"The awful smell woke me. Not the rough, leathery palm over my mouth or the sharp claws pricking my cheeks. Burning rubber, pungent vomit and cloying sulfur. Three black shapes circled my bed, menace in their crimson-red eyes. The fourth had clamped one hand against my mouth, and its other held my arm in an iron grip. Two clenched each ankle tight, the third my arm. Their sharp claws dug deep into my skin as they dragged me from my bed and across the room. I kicked out, scissoring my legs. They were immovable. Wisps of gray smoke rose from my limbs, and I gagged on the smell of burning flesh.
- Justice (Book 1, Shadows End) by K.A. Montefiore
PRE-ORDERS
Kelly Ethan
Curses and Cold Cases
Book 2, The Ghost Vein Cozy Mysteries
Expected Release:
31 August 2026
Welcome to Ghost Vein, Nevada. Where the mine runs deep and so do the lies. The gold's cursed, the ghosts are chatty, and murder never stays buried for long.
When Rue Maddox inherited a haunted saloon-turned-bookstore café from her great aunt Ruth, a curse-breaking witch, she didn’t expect to have to solve a murder in her alley way. But life since then had settled into a peaceful routine for the cursed Wild West reenactment mining town.
But Ghost Vein’s peace is upset with the arrival of an heir claiming ownership of the cursed mine—and half the town. His timing couldn’t be worse. Tourist season is just kicking off, the town’s ghosts are getting louder, and now someone’s been murdered again. And she just happens to be the assistant to the new heir…
To make things weirder (yes, weirder), a ghost connected to the mine keeps showing up clearly trying to tell Rue something important. There’s just one problem: someone—or something—has bound his spirit from speaking the truth.
With a real estate scam underway, a cursed vault humming under her feet, and her aunt Ruth’s ghost unable to help, Rue must uncover who really killed the assistant…before the silent dead finds a new voice in Rue’s bones.
Add in flirty tension with the town’s grumpy (and way-too-attractive) Sheriff Colt Dawson, sabotage in the shadows, and a town full of suspects, Rue’s second murder case is shaping up to be even messier than her latte making skills.
Good thing she’s getting the hang of this curse-breaking witchy thing.
Sort of.
Small town life just got weirder. And Rue? She might be the only thing standing between Ghost Vein and something far worse than bad tourist reviews.
Perfect for fans of paranormal cozy mysteries, haunted Western towns, and amateur sleuths.
Unlock the light-hearted magic and mayhem in Curses and Cold Cases. Book two in The Ghost Vein Mine Cozy Paranormal Mysteries by Kelly Ethan.
Tropes:
Quirky Characters
Amateur Sleuth
Twisty Mystery
Nosy Animal sidekick
Magical Mayhem
Found Family
Slow Burn Romance
Ghosts
Curses
Witches
Old Western Mining Town
Annie Seaton
January Joy
Book 2, The Enchanted Village
Expected Release:
31 December
Sometimes the coldest season brings the warmest beginnings...
Joanna Hartwell arrives at Hawthorn Cottage with nothing but a battered suitcase and a lifetime of wounds. After a decade of caregiving and a marriage that ended in betrayal, she's forgotten who she is beyond being useful to others. The cottage should be temporary—just somewhere to hide while she works out what comes next.
But Hawthorn Cottage has other ideas.
Fires that light themselves. Warmth that defies winter's grip. An amaryllis that blooms impossibly fast. The cottage is trying to heal her, but Joanna has spent so long being broken she's not sure she remembers how to be whole.
Then she meets Hugh Morrison, the quiet bookshop owner with kind eyes and his own carefully hidden grief; he knows what it's like to feel guilty for wanting happiness again.
As January deepens and the village works its gentle magic, Joanna must decide: will she keep hiding behind her walls, or will she allow herself to bloom—even in the coldest season?
Sometimes healing isn't about forgetting the past. Sometimes it's about having the courage to reach for the future.
A tender story of second chances, found family, and the quiet magic that lives in the spaces between winter and spring.
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Annie Seaton
March Magic
Book 3, The Enchanted Village
Expected Release:
30 March 2026
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of hope, disappointment, and the slow, silent drift that comes when every month brings fresh heartbreak. Sophie and Daniel Ashford thought a fresh start in the Cotswolds might save them—a sabbatical, a break from the constant medical appointments and whispered apologies. Just six months in Violet Cottage to remember why they fell in love.
But Violet Cottage has other plans.
A tender story of marriage, grief, and the courage it takes to start again with the person you thought you'd lost.
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Efthalia
Two Times The Curse
Book 2, The Willow Witch Chronicles
Released:
8 September 2026
A witch. A curse. And a secret of epic proportions.
Samantha Willow’s defective powers have been the bane of her existence, but when new information emerges about her cursed backfiring magic, her whole world comes crashing down. She needs her wolf’s support to expose those responsible.
Dex Lycophron will move heaven and earth to help his witchy mate fully harness her abilities. When they discover she has been cursed by several Greek gods, who are targeting her for unknown reasons, they set out on a quest they hadn’t anticipated. Fortunately, Dex has a supernatural network that can help them get to the bottom of it.
Will their relationship withstand the danger they face?
Two Times the Curse is the second book in the Willow Witch Chronicles, a paranormal romance with magic, witches and supernatural suspense. Tropes: Cursed Heroine, Spells gone wrong, Fated Mates, Touch her and Die, Found Family.
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Annie Seaton writing as Claire Cross
The Forest Keeps
Released:
30 December
Some secrets refuse to stay buried.
Detective Catherine Snowden has learned to trust her instincts. But when a young girl's body is discovered in an ancient oak forest, Catherine experiences something she can't explain—a vision, a presence, a desperate plea from beyond the grave.
Find us. There are more of us buried in the forest.
The dead girl has a name: Eliza Symonds. Twelve years old. Missing for three years. Written off as a runaway by a system that didn't care enough to look.
Now Eliza has found a way to reach Catherine from the other side, determined to expose the man who murdered her—and the others he's buried beneath the oaks. But the killer is still hunting, still free, and Catherine's superiors dismiss her theories as the desperate obsession of an overworked detective.
As the boundaries between the living and the dead begin to blur, Catherine must decide: trust what she can see, or believe in what she can feel?
Because in the ancient forest, the trees remember everything. And some spirits won't rest until justice is served—no matter the cost..
Ruby St. George
True Magic
Book 3, Touch of Magic
Expected Release:
30 December
Bonding with a cranky wolf shifter might have been my biggest mistake, but leaving him could mean war.
After a disaster with her strange magic Darcy realizes she is never going to get the help she needs with the wolves, so when someone close to her is threatened by the clan leader she does the only thing she can– she returns to the clan compound to save them, hoping to also find out the truth about her magic.
But returning was a mistake and with the clan pushing its own agenda she might never get free. Her bond with her wolf shifter, Jones, is growing and he will do anything to bring her home, even if it means war.
Then her mother reveals the truth about her heritage and her world is turned upside down. Now she can no longer trust anything she thought was true.
Caught between the clan and her bonded wolf, there's one chance to save them all, even if it means sacrificing herself, and Darcy has to make the toughest choice she’s ever made.
Her family or her heart.
Fans of Ilona Andrews, Faith Hunter and Keri Arthur will love this slow burn paranormal romance.
TJ Nichols
Queens and Other Quarrels
Book 4, Mytho Collapse
Expected Release:
28 July
Pan and Noah's story continues...
The centaurs make a visit to town and Noah leans to be more careful with what he wishes for.
MM urban fantasy romance between an ancient god who has lost his magic and a human who is now selkie.
TJ Nichols
Scream and Steam
Expected Release:
14 March
Failing college was bad enough, but moving back home feels like a nightmare for Timothy. A stepmother he barely knows, a curious five-year-old sister, and eerie noises in the night have reignited his childhood fear of monsters under the bed. Then he learns the truth: the monsters are real.
Farrow, a guardian of the magical bridges hidden beneath children’s beds, has one mission—keep the human and magical worlds apart. But everything changes when he records Timothy in a very private moment. Convinced by a monster friend that selling videos on Scream and Steam will be easy money, Farrow opens an account—and Timothy becomes his unwitting star.
When Timothy discovers Farrow in his room, they strike an uneasy deal: Timothy will appear in Farrow’s videos if it means no more scares. But as sparks fly on and off camera, Timothy begins to see magic where he never expected it, and Farrow realizes Timothy’s past holds secrets that could shatter both their worlds.
Can they bridge the gap between fear and love, or will their worlds collide in chaos? Dive into this steamy monster romance where love pushes all boundaries.
TJ Nichols
Steel and Silence
Book 3, Hunting Hearts
Expected Release:
21 January author site
28 January elsewhere
Trent is determined to uncover the truth about the feud and missing people, and Garrick will do anything to keep vampires in the shadows where they belong.
Steel and Silence is book 3 in the Hunting Hearts vampire crime family series. Join the fight between the Reid family and the Orlans in this enemies to lovers mm mafia romance.
Non Spec-Fic
Amanda Ashby
The Widows' Guide to Last Orders
Book 4, The Widows' Detective Club
Expected Release:
15 April 2026
Life in Little Shaw is as nice as pie for librarian Ginny Cole. She’s got a tentative truce with her grumpy neighbour Detective Inspector Wallace, and Sunday quiz nights at The Lost Goat with her friends (team name: The Merry Widows). Until the young quizmaster is found dead in the cellar. The police call it an accident; Ginny suspects murder. But with Wallace strangely impossible to locate and convince, she and the other widows must step – carefully, mind – into the breach.
The victim, it turns out, wasn’t just torturing locals with impossible trivia. He was hunting for his great-aunt who vanished from Little Shaw in 1963, along with what village gossips insist was a fortune in Cold War secrets. Now Ginny and her friends must decode a sixty-year-old mystery involving priest holes, spy scandals, and the competing egos of the local history society.
But when the killer strikes again, the widows need to solve this fast before someone calls last orders on them…
A brilliantly twisty cozy mystery perfect for fans of Fiona Leitch, Robert Thorogood and anyone who thinks retirement should come with a side of solving murders.
Anie 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
Outback Strangers
Book 1, The Happy Outback Hotel
Expected Release:
14 February 2026
When three English friends—Amelia, Sophie, and Charlotte—arrive in the dusty outback town of Garnet Creek during their gap year, they expect nothing more than a quick stop at the campground attached to an abandoned hotel. What they don’t expect is to find themselves completely charmed by a town that’s barely changed in decades.
The once-thriving Garnet Creek Hotel now serves as a basic campground, and sitting around the campfire one evening, the girls dare to dream: what if they could transform this forgotten pub into the heart of the community again—a proper English-style pub where locals and travellers alike could gather?
Their dream seems impossible until a mysterious fellow traveller, elderly philanthropist Alex Morrison, makes them an offer they can’t refuse. Suddenly, they own the pub and face the mammoth task of bringing it back to life.
The locals, however, are suspicious and not ready to embrace change—especially not from a trio of English backpackers. The town council is hostile, and tensions run high as old wounds and pride clash with the arrival of new residents. When Amelia finds herself drawn to Jake Sullivan, the talented builder caught between his loyalty to the town and his growing feelings for her, everything becomes far more complicated.
Can three young women from halfway around the world turn doubt into acceptance and transform a struggling town? Or will the outback prove too harsh for their English dreams?
Pre-Order
Annie Seaton
Dark Waters
Book 4, Bec Whitfield Mystery
Expected Release:
31 July 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.
Pre-Order
D.K. Hood
His Next Wife
Expected Release:
14 January 2026
His first wife died in an accident, but I’m not so sure. Did he kill her? Am I next?
Handsome and charming, Jack swept me off my feet when we met, and now we’re married and I’m moving into his imposing old house. I’m bursting with excitement until I see a face staring down at me from an upstairs window. Before I can wave, the face vanishes from view. Jack says nobody else was home, so who is hiding in the shadows?
Taking in my new home, I’m startled to discover a long ivory wedding gown in one of the bedrooms. My heart pounds as I realise this was the room where I saw someone watching me. Jack tells me the dress belonged to his ex-wife, who died in an accident. He says he forgot the dress was there, but I can’t fail to notice the way he avoids eye contact as he quickly hurries me out of the room and locks the door behind us.
As the days go by, I see Jack less and less and I can’t help but think he’s avoiding me. Left in my new home alone, I begin to obsess about his ex-wife. Jack tells me to stop, that I’m imagining things, but I can’t help myself. Instead, I go back to the room where I thought I saw someone and nothing could have prepared me for what I find behind that locked door. Or what happens next…
Readers who enjoyed The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and Valerie Keogh’s The Wives, will love this truly heart-racing, pulse-pounding psychological thriller from bestselling author, D.K. Hood.
D.K. Hood
Watch Over Me
Book 29, Detectives Kane and Alton
Released:
17 March 2026
Fear grips her as the heavy footsteps echo along the isolated trail path. She thought she was alone in the woods, but as a hand reaches out from the darkness to cover her mouth, she knows that nobody will hear her scream…
When Jan Pierce is reported missing, Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane rush to the forest surrounding Black Rock Falls. Jenna’s heart breaks when she sees Jan’s body at the bottom of a ravine. But it’s the purplish bruising in the shape of a boot on her back that tells Jenna it was no accident. Somebody killed her.
As Jenna investigates Jan’s last movements, she learns that Jan joined a self-defense class and told her closest friends that she thought someone had followed her home one night. Was someone watching her every move, waiting for the right moment to strike?
Then another woman from the same group, Sierra Lang, is reported missing. When Jenna finds Sierra at home, her lifeless body submerged in bathwater amid clear signs of a struggle, she is certain there is a serial killer in town. With no sign of forced entry, Jenna believes Sierra knew the killer and let him in. Could it be someone known to the whole group, someone they thought was a friend?
As Jenna looks into both women’s lives, her heart races when the trail leads to someone she knows very well—someone she trusts. As a member of her own team comes under fire, Jenna is shocked to her core and desperate to get answers. Could the killer be closer than Jenna ever imagined, and can she uncover the truth before another young woman’s life is taken?
Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot and Mary Stone, this absolutely addictive serial killer thriller from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author D.K. Hood will have you hooked from the start!
**Each Kane and Alton book can be read as part of the series or as a standalone**
Mel Teshco
Wolf
Book 3, Sons of the Sheikh
Expected Release:
31 December
His bite is as fierce as his reputation
Sheikh Sharif Al-Hadid isn’t known for his gentleness. Like the territorial and savage wolf he was named after, he rules his province without mercy. He can’t be any other way. His enemies would cut him down quicker than a lightning bolt if they suspected he had a soft spot. It’s why he pretends not to care about his new fiancée, Elmira. If he showed her even a speck of love and tenderness his enemies wouldn’t stop at hurting her to hurt him.
But how long can he keep up the pretense and continue to unintentionally offend the woman he secretly loves?
Though Elmira Bakir is deeply in love with her future husband, she’s as deeply wounded by him. He is as cold and dismissive of her as any man could possibly be. A stranger would show her more warmth and compassion. That she senses beneath his icy façade is a burning passion waiting to be unleashed is her only hope, and she’ll break every rule in her culture to seduce him and know for sure if they have a future together.
Because there is no way she’ll tolerate the same loveless marriage her parents had. She deserves so much more than that. But can she fight for a man who mightn’t deem her worthy to fight for in return?
Mel Teshco
Jackal
Book 4, Sons of the Sheikh
Expected Release:
28 February 2026
His growl is as possessive as his nature
Sheikh Zayn Al-Habib has always preferred his harem to the complications of marriage. Why tie himself to one woman when he can have many? But when Malika—his favorite, his weakness—announces she's leaving because she can't share him anymore, everything changes.
They don't call him Jackal for nothing. This predator mates for life.
She thinks she can walk away, but Zayn has finally realized what he should have known all along: Malika isn't just another woman in his collection. She's his. And jackals don't let their mates go—even if keeping her means destroying what little love she still has for him.
Malika Ismat gave her heart freely, but she won't share it anymore. She wants all of Zayn or nothing at all. The problem? Leaving requires his blessing, and he's made it brutally clear she'll never have it.
Trapped between a man who owns her body but refuses to claim her heart, and a love that's slowly turning to resentment, Malika faces an impossible choice.
The line between devotion and captivity is thinner than a blade's edge.
COVERS
Lilliana Rose
Keeper of the Pack
Silence of the Pack
Sisters of the Moon
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