Book Releases I’m Excited For This Week

So many great book releases today! There is lots of Romantasy, fantasy, witchy romance, all of the fall vibes. This isn’t every book being released this week, just a few that I found interesting. I’m linking the Amazon pages to the book covers in case something catches your eye. If you have any that you think should have been on the list, drop it in the comments! If you’re an author and you’d like to be featured on a book release list, please message me from the author page!

Romance

Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver

A rugged mountain town seemed like the perfect escape from a life in shambles. But on day one I ran full tilt into the world’s hottest single dad and now all my plans are ruined.

As a chart-topping country singer with a recent streak of bad press it’s hard to find any peace. But I find it in Rose Hill. With a little boy and a little girl who steal my heart just as thoroughly as their dad.

Weston Belmont.

The man is a shameless flirt. He oozes confidence and masculinity in a way that’s downright distracting. And in bed? He’s addictive.

Everything with him is wild and impulsive and I’m desperate to regain some control.

But no one has supported me like West does. And no one has ever made me feel as loved as he does either.

So, while my brain says settling down with a small-town horse trainer is impossible… my heart says I’m right where I belong.

Still, my life as a celebrity haunts me. It has the power to pull us apart.

I can see in his eyes that wants me to stay. And I want that too.

But I know better than anyone that we don’t always get what we want.

Stacked by Sara Celi

Running The Green Frog, the only independent bookstore in our area, is my passion. It's hard work, and I love it.

But everything changes when a new bookstore-slash-bourbon-bar opens in New Burlington.

Robert Kilgore is the owner, and he's my high school classmate who left for Ohio for Wall Street. His return brings intense competition and stirs old memories. As I work to keep The Green Frog thriving, I'm drawn to Robert in ways I didn't expect.

Our rivalry is fierce, but so is the oh-so-undeniable connection between us.

Can I protect my beloved bookstore while navigating these new feelings? Stacked is a story of romance, ambition, and unexpected fame in a charming small town. Will Robert and I find true love, or will our businesses keep us apart?

The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers

“A love letter to books and reading. This debut is catnip for any book geek. I just loved it.” —Cesca Major, author of Maybe Next Time, a Reese’s Book Club Pick

A story of second chances and new beginnings, this is a love letter to books—and a love letter to life

Still reeling from a recent tragedy, Erin Connolly knows she needs to start living, but has no idea how. When she accidentally donates her favorite book—a heavily annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird containing a memento she can’t be without—to a local little community library, she’s devastated. But then the book turns up a week later, back in the library with fresh notes in the margins, along with an invitation in a copy of Great Expectations to meet her newfound pen pal.

A life-changing conversation, written only in the margins of beloved classic books, begins between Erin and her Mystery Man. Following each other through the pages of their favorite novels as the book exchange continues, they both begin to open up, falling into a friendship…and maybe something more. 

But Erin and her pen pal have a shared history that neither of them has guessed. Faced with painful reminders of the past—and the one person she swore never to forgive—Erin finds herself at a crossroads. One that could change her life forever.

Witchy Romance

Hot Hex Boyfriend by Carly Bloom

When it comes to love, hex marks the spot in this enchanting romance that will delight fans of Practical Magic and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. . .
 
As a child, Delia Merriweather believed with all her heart that she was a witch. Because all Merriweather women were witches. There was just one problem: they had no magic. As an adult, Delia no longer believes magic even exists. However, when she accidentally breaks a hex and restores her family’s powers, she’s forced to accept a new reality: she is a witch. And maybe that’s why the crushingly handsome guy next door has been looking at her like he’s expecting her to fly off on a broomstick, cackling into the night.
 
Just when Max thinks he’s done keeping an eye on the bumbling Merriweather women, now he must help his neighbors learn to control their magic before they out witches everywhere. But Delia can’t decide if Max is helping or hexing, and Max can’t tell whether his growing feelings for Delia are real, or if he’s come under the spell of the most powerful—and clueless—witch he’s ever known. And the last thing Max needs is to fall for the one witch who could rule the entire witching world by controlling the hearts of men.

Hate Hex by Gina Lamanna

Trixie Gardens is one average witch, thank you very much.

A down-on-her luck taxi driver in the paranormal section of New York, Trixie has spent a lifetime repressing her magic. Until one night, she meets a grumpy, devilishly handsome vampire in a dark alley, and she accidentally activates her powers by shooting the cork from a cheap cabernet bottle at his face.

It turns out the vampire is none other than Dominic Kent—the stormy, rough-around-the-edges billionaire who owns Trixie’s apartment building. When she discovers Dominic is trying to kick her out of the only place she’s ever called home (and did she mention rent-controlled?), it’s hate at first sight.

After Trixie puts a teeny, tiny hex on her new nemesis, Dom retaliates in a big way. It’s all clever enchantments and witty curses, until Dominic’s brother suddenly returns, hellbent on revenge. When things turn deadly, Dominic and Trixie must bond together to survive.

As Dom and Trixie fight to stay alive, they try to ignore the electricity crackling between them that’s got nothing to do with magic. However, before she knows it, Trixie finds herself wondering why the line between hate and love feels like it’s so thin it might have vanished entirely…

The Cottage Around The Corner by D.L. Soria

A feisty witch and a handsome mage must put their heated business rivalry aside to save their small town from supernatural forces in this charming contemporary fantasy romcom from the author of Thief Liar Lady.

“Delightful and sweet . . . the magic and the romance both sizzle on the page.”—Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, author of Witch of Wild Things

“Soria’s newest book will wrap readers into a cozy world that they won’t want to leave.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Chanterelle Cottage is Charlie Sparrow’s whole world. The cozy spellshop where she and her moms practice their witchcraft, selling goods and services to the people of small-town Owl’s Hollow, has been in her family for generations.

Okay, business has been a little slow and a recent burglary hit their inventory pretty hard. And the bank may not agree to restructure their loan. But Charlie is talented and savvy, and she’ll keep things afloat once her parents finally let her buy into the business as a co-owner. Still, when a competing magecraft firm opens in town, things start to look bleak. After all, everyone knows there’s room for only one magic shop in Owl’s Hollow.

So what if Fitz, the mage who owns the new Maven Enterprises, happens to be ridiculously handsome in his ridiculously expensive suits? Who cares that, when Charlie can forget for a moment or two that Fitz is her competitor, things between them are as easy as breathing? None of that matters—because Charlie is not going to get involved with the competition. In this battle of the businesses, she’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Chanterelle Cottage is the last spellshop standing.

But when strange supernatural events begin to plague the citizens of Owl’s Hollow, Charlie and Fitz must put their rivalry aside and their magic together to save the town. As they grow closer, it becomes harder for Charlie to keep her carefully drawn line in place—maybe Owl’s Hollow is big enough for a witch and a mage, after all.

Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist by Ali K. Mumford, K. Elle Morrison

Get ready for a bewitching tale of love, laughter, and supernatural shenanigans in the heart of Maple Hollow!

The last thing apothecary witch, Jordyn, had on her mind was romance, but when she got witchy-wasted, she cracked open the coffin of her love life and conjured the ghost of her ex-girlfriend. Jordyn is in for a spell of trouble now that the snarky specter is determined to haunt her until she finds someone new.

Enter Harlow, the new girl in town, who just wants a job in her sister’s cafe but she discovers that the spooky town of Maple Hollow is more than just a gimmick. Real magic lives here. But after run-ins with vampires and one too many grave cafe blunders, she's ready to hop on a broomstick and fly out of town. Until she finds herself falling under the spell of the enchanting witch who asks her on a date.

As sparks fly and cauldrons bubble, will this unlikely pair brew up a love potion that defies the ghostly odds? Or will Jordyn's shade-y ex be the ultimate buzzkill to their budding romance?

Grab your broomstick and buckle up for a cozy sapphic paranormal rom-com that's sure to cast a spell on your heart this fall season!

Dark Romance

Carnival Obsession by Selena Winters

This was actually released last week but it’s a dark romance novella on KU that looks very interesting!

The carnival rolled into town, bringing an obsession so powerful that it threatened to unravel my entire existence.

Seeking an escape from my monotonous life in Willow Creek, I eagerly stepped into the carnival's vibrant chaos, unaware that everything was about to change. I was simply chasing a thrill, never expecting to stumble into the arms of Lars—a captivating mechanic shrouded in mystery.

But a dark underworld of secrets and shadows lurks beneath the carnival's dazzling facade. The deeper I fall into Lars's enigmatic world, the more I realize that love can be as intoxicating as it is dangerous. Lars teeters on the edge between passion and obsession, and our connection threatens to overwhelm us.

With each reckless adventure, I'm torn between the exhilarating allure of his world and the terrifying fear of losing my own. As our relationship intensifies, I'm forced to confront a haunting question: can love survive amidst the chaos, or will I be lost forever in his darkness?

Step right up, if you dare, because this thrilling ride is about to begin.

Carnival Obsession is a dark romance novella with heavy subjects that some readers may find triggering. There will be a link to a full list of the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. This story has no cliffhanger and ends with a HEA.

Fantasy/Romantasy

The Gray Prophecy by Maria Ede

"If you kill a witch who delivers a prophecy, it won’t come to be."

As a child, Cori delivered a prophecy that foretold all witches practicing dark magic would lose their power on a future winter solstice. When she spoke the words aloud, it put a target on her back—and tied her fate to a ticking clock.

After a decade of hiding and pushing away her magic, Cori moves to the idyllic town of Farley, Maine. She has one goal: keep her head down while counting down the days until the prophecy comes to pass. But the town—and the people that live there—are not what she expected.

When Cori meets Adrian Huxley, a local Water Elemental witch, her secret is no longer safe. The closer she gets to him, the harder it is to suppress her magic. When a visitor from the past makes her question the real reason she was sent into hiding—and the loyalty of the family she swore to protect—she realizes her life is not the only one in danger.

For fans of Spells for Forgetting and A Discovery of Witches comes a cozy, ethereal story about a witch who must face the dark truths of her past—risking everything she loves and everything she has worked for.

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle

In the dark underbelly of a beautiful city, two rival assassins are pitted against each other in a deadly game of revenge, where the most dangerous mistake of all is falling in love in this searing young adult fantasy.

In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers—the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?

Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic…and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together.

Foes to Flames: An Enemies to Lovers Autumn Anthology by Amber Paige, Laura Winter, Roxie Cohen, A.K. Caggiano, Jana Sun, and H.M. Skinner

When autumn winds howl and golden leaves emerge, searing hatred transforms into steamy infatuation…

Foes to Flames is a collection of six fantasy novellas highlighting the vibrancy of fall and the sizzling heat of enemies to lovers romance. From cozy tales to spicy encounters, feel the flames of autumn rivalries turned romances. Follow witches, fae, and shadow princes as they journey through whimsical worlds or hunt enchanted urban streets. With magic sparking on every page, Foes to Flames is full of feverish banter, clandestine touches, and passionate confessions you don’t want to miss.

This fall themed anthology is available for a limited time

Once Upon An Apple by Gabrielle Landi

A lord’s son, a milkmaid, and seven mischievous goats.

After running from her past, Sophia built a new life for herself in the Northlands, taking a job as a milkmaid for the local nobility and creating her own family with the friends she meets at the Cozy Cat Café. She spends her days spoiling the goats and finally feels safe, but something is still missing. She wants more than just safety–she wants love and a real family of her own.

Lord Caspian Rendon has returned home to–in his Father’s words, get serious–and contemplate his life’s path. As a third son, he doesn’t have much other than his title–and while the past two years of training in the Royal Guard have set him up for a potential career, they haven’t done much in the way of finding him a wealthy wife, which had always seemed the more appealing option of the two.

When he runs into the beautiful, sweet, and always kind Sophia taking care of his little sister’s goats, he begins to realize there’s more to life than marrying into wealth. As the baby goats, a mischievous little sister, and Fall Festival planning keep bringing Caspian and Sophia together, he starts to fall for the goat girl. But when Sophia's mysterious past finally catches up with her, Caspian must make a hard choice ... Can he risk it all for love, or will he never see her again?

Once Upon An Apple is a Snow White fairytale retelling and the first book in the Galamere Chronicles. Each standalone book is a retelling of a beloved story or fairy tale, with the swoon-worthy sweet romance of a Hallmark movie, the wholesome and heartwarming feeling of cozy fantasy, and the comfort of a found family of friends, with a sprinkling of danger and a dash of magic

The Masked Flower by Erin Halli

Will the depth of love be worth the inevitable loss to come?

Iris Greene found her light at the end of the tunnel in a person–her brother, Kai. When her ray of sunshine is robbed from her in the blink of an eye, she loses a piece of herself, too. Two years later, she’s thriving as an Events Director, but she can no longer see the light.

Jasper Alcott considers himself an ambitious failure. After an unforeseen accident, he finds himself back in Chrysocolla Cove reluctantly managing his old man’s antique shop, resigned to a mundane existence–until they waltz into the coffee shop he’s visiting. At first glance, Jasper assumes the man trailing behind her is her boyfriend. However, not all is as it seems.

When a fundraising event at her marketing agency brings the two closer together, he realizes the man following Iris is her guardian angel. For some odd reason, Jasper is the only living human who can see him. Her guardian begs him to keep his existence a secret. As Jasper gets to know Iris better, he begrudgingly finds her difficult to resist. Likewise, Iris can’t help but feel drawn to him. Between her guardian meddling where he shouldn’t and the undeniable pull the pair feel toward each other, life has become anything but mundane.

In this modern-day emotional paranormal romance, their connection deepens as Jasper unveils the mystery of why he can seehimwhen no one else can. He is determined to lift her up despite her insistence to bear it all alone. Little does Iris know, she hasn’t been alone for quite some time.

A Dawn of Gods and Fury by K.A. Tucker

"Prophecy always finds a way."

The will of the fates has come to pass. Monsters swarm from the depths, while dragons soar overhead. And the throne of Islor lies vacant… but not for long.

Fleeing the merciless sirens, Tyree and Annika find themselves stranded on a distant shore. Forced together to survive, they find old magics and terrifying new enemies.

For Romeria and Zander, the long-held secrets of the casters’ magic reveal a chance to finally master the power that has held all their lives in the balance for too long. But with power comes betrayal. And sacrifices must be made.

The final book in the captivating Fate & Flame series

Immortal Dark by Tigest Dirma

The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister. 

It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the elusive society of vampires she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. She is obsessively protective, mildly nihilistic, and willing to do anything to save her loved ones. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the same vampire bound to her family bloodline, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad. 
 
To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to inherit their family fortune and select vampire companions. Kidan must study an arcane philosophy, work with four enigmatic students, and survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan's own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat. And June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires. 

Mystery/Thriller

The Moonflowers by Abigail Rose-Marie

In a powerful and poignant novel, an artist unravels her mysterious family history and its generations of women who depended on each other to survive.

Tig Costello has arrived in Darren, Kentucky, commissioned to paint a portrait honoring her grandfather Benjamin. His contributions to the rural Appalachian town and his unimpeachable war service have made him a local hero. But to Tig, he’s a relative stranger. To find out more about him, Tig wants to talk to the person who knew her grandfather best: Eloise Price, the woman who murdered him fifty years ago.

Still confined to a state institution, Eloise has a lifetime of stories to tell. She agrees to share them all—about herself, about Tig’s enigmatic grandmother, and about the other brave and desperate women who passed through Benjamin’s orbit. Most revealing of all is the truth about Whitmore Halls, the mansion on the hill that was home to triage, rescue, death, and one inevitable day that changed Eloise’s life forever.

As Tig begins to piece together the puzzle of her mysterious family tree, it sends her spiraling toward a confrontation with her own painful past—and a reconciliation with all its heartrending secrets.

The Bachelorette Party by Sandra Block

A true crime devotee gets more than she bargained for at her killer bachelorette party.

Everything seems to be going well for Alex—she has her dream job as an intern on a popular investigative news program and is engaged to a man who is almost too perfect. Now her best friends are taking her on a surprise bachelorette weekend planned with Alex’s unusual set of interests in mind: her obsession with the famous 666 Killer.

Alex and her friends get a thrill out of staying at the allegedly haunted hunting lodge in the Catskill mountains where a serial killer once stabbed his victim and wrote 666 on the walls in her blood. Though getting snowed in by a blizzard wasn’t part of the plan, the three girls make the most of their celebration. Then Alex wakes up to find her friends have vanished, blood spattered all over their sleeping bags and on her hands. With no idea what happened, Alex worries the decade-old murder has come back to haunt them and she is the one to blame. Her recent prison interview with the 666 Killer seems to have stirred up past demons, throwing her friends into danger. The prisoner has always maintained his innocence, claiming the “real killer” was still out there. Has the true 666 Killer finally returned? Or has the convict been scheming from his jail cell? Cut off from outside help, Alex must rely on her years of following true crime stories to try to solve the case and save her friends. But even she does not see the final, staggering twist coming, and the shocking truth just might kill her.

This fast-paced psychological thriller from the author of Little Black Lies is sure to keep readers up all night.

Horror

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality in this spooky ghost story from multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker.

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”

When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she's truly been deceiving and hiding from all along—is herself.

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself

Pay The Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

A terrifying tale of supernatural horror set in a cursed Louisiana bayou, from the minds of legendary director George Romero and bestselling author Daniel Kraus.

In 2019, while sifting through University of Pittsburgh Library System’s George A. Romero Archival Collection, novelist Daniel Kraus turned up a surprise: a half-finished novel called Pay the Piper, a project few had ever heard of. In the years since, Kraus has worked with Romero’s estate to bring this unfinished masterwork to light.

Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of “the Piper”—a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou—her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain. To resist, Pontiac and the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors—the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don’t . . . it’s time to pay the piper.

Perfect for fans of George A. Romero’s pioneering horror movies or his previous collaboration with Daniel Kraus, The Living Dead, Pay the Piper is a thrilling taleof dark folklore, grisly murders, and the horrors that manifest when a community must confront its shadowy past. Readers looking for gothic horror books will enjoy the chilling supernatural elements and haunting Southern setting, and anyone who enjoys scary books for adults will appreciate the chance to dive into this lost work by a celebrated horror icon

American Ghoul by Michelle McGill-Vargas

A wildly entertaining debut from Michelle McGill-Vargas, American Ghoul deftly combines horror and social commentary—with a dash of buddy comedy—in an innovative twist on the vampire genre.

You can’t kill someone who’s already dead.

That’s what Lavinia keeps telling her jailer after—allegedly—killing her mistress, Simone Arceneau. But how could Simone be dead when she was taking callers just a few minutes before? And why was her house always so dark?

Lavinia, a recently freed slave, met Simone, a recently undead vampire, by chance on a plantation in post–Civil War Georgia. With nothing remaining for either woman in the South, the two form a fast friendship and head north. However, Lavinia quickly learns that teaming up with this white woman may be more than she bargained for.

Simone is reckless and impulsive—which would’ve been bad enough on its own, but when combined with her particular diet, Lavinia finds herself in way over her head. As she is forced to repeatedly compromise her morals and struggles to make lasting human connections, Lavinia begins to wonder, is she truly free or has she merely exchanged one form of enslavement for another? As bodies start to pile up in the small Indiana town they’ve settled in, people start to take a second look at the two newcomers, and Simone and Lavinia’s relationship is stretched to its breaking point …