The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2025, Week 28’s New Books
My choices for this week include Psychological Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Sweet Romance, Romantic Comedy, Middle Grade Historical Fantasy, Young Adult Historical Romance, and Middle Grade Fantasy.
Did everyone enjoy Independence Day? July is in full swing, and I’m so far behind on my reading challenges. How is your reading going? I’m trying to play catch-up.
This week’s list isn’t as long as last week’s, but it still includes some nice choices. Many of these books sound fantastic, but sadly, none of them are on our TBRs (at least not at the moment).
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 28 of 2025!
Accidental Murder by Daryl Wood Gerber
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Psychological Thriller
From nationally bestselling author Daryl Wood Gerber comes a riveting new suspense!
When Kayla Macintyre discovers her twin sister Ashley brutally murdered, grief quickly gives way to terror—because Kayla was the real target. A case of mistaken identity fools the police into thinking she’s the one who died, and Kayla seizes the chance to disappear into her sister’s glamorous life as a supermodel. It’s a dangerous gamble for a tech-savvy, adrenaline-chasing computer repair specialist with zero fashion sense.
But the lie buys her time—and a shot at the truth.
As her clients and friends begin turning up dead, Kayla suspects the killer’s motive lies buried in the digital trails she’s been hired to clean. To stay alive, she must dive into the shadows of her clients’ secrets, unravel a conspiracy, and stay one step ahead of a killer who’s finally realized he missed his mark.
Time is running out. The next mistake could be fatal.
Death and the Librarian by Victoria Gilbert
Blue Ridge Library Mysteries #9
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Cozy Mystery
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It’s summertime in Virginia, but things are about to get out of hand when murder darkens the annual arts festival in this ninth installment of the critically acclaimed Blue Ridge Library mystery series, perfect for fans of Ellery Adams and Miranda James.
Library director Amy Muir has always been suspicious of wealthy art dealer Kurt Kendrick. As a close family friend, the ties that bind them are strong, but his murky past is concerning, especially since he is the godfather to Amy and her husband Richard’s six-year-old twins. When a visitor to their small, historic Virginia town is found dead after publicly accusing Kurt of committing a decades-old murder, Amy is determined to prove that Kurt didn’t kill anyone, in the past or the present. But the evidence Kurt’s accuser sent to Sheriff Brad Tucker before her untimely demise indicates otherwise.
With Amy’s own aunt and other older town residents corroborating some of the details related to the first murder and a witness placing Kurt near the scene of the second crime, it seems Kurt is doomed to swift and severe justice. Amidst the fun and excitement of an arts festival that features the premiere of Richard’s new dance company, Amy faces her own challenging performance—balancing her work and family life while dancing on the edge of danger.
With family and friends harboring suspicions about Kurt and Amy bedeviled by her own wavering trust in his innocence, she must fight to uncover the truth before a hidden killer strikes again.
Fixing Up My Love Life by Cindy Ray Hale
Midlife Meet Cute #2
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Sweet Romance
Goodreads | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon
I accidentally matched with my high school ex on a dating app. Now he’s fixing my beach house—and wrecking my no-romance rule.
Hazel
At 42, I’m a single mom of four, running a beach boutique and officially done with romance.
So of course my daughter signs me up for a dating app.
And guess who I match with?
Jackson Sanders. My high school ex. The one who broke my heart when he left town for good.
Now he’s back in Twin Waves and offering to help renovate the beach house I just inherited. He needs a project. I need the help.
But what I don’t need is to start falling for him all over again.
Jackson
I left Twin Waves to escape small-town life—and Hazel.
I’ve built a life, made my fortune, but none of it matters. Not like she does.She’s still gorgeous. Still guarded. And definitely not looking for love.
But I didn’t match with her by accident.
I broke her heart when I left. Now I’m back—and hoping for a second chance.
Fixing Up My Love Life is a heartwarming, later-in-life, second-chance, closed-door romcom perfect for readers who love:
- High School Exes Reunited
- Single Mom × Single Dad
- Dating App Shenanigans
- Secretly Wealthy Hero
- Forced Proximity + Renovation Romance
- Cinnamon Roll Energy
- Small Town Gossip
- Clean Romance (Just Kisses!)
Ready for witty banter, warm sand, and second chances? Escape to Twin Waves, where adorable toddlers steal the show, exes renovate more than just houses, and love shows up when you least expect it.I accidentally matched with my high school ex on a dating app. Now he’s fixing my beach house—and wrecking my no-romance rule
Relationship Goals by Brittany Kelley
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Romantic Comedy
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Ted Lasso meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this steamy sports romance about an infamous star soccer player who is forced to fake date a Hollywood starlet, only to develop real feelings for her—just as she learns he was pretending and vows to get even.
Abigail Hunt’s Hollywood dreams could best be described as slow burn…but she’s about to graduate from TV sidekick to dramatic actor. When the esteemed director of her breakout role suggests a deep dive for her part by shadowing the head of a struggling pro soccer team, she jumps at the chance to prove she’s ready.
Getting asked out by notorious grump and gorgeous star player Luke Wolfe wasn’t in the plan, but suddenly her research is getting a lot more…hands-on. Their relationship quickly sets social media on fire, and Luke seems determined to prove he’s more than his villainous reputation. But just when Abigail is happier than ever—her name in lights and her heart in good hands—the other cleat drops: Luke’s been coerced into faking their relationship to improve the team’s ticket sales.
Furious, Abigail refuses to give Luke the satisfaction of dumping him—she decides to get even. Over-the-top dates, treating his games like fashion shows, and befriending the fan club he hates? Count her in. It’s only a matter of time until she pushes the right buttons.
She just didn’t expect him to keep putting up with it—or to say I love you.
Sabrena Swept Away by Karuna Riazi
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fantasy
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JLG Gold Standard Selection
The author of the acclaimed A Bit of Earth reimagines classic characters from The One Thousand and One Nights. Sabrena’s family has always claimed they are descended from the legendary sailor Sinbad. But when the sea calls Sabrena to a whole new world, she’ll have to fight for her own story. For fans of The Last Mapmaker and Mañanaland.
This happened. Or maybe it did not. That is how stories begin. Because whether you believe them—or not—depends on you.
Sabrena’s destiny—her qadr—is strong. Or so her family has always said. After all, according to her dad, they are the descendants of the legendary Sinbad the sailor, who sailed the seven seas in The One Thousand and One Nights. But Sabrena has felt anything but strong lately. Mostly, she has felt worried. Worried about being the new girl in a school everyone else has attended since kindergarten, worried about Grandma’s memory failing and her stories getting more outlandish, worried about Mom deciding that Grandma can’t even live at home anymore. Worried about the strange—almost fantastical—things that keep happening whenever she’s around water lately.
And then, one day, the sea’s call will not be denied. It floods into her life and sweeps her away, to be fished out of an ocean both strange and oddly familiar. It only takes her a moment to realize that she’s in the stories spun by the legendary queen Scheherazade. Yet no one has ever heard of Sinbad, nothing seems to be going quite as it does in the tales as she knows them, and a frightening jinn is terrorizing the kingdom. Can Sabrena find the courage to claim her destiny before it’s too late?
The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick by S. Isabelle
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Historical Romance
Goodreads | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon
Bridgerton meets The Davenports in this wildly entertaining standalone romance, following a young Black woman trying to balance her independence with her future in 1860s London’s high society.
Stella Sedgwick is a lost cause.
Banished from etiquette lessons and unsure of her future, Stella dreams of a writing career and independence, but 1860s England offers little opportunity beyond marriage or servitude for a sharp-tongued, dark-skinned girl.
When her late mother’s former employer summons Stella to London, he tells her of his intention to bequeath one of the family’s great estates to her. It’s a life-changing inheritance, but one that will precipitate a legal battle that would be easier if Stella were married. With her cousin Olivia by her side, Stella is thrust into London society and must navigate fashion and balls, insults and stares, and a rekindled connection to Nathaniel, her childhood best friend with a rakish reputation.
Beyond the marriage market, living in London presents intriguing opportunities to Stella, like picking up her mother’s anonymous advice column to guide readers through upper-class perils. As new acquaintances are made and old secrets are uncovered, Stella must decide when to play by the rules, when to break them, and when to let herself follow her heart.
The Thread of Destiny by Aimee Lim
Weavers of Legacy and Fate #2
Publication Date: July 8, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Goodreads | Bookhype | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon
Full of grotesque monsters and revenge, Evie Mei’s journey to confront her mother’s killer comes to an end in this sequel to The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim.
Evie Mei Huang has literally been to hell and back alongside her friend Kevin. And while the trip to Dìyù, the Chinese underworld, was a grueling journey filled with endless horrors, nothing compares to the fact that she was unable to bring her mother back. She now has the great responsibility to assume the role her mother once held: head of the Weavers Guild. Spinning people’s fates sure seemed easier said than done, and now Evie finds herself buried in Guild duties while trying to maintain a strained relationship with her best friend.
What could make a twelve-year-old’s life even more complicated? Escaped monsters from the underworld that broke through when she returned to Earth. A mysterious yellow fog that seems to be turning their city upside down and hinting at an approaching massive force they aren’t prepared to fight. Not to mention the looming threat of the man who sent her mom to the underworld in the first place (who’s also her aunt’s fiancé). Can’t a girl catch a break?
Aimee Lim’s fast-paced conclusion to Evie Mei’s story is filled with her signature sardonic voice, explorations of grief and relationships, and thrilling action that will leave readers rooting for the young girl whose courage outshines everyone else’s.
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 28 of 2025
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!
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