May’s Literary Bounty: A Deep Dive into New Releases
Hope you’ve savored every last page of your April reads, because May is bursting at the seams with a veritable cornucopia of new literary offerings. Buckle up, because we’re about to embark on a whirlwind tour of haunted houses, star-crossed lovers, time-bending paradoxes, and fantastical realms aplenty!
Supernatural Showdowns and Historical Intrigue:
Kicking off the month, Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle deliver the grand finale to their Black Badge series with Ace in the Hole, promising an epic showdown between supernatural forces that stretches from the Wild West to the halls of power in the nation’s capital. Prepare for a culmination of magic, gunslinging, and high-stakes adventure.
For those who enjoy a touch of Victorian flair, Pat Murphy presents The Adventures of Mary Darling, a subversive reimagining of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes. This promises a clever and witty tale where the mother of the Darling children takes center stage, outsmarting her bumbling husband and even the world’s most famous detective.
Neon Yang’s Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame offers a queer novella filled with dragons and dragon hunters. Prepare for a story of finding home and love in the most unexpected of places.
Delving into the darker corners of literary history, David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark unveil The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett. This bloodcurdling correspondence promises to shed light on the infamous partner-in-crime of Sweeney Todd, revealing the secrets and horrors behind their macabre partnership.
Jasmine Wigham’s Cradle of Secrets introduces an American with a shadowed past who becomes entangled in a world teeming with monsters in London. Expect a dark and action-packed tale of intrigue and hidden dangers.
Magical Academia, Romance, and Family Secrets:
Sylvie Cathrall concludes her Sunken Archive duology with A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, offering a heartwarming magical academia fantasy filled with underwater cities, charming romance, and the power of found family.
Christina Li’s The Manor of Dreams explores the secrets hidden within a decaying mansion once owned by a Hollywood starlet, weaving a haunting tale of two Chinese American families vying for inheritance.
Isa Agajanian’s Modern Divination promises a cozy magical fantasy with witches, an academic rivals-to-lovers romance, and a strong sense of found family.
Horror, Sci-Fi, and the Wild West:
Christopher Golden plunges readers into terror with The Night Birds, where a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department worker encounters his ex-girlfriend seeking refuge from witches on a storm-battered freighter.
Mira Grant’s Overgrowth presents a unique sci-fi premise: a woman who claims to be an alien is suddenly proven right when an extraterrestrial signal announces an impending invasion.
Gregory Frost continues his Rhymer series with Rhymer: Hel, following Thomas the Rhymer’s ongoing battle against the Elf Queen and her Yvag knights in Elizabethan England.
Romantasy, Dystopia, and Historical Fantasy:
Devney Perry’s Shield of Sparrows delivers a high-stakes romantasy where enemies become lovers amidst a cursed realm. Expect monsters, forgotten princesses, and the fight to become the warrior she was never meant to be.
Dani Francis’s Silver Elite, the first in a dystopian romance series, plunges readers into a world where psychic gifts are a death sentence, forcing characters to navigate a treacherous landscape of lies and forbidden love.
Nicole Jarvis’s A Spell for Change transports readers to post-World War One Appalachia in a historical fantasy where three outcasts with magical gifts seek their place in a world grappling with dark forces.
Lindsay Byrd’s The Sun Blessed Prince kicks off a new duology, exploring the bond between a battle-weary prince and a reluctant assassin, and whether their connection can end a devastating war.
Omar Hussain’s A Thousand Natural Shocks combines suspense and mystery as a reporter investigating a serial killer becomes entangled with a cult and a pill designed to erase traumatic memories.
Jackie Lau’s Time Loops & Meet Cutes offers a unique love story about a woman trapped in a time loop, reliving the same Friday over and over, and the intriguing man who can’t quite remember her.
More Adventures Await Mid-Month:
Christopher Moore returns with Anima Rising, a hilariously deranged tale involving a mad scientist, a famous painter, and an undead woman’s journey of self-discovery.
Evan Leikam’s Anji Kills a King throws readers into a breakneck fantasy debut where an unlikely assassin struggles to escape a legendary bounty hunter.
Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro’s Bochica delivers gothic horror with a real-life Latin American haunted mansion and family secrets.
Melissa Holtz’s A Charming Touch of Tarot presents a magical cozy fantasy where four friends discover that their new skills may not be enough to save them from a stalker.
Frederic S. Durbin’s The Country Under Heaven is a western epic about a Civil War soldier plagued by visions.
Danielle L. Jensen’s A Curse Carved in Bone concludes the A Fate Inked in Blood duology.
Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils features a band of anti-heroes on a bloody and raucous journey.
Delilah S. Dawson’s Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of the Strahd takes readers on a horror-filled adventure.
Matt Dinniman’s The Eye of the Bedlam Bride is the latest in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
Morgan Rider’s A Goddess Unraveled tells of a demigoddess who flees to the underworld with Hades to escape Zeus’s wrath.
Emily Tesh’s The Incandescent is a sapphic dark academia fantasy.
Oliver Darkshire’s Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is a delightful story of self-discovery, fungus, capitalism, and sorcery.
Lincoln Michel’s Metallic Realms collides fantastic universes and personal dramas.
Debbie Urbanski’s Portalmania dives into the depths of betrayal, parenthood, and more.
Erin Palmisano’s The Secrets of Maiden’s Cove tells of a woman who may be a mermaid.
G.R. Macallister’s Sestia concludes the Five Queendoms series trilogy.
April Asher’s A Simple Twist of Fate delivers a paranormal romantic comedy.
J.D. Barker’s Something I Keep Upstairs sees best friends realize that the home where they’re staying is a nexus of evil.
Stephen Aryan’s The Sorrow of the Sea concludes The Nightingale and the Falcon trilogy.
Harper L. Wood’s What Sleeps Within the Cove is the next in The Of Flesh & Bone series.
Lorna Graham’s Where You Once Belonged features a TV news producer facing her teenage self.
Later in the Month, New Worlds and Mysteries Emerge:
Daria Lavelle’s Aftertaste is a novel set amid New York’s culinary scene.
- Stevenson’s Behooved is a charming fantasy.
Adam Oyebanji’s Esperance is a mystery thriller.
Matt Serafini’s Feeders follows a would-be influencer whose dreams go wrong.
Dean Koontz’s Going Home in the Dark is about childhood fears and buried secrets.
Rachel Gillig’s The Knight and the Moth is a gothic tale of a young prophetess.
Barnaby Martin’s The Quiet is set in a world encased by a mysterious Soundfield.
Katee Robert’s Rebel in the Deep concludes the Crimson Sails trilogy.
Caitlin Starling’s The Starving Saints is a medieval horror.
Vivian Shaw’s Strange New World concludes the Dr. Greta Helsing series.
Elisa Levi’s That’s All I Know is a story of loss, desire, and conspiracies.
Wendy Cross’s Then There Was One sees contestants discovering that this year’s game has deadly consequences.
Sarah Pinborough’s We Live Here Now is a Gothic novel about a house―and a marriage―gone terribly wrong.
Emily Paxman’s Death on the Caldera blends murder mystery and fantasy.
Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory deliver Deliverance of Dragons, a tale of the end of one world.
Django Wexler’s Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me concludes the Dark Lord Davi duology.
Hazel McBride’s A Fate Forged in Fire is the first in a Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology.
Tochi Onyebuchi’s Harmattan Season is hard-boiled fantasy noir.
Angie Spoto’s The Grief Nurse sees Lynx trapped at the center of a family tearing itself apart.
Caitlin Rozakis’s The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association blends magic and New England society.
Michelle Sagara’s Heir of Light sees Robin owning up to his destiny.
Jim C. Hines’s Kitemaster features a Kitemaster.
Stephen King’s Never Flinch features Holly Gibney.
Alexandra Warwick’s The South Wind is inspired by Sleeping Beauty and the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Gareth Hanrahan’s The Sword Triumphant concludes the epic fantasy series.
With such a diverse range of genres and themes on offer, May promises to be a month of thrilling discoveries for book lovers of all tastes. Happy reading!
