Shayla Loci has spent her career doing the hard, dangerous work of hunting down criminal supernaturals for the government. Now, on the eve of her fortieth birthday, she’s ready to trade that life in for something quieter. The game warden position on Enchanted Island sounds perfect — scenic, low-key, a fresh start. She doesn’t even make it to her first official day before a body turns up. 🧙♀️
Sheriff Stone needs her help, and Shayla — despite her best intentions — can’t say no to a good mystery. What follows is a wonderfully chaotic mix of supernatural sleuthing, island politics, and the kind of small-community dynamics that make paranormal cozies so much fun. Everyone has a secret on Enchanted Island, and most of them are weirder than your average small-town gossip. 🔮
Jenna St. James adds layers of charm with the supporting cast. There’s Needles, the bodyguard Shayla’s estranged royal father insists she take everywhere — a constant reminder that her old life has very long arms. And there’s a wayward teenage witch who needs mentoring, because apparently retirement comes with homework. 🌲
The mystery itself is genuinely engaging, building toward a twist that forces Shayla into a split-second decision with life-or-death consequences. St. James balances the humor and the stakes well — this never tips into parody, but it never takes itself too seriously either. 🐾
What makes this special: Deadly Claws is a treat for paranormal cozy fans who want a protagonist with real history and hard-won skills, not just magical abilities. A strong series opener with a world you’ll want to keep exploring.
Ronin Alexander’s heart stopped. Paramedics brought him back, and he woke up with the unsettling question hanging over him: what exactly is he supposed to do with a second chance? He finds his answer on the slopes as a ski patroller in Vancouver — a life of purpose, of paying forward the gift he was given. Then he meets Evelyn Taylor in a café, and everything shifts again. ❤️
Evelyn is warm, grounded, and completely disarming — a bath shop owner whose world is about to pull Ronin into something far more complicated than he bargained for. Her two best friends are getting married, and their world is one of wealth, politics, and social circles where nothing is quite what it appears on the surface. 🎿
Jewel E. Ann is one of the most emotionally daring writers in contemporary romance, and The Life That Mattered shows that fearlessness from the very first pages. She doesn’t shy away from dark territory — the question of whether a life is worth saving, and what obligations come with surviving when others don’t, runs as an undercurrent through the entire story. 💫
The romantic tension between Ronin and Evelyn is beautifully rendered, but Ann is always building toward something larger and more unsettling. The world Evelyn inhabits — where the lines between friendship and desire blur and secrets multiply — gradually reveals itself to be far more dangerous than it first appears. 🌨️
Why this touches the heart: Emotionally complex and impossible to put down, this is Jewel E. Ann at her most compelling. Readers who love romance that doesn’t flinch from difficult questions will find this series absolutely essential.
Cassie Alberta needed a fresh start, and Little Leaf Creek seemed to offer exactly that — a charming small town, fresh country air, and a pace of life that felt nothing like the city grief she was escaping. Her first day introduces her to a neighbor’s enthusiastic dog and some wandering goats, and she thinks: I can learn this. Then she finds the body on her front lawn. 🐾
Being new in town is awkward enough without also becoming the prime murder suspect. Cassie has no motive, no history with the victim, and absolutely no idea how a dead body ended up on her property — but small towns have long memories and short patience, and the locals aren’t immediately inclined to take her word for it. 🌿
Cindy Bell is one of the most prolific and beloved names in cozy mystery, with dozens of series that have earned devoted followings, and Little Leaf Creek shows exactly why. The small-town atmosphere is wonderfully rendered, the mystery is well-plotted, and Cassie’s unlikely partnership with her reclusive ex-cop neighbor gives the investigation a satisfying dynamic. 🏡
Bell adds a nice romantic thread — two appealing local men catch Cassie’s attention just as her suspect list is growing and someone starts making clear they’d rather she stop asking questions. The balance of warmth and genuine danger is perfectly calibrated throughout. 🍂
Why I’m including this: Chaos in Little Leaf Creek is the kind of series starter that earns instant loyalty — charming setting, likable heroine, and a mystery with real teeth. Fans of Joanne Fluke and Diane Mott Davidson will want to move right in.
Are You Awake?
With two young children, Mary hasn’t slept in what feels like years. For his part, Tim never feels safe enough to sleep. And so one hot, exhausting night, the two strangers meet while seeking solace in a nearby park. There, they witness something horrific: a violent attack in the window of a neighbouring house. Bonded by what they’ve seen, Tim and Mary are desperate to find answers. 😱
Claire McGowan writes psychological fiction with unreliable narrators and stakes that escalate with every page. When they see news reports of a missing woman who was last seen walking alone not far from them, the pair are convinced it’s her they saw being attacked—no matter what the police say. But with her marriage under strain and the police on their tail, Mary begins to doubt her own mind and Tim’s. 🔍
As the pair are drawn into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, the culprit appears to be even closer to home than they thought. Have they got it all wrong, or is something even more sinister going on? McGowan balances the sleep deprivation with the question of what they actually saw. 💀
Why this grips from page one: Two sleep-deprived strangers witness a violent attack in a window then discover a missing woman—psychological fiction with marriage under strain, police on their tail, doubting her own mind and his, dangerous cat-and-mouse game, and the culprit closer to home than they thought.
In a race across Nazi-occupied Italy, two women—a German photographer and an American stenographer—hunt for priceless masterpieces looted from the Florentine art collections. In the summer of 1943, Eva Brunner is taking photographs of Nazi-looted art hidden in the salt mines of the Austrian hinterland. Across the ocean in Connecticut, Josephine Evans is working as a humble typist at the Yale Art Gallery. 🎨
Laura Morelli writes World War II historical fiction with attention to the art at stake and the women racing to save it. When both women are called to Italy to contribute to the war effort, neither imagines she will hold the fate of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces torn from the Uffizi Galleries in her hands. But as Italy turns from ally to enemy and Hitler’s plan to destroy irreplaceable monuments becomes frighteningly clear, each woman’s race against the clock—and against one another—might demand more than they were prepared to give. 😰
The Last Masterpiece takes readers on a heart-pumping adventure up the Italian peninsula, where nothing is as it seems. Who might steal and who might save a work of art—and at what cost? 🔥
What makes this essential: A German photographer and American stenographer race across Nazi-occupied Italy hunting looted Florentine masterpieces—World War II historical fiction with art hidden in Austrian salt mines, fate of Uffizi treasures in their hands, Italy turning from ally to enemy, and Hitler’s plan to destroy irreplaceable monuments.
If you asked if she wanted to return to her hometown, the answer would be no. But on a deeper level, she would tell you that she was too scared to face her fears. Going back home sucked, but she was determined to make it work. Stepping on a few toes while doing her new job at the local newspaper? Not a problem. Handling old classmates who still held a grudge? No issue. But seeing Tyler Kane’s face again? That was a different story. 💔
C. Lymari writes small town romance with genuine emotional weight and a heroine who can’t forgive her former best friend. Now that they were both in the same small town, avoiding Tyler was no longer an option. Even worse, he’d integrated himself into the life she left behind, not to mention her family adored him. After all this time, she couldn’t let go of the grudge she still harbored against him. 😰
While she’d always been there for him, the one night she needed him the most, Tyler hadn’t been there for her. She had fallen for her best friend while he put her in the friend zone. And now, even though it seems like he might be starting to feel the same way, all she can think about is that Tyler Kane has broken every promise he ever made. 🔥
Why this grips from page one: A woman returns to her hometown and faces the former best friend who broke every promise—small town romance with local newspaper job stepping on toes, family who adores him, the grudge she can’t let go, the one night he wasn’t there for her, and falling for him when he friend-zoned her.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3