My Most Anticipated Books: July–December 2023

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. The meme was originally the brainchild of The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023.

My Most Anticipated Books: July–December 2023

As usual, I had a hard time choosing just ten, so here are a bunch of my most anticipated books for the next six months, in order of projected publication date. (Note that publication dates can change.)

Claws and Contrivances by Stephanie Burgis (July 10) – ARC. Book #2 in Burgis’s delightful Regency Dragons historical-fantasy-romance series, inspired by Jane Austen’s novels (though they are not retellings.) I loved the first book, Scales and Sensibility (reviewed here.)

The Raven Throne by Stephanie Burgis (August 8). I’m a big fan of Stephanie Burgis, and I’m looking forward to reading her latest middle-grade fantasy series, the Raven Crown duology. I have not read the first book yet; I’m waiting until book #2 comes out so I can read them both in a row.

Shoemaker’s Wife by Celia Lake (August 15). Celia Lake is an auto-buy author for me. I love her historical fantasy novels, especially the romances (which this book is.) Like many other soldiers returning to civilian life after the Great War, Owen can’t find work. When he does find a job with a magical theater company, it only brings new worries. Meanwhile, his wife Clara is anxious about running her aunt’s shop, and a customer is taking an uncomfortable interest in her. The strain takes a toll on their wartime marriage, but this is Celia Lake, so I am sure that Owen and Clara will find their way back to each other with kindness, respect, and love.

The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan (August 15) – ARC. A rom-com about a witch who reluctantly returns to her hometown to enter a fake relationship with the former sweetheart who dumped her. Sounds like fun, and perfect summer reading!

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass (August 29) Middle-grade contemporary fantasy about a “a little free library guarded by a cat and a boy who takes on the mystery it keeps.” There’s a ghost librarian, too. Sounds delightful!

The October Witches by Jennifer Claessen (August 29 in US) – “Practical Magic meets Hocus Pocus in this sweet and enchanting middle grade fantasy novel about a young witch who must uncover the secrets of her family’s past to end their longstanding internal feud.” Full disclosure: The UK edition came out last year; I bought a copy but haven’t yet read it. I was planning to save it for October, but I’m not sure if I can wait that long.

Murder Most Royal by S. J. Bennett (September 26 in US; already published in UK) – ARC. Book #3 of Her Majesty the Queen Investigates. An elderly Queen Elizabeth and her deputy private secretary, a young woman of Nigerian descent, investigate the death of an old man washed up on the beach at the Queen’s Sandringham estate. I loved the first two books in the series. I plan to savor this one, as I’m not sure how long Bennett can keep the series going now that the Queen is gone.

Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose (September 26) – ARC. I also love the Wrexford & Sloane mysteries, set in the Regency period and featuring the Earl of Wrexford; Charlotte Sloane, a widowed artist; and a cast of interesting secondary characters. I started reading them this winter; I am now caught up, and looking forward to this one. This installment revolves around a murdered university librarian, a missing rare manuscript, a laboratory fire, and competition between shipping firms to develop the first commercial steamship.

Christmas at the Shelter Inn by RaeAnne Thayne (October 10). I’m always up for a holiday romance by RaeAnne Thayne; she’s really got the touch.

Mistletoe and Murder by Connie Berry (October 17) – ARC. A novella in Berry’s cozy/traditional “Kate Hamilton” mystery series, Mistletoe and Murder seeks Kate trying to help a friend who then goes missing, just days before Kate’s wedding to Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. This is an excellent contemporary mystery series that should appeal to fans of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Deborah Crombie. It certainly appeals to me; I loved the first four books!

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree (November 7.) It’s billed as the sequel to Legends and Lattes. It doesn’t sound like there’s that much crossover in terms of the characters, but I don’t care; it’s set in the same world and has a similar premise, except this time, the orc main character is opening a bookshop. “When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn’t always what we seek. …Travis Baldree’s Bookshops & Bonedust takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.”

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez (November 14). “The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.” Sold! Seriously, this sounds fantastic, in several senses of the word.

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower (November 14). I’m really looking forward to the second book in Flower’s historical mystery series featuring Emily Dickinson and her housemaid Willa Noble. This time around, the young women investigate the murder of Luther, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s secretary, who is killed while Emerson is staying with Emily’s brother Austin and his new wife.

The Illusion of a Boar by Celia Lake (November 15). “In early 1944, four specialists are assigned to take on a secret magical assignment, providing cover for a major military push.” (from the author’s blog) Since I encountered these characters as students (and as minor to middling secondary characters) in several previous books, I’m intrigued to see what they get up to as adults… and whether any of them will end up together in a romantic sense. (There’s no Goodreads page yet, so I’m afraid there’s no link. I’ll try to remember to add one when it becomes available.)

Inheritance by Nora Roberts (November 24). Book #1 in a planned paranormal romantic suspense trilogy. In this book, Sonya inherits a house from an uncle she never knew existed… a house haunted by a ghost whom her lawyer (and love interest) calls “the first lost bride.” “[It becomes] clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it…” Roberts is almost an auto-read author for me, and this series sounds like it combines ghosts, romance, and possibly suspense—hopefully without the elements that occasionally make Roberts’s romantic suspense a little too much for me.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally (November 13) – ARC. Billed as “…a dazzling first entry in a terrific new Regency-era cozy series with a feminist spin,” this mystery features a young lady of independent means investigating a mental asylum where rich men pay to put away their female relatives. Sounds like Bridgerton meets Nellie Bly to me… and a lot of fun.

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong (December 5) – ARC. A gothic mystery set in Cornwall after the Great War (WWI.) Ruby delivers a box of books to a folk healer, and becomes enmeshed in the mystery of Penryth Hall, now the home of her former best friend Tamsyn. When Tamsyn’s husband dies, apparently due to a fabled curse, Ruby and the folk healer, Ruan, must solve the mystery before the curse claims its next victim: Tamsyn. Sounds creepy, but in a good way—and with a potential romance as well.

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (December 12). Lackey wraps up the Founding of Valdemar trilogy in this book, and I cannot wait! This is the intertwined origin story of Valdemar the country (the setting of Lackey’s best-loved series) and Valdemar’s Companions—sentient beings in horse form, that partner for life with one human being, Choosing that person to serve as a Herald. There’s a short version of the origin story in several of Lackey’s previous books, and the first two books in this trilogy are basically about the events that lead up to this point, but Valdemar will finally tell the most important part of the founding story in detail.

Update: My Most Anticipated Books from January–June 2023

There were 17 books on my “most anticipated” list for the first six months of 2023. I read 12 of them, and so far I have reviewed three. There are five more books I have not yet read for one reason or another. I started one of those a month ago (Psyche and Eros) and plan to get back to it.

Read and reviewed (link goes to review):

• Flowerheart, by Catherine Bakewell – ARC
• Identity, by Nora Roberts – ARC
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett – ARC

Read but not yet reviewed:

• Sleep No More, by Jayne Ann Krentz – ARC
• Of Manners and Murder, by Anastasia Hastings – ARC
• Bound for Perdition, by Celia Lake – bought
• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, by Garth Nix – ARC
• The Bride Wore White, by Amanda Quick – ARC
• Old As The Hills, by Celia Lake – bought
• Remember Me, by Mary Balogh – ARC
• Upon a Summer’s Day, by Celia Lake
• Gryphon in Light, by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon – ARC. Note: The release date for this was bumped to July 25, but because I received an ARC, I have already read it.

Not yet read:

• The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill, by Rowenna Miller
• A Sinister Revenge, by Deanna Raybourn – I wasn’t approved for an ARC. I’m on the library waiting list.
• The Last Heir to Blackwood Library, by Hester Fox
• Silver in the Bone, by Alexandra Bracken
• Psyche and Eros, by Luna McNamara – Started reading and set aside because I wasn’t in the right mood. I do plan to return to it soon.

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