The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2025, Week 43’s New Books
My choices for this week include Young Adult Romantic Comedy Fantasy, Cozy Holiday Mystery, Cozy Paranormal Mystery, Cozy Animal Mysteries, Political Thriller, Young Adult Romances, Paranormal Thriller, Psychological Thrillers, Young Adult Romantic Fantasy, Young Adult Mystery, Police Procedural Mystery, and Middle Grade Time Travel Adventure.
Just one more week until Halloween! We are super busy at our day job, and I’m getting my reading in for the blog.
Another list with some fantastic books. Jen and I have books on our reading lists. Be on the lookout for those reviews! You never know when they will show up.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 43 of 2025!
A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Comedy Fantasy
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Howl’s Moving Castle meets Little Thieves in this cozy fantasy about the teenage owner of a (mostly fake) magical curiosity shop and a girl cursed to turn everything she touches into magic.
Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father’s shoppe hasn’t sold anything magical in decades, and it’s only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon’s teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools’ gold.
Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow’s fakes into exactly what they’re purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri’s help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.
Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.
Desperate to keep her father’s shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer’s assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector’s quest for the rarest magical object in the world―a quest that risks almost-certain death―she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.
A Wonderful Christmas Crime by Jacqueline Frost
Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #6
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Cozy Holiday Mystery
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Innkeeper Holly White has a lot to be joyful about this season, until an attempted robbery throws the town into suspicion in the sixth installment of the Christmas Tree Farm mysteries from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.
As Christmas descends on Mistletoe, Maine, Holly White has an extra gift for the season: a new baby on the way. Her husband, Sheriff Evan Gray, has been worried about her elevated blood pressure, and Holly has agreed to take this year easy. Being idle has never been one of Holly’s gifts, so when Evan surprises her with tickets to the town-wide dinner, she and her many cravings thank him. But when a thief tries and fails to steal an antique ornament from the dinner’s holiday display, it’s clear that someone is on the naughty list.
The thief manages to escape, but after dinner, Holly spots their lifeless body. It’s clear that someone in town was keen to kill them. Evan is less than jolly to find his wife at the scene of yet another holiday homicide and asks her to promise that she’ll leave the investigating to the police. But Holly has never been one to turn down a challenge and has to get creative with the help of a few of her friends in order to find this killer.
Will she and her friends be able to stop the killer and uncover the motive behind the attempted robbery, or will the killer strike again and paint the town a bloody red?
Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke
Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries #2
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
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The odd couple of crime-solving returns in Olivia Blacke’s Death at the Door, where a ghost and her living roommate find another mystery on their doorstep.
Ruby Young is slowly adjusting to her new life in Boston. A big part of that is her unexpected roommate―the ghost of the woman who lived there before. For Cordelia Graves, she may no longer be breathing, but it’s still her apartment and Ruby is the somewhat unwanted houseguest. They’re both happy they’ve managed to become friends, which is a miracle considering they struggle to communicate with each other. Cordelia even set Ruby up with her old job.
When Ruby discovers the body of a delivery guy at work, the new life she’s been building hangs in the balance. The last time Cordelia dragged Ruby into a murder investigation, it was almost two ghosts living in the apartment, not one. Determined to protect Ruby, Cordelia tries to shield her from the investigation, but Ruby has other ideas. It will take both of them working together to navigate the fine line between the dead and the living to bring a killer to light.
Death on Dickens Island by Allison Brook
Books on the Beach Mysteries #1
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Cozy Animal Mystery
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A divorced sleuth in her thirties must bring peace back to her small town after a murder tears neighbors and family members apart in this series debut from Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook, perfect for fans of Cynthia Riggs and Eva Gates.
Delia Dickens has come home to Dickens Island, a small island in the Long Island Sound, after a twelve-year stint in Manhattan. She’s looking forward to helping her father revitalize the general store that the family owns as well as curating a small book nook. Most importantly, she wants to reunite with her fifteen-year-old son. But Dickens Island isn’t the peaceful town Delia remembers–and she might be in more danger here than she ever was in the big city.
Delia’s Aunt Reenie and Uncle Brad, both prominent community leaders, are at odds over the sale of a farm and its future use. This has created friction, not only in their marriage, but amongst the citizens of the town. When a young woman, new to the town council and friendly with Brad, is found murdered, everything escalates and reaches a new boiling point.
With Reenie and Brad both suspects in the case and at each other’s throats, the townspeople start to take sides. When the ghost of her grandmother visits her, Delia learns how past events have impacted the present, and it is up to her to expose the farm’s sordid secrets in order to catch a murderer and restore peace to her beloved island.
How to Talk to Your Dog About Murder by Emily Soderberg
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Cozy Animal Mystery
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Dogs are better behaved than people in this new cozy mystery where a pet behaviorist finds herself the prime suspect in an upscale murder, perfect for fans of Eva Gates and Victoria Gilbert.
Nikki Jackson-Ramanathan is struggling to get her pet behaviorist business off the ground, making ends meet as a dog walker while keeping her eyes peeled for greener pastures. An appointment in a rich suburb of Saint Louis seems to be her ticket to success. The wealthy Mrs. Van Meer wants Nikki to help the family’s old hound dog, who is grieving the loss of his owner. But then Mrs. Van Meer turns up dead.
With a multitude of suspects like the sketchy landscaper, the judgy housekeeper, and the rest of Mrs. Van Meer’s money-obsessed family members, Nikki’s happy to sit back and let the police solve the crime. Until she learns that Mrs. Van Meer’s will leaves Nikki in charge of a sizable amount of money and the police start dogging her every step.
Life would be a lot easier if she just had to deal with the animals, but Nikki resolves to catch the real culprit and convince the cops they’re barking up the wrong tree.
Impostor Syndrome by Andrew Mayne
Specialists #2
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Political Thriller
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Two fearless investigators unite to stop a media-savvy serial killer from carrying out a cataclysmic crime for all the world to see in a riveting thriller by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
The FBI calls on former agent Jessica Blackwood to look at a puzzling crime. A wildlife officer has found the body of a popular YouTuber encased in an obelisk made of salt in a remote refuge. When the agency is tipped off to a second body, that of a TikTok star chained to the bottom of Nevada’s Pyramid Lake―her hands clasped in prayer―Jessica recruits a trusted colleague of her own: Floridian underwater investigator Sloan McPherson.
It appears to be the work of a ritualistic serial killer preying on influencers. That tracks when a third victim―a fantasy-game live streamer―barely survives a pipe bomb attack. But in navigating the social media world of instafame, manipulation, and deception, Jessica and Sloan know how illusory appearances can be. As the threats multiply across the country, they fear they’re playing with something more extreme than they imagined: a killer’s endgame that could be nothing less than apocalyptic.
K-Jane by Lydia Kang
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Romance
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From acclaimed author Lydia Kang comes a funny, moving YA novel following a third-generation Korean American teen who goes to extreme and hilarious lengths to connect more with her Korean heritage, perfect for fans of Maurene Goo and Rachel Lynn Solomon.
Jane Choi is a typical Nebraskan teen—a corn-fed lover of Husker football. But lately, she feels like she’s missing something. Her non-Korean classmates—that’s everyone—are immersed in K-pop, K-dramas, K-beauty . . . basically, K-everything. But for Jane, kimchi? Not a fan. Bibimbap? What is that? Her mom even named her after the very not-Korean Jane Eyre.
Everyone seems to know more about Korean culture than Jane. And she isn’t sure whether she’s more annoyed at them, or herself.
With a baby brother on the way, Jane is determined to save her new sibling from enduring the same humiliation. Enter: a totally foolproof plan to become the K-Jane of her dreams. What better way than to start a private social media account about all things Korean so her closest cousins can learn from her?
But Korean heritage and identity are more complicated than taste-testing multiple varieties of kimchi in front of a camera. And when online virality crashes into real life, Jane’s plans might just go K-boom in her face.
Long Way Down by Lisa Kusel
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
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She thinks she’s marrying the perfect man. But nothing is as it seems.
Perfect for fans of Rachel Hawkins and Darby Kane, this suspense-packed novel entangles readers in family lies and shocking secrets that will leave you breathless.
Deni Rydell believes her life is finally about to change for the better just as soon as she marries Cal Cooper Jr., heir to a massive California mining fortune.
When Cal and his parents perish in a plane crash, Deni’s dreams are shattered. She’s hoping to find solace with Cal’s brother Grant, who only recently returned to the small town of Gold Hills after a year’s stay in rehab. Too bad Grant is caught up trying to please Erika, the mysterious woman he brought home with him.
Meanwhile, Gold Hills detective Robyn Torres is assigned to investigate a vicious murder which she assumes to be a drug robbery that turned deadly. The deeper she digs, though, the clearer it is that she couldn’t be further from the truth. Soon enough, Torres begins to uncover a series of disturbing family secrets and dark lies connected to the Cooper family that threaten to destroy everything Deni knew to be true.
Reel Love by Addie Woolridge
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Romance
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Two teens must keep their working–and romantic– relationship a secret from their grandmas, who are longtime social media rivals, in this hilariously sweet rom com from the author of The Homecoming War.
Jamie Webb is happy to be the camera-shy brains behind her grandmother BamBam’s social media stardom—especially if it makes college admissions officers notice her. But with BamBam’s antics, creating content isn’t easy. Going to an influencers convention in Las Vegas is just what Jamie needs to relax and get inspired.
Well, it is before BamBam learns that Buzzy Timmons, her archnemesis and fellow granfluencer, is also attending—along with her influencer grandson, Ethan. No matter how cute Ethan is, Jamie refuses to hang out with the enemy . . . until she learns about a cash prize for best tourism video. A prize Ethan can help her win.
Exploring Vegas with Ethan turns out to be more fun and flirty than Jamie expects. But without BamBam’s blessing, can they ever have anything real?
The Deadly Book Club by Lyn Liao Butler
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Psychological Thriller
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A virtual book club listens in horror when the screen freezes and one of their members is murdered in this twisty and delicious thriller from the author of Someone Else’s Life, perfect for fans of First Lie Wins and The Writing Retreat.
Five of the most prominent book influencers in the US make up an exclusive virtual book club that’s the envy of the online book world. Once a month, they get on a video call to sip cocktails, chat about social media campaigns and book events, and discuss their monthly book club pick.
Until one meeting, when all of their screens freeze, and they listen to gut wrenching screams as one of them is brutally attacked. It feels like an eternity before the video call drops—and thus begins the frantic texts and phone calls as they try to figure out who was murdered and why.
As the investigation unearths secrets each of them needs to keep buried, the jealousies, hidden resentments, and trouble in their personal lives begin to surface. The remaining four women are suspicious of each other, pointing fingers to take the heat off their own indiscretions. But if they want to figure out who killed their friend, they need to band together and put past hurts behind them. Or one of them will be next.
The Demon and the Light by Axie Oh
Floating World #2
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Fantasy
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Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in The Demon and the Light, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Axie Oh’s The Floating World.
The battle is over, but the war is just beginning…
With the help of her friends and allies, Ren managed to topple the General’s insurrection, but the Floating World and its territories are still under threat of attack from the rival Volmaran Empire. And far worse, she was powerless to save Sunho from being overcome by the monstrous power in his blood. Now he’s gone, transformed into a feral, deadly creature that doesn’t even recognize her anymore, and her heart aches for the sweet boy she’s grown to love.
But the escalating war will not pause for her grief. Seen by some as a heavenly savior and others merely a figurehead to be manipulated, Ren must use all her courage and cunning to survive the royal court’s game long enough to find Sunho and bring him home before he loses himself to the Demon forever.
The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder by Kate Emery
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
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In this hilarious, contemporary YA whodunit, a mystery-loving teen finally gets a chance to solve a real-life crime. But solving a murder is complicated when all the prime suspects are related to you…
14-year-old Ruth was expecting a few fights on her family’s vacation at their remote farmhouse. But she wasn’t expecting a murder. And “death by typewriter” wasn’t quite how she thought her step-grandmother, GG, would meet her end.
As an avid reader of mystery novels, Ruth is more than a little excited to have a real mystery to solve. (Though she’s sad about GG. Obviously.) And she’s read enough Agatha Christie that catching a killer should be a breeze… right?
With her annoyingly hot sort-of-cousin, Dylan, as the Watson to her Holmes, Ruth soon begins to uncover long-buried family secrets, finding that each of her relatives–her dad; her aunts and their partners; even, in the interest of fairness, Dylan and herself–had reasons to want GG gone.
But are any of them capable of murder? As tensions rise with everyone stuck in the house together, Ruth will have to dig deep to find out… before the killer strikes again.
The Sister’s Curse by Nicola Solvinic
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Police Procedural Mystery
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There’s something in the water in Bayern County…
When mysterious drownings plague her small town, a detective haunted by her serial killer father must uncover whether revenge, ancient legends, or something darker lurks beneath the surface.
Lieutenant Anna Koray thought she’d finally found solid ground and escaped her past as the daughter of a notorious serial killer. A loving boyfriend, a loyal dog, a life that almost feels normal—except darkness has a way of seeping in. When she saves a boy from drowning, the strange marks on his body tell a disturbing story: something in the depths tried to drag him under.
Days later, another victim surfaces with identical marks and Anna’s instincts scream that these are no accidents. Both victims are connected to the Kings of Warsaw Creek—men of the town’s wealthiest and most influential families. And they have enemies.
Others whisper that there are witches in Bayern County, seeking revenge for a long-ago murder. Perhaps it’s the work of Vivian Carson, the enigmatic bartender who’s rumored to cast hexes on those who wrong her. Or maybe it’s a secret coven who’s been leaving serpentine symbols and skulls behind at the scenes of the drownings.
But Anna’s investigation reveals an even more sinister truth: something is stirring in the water, and it wants the Kings to pay.
With time running out and more victims appearing, Anna must separate superstition from truth. But in Bayern County, where legends and curses run deep as the water itself, one wrong step could drag her into the depths—this time for good.
Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop by Krystal Sutherland and Martin Seneviratne
Time Lions #1
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Time Travel Adventure
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A laugh-out-loud, edge-of-your-seat time-travel adventure perfect for fans of The Last Last-Day-of-Summer and City Spies from New York Times bestseller, Krystal Sutherland.
Twins Pearl and Patrick are no ordinary twelve-year-olds. They’re geniuses, hiding in plain sight, who pull heists all over the world to further their scientific and historical research. Their criminal activity, including grand theft auto and espionage, has made them a regular nuisance to both the CIA and MI5. But it’s all been worth it. They’ve finally achieved their greatest triumph: time travel. Pearl’s Chrono-Loop can take the twins anywhere in time! Their first stop: ancient Egypt, where they even get to see King Tut!
But when they return home, they’re arrested by TIME—The Interdimensional Misconduct Enquiry—a secret organization charged with maintaining the timeline. Turns out Pearl and Patrick didn’t invent time travel, after all—that happened two hundred years ago! And what Pearl did in ancient Egypt—killing a mosquito—could have rewritten history as we know it if not for TIME agents stepping in.
Punishment for disrupting the timeline is 100 years in the Eternal Abyss. But TIME, impressed by the pair, offers them a chance to become agents. Unfortunately, they fail their entrance exam and instead are banned from ever attempting time travel again. Pearl is furious, and when she’s offered another chance at time travel by a rival organization, she takes it! Too late, she realizes she’s been tricked and unwittingly plays a part in replacing the timeline they know with a nightmarish scenario.
Now Pearl and Patrick must clean up the mess they’ve made. But to restore the timeline, they have to go back to the beginning—to Lion Rock—to convince the real inventor of time travel to help them save time and the world.
In this electric time travel adventure steeped in unexplored Sri Lankan history, these whiz kids use their book smarts and a healthy dose of girl power to fight the ultimate villain.
Vicious Cycle by Jaime Parker Stickle
Corey in Los Angeles #1
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Genre: Psychological Thriller
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A former reporter gets a new spin on life in this gripping debut from author Jaime Parker Stickle, whose psychological roller-coaster ride set in sunny Los Angeles tackles motherhood and murder.
New mother Corey Tracey-Lieberman wakes up to nightmarish news: two teenage girls found hanged in a nearby park. Even more unsettling is how the news casually casts the tragedy as the result of increasing street crime, as if the victims’ lives didn’t really matter.
Corey knows better. In the six years she’s lived in Highland Park, she’s seen gentrification but no uptick in criminal activity. A former broadcast journalist, she knows all about spin―and not just the media kind. She now teaches spin classes in the neighborhood, between caring for her nine-month-old son and battling postpartum anxiety.
When police efforts fall short, Corey launches her own investigation into the hangings, flexing her idle sleuthing skills with baby in tow. And after a third murder strikes too close to home, she knows she’s onto something big.
An emotional gut punch tempered by belly laughs, Vicious Cycle is a tour de force certain to thrill all readers.
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 43 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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