What do I do with both the heart and teh situation I created?
Without Viktor's heart intact, Eloise can't use necromancy or on the witch and reanimate him. Sure, Eloise would have control over Viktor, but the spell on Holly wouldn't break and he'd keep the same threat hanging over her.
I've watched the shitshow Vikotr[s action have caused--the effect on Violet as well as Holly--and he had to die. Every one of us knew the man couldn't walk away this morning. ”
- Live and Learn (Book 6, Thornwood Academy) by LJ Swallow
PRE-ORDERS
Lana Pecherczyk
The Company of Vengeful Crows
Book 10, Season of the Crow, Fae Guardians
Expected Release:
30 August
There’s a reason crows circle overhead nightly. It's to remind themselves of where they’ve been, where they’re going, and, most importantly, who they’re with—who is friend, and who is foe.
Guardian River spent years cataloging every detail of how his best friend accidentally electrocuted his wings, leaving him scarred, flightless, and furious. The healers say his molting is psychological. That he needs to “forgive and forget” to heal. Crows don’t forget. And River won’t forgive. Nothing—not injury, not duty, not friendship—will stop him from delivering justice.
But then Blake Hartley turns up and everything changes. She’s a glittery, stubborn, married human from the past with a knack for fixing broken things and a smile that makes his feathers twitch. She’s not supposed to matter. She’s not supposed to get him.
When their bond snaps into place, he becomes desperate to deny the one thing he swore off: love. Crow shifters don’t mate like other Fae. When they fall, they fixate. Obsession ruined his best friend, and now he can’t breathe without Blake’s emotions bleeding through their connection. She’s optimistic when he’s drowning in vengeance. She believes in second chances when he knows some betrayals can’t be forgiven. She believes broken things can be fixed.
The problem is, River is starting to believe her. He’s starting to forget, to forgive, which is dangerous now that secrets are surfacing. Ones that threaten to rewrite everything the Fae Guardians thought they knew about their foes, their friends … even the ones they loved and lost.
And at the center of it all?
Cloud.
River’s best friend.
And perhaps ... the villain they never saw circling.
After nine books of secrets, the Company of Vengeful Crows is finally gathering. This isn’t just a love story. It’s the spark that ignites the beginning of the end.
Perfect for fans of found family, forced proximity, fated mates, fish-out-of-water heroines finding their inner power, magical crow boys with unresolved trauma and their “who did this to you?” flavor of obsession. And wings. Not safe to read at work.
Each book in this “Best of Booktok” series features a separate couple with a satisfying HEA. Read them out of order for the individual romance and spice, or binge the lot for the plot. Definitely the plot.
Leisl Leighton
Witch Cursed
Book 6, Gods Cursed
Expected Release:
26 August
A lost love, an unknown child, a curse that threatens them all …
Loki is thrilled to find his lover and her sons didn’t die horribly at Zeus’ hand thousands of years ago but were transported through time by his mentor Demeter, their memories stripped and their powers shielded by an ancient spell. That joy soon turns to ashes when he realises he can never tell Daphne who she is and what they were together unless he wants to unleash an ancient terror on them all. He can’t even claim her youngest son, Gideon, as his own child – a pain that strikes close to his damaged heart.
Until a few months ago, Daphne Edmonds never knew magic existed, let alone that Gods and Goddesses roamed the earth. But when her best friend is outed as an ancient God and his family and friends turn out to be witches, demi-Gods and Cupids, she has no choice but to accept. However, when she and her sons begin to change into creatures of myth, she can’t help but place the blame solely at the feet of one particular, very annoying and far too attractive God of Mischief.
Despite all Loki’s efforts to hide the truth, the ancient witch curse that plagues his life seems to want to make things exponentially worse. When Daphne and her sons begin to change into creatures of legend, it’s not only Zeus’ wrath he has to worry about – but the ancient evil that will seek to use them to help it destroy everything Loki has spent his life protecting.
at the pre-order sale price!
JL Peridot
Until We Meet Again
Expected Release:
28 October
A time traveller absconds to the past in search of her lost love.
One word: my name. A call from Origin through the neural lace grafted to my brain and nerves, connecting me to another place in another time. A reminder of what I’m here to do.
I clutch a bottle cap; its sharp metal edges ground me in the present. It’s funny, don’t you think, to consider this moment the present, as if the past and future I came from aren’t supposed to exist? If you were here, I’d ask. You’d smile and kiss my forehead and say you love my nonsense questions.
But you’re not here. They want me to forget you ever were.
Lilliana Rose
The Encantado's Kiss
Monster Romance
(multi-author series)
Expected Release:
15 September
To save my dying sister, I must break the most sacred law of the Encantados—never surface in the human world.
As a pink river dolphin shifter, setting foot on land means risking permanent exile. But Inaiá’s life hangs by a thread, and only a mythical human-world flower can save her. Desperate and armed with ancient magic, I trade my fins for feet.
That’s when I crash—literally—into Caio.
He’s human. Forbidden. And yet his kindness disarms me, and his touch sparks something I’ve never known. A connection that defies logic… and law.
But his world is dangerous. And the magic I carry draws enemies from both sides of the water. Caught between saving my sister, protecting the man I’m falling for, and facing the wrath of my queen, I stand on the edge of war.
If I fail, the cost won’t just be my heart—but the future of both our worlds.
Lilliana Rose
Moonlight Promenade
Time for Monsters (multi-author series)
Released: 18 May in paperback format
Expected Ebook release:
10 November
I never believed time travel was possible.
Until a mysterious pendant transported me to Victorian London, where I’m hunted by dark creatures known as shadows, beings that drain my energy and stalk my every move.
That’s when I learned monsters are real.
Lord Nathaniel Blackwood is cursed—caught mid-transformation between man and werewolf, shunned by high society. But not all monsters are evil, and Nathaniel might be the only one who can help me survive.
Our forbidden attraction sparks a fire I can’t control. I’m trapped in the past and drawn into a future I never imagined—where every touch is a risk, and every whispered word could cost me my life.
If Nathaniel and I can uncover who’s behind the shadows and their twisted purpose, I might have a chance to return to my own time.
But the longer I stay, the more I want to remain—no matter the danger or who wants the pendant… or me.
Lilliana Rose
Emerald and Shadow
Expected release:
28 August
My kingdom is dying.
I am next in line for the throne, but a crown means nothing in a kingdom consumed by shadow. A desperate whisper of magic leads me to a Rhysand Page. Not the legendary dragon I sought but a broken man hiding amongst humans.
He hasn’t shifted in decades, but I sense a flicker of power within him—a fire I must rekindle. I offer him everything—my hand, my crown, my very being.
To save my kingdom, I’ll bargain with a dragon. To save his soul, he’ll embrace the fae. But in this dance of fire and shadow, will we find salvation or destruction?
Keri Arthur
Of Blood and Fire
Book 3, The Drakkon Kin Trilogy
30 September
Can an improbable alliance between human and drakkon save their world from utter destruction?
Princess Bryn Silva never wanted the crown this way.
With her parents dead and Esan’s military devastated, she’s thrust onto a throne she once wanted, but is utterly unprepared to fill.
Worse still, her husband, Damon—heir to the throne of Zephrine—has vanished, leaving her to face the storm alone.
As the gilded riders, hungry to claim Arleeon’s fertile lands as their own, rain death and destruction from their armored birds, the greatest threat to both Bryn and Esan might come from the one man who should be their staunchest ally.
Because Aric Velez—Damon’s father—has returned, and plans to use her inexperience to claim the throne and become the ultimate ruler over all Arleeon. And he doesn’t care what he has to do to see his ambitions realized.
As the losses mount, the race to find a means of defeating their foes becomes ever more desperate. But can the drakkon kin ever hope to win a war when they are so outnumbered?
Or will Bryn be forced to face an impossible choice: sacrifice everything she loves, or watch her kingdom burn.
Keri Arthur
Bia's Blade
Book 6, Relic Hunters
20 January 2026
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer... but what happens when you don't know one from the other?
more information to come.
Mel Teshco
His Asset
Book 1, The Unnaturals
Expected Release:
30 October
My name is a number, or at least it had always been that way until Adam, my master, brings me to his home and calls me Bella.
He almost makes me feel human—almost—but I’m as much animal as I am person, a travesty to nature according to the vile scientists who created me. That Adam also makes me feel desired, a woman he wants as his own, sends me into a tailspin I can’t control.
But then, I distrust everyone, especially men. I plan my escape, making use of my untried wings to get away. I’m exhausted when I land in a grungy part of a strange city. When a feral gang of men try to overpower me and have their wicked way, I use my powers to overthrow them, but ultimately it’s a stranger, a street-toughened man named Reuben, who saves me.
I willingly stay with him. He’s known as Chief in the underground fighting world, where he battles against other hardened men for glory and cash prizes. But behind closed doors he shows me his tender side, and he makes me feel again, filling some of the void Adam left in my heart.
Or so I thought.
It isn’t until I’m captured again by Adam that I question everything I’ve resisted.
How can I want to be with this brilliant man of science even as I want to be with a man who rules the streets?
Which of them should I trust? Who do I love?
I guess I’m about to find out.
Mel Teshco
Her Champion
Book 2, The Unnaturals
Expected Release:
7 August 2026
Sometimes the monster isn't the one you should fear—it's the one you should save.
Adler
I'm not human. Not animal, either. I’m something in between. I hate that I look like the cowardly scientists who created me when I possess instincts far more deadly than theirs will ever be. I'm predator, not prey.
When my only friend dies from the experimental DNA coursing through our veins, I unleash hell on the lab and everyone in it. But freedom isn't what I expected. My eagle wings are weak, useless from years of captivity, and every shadow could hide those who'd drag me back to that sterile nightmare.
Then I see Eden, beautiful and graceful, and with a shy smile that makes me forget I'm a monster. Suddenly, I have everything to live for. I just pray my obsession won't destroy us both.
Eden
I've never been anyone special. Just an ordinary woman trying to make the best of an ordinary life, never quite good enough for anyone or anything.
Then a man with wild, animalistic eyes and barely contained desperation crashes into my world, and everything changes. He makes me feel alive, wanted, electric. But my instincts scream warning—he's not what he appears to be.
When he begs me to hide him, common sense should make me run. Instead, I open my door.
Time will tell if I've just made the biggest mistake of my life...or the best one.
The above two covers are by Eleni Konstantine's alter-ego, HelzKat Designs.
Mel Teshco
Epello
Book 6, Alien Fugitives
Expected Release:
22 February 2026
She loved his animal forms. Can she love him as the man who brings danger into her life?
With his pink-scaled coloring, Epello was a lower caste alien…until his abilities to shift shape into any creature propelled him into an all-powerful rare. Now that he has fled from his enemies to reside on Earth, he’s not above using his abilities to get what—who—he wants.
He’s been spying on the lovely Harper in his many animal forms to get close to her, but now it’s time to get even closer…in his human form. If only doing so didn’t put her at risk from relentless alien enemies who will stop at nothing to exterminate him.
Harper is over men. Animals are her passion. But as an only child of a family who run a successful and prestigious jewelry business, one that has been in the family for generations, they expect her passion to be jewelry, and for the business to become hers.
A pity she finds it all so lackluster and sterile. She wants warmth and energy in her life. She wants to be surrounded by the very animals that are drawn to her. But what happens when she realizes many of those animals are the one and same man who she can’t stop thinking about?
Pre-Order
TJ Nichols
Survival and Other Scars
Book 2, Mytho Collapse
Expected Release:
14 October
Pan and Noah's story continues...
The selkie coat isn't the only thing causing problems...
Cassie Laelyn
Unwavering
Book 6, The Fallen Guardians
Expected Release:
12 September
River has always excelled at being the best. The best brother, the best friend, the best dresser. But never the best Guardian. So when Fate assigns him his first solo mission, he dives in with both wings. Until a Fallen suddenly hijacks his dreams, and throws his path into a deadly spiral. Now, he’s in a race to save his soul… and hers.
Broken and betrayed, Ebony is fresh out of allies. Held captive by the Guardians, she will do anything to escape and keep her sister safe. Including, trusting an angel. But when her ticket to freedom falls ill with a mysterious sickness, trusting her heart becomes the greatest danger.
With a power as cunning as Fate on the loose, River and Ebony must battle a new evil, before one of them pays the ultimate price.
Each book in the series features a different main couple with a swoony HEA (no cliffhangers!). But if you'd like to follow along with the villain's story, the series is best read in order.
Non spec-fic
D.K. Hood
Their Haunted Hearts
Book27, Detectives Kane and Alton
Expected Release:
9 September
Lightning flashes overhead as she walks along the isolated path out of town. She listens to the rumble of thunder until she hears the unmistakable sound of heavy boots on the path behind her. She starts to run, but he’s faster and she already knows there is no one for miles to hear her screams…
It’s Halloween in Black Rock Falls and among the small town’s annual festivities, Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane are called to a gruesome discovery. Where there was once a plastic mannequin in a coffin, now stands the lifeless body of a young woman, her pale skin illuminated under the heavy stormy sky.
Taking in the victim’s long dark hair and still blue eyes, it’s the bite marks on her neck that have Jenna’s fearing what kind of monster could have inflicted such wounds. Could this be the most sick and twisted murderer Black Rock Falls has ever seen?
Days later, Jenna’s heart breaks when another vulnerable young woman is found at another Halloween attraction in the centre of Black Rock Falls. As Jenna surveys the scene, she instantly notices the familiar deep red bite marks on her neck.
With the whole town gripped with fear that a vampire-like killer is on the loose, Jenna works around the clock to hunt down the fiend who is stalking vulnerable young women. When she links the bodies to a cold case, it’s clear he has taken many victims.
As Jenna finally gets a breakthrough, a violent storm shuts off the small town, giving the murder the perfect chance to kill again, but Jenna puts herself in unthinkable danger to catch him. Will she stop him before he can take another life or has Jenna finally met her match?
The Guy from the Beach Resort
Birdie Song
Sommerville Downs Sweet Romance
Expected Release:
17 September
A guy who keeps his promise could be worth breaking hers.
Reformed party-girl Penny is going to fix her life. No, really, she’s gonna do it this time! Starting with a vow of abstinence, five days in a Bali beach resort, and literally running into a well-timed fake boyfriend she definitely won’t fool around with.
Unfortunately for her, Adam is smart, funny, charming, and starting to look like an all-round decent human being. All green flags and zero risk, he’s the kind of guy who respects her and keeps his promises, leaving Penny desperate to break hers.
The Guy from the Beach Resort is a sweet, fake dating, slow-burn romance, set in the world of Somerville Downs.
Christina Phillips
Deceived by the Highlander
Book 2, Daughters of the Isle
Expected Release:
2 September
His mission: To wed Freyja MacDonald – by any means possible.
Alasdair Campbell, unacknowledged bastard son of the late earl, is driven by two things: Loyalty to his half-brother, the current earl, and a burning ambition to rise through the ranks of Clan Campbell. He’ll do whatever it takes to leave his tortured past behind him, and to climb closer to his coveted barony. If that means seducing a woman he’s never met into marriage so the earl can claim her land in the Western Isles, it’s a small price to pay.
And then he meets her, and his world is turned upside down…
He's the most honorable man she’s ever met.
Freyja MacDonald isn’t easily swayed by a handsome face or honeyed tongue, but Alasdair Campbell fairly sweeps her off her feet with his down-to-earth charm. What’s more, he respects her work as a healer, something she knows to her cost not all men do.
Straight-talking and practical, she appreciates how Alasdair understands her commitment for the unvarnished truth rather than pretty lies, and their stolen kisses have her imagining a future together. Not that it’s possible, for she is bound to her land through an ancient prophecy of her foremothers and Alasdair must soon return to his grand castle in the Highlands. Yet she can’t deny the longing to be with him wherever that might be.
But the truth never stays buried forever…
TJ Nichols
Best Suited
Book 2, Good With His Hands
Expected Release:
28 September
He shouldn't be hooking up with his sister's bodyguard...
opposites attract
bodyguard
tailor
wedding hook-up
Best Suited, book 2 in the Good With His Hands series, is an angsty, emotional, opposites attract, MM contemporary romance.
Annie Seaton
All Together Now
Book 6, Duckwinwilla Days
Expected Release:
24 October
The Johnson family faces a double upheaval when Ellen and Hugo Johnson announce they're selling the farm to move to an over-55s coastal village, while Grandmere and Papa simultaneously decide to enter a retirement home. With the future of both the family farm and the store uncertain, the entire Johnson clan must come together to make life-changing decisions in just two months.
Sometimes the biggest challenges bring out the best in families, and home is worth fighting for together.
Pre-Order
Annie Seaton
Storm Season
Book 3, Bec Whitfield Mystery
Expected Release:
15 January 2026
Detective Bec Whitfield thought she'd found paradise in tropical Mission Beach—and maybe even love with charming local developer Jake Morrison. But when Cyclone Meredith threatens the coast, emergency preparations uncover a twenty-year-old secret buried in concrete.
The skeletal remains belong to Marcus “Moondog” Sullivan, a former Sydney property developer turned environmental activist who vanished in 2004 during heated battles over coastal development. Marcus had made powerful enemies on both sides of the conservation debate, and someone wanted him silenced permanently.
As Bec investigates, the case becomes uncomfortably personal. Jake's construction company was involved in the building where Marcus was found, and her new boyfriend grows increasingly evasive about his past. When Detective Todd Davenpot arrives from Brisbane with warnings about Jake's reputation, Bec finds herself caught between two men and a web of corruption that reaches far beyond Mission Beach.
With the cyclone bearing down and evacuation orders imminent, Bec must solve a murder that exposes decades of environmental crime and political corruption. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realises that Marcus Sullivan died because he threatened to expose secrets that powerful people will kill to protect.
In a race against time and the storm of the century, Bec will discover that some foundations are built on lies—and that choosing the wrong person to trust can be deadly.
Perfect for fans of Jane Harper and Candice Fox.
Buy
Annie Seaton
Beneath Still Waters
Book 4, Daughters of the Darling
Expected Release:
20 November
(apologies this had been mistakenly been put as released 1 July)
In the aftermath of a personal decision, Shea O’Byrne has retreated to Melbourne, abandoning her career as a vet nurse to counsel women through pregnancy loss—a pain she understands all too well. When her father’s genealogical research uncovers a long-buried scandal involving the family’s forgotten ancestor, Samuel O’Byrne, Shea reluctantly agrees to help investigate.
Her search leads her to Professor Eliza Westfield and her compelling brother, Heath, a cardiologist whose gentle persistence begins to crack the walls around Shea’s heart. But as Tom delves deeper into the life of Clara O’Byrne—Samuel’s rebellious daughter, whose story eerily mirrors Shea’s—past and present collide in unexpected ways.
When Shea’s former lover follows her to Ceann Mara, bringing with him the painful secret she’s kept from everyone, she must finally confront the choices that have shaped her life. A sudden storm at the billabong forces Shea to decide whether some secrets are worth keeping—and if the O’Byrne family legacy of resilience and love lives on in her.
Spanning two centuries of family history, heartbreak, and healing, Beneath Still Waters continues the sweeping saga of the O’Byrne family, where every discovery on the banks of the Darling River reveals that our most personal struggles often echo through generations.
Pre-Order
Carolyn Wren
Books 1-7, Love Under Fire
Expected Re-Release:
30 August
From book 1:
Jared Knight, together with a select group of colleagues, works for international governments, tracking down the worst criminals humanity has to offer. His secretive and dangerous profession leaves no time, or freedom for relationships, especially not with the gently raised daughter of a prominent diplomat who catches his eye in the glittering ballrooms of Monaco.
Despite his attraction, he vows to keep Cecilia Benedict in his past, until an unknown stalker threatens her future.
Celicia has been receiving notes from an admirer, one who knows far too much about her. Her father seeks help in dealing with the growing menace, and Jared steps out of the shadows to become her protector. Cecilia finds herself intensely intrigued by this quiet man with deep grey eyes, and when they’re emotionally thrown together, he becomes so much more than just a bodyguard.
But someone is biding his time, threatening to destroy their relationship before it can even begin.
COVERS
Keri Arthur
Of Blood and Fire
Book 3, The Drakkon Kin Trilogy
also has a hardcover version and special edition version.
Donna Maree Hanson
Books 4-5, Cry Havoc
covers for the next two books in the series revealed.
Release dates to be confirmed.
Birdie Song
Sommerville Downs Sweet Romances
has new covers for the first books in her series continuing the change in the later books.
check out the books
Christina Phillips
Mel Teshco
Cathleen Ross
Resisting the Firefighter
has a new cover
Three hot firefighter brothers - and the women they save.
Any way they can...
~~
Congratulations to our DarkSiders!
Happy Reading everyone. Be safe & well.
Next on the DarkSider News: Events!
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