The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2026, Week 15’s New Books
My choices for this week include Adventure Fantasy, Cozy Culinary Mystery, Young Adult Romantic Mystery, Romantic Comedies, and Contemporary Romance.
Happy Easter! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!
We are in the fourth month of the year, so how are our reading challenges going? I did get behind, but I am working to get it back under control. Spring weather here is crazy. One day we have rain and sun.
Not quite a big list this week, but there are some good ones. I have my eye on some of them.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 15 of 2026!
Dark Queen by Jeff Wheeler
Angel Sworn #3
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Adventure Fantasy
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In a world ravaged by monsters and ambition, survival demands impossible choices.
Metamorphistry has torn civilization apart. Cities have fallen. Kingdoms lie in ruin. From the chaos stalks a relentless golem, hunting a single prize-the angel sworn Cimree, whose curse turns any who behold her into stone.
While the other angel sworn take refuge in the caves of Tirich Mir, Cimree remains trapped beneath the shattered city of Ecbatana, hiding in its labyrinthine tunnels. She is bound by a rare and dangerous magic to Azra, a connection that both strengthens and endangers them. Enemies circle in the darkness, determined to destroy each other-and her. Her only confidante is a whispering serpent no one else can hear, a voice that may be a guide or temptation.
Fleeing Ecbatana with Azra means risking everything-trust, love, and the fragile safety of those she once saved. For Cimree’s curse is not just a weapon against her enemies. It is a threat to anyone who dares stand too close.
As the world fractures and ambition breeds ever-deadlier horrors, Cimree must decide what she is willing to sacrifice: her freedom, her future, or the people she loves.
Because some choices don’t demand courage.
They demand everything.
Jeff Wheeler delivers a powerful epic fantasy where cursed magic, impossible loyalty, and relentless danger collide in a world torn apart by ambition. Dark Queen is epic fantasy at its most gripping-where every bond is a risk, every choice carries devastating weight, and survival demands more than courage.
PERFECT FOR READERS WHO LOVE
– Epic fantasy with cursed heroines and dark magic
– Impossible choices between love and survival
– Shattered worlds and relentless monster hunters
– Dangerous bonds and morally complex relationships
Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst
Orchid Isle Mysteries #3
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery
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Retired caterer Valerie Corbin investigates a suspicious poisoning in this Orchid Isle cozy culinary mystery, featuring a feisty queer couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i.
A dinner to die for!It’s been an eventful transition, but retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen are finally settling into life on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Val’s even joined the neighborhood orchid society to make some new friends. So when she’s asked to step in to cater their latest social event, as the newbie of the group she can’t exactly say no.
But what should have been a straightforward gig is soon a dining disaster when the food from the event poisons and kills the society president. As Val herself becomes a suspect in the murder investigation, she’s determined to uncover the truth. Who would want to kill the mild-mannered president of the orchid society?
Turns out the list is longer than a celebrity chef’s tasting menu. Apparently some of the residents did not “love thy neighbor.” Can she reveal the killer’s identity before they strike again?
This mouthwatering cozy mystery is perfect for fans of Ellen Byron, Jennifer J Chow, Lucy Burdette, and Raquel V Reyes, and includes a selection of delicious Hawaiian recipes to cook at home.
The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Mystery
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An unforgettable young adult murder mystery set in an escape-room themed game show filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles to die for.
This gorgeous first edition hardcover features stunning stenciled edges and specially crafted endpapers!
It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.
Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.
Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show’s trickiest escape rooms. There’s Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master; and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.
But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.
When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high just in this competition—they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss comes a twisty thrill-ride that will take readers on an exhilarating hunt to uncover secrets, conspiracy, and cold-blooded murder.
The Name Game by Beth O’Leary
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Romantic Comedy
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A man and a woman with the same name are looking for a fresh start only to discover they have landed the same job in this charming new romance by bestselling author Beth O’Leary.
Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start.
Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.
But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?
The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Contemporary Romance
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A woman tests the limits of her so-called amicable divorce when she flies to Paris for the destination wedding of her former sister-in-law, only to butt heads with the deliciously gruff best man, in a poignant and romantic novel from Kate Clayborn.
Physician Layla Bailey has spent over a year telling herself she’s moved on from a painful but amicable divorce from her college sweetheart. Staying friends with her ex seemed like the mature thing to do, but when Layla is invited to her former sister-in-law’s destination wedding in Paris—where Layla once spent her own romantic honeymoon—she knows her commitment to maturity might be her worst enemy…especially since her ex isn’t attending alone.
The only thing that could make the week more difficult is getting through it without the distraction of the wedding…. But when what Layla thought was a harmless conversation about the choices of her younger self leads to the bride getting cold feet, Layla finds herself facing down the groom’s mysterious, taciturn best man, Griffin, who will do anything to make sure this wedding happens.
Since she broke it, Griff demands she help him fix it. Going along with his plan to alleviate the engaged couple’s doubts seems like Layla’s best chance at maintaining a good relationship with a family she once called her own. But as she learns more about the past heartbreak that’s driving Griff to help his friend, she gets closer and closer to confronting the true depth of her own pain…while finding herself more and more willing to risk it all again for Griff.
The Write Off by Kara McDowell
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Romantic Comedy
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Two rival authors are forced to confront a decade of love and heartbreak on the campus where it all started in this captivating debut romance by Kara McDowell.
It’s been thirteen years since Mars Darling first met West Emerson on a bench outside their writing class. What started out as a friendly rivalry turned into a best friendship and then, for a brief time, a romance. Now over a decade later, as Mars stands at their college campus as a once-esteemed YA fantasy author, ready to take on a book festival, she comes face to face with West—the muse behind her infamous trilogy’s heartthrob hero, the man who betrayed her in the worst way.
Mars is determined not to let her comeback tour be ruined by the fact that West is also at the festival as an author. But the longer they are on the campus that holds so many shared memories, the more time they have to untangle their past, and Mars starts to question if maybe it’s not only her writing career that deserves a second chance.
Told in two unfolding timelines—Mars and West’s frenzied college days where they grapple with their undeniable connection, and their tension-filled present of heartache and familiar yearning—this charming romance shows that while you can’t rewrite the past, it’s never too late to chase your happily ever after and get back the one that got away.
Coasting Into Love by Tomi Tabb
Friends of the Unexpected Royals #3
Publication Date: April 8, 2026
Genre: Romantic Comedy
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I came to Excelsior Parks for my dream job: designing world-class roller coasters.
Theo Riverton is the one variable I didn’t account for.
He’s the brilliant, demanding head of the Orlando office. And he has no problems reminding me that I’m the rookie who hasn’t earned her place at the table. Yet. Every design meeting feels like a stress test—with me as the weakest structural component.
Every time he pushes, my need to prove him wrong grows. But the longer I spend under his watchful eye, the more I realize his impossible standards aren’t personal. Beneath the designer suits and grumpy facade is a man who cares deeply about his people. Including me.
And that’s the problem. Because falling for the boss is strictly off-limits.
Worse? I’ve also been living a double life. I’m not just Kaori Minami, a junior engineer. I’m also a Japanese princess. If Theo or anyone finds out the truth about who I am, the independence I’ve fought so hard to gain will vanish in a cloud of paparazzi flashes.
I’m used to calculating G-forces and fail-safes, but navigating the high-speed turns of a forbidden attraction? That’s a whole different kind of thrill ride—and I just hope I can survive the fall.
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 15 of 2026
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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