Incredible New Release Fantasy Books in April 2025!
Best new release fantasy books in April!
April has a stack of must-read fantasy releases, starting with the much-awaited sequel to The Tainted Cup, A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, arriving on April 1st.
Other exciting titles to look forward to include Faith Breaker by Hannah Kaner, Fearless by Lauren Roberts, and The Book That Held Her Heart by Mark Lawrence.
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April 1st
A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett
Fantasy | Adult | Thriller | Mystery | LGBT
The brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match in the gripping sequel to The Tainted Cup—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.
Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire's greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.
Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.
Read Book #1- The Tainted Cup
2. The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Contemporary | Australia | Magical Realism | Mermaids | Mythology
A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine
2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumours about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.
1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.
A breathtaking tale of female resilience, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea.
3. Faithbreaker (Fallen Gods #3) by Hannah Kaner
Fantasy | Adult | Mythology | High Fantasy | Epic Fantasy
THE EPIC FINALE TO THE INSTANT NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING FALLEN GODS TRILOGYIn the epic finale to the #1 internationally bestselling Fallen Gods trilogy that started with Godkiller, the fate of Middren hangs in the balance as mighty gods and mortal heroes clash in a final battle for supremacy.
War has come. The fire god Hseth is leading an unstoppable army south, consuming everything in her path. Middren’s only hope of survival is to unify allies and old foes against a common enemy.
Elo navigates an uneasy alliance with Arren; his friend, his enemy, and his king. Now they each must decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to turn the tides of war.
Meanwhile, Inara joins her mother on their ship, the Silverswift, to seek aid. Still grappling with her powers, Inara must reconcile who she is and where she belongs, while Skediceth has to question if their bond will be enough to keep them safe.
Kissen has no allegiance to the old ways of Middren. But, as she tries to find her family, she is forced to question what, and whose, future she is fighting for.
In Faithbreaker, Hannah Kaner delivers a powerful conclusion to the Fallen Gods trilogy, masterfully weaving together love and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, and the true meaning of faith.
Read Book #1- Godkiller
4. Holy Terrors (Little Thieves #3) by Margaret Owen
Fantasy | Young Adult | Romance
It's been nearly two years since Vanja brought down the cult she started, and she’s still paying the price. As the Pfennigeist, she bucks the law in order to help the desperate and haunt the corrupt all across the empire—and no matter what, she works alone.
But an impossible killer is tearing through royalty, and leaving Vanja’s signature red penny on every victim. Suddenly the Pfennigeist is no longer a folk hero but a nightmare. When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire’s seven royal families must gather to elect her successor within a matter of weeks, or risk the collapse of reality itself… even though it puts every house in the killer’s sights.
Vanja tells herself she’s wading into the royalty’s vicious games only to save the name she made, and the loved ones also in jeopardy. But the Order of Prefects has also put their sharpest official on the case, the one who swore he’d always find Vanja—until she broke his heart. Journeyman Prefect Emeric Conrad may no longer be the boy Vanja knew, but they’ll have to work together one last time to have any chance of surviving the deadly catastrophe coming for them all.
With bloody conspiracy, sinister magic, and old adverseries closing in, it will take everything Vanja has to save not just the people she loves, but the future she’s fought for. In this thrilling final chapter of the Indie Next series Little Thieves, New York Times-bestselling author Margaret Owen shows us the pain and beauty of choosing which demons to face, and which to forgive.
Read Book #1- Little Thieves
5. The Notorious Virtues (The Notorious Virtues #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Fantasy | Young Adult | High Fantasy | Magical Competition | Romance
A glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.
At sixteen, Honora “Nora” Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.
But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.
And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.
With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls’ sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.
6. Reluctant Witch (A Course in Magic #2) by Melissa Marr
Fantasy | Adult | Romance
The Magicians meets One Last Stop in the sequel to Remedial Magic by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr!
After discovering she's a witch and being whisked away to the magical land of Crenshaw, Ellie wants nothing more than to spend time with her new wife, Prospero, who has magically altered Ellie's memories to convince her of exactly that.
Prospero herself is guilt-wracked after erasing Ellie's memories and being forced into a sham marriage with the woman she loves for real. But Crenshaw is dying, poisoned by Prospero's enemies who want their community to return to the human world, and she will do anything to save it.
The most powerful witch in anyone's memory is in Prospero's home, in her bed, with no idea that she's a prisoner there... yet.
As the very fabric of their world is being destroyed, Ellie and Prospero must find a way to work together and save the world, and themselves.
Read Book #1- Remedial Magic
7. Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
Fantasy | Adult | Urban Fantasy | Contemporary | Science Fiction | Magic | Paranormal
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.
Where there’s a will, there’s a war.
Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.
Or at least, so they like to think.
Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You're welcome! If only her father's fortune wasn't her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.
Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he's losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.
Eilidh, once the world's most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she'd been his favorite all along.
On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?
April 4th
8. The Witch's Spell (Season of the Witch) by Emberly Wyndham
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Fantasy | Romance | Witches
A storm traps him in her cottage—and he might not ever want to leave.
Aurora Silvermoon is looking forward to a quiet winter spent curled up with her three loving men in their cozy little cottage. But when a blizzard strikes and a weary traveler is caught in the storm, she can’t turn him away—no matter how cramped things get. When he lowers his hood, revealing hair as white as the snow and eyes that gleam like quartz beneath the winter sun, her heart skips a beat. Who is this mysterious stranger, and why does he make her pulse race?
Thorne Blackveil never expected to be caught in a blizzard—or to end up trapped in a tiny cottage with three towering men and one very pregnant witch. But inside, the warmth is undeniable, and the love that fills the cottage is unlike anything he’s ever known. The more time he spends with Aurora, the harder it is to think about leaving, even if he knows he should. With her heart already shared between three men, he Could there be room for him? And what will happen when he reveals the secrets he’s been keeping?
As the storm subsides and Yule approaches, a mysterious fog descends on Faunwood, trapping everyone inside the village. With no way in or out, Aurora’s carefully planned holiday is at risk. But with Thorne’s help—and a little bit of magic—she may just be able to save the day and bring everyone together in the way she’s always dreamed of.
Add Studio Ghibli, Stardew Valley, and a delicious dash of spice into a cauldron, and you’ve got Season of the Witch, a cozy witch romance series for readers who want all the cottagecore witchy vibes with low stakes and low stress. Each book guarantees a spicy romance with an HEA and a new love interest added with every novel (why choose?). Content suitable for readers 18+.
Read Book #1- The Witch's Cottage
April 8th
9. Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy #3) by Lauren Roberts
Fantasy | Young Adult | Romance
Paedyn and Kai are reunited but face a terrible decision in this thrilling conclusion to the New York Times bestselling romantic fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and The Red Queen.
Paedyn Gray and Kai Azer return to the Kingdom of Ilya…
And Paedyn has a life-altering choice to make. Whatever she decides will determine her fate—and the fate of those around her—forever.
In the ultimate battle of love and loyalty, who wins?
Read Book #1- Powerless
10. The Book That Held Her Heart (The Library Trilogy #3) by Mark Lawrence
Fantasy | Adult | Books About Books
The secret war that defines the Library has chosen its champions and set them on the board
The fate of an infinite library hangs on one book, a book that holds the power to break the unbreakable. In the face of such forces, fragile things like hearts, family, and the world seem certain to fail.
The people most vital to Livira are scattered across time and space, lost, divided into factions, in mortal peril. Somehow, she must bring them together and resolve the unresolvable argument that fuels the library’s war. The bond between Livira and Evar has stretched and stretched again. Can it hold at the end, when things fall apart? Can it bring them together against impossible odds? This is the last chapter, the final page. The end threatens and no one, not characters, readers, or even the author, will emerge unscathed.
Read Book #1- The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
11. Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Novella
From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don't Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.
Nick Carraway―paper soldier and novelist―has found a life and a living watching the mad magical spectacle of New York high society in the late thirties. He's good at watching, and he's even better at pretending: pretending to be straight, pretending to be human, pretending he's forgotten the events of that summer in 1922.
On the eve of the second World War, however, Nick learns that someone's been watching him pretend and that memory goes both ways. When he sees a familiar face at a club one night, it quickly becomes clear that dead or not, damned or not, Jay Gatsby isn't done with him.
In all paper there is memory, and Nick's ghost has come home.
12. The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Manhattan 1870 | Romance | Irish Mythology
Irish mythology collides with Gilded Age New York in this sweeping debut enemies-to-lovers historical romantasy, perfect for fans of Outlander and A Fate Inked in Blood.
Manhattan, 1870. Rua knows only two things: her name, and that she has no memories. So when the wealthy Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma, Rua goes along with the charade, hoping for answers about who she really is. As she tries to blend into a society she doesn’t remember, she’s drawn to a firmly off-limits the Lord of Donore, a newcomer to Manhattan society who is somehow familiar to Rua.
Finn is new to this side of the Atlantic and knows that the best way to fit in as Lord of Donore is to make friends in high places and play by the rules of society. He knows he shouldn’t become involved with a mysterious, recently missing debutante, but he’s intrigued by Emma Harrington, and Finn has an uncanny feeling that this isn’t the first time they’ve met.
With societal pressures mounting on both sides, Rua is determined to discover the truth about the missing Harrington daughter and her own past. But when her memories begin to return, they’re of a world far stranger than New York and traced in dark magic.
As ancient secrets unfurl in Rua’s memory, Rua and Finn are forced to uncover the mystery of their past and try to save their future. In this gritty and glittering romantasy, nothing and no one is as they seem.
13. The Wind Weaver (Reign of Remnants #1) by Julie Johnson
Fantasy | Adult | High Fantasy | Romance | Magic
Magic and adventure swirl through this spellbinding romantasy where a young woman reignites the embers of an ancient prophecy, unleashing a storm that could save her realm or doom them all.
Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers. The mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself.
For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic…or die trying.
But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames…or let them consume her.
14. House of Blight (The Threadmender Chronicles #1) by Maxym M. Martineau
Fantasy | New Adult | Romantasy | Gothic | Fae | Dark Romance | Magic
The first novel in an eerie, darkly creative, and romantic new gothic fantasy duology from Maxym M. Martineau, for readers of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.
Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret.
The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight—an incurable virus killing people throughout the town, and an illness too strong for her to heal them both—Orin offers to help. Together at his estate they’ll research a cure while Orin slows their sickness and Edira hones her magic. His kindness and honesty surprises Edira, as does her undeniable attraction to him.
But the other Ferngloves are suspicious of her power and may be more dangerous than the ever-present disease. The longer Edira stays within the confines of the Manor, the more the family’s pristine exterior begins to crack—until Edira discovers a terrifying secret and must choose who she can save and at what cost…
15. Firebird (The Fire That Binds #1) by Juliette Cross
Fantasy | Adult | Romance | Dark Fantasy | Dragons | Historical Fiction
LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN--featuring original illustrated stenciled edges, foil case stamp, and designed endpapers. Only available for a limited time and while supplies last.
House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.
A conqueror captivated…
A witch prophesied to save them all…
A world where dragons rule Rome.
From the moment Roman general and nephew to the emperor Julianus Dakkia laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate. But he and his dragon know one thing: she belongs to them.
Malina can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality. His warrior prowess cannot be denied, yet they don’t reveal the secret he hides. All Malina knows is his protection and gentle touch. And she cannot deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his.
As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.
16. The Twisted Throne (The Bridge Kingdom #5) by Danielle L. Jensen
Fantasy | New Adult | High Fantasy | Romantasy
A commander who bled to defend her people, Ahnna is haunted by two beliefs. The first is that she failed to protect Ithicana from invasion. And the second is that saving her homeland means leaving it behind forever.
The Maridrinians left Ithicana in ruins and its people impoverished. So when the wealthy kingdom of Harendell claims her as a bride for its crown prince, Ahnna is prepared to do whatever it takes to gain influence as the future queen. And to control the gold that comes with the throne.
Yet Ahnna swiftly discovers that beneath the beautiful surface of Harendell's court is a dark underbelly built upon schemes, duplicity, and the pursuit of power. The only individual who holds himself above the politics is not her future husband, but his infuriating half brother, James. And as she begins to question whether Harendell is the ally it claims to be, Ahnna finds herself drawn into a forbidden attraction to the wrong prince.
As deadly plots tighten around her, Ahnna must decide whether saving her people will be achieved as a bride...or as a blade.
Read Book #1- The Bridge Kingdom
17. Enchantra (Wicked Games #2) by Kaylie Smith
Fantasy | Adult | Romantasy | Dark Fantasy | Gothic | Horror | Paranormal
Ready or Not meets Throne of the Fallen in a spicy, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, where an Italian getaway turns deadly after a young woman is trapped in her host family's cursed game.
Ready or not, the game has begun.
Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion and magic, decadence and luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball.
She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face. Rowin Silver is tall, dark, and exceptionally rude, and invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave and never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside—and immediately discovers her mistake.
Rowin and his family are caught in an insidious game of hide and seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell... until the competition begins again.
Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin and Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold and shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, and Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra and the one Rowin is playing with her heart.
Read Book #1- Phantasma
April 10th
18. A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
Fantasy | Adult | Epic Fantasy | High Fantasy
An unforgettable tale of revenge and rebellion unfolds when a reckless king implements an ill-fated plan to end a thousand-year war in this relentlessly gripping epic fantasy debut.
A SONG OF REBELLION. A SONG OF WAR. A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST.
The people of Nine Lands know their history. The kingdom once belonged to the Scathed people, until their greyblood servants rose up and slaughtered them. King Ahiki and his warlords laid claim to the realm by defeating the rebels and driving them out to the Feverlands.
Now, thousands of years later, attacks by the greybloods are rebuffed by the invoker clans, warriors of noble blood who summon their ancestors to fight with them in battle. But the war has gone on too long. A general draft is called to take the battle to the Feverlands and defeat the greybloods once and for all. A plan that seems doomed to fail.
When Temi, a commoner, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she believes it could be the key to ending the centuries-long war. But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor, and some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.
April 15th
19. The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy #1) by Antonia Hodgson
Fantasy | Adult | Epic Fantasy | High Fantasy
From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.
Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered. We know who did it. We saw it happen. No one else did.
It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.
If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.
We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.
20. The Ashfire King (The Sandsea Trilogy #2) by Chelsea Abdullah
Fantasy | Adult | Mythology | Jinn | Retelling | High Fantasy
A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy.
Neither here nor there, but long ago… After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.
The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. Amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion is on the rise. When Loulie assists a dissenter—one of her bodyguard’s old comrades—she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.
Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?
Read Book #1- The Stardust Thief
21. The Hatter's Daughter by W.A. Simpson
Fantasy | Dark Fantasy | Alice in Wonderland Retelling
The Riven Isles is a wonderland, where the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat rule, until The Rot threatens the sanity and lives of all...
There is more to the Vine than mortals and immortals know. It reaches its branches and tendrils into realms beyond the Riven Isles. On the night Faith was born, her mother perished, but not before sending Faith to safety, in Underneath. Discovered by The Mad Hatter, he takes Faith home to raise as his own. When the Rot invades, Faith determines to fight. She won’t do it alone. Her childhood friend, Prince Rowan accompanies her. Faith must return to her birthplace to find a Legendary Heroine. But Overland is dangerous, and the minions of the Rot are in pursuit. If she doesn’t succeed, the minions of the Rot will destroy everything they know.
For comparisons, think The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, or After Alice by Gregory Maguire. And, of course, Lewis Carroll's, Alice in Wonderland.
22. The Violence of Sound by Jeff Wheeler
Fantasy | Adult | Adventure
A husband and wife brought together by magic strive to stop a war of the worlds in an epic adventure of hope, sorcery, and secrets by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler.
What humankind feared the most has come to the Awakening of the Aesir, an ancient race who rose with an implacable vengeance to wage war on mortals through bombardments and plague. Two people gifted with magic and ingenuity strive to stop them.
Professor Robinson Hawksley, an elocutionist in the Invisible College, prepares to exhibit his invention to the world. Using sound to defeat the enemy could change the course of the war. It’s invaluable to the military. Even more so to a conniving rival who’ll do anything to prove its patent as her own. An extraordinary obstacle could stand in the Robinson’s new wife, McKenna, robbed of her hearing by an Aesir scourge, is otherwise blessed with mysterious powers she’s only beginning to comprehend. She’s also harboring a secret that could get her killed.
As a very human war escalates inside the Invisible College, a supernatural one with the Aesir rages outside. But are love and sorcery enough for Robinson and McKenna to conquer both?
Read Book #1- The Invisible College
23. The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Regency England | Mystery | Romance
Set in Regency England, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is a queer historical fantasy of magic, murder, high heat and humour.
Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse. Until he learns the head negotiator is to be Dashiell sa Vare, an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten, a man their rigid class structure forbids him to love.
Locked in the mouldering grandeur of Monterris Court (a house more haunting manifestation of dynastic ambition and ancestral guilt than home), the first dead body is troubling. The second, a warning that someone doesn’t want the contract to go ahead. But while Nic and his wife-to-be team up to banter their way through a secret murder investigation, it’s Dashiell he can’t stop thinking about. What would be worse? To love and have to let go, or to wholly deny the yearning of one’s heart forever?
Perfect for fans of Freya Marske and Alexis Hall, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is the perfect blend of gothic and romantic – including a locked room murder mystery, forbidden love and otherworldly automatons.
24. Watch Me (Shatter Me: The New Republic #1) by Tahereh Mafi
Fantasy | Young Adult | Dystopian | Romantasy | Science Fiction
Lose yourself in this exhilarating return to the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe, the first book in a new series set ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment.
James Anderson had a plan. Or half of one. All that matters is that he managed to do what his older brother, the famous Aaron Warner Anderson, never did: infiltrate Ark Island, the last refuge of The Reestablishment. In the past decade no outsider has breached the stronghold of the authoritarian regime, but James is in. In a prison cell, sure, but as far as James is concerned, a win is a win.
It’s been ten years since the fall of The Reestablishment. Ten years since the notorious duo — Juliette Ferrars and Aaron Warner Anderson — led a worldwide rebellion and established the New Republic of the West. But after a decade of unsettling quiet, The Reestablishment is ready to make a devastating move, and they have the perfect person for the job.
Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. She always has a plan. On Ark Island, where constant surveillance is packaged as security, even emotions must be experienced with caution. A trained assassin, her every movement is monitored by synthetic intelligence—and when she’s given an order to kill, she never hesitates.
Brimming with pulse-pounding action and torturous romance, Watch Me is an explosive journey through a dystopian landscape where enemies-to-lovers has never felt more impossible. Step into a beloved and breathtaking world that demands an answer to a desperate question—
Who are we when no one is watching?
April 17th
25. Acts of Cupidity by E.S. Drake
Fantasy | Adult | Romance | Urban Fantasy
This charming urban fantasy is what you'd have if Terry Pratchett wrote The Good Place, following two agents of love ensnared in a plot to bring down the natural order of the world.
Not everything is down to Fate but, when it comes to love, the right people must collide to keep the world running to plan. Immortal cupids, known as Apollo agents, spend their afterlife matching up pre-destined couples to sign off their daily quota. Love cynic, Erron Grover, and hopeless romantic, Casey Hart, are two such agents based in London. They live an afterlife of luxury until several of their assignments result in a bizarre series of deaths.
Under heavy suspicion of involvement, their blossoming relationship begins to fray, but far worse, the unplanned deaths start to cause the very fabric of Fate to unravel. Faced with the collapse of civilisation, far too many geese and a few questionable soul reapers, the two men are forced to go on the run to solve the murders and save the world . . . along with their favourite jazz bar.
April 20th
26. Family and Fae (A Spellbrooke Mystery Series) by Renee Marski
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Mystery | Witches
Welcome to Spellbrooke, where magic and mystery collide.
Regan, the local fire witch and bookstore owner, is trying to find her bio mom. She is running out of leads. It seems that a spell was done to disguise Evie from anyone looking for her, even her own daughter. After her aunt attacks the wolf pack, Regan decides to visit a well-known blood coven in the hopes that they might have the information she's looking for. All while trying to prevent herself from shifting to avoid having to face a challenge at some point in the future. But with Hank by her side, she knows she can accomplish what needs to be done.
April 22nd
27. The Tainted Khan (The Soulbound Saga #2) by Taran Matharu
Fantasy | Adult | Romance | High Fantasy | Epic Fantasy | Dragons
The next installment in New York Times bestselling author Taran Matharu’s Soulbound Saga, continuing the harrowing journey of Jai as he navigates returning to his own people, growing in his magic and as a warrior, fending off attacks both without and within...and, of course, bonding even more with his dragon!
Jai dreams of being a dragon rider. He dreams of freedom from the Sabine Empire and a world in which he can lead his people, the Kidara, to freedom. But even though he has his dragon, Winter, she is still growing, just as he’s still growing in his own power. And the road to victory is even more fraught than he had hoped.
Because even when he finds a tribe on the Great Steppe, they are not his people. More, they are outcasts, the Tainted, and he finds that he knows little of the customs and political intricacies that take place in these vast grasslands. He is a stranger amongst his own kind, and that is even more apparent when he reunites with the Kidara, for Jai’s uncle rules, and is loath to cede power to his nephew. And even if Jai was sure he could take the reins of the leadership, he isn’t sure he could actually hold them.
But the legionaries and Gryphon Guard of the Sabine Empire are wreaking havoc against the other tribes of the Great Steppe, and Jai is forced to learn a lifetime’s worth of knowledge in a matter of months. From taming the massive khiroi that make up the tribe’s calvary, to levelling up his magic, to becoming a true warrior, worrying over the fate of the woman he loves, and strengthening his bond with Winter, Jai is a dragon rider with a massive weight on his young shoulders. And his greatest hope is that the shoulders of Winter will soon be strong enough to help carry him.
28. Saint Death's Herald (Saint Death #2) by C.S.E. Cooney
Fantasy | Adult | Necromancer | LGBT
Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones is the necromancer that Doédenna, god of Death, has been praying for.
True, she’s always been more interested in books and pastries than in creating abominations and raising armies of the undead. But still—she lives to love and serve Saint Death. And damn it duodecifold, Saint Death needs her! Lanie has many talents—her powers of death magic are growing more complex and stranger every day—but first and foremost is her ability to lay the unrestful dead to their unending slumber.
Unfortunately for Lanie, the most restless of these “unrestful dead” happens to be her own great-grandfather, the powerful necromancer Irradiant Stones. After having escaped from his temporary prison, he is possessing people from all over the realms, sucking them dry of their magic and discarding their bodies when there’s nothing left to take, growing stronger and stronger all the time. His ultimate goal? To return to the icy country of Skakmaht, where he died, and finish conquering the North for his own. First the North—then the world! After Irradiant takes care of his pesky great-granddaughter Lanie, that is: the only person on Athe who can stop him.
Lanie must embark on an epic road trip across the realms to stop him. With her unlikely companions—an undead flying tiger rug, her Falcon Defender best friend, and a former-foe-turned-ally who has every reason to hate her family—Lanie must first journey across Leech to parlay with its Witch Queen and her shapechanger subjects. Then she’ll venture into Umrys-by-the-Sea, where gutter children are going missing at an alarming rate and the King’s Saint is too afraid to leave the palace. Always one step behind her devious grandfather, Lanie will have to breach the heart of Skakmaht itself to stop him before he possesses a body that will make him well-nigh invincible: that of Samu Skrathmandan, the most powerful sky wizard Skakmaht has ever known.
Read Book #1- Saint Death's Daughter
April 24th
29. Spellbound by Georgia Leighton
Fantasy | Adult | Retelling
On a windswept island off the coast of the Kingdom of Bavaugh, a long-awaited royal heir is born. In ancient custom, a blessing ceremony takes place to bestow the princess with magical gifts - along with a terrible curse.
Except this is not the love story you know. There is no prince to save the day, just three women - the Queen, her chief Lady-in Waiting and Sel, a Master's Apprentice - who concoct a desperate plan of misdirect that changes the course of all their lives.
In the chaotic aftermath of the blessing ceremony, Sel flees the castle with the cursed princess, promising to raise her in secrecy. Meanwhile, confined behind castle walls, another child grows up in her place. But plain and bookish Talia is not the princess everyone was expecting and, as Sel roams the depths of the kingdom with beautiful and otherworldly Briar, the end of the curse edges ever closer.
Because dark magic cannot be tricked, and a vengeful sorceress has old scores to settle . . .
April 29th
30. One Way Witch (She Who Knows #2) by Nnedi Okorafor
Fantasy | Adult | Science Fiction | Africa
Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, One Way Witch is the second in the She Who Knows trilogy
The world has forgotten Onyesonwu.
As a teen, Najeeba learned to become the beast of wind, fire and the kponyungo. When that took too much from her, including the life of her father, she let it all go, and for a time, she was happy — until only a few years later, when the small, normal life she’d built was violently destroyed.
Now in her forties and years beyond the death of her second husband, Najeeba has just lost her beloved daughter. Onyesonwu saved the world. Najeeba knows this well, but the world does not. This is how the juju her daughter evoked works. One other person who remembers is Onyesonwu’s teacher Aro, a harsh and hard-headed sorcerer. Najeeba has decided to ask him to teach her the Mystic Points, the powerful heart of sorcery. There is something awful Najeeba needs to kill and the Mystic Points are the only way. Najeeba is truly her daughter’s mother.
When Aro agrees to help, Najeeba is at last ready to forge her future. But first, she must confront her past — for certain memories cannot lie in unmarked graves.
Read Book #1- She Who Knows
31. The Floating World (The Floating World #1) by Axie Oh
Fantasy | Young Adult | Korean Mythology | Retelling of Celestial Maidens
From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.
Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined...
32. Broken Souls and Bones (Stonegate #1) by L.J. Andrews
Fantasy | Adult | Romance | Dark Fantasy
Together they’ll restore a divided kingdom—or burn it down—in this new romantasy from USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation LJ Andrews.
Lyra Bien intended to live a quiet life to avoid the attention of the magic-obsessed king in the fortress of Stonegate. Until Roark Ashwood—the prince’s silent guard and rumored killer for the crown—invades her village and uncovers the truth behind the silver scars in her eyes. To save her best friend from death, she’s forced to reveal her abilities, and is immediately claimed by the crown as the next melder.
To be the King’s melder is to be revered and feared in equal measures, but above all it is a slow death sentence. Lyra is determined to find a way to free herself and her friends from bondage. But first she must get more information from the silent, brooding sentry who first took her captive: Roark.
As Lyra gets closer to Roark, she soon learns he’s nothing like she assumed—and in fact everything she needs. The more they work as allies, the harder it becomes to ignore the growing passion between them. After a sinister truth is revealed, Roark and Lyra must choose to stand against all they know, or accept their dark destiny.
33. When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | 1910 New York | Romance
In Coney Island, true love rises to the surface. With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley forges an unforgettable New York fairytale.
Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. He invites Benny to join the show’s eclectic cast and share in their shocking secret: the tank will cage their newest exhibit, a live merman stolen from the salty banks of the East River.
More than a mythic marvel, Benny soon comes to know the merman Río as a kindred spirit, wise and more compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.
Releasing Río could mean losing his found family, his new home, and his soulmate forever. Yet Benny’s courageous choice may just reveal a love strong enough to free them both.
34. The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
Fantasy | Adult | Magical Realism | Historical Fiction | Mystery | Witches | Adventure
Powerful witchcraft. A hunt for sunken treasure. Forbidden love on the high seas. Beware the Amalfi Curse…
Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven’s arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it nature or something more sinister at work?
As Haven searches for her father’s sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman’s quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Positano’s latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever…
Against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance and the untamed magic of the sea.
Make sure you add the ones you like to your TBR pile! Which ones do you like the look of? Let me know in the comments☺️
