The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb (2025)

Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that's before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother's enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?

Shadow of the World-Famous Nine by Ben Guterson (2025)

The world's famous super store, The Nine, is under threat as a mystical curse lives, trying to remove the only thing keeping the store intact, the Sandstone Plate. Will the nine survive? We will get to know. For one thing, the Nine is not safe for now...

The Blackfire Blade by James Logan (2025)

Winter has come early to Korslakov, City of Spires, and Lukan Gardova has arrived with it. Most visitors to this famous city of artifice seek technological marvels, or alchemical ingenuity. Lukan only desires the unknown legacy his father has left for him, in the vaults of the Blackfire Bank. But when Lukan's past catches up with him, his key to the vault ends up in the hands of a mysterious thief known only as the Rook. As Lukan and his companions race to recover the key, they soon find themselves trapped in a web of murder and deceit. In desperation, Lukan requests the help of Lady Marni Volkova, scion to Korslakov's most powerful family. Yet Lady Marni has secrets of her own. Worse, she has plans for Lukan and his friends. Plans that involve a journey into Korslakov's dark past, in search of a long-lost alchemical formula that could prove to be the city's greatest discovery . . . or its destruction. ([Source][1]) [1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529432839

This Brutal Moon by Bethany Jacobs (2025)

"Violence has erupted across the Treble. The colony that Jun Ironway and Masar Hawks have fought to protect is now woefully compromised, and its people - unwilling to submit to tyranny once more - face a brutal fight for their lives and freedom. In the midst of upheaval and rebellion, new enemies arise at every corner, including a familiar player who won't let power slip through his fingers again. Not when he has every Kindom Hand under his heel. And whether he will be as bloody-minded as his predecessors remains to be seen. As the Quiet Ones launch their attack and all hope seems lost, Cleric Chono looks to unlikely allies to fight a final battle for peace. But one crucial question remains: where is Six?"

The Names by Florence Knapp (2025)

**The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?** In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register the birth of her son. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates.... Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora's last-minute choice of name. In richly layered prose, ***The Names*** explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities for autonomy and healing. Through a prism of what-ifs, Florence Knapp invites us to consider the "one ... precious life" we are given. Full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family and love's endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store.

リアル 16 by 井上雄彦 (Takehiko Inoue) (2025)

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (2025)

What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life. But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists. When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner (2025)

Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven’s arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it nature or something more sinister at work? As Haven searches for her father’s sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman’s quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Positano’s latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever…

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry (2025)

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel. I’ve spent my life kneeling—to their will and to my father's. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king. I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood. But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life. Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him—bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated? And what if—for the first time—I reached for it?

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2025)

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.

The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker (2025)

*“Moonbeam. A moonfall is coming.”* Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor—a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the world will face its most devastating moonfall yet, forcing her to pick a Chase death. Or life. Desperate to save his kingdom from ruin, Kaan’s crown has never felt so heavy. His many larks to scattered friends and family remain unanswered, and time is running out. As allies merge and enemies surge with bloodlusting agendas of their own, secrets brew hot enough to burn, but none so mighty as the truth nesting within the icy depths of Raeve’s long forgotten past. Something … Other. Something with the knowledge to change it all.

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters (2025)

In this collection of one novel and three stories, Torrey Peters’s keen eye for the rough edges of community and desire push the limits of trans writing. In ***Stag Dance***, the titular novel, a group of restless lumberjacks working in an illegal winter logging outfit plan a dance that some of them will volunteer to attend as women. When the broadest, strongest, plainest of the axmen announces his intention to dance as a woman, he finds himself caught in a strange rivalry with a pretty young jack, provoking a cascade of obsession, jealousy, and betrayal that will culminate on the big night in an astonishing vision of gender and transition. Three startling stories surround Stag Dance: “***Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones***” imagines a gender apocalypse brought about by an unstable ex. In “***The Chaser***,” a secret romance between roommates at a Quaker boarding school brings out intrigue and cruelty. In the last story, “***The Masker***,” a party weekend on the Las Vegas strip turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between two guides: a handsome mystery man who objectifies her in thrilling ways, or a cynical veteran trans woman offering unglamorous sisterhood.

Loca by Alejandro Heredia (2025)

It’s 1999, and best friends Sal and Charo are striving to hold on to their dreams in a New York determined to grind them down. Sal is a book-loving science nerd trying to grow beyond his dead-end job in a new city, but he’s held back by tragic memories from his past in Santo Domingo. Free-spirited Charo is surprised to find herself a mother at twenty-five, partnered with a controlling man, working at the same supermarket for years, her world shrunk to the very domesticity she thought she’d escaped in her old country. When Sal finds love at a gay club one night, both his and Charo’s worlds unexpectedly open up to a vibrant social circle that pushes them to reckon with what they owe to their own selves, pasts, futures, and, always, each other.

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis (2025)

Nadia is an academic who's been disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues. Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen. Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines. A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.

Eden 2:b by Joseph A. Anderson (2025)

Eden 2:b: The Star Dreamers is a science fiction novel set in 2125. Atom, a former scientist, joins a deep-space mission and becomes stranded with his crew on a distant planet affected by medieval war. His DNA-healing technology forces choices that blur science, magic, law, survival, and destiny.

Incendiant by Virginia Black (2025)

War witch Joan Matthews wants little more than to build a life with Leigh Phan. Their hometown is rebuilding under Joan’s protection, but not everyone is happy with her solution to the most recent vampire crisis. Meanwhile, Leigh’s bloodling powers lead to unforeseen consequences, and Joan is forced to honor a favor owed to a dangerous foe. Neither knows a greater threat lurks behind seemingly unrelated attacks across the land. Together, Joan and Leigh once saved the town of Calvert. Now that they are separated, each must learn to save herself, or all their gains will be forfeited—and everyone they know will pay the price.

The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley (2025)

Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to fight for the homeland he’s never seen and to follow his commander’s orders at all costs. But when he rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes’s palace, his commander’s orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby’s existence a secret. Years later, after a strange encounter that led to the death of his battalion, Phaidros has become a training master for young soldiers. He struggles with panic attacks and flashbacks, and he is not the only one: all around him, his fellow veterans are losing their minds. Phaidros’s risk of madness is not his only problem: his life has become entangled with Thebes’s young crown prince, who wishes to escape the marriage his mother, the Queen, has chosen for him. When the prince vanishes, Phaidros is drawn into the search for him—a search that leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus’s company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.

The Book of Luke by Lovell Holder (2025)

Following the car accident that ended his football career and left his body scarred, 22-year-old Luke Griffin joins the cast of Endeavor, a new competition-based reality show that pits the tabloids’ darlings against one another in tasks of endurance and problem solving. At first, he thrives, effortlessly forming friendships and even a romantic relationship that he thinks will last a lifetime. But Luke has aspirations far bigger than the show's million-dollar prize, and soon a series of betrayals leads to irreversible tragedy, changing the course of his and his fellow contestants' lives forever. Ten years later, Luke’s world looks very he is now a father of two and the stay-at-home husband to America’s only openly gay senator. When his husband's serial cheating is exposed, Luke impulsively joins the cast of Endeavor's latest season in a desperate bid to earn some fast cash. Back on set, he is confronted with everything he tried to leave in the bitter rivalries, shattered friendships, and crushing guilt, all of which threaten to tear down the walls he’s spent a decade building. As Season 20 of Endeavor kicks off, Luke must give everything to the game, even as he finally learns what it means––and what it costs––to face the truth.

Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu (2025)

Ruth, an only child of recent immigrants to New England, lives in an emotionally cold home and attends the local Catholic girl’s school on a scholarship. Maria, a beautiful orphan whose Panamanian mother dies by suicide and is taken care of by an ill, unloving aunt, is one of the only other students attending the school on a scholarship. Ruth is drawn forcefully into Maria’s orbit, and they fall into an easy, yet intense, friendship. Her devotion to her charming and bright new friend opens up her previously sheltered world. While Maria, charismatic and aware of her ability to influence others, eases into her full self, embracing her sexuality and her desire to be an artist, Ruth is mostly content to follow her around: to college and then into the early-nineties art world of New York City. There, ambition and competition threaten to rupture their friendship, while strong and unspoken forces pull them together over the years. Whereas Maria finds early success in New York City as an artist, Ruth stumbles along the fringes of the art world, pulled toward a quieter life of work and marriage. As their lives converge and diverge, they meet in one final and fateful confrontation. Ruth and Maria's decades-long friendship interrogates the nature of intimacy, desire, class and time. What does it mean to be an artist and to be true to oneself? What does it mean to give up on an obsession? Marking the arrival of a sensational new literary talent, Lonely Crowds challenges us to reckon honestly with our own ambitions and the lives we hope to lead.

The Midwizard of Cosconia by Unknown (2025)

Have you ever seen a pregnant elf? Halfling quintuplets? A tiny bearded dwarf baby or a six foot tall GIANT baby?\ \ In a land where Maternal Magic once protected every mother and child, birth has become deadly. Fresh out of midwizardry school, Izzie is determined to use her blood magic to save lives. Maternal Magic is waning each year. She’s lost friends and patients. And no one knows why. Haunted by an ancient ritual that went tragically wrong, Izzie has sworn to do no more harm. But when Cosconia’s twelve races vie for the formerly uninhabitable Wasteland, war threatens to consume the continent—and somehow Izzie ends up in the middle of the conflict. What’s a wartime midwizard to do? Izzie must face the trauma of her past—which might have more to do with their current predicament than she realizes—and possibly make peace with a very attractive, very annoying wizard.