A young woman’s unique power is deemed too dangerous, leaving her with the option of either losing it or working and competing to retain it amid the unraveling of a broader conspiracy in Midnight on the Celestial by Julia Alexandra. Roe Damarcus has a unique Morphic ability to resurrect the spirits of the dead, which her father has used as an attraction during parties over the years, preparing for her future while also further cementing the Damarcus name and legacy.

Haunted by her father’s murderer, a young woman hones her investigative and observational skills, yet the latest trail of strange crimes and victims points toward a perpetrator she can’t let go in The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White. Five years after finding her father murdered with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body before disappearing into the night, Anneke Van Helsing has devoted her life to the pursuit of investigating crime scenes while deploying the latest in forensic techniques.

A cat charity seeking a new home finds an intriguingly magical one with a mysterious landlord, gaining much more than anticipated in Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. Running a cat rescue charity in Montreal, the meticulously organized Agnes Aubert is in search of a new shop to rent after her current one was badly wrecked as collateral damage in a magician’s battle.

In a town known for a legendary massacre by a beastly creature, the recurrence of similar killings draws the only survivor from the original incident out of her reclusive life to figure out what’s going on and learn the truth in The Animal by Chad Nicholas. Twenty-five years ago, something emerged from the forest in a rampage through town, slaughtering seventeen people, leaving only one survivor in its wake, eight-year-old Riley, who described the monster she witnessed as an Animal.

In the wake of her husband’s suspicious death, a woman’s life is upended not only by her grief but by the truth she ultimately uncovers in Iris by Robert Veress. Consumed by grief after her husband, Sorin’s, sudden death, Iris pulls away from the life they’d been working to build together, including raising their child, whom he didn’t have the chance to meet.

Suddenly tasked with a position of power and duty to take up the recently vacated throne, the next in line is a young woman whose worthiness is explored while a series of stories is told in Unworthy by L. Marie Wood. With the death of her royal mother, a young woman remains in the room with her body, taking time to contemplate the loss and the impending duty of taking up the throne before being required to do so.

Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart and Is This a Cry For Help? by Emily Austin are out today.

A young girl’s supernatural abilities allow her to perceive things that others don’t, opening up a different view of the world in The Misconception (Psychic Megan Series Volume 1) by Owen Jones. Perceptive to aspects of the world around us that may often go unobserved or overlooked, Megan can see things that others can't, such as auras around people and her deceased grandfather, which makes them think she’s a bit strange if she talks about it.

With temperament and training to rule a kingdom, courtly scheming in favor of her younger half-brother shifts how this reality comes to fruition for a princess in The Wandering Queen: A Novel of Dido by Claire Heywood. As the King of Tyre lies in his deathbed he issues his last testament, which his daughter, Princess Elissa bears witness to, that she should inherit rule from him for and with her younger half-brother Pygmalion; however, after his death, the courtly scheming of merchant advisors has effectively sidelined Elissa in favor of the young Pygmalion’s sole, and impressionable, rule.

A traveling fortune teller, eager to avoid capturing attention and the resulting consequences, manages to find herself becoming part of something far greater to find a missing child in The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong. Traveling between villages in the company of her trusty mule, Tao tells small fortunes while trying to avoid the attention of Guild mages, as she has long since learned that big fortunes are accompanied by proportional consequences.

Another year has come and gone, both quick and slow in its passing. Throughout this past month, I read 12 books to close out the year, which brings me to 107% of my annual goal, a surplus of 7%. December Release Round-Up: Dark Matter by Kathe Koja After Deliverance: Part 1 by R.R. Santos Now for the statistics, with my reading trends of 2025 including: …

Where the veneer and the reality of a family’s life greatly contrast, traumatic experiences resurface and are revealed as a lawyer seeks out the truth for a child’s best interests in House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen. After a nanny dies from a fall from a window while responsible for caring for nine-year-old Rose Barclay, the young girl begins collecting sharp objects and stops talking, deemed to have traumatic mutism.

A strange twist of fate draws a man from his ordinary life into a bizarrely extraordinary one filled with supernatural creatures and a new community in which to belong in Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson. After an incident with a bus that should have meant his demise, Green finds himself inexplicably alive, watched by a massive crow that’s somehow unseen by other commuters, and with an acorn in his pocket that he cannot stop his hand from gravitating toward.

An investigation to catch a serial killer takes an impossible twist as those seeking the killer are so haunted by those they couldn’t save, they question how they can stop the monster without becoming one in Shade by Chad Nicholas. Two FBI agents, Jack and Shade, hunt for a serial killer, something that they’re exceedingly capable of and adept at, despite the unpleasant and unfortunate circumstances of the cases that they’re frequently investigating.

Under siege from alien forces, Earth’s resistance against a violent invasion is limited until four unlikely heroes are drawn together, raising hope as their determination might change their fates in Earth Warriors: The Four Heroes of Peace by Lui Petri. An alien empire, Zlocu, has invaded much of the galaxy, primarily through violent means, and Earth is its latest target. As Zlocan forces assume control of greater proportions of the planet, there seems to be little that even military resistance can do to stop them, at least until four fairly ordinary individuals with a relatively extraordinary level of determination and commitment to helping others join together and gain some helpful tools.

A man down on his luck has a chance encounter that changes his life in strange, yet comforting and beneficial, ways in The Alien House by Owen Jones. While struggling to earn the money he needs to support himself and bring his wife, Dew, over to join him in the UK from Thailand, Michael has been living rough. When a chance occurrence involving a sensitive car alarm and unsteady legs leads him to meet Roger, a local estate agent, Roger, along with his three co-workers, Joy, Jan, and Jenny, kindly suggests putting Michael up in Roger’s house that they share, which Michael agrees to, as it allows him to recuperate peacefully.

After years protecting the magic of the world from disappearing, Peter and Sophie finally face off against The League of Maps, but what they find as they do is rather surprising in The War of the Maps (The Vanished Kingdom #3) by Jonathan Auxier. Returning to Hazelport after years traversing the world in an effort to protect magic and seeking out The League of Maps, as directed by Professor Cake, Peter and Sophie arrive to find themselves interrupting a rather elaborate ordeal, which happens to be Peg’s wedding.

An implausible find, an experiment with astounding results and implications, and unthinkable events converge that will determine the fate of humanity, however improbable it may seem, in The Arasmith Certainty Principle by Russ Colson. When a skeleton is found buried with contemporary items anomalous to the layer of rocks in which it was uncovered during a geological research dig, Jonathan Renner calls upon his colleague Jen Hewitt to consult on his theories relating to the potential of aliens and time travel.

After Deliverance: Part 1 by R.R. Santos is out today.

Invited to the estate of a famous mystery writer for a holiday party, only to have the host disappear under strange circumstances, two authors who butt heads investigate the writer's disappearance in The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter. Maggie Chase, a cozy mystery author, and Ethan Wyatt, thriller author, share a publisher, a penchant for keeping their personal lives quiet, and a history where Maggie dislikes him and he calls her Marcie, despite the many times she’s corrected him.

Dark Matter by Kathe Koja is out today.

Onward to the last month of the year. During November, I read 9 books, which brings me to 95% of my annual goal. November Release Round-Up: Ariadne & Dionysus by Elysanthe These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux Manifesting Destiny by Amanda Innes

Once saved by heroes, the world is again on the brink of devastation as the cumulative actions of a cleanup crew, obfuscating politically-motivated players, and a resistance faction unleash chaos that begins to reveal long-kept and dark secrets in After Deliverance: Part 1 by R.R. Santos. Leading a team of people with mutated, enhanced abilities who are contracted to clean up from crises caused by Aberrant destruction and generally helping people of the city, Charles “Chub” Hale has brought together a group of misfits who have become like a family, yet he’s been keeping secrets from them that is making it even more difficult for their business to make ends meet and if they find out their trust in him is likely to rapidly dissipate.

Kept locked away in an overgrown estate with stringent rules to follow, the sudden and irregular death of his guardian brings about massive changes in a young man’s life in Hazelthorn by CG Drews. Living for the past seven years on the Hazelthorn estate as the ward of reclusive billionaire Byron Lennox-Hall, the sickly seventeen-year-old Evander has been kept primarily to his room within the vast estate, tended to with medicines, and given strict rules to adhere to, which include not entering the gardens and to stay away from Byron’s grandson Laurie, the latter a rule put in place after Laurie tried to kill Evander, yet Evander can’t stop thinking of him.

A young man with ambitions develops skills that enhance his life, but a mysterious and seemingly unstoppable danger pulls him into a duty-bound fight in EverBright by Craig Phillips. Half-halfling Tiernan has grown up working hard alongside his mother as a servant without being acknowledged by his father, yet he is filled with cheer and dreams of elevating beyond his place in life.