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Book Releases June

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is now June and I am going to share with you some of the book releases this month. As always, this list will not be an extensive one, it will be just a few of the books that I know are coming out this month. Also, I will give the release dates but they will be the UK release dates.

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden – 2nd June

With her country’s future and her own life at stake, an orphaned duchess must journey into a world of myth and there discover a power that may be her salvation—or her demise—in this enchanting new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Winternight Trilogy and The Warm Hands of Ghosts.

Anne of Brittany was a child when her realm was invaded, her home besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.

Now her treasury is empty, her land occupied by her enemies, and she is ordered, under threat of renewed war, to become queen of her conquerors and marry the King of France.

This marriage means her country’s annexation. But Anne promised her father that Brittany would never be conquered.

Defiantly, she betroths herself in secret to France’s greatest enemy. But in a world where courts may spy on each other by magic, there is only one way to solemnize this illicit union.

Anne takes her court deep into a legendary forest, where the court diviners’ skill cannot reach. The world thinks they are only a hunting party, coursing after unicorns. But that is a lie, a trick, a feint. No one in living memory has seen a unicorn. All Anne wants is this secret wedding, which is her only hope of salvation.

But when against all hope a unicorn appears and a stranger out of legend stumbles from the trees and falls at her feet, Anne is plunged into a world of enchantment where a doomed sovereign might find the power to change her own and her country’s destiny—or be lost in the shadows forever.

This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint – 4th June

The epic, captivating tale of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who must reconcile her mind and heart when she is drawn against all odds to Ares, the god of war, from the internationally bestselling author of Ariadne and Hera.

From the moment Aphrodite emerges fully formed from the sea, she is devastatingly beautiful and imbued with ancient power. Driven by passion yet strategic in how she moves through the halls of Olympus and the earthly realm alike, the free-willed goddess wields unparalleled influence over every living being.

When fate brings her face to face with Ares, she bristles at this surly, hot-tempered warrior who’s seemingly her disliked by everyone and devoted to stirring up conflict. Yet these gods are no more immune to the dizzying highs and lows of love and loss than anyone else, and soon, they are irresistibly drawn to one another.

As their love affair spans mortal lifetimes, Aphrodite begins to question the gods’ games and her role in them. But there’s only so much room for fire and passion in Zeus’s kingdom. Before long, she must test her devotion to her own divine purpose—and to a love that can only lead to ruin.

Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver – 9th June

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver comes the second book in the devilishly steamy Seasons of Carnage trilogy where dark romantic comedy meets thrilling suspense—and where love is ripe for ruin.

It’s time to reap what you sow.

Cape Carnage is blooming with secrets, and they’re ready to harvest. But every time Nolan Rhodes digs one up, another grows in its place. Harper isn’t who he thought she was. Arthur might be more sinister than he first thought. And Sheriff Yates? The man is everywhere he turns. When true crime fanatics descend on the town looking for answers about the death of their leader, Nolan finds himself at the center of a search and rescue operation for missing people he knows are already dead. Cape Carnage teeters on the brink of chaos. And the harder Nolan tries to keep it together, the closer Harper comes to unraveling.

Harper Starling has risked everything to bury her trauma in Cape Carnage. But now that Nolan has unearthed her past, her whole life seems ready to break apart. And who can she trust? The enigmatic man she’s falling in love with? He came to kill her. The serial killer mentor she’s vowed to protect? He’s become an unpredictable menace. The woman in the mirror? She might be the most dangerous of all.

Loyalties are tested. Bonds are bent to a breaking point. And love? That might be the deadliest trap of all.

Harvest Season is a dark romance with mature themes. Please check content warnings at the beginning of the book.

Tropesick by Lauren Okie – 18th June

In this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they’re crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in real life.

Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl. At least, for the past eight years, she’s tried to be. She likes glitter and sequins and flirting with cute boys at New York City bars. She’s also a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, the bestselling romance novelist of all time. But then Tyler McNally walks back into Katie’s life, and that bedazzled facade crumbles at her platform-sneakered feet.

Katie and Tyler haven’t seen or spoken to each other since the overdose death of Katie’s older brother, a standout MLB pitching prospect. Tyler was her brother’s best friend, and Katie—naturally—was the girl next door. But now, Tyler is a sleeve-tattooed, Ivy League-educated aspiring literary fiction novelist, nine years sober . . . and Katie’s writing partner for the summer.

As genre conventions require, Katie and Tyler soon find themselves removed from Manhattan and instead writing their love story in “forced proximity” at Meredith’s isolated Southampton home. As the summer unfolds, the tropes Katie and Tyler have written into their novel begin to play out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic It’s clear their love story is unfinished. This time, though, they’ll fight for their happy ending.

The Defence by Rob Rinder – 18th June

At MP-turned-wellness-guru Adrian Wells’s glitzy launch event for a bath salt that promises to reverse ageing, someone is about to turn up the heat. . .

As Adrian lowers himself into the architectural copper tub to showcase his miracle product in front of countless influencers, it soon becomes clear that something is amiss.

The bath salt has been poisoned. And now Adrian is dead. His long-suffering assistant Jules is the prime suspect.

Barrister Adam Green is tasked with Jules’s defence, and he quickly realises that there were many more people with a score to settle against Adrian.

Can Adam win the day, or is he in too deep?

The Raven at the Ash Door by K A Linde – 18th June

Can love survive an unbreakable curse?

Kierse McKenna’s magic is bound to a man she hates―one who has spent lifetimes fighting the man she loves.

To end this binding, Graves―her winter god, her monster―will stop at nothing. He discovers that the only hope of freeing Kierse is to locate a stone relic of legend, rumored to lift any curse.

The only problem? The stone has been missing for a century.

And the Oak King is on their trail.

Now Kierse is trapped at the heart of a centuries-long battle while the rest of the world comes unraveled. The Fae Killer is hunting. The peace with monsters is fracturing. And as the very rules of their myth start to shift, escaping the Oak King’s hold may demand more than stolen artifacts and clever heists.

For Kierse and Graves, it may mean risking the only thing they have left to lose.

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My Favourite Books of 2025

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. As you will have seen last week I shared my least favourite books of the year so far, excluding December as that month has not finished yet, and now I am sharing my favourite books of each month so far this year.

January – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

This year started off with a bang. I had been putting this book off since it came out, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it and now, I think about it every day. It also started a dragon obsession, I now own over ten dragon teddies.

February – Murder by Candlelight by Faith Martin

I read this book one night while I was in the hospital as it was a deal on my kindle and I ended up absolutely loving it. I can’t wait for the third book to be released in January.

March – Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Another book I had been putting off, I liked the first two but I didn’t love them but this one I must have read it at just the right time because I loved this one. It was fun and action packed.

April – Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

This year is definitely the time for reading the books I have been putting off, this is another one. It is the final one in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series. I loved getting to see the end of this story though I love the characters and would want to spend every day with them, currently this is up there as my favourite book of the year.

May – In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price

This book follows Lizzie and Darcy as they solve mysteries together, I adore this series and while there are some things I would change about the two characters I will read any book by this author.

June – The Protest by Rob Rinder

The third in his series, following a lawyer who gets more involved in solving cases than a usual lawyer. I love this series, I have so far read every book the day it came out. The mysteries are great but I just love Adam and can’t wait to see what happens to him next.

July – A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson

The fifth? I think, in the three dahlias series. Even though this was my favourite read this month, this was my least favourite of this series so far. I felt that the relationship between the three lead characters was different and not as good as usual. But I still loved it.

August – Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Oh the nostalgia. The emotion. This book has my heart definitely. It was beautifully told and made me understand Hyamitch’s character a lot better.

September – The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

A great mystery, as usual from Janice Hallett. I love the way these stories are told through mixed media, it makes it much more interesting.

October – Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

I loved this book. It had both a gothic and a historical feel about it. It was much darker than I expected it to be but I really enjoyed it, I loved the character of Dora.

November – Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

The third in the Way of the Argosi series, a spin off of the Spellslinger series. I have loved following Ferrius Parfax and seeing how her character became what it is in the Spellslinger series. This series is all about adventure and the unlikely hero. I love it.

What are some of your favourite books of this year?

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The Best Crime Fiction So Far This Year

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. As you can see by the title of this blog post, today I will be sharing with you all the books I rate in my top ten of the crime fiction books that I have read so far this year. It will be interesting to come back to this list in December and see how things have changed, or maybe it won’t have we shall have to see.

As you may or may not know, I enjoy a good crime fiction book, so much so I am doing my thesis on it, but I am very picky with what I like. So, I can tell you that so far this year I have read 28 books that fall into the category of crime fiction. That’s quite a lot, isn’t it. Anyway, from those I’d say there’s only four that I really have not liked at all. Most of them I would say were just okay, maybe nothing special but today I am sharing my top ten with you.

At number 10:

Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon. This is somewhere in the middle of the Miss Underhay mystery series, I have so far this year read seven or eight of this series so for this list I tried to limit myself to only choosing one and this one was it. It was reminiscent of old Agatha Christie stories, set in a village fair on a sunny day, very nostalgic, and the mystery was clever too which is always a bonus. I love revisiting these characters, Matthew and Kitty with each new book, if you’re looking for a quick and easy read then this series could work for you.

At number 9:

In Want of A Suspect by Tirzah Price. This is part of the Jane Austen style murder mystery novels, starting with Pride and Premeditation, but it is also sort of a spin off of that series. It follows Lizzie and Darcy, who we meet in Pride and Premeditation, and we see a continuation of their story which is not really connected but also it connected to the rest of the series. That is probably a bit confusing but it makes sense if you read the books. I enjoyed that this had a regency feel to it and I loved continuing Darcy and Lizzie’s story, they were my favourite characters from the series so far.

At number 8:

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro. As you can see by these three books on this list so far, I am quite partial to a historical mystery. 1920s/1930s and victorian are definitely the sweet spot for me though. This one is set in victorian london and you follow two characters: Inspector Bell of the police and Gemma Tate who was a nurse in Crimea but returned home to negative opinions. I loved seeing the relationship forming between these two main characters, it worked alongside the mystery brilliantly. I will say this series is a lot darker than I first thought it would be, you might need to check the trigger warnings for it but safe to say I love it, I bought the series about two months ago and I have read books 1-3 already.

At number 7:

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. I had put off reading this book for ages. Honestly, I read the first book in the series, about a woman who writes novels and is overheard while talking to her agent and winds up being hired as a hitwoman, and loved it and then book two wasn’t that good in my opinion but I already owned book three – this one – so I wanted to give it a go but I was worried I’d hate it so it took me ages to read it. But I am glad I did, it is one of my favourite books of the year so far. It was the perfect blend of fun and danger.

At number 6;

A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson. I won’t say too much here because I am doing a full book review for this novel but as part of the Three Dahlias series, I think it could be my favoruite so far. I loved the setting of the theatre and the way everything played out.

At number 5:

Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead by Antony Johnston. This series follows Gwinny, an older woman who used to be an actress but has been out of work for a while. While getting back into it she encounters a bunch of murders. Again the books in this series are hit or miss for me but this one, book three I believe, was really good. It takes place on a film set which was great for including red herrings and disguises and fun things like that.

At number 4:

The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis. And back to the historical mystery. This series, that starts with the vanished bride, follows the Bronte sisters as they solve different mysteries. The first book in the series is very classical, a manor house mystery, this second book got a lot darker. The mystery they have to solve is a set of bones, of a child, being found hidden away in a house and they find out what happened and whose bones they might have been. This book literally gave me chills.

At number 3:

The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. I think I will probably do these two together because number 3 and number 2 are the first and second books in the same series. A Murder by Candlelight and The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. This series follows Arbie, he travels around writing books about places that are supposedly haunted even though he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts, and his friend Val as they end up in different places together and in the process of ghost hunting end up solving murders too. This was the biggest surprise of the year for me. I ended up in hospital in February and all I could find on ebook was Murder by Candlelight and I remember thinking I’ll give it a go but not hoping too much, and I ended up loving it and reading the second book immediately after.

At number 1:

The Protest by Rob Rinder. This is the third book in his series following a young, newly qualified, lawyer as he gets caught up in different cases. It took a little while to warm to the character who seemed not very confident to begin with, but now I’m on book three and I am loving it. I read these books as soon as I get them and I just cannot get enough. Can’t wait for book four.

Monthly Wrap Ups

June Wrap Up!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. How was your June? Mine was so full I barely had time to myself. Some good things happened though, I saw Iron Maiden and Halestorm play live, I saw a couple of theatre shows and I read some good books.

Did you read any good books this month, what were they?

Today I am bringing you my wrap up for the month of June!

From my TBR I read:

  • Murder At The Beauty pageant by Helena Dixon – I did read this. It’s number 11 or maybe number 12 in the Miss Underhay cosy mystery series. Each installment is a brilliant short mystery with characters you love no matter what. It’s always a delight to delve into another book in the series.
  • Murder At Traitors Gate by Irina Shapiro – I did read this. This book is the second in the Bell and Tate series, a historical mystery series set around Victorian time in London I believe. I like that this series can balance the lightness of the character’s relationships with the darkness of the crime. It has a gothic feel to the series which I love.
  • To Sway A Bard – I did read this. I thought I was going to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It had all the great parts it needed: a thief character, a sheriff who is hunting the thief, enemies to lovers, a high stakes adventure, royalty, banter. But for me it was not taken as far as it could have been, it felt a little underdeveloped. I still enjoyed it but not as much as I hoped I would.
  • A Witch’s Guide To Love And Poison – I did read this.
  • A Rivalry Of Hearts by Tessonja Odette – I read half of this book before deciding to DNF it. Not because there was anything wrong with it because there wasn’t. It was well written and well plotted, the romance was good, I liked both the main characters but I got bored and having to read another half that would have been much more of the same wasn’t appealing so for now I have DNF’d it. I might come back to it later.
  • Fall Of The Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – as I am writing this I have not started this yet, however there are twelve more days left in June so I am pretty sure I will be able to have read it by the end of the month.
  • Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping On A Dead an by Jesse Sutanto – I did read this. I enjoyed it. The second in the vera wong mystery series following a chinese mother who owns a tea shop and keeps getting herself involved in murder investigations.

So, by the end of the month I should have managed to read all seven of the books that were on my TBR for the month AND outside of it I have also read the new Rob Rinder book, The Protest which was one of my most anticipated reads for this year.

Monthly Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a great day today.

July is at an end and I think it is safe to say that it was my best month for reading so far this year, both in the amount of books and my enjoyment of those books.

So, my July TBR, technically I didn’t finish it because I didn’t read the exact books I put on it BUT I did read a bunch of books so I read more books than I put on my TBR so I am going to count that as finishing it.

This was my TBR:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I did not read this book, it was actually in the pile for me to read next, to break up some of the mysteries I have been reading like a palate cleanser, but I didn’t get around to it.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

I am currently reading this book and I have three days left of the month so I am optimistic that I will finish this book by the end of July.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene

I did not read this book, I didn’t even think about it this month so hopefully I will get to it soon but that time is not yet.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews

I was excited about this book but as with A Feather So Black I haven’t been drawn to fantasy at the moment so I didn’t get around to it.

The Jewelled Moth by Katherine Woodfine

I did read this book, it is the second in the series and actually I enjoyed it more than the first book.

Outside of my TBR I have also read: I finished Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite (the best book I have read so far this year!), The Suspect by Rob Rinder, The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz, Queen Macbeth by Val Mcdermid, and I started Seven Likely Suspects by Katy Watson as well.

So in July I read 8 books this month! I am very happy with that amount. How has your reading been this month? Any great books?

Monthly TBRs

July TBR!

Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all today? I hope you are all doing well.

July is a busy, busy month for me so I am hoping that I will be able to get a lot of reading done. I am having an operation on the 15th which means that I will not be able to do much for at least a week or so other than read which sounds perfect to me. Then at the end of July I am going to Carlisle for the weekend and in the back of the car I will be able to read as well so hopefully I read some great books, fingers crossed for some five star reads!

What are you excited to read in July?

My July TBR:

Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews

A Feather so Black by Lyra Selene

The Jeweled Moth by Katharine Woodfine

On top of this though I have a list of books I would like to read while recovering and travelling because I am optimistic that I will get lots of reading done in July:

  • The Murder Game by Tom Hindle
  • The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite
  • Seven Lively Suspects by Katy Watson
  • The Suspect by Rob Rinder
  • The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
  • Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
  • The Five by Haille Rubenhold
  • Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson
Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. What a month May has been. I have been almost completely locked into research mode with my PhD draft, it is getting there slowly but surely and in a way that us completely unlike me, the more I am writing it the more I am enjoying it. The worst part now is that I can see the end in sight and not only will I have to do my exam but then it will be time to start sending the novel off to agents which I didn’t think would scare me but it fills me with a mixture of excitement and dread. I have spent so long working on it, it has become very dear to me so sending it off for critiquing is terrifying!

Anyway, you’re not here to listen to me blab on about that, we are here to discuss the books I read, or did not read which is more like it.

The Trial by Robert Rinder

I am currently reading this book and loving it by the way, I am hoping to meet Rob Rinder at Crime Fest next week and I am very excited about that.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen

I have not read this. Unfortunately, I have to read this book for my PhD thesis and its gotten to be one of those situations where I know I have to read it so the more I think about reading it the less I want to which is unfair to the book and the author because it sounds good.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

I did read this book, I thought okay you have been reading a lot of fantasy and msytery novels so you need to break it up with something a bit lighter so I decided to pick up this romance book, it has a crime writer in it as the love interest which create a nice dynamic – I will tell you more of my thoughts in a review coming soon!

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I have not read this book but I am still very excited to get around to it soon.

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Again, like Helle and Death, I have to read this for my PhD and I stayed it a while ago but I couldn’t get into it so I put it down and I haven’t managed to get back to it yet.

Murder At The Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

I did not get the chance to read this book yet.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I have heard such good things about this book and I wished I could have gotten to it this month but unfortunately I didn’t manage it.

So, I read two books this month which isn’t great but I have been enjoying the reading I have been doing which is a good thing. I actually didn’t start my first book until halfway through the month as I was finishing Kingdom of the Wicked so two books in 15 days is quite good for me.

How was your reading in the month of may? What was the best book you read?

Monthly TBRs

May TBR!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a great day.

It is now May, this year is going by so quickly, and of course, that means it is time to share what I will be reading in May!

The Trial by Rob Rinder

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

What are you all reading in May? What are you most looking forward to reading soon?

Monthly TBRs

February 2024 TBR

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

Today I am sharing with you what books I hope to read in February, I am trying to prioritise books that I can use as references in my PhD thesis so mostly I am reading murder mystery novels at the moment but sometimes I do need a break from that.

The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood

The Dog Sitter Detective Takes The Lead by Antony Johnston

The Murder Game by Tom Hindle

The Troublemakers by Tamzin Merchant

The Trial by Rob Rinder

What books are you hoping to read in February?