Eat a crumpet—check; say “bloody hell” in an English pub—check; solve three murders and fall in love—definitely not on the list, but when England dishes up murder, even an American girl knows it’s time to channel her inner Agatha Christie. Jessica Berg launches Eliza Darcy Mysteries with amateur sleuth fiction where American Eliza Darcy travels to Merry Old England to partake in a Darcy/Bennet family reunion for one reason: to solve the estrangement between her father and uncle, but not long after her arrival and exploration of the vast estate of her ancestors, a dead body surfaces and murder and mayhem replace afternoon teas and flirting with her British heartthrob. 🇬🇧Eliza has every intention of keeping her snoot out of official Scotland Yard business, but when clues to the murder begin to merge with her investigation into her family’s rift, her inner wannabe sleuth self-activates. Berg explores what happens when family reunion goals collide with murder investigation needs, examining how an American girl armed with Jane Austen knowledge and determination becomes an unlikely detective. With the help of her batty great-aunt and the sexy Heath Tilney, Eliza hurries to untangle the web of lies and secrets. 💀
As corpses start to pile up faster than the clues, Eliza fears the estate’s family graveyard will swallow another body: hers—Berg delivers amateur sleuth mystery where Pride and Prejudice heritage meets contemporary murder, proving that having the right literary pedigree doesn’t prepare you for actual bodies but might give you the detective instincts to solve the crimes. The first Eliza Darcy Mystery balances British charm with American pluck, creating a heroine who solves family secrets and murder mysteries simultaneously. ☕
What makes this special: Amateur sleuth mystery launching Eliza Darcy Mysteries where American Eliza Darcy travels to England for a Darcy/Bennet family reunion to solve the estrangement between her father and uncle—after exploring the vast ancestral estate, a dead body surfaces replacing afternoon teas with murder and mayhem, and when clues merge with her family rift investigation, her inner wannabe sleuth activates with help from batty great-aunt and sexy Heath Tilney as corpses pile up faster than clues and she fears the estate graveyard will swallow her next.
He knew he’d kill him the moment he walked in—Mason Dixon wants a quiet life with a bar on the South Carolina coast, no questions, no trouble, but he used to be an assassin and some men still deserve to die. Nick Thacker launches Mason Dixon with mystery action fiction where Mason doesn’t kill for pleasure but with a code: the men he takes out won’t be missed, and the money keeps his bar alive, operating as someone who’s left his old life behind except for the occasional job that funds his new one. 🎯Then he makes one mistake—an innocent gets caught in the fallout, and Mason is forced to choose: walk away or fix what he broke, even if it costs him everything. Thacker explores what happens when an assassin’s code meets collateral damage, examining whether someone who kills for money can also kill for redemption when their mistake threatens an innocent life. The author delivers action fiction where moral lines get blurry when you’re already a professional killer trying to draw boundaries. ⚔️
Mason’s carefully constructed quiet life—the South Carolina bar, the no-questions policy, the code that makes killing acceptable to himself—all threatens to collapse when fixing his mistake means risking exposure and possibly his life. Thacker writes an antihero who’s built a fragile peace that one error shatters, proving that assassins don’t get to retire cleanly when their past keeps demanding payment. The first Mason Dixon novel establishes a character who kills with rules discovering that the most important rule might be taking responsibility when innocent people pay for your mistakes. 💥
Why I’m including this: Mystery action fiction launching Mason Dixon where former assassin Mason Dixon wants quiet life with a South Carolina coast bar, no questions, no trouble—but he used to be an assassin and some men still deserve to die, killing with a code where targets won’t be missed and money keeps his bar alive—then he makes one mistake with an innocent caught in fallout, forcing him to choose between walking away or fixing what he broke even if it costs him everything.
Working 9-to-5 has never been this wild—desperate for a fresh start, Julie jumps at a chance to work for the boss of TalkToMe, the country’s fastest growing social network, with the job’s location on the enigmatic Monster Island only adding to its appeal since she won’t be tempted to make another foolish mistake. Honey Phillips delivers paranormal romantic comedy where she didn’t expect her new boss to be the hottest, most tantalizing man she’s ever met—even if he does growl his orders and has an oddly arousing habit of sniffing her. 🐺Derek might be a werewolf residing in the heart of Monster Island, but he sees himself as a businessman rather than a monster—until his new assistant arrives, awakening all of his most primitive instincts. Phillips explores what happens when professional boundaries meet primal attraction, examining how a werewolf CEO tries to maintain corporate decorum while his wolf side wants to claim his human assistant. He knows she’s human, knows she’ll never stay, but the need to claim her is growing stronger every day. 💼
Can Julie resist the primal allure of her werewolf boss, or can a beauty really love a beast? The author delivers paranormal romantic comedy where Monster Island’s business district becomes the setting for office romance with supernatural complications, proving that some workplace attractions are literally beastly. Phillips balances corporate culture with werewolf instincts, creating chemistry where growled orders and inappropriate sniffing somehow become arousing rather than HR violations. The monster romance asks whether love can bridge the species gap when one partner has fangs. 🌙
What makes this compelling: Paranormal romantic comedy where Julie desperate for a fresh start jumps at working for the boss of TalkToMe social network on enigmatic Monster Island—she didn’t expect her new boss to be the hottest, most tantalizing man ever even if he growls orders and has an oddly arousing sniffing habit, while werewolf Derek sees himself as businessman rather than monster until his new assistant awakens his most primitive instincts, knowing she’s human and won’t stay but the need to claim her grows stronger daily.
The Seven Month Itch (Chance at Love Book 1)
Seven days, one relentless best friend, and a singles’ retreat in the middle of nowhere her future ex-husband decides to attend—what could go wrong? Tanvier Peart launches Chance at Love with African American romance where note to self: when your best friend of twenty years shows up at your door and tells you to pack, run because it’s an ambush, not your annual girls’ trip, but she wasn’t fast enough, so here she is at a seven-day singles’ retreat in Vail, Colorado, 1,011 miles away from home and her comfort zone. 💔Emma knows she’s not ready to entertain the idea of meeting one man, let alone a herd of bachelors—no dating playbook for single women on the brink of divorce could prepare for this winter escape or the man who descends from the elevator after they arrive: her estranged husband, a man she’s loved since college who shattered her heart that’s yet to heal. Peart explores what happens when your best friend’s intervention collides with the worst possible coincidence, with this being the first time they’ve laid eyes on each other since she left him seven months ago. Rage, hurt, betrayal—she feels it all, so why do her thighs clench at the memory of his touch? 🔥
Based on his gaze, she won’t survive the week, with Peart delivering romance where healing from heartbreak becomes impossible when the person who broke you shows up at the singles’ retreat your meddling best friend dragged you to. The author examines how seven months of separation doesn’t erase years of love or the physical memory of desire, creating tension where anger and attraction battle while both partners navigate the same retreat designed to help them move on from each other. The first Chance at Love novel asks whether you can find new love or reclaim old love in seven days. 💕
What makes this special: African American romance launching Chance at Love where her best friend Emma ambushes her with a seven-day singles’ retreat in Vail, Colorado when she’s not ready to meet bachelors on the brink of divorce—then her estranged husband she’s loved since college who shattered her heart seven months ago descends from the elevator, and despite rage, hurt, and betrayal, her thighs clench at his touch as his gaze promises she won’t survive the week.
A high-profile kidnapping, a widespread conspiracy, and a chance at redemption—as an off the books contractor for the CIA, Gideon Hale is used to a world of violence and no-win situations where he can get his hands dirty, so when his team is tasked with kidnapping a high-profile child, he reluctantly agrees. R.A. McGee delivers conspiracy thriller where when the mission goes off the rails, Hale quickly learns the hard way there’s no one he can trust in a desperate race from suburban Virginia to the mountains and back. 🎯Hale crosses bullets with foreign powers, a savvy jewel thief, and even the deadly members of his own team as the scramble to stay alive intensifies and he feels a trap closing in around him—but the only way out of the mayhem is through, a trip that might cost him his life. McGee explores what happens when an operative comfortable with moral ambiguity discovers that this time he’s been played from the start, with trust becoming the most dangerous commodity when everyone around you might be part of the conspiracy. ⚔️
The author delivers action thriller where off-the-books means no backup when things go wrong, and a kidnapping mission that was already morally questionable becomes a fight for survival when Hale realizes he’s the target as much as the child. McGee balances relentless action with paranoid tension, creating a protagonist who must shoot his way through problems while figuring out who’s really pulling the strings. The conspiracy expands with each revelation, proving that sometimes the only way to redemption is exposing the people who hired you. 💥
Why I’m including this: Conspiracy thriller where off-the-books CIA contractor Gideon Hale used to violence and no-win situations where he gets his hands dirty reluctantly agrees to kidnap a high-profile child—when the mission goes off the rails, he learns there’s no one to trust in a desperate race from suburban Virginia to mountains, crossing bullets with foreign powers, a jewel thief, and his own deadly team as a trap closes in with the only way out being through at the possible cost of his life.
A cultural philosopher and an astrophysicist attempt to decipher how we fit into the universe and the impact our placement has on us, presenting an explosive and potentially life-altering idea after a four-century rupture between science and questions of value and meaning. Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack deliver groundbreaking work arguing that if the world could agree on a shared creation story based on modern cosmology and biology—a story that has just become available—it would redefine our relationship with Planet Earth and benefit all of humanity, now and into the distant future. 🌌Written in eloquent, accessible prose and illustrated in magnificent color throughout, including images from innovative simulations of the evolving universe, this book brings the new scientific picture of the universe to life, interpreting what our human place in the cosmos may mean for us and our descendants. The authors offer unique insights into the potential use of this newfound knowledge to find solutions to seemingly intractable global problems such as climate change and unsustainable growth, explaining why we need to “think cosmically, act globally” if we’re going to have a long-term, prosperous future on Earth. 🌍
Abrams and Primack examine how shared cosmology could transform culture, arguing that humanity needs a common origin story rooted in scientific understanding rather than competing mythologies to address planetary challenges. The book balances astrophysics with philosophy, creating a vision where scientific knowledge about our cosmic origins provides not just facts but meaning and direction for human civilization. The authors prove that understanding where we come from in universal terms could reshape how we live together on this planet. ✨
What makes this compelling: Cultural philosopher Nancy Ellen Abrams and astrophysicist Joel R. Primack present an explosive idea after four centuries’ rupture between science and meaning—if the world agreed on a shared creation story based on modern cosmology and biology, it would redefine our Earth relationship and benefit humanity, bringing the new scientific universe picture to life with insights for solving climate change and unsustainable growth by thinking cosmically and acting globally.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3