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Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – February 2025

Welcome to my most anticipated February releases. There’s some exciting new authors releasing their debut novels and some favourite authors releasing their latest stories.

Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

Published February 4th by Tinder Press
Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Where there is wonder, there is love – an unforgettable story of the beauty and savagery of the Alaskan wilderness, from the author of the million-copy international bestseller, The Snow Child.

‘I read with my heart in my mouth, filled with wonder’ Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
‘An enthralling novel about the endurance of love, the power of forgiveness and the savage, irresistible allure of wild places’ Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
Birdie’s keeping it together, of course she is. So she’s a little hungover on her shifts, and has to bring her daughter to the lodge while she waits never tables, but it’s a tough town to be a single mother, and Birdie just needs to get by.
And then Birdie meets Arthur, who is quieter than most men, but makes her want to listen; who is gentle with Emaleen, and understands Birdie’s fascination with the mountains in whose shadow they live. When Arthur asks Birdie and Emaleen to leave the lodge and make a home, just the three of them, in his off-grid cabin, Birdie’s answer, in a heartbeat, is yes.
Out in the wilderness Birdie’s days are harsher and richer than she ever imagined possible. Here she will feel truly at one with nature. Here she, and Emaleen, will learn the whole, fearful truth about Arthur.

Buy here*

The Many Futures of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson

Published February 4th by Boldwood Books
Contemporary Romance, Magical Realism, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Suddenly Maddy is right there… in her very own future. And it’s all wrong, yet again.

It happens to her every time. When the kisses lead to the bedroom, just when she thinks she might have found the one… Just for a split second, Maddy disappears, and she finds that she’s living her own life. But ten years into the future.

She’s only there for a little while. But each time, it’s long enough to know that she doesn’t want to be any of those future versions of Maddy. Because every man she falls for seems to lead her to a future that is just… wrong.

Until she meets Oliver. And the vision of their future is happy. Beautiful even. A little girl runs around, her braids flying behind her, giggling about how she wants sausages for dinner. She has eyes just like Oliver’s.

There’s just one catch. If Maddy wants the family she’s seeing in her future with Oliver, she realizes she has to break his heart now…

Would you destroy your present if there’s a chance that it could give you the perfect future?

Perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Matt Haig, and The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. The most unmissable ‘what if?’ love story of the year!

Buy here*

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Published February 4th by Sphere
Romance Novel, New Adult Ficiton, Contemporary Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A junior at Stanford and a student athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships – at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…

Buy here*

Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll

Published February 6th by Harvill Secker
Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Mythology

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Brilliant and meticulously researched… I loved it.’ Santa Montefiore

Sister. Rival. Protector.


Quiet and reserved, Clemmie is happy in the background. Although her parents may overlook her talents, her ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at the Egyptian relic parties which have made her father the toast of Victorian society.

But at one such party, the words Clemmie interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. The beautiful and dangerous glyphs she holds in her hands will change her life forever.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Egypt on a mission to save what remains of her family. The childhood game she used to play about the immortal sisters, Isis and Nephthys, has taken on a devastating resonance and it is only by following Nephthys’ story that she can undo the mistakes of the past.

On her journey up the Nile she will meet unexpected allies and enemies and, along with long-buried secrets and betrayals, Clemmie will be forced to step into the light.

Pre-order here*

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

Published February 6th by Manilla Press
Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Thriller, Vampire Literature, Lesbian Literature

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
THE FIERCEST, MOST POWERFUL RETELLING OF 2025: A STORY OF AMBITION, FEMALE OPPRESSION AND UNSTOPPABLE HUNGER . . .

FOR WHAT DO YOU HUNGER . . . ?

Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage the relationship has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry’s ambitions take them from London to the Peak District, to the remote, imposing Nethershaw estate, where he plans to host a hunting party. Lenore must work to restore the crumbling house and ready it for Henry’s guests – their future depends on it.

But as the couple travel through the bleak countryside, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore’s life. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night, Carmilla who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .

As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband’s affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .

Set against the violent wilderness of the Peaks and the uncontrolled appetite of the Industrial Revolution, HUNGERSTONE is a compulsive sapphic reworking of CARMILLA, the book that inspired DRACULA: a captivating story of appetite and desire.

Pre-order here*

The Morrigan by Kim Curran

Published February 6th by Michael Joseph
Historical Fiction, Fantasy Ficiton, Fairy Tale, Mythology

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Perfect for fans of Elodie Harper’s The Wolf Den, Rosie Hewlett’s Medea and Costanza Casati’s Clytemnestra



RULER. MOTHER. GODDESS. WARRIOR.

They called me The Morrigan. I was magnificent. I was multitudes.
They twisted my story, stripped me away. But I will tell it now in my own voice.
It begins, as all the best stories do, in darkness.

From an ancient, storm-tossed sea, a tribe of gods reach the rocky shores of Ireland.

Among them, a strange, hungry, red-haired girl. A girl who can change shape, from bird to beast to goddess. A girl who dreams of battle, of blood, of death and power.

She does not know yet that a woman who seeks to rule will always be in danger – or that there are far more treacherous figures in this land than the gods who raised her.

She does not know that one day love will burn so deep in her heart that its scars will never heal. That she will know pain so raw and pure it will almost tear her apart.

She does not know that her journey will take a thousand years. That her name will be remembered for a thousand more.

She is The Morrigan, and she is waiting: a girl with rage coiled in her chest. Beautiful, powerful, ravenous rage. A rage that will live forever.

An electric debut retelling of Ireland’s mythic goddess of war, from a bold and powerful new voice.

Pre-order here*

We Do Not Part by Han Kang

Published February 6th by Hamish Hamilton
Literary Fiction, Translated Ficiton

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Like a long winter’s dream, this haunting and visionary new novel from 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang takes us on a journey from contemporary South Korea into its painful history

‘One of the most profound and skilled writers working on the contemporary world stage’ Deborah Levy

Beginning one morning in December, We Do Not Part traces the path of Kyungha as she travels from the city of Seoul into the forests of Jeju Island, to the home of her old friend Inseon. Hospitalized following an accident, Inseon has begged Kyungha to hasten there to feed her beloved pet bird, who will otherwise die.

Kyungha takes the first plane to Jeju, but a snowstorm hits the island the moment she arrives, plunging her into a world of white. Beset by icy wind and snow squalls, she wonders if she will arrive in time to save the bird – or even survive the terrible cold which envelops her with every step. As night falls, she struggles her way to Inseon’s house, unaware as yet of the descent into darkness which awaits her.

There, the long-buried story of Inseon’s family surges into light, in dreams and memories passed from mother to daughter, and in a painstakingly assembled archive documenting a terrible massacre on the island seventy years before.

We Do Not Part is a hymn to friendship, a eulogy to the imagination and above all an indictment against forgetting.

Pre-order here*

This Immaculate Body by Emma van Straaten

Published February 6th by Fleet
Literary Fiction, Suspense

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the very first page, Emma Van Straaten had me by the Hail Marys. Obsessive, delusional, disastrous – but so intricately woven with heart, warmth and empathy. An impeccable debut from a rising talent‘ ALICE SLATER

‘An addictive deep-dive into the dark, throbbing heart of obsessive desire. Baby Reindeer meets Convenience Store Woman
 KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Now She Is Witch

Alice has been cleaning Tom’s flat every Wednesday for a year. With every smudge wiped from his coffee cup, every crease smoothed out in his bed, every multivitamin counted from the jar, Alice spirals deeper into infatuation. But as Alice prepares for the moment when they will finally meet face-to-face, she discovers that love might not be the cure she thought it was. . .

This Immaculate Body is a story of obsession, of the way women view the world and the ways that the world views them. As Alice frantically tries to cling to an imagined future with Tom, the line between fantasy and reality become ever more blurred, putting everything she has dreamed of at risk.

Pre-order here*

Hope Street by Mike Gayle

Published February 6th by Hodder & Stoughton
Romance Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Urban Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The greatest adventure is coming back home.

Lila Metcalfe is a trainee journalist in Derby and she’s very used to being given the stories that no one else wants. So, when her editor tells her that the city’s Cossington Park development is being held up by a solitary resident on Hope Street who is refusing to leave, she knows she is going to be the one sent to find out more. And that’s how she meets Connor.

Twenty-something Connor is the sole resident of Hope Street and he is not at all what Lila is expecting. And he has a very clear reason not to move: he is waiting for his mum to come home.

The uplifting and heartfelt new novel from the author of A Song of Me and You.

Pre-order here*

Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani

Published February 6th by Orion
Suspense, Thriller, Crime Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
They said a mother knows best and I believed them. Was I wrong?

It is supposed to be a dream. James and I have been trying for years. But now it is starting to feel like a nightmare.

Doctors don’t ask questions, or care about how you’re feeling. They just tell you what to do. They never listen.

Mam and James don’t understand either. James thinks I’m being anxious and Mam says it’ll pass. It always does. That’s what she did when Dad died.

I’ve never felt more alone. Or scared.

Then I joined an online group for mothers. A sisterhood, really. They might be on a screen, but sometimes it feels like they know me better than James. They listen, they care. It’s all I could have asked for.

Until the worst happens and I see them for who they are. But if I leave, what if they come for me next?

Pre-order here*

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

Published February 6th by Tor
Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Gay Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
An action-packed supernatural road trip featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors. The Bones Beneath My Skin is a gripping, heartfelt story that explores what it means to be human – by bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune.

He lost everything. Then he found himself . . .

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright is at a loose end: his parents are dead, his older brother has disowned him, and he’s been fired from his job. Looking for a sense of direction, he returns to his family’s summer cabin in Oregon.

The cabin should be empty – but it’s not. Inside is a man named Alex, and an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. There’s far more to Art than meets the eye. But as Alex and Nate bond over just how special she truly is, they discover that powerful forces are closing in – forces that want nothing more than to control her.

As danger draws near, Nate decide whether to drown in the memories of his past, or fight for Art and a future he never thought possible.

With his uplifting tales of hope and redemption, there is a TJ Klune book for every reader.

Pre-order here*

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

Published February 6th by Atom
Domestic Fiction, Religious Ficiton

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom’s Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom’s Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too-but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are in the first weeks of COVID lockdown and hating Zoom school, when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.

Pre-order here*

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

Published February 6th by Michael Joseph
Historical Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A family full of secrets. A chance to set them all free.

When Ebby Freeman travels to France to take a three-month hiatus from her complicated home life, the last person she expects to find is her ex-fiancé Henry, with his new girlfriend in tow.

Nearly twenty years earlier, the Freemans were the only African American family living in a wealthy coastal enclave in Connecticut when armed robbers invaded their home and tragedy changed their lives forever.

Then, just as Ebby thought she had a new chance at happiness, her storybook romance with Henry fell apart.

Now, this unexpected encounter with Henry will force Ebby to reckon with her past and to think on the other loss her family suffered that day – the destruction of a beloved stoneware jar crafted by an enslaved ancestor and passed down through the generations.

A piece that might hold not only her family history, but also the key to reclaiming her future.

Pre-order here*

Old Soul by Susan Baker

Published February 6th by Fig Tree
Thriller, Horror Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The most mesmerising, unsettling novel of 2025, perfect for fans of David Mitchell, Julia Armfield, and Margaret Atwood.

The woman never goes by the same name.

She never stays in the same place too long.
She never ages. She never dies.
But those around her do.


When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake’s best friend and Mariko’s twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.

Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko – and then disappeared.

Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko’s revelations. It’s a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died – in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways – and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.

And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice.

But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?

Pre-order here*

Snake Oil by Kelsey Rae Dimberg

Published February 6th by Macmillan
Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
BEAUTY IS PAIN . . . Exploring themes of ambition, authenticity and empowerment, this taut, politically charged feminist thriller delivers a scathing take-down of the wellness industry, perfect for fans of The Drop Out and Yellowface.

It’s a woman’s world, isn’t it?

Rhoda West has the world at her feet.

As the luminously charismatic CEO of Radical, a fast-growing start-up, Rhoda has built a wellness company whose core mission is the betterment of women’s lives. Showcasing her cult products and her perfect life through her social media, Rhoda is the ultimate ‘Radigal’, encouraging her followers to be #bebetter, whilst driving her business to attain the billion-dollar unicorn status that she craves.

But just as Radical announces the latest fundraising round that will take it over the top, an anonymous twitter account begins revealing the company’s secrets and starts questioning its beliefs and approach, and Rhoda herself.

Is Rhoda really the nurturing leader that she presents to the world, or a fraud on a mission to exploit the women she claims to want to help? As tensions rise and enemies present themselves, the only questions are how far will Rhoda go to fulfil her legacy and how far will her enemies go to destroy it. . .

Pre-order here*

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Published February 11th by Michael Joseph
Romance Novel, Domestic Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

‘The best book she has ever written’ Marian Keyes

***

Welcome to the Kennedy household:

Lila wrote a bestseller about keeping your marriage alive, before discovering her ex was playing happy families with another woman. A woman she sees everyday at school pick-up.

Bill, her stepdad, moved in after Lila’s mum died. He’s kind, old-fashioned and driving her absolutely nuts.

Celie, Lila’s eldest, hates school. Hates it so much she’s stopped going. Her mother’s fine with that – because she doesn’t know yet.

Violet is nine and sings age-inappropriate rap songs, laughs at fart jokes and Lila dearly hopes she’ll never, ever change.

And Truant the dog, who has just bitten the American actor who’s suddenly landed on the Kennedys’ doorstep.

This is Gene – Lila’s estranged father, and no one’s idea of a role model. He walked out on Lila and her mum years ago – and wherever he goes domestic discord follows.

Because Gene’s presence changes things in unexpected ways. Soon the girls discover a kindred spirit in a man always chasing life’s joy. Bill even loosens up. And Lila finds herself, astonishingly, dating.

Something is happening to the Kennedy household – but what is it?
And will it break, or save, their family?

Pre-order here*

The Sirens by Emilia Hart

Published February 13th by The Borough Press
Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Nautical Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Sisters separated by centuries.

Voices that can’t be drowned out.

Lucy is running from what she’s done – and what someone did to her.

There’s only one person who might understand: her sister Jess. But when Lucy arrives at her sister’s desolate cliff-top house, Jess is gone.

Lucy is now alone, in a strange town steeped in rumour. Stories of men disappearing without a trace. A foundling discovered in a sea-swept cave. And women’s voices murmuring on the waves…

As Lucy searches for her sister, those voices get ever louder. They tell of two sisters, two centuries ago, bound and transported across the world. A world where men always get their way. A world that is at once distant, and achingly familiar.

Are these voices luring Lucy closer to her sister? Or will the secrets of the past pull them both under?

Pre-order here*

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Published February 13th by Fourth Estate
Gothic Ficiton, Horror Fiction, Suspense, Dark Comedy, Satire

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
NOW BEING ADAPTED FOR A MAJOR FILM STARRING MARGARET QUALLEY

‘Simmering with rage, propulsive and laugh-out-loud funny’ CATRIONA WARD

‘Weird and wonderful’ LUCY MANGAN, GUARDIAN

Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect Victorian governess. She’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But the longer Winifred spends within the estate’s dreary confines and the more she learns of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family, the more trouble she has sticking to her plan.

Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past until her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning. Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.

Pre-order here*

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

Published February 13th by Bantam Press
Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Six thriller authors. One writing retreat.
You’d die to be on the guest list . . .


The Host
Legendary mystery author J. R. Alastor’s books are sold all over the world, but no one knows his real name. After years hiding in the shadows, he has sent out six invitations to an exclusive murder mystery retreat on his private island.

The Assistant
Mila del Angél has been hired to ensure the week runs smoothly. She has yearned for revenge on a ghost from her past for years – and this could be her chance to get it.

The Players
The six bestselling thriller writers accept their invitations without question – it’s an opportunity any author would kill for.

The Game
What should have been a week of trope-filled games takes a sinister turn when one guest is found dead, and the others find themselves in the midst of a nightmare drawn from Alastor’s dark imagination. They may have written thrillers – but now they and Mila must survive one…

Pre-order here*

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths

Publshed February 13th by Quercus
Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Suspense, Fantasy Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
SOME MURDERS CAN’T BE SOLVED IN JUST ONE LIFETIME.

‘A five-star start to a dazzling new series . . . Smart, original and utterly masterful’ Janice Hallett

Ali Dawson and her cold case team investigate crimes so old, they’re frozen – or so their inside joke goes. Most people don’t know that they travel back in time to complete their research.

The latest assignment sees Ali venture back farther than they have dared before: to 1850s London in order to clear the name of Cain Templeton, the eccentric great-grandfather of MP Isaac Templeton. Rumour has it that Cain was part of a sinister group called The Collectors; to become a member, you had to kill a woman…

Fearing for her safety in the middle of a freezing Victorian winter, Ali finds herself stuck in time, unable to make her way back to her life, her beloved colleagues, and her son, Finn, who suddenly finds himself in legal trouble in the present day.

Could the two cases be connected?

Set your clocks to February 2025 and get ready for an original, transportive and characterful new crime novel from no. 1 bestselling author Elly Griffiths. Perfect for those missing the Dr Ruth Galloway series and for any crime and historical fiction fans.

Pre-order here*

Dirty Money by Charlotte Philby

Published February 13th by Baskerville
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Hardboiled

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
RAMONA CHANG

An investigative journalist turned private detective, Ramona’s final scoop left her with a target on her back. Now in hiding, she is living in a run-down flat in east London. But when her latest case looking into an upmarket escort agency takes a dark turn, she needs information only accessible to those in power . . .

DETECTIVE SERGEANT MADELEINE FARROW

A high-flying operative at a government agency, it’s the day of her fiftieth birthday when Madeleine finds out that she has been given the lead on an investigation into corruption on a global scale. But when she finds her case mysteriously blocked from the inside, she needs someone on the outside, capable of moving undetected . . .

As Ramona’s and Madeleine’s cases collide, can the unlikely allies find justice for multiple victims within the capital’s hotbed of lies and deception?

A gripping thrill-ride set against the gloss and grit of contemporary London, DIRTY MONEY introduces an unforgettable new detective duo created by critically acclaimed writer Charlotte Philby.

Pre-order here*

Give Him To Me by Dorothy Koomson

Published February 13th by Headline
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Robyn ‘Avril’ Managa was twelve when she witnessed her controlling and abusive father murder her mother. Put into care while her well-connected was father given a new identity in Witness Protection, Robyn has lived with the trauma of that day ever since.

Now in her twenties, Robyn has decided she wants a family reunion – so is killing people connected to her father’s case, leaving on their bodies the note: GIVE HIM TO ME.

Dr Kez Lanyon is called onto the case. But can Kez get into Robyn’s mind before she kills again? Or is she about to become Avril’s latest victim?

Profiler and therapist Kez Lanyon returns in a gripping new stand-alone novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Dorothy Koomson.

Pre-order here*

Life Hacks For A Little Alien by Alice Franklin

Published February 13th by Riverrun
Literary Ficiton, Psychological Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, this is a charming, witty and moving novel about what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent.

‘Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes’

From her first words to her first day at school, Little Alien can’t help but get things wrong. She doesn’t understand the world the way others seem to, and the world doesn’t seem to understand her either. Her anxious mum and meticulous dad, while well-intentioned, are of little help.

But when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript – a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script – she begins to suspect that there are other people who feel just like her. Convinced that translating this manuscript will offer the answers she needs, she sets out on a journey that will show her a delicious taste of freedom.

So begins this charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about the power of language, the wonder of libraries – and how to find a path that fits, when you yourself do not.

Pre-order here*

The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner

Published February 13th by Aria
Historical Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A heart-wrenching and unforgettable story of courage, friendship and resistance, inspired by the incredible true story of a Jewish ballroom dancer in Paris during WWII, perfect for fans of The Paris Library.

Paris, 1938. Annie Mayer arrives in France with dreams of becoming a ballerina. But when the war reaches Paris, she’s forced to keep her Jewish heritage a secret. Then a fellow dancer offers her a lifeline: a ballroom partnership that gives her a new identity. Together, Annie and her partner captivate audiences across occupied Europe, using her newfound fame and alias to aid the Resistance.

New York, 2012. Miriam, haunted by her past, travels from London to New York to settle her great-aunt Esther’s estate. Among Esther’s belongings, she discovers notebooks detailing a secret family history and the story of a brave dancer who risked everything to help Jewish families during the war.

As Miriam uncovers Esther’s life in Europe, she realises the story has been left for her to finish. Grappling with loss and the possibility of new love, Miriam must find the strength to reconcile her past and embrace her future.

Pre-order here*

The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola-Blackburn

Published February 13th by Viking
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
ONE STORY. TWO EXES. CAN THEY CHANGE THEIR ENDING?

‘Such a fun, romantic read’ Beth O’Leary
‘This book melted my stone cold heart’ Jendella Benson

Temi and Wale meet in London. They flirt, date, meet each other’s friends.
Then they break up. And Wale goes on a reality dating show.

Instead of giving in to heartbreak, Temi throws herself into her dream: writing. She’s within touching distance of a book deal that would solve all her problems. But publishers keep passing on her novel and bills still have to be paid. So, when the opportunity to ghost-write a celebrity autobiography arises, Temi accepts.

And, of course, the celebrity turns out to be Wale…

Will Temi and Wale repeat the patterns of their past? Or can they write a whole new story?

Pre-order here*

From London with Love by Katie Fforde

Published February 13th by Century
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Urban Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A beautiful Chelsea town house. A chance to fulfil her dreams. A life adventure awaits…
__________

It’s 1968 and it’s cold when Felicity arrives in London to stay with her mother, improve her English, do a secretarial course – and meet a suitable man.

She is already missing her home in Provence and her father and his new wife and their extended family. But it’s only for a year she tells herself – and then she can go back to France and do what she really wants and become a painter.

And then she bumps into Oliver who is quite the most interesting young man she has ever met. He lives on a barge for one thing and has a collection of jobs, but his passion is looking for hidden treasures along the shores of the river Thames.

In a word, he’s a mudlarker – and before long Felicity is mudlarking too. She is also pursuing her dreams and painting scenery for Oliver’s actor friends.

But is Oliver a Suitable Man of whom her mother will approve? Felicity knows she will not …

Love, tangled relationships, and a real life adventure lie at the heart of Katie Fforde’s heart-warming new novel.

Pre-order here*

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Published February 13th by Chatto & Windus
Domestic Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The happily ever after is only part of the story… A funny, touching, hopeful gem about love, marriage and second chances

It’s the day before her daughter’s wedding and things are not going well for Gail Baines. First thing, she loses her job – or quits, depending who you ask. Then her ex-husband Max turns up at her door expecting to stay for the festivities. He doesn’t even have a suit. Instead, he’s brought memories, a shared sense of humour – and a cat looking for a new home.

Just as Gail is wondering what’s next, their daughter Debbie discovers her groom has been keeping a secret…

As the big day dawns, the exes just can’t agree on what’s best for Debbie. Gail is seriously worried, while Max seems more concerned with whether to opt for the salmon or prime rib at the reception, if they make it that far.

The day after the wedding, Gail and Max prepare to go their separate ways again. But all the questions about the future of the happy couple have stirred up the past for Gail. Because ‘happy’ takes many forms, and sometimes the younger generation has much to teach the older about secrets, acceptance and taking the rough with the smooth.

Pre-order here*

The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller

Published February 13th by Pan Macmillan
Mystery, Crime Fiction, Cozy Mystery

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Join Freya and Aunt Carole for more sleuthing in the highly anticipated second instalment in your new favourite crime series, The Antique Hunters. The Antique Hunter’s: Death on the Red Sea is a cosy crime read for fans of the Antiques Roadshow.

When a painting vanishes from a maritime museum – and a dead body is found nearby – the newly established Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency, Freya Lockwood and her Aunt Carole, are called to investigate.

Following a lead that takes them aboard a glamorous antiques cruise sailing toward the Red Sea in Jordan, they quickly discover that the ship’s art gallery is filled with stolen antiquities. Each and every one of them is also listed in Freya’s late mentor’s journals detailing unsolved cases. In chasing a murderer with a stolen painting, they may have found something more sinister than they could’ve imagined . . .

Their hunt soon turns deadly when they learn that the enigmatic and dangerous art trafficker named The Collector could be on board. But on a ship full of antiques enthusiasts – plus some unexpected familiar faces – will Freya and Carole be able to discover The Collector’s identity and stop his murderous plans before the ship docks?

Or will the killer strike again?

Pre-order here*

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha

Published February 13th by Century
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Most family reunions end in tears. This one will end in murder.
______________

On a private island off the west coast of Scotland, the Agarwals gather for a much-awaited family reunion…

Raj, the patriarch and business tycoon, who has six weeks to decide how to split his petrochemicals empire between his three children.

Shalini, the fragile mother, who longs to see her family healed.

Myra, the eldest daughter and golden child, who, unbeknownst to the family, is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Aseem, the son and supposed heir, who must choose between his wife and his family.

Aisha, the fun-loving youngest daughter, who is tired of being treated like a child.

And Zoe, the outsider whose #Instaperfect life is built on a foundation of lies.

They’ve all got secrets that they would die to protect.

But only one of them is capable of murder.

Pre-order here*

The Voices by Natalie Chandler

Published February 13th by Harper North
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
I heard you. I know what you did.

“Gripping and emotional, with creeping suspense that keeps building until the final shocking twist” KARIN SLAUGHTER

“A standout thriller” ABIGAIL DEAN

“Perfect for fans of The Silent Patient” RHIANNON BARNSLEY

For three years, criminal psychiatrist Tamsin Shaw has been lying unresponsive in hospital.

But while she may not be able to open her eyes, she is awake, and listening to her visitors:

  • The husband
  • The best friend
  • The ex-boyfriend
  • The former patient
  • The nurse

All of them have secrets.

One of them will kill to keep theirs hidden.

Can Tamsin wake up before it’s too late?

Pre-order here*

Little Red Death by A. K. Benedict

Published February 13th by Simon & Schuster UK
Mystery, Cosy Mystery

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
ONCE UPON A TIME LIKE YOU’VE NEVER READ IT BEFORE . . .
 
DI Lyla Rondell is on the case of a lifetime. Tasked with investigating a series of perplexing deaths, the only lead she has is that each appears to be based on a different classic fairy tale. Far from the stuff of bedtime stories, the press is having a field day with what they have named the Grimm Ripper Murders.
 
But as the bodies stack up, Lyla’s whole world is about to flip on its head. Because the killer’s bloody trail stretches deep into her own origin story, and when she discovers the truth, nothing will ever be the same again.
 
Faced with the fact that everything she knows is fiction, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own if she’s going to turn the final page on the killings . . . 

Pre-order here*

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith

Published February 13th by Electric Monkey
Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Hisotrical Romance, Young Adult Ficiton

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The Cruel Prince meets Bridgerton in this captivating fantasy brimming with heart-pounding romance, vicious competition and beautiful, cruel fae, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven, Sasha Peyton Smith.

…………..

Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen. High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.

But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin… and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.

Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart, and at the centre of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything.

Sweepingly romantic and deceptively enchanting, this alternate history romantasy will enthrall readers of Lauren Roberts, Stephanie Garber, and Sarah J Maas.

Pre-order here*

Cursebound by Saara El-Arifi

Published February 13th by Harper Voyager
Romantic Fantasy, Romance Novel, High Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Adventure Ficiton, Supernatural Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
RETURN TO THE INTOXICATING WORLD OF THE FAE…

Betrayed by destiny.

Cursed by love.

Bound by hope.

Yeeran and Lettle are no longer prisoners to the fae court, but now they’re bound by the shackles of their hearts …

Yeeran was born for war but is unprepared for love. She has left her new lover, the Queen of the fae, to return to her homeland, only to find that her former lover now threatens war against the fae.

Left behind, her sister Lettle is determined to break the curse that binds the fae to their realm. When a stranger appears in the city, Lettle is convinced he’s the key. But the Fates that once spoke to her have fallen silent.

Can Lettle and Yeeran discover the secret behind the curse – and unite these two worlds before they destroy each other?

Return to the intoxicating world of the fae in the seductive sequel to the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling Faebound.

Pre-order here*

The Woman in the Wallpaper by Lora Jones

Published February 20th by Sphere
Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Paris, 1789. The Oberst Factory, which crafts exquisite wallpaper for the most fashionable French homes, is a place shrouded in mystery. Most enigmatic is the woman pictured in each of its prints, rumoured to be the late Mrs Oberst, who died in peculiar circumstances.

When sisters Lara and Sofi arrive there for work, they quickly form a friendship with Josef Oberst, the motherless heir to the factory. Whilst Sofi’s political fervour intensifies, Lara is disturbed by the uncanny way her life appears mirrored in the wallpaper. Meanwhile Hortense, Josef’s spoilt aristocratic wife, is similarly unnerved by the scenes that line the walls of her new home. With the mobs growing ever more violent, is she in danger of meeting the same untimely end as the last Mrs Oberst?

As revolution blazes across France, the lives of Sofi, Lara and Hortense are set to collide in unimaginable and irrevocable ways. Can they change what lies ahead, or are some patterns destined to be repeated?

Pre-order here*

The Manual for Good Wives by Lola Jaye

Published February 20th by Pan Macmillan
Romance Novel, Historical Ficiton, Historical Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘An unforgettable voice within a breathtaking story about love, lineage, and the intergenerational effect of bravery in the face of misfortune’ – Jessica George, author of Diverse Book Awards winning My Name is Maame

Everything about Adeline Copplefield is a lie . . .


To the world Mrs Copplefield is the epitome of Victorian propriety: an exemplary society lady who writes a weekly column advising young ladies on how to be better wives.

Only Adeline has never been a good wife or mother; she has no claim to the Copplefield name, nor is she an English lady . . .

Now a black woman, born in Africa, who dared to pretend to be something she was not, is on trial in the English courts with all of London society baying for her blood. And she is ready to tell her story . . .

From the author of The Attic Child, Lola Jaye, comes a powerful dual narrative historical novel. The Manual for Good Wives is about love, generational trauma, second chances and hope.

Pre-order here*

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown

Published February 20th by Chatto & Windus
Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story, LGBT Literature

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A gut-punch novel of girlhood in early noughties Yorkshire from a blazing new voice

Ask anyone non-Northern, they’ll only know Donny as punch line of a joke or place they changed trains once ont way to London.

But Doncaster’s also the home of Rach, Shaz and Kel, bezzies since childhood and Donny lasses through and through. They share everything, from blagging their way into nightclubs to trips to the Family Planning clinic when they are late. Never mind that Rach is skeptical of Shaz’s bolder plots; or that Shaz, who comes from a rougher end of town, feels left behind when the others begin charting a course to uni; or that Kel sometimes feels split in two trying to keep the peace ― their friendship is as indestructible as they are. But as they grow up and away from one another, a long-festering secret threatens to rip the trio apart.

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh takes you by the hand and leads you through Doncaster’s schoolyards, alleyways and nightclubs, laying bare the intimate treacheries of adolescence and the ways we betray ourselves when we don’t trust our friends. Like The Glorious Heresies and Shuggie Bain, it tracks hard-edged lives and makes them sing, turning one overlooked place into the very centre of the world.

Pre-order here*

The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn

Published February 27th by Simon & Schuster UK
Historical Fiction, Saga

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In the chaos of that terrible night, her secret went down with the Titanic. But secrets have a way of floating to the surface… 

Trapped in an unhappy aristocratic marriage, Elinor Coombes sees only lonely days ahead of her. So a present from her father – tickets for the maiden voyage of a huge, luxurious new ship called the Titanic – offers a welcome escape from the cold, controlling atmosphere of her husband’s ancestral home, and some precious time with her little son, Teddy. 

When the ship goes down, Elinor realises the disaster has given her a chance to take Teddy and start a new life – but only if they can disappear completely, listed as among the dead. Penniless and using another woman’s name, she has to learn to survive in a world that couldn’t be more different from her own, and keep their secret safe.  

An uplifting story about grabbing your chances with both hands, and being brave enough to find out who you really are. 

Pre-order here*

Sycorax by Nydia Hetherington

Published February 27th by Quercus
Historical Fiction, Mythology, Fairy Tale

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Born of the sun and moon, shaped by fire and malady, comes a young woman whose story has never been told . . .

They call her Sycorax. Seer. Sage. Sorceress.

Outcast by society and all alone in the world, Sycorax must find a way to understand her true nature. But as her powers begin to grow, so too do the suspicions of the local townspeople. For knowledge can be dangerous, and a woman’s knowledge is the most dangerous of all . . .

With a great storm brewing on the horizon, Sycorax finds herself in increasing peril – but will her powers save her, or will they spell the end for them all?

A beautifully written and deeply moving imagining of what came before Shakespeare’s The Tempest from the author of A Girl Made of Air.

Pre-order here*

Small Fires by Ronnie Turner

Publsihed February 27th by Orenda Books
Gothic Fiction, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Horror Fiction, Noir Ficiton, Supernatural Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Suspected of murdering their parents, sisters Lily and Della flee to a strange, unnamed island in Scotland, and their arrival puts in motion a horrifying series of events… Literary suspense meets folk horror in 2025’s most original, mesmerising modern gothic masterpiece…
 
____________________________________
 
Evil runs through this cursed island
And these wicked sisters are about to make it burn…

When sisters Lily and Della Pedley are persecuted for the shocking murder of their parents, they flee from their home in Cornwall to a remote and unnamed island in Scotland – an island known for its strange happenings, but far away from the whispers and prying eyes of strangers.
 
Lily is terrified of what her sister will might do next, and she soon realises that they have arrived at a place where nothing is as it seems. A bitterness runs through the land like poison, and the stories told by the islanders seem to be far more than folklore.
 
Della settles in too easily, the island folk drawn to her strangeness, but Lily is plagued by odd and unsettling dreams, and as an annual festival draws nigh, she discovers that she has far more to fear than she could ever have imagined. Or does she…?
 
Chilling, atmospheric and utterly hypnotic, Small Fires is a contemporary gothic novel that examines possession, generational trauma, female rage, and the perilous bonds of family – an unsettling reminder that the stories we tell can be deadly…

Midsommar meets Midnight Mass in a folk horror, modern gothic masterpiece.

Pre-order here

That’ll Teach Her by Maz Evans

Publsiehd February 27th by Headline
Thriller, Suspense, Humorous Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Cozy Mystery

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A headmistress is dead. The circumstances are suspicious.
And as every parent knows, being on the school group chat can be murder…

As educators go, Claudia Stitchwell makes Miss Hannigan look like Miss Honey.
But when the reviled headteacher drops dead in the school hall, a group of sceptical parents suspect the nut allergy explanation doesn’t add up – they believe someone wanted to teach Miss Stitchwell a lesson.

Only four people could have killed Stitchwell: Hattie, the adored school cook; Kiera, the hard-working teaching assistant; Clive, the loathed school bursar and Ben, the popular deputy head. All of them are liars… but only one is the murderer.

Piecing together evidence from the daily drama and drudgery of the parents’ group chat, local press, police reports, school newsletters, and good, old-fashioned gossip, the determined detective parents are doing their homework to crack the case.

Will you spot the clues? Can you deduce whodunnit? And for the love of all things holy, does anyone have this week’s spellings?

Pre-order here*

Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh

Published February 27th by Sphere
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Ficiton, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The stunning new thriller from the author who brought you the jaw-dropping twist of I Let You Go, the gasp-out-loud ending of Let Me Lie, and the loveable, unpredictable Ffion Morgan in The Last Party and A Game of Lies.

Even on the most desirable street, there’s a dark side . . .

The Hill is the kind of place everyone wants to live: luxurious, exclusive and safe. But now someone is breaking and entering these Cheshire homes one by one, and DS Leo Brady suspects the burglar is looking for something, or someone, in particular.

Over the border in Wales, DC Ffion Morgan recovers the body of an estate agent from the lake. There’s no love lost between Ffion and estate agents, but who hated this one enough to want her dead – and why?

As their cases collide, Ffion and Leo discover people will pay a high price to keep their secrets behind closed doors . . .

Pre-order here*

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

Published February 27th by Bantam
Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Historical Mystery

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the exceptionally original mind of CWA Gold Dagger Award winner and Booker-longlisted author Belinda Bauer, a sweeping tale of obsession, greed, ambition, and a crime that has remained unsolved for a hundred years.

It was the greatest mystery never told . . .

1926. On the towering cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. But when small and hungry Celie Sheppard finds an ‘impossible’ red egg, it will forever alter the course of her life – and the lives of others.

100 years later in a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort discovers his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs lost to history. Until now.

A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skulduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers.

Pre-order here*

The Surf House by Lucy Clarke

Published February 27th by Harper Fiction
Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Holiday Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Welcome to The Surf House

Where everyone’s escaping something…

*

High on the cliffs of Morocco, far from the city lights and the souks, stands The Surf House: a sanctuary for travellers chasing sunshine and waves.

But the idyll hides a dark mystery.

And when Bea washes in, seeking refuge after a dangerous encounter in Marrakesh, she soon gets caught in the current.

A woman her age – who stayed in the same area, walked the same beaches, met the same guests – disappeared one year earlier, vanishing without trace.

Somewhere inside The Surf House lies the truth – but there’ll be a price for uncovering it…

Pre-order here*

Carrion Crow by Heather Parry

Published February 27th by Doubleday
Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A powerful and spine-tingling gothic tale exploring mother-daughter relationships, sexuality, and class.

‘Bold, blazing, absolutely unforgettable’ Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory

There are some facts about the world that only your mother can teach you.
Marguerite had been confined for the sake of her wellbeing.
That’s what her mother had said.

Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames.

For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs Beeton’s advice and longing for her life outside.

Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good.

Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name – her husband’s name, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won’t do.

Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.

Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray.

And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.

Pre-order here*

The Portrait Artist by Dani Heywood-Lonsdale

Published February 27th by Bloomsbury Publishing
Historical Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
All that is hidden will soon be revealed . . .

One morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It’s clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, whose paintings were celebrated and debated not just for their beauty, but for the rumours behind them: they were believed to immortalise the souls of their subjects. But Ponden-Hall has been thought dead for the last 50 years. . .

In a bid to quiet the gossip and rumours that swirl around the streets of London, the gallery brings in renowned and reluctant art historian Solomon Oak to investigate. Oak is assisted by an unlikely aide: his daughter Alice. A passionate but sheltered student, Alice has worldly desires which eclipse the life she’s expected to lead. Together they discover that exposing Ponden-Hall’s legacy will prove more controversial than they could ever have imagined for their family, and for Victorian society.

Set between London and Oxford, The Portrait Artist is a twisting debut exploring race, fame and long-kept secrets.

Pre-order here*

Same Time Next Week by Milly Johnson

Published February 27th by Simon & Schuster UK
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Welcome to Spring Hill, home to a square of independent shops and cafes, a thriving local community and nearby the newest venture, Ray’s Diner. Here a group of women meet once a week over a cup of something warming.
 
Amanda is primary carer to her elderly mother and one of the only women in a male-dominated company. Used to being second-best all her life, is this her time to finally break ranks and shine?
 
Sky works at the repair shop, patching up old teddy bears, and their owners’ hearts. But her heart beats for the one man who is strictly off-limits.
 
Mel has been a loyal and loving wife to Steve for thirty years. Then when he goes to his old school reunion, life as she knows it will never be the same again.
 
Erin is trying to get over a traumatic loss where her guilt weighs more than her grief. Can she find the first step to healing lies in sharing an hour with strangers once a week? 
 
Astrid is feeling in need of a change and a challenge. But when a fantastic opportunity presents itself, who is around to convince her she is worthy enough to take the risk?
 
Can these women find the answers to their worries, acceptance, courage, support here? Join them at the same time next week to find out…

Pre-order here*

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie We Zhao

Published Febuary 27th by Harper Voyager
Fantasy Ficiton, Romantic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance Novel, Dark Fantasy

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Rivers tore the mortal realm apart. Now it is an increasingly dangerous place, falling into eternal night where ravenous demons roam and every day is a fight for survival…

The Immortality Trials offer a second chance in this brutal world and are open to any mortal willing to risk the journey to the immortal realm. The prize for completing them is eternal life…

However, first they must survive.

Àn’yīng knows the prize can heal her dying mother and that she’ll need all the help she can get if she’s to complete them.

But when a rival contestant, both powerful and handsome, promises protection and a chance of survival for both Àn’yīng and her mother, she will need to find out quickly whether she can truly trust the stranger she’s falling for or if he’s the most dangerous player of all … for herself and for all the realms.

Pre-order here*

Categories
Book Features Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2023

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – April 2023

Welcome to my list of most anticipated April books. Once again it’s a huge and incredible list, with many I’ve been looking forward to for a while.

The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman

Published: April 1st, 2023
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the bestselling author of If Only I Could Tell You comes the story of two women determined to uncover the truth. But how can you trust the present if you can’t remember the past?

“Left me gasping. Brilliant.” ―Alex Michaelides

“Resonates long after you turn the final page.” ―Rosamund Lupton

When Anna Bradshaw wakes up in a hospital bed in London, she remembers nothing, not even her loving husband, Stephen. The doctors say her amnesia is to be expected, but Anna feels cut adrift from her entire life.

In Bristol, Livvy Nicholson is newly married to Dominic and eager to get back to work after six months’ maternity leave. But when Dominic’s estranged mother appears, making a series of unnerving claims, Livvy is sucked into a version of herself she doesn’t recognise.

A hundred miles apart, both women feel trapped and disorientated, and their stories are about to collide. Can they uncover the secret that connects them and reconstruct their fractured lives?

Pre-order here*

The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Orion
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Ghost Story, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Paranormal Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Sometimes the secrets of the past are more dangerous than the present…

Rome, 1938.

As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife.

On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante’s young daughter.

Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past – secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.

However, Eva must also conceal the truth of her own identity, for if she is discovered, she will be in greater danger than she could ever have imagined…

Pre-order here*

The Red Bird Sings by Aoife Fitzpatrick

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Virago
Genre: Historical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘Based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 Virginia, this dazzling debut arrives with a Southern Gothic slant and a feminist spirit’ Daily Mail

***A Most Anticipated Book for 2023 in the Daily MailIrish Times and Sunday Independent***


West Virginia, 1897. When young Zona Heaster Shue dies only a few months after her wedding, her mother Mary Jane becomes convinced that Zona was murdered – and by none other than her husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.

But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona’s best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona’s greatest secret in the service of justice. But it’s Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.

The Red Bird Sings is to be read with your heart in your mouth down your spine to the final, haunting page. It also explores important questions which we are still asking to this day. Who is listened to and who is ignored? Why are women so often not believed? And what does justice truly mean?

Pre-order here*

A Truth For A Truth by Carol Wyer (Kate Young 4)

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series

SYNOPSIS:
DI Kate Young’s team is hunting for a killer. What they don’t know…is that the killer is her.

DI Kate Young has known for years that her boss, Superintendent John Dickson, is a violent and evil man. But when she finally confronts him and accidentally shoots and kills him, she’s forced to cover her tracks before anyone can pin his death on her. With revelations about his corruption soon to become public knowledge, Kate sets up a trail of evidence to make it seem that Dickson has conveniently vanished…

But Kate knows the corruption doesn’t end with Dickson. As she heads up the team investigating his supposed disappearance, she also pursues other loose ends. Stanka, the sex worker who supplied the evidence against Dickson, leads her to crucial information on another corrupt officer, DI Harriet Khatri, and her dubious involvement with sex traffickers.

As the noose starts to tighten on Kate, she finds herself targeted by traffickers, the bent cops on her force and even her own team of detectives. Can she stay one step ahead of them all and bring Harriet to justice? Can she trust anyone around her? And can she possibly get away with murder?

Pre-order here*

Her Sweet Revenge by Sarah Bonner

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
THE SENSATIONAL NEW THRILLER FROM SARAH BONNER – REVENGE IS BEST SERVED SWEET.

Secrets and lies ruin lives


Two women receive an anonymous note.
For one it’s a threat.
For the other it’s an invitation for revenge.

Helena is beautiful, successful, and living in married bliss in Exeter. But she’s hiding a secret that could tear her perfect life apart. When the notes begin to arrive, she realises someone else must know her secret. But what might her husband and his overbearing family do if they find out the truth?

Thea is reeling from her best friend Helena’s death. But when she starts digging into the circumstances, she receives a threatening note warning her to stopShe knows her friend’s death wasn’t an accident. This was murder. And she is determined to get revenge . . .

Pre-order here*

One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Tor
Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy Romance

SYNOPSIS:
From Olivie Blake, the bestselling author of The Atlas SixOne For My Enemy is a captivating fantasy story of ambition, sacrifice and the enduring power of family legacies.

This hardback edition includes illustrated endpapers from artist Lasq.Draws plus brand-new interior illustrations from Little Chmura.


In New York City, two rival witch families fight for the upper hand.

The Antonova sisters are beautiful, cunning and ruthless, and their mother – known only as Baba Yaga – is the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants. Their adversaries, the influential Fedorov brothers, serve their crime boss father. Named Koschei the Deathless, his enterprise dominates the shadows of magical Manhattan.

For twelve years, the families have maintained a fraught stalemate. Then everything is thrown into disarray. Bad blood carries them to the brink of disaster, even as fate draws together a brother and sister from either side. Yet the siblings still struggle for power, and internal conflicts could destroy each family from within. That is, if the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy both sides first.

Pre-order here*

The Bequest by Joanna Margaret

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Historical Mystery

SYNOPSIS:
A PhD student uncovers dark secrets in this ‘richly atmospheric and irresistibly readable’ (Joyce Carol Oates) Gothic mystery set in Scotland, Italy, and France. For fans of The Secret History.

Fleeing a disastrous affair with a colleague in Boston, Isabel Henley moves to Scotland to begin a PhD, only to learn upon arrival that her advisor has died mysteriously. Soon afterwards, Isabel is informed that another scholar is about to publish a book on her dissertation topic, leaving her disconcerted and in search of a new subject.

After such a rocky start to life overseas, Isabel needs a good friend, and finds one when she reconnects with Rose Brewster, a charismatic former classmate. But when Rose reveals she is in trouble, then goes missing, Isabel’s already unsteady life is sent into a tailspin. A suicide note surfaces, followed by a coded message: Rose is alive but captive, and unless Isabel can complete her friend’s research, both women will be killed.

Isabel follows Rose’s paper trail through Genoa, Florence and Paris. She uncovers family secrets, the legend of an enormous cursed emerald, and a chain of betrayal and treason lasting centuries. If she can put the pieces together in time, Isabel may solve a 400-year-old mystery… and save her life and her friend’s in the process.

Combining epistolary elements, Gothic suspense, and an atmospheric dark academia setting, The Bequest is a gripping literary thriller that will appeal to fans of Alex Michaelides and Donna Tartt.

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Hazard Night by Laura Vaughan

Published: April 6th, 2023
Publisher: Corvus
Genre: Suspense, Coming-of-Age Story

SYNOPSIS:
Cleeve is not for everyone…

When Eve’s husband is appointed housemaster at his old boarding school, Cleeve College, she gives up her life in London to join him. But the isolation and loss of autonomy threaten both her happiness and her marriage.

The arrival of Fen, an enigmatic artist and wife of the new Classics teacher, is a welcome distraction. Fen doesn’t play by the rules, and she and Eve enter into a game of escalating dares, disrupting the delicate balance of school life.

Then, the morning after Hazard Night, a tradition that allows the students to run wild and play pranks for one day, a body is found. Someone has been murdered. And it seems everyone has something to hide…

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Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Published: April 11th, 2023
Publisher: Piatkus
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Humorous Fiction, Urban Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances and the joy in finding the perfect match from ‘a true talent’ (EMILY HENRY).

Dr Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalised, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants . . . ? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s ‘pain in my ass’ scale.

But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter. It’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her ‘sob closet’ and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses.

When Jacob turns out to be the perfect donor for her brother, Bri starts to realise that this quietly sexy new doctor might just be her perfect match, too.

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Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Wildfire
Genre: Historical Fiction, Greek Mythology, Fairy Tale, Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The heroic story of the only female Argonaut, told by Jennifer Saint, the bestselling author of ELEKTRA (UK, Sunday Times, May 2022) and ARIADNE (UK, Sunday Times, April 2021).

When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment.

Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis.

Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason’s band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?

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No Season But The Summer by Matilda Leyser

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Scribe UK
Genre: Fairy Tale, Mythology, Greek Mythology

SYNOPSIS:
Spring and summer are my mother’s time, autumn and winter are my husband’s. What is left for me?

Persephone spends six months of the year under the ground with her husband, king of the dead, and six months on earth with her mother, goddess of the harvest. It has been this way for nine thousand years, since the deal was struck. But when she resurfaces this spring, something is different. Rains lash the land, crops grow out of season or not at all, there are people trying to build a road through the woods, and her mother does not seem able to stop them. The natural world is changing rapidly and even the gods have lost control.

While Demeter tries to regain her powers and fend off her daughter’s husband, who wants to drag his queen back underground for good, Persephone finally gets a taste of freedom, joining a group of protestors. Used to blinking up at the world from below, as she looks down on the earth for the very first time from the treetops with activist Snow, Persephone realises that there are choices she can make for herself. But what will these choices mean for her mother, her husband, and for the new shoots of life inside her?

No Season but the Summer takes a classic myth and turns it on its head, asking what will happen when our oldest stories fail us, when all the rules have changed. It is, above all, a book about choice.

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Go As A River by Shelley Read

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Doubleday UK
Genre: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

SYNOPSIS:
‘Shelley Read’s lyrical voice is a force of nature and when she lends it to a woman leading a hardscrabble life in rural Colorado, the result is tragic, uplifting and completely unforgettable’ BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY
______________

On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family’s farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a dishevelled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerising story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life for ever.

GO AS A RIVER is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettable characters and a breathtaking natural setting, it is a sweeping story of survival and becoming, of the deepest mysteries of love, truth and fate.

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In A Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Genre: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story, Urban Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Finding your way is never a simple journey…

Alice sees the worst in people.

She also sees the best.
She sees a thousand different emotions and knows exactly what everyone around her is feeling.
Every. Single. Day.

But it’s the dark thoughts.
The sadness. The rage.
These are the things she can’t get out of her head. The things that overwhelm her.

Where will the journey to find herself begin?

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Homecoming by Kate Morton

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Mantle
Genre: Historical Fiction, Saga

SYNOPSIS:
From the bestselling author of The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Kate Morton, comes a breathtaking mystery of love, lies and a cold case come back to life, told with her trademark intricacy and beauty.

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959.

At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of a grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.

Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

At a loose end in Nora’s house, Jess does some digging into her past. In Nora’s bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime – a crime that has never been truly solved. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find . . .

An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth.

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The Grief Nurse by Angie Soto

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Sandstone Press
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, LGBT Literature

SYNOPSIS:
‘Unforgettable.’ HELEN MARSHALL

Imagine you could be rid of your sadness, your anxiety, your heartache, your fear.

Imagine you could take those feelings from others and turn them into something beautiful.

Lynx is a Grief Nurse. Kept by the Asters, a wealthy, influential family, to ensure they’re never troubled by negative emotions, she knows no other life.

When news arrives that the Asters’ eldest son is dead, Lynx does what she can to alleviate their Sorrow. As guests flock to the Asters’ private island for the wake, bringing their own secrets, lies and grief, tensions rise.

Then the bodies start to pile up.

With romance, intrigue and spectacular gothic world-building, this spellbinding debut novel is immersive and unforgettable.

‘Conceptually- explosive.’ C J COOKE

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Oh Sister by Jodie Chapman

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Literary Fiction, Religious Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Three women. Three lives. One chance to find themselves…

JEN

My body is not my own. Others make life and death decisions on my behalf.

ISOBEL

My place is to be secondary to the man in my life.

ZELDA

If I break the rules I will be sorry.

But this is not a dystopia. This is not the future or the past or a fantasy. It is real and it is happening now. Can we break free?

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Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinman
Genre: Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Escape to glamorous Pineapple Street, New York, with 2023’s must-read and warmest debut about love, family, class and money, from exciting new literary voice Jenny Jackson

It’s the novel Jane Austen would have written . . . if Jane Austen lived in Brooklyn Heights in the 21st century‘ NEW YORK TIMES

‘A delicious new Gilded Age family drama . . . a guilty pleasure that also feels like a sociological text’ VOGUE


Old money. New family . . .

Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights is one of New York City’s most desirable residences, and home to the glamorous and well-connected Stockton family . . .

Darley, the eldest daughter, has never had to worry about money. She followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood – but ended up sacrificing more of herself than she ever intended.

Sasha is marrying into the wealthy Stockton family, who are worlds apart from her own. She feels like the outsider, trying to navigate their impenetrable traditions and please her new mother-in-law – plus her hesitancy to sign a pre-nup has everyone questioning her true intentions.

Georgiana, the youngest, is falling in love with someone she can’t (and really shouldn’t) have – and is forced to confront the kind of person she wants to be.

Witty, escapist and full of heart, with an unmissable cast of loveable – if flawed – characters, Pineapple Street is a beautifully observed novel about the complexities of family dynamics, the miles between the haves and the have-notes, and the all-consuming insanity of first love – while also asking the age-old question, can money really buy you happiness?

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The Book Lovers Retreat by Heidi Swain

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

SYNOPSIS:
The brilliantly escapist summer read from your favourite author.
One long summer. One perfect setting. Can fiction inspire real life…?

Sometimes a book grabs you by the heart and grows to mean everything to you. That’s what Hope Falls is to friends Emily, Rachel and Tori. So, when they get the chance to spend a whole summer at the cottage in Lakeside where the film adaptation was located, they know it is going to be the holiday of a lifetime.
Spending six weeks away will give them a chance to re-evaluate their life choices. For Emily to decide which way her career will go – the safe route, or the more risky creative option? And for Rachel to decide whether to move in with her partner Jeremy. Then Tori has to drop out at the last moment, and her space is offered to another Hope Falls afficionado, Alex. 
But when Alex turns out not to be who they expected, the holiday takes an unforeseen turn. And as the summer develops, so does their friendship. Could this be where they uncover their future selves, find love in all its forms and where their lives will change course forever…?

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Love & Other Scams by PJ Ellis

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Harper North
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Humorous Fiction, Crime Fiction, Urban Fiction, LGBT Literarure, Holiday Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
There’s no thrill like breaking the rules…

‘MISCHIEVOUS, MAGNETIC AND HEAPS OF FUN’ EMMA GANNON

‘PJ ELLIS IS A GENIUS’ LUCY VINE

***

Cat has a dangerously dwindling bank balance. She also has:

· a month before her landlord kicks her out
· a surprise wedding invitation from rich mean girl, Louisa
· a secret talent for con artistry

A priceless jewel the size of a cocktail olive is glinting on Louisa’s finger.

And when Cat meets her ideal plus one, Jake – who’s gifted at hustling and posing as the perfect boyfriend – this wedding becomes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After all,

How hard can a diamond heist be?

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Don’t Believe the Hype by Natalie Lewis

Published: April 13th, 2023
Publisher: Hodder
Genre: Humorous Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘An addictive, glorious romp . . . Don’t Believe the Hype feels like spending time with your funniest, most gossipy, best dressed friend’ Clare Pooley

The world of fashion is supposed to be glamorous . . . isn’t it?

Meet Frankie Marks: the world’s least likely fashion PR. She got the job by fluke, she doesn’t know the first thing about designers, she’s always hungry, and she struggles to think before she speaks. When Frankie crash-lands in the prestigious GGC agency, her friends and family can’t believe it – least of all her long-term (and long-suffering) boyfriend, James.

Frankie quickly realises she needs to use everything she’s got to survive life behind the scenes of this glamorous and chaotic industry – with its eccentric characters, towering expectations, and quite frankly ridiculous requests. But first, she needs to learn the difference between velour and velvet . . .

As the pressure builds and Frankie’s personal life begins to take the hit, she starts to wonder if she’ll ever manage to escape the strange world of fashion unscathed. And, for that matter, does she even want to?

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Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

Published: April 20th, 2023
Publisher: Viper
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
Writers are monsters. We eat everything we see…

In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the shadowy figure of the Daggerman, who stalked the New England town where they spent their summers. Of a horror that has followed Wilder through the decades. And of Sky, Wilder’s one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, The Sound and the Dagger.

This book will be Wilder’s revenge on Sky, who betrayed his trust and died without ever telling him why. But as he writes, Wilder begins to find notes written in Sky’s signature green ink, and events in his manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. Is Sky haunting him? And who is the dark-haired woman drowning in the cove, whom no one else can see?

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder feels his grip on reality slipping. And he begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does.

Discover the new dark thriller from the bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street

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The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller

Published: April 20th, 2023
Publisher: Fig Tree Press
Genre: Psychological Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the Costa-Winning, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground: a gripping, haunting novel about memory, love and survival, for readers of Never Let me Go and Leave the World Behind

Neffy is a young woman running away from grief and guilt, and the one big mistake that has derailed her career. When she answers the call to volunteer in a controlled vaccine trial, it offers her a way to pay off her many debts and, perhaps, to make up for the past.

But when the London streets below her window fall silent, and all external communications cease, only Neffy and four other volunteers remain in the unit. With food running out, and a growing sense that the strangers she is with may be holding back secrets, Neffy has questions that no one can answer. Does safety lie inside or beyond the unit? And who, or what is out there?

While she weighs up her choices, she is introduced to a pioneering and controversial technology which allows her to revisit memories from her life before: a childhood divided between her enigmatic mother and her father in his small hotel in Greece. Intoxicated by the freedom of the past and the chance to reunite with those she loves, she increasingly turns away from her perilous present. But in this new world where survival rests on the bonds between strangers, is she jeopardising any chance of a future?

The Memory of Animals is a taut and emotionally charged novel about freedom and captivity, survival and sacrifice and whether you can save anyone before you save yourself.

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The Sleep Watcher by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

Published: April 20th, 2023
Publisher: Sceptre
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A bracing and compelling portrayal of adolescence and feeling uncanny at home. Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is one of the most distinctive and luminously original novelists of her generation’ Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

‘Elegant, atmospheric, sharp-edged . . . The Sleep Watcher is a novel that obsessed me from the moment I opened the cover’ Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

When she is sixteen, Kit suffers a summer of peculiar sleeplessness that isn’t quite what it seems. Her body lies in bed while she wanders through her family home, the streets of her run-down seaside town and into the houses of friends and strangers. Unseen and unheard, she witnesses her parents and their fracturing relationship. Her home thrums with quiet violence that she can no longer ignore. With this secret knowledge it becomes impossible not to react and a single choice soon changes everything.

Intimate, tense and exquisitely observed, The Sleep Watcher is a moving portrait of family, danger and guilt, captured through the strange summer heat of adolescence.

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Prize Women by Caroline Lea

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Historical Mystery, Romance Novel, Domestic Fiction, Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
Based on the incredible true story of The Great Stork Derby, Prize Women sheds light on a scandalous moment in history as relevant now as it was a century ago.

‘Gorgeous. Prize Women took my breath away. I haven’t stopped thinking about it’ 
JENNIFER SAINT

‘Wonderfully evocative and intelligent. Sheds light on a scandalous moment in history I knew nothing about, told with great sensitivity and grace. I was entranced’ EMMA STONEX

___________

Toronto, 1926.

A childless millionaire leaves behind an astonishing will: the recipient of his fortune will be decided in a contest known as ‘The Great Stork Derby’. His money will go to the winner: the woman who bears the most children in the ten years after his death.

Lily di Marco is young, pregnant, and terrified of her husband. Fleeing to Toronto, she arrives on the doorstep of glamourous free spirit Mae Thebault. At a time when men hold all the power, Lily and Mae look out for each other, leaning on the other when life is overwhelming. But as their friendship grows, Lily wonders if there’s more to Mae – and her past – than she has been told.

And as the Great Depression bites, the Stork Derby contest – with its alluring prize – proves too good to ignore for Lily and Mae, each living hand to mouth. These best friends are now fierce rivals. But if only one woman can win, what will the contest cost the other?

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Happy Place by Emily Henry

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

SYNOPSIS:
Two exes. One pact.
Could this holiday change everything?

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple – they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Every year for the past decade, they have run away from their lives to drink far too much wine and soak up the sea air with their favourite people in the world.

Except this year, they are lying through their teeth. Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven’t told anyone.

But this is the last time they’ll all be together here. The cottage is for sale, and since they can’t bear to break their best friends’ hearts, they’ll fake it for one more week.

But how can you pretend to be in love – and get away with it – in front of the people who know you best?

Brimming with characters you can’t help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, HAPPY PLACE is Emily Henry doing what she does best!

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Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
A BOOKSHOP. A TRUE CRIME CASE. A DEADLY FRIENDSHIP.

THE UNMISSABLE DEBUT THRILLER.

Roach – bookseller, loner and true crime obsessive – is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.

Smelling of roses, with her cute literary tote bags and beautiful poetry, she’s everyone’s new favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.

As Roach’s curiosity blooms into morbid obsession, it becomes clear that she is prepared to infiltrate Laura’s life at any cost.

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The Maiden by Kate Foster

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Mantle
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A masterpiece. A thrilling historical murder tale but so much more. Vivid, evocative and full of humanity’ – Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code

Inspired by a real-life case and winner of the Bloody Scotland Pitch Perfect Award, Kate Foster’s The Maiden is a remarkable story with a feminist revisionist twist, giving a voice to women otherwise silenced by history.

“In the end, it did not matter what I said at my trial. No one believed me.”

Edinburgh, October 1679. Lady Christian is arrested and charged with the murder of her lover, James Forrester. News of her imprisonment and subsequent trial is splashed across the broadsides, with headlines that leave little room for doubt: Adulteress. Whore. Murderess.

Only a year before, Lady Christian was newly married, leading a life of privilege and respectability. So, what led her to risk everything for an affair? And does that make her guilty of murder? She wasn’t the only woman in Forrester’s life, and certainly not the only one who might have had cause to wish him dead . . .

‘Threat hangs over every page like the awaiting guillotine, but the women in this book gleam sharper. Witty, gritty and full of heart, their voices rise through the brutality and hardship of 17th century Edinburgh, battling to be heard’ – Cari Thomas, bestselling author of Threadneedle

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The Fall by Louise Jensen

Published: April 27th , 2023
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
She promised not to tell. They made sure she couldn’t…

At her surprise 40th birthday party, Kate Granger feels like the luckiest woman in the world but just hours later her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious underneath a bridge when she should have been at school.

Now, Caily lies comatose in her hospital bed, and the police don’t believe it was an accident. As the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall.

Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up. Someone is desperate to protect the truth and it isn’t just Caily’s life that is in danger.

Because some secrets are worth killing for…

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The Hike by Lucy Clarke

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Holiday Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Discover your next escape – the gripping, twisty new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of One of the Girls
_________________________________________________________

THE PERFECT DAY FOR A HIKE

Leaving behind their everyday lives, four friends hike out into the beautiful Norwegian wild – nothing between them and the mountain peak but forest, sea and sharp blue sky.

THE PERFECT PLACE TO DISAPPEAR

But there’s a darker side to the wilderness. A woman went missing here one year ago, scarring the mountain with suspicion and unanswered questions.

Now, the friends are hiking into the heart of the mystery. And waiting on the trail is someone who’d do anything to keep their secrets buried – and to stop the group walking away alive . . .

ESCAPE WITH LUCY CLARKE, THE QUEEN OF DESTINATION THRILLERS

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The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Orion
Genre: Historical Fiction, Litarary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
ONE OF COSMOPOLITAN’S BEST BOOK TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2023

***

‘A girl is a burden. A girl is a curse.’


Madurai, 1992.
 A young mother in a poor family, Janani is told she is useless if she can’t produce a son – or worse, bears daughters they can’t afford. They let her keep her first baby girl but the rest are taken away as soon as they are born. The fate of her children has never been in her hands. But Janani can’t forget the daughters who weren’t allowed to live.

Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret, one she’s been keeping from her parents for far too long. Before she can say anything, her grandfather in India falls ill and she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai – the first in over ten years. Growing up in Australia, Nila knows very little about where she or her family came from, or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever…

Perfect for fans of Christy Lefteri and Delia Owens, The Daughters of Madurai is a moving and powerful debut from an unforgettable new voice.

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Greek Lessons by Han Kang

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A powerful novel of the saving grace of language and human connection, from the celebrated author of The Vegetarian

In a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight.

Soon they discover a deeper pain binds them together. For her, in the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her nine-year-old son. For him, it’s the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages.

Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish – the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language. Yet these are the very things that draw them to one another. Slowly the two discover a profound sense of unity – their voices intersecting with startling beauty, as they move from darkness to light, from silence to expression.

Greek Lessons is a tender love letter to human intimacy and connection, a novel to awaken the senses, vividly conjuring the essence of what it means to be alive.

Translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won.

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Preloved by Lauren Bravo

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘Lauren Bravo is one of my very favourite writers.’ Dolly Alderton
_____________________________________________
Gwen is coasting through life. She’s in her mid-thirties, perpetually single, her friends are busy procreating in the countryside and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around the council’s wheelie-bin timetable.
 
And she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone?
 
When she’s made redundant from a job she hardly cares about, she takes herself out for a fancy dinner. There she has the best sticky toffee pudding of her life and realises she has no one to tell. She vows to begin living her life fully, reconnect with her friends and family, and finally book that dentist’s appointment. 
 
Gwen decides to start where all things get a second chance: her local charity shop. There, with the help of the weird and wonderful people and donated items bursting with untold stories, Gwen will find a way to move forward with bravery, tenacity, and more regular dental care.
 
Dazzlingly witty, Preloved is a tale about friendship, loss and being true to yourself no matter the expectations. Lovingly celebrating the enduring power and joy of charity shops.

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Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Headline Review
Genre: Romance Novel, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The life-affirming and unforgettable new novel from the author of Lost for Words

‘A delightful and original concept about how a second hand bookshop can heal a community’ Katie Fforde

Loveday Cardew’s beloved Lost for Words bookshop, along with the rest of York, has fallen quiet. At the very time when people most need books to widen their horizons, or escape from their fears, or enhance their lives, the doors are closed. Then the first letter comes.

Rosemary and George have been married for fifty years. Now their time is running out. They have decided to set out on their last journey together, without ever leaving the bench at the bottom of their garden in Whitby. All they need is someone who shares their love of books.

Suddenly it’s clear to Loveday that she and her team can do something useful in a crisis. They can recommend books to help with the situations their customers find themselves in: fear, boredom, loneliness, the desire for laughter and escape.

Pre-order here*

Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

SYNOPSIS:
Neither of them expected to fall in love. But sometimes life has other plans.

When Wren realises her fiancé is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover.

On the other side of the world, Anders lost his wife four years ago and is still struggling to move on.

Wren hopes that spending the summer with her dad and step-family on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal. There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she and Anders cross paths and their worlds are turned upside-down again.

But Wren doesn’t know that Anders is harbouring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious fall-out for everyone.

Walking away would hurt Wren more than she can imagine. But, knowing the truth, how can she possibly stay?

Pre-order here*

Hotel 21 by Senta Rich

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Genre: Humorous Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘I have a first-day rule. Any sign of trouble, even a whiff of a problem, and I walk.’

Noelle is an efficient and friendly hotel cleaner, a model employee. Or so she’d have you think. The trouble is that she can’t help taking little ‘souvenirs’ as she cleans. Nothing of value, just tokens of happy, normal lives: a lipstick, a hair clip, some tweezers. And by the time the guest has noticed, she’s long gone.

As she starts at her 21st hotel, she’s determined to beat her record of one month in a five star hotel before suspicion falls on her. But when she meets her new colleagues, her plans are complicated. These women aren’t just hands pushing carts down lonely hotel corridors: they are women with lives full of happiness and worry, pain and joy. The kind of lives Noelle has never known how to live. They make her wonder what it might be like to have real friends, people to stick around for.

Will the women at Hotel 21 give her the courage to claim the life she deserves, or will her old habits come back to haunt her?

Pre-order here*

Night, Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: The Borough Press
Genre: Historical Ficiton, Contemporary Horror, Biographical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A hugely impressive debut’ SARAH WATERS

‘Extraordinary… I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the experience of reading it, or ever will, or ever should’ ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN

An intimate look at the domestic lives of enslaved women, NIGHT WHEREVER WE GO is an evocative meditation on resistance and autonomy, on love and transcendence and the bonds of female friendship in the darkest of circumstances.

On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys―as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself―have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.

Now, each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe.

Visceral and illuminating, Night Wherever We Go marks the arrival of a bold, lyrical and powerful new voice in fiction.

Pre-order here*

The Woman on the Bridge by Shiela O’Flannagan

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Headline
Genre: Historical Fiction, Travel Literature

SYNOPSIS:
A stunning historical novel from multi-million-copy bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan

‘Winnie is a great character . . . she’s always real – she’s always human’ Roddy Doyle

‘Unputdownable, full of poignancy, warmth and real and relatable women’ Kate Thompson

Dublin. The 1920s. As war tears Ireland apart, two young people are caught up in events that will bring love, tragedy – and the hardest of choices.

In a country fighting for freedom, it’s hard to live a normal life. Winnie O’Leary supports the cause, but she doesn’t go looking for trouble. Then rebel Joseph Burke steps into her workplace. Winnie is furious with him about a broken window. She’s not interested in romance. But love comes when you least expect it.

Joseph’s family shelter fugitives and transport weapons. Joseph would never ask Winnie to join the fight; but his mother and sisters demand commitment. Will Winnie choose Joseph, and put her own loved ones in deadly danger? Or wait for a time of peace that may never come?

Ireland’s tumultuous independence struggle is the backdrop for an unforgettable story of courage and heartbreak, in which heroes are made of ordinary people. Inspired by the story of Sheila O’Flanagan’s grandmother, The Woman on the Bridge is the unmissable, compulsive new novel from a bestselling author.

Pre-order here*

A Good Night To Kill (Pretty Boy 2) by Amen Alonge

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Crime Series

SYNOPSIS:
Born and raised in London, Pretty Boy has spent the last ten years in exile after being forced out of his hometown. He’s learned patience, and how to disappear. Now Pretty Boy is ready to get his revenge on those who need to pay for his lost years.

Meanwhile, back in the city, things have moved on. People still talk about Pretty Boy, of course. He’s a legend, more myth than man, and rumours run wild about his deadly legacy. But most think they’ve seen the last of him. He’s finished.

Someone who never gave up on Pretty Boy is Alan Pierce. The former policeman turned corrupt businessman has always lived by his own rules: stay focused, stay one step ahead of the enemy, stay alive. Alan and Pretty Boy have history – Pretty Boy owes him everything – so when Alan finds himself fighting a drug-fuelled war on all fronts, there’s only one man he wants to turn to. But where is Pretty Boy?

Sharp, fast-paced and gripping and with a cast of unforgettable characters, A Good Night to Kill is a heart-pounding tale of justice, loyalty, and of what happens when two men turn to face the fight they’ve been trying to outrun.

Pre-order here*

Foxash by Kate Worsley

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Tinder Press
Genre: Literary Fiction, LGTBTQ+ Literature

SYNOPSIS:
‘A wonderfully atmospheric and deeply unsettling novel, full of images so vivid they seem to leap off the page. Worsley’s fiction is something to savour’ Sarah Waters

Worn out by poverty, Lettie Radley and her miner husband Tommy grasp at the offer of their very own smallholding – part of a Government scheme to put the unemployed back to work on the land. When she comes down to Essex to join him, it’s not Tommy who greets her, but their new neighbours. Overbearing and unkempt, Jean and Adam Dell are everything that the smart, spirited, aspirational Lettie can’t abide.

As Lettie settles in, she finds an unexpected joy in the rhythms of life on the smallholding. She’s hopeful that her past, and the terrible secret Tommy has come to Foxash to escape, are far behind them. But the Dells have their own secrets. And as the seasons change, and a man comes knocking at the gate, the scene is set for a terrible reckoning.

Combining a gothic sensibility with a visceral, unsettling sense of place, Foxash is a deeply original novel of quiet and powerful menace, of the real hardships of rural life, and the myths and folklore that seep into ordinary lives – with surprising consequences.

Buy here*

Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech

Published: April 27th, 2023
Publisher: Mardle Books
Genre: Memoir

SYNOPSIS:
My mother once said to me, ‘I wish you could feel the way I do for eighteen seconds. Just eighteen seconds, so you’d know how awful it is.’

I thought about it. Realised we could all learn from being in another person’s head for eighteen seconds. Eighteen seconds inside Grandma Roberts’ head as she sat alone with her evening cup of tea, us girls upstairs in bed. Eighteen seconds inside one-year-old Colin’s head when he woke up in a foster home without his family. Eighteen seconds inside the head of a girl waiting for her bedroom door to open.

Writer, Louise Beech, looks back on the events that led to the day her mother wrote down her last words, then jumped off the Humber Bridge. She missed witnessing the horror herself by minutes.

Louise recounts the pain and trauma of her childhood alongside her love for her siblings with a delicious dark humour and a profound voice of hope for the future.

Pre-order here*

**********

Are any of these on your wishilist? Which ones? Let me know in the comments

Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxxx

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Categories
Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – March 2021

Welcome to the March edition of Emma’s Anticipated Treasures. It is another great month full of fabulous being released next month and even after shaving it down I’ve ended up with twenty two books on my list. Authors and publishers really are making it impossible to keep up with all the amazing books that are out there!

Are any of my most anticipated books on your list? Let me know…

The Broken Ones (Detective Gina Harte Book 8) by Carla Kovach

Published: March 1st, 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Crime Fiction, Crime Series

SYNOPSIS:
Amber applies a dash of red lipstick and checks herself out in the mirror before heading out on a date. ‘Don’t wait up!’ she calls to her housemates as she leaves. But Amber never returns home that night. Amber Slater is never seen again.

The last person to see Amber was her housemate. He remembers everything she was wearing that night. He watched her leave. He listened to every word of her phone conversation with her friend before she left. He knows more about Amber’s movements than anyone.

At university, she is well-liked by her fellow students and teachers. Her tutor’s voice shakes when he is questioned by the police. Some say he and Amber were very close. Too close. Some say his wife had just found out about their relationship.

The manager at the restaurant where Amber was supposed to eat that night says she didn’t show up. Yet the chef at the restaurant is overly chatty about her. He wasn’t working that night. He wasn’t answering his phone. Nobody knows where he was when Amber went missing.

Rumours begin to circulate about Amber, it seems that everyone has a story to tell. But when the young girl’s lifeless body is found in a local park, with her blue lips glued shut, the gossip suddenly goes quiet. As the police trace the last few hours of Amber’s life, it seems that the girl simply vanished on her way to catch her bus. And when another woman goes missing in the dead of night, it’s a race against time to find her before she too is silenced forever.

Fans of crime books from Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh will love The Broken Ones.

Buy the book*

The Fear-Fighter Manual: Lessons from a Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Published: March 2nd, 2021
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Self-help book

SYNOPSIS:
‘You could spend a lifetime and fortune finding the perfect therapist, mentor, minister, career coach, and girlfriend – or you could just spend a day reading PROFESSIONAL TROUBLEMAKER.’ Glennon Doyle, author of #1 NYT Bestseller Untamed

From the New York Times bestselling author of I’m Judging You, a hilarious and transformational book about how to tackle fear – that everlasting hater – and audaciously step into lives, careers, and legacies that go beyond even our wildest dreams.

Luvvie Ajayi Jones is known for her trademark wit, warm voice, and exceptional integrity. But even she’s been challenged by the enemy of progress known as fear. She was once afraid to call herself a writer because she was afraid of the title. She nearly skipped out on doing a TED talk that changed her life because of imposter syndrome. And, as she shares in The Fear-Fighter Manual: Lessons from a Professional Troublemaker, she’s not alone.

We’re all afraid. We’re afraid of asking for what we want because we’re afraid of hearing “no.” We’re afraid of being different, of being too much or not enough. We’re afraid of leaving behind the known for the unknown. But in order to do the things that will truly, meaningfully change our lives, we have to become professional troublemakers: people who are committed to not letting fear talk them out of the things they need to do or say to live free.

With humor and honesty, and guided by the influence of her professional troublemaking Nigerian grandmother, Funmilayo Faloyin, Luvvie walks us through what we must get right within ourselves before we can do the things that scare us; how to use our voice for a greater good; and how to put movement to the voice we’ve been silencing-because truth-telling is a muscle.

The point is not to be fearless, but to know we are afraid and charge forward regardless. It is to recognize that the things we must do are more significant than our fears. This book is about how to live boldly in spite of all the reasons we have to cower. Let’s go!

Buy the book*

The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan

Published: March 2nd, 20021
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Biography, True Crime

SYNOPSIS:
Named Most Anticipated Crime Book of the Year by CrimeReads

A chilling true story–part memoir, part crime investigation–reminiscent of Ann Rule’s classic The Stranger Beside Me, about a little girl longing for love and how she found friendship with her charismatic babysitter–who was also a vicious serial killer.

Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1960s, Liza Rodman was a lonely little girl. During the summers, while her mother worked days in a local motel and danced most nights in the Provincetown bars, her babysitter–the kind, handsome handyman at the motel where her mother worked–took her and her sister on adventures in his truck. He bought them popsicles and together, they visited his “secret garden” in the Truro woods. To Liza, he was one of the few kind and understanding adults in her life. Everyone thought he was just a “great guy.”

But there was one thing she didn’t know; their babysitter was a serial killer.

Some of his victims were buried–in pieces–right there, in his garden in the woods. Though Tony Costa’s gruesome case made screaming headlines in 1969 and beyond, Liza never made the connection between her friendly babysitter and the infamous killer of numerous women, including four in Massachusetts, until decades later.

Haunted by nightmares and horrified by what she learned, Liza became obsessed with the case. Now, she and cowriter Jennifer Jordan reveal the chilling and unforgettable true story of a charming but brutal psychopath through the eyes of a young girl who once called him her friend.

Buy the book*

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Published: March 2nd, 2021
Publisher: Legend Press
Genre: Historical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary…

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate–and not everyone will survive.

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

Buy the book*

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Published: March 4th , 2021
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
They say we’ll never know what happened to those men.
They say the sea keeps its secrets . . .

‘A mystery, a love story and a ghost story, all at once. I didn’t want it to end’ – S J Watson

Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.

What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?

Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .

Inspired by real events, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is an intoxicating and suspenseful mystery, an unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.

Buy the book*

The Eighth Girl by Maxine Mei-Fung

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Alexa Wú is a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman whose life is manipulated and controlled by a series of alternate personalities.

One woman, many personas. But which one is telling the truth?

Only three people know the truth.

HER THERAPIST
HER BEST FRIEND
HER STEPMOTHER

When her best friend is plunged into danger, Alexa is soon drawn into London’s cruel underbelly to save her.

But will the truth lead to self-discovery, or to self-destruction?

AN UNSETTLING AND PROVOCATIVE THRILLER ABOUT MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES, WRITTEN BY A PRACTISING PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPIST

Buy the book*

Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: The Borough Press
Genre: Literary Fiction, Political Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A young woman spends her days watching the neighbours through their windows. She is a refugee, who has seen the failure of the Arab Spring in her homeland and who has been traumatized into silence by her brutal journey from Syria to Britain. 

As an outsider, a mute voyeur, she sees everything, she hears everything: the love, the fighting, the families, the secrets, the lies, the sex, the shame.  Slowly drawn into the community that surrounds her, she begins to come to terms with all she has lost. After a brutal attack on the local mosque, she realises she is the only witness to the truth behind the violence. But will she finally speak of all she’s seen? 

Rear Window meets Exit West, this beautifully written novel tells the powerful story of one woman’s trauma and her gradual healing.

Buy the book*

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Psychological Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
As a child Gifty would ask her parents to tell the story of their journey from Ghana to Alabama, seeking escape in myths of heroism and romance. When her father and brother succumb to the hard reality of immigrant life in the American South, their family of four becomes two – and the life Gifty dreamed of slips away.

Years later, desperate to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother’s life, she turns to science for answers. But when her mother comes to stay, Gifty soon learns that the roots of their tangled traumas reach farther than she ever thought. Tracing her family’s story through continents and generations will take her deep into the dark heart of modern America.

Transcendent Kingdom is a searing story story of love, loss and redemption, and the myriad ways we try to rebuild our lives from the rubble of our collective pasts.

Buy the book*

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: The Borough Press
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Humour, LGBTQ Literature

SYNOPSIS:
As a ‘It’s a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after…’

BROOKHANTS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: Infamous site of a series of tragic deaths over a hundred years ago. Soon to be the subject of a controversial horror movie about the rumoured ‘Brookhants curse’:

In the early 1900’s, Brookhants students Flo and Clara fell madly in love, brought together by their obsession for a scandalous memoir.

A few months later they were found dead in the woods, after a horrific wasp attack, the book lying next to their intertwined bodies.

Three more grisly deaths followed before the school was forced to close.

Now, the school’s doors are open once more. But as the crew of glamorous young actresses assemble to start filming, past and present begin to blur. And soon it’s impossible to tell quite where the curse ends and Hollywood begins…

Buy the book*

Dangerous Women by Hope Adam

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Thriller, Mystery

SYNOPSIS:
London, 1841.

The Rajah sails for Australia.

On board are 180 women convicted of petty crimes, sentenced to start a new life half way across the world.

Daughters, sisters, mothers – they’ll never see home or family again. Despised and damned, all they have now is each other.

Until the murder.

As the fearful hunt for a killer begins, everyone on board is a suspect.

The investigation risks tearing their friendships apart . . .

But if the killer isn’t found, could it cost them their last chance of freedom?

Based on a real-life voyage, Dangerous Women is a sweeping tale of confinement, hope and the terrible things we do to survive.

Buy the book*

Bright Burning Things by Lisa Harding

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Being Tommy’s mother is too much for Sonya.

Too much love, too much fear, too much longing for the cool wine she gulps from the bottle each night. Because Sonya is burning the fish fingers, and driving too fast, and swimming too far from the shore, and Tommy’s life is in her hands.

Once there was the thrill of a London stage, a glowing acting career, fast cars, handsome men. But now there are blackouts and bare cupboards, and her estranged father showing up uninvited. There is Mrs O’Malley spying from across the road. There is the risk of losing Tommy – forever.

Buy the book*

The Talk of Pram Town by Joanna Nadin

Published: March 4th, 2021
Publisher: Mantle
Genre: Coming-of-Age Fiction, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, comes a story about mothers, daughters and second chances . . .

It’s 1981. Eleven-year-old Sadie adores her beautiful and vibrant mother, Connie, whose dreams of making it big as a singer fill their tiny house in Leeds. It’s always been just the two of them. Until the unthinkable happens.

Jean hasn’t seen her good-for-nothing daughter Connie since she ran away from the family home in Harlow – or Pram Town as its inhabitants affectionately call it – aged seventeen and pregnant.

But in the wake of the Royal Wedding, Jean gets a life-changing call: could she please come and collect the granddaughter she’s never met?

We all know how Charles and Diana turned out, and Jean and Sadie are hardly a match made in heaven – but is there hope of a happy ending for them?

Written in Joanna Nadin’s trademark dazzling prose, The Talk of Pram Town tells the story of three generations of Earnshaws and asks whether it always has to be like mother, like daughter . . .

Buy the book*

Dog Days by Ericka Waller

Published: March 11th, 2021
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
George is very angry. His wife has upped and died on him, and all he wants to do is sit in his underpants and shout at the cricket. The last thing he needs is his cake-baking neighbour Betty trying to rescue him. And then there’s the dog, a dachshund puppy called Poppy. George doesn’t want a dog – he wants a fight.

Dan is a counsellor with OCD who is great at helping other people – if only he were better at helping himself. His most meaningful relationship so far is with his labrador Fitz. But then comes a therapy session that will change his life.

Lizzie is living in a women’s refuge with her son Lenny. Her body is covered in scars and she has shut herself off from everyone around her. But when she is forced to walk the refuge’s fat terrier, Maud, a new life beckons – if she can keep her secret just a while longer…

Dog Days is a novel about those small but life-changing moments that only come when we pause to let the light in. It is about three people learning to make connections and find joy in living life off the leash.

Buy the book*

Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter

Published: March 16th 2021
Publisher: Hodder Studios
Genre: Dystopian Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
No future, dear reader, can break a woman on its own

A bold and dazzling exploration of fate and female agency in a world where women own the future but not their own bodies.

Like every woman, Celeste Morton holds a map of the future in her skin, every mole and freckle a clue to unlocking what will come to pass. With puberty comes the changeling period – when her final marks will appear and her future is decided.

The possibilities are tantalising enough for Celeste’s excitement to outweigh her fear. Changelings are sought after commodities and abduction is rife as men seek to possess these futures for themselves.

Celeste’s marks have always been closely entwined with her brother, Miles. Her skin holds a future only he, as a gifted interpreter, can read and he has always considered his sister his practice ground. But when Celeste’s marks change she learns a devastating secret about her brother’s future that she must keep to herself – and Miles is keeping a secret of his own. When the lies of brother and sister collide, Celeste determines to create a future that is truly her own.

Body of Stars is an urgent read about what happens when women are objectified and violently stripped of choice – and what happens when they fight back.

Buy the book*

The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Viper Books
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Horror Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies.

You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, something lies buried. But it’s not what you think…

Buy the book*

Future Perfect by Felicia Yap

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Wildfire
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Science Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
What if today was your last day…

A bomb has exploded during a fashion show, killing a beautiful model on the catwalk. The murderer is still at large… and he may strike again. Yet this is the least of Police Commissioner Christian Verger’s worries. His fiancée Viola has left him. He has to keep his tumultuous past a secret. To make things worse, his voice assistant Alexa is 99.74% sure he will die tomorrow.

Moving from snowy 1980s Montana to chic 1990s Manhattan to a drone-filled 2030s Britain, FUTURE PERFECT is an electrifying race to solve a murder before it’s too late. Yet it is also a love story, a riveting portrait of a couple torn apart by secrets, grief and guilt. A twisted tale of how the past can haunt a person’s future and be used to predict if he will die… or kill.

Buy the book*

The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Fantasy Fiction, High Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:
Taryn Cornick barely remembers the family library. Since her sister was murdered, she’s forgotten so much.

Now it’s all coming back. The fire. The thief. The scroll box. People are asking questions about the library. Questions that might relate to her sister’s murder.

And something called The Absolute Book.

A book in which secrets are written – and which everyone believes only she can find. They insist Taryn be the hunter. But she knows the truth.

She is the hunted . . .

The Absolute Book is a tale of sisters, ancient blood, a forgotten library, murder, revenge and a book that might just have the answer to everything.

Buy the book*

The Split by Laura Kay

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A brilliant, heart-warming and intensely funny story of love, heartache, friendship and family. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes and Beth O’Leary.

Brutally dumped by her girlfriend, Ally is homeless, friendless and jobless… but at least she has Malcolm. Wounded and betrayed, Ally has made off with the one thing she thinks might soothe the pain: Emily’s cat.

After a long train journey she arrives home to her dad in Sheffield, ready to fold herself up in her duvet and remain on the sofa for the foreseeable. Her dad has other ideas. A phone call later, and Ally is reunited with her first ever beard and friend of old, Jeremy. He too is broken-hearted and living at home again.

In an inspired effort to hold each other up, the pair decide to sign up for the local half marathon in a bid to impress their exes with their commitment and athleticism.

Given neither of them can run, they enlist the support of athletic, not to mention beautiful, Jo. But will she have them running for the hills… or will their ridiculous plan pay off…?

Buy the book*

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Hodder
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
A HANDSOME PSYCHOTHERAPIST, HIS LONELY WIFE, AND IN HIS HOME OFFICE, A CEILING VENT. . . YOU’D LISTEN TOO, WOULDN’T YOU?

Newlyweds, Sam Statler and Annie Potter are ready to begin their lives together in a small town in upstate New York. Whilst Annie spends most of her time alone, Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his home office, tending to the egos of his mostly female clientele.

Little does Sam know that through a vent in the ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist’s wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her in bed. Who could resist eavesdropping?

Everything is fine until the French girl in the green Mini Cooper shows up, and Sam disappears into thin air, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie’s happily ever after.

This is a brilliant story of a whirlwind marriage in which untold secrets and games threaten to destroy them both.

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The Hellion by Harriet Young

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Unbound
Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Saga

SYNOPSIS:
Whalley, 1537: On a day like any other, a devastating fire changes the lives of two young girls. 

What happens next triggers a series of events leading inexplicably to the cells of Lancaster Gaol.

Lancashire, 1612:The most notorious witchcraft trials in England are taking place.

Among the accused, three generations of the same family. A family rooted in Pendle, tied to the infamous Malkin Towers and always followed by a whisper of evil. A family destroyed by the evidence given by a nine year old girl

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The Castaways by Lucy Clarke

Published: March 18th, 2021
Publisher: Harper CollinsUK
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A SECRET BEACH.
A HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME.
WISH YOU WERE HERE?

THINK AGAIN…

It should be like any other holiday.

Beautiful beaches.
Golden sunsets.
Nothing for miles.

You’ll never want to leave.
Until you can’t…

Gripping, twisty and full of sun-soaked atmosphere, THE CASTAWAYS will whisk you far away to the island – and never let you go.

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Unsettled Ground by Clare Fuller

Published: March 25th, 2021
Publisher: Fig Tree
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
What if the life you have always known is taken from you in an instant?

What would you do to get it back?

Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.

But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother’s secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake.

Unsettled Ground is a heart-stopping novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness.

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What books being released in March are you most excited about? Are any on this list? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading. Until next time Bibliophiles, Emma xxx