Here’s the full list of horror, romantasy, and other crossover SF/F titles heading your way in April!
Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change.
April 1
This Monster of Mine — Shalini Abeysekara (Union Square & Co)
Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land—and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder. Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra—because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant.
Freakslaw — Jane Flett (Zando)
It is the summer of ‘97 and the repressed Scottish town of Pitlaw is itching for change. Enter the Freakslaw—a travelling carnival of deviant queers and architects of mayhem. There’s Gloria, fortune teller and worm charmer; her daughter Nancy, a contortionist witch; big-hearted tightrope walker, Werewolf Louie; not to mention illusionists and conjoined twins, Cass and Henry, and tattooed human pincushion, the Pin Gal. Against Pitlaw’s miserably grey landscape, the carnival shines electric and bright, and it doesn’t take long for the town’s teenagers to be seduced by its neon charms and the possibility of escape. But beneath it all, these newcomers are harboring a darker desire: revenge. Revenge for being cast out, never allowed to settle, punished for purely existing. And as tensions reach fever pitch between the stoic, unwelcoming locals and the dazzling intruders, a violence that has been bubbling for centuries is about to be unleashed.
Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory — Iddo Gefen, tr. Daniella Zamir (Astra House)
Our story opens with Mrs. Lilienblum discovered drinking a martini in a crater in the Israeli desert. Eli, her adult son, tries to understand what happened to his wacky mother, while he also tackles the legend of a missing hiker named McMurphy, and whether he might be in love with Tamara, a visitor to his family’s hostel on the edge of a crater. The story races forward as the Lilienblum family builds a company around Eli’s mother’s invention and makes comedy out of startup culture, the obsession with company valuation and funding, the secrets families keep, romantic and family love–all with humor, warmth and compassion.
Direct Descendant — Tanya Huff (DAW)
Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it’s worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways. Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it’s a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might just be falling for… and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.
Insignificant Others — Sarah Jio (William Morrow)
Lena Westbrook, a perfectionist and workaholic, has carefully planned and orchestrated every detail of her life. So when her boyfriend of two years breaks up with her on the night she expects him to propose, she’s heartbroken and confused. Lena flees to her beloved aunt’s home on Seattle’s picturesque Bainbridge Island to lick her wounds but when she awakens the next morning, she is shocked to find herself in Paris—in bed with a handsome French man who seems to think that Lena is his wife. From the elegant neighborhoods of Paris to the charming landscape of Kinsale, Ireland, to the sparkling skyline of New York City, and many other unexpected destinations in between, each time Lena awakens, she finds herself somewhere else with someone else. In each experience, she’s given a glimpse of what life might have looked like had she chosen the “road not taken.” And as she becomes more clear-sighted about her past decisions, Lena begins to wonder, were any of these former romantic encounters actually… significant?
Reluctant Witch (A Course in Magic #2) — Marissa Marr (Bramble)
After discovering she’s a witch and being whisked away to the magical land of Crenshaw, Ellie wants nothing more than to spend time with her new wife, Prospero, who has magically altered Ellie’s memories to convince her of exactly that. Prospero herself is guilt-wracked after erasing Ellie’s memories and being forced into a sham marriage with the woman she loves for real. But Crenshaw is dying, poisoned by Prospero’s enemies who want their community to return to the human world, and she will do anything to save it. The most powerful witch in anyone’s memory is in Prospero’s home, in her bed, with no idea that she’s a prisoner there… yet. As the very fabric of their world is being destroyed, Ellie and Prospero must find a way to work together and save the world, and themselves.
Sour Cherry — Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House)
The tale begins with Agnes. After losing her baby, Agnes is called to the great manor house to nurse the local lord’s baby boy. But something is wrong with the child: his nails grow too fast, his skin smells of soil, and his eyes remind her of the dark forest. As he grows into a boy, then into man, a plague seems to follow him everywhere. Trees wither at the roots, fruits rot on their branches, and the town turns against him. The man takes a wife, who bears him a son. But tragedy strikes in cycles and his family is forced to consider their own malignancy—until wife after wife, death after death, plague after plague, every woman he touches becomes a ghost. The ghosts become a chorus, and they call urgently to our narrator as she tries to explain, in our very real world, exactly what has happened to her. The ghosts can all agree on one thing, an inescapable truth about this man, this powerful lord who has loved them and led them each to ruin: If you leave, you die. But if you die, you stay.
April 8
Cold Eternity — S.A. Barnes (Nightfire)
Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago… The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram “hosts,” ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents. It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from
Firebird (Fire that Binds #1) — Juliette Cross (Bramble)
A conqueror captivated… A witch prophesied to save them all… A world where dragons rule Rome. From the moment Roman general and nephew to the emperor Julianus Dakkia laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate. But he and his dragon know one thing: she belongs to them. Malina can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality. His prowess as a warrior cannot be denied, yet they don’t reveal the secret he hides. All Malina knows is his protection and gentle touch. And she cannot deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his. As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.
The Cut — C. J. Dotson (St. Martin’s)
A historic hotel long past its prime and huddled along The Cut, a questionable Lake Erie beach, isn’t Sadie Miles’ ideal place to raise a toddler while also navigating her second pregnancy. After finally fleeing her abusive ex-fiancé, though, Sadie’s new housekeeping position and free room at L’Arpin Hotel are the best she can manage. On her first night, Sadie runs to help a guest struggling in the hotel’s pool only to find the water calm and empty when she gets there, leaving her with a lingering unease. When a guest then goes missing and her manager insists they simply left without checking out, Sadie suspects he’s covering up darker goings-on in the hotel. After her ex, Sadie won’t let anyone convince her that what she’s experiencing isn’t real again. So, she keeps digging, quickly uncovering suspicious interactions with the staff, mysteriously vanishing security cameras, more missing guests, and things that go bump in the night… and drip in the walls, slither in the tub, and squirm in the halls. Everything isn’t as it seems within the dim hallways of L’Arpin. Sadie has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide; she’ll need to keep her wits about her to survive and keep her toddler and unborn child safe from whatever lurks nearby.
The Geographer’s Map to Romance (Love’s Academic #2) — India Holton (Berkley)
Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves. Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either—except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They’ve been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn’t stopped him from stoically pining for her. When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of Britain, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there’s no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.
The Wind Weaver — Julie Johnson (Ace)
Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers. The mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself. For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic… or die trying. But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames… or let them consume her.
House of Blight — Maxym M. Martineau (Harper Voyager)
Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden… until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret. The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight—an incurable virus killing people throughout the town, and an illness too strong for her to heal them both—Orin offers to help. Together at his estate they’ll research a cure while Orin slows their sickness and Edira hones her magic. His kindness and honesty surprises Edira, as does her undeniable attraction to him. But the other Ferngloves are suspicious of her power and may be more dangerous than the ever-present disease. The longer Edira stays within the confines of the Manor, the more the family’s pristine exterior begins to crack—until Edira discovers a terrifying secret and must choose who she can save and at what cost
The Never List — Jade Presley (Entangled: Red Tower)
Threatened by invaders, the kingdom of Lumathyst is on the verge of chaos, and no one can stop it. Unless the four immortal god-princes find their fated mate—and safeguard the throne—Lumathyst will fall. Five women have tried. Five have failed. And tonight in the royal city, the princes need to find their Chosen and hope she can survive the transformation that will make her immortal. Only Rylee Gray wasn’t supposed to be here. She snuck in for her own dark reasons—and now they claim they’ve found their perfect match. Her. Of course, they have no idea she’s concealing a secret big enough to damn them all. The four princes have no choice. They’ll use every delectably wicked skill they have to make Rylee fall for all of them… or watch their kingdom collapse.
The Gods Time Forgot — Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez (Alcove Press)
Manhattan, 1870. Rua knows only two things: her name and that she has no memories. So when the wealthy Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma, Rua goes along with the charade, hoping for answers about who she really is. As she tries to blend into a society she doesn’t remember, she’s drawn to a firmly off-limits man: the Lord of Donore, a newcomer to Manhattan society who is somehow familiar to Rua. Finn is new to this side of the Atlantic and knows that the best way to fit in as Lord of Donore is to make friends in high places and play by the rules of society. He knows he shouldn’t become involved with a mysterious, recently missing debutante, but he’s intrigued by Emma Harrington, and Finn has an uncanny feeling that this isn’t the first time they’ve met. With societal pressures mounting on both sides, Rua is determined to discover the truth about the missing Harrington daughter and her own past. But when her memories begin to return, they’re of a world far stranger than New York and traced in dark magic. As ancient secrets unfurl in Rua’s memory, Rua and Finn are forced to uncover the mystery of their past and try to save their future. In this gritty and glittering romantasy, nothing and no one is as they seem.
Enchantra (Wicked Games #2) — Kaylie Smith (Forever)
When Genevieve Grimm’s mother dies, she’s left with questions no one can answer—until she receives an invitation to Enchantra, a cursed palace in Italy, frozen in time and shrouded in strange fruit. So when the hostile and sinfully handsome Rowin Silver refuses to let her inside, Genevieve finds her own way in… only to realize her mistake. For Enchantra is a twisted labyrinth, carved from gleaming silver and thorned hedges, where Rowin and his six siblings are forever trapped in a deadly game, at the mercy of a wicked Devil and his ghastly spectators. Only one occupant of the house can survive. Genevieve now must win or die. Rowin warns her he’s the deadliest of the Silvers. That he always wins. That her only chance is to compete as his wife… so they must convince their audience that they’re desperately in love. And while Genevieve’s willing to do whatever it takes to survive, she knows she can’t trust Rowin, that the desire burning between them is a lie. After all, it was Rowin who taught her Enchantra’s first rule… Never, ever trust your heart.
Their Monstrous Hearts — Yigit Turhan (MIRA)
A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection. The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse. As Riccardo explores the decrepit estate, he stumbles upon Perihan’s diary, which might hold the key to her mysterious death. Or at least give him the inspiration he needs to finish his manuscript. But he might not survive long enough to write it.
What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh and Bone #3) — Harper L Woods (Bramble)
Once, I’d chosen my mate instead of freedom. For weeks, we retraced our steps back to Mistfell and the lingering shadow of the Veil at the boundary between realms. Traveling through the kingdom, I denied the evidence in front of me, unable to fathom that I wasn’t the lost princess of Faerie. Instead, it is Fallon who must fear the consequences of her heritage. Which leaves me with a single, unanswered question. Then, I awoke, caged high above the throne of the Queen of Air & Darkness. Mab is the Queen who keeps all of Alfheimr held squirming within her clawed grasp. She uses the children of Faerie to sustain the magic granted to her by the cursed gem atop her crown, which has carved her from the girl she once was into a dark vessel, obsessed with power. She thrives on cruelty, and wields our love as an instrument for pain. Now, I’ll play the games of the Fae. I’m a curiosity, my presence an enigma that was never foreseen. I may not be Mab’s daughter, yet she still keeps me close, as she forges me into a weapon against humans and Fae alike. Mab may not own me yet, but she controls the life of the man I love. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to see him freed. Even if I have to become the villain to do it.
April 15
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith — Rebecca Ide (Saga)
Lord Nicholas Monterris is trapped. The only heir to a declining dukedom, Nic is destined for a marriage of convenience. What he doesn’t expect is for his bride to be Lady Leaf Serral, daughter of his father’s hated rival. Tradition dictates the families are confined together while the marriage contract is crafted, which should be the worst part. Until Nic learns the Serrals’ head negotiator is master vowsmith Dashiell sa Vare—beautiful, perfect Dashiell sa Vare—an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten. Nic’s only defense is false smiles and too much wine. When a dead body turns up, tension within the castle thickens. The first death is brushed off as an unfortunate accident, but a second reveals something sinister is unfolding at Monterris Court. As accusations fly and long-buried secrets surface, Nic must work with his former lover and his future bride to uncover a devious mastermind before they claim another victim.
The Seven O’Clock Club — Amelia Ireland (Berkley)
Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria have nothing in common—well, except for one thing: they’ve each experienced a deep personal loss that has led them to an unconventional group meeting, every Tuesday night at seven. A meeting they’ve been particularly selected for that will help them finally move on. At least, that’s the claim. As they warily eye one another and their unnervingly observant group leader, one question hangs over them: why were they chosen? To get the answer, they are going to have to share a whole lot of themselves first. Getting Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria to trust each other is vital—because the real reason they’re connected will shift the ground beneath their feet.
Senseless — Ronald Malfi (Titan)
What do you see…? When the mutilated body of a young woman is discovered in the desert on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the detective assigned to the case can’t deny the similarities between this murder and one that occurred a year prior. Media outlets are quick to surmise this is the work of a budding serial killer, but Detective Bill Renney is struggling with an altogether different scenario: a secret that keeps him tethered to the husband of the first victim. What do you hear.? Maureen Park, newly engaged to Hollywood producer Greg Dawson, finds her engagement party crashed by the arrival of Landon, Greg’s son. A darkly unsettling young man, Landon invades Maureen’s new existence, and the longer he stays, the more convinced she becomes that he may have something to do with the recent murder in the high desert. What do you feel…? Toby Kampen, the self-proclaimed Human Fly, begins an obsession over a woman who is unlike anyone he has ever met. A woman with rattlesnake teeth and a penchant for biting. A woman who has trapped him in her spell. A woman who may or may not be completely human.
Vanishing World — Sayaka Murata, tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori (Grove)
As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents “copulated” in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange “system” by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage—sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest—Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children. Men are beginning to become pregnant using artificial wombs that sit outside of their bodies like balloons, and children are nameless, called only “Kodomo-chan.” Is this the new world that will purify Amane of her strangeness once and for all?
Another Fine Mess (Bless Your Heart #2) — Lindy Ryan (Minotaur)
For over a hundred years, the Evans women have kept the undead in their strange southeast Texas town from rising. But sometimes the dead rise too quick–and that’s what left Lenore Evans, and her granddaughter Luna, burying Luna’s mother, Grace, and Lenore’s mother, Ducey. Now the only two women left in the Evans family, Luna and Lenore are left rudderless in the wake of the most Godawful Mess to date. But when the full moon finds another victim, it’s clear their trouble is far from over. Now Lenore, Luna, and the new sheriff—their biggest ally—must dig deep down into family lore to uncover what threatens everything they love most. The body count ticks up, the most unexpected dead will rise–forcing Lenore and Luna to face the possibility that the undead aren’t the only monsters preying on their small town.
April 22
Exit Zero — Marie-Helene Bertino (FSG Originals)
Death-shaped entities—with all of their humor and strangeness—haunt the twelve stories in Exit Zero. Vampires, ghost girls, fathers, blank spaces, day-old peaches, and famous paintings all pierce through their world into ours, reminding us to pay attention! and look alive! and offering many other flashes of wisdom from the oracle and author of Beautyland, Marie-Helene Bertino.
When the Wolf Comes Home — Nat Cassidy (Nightfire)
One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy’s father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives. As they attempt to evade the boy’s increasingly desperate father, Jess slowly comes to a horrifying understanding of the butchery that follows them—the boy can turn his every fear into reality. And when the wolf finally comes home, no one will be spared.
The Jamaica Kollection of the Shante Dream Arkive — Marcia Douglas (New Directions)
Zooming into tight focus on present-day life and dashing deep into the past in turns, the pace is fast and fierce in The Jamaica Kollection of the Shante Dream Arkive, which continues Marcia Douglas’ “speculative ancestral project” (The Whiting Foundation) begun with The Marvellous Equations of the Dread. Her new poetic and eco-spiritual book carries further the cultural preservation so central to Douglas’ vision. TheShante Dream Arkive brings alive a mosaic of characters—all searching through history for something or someone lost to the island: a mother searches for her missing child through time and space; an undocumented migrant’s struggles with loss while living in the US; a youth wanders through dream-gates seeking liberation and the lost parts of himself. And one key to the whole is Zora Neale Hurston’s left-behind camera. Each chapter/poem opens like an aperture onto another aspect of the dream story. And, each and every potent dream story contains the spirit, beauty, and riddim of Jamaica.
A World of Ruins (Solaris and Crello #3) — Rina Vasquez (Headline)
After the events that led to Darius’s capture, Nara resolves in her determination to do whatever it takes to rescue him from the clutches of Aurum Rivernorth. As Aurum’s powers continue to grow, his control over Zerathion spreads even faster. The powers of the Isle of Elements – the very essence that sustains life on Zerathion – is slowly fading. Time is running out. Nara will need to navigate treacherous alliances, devious double-crossers, and the perils of a broken world in order to protect those she holds dear. Will she be the saviour her world desperately needs? The fate of the kingdom rests on her shoulders.
April 29
Broken Souls and Bones (Broken Souls and Bones #1) — LJ Andrew (Ace)
Lyra Bien intended to live a quiet life to avoid the attention of the magic-obsessed king in the fortress of Stonegate. Until Roark Ashwood—the prince’s silent guard and rumored killer for the crown—invades her village and uncovers the truth behind the silver scars in her eyes. To save her best friend from death, she’s forced to reveal her abilities, and is immediately claimed by the crown as the next melder. To be the King’s melder is to be revered and feared in equal measures, but above all it is a slow death sentence. Lyra is determined to find a way to free herself and her friends from bondage. But first she must get more information from the silent, brooding sentry who first took her captive: Roark. As Lyra gets closer to Roark, she soon learns he’s nothing like she assumed—and in fact everything she needs. The more they work as allies, the harder it becomes to ignore the growing passion between them. After a sinister truth is revealed, Roark and Lyra must choose to stand against all they know, or accept their dark destiny.
Polybius — Collin Armstrong (Gallery)
October, 1982. Forced to move to the quiet seaside town of Tasker Bay by her mother, the only thing on high schooler Andi’s mind is saving up enough money to return to her old stomping grounds in Silicon Valley. Her self-taught skills with all things electronic make her a perfect fit for a job at the dingy local arcade where she can tune out from life and bankroll her eventual escape. Pining over the distant and aloof Andi is Ro, the son of Tasker Bay’s sheriff, who begins spending more time at the arcade. Despite promising herself she wouldn’t get attached to anyone in town, Andi finds herself opening up to the thoughtful, like-minded Ro. When Polybius—a new bleeding-edge game of unknown origin arrives—the shop is suddenly overwhelmed with players fighting for time on the machine. Seemingly overnight, a virus-like epidemic grips Tasker Bay while a violent coastal storm rolls in, isolating it from the outside world. People begin experiencing fits of anger, paranoia, and hallucinations—no one can be trusted. After a grisly act of violence goes unsolved, the town descends into chaos. Is the arrival of this mysterious game and the disorder in Tasker Bay a coincidence? Convinced the dire situation is somehow linked to Polybius, Andi and Ro desperately search for clues that might stop the spread before they, too, begin experiencing side effects
The Ghost Woods — C.J. Cooke (Berkley)
In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall. This place is shrouded in folklore—old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who is not quite a child. Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed. Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something. Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live on the grounds—and together they begin to unpack the secrets of this place. As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew—and risk what she holds most dear.
City of All Seasons — Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley (Titan)
Welcome to Jamie Pike’s Fairharbour—a city stuck in perpetual winter, its windows and doorways bricked shut to keep out the freezing cold, its residents striving to survive in the arctic conditions. Welcome to Esther Pike’s Fairharbour—a city stuck in constant summer, its walls crumbling in the heat, its oppressive sunlight a relentless presence. Winter and Summer alike, have both fallen under the yoke of oppressive powers, that have taken control after the cataclysm. But both Fairharbours were once a single, united city. And in certain places, at certain times, one side can catch a glimpse of the other. As Jamie and Esther find a way to communicate across the divide, they set out to solve the mystery of what split their city in two, and what, if anything, might repair their fractured worlds.
Enigma — RuNyx (Bramble)
Salem Salazar is a Mortimer University legacy and the black sheep of her scandal-ridden, wealthy family. Obsessed with death, she arrives at Mortimer on the hunt for answers about what happened to her perfect, missing older sister. There, she discovers that her sister is far from the only girl to have gone missing at Mortimer. Salem will do anything to discover what dark forces are killing Mortimer’s students… even if it means using herself as bait. And Cazimir van der Waal has caught her scent. He has a dark past, a hidden agenda, and a ravenous appetite for a beautiful, golden-eyed girl who seems determined to risk her life. But he is far from the most dangerous thing at Mortimer.
When the Tides Held the Moon — Venessa Vida Kelley (Erewhon)
Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric side-show proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon. The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own. A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.
