Happy Saturday, and happy August! I can’t believe I’m saying that. lol It feels like this summer is flying by! So many great books were released this summer, and August looks just as promising. Let’s check out some of the books I’m most anticipating!
Title: Scorched Earth
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Series: Dark Shores #4
Page Length: 752
Pub. Date: Aug. 5, 2025
Publisher: Tor
Synopsis: Lydia and Killian escaped their enemy’s grasp, but not without consequences. While they race to destroy the blight, Lydia fights an internal war against the Corrupter’s influence knowing defeat means death for those she loves. Tormented by a battle that can’t be won with blades, Killian must find the queen they risked everything to rescue without falling prey to Corrupter’s weapons, both living and dead.
Teriana and Marcus thwarted assassination, but now must live with the dark truths that have been revealed. As Teriana hunts for allies, she must face the dire circumstances of her imprisoned people, driving her to strike a dangerous deal with the Empire. Consumed by guilt over his crimes, Marcus embarks on an ambitious campaign to save those he condemned, which risks him becoming the conqueror the Empire desires him to be.
With the blight consuming everything in its path and the Empire crushing everyone who stands before it, Reath is falling beneath the tide of evil. Secrets will be revealed that break hearts even as they forge new alliances, but only the greatest sacrifices of all will turn the tide in the battle for the liberty of every nation on Reath.
Title: Knocking on Windows
Author: Jeannine Atkins
Page Length: 304
Pub. Date: Aug. 5, 2025
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Synopsis: Acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins revisits her past in this brave and powerful memoir-in-verse about memory, healing, and finding her voice as a writer, perfect for fans of Amber Smith and Speak.
Night darkens the window to mirror.
I’m back in my old bedroom.
Six weeks after the start of her freshman year of college, Jeannine Atkins finds herself back in her childhood bedroom after an unimaginable trauma. Now home in Massachusetts, she’s struggling to reclaim her life and her voice. Seeking comfort in the words of women, she turns to the lives and stories of Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, and Emily Dickinson. Through raw and poignant letter-poems addressed to these literary giants, Jeannine finds that the process of writing and reflecting has become not only a means of survival but the catalyst for a burgeoning writing career.
Inspired and ready to move forward, she enrolls in her state university, where she feeds her growing passion for writing in fiction seminars. But she finds that she’s unable to escape the pervasive misogyny of her classmates and professors, who challenge her to assert her own voice against a backdrop of disbelief and minimalization. This time, though, Jeannine is not willing to go down without a fight.
A searingly honest memoir told through gorgeous verse, Knocking on Windows stands as a beacon of hope and a celebration of the enduring spirit of survivors of sexual assault—and of writers.
Title: The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Series: Crowns of Nyaxia #4
Page Length: 576
Pub. Date: Aug. 5, 2005
Publisher: Bramble
Synopsis: Mische made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loves – and plunged the world into an eternal night. Now, imprisoned by the gods and obsessed with revenge, Asar is desperate to find her again.
When a goddess offers them a final path to redemption – and back to each other – Asar and Mische embark on an extraordinary mission. Together, they must seize the power of the god of death so Asar may do the impossible: ascend to true divinity.
Their journey will take them through mortal and immortal realms, alongside both old friends and ruthless enemies. But as the underworld teeters on the brink of collapse and the gods prepare for a war, Asar and Mische must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for the power to defy death. In a game of vengeful gods and ancient betrayals, there are some debts that even love may not be able to repay.
Title: Mistress of Bones
Author: Maria Z. Medina
Page Length: 336
Pub. Date: Aug. 5, 2025
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: An epic and romantic debut adventure fantasy, where a necromancer trying to resurrect her sister gets embroiled in bigger, world-ending plans instead
It’s been thousands of years since the gods lifted the continents into the air so humanity could thrive, chaining the lands down with their bones and turning them into Anchor.
Azul del Arroyo doesn’t care about gods or Anchor; she cares about being responsible for her sister’s death and getting her bones from the capital so she can bring her back to life. Again. But in her way stands the Emissary of the Lord Death, who will do anything in his power to stop her, because a necromancer like her shouldn’t exist—no matter how alluring.
As Azul and the Emissary’s cat-and-mouse game leads them to the dangerous Court of Cienpuentes, their fate becomes entwined with a count who begrudgingly works for a child king, a faceless witch who transforms Anchor into dreams she can peddle, and a long-lost half-brother with a secret of his own. It’s a time of enlightenment, of rapiers and scientific prowess, in a country where Anchor ceased to be something worth revering a long time ago, and people have forgotten the gods’ sacrifice.
But the gods haven’t. Because the gods want their bones back, and they’re not opposed to becoming players in their own game.
Swashbuckling, grand, and tragically romantic, Mistress of Bones is a can’t-miss debut about love, about loss, and, of course, about death.
LINKS: GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
Title: For the Record
Author: Emma Lord
Page Length: 320
Pub. Date: Aug. 12, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Synopsis: Once the most notorious rivals in the music scene, pop princess Mackenzie Waters and punk rockstar Sam Blaze electrified audiences as their bands clashed on stage. But behind the scenes, their simmering tension grew into something more — until suddenly both bands fell apart, and the idea of Mackenzie and Sam did, too.
Two years later, Sam has traded the rockstar lifestyle for a quiet life raising the son he didn’t know about. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is dealing with a postoperative change in her voice by only singing under a pseudonym. The only way to revive their public careers? A joint comeback album.
With fans over the moon and their futures on the line, Sam and Mackenzie face their biggest challenge yet: giving up the old rivalry and learning to work together. But as old sparks fly and new secrets emerge, they set off a chain reaction neither of them could have anticipated — one that proves that sometimes, the greatest hits are the ones yet to be written.
Title: Falling Into Place
Author: Allison Ashley
Page Length: 319
Pub. Date: Aug. 19, 2025
Publisher: Montlake
Synopsis: Accountant and freelance personal stylist Carly Porter, daughter of a compulsive gambler, knows the personal cost of a bad bet. But when she partners with her best friend, Sasha—publisher of a floundering fashion magazine—Carly can’t resist. The highly publicized makeover of an Oklahoma City bachelor could boost sales and be Carly’s ticket to her dream profession. The bachelor in question is none other than Sasha’s older brother, Brooks.
Hardly the party boy Carly remembers from high school, Brooks is now an antisocial, work-obsessed physician still struggling with a devastating loss. But if it means helping his sister, he’s in. It’s Carly’s job to get him out of those lived-in scrubs, style him to the nines, and bring Brooks back to life. But so far, the only real connection is between Brooks and Carly—and falling for a client could cost Carly the career she’s worked so hard for.
To move forward, they’ll both have to overcome their painful pasts. And whatever the risk, maybe even take a chance on love.
Title: Voidwalker
Author: S.A. Maclean
Series: Beasts of the Void #1
Page Length: 592
Pub. Date: Aug. 19, 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Synopsis: Fionamara is a smuggler. Antal is the reason her people fear the dark.
Fi ferries contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village self-sufficient – free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to Antal’s immortal species for centuries.
Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many, and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now, mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection, and the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.
When Fi gets planted with a stash of smuggled energy, a long-lost flame recruits her for a reckless heist that escalates into a terrorist bombing – and a coup against the reigning immortals, with Fi’s home caught in the crossfire.
She’s always known the dangers of her trade – and of the power she’s wielded since childhood, allowing her to see the secret doors between dimensions, to walk the Void itself. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she’ll have to make with him, a forced partnership to reclaim his city that begins as a desperate bid for survival, only to grow into something far more dangerous.
A revolution.
And a temptation – for how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel.
Title: The Cruel Dawn
Author: Rachel Howzell Hall
Series: Vallendor #2
Page Length: 512
Pub. Date: Aug. 19, 2025
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Synopsis: A god’s wrath is unforgettable. Her love, even more dangerous.
Kaivara Megidrail was once worshipped as the Grand Defender of Vallendor—until betrayal, punishment, and exile left her Diminished. Now, the realm she abandoned teeters on the edge of collapse. Monsters roam free. Gods whisper in shadows. And one man—Jadon Wake, prince, blacksmith, liar—may be the key to her salvation…or her final ruin.
Haunted by the past, hunted by divine enemies, and armed with only fractured Memories and an unrelenting will, Kaivara must reclaim her power and face the truth about Jadon, or watch Vallendor fall to a traitorous god’s rising.
The realm called her a destroyer. This time, they’ll learn what she was truly made for.
Title: Claiming the Princess
Author: Charis Michaels
Series: Hidden Royals #3
Page Length: 384
Pub. Date: August 26, 2025
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: Princess Danielle Allard d’Orleans grew up believing that she was a simple village girl raised in Kent by surrogate parents. That simple life vanishes when she discovers she’s actually a princess in hiding— especially as the first order of royal business is to marry a war hero she’s never met.
Captain Luke Bannock wasn’t trying to become a hero—and even less so, a husband. But he shows selfless courage in a fierce Naval battle and the Crown offers him a reward for valor. His chosen prize? The hand in marriage of an obscure princess, living in exile. The reason? Revenge against his sworn enemy.
What begins as an arranged marriage between a village girl and a cynical captain evolves into dance of passion and self-discovery. As Luke helps Dani reckon with her secret royal blood, his thirst for revenge is replaced by desire for his new wife. The shock and hurt burn away, and an all-consuming love sails this fated couple into their happily ever after.
Title: Gabriela and His Grace
Author: Liana De la Rosa
Series: The Luna Sisters #3
Page Length: 384
Pub. Date: Aug. 26, 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: A scandalous arrangement between a hellion heiress and destitute duke reveals truths that neither can outrun….
As the youngest and most rebellious daughter of the overly protective Luna family, Gabriela Luna Valdés claws after her freedom in any way she can. This time, her hunger for adventure has led her aboard a windswept ship bearing for her homeland, away from a mob of fumbling British suitors. But Gabby can’t escape her father’s expectation that she settle down to find a proper husband—a compromise she’s unwilling to make.
For Sebastian Brooks, Duke of Whitfield, the trip to Mexico is his last chance. His last chance to rectify his family’s estate and refill their dwindling coffers. And his last chance to match wits with the sharp-tongued but deliciously tempting Gabriela.
When Gabby finds herself in need of a hasty escape, Sebastian agrees to assist her…but their close proximity sparks a red-hot passion that could ruin all their plans. With scandal looming, can Sebastian convince Gabby his regard is sincere or will she sail away with his heart?
THE MISTRESS OF BONES has a gorgeous cover! 🤩
It’s definitely what attracted me to the book initially!
I agree this summer and this year is flying by crazy fast it´s scary! So many interesting titles in this list, Mistress of Bones looks amazing, Wow!
Hope you enjoy your August reading!
Thank you! You too!
I’m excited for The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk and finally to end the series with Scorched Earth!