The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2024, Week 40’s New Books
My choices for this week include Cozy Culinary Mystery, Sweet Romantic Comedy, Cozy Paranormal Mysteries, Cozy Historical Mystery, Fantasy Romance, Middle Grade Mystery, Sweet Holiday Romance, Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery, Young Adult Romantic Comedy, Historical Mystery, Young Adult Romance, Young Adult Fantasy, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Fantasies, and Young Adult.
It’s officially spooky season. Do you have your spooky decorations up yet? We do here! How are your reading goals coming along?
If not so great, check out some of these books! Jen and I have some books we have already read and some on our TBRs.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 40 of 2024!
Death at the Dinner Party by Ellie Alexander
Secret Bookcase Mystery #3
Publication Date: September 30, 2024
Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery
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Annie Murray is excited to host a murder mystery–themed dinner party, but soon the evening takes a deadly turn…
When her friend Penny confesses she’s struggling to finance the restoration of the historic Wentworth farmhouse, Annie is instantly inspired. The beautiful property has stood empty since the 1970s, but rumors still swirl about the eccentric Wentworth family and their hidden fortune. It’s the perfect setting for a spooky, immersive dinner party, and the evening is a roaring success – until neighboring landowner Curtis Wright drops dead at the dining table…
Annie knows she didn’t add arsenic to the entrée, so who messed with her catering, and why? Everyone in the party had some reason to hate renowned bully Curtis – not least Penny, who was under pressure to sell land to him. Annie realizes she’ll need to clear her friend’s name fast. Soon, she’s in deep, uncovering long-buried family secrets, shady business deals and pitch-black hidden passageways.
But as Annie closes in on the truth, the killer is determined to stop her at all costs. Will justice be served in time, or will Annie get a helping of death with dessert…?
Packed with twists, turns and charming small-town intrigue, Death at the Dinner Party is a deliciously page-turning, cozy mystery that will keep you guessing. Fans of Lauren Elliott, Tonya Kappes and Janet Evanovich will love the latest tasty treat from The Secret Bookcase series.
Her Maine Enemy by Sophie-Leigh Robbins
When in Maine #3
Publication Date: September 30, 2024
Genre: Sweet Romantic Comedy
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A fake engagement to my enemy sounds like the worst idea ever, but falling for him? Now that would be a real crime.
Benson Donovan has been my nemesis ever since I opened a glamping resort next to his back-to-basics campground. According to him, glamping has nothing to do with ‘real camping’ and he never passes up an opportunity to tell me.
When a coveted plot of land next to our campgrounds goes up for sale, we both want it—but neither of us can afford it. My mother offers to help, on one condition: if I marry Benson, she’ll buy the land as our wedding gift.
Yeah, small detail: I told her we were dating to dodge her relentless matchmaking.
Now I have to convince Benson we need a fake relationship, no matter how much I hate him. But the more time we spend together, the more I have to convince myself that I’m absolutely not in love with Benson Donovan. We’re only pretending after all…
Her Maine Enemy is a short and sweet romcom full of humor and heart that is meant to be read in two hours or less. It has no cliffhangers, a guaranteed HEA, and all the sizzle without the explicit content. This book is part of When in Maine, a feel-good romcom series set in a small coastal town in Maine. If you love short and sweet beach reads, then this series is perfect for you!
Meditation and Mischief by Elizabeth Pantley
Magical Mystery Book Club #7
Publication Date: September 30, 2024
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Goodreads | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon | Karen’s Book Review
When this club selects a book, magic happens!
This book club does more than read their books – they are absorbed into them to become the amateur sleuths! In order to leave the book, they must solve the mystery and reach The End.
In this journey they travel to The Golden Island Wellness Retreat for yoga, meditation, workshops, and spa treatments. They’ll bond with nature and improve their spiritual wellbeing. They’ll find their inner peace – and a dead body, of course.
Graduates from an acting college have gathered at the retreat for their ten-year reunion. Old friends reconnect, but apparently, so have old enemies. The book club must evaluate the attendees to determine whose baggage has led to murder.
Murder Under a Cold Moon by Abigail Keam
Mona Moon Mystery #13
Publication Date: September 30, 2024
Genre: Cozy Historical Mystery
Mona Moon and her new husband, Robert Farley, Duke of Brynelleth are on their honeymoon at last. They are invited to a weekend party by an old friend of Robert’s family—Lady Eustacia. Mona and Robert arrive in a substantial downpour to find several other couples awaiting the appearance of their hostess. When Lady Eustacia fails to come downstairs, Mona and Robert search the manor house only to find the lady missing. It is then they discover the telephone wires have been cut and none of the cars are able to drive into town due to the storm. Mona and Robert believe the invitation was a ruse, but for what purpose? And how do they help Lady Eustacia?
Shadow of the Witch by Kirsten Weiss
Mystery School #1
Publication Date: September 30, 2024
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Will fortune favor the brave, or the grave?
In the shadow of tragedy, Brandy embarks on a quest for answers that leads to a mobster’s mansion in Lake Tahoe. But what she finds within the Dragon House’s walls is more than she bargained for: a murdered man and a medieval scroll on the alchemy of luck.
Digging deeper into the mystical world of luck and chance, Brandy becomes trapped in a web of magic and deception that threatens to unravel her reality. Brandy must race against time to solve the murder and decipher the text. And if she can’t confront her deepest fears, she may lose everything.
Will fortune favor the brave, or will the grave claim her?
For fans of Deborah Harkness, Alice Hoffman and Paolo Cuelho comes a tale of transformation amidst a world of shadows and secrets. Shadow of the Witch is an interactive, metaphysical mystery from the Mystery School Series that will leave readers spellbound.
Featuring Riga Hayworth!
A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery #1
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
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Murder is not her department.
It’s not like it used to be. Modern-day grim reapers wear business casual, not black cloaks, and they don’t carry scythes, they work for S. C. Y. T. H. E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), where the Department of Natural Causes is the least exciting gig. And that’s how Kathy Valence likes it: boring and predictable. She has enough stress in her personal life; she’s mid-divorce, pregnant, and terrified she doesn’t have what it takes to be a good mom.
Then, she goes to pick up a new client and finds his soul is missing. When she finally tracks down Conner Ortiz, he angrily insists he was murdered, and he refuses to move on until Kathy finds out why and by whom.
Kathy has only forty-five days to solve the mystery before the boy’s soul is doomed to roam the earth as a ghost forever. To do that she’ll have to call on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and, inconveniently, Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career . . . and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.
A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
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Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.
Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.
Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue―convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.
Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.
Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall―and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.
A Split Second by Janae Marks
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Middle Frade Mystery
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New York Times bestselling author Janae Marks delivers a stunningly crafted and twisty mystery about the tests of friendships that examines what matters most when everything can change in a split second—perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead and Anne Ursu.
That clock can’t be right. When Elise wakes up the morning after her birthday celebration, she’s surprised to find herself in her bedroom. Last she can remember, she had fallen asleep next to her best friends at her slumber party in her basement, and it was October. But now she’s alone, and her phone says it’s April 8. Elise doesn’t understand. How could she have woken up six months later?
No one else is acting like anything strange has happened, yet Elise can’t remember the last half year. To make matters worse, her friends refuse to talk to her and Elise doesn’t know why. She also has no idea how she got signed up for photography club or why her former best friend, Cora, is talking to her again. Is it a memory problem? Could it be magic? Every day that passes takes Elise further from the world she knew. Thankfully, Elise has Cora to lean on in this new reality, and the two come together to investigate why Elise woke up in the future—and, more important, how to get her back to her past and away from this nightmare.
A Trip Down Memory Lane by E.D. Hackett
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Sweet Holiday Romance
A wedding, a snowstorm, and a road trip with your ex…what could possibly go wrong?
Cassidy McCarthy, a single woman from Tampa, is on her way back to Boston for the first time in years to attend her best friend’s wedding. While guilt has kept her away from her home and family, she simply can’t turn her best friend down.
At the airport, Cassidy becomes stranded by a freak snowstorm and is unexpectedly thrust into the path of her ex, Dusty. Forced to share the last rental car and a journey up the Eastern seaboard together, they are confronted with the shared past and buried emotions they both presumed long gone.
Cassidy can’t help but wonder if their story isn’t over yet…
When Dusty arrives at the wedding with another woman on his arm, Cassidy is thrown for a loop and reminded yet again of the destructive behaviors of her past. Will she find the strength to fix her mistakes and preserve the relationships she holds closest to her heart, or will she return to Florida alone?
If you enjoy closed-door romance, personal growth, and second chances, you’ll love E.D. Hackett’s A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE.
Apple Dumpling Murder by Trixie Silvertale
Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries #2
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Jen’s Book Review
NEW SERIES from USA Today Bestselling Author!
Santa’s daughter is happily settling into her life as a baker. Could a fresh murder burn her biscuits?
Cindy Claus loves exploring the human world and baking amazing treats. She should be bubbling over when her aging landlord takes her under his wing and promises to leave her the bakery in his will. However, before she can stir up a celebration, her patron collapses, dead, like a bad soufflé.
With suspicion instantly falling on the budding baker, Cindy must rely on her fragile new friendships and her father’s trusted arctic fox. She’ll have to sidestep local law enforcement as she gathers crumbs, and one wrong move could crush her dreams…
Can Cindy find the proof she needs, or will this villain punch down her last hope?
Apple Dumpling Murder is the second book in the festive paranormal cozy series, Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries. If you like kind-hearted heroines, furry sidekicks, and a dash of mistletoe magic, then you’ll love Trixie Silvertale’s seasonal secrets.
Buy Apple Dumpling Murder to blind bake a killer today!
*Features recipes from Cindy’s bakery!
Class Act by Kelsey Rodkey
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Comedy
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Perfect for fans of Elise Bryant and Katie Cotugno, this fake-dating YA rom-com from Kelsey Rodkey set at a high school election shows that in matters of the heart, you have to elect to be yourself.
Ella knew transferring to a new school wouldn’t be easy. The first day, while defending her sister, Ella makes an enemy out of the student council president and lands in detention. Swearing revenge on him, Ella will stop at nothing to unseat him—even calling for a redo election in which she’s the only one brave enough to run against him.
As a new student, Ella isn’t sure she can secure the votes until she meets unfailingly flirtatious Patrick and hears his wild idea to help her. He’ll pretend to be her boyfriend and show their classmates that she and her ideas for the school aren’t so bad. It’s like something out of her sister’s fan fiction.
But when their fake romance starts feeling too real, and Patrick’s true motives for their arrangement come to light, Ella has to decide what’s more important: Patrick or the polls.
Murder Among the Pyramids by Sara Rosett
1920s Lady Traveler in Egypt #1
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Historical Mystery
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Escape on an Egyptian Excursion to the Land of the Pyramids!
Tour highlights include: Hieroglyphics and high tea in the desert, followed by murder after sunset . . .
It’s 1924 and Blix Windway has made a career out of her wanderlust, giving lectures to ladies’ groups about everything from the flora of the American desert to the beauty of the Swiss Alps, but she needs new material for her talks.
She strikes what seems to be an ideal agreement with an eccentric older lady. Blix will be her travel companion during a journey to Egypt, helping to smooth the way through customs and coordinate sightseeing tours. The arrangement will provide Blix with the perfect opportunity to photograph the pyramids and gather material for her next lecture series. But they’ve barely left England before the trouble begins-rough seas and an attempted robbery. Then a murder occurs during a tour of the pyramids.
Despite the attempts of the British officials to sweep the death under the rug, Blix becomes increasingly convinced that one of their tour party is a murderer. Blix’s search for the truth takes her from the posh sporting clubs and lavish gardens of Cairo to the narrow, twisting lanes of the city’s centuries-old bazaar and the vast desert around the Giza Plateau. Can Blix unearth the truth before the killer makes this journey her last?
Join Blix on this classic murder mystery from Sara Rosett, author of the beloved High Society Lady Detective series.
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
Better Than the Movies #2
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Young Adult Romance
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In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better Than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.
For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.
Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.
Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.
Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.
The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle
City of Fantome #1
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
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In the dark underbelly of a beautiful city, two rival assassins are pitted against each other in a deadly game of revenge, where the most dangerous mistake of all is falling in love in this searing young adult fantasy.
In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers—the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?
Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic…and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together.
The Girls of Skylark Lane by Robin Benway
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
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National Book Award winner Robin Benway debuts a coming-of-age middle grade novel about friendships, family, and discovering the person you’re meant to be. Babysitters Club meets The Sandlot when twin sisters join a ragtag neighborhood girls softball team at a time when growing up could mean growing apart.
Aggie and Jac might be twin sisters, but lately they haven’t felt the same about anything. While Jac is excited about their move to Los Angeles and a chance to seem cool and mysterious, Aggie is worried her new locker won’t open, that Jac could make new friends without her, and that her friends from home will move on, leaving her all alone.
When the first day at school ends with an invite to join the neighborhood softball team, Aggie jumps at the chance to meet the other girls, even if she has to drag along Jac, whose own interest in the softball team might have more to do with the captain’s older brother…
Aggie is relieved to learn that each girl is dealing with their own problems and becomes excited at the opportunity to create strong friendships. But as Jac and Aggie grow into different people, will they be able to hold on to their sisterhood? For life throws the biggest curveball of all: growing up.
The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents by Nicki Pau Preto
Last Hope #1
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Goodreads | Bookhype | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon | Karen’s Book Review
A middle grade magic school fantasy perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and Witchlings, in which a girl with unparalleled power must work with her misfit classmates to save her new school.
Lavinia “Vin” Lucas is out of control and out of options. Stranded by parents who would rather use their average magical abilities to study dung beetles than raise her, Vin’s been on her own for years. But she’s never been able to corral her own powerful, unpredictable magic. After years of detention, suspension, and expulsion from magic schools far and wide, she’s now being sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. If she gets expelled, it’s the end of the line.
Now, Vin is determined to behave. Except no one at Last Hope seems to want her to. Her new teachers—particularly the school’s kind headmistress—push her to explore her magic, and her mischievous classmates delight in every accident. And all the while, a mysterious fire sprite, a suspicious instructor, and her overwhelming abilities might just sabotage Vin. But for the first time, she is not alone.
So when a former student begins attacking the school, Vin must question just how much she knows about the headmistress and her new home. Is this place worth saving? And are her budding abilities—and every trick, trap, and deception in her friends’ delinquent arsenal—enough to protect Last Hope?
Three Things About Emmy Crawford by Allison L. Bitz
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Young Adult
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In this coming-of-age novel perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Rebecca Lynn Solomon, nothing can derail Emmy Crawford, the type-A daughter of a senator, from relentlessly pursuing her dreams—not Crohn’s disease, the paparazzi, or even heartbreak.
There are three things high school senior Emmy Crawford will accomplish, no matter what:
- Taking Nationals in debate this season.
- Shielding her sister, Issy, from anything that could hurt her, especially her anxiety.
- Representing her family well, since her mom may be the next president.
And nothing can get in Emmy’s way. Not Crohn’s disease, even if her gut has been acting up. Not the paparazzi, who snap any photos they can get of the daughters of a presidential candidate. And definitely not her feelings for Gabe Castillo, the only debater in DC who stands a chance at beating her—and who she used to be on secret kissing terms with, before he ghosted her. When Gabe unexpectedly returns to the debate scene and Issy starts crushing on him, Emmy works harder than ever to keep her eyes on winning and off her aching heart and body, because the alternative means losing the three things that matter most.
Wish Monster by J. A. White
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
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From J. A. White, the acclaimed author of Nightbooks, comes another spine-chilling stand-alone middle grade horror novel about a pair of friends who discover a strange creature in a cave that can make any wish come true—including bringing the dead back to life.
In the darkness, something opened its eyes.
The town of Haywood, New Jersey, has a secret. A wish monster.
Violet Park discovered its cave by accident, and the wish monster granted her deepest desire by bringing her dog Midnight back to life. It even erased everyone’s memory of his death. Life was perfect. But then an unremarkable boy named Hudson Causeway somehow remembered Midnight had died. That scared Violet. What if he ruined everything? Even worse, what if the wish monster wasn’t as innocent as it seemed?
Deep down, Violet knew: No wishes are made without consequences, and every monster needs to be fed.
Witchwood by Kalyn Josephson
Ravenfall #3
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
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The third book in the “spellbinding” (Kirkus Reviews) Ravenfall series follows Anna and Colin, two kids with supernatural powers, into the magical town of Witchwood, where local witches have gone missing—and Anna might be next.
Everything is changing at Ravenfall, the magical inn that best friends Anna Ballinkay and Colin Pierce call home. The leaves are turning golden, the air is as crisp as a harvest apple, and Anna’s older twin sisters are leaving for college… but at least Anna and Colin have finally reunited after a summer apart, just in time for a new magical mission.
When their mission is interrupted by a mysterious attack that forces them to seek shelter, Anna and Colin head to Witchwood, a spooky lakeside town where magic doesn’t have to be hidden. Anna is excited to reunite with her aunt and cousin, who she hopes might teach her more about Jewish magic—except her cousin seems to hate her. Especially once Anna realizes that she’s a witch, just like them.
But rude cousins are the least of their problems, because they soon discover that witches are going missing in Witchwood. And if Anna and Colin can’t stop whatever sinister force is making them disappear, Anna could be the next target…
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 40 of 2024
Drop a comment if you like one of the books above or if you have one to recommend.
Thank you for stopping by,
Happy Reading!
Baroness’ Book Trove is an Amazon affiliate, meaning that if you click the link and purchase something, this blog gets a tiny percentage back. Mainly, this helps with the cost of the website and a few giveaways.
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