10 Jan-June Books I’m Grabby-Hands For

Posted 7th January 2025 by Sia in Top Ten Tuesdays / 6 Comments

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!

Since you can see ALL my most-anticipated reads on my Unmissable list, I thought it made more sense to highlight some books I’m looking forward to, but that I’m not confident enough in to declare Unmissable (yet – I suspect at least some of them will turn out to be!)

Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy, #1) by Ed Crocker
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC/s
Published on: 14th January 2025
Goodreads

An epic fantasy of vampires, werewolves and sorcerers, Lightfall is the debut novel of Ed Crocker, for fans of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and Richard Swan’s The Justice of Kings.

No humans here. Just immortals: their politics, their feuds—and their long buried secrets.

For centuries, vampires freely roamed the land until the Grays came out of nowhere, wiping out half the population in a night. The survivors fled to the last vampire city of First Light, where the rules are simple. If you’re poor, you drink weak blood. If you’re nobility, you get the good stuff. And you can never, ever leave.

Palace maid Sam has had enough of these rules, and she’s definitely had enough of cleaning the bedpans of the lords who enforce them. When the son of the city’s ruler is murdered and she finds the only clue to his death, she seizes the chance to blackmail her way into a better class and better blood. She falls in with the Leeches, a group of rebel maids who rein in the worst of the Lords. Soon she’s in league with a sorcerer whose deductive skills make up for his lack of magic, a deadly werewolf assassin and a countess who knows a city’s worth of secrets.

There’s just one problem. What began as a murder investigation has uncovered a vast conspiracy by the ruling elite, and now Sam must find the truth before she becomes another victim. If she can avoid getting murdered, she might just live forever.

I am always Mighty Interested in books with no humans in them at all – Books of the Raksura, anyone? – and that’s what Lightfall is promising. I don’t remember where I first heard about this one, or what was said at the time – I only remember that whatever it was, it made me WILD to get my hands on this. And all the reviews I’ve seen have been mighty positive, which is promising!

We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Published on: 14th January 2025
Goodreads

A novel about a bio-prosthetic surgeon and her personal AI as they are drawn into a catastrophic war.

The city of Bulwark is aptly a walled city built to protect and preserve the people who managed to survive a series of great cataclysms, Bulwark was founded on a system where sacrifice is rewarded by the AI that runs the city. Over generations, an elite class has evolved from the descendants of those who gave up the most to found mankind’s last stronghold, called the Sainted.

Saint Enita Malovis, long accustomed to luxury, feels the end of her life and decades of work as a bio-prosthetist approaching. The lone practitioner of her art, Enita is determined to preserve her legacy and decides to create a physical being, called Nix, filled with her knowledge and experience. In the midst of her project, a fellow Sainted is brutally murdered and the city AI inexplicably erases the event from its data. Soon, Enita and Nix are drawn into the growing war that could change everything between Bulwark’s hidden underclass and the programs that impose and maintain order.

A complex, imaginative, and unforgettable novel, We Lived on the Horizon grapples with concepts as varied as the human desire for utopia, body horror, and what the future holds for humanity and machine alike.

I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is about We Lived on the Horizon that has hooked itself inside my head, but it lives rent-free in my brain now. Haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I heard of it!

But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo, H. Pueyo
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads

The Shape of Water meets Mexican Gothic in this sapphic monster romance novella wrapped in gothic fantasy trappings

The old keeper of the keys is dead, and the creature who ate her is the volatile Lady of the Capricious House⁠―Anatema, an enormous humanoid spider with a taste for laudanum and human brides.

Dália, the old keeper’s protégée, must take up her duties, locking and unlocking the little drawers in which Anatema keeps her memories. And if she can unravel the crime that led to her predecessor's death, Dália might just be able to survive long enough to grow into her new role.

But there’s a gaping hole in Dália’s plan that she refuses to see: Anatema cannot resist a beautiful woman, and she eventually devours every single bride that crosses her path.

Everything about this sounds FUCKING WEIRD, with sapphics and spider-monsters galore! How could I NOT want to pounce on it???

The Season of Dragons by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 14th February 2025
Goodreads

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune needs a dragon to protect him.

Dimity, Dido and Chambrey Iverwold no longer have a family dragon. Without their patron, they are alone in a world of invitations, assemblies and matchmaking. This season, with Chambrey finally in control of his fortune, the hungry fortune hunters are circling. Dimity is determined to save her brother from the worst fate of all: an unwise marriage.

Enter Mr Rackham: proud family friend, reliable gentleman hero, and nephew of Lady Beautrice de Bramble, one of the land’s most intimidating dragons. Another young lady might think Mr Rackham was the answer to her prayers, but all Dimity can see is yet another eligible gentleman who needs to be saved from his own terrible life choices.

When you don’t have a dragon, your only option is to BE the dragon.

A cozy fantasy tale of pride, prejudice and dragons from the author of Tea & Sympathetic Magic.

Tansy Rayner Roberts is the author of one of my all-time favourite trilogies, the Creature Court. (Someday I’ll be a good enough reviewer to be able to write something worthy of those books, I swear.) The Season of Dragons sounds VERY different from that trilogy, but it also sounds like an incredibly fun time!

Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy, #1) by Stephanie Burgis
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MCs
Published on: 18th February 2025
Goodreads

In a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down.

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the "wizard" she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he's in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?

If this wasn’t written by Burgis, I’d probably pass, but why would I pass on anything written by Burgis??? She’s consistently written books that charmed my socks off, and I’m fully expecting her to do it again with Witch Queen!

Go Luck Yourself (Royals and Romance, #2) by Sara Raasch
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC, M/M
Published on: 11th March 2025
Goodreads


It’s enemies to lovers in this sexy and delightful holiday mash up that pairs the spare prince of Christmas with the crown prince of St. Patrick’s Day!

Someone has been stealing Christmas’s joy, and there’s only one clue to the culprit—a single shamrock.

With Coal busy restructuring Christmas—and their dad now having a full midlife crisis in the Caribbean—Kris volunteers to investigate St. Patrick’s Day. His cover: an ambassador from Christmas to foster goodwill. What could go wrong?

Everything, it seems. Because Prince Lochlann Patrick, Crown Prince of St. Patrick’s Day, happens to be the mysterious student that Kris has been in a small war with at Cambridge. They attempt to play nice for the tabloids, but Kris can’t get through one conversation without wanting to smash Loch’s face in—he’s infuriating, stubborn, loud, obstinate, hot—

Wait—hot?

Kris might be in some trouble. Especially when it turns out that the mystery behind Christmas’s stolen magic isn’t as simple as an outright theft. But why would a Holiday that Christmas has never had contact with, one that’s always been the very basis of carefree, want to steal joy? Can a spare prince even hope to unravel all this, or will Kris lose something way more valuable than his Holiday’s resources—like his heart?

I adored the first book in this series, but I’m a little wary that a St Patrick’s Day-themed romance might be too ridiculous for me! I really hope not, though; I’m rooting for Go Luck Yourself to be just as fun as Kissmass was!

Afia in the Land of Wonders by Mia Araujo
Genres: Fantasy, MG
Representation: West African-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads

In her stunning literary debut, Mia Araujo presents a gorgeous reimagining of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, spinning a new story that is accompanied by arresting, ethereal illustrations about twin sisters and how one must venture outside the safety of their home, into the wilderness, in order to find herself and true happiness.

Afia has always felt like half of a whole. Her twin sister, Aya, is perfectly happy with fulfilling their family's expectations of them. But Afia dreams of exploring the world beyond her secluded cliffside home of Dafra. She dreams of adventure.

When she meets a charming shape-shifter named Bakame, who dazzles her with promises of a magical land called Ijabu, Afia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. Although it will mean leaving everything she has ever known behind, including her beloved sister, Afia follows Bakame into the forbidden forests surrounding Dafra, from which no one has ever returned.

Filled with magical sights, a charismatic Queen and her intriguing court, Ijabu is everything that Afia has ever dreamed of. But she soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and this fantasy world demands a terrible price. With the help of a mysterious trickster, Afia must evade the Queen's hunters and the lost dreamers of Ijabu, who wish to pull her deeper into their web.

Now, Afia must find the courage to survive while standing on her own--or risking losing herself completely to the wonders of Ijabu.

Debut author-illustrator Mia Araujo weaves an extraordinarily luminous and beautiful story, inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, about what it takes to find your true self, even if it means facing your deepest fears.

"Nothing short of an amazing adventure into a fantastic world, Mia Araujo has crafted a beautiful narrative, made all the more incredible by stunning visuals that overflow with heart and soul." -- David F. Walker, Eisner-award winning author of Bitter Root and The Second Chance of Darius Logan

I’ve been OBSESSED with this book since I first heard about it, and the beautiful art is definitely not helping. (Or rather, it’s absolutely helping, in that it’s making me completely feral.) I don’t care about Alice in Wonderland at all, but I’ve enjoyed a few retellings, and I have very high hopes for this one! Bonus: you can see some of the enchanting art from this book here!

Reignclowd Palace by Philippa Rice
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 12th June 2025
Goodreads

'Once you’ve entered the world of the artist Philippa Rice, you’ll never want to leave' Charlotte Runcie, The Telegraph

Pre-order the cosy, craft-filled fantasy where magic is in every ornate palace corridor and cobblestoned street . . .

--Evnie Treedle makes magical things and for the last few years she has been selling them in magical knickknacks shop, the Magpie Nest.

But everything changes when one day Evnie’s crafting abilities catch the attention of the nearby Reignclowd Palace. She is asked to become their resident spellsmith… the original spellsmith suddenly ill under mysterious circumstances.

Evnie is soon put to work making and mending magical objects. Yet, problems start to appear when she realises there’s much more at stake than friendship or romance; a dragon looms over the kingdom looking for a soul to devour, and it’s eyes are set on their princess.
--
'Rice is immensely talented and versatile who works with sculpture and textiles and collage, and that smorgasbord of knowledge transmutes into her work' Zainab Akhtar - Comics & Cola

A UK-only release (at least at the moment; US when???) but I’m completely in love with the idea of a magical knickknacks shop!

A Holy Maiden's Guide to Getting Kidnapped (Scandals of the Gifted, 1) by Katy Nyquist
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Representation: Face blind MC
Published on: 17th June 2025
Goodreads

A Holy Maiden should never drink, get kidnapped, nor kiss a Dark Lord, but Ysabel is breaking all the rules to escape her fate as a human sacrifice.

In a world where magical powers are commonplace, Holy Maiden Ysabel is revered as a goddess among her people. She’s the only one able to heal the sick and injured with a simple touch. But her spectacular gift comes at a steep price. For each person she saves, she loses a day of her own conscripted life. To add insult to injury, she’s supposed to maintain a pure image even though she’d rather drink and play dominatrix until her sorrows fade away.

After the corrupt Head Cardinal Jiang abuses her gift, forbids her from leaving the city, and takes her brother hostage, Ysabel doesn’t dare drag anyone else into her problems—especially since it won’t change her fate. But when Dark Lord Kaine arrives at her clinic doorstep grievously wounded, she’s touched by his refusal to accept her healing lest it cost her another day of her life.

The mysterious and sexy Dark Lord awakens forbidden desires in Ysabel, and the nagging survival instinct she tried to drown with booze and drugs comes back with a vengeance. She’s less impressed, however, when he threatens to sack her city in return for his injuries. Fortunately, she can flirt her way to an alliance against the Head Cardinal instead.

Armed with only a ferociously loyal female bodyguard named Alzira, Ysabel attempts to make the most of her mere months left to live, protect the refugees around her city, prevent a war, and hide her face blindness. But before her life flickers to its sad end, she must either die a proper Holy Maiden or risk it all to run off with Kaine.

Definitely a step outside of what I usually read, but what’s the point if you never dip your toe outside your comfort zone??? This sounds like so much fun, and I’m surprised but delighted that we’re getting a face blind MC! I wonder if that will contribute to shenanigans?

Memory of Olympus (Gunmetal Olympus #2) by Maria Ying
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic MCs, F/F, F/F/NB, queernorm world
Published on: 25th June 2025
Goodreads

Decadent cyberpunk cities. Giant mechs and monsters. Greek mythology retold like no other.Before the rampage of the colossi, before the killer cyborg Persephone was made... there was the rule of the Titans.

Under the iron fists of the Twelve Titans, Elysium glitters, casting its cruel light upon the face of Olympus. The city grows in leaps and bounds, the terraforming projects expand by the day, and the Titan's children—organic and otherwise—are each tasked with conquering the planet in the Titans' name. But unbeknownst to them, their children chafe under their tyranny, and little by little the flickers of revolt ignite...

Memory of Olympus is a collection of short stories taking place during the Titans' rule and after the Titanomachy, where the gods find themselves, establish themselves—and go to war against their makers. This also includes a preview of the next Gunmetal Olympus book, The Persephone Effect.

No one was as surprised as I that I ended up loving the first book in this series: Greek myth retellings? MECHAS? These are not things Sia generally enjoys at all! And yet. I find myself very interested in a collection of short stories set in this verse – I wonder whose backstories we’ll get more glimpses of???

Which books are YOU most looking forward to in the next six months???

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6 responses to “10 Jan-June Books I’m Grabby-Hands For

  1. But Not Too Bold was on my list too; I’ve read it as an ARC already and it’s great! Exactly as weird and creepy yet somehow also romantic as you’d hope. I hope you enjoy all of these once they’re out. :D

    • Sia

      I know right?! There’s no mention of romance at all, though – I so hope there isn’t any, I’ve been craving some no-romance sff!

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