With January in full swing and a slew of exciting new books hitting shelves I thought I’d share a list of some of my most anticipated book releases of 2023 that I think you should definitely make space on your TBRs for. From Contemporary YA Thrillers to Fantasy, Romance and Historical fiction there’s plenty of options to satisfy even the pickiest of mood readers. And maybe you’ll even discover a newfound favourite.
Despite my best efforts there are bound to be a few books that I’ve missed and the list is in no way comprehensive, you’re absolutely welcome to tell me what books you’re looking forward to this year in the comments below.
So without further ado, here are some of of my top picks for 2023’s must read books.
January
Best selling author, Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elphame, in the first instalment of a new duology that follows Jude's younger brother Oak, and the Changeling Queen, Suren.
If you loved The folk of The Air series (as well as Jude and Cardan) then you absolutely must pick this up!
Release Date: 3 January 2023
Looking for an utterly plot-twisty murder mystery that manages to tackle themes of elitism and institutional corruption, whilst simultaneously providing a deliciously satisfying ending that even Agatha Christie would be envious of? Then you definitely don't want to miss This Book Kills.
"She wrote the perfect murder. Someone carried it out. Now She's Next..."
When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary's school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be...
Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it's revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote.
And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration.
With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn't solve this mystery she'll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry.
She'll be dead too.
Release Date: 5 January 2023
The year of witcherature has officially begun and kicking off the new trend in publishing towards magic, witches and the occult is Anna Bergman's The Witches of Vardo.
Norway, 1662.
A dangerous time to be a woman, when even dancing can lead to accusations of witchcraft. When Zigri, desperate and grieving after the loss of her husband and son, embarks on an affair with the local merchant, it's not long before she is sent to the fortress at Vardø, to be tried and condemned as a witch.
Zigri's daughter Ingeborg sets off into the wilderness to try to bring her mother back home. Accompanying her on this quest is Maren - herself the daughter of a witch - whose wild nature and unconquerable spirit gives Ingeborg the courage to venture into the unknown, and to risk all she has to save her family.
Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius, once the King of Denmark's mistress, who has been sent to Vardø in disgrace. What will she do - and who will she betray - to return to her privileged life at court?
Release Date: 5 January 2023
Fans of reality dating TV shows and revenge plots absolutely must read especially if, like me, you've ever found yourself watching shows like The Bachellor and rooting for the contestants to get together instead!
It's been two years since Maya dumped her cheating ex, Jordy. So when she receives a call to participate in Second Chance Romance - a reality show in which the now famous Jordy re-dates his ex girlfriends - she isn't interested...
Until she realises she can use this to finally exact revenge. If she can make it to the final, she can reject Jordy on national TV and break his heart. Maya's contestants include Skye the beautiful and charismatic girl that Jordy cheated on her with. Everyone is charmed by her except Maya (for obvious reasons.)
But amidst the challenging and competitive environment of the reality show which sees tons of backstabbing, bickering and having to endure Jordy all over again- Maya and Skye become friends and come up with a plan to get the ultimate revenge.
However, as she spends more time with both Jordy and Skye, Maya becomes conflicted. Could Jordy be a good guy who made a mistake? Is there more than friendship between her and Skye? As the season finales approaches, can Maya execute her plan,or will she go off script?
Release Date: 5 January 2023
Four friends have stolen aboard the Titanic. They're after the Rubaiyat - a book inlaid with priceless jewels. Josefa is a charismatic thief, Hinnah a daring acrobat, Violet an outstanding actress and Emilie a talented artist.
It is Josefa's plan, but she needs all of their skills. Despite their very different backgrounds, in a world of first-class passengers and suspicious crew members, the girls must work together to pull off the heist of their lives.
But careless mistakes, old grudges and new romances threaten to jeopardise everything they've worked towards. And with the Titanic sailing ever further north, the girls' chances of survival are a million to one...
A heart-pounding, romantic adventure from the award-winning author of Hani and Ishu's Fake Guide to Dating.
Release Date: 5 January 2023
Described as an empoweringly thrillingYA mashup of Charlie's Angels and Bridgerton, The Agency For Scandal follows an all-female detective agency who infiltrate a scandalous upper class world to unmask a villain.
Eighteen-year-old Isobel Stanhope is keeping a lot of secrets. There's the fact that she's head over heels in love with a Duke who doesn't know she exists; that her family is secretly penniless; and then there's her job at the Aviary, an investigative agency run by women that specialises in digging up scandal on powerful men. When Izzy finds herself pulled into a case that involves gaslighting, blackmail, and missing jewels, as well as the Duke who holds her heart, she and her friends must untangle the web of secrets and lies to uncover the truth to protect the innocent. And with the stakes so high, what happens when the crush she's hiding develops into something more?
Release Date: 5 January 2023
The long awaited sequel to Leigh Bardugo's Dark Academia Adult debut, Ninth House is finally hitting shelves in January and continues Galaxy "Alex" Sterns journey into saving Darlington.
But in doing so Alex must forgo the help of Ninth House, and (with Dawes) assembles a team of dubious allies to help extract the gentleman of Lethe from Purgatory. Navigating ancient texts, uncovering the societies' most closely guarded secrets and breaking every rule along the way.
Now faculty members are dying off and Alex knows they're not just accidents. Something deadly's at work and if she plans to survive, Alex will have to face both the monsters of her past and the darkness built into the university's very walls...
Release Date: 10 January 2023
Another Dark Academia to add to your TBR!
If you're a fan of A Secret History then you definitely don't want to miss Heather Darwent's deliciously dark debut involving toxic friendships, deadly secrets and a whole lot of revenge.
Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself. And then she meets Tabitha.
Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of decadence and wealth.
Her new life has begun.
Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly dangerous and might finally allow Clare to become who she was meant to be...
But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?
Release Date: 12 January 2023
If (like me) you adored Margaret Rogerson's Sorcery of Thorns then you absolutely must add the sequel novella, Mysteries of Thorn to you TBRs immediately!
It follows on from the events of SoT and sees Elisabeth, Nathaniel and Silas finally settling into their new lives together when Thorn Manor's magical wards malfunction trapping them inside. Now they must discover the source of the magic behind the malfunctioning wards, before Elisabeth and Nathaniel are due to host the city's Midwinter Ball.
Release Date: 17 January 2023
Dark academia lovers and fans of The Secret History don't want to miss this rich and atmospheric tale of obsession and power set within New York's gothic museum and garden, The Cloisters.
Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she's assigned to The Cloisters, renowned for its medieval and Renaissance collections.
There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, each with their own secrets and desires, including the museum's curator, Patrick Roland, who is convinced that the history of Tarot holds the key to unlocking contemporary fortune telling.
Relieved to have left her troubled past behind and eager for the approval of her new colleagues, Ann is only too happy to indulge some of Patrick's stranger theories. But when Ann discovers a mysterious, once-thought lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards she suddenly finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.
And as the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide whether she is truly able to defy the cards and shape her own future . . .
Release Date: 19 January 2023
From The author of Set On You comes an unapologetically swoonworthy and uplifting rom-com you won't want to miss.
Tara Chen has had her heart broken ten times, by ten different men. Nevertheless, she is still determined to find her perfect match. The only problem? Tara is a romance novel obsessive, and her standards are sky high.
Modern dating apps have killed the meet-cute, so Tara decides to revisit her exes - all ten of them - in the hope of finding her very own trope-worthy second-chance romance. And every heroine needs a sidekick, so she enlists her new flatmate, firefighter Trevor.
Trevor Metcalfe is the first to rush into a burning building but the last to rush into a relationship. Love just isn't his thing. But, the more time they spend together, the more Trevor appreciates Tara's authentic, dramatic self.
Can they break the habits of a lifetime and give their spark a chance?
Release Date: 19 January 2023
One of the most heartwarming and whimsical books of 2023!
Emily Wilde is good at many things: she is the foremost expert on the study of faeries; she is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encylopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby
But as Emily gets closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones - the most elusive of all faeries - she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all - her own heart.
Release Date: 19 January 2023
If you loved Lyra and Pan from His Dark Materials or ever wished for a badass female protagonist as awesome as Kratos from God of War or Geralt from The Witcher, then you'll definitely want to pick up Hannah Kaner's action packed (and utterly addictive) debut.
Kissen kills gods for a living, and she enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skediceth, god of white lies, who is connected to a little noble girl on the run.
Elogast fought in the god war, and helped purge the city of a thousand shrines before laying down his sword. A mysterious request from the King sends him racing back to the city he destroyed.
On the way he meets a godkiller, a little girl and a littler god, who cannot find out about his quest.
Release Date: 19 January 2023
A gripping and utterly page-turning debut which follows one mother's journey across the Caribbean,desperate to find her children in the aftermath of slavery.
The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect.
But the joy is short lived when he announced that they're no longer slaves but apprentices. Though still no one can leave and must work for him for another six years. So Rachel runs.
And once free begins a desperate search to find her children the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know...
From Barbados to British Guiana and then across the sea to Trinidad, Rachel's gruelling journey cannot end without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this, it's the story of a mother and the extraordinary lengths she'll go to find her children...and her freedom.
Release Date: 19 January 2023
An unforgettable, feel good YA Romance from one of the undisputed greats of the genre!
As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: transfer to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State and chase her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together.
But the moment Andie arrives, her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated and she meets Milo who disrupts all her ideas about love and relationships.
Sometimes, when all your plans are rubble at your feet, you find out what you're made of.
Release Date: 19 January 2023
Set in an Arabian inspired land, the first book in a new action-packed and epic fantasy series is perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Elizabeth Lim.
In the hidden desert city of Qalia, secret spice magic awakens affinities in those who drink the misra tea. With an affinity for iron, seventeen-year-old Imani's skill with a dagger all but guarantee her postition as the next greatest Shieldbwhose job is to battle against the djinn, ghouls, and other monsters that lurk in the sands beyond city limits.
But her reputation has been overshadowed, by the crimes of her brother (who tarnished the family's name) after he was caught stealing their nation's coveted spice - a tell-tale sign of magical obsession. He disappeared soon after and presumed dead, leaving Imani reeling from both betrayal and grief.
But when Imani uncovers evidence her brother may still be alive (and spreading their nation's magic beyond the desert), she strikes a deal with the Council to find him and bring him back to Qalia before he can reveal their city's location. Accompanied by Qayn, a roguish djinni, and Taha, a powerful beastseer, they set out on their mission.
Though Imani will soon discover there are many secrets beyond the Forbidden Wastes - and in her own heart - but will she succeed in finding her brother before his betrayal endangers the fate of everyone in Qalia?
Release Date: 24 January 2023
The much anticipated and thrilling conclusion to The Last Hours series is almost here and if like me you're eager to see what's to become of Cordelia, James, Matthew and the rest of the merry Thieves then you'll definitely want to preorder this one.
Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.
After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.
Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.
For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.
Release Date: 31 January 2023
February
Twin sisters, both on the run, but different as day and night. One, a professional rogue, searches for a fabled treasure; the other, a changeling, searches for the truth behind her origins, trying to find a place to fit in with the realm of fae who made her and the humans who shun her.
Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies, they find themselves unraveling a larger mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.
Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister, and herself?
Release Date: 2 February 2023
Another anticipated read for me in 2023 is Emilia Hart's powerfully moving debut which focuses on female resilience and the transformative power of nature—spanning five centuries and the interconnected lives of three women.
Kate, 2019
Kate flees London —abandoning everything—for Cumbria and Weyward Cottage, inherited from her great-aunt. There, a secret lurks in the bones of the house, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
Violet, 1942
Violet is more interested in collecting insects and climbing trees than in becoming a proper young lady. Until a chain of shocking events changes her life forever.
Altha, 1619
Altha is on trial for witchcraft, accused of killing a local man. Known for her uncanny connection with nature and animals, she is a threat that must be eliminated.
But Weyward women belong to the wild. And they cannot be tamed…
Release Date: 2 February 2023
The first in a new, gorgeously immersive series from author of the Blood Heir Trilogy.
In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to its forgotten past – and the demons that sleep at its heart…
Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed the magic of her people. Now she spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong (a city transformed by the conquerors) and her days scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that can help her understand the mark burned into her arm. Her mother's last act before death.
No one can see the mysterious mark except Lan...and the boy, Zen, who saves her life.
Zen is a practitioner – one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom and may just be the key to the long lost magic that could free her people. A magic that must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.
Both hold the power to liberate their land ... or cause total destruction to the entire world.
Release Date: 2 February 2023
Shield Maiden is an epic new fantasy full of sword wielding warrior women, dragons, a slow burn romance and a feminist retelling of myths that will change your perspective of Beowulf entirely.
Having grown up hearing tales of her uncle, the great King Beowulf, Fryda's one desire is to become a shield maiden in her own right. Yet a terrible childhood accident has left Fryda disabled - thus, she believes, thwarting her dream of becoming a warrior-woman for good. But still, somehow, she feels an uncontrollable power begin to rise within herself.
Meanwhile, a great celebration of Beowulf's reign is underway, and Fryda's house is soon overrun with foreign kings and chieftains. Amidst the drunken revelry, a discovery is made that threatens the safety of Fryda's entire clan - and her own life. Enraged, Fryda resolves to fight for her people, no matter the cost... and all the while, her powers seem only to grow stronger.
But she is not the only one to feel its effects. For, buried deep in her gilded lair, a dragon is drawn to Fryda's untamed power, and is slowly awakening from a long, cursed sleep...
Release Date: 2 February 2023
Nick Brooks's Promise Boys is a captivating YA mystery about three teen boys of colour who must investigate their principal’s murder to clear their own names. A must read for fans of Angie Thomas or Karen McManus.
The Urban Promise Prep School vows to turn boys into men. As students, J.B., Ramón, and Trey are forced to follow the prestigious "program's" strict rules. Extreme discipline, they’ve been told, is what it takes to be college bound, to avoid the fates of many men in their neighborhoods. This, the Principal Moore Method, supposedly saves lives.
But when Moore ends up murdered and the cops come sniffing around, the trio emerges as the case's prime suspects. With all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. But is the true culprit hiding among them?
Release Date: 2 February 2023
If like me, you loved the perfect balance of comedy to the supernatural (good vs. evil/ angel vs. demon) elements of shows like Good Omens or Lucifer. Or have ever wanted to see how high schoolers would cope in the midst of a literal world ending breakup, then you'll definitively want to add Ann Dávila Cardinal's newest YA to your TBR.
It follows Miguela Angeles who is tired of her life in small town Vermont, eager to start fresh somewhere far sunnier. She's tired of all the secrets her abuela keeps, tired of the same routines, only visiting the same places with the same people day after day. So when a predictably boring trip to church turns into a run-in with mysterious new hottie, Sam (in town on vacation) Mica seizes the chance to get closer to him.
And it's not long before she's under his spell, doing things she’s never done before (like performing the world's most powerful kicks) and lying to her loved ones. But the more time Mica spends with Sam, the more weird things start to happen, like all the terrifying world-ending-visions she's suddenly having.
Mica’s gut keeps telling her something is off, but Sam is the most exciting guy she’s ever met. That is, until Mica discovers his family’s roots, and realises that her new boyfriend could easily be a villain in one of her favourite horror novels.
She knows she has to leave Sam, but will ending their relationship also bring about the apocalypse, and the end to everything (and everyone) she knows and loves?
Release Date: 2 February 2023
The perfect historical romance for fans of Netflix's Bridgerton, Krystal Marquis' The Davenports which follows one of the few African American family of wealth and status in the United States. A fortune made by former slave William Davenport, which has afforded them a comfortable life of crystal chandeliers, and endless parties.
Now the Davenport daughters (alongside their maid and best friend) attempt to navigate love and life in this rapidly changing landscape, be it for better or worse. And can romance still blossom in such turbulent, uncertain times?
Release Date: 2 February 2023
The breathtaking sequel to bestselling This Woven Kingdom continues Alizeh and Kamran's exquisite journey of destiny, danger, forbidden love and heartbreaking betrayal. I have to just note that if you haven't read book 1 then the full summary may be a little spoilery, but if you love fairytale or mythology based retellings then you simply must pick this series up.
And If you're still not convinced then the Waterstones exclusive edition of These Infinite Threads will surely win you over (FYI it looks absolutely stunning!)
Release Date: 2 February 2023
Another edge of your seat thriller for all you YA lovers to check out in 2023 is the atmospherically compelling, Someone Is Watching You by debut author Tess James-Mackey. And with an abandoned prison for a back drop, things are bound to get deliciously creepy.
Nia would do anything to win the approval of her boyfriend Scott and his friends, especially mean girl Olivia. When Olivia dares Nia to explore an abandoned prison, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to prove herself. Facing dark tunnels, distant noises and creepy mementoes left behind by incarcerated criminals will surely all be worth it.
But it isn't long before Nia and her little sister, Kayla, find themselves trapped inside. And then Kayla vanishes.
Suddenly, this feels like more than a game gone wrong. Someone is hellbent on making Nia and Kayla the prison's last inmates . . .
Release Date: 2 February 2023
After devouring Lauren Blackwood's Within These Wicked Walls last year (and absolutely loving it) I've been eager to get my hands on the hotly anticipated, Wildblood. A thrilling Jamaican inspired fantasy which tells the story of Victoira who must find the strength to defeat the jungle's many demons (as well as her own) to find where she truly belongs.
Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped and manipulated as a child by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she's worked as a tour guide for them ever since, with a team of fellow Wildbloods who use their magic to protect travellers in a jungle teeming with monsters fromnJamaican legend.
When the boss denies Victoria the promotion that she was promised in favour of her backstabbing ex, Victoria is determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she doesn't fit the image the boss wants to send their new client, Laertes Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched supply of gold deep in the jungle.
Thorn is everything Victoria isn't - confident, impossibly kind, and handsome beyond belief. So when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, then to affection and lastly, to love.
But the jungle is treacherous, and between deadly river spirits, soul-devouring women who shed their skin like snakes, and one vengeance-filled ex, Victoria has to decide - is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants?
Release Date: 7 February 2023
A beautifully magical and utterly immersive Nigerian realist novel that should definitely be at the top of your TBRs in 2023!
Soon you will become the thing all other beasts fear.
Treasure and her mother lost everything when Treasure's daddy died. Haggling for scraps in the market, Treasure meets a spirit who promises to bring her father back - but she has to do something for him first.
Ozoemena has an itch in the middle of her back that can't be scratched. An itch that speaks to her patrilineal destiny, to defend her people by becoming a leopard. Her father impressed upon her what an honour this was before he vanished, but it's one she couldn't want less.
But as the two girls reckon with their burgeoning wildness and the legacy of their fathers' decisions, Ozoemena's fellow students at her new boarding school start to vanish. Treasure and Ozoemena will face terrible choices as each must ask herself: in a world that always says 'no' to women, what must two young girls sacrifice to get what is theirs?
Release Date: 16 February 2023
Another debut hitting shelves in 2023 that I'm super excited about is Jessica George's utterly relatable, coming of age that I've heard nothing but good things about.
Meet Maddie Wright.
All her life, she's been told who she is. To her Ghanaian parents, she's Maame: the one who takes care of the family. Her mum's stand-in. The primary carer for her father, who suffers from Parkinson's. The one who keeps the peace - and the secrets.
It's time for her to speak up.
When she finally gets the chance to leave home, Maddie is determined to become the kind of woman she wants to be. One who wears a bright yellow suit, dates men who definitely aren't on her mum's list of prospective husbands, and stands up to her boss's microaggressions. Someone who doesn't have to google all her life choices.
But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the risks - and rewards - of putting her heart on the line.
But will it take losing everything to find her voice?
Release Date: 16 February 2023
Roshani Chokshi's gorgeously gothic new novel has been described as haunting and sumptuously lush by some of the biggest names in the YA fantasy genre, and it's premise—about an obsessive female friendship cursed to end in tragedy, a marriage unraveled by dark secrets, and the danger of believing in fairy tales —has me obsessively eager to get my hands on a copy ASAP.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after —and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom soon finds himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend, who disappeared without a trace.
As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.
Release Date: 16 February 2023
From the bestselling author of The Shadow In The Glass comes a stunning tale of magic and faerie bargains that perfect for fans of the lyrical prose of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and Ten Thousand Doors of January.
A dance with the fae will change everything
1919. In a Highland village forgotten by the world, the young people who remain after war and flu will soon head south to make something of themselves.
Moira Jean and her friends venture to the forest for a last night of laughter before parting ways. Moira Jean is being left behind. She too planned to leave once – but her lover died in France and, with him, her future. The friends light a fire and dance. But, with every twirl about the flames, strange new dancers thread between them, music streaming from the trees.
The Fae have joined the dance.
Suddenly Moira Jean finds herself all alone, her friends spirited away.
For the Fae feel left behind and forgotten too. Led by the darkly handsome Lord of the Fae, they are out to make themselves known once more. Moira Jean must enter into a bargain with the Lord to save her friends – and fast, for the longer they spend with the Fae, the less like themselves they will be upon return. If Moira Jean cannot save her friends before Beltane, they will be lost forever…
Release Date: 16 February 2023
The sequel to one of my favourite reads of 2022, Leslie Vedder's genderbent retelling of sleeping beauty continues with this pacey, action packed instalment that's perfect for fractured fairytale lovers.
Having woken the sleeping prince, Briar Rose, Fi and Shane still have a curse to break, and a terrifying foe to face: the Spindle Witch. If they can defeat her, the land of Andar will be free again. The three journey to the secret city of Everlynd, and all the while Fi is fighting her feelings for Briar, while he is fighting the ever-growing pull of the Spindle Witch.
On the way, they are ambushed by Red, the girl who Shane can't stop flirting with and arguing with. The girl in the service of the Spindle Witch. After an accident, the two are forced to work together. But then they're captured by a pack of Witch Hunters. Will Red finally pick the right side?
Release Date: 16 February 2023
A bloody and unforgettable tale of transformation and survival, told by three women surviving in a world devastated by a disastrous transformation from multiple Bram Stoker Award-winner.
Humanity has been irrevocably changed by a virus that radically alters its victims...yet life goes on.
Three women must band together to try to survive. Erin and Savannah are helping usher in the new world, while Mareva has been burdened with a very special task ― one she’s too horrified to even acknowledge.
Release Date: 21 February 2023
After seeing the hauntingly lush, Phantom of The Opera-esque premise and hearing it likened to Beauty and The Beast I added to my TBR immediately!
It's set in 1930s Chicago and follows Grace, who has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. The elegance of the dance seemed transcendent to an immigrant child of the working poor, and so, when she is orphaned, it is to the ballet that she flees.
Years later, Grace is on the verge of becoming the company's new prima ballerina - though she is beginning to realise that achieving her long-held dream may not be the triumph she once envisioned. Then Grace attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa, and realises that the world may not be as small or constricted as she had come to fear.
But who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.
Release Date: 21 February 2023
Fans of Laini Taylor's Strange The Dreamer are going to delight in the vividly atmospheric world of Rebecca Schaefer's City of Nightmares. Set in a Gotham inspired city where people go to sleep and wake up as their own nightmares, and where a terrified girl must face her own biggest fears or risk being dragged into someone else's war.
Face your fear . . . or become your nightmare.
Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider, slaughtering her way through town, nineteen-year-old Ness has been terrified - terrified of being murdered by a Nightmare, or even worse, ending up like her sister. Because in Newham, the city that never sleeps, dreaming means risking waking up as your worst fear.
Whether that means becoming a Nightmare who only looks monstrous, or turning into a dangerously twisted creature that terrorises the city, no one is safe. And Ness will do anything to avoid becoming another victim, even if that means hiding out amongst a questionable group (Friends of the Restful Soul) that may or may not be a cult.
But being a member of this maybe-cult has a price. In order to prove herself, Ness cons her way into what's supposed to be a simple job for the organisation - only for it to go terribly wrong. Tangled up in the aftermath of an explosive assassination, Ness and the only other survivor - a Nightmare boy who Ness believes is planning to eat her - must find their way back to Newham and uncover the sinister truth behind the attack, even as the horrors of her past loom dangerously close.
Release Date: 23 February 2023
Another witchy, atmospheric and gothic book that needs to be on your TBR this year is Camilla Bruce's The Witch In The Well.
Over a hundred years ago, the citizens of F- did something rather bad. And local school teacher Catherine Evans has made writing the definitive account of what happened when Ilsbeth Clark drowned in the well her life's work.
The town's people may not want their past raked up, but Catherine is determined to shine a light upon that shameful event. For Ilsbeth was an innocent, after all. She was shunned and ostracised by rumour-mongers and ill-wishers and someone has to speak up for her. And who better than Catherine, who has herself felt the sting and hurt of such whisperings?
But then childhood friend, Elena (now a successful author) returns looking for subject material for her next book and taking an interest in the story of Ilsbeth Clark; announcing her intention to write a book about the long-dead woman, focusing on the natural magic she believes she possessed.
And Elena has everything Catherine has not, like a platform and connections and no one cares that Elena's book will be pure speculation, tainting Ilsbeth's memory rather than preserving it. Catherine is determined to stop that from happening and plots to blunt her rival's pen. But the past might not be so dead after all - for something is reaching out from the well, disturbing her reality.
Before summer's over, one woman will be dead, the other accused of murder . . . but is she really guilty, or are there other forces at work? Was Ilsbeth Clark truly a witch? Or was she innocent? A victim of circumstance? Or some other force entirely?
Release Date: 23 February 2023
The prequel to the bestselling epic fantasy, The Priory of The Orange Tree and is set almost five centuries before Priory takes place, covering the period known as the Great Sorrow or Grief of Ages. Fans of Shannon's sweeping world building don't want to miss this!
Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.
To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.
The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.
Release Date: 28 February 2023
As a long time fan of Chloe Gong's books I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out she was publishing two new (and captivating) novellas surrounding the events of Foul Lady Fortune and following characters from These Violent Delights.
All I can say is, the prospect of seeing more of Roma and Juliette (as well as Benedikt and Marshall) has me wishing it was February already!
Release Date: 28 February 2023
March
2023 is shaping up to be an incredible year for fantasy lovers and one of the countless, magic filled books I'm eager to get my hands on is H.G Parry's timeless coming of age fantasy, The Magician's Daughter.
Off the coast of Ireland sits a legendary island hidden by magic. A place of ruins and ancient trees, sea-salt air and fairy lore, Hy-Brasil is the only home Biddy has ever known. Washed up on its shore as a baby, Biddy lives a quiet life with her guardian, the mercurial magician Rowan. A life she finds increasingly stifling.
One night, Rowan fails to return from his mysterious travels. To find him, Biddy must venture into the outside world for the first time. But Rowan has powerful enemies-forces who have hoarded the world’s magic and have set their sights on the magician’s many secrets.
Biddy may be the key to stopping them. Yet the closer she gets to answers, the more she questions everything she’s ever believed about Rowan, her past, and the nature of magic itself.
Release Date: 2 March 2023
A thought provoking tale of grief, loss, identity and an earthquake that shook a nation and given the Japanese mythology blended with magical realism, Clara Kumagai's stunning debut sounds like an absolute must read!
There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls.
Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones - the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces.
But it's dangerous there - and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself...
Release Date: 2 March 2023
Historical rom-com and mystery lovers will definitely want to add this delightfully quirky and uplifting book to the tops of their TBRs.
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?
Release Date: 2 March 2023
A richly spellbinding and feminist read you simply must add to your TBRs! The Book of Eve is a dark and magically twisting tale centred around sisterhood and a bewitching book (inspired by the Voynich manuscript) with the power to transform the lives of women.
A book whispers. A woman hears its power.
And a man will stop at nothing to silence them both.
Beatrice is the convent's librarian. For years, she has shunned the company of her sisters, finding solace only with her manuscripts. But she longs for knowledge of the outside world - a world ruled by men in which women can play no part.
One carnival night, it seems her prayers are answered: two women, badly injured and desperate for help, are abandoned at the convent's gate. 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 the men of the city, bent on the book's destruction, are closing in. Beatrice must do all she can to protect it - no matter what the cost.
Release Date: 2 March 2023
Ever since picking up Daughter of The Pirate King last year I've been completely obsessed with swashbucking fantasy books set on the high seas. So, naturally I'm counting down the days until Shannon Chakraborty's new trilogy (filled with pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artefacts and a quest for glory) hits shelves.
A pirate of infamy and one of the most storied and scandalous captains to sail the seven seas.
Amina al-Sirafi has survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.
But when she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse, she jumps at the chance for one final adventure with her old crew that will make her a legend, securing her and her family’s future forever.
Yet the deeper Amina dives the higher the risk. For the lure of one last chance at glory, at becoming a legend …the price might be your very soul.
Release Date: 2 March 2023
A hilariously witchy debut that rom-com lovers everywhere are gonna want to add to their TBRs ASAP!
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 the famous Spark family has seen in centuries, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. But when a spell to summon flour goes wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon - one she accidentally 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'll earn back his reputation. Now he can't leave Mariel's side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do-as some humans prefer to keep 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 summoning to her mother, lies about dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle to maintain a fake relationship, real feelings begin to bloom. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, but if Mariel gives up her soul, she'll lose all her emotions (including love) which will only spell disaster for them both.
Release Date: 9 March 2023
I absolutely loved The Wilderwood books so have been eager to get my hands on this since it was announced!
The first in a new epic fantasy series, The Foxglove King follows a young woman whose secret power to raise the dead leads her into the dangerously intoxicating world of the Sainted King's royal court.
When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she's lived by one rule: don't let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore's job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and her power is revealed, she's taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects to die, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages have been dying overnight, seemingly at random and Lore can either use her magic to find out what's happening and who in the King's court is responsible, or die.
Now Lore is thrust into the Sainted King's glittering court, where no one can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and constantly clashing Bastian, August's heir, Lore finds herself tangled in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
Release Date: 16 March 2023
The Dark Academia romance that has become a TikTok sensation is finally making it's way to the UK and I for one am utterly excited to dive straight in to this dark, gothic paranormal romance which sees outcast Corvina Clemm recieve admittance to the mysterious University of Verenmore.
But Corvina inadvertently stumbles upon a centuries old mystery in which people seem to disappear every five years. Helping her to solve this mystery is Vad a part-time professor at Verenmore that Corvina finds herself growing romantically entangled with.
Promising to be dark, haunting and very very sexy I definitely have high hopes for this one!
Release Date: 16 March 2023
Greek mythology and fans of Circe and The Song of Achilles won't want to miss this sapphic and feminist tale from Sarah Underwood.
Each spring, Ithaca condemns twelve maidens to the noose. This is the price vengeful Poseidon demands for the lives of Queen Penelope’s twelve maids, hanged and cast into the depths centuries ago.
But when that fate comes for Leto, death is not what she thought it would be. Instead, she wakes on a mysterious island and meets a girl with green eyes and the power to command the sea. A girl named Melantho, who says one more death can stop a thousand.
The prince of Ithaca must die—or the tides of fate will drown them all.
Release Date: 16 March 2023
An atmospheric, mystery-laden debut that's perfect for fans of Jane Eyre or Victorian set gothic mysteries.
1852. 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 the past behind.
Margaret soon feels there's something odd about Hartwood: strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants and an abandoned east wing.
Margaret is certain that everyone here has something to hide, and as her own past threatens to catch up with her, she must learn to trust her instincts before it's too late...
Release Date: 30 March 2023
From the bestselling author of The Embroidered Book comes this stunning 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.
Release Date: 30 March 2023
April
After being introduced to The Atlas Six last year and really loving it, I'm super excited to check out the new, traditionally published edition of Olivie Blake's witchy, Romeo and Juliet-esque fantasy.
In New York City, two rival witch families fight for the upper hand.
The Antonova sisters are beautiful, cunning and ruthless, and their mother – known only as Baba Yaga – is the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants. Their adversaries, the influential Fedorov brothers, serve their crime boss father. Named Koschei the Deathless, his enterprise dominates the shadows of magical Manhattan.
For twelve years, the families have maintained a fraught stalemate. Then everything is thrown into disarray. Bad blood carries them to the brink of disaster, even as fate draws together a brother and sister from either side. Yet the siblings still struggle for power, and internal conflicts could destroy each family from within. That is, if the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy both sides first.
Release Date: 6 April 2023
The bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra is back with a captivating new retelling of the only female Argonaut, Atalanta.
When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment.Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis.Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason's band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?
Release Date: 13 April 2023
From New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, comes this beautifully written queer retelling of Pinocchio ,that's set in a peculiar forest and follows the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live three robots – fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’, he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio – a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: can he accept love with strings attached?
Release Date: 25 April 2023
Author to one of my favourite reads of 2022, Emily Henry is back with a brand new swoon-worthy rom-com and there's nothing I wouldn't do to get my hands on an early copy because April is too long a wait.
Two exes. One pact.
Could this holiday change everything?
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Every year for the past decade, they have run away from their lives to drink far too much wine and soak up the sea air with their favourite people in the world.
Except this year, they are lying through their teeth. Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone.
But this is the last time they'll all be together here. The cottage is for sale, and since they can't bear to break their best friends' hearts, they'll fake it for one more week.
But how can you pretend to be in love— and get away with it— in front of the people who know you best?
Release Date: 27 April 2023
Inspired by a real-life case, Kate Foster's The Maiden is a gloriously feminist historical mystery you're going to devour.
"In the end, it did not matter what I said at my trial. No one believed me."
Edinburgh, October 1679. Lady Christian Nimmo is arrested and charged with the murder of her lover, James Forrester. News of her imprisonment and subsequent trial is splashed across the broadsides, with headlines that leave little room for doubt: Adulteress. Whore. Murderess.
Only a year before, Christian was leading a life of privilege and respectability. So, what led her to risk everything for an affair? And does that make her guilty of murder? She wasn't the only woman in Forrester's life, and certainly not the only one who might have had cause to wish him dead . . .
Release Date: 27 April 2023
This deliciously suspenseful and addictive thriller from debut author (and former bookseller) Alice Slater promises to be one of biggest and most unmissable books of the year!
Roach - bookseller, loner and true crime obsessive - is not interested in making friends. She's perfectly happy with her serial killer books, murder podcasts and pet snail, Bleep.
Until one day, Laura joins the bookshop.
Smelling of roses, with her cute literary tote bags and beautiful poetry, she's everyone's new favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.
As Roach's curiosity blooms into obsession, it becomes clear that she is prepared to infiltrate Laura's life at any cost.
Release Date: 27 April 2023
May
As a massive Game of Thrones and House of The Dragon fan I've been eager to read more books with dragons and I know (from the synopsis alone) that L.R. Lam's newest epic fantasy, full of high stakes action, heists and betrayal is gonna be great!
Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive.
Since they were orphaned, Arcady has scraped a living thieving on the streets of Vatra, dreaming of life among the nobility - and revenge. When the chance arises to steal a powerful artefact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history, they jump at it, for its magic holds the key to their dreams.
But the spell has unintended consequences, and drags Everen - the last male dragon, who was once foretold to save his kind - into the human world. Trapped, and disguised as a human, Everen soon realises that the key to his destiny, and to regaining his true power, lies in Arcady.
All he needs to do is convince one little thief to bond with him completely - body, mind, and soul - and then kill them . . .
Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.
Release Date: 2 May 2023
Lovers of moody, gothic romance and dark haunting fairytale don't want to miss Bitterthorn!
Blumwald is a town overshadowed by an ancient curse: in a sinister castle in the depths of the wild wood lives a monstrous Witch. Once a generation, she comes to claim a companion to return with her – never to be seen again. Now that time is drawing near once more...
Mina, daughter of the duke, is grieving and lonely. She has lost all hope of any future for herself in Blumwald. So when the Witch demands her next companion, Mina offers herself up – though she has no idea what fate awaits her. Stranded with her darkly alluring captor, the mystery of what happened to the previous companions draws Mina into the heart of a terrifying secret that could save her life, or end it.
Release Date: 4 May 2023
Another sumptuously gothic novel I can't wait to get my hands on is this Mary Shelley inspired tale of obsession and ambition.
It follows Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein, and after his disappearance under mysterious circumstances in the Arctic, Mary wants answers
The 1850s are a time of discovery and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. With her sharp mind, Mary is keen to make her name in this world of science, alongside her geologist husband Henry, but without wealth and connections, their options are limited.
But when Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle's past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing their future...
Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland, to Henry's intriguing but reclusive sister Maisie, and to a deadly chase with a rival who is out to steal their secret.
Release Date: 4 May 2023
A sweeping, epic fantasy from bestselling author Amie Kaufman sounds absolutely phenomenal, promising slumbering gods, magic and romance that will takes us from gangsters' dens and forbidden temples to the high seas and I for one CANNOT wait!
Selly has salt water in her veins. So when her father leaves her high and dry in the port of Kirkpool, she has no intention of riding out the winter at home while he sails to adventure in the north seas. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician's marks on his arms commandeers her ship under cover of darkness: He is Prince Leander of Alinor, and he needs to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods.
Selly has no desire to escort a spoiled prince anywhere, and no time for his entitled demands or his good looks. But what starts as a leisure cruise will lead to acts of treason and sheer terror on the high seas, bringing two countries to the brink of war, two strangers closer than they ever thought possible and two dangerous gods stirring from centuries of slumber...
Release Date: 4 May 2023
A thrilling reinvention of the tale of The Scarlet Pimpernel with the addition of magic, mayhem and Vampires.
Revolutionary France is no place to be, especially for aristocrat vampires facing the guillotine. But the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel are determined to rescue them. And they have an ace up their sleeve: Eleanor, a lowly maid from an English estate with a striking resemblance to French royalty.
For Eleanor, the League and their legendary deeds are little more than rumour – until she’s drawn into their most dangerous plot yet. The mission? Travel to France in disguise, impersonate Queen Marie Antoinette and rescue the royal family. If they succeed, it’ll be the heist of the century.
But there’s more to fear than ardent Revolutionaries. For Eleanor stumbles across a centuries-old war between vampires and their fiercest enemy. And they’re out for blood . . .
Release Date: 11 May 2023
In this stunning conclusion to the Blood Gift duology, Ikenna and her rogue cohort must outrun bounty hunters, their former comrades, and a megalomaniacal demigod if they hope to save their world from the oppression that threatens from every side…
Since discovering the treachery of Mareen’s Tribunal Council and revealing her blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna has become a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.
Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.
Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get it.
Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must end the Blood Emperor to end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences. The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.
Release Date: 11 May 2023
Described as Sarah J Mass meets A Deadly Education, A.M. Strickland's newest release is a seductive and queer, dark YA fantasy that vampire lovers don't want to miss!
When nineteen-year-old Fin volunteers to take her secret love's place in their village's Finding, she is terrified. Those who are chosen at the Finding are whisked away to Castle Courtsheart, a vampire school where human students either succeed and become vampires, fail and spend the rest of their lives as human thralls...or they don't survive long enough to become either.
Fin is determined to forge a different path: learn how to kill the undead and get revenge for her mother, who was taken by the vampires years ago. But Courtsheart is as captivating as it is deadly, and Fin is quickly swept up in her new world and its inhabitants - particularly Gavron, her handsome and hostile vampire maker, whose blood is nothing short of intoxicating.
As Fin begins to discover new aspects of her own identity and test her newfound powers, she stumbles across a string of murders that may be connected to a larger ritual - one with potentially lethal consequences for vampires and humans alike. Fin must uncover the truth and find the killer before she loses her life...or betrays her own heart.
Release Date: 16 May 2023
Perfect for fans of Stacey Halls or Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, this gothic and twisty, governess-based thriller should be at the top of all your TBRs.
On the day of her grandmother's funeral, Marta discovers that she is to be sent to be governess at Fyneshade, her charge the young daughter of the owner, Sir William Pritchard.
All is not well at Fyneshade. Sir William is mysteriously absent, and his son and heir Vaughan is forbidden to enter the house. Marta finds herself drawn to him, despite the warnings of the housekeeper that Vaughan is a danger to all around him.
But Marta is no innocent to be preyed upon. Guided by the dark gift taught to her by her grandmother, she has made her own plans.
And it will take more than a family riven by murderous secrets to stop her...
Release Date: 18 May 2023
Prepare for a swoony romance on the high seas in this addictive retelling of Beauty and The Beast that's perfect for fans of The Cursebreakers series or ACOTAR.
In a kingdom that fears the sea, Ria Lucroy longs to be brave.
Bodies are washing ashore and everyone knows who's to blame. Legends of the Heartless King shroud the continent in fear; they call him a pirate, a monster, a god. When his mercenaries raid her father's merchant ship, Ria's family is faced with a horrifying demand. They will spare his life, in exchange for one of his daughters.
Determined to save her sisters, Ria launches herself into the world of pirates. Face-to-face with the Heartless King, she finds he is far more than the stories told. He is a man, with a human name and blood-stained hands, bound to the seas by a centuries-old curse. As their chemistry blooms into something more, Ria finds herself caught in an ancient web of secrets.
Battling creatures of the deep alongside those that reign its surface, Ria discovers how to love a heartless man and that some curses aren't so easy to break.
Release Date: 25 May 2023
Fans of Lucy Vine and her signature brand of humour and romance rejoice, as her latest novel, in which the lovelorn Esther finds a magazine from the noughties with a dating related article that hits a little too close to home. According to the journalist, there are seven people a woman will date before finding the one:
The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Friend with Benefits, The Overlap, The Missed Chance, The Bastard and The Serious One.
Her friends laugh but Esther realises each of her exes fits these roles perfectly.
Deciding that she’s mistaken her true love in the reject pile she decides to contact each of her exes to find out which is the one that got away...
Release Date: 25 May 2023
Another highly anticipated (and feminist) retelling that I can't wait to delve into is Psyche and Eros, Luna McNamara's take one of Greek mythology's greatest love stories.
Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche - Princess of Mycenae - will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society's traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny.
But she is soon caught up in powers beyond her control, when the jealous Aphrodite sends the God of Desire, Eros, to deliver a fatal love-curse. The last thing Eros wants is to become involved in the chaos of the mortal world, but when he is pricked by the very arrow intended for Psyche, he is doomed to love a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet.
Thrown together by fate, headstrong Psyche and world-weary Eros will face challenges greater than they could have ever imagined. And as the Trojan War begins and the whole of the heavens try to keep them apart, will they find their way back to each other... before it's too late?
Release Date: 25 May 2023
Perfect for fans of The Song of Achilles and Ariadne, Savage Beasts is a sweepingly compelling retelling of the Greek myth, Medea.
A woman wronged will shake an empire
Calcutta, 1757.
Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, are advancing and nobody is safe. Meena, the Nawab’s neglected and abused daughter, finds herself falling under the spell of James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, who claims he wants to betray the company . . . for a price.
Caught between friend and foe, Meena and James escape Calcutta, their hands stained in blood and pockets filled with gold. In Ceylon, they’re cleansed of their sins by Meena’s beloved aunt Kiran, before the young lovers set sail for the Dutch controlled Cape of Good Hope, with the promise of a new life.
Yet past resentments and present betrayals begin to pile up as they struggle to overcome their differences. And as Meena yet again finds herself in a foreign land without anyone to turn to, she is forced to find out what she is willing to sacrifice when love turns to hate.
Release Date: 25 May 2023
June
Another sequel to one of my favourite reads of 2022, Never A Hero sees Joan delve ever deeper into the monster world where she must risk even more danger to keep her family (and the entire timeline) safe.
Joan has achieved the impossible and has reset the timeline and saved her family despite the odds ...as well as taking down "hero", Nick.
But her success has come at a terrible cost. For only she remembers what happened. And Aaron, her friend and possibly something more is now an enemy, trying to kill her. Only Joan remembers their true enemy who still roams free.
When an attack forces Joan back into the monster world as a fugitive, she finds herself on the run with Nick - as Aaron closes in. As the danger rises - and Nick gets closer to discovering the truth of what Joan did - Joan uncovers a secret of her own. One that threatens everyone she loves.
Torn between love, family and monstrous choices, Joan must find a way to re-gather her old allies to face down the deadliest of enemies, and to save the timeline itself.
Release Date: 8 June 2023
Love Struck by Laura Jane Williams
The Queen of the meet-cute is back with another utterly fun, What if?/ Sliding doors style rom-com you definitely don't want to miss.
This isn't one love story. It's two... Becca Calloway is calling it: she's ready for Mr Right, and she's ready now.
She even holds a manifestation ceremony for him - and when she receives a text from her ex five minutes later, she knows it's a sign.
The problem is, she doesn't know which way it's pointing...
Should Becca reply and reignite things with her old flame Mike? Or delete and block, moving forward with the new man in her life?
Becca has one choice, with two ways this could go. And in Lovestruck, you're about to see them both...
Release Date: 8 June 2023
The spellbinding sequel to bestselling fantasy, Her Majesty's Royal Coven will be hitting shelves in June and if you love witchy fiction as much as I do, you don't want to miss it!
All is not as it seems within the halls of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven…
Despite thinking they’ve thwarted the prophecy, the witches are still reeling from the events of the past few months.
Ciara now occupies her twin sister’s body as she prepares to take on the role of High Priestess. But why are the sinister government agents of the Shadow Cabinet so invested in her coronation?
And then there’s the small matter of Dabney Hale: freshly escaped from Grierlings prison, he’s on the hunt for a mythical object that will give him unimaginable power. Leonie’s brother is on the trail, but doesn’t know the danger he now faces, and so she sets off to bring him home and bring Hale to justice.
Meanwhile, Theo and Holly are left to their own devices. Theo to work out how her miraculous transformation took place and Holly to discover what’s going on with her mum and dad. Elle’s Instagram-perfect world is about to come crashing down in the most terrifying way.
Release Date: 8 June 2023
An atmospheric, feminist retelling of the early life of the infamous villainess Morgan le Fay, set against the colourful backdrop of Arthurian legend.
When King Uther Pendragon murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage, Morgan refuses to be crushed. Trapped amid the machinations of men in a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, she discovers secret powers. Vengeful and brilliant, it's not long before Morgan becomes a worthy adversary to Merlin, influential sorcerer to the king. But fighting for her freedom, she risks losing everything – her reputation, her loved ones and her life.
Release Date: 15 June 2023
Another sweeping historical I can't wait to get my hands on is The Square of Sevens—a dazzling tale of intrigue set within the upper echelons of Georgian high society.
A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.
Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society. But she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?
The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . .
Release Date: 22 June 2023
This empoweringly feminist and witchy new historical from the author of The Gifts is inspired by real life illusionists and the pioneers of early film-making and the premise sounds utterly intriguing!
Following the lives of two women-Cecily, assistant to an aging con artist who believes she may have powers that contributed to master's sudden death. And Eadie, a pioneering early film-maker, who struggles for her talent to be taken seriously in such a male-dominated world, until and a young magician, George Perris, realisesthe potential in moving pictures. Believingthis new technology will revolutionise the world of magic forever - but in order to make his dream a reality, he must first win over Miss Eadie. . .
Together, when a group of illusionists prepare for a grand spectacle, Cec, Eadie and George's worlds collide. But as Cecily falls in love with the bustling realm of theatre and magic, she faces a fight to save the show from sabotage and harness the element of real magic she may possess.
Release Date: 22 June 2023
A spellbindingly gothic mystery full of dark secrets and obsessions and the mystery within a mystery premise sounds too good to miss!
Dear Reader, the man I love is trying to kill me...
Plant hunting adventurer, Emily Blackwood takes on a new commission when a gentleman has writes to request she catalogue his vast collection of taxidermied specimens before their sale.
But once arriving however, Emily only finds a ruined castle, with an owner haunted by a woman who vanished years before. And thenshe discovers the ripped pages of a diary, crammed into the walls. Emily comes to the realisation that dark secrets lie here, and they're waiting to entrap her too....
Release Date: 22 June 2023
July
A gloriously grand sounding, historical heist novel with an Ocean's 8 meets Downton Abbey premise (if the Crawley family's staff turned to grand larceny, that is!) Its one of my most anticipated books of the year and I'd commit all sorts of crimes just to snag an early copy.
Mayfair, 1905.
The grandest house on Park Lane has just dismissed its housekeeper.
All manner of treasures lie behind the pillared doors - and scandalous secrets too. With the event of the season looming, nothing must go wrong.
But what no one knows is that Mrs King will be back at Park Lane on the night of the ball. She has an audacious plan in mind... and knows just who to recruit to help her clean up.
Housekeeper. Sewing maid. Kitchen girl. Thief.
Never underestimate the women downstairs.
Release Date: 6 July 2023
A deliciously intriguing, book-related thriller I've been excited for since it was first announced. Ink Blood Sister Scribe follows a family whose duty-bound to guard a trove of magical books, and the shadowy organisation that will resort to any means to get them back.
Some books should never be opened.
Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books so magical they can grant someone the power to walk through walls or turn water into wine.
Her estranged older sister Esther is constantly on the move, between countries and jobs, never staying anywhere longer than a year to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Now working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and some semblance of happiness.
But when she finds blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows she's being hunted, and that Joanna and the collection are in danger.
In order to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden. Secrets spanning centuries and continents, secrets that could cost them their lives ...
Release Date: 6 July 2023
I'm a sucker for a Hades and Persephone retelling so this became an automatic must read for me! A fun and refreshingly entertaining take on the Hades and Persephone myth which sees a bolder, sassier and more headstrong Persephone who makes her own decisions.
Like her trip to hell...she wasn't dragged there: she jumped. Mostly in an effort to avoid being married off to the biggest narcissist in Olympus.
Now she just has to convince Underworld's annoyingly grumpy and sexy ruler (Hade) to go along with her plan ...
Release Date: 13 July 2023
I've started to get into reading more YA thrillers in the past year so when I heard about Joelle Wellington's new thriller dubbed Squid Games at an American high school—and with social commentary on race and class I knew this had to make the list!
Twelve girls. Three rounds. One ultimate prize . . . for the last one left alive.
Edgewater Academy is a school for the very rich and very powerful. And Adina Walker is neither of those things.
After getting into a fight with a fellow student (and former friend), Adina's scholarship to a top college is revoked, and her world falls apart.
Until she's invited to The Finish.
An Annual games for the brightest and the best and the winning prize can give Adina the chance at the life she's always dreamed of. Until the contestants start to die...
Release Date: 20 July 2022
Yet another witchy historical set to bewitch you in 2023!
It takes place in 17th C England and follows aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival – a former witch-hunter who is under pressure to take up his old profession once more. For the country is in the midst of civil war, and with tensions soo high suspicions of witchcraft are now commonplace.
But Nicholas has a secret—he can hear the songs of the dead…and can even hear their secrets. But can he be brave enough to use this gift and save the lives of countless innocents, even if it means putting himself in imminent danger?
Release Date: 20 July 2023
Inspired by the lush folklore of South America, Gabriela Romero Lacruz’s epic fantasy debut is a 2023 must read you absolutely cannot miss!
It follows Reina who arrives at Aguila Manor on the verge of death (having had her her heart stolen.) Her grandmother—long estranged from Reina and working for the Manor’s Don—saves her. And in her gratitude (and her fascination with the house’s upper-caste daughter Celeste), Reina is willing do anything to earn—and keep—the family’s favor. Even if it entails doing the bidding of an ancient god that lives within the manor’s foundations.
But to save the woman she has come to love, Reina will have to defy the gods themselves, and become something she could never have imagined.
Release Date: 25 July 2023
August
If you love refreshingly inventive, feminist takes on classic literature then you certainly don’t want to miss this thoroughly immersive (and relevant) retelling of Romeo and Juliet—told from the perspective of Rosaline, the woman Romeo loved first.
Before Romeo loved Juliet, he loved fair Rosaline…
When Romeo first saw Rosaline Capulet, seeking in to his parents ball, he falls instantly in love. His attentions make Rosaline unsure at first, knowing her fathers’ determined she join a nunnery. But Romeo offers her a different future—one with true love at its heart! And thus begins the story of the Romeo and Rosaline: star-crossed lovers…
Until a destitute young girl appears, claiming to be carrying Romeo's child and Rosaline begins to doubt all that she’s been told. When rumours of other girls begin to surface Rosaline realises Romeo is not her hero at all but a villain, and now his attentions have turned to her thirteen year old cousin, Juliet…
Release Date: 3 August 2023
The second of international bestselling, Olivie Blake’s releases this year is a revised edition of Masters of Death, a page-turning and utterly intriguing fantasy about a vampire real estate agent, a haunted house and the ghost of it’s murdered former resident.
When Viola Marek hires Fox D’Mora to deal with her ghost-infested mansion, she expects a competent medium. But unbeknownst to Viola, Fox is a fraud – despite being the godson of Death. As the mystery unfolds, Viola and Fox are drawn into a quest that neither wants nor expects. And they'll need the help of a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel and a love-stricken reaper. And it turns out the difference between a mysterious lost love and a dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as you’d hope.
Release Date: 17 August 2023
September
In These Hallowed Halls (Anthology) by Olivie Blake, M.L Rio, Susie Yang, David Bell and J.T Ellison
If like me, you enjoy losing yourself to the darkened halls and atmospheric libraries of elite boarding schools filled with intoxicating intrigue of a good Dark Academia, then you absolutely don’t want to miss this stunning collection of twelve all new original stories from the biggest names in the genre, including: Olivie Blake, M.L. Rio, David Bell, Susie Yang, Layne Fargo, J.T. Ellison, James Tate Hill, Kelly Andrew, Phoebe Wynne, Kate Weinberg, Helen Grant and Tori Bovalino.
Release Date: 12 September 2023
October
Fans of Kingdom of the Wicked (if you haven’t already been hyperventilating from excitement) get ready for Kerri Maniscalco’s newest upcoming fantasy standalone that’s set in the Kingdom of The Wicked universe—Which will be told from Envy’s POV and introduces an all new character, Miss Camilla Antonius. And note, it will be Adult and not YA!!!
We don’t have much information yet but I’m hoping this means we’ll see books for each of the Princes.
Release Date: 3 October 2023
2023 is shaping up to be a big year for Cassandra Clare fans, after the release of Chain of Thorns at the start of the year, an all new epic fantasy is on its way in October!
Sword Catcher follows an Lin, outcast with forbidden magic and Kel, a prince’s bodyguard who find themselves joining forces to expose a conspiracy of corruption in the gilded city they both call home.
Release Date: 10 October 2023
November
Katherine J. Adams’ decadently dark and romantically witchy debut fantasy about a witch (Penny) who breaks the sacred rules of her coven—and crosses the veil between life and death, in order to save her sister.
But all she finds in Death is the mysterious Lord Malin, who offers Penny a dangerous deal: her sisters freedom for all the info she has on the High Warden, the tyrant her coven is bound in servitude to.
But all isn’t as it seems as her bargain leads Penny to Alice, a mysterious captive prophet… and the rebellion currently brewing in theircity. As Penny’s world splits, between her growing love for Alice in Life and her attraction to the Malin in Death, she’ll have to face a devastating choice. Because, it’s not only her sister’s life that’s at stake, it’s the fate of all magic.
Release Date: 7 November 2023
