May 2024: Highly Anticipated Book Releases

Happy Monday! Today, I have a list of upcoming May book releases, and there are a lot of great one to look forward to. Let’s check them out!

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May 7th: Sweet Nightmare

Author: Tracy Wolff

Series: The Calder Academy #1

Page Length: 496

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Publisher: Entangled

Synopsis: The scariest school on earth
Is about to experience real fear…

Most schools are about being the best. This school? It’s about being the worst. Calder Academy is where the rogue paranormals go. The ones who break the rules or lose control. And when that happens for vamps, werewolves, witches, and dark fae? It gets pretty freaking scary.

I should know. Because I’m trapped here.

Look, every seventeen-year-old girl thinks their mom is a tyrant. But mine just happens to run Calder Academy, which paints a giant target on my back. The way I make it through these dark halls is by steering clear of the things―and kids―who go bump in the night.

Especially Jude Abernathy-Lee.

But when a freak storm hits our isolated island, I’m stuck without a backup plan. The power is gone. The lights are out. And our worst nightmares are suddenly real―and out for blood.
Now the only way to survive is to align myself with one evil to avoid the other.

And the only thing worse than the idea of getting close to Jude? Secretly loving every minute of it.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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May 7th: Summers at the Saint

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Page Length: 448

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Synopsis: Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .

Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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May 7th: The Sins on Their Bones

Author: Laura R. Samotin

Page Length: 416

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Publisher: Random House Canada

Synopsis: Dimitri Alexeyev used to be the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo. Now, he is merely a broken man, languishing in exile after losing a devastating civil war instigated by his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin. In hiding with what remains of his court, Dimitri and his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, engineer a dangerous ruse. Vasily will sneak into Alexey’s court under a false identity to gather information, paving the way for the usurper’s downfall, while Dimitri finds a way to kill him for good.

But stopping Alexey is not so easy as plotting to kill an ordinary man. Through a perversion of the Ludayzim religion that he terms the Holy Science, Alexey has died and resurrected himself in an immortal, indestructible body—and now claims he is guided by the voice of God Himself. Able to summon forth creatures from the realm of demons, he seeks to build an army, turning Novo-Svitsevo into the greatest empire that history has ever seen.

Dimitri is determined not to let Alexey corrupt his country, but saving Novo-Svitsevo and its people will mean forfeiting the soul of the husband he can’t bring himself to forsake—or the spymaster he’s come to love.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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May 7th: This Book Won’t Burn

Author: Samira Ahmed

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe. 

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.  But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.  Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall? 

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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May 14th: The Amethyst Kingdom

Author: A.K. Mulford

Series: The five Crowns of Okrith

Page Length: 352

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Synopsis: In the fifth and final novel in the Five Crowns of Okrith romantasy series from bestselling author A.K. Mulford, a young fae warrior is hellbent on winning the Eastern Court crown, but when her fated lover—and hated nemesis—Ersan enters the trials she struggles to balance the competition and the chance at love. The crown is calling her name, but can her head bear the weight when passion sets her heart racing?

Carys Hilgaard has grown tremendously through her years; no longer is she the vapid, prejudicial fae who drowned herself in wine. At least, she wants to believe that’s true. Training has kept her balanced and open-minded—traits of a promising ruler. So, when the time comes for the Eastern Court trials to commence, her mind is set on one objective: win the crown and become the people’s queen. If she doesn’t, it puts the only family she has left—her halfling sister, Morgan, and her niece and two nephews—in danger.

But the gods have different plans. Lord Ersan Almah, her ex-boyfriend and fated mate, has entered the competition, vying for the kingdom himself—and hoping it’s enough to cure his heart after losing Carys. To make matters worse, Adisa Monroe, a devious witch, searches for mind-controlling amethyst seeds and plans to attack the Eastern Court on the night of the full moon, jeopardizing the entire kingdom of Okrith.

When incandescent hearts rekindle for a second chance at destined love, Carys must learn to let her lingering past go in order to protect her kingdom, the people she cares for, and fight for hope…if not, everything could collapse into ashes.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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May 21st: Wild About You

Author: Kaitlin Hill

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Publisher: Delacorte Romance

Synopsis: Two total opposites. One race through the Great Outdoors. In this grumpy-sunshine teen romance from the author of Love from Scratch and Not Here to Stay Friends , the trail to true love doesn’t always come with a map.

Natalie Hart has always been loud, unfiltered, and unapologetically herself. But then comes her freshman year of college, when she loses her merit scholarship and gains one pesky little anxiety diagnosis.

Hesitant to take out more student loans, Natalie decides to shoot her shot and applies to Wild Adventures , a popular outdoorsy reality show. Sure, Natalie prefers her twelve-step skincare routine to roughing it on the Appalachian Trail while competing in challenges against other college kids, but that scholarship prize money is calling her name. High risk, high reward, right?

Enter Finn Markum, her randomly assigned, capital- O Outdoorsy teammate whose growl could rival a black bear. These partners have more friction than a pair of new hiking boots. Or is it flirtation? Turns out falling in love might be the wildest adventure of all…

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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May 21st: The Prince’s Bride

Author: Charis Michaels

Series: Hidden Royals #2

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Publisher: Avon

Synopsis: Lady Marrianne “Ryan” Daventry was betrothed to an obscure French prince when she was just a baby. Years later, the young prince entered exile and was never heard from again. Lady Ryan considers the betrothal off; she can hardly marry a dead man. Now another French royal has inherited the princedom and he claims the old betrothal still stands—with himself as the bridegroom. Rather than fight the cruel new prince, Lady Ryan sets out to reveal him as an imposter. She needs only to locate the original lost prince and prove he’s still alive.

Prince Gabriel d’Orleans is still living, but he’s very difficult to find. He goes by the name of Gabriel Reign and lives in the forest, working as a horse trainer for wealthy clients. He’s hardly a pauper, but he’s also not a prince. His life in the woods conceals his true identity and keeps him safe—but also alone.

Using an old childhood letter as her only guide, Lady Ryan sets out for Savernake Forest to find the missing prince. When danger thrusts them together unexpectedly, Lady Ryan is shocked at his rustic life and his commitment to his new identity. More shocking is her fierce attraction to the rugged horseman. Meanwhile, Gabriel never planned to be discovered and he certainly never planned on falling in love. But passion has a way of upending the most careful of plans, and even the strictest boundaries are no match for the transcendent power of love.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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May 28th: All’s Fair in Love and War

Author: Virginia Heath

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: May 28, 2024

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Synopsis: A new Regency romp of a series, about governess who believes in cultivating joy in her charges, clashes with the children’s uncle who hired her, only to find herself falling in love.

When the flighty older sister of former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, decides on a whim to accompany her explorer husband on an expedition to Egypt, he finds himself unwittingly left in the lurch with her three unruly children and her giant, mad dog. With no clue how to manage the little rascals, a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all of his attention, and no idea when his sister is coming back, Harry has to hire an emergency governess to ensure that everything in his ordered house continues to run shipshape. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls prepared to pay whatever it takes to get a governess quick sharp to bring order to the chaos.

Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything that hers wasn’t, filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery. Thankfully, the three Pendleton children she has been tasked with looking after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely…

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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May 28th: Dreadful

Author: Caitlin Rozakis

Page Length: 368

Publication Date: May 28, 2024

Publisher: Titan Books

Synopsis: A sharp-witted, high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival – all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.

It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.

It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.

Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.

But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?

A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon    |   Barnes & Noble

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