Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.
TWENTY-FIVE books this week! That is a BRAND-NEW RECORD, juuust defeating Must-Have Monday #206 (which had twenty-three books)!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Genres: Adult, Horror, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Bisexual MC
Published on: 10th February 2025
Goodreads
Valya’s neural implant is amazing.
Its game-like app, CASUAL, has managed her depression and anxiety, stabilized her mood, and helped the infertile Valya get pregnant. But new laws forbid her from using the device when she's sole caregiver for her infant. Her gaslighting ex won't help her, and she can't afford a nanny, so her obstetrician insists that Valya wean off CASUAL before giving birth.
Despite a will to quit and a supportive new love interest in her birthing class, disabling CASUAL turns Valya's anxiety into full-blown panic attacks. Her psychiatrist offers to enroll her in a controversial clinical trial that would place a tandem implant in the baby and allow Valya to keep hers active. Valya must decide whether she should attempt parenting without CASUAL or install a minimally tested device in her vulnerable child.
Casual is a stark and cutting glance at a near future that looks uncannily like our present, exploring themes of bodily autonomy and the struggle for mental health in a world increasingly divided.
I have heard some INCREDIBLE praise for this one, from some very respectable corners of the book world, and am thus extremely intrigued!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
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.
A weirdly adorable monster romance novella!
You can read an excerpt here, and my review here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: MLM MC
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
The exciting sequel to the gunslinging, dragon-riding world of The Mountain Crown
Sephihalé ele Janan sits in a prison cell in the southern island of Mazemoor, dreaming of escape. After months in a provisional prison for fighting for the imperial Kattakans, Janan is sponsored by another refugee who was once a part of his scattered family. Yearning to build a life on his sister’s land with the dragons their people revere, the peace Janan seeks is threatened by a ruthless dragon baron who covets both Janan’s connection to the earth and the battle dragon to which he is covenanted.
The conflict may drive Janan to acts of violence he hoped to leave behind in the war, and bring more death to the land Janan now calls home.
THE DESERT TALON is a story of two groups of people who, despite a common ancestry, have diverged so far in their beliefs that there appears to be little mutual ground—and the conflict may well start to unravel the burgeoning hopes of a country, and a man, still recovering from the ravages of war.
The sequel to the wonderful Mountain Crown! I did struggle with it, but I’m 95% sure that was a me-problem and I’m hoping I have a better time when I reread it!
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi, Speculative Fiction
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Two women fight to save their dystopian border town—and literature—in this gonzo near-future adventure.
The year is 2038, and the formerly bustling town of Three Rivers, Texas, is a surreal wasteland. Under the authoritarian thumb of its tech industrialist mayor, Pablo Henry Crick, the town has outlawed reading and forced most of the town’s mothers to work as indentured laborers at the Big Tex Fish Cannery, which poisons the atmosphere and lines Crick’s pockets.
Scraping by in this godforsaken landscape are best friends Prosperina and Neftalí—the latter of whom, one of the town’s last literate citizens, hides and reads the books of the mysterious renegade author Jazzmin Monelle Rivas, whose last novel, Brother Brontë, is finally in Neftalí’s possession. But after a series of increasingly violent atrocities committed by Crick’s forces, Neftalí and Prosperina, with the help of a wounded bengal tigress, three scheming triplets, and an underground network of rebel tías, rise up to reclaim their city—and in the process, unlock Rivas’s connection to Three Rivers itself.
An adventure that only the acclaimed Fernando A. Flores could dream up, Brother Brontë is a mordant, gonzo romp through a ruined world that, in its dysfunction, tyranny, and disparity, nonetheless feels uncannily like our own. With his most ambitious book yet, Flores once again bends what fiction can do, in the process crafting a moving and unforgettable story of perseverance.
I’ve not heard of Flores before, but Brother Bronte has been much anticipated in some quarters. I’m not sure I’m up for something as heavy as this is likely to be, but I’m always at least a bit curious about anti-book dystopias.
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult, Horror
Representation: Black MCs
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
A riveting, eerie novel about two families caught up in a centuries-old curse.
Sarah Toomey is afraid she's losing her mind. Ever since her mother’s death, she's found herself acting upon strange urges, losing track of time, and coming to in odd places. There’s a dark force that seems to be haunting her, and leaving death in its wake.
Yvonne Howard has reinvented herself. After years of unhappiness as a guard in a women’s prison she’s finally pursuing her passion for cooking. But when an ex-inmate reaches out and asks her to investigate the inmate’s brother’s death, then ends up killed herself, Yvonne is pulled into the same dangerous world Sarah is inhabiting—a world of chaos, death, and a curse that dates back to the Civil War.
This appeared on my radar at the last minute, with some high praise and the promise of a good curse!
You can listen to a sample of the audiobook here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Violet Zennor has had a peculiar upbringing. Training as a fighter in underground arenas, honing her skills against the worst scum, murderers and thieves her father could pit her against, she has learned to be ruthless. To kill.
Until the day Hedrek Zennor dies. Violet thinks she’s free – a rich young heiress with a world of possibilities in front of her. Then, to her horror, Violet learns that her father planned to send her into the Darklands, where the Leech Lords reign. Where Violet’s still-born brother was taken years ago after Hedrek sold him to a man bearing the mark of the mysterious Anchorhold.
Her father’s solicitor and the city’s bishop are insistent she fulfil her duty, but Violet steadfastly refuses. Until one night two assassins attempt to slaughter her – and it becomes clear: if she wants to enjoy a future free of the interference of either solicitors, bishops or assassins, she’s going to have to clean up the mess her father made.
On her journey, Violet seeks the help of Miren O’Malley in the hidden estate of Blackwater, whose family once produced the purest, strangest silver; Ellie Briar of Silverton, the Briar Witch who guards the gateway to the realm of the Leech Lords; and Asher Todd of Whitebarrow, who did terrible things and found The Three Who Went Beneath.
Ultimately, Violet must go alone. Into the Darklands. To the Anchorhold where it all began. Where it will all end. To do what must be done.
By turns gripping and bewitching, sharp and audacious, this mesmerising story takes you on a journey into the dark heart of Slatter's sinister and compelling fantasy world, where blood is currency and magic is a weapon.
WE’RE BRINGING THE GANG TOGETHER! Crimson Road sees Slatter gather together the heroines of her last several standalones in her Sourdough universe – I did NOT think we’d ever be seeing Miren, Ellie, or Asher again, but MORE FOOL ME! One of the signatures of the Sourdough universe is how one story bleeds into the edges of another; characters often show up to the side or in the background of new stories, so in fact we should have expected this!
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Cyrus Beldon was born to kill vampires. Or so says his indomitable family legacy.
For generations, the Beldon hunters have kept the peace between humans and vampires, navigating tense diplomacy with the elite Honorable Families and eliminating threats when needed. Cyrus is content to leave the hunting and slaying to his capable older siblings, but when his oldest brother is murdered by Honorable vampires in a shocking break of the truce, Cyrus becomes determined to find out why his brother was not merely killed, but turned into a bloodthirsty creature known as a Wild vampire.
Cyrus’s hunt for information on the monster that became of his brother leads him to discover an experiment suggesting that recently-turned vampires can have their humanity restored, and with this revolutionary possibility within his reach, Cyrus dares to hope for a future in which he can save vampires instead of killing them. He traces the studies back to one of the five Honorable Families, and with the help of studious and infuriatingly proud Lucien Vista, Cyrus delves into vampire biology to seek the core cause of Wild turns—and a cure for them.
Amid multiple high-profile murders, rising tension between the Beldons and the Honorable Families, and dangerous sparks between Cyrus and Lucien, the truce is at a tipping point, and Cyrus and Lucien must decide how far they are willing to go to keep the peace between their families—or if it’s already too late.
It takes a lot to get me interested in a hunter/hunted romance, but I am ALL FOR scholarly heroes. Studies and experiments are my jam, so I hope we’ll get plenty of them!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 10th February 2025
Goodreads
A young woman forced to live with ghosts in a mansion frozen in time must decide between forbidden love and the price of freedom in this gothic fantasy where Jane Eyre meets The Haunting of Bly Manor, perfect for fans of Starling House.
At Thorne Hall, a grand estate nestled in the Berkshires, fifteen restless spirits roam, bound within the mansion’s walls since the Gilded Age. Elegy Thorne bears the weight of her family’s curse to preserve the mansion as it was in the 1890s, using ancient folk songs to keep the spirits secret and silent in order to avoid deadly consequences.
When a mischievous child spirit wreaks havoc on the manor, the Thorne family calls upon their trusted preservationist to restore the mansion. He brings along his son, Atticus – a vibrant man full of life and ideas of modernization – and Elegy is captivated by him, igniting a longing for freedom she’s never dared to embrace.
Torn between her desire to follow her heart and her duty to her family and its legacy, Elegy begins searching for a way to release the spirit collection back to the afterlife and set both herself and the ghosts free. With century-old secrets, peculiar magic, and spirits both whimsical and deadly, Thorne Hall will haunt and enrapture readers—and you might just not want to leave.
I’m utterly enchanted by this premise, though I don’t know how to explain why! The idea of looking after a collection of ghosts with song magic… That’s just delightful!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Pageantry, pomp, pretense, and peril—"The General's Turn,” originally published in The Deadlands, drew readers into the dark world of a ceremony where Death herself might choose to join the audience... or step onto the stage.
Award-winning author Premee Mohamed presents three brand new stories set in this morally ambiguous world of war and magic. In “One Message Remains,” Major Lyell Tzajos leads his team on a charity mission through the post-armistice world of East Seudast, exhuming the bones and souls of dead foes for repatriation. But the buried fighters may have one more fight left in them—and they have chosen their weapons well.
In “The Weight of What is Hollow,” Taya is the latest apprentice of a long-honored tradition: building the bone-gallows for prisoners of war. But her very first commission will pit her skills against both her family and her oppressor.
Finally, in “Forsaking All Others,” ex-soldier Rostyn must travel the little-known ways by night to avoid his pursuers, for desertion is punishable by death. As he flees to the hoped-for sanctuary of his grandmother's village, he is joined by a fellow deserter—and, it seems, the truth of a myth older than the land itself.
“Premee Mohamed is one of Canada's most exciting thinkers and writers of speculative fiction. Her stories bravely go where few dare to, each employing a deftness of language and surety of form that offers a fresh experience each time. One Message Remains and the stories within are no exception, each tale different from the other, yet all very much quintessential Premee stories. Readers of her works, long and short both, will find much to love here.” — Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of Son of the Storm and Lost Ark Dreaming
Honestly, any set-up in which ‘Death herself might choose to join the audience… or step onto the stage’ has my attention: and I suspect Mohamed’s take on a personified Death is unlikely to disappoint! I do hope we glimpse her…
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Sci Fi
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
An anthology of tales from 29 masters of science fiction, fantasy, and horror from around the world. Edited by authors and editors Jendia Gammon and Gareth L. Powell. This is the debut title for Stars and Sabers Publishing.
Authors include Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ai Jiang, Alice James, Antony Johnston, Cynthia Pelayo, D.K. Stone, David Quantick, Dennis K. Crosby, Eugen Bacon, Gemma Amor, Greg van Eekhout, Helen Glynn Jones, J.L. Worrad, John Wiswell, Jonathan L. Howard, Kali Wallace, KC Grifant, Khan Wong, Laurel Hightower, Lizbeth Myles, Mya Duong, Paul Cornell, Pedro Iniguez, Peter McLean, Ren Hutchings, Renan Bernardo, Sarah L. Miles, Stark Holborn, and T.L. Huchu.
Several authors I admire in this, which makes me hopeful I’ll like the ones I don’t know, too!
Genres: Adult, Horror, Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Bisexual MC
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
A young woman’s seasonal job takes a dark, surreal turn in this vivid and surprising debut.
When Elise and her boyfriend, Tom, set off for Minnesota, all she knows about harvesting sugar beets (Beta vulgaris) is that her paycheck will cover a few months’ rent on their Brooklyn apartment. She’ll try anything to escape the incessant debt collection calls—and chronic anxieties about her body and her relationship. But as the grueling graveyard shifts set in, Elise notices strange threatening texts, a mysterious rash, a string of disappearances from the workers’ campsite, and snatches of a hypnotic voice coming from the beet pile itself.
As crewmembers vanish, Elise obsesses over Tom’s closeness with their charismatic coworker Cee and falls back on self-destructive patterns of disordered eating and dissociation. Against the horrors of her uncertain future, is the siren song of the beet pile almost . . . appealing? Biting and eerie, Beta Vulgaris harnesses an audacious premise to undermine straightforward narratives of class, trauma, consumption, and redemption.
This sounds SO INCREDIBLY ODD, and everyone I’ve seen talk about it has struggled to define it, which interests me very much!
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult
Representation: Neurodivergent MC
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Perfect for readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, this is a charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent.
"An extraordinary debut that made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful." —Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls
“Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes.”
Before she thinks of herself as Little Alien, our protagonist is a lonely girl who doesn’t understand the world the way other children seem to. So when a late-night TV special introduces her to the mysterious Voynich Manuscript—an ancient tome written in an indecipherable language—Little Alien experiences something she hasn’t before: hope. Could there be others like her, who also feel like they’re from another planet?
Convinced the Voynich Manuscript holds the answers she needs, Little Alien and her best (and only) friend Bobby decide they must find this strange book. Where that decision leads them will change everything.
Narrated by an unexpected guide who has arrived to give Little Alien the advice she’ll need to find her way, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is both a coming-of-age adventure and a love letter to language. Alice Franklin will have you swinging from stitches to tears on the uneven path to finding a life that fits, even when you yourself do not.
Alright, not spec-fic (I don’t think?) but as an autistic person who was convinced for most of my childhood that I was an alien…yeah, I feel this. Also, I, too, find the Voynich Manuscript fascinating! And I like the sound of the narrator/guide already.
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: BIPOC sapphic MCs
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut—a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore—about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.
Fifteen-year-old Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant. Every new moon, she sheds her skin like the many women before her, shifting into a fireball witch who must fly into the night and slowly sip from the lives of others to sustain her own. But Brooklyn is no place for fireball witches with all its bright lights, shut windows, and bolt-locked doors.… While Marisol hoped they would leave their old traditions behind when they emigrated from the islands, she knows this will never happen while she remains ensnared by the one person who keeps her chained to her magical past—her mother.
Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor and a newly minted older half sister of twins. Her worsening skin condition and the babies’ constant wailing keep her up at night, when she stares at the dark sky with a deep longing to inhale it all. She hopes to quench the hunger that gnaws at her, one that seems to reach for some memory of her estranged mother. When a new nanny arrives to help with the twins, a family secret connecting her to Marisol is revealed, and Gen begins to find answers to questions she hasn’t even thought to ask.
But the girls soon discover that the very skin keeping their flames locked beneath the surface may be more explosive to the relationships around them than any ancient magic.
This sounds INCREDIBLE – so much so that I may be willing to brave it being a novel-in-verse. (I’m terrible with poetry and have usually not clicked well with novels-in-verse. BUT CLEARLY IT IS TIME TO TRY AGAIN!)
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: F/F
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
Fans of Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson will be swept away into this lush and beguiling sapphic romantasy from the bestselling author of Flowerheart, Catherine Bakewell.
Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass.
Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side.
When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself.
A mesmerizing daydream with a subtle edge of darkness that will leave you utterly unable to put it down, Where Shadows Bloom pits terrifying monsters, chilling secrets, capricious gods, immortal kings, and death itself against the unstoppable love between two girls.
Sapphic knight/ward romantasy! I am charmed. I am so charmed. YES PLEASE.
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
For fans of Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black, The Forest King's Daughter is an enemies-to-forbidden-lovers romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Frostblood.
Once upon a time, among the bloodred trees of Thirstwood, a young forest princess became friends with a lonely demon boy. He gifted her an amber ring, a worthless trinket…or so he thought...because no sooner did he slide it onto her finger than the demon queen and forest king declared war.
Years later, Cassia is a crucial force in her father’s army, wielding her ring of light that can blind and disorient hundreds of demons at a time. Then battle-hardened Zeru abducts her, planning to steal the ring back to fix his costly childhood mistake. Exhausted, terrified, and more than a little mistrusting, Cassia is forced to travel with Zeru to a place they both believed only existed in storybooks, one where their childhood friendship slowly rekindles into something much more. But it's only a matter of time before the war they've escaped comes for them, and a hidden threat to forest folk and demons alike grows in the shadows.
From the author of the Frostblood Saga comes the first book in an enchanting, adventure-filled fantasy series about the daughters of the powerful forest king, sure to leave readers breathless and desperate for more.
I freely admit that this one seduced me with its cover more than anything else, but I’m intrigued by the Big Magic Object being a ring that makes light. That sounds kinda underwhelming, but clearly it’s a bigger deal than it sounds, and I’m curious about what Blare does with it.
Genres: Fantasy, MG
Representation: Secondary M/M
Published on: 11th February 2025
Goodreads
A darkly inventive fantasy for fans of Tim Burton, about a girl who can see Nightmare creatures from the forbidden Labyrinth of Souls.
In the Kingdom of Spinar, there are seven rules for safeguarding your soul from the Sorrows and Nightmare creatures—most importantly: never, ever enter the Labyrinth of Souls.
Ix Tatterfall has always been an outcast with big secrets: She can cross into the Labyrinth, home to the powerful Sorrows, and she can see strange Nightmare beasts when no one else can. Some, like the shadowy Inklings or bothersome Stubbed Toads, are merely a nuisance. Many more—like the Jimber-Jawed Hounds—are dangerous. Even deadly.
But something is very wrong in the Labyrinth. A terrible new Nightmare—a raggedy scarecrow called Jack—has been ravaging the misty maze, gobbling up wraiths and lost souls and allowing Nightmares to seep into the Waking World.
On one forbidden trip, Ix comes face to face with Jack. Worse, she’s apprehended by Candle Corps, an elite magical group that protects the kingdom against Nightmares. Instead of exile, Ix is allowed to enter the mysterious Candle Corps Academy. For the first time, she’s surrounded by others who can see what she sees: Morrigan Bea, a hot-tempered girl who might be a monster; Ollie Pembrooke, a shy boy who loves books and Dreamchaser dogs; and Hanky the Inkling, Ix’s faithful Nightmare companion.
But more and more Nightmares are bleeding into Spinar. Raggedy Jack is on the hunt for something—someone—from the Waking World.
Ix Tatterfall herself.
I can’t put my finger on WHY exactly, but I’ve been obsessed with this since I heard about it. The Tim Burton-esque aesthetic promised by early reviewers certainly doesn’t hurt! Or the illustrations from one of my favourite artists, Abigail Larson!
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown MLM MC, M/M
Published on: 12th February 2025
Goodreads
In Gilded Age New York, Perry Threadgill, a research librarian at New York Public Library, is pulled into a world of magic, murder, and intrigue when he is attacked by a two-hundred year old vampire. Previously untapped magic allows Perry to fend off his attacker, and leaves him wondering if everything he knows about the arcane is fact, not myth.
Alain Paillart, vampire and member of the New York elite, finds himself inexorably drawn to Perry and the series of magical murders that surround him. Can they solve the murders before Perry is the next victim, and will Alain’s secret dash all hope of a happy ending?
For fans of Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light or KJ Charles’ The Magpie Lord, Words of Power offers queer romantic, magical escapism in an alternative New York.
Comping to Freya Marske and KJ Charles is bold indeed, and I hope Radiant lives up to it!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC, queer MC, F/NB
Published on: 13th February 2025
Goodreads
A delightful queer cottagecore romantasy full of friends-to-lovers romance, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic.
Yael Clauneck might be an indifferent warlock, but they are also the only scion of an obscenely wealthy banking family with its fingers in every pie in the realm. On the precipice of a predetermined life, a loveless political marriage, and eventually, children who’ll be raised exactly as they were, they flee during their own graduation party, in search of the chance to feel like life can still be a grand adventure.
Margot Greenwillow—talented plant witch, tea lover, and stressed greenhouse owner—has never felt further from adventure in her life. After her grandmother died and her parents lost the family fortune, she’s been on her own, desperately trying to keep what remains of the family business afloat. So when her childhood friend—and former crush—gallops back into her life, she’s shocked, to say the least. But when Yael confesses they’ve fled home with no possessions and no plan, Margot, lonely and in need of help, offers Yael a job in the greenhouses. Yael is delighted to accept.
They lay low for a while, harvesting strawberries for heartbreak jam, and flirting with Margot while they figure out what to do next. What Yael doesn't know is that Margot’s been forming a plan of her own - reforge alliances, entice investors, and take back everything that was stolen from her own family by the Clauneck Company.
But plans are notoriously unreliable things, unlikely to survive a swiftly-blooming mutual attraction, not to mention the machinations of a set of parents determined to get their heir back—no matter the cost.
The US has to wait until March, and so do any Brits who want to read Homegrown Magic on paper – but the UK ebook is out this week! Everything about this promises sweet escapism, and I’m looking forward to it immensely!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 13th February 2025
Goodreads
How, exactly, do you steal a dragon?
The holy city of Muqdah is falling. For days, the priests of the First Temple have argued amongst themselves — despite the cracks growing in the city’s magical shields. But fighting the Imperial army could mean the sacrifice of Muqdah’s dragons. Only one among their number believes it worth the risk … and the lone voice of a pregnant woman falls on deaf ears.
In the great Imperium, a slave named Zuri escapes into the night. Arriving on the doorstep of the Brass Wyvern, she discovers kinship, safety — and an unexpected purpose. When the bedworkers there hear of her captors’ caged dragon, a plan is hatched: free the beast, right history’s wrongs.
As Imperial magic and ancient bloodlines collide, an oppressed people start to make their voices heard. But not everyone sees eye-to-eye on justice, and a royal heist is easier said than done.
The Brass Wyvern is a witty fantasy epic with anti-colonialist vibes, queer love, feminine rage, found family, and of course — sweet, sweet revenge.
I love EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS and need it in my hands pronto, thank you!!!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic trans MC, chronically ill sapphic MC, F/F
Published on: 13th February 2025
Goodreads
Where the weave between worlds thins, a long buried shadow rises from its grave among the stars and seeks vengeance on the Vale.
A Herald has been named to mark its ascension— a woman resurrected by The Seeker’s hand and placed in the pious care of the Vigil Order. A once disgraced daughter of her noble house, Kye Liatris is crowned a living saint, one tasked with stopping the coming cataclysm. Kye has lived on borrowed time since, aiding the Vigil while quietly enduring worsening ailments.
When a strange blight brings death to the valley of Jude Arendell’s home village, she finds herself swept up in the Vigil’s fight. But in taking up her mother’s sword, Jude learns that her family legacy was not as it seemed.
As stars extinguish and the threads that bind the Vale swiftly unravel, so do the long trusted stories of history past. Now Kye and Jude must decide whether to follow their divine callings or scorn the gods and place their trust in each other.
The author describes this as Dune meets She-Ra, and I have been promised a chronically ill Chosen One, space fantasy, and ‘get in loser we’re going to fight god’. Suffice to say, I am SOLD!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/F/M polyamory
Published on: 14th February 2025
Goodreads
A cozy, high spice romantasy with cottagecore vibes.
Sometimes sleepy village life can be too quiet. Sometimes a quaint circle of friends can be too small. Ana doesn’t want the thrill of an adventure, she just wants one man in the village who hasn’t known her since she was a baby, understands what to do if he gets her clothes off, and who her mother can’t scare away… at least not until after.
Newly arrived in Petalfall, Edric doesn’t want to continue the hermit habits of his predecessor. As the Forest Guardian, he could live here for the next century or more, and fitting in is important to him. He’s always thought the easiest way to do that would be by finding a partner to ease the way… and once he sees Ana, there’s no other choice.
Viggo isn’t dirty, but he is a secret for the moment. People tend to be apprehensive about Vampires—a truth he knows to his cost—and small towns come with small minds. When Edric tells him the plan, he’s open to the idea. When he finds her collecting moon berries at midnight, he’s smitten.
She might be looking for a single night. They want more.
Another that got my attention via its cover, then by promising me sweet poly cottagecore!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Aromantic bisexual MCs
Published on: 14th February 2025
Goodreads
OVER THE SUN AND PAST THE MOON, A BEAST LIVED IN AN ENCHANTED CASTLE...
In a rural corner of the Provinces simmering with civil unrest, Laundress Yelena's village is afflicted by a dangerous fungal rot-plague. When she is falsely accused of dark sorcery, Yelena is evicted from her cottage and forced into the rot-infested forest...
Yelen is a forgotten tyrant, turned into a monster hundreds of years ago and desperate to distance himself from the power-hungry brute he once was... But he craves companionship and an end to his lonely existence.
When the wind leads Yelena to Yelen, she discovers a kindred spirit in the aromantic, bi-attracted monster, and their relationship quickly escalates. But being a guest in a cursed castle with a lonely, amorous Beast is not all fun and games - while exploring, Yelena makes a disturbing discovery about the rot-plague's source, and starts showing symptoms of infection herself. Can Yelen and Yelena work together to find a lasting cure for the rot seeping beyond the castle walls, or will the castle's curse claim another victim?
YELEN & YELENA is a standalone, monster-loving 'tour de force', perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast re-imaginings, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic, and T. Kingfisher's What Moves The Dead. Look no further for a deeply atmospheric Dark Gothic Fantasy with a Hopepunk core, and a sapphic riff on Orpheus & Eurydice subplot.
I’m reading my arc of this at the moment, and am adoring it – simple but wonderful worldbuilding, a brilliant and unpretty heroine, and lovely prose. So far it’s looking to become one of my favourite Beauty and the Beast retellings!
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 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.
“Wickedly witty and subversively romantic, this book is a glorious treat to devour.” – Stephanie Burgis, author of Scales & Sensibility, and Wooing the Witch Queen
"Easily the most wondrous, original retelling of Pride and Prejudice I've ever read, with a fresh new perspective on the material. I deeply enjoyed it." – Olivia Atwater, author of the Regency Faerie Tales trilogy
"A fresh, clever take on Pride and Prejudice that you don’t want to miss - with dragons, and a defence of Caroline Bingley that kept me glued to the page.” – Rosalie Oaks, author of Lady Avely’s Guide to Truth and Magic
“A perfectly cozy, funny, swoony distraction during a super stressful time.” – Devan Barlow
“A charming, witty and whimsical tale in a vibrant world of sassy dragons and hilariously disastrous social engagements. I was in sore need of a romance that was sweet and relaxing without losing substance and this served nicely!” – Kel E Fox
Roberts is one of my favourite authors, and I’m delighted with this premise – dragons overseeing Regency matchmaking! HERE FOR IT!
Genres: Adult, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M/M
Published on: 14th February 2025
Goodreads
In 1998, as Father Peter Bryne reaches the age of forty, he is overcome by the weight of realizing that his life has been squandered in the service of the clergy. His world is turned upside down when an enigmatic stranger visits him in the confessional booth, leading Peter to grapple with his innermost desires. As he embarks on a pursuit of corruption, his path intersects with that of Malachi, a young man who is drawn to questions of morality and seeks Peter's companionship.
Amidst this internal struggle, will Peter Bryne succumb to temptation? Will he ultimately choose the path to Heaven or succumb to the allure of Hell?
Are there any ex-Catholic queers who don’t have a Thing for the Catholic aesthetic??? No, no there are not, and so here I am, hoping Laurier’s fallen angels impress!
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi, YA
Representation: M/M
Published on: 16th February 2025
Goodreads
Veny Juarez lives in the secluded island village of Isla Sola, a paradise powered by clean, renewable energy. Each community member must deepen their scientific knowledge and work hard to ensure Isla Sola remains prosperous and in harmony with nature. But Veny, who has been denied the opportunity to have a life partner, would rather skip his chores and go surfing.
One day, the ocean waves are harsher than normal. Veny nearly drowns, but is rescued by Mateo--a stranger from the outside world. Rattled and afraid, Mateo begs Veny to hide him before anyone else learns of him. Veny agrees to this, but he has unknowingly welcomed a danger of old onto Isla Sola. With Mateo's presence, dark days are sure to follow, and with them, the truth behind the history of Isla Sola.
Solarpunk is possibly my favourite art movement, so of course this caught my eye! But this doesn’t sound like the utopian ideal of solarpunk – what do you mean someone can be denied the opportunity to have a life partner?! Clearly there are Shenanigans going on here…
Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!
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