Swimming into the lifeless body of her husband’s mistress tends to ruin a woman’s day, but becoming a murder suspect can ruin her whole life. It’s 1974, and Ellison Russell has carefully constructed an existence that revolves around her teenage daughter and her art—two things she can pour herself into without disappointment. She’s long since stopped caring about her cheating husband Henry and the seemingly endless parade of women with whom he entertains himself. When you’ve been married long enough to a serial philanderer, you develop a thick skin and learn to focus on what actually matters. That is, until she literally swims into one of those women floating dead in the country club pool. 🏊♀️Julie Mulhern delivers a sharp-witted cozy mystery set in 1970s Kansas City that captures the era’s fashion, attitudes, and the complicated position of women who were expected to smile through their husbands’ indiscretions. Discovering Madeline Harper’s body would be traumatic enough, but when the police start viewing Ellison as a prime suspect in the murder, her carefully maintained composure begins to crack. Suddenly, ignoring Henry’s affairs isn’t an option anymore—the murder forces Ellison to confront not just her husband’s proclivities but his crimes, which extend far beyond simple infidelity into darker territory involving kinky sex, petty cruelties, and blackmail. 💄
As the body count starts approaching par on the seventh hole of the country club’s golf course, Ellison realizes that waiting for the police to figure things out isn’t a viable strategy—not when she’s their favorite suspect and the real killer is still out there, possibly targeting her next. She has to catch a killer herself, using her intelligence, social connections, and intimate knowledge of the country club set to uncover which of her neighbors is capable of murder. The problem is, between her interfering mother who insists on “helping,” her adoring father who treats her like she’s still twelve, her teenage daughter navigating her own drama, and a cadre of well-meaning friends who keep demanding her attention, finding time to actually investigate proves almost as challenging as staying alive. 🔍
Ellison navigates country club politics, society expectations, and increasingly dangerous situations while trying to clear her name and identify a killer who’s proven surprisingly good at making murder look like accident or misfortune. With her signature blend of humor and suspense, Mulhern creates a protagonist who’s equal parts stylish socialite and determined amateur detective, navigating a world where appearances matter almost as much as staying alive. Can Ellison unmask the killer before becoming the next body discovered at an inopportune moment, or will the murderer’s next victim be the woman who’s gotten too close to the truth? ⚡
What makes this delightful: Mulhern crafts a period cozy mystery with a witty protagonist, 1970s flair, and the perfect balance of humor and suspense. First in The Country Club Murders series, perfect for fans of Ellery Adams’s Secret, Book, and Scone Society or Laura Childs’s Tea Shop Mysteries who appreciate smart amateur sleuths and vintage settings with modern sensibilities.
A baby born old. A life that moves backward. A destiny no one could ever understand. When Benjamin Button enters the world as a seventy-year-old man complete with wrinkles, a full beard, and the physical ailments of advanced age, his bewildered parents find themselves confronting an impossible situation that defies all natural laws. How do you raise a child who’s already lived a lifetime, at least physically? As Benjamin grows younger with each passing year—his body rejuvenating while the world around him ages normally—he experiences life in reverse, moving through love, ambition, and heartbreak in ways no one has ever encountered before. ⏰F. Scott Fitzgerald, the legendary author of The Great Gatsby, delivers one of his most imaginative and unforgettable stories—a fantastical tale that blends humor with melancholy to explore profound questions about identity, aging, and the nature of human existence. As Benjamin navigates a world that cannot accept what it cannot explain, he faces the peculiar challenges of growing younger: attending school as an elderly-looking child, falling in love with a woman who ages while he rejuvenates, building a career knowing he’ll eventually become too young to continue, and ultimately facing the reality that his entire life trajectory runs counter to everyone around him. 📚
The story examines the fragile beauty of human connection when time itself becomes the obstacle. Benjamin discovers that while others see aging as loss, his reverse journey carries its own profound loneliness—the knowledge that every relationship he forms is destined to grow more complicated as the years create increasing distance between his experience and that of those he loves. Fitzgerald uses this fantastical premise to illuminate universal truths about mortality, love, memory, and the ways society judges people based on age and appearance rather than character and spirit. ⏳
Praised as one of Fitzgerald’s most imaginative works, this classic short story has captivated readers for generations with its poignant exploration of what makes us human when the usual rules don’t apply. The narrative blends whimsy with wisdom, creating a meditation on time’s passage that feels both fantastical and deeply personal. If you enjoy thought-provoking storytelling that lingers in your mind, emotional depth wrapped in deceptively simple prose, and a poignant twist on life’s journey that makes you reconsider your own relationship with time and aging, this timeless story will stay with you long after you finish it. ✨
Why this resonates: Fitzgerald crafts a masterpiece of speculative literary fiction that uses the impossible to illuminate the universal, exploring aging, mortality, and human connection through a lens only he could imagine. Perfect for fans of magical realism, readers who loved The Time Traveler’s Wife or The Midnight Library, or anyone who appreciates classic literature that challenges conventional perspectives on life’s journey.
Whoever marries last will inherit a cursed castle—and Lord Cedric Godwin is absolutely determined that it won’t be him. When it comes to love, Cedric has been spectacularly unlucky in the past. The woman who stole his heart was too far beneath his station to wed according to society’s rigid standards, and she died in childbirth fifteen years ago, leaving him with grief, guilt, and a newborn responsibility he’s carried ever since. Now circumstances demand he marry, but with a thriving cheese-making business requiring his attention, an important export deal hanging in the balance, and absolutely no time for the drawn-out rituals of courtship, he needs a practical solution. 🧀Merry Farmer delivers a delightful Regency romance that blends cheese entrepreneurship, unconventional heroines, and a hero who discovers that practical arrangements can become surprisingly complicated. Following his best friend Arnold’s suggestion, Cedric sets off to London to marry Arnold’s sister, Lady Muriel Grouse. It seems like the perfect plan—she needs a husband, he needs a wife, they’re friends with her brother, and surely that’s enough foundation for a respectable marriage. Besides, Arnold has assured him that Muriel is agreeable to the arrangement. What could possibly go wrong? 💍
Everything, as it turns out. Lady Muriel Grouse is far more than Cedric bargained for in every possible way. As a member of the notorious Oxford Society ladies—a group of intellectually ambitious women who scandalize the ton with their unconventional behavior—Muriel enjoys considerable freedom along with stinging social censure from polite society. But what Cedric doesn’t know is that Muriel is secretly a partner in her brother Arnold’s cheese-making enterprise, competing directly with Cedric’s own business. She’s intelligent, opinionated, perfectly pleased with her independent life, and when Cedric appears in London declaring they will wed as though it’s already decided, she’s shocked, insulted, and absolutely not interested in becoming any man’s convenient solution. 🎭
The trouble is, despite their rocky beginning and competing business interests, Muriel actually likes Cedric—he’s refreshingly honest, genuinely respects her intelligence, and doesn’t treat her like a problem to be solved. And Cedric finds himself admiring Muriel far more than he anticipated, drawn to her sharp wit, business acumen, and the way she refuses to bend to anyone’s expectations. When they band together to assist a damsel in distress, working side-by-side reveals a connection neither expected. But Muriel remains determined never to marry, valuing her freedom too highly to surrender it for any man. With that cursed castle inheritance looming and time running out, will Cedric be forced to marry elsewhere, or can he convince Muriel that marriage to him might be the one gamble worth taking? ⚡
What makes this charming: Farmer crafts a witty Regency romance with cheese-making rivalry, a feminist heroine who runs her own business, and a hero who learns that the best marriages aren’t based on convenience but mutual respect. First in the Unlucky in Love series, perfect for fans of Tessa Dare’s spinster heroines or Courtney Milan’s unconventional Regency romances who want historical romance with humor and heroines ahead of their time.
NEW RELEASES
In this tense thriller from Tariq Ashkanani, winner of the prestigious Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, private investigator Callie Munro is hunting a serial killer on the fog-shrouded streets of Edinburgh. The twist? He’s already found her, and she doesn’t even know it yet. As private investigators go, Callie Munro is tougher than most—she’s had to be. Abandoned as a baby and raised by a succession of strangers who never quite felt like family, Callie learned early that survival meant relying on herself and trusting her instincts above all else. 🌙But nothing in her difficult past prepared her for this: hunting a serial killer who’s targeting women nobody seems to care about. When Callie uncovers a disturbing pattern of missing women—sex workers, addicts, homeless women who’ve slipped through society’s cracks—she refuses to look away, even when everyone else has. The police dismiss her evidence, citing lack of resources and other priorities, leaving these forgotten women without anyone to fight for them. It’s the kind of injustice that lights a fire in Callie’s chest and won’t let her rest until she gets answers. 🔍
With law enforcement ignoring the mounting evidence, Callie finds herself in an unlikely and dangerous alliance with an organized crime boss who has his own agenda for wanting this killer caught. It’s not an arrangement that sits comfortably with her—partnering with criminals to catch a killer feels like a deal with the devil—but when you’re fighting for women the world has forgotten, you take allies where you can find them. The deeper Callie digs into the case, the more dangerous the hunt becomes, with every clue exposing another lie and every step forward bringing the killer closer to her. ⚡
She’s fighting for the forgotten, determined to give these women the justice they deserve and the voice they never had in life. But if Callie’s not careful—if she misses even one warning sign or makes a single misstep—she’ll become the next name on a list of women nobody notices are missing until it’s far too late. The hunter can very quickly become the hunted in Edinburgh’s dark streets, and this killer has already proven he’s always one step ahead. 💀
Why this grips from page one: Ashkanani delivers a gritty, atmospheric thriller with a fierce female PI protagonist and the dark underbelly of Edinburgh as a character itself. First in the Callie Munro series, perfect for fans of Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie novels or Ian Rankin’s Rebus books who crave morally complex crime fiction with social conscience.
She’s merry and bright, all twinkling lights and holiday cheer. He’s… decidedly not. But something between them is warming up faster than hot cocoa on a winter night. Megan Sheridan just landed what seems like the perfect holiday job: a quiet week in the mountains house-sitting an event venue while the owners are away for the holidays. The responsibilities sound blissfully simple—check the mail, answer the phone, keep the pipes from freezing, and enjoy some peaceful solitude in a beautiful mountain setting. Easy money, right? 🎄The only trouble? Nobody told Megan she’d be sharing the farmhouse with a very grumpy, very handsome farmhand who seems determined to scowl at her every time their paths cross. Noah Hawthorne is a cousin of the owner, so she can’t exactly ask him to leave, but if he gives her one more of those brooding looks, she’s seriously tempted to pack her own bags and forfeit the job entirely. Jenny Proctor delivers a cozy holiday romance that proves opposites don’t just attract—they combust, especially when trapped together in close quarters during a snowstorm. Megan refuses to have her Christmas spirit ruined by a grump, no matter how devastatingly attractive he might be. ❄️
But then a massive snowstorm sweeps through the mountains, knocking out the power and leaving them stranded together with no heat, no electricity, and no way to avoid each other. Suddenly, Megan finds herself forced to rely on her begrudging housemate for survival—and what she quickly discovers is that there’s far more to Noah Hawthorne than terse replies and guarded looks. Beneath that grumpy exterior is a man carrying wounds she didn’t expect, someone with depth and vulnerability he keeps carefully hidden from the world. ☕
As the snow continues to fall and the farmhouse grows colder, the space between them grows warmer. Megan learns about the secrets Noah’s been keeping, the reasons for those walls around his heart, and why he’s chosen isolation over connection. But trusting a man with secrets is tough, especially for someone like Megan who values honesty and openness above all else. She’s not sure she’s willing to gamble her heart on someone who won’t fully open up, no matter how strong the chemistry between them or how right it feels when he finally smiles. When the magic of the holiday season fades and the roads clear, will she be holding her future in her hands—or nursing a broken heart? 💕
What makes this heartwarming: Proctor crafts a perfectly cozy grumpy/sunshine holiday romance with forced proximity, snowed-in shenanigans, and a wounded hero who needs the right woman to show him how to trust again. Ideal for fans of Sarah Morgan’s winter romances or Debbie Macomber’s Christmas stories who want their happy endings served with hot chocolate and second chances.
The Naughty List is real, and this year, she’s on it. Vladimir Angeloff sits at the head of the Angeloff syndicate—cold, deadly, and utterly unshakeable. He’s the kind of man who inspires fear with a single look, whose word is law in the shadowy criminal underworld he commands. Our heroine thought she was just his assistant, a girl behind a desk handling schedules and correspondence, a quiet widow trying to rebuild some semblance of a normal life after loss. She was invisible, safe in her anonymity, or so she believed. 📋Then she found the List. Names, dates, payment codes—death meticulously wrapped in red and silver like perverse Christmas presents. Every target marked for elimination disappears before Christmas Day, their fates sealed by Vladimir’s brutal efficiency. K.C. Crowne delivers a dark mafia romance that explores what happens when an ordinary woman discovers she’s anything but safe in the world of the Bratva. The worst part? Her own name sits at the bottom of the List, written in Vladimir’s distinctive handwriting. She’s the final mark, scheduled to vanish without a trace as a quiet casualty of Bratva business. 🎄
But Vladimir decides otherwise. Instead of carrying out the hit that someone ordered on his unsuspecting assistant, he makes a choice that changes everything: her life becomes the price he’s willing to spill blood to protect. Suddenly she’s not facing death by his hand—she’s under his protection, caught in the crossfire of a power struggle she never knew existed. Now every breath feels borrowed, stolen time that could run out at any moment. Every step feels watched because it is—Vladimir’s enemies are circling, and she’s become the most valuable piece on a deadly chessboard. 🔪
As Christmas creeps closer and the danger intensifies, she no longer knows what terrifies her more: the ruthless men hunting her from the shadows, determined to finish what was started, or the Bratva kingpin who has already decided her fate belongs to him. Vladimir is possessive, protective, and absolutely lethal when it comes to what’s his—and he’s decided she’s his to keep, his to protect, his to claim. In the brutal world of organized crime, love is a weakness that gets you killed, but Vladimir is about to prove that for the right woman, he’ll burn the entire criminal underworld to ash. 💀
Why this captivates: Crowne delivers a full-length standalone Bratva romance with an age-gap dynamic, a protective possessive hero, and Christmas danger that ratchets up the tension. No cheating, HEA guaranteed. Perfect for fans of Natasha Knight’s dark mafia romances or Suki Williams’s brutal mob stories who want their alphas dangerous and their heroines determined to survive.