Well, here we are! With 2023 gone it’s now time to look forward to anticipated first quarter book releases in 2024. January through February looks like a banger quarter for book releases in 2024. I think this is the most excited I’ve been about book releases ever. Will I read them all? Probably not. But I can dream about it! What I also love is that so many of the books that look interesting to me are also standalones. That makes me super happy because, frankly, I don’t want to commit to too many more series. (But that’s hard to avoid with the fantasy genre.)
I know a lot of bloggers already seem a bit stressed at the amazing possibilities. At the time of writing this post I have so far held off from requesting too much. However, my January looks stacked and I’m still digging out from 2023!
No matter, though. Let’s take a look at some anticipated first quarter book releases in 2024 that I’m looking forward to. I listed the books in the order they will be released in the U.S. If more than one book has the same release date, then I second ordered them by the author’s last name. Also, if you want more “anticipated book release” lists, check out mine from the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2023.
- January
- That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming*
- The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
- Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker
- The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler*
- Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock
- Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
- Gothikana by RuNyx**
- Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
- A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
- House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas**
- The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers*
- February
- That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming*
- The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton
- Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan*
- Neferura by Malayna Evans
- An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
- What Have We Here? by Billy Dee Williams
- Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan*
- A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen**
- The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
- Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek**
- Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
- March
* = I have an ARC of this book.
** = I preordered this book.
January
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming*
Series: Mead Mishaps #1
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: January 2, 2024
Print Length: 288
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Spice trader Cinnamon’s quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.
All she wanted to do was live her life in peace–maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.
After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she like it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt….
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
Series:Â The Atlas, #3
Genre:Â Fantasy
Age Category:Â Adult
Publisher:Â Tor Publishing Group
Publish Date:Â January 9, 2024
Print Length:Â 496
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
The Atlas Complex marks the much-anticipated, heart-shattering conclusion in Olivie Blake’s trilogy that began with the New York Times bestselling phenomenon, The Atlas Six.
Only the extraordinary are chosen.Only the cunning survive.An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.
Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.
And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power–and who will be destroyed along the way.
Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker
Series: None
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publish Date: January 9, 2024
Print Length: 320
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
Synopsis
Opposites attract in this enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy of feuding neighbors and dueling hearts from Jayne Denker, the author of The Rom-Com Agenda.
When small-town neighbors go head-to-head, better start Hedging Your Bets.
Gillian has been happily divorced for several years and, after trying a few dating apps, prefers to stay that way. Navigating her way through dates with fat shamers and lackluster men has left her with no desire to do anything other than work in her garden in her spare time. Who needs rude comments and awkward first-date conversation when soft roses and vibrant tulips are so much better?
Noah West has just moved to Willow Cove. After a rough breakup that leaves him looking to get far away, he relocates to the same small town he spent summers in as a teen—and moves right next door to Gillian. A big believer in minimalist design and that the best kind of plants are non-flowering, he knows as soon as he meets his neighbor that they are going to clash on just about everything. Now if only he could keep his eyes off her too. That might be helpful.
When a gardening contest brings out the competition in Gillian and Noah, dueling plant arrangements and fiery banter ensues. But is it possible that beneath all their differences, they might just be perfect for each other?
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler*
Series: None
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publish Date: January 16, 2024
Print Length: 112
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.
Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.
As the herd’s new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow’s real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?
A tense SF thriller from a new master of the genre.
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock
Series: None
Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Viking
Publish Date: January 23, 2024
Print Length: 304
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
The rousing, captivating story of a Black physician, her career in medicine, and the deep inequities that still exist in the U.S. healthcare system.
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, it never occurred to Uché Blackstock and her twin sister, Oni, that they would be anything but physicians. In the 1980s, their mother headed an organization of Black women physicians, and for years the girls watched these fiercely intelligent women in white coats tend to their patients and neighbors, host community health fairs, cure ills, and save lives.
What Dr. Uché Blackstock did not understand as a child–or learn about at Harvard Medical School, where she and her sister had followed in their mother’s footsteps, making them the first Black mother-daughter legacies from the school–were the profound and long-standing systemic inequities that mean just 2 percent of all U.S. physicians today are Black women; the racist practices and policies that ensure Black Americans have far worse health outcomes than any other group in the country; and the flawed system that endangers the well-being of communities like theirs. As an ER physician, and later as a professor in academic medicine, Dr. Blackstock became profoundly aware of the systemic barriers that Black patients and physicians continue to face.
Legacy is a journey through the critical intersection of racism and healthcare. At once a searing indictment of our healthcare system, a generational family memoir, and a call to action, Legacy is Dr. Blackstock’s odyssey from child to medical student to practicing physician–to finally seizing her own power as a health equity advocate against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
Series: Faebound #1
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: January 23, 2024
Print Length: 400
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Two elven sisters become imprisoned in the intoxicating world of the fae, where danger and love lie in wait. Faebound is the first book in an enchanting new trilogy from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Final Strife.
“A romantic fantasy of epic proportions, crackling with magic and passion.”–Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange TreeYeeran was born on the battlefield, has lived on the battlefield, and one day, she knows, she’ll die on the battlefield.
As a warrior in the elven army, Yeeran has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future.
When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven Lands, both sisters are forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders.
There they encounter the impossible: the fae court. The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world, torn among their loyalties to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts.
Gothikana by RuNyx**
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy, Gothic
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Bramble
Publish Date: January 23, 2024
Print Length: 416
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
The Gothikana Hardcover Edition: featuring spray-painted edges, a foiled case stamp, gorgeously detailed endpapers, an updated map and deliciously moody art throughout.
The eternal romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the gothic suspense of Dracula in this erotic dark academia story of epic love from bestselling author RuNyx.
An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?
An outcast her entire life, Corvina Clemm is left adrift after losing her mother. When she receives the admission letter from the mysterious University of Verenmore, she accepts it as a sign from the universe. The last thing she expects though is an old, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.
An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. A part-time professor working on his thesis, Vad has been around long enough to know the dangers the castle possesses. And he knows the moment his path crosses with Corvina, she’s dangerous to everything that he is.
They shouldn’t have caught each other’s eye. They cannot be. But a chill-inducing century-old mystery forces them to collide. People have disappeared every five years over the past century, Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.
And so begins a tale of the mysterious, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Series: None
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Erewhon Books
Publish Date: January 23, 2024
Print Length: 416
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
This genre-bending Africanfuturist horror novel blends The Handmaid’s Tale with Get Out in an adrenaline-packed, cyberpunk body-hopping ghost story exploring motherhood, memory, and a woman’s right to her own body.
Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.
The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave.
As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: in order to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing–or risk losing everyone.
Set in a cruel futuristic surveillance state where bodies are a government-issued resource, this harrowing story is a twisty, nail-biting commentary on power, monstrosity, and bodily autonomy. In sickeningly evocative prose, Womb City interrogates how patriarchy pits women against each other as unwitting collaborators in their own oppression. In this devastatingly timely debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase brings a searing intelligence and Botswana’s cultural sensibility to the question: just how far must a woman go to bring the whole system crashing down?
A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
Series: None
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Mira Books
Publish Date: January 30, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood
The only thing harder than finding someone in a time loop is losing them.
Grieving her best friend’s recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda’s ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career–after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator.
Except the strangest thing happens: a man stops her…and claims they’ve met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she’s mourning, why she’s there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he’s saying.
Because time is about to loop.
In a flash of energy, it’s Monday morning. Again. Together, Mariana and Carter enter an inevitable life, four days at a time, over and over, without permanence except for what they share.
But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter’s memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop–forever.
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas**
Series: Crescent City #3
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publish Date: January 30, 2024
Print Length: 848
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
The stunning third book in the sexy, action-packed Crescent City series, following the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath.
Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she’s going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that’s no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.
Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he’s in the Asteri’s dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce’s fate. He’s desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri’s leash, his hands are quite literally tied.
In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt’s world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers*
Series: None
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit/Redhook
Publish Date: January 30, 2024
Print Length: 352
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Slip into a lush world of magic, stardust, and monsters in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy from debut author Georgia Summers.
For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.
Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first.
Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.
With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.
February
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming*
Series: Mead Mishaps #2
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: February 6, 2024
Print Length: 288
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Cheesemaker Brie has the world’s worst luck in love, which is how she ends up falling for a lactose intolerant werewolf, in this raunchy, laugh-out-loud rom-com fantasy by the genre’s freshest new voice, Kimberly Lemming.
Brie’s never been particularly coordinated…or lucky. Who else would accidentally throw a drink at someone’s head only to miss entirely and hit a stranger behind them? And who else would have that stranger fall madly in love with them because it turns out that the drink she threw was a love potion? Yeah, probably just Brie….Running her cheese business and dealing with a pirate ship full of demons that just moved into town was hard enough. Now on top of it, she has to convince a werewolf that she’s not really his fated mate. Though even she’s got to admit…having a gorgeous man show up and do all her chores while telling her she’s beautiful isn’t the worst thing to happen to a girl.
The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy Romance, LGBTQ+
Age Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Peachtree Teen
Publish Date: February 6, 2024
Print Length: 304
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy!
This lavish and decedent LGBTQ+ fantasy romance will leave fans of Divine Rivals and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries utterly enchanted!
After running away from home, Sybil Clarion is eager to embrace all the freedom the Belle Époque city of Severon has to offer. Instead, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and if either of them dared, something more.
Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other–best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany–and more importantly protect–Sybil.
When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and the secrets could jeopardize everything the girls have so carefully built.
Jamie Pacton, author of The Vermilion Emporium, dazzles in this whimsical and daring romantic fantasy. Fans of Fae lore, slow-burn sapphic pining, and decadently magical worlds will find The Absinthe Underground as ensorcelling as a fairy delight.
Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan*
Series:Â The Celestial Kingdom #2.5
Genre:Â Fantasy
Age Category:Â Adult
Publisher:Â Harper Voyager
Publish Date:Â February 6, 2024
Print Length:Â 176
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Sue Lynn Tan’s highly acclaimed, bestselling Celestial Kingdom duology is expanded with this new compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events in Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior, all from the perspectives of beloved characters.
Return to the Immortal Realm, a world of gods, magic, and legendary creatures–and embark upon new adventures of valor, danger, and love.
Tales from the Celestial Kingdom collects nine spellbinding stories–two previously published, seven original, including the epilogue to the duology–set in the enchanting world of Sue Lynn Tan’s stunning debut. Filled with magic and mythology, friendship and love, these stories intertwine through the past, present, and future of the two novels, told from the perspectives of multiple characters, including Chang’e, Shuxiao, Liwei, and Wenzhi.
With beautiful illustrations from Kelly Chong throughout, these wondrous tales make the perfect complement to Sue Lynn Tan’s breathtaking series.
Neferura by Malayna Evans
Series: None
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publish Date: February 13, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
For readers of The Wolf Den and Kaikeyi comes the thrilling tale of the forgotten daughter of a legendary Egyptian pharaoh and the path she must take to escape her own dangerous fate.
There are many paths to power.
They all come with a price.
Neferura, princess and high priestess of Kemet, knows her duty is to her people. When your mother is the great Pharaoh, it is hard to forget. But Neferura’s unique position at court comes with high stakes for her country, especially when she’s forced to serve her vile half-brother, a man determined to stop Neferura’s potential rise.
Peace, it seems, never lasts for women who wield power in the open. Especially when they cross a vengeful man.
When Neferura overhears Thutmose’s plot to end her mother’s rule, she knows he must be stopped, no matter the cost. The discovery of a mysterious tattooed wisewoman and her shadowy network of spies offers an uneasy alliance. But the wisewoman wields more power than Neferura knew possible — power with the potential to rival her own. Neferura must decide where her loyalties lie and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the people she loves before everything crumbles at the hands of a tyrant.
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
Series: None
Genre: Historical Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Redhook
Publish Date: February 13, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.
Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.
On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.
But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.
For more from S.T. Gibson, check out A Dowry of Blood.
What Have We Here? by Billy Dee Williams
Series: None
Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publish Date: February 13, 2024
Print Length: 288
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades–a heralded actor who’s played the roles he wanted, from Brian’s Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe–unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed.
Billy Dee Williams was born in Harlem in 1937 and grew up in a household of love and sophistication. As a young boy, he made his stage debut working with Lotte Lenya in an Ira Gershwin/Kurt Weill production where Williams ended up feeding Lenya her lines. He studied painting, first at the High School of Music and Art, with fellow student Diahann Carroll, and then at the National Academy of Fine Art, before setting out to pursue acting with Herbert Berghoff, Stella Adler, and Sidney Poitier.
His first film role was in The Last Angry Man, the great Paul Muni’s final film. It was Muni who gave Billy the advice that sent him soaring as an actor, “You can play any character you want to play no matter who you are, no matter the way you look or the color of your skin.” And Williams writes, “I wanted to be anyone I wanted to be.”
He writes of landing the role of a lifetime: co-starring alongside James Caan in Brian’s Song, the made-for-television movie that was watched by an audience of more than fifty million people. Williams says it was “the kind of interracial love story America needed.”
And when, as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, he became a true pop culture icon, playing Lando Calrissian in George Lucas’s The Empire Strikes Back (“What I presented on the screen people didn’t expect to see”). It was a role he reprised in the final film of the original trilogy, The Return of the Jedi, and in the recent sequel The Rise of Skywalker.
A legendary actor, in his own words, on all that has sustained and carried him through a lifetime of dreams and adventure.
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan*
Series: Drowned World, #1
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Print Length: 448
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
From one of fantasy’s most exciting new voices Eliza Chan comes a modern, myth-inflected story of revolution and magic set against the glittering, semi-submerged city of Tiankawi.
Welcome to Tiankawi – shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that’s how it first appears.
But in the semi-flooded city, humans are, quite literally, on top: peering down from skyscrapers and aerial walkways on the fathomfolk — sirens, seawitches, kelpies and kappas–who live in the polluted waters below. And the fathomfolk are tired of it. When a water-dragon and a half siren join forces, the path to equality is filled with violence, secrets, and political intrigue. And they both must decide if the cost of change is worth it, or if Tiankawi should be left to drown.
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen**
Series: Saga of the Unfated, #1
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Print Length: 432
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king–while fighting her growing desire for his fiery son–in the first book of a Norse-inspired fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.
The stunning first edition hardcover of A Fate Inked in Blood will feature foil page edges, a custom-stamped case, and a premium dust jacket!
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.
Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. And it’s been foretold that such magic will unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.
Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she has sworn to protect.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Print Length: 160
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A world-weary woman races against the clock to survive a deadly forest in this dark, otherworldly fairytale from Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author Premee Mohamed.
At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic.
Veris Thorn–the only one to ever enter the forest and survive–is forced to go back inside to retrieve tyrant’s missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past.
One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything.
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek**
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A girl with dangerous magic makes a risky bargain with a demon to be free of her monstrous power in this young adult fantasy perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens and House of Salt and Sorrows.
Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood–called The Leszy–a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.
Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts–figurative and literal–of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.
Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
Series: None (but potentially yes)
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Print Length: 352
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
Synopsis
A stunning Romantasy debut about an enchanted library, two handsome Fae, and one human who brings them all together.
A library with a deadly enchantment.
A Fae lord who wants in.
A human woman willing to risk it all for a taste of power.
In a land ruled by ruthless Fae, twenty-one-year-old Lore Alemeyu’s village is trapped in a forested prison. Lore knows that any escape attempt is futile—her scars are a testament to her past failures. But when her village is threatened, Lore makes a desperate deal with a Fae lord. She will leave her home to catalog/organize an enchanted library that hasn’t been touched in a thousand years. No Fae may enter the library, but there is a chance a human might be able to breach the cursed doors.
She convinces him that she will risk her life for wealth, but really she’s after the one thing the Fae covet above all: magic of her own.
As Lore navigates the hostile world outside, she’s forced to rely on two Fae males to survive. Two very different, very dangerous, very attractive Fae males. When undeniable chemistry ignites, she’s not just in danger of losing her life, but her heart to the very creatures she can never trust.
March
What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
Publish Date: March 5, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A rich and romantic new standalone fantasy loosely inspired by the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, from the New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beauty! Perfect for fans of These Violent Delights and The Shadow Queen.
Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia’s palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep–and silencing the kingdom’s gods.
Born with a miraculous gift, Lia’s destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god–or die.
To make matters even worse, Ruven’s spirit is haunting her.
As discord grows between the old and new guards, the queen sends Lia and Prince Araunn, her betrothed, on a pilgrimage to awaken the gods. But the old gods are more dangerous than Lia ever knew–and Ruven may offer her only hope of survival.
As the two work together, Lia learns that they’re more alike than she expected. And with tensions rising, Lia must choose between what she was raised to believe and what she knows is right–and between the prince she is bound to by duty…and the boy she killed.
The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright
Series: None
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Harperteen
Publish Date: March 12, 2024
Print Length: 400
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
In this gorgeous stand-alone fantasy romance perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Allison Saft, a rebellious witch undertakes a last-ditch quest to restore magic to medieval Wales–as two princes vie for her heart.
Magic is fading from Wales–choked off by King Offa’s Dyke, the enemy earthworks that spans the entire border. Even the dragons have disappeared. And now an attack is imminent.
Prince Taliesin would love to watch magic die. Prince Dafydd fears it, and the throne. But when their father promises the crown to whichever son can destroy the dyke and restore magic to Wales, the brothers are forced into an uneasy rivalry.
Ffion works hedgewitch magic for poor folk, not princes. Unlike the power-hungry Foxhall coven, she uses only what nature can spare. But when the coven’s greed costs Ffion everything, she will need power beyond her wildest dreams to get back what she’s lost.
So when Prince Taliesin arrives, begrudgingly seeking a witch’s aid, Ffion agrees to help him–even if it means walking from one end of Wales to the other with the most use-less peacock she’s ever clapped eyes on. Even if it means striking a bargain with Dafydd behind Tal’s back. The fate of Wales depends on their quest . . . and so might the fate of Ffion’s heart.
All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris
Series: None
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publish Date: March 12, 2024
Print Length: 368
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
A propulsive and piercing debut, set ten years before the events of Shakespeare’s historic play, about the ambition, power, and fate that define one of literature’s most notorious figures: Lady Macbeth.
Scotland, the 11th Century. Born in a noble household and granddaughter of a forgotten Scottish king, a young girl carries the guilt of her mother’s death and the weight of an unknowable prophecy. When she is married, at fifteen, to the Mormaer of Moray, she experiences firsthand the violence of a sadistic husband and a kingdom constantly at war. To survive with her young son in a superstitious realm, she must rely on her own cunning and wit, especially when her husband’s downfall inadvertently sets them free.
Suspicious of the dark devices that may have led to his father’s death, her son watches as his mother falls in love with the enigmatic thane Macbeth. Now a woman of stature, Lady Macbeth confronts a world of masculine power and secures the protection of her family. But the coronation of King Duncan and the political maneuvering of her cousin Macduff set her on a tragic course, one where her own success might mean embracing the very curse that haunts her and risking the child she loves.
A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene
Series: Fair Folk, #1
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: March 12, 2024
Print Length: 496
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Set in a world of perilous magic and moonlit forests, this seductive romantic fantasy tells the story of a defiant changeling, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.
In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen’s daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of TÃr na nÓg.
Most despise Fia’s fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to TÃr na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.
When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go alone: with her is prince Rogan, Fia’s dearest childhood friend–and Eala’s betrothed.
As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.
Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister’s curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.
Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland
Series: None
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Redhook
Publish Date: March 19, 2024
Print Length: 416
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
The acclaimed author of Sistersong transforms the story of Herla and the Wild Hunt into a rich, feminist fantasy in this stunning tale of two great warriors, a war-torn land, and an ancient magic that is slowly awakening.
Britain, 60AD. Hoping to save her lover, her land, and her people from the Romans, Herla makes a desperate pact with the king of the Otherworld. But years pass unheeded in his realm, and she escapes to find everyone she loved long dead. Cursed to wield his blade, she becomes Lord of the Hunt. And for centuries, she rides, leading her immortal warriors and reaping wanderers’ souls. Until the night she meets a woman on a bloody battlefield—a Saxon queen with ice-blue eyes.
Queen Æthelburg of Wessex is a proven fighter. But when she leads her forces to disaster in battle, her husband’s court turns against her. Yet King Ine needs Æthel more than ever. Something dark and dangerous is at work in the Wessex court. His own brother seeks to usurp him. And their only hope is the magic in Ine’s bloodline that’s lain dormant since ancient days.
The moment she and Æthel meet, Herla knows it’s no coincidence. The dead kings are waking. The Otherworld seeks to rise, to bring the people of Britain under its dominion. And as Herla and Æthel grow closer, Herla must find her humanity—and a way to break the curse—before it’s too late.
A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock
Series: None
Genre: Horror, LGBTQ+
Age Category: Adult (?)
Publisher: Titan Books (UK)
Publish Date: March 19, 2024
Print Length: 384
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Mexican Gothic meets The Lie Tree by way of Oscar Wilde and Mary Shelley in this delightfully witty horror debut.
A captivating tale of two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship away in a botanical garden who embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment with unexpected consequences.
It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London, they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop, working his taxidermical art. Gregor’s business is exotic plants – lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he’s seen, inspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from plant matter.
Driven by the glory he’ll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.
The experiment – or Chloe, as she is named – outstrips even Gregor’s expectations, entangling their strange household. But as Gregor’s experiment flourishes, he wilts under the cost of keeping it hidden from jealous eyes. The mycelium grows apace in this sultry greenhouse. But who is cultivating whom?
Told with wit and warmth, this is an extraordinary tale of family, fungus and more than a dash of bloody revenge from an exciting new voice in queer horror.
Now that’s a list of anticipated first quarter book releases in 2024! There are some sequels I didn’t include, like EMPIRE OF THE DAMNED by Jay Kristoff, DARK STAR BURNING, ASH FALLS WHITE by Amélie Wen Zhao, and EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLAND by Heather Fawcett. I didn’t include sequels to books I haven’t yet read, so that helps (a little?) narrow down this list. Which of these first quarter book releases in 2024 are you looking forward to?
Very interesting list of books Celeste.. I actually don’t know many of these and have added Legacy to my TBR .
Thanks, Sahi! Legacy is one I found browsing around B&N’s site. Medical nonfiction is always something I’m interested in, but I never make time to read. I’m going to try to change that this year since I have a nice stack of them, mostly related to women’s topics.
Good grief, this quarter IS pretty amazing, lol. I’ve got so many of these on my list too, and next week I’ll post my first quarter most anticipated. I had completely forgotten about the Kimberly Lemming books. I requested the first one so well see if it shows up. An Education in Malice is probably my most anticipated book on this list.
I knowwwww. I truly do want to request most, if not all, of these. But then I’d be up a creek and so stressed out, lol!!! I finished Lemming’s first book a few days ago and it was a fun read (review to come on 1/15). I requested a physical arc of An Education in Malice, along with Fathomfolk. Interestingly the latter showed up, but am still waiting to see if the former will. I hope it does because I love Gibson’s writing.
There are so many great fantasy books due to be published soon. The one I’m most looking forward to is Empire of the Damned after loving the extract that I’ve read on NG.
I’d say I’d read Empire of the Vampire soon, but that’d be a lie because it’s a chonk (and I have the chonky Crescent City series to read at the moment). But it seems well loved and I hope you enjoy the sequel!
Omg help, why do so many of these sound so amazing?! ???? Thanks for adding to my TBR, I guess? Haha, no really, I’m excited to check out a lot of these. I hope you enjoy as many as you get to! ????
Hello, I have an emergency?! Too many good books! Yes, add them all to your TBR, I’m happy to help destroy it. 😛
There are so many great books coming out this quarter!! I’m going to need a bulldozer to dig myself out from under all the additions to my TBR. ???? I hope you end up loving all of these!
I know, wow, I think this is the most excited I’ve been about new releases. I think a lot of that has to do with so many being standalones (I just don’t know if I want to commit to additional series right now).
Ah, I am so out of the publishing loop. I know about pratically none of these! But they look great now that I’ve seen the descriptions! And so many pretty covers!
Soooo many pretty covers! I discovered most of these browsing NG a couple of months ago. But I don’t go on it as often anymore so that I can avoid the temptation.
I’m hoping The Tusks of Extinction gets a UK release, The Mountain in the Sea was so good. The Mead Mishaps series looks fun too.
Oh, I didn’t realize there isn’t a release date for THE TUSKS OF EXTINCTION! I hope it does get one, then. And I didn’t even realize he’s the author for THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA, which I’ve seen good things about and is sitting on my shelf.
Haha! Gotta love the titles for the Mead Mishaps series! And that cover for Fathomfolk is gorgeous!
The titles for the Mead Mishaps series are definitely fun! And I can confirm that the Fathomfolk cover is gorgeous…it’s probably one of the prettiest ARCs I have out of the few physical ARCs I request (I mostly prefer e-ARCs).
What a great list! I’m definitely excited for Fathomfolk and An Education in Malice, as well as the Mead Mishaps series – I read the first one and loved it! Thanks for putting in all the work to make this post so I can add a bunch of books to my TBR.
Thanks, Leah! Always happy to add to your TBR. 😉 I read the first Mead Mishaps book, too, and thought it was fun…I look forward to the next one.
FATHOMFOLK and THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST are on my radar! I haven’t read anything by Mohamed, but I’ve heard good things.
Yessss the cover of FATHOMFOLK is so pretty, too, which doesn’t hurt. 😛