has he gone insane, or was his compliant former self a masquerade? Infused with Georges Simenon’s gift for moral complexity, The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By is a haunting existentialist masterpiece.
Kees Popinga has always played by society’s rules. A dutiful husband and father, he owns a house in a nice neighborhood and holds down a responsible job in the shipping industry. Fantasies of escape, of rebellion, are kept carefully contained—until the night Kees’s boss makes a private confession. Having recklessly bankrupted the firm, he plans to fake his own death.
Kees is not only shocked; he’s exhilarated. Abandoning his home and family, he is soon a violent fugitive, wanted by police in Amsterdam and Paris. Has he gone insane, or was his compliant former self a masquerade? Infused with Georges Simenon’s gift for moral complexity, The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By is a haunting existentialist masterpiece.
Names Have Been Changed
Author Yu-Mei Balasingamchow
Genres Cultural Heritage Fiction, Asian American & Pacific Islander Literature, Murder Thrillers, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
Publication Date June 23, 2026
After ten years on the run around the world, Ophir—not her real name—comes clean in a confessional podcast about her life as a fugitive, charming countless fans even as she risks her freedom.
Ophir’s tale begins in Singapore, where a petty crime spins out of control, estranging her from home and family. Resorting to false identities and forged passports (being mixed-race helps), she crisscrosses the globe from a Paris-themed hostess bar in Tokyo, to a bustling Chinese restaurant in London, to a snowbound mountain town in Colorado and beyond.
Broadcasting from an undisclosed location, Ophir is funny, prickly, tough, and vulnerable, entrancing her listeners with an irresistible, no-holds-barred recounting of not only her crimes (plural) but also her deepest secrets and regrets. Even as she moves seamlessly across class lines and continents, she grapples with the shock of relentless dislocation, a painful reexamination of identity, and a deep yearning for home. She tries to find comfort in new lovers and ill-gotten luxury goods, but she can’t help attracting trouble, and she soon faces an unexpected, high-stakes choice that could change her fate forever.
Names Have Been Changed is a stylish, fast-paced debut novel that reveals the complicated paths we take to build a life and a home. Filled with danger and twists, it’s ultimately a story about immigration and belonging—one unlike any you’ve seen before.
Ophir’s tale begins in Singapore, where a petty crime spins out of control, estranging her from home and family. Resorting to false identities and forged passports (being mixed-race helps), she crisscrosses the globe from a Paris-themed hostess bar in Tokyo, to a bustling Chinese restaurant in London, to a snowbound mountain town in Colorado and beyond.
Broadcasting from an undisclosed location, Ophir is funny, prickly, tough, and vulnerable, entrancing her listeners with an irresistible, no-holds-barred recounting of not only her crimes (plural) but also her deepest secrets and regrets. Even as she moves seamlessly across class lines and continents, she grapples with the shock of relentless dislocation, a painful reexamination of identity, and a deep yearning for home. She tries to find comfort in new lovers and ill-gotten luxury goods, but she can’t help attracting trouble, and she soon faces an unexpected, high-stakes choice that could change her fate forever.
Names Have Been Changed is a stylish, fast-paced debut novel that reveals the complicated paths we take to build a life and a home. Filled with danger and twists, it’s ultimately a story about immigration and belonging—one unlike any you’ve seen before.
Nemesis Mine
Paperback Release
Author Amy Archer
Genres LGBTQ+ Action & Adventure Fiction, LGBTQ+ Humorous Fiction, LGBTQ+ Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Action & Adventure
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A not-so-evil villain strikes a deal with a not-quite-perfect hero to fake a feud, boost their reputations . . . and try not to fall in love in the process—in this hilarious, tender, sexy, and outrageously fun romp that blends the humor of Assistant to the Villain with the unforgettable romance of Red, White, & Royal Blue and the cozy fantasy vibes of Legends & Lattes.
Fake nemeses. It’s a dastardly plan that can’t go wrong… until love crashes the act.
Nobody is more surprised than Cyrus to learn that he’s no longer considered the greatest villain in the land of Athaca. Sure, he’s lying about the fact that his magical power is making flowers grow. And maybe lately he’s spent more time embroidering pillowcases than tormenting the locals. But that doesn’t mean he’s ready to be yesterday’s evil news.
Enter the hero Maximillian: the realm’s golden boy, complete with a blinding smile, chiseled abs, and an infuriating habit of spreading hope and joy. (Gross.) If Cyrus wants to be taken seriously, he’ll have to take this guy down.
But Maximillian isn’t quite as perfect as he seems. When he proposes a scheme to fake an epic rivalry and increase their fame, Cyrus can’t resist. Stage the battles, soak up the spotlight, share the spoils—it’s a villainously good marketing plan.
There’s just one hitch. Pretending to hate your nemesis becomes a lot harder when you start falling for them instead.
Nemesis Mine is a wickedly funny, steamy, and big-hearted rom-com set in a cozy fantasy world, featuring:
- An irreverent take on a fantasy kingdom for fans of Shrek and The Princess Bride
- Enemies to reluctant allies to lovers (M/M)
- A twist on fake hating/fake dating
- Black cat/golden retriever energy
- Dagger to the throat moments
- Falling for the villain
- “Touch him and you die”
Fake nemeses. It’s a dastardly plan that can’t go wrong… until love crashes the act.
Nobody is more surprised than Cyrus to learn that he’s no longer considered the greatest villain in the land of Athaca. Sure, he’s lying about the fact that his magical power is making flowers grow. And maybe lately he’s spent more time embroidering pillowcases than tormenting the locals. But that doesn’t mean he’s ready to be yesterday’s evil news.
Enter the hero Maximillian: the realm’s golden boy, complete with a blinding smile, chiseled abs, and an infuriating habit of spreading hope and joy. (Gross.) If Cyrus wants to be taken seriously, he’ll have to take this guy down.
But Maximillian isn’t quite as perfect as he seems. When he proposes a scheme to fake an epic rivalry and increase their fame, Cyrus can’t resist. Stage the battles, soak up the spotlight, share the spoils—it’s a villainously good marketing plan.
There’s just one hitch. Pretending to hate your nemesis becomes a lot harder when you start falling for them instead.
Nemesis Mine is a wickedly funny, steamy, and big-hearted rom-com set in a cozy fantasy world, featuring:
- An irreverent take on a fantasy kingdom for fans of Shrek and The Princess Bride
- Enemies to reluctant allies to lovers (M/M)
- A twist on fake hating/fake dating
- Black cat/golden retriever energy
- Dagger to the throat moments
- Falling for the villain
- “Touch him and you die”
Slasher Summer
Author E. L. Chen
Genres LGBTQ+ Coming of Age Fiction, Slasher Horrors, Coming of Age Fiction, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
In this campy love letter to the slasher films of the 1980s, seven friends reunite for a weekend of fun—only to be hunted down by a cold-blooded killer. But the real horror is not being able to escape who you were in high school...
The sleepy town of Cedar Lake Falls is best known as the shooting location of the campy ’80s horror flick Slasher. In high school, preppy Patrick, jock Jason, cheerleader Tiffany, stoner Freddy, goth Jennifer, and nerdy Michael had played the cast of Slasher during midnight showings, with virginal Carrie as the Final Girl, of course.
Years later, the friends reunite at the remote cabin where Slasher was filmed. They've changed since high school—Patrick came out, Mikey bulked up, and, well, Freddy's still stoned—and they're looking forward to a weekend to catch up. But when night falls, and the eponymous masked killer is spotted, the reunion takes a deadly turn. The friends discover their tires deflated and the phone line disconnected, and soon they’re being stalked by a mysterious assailant. Is someone trying to make their Slasher experience as authentic as possible?
One thing is for sure. Before the night is over, they each will have to take on the role they thought they'd left behind.
The sleepy town of Cedar Lake Falls is best known as the shooting location of the campy ’80s horror flick Slasher. In high school, preppy Patrick, jock Jason, cheerleader Tiffany, stoner Freddy, goth Jennifer, and nerdy Michael had played the cast of Slasher during midnight showings, with virginal Carrie as the Final Girl, of course.
Years later, the friends reunite at the remote cabin where Slasher was filmed. They've changed since high school—Patrick came out, Mikey bulked up, and, well, Freddy's still stoned—and they're looking forward to a weekend to catch up. But when night falls, and the eponymous masked killer is spotted, the reunion takes a deadly turn. The friends discover their tires deflated and the phone line disconnected, and soon they’re being stalked by a mysterious assailant. Is someone trying to make their Slasher experience as authentic as possible?
One thing is for sure. Before the night is over, they each will have to take on the role they thought they'd left behind.
Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones
Author Malayna Evans
Genres Ancient History Fiction, Folklore, Politics & Social Sciences
Publication Date June 23, 2026
One determined goddess. Two beloved gods. Three coveted thrones.
Ancient Egypt’s most formidable goddess will stop at nothing to save her true love from the wrath of a vengeful god in this romantic retelling by the author of Neferura, perfect for readers who loved Lilith.
Isis, goddess of thrones and magic, steals the crown of Egypt and hands the power to her husband, Osiris. Together, Isis and Osiris live an idyllic life, ruling justly until the god of chaos, set on revenge for a crime Isis knows nothing about, traps Osiris in a box—a box that quickly vanishes.
Driven by rage and desperation, Isis spends decades disguised as a human woman, isolated from home and family as she searches for her lost love. When she finally uncovers the box, what she finds will change her life—and the fate of gods and mortals—forever. Unless Isis can right the wrongs of a betrayal she didn’t commit and deliver Egypt into the hands of a worthy leader, Egypt will fall to chaos.
Isis of Goddess of Thrones is a feminist retelling about the woman behind one of the ancient world’s most widespread and enduring cults, a goddess whose message of empathy and resilience resonates still today.
Ancient Egypt’s most formidable goddess will stop at nothing to save her true love from the wrath of a vengeful god in this romantic retelling by the author of Neferura, perfect for readers who loved Lilith.
Isis, goddess of thrones and magic, steals the crown of Egypt and hands the power to her husband, Osiris. Together, Isis and Osiris live an idyllic life, ruling justly until the god of chaos, set on revenge for a crime Isis knows nothing about, traps Osiris in a box—a box that quickly vanishes.
Driven by rage and desperation, Isis spends decades disguised as a human woman, isolated from home and family as she searches for her lost love. When she finally uncovers the box, what she finds will change her life—and the fate of gods and mortals—forever. Unless Isis can right the wrongs of a betrayal she didn’t commit and deliver Egypt into the hands of a worthy leader, Egypt will fall to chaos.
Isis of Goddess of Thrones is a feminist retelling about the woman behind one of the ancient world’s most widespread and enduring cults, a goddess whose message of empathy and resilience resonates still today.
Wait and See
Author Roy Johansen
Genres Psychological Fiction, Women Sleuths, Private Investigator Mysteries, Psychological Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Investigator Kendra Michaels—formerly blind and now with uniquely insightful observational skills in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes—returns in this novel from the #1 New York Times and Edgar Award-winning writing duo Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen.
Close Relationships with Strangers
Author Krista Diamond
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler meets Ryan Gosling in Drive, Close Relationships with Strangers follows a Las Vegas wildlife photographer who moves to Los Angeles to become a paparazzo and in the process loses his relationships, his morals, and eventually his tether to reality.
Every paparazzo has their white whale, for Ben, that person is movie star Jack Whitlock.
Reviled by celebrities and the public, Ben is one of the last remaining paparazzi scouring the streets of Los Angeles. Amateurs with camera phones, social media, and a lack of bonafide stars have slowly killed a once essential role in the Hollywood apparatus. Jack Whitlock is one of the last remaining A-listers, and Ben has followed his career since the years he spent bussing tables at a diner in Las Vegas where his most popular movie once filmed a scene.
When Jack Whitlock is suddenly embroiled in a sex scandal, Ben begins his pursuit, eager for both a big paycheck and a chance to be close to the elusive star. Along the way, he is haunted by mistakes from his the photos he took of a pop star that have led to death threats, the ghost of his failed relationship with a burlesque dancer named Ellory, and his abandoned dream of being a wildlife photographer.
Searing and propulsive, Close Relationships with Strangers is a behind the lens tour-de-force through the streets of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the desert in between, as readers follow Ben, unrelenting, obsessive, and wry, on a quest that will lead either to his redemption or demise.
Every paparazzo has their white whale, for Ben, that person is movie star Jack Whitlock.
Reviled by celebrities and the public, Ben is one of the last remaining paparazzi scouring the streets of Los Angeles. Amateurs with camera phones, social media, and a lack of bonafide stars have slowly killed a once essential role in the Hollywood apparatus. Jack Whitlock is one of the last remaining A-listers, and Ben has followed his career since the years he spent bussing tables at a diner in Las Vegas where his most popular movie once filmed a scene.
When Jack Whitlock is suddenly embroiled in a sex scandal, Ben begins his pursuit, eager for both a big paycheck and a chance to be close to the elusive star. Along the way, he is haunted by mistakes from his the photos he took of a pop star that have led to death threats, the ghost of his failed relationship with a burlesque dancer named Ellory, and his abandoned dream of being a wildlife photographer.
Searing and propulsive, Close Relationships with Strangers is a behind the lens tour-de-force through the streets of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the desert in between, as readers follow Ben, unrelenting, obsessive, and wry, on a quest that will lead either to his redemption or demise.
The Tinder Box
Author M. R. Carey
Genres Horror Occult & Supernatural, Folklore, Epic Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Prepare to be entranced by this utterly unique and completely spellbinding dark fairy tale from the million-copy bestselling M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts.
In a kingdom forgotten by history, a legend unfolds ...
Wounded in his county's endless wars, former soldier Mag Tresti finds work in the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. But Jannae is more than she seems. A witch of great skill and might, she hides her powers and her deep-laid plans behind a mask of harmless respectability.
When a dead demon falls out of the sky, the fates of the soldier and the witch are irrevocably intertwined. On the demon's body Mag finds a tinderbox—an artefact of terrifying magical power that can not only grant his every wish, but also change the fate of nations.
This is a tale of spellcraft and devilry, of witchcraft and trickery—of the wickedness that resides within a few, the goodness that lies deep within us all, and the choices on which our lives turn.
In a kingdom forgotten by history, a legend unfolds ...
Wounded in his county's endless wars, former soldier Mag Tresti finds work in the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. But Jannae is more than she seems. A witch of great skill and might, she hides her powers and her deep-laid plans behind a mask of harmless respectability.
When a dead demon falls out of the sky, the fates of the soldier and the witch are irrevocably intertwined. On the demon's body Mag finds a tinderbox—an artefact of terrifying magical power that can not only grant his every wish, but also change the fate of nations.
This is a tale of spellcraft and devilry, of witchcraft and trickery—of the wickedness that resides within a few, the goodness that lies deep within us all, and the choices on which our lives turn.
Ice Cold Chemistry
eBook Release
Author Kendall Ryan
Genres Sports Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Enemies to Lovers Romance
Publication Date June 25, 2026
She’s the distraction the team can’t afford.
He’s the solution no one saw coming.
Winnie Garrett is done with men. After a toxic relationship left her second-guessing everything, she’s focused on one her dream job as the New York Knights’ new yoga instructor.
Banks Callahan doesn’t do relationships. Or feelings. Or anything that requires letting people get close. Growing up in the foster system taught him not to need anyone—and definitely not to want something he could lose.
So when the team’s new yoga instructor becomes an unexpected locker-room distraction threatening their playoff focus, Banks comes up with a solution so ridiculous it just might work.
Fake dating.
If the guys think Winnie is his, they'll back off. It's simple locker room you don't touch what's claimed—like calling dibs on the last slice of pizza.
The problem?
Nothing about Winnie is simple.
She’s warmth and laughter and everything Banks has spent years convincing himself he doesn’t need. She makes him want things he can't have. Makes him feel things he doesn't understand.
He was never supposed to fall for her.
But somewhere between fake hand-holding, pretend nicknames, and very real late-night moments, the line between “just for show” and “dangerously real” starts to blur.
Ice Cold Chemistry is a slow-burn hockey romance featuring fake dating, a grumpy hero, a sunshine heroine, and the relationship neither of them planned—but both might need.
He’s the solution no one saw coming.
Winnie Garrett is done with men. After a toxic relationship left her second-guessing everything, she’s focused on one her dream job as the New York Knights’ new yoga instructor.
Banks Callahan doesn’t do relationships. Or feelings. Or anything that requires letting people get close. Growing up in the foster system taught him not to need anyone—and definitely not to want something he could lose.
So when the team’s new yoga instructor becomes an unexpected locker-room distraction threatening their playoff focus, Banks comes up with a solution so ridiculous it just might work.
Fake dating.
If the guys think Winnie is his, they'll back off. It's simple locker room you don't touch what's claimed—like calling dibs on the last slice of pizza.
The problem?
Nothing about Winnie is simple.
She’s warmth and laughter and everything Banks has spent years convincing himself he doesn’t need. She makes him want things he can't have. Makes him feel things he doesn't understand.
He was never supposed to fall for her.
But somewhere between fake hand-holding, pretend nicknames, and very real late-night moments, the line between “just for show” and “dangerously real” starts to blur.
Ice Cold Chemistry is a slow-burn hockey romance featuring fake dating, a grumpy hero, a sunshine heroine, and the relationship neither of them planned—but both might need.
A Bitter Cut
Author Anna Lee Huber
Genres Women Sleuths, Cozy Mysteries, Historical Romances, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Lady Kiera Darby plans to spend the summer reconnecting with friends and family in anticipation of the betrothal of her beloved brother. But when a future in-law is implicated in a murder, the party takes a deadly turn. . . .
July 1833. Lady Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, are settling into their newly renovated home at Bevington Park in Warkwickshire with their young daughter. With the breach between them and Sebastian’s father recently healed, they've agreed to help host a country house party for friends and family to share in their joy. Kiera is also anxious to help promote a match between her brother, Trevor, and the woman he’s fallen in love with, inviting her family to join them. However, Kiera swiftly discovers that the would-be bride’s family is not without their detractions. Her brother is unpleasant. Her mother is abrasive. And her father—the prosperous industrialist Jeremiah Birnam—is brusque, discourteous, and, at times, downright rude.
So when Mr. Birnam’s secretary is found murdered with Birnam standing over her body, many are content to allow him to take the blame. But neither Kiera nor Sebastian believes he did it, and in spite of his bluster and boorish behavior, they can’t let an innocent man be hung for another’s crime. Unfortunately, Birnam had his fair share of enemies at the house party, and any one of them might have struck out at his secretary in order to get to him. It's up to Kiera and Sebastian to uncover the truth and salvage Birnam’s reputation. As the couple slowly inches their way closer to the truth and threats emerge against their loved ones, Kiera begins to fear that the price of solving the crime may mean sacrificing her brother’s future happiness.
July 1833. Lady Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, are settling into their newly renovated home at Bevington Park in Warkwickshire with their young daughter. With the breach between them and Sebastian’s father recently healed, they've agreed to help host a country house party for friends and family to share in their joy. Kiera is also anxious to help promote a match between her brother, Trevor, and the woman he’s fallen in love with, inviting her family to join them. However, Kiera swiftly discovers that the would-be bride’s family is not without their detractions. Her brother is unpleasant. Her mother is abrasive. And her father—the prosperous industrialist Jeremiah Birnam—is brusque, discourteous, and, at times, downright rude.
So when Mr. Birnam’s secretary is found murdered with Birnam standing over her body, many are content to allow him to take the blame. But neither Kiera nor Sebastian believes he did it, and in spite of his bluster and boorish behavior, they can’t let an innocent man be hung for another’s crime. Unfortunately, Birnam had his fair share of enemies at the house party, and any one of them might have struck out at his secretary in order to get to him. It's up to Kiera and Sebastian to uncover the truth and salvage Birnam’s reputation. As the couple slowly inches their way closer to the truth and threats emerge against their loved ones, Kiera begins to fear that the price of solving the crime may mean sacrificing her brother’s future happiness.
Nothing to My Name
Author Kangkang Li Kovacs
Genres 20th Century Historical Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
1948, Zhoushan, China. Twelve-year-old Ah Xue watches her mother earn a living combing the hair of the wealthy women in their small fishing village, as reports of civil war and the rising Communist revolution grow closer to home.
Years later, Mimosa grows up in the shadow of her parents' struggles, while the looming tension of the Cultural Revolution threatens to pull her family apart.
And Fei, raised as a boy by the activist father she can't help but idolise, grapples with her identity in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Spanning four decades and three generations, Nothing to My Name braids an unforgettable story of the ordinary women caught in the tides of societal upheaval, but bound by an insuppressible instinct to survive. From an astonishing new writer, it explores with remarkable tenderness the enduring repercussions of trauma, the search for stability in disorder, and the often contradictory nature of familial love.
Years later, Mimosa grows up in the shadow of her parents' struggles, while the looming tension of the Cultural Revolution threatens to pull her family apart.
And Fei, raised as a boy by the activist father she can't help but idolise, grapples with her identity in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Spanning four decades and three generations, Nothing to My Name braids an unforgettable story of the ordinary women caught in the tides of societal upheaval, but bound by an insuppressible instinct to survive. From an astonishing new writer, it explores with remarkable tenderness the enduring repercussions of trauma, the search for stability in disorder, and the often contradictory nature of familial love.
Agnes Lives!
Author Hallie Elizabeth Newton
Genres Contemporary Women Fiction, Fiction Satire, Dark Humor
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A day-in-the-life debut novel about a fading socialite on the hunt for someone to kill her before her next SoulCycle class.
New York City, 2014: a place of gleaming towers, boutique fitness, designer handbags and, of course, existential despair. As Agnes wipes away the sweat from her early-morning SoulCycle class she resolves that before her next lesson she will find someone happy to murder her. Over the course of the following twenty-four hours, as she moves from apartment to office to bar to Barney's, she scrolls from one contender to the next: an ice-cold magazine editor, a Craigslist gun dealer, an older politician she dated as a teen, her cruel novelist boyfriend. As she does so, a portrait emerges from the loops and spools of her thought: of a place between beauty and rot, of a time between confidence and collapse, and of a woman between desire and destruction.
Written in exhilarating, shocking prose, Agnes Lives! is an extraordinary debut novel from one of the most exciting new writers at work today, detailing everything chic, everything sexy and everything terrifyingly, crushingly depraved about a culture totally hung up on image.
New York City, 2014: a place of gleaming towers, boutique fitness, designer handbags and, of course, existential despair. As Agnes wipes away the sweat from her early-morning SoulCycle class she resolves that before her next lesson she will find someone happy to murder her. Over the course of the following twenty-four hours, as she moves from apartment to office to bar to Barney's, she scrolls from one contender to the next: an ice-cold magazine editor, a Craigslist gun dealer, an older politician she dated as a teen, her cruel novelist boyfriend. As she does so, a portrait emerges from the loops and spools of her thought: of a place between beauty and rot, of a time between confidence and collapse, and of a woman between desire and destruction.
Written in exhilarating, shocking prose, Agnes Lives! is an extraordinary debut novel from one of the most exciting new writers at work today, detailing everything chic, everything sexy and everything terrifyingly, crushingly depraved about a culture totally hung up on image.
Lost in France
Author Claire Ross Dunn
Genres Comedic Dramas & Plays, Family Life Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
The click of a button could change your life.
A fresh start in France is just what this mother-daughter duo needs to transform their lives, perfect for fans of Under the Tuscan Sun.
Dedicated single mom and overworked film festival staffer Marlow buys a house online for one euro—then finds out there are strings attached. To sort out the mess, Marlow decides to take an impromptu holiday in France. But when the impossible local bureaucrat refuses her a refund, she decides to renovate and flip the house.
Along for the ride is Marlow’s teenage daughter, Sabine. Recently graduated but adrift, Sabine uses the trip as a chance to secretly reconnect with her Parisian father. And when a cute but arrogant boy enters the picture, things get even more complicated.
Meanwhile, Marlow finds herself caught between two men, the fascinating but irascible village handyman and the wealthy and charming owner of a nearby champagnerie. Torn between a safe but predictable life back in Toronto and a wonderful, if uncertain future abroad, Marlow and Sabine must embrace spontaneity and the transformative power of being a little lost.
A fresh start in France is just what this mother-daughter duo needs to transform their lives, perfect for fans of Under the Tuscan Sun.
Dedicated single mom and overworked film festival staffer Marlow buys a house online for one euro—then finds out there are strings attached. To sort out the mess, Marlow decides to take an impromptu holiday in France. But when the impossible local bureaucrat refuses her a refund, she decides to renovate and flip the house.
Along for the ride is Marlow’s teenage daughter, Sabine. Recently graduated but adrift, Sabine uses the trip as a chance to secretly reconnect with her Parisian father. And when a cute but arrogant boy enters the picture, things get even more complicated.
Meanwhile, Marlow finds herself caught between two men, the fascinating but irascible village handyman and the wealthy and charming owner of a nearby champagnerie. Torn between a safe but predictable life back in Toronto and a wonderful, if uncertain future abroad, Marlow and Sabine must embrace spontaneity and the transformative power of being a little lost.
Retro
Author Jessica M. Goldstein
Genres Time Travel Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Women's Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
Publication Date June 23, 2026
An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present—in this sharp, speculative debut novel.
When Ash spots an ad for Retro during a depressing Instagram scroll—she’s in debt and unemployed; everyone else is, evidently, thriving—she’s surprised the algorithm sent it her way. She’s heard of recreational time travel, but it’s way out of her budget. Then she sees the Come away with us! We’re hiring.
So begins Ash’s life as a Time Travel Agent, leading wealthy tourists on vacations to historical hotspots. She takes bachelorette parties to live out their cowboy-romance fantasies in the Old West and throws “'20s for your twenties” birthday bashes at speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot in the Gold Rush. It's all thrilling, outrageous, and totally surreal. Bygone America is just a Retro Metro ride away.
Despite Ash’s tendency toward cynicism, she finds herself swept up in her dazzling new job. Sure, Ash isn’t the actress she always dreamed she’d be. But isn’t this so much better? It’s like Ash’s life is a movie, complete with an impossible love triangle. How is she supposed to choose between her mysterious office crush and the handsome private eye pursuing her in 1937?
For the first time in years, Ash’s life feels enviable—so she’d really rather not pay attention to the strange things happening to her memory and relationships outside Retro. But as her trips threaten to unravel her real life, she confronts an unsettling “escaping” into the past was never really an escape at all.
When Ash spots an ad for Retro during a depressing Instagram scroll—she’s in debt and unemployed; everyone else is, evidently, thriving—she’s surprised the algorithm sent it her way. She’s heard of recreational time travel, but it’s way out of her budget. Then she sees the Come away with us! We’re hiring.
So begins Ash’s life as a Time Travel Agent, leading wealthy tourists on vacations to historical hotspots. She takes bachelorette parties to live out their cowboy-romance fantasies in the Old West and throws “'20s for your twenties” birthday bashes at speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot in the Gold Rush. It's all thrilling, outrageous, and totally surreal. Bygone America is just a Retro Metro ride away.
Despite Ash’s tendency toward cynicism, she finds herself swept up in her dazzling new job. Sure, Ash isn’t the actress she always dreamed she’d be. But isn’t this so much better? It’s like Ash’s life is a movie, complete with an impossible love triangle. How is she supposed to choose between her mysterious office crush and the handsome private eye pursuing her in 1937?
For the first time in years, Ash’s life feels enviable—so she’d really rather not pay attention to the strange things happening to her memory and relationships outside Retro. But as her trips threaten to unravel her real life, she confronts an unsettling “escaping” into the past was never really an escape at all.
Every Hunter Is Hunted
Author Barry Lyga
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Police Procedurals, Conspiracy Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
From the world of Barry Lyga’s New York Times bestselling ‘I Hunt Killers’ trilogy comes a thrilling adult mystery about the hunt for a monstrous serial killer.
Brides are being murdered on their wedding nights. Soaked in blood and draped in lace. With nothing left behind to help them find the killer, the FBI is at an impasse. Their only, desperate hope is to convince Jasper Dent, the son of two serial killers and a former teen prodigy at hunting down such monsters, to emerge from his self-imposed exile.
When he was a teenager, both of Jasper’s parents were members of a secret society of serial killers. Today, his father is in prison and his mother is in a coma, both results of their final confrontation with Jasper years ago. Now, wealthy from a best-selling memoir about his parents, Jasper still carries the scars from their parenting—and the uncanny, unwanted ability to understand killers that they instilled in him.
Jasper wants nothing more than to hide from his past – cash his royalty checks and never think about murder and blood again. But he knows the only way to find any meaning or redemption in his life is to face his demons once again. His skills rusty, his confidence shaken, Jasper races against a ticking clock, frantically seeking to solve the impossible mystery before more women meet a horrific end.
Brides are being murdered on their wedding nights. Soaked in blood and draped in lace. With nothing left behind to help them find the killer, the FBI is at an impasse. Their only, desperate hope is to convince Jasper Dent, the son of two serial killers and a former teen prodigy at hunting down such monsters, to emerge from his self-imposed exile.
When he was a teenager, both of Jasper’s parents were members of a secret society of serial killers. Today, his father is in prison and his mother is in a coma, both results of their final confrontation with Jasper years ago. Now, wealthy from a best-selling memoir about his parents, Jasper still carries the scars from their parenting—and the uncanny, unwanted ability to understand killers that they instilled in him.
Jasper wants nothing more than to hide from his past – cash his royalty checks and never think about murder and blood again. But he knows the only way to find any meaning or redemption in his life is to face his demons once again. His skills rusty, his confidence shaken, Jasper races against a ticking clock, frantically seeking to solve the impossible mystery before more women meet a horrific end.
Fear the Reaper
Author David Housewright
Genres American Literature, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Private Investigator Mysteries
Publication Date June 23, 2026
After taking down a man wielding an AR-15 a small town winery, Rushmore McKenzie has to find out who, if anyone, was the shooter's target before he, or someone else, tries again.
Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie, after becoming an unexpected millionaire, now is an unlicensed private investigator, doing the occasional investigative favor. Off on a weekend getaway to northwestern Wisconsin, McKenzie, with a group of five, including his childhood friend and current police detective Bobby Dunston, stop off at a local winery. When a man walks up carrying an AR-15, which he raises, props the butt against his shoulder, and sights down the barrel - but before he can do anything, Bobby Dunston yells 'gun' and he and McKenzie take the man down.
The would-be shooter was arrested, and normally, that would be the end of it. But Wisconsin is an open carry state and the police can't prove that the gunman was intended to do anything. But it does appear that he might have been looking for one specific target. And, if so, that person is not out of danger. Now, before the gunman is released, McKenzie decides to find out who was the real target and why, before it is too late.
Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie, after becoming an unexpected millionaire, now is an unlicensed private investigator, doing the occasional investigative favor. Off on a weekend getaway to northwestern Wisconsin, McKenzie, with a group of five, including his childhood friend and current police detective Bobby Dunston, stop off at a local winery. When a man walks up carrying an AR-15, which he raises, props the butt against his shoulder, and sights down the barrel - but before he can do anything, Bobby Dunston yells 'gun' and he and McKenzie take the man down.
The would-be shooter was arrested, and normally, that would be the end of it. But Wisconsin is an open carry state and the police can't prove that the gunman was intended to do anything. But it does appear that he might have been looking for one specific target. And, if so, that person is not out of danger. Now, before the gunman is released, McKenzie decides to find out who was the real target and why, before it is too late.
The Door in Penrose Forest
Author Sean David Robinson
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Supernatural Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A man returns to his strange hometown twenty years after his mother climbed a staircase in the wilderness and disappeared in this speculative mystery where We Used to Live Here meets The Midnight Library.
As a boy, Nico once accompanied his mother on a research trip to investigate a stalled migration of monarch butterflies. One night, upon hearing her sneak out of their rented cabin, he followed her to a clearing in the forest where a famed mansion once stood. Paralyzed with fear, he watched his mother climb a staircase and vanish, along with the stairs and the strange glowing door at its peak. No one believed his story, and as he grew older, he too stopped believing it was real.
As an adult, Nico returns to his hometown to care for his ailing father. But something strange is happening to the town. There are unexplained power fluctuations, people are going missing, and, reportedly, phantoms are roaming the woods. When Nico finds his mother’s field journal from the week she disappeared, including her account of the vanishing staircase, he begins to pick apart the mystery.
All the tangled strings trail back to the same starting the gilded age family whose mansion burned down under mysterious circumstances in those very same woods where his mother vanished.
Equally a compelling mystery and a moving story of family and destiny, this speculative novel will spellbind readers of Emily St. John Mandel and Susanna Clarke.
As a boy, Nico once accompanied his mother on a research trip to investigate a stalled migration of monarch butterflies. One night, upon hearing her sneak out of their rented cabin, he followed her to a clearing in the forest where a famed mansion once stood. Paralyzed with fear, he watched his mother climb a staircase and vanish, along with the stairs and the strange glowing door at its peak. No one believed his story, and as he grew older, he too stopped believing it was real.
As an adult, Nico returns to his hometown to care for his ailing father. But something strange is happening to the town. There are unexplained power fluctuations, people are going missing, and, reportedly, phantoms are roaming the woods. When Nico finds his mother’s field journal from the week she disappeared, including her account of the vanishing staircase, he begins to pick apart the mystery.
All the tangled strings trail back to the same starting the gilded age family whose mansion burned down under mysterious circumstances in those very same woods where his mother vanished.
Equally a compelling mystery and a moving story of family and destiny, this speculative novel will spellbind readers of Emily St. John Mandel and Susanna Clarke.
The Future Perfect
Author Cay Kim
Genres Coming of Age Fiction, Asian American & Pacific Islander Literature, Literary Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A radiant, exquisitely told portrait of a young woman growing up between cultures, in search of her future self
Before you are anything, you are a daughter.
At first, you are a child at home in your mother’s belly: a beloved daughter, a vision of the future. But who will you become? At the Dol ceremony on your first birthday, dressed in a bright fuchsia hanbok, your family gathers around to see which item you’ll reach for that will determine the course of your life. You choose the pencil.
As your family moves from Seoul to snowy Minnesota, you and your mother find yourselves in a new American life that you must navigate together, mastering its language and customs. Soon enough, you are in pursuit of perfection—your mother marshaling you through a childhood of achievements to shape you into the person she most wants you to be. But you are not just your mother’s daughter, despite her sacrifices. As the years go by, you want to build a life between these two cultures that feels yours—an identity that lies somewhere in between your homeland and motherland.
Told in incandescent prose, Cay Kim’s debut novel is a portrait of a brilliant young woman growing up between worlds, and a glorious love letter to girlhood, family, and the great dreams we hold for ourselves, no matter where we’re from.
Before you are anything, you are a daughter.
At first, you are a child at home in your mother’s belly: a beloved daughter, a vision of the future. But who will you become? At the Dol ceremony on your first birthday, dressed in a bright fuchsia hanbok, your family gathers around to see which item you’ll reach for that will determine the course of your life. You choose the pencil.
As your family moves from Seoul to snowy Minnesota, you and your mother find yourselves in a new American life that you must navigate together, mastering its language and customs. Soon enough, you are in pursuit of perfection—your mother marshaling you through a childhood of achievements to shape you into the person she most wants you to be. But you are not just your mother’s daughter, despite her sacrifices. As the years go by, you want to build a life between these two cultures that feels yours—an identity that lies somewhere in between your homeland and motherland.
Told in incandescent prose, Cay Kim’s debut novel is a portrait of a brilliant young woman growing up between worlds, and a glorious love letter to girlhood, family, and the great dreams we hold for ourselves, no matter where we’re from.
What Gentlemen Do
Author Todd Babiak
Genres Coming of Age Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction, American Literature
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A lost young man’s sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreakingattempt at navigating adulthood, online culture, and friendship in this coming-of-age story for our times.
Waylon Gans did not mean to start a riot on the university campus. He was only there because he wanted to be in the audience while one of his heroes, Josh Modley, recorded a live podcast.
The problem, as Waylon sees it, is that he is trash: he lives in Walleye, a town everyone wants to leave; his parents are losing their home due to a bad cryptocurrency investment; his job at the used bookstore is a dead-end; Derby, the love of his life, cannot even look at him; and he’s worried he’s falling back under podcaster Josh Modley’s influence and the comfort of blaming everything on the “feminists, globalists, and communists.” Half-heartedly pursuing an associate degree, Waylon is enrolled in Philosophy 118: Introduction to Stoicism. He becomes entranced by these teachings.
In a voice that is by turns comic and unusually wise, What Gentlemen Do is an unvarnished look at a young man wrestling with the consequences of his actions, the shakiness of his beliefs, and jeopardizing important relationships. Waylon tries to dismantle his own perception of truth and to build something meaningful in the process.
Waylon Gans did not mean to start a riot on the university campus. He was only there because he wanted to be in the audience while one of his heroes, Josh Modley, recorded a live podcast.
The problem, as Waylon sees it, is that he is trash: he lives in Walleye, a town everyone wants to leave; his parents are losing their home due to a bad cryptocurrency investment; his job at the used bookstore is a dead-end; Derby, the love of his life, cannot even look at him; and he’s worried he’s falling back under podcaster Josh Modley’s influence and the comfort of blaming everything on the “feminists, globalists, and communists.” Half-heartedly pursuing an associate degree, Waylon is enrolled in Philosophy 118: Introduction to Stoicism. He becomes entranced by these teachings.
In a voice that is by turns comic and unusually wise, What Gentlemen Do is an unvarnished look at a young man wrestling with the consequences of his actions, the shakiness of his beliefs, and jeopardizing important relationships. Waylon tries to dismantle his own perception of truth and to build something meaningful in the process.
Edge of Mercy
Author Allie Therin
Genres LGBTQ+ Mystery, LGBTQ+ Fantasy Fiction, Horror Occult & Supernatural, Supernatural Mysteries
Publication Date June 23, 2026
In this fight, feelings are the most dangerous weapon of all.
In the gripping conclusion to Allie Therin’s slow burn urban fantasy MM romance series, an empath and an empath hunter face off as the fate of an alternate-universe Seattle—and their own future—hang in the balance.
Caught in the crosshairs of a deadly conspiracy, empath Reece Davies was forced to embrace his darker nature to protect the enemy he’d fallen for. Now, joining forces with others like him, drawn to chaos and vengeance by the corruption in his veins, Reece is being hunted…by the very man he saved.
Evan Grayson, a notorious empath hunter known as the Dead Man, was engineered to never falter from his mission—until he met Reece. Even corruption can’t cool their desire for each other, but with Reece’s dark side in control and all of Seattle at stake, Grayson must stop him, no matter the personal cost.
As the battle between the two enemies heats up, so does their forbidden attraction. But the danger is growing and closing in on them from all sides. Because Grayson isn’t the only one hunting the empaths—and they both may have finally met their match…
In the gripping conclusion to Allie Therin’s slow burn urban fantasy MM romance series, an empath and an empath hunter face off as the fate of an alternate-universe Seattle—and their own future—hang in the balance.
Caught in the crosshairs of a deadly conspiracy, empath Reece Davies was forced to embrace his darker nature to protect the enemy he’d fallen for. Now, joining forces with others like him, drawn to chaos and vengeance by the corruption in his veins, Reece is being hunted…by the very man he saved.
Evan Grayson, a notorious empath hunter known as the Dead Man, was engineered to never falter from his mission—until he met Reece. Even corruption can’t cool their desire for each other, but with Reece’s dark side in control and all of Seattle at stake, Grayson must stop him, no matter the personal cost.
As the battle between the two enemies heats up, so does their forbidden attraction. But the danger is growing and closing in on them from all sides. Because Grayson isn’t the only one hunting the empaths—and they both may have finally met their match…
Lavender Spike
Author Rachel Tremblay
Genres Literature & Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Cyberpunk Science Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
“Lavender Spike is that rarest thing in fiction: a truly unique dystopia, one that shuns simple allegory and plays by its own strange and fascinating set of rules. In a just world, everyone would be obsessed with this book.” — Jason Pargin, bestselling author of John Dies at the End and I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
“Pain, passions, and violence are conveyed as agonizingly and earnestly here as they were in the Hunger Games and Handmaid’s Tale cycles… . Cautious brush strokes help sell this speculative story of art as the basis of a future police state.” — Kirkus Reviews
Isobel “Izzy” Ker, the last working artist of the Old Holy Order, lives a life of poverty in the Dumps outside of Mahl City, covertly selling her illegal paintings to the Old Order’s few remaining devotees. But when her studio is ransacked by the city’s enforcers, her only choice is to seek refuge with the Half-Light Rebels, a gang of anti-art radicals and glorified thieves.
She agrees to help the rebels, but their first mission goes south, and Izzy is arrested and brought before the leader of the oppressive New Art Government, a group that keeps people in check by feeding their addiction to a novel and dangerous craft, Trigger Art. Izzy has a choice: Convert to their way of life, using her skills to debut as a Trigger Artist, or rot in the city’s infamous prison. Izzy accepts and is thrust into the spotlight, now intoxicated by the luxury and power afforded her, not to mention her handsome bodyguard, Rilke. The wild, engrossing act of creating her first public piece almost makes her forget what life was like in the Dumps. Almost. All the while, Izzy is fanning the flames of rebellion, working in secret with the rebels and preparing to unveil her audacious debut piece.
Written by a rising star in science fiction, Lavender Spike is a bold, wholly original cyberpunk novel in which art is both drug and religion.
“Pain, passions, and violence are conveyed as agonizingly and earnestly here as they were in the Hunger Games and Handmaid’s Tale cycles… . Cautious brush strokes help sell this speculative story of art as the basis of a future police state.” — Kirkus Reviews
Isobel “Izzy” Ker, the last working artist of the Old Holy Order, lives a life of poverty in the Dumps outside of Mahl City, covertly selling her illegal paintings to the Old Order’s few remaining devotees. But when her studio is ransacked by the city’s enforcers, her only choice is to seek refuge with the Half-Light Rebels, a gang of anti-art radicals and glorified thieves.
She agrees to help the rebels, but their first mission goes south, and Izzy is arrested and brought before the leader of the oppressive New Art Government, a group that keeps people in check by feeding their addiction to a novel and dangerous craft, Trigger Art. Izzy has a choice: Convert to their way of life, using her skills to debut as a Trigger Artist, or rot in the city’s infamous prison. Izzy accepts and is thrust into the spotlight, now intoxicated by the luxury and power afforded her, not to mention her handsome bodyguard, Rilke. The wild, engrossing act of creating her first public piece almost makes her forget what life was like in the Dumps. Almost. All the while, Izzy is fanning the flames of rebellion, working in secret with the rebels and preparing to unveil her audacious debut piece.
Written by a rising star in science fiction, Lavender Spike is a bold, wholly original cyberpunk novel in which art is both drug and religion.
The Architects of Control
Author Harold Greene
Genres Political Fiction, Political Thrillers, Conspiracy Thrillers, Technothrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
IT ISN'T JUST COMING FOR YOUR JOB. IT'S COMING FOR YOUR VOTE.
"Greene expertly weaves a thrilling political tapestry that is equally topical and timeless... sure to excite and delight fans of political thrillers and tales of deep-seated corruption."—Kirkus Reviews
★★★★★ "A nonstop, hair-raising adventure."—Foreword Reviews
"Smart, sobering political thriller of chicanery in the Maine woods."—BookLife by Publishers Weekly
A small town in northern Maine voted exactly as designed. They didn't rig the vote. They rigged the voters. Now it's being scaled for the presidential election.
When Deputy Robert Pures investigates a hit-and-run in the Allagash Woods, he finds five strangers in a fishing camp: no gear, no English. The trail leads to a solar installation that isn't producing power. It's consuming it.
An unlikely alliance forms to expose the truth: a grieving deputy and his daughter, a Norwegian election observer, and a former intelligence analyst with a past she can't outrun.
They have six weeks to Election Day.
A political thriller about AI, data centers, and a rural town as a testing ground for power.
Robert Harris meets Louise Penny meets Paul Doiron.
Bright lights. Long shadows.
"Greene expertly weaves a thrilling political tapestry that is equally topical and timeless... sure to excite and delight fans of political thrillers and tales of deep-seated corruption."—Kirkus Reviews
★★★★★ "A nonstop, hair-raising adventure."—Foreword Reviews
"Smart, sobering political thriller of chicanery in the Maine woods."—BookLife by Publishers Weekly
A small town in northern Maine voted exactly as designed. They didn't rig the vote. They rigged the voters. Now it's being scaled for the presidential election.
When Deputy Robert Pures investigates a hit-and-run in the Allagash Woods, he finds five strangers in a fishing camp: no gear, no English. The trail leads to a solar installation that isn't producing power. It's consuming it.
An unlikely alliance forms to expose the truth: a grieving deputy and his daughter, a Norwegian election observer, and a former intelligence analyst with a past she can't outrun.
They have six weeks to Election Day.
A political thriller about AI, data centers, and a rural town as a testing ground for power.
Robert Harris meets Louise Penny meets Paul Doiron.
Bright lights. Long shadows.
Depraved Desires
Author Morgan Bridges
Genres Literature & Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Publication Date June 23, 2026
The Joker meets Pen Pal in this dark, forbidden romance where a criminal psychologist enters a game of cat and mouse with her serial killer patient.
My patient is stalking me... and he's a psychopath.
I've dedicated my life to understanding the darkest corners of the human psyche, but nothing prepares me for him. Ghost. The man is a brilliant, ruthless serial killer who thrives on chaos. Just like his cult following enrapt by his brutality and beauty, he's completely unhinged. And he's obsessed with me.
So when Ghost turns himself in and demands to speak to me, I'm forced to confront the beautiful monster sitting across the glass. And the one inside-the one lurking in my own fractured soul. Ghost's rapt attention brings goosebumps to my skin and sends chills down my spine. I choose to believe my reaction is based in fear. When I'm alone in bed, it's harder to convince myself.
As boundaries fade and the line between doctor and patient blurs, I'm faced with a What am I willing to pay to unveil the truth about my haunted past? Because to Ghost, the price is me. All of me.
DEPRAVED DEVOTION is Book 1 in the Villains & Vices duet. It contains explicit sexual content and a morally gray hero that's OTT/JP, a stalker who falls first, has Touch Her & Die energy, and is willing to do whatever it takes to have her.
Trigger stalking/obsession, blackmail/coercion, breaking and entering, violence, murder, dubious consent, off-the-page rape set in the past, parental grief
My patient is stalking me... and he's a psychopath.
I've dedicated my life to understanding the darkest corners of the human psyche, but nothing prepares me for him. Ghost. The man is a brilliant, ruthless serial killer who thrives on chaos. Just like his cult following enrapt by his brutality and beauty, he's completely unhinged. And he's obsessed with me.
So when Ghost turns himself in and demands to speak to me, I'm forced to confront the beautiful monster sitting across the glass. And the one inside-the one lurking in my own fractured soul. Ghost's rapt attention brings goosebumps to my skin and sends chills down my spine. I choose to believe my reaction is based in fear. When I'm alone in bed, it's harder to convince myself.
As boundaries fade and the line between doctor and patient blurs, I'm faced with a What am I willing to pay to unveil the truth about my haunted past? Because to Ghost, the price is me. All of me.
DEPRAVED DEVOTION is Book 1 in the Villains & Vices duet. It contains explicit sexual content and a morally gray hero that's OTT/JP, a stalker who falls first, has Touch Her & Die energy, and is willing to do whatever it takes to have her.
Trigger stalking/obsession, blackmail/coercion, breaking and entering, violence, murder, dubious consent, off-the-page rape set in the past, parental grief
Massawa
Author Pam Webber
Genres Genre Literature & Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction, American Literature, Action & Adventure Romance
Publication Date June 23, 2026
For fans of novels featuring strong, smart female protagonists, the first in a series about the novice female American spies in North Africa and the Mediterranean that changed the tide of World War II.
In 1942, during the height of World War II, Wild Bill Donovan, the director of the United States’ first spy agency, believes women are the key to winning the intelligence battle with the Nazis. To that end, he partners fledgling agent Kit Thomas with British MI6 agent Mark Williams and sends them to one of the most perilous places in the world—Massawa, Eritrea—to investigate the theft of millions of military payroll dollars.
In Massawa, Kit and Mark discover a conspiracy by Nazi sympathizers, known as the Vichy, to shut down the only Allied naval base on the Red Sea—which is an essential resource in stopping the Nazi invasion of North Africa. As they work to reveal the conspirators, Kit and Mark engage in a dangerous and tempestuous dance of trust versus mistrust.
In 1942, during the height of World War II, Wild Bill Donovan, the director of the United States’ first spy agency, believes women are the key to winning the intelligence battle with the Nazis. To that end, he partners fledgling agent Kit Thomas with British MI6 agent Mark Williams and sends them to one of the most perilous places in the world—Massawa, Eritrea—to investigate the theft of millions of military payroll dollars.
In Massawa, Kit and Mark discover a conspiracy by Nazi sympathizers, known as the Vichy, to shut down the only Allied naval base on the Red Sea—which is an essential resource in stopping the Nazi invasion of North Africa. As they work to reveal the conspirators, Kit and Mark engage in a dangerous and tempestuous dance of trust versus mistrust.
Shaken to the Core
Author Dara Levan
Genres Medical Fiction, Parenthood & Children Fiction, Death, Grief & Bereavement Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
When life is cut short, what do we do with the time we have left?
Joy Stern, a free-spirited photographer, thought she had it all together. She built a traveler’s life with her husband, Andre, an architect who designed their days like the buildings he created. Children weren’t part of the plan.
When Joy’s mom dies suddenly, everything changes. Being behind the lens, capturing photos of families, doesn’t feel like enough anymore—until Joy discovers a hidden key to her mother’s diary. One entry inspires a choice that could transform the trajectory of her life.
Then the unthinkable happens: Andre receives devastating news, which upends their carefully constructed world. As Joy struggles to pursue her own dreams while supporting the man she loves, Joy wonders: Can she do it all?
An uplifting story of hope amid heartbreak, Shaken to the Core explores motherhood, chosen family, and love that transcends life’s greatest hardships.
Joy Stern, a free-spirited photographer, thought she had it all together. She built a traveler’s life with her husband, Andre, an architect who designed their days like the buildings he created. Children weren’t part of the plan.
When Joy’s mom dies suddenly, everything changes. Being behind the lens, capturing photos of families, doesn’t feel like enough anymore—until Joy discovers a hidden key to her mother’s diary. One entry inspires a choice that could transform the trajectory of her life.
Then the unthinkable happens: Andre receives devastating news, which upends their carefully constructed world. As Joy struggles to pursue her own dreams while supporting the man she loves, Joy wonders: Can she do it all?
An uplifting story of hope amid heartbreak, Shaken to the Core explores motherhood, chosen family, and love that transcends life’s greatest hardships.
The Grapevine
Author Alexandra Sokoloff
Genres Travel & Vacation Fiction, Suspense Thrillers, Crime Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
From bestselling authors Alexandra Sokoloff and Craig Robertson, The Grapevine is a thrilling mystery featuring a quirky and relentless female protagonist, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.
How far would you go to find your missing child?
Lou Gomersall’s going as far as it takes. And there’s no turning back.
When her nineteen-year-old daughter Abby disappears, Lou embarks on a reckless road trip in the family RV, scouring the highways and back roads of California. Through desert and mountains, into the woods, and to the ocean’s edge.
A year later, the police don’t believe Lou’s theory that four other missing young women have been taken by the same elusive predator. So, when another college sophomore vanishes, Lou jumps on the fresh trail, enlisting millennial #vanlifers, Gen Z entrepreneurs, boomer RVers, homeless sages, truck stop prostitutes and everyone in between in her do-or-die mission to rescue Abby …
Or kill the man who took her.
How far would you go to find your missing child?
Lou Gomersall’s going as far as it takes. And there’s no turning back.
When her nineteen-year-old daughter Abby disappears, Lou embarks on a reckless road trip in the family RV, scouring the highways and back roads of California. Through desert and mountains, into the woods, and to the ocean’s edge.
A year later, the police don’t believe Lou’s theory that four other missing young women have been taken by the same elusive predator. So, when another college sophomore vanishes, Lou jumps on the fresh trail, enlisting millennial #vanlifers, Gen Z entrepreneurs, boomer RVers, homeless sages, truck stop prostitutes and everyone in between in her do-or-die mission to rescue Abby …
Or kill the man who took her.
A Treason of Magic
Author Melissa Marr
Genres LGBTQ+ Books, Fantasy Action & Adventure, Folklore, Historical Fantasy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
In a world where magic, desire, and duty collide, it is beauty who is fated to kill the beast in a lush historical fantasy of secrets and star-crossed love by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr.
Two young women. Heirs to altogether different hereditary burdens. Yet bound by a monstrous threat to their village.
Gabrielle is the first woman in Alveus to carry the mantle of Hunter, which comes with an obligation to kill the faery beasts murdering travelers in Brimmond Wood. Wary of the power she wields as guardian of her people, Gabrielle is summoned by her first love, a seductress who shattered her heart into pieces a decade ago.
Isabeau is the rarest of nobility—a lady duke. She is also afflicted by a curse that leaves her in a deep sleep between the gloaming and daylight. How can she begin her tenure as protector when she can’t keep her village safe from whatever stalks its darkest hours? For that, she needs the help of the Hunter.
Against her will, Gabrielle is falling in love all over again. But what new threats will arise when Gabrielle and Isabeau’s star-crossed destinies collide with the beast of Brimmond Wood?
Two young women. Heirs to altogether different hereditary burdens. Yet bound by a monstrous threat to their village.
Gabrielle is the first woman in Alveus to carry the mantle of Hunter, which comes with an obligation to kill the faery beasts murdering travelers in Brimmond Wood. Wary of the power she wields as guardian of her people, Gabrielle is summoned by her first love, a seductress who shattered her heart into pieces a decade ago.
Isabeau is the rarest of nobility—a lady duke. She is also afflicted by a curse that leaves her in a deep sleep between the gloaming and daylight. How can she begin her tenure as protector when she can’t keep her village safe from whatever stalks its darkest hours? For that, she needs the help of the Hunter.
Against her will, Gabrielle is falling in love all over again. But what new threats will arise when Gabrielle and Isabeau’s star-crossed destinies collide with the beast of Brimmond Wood?
Mate of a Royal
Author Amo Jones
Genres Literature & Fiction, New Adult & College Romance, Romantic Fantasy, Special Edition Books
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Order now and receive the stunning DELUXE FIRST PRINT RUN while supplies last―featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork and detailed cover design. This breathtaking collectible is only available as part of a LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN in the US and Canada only, a must-have for any book lover.
Their bond could save the kingdom―or burn it to ash.
The all-new romantasy duology from bestselling authors Meagan Brandy & Amo Jones.
Legend Deveraux was raised to rule.
Son of the late King of Dark Magic, he is the youngest King Rathe has ever seen.
Haide wasn’t raised at all.
Born on Exile Island, where the royals of Rathe toss their most vile creatures, chaos isn’t all she knows. It’s what she is.
When their worlds collide, the King’s ancient magic calls to her. The bond ignites, instantly volatile, undeniable, dangerously wrong.
She isn’t the mate he expected. Her power is stunted by the cursed land that shaped her. Yet she sets fire to his veins, the only person who makes his fractured soul feel whole. So, Legend takes her to Rathe University to awaken what lies beneath her skin.
His brothers warn him against her. His people detest her very existence. He doesn’t care. He wants her at his side, on her knees, and in his bed. She is his.
Then the murders begin. The gifted fall without warning. Bloodlines vanish. And with every death, Legend’s magic begins to die with them. Something ancient, violent is rising in Rathe, and every accusation points to the King’s fated mate.
If she truly is his at all.
A Fated Reckoning
Author Jamye Smith
Genres Literature & Fiction, Romantic Fantasy
Publication Date June 24, 2026
In this slow-burn second chance romantic fantasy a vampire and fae warrior must survive deadly trials to break a soul-shattering curse before time runs out.
I loved him once. Now I cling to the hate, currently measured in the inches of steel I've driven into his chest.
Two centuries ago, Mikael didn't just break my heart--he shattered us. The vampire I trusted above all others betrayed me and ignited a war that left our people in ruins. To end the slaughter, I bargained with the Fates and drained the land of magic, and broke myself in ways time can't mend. What survived was a fae warrior turned city ruler, burying her past beneath liquor, duty, and the bond I severed.
When Mikael returns, alive when he shouldn't be, I do what any rational woman would: stab him in the heart.
But death isn't on the table for him. He's come back with a confession, and a curse--the amulet he stole came with a price. The one you love most will die.
My soul has fractured into four pieces. To break the curse before it kills me, we must recover each fragment. Riddles sear themselves into our skin, igniting with every touch--skin to skin, bond to bond--dragging us into the closeness I swore never to endure again.
As the curse frays, so does the magic suppressing our bond, unraveling every feeling I've spent two centuries trying to destroy. Each fragment recovered cracks the walls I've built wider, revealing truths I buried beneath denial and rage.
When the final riddle is solved, I'll face the cruelest truth of all: breaking the curse may cost me the person I love most.
I'm terrified it's still him.
I loved him once. Now I cling to the hate, currently measured in the inches of steel I've driven into his chest.
Two centuries ago, Mikael didn't just break my heart--he shattered us. The vampire I trusted above all others betrayed me and ignited a war that left our people in ruins. To end the slaughter, I bargained with the Fates and drained the land of magic, and broke myself in ways time can't mend. What survived was a fae warrior turned city ruler, burying her past beneath liquor, duty, and the bond I severed.
When Mikael returns, alive when he shouldn't be, I do what any rational woman would: stab him in the heart.
But death isn't on the table for him. He's come back with a confession, and a curse--the amulet he stole came with a price. The one you love most will die.
My soul has fractured into four pieces. To break the curse before it kills me, we must recover each fragment. Riddles sear themselves into our skin, igniting with every touch--skin to skin, bond to bond--dragging us into the closeness I swore never to endure again.
As the curse frays, so does the magic suppressing our bond, unraveling every feeling I've spent two centuries trying to destroy. Each fragment recovered cracks the walls I've built wider, revealing truths I buried beneath denial and rage.
When the final riddle is solved, I'll face the cruelest truth of all: breaking the curse may cost me the person I love most.
I'm terrified it's still him.
The Museum of Lost Dreams
Author Christine Nolfi
Genres Family Saga Fiction, 20th Century Historical Fiction, Parenthood & Children Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Returning to her fractured past, a woman is determined to end a cycle of heartbreaks in a moving novel about family, sacrifice, and redemption by the bestselling author of The Secret Library of Hanna Reeves.
When Bess Rollins’s parents die in a tragic accident, she is forced to abandon her dream job overseas. After three years away, she returns to her family’s estate in the Finger Lakes, a veritable monument to her brilliant late grandmother, and a reminder of the wreckage Bess left behind.
There’s the guilt over leaving her younger twin siblings, Casey and Caleb, and she struggles to rebuild a bond that may be irrevocably broken. Amid the grief, resentment still looms toward her reckless and self-indulgent mother and father. And then there’s Luke Monticelli, the devoted man Bess walked out on but never stopped loving.
Haunted by her regrets at every turn, Bess soon realizes that the past is far more complicated than she ever knew. With each secret that she uncovers about her family, Bess comes closer to healing their wounds, seizing a second chance at love, and fulfilling dreams that can lift them all—right here at home, where she belongs.
When Bess Rollins’s parents die in a tragic accident, she is forced to abandon her dream job overseas. After three years away, she returns to her family’s estate in the Finger Lakes, a veritable monument to her brilliant late grandmother, and a reminder of the wreckage Bess left behind.
There’s the guilt over leaving her younger twin siblings, Casey and Caleb, and she struggles to rebuild a bond that may be irrevocably broken. Amid the grief, resentment still looms toward her reckless and self-indulgent mother and father. And then there’s Luke Monticelli, the devoted man Bess walked out on but never stopped loving.
Haunted by her regrets at every turn, Bess soon realizes that the past is far more complicated than she ever knew. With each secret that she uncovers about her family, Bess comes closer to healing their wounds, seizing a second chance at love, and fulfilling dreams that can lift them all—right here at home, where she belongs.
All This Want (and I Can't Get None)
Author T Clark
Genres LGBTQ+ Genre Fiction, Short Stories Anthologies, Black & African American Women's Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A piercing short story collection that explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small town, from an acclaimed emerging writer
Set mostly in and around a small working class neighborhood, Clark explores the lives of young Black girls, women, and nonbinary characters, slicing through the filmy veil between adolescence and adulthood; between who they’ve been, and who they might become.
D’asia’s friendship with a school security guard is teetering close to inappropriate. Jonessa and Linda have stumbled into a conversation with a man at a gas station who agrees to buy them a bottle of alcohol for a party. Chrissy is looking to play roulette on a trip with her boyfriend but ends up in a hotel room with two strangers. Juju’s mother dresses her up for a meeting with a local music producer. A little sister cringes as a friend tries to hook up with her older brother. A fight breaks out at a party and the video goes viral. A woman can’t stop walking by her ex’s window, hoping to catch a glimpse of all she lost.
In story, Clark excavates the push and pull of desire and power running beneath tender and bare moments. With sharp sentences and great affection, All This Want (and I Can't Get None) centers characters whose points of view are too often sidelined.
Set mostly in and around a small working class neighborhood, Clark explores the lives of young Black girls, women, and nonbinary characters, slicing through the filmy veil between adolescence and adulthood; between who they’ve been, and who they might become.
D’asia’s friendship with a school security guard is teetering close to inappropriate. Jonessa and Linda have stumbled into a conversation with a man at a gas station who agrees to buy them a bottle of alcohol for a party. Chrissy is looking to play roulette on a trip with her boyfriend but ends up in a hotel room with two strangers. Juju’s mother dresses her up for a meeting with a local music producer. A little sister cringes as a friend tries to hook up with her older brother. A fight breaks out at a party and the video goes viral. A woman can’t stop walking by her ex’s window, hoping to catch a glimpse of all she lost.
In story, Clark excavates the push and pull of desire and power running beneath tender and bare moments. With sharp sentences and great affection, All This Want (and I Can't Get None) centers characters whose points of view are too often sidelined.
Married to the Scottish Player
Author Sara Ney
Genres Literature & Fiction, Contemporary Romance, New Adult & College Romance, Romantic Comedy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
From the author of Falling for the Fake Lumberjack comes a laugh-out-loud scorcher about a burned-out wedding planner and broken-down linebacker brought together by fate—and a booking snafu.
Wrangling lumberjacks for Star Lake’s Fall Fest has wedding and event planner Annabelle Franklin ready to saw some serious wood. When her best friend suggests a staycation, she’s all in. Too bad the cabin she books is already occupied—by a brawny Scot who just won’t budge.
The good news? Callum “Maverick” McBride has abs to spare and a voice that could fell trees (and drop panties). Did I mention he owns two kilts? Recuperating from surgery, the Arizona linebacker just wants privacy. And since he was there first, he refuses to give an inch.
As sparks start melting the ice between them, they concede to sharing the cabin. But after crashing a wedding—and waking up hungover with matching gold rings—any boundaries established are quickly forgotten.
Turns out Annabelle and Callum’s marriage is legit. And fate has another wee surprise in store. They discover that sometimes the best mistakes in life are the ones you choose to keep.
Wrangling lumberjacks for Star Lake’s Fall Fest has wedding and event planner Annabelle Franklin ready to saw some serious wood. When her best friend suggests a staycation, she’s all in. Too bad the cabin she books is already occupied—by a brawny Scot who just won’t budge.
The good news? Callum “Maverick” McBride has abs to spare and a voice that could fell trees (and drop panties). Did I mention he owns two kilts? Recuperating from surgery, the Arizona linebacker just wants privacy. And since he was there first, he refuses to give an inch.
As sparks start melting the ice between them, they concede to sharing the cabin. But after crashing a wedding—and waking up hungover with matching gold rings—any boundaries established are quickly forgotten.
Turns out Annabelle and Callum’s marriage is legit. And fate has another wee surprise in store. They discover that sometimes the best mistakes in life are the ones you choose to keep.
I never planned to end up pregnant, alone, and starting over. But life unraveled faster than I could hold it together, and now the only thing that matters is protecting my baby... even if I have no idea what comes next.
Taking a live-in nanny job for Laiken Lennox is supposed to be temporary. A fresh start. A safe place to land while I rebuild my life. It's not supposed to be dangerous.
Laiken is my brother's teammate.
My new boss.
A guarded NHL goalie and devoted single dad already fighting a custody battle.
I tell myself I can handle the proximity.
The late nights.
The way he looks at me like I'm something worth saving.
But living under his roof blurs every line I swore I wouldn't cross.
Especially when he starts caring for me in ways no one else ever has.
I'm carrying another man's baby.
He's the last person I should fall for.
But the more time we spend together, the more Laiken feels like the one thing I can't lose.
And when the truth comes out, it could cost me everything.
Promise Me This is a forbidden, slow-burn pro hockey romance featuring a protective single dad, an off-limits nanny, and a secret that could tear them apart. It's book four in the Chicago Railers series and can be read as a standalone.
Under the Oak Tree: Volume 3 (The Novel)
Author Suji Kim
Genres Magic Romance, Historical Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Literature & Fiction
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Most fairytales end with a wedding and a happily-ever-after—but this is no fairytale. The updated and official translation of Under the Oak Tree, the #1 webnovel on MANTA, continues in this third volume.
The day that Lady Maximilian has been dreading is After an arduous journey to Livadon, she must stay behind at a monastery while her husband, the renowned Sir Riftan, rides off to war with the Remdragon Knights. Consumed by worry for their loved ones, Maxi and the other noblewomen in the monastery keep themselves busy by tending to villagers in need at the local shelter.
But Maxi’s patience quickly runs thin as she fears the worst. Desperate to see Riftan, she escapes the monastery and makes her way to the battlefield. Little does she know that the horrors of war and swarms of terrifying monsters are not the only dangers awaiting her. As she confronts her painful past, the tumultuous present, and an uncertain future, Maxi faces the greatest obstacles of her life—and the gravest threats to her relationship with Riftan thus far.
This volume collects chapters 134–193 of the original webnovel by Suji Kim.
The day that Lady Maximilian has been dreading is After an arduous journey to Livadon, she must stay behind at a monastery while her husband, the renowned Sir Riftan, rides off to war with the Remdragon Knights. Consumed by worry for their loved ones, Maxi and the other noblewomen in the monastery keep themselves busy by tending to villagers in need at the local shelter.
But Maxi’s patience quickly runs thin as she fears the worst. Desperate to see Riftan, she escapes the monastery and makes her way to the battlefield. Little does she know that the horrors of war and swarms of terrifying monsters are not the only dangers awaiting her. As she confronts her painful past, the tumultuous present, and an uncertain future, Maxi faces the greatest obstacles of her life—and the gravest threats to her relationship with Riftan thus far.
This volume collects chapters 134–193 of the original webnovel by Suji Kim.
The Hand (Romans Durs)
Paperback Release
Author Georges Simenon
Genres Psychological Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Brooding and propulsive, Georges Simenon’s indictment of American suburbia follows a Connecticut lawyer who, after years of jealousy and rage, finally tears down the facade of his perfect life.
Donald Dodd has always envied Ray Sanders. A Madison Avenue adman with an actress wife and a gift for womanizing, Ray grabs anything he wants from life. Donald, his best friend from Yale, has chosen a safer, more circumspect path. Respected in his job as a small-town lawyer, he’s faithfully married to the serene Isabel, a Mayflower descendant, while their two daughters attend a prestigious Connecticut boarding school. It’s an irreproachable existence indeed. But everything changes one winter night at a party, when Donald catches Ray with the host’s beautiful young wife. Suddenly, Donald’s years of jealousy boil over into rage. But is he actually capable of murder? Under Georges Simenon’s unsparing gaze, the psychological fault lines of 1960s American suburbia are exposed as never before.
Donald Dodd has always envied Ray Sanders. A Madison Avenue adman with an actress wife and a gift for womanizing, Ray grabs anything he wants from life. Donald, his best friend from Yale, has chosen a safer, more circumspect path. Respected in his job as a small-town lawyer, he’s faithfully married to the serene Isabel, a Mayflower descendant, while their two daughters attend a prestigious Connecticut boarding school. It’s an irreproachable existence indeed. But everything changes one winter night at a party, when Donald catches Ray with the host’s beautiful young wife. Suddenly, Donald’s years of jealousy boil over into rage. But is he actually capable of murder? Under Georges Simenon’s unsparing gaze, the psychological fault lines of 1960s American suburbia are exposed as never before.
The Queen's Curse
eBook Release
Author Taylor Ugrinow
Genres Fantasy Action & Adventure, Sword & Sorcery Fantasy, Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy, Action & Adventure Fantasy
Publication Date June 23, 2026
Ari has only known a life of servitude in Noctharn. As a mortal, seen as weak by the powers in her kingdom, she has endured sixteen long years of torment in the soulfire mines. She, like most in Lumin, despises eldarim, the elite members of society with the right to claim immortality from Althara, the highest power in the realm.
Desperate to provide a better life for her mother, when the king calls for fighters, assassins, and hunters to search for his lost heir, Ari doesn’t hesitate to join the quest.
What she doesn’t realize is that Lincoln Ashfield, the most skilled assassin in Noctharn, has joined it, too.
But Ari doesn’t give up easily. She would rather die trying than stay stagnant, and she will stop at nothing to find the lost heir and earn the life she deserves.
Desperate to provide a better life for her mother, when the king calls for fighters, assassins, and hunters to search for his lost heir, Ari doesn’t hesitate to join the quest.
What she doesn’t realize is that Lincoln Ashfield, the most skilled assassin in Noctharn, has joined it, too.
But Ari doesn’t give up easily. She would rather die trying than stay stagnant, and she will stop at nothing to find the lost heir and earn the life she deserves.
The Bone Stalker
Author Victor Methos
Genres Literature & Fiction, Police Procedurals, Legal Thrillers, Psychological Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
When a terrifying new killer targets Detective Lazarus Holloway’s inner circle, he ventures into the darkest corners of the city to unmask the murderer—and the one who’s really pulling the strings.
Lazarus Holloway is no stranger to violent crime. The seasoned detective has built a career on weeding out the worst of the worst from the glittering streets of Las Vegas.
But he never knew the worst could get this bad.
The Bone Stalker is a new kind of murderous. His MO is brutal, calculated, and ritualistic, removing only specific bones from his victims’ bodies. Each bone taken has a symbolic meaning…and they all tie back to Lazarus himself.
As Lazarus digs deeper with the help of investigative partner and guardian ad litem Piper Danes, they discover the detective isn’t the only connection. But before they can unravel the web of lies that’s been spun through the city for years, the killer ensnares another innocent in his trap.
Someone close to Lazarus becomes the bait. And he’ll stop at nothing to get her back—even if it means embracing the darkness he’s spent his life fighting against.
Lazarus Holloway is no stranger to violent crime. The seasoned detective has built a career on weeding out the worst of the worst from the glittering streets of Las Vegas.
But he never knew the worst could get this bad.
The Bone Stalker is a new kind of murderous. His MO is brutal, calculated, and ritualistic, removing only specific bones from his victims’ bodies. Each bone taken has a symbolic meaning…and they all tie back to Lazarus himself.
As Lazarus digs deeper with the help of investigative partner and guardian ad litem Piper Danes, they discover the detective isn’t the only connection. But before they can unravel the web of lies that’s been spun through the city for years, the killer ensnares another innocent in his trap.
Someone close to Lazarus becomes the bait. And he’ll stop at nothing to get her back—even if it means embracing the darkness he’s spent his life fighting against.
The Driftwood Bones
Author Peter Colt
Genres Family Life Fiction, Police Procedurals, Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publication Date June 23, 2026
A compromised homicide detective must confront his professional and personal risks when a woman is murdered on Nantucket Island in a gripping novel by the author of Cold Island.
Detective Tommy Kelly has been exiled to Nantucket as the island’s lone state trooper—punishment for professional misconduct that left him isolated, bitter, and relegated to traffic violations. For a homicide detective, there isn’t much to do in a place others call paradise. Until a young woman is found floating in the harbor in Pocomo.
The case forces Tommy to partner again with NPD detective Jo Harris, reopening wounds from their shared past and reminding him of everything he destroyed. Keeping things professional and by the book, they quickly identify the victim—a house cleaner—and close in on their prime suspect. But the investigation takes an unexpected turn. So does Tommy’s judgment when he reignites an affair with a married college acquaintance.
As Tommy and Jo follow an unexpected twist in the case, they discover that beneath Nantucket’s pristine beaches and old-money elegance, something dark is festering. And it’s about to surface.
Detective Tommy Kelly has been exiled to Nantucket as the island’s lone state trooper—punishment for professional misconduct that left him isolated, bitter, and relegated to traffic violations. For a homicide detective, there isn’t much to do in a place others call paradise. Until a young woman is found floating in the harbor in Pocomo.
The case forces Tommy to partner again with NPD detective Jo Harris, reopening wounds from their shared past and reminding him of everything he destroyed. Keeping things professional and by the book, they quickly identify the victim—a house cleaner—and close in on their prime suspect. But the investigation takes an unexpected turn. So does Tommy’s judgment when he reignites an affair with a married college acquaintance.
As Tommy and Jo follow an unexpected twist in the case, they discover that beneath Nantucket’s pristine beaches and old-money elegance, something dark is festering. And it’s about to surface.
Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments down below.
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