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Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – June 2024

June is almost upon us and it’s another month jam-packed full of exciting new releases from some of my favourite authors and debuts I can’t wait to read.

Here are the 50 books I’m most anticipating:

The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

Published June 6th by Picador
Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From Elizabeth Macneal, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is a spellbinding Gothic thriller about murder and manipulation.

London, 1839. With the cemeteries full and money to be made in death, tricksters Crawford and Bonnie survive on wicked schemes and ill-gotten coin. But one blistering evening, their fortunes flip. A man lies in a pool of blood at Bonnie’s feet and now she needs to disappear.

Crawford secures her a position as lady’s maid in a grand house on the Thames. As Bonnie comes to understand the family – the eccentric Mr Moncrieff, obsessively drawing mausoleums for his dead wife, and their peculiar daughter Cissie, scribbling imaginary love letters to herself – she begins to question what secrets are lying behind the house’s paper-thin walls and whether her own presence here was planned from the beginning.

Because Crawford is watching, and perhaps he is plotting his greatest trick yet . . .

Pre-order here*

Spoilt Creatures by Amy Twigg

Published June 6th by Tinder Press
Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
An Observer top ten best new novelist for 2024

A simmering debut, heady with the possibilities of language and the righteousness of female rage’
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
‘A modern-day Dionysian cult of women in the woods – haunting and exhilarating’
Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
______

They thought they knew everything about us. The kind of women we were.

It was a place for women. A remote farm tucked away in the Kent Downs. A safe space.

When Iris – newly single and living at home with her mother – meets the mysterious and beguiling Hazel, who lives in a women’s commune, she finds herself drawn into the possibility of a new start away from the world of men who have only let her down. Here, at Breach House, the women can be loud and dirty, live and eat abundantly, all while under the leadership of their gargantuan matriarch, Blythe.

But even among the women, there are power struggles, cruelty and transgressions that threaten their precarious way of life. When a group of men arrives on the farm, the commune’s existence is thrown into question, hurtling Iris and the other women towards an act of devastating violence.

Fierce and unapologetic, Spoilt Creatures is an intoxicating debut about transgression, sisterhood and the seductive nature of obsession. It pulls back the skin of patriarchal violence and examines the female rage that lurks beneath.

Pre-order here*

The King’s Witches by Kate Foster

Published June 6th by Mantle
Historical Fiction, Religious Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The King’s Witches by Kate Foster is a compelling and beautiful historical novel that gives voices to the women at the heart of the real-life witch trials in sixteenth-century Scotland.

Women whisper secrets to each other; it is how we survive.

1589. Princess Anna of Denmark is betrothed to King James VI of Scotland. Before they can wed, Anna must pass the trial period: one year of marriage to prove herself worthy of being Scotland’s new Queen. Determined to fulfil her duties to King and country, Anna resolves to be the perfect royal bride. Until she meets Lord Henry . . .

By her side is Kirsten Sorenson, her loyal and pious lady-in-waiting. But, whilst tending to Anna’s every need, Kirsten has her own secret motives for the royal marriage to succeed . . .

Meanwhile, in North Berwick, young housemaid Jura practises the healing charms taught to her by her mother. When she realizes she is no longer safe, she escapes to Edinburgh, only to find herself caught up in the witchcraft mania that has gripped not just the capital, but the new queen …

Will Anna, Kirsten and Jura be able to save each other and, in doing so, save themselves?

Pre-order here*

Shadowstitch (Threadneedle 2) by Cari Thomas

Published June 6th by Harper Voyager
Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Horror Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Anna survived the attempt to bind her magic, but Anna and her coven aren’t free from danger yet.

Haunted by her aunt’s death, living in fear of her curse, and fated to love the one man she can never have, the last thing Anna needs is a witch hunt. Now she must conceal her magic once more or risk losing everything.

But when deadly hysteria strikes across the capital, and in her own school, the coven are left dangerously exposed. Delving deeper into the magical underworld of London, Anna and her twin sister Effie must find a way to work together to protect the coven.

But as the witch hunt intensifies and the hysteria spirals out of control, can Effie and Anna truly trust each other?

Pre-order here*

Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken

Published June 6th by Canongate
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In thirteenth-century Ireland, a woman with power is a woman to be feared.

When a young Alice Kyteler sees her mother wither under the constraints of family responsibilities, she vows that she won’t suffer the same fate. Soon Alice discovers she has a flair for making money, and builds a flourishing business. But as her wealth and stature grow, so too do the rumours about her private life. By the time she has moved on to her fourth husband, a blaze of local gossip and resentment culminates in an accusation that could prove fatal.

Inspired by the first recorded person in Ireland to have been condemned as a witch, Bright I Burn gives voice to a woman lost to history, who dared to carve her own space in a man’s world.

Pre-order here*

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

Published June 6th by HarperCollins UK
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Fairy Tale, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
WELCOME TO THE MANOR

THE PARTY’S ON FIRE

_______________________

**Book your place at the table … The brand new murder mystery thriller from the No.1 bestseller**

Midsummer, the Dorset coast

In the shadows of an ancient wood, guests gather for the opening weekend of The Manor: a beautiful new countryside retreat.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. And the candles have barely been lit for a solstice supper when the body is found.

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at…

THE MIDNIGHT FEAST

Pre-order here*

The Chamber by Will Dean

Published June 6th by Hodder & Stoughton
Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The master of intense suspense, Will Dean, is back! THE CHAMBER follows the success of Richard & Judy Book Club pick THE LAST PASSENGER.

HIGH PRESSURE OUTSIDE
On a boat heading out into the North Sea, Ellen Brooke steels herself to spend almost a month locked inside a hyperbaric chamber with five other divers. They are all being paid handsomely for this work – to be lowered each day inside a diving bell to the sea bed, taking it in turns to dive down and repair oil pipes that lie in the dark waters. It is a close knit team and it has to be: any error or loss of trust could be catastrophic.

EXTREME PRESSURE INSIDE
All is going to plan until one of the divers is found unresponsive in his bunk. He hadn’t left the chamber. It will take four more days of decompression, locked away together, before the hatch can be opened. Four more days of bare steel, intrusive thoughts, and the constant struggle not to give way to panic. Mind games, exhaustion, suspicion, and, most of all, pressure. And if someone does unlock the door, everyone dies…

And Then There Were None meets The Last Breath in this tense and suspenseful locked-room thriller from the author of the “astonishing” (Ian Rankin) The Last Passenger.

Pre-order here*

How To Solve Your Own Murder (Violet Hamilton Book 2) by Hannah Dolby

Published June 6th by Aria
Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Woemen Sleuths

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Violet Hamilton is no ordinary lady.

She is a Lady Detective, who spends her time solving mysteries and unveiling scandals in the bustling seaside town of Hastings and St Leonards, a popular spot for the Victorian middle classes.

But when the body of a local woman is found on the beach, Violet’s efforts to investigate are blocked at every turn.

Is that because, as a woman, she can’t possibly be allowed to think or act for herself? Or is it because someone sinister has Violet in their sights?

Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this delightful mystery of manners that will steal your heart, and transport you to a world of seaside scandal and moonlit balls; dubious doctors and duplicitous crooked lords; adventurous escapades and stolen kisses.

Pre-order here*

The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan

Published June 6th by Aria
Literary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Bestselling Irish writer, Faith Hogan, has created another gripping saga of friendship, betrayal and secrets in this story of a widow in search of answers to a shocking confession by her dying husband.

Joy Blackwood has no idea why her French art dealer husband has left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, but she is determined to find out.

She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Kian, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful.

As Joy becomes entangled in the daily dramas of Ballycove, uncovering the secrets behind her husband’s painting grows increasingly challenging. When she finally musters the courage to confront the truth, her revelation sends shockwaves through the tight-knit community she’s grown to love.

Pre-order here*

Scripted by Fearne Cotton

Published June 6th by Michael Joseph
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Jade Shaw has lost control of her life.

Pushed around by her warring family, and taken for granted by a boyfriend who’s more interested in his “brand” than their relationship, she knows that somewhere along the path to being an adult she’s lost her way.

The last place she expects to find answers is on the floor outside her flat. But there it is: a script. Containing
her name, and her boyfriend’s, and showing yet another excruciating argument in which he calls all the shots.
The weird thing is: this argument hasn’t happened yet.

The row becomes reality. Jade feels more frustrated than ever. Then more scripts appear; infuriating scenes in which Jade’s boss, mum, and bridezilla sister walk all over her.

The future is painfully familiar. But it’s not a future Jade likes.

Is it too late for her to re-write the script?

Pre-order here*

Welcome To Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal

Published June 6th by Chatto & Windus
Romance Novel, Medical Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Humorous Fiction,

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A magical novel, so uplifting, heartwarming, funny … Feels as if it was written specifically to give comfort’ MARIAN KEYES

Sail to the tropical paradise where secrets don’t stay hidden for long …

Zoologist Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny, remote island of Tuga de Oro to study the endangered gold coin tortoises in the jungle interior. She can claim the best of reasons for this year in paradise – what better motivation than to save a species? – but the reality is more complex. For Charlotte has a secret that connects her to the island and has finally determined to solve the mystery …

A complete and vivid world to escape to, Welcome to Glorious Tuga celebrates a fictional island, and the warm-hearted families who live there. Enchanting, uplifting and very funny, this is a captivating novel about love, belonging, and what it really means to come home.

Pre-order here*

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Published June 6th by Doubleday
Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Discover the joyful summer read from the bestselling author of WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS, perfect for fans of Marian Keyes and Nora Ephron

____________

One week in Cape Cod. The perfect family holiday. What could possibly go wrong…?

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their rustic beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, its quirky furniture and mismatched pots and pans greeted like old friends.

Now, sandwiched between her children who are adult enough to be fun but still young enough to need her, and her parents who are alive and healthy, Rocky wants to preserve this golden moment forever. This one precious week when everything is in balance; everything is in flux.

But every family has its secrets and hers is no exception.

With her body in open revolt and surprises invading her peaceful haven, the perfectly balanced seesaw of Rocky’s life is tipping towards change…

Pre-order here*

Experienced by Kate Young

Published June 6th by Fourth Estate
Contemporary Romance, Romance Novel, Humorous Fiction, Lesbian Literature, Erotic Literature

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Clever, sexy and joyful. I loved it’ BETH O’LEARY, AUTHOR OF THE FLATSHARE

‘A fizzing roller-coaster of a rom-com. The sexiest book you’ll read all year and the most heartening’ CAROLINE O’DONOGHUE, AUTHOR OF THE RACHEL INCIDENT

Bette loves Mei, but Bette and Mei are on a break, so Bette can catch-up on the decade of dating experiences she missed before she came out.

So Bette is (reluctantly) on a dating odyssey: a quest to have lots of casual sex with lots of hot women and come back to Mei more experienced and more certain about what she wants. And now she has new friend Ruth as her dating guide, she can’t possibly fail. It’s just three months, then she’ll be back with Mei.

It’s the perfect plan … isn’t it?

Pre-order here*

Going Home by Tom Lamont

Published June 6th by Sceptre
Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Meltingly warm’
OBSERVER, 10 BEST NEW NOVELISTS FOR 2024

Local boy Téo Erskine is back in the north London suburb of his youth, visiting his father – stubborn, selfish, complicated Vic. Things have changed for Téo: he’s got a steady job, a brand-new car and a London flat all concrete and glass, with a sliver of a river view.

Except, underneath the surface, not much has changed at all. He’s still the boy seeking his father’s approval; the young man playing late-night poker with his best friend, unreliable, infuriating Ben Mossam; the one still desperately in love with the enigmatic Lia Woods.

Lia’s life, on the other hand, has been transformed: now a single mum to two-year-old Joel, she doesn’t have time for anyone – not even herself.

When the unthinkable happens, Joel finds himself at the centre of an odd constellation of men – Téo, Vic, Ben – none of whom is fully equipped to look after him, but whose strange, tentative attempts at love might just be enough to offer him a new place to call home.

Pre-order here*

D is For Death by Harriet F. Townson

Published June 6th by Hodder & Stoughton
Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Contemporary Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Meet Dora Wildwood: runaway bride, book lover, and aspiring detective.
Likes: solving crimes, peppermint creams, trousers and her own independence.
Dislikes: cracked book spines, tyrannical behaviour, beetroot.

1935. Dora’son the first train to London, having smuggled herself out of the house in the middle of the night to escape her impending marriage. But unluckily for her, Dora’s fiance is more persistent than most and follows.

As Dora alights at Paddington station, she is immediately forced to run from the loathsome Charles Silk-Butters. She ducks into the London Library to hide and it is there, surrounded by books, where she should feel most safe, that Dora Wildwood stumbles across her first dead body.

Having been thrown into the middle of a murder scene, it’s now impossible to walk away. Indeed, Dora’s certain she will prove an invaluable help to the gruff Detective Inspector Fox who swiftly arrives on the scene. For as everyone knows, it’s the woman in the room who always sees more than anyone else: and no one more so than Dora herself…

D is for Death heralds the launch of a brilliant historical crime series that marries the quality of Dorothy L. Sayers with the ingenuity of Janice Hallett – and in Dora Wildwood introduces a character with the spark and gusto of Enola Holmes and the detective skill of Miss Marple. It is the debut crime novel from bestselling author Harriet Evans, writing as Harriet F. Townson.

Pre-order here*

Knife River by Justine Champine

Published June 6th by Manilla Press
Suspense, Thriller, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Beautifully written and soaked with atmosphere, KNIFE RIVER is the debut novel of an exciting new voice in literary crime.

First, there were my mother’s bones . . .

A young woman returns home to the small, claustrophobic town of Knife River. When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and did not return – now, fifteen years later, bones have been discovered in the woods nearby.

Jess’s sister has remained in their childhood home – her life, their home and the town itself seemingly frozen in time. As days turn into weeks, Jess’s understanding of the past, her sister, and herself becomes more and more complicated – and the list of suspects responsible for her mother’s terrible fate more and more ominous . . .

‘A twisting, engrossing and beautiful mystery. Thrilling, yet also deeply moving, layered and powerful’
CHRIS WHITAKER

‘A delicious smoke curl of a novel: atmospheric, sharp, and skilled at twisting the reader’s guesses in unimaginable ways’
JODI PICOULT

Pre-order here*

The Wreckage of Us by Dan Malakin

Published June 6th by Viper Books
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
It’s always the husband… Isn’t it?

Astrid Webb is missing. The police have found her car crashed near the woods, the driver’s door open, the seat spotted with blood. But there’s no sign of Astrid herself, a sick woman who rarely left her house, who surely couldn’t have left the scene of the accident without help.

Her husband Bryan is sure that she’s alive – after all, this isn’t the first time she’s vanished, only to reappear without explanation. But as the days pass, Bryan starts to look like a suspect in his wife’s disappearance, perhaps in her murder. Because Bryan isn’t telling the police the whole truth. Not about Astrid’s stalker, their broken-in back door, or the threatening messages she received. And it seems as if both Astrid and Bryan have something to hide.

Then a woman’s body is found in the woods, her face terribly disfigured. By staying silent, is Bryan protecting Astrid, or protecting himself?

From the bestselling author of The Regret and The Box, this heart-pounding thriller is perfect for readers of Harlan Coben, Mark Billingham and Alex North.

Pre-order here*

The Winner by Teddy Wayne

Published June 6th by The Borough Press
Suspense, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A razor-sharp novel that skewers the life of the uber-rich in the vein of The White Lotus, with shades of The Talented Mr Ripley and The Graduate

Conor is a recent graduate from a law school no one has heard of. Without any job prospects and needing to support his chronically ill mother, he takes a summer job teaching tennis at the affluent gated community of Cutters Neck, Massachusetts. One of his first students is Catherine, a magnetic divorcée keen to hire him for more than advice on her serve. What begins as a transactional arrangement soon develops into an intoxicating sexual relationship.

Things become even more complicated when Conor encounters Emily, with whom he has his first taste of real intimacy. Against his better judgment, he soon finds himself living a double life that inevitably leads to disaster.

Conor knows how hard it is to win against those with money and power. In his fight for survival, he has to put emotion aside and play with only his wits – after all, in tennis, love means nothing.

Pre-order here*

I Want To Die But I Still Want To Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee

Published June 6th by Bloomsbury Publishing
Self-Help Book, Mental Health Biographies

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The sequel to the Sunday Times and international-bestselling South Korean therapy memoir, translated by International Booker Prize-shortlisted Anton Hur

When Baek Sehee started recording her sessions with her psychiatrist, her hope was to create a reference for herself. She never imagined she would reach so many people, especially young people, with her reflections. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki became a runaway bestseller in South Korea, Indonesia, and the U.S., and reached a community of readers who appreciated depression and anxiety being discussed with such intimacy.

Baek’s struggle with dysthymia continues in I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki. And healing is a difficult process; the inner conflict she experiences in treatment becomes more complex, more challenging. With this second book, Baek Sehee reaches out to hold the hands of all those for whom grappling with everyday despair is part of a lifelong project, part of the journey.

Pre-order here*

Private Rites by Julia Armfield

Published June 11th by Fourth Estate
Psychological Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Lesbian Literature

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a haunting novel of three sisters navigating queer love and faith at the end of the world.

There’s no way to bury a body in earth which is flooded

It is a fact consigned to history along with almost everything else

It’s been raining for a long time now, for so long that the lands have reshaped themselves. Old places have been lost. Arcane rituals and religions have crept back into practice.

Sisters Isla, Irene and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their estranged father dies. A famous architect revered for making the new world navigable, he had long cut himself off from public life. They find themselves uncertain of how to grieve his passing when everything around them seems to be ending anyway.

As the sisters come together to clear the grand glass house that is the pinnacle of his legacy, they begin to sense that the magnetic influence of their father lives on through it. Something sinister seems to be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always been unusually interested in their lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperilled world.

Pre-order here*

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Published June 11th by Sphere
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Humorous Fiction, Urban Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTIONS:
A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science – from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on; the financial stability she yearned for as a kid; and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through – and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.

Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business – one that plays for keeps.

Pre-order here*

Under Her Roof by A. A. Chaudhuri

Published June 13th by Hera
Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Lesbian Literature

BOOK DESCRIPTIONS:
It seems too good to be true…

When struggling writer Sebastian finds a room to let in a palatial Hampstead residence he cannot believe his luck. The rent is ridiculously cheap and he immediately feels a connection with his beautiful widowed landlady, Adriana.

It is.

Things take a dark turn when he finds out what happened to the last lodger. Could this be why the house is a fortress of security, and why Adriana seems so fragile? Adriana doesn’t want to talk about the death and sadness that seem to follow her wherever she goes and Sebastian has secrets of his own.

Now someone is watching their every move and there is nowhere to hide.

This house of light becomes a dark nightmare as the threat ramps up – what does the watcher want? And how far will they go to get it?

A gripping, twisty thriller perfect for fans of B.A. Paris, Shari Lapena and Lucy Foley. If you were hooked by Netflix series You or The Watcher then you will love this.

Pre-order here*

The Modern Faeries by Clare Pollard

Published June 13th by Fig Tree
Historical Fiction, Fairy Tales, Mythology

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Elegant and decadent, vulgar and clever, enchanting and dark. The love child of Angela Carter and Anaïs Nin – the book I really really needed’ SARAH PERRY, author of The Essex Serpent

Why don’t they tell you it is the beautiful princess who becomes the evil queen; that they are just the same person at different points in their story?


Versailles, 1682: a city of the rich, a living fairy-tale, Louis XIV’s fever dream. It’s a place of opulence, beauty, and power. But strip back the lavish exterior of polite society, and you’ll find a dark undercurrent of sexual intrigue and vicious gossip. Nobody is safe here – no matter how highly born they are.

No one knows this better than Madame Marie d’Aulnoy. Each week, a rogue group of intellectuals gather at her Parisian home to debate, flirt and perform Contes de Fées – fairy tales – that challenge the status quo, at a salon that will change the course of literature forever. But while they weave tales of glass slippers, enchanted beasts and long-haired princesses, a wolf is lurking, who threatens to destroy the members of the salon one by one.

Brilliant and bawdy, romantic and provocative, The Modern Fairies is a dazzling novel inspired by real events, about the delights and dangers of storytelling in dark times.

Pre-order here*

When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

Published June 13th by HarperVoyager
Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Fairy Tale, High Fantasy, Romance Novel, Paranormal Fantasy

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
☽ MAGIC. DRAGONS. ROMANCE. THE FANTASY PHENOMENON OF THE YEAR ☽

’An absolutely stunning fantasy world’ Raven Kennedy, author of international bestseller, The Plated Prisoner Series

‘A wild ride that thrills as much as it enchants … An instant classic’ Thea Guanzon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Wars
___________

He’s fire and brimstone.
I’m shattered ice …
I’ll gladly burn beneath him until the world comes crumbling down.

As an assassin for the rebellion, Raeve’s job is to complete orders and never get caught. When a rival bounty hunter shatters her world, Raeve finds herself captured by the Guild of Nobles – a group of powerful fae.

Crushed by the loss of his great love, dragon rider Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to quell the never-ebbing ache in his chest, a clue lures him into the capital’s high-security prison where he stumbles upon the imprisoned Raeve …

Together, they seek truths that threaten to unravel everything they knew about their world – and each other.

Bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched will transport you into a world filled with magic, dragons and a love that blazes through the ages…

Pre-order here*

Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin

Published June 18th by Tor
Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fairy Tale, Dark Fantasy, Thriller, Urban Fantasy

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
An irresistibly dark, atmospheric reimagining of 1930s Shanghai filled with glamour, gods and gangsters. From Rosalie M. Lin, perfect for fans of S. A. Chakraborty and Fonda Lee.

‘I was utterly swept up . . . seductive, sprawling, full of malice’ – Kendare Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns

In Shanghai, danger wears many faces . . .

1932, Shanghai. By day, Jingwen delivers bones for her grandmother, the exclusive surgeon to the most formidable gang in the city. By night, she dances at the Paramount, a lavish cabaret club, competing ruthlessly to charm the wealthy patrons.

Then mysterious attackers start to target the club, stealing the faces of their victims – and selling them onto the powerful elite. Jingwen fears she could be next. To protect herself and her fellow performers, she has no choice but to delve deeper into the city’s glittering underworld.

In this treacherous realm of cut-throat businessmen, silver-limbed gangsters and vengeful gods, Jingwen soon learns that she must become something far stranger and more dangerous than she ever imagined, if she hopes to survive . . .

Pre-order here*

Redemption by Jack Jordan

Published June 20th by Simon & Schuster UK
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Gay Fiction, Adventure Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
THE LATEST PULSE-POUNDING THRILLER FROM THE MASTER OF THE MORAL DILEMMA AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, JACK JORDAN.

Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.
But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.
But as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself.
Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.

Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to redemption . . . or to retribution.

Pre-order here*

This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent Book 12) by Karin Slaughter

Published June 20th by Harper Collins UK
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Psychological Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The incredible new thriller featuring Will Trent and Sara Linton from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author!

One toxic family. Eight suspicious guests. Everyone is guilty. But who is a killer?

Welcome to the McAlpine Lodge: a secluded mountain getaway, it’s the height of escapist luxury living.

Except that everyone here is lying. Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.

Then one night, Mercy McAlpine – until now the good daughter – threatens to expose everybody’s secrets. Just hours later, Mercy is dead.

In an area this remote, it’s easy to get away with murder. But Will Trent and Sara Linton – investigator and medical examiner for the GBI – are here on their honeymoon.

And now, with the killer poised to strike again, the holiday of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…

Pre-order here*

The Witness by Alexandra Wilson

Published June 20th by Sphere
Suspense, Psychololgical Thriller, Legal Thriller, Political Thriller

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The remarkable debut novel by prominent young mixed-race barrister Alexandra Wilson is a moving, twisty legal thriller for the 21st century.

SHE SAW IT ALL
BUT SHE CAN NEVER TELL


A young black man is arrested for murder. The case against him is strong – a mum and a teacher saw him standing over a body in a park, a knife still in hand.

But his up-and-coming barrister Rosa knows how people prejudge, but most of all, she suspects something is amiss. This boy comes from her neighbourhood. From a good family. So she begins to dig…

As Rosa discovers secret upon terrible secret, she moves closer to finding a testimony that could win the case – or bring the whole establishment down on her.

The Witness is a frightening thriller about how we judge guilt, about the strength of a young woman, and is the start of a groundbreaking new series.

Pre-order here*

Lucky Day by Beth Morrey

Published June 20th by Harper Collins UK
Humorous Fiction, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of SAVING MISSY, comes a fierce, joyful and uplifting novel about putting life on pause, pleasing yourself, and getting your own back. Whatever it takes.

CAN SHE SAY F*CK IT, JUST FOR ONE DAY?

After a morning that starts with a terrible migraine, an accidentally strong concoction of painkillers, and a bump on the head, Clover Hendry is not quite herself.

And as she walks out of work at 9.47am, for once Clover isn’t worrying about anything. She is taking some much-deserved me-time, and everyone else had better get out of her way.

As she crashes from once incident (a deliciously illicit swim) to the next (art theft), Clover is on a one-woman mission to do exactly as she pleases – consequences are for tomorrow!

It’s a day of joyful recklessness, but behind the chaos, a plan is afoot. Will her new-found freedom uncover long-buried secrets?

A euphoric, raging, galvanizing story about putting life on pause, pleasing yourself, and getting your own back – whatever it takes.

Pre-order here*

How To Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

Published June 20th by Bantam Press
Humorous Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Urban Fiction, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Uplifting, heartwarming and joyful. Restored my faith in humankind‘ – Ruth Jones

When age makes you invisible, secrets are easier to hide

Daphne knows that age is just a number. She also knows that society no longer pays her any attention – something she’s happy to exploit to help her hide a somewhat chequered past.

But finding herself alone on her 70th birthday, with only her plants to talk to and neighbours to stalk online, she decides she needs some friends. Joining a Senior Citizen’s Social Club she’s horrified at the expectation she’ll spend her time enduring gentle crafting activities. Thankfully, the other members – including a failed actor addicted to shoplifting and a prolific yarn-bomber – agree.

After a tragic accident, the local council threaten to close the club – but they have underestimated the wrong group of pensioners…and with the help of a teenage dad and a geriatric, orphaned dog, the incongruous gang set out to prove it.

As long as their pasts don’t catch up with them first…

Pre-order here*

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You by Laura Dockrill

Published June 20th by HQ
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
An epic story of love, loss and pining for fans of One Day.

It’s the year 2000. I’m fourteen. I’m trying really hard to be a grunger right now in a Foo Fighters t-shirt and a spiked choker. There were rumours that the world was going to end. It hadn’t as of yet but I still had reasons to believe that was true.

❤ ❤ ❤

Ella and Lowe are teenagers when they first meet in summer 2000. For her, it’s love at first sight. But it’s safest to love from afar, where the friendship zone is her safety net and she can’t get hurt.

Certain that the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen couldn’t possibly feel the same, Ella counts herself lucky to have him as her best friend. Over the next fifteen years they share everything: bottles of cider and cigarettes in the rain, gossip and laughter, grief and fear.

But every time Lowe kisses another girl, Ella feels her heart break just that little bit more. She’ll have to choose whether it’s enough to be just friends with the love of her life, or if she’s prepared to let the terrifying, beautiful, all-consuming truth come to light.

From a unique new voice in adult fiction, I Love You, I Love You, I Love You is a glorious nostalgia trip for anyone who has ever known the exquisite pain and pleasure of first love.

Pre-order here*

Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly by Joanna Glen

Published June 20th by The Borough Press
Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the Costa-shortlisted author of THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE and ALL MY MOTHERS

The story of two people who have no idea how to fall in love…

On the tiny island of Rokesby, Addie helps her mother run a women’s retreat. Dreaming daily of escape, she consoles herself by swimming in the ocean that surrounds them.

On the neighbouring island, joined to Rokesby by a bridge at low tide, Sol has sought refuge at a wind-swept prayer house, grieving both his mother’s death and his father’s devastating betrayal. Alone and anxious, he takes comfort in birdwatching, books and the sounds of the sea.

Introverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts, Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people – until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Can they break free from past lessons in love to risk a better future together?

From the Costa-shortlisted author of THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE and ALL MY MOTHERS, this is a beautifully observed and life-affirming novel about finding yourself, and then allowing someone else to find you.

Pre-order here*

The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd

Published June 20th by Pan Macmillan
Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Crime Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Some women can’t be erased from history . . .

A story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

Paris, 1938: Runaway heiress Juliette Willoughby perishes, with her married lover, in an accidental studio fire alongside her Surrealist masterpiece, Self-Portrait as Sphinx.

Cambridge, 1991: Two art history students stumble across proof something sinister was at play in Juliette’s death, threatening to expose the long-buried secrets of the artist’s aristocratic family.

Dubai, now: An art dealer is accused of the brutal murder of his oldest friend – the last surviving member of the Willoughby dynasty.

Three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.

Is the key to unlocking them all hidden in Juliette Willoughby’s lost painting?

Pre-order here*

The Wrong Hands (Dectective Miller Book 2) by Mark Billingham

Published June 20th by Sphere
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Had me laughing out loud one minute and emotional the next. I’m excited to have found a new favourite detective’ — CLAIRE DOUGLAS

This is one case Miller won’t want to open . . .

Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Still desperate to solve the murder of his wife, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase . . . containing a pair of severed hands.

Miller knows this case is proof of a contract killing commissioned by local ne’er do well Wayne Cutler – a man he suspects might also be responsible for his wife’s death. Now Miller has leverage, but unfortunately he also has something that both Cutler and a villainous fast-food kingpin are desperate to get hold of.

Chuck in a Midsomer Murders-obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg, and Miller is in a mess that even he might not be able to dance his way out of.

Pre-order here*

Murder Ballad by Lucy Ribchester

Published June 20th by Black & White Publishing
Mystery, Thriller, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller, Women Sleuths

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Edinburgh, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend Clessidro are the stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Clessidro sings opera and Isobel sings famously dark Scottish ballads, despite her cavalier attitude to holding a tune. They roam the streets of Edinburgh, enjoying an opulent lifestyle.

One night a note arrives from the mysterious Mrs Abercorn, asking if Isobel’s most notorious song, The Fiddler’s Wrath, might be included in a book. It’s the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued. But Mrs. Abercorn’s curiosity about the ballad is far more than a fickle interest. When Clessidro goes missing, Isobel is forced to confront her past and the truth about The Fiddler’s Wrath begins to emerge.

Using the geography of Edinburgh to guide us through the story, this dark tale becomes more complicated than anyone could have imagined and awakens the chilling retribution of a once buried secret.

Pre-order here*

The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson

Published June 20th by Doubleday
Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The gripping historical debut about a family separated by the Berlin wall – perfect for fans of All the Light We Cannot SeeIn Memoriam and Alone in Berlin

‘A tautly plotted, deeply involving novel that packs a real emotional punch … I can’t recommend this novel highly enough’ Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us
_____

Imagine waking up and a wall has divided your city in two. Imagine that on the other side is your child…


Lisette is in hospital with her baby boy. The doctors tell her to go home and get some rest, that he’ll be fine.

When she awakes, everything has changed. Because overnight, on 13 August 1961, the border between East and West Berlin has closed, slicing the city – and the world – in two.

Lisette is trapped in the east, while her newborn baby is unreachable in the west. With the streets in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross, her situation is desperate.

Lisette’s teenage daughter, Elly, has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. Both have lived for music, but while Elly hears notes surrounding every person she meets, for her mother – once a talented pianist – the music has gone silent.

Perhaps Elly can do something to bridge the gap between them. What begins as the flicker of an idea turns into a daring plan to escape East Berlin, find her baby brother, and bring him home….

Based on true stories, The Silence in Between is a page-turning, emotional epic that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Pre-order here*

Boys Who Hurt (Forbidden Iceland Book 5) by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir xxx

Published June 20th by Orenda Books
Mystery, Thriller, Icelandic Noir, Hard-Boiled, Women Sleuths, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTIONL
Fresh from maternity leave, Detective Elma finds herself confronted with a complex case, when a man is found murdered in a holiday cottage in the depths of the Icelandic countryside – the victim of a frenzied knife attack, with a shocking message scrawled on the wall above him.
 
At home with their baby daughter, Sævar is finding it hard to let go of work, until the chance discovery in a discarded box provides him with a distraction. Could the diary of a young boy, detailing the events of a long-ago summer have a bearing on Elma’s case?
 
Once again, the team at West Iceland CID have to contend with local secrets in the small town of Akranes, where someone has a vested interest in preventing the truth from coming to light. And Sævar has secrets of his own that threaten to destroy his and Elma’s newfound happiness.
 
Tense, twisty and shocking, Boys Who Hurt is the next, addictive instalment in the award-winning Forbidden Iceland series, as dark events from the past endanger everything…

Pre-order here

The House Sitter by Mira V. Shah

Published June 20th by Hodder & Stoughton
Psychological Thriller, Women Sleuths, Holiday Fiction,

BOOK DESCRIPTIONS:
THE PERFECT ESCAPE . . . OR THE PERFECT TRAP?

TWO WEEKS AGO
I woke up in a hotel room next to a dead man, with no memory of the night before.
Panicked, I cleared up any trace that I was there and fled.

ONE WEEK AGO
I was offered the perfect escape: the chance to housesit a gorgeous villa in a remote corner of Italy.
Desperate to get away, I jumped at the chance.

NOW
The owners have unexpectedly shown up at the house. The only problem?
They’re the family of the man I woke up next to, two weeks ago.

ONE OF THEM KNOWS MY SECRET.
AND THEY’VE COME TO FIND ME.

Pre-order here*

A Proper Mother by Isobel Shirlaw

Published June 20th by Point Blank
Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Sometimes it’s your own child you’re most afraid of…

‘I devoured this truly superb and extraordinary book… A must-read that will haunt
me for a long time!’ Kathryn Croft, author of The Girl With No Past

Ever since an ominous palm-reading on her honeymoon, Frankie has suspected that her youngest son, Michael, is different. From an early age he sees things no one else can. As he grows up – academically gifted, a musical prodigy and with an unshakeable religious faith – his mother can no longer deny there is something strange about him, or that it frightens her.  

It is only when Frankie learns Michael is sliding into drugs and violence that she realises she can’t keep ignoring the past. But by confronting her destructive marriage and her own responsibility for all that has gone wrong, she begins to see there is something darker at play. 

Pre-order here*

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide To The Wastelands by Sarah Brookes

Published June 20th by W&N
Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Steampunk

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A breathtaking historical fantasy set onboard the Great Trans-Siberian Express, perfect for fans of PiranesiBabelThe Night Circus and Jessie Burton

It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.

It is the end of the nineteenth century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.

Nothing touches the Wastelands except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry cargo across continents, but which now transports anyone who dares.

Onto the platform steps a curious cast of characters: Marya, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Weiwei, a famous child born on the train; and Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist.

But there are whispers that the train isn’t safe. As secrets and stories begin to unravel, the passengers and crew must survive their journey together, even as something uncontrollable seems to be breaking in . . .

Pre-order here*

The Last Song of Penelope (The Songs of Penelope Book 3) by Claire North

Published June 20th by Orbit
Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Greek Mythology, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Following the critically acclaimed Ithaca and House of Odysseus comes the final novel in Claire North’s Songs of Penelope trilogy – an exquisite, gripping tale that breathes life into ancient myth. This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before.

Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned. For twenty years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings. But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break . . .

A beggar has arrived at the Palace. Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors – but Penelope recognises in him something terrible: her husband, Odysseus, returned at last. Yet this Odysseus is no hero. By returning to the island in disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors – vengeance that will spark a civil war – but he’s testing the loyalty of his queen. Has she been faithful to him all these years? And how much blood is Odysseus willing to shed to be sure?

The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca’s halls. But first, Penelope must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her family alive, whatever the cost …

Pre-order here*

A Curtain Twitcher’s Book of Murder by Gay Marris

Published June 20th by Bedford Square Publishers
Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Set in London in 1968, A CURTAIN TWITCHER’S BOOK OF MURDER follows the lives of the inhabitants of a suburban London street. But this is no ordinary road.

“Ask anyone on Atbara Avenue how well they know their neighbours, and they’ll answer ‘well’. After all, they see each other across the vast distance afforded by close proximity, and that is probably for the best…”.

For the best, because Atbara Avenue is a street where, all too often, murder feels like the solution.

With a delicious cast of characters, dazzling plotting, and an utterly unique voice, Gay Marris’ first book is remarkably accomplished. If you’ve been longing for a fresh and compelling new voice in the world of crime fiction, your wait is over.

Pre-order here*

The Unforgettable Loretta, Darling by Katherine Blake

Published June 20th by Viking
Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance, Crime Fiction, Romance Novel, Urban Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
You’re Loretta Darling now, welcome to your brand-new flipping life.

Dreams don’t come true for girls like Loretta but she won’t let that stop her. With her sights set on becoming a make-up artist to the stars, Loretta wangles her way from Lancashire to the bright lights of Golden Age Hollywood.

Only it turns out that Sunset Boulevard is less about dashing fellas and chilled martinis – more sticky floors and misbehaving men. The gift of the gab can only get her so far but she refuses to go quietly.

Hollywood has its secrets … and so does Loretta.

For a start, that’s not her real name, and much more than lipstick lurks inside her beauty case.

After all, revenge is a dish best served with a perfectly painted smile.

Pre-order here*

The Stranger’s Companion by Mary Horlock

Published June 20th by Baskerville
Gothic Thriller, Historical Mystery

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘A mesmerising historical mystery and tale of suppressed secrets set amid the raw beauty of 1920s and 30s Sark. A brilliantly evoked novel based on a fascinating real case. Delectable’ Anna Mazzola, author of The Book of Secrets

October 1933

With a population of five hundred souls, isolated Sark has a reputation for being ‘the island where nothing ever happens’. Until, one day, the neatly folded clothes of an unknown man and woman are discovered abandoned at a coastal beauty spot. As the search for the missing couple catches the attention of first the local and then national newspapers, Sark finds itself front-page news.

When young islander Phyllis Carey returns to Sark from England she throws herself into solving the mystery. As Phyll digs through swirls of gossip, ghost stories and dark rumours in search of the truth, she crosses paths with Everard Hyde, a surprise visitor from her past. As press coverage builds to fever pitch, long-suppressed secrets from Phyll’s and Everard’s shared, shadowy history begin to surface.

The Stranger’s Companion is a beguiling historical mystery inspired by a real-life crime, which remains unsolved to this day.

Pre-order here*

The Mask of Merryvale Manor by Pete Sherlock

Published June 20th by Fairlight Books
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical Thriller, Literary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘We’re actually all rather terrible.’ 

On the cusp of the 1960s, when fourteen-year-old Ben moves into the ancestral home of his aunt and uncle, he is shocked by their wealth and glamour. Under the watchful eye of the Merryvale Mask, his sophisticated cousins teach him how to appreciate their languid opulence and draw him into the world of the elites. But five years later, when a woman’s body is found on the estate, his new life begins to crumble. 

As the family is placed at the centre of a murder investigation, Ben starts to see their manipulative power in a harsher light. Placed on a collision course with his family, Ben faces a dilemma: how far is he willing to go to fit into their world?

Pre-order here*

Under Your Spell by Laura Wood

Published June 20th by Simon & Schuster UK
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘I absolutely adored Under Your Spell the sweetest, sexiest, funniest romance. It was such a treat!’ Marian Keyes
‘So witty and smart. I am thoroughly under Laura Wood’s spell’Hannah Grace


She only wants three things. He isn’t one of them… 

Dumped by her cheating ex, fired from her dream job, about to lose her flat: Clementine Monroe is not having a good day. So when her sisters get her drunk and suggest reviving a childhood ritual called the breakup spell, she doesn’t see the harm in it.
 
But now Clemmie has accidentally ruined a funeral, had her first one-night stand, and she’s stuck with a new job she definitely doesn’t want – spending six weeks alone with the gorgeous and very-off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott. 
 
He’s the most famous man on the planet. Her life’s a disaster. When it comes to love, Clemmie is learning you should be careful what you wish for…

Pre-order here*

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

Published June 20th by HQ
Satire, Political Ficiton, Southern Fiction, Dystopian

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
From the author of The Change, comes a novel about book banning and those brave enough to stand up against this censorship.

In Troy, Georgia, Lula Dean has decided to cleanse the town’s reading habits. All banned books have been removed from public spaces, and the townspeople are only allowed to read books Lula has deemed ‘appropriate’.

But a small group refuse to be told what they can and can’t read.

The revolution is coming …

Pre-order here*

Honey by Isabel Banta

Published June 25th by Zaffre
Contemporary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
I didn’t like to perform. I liked to be loved.

‘Like Daisy Jones soaked in Britney Spears’ Curious’ HOLLY BOURNE

It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It’s a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join a girl group and escape her small town. She quickly finds herself in the orbits of fellow rising stars Gwen Morris, a driven singer-dancer, and Wes Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world.

As Amber embarks on her solo career and her fame intensifies, she increasingly finds herself reduced to a body, a voice, an object. Surrounded by the wrong kind of people and driven by a desire for recognition and success, for love and sex, for agency and connection, Amber comes of age at a time when the kaleidoscope of public opinion can distort everything, and one mistake can shatter a career.

Pre-order here*

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

Published June 27th by Michael Joseph
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Urban Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Notting Hill, London. One May evening, seventeen-year-old Maggie Parker’s mother walks out of their front door and doesn’t return . . .

With her little brother in tow, desperate to find her mother, Maggie is drawn into a labyrinthine world of antiques and shadowy figures. There she befriends someone else living on their wits. But can he help solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance?

Twenty-one years later, in a Parisian apartment, Maggie’s phone rings and her hard-won grown-up life shatters. While in London, the new owner of the Parker’s old house is excavating the basement, unaware of what might lie beneath.

Sweeping from bustling London streets, the boulevards of Paris to an old English country house, The Midnight Hour is a thrilling, richly woven story about a golden family with a hidden past – and a woman trying to turn back the hands of time before it’s too late.

Pre-order here*

The Phoenix Ballroom by Ruth Hogan

Published June 27th by Corvus
Romance Novel, Magical Realism, Contemporary Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Magical … uplifting … the Phoenix Ballroom feels like an old friend’ Anton Du Beke

‘Every page is a joy’ Pip Williams

When it’s time to face the music, all we can do is dance…


Recently widowed Venetia Hamilton Hargreaves is left with a huge house, a bank balance to match and an uneasy feeling that she’s been sleepwalking through the last fifty years. Determined to live fully again, she embraces life with an enthusiasm and purpose she’d forgotten she could muster.

Buying the dilapidated Phoenix Ballroom and with it a drop-in centre and spiritualist church could be seen as reckless, but Venetia’s generosity, courage and kindness provide a refuge for a touching cast of damaged and lonely people who find their chosen family. As their stories intertwine, long buried secrets are revealed, missed opportunities seized and lives are renewed as the Phoenix lives up to its name.

The Phoenix Ballroom is a story of hope and second chances across the generations.

Pre-order here*

********

Are any of these on your TBR? Let me know in the comments.

Categories
Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2023

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – March 2023

The third month of the year is almost upon us, and it’s a month bursting with books I want to read. It’s no wonder my TBR never gets any smaller with my most anticipated releases for March alone being a whopping thirty-seven books! Lord help me. And my bank account.

So, what’s on my list? There’s some exciting new releases from favourite authors such as Helen Fields, Margaret Atwood and Louise Swanson (Beech), as well as releases from debut and new-to-me authors.

Here are are the books I’m most looking forward to next month:

The Institution by Helen Fields

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Avon Books
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

SYNOPSIS:
They’re locked up for your safety.
Now, you’re locked in with them.

Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer.

On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.

Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the girl – before it’s too late.

But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?

A claustrophobic, haunting crime thriller that will keep you up at night, perfect for those who couldn’t put down The Sanatorium and Amy McCulloch’s Breathless.

Pre-order here*

Clytemnestra by Costanza Castai

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Fairy Tale

SYNOPSIS:
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best . . .

‘Vivid with fury, passion and strength, this is a fabulous myth retelling’
 JENNIFER SAINT

‘A powerhouse of a novel. Clytemnestra’s rage, heartbreak and determination radiate off the page’ ELODIE HARPER

‘A thrilling tale of power and prophecies, and the fierce Queen who fought back at those who wronged her’ COSMOPOLITAN, ‘The best books to look forward to in 2023’

‘A heroine of fierce spirit. With the fire and spark of Madeline Miller and the depths of Mary Renault, Clytemnestra will keep you reading well into the small hours’ MANDA SCOTT

Perfect for fans of ARIADNE and THE SONG OF ACHILLES, pre-order this extraordinary retelling of history’s most infamous heroine.

Pre-order here*

The Book of Eve by Meg Clothier

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Wildfire
Genre: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Fantasy Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The Binding meets The Handmaid’s Tale – Discovering a book of dark and ancient power, a convent librarian must defend it with her life. Perfect for fans of dark academia and historical feminist fiction.

‘A wonderfully rich and absorbing tale’ Observer
‘Expertly crafted and beautifully told’ Jennifer Saint
‘All so good. I read it in two days flat, and wish I had spaced it out more’ 
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER REVIEW

Beatrice is the convent’s librarian. For years, she has shunned the company of her sisters, finding solace only with her manuscripts.

Then, one carnival night, two women, bleeding and stricken, are abandoned outside the convent’s walls. Moments from death, one of them presses something into Beatrice’s hands: a bewitching book whose pages have a dangerous life of their own.

But men of the faith want the book destroyed, and a zealous preacher has tracked it to her door. Her sisters’ lives – or her obsession. Beatrice must decide.

The book’s voice is growing stronger.

An ancient power uncoils.

Will she dare to listen?

Pre-order here*

Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Raven Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, thriller

SYNOPSIS:
Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance.

She will be Queen. Whatever it takes…


Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba.

When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy. She leaves behind her home, her family and her close friend MacBethad, and travels to the royal seat at Scone to embrace her new position.

But nothing is as Gruoch anticipates. Duncan’s court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, women desperate to usurp her position, and others whose motives are shrouded in mystery. As her coronation approaches, a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, finding herself alone, vulnerable and at the mercy of an old enemy. Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfill her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.

A suspenseful, sweeping historical epic, Lady MacBethad is the origin story of the woman who inspired one of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters.

Pre-order here*

Mother’s Day by Abigail Burdess

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Wildfire
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Suspense, Humour

SYNOPSIS:
She gave you life. What if she wants it back?
Perfect for fans of MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER, MAGPIE and HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY.

Mother’s Day is terrific. So dark, so twisted’

HARRIET TYCE, AUTHOR OF BLOOD ORANGE

‘Superbly written and darkly funny. I simply couldn’t look away.’
JANICE HALLETT, AUTHOR OF THE APPEAL AND THE TWYFORD CODE

The last thing Anna needs is a baby. Abandoned, adopted and living hand to mouth, she never dreamt of having a real family.

But when she meets her birth mother, everything changes – because the same day, she learns she’s going to be a mother too.

Marlene is eccentric, generous with her considerable fortune and overjoyed to become a grandmother. Anna’s living the dream. But is it her dream, or someone else’s?

Now she will have to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for a real family – her future, her freedom, even her unborn child.

Pre-order here*

A Good House For Children by Kate Collins

Published: March 2nd
Publisher: Serpent’s Tail
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The perfect place to destroy a family…

The Reeve stands on the edge of the Dorset cliffs, awaiting its next inhabitants. Despite Orla’s misgivings, her husband insists this house will be the perfect place to raise their two children.

In 1976, Lydia moves to Dorset as a nanny for a family grieving their patriarch. She soon starts to hear and feel things that cannot be real, but her bereaved employer does not listen when Lydia tells her something is wrong.

Separated by forty years, both Lydia and Orla realise that the longer they stay at the Reeve, the more deadly certain their need to keep the children safe from whatever lurks inside it…

Nothing is quite what it seems at the Reeve, and with its pervasive atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread, Kate Collins’ gothic creation will chill you to the core.

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If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Mantle
Genre: Domestic Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A gripping, darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.

Every morning Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her, cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However, the guilt she still carries about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased.

Then, Janet finds herself involved in a train crash and, recognising the chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago, she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her, and for the first time her life has purpose and the future is filled with hope.

But Janet’s story isn’t quite what it seems, and as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn’t an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face.

If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin is a deeply moving and gripping portrayal of a woman coming to terms with loss.

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All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Tinder Press
Genre: Domestic Fiction, Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘Glorious. Unforgettable’ Melissa Harrison
‘Funny, lyrical, deft and devastating’ Amy Sackville
‘A distinct and poetic new voice’ Clare Pollard

I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.

Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is Dolly – her clever, headstrong daughter, now on the cusp of leaving home.

Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday’s book. Soon they are in and out of each others’ homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo’s polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.

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No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Aria
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Novel, Historical Romance, Satire, Historical Mystery

SYNOPSIS:
The most joyful book of 2023!

Violet Hamilton is a woman who knows her own mind. Which, in 1896, can make things a little complicated…

At 28, Violet’s father is beginning to worry she will never find a husband. But every suitor he presents, Violet finds a new and inventive means of rebuffing.

Because Violet does not want to marry. She wants to work, and make her own way in the world. But more than anything, she wants to find her mother Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier.

Finding the missing is no job for a lady, but when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off a chain of events that will put more than just her reputation at risk.

Can Violet solve the mystery of Lily Hamilton’s vanishing before it’s too late?

A delightfully quirky and clever book club read, perfect for fans of Dear Mrs BirdThe Maid and Lessons in Chemistry.

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Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Genre: Historical Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the Booker Prize-nominated author of The Water Cure comes a chilling new feminist fable based on the true story of an unsolved mystery…

A recommended read for 2023 in The Times, Guardian, Irish Times, Scotsman, iD, Good Housekeeping, Big Issue and Our Culture

‘Sensual, luminous, transcendent. It confirms Mackintosh as one of our finest young writers’ The Bookseller


If you eat the bread, you’ll die, he said. The statement made no sense, but it filled me with an electric dread.


Elodie is the baker’s wife. A plain, unremarkable woman, ignored by her husband and underestimated by her neighbours, she burns with the secret desire to be extraordinary. One day a charismatic new couple appear in town – the ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet – and Elodie quickly falls under their spell. All summer long she stalks them through the shining streets: inviting herself into their home, eavesdropping on their coded conversations, longing to be part of their world.

Meanwhile, beneath the tranquil surface of daily life, strange things are happening. Six horses are found dead in a sun-drenched field, laid out neatly on the ground like an offering. Widows see their lost husbands walking up the moonlit river, coming back to claim them. A teenage boy throws himself into the bonfire at the midsummer feast. A dark intoxication is spreading through the town, and when Elodie finally understands her role in it, it will be too late to stop.

Audacious and mesmerising, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory’s hall of mirrors, a fable of obsession and transformation. Sophie Mackintosh spins a darkly gleaming tale of a town gripped by hysteria, envy like poison in the blood, and desire that burns and consumes.

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Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Sandycove
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the Number 1 bestselling author of Our Little Cruelties and Skin Deep

Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.

Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.

But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged . . .

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Freeze by Kate Simants

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Viper
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
ON THE TOUGHEST REALITY SHOW ON TELEVISION
A KILLER IS HIDING OUT OF SHOT

Frozen Out is set to be a TV sensation. On a small ship off the coast of Greenland, eight contestants will push themselves to breaking point for a £100,000 prize.

The show is Tori Matsuka’s baby. After years working her way up the ladder, she’s finally launching her own production company with Frozen Out, and the late nights, the debts, the strain on her relationship will all be worthwhile. Everything is riding on the next twelve days. For camerawoman Dee, it’s a chance to start again after the tragedy that tanked her undercover journalism career. Not even Tori, her oldest friend, knows the full truth of why Dee left her previous job, and she plans to keep it that way.

But as errors and mishaps mount on set, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And when one of the contestants is found dead, only Dee realises the death wasn’t natural – and from what she’s seen from behind the camera, it won’t be the last. As the Arctic ice closes in around them and all chance of escape is cut off, it becomes clear that although the world outside wants them dead, it’s the secrets inside the ship that might cost them their lives.

Packed with suspense from the first page to the last, Freeze is a must-read for fans of Shiver, The Sanatorium and One By One. This thriller isn’t just chilling: it’s sub-zero.

Pre-order here*

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Magpie
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense

SYNOPSIS:
The dark, atmospheric, feminist offspring of Squid GameThe Hunting Party and Misery

A book deal to die for.

Five attendees are selected for a month-long writing retreat at the remote estate of Roza Vallo, the controversial high priestess of feminist horror. Alex, a struggling writer, is thrilled.

Upon arrival, they discover they must complete an entire novel from scratch, and the best one will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. Alex’s long-extinguished dream now seems within reach.

But then the women begin to die.

Trapped, terrified yet still desperately writing, it is clear there is more than a publishing deal at stake at Blackbriar Estate. Alex must confront her own demons – and finish her novel – to save herself.

This unhinged, propulsive, claustrophobic closed-door thriller will pull you in and spit you out…

Pre-order here*

Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Genre: Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A Best Book of 2023 in VogueAnOther Magazinei-DIndependentEvening Standard and Huffington Post

An extraordinary, original and heartbreaking debut novel about the bonds that connect people even when separated by seas or death itself, from a thrilling new voice.

There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies – everything in between is speculation.

One night, not long after the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh and Minh flee their village and embark on a perilous boat journey to Hong Kong. Their parents and four younger siblings make the crossing in another vessel but as weeks go by it becomes clear that only one party has survived the voyage.

Anh, Thanh and Minh suddenly find themselves alone in the world, without family or home. They travel on, navigating refugee camps and resettlement centres until, by a twist of fate, they arrive in Thatcher’s Britain. Here they must somehow build new lives with only each other to turn to, but will that be enough in a place that doesn’t seem to want them?

In this piercing debut, the siblings’ faltering journey is deftly interwoven with the voice of their lost younger brother, Dao, following them from a place between the living and the dead, and the records of an unknown researcher intent on gathering together the strands of their story. Revelatory and inventive, Wandering Souls paints a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in unimaginable adversity while exploring the power of stories to heal generational wounds. It heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in fiction.

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One Moment by Becky Hunter

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Corvus
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Urban Fiction, Ghost Story

SYNOPSIS:
‘An emotional read about love and trust, with an OMG ending’ Jill Mansell

One moment in time can change everything…

The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on the lives of those she loved the most.

Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible. Ways, perhaps, even those closest to her had long since given up on.

If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of that one moment in time, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

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The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
***A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick 2023***

‘A radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good husbands by a cast of unsinkable women’ – New York Times


‘Original, memorable, and endearing’ Charmaine Wilkerson, author of BLACK CAKE


________________


For Geeta, life as a widow is more peaceful than life as a wife…

Until the other women in her village decide they want to be widows, too.

Geeta is believed to have killed her vanished husband – a rumour she hasn’t bothered trying to correct, because a reputation like that can keep a single woman safe in rural India. But when she’s approached for help in ridding another wife of her abusive drunk of a husband, her reluctant agreement sets in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of all the women in the village….

A darkly irreverent and fresh take on a feminist revenge thriller, perfect for readers of My Sister the Serial Killer, How To Kidnap The Rich and the Sharon Horgan series Bad Sisters.

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The Purgatory Poisoning by Rebecca Rogers

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Genre: Mystery, Dark Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Supernatural Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Horror Fiction, Fantasy Comedy

SYNOPSIS:
Winner of the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished Prize!

How do you solve your own murder when you’re already dead?

Purgatory (noun):
1. Where the dead are sent to atone.
2. A place of suffering or torment.
3. A youth hostel where the occupants play Scrabble and the mattresses are paper thin.

When Dave wakes up in his own personal purgatory (St Ives Youth Hostel circa 1992), he’s shocked to discover he’s dead. And worse – he was murdered.

Heaven doesn’t know who did it so with the help of two rogue angels, Dave must uncover the truth.

As divine forces from both sides start to play the game, can Dave get out of this alive? Or at the very least, with his soul intact?

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The Curator by Owen King

Published: March 7th, 2023
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: Suspense, Horror Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Half fairy tale and half historical account of a revolution that never was, Owen King’s The Curator is full of sly humor, sensuality, and strangeness – Holly Black

From Sunday Times bestselling author Owen King comes a Dickensian fantasy of illusion and charm where cats are revered as religious figures, thieves are noble, scholars are revolutionaries, and conjurers the most wonderful criminals.


At first glance, the world has not changed: the trams on the boulevards, the grand hotels, the cafes abuzz with conversation. The street kids still play on the two great bridges that divide the city, and the smart set still venture down to the Morgue Ship for an evening’s entertainment.

Yet it only takes a spark to ignite a revolution.

For young Dora, a maid at the university, the moment brings liberation. She finds herself walking out with one of the student radicals, Robert, free to investigate what her brother Ambrose may have seen at the Institute for Psykical Research before he died.

But it is another establishment that Dora is given to look after, The Museum of the Worker. This strange, forgotten edifice is occupied by waxwork tableaux of miners, nurses, shopkeepers and other disturbingly lifelike figures.

As the revolution and counter-revolution outside unleash forces of love, betrayal, magic and terrifying darkness, Dora’s search for the truth behind a mystery that she has long concealed will unravel a monstrous conspiracy and bring her to the very edge of worlds.

In The Curator, Owen King has created an extraordinary time and place – historical, fantastical, yet compellingly real, and a heroine who is courageous, curious and utterly memorable.

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Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood

Published: March 7th, 2023
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories

SYNOPSIS:
Margaret Atwood is celebrated as one of the most gifted storytellers in the world. This new collection showcases her many talents — and the return of her beloved characters Nell & Tig

They explore the full warp and weft of experience, from two best friends disagreeing about their shared past, to the right way to stop someone from choking; from a daughter determining if her mother really is a witch, to what to do with inherited relics such as World War II parade swords.

They feature beloved cats, a confused snail, Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, philosopher-astronomer-mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, a cabal of elderly female academics, and an alien tasked with retelling human fairy tales.

At the heart of the collection is a stunning sequence that follows a married couple as they travel the road together, the moments big and small that make up a long life of love — and what comes after.

The glorious range of Atwood’s creativity and humanity is on full beam in these tales, which by turns delight, illuminate and quietly devastate.

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In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Published: March 9th, 2023
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, War Story, LGBT Literature, Gay Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A gripping, heart-shattering love story between two soldiers in the First World War – available for pre-order now

‘Assured, affecting and moving. Alice Winn has written a devastating love story between two young men . . . Gaunt and Ellwood will live in your mind long after you’ve closed the final pages’ Maggie O’Farrell

It’s 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt’s German mother asks him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.

The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, spurred on by his love of Greek heroes and romantic poetry. Before long, their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.

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A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Published: March 9th, 2023
Publisher: Gollancz
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side – and she kind of doesn’t want him to?

Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon – one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.

Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry – if he can strike a deal with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).

But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle to maintain a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions – including love – which will only spell disaster for them both.

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Lies We Sing To The Sea by Sarah Underwood

Published: March 16th, 2023
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Genre: Mythology, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Romance, Young Adult Fiction, LGBTQ+ Literature

SYNOPSIS:
A fantasy romance, by dazzling new talent Sarah Underwood, inspired by Greek mythology and the tale of Penelope’s twelve hanged maids.

”A lovely, lyrical fantasy which takes the fate of the hanged maids of the Odyssey and weaves something brand new. A story overflowing with emotion and full of magic.”
Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra

In the cursed kingdom of Ithaca, each spring brings the hanging of twelve maidens, a gift to the vengeful Poseidon. But when Leto awakens from her death on the shore of a long-forgotten island, its enigmatic keeper Melantho tells her that there’s only one way the curse can be broken. Leto must kill the last prince of Ithaca . . .

In Lies We Sing to the Sea, debut author Sarah Underwood delivers a thrilling and breathtaking tale that will enthral readers from the very first page as they are transported to the cursed shores of Ithaca.

A reclamation of a story from thousands of years ago, Lies We Sing to the Sea is about love and fate, grief and sacrifice, and, ultimately, the power we must find within.

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The Ugly Truth by L.C. North

Published: March 16th, 2023
Publisher: Bantam Press
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Epistolary Novel

SYNOPSIS:
Melanie Lange has disappeared.

Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.

Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.

The media will say whichever gets them the most views.

But whose side are you on?
#SaveMelanie
#HelpPeter

Told via interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a shocking and addictive thriller about fame, power and the truth behind the headlines.

‘#FreeBritney meets The Appeal in this addictively unique thriller. Get ready to be utterly hooked’ Jack Jordan, author of Do No Harm

Pre-order here*

The Half-Burnt House by Alex North

Published: March 16th, 2023
Published: Michael Joseph
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Horror Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
ARE YOU READY TO ENTER THE HALF BURNT HOUSE?

The spine-tingling new thriller from the internationally bestselling author of THE WHISPER MAN, a Richard and Judy pick.

*****

Katie always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris – until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they’re adults, and they haven’t spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page.

Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion – but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof.

Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer?

But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago.

But she can’t possibly imagine just how much danger he’s in…

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Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus

Published: March 16th, 2023
Publisher: Orenda
Genre: Literary Fiction. Contemporary Fiction, Science Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A damaged young man meets an enigmatic waitress in a Tokyo café, and they embark on a journey that will change everything … an emotive speculative literary novel set in a near-future Japan
 
It’s our world, but decades into the future … an ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be…
 
Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny café on a cold Tokyo night. A café run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia…
 
But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John’s unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima’s tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano. 
 
A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it’s about to change forever…

Pre-order here

The Company by J.M. Varese

Published: March 16th, 2023
Publisher: Baskerville
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Adventure Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The Company is diabolically good . . . J.M. Varese’s gothic tale is sinuously elegant and claustrophobic as deadly Victorian wallpaper’ Kate Griffin, author of Fyneshade

London, 1870.

Lucy Braithwhite lives a privileged existence as heir to the fortune of Braithwhite & Company – the most successful purveyor of English luxury wallpapers the world over. The company’s formulas have been respected for nearly a century, but have always remained cloaked in mystery. No one has been able to explain the originality of design, or the brilliance of their colours, leaving many to wonder if the mysterious spell-like effect of their wallpapers is due simply to artistry, or something more sinister.

When Mr Luckhurst, the company’s manager, and the man who has acted as surrogate father to Lucy and her invalid brother John since they were children, suddenly dies, Lucy is shocked to discover that there is no succession plan in place. Who will ensure that the company and her family continue to thrive?

The answer soon arrives in the form of the young and alluring Julian Rivers, who, unbeknownst to Lucy and John, has been essential to the company’s operations for some time. At first, he seems like the answer to their prayers, but as Lucy begins piecing together Julian’s true intentions, and John begins seeing spectral visions in the house’s wallpaper, it becomes clear to Lucy that she must do everything within her power to oppose the diabolic forces that have risen up to destroy her family.

Set against the backdrop of the real-life arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century, The Company is a dark and haunting slice of gothic Victoriana, following one woman’s fight to preserve all that she holds dear.

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The Walled Garden by Sarah Hardy

Published: March 16th, 2023
Publisher: Manilla Press
Genre: Mystery, Romance Novel, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Coming-of-Age Story, Contemporary Romance, Holiday Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A luminous debut novel about love, the trauma of war and the miracle of human resilience, for readers of Anna Hope, Sadie Jones and Elizabeth Jane Howard.

No one survives war unscathed. But even in the darkest days, seeds of hope can grow.

It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred – those who fought and those left behind.

Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has returned a bitter and angry stranger, destroyed by what he has seen and done, tormented by secrets Alice can only guess at.

Lonely and increasingly afraid of the man her husband has become, Alice must try to pick up the pieces of her marriage and save Oakbourne Hall from total collapse. She begins with the walled garden and, as it starts to bear fruit, she finds herself drawn into a new, forbidden love.

Set in the Suffolk countryside as it moves from winter to spring, The Walled Garden is a captivating love story and a timeless, moving exploration of trauma and the miracle of human resilience.

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The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

Published: March 21st, 2023
Publisher: Legend Press
Genre: Historical Fiction, Supernatural Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the author of the intoxicating bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes an entrancing exploration of the blurred lines between truth and illusion and the grave risks women take to avenge the ones they love.

May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

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End of Story by Louise Swanson

Published: March 23rd, 2023
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Dystopian Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing

It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government.

Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.

But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding?

And who can be trusted?

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The Lodger by Helen Scarlett

Published: March 23rd, 2023
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Thriller, Historical Romance

SYNOPSIS:
This second novel from the author of The Deception of Harriet Fleet takes us back to the aftermath of the Great War in another haunting, atmospheric Gothic tale.

London in 1919 was a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back from ‘the war to end all wars.’

Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother. He was declared Missing in Action during the Battle of the Somme, but he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams.

Grace is appalled when a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Elizabeth Smith, who has lodged with Grace and her family for the last eight years before suddenly disappearing.

Elizabeth had been more than a lodger; she had become a close friend to Grace, who feels compelled to find out what happened. In doing so she is drawn reluctantly into the sordid and dangerous underbelly of London and a scandal that rocked Edwardian society. Soon Grace finds herself under threat, and the only person prepared to listen is the brooding Tom Monaghan. But Tom has dark shadows of his own to navigate before being able to put his past behind him to help Grace in her quest for the truth.

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The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Suspense

SYNOPSIS:
Pre-order Katie Lumsden’s mysterious and atmospheric debut novel NOW, for fans of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Stacey Halls and Bridget Collins

‘I loved this fresh take on the gothic genre. Vivid, haunting, surprising’ STACEY HALLS, author of Sunday Times bestsellers The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England

It’s 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, is offered a position as governess at Hartwood Hall. She quickly accepts, hoping this isolated country house will allow her to leave her past behind.

Cut off from the village, Margaret soon starts to feel there’s something odd about her new home, despite her growing fondness for her bright, affectionate pupil, Louis. There are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants and an abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs Eversham, Louis’s widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the village.

Margaret finds distraction in a forbidden relationship with the gardener, Paul. But despite his efforts to reassure her, she is certain that everyone here has something to hide. And as Margaret’s own past threatens to catch up with her, she must learn to trust her instincts before it’s too late…

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is an authentic and atmospheric love letter to Victorian fiction.

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The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: HarperVoyager UK
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fiction, High Fantasy, Fairy Tale

SYNOPSIS:
From SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Kate Heartfield comes a glorious, lyrical retelling of one of Norse mythology’s greatest epics

Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the Allfather, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile.

Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king – a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon.

And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon.

As the legends tell, these names are destined to be lovers, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies…

For not all heroes are heroic, nor all monsters monstrous. And a shieldmaiden may yet find that love is the greatest weapon of all.

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The Favour by Nicci French

Published: March 30th, 2023
Published: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
A good deed
Can turn deadly…
 
When Liam unexpectedly turns up in Jude’s life after ten years of no contact, asking her for a favour, she just can’t say no. He was her first love, and even though she is now a successful doctor and about to get married, he will always be someone special to her.
But after she does the favour, she is contacted by the police, informing her that Liam has been found dead, and suddenly she is caught up in a murder investigation.
 
And she realises this one decision could cost her everything – even her life…

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Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance

SYNOPSIS:
SECRETS, DESIRE, BLOOD… It all comes out in the wash

————-

Keep your friends close and your neighbours closer…

Ciara has it all – a loving husband, well-behaved children and an immaculate home. But behind the filters, her reality is far from what it seems.

Mishti is stuck in a loveless marriage, raising her daughter in a country that is too cold, among children who look nothing like her.

Lauren is mostly happy, despite being judged for letting her kids run naked, wild and free.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her pristine home and suddenly everyone is a suspect.

Hushed whispers, secret rendezvous and bloody betrayals . . .

Everyone has their dirty laundry, but this goes beyond gossip.

This is all-out war.

A deliciously scandalous page-turner about the dark side of suburbia that peels back the layers of Ciara’s insta-perfect life to reveal friendships gone rotten, manipulation masquerading as love and families riddled with lies . . .

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Every Happy Family by Sarah Stovell

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Domestic Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The closer you are, the more damage they do.

Minnie and Bert are over the moon to have their three grown-up children home for the first time in a decade. But having Lizzie, Jess, Owen and the grandchildren under one roof isn’t without its dramas.

Lizzie is off the alcohol (although emergency gin doesn’t count), Jess is juggling a toddler and a newborn, but it’s Owen who has the power to throw a grenade into everything.

It all stems from an incident that happened years ago. And it involves Nora Skelly – a name you don’t mention in front of Minnie.

With Nora also back in town, the past is about to come crashing into the present. And what better time to revisit old secrets and resentments than around the family dinner table?

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Mother Hens by Sophie McCartney

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: HarperNorth
Genre: Mystery, Humorous Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Welcome to a hen do where the cocktails aren’t Sex on the Beach, but Revenge Served Cold …

A story of secrets, payback and finding out it’s never too late to break the rules, MOTHER HENS is hilarious, scandalous and a battle-cry for everyone who’s ever wanted to see what life is like when we stop trying to please other people.

Cara Carmichael’s bestie is finally getting hitched, and she’s over the moon because it means one thing and one thing only… Whoah, they’re going to Ibiza! Swapping the school run for old skool club classics; four friends are leaving behind their kids, partners and better judgement for a mini-break filled with sun, sea, and sex…y Spanx. Mums on Tour: What could possibly go ‘Pete Tong’?

Lazy days, crazy nights and child-free hangovers might seem like hedonistic heaven – but it turns out you can get into a hell of a lot of trouble, very fast, on the party island where rules are meant to be broken.

For Cara, it’s her first holiday post-divorce, and a chance to forget about an explosive family feud with her stardom-seeking sister and Pina-Colada-pickled mother. With emotional baggage squeezed into her 10kg hand luggage, ultimate escapism and a chance to spread her wings beckons, or so she thinks… Even on holiday, the darkness of your past has an alarming way of catching up with you.

When a twist of fate causes sparks, and feathers, to fly – a dangerous opportunity for divine retribution arises. Faced with secrets, lies, and betrayal – does it pay to be a good egg, or do bad chicks reign supreme? Ibiza may have Amnesia, but one thing’s for certain: a woman scorned may forgive, but she’ll never forget.

Four friends, three nights, two murders – one heck of an adventure. A rollocking rollercoaster ride from Ibiza to Vegas, via Cheshire, Mother Hens will make you laugh, wince, and wonder what any of us are really capable of when push comes to shove…

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Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Published: March 30th, 2023
Publisher: John Murray Press
Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A cold, hungry adventure story about the power of choice and the strength of solidarity’ SEAN MICHAELS

America, 2049: Summer temperatures are intolerably high, the fossil fuel industry has shut down, and humans are implanted with a ‘Flick’ at birth, which allows them to remain perpetually online. The wealthy live in the newly created Floating City off the coast, while people on the mainland struggle to get by. For Rose, a job as a hostess in the city’s elite club feels like her best hope for a better future.

At a Cold War-era research station, a group of highly trained women with the code name White Alice are engaged in climate surveillance. But the terms of their employment become increasingly uncertain.

And in a former oil town in northern Canada called Dominion Lake, a camp is being built-Camp Zero. A rare source of fresh, clean air and cooler temperatures, it will be the beginning of a new community and a new way of life. Grant believes it will be the perfect place to atone for his family’s dark legacy.

Everyone has an agenda. So who can you trust? Could falling in love be most the radical act of all?

Thrilling, immersive and disturbingly prescient, Camp Zero is about the world we’ve built and where we go from here.

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Are any of these on your TBR? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxxx

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