The Blue Gate by Kathryn MacDonald

The Blue Gate explores the surprise of love, the shock of loss, and challenges boundaries and liminal spaces. It probes into a love affair that defies conventions, capturing the narrator’s voice from the first lyrical poem. With the death of the belovèd, an invitation to fly to Kenya arrives; it’s accepted; and the long title poem ravels and unravels reality. Poems in the final section question the loss of intimacy, loneliness, change, and unattainable acceptance. The poetry is vivid and grounded in the senses and in nature, whether set in Canada or Africa. The collection seeks understanding, consolation, and release. It asks whether love enriches or leaves one lost.

Grumpy Hearted Cowboy (Not Looking For Love Series) by Julia Stone

A brooding cowboy, an innocent heart, and heat that builds fast and fierce. Cyrus: I agreed to let her stay for the summer, offering a spare room for a few weeks, helping around the ranch while she figures out her future. What I didn’t agree to was Millie walking back into my life as a grown woman—soft smiles, curious eyes, and a body I have no business noticing. She’s my friend’s daughter. She’s younger. She’s here to learn, not to tempt the hell out of me every time she steps into my space. Living under the same roof makes distance impossible. Every shared meal, every long day working side by side chips away at my self-control. I know better. I should stop this before it starts. But wanting her feels inevitable—and once I give in, there’s no going back. Millie: Spending the summer on Cyrus Kane’s ranch is supposed to be simple. Hands-on experience. Early mornings. All while learning what kind of veterinarian I want to be. Instead, I’m sharing a house with a gruff, intimidating cowboy who barely speaks—and somehow says everything with a single look. He’s bigger than life, rough around the edges, and completely different from anyone I’ve ever wanted before. I tell myself to focus, to keep things professional. But the longer I stay, the harder it is to ignore the tension crackling between us. The way his eyes linger. The way my heart races whenever we’re alone. We’re crossing lines we shouldn’t. With the promise of leaving in the future, one push may risk everything falling apart.

Brownies for My Grumpy Bunny: A Cozy Monster Romance (Fairhaven Falls #10) by Honey Phillips

She’s sweet, stubborn, and far too tempting. He’s big, grumpy, and determined not to fall. Sara Cartwright came to Fairhaven Falls for a fresh start—quiet mornings, kind neighbors, and maybe a few furry friends hopping through her garden. She wasn’t expecting her next-door neighbor to be six-foot-plus of scowling muscle and twitching ears. Ben Hollowell likes his peace, his pub, and his solitude. The last thing he needs is a relentlessly cheerful kindergarten teacher moving in next door with flower boxes, laughter, and curves that make his pulse race. But when Sara’s warmth starts melting his defenses—and her brownies start showing up at his door—Ben finds himself craving things he swore he didn’t need. Will spring in Fairhaven Falls turn out to be mating season for the most reluctant of bunnies? Each book in the Fairhaven Falls series can be read as a standalone. This sweet and steamy small town romance is intended for mature readers.

Alien's Bargain: An Alien Shifter Romance (Alien Wolf Tales #6) by Honey Phillips

One lie. One bargain. One debt she can’t escape. Jessa is the most talented weaver in her village, but when her ruthless uncle claims she can spin legendary goldthread, he traps her in a lie that could cost her everything… including her little sister. Desperate to save her sister, Jessa flees into forbidden Vultor territory in search of the rarest plant of all. Instead she finds Tarek, a gruff, solitary alien feared by humans and shunned by his own kind. Tarek has been alone for too long, so when a pretty little human strays into his territory, he can’t resist offering her a bargain—his help in exchange for a promise to be fulfilled later. What begins as a reluctant deal turns into something far more dangerous, because Tarek is more than he seems. And the price he asks might be her heart. Sometimes love is the most dangerous bargain of all. Grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, reluctant protector, hidden identity, found family A sweet and spicy sci-fi fairy-tale retelling!

Apocalypse Mode - Initiate: A fast paced Zombie Survival LitRPG Series by Damian Peterson

The update wasn't a feature. It was a purge. Jax is Unit 7734. In the real world, he’s a nobody living in a debt-stack. In "The Realm," the hyper-immersive VR simulation where humanity works and plays, he’s a bartender grinding for credits he’ll never pay off. It’s a life of low-poly misery, but it’s stable. Until the sky cracks open. A sudden system-wide event labeled [Apocalypse Mode] locks every user inside the simulation. Logout is disabled. The physics engine is crumbling. And the streets are flooding with high-level undead. But the zombies are the least of Jax's problems. The "Admin Knights"—invincible moderators clad in liquid chrome—have descended from the cloud. They aren't here to save the players. They are here to sanitize the server. To them, the poor, the indebted, and the weak are just "corrupted data" to be deleted. When Jax discovers that the system crash is actually a cover-up for a horrific corporate harvest targeting his own family, he refuses to be deleted. Armed with a steel pipe, a stolen rifle, and a glitchy interface, Jax must lead a ragtag squad of broken survivors across a city that is literally dissolving into the void. Their destination: The Survival Estate. A golden fortress built for the elite, and the only place with a hardline to the truth. The Corporation thinks Jax is just a variable to be balanced. They’re about to learn that even the smallest glitch can crash the whole system. The game is rigged. It's time to break the board. Apocalypse Mode: Initiation is a gritty Cyberpunk LitRPG thriller featuring a non-OP protagonist, high-stakes survival, settlement building elements, and a fight against a dystopian system. Perfect for fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl and Cyberpunk 2077.

Tempted by the Alien Mercenary: A Steamy Alien Sci-fi Romance (Monster Mercenary Mates #07) by Robin O'Connor

He was built to feed on fear, but I’m the only one who ever tempted him to feel. Frederique I woke in a shattered stasis pod, centuries too late, on a world drowning in water and secrets. My mission? Gone. My crew? Dust. And the only being who’s kept me alive since then is an alien mercenary wrapped in living silver and danger. He’s not just terrifying, he’s mesmerizing. I should keep my distance. I know better. But every time his dark gaze settles on me, every time that shifting symbiont flows over his skin like armor and art, I forget who I was supposed to be. His power should terrify me, but it tempts me. He tempts me. Even when I discover the truth about my mission. Even when enemies rise and survival hangs by a thread... I still look at him and wonder what would happen if I let myself fall. The Sineater She calls me mercenary. Monster. But she doesn’t run. I was sent to kill, not to feel. My symbiont craves agony like air, but her emotions, bright and tangled, taste like hope. I want her. Not just her body, but the calm in her thoughts, the fire in her fight. I want to protect that light, even as I know I’ll destroy it. But I am always hungry. Always feared. And if I take what I want, I may never let her go… Even if loving her is the one thing that could break me. This is a standalone novel and the seventh book in the Monster Mercenary Mates series. This sci-fi monster romance features a darkly sinful ancient warrior, a plucky, bossy FMC, a mysterious animal sidekick, and a steamy HEA.

Claimed by the Alien Mercenary: A Steamy Alien Sci-fi Romance (Monster Mercenary Mates #08) by Robin O'Connor

She’s the mission. He’s the monster everyone fears. His claim might destroy them both. Dani I came to Radin chasing a miracle cure hidden in a flower. I never expected to become prey. Days of captivity leave my empathic senses burned out, my power little more than an ache beneath my skin. Then Jaxin arrives, silent, shark-eyed, built for violence. When the rescue goes awry, he hauls me over his shoulder and runs. Alone in Radin’s humid jungle, survival means pressed bodies, shared breath, and heat that has nothing to do with the heat of summer. As my empathy recovers, I feel what he hides. Control layered over hunger. Possession strangled by discipline. A truth he refuses to face: he feels more than he’s allowed. Jaxin Emotion is forbidden. My people, the Rummicaron, suppress it for a reason. But the jungle strips restraint bare, and my true nature claws its way to the surface: to claim, to protect, to possess a mate. Dani doesn’t just tempt me, she awakens something ancient and dangerous. As Radin’s giant closes in and a crime lord tightens her grip, I must choose between duty and instinct. And if I choose wrong, Radin will kill us both. This is a standalone novel and the eighth book in the Monster Mercenary Mates series. This sci-fi monster romance features a not-so-emotionless, shark-like alien mercenary, a gifted empathic scientist, and a steamy HEA.

Righteous Desires by Florence Wolfe

Under the lights, they are gods. Behind the curtain, they are ghosts. Silas Reed made the impossible choice: break Cal Kincaid’s heart to save his career. But the grief followed him to the ring. One botched move later, Silas was exiled with a shattered shoulder, leaving Cal alone to become the ruthless King of the industry. Seven years later, the exile is over. Silas returns to a world that moved on without him. But the man waiting for him isn’t the boy he left behind. Cal is now the untouchable Heavyweight Champion of the World, and he hasn’t forgiven a damn thing. Scripted rivals. Real life strangers. Inescapable lovers. The hatred turns to heat. The rivalry turns to obsession. While the cameras roll, they tear each other apart. But when the locker room clears, the dynamic shifts. Their collision is violent, desperate, and anything but scripted. Silas wants his legacy back. But the only way to the top is through the man he destroyed. Ring the bell, the main event is underway.

The Weight of Petals by Cade Meridian

In a city governed by an invisible digital heartbeat, the most dangerous thing you can do is remember. In a quiet Las Vegas cul-de-sac, four children walk home from school through the golden hour of an ordinary afternoon: Marcus, Leila, Tessa, and Sam. They have known each other since kindergarten. They have never truly been friends. At 3:00 PM, the world is whole. By 4:30 PM, it is gone. When the President activates the Civic Protection Initiative, the surveillance state recalibrates to identify, detain, and deport families who don't fit—targeted by ethnicity, by faith, by the algorithm's quiet judgment of who belongs. By sunset, the parents have vanished into the backs of silent vans. By moonrise, the children are running. The Weight of Petals is a devastating novel about state-sanctioned erasure, the detention and deportation of American families, and the children who prove—through sacrifice after sacrifice—that every choice matters. Especially the ones that cost everything.

The Unnamed by M.S. Masood

"A gift that is not freely given loses its worth. And when it's forcibly taken, a gift can become a curse." Reim was raised for one purpose: to inherit the Vuorian throne—a crown that demands she protect her fractured, volatile kingdom from those within its walls who seek to ruin it—the Unnamed. A destiny few believe she can fulfill. Least of all, Reim herself. With her beloved father's health rapidly declining, and the threat of insurrection looming, she makes a desperate deal—sealed in magic and blood—with an enigmatic Unnamed man known only as the healer. But when he finally comes to collect his due, the price he demands not only has the power to destroy her, but everything she thought she knew about honor, justice...and love. For lovers of the lyrical, character-driven storytelling of V.E. Schwab's Invisible Life of Addie Larue with the incisive social commentary of M.L. Wang's Blood Over Bright Haven comes the first book in a gripping new fantasy duology, The Unnamed—a bold reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin that examines the transformative power of names, identity, self-growth, and love, all while delivering fast-paced action and a slow-burn romance that will leave readers eager for more. "In a richly thought-out fantasy world, Masood weaves lyrical writing with political intrigue as Reim, a pure-hearted yet unyielding protagonist, refuses to bow to the forces that threaten her kingdom—even if that threat is herself. The Unnamed is a story of stolen legacy and rewritten history full of twists and cliffhangers that will make you gasping for more." —Sarah Mughal Rana, bestselling author of Dawn of the Firebird

The Book of Joy by Humphrey Archer

Joy is a monster, but you may end up loving her. Behind her blank stares and eerie calm is a mind that solves problems with unsettling precision — and sometimes, murder. From the man who lured children with promises of kittens, to the smooth-talking insurance salesman who preyed on the sick, social predators are her targets. As she grows, she seeks expertise and control, and masters lock-picking, improvises weapons, and slips unnoticed through the cracks of family life, school, and the wider world. But even as her darkness takes shape, her devotion to her family never wavers, and she is meticulous about how she uses her skills. The Book of Joy is the gripping origin story of an anti-heroine both terrifying and unforgettable because she is socially adept and learns to stay invisible, and is cold and controlled. This is a book for readers who like their thrillers intelligent, unsettling, and unusually dark, and their female characters unapologetically strong and complex, and not on a traditional redemption arc.

Parallels by James Kinsley

FROM THE FINALIST FOR THE 2023 PAGE TURNER AWARDS "THE MATRIX" MEETS THE FOREVER WAR IN JAMES KINSLEY'S BREATHTAKING SCI-FI ACTION ADVENTURE Two worlds. One mind. Endless uncertainty. Jeff is stuck in the mundane now, drifting through aimless days and gnawing doubts. Until the moment he sees the Pale Woman—and reality shifts. Suddenly, he’s Jezz, a mercenary trapped in a savage conflict, battling swarms of alien insects on a war-torn front line. Is he a restless young man just scraping by, or a desperate soldier risking everything for humanity’s survival? As identities collide, one question rips through his fractured psyche: What is reality?

It's Hard to Tell You This by James Kinsley

Michael’s father didn’t leave much behind. A handful of battered paperbacks, a few family photos, and an ancient tape recorder - the scattered remains of an old man’s empty life. But that tape recorder sparks something in Michael, a need to take stock of his own thoughts. His memories. His regrets. Turning the recorder on, Michael begins to speak. About the loves he lost. The girls who slipped away. The women he hurt. Each memory spools out of him and onto the tape, raw and unedited. As the recorder fills with Michael’s confessions, his days grow longer, his relationships stranger, his shelves emptier. And Michael finds himself on the precipice of an ending…

Blood & Blarney by Noah Bodie

What happens when you look death in the face, and it stares back? When a charismatic stranger steps into Hugh King’s classroom, desire and danger follow. Rory is beautiful, calculated, and hungry in ways that have nothing to do with food. Their charged encounters begin to unravel into ritual, blood, and myth, and Hugh discovers that being claimed is not the same as being seen. Blending queer gothic erotica with Irish folklore, Blood & Blarney is a dark, intimate novella about hunger, consent, and what it means to touch death without being consumed.

Speaking Out In Silence by Sienna Eggler

The life of an adventurer is hard. People get maimed, die, or go missing all the time, but the world keeps spinning. Meike was never big on monster hunting or collecting trophies. They're happier foraging, mixing potions, and befriending monsters and critters. A fact that's further cemented when one of their friends suffers a grievous wound during a quest. But they aren't ready to hang up their cloak just yet! There are plenty of quests that don’t require a blade, quests devoted to healing, not inflicting pain. And as Meike comes to find, social quests can be stressful in their own way, but just as fulfilling.

Beecham's Infirmary for the Affluent Afflicted by Briar Somseret

A Victorian Gothic Paranormal Romance Novella by Briar Somerset In a town where health is currency and longing is lure, a reluctant investigator and seamstress must uncover whether hunger will anchor a man already slipping into the dark. Behind the decrepit doors of an Infirmary said to offer miraculous cures to London's ailing elite, people are vanishing. Private Investigator and estranged heir to French aristocracy Jacques Valmont is summoned across the channel to sleuth, despite the lingering sickness of his own—one of grief that stirs in his blood and shadows his mind. Amidst the fog and fever, he finds an unlikely ally in Annie, the quick-witted seamstress working next door to Beecham's Infirmary, whose presence seems to quiet the storm inside him. When she suggests the only way to breach the infirmary's guarded walls is becoming a patient himself, Annie's grandmother warns them both of curses that fester with longing. Unnatural aches that transform a person entirely, if not quelled. As Jacques nears the truth, desire and dread twist together. Annie may be the last tether holding him to his humanity—or the final thread that unravels it.

Daydreamer: The Order of the Kresnik by Rick Houghton

In the frozen heights of Szentély, monsters are forged—and feared. Haunted by loss and bound by a vow, Nura enters the mountain stronghold of the Order of the Kresnik to become a blade sharpened by grief, wielded by love. But as she trains to hunt the vampyres that shattered her family, a darker power stirs within—one that links her to a fury that threatens to unravel everything she believes in. As ancient enemies close in and the Order prepares for war, Nura must choose between discipline and rage, vengeance and mercy, hate and love. In a world where monsters wear many faces, becoming one might be the only way to survive. The third chapter of the Daydreamer Saga plunges deeper into the gothic heart of Europe, where blood runs cold, love burns bright, and the line between salvation and damnation is razor-thin. She survived the monsters. Now she must become one. Perfect for fans of Anne Rice, V.E. Schwab, Deborah Harkness, and Empire of the Vampire.

Daydreamer: Threads of the Forgotten by Rick Houghton

Descend into the mist-shrouded forests of Europe, where a mother’s love becomes her fiercest weapon. When Nura’s family vanishes into the jaws of darkness, she risks everything to find them—only to uncover a hidden war between vampyres and the hunters sworn to destroy them. To survive, she must awaken long-buried powers and face truths that could unravel everything she thought she knew. In the second chapter of the Daydreamer Saga, the line between hunter and hunted blurs, and every step weaves a new thread into the forgotten tapestry of the past. Darkness has many faces, and salvation comes at a cost few are willing to pay.

Daydreamer: Escape from the Dark by Rick Houghton

Escape from the Dark A gothic fantasy of blood, hunger, and buried identity. Most vampyres remember nothing of the life they had before, but Larua is no ordinary vampyre. Haunted by flashes of a past that refuses to stay buried, and watched by monsters who fear what she might uncover, Larua must navigate a cruel world where remembering too much could cost her what little remains of her humanity. Torn between human companion Jenny, enigmatic vampyre Drake, and her all-consuming thirst for blood, Larua’s past is just the beginning of a centuries-long tale of vampyre and vampyre hunters. Some underestimate her. Others sense her hidden strength. All will remember her. Dark, atmospheric, and tragic, Escape from the Dark launches The Daydreamer Saga—perfect for fans of Anne Rice, V.E. Schwab, and Deborah Harkness.

Dangling High by Kaycee King

After suffering an intensely traumatic loss at the hands of Jesse "Snake Eye" Musslin, the eccentric, queer, and legendary outlaw Ezra "Two Shots" Smith embarks on a lifelong quest for revenge, eventually crossing paths with Alexander "Good Times" Davis, who stubbornly refuses to let him be. Dangling High is a gripping Western adventure that turns the genre’s typical, problematic tropes upside down for a more progressive rhetoric. It is a fresh, politically driven take on what the United States has stood for in the past, the danger of the current moment, and the potential to embrace a future that is based on entirely different systems of power and ways of life.

The Sorrow of Bees by Andie Holman

Dark magic comes at a cost, one that Jelly, warrior mermaid, must pay. After enduring a brutal ritual to give her Fae powers, a vital piece of her soul goes missing. She must abandon everything and everyone to find it. It is her journey alone. If she fails her mission, her lover’s brother will never again see the sun, trapped in a horrifying dimension called the Hellhole. If she fails, her lover Mako may not forgive her. If she fails, she will never be whole. She’s sent to a queendom so foreign she can barely breathe, transformed into a body she can’t possibly understand. Grappling with the enormity of her task, she struggles to appreciate the sorrows of the pollinators. But she must if she wants to succeed. Kirkus reviews: "The intricate details and person growth of major and minor characters make for a welcome continuation of this saga... The detailed depth of the fantasy world will delight those who enjoy all-consuming magical realms that integrate cleanly with contemporary, nonmagical locales... An often rousing personal quest that will have audiences looking forward to the next book."

The Mermaid's Wrath by Andie Holman

The ocean is dying. A mermaid vows to save it. The Mers are barely surviving in a magical marine bubble, isolated from the rest of the world. Jelly, warrior mermaid and champion of sea life, battles against the choking, accelerating pollution, living beneath the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. When Jelly's mind opens to terrifying premonitions, she must leave the ocean, collaborating with estranged magical beings on land. She’s seen one of theirs in a vision, a woman abducted for the power in her veins, and Jelly is the key to this woman's freedom. The black pearl at her throat holds a secret. When it wakes, it sends Jelly on a tumultuous journey, changing her life forever. Kirkus review: “A lighthearted novel that simultaneously features heavy environmental themes, multifaceted characters, and lots of charm. Holman weaves elements of humor, magic, romance, and environmental activism in a quirky ocean-set romantasy.”

A Stellar Spy by Maya Darjani

A futuristic, magic-fueled homage to the great classics of the spy genre: the cerebral musings of John le Carre with the excitement of The Americans. Devoted mother and career woman. A sleeper agent, poised to act. Tessa lives a double life. She’s the security counselor to Finn, the leader of the planet. He’s her ex-husband and father of her children. She’s still in love with him. But she has a far worse problem. Tessa is also a deep cover operative for an enemy planet, and turns out, her next mission is to betray him. After overpowered mages target and attack the seat of government, Finn wants to remove their magic completely—a brutal action Tessa can't support. So she does the only thing she can do: she contacts her handler. But every action she takes increases the chance of discovery. If caught, she can't protect the mages from retaliation or prevent future attacks against Finn and the children. And when her two roles collide, she must choose: fail her family, or forsake her ideals.

Ballad of River Bones by Alexandra Beaumont

Ballad of River Bones is the conclusion of lyrical folklore fantasy and Indie Press Award Distinguished Favourite, Dissonance of Bird Song, ending the critically acclaimed tale of "love, loss and sacrifice." Cursed by ghosts of her victims and haunted by her past, Nessa searches for her lost sister. In the enchanted Myst, change is devastating. To survive, Nessa makes a pact with a mysterious druid to protect herself from the ghosts of those she has killed. As the shadows draw long over ancient Cornwall, Nessa's path leads her to a choice: Save her sister and doom herself to a cursed life, or destroy the Myst and banish her sister to the sea.

A Slice Of Mystery by Sophie Maddon

When you’re lucky enough to land on a project in your hometown, nothing can ruin it—right? That is, until your boss disappears and you’re given her job, the police suspect you, and the cheesemonger runs out of your favourite Gouda. When socially-awkward IT consultant Abigail Palmer is sent to work on a local factory’s new computer systems, she’s looking forward to daily get-togethers with best friend Hannah and cozy nights with Jasper the cat—NOT being blackmailed by boss Lynn into investigating a threatening note. Between managing the IT project, untangling lies, and trying to decode a cute colleague’s attentions, Abigail’s plate is full—though there’s always room for Giuseppe’s insanely delicious pizzas. Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and awkward heroines with a side of tech. Warning: may cause cravings for artisan cheese and late-night pizza.

Accelerated Growth Environment by Lauren C. Teffeau

Dr. Jorna Benton is proud to be the Principal Scientist for the Climasphere, a massive, sea-going ecological nursery capable of supporting nearly every biome on Earth. On its inaugural mission to restore and re-wild collapsing ecosystems along the Atlantic coast, Jorna manages the Climasphere’s habitat and harvest, while her colleague—and inconveniently attractive commander—Ava Kaysar directs the rest of the vessel’s critical operations. When an explosion rocks the Climasphere, Jorna’s carefully-managed world is thrown into chaos, threatening both her personal and her professional future. And she’s the prime suspect. To clear her name, save the mission, and preserve her chance at a future with Kaysar, Jorna must finally confront the secret she’s been running from all these a family and a faith that could destroy her.

Alien Song: An Alien Shifter Romance (Alien Wolf Tales #5) by Honey Phillips

A grumpy alien single dad, a fearless diver, and a bond stronger than the tide. Ariella was born to dive. Modified to withstand Cresca’s alien oceans, she’s always been at home in the deep—until the day she saves a drowning child and meets the girl’s father, a huge, brooding Vultor warrior with eyes like molten gold. Suddenly she wants more than just her isolated waters. Valrek has spent years alone on the sea cliffs, shunned by both humans and Vultor. He’s devoted himself to raising his daughter in solitude—until a human female crashes into their world like a storm tide, fearless, bright, and far too tempting. She challenges him. She tempts him. And she makes his beast want something he swore he’d never have. A mate. But Ariella’s past is surfacing—and if she doesn’t choose between her future and her heart, she could lose both. Because when a Vultor warrior loves, he doesn’t let go. Each book in the Alien Wolf Tales series can be read as a standalone romance. This sweet and spicy fairy tale retelling is intended for mature readers.

Mountain Man’s Winter Treasure: A Steamy Instalove Romance (Wildwood Valley Firehouse #4) by Lilah Hart

He watched her for weeks in silence. Now they're snowed in together. I was freezing to death in someone else's house when he showed up. The power was out. The snow had buried the doors. I'd already accepted that this house sitting gig might be the last decision I ever made. Then headlights cut through the storm, and a man climbed out of a truck like he'd driven straight out of my darkest, most desperate fantasy. Broad shoulders. Dark beard. Eyes that looked right through me. He didn't say much. He got the fire going, checked the pipes, made terrible instant coffee. And when I asked his name, he gave me one word. Wolfe. He told me he was staying. Protocol, he said. He couldn't leave me alone with no heat and no way out. But the way he looked at me had nothing to do with protocol. I didn't know he'd been watching me for weeks. I didn't know he'd memorized my schedule at the roadhouse, that he'd stared at his menu every time I came to take his order because he couldn't trust himself to look at me. I didn't know that when my name came through on that emergency call, his heart stopped. But I was about to find out. 🔥 Forced Proximity ❄️ Snowed In Romance 🐻 Grumpy Hero / Sunshine Heroine 👀 Secret Pining 🌸 Virgin Heroine 💘 Instalove 😍 He Falls First Mountain Man's Winter Treasure is an OTT age-gap romance featuring an alpha hero and V-card heroine. It's a forced proximity firefighter romance with lots of steam that's designed to be read in only 1 hour. If you like short, steamy instalove novellas, you’ll love the entire Wildwood Valley Firehouse series!

Mountain Man's Winter Sweetheart: A Steamy Instalove Romance ((Wildwood Valley Firehouse #3) by Lilah Hart

Snowed in with a rugged firefighter. Falling wasn’t optional. I don’t do distractions. I have a plan. A timeline. A future that doesn’t include this tiny mountain town—or the firefighters who pack into the roadhouse every night, loud and charming and impossible to ignore. Especially him. Hux is six-foot-three of trouble wrapped in flannel. A smile built to break hearts. A laugh that fills the room. I’ve watched him flirt his way through every shift, and I’ve kept my distance for a reason. Then the snowstorm hits. He stumbles through the door half-frozen, collapses on my counter, and wakes up to find me standing over him with a bowl of soup I don’t remember deciding to make. Now we’re trapped. The roads are impassable. The power’s flickering. And somehow, Hux has ended up in my kitchen—following my rules, watching me like I’m something worth seeing. He’s not what I expected. Under the jokes and easy charm is something steady. Something real. Something that makes me forget why I was so determined to leave in the first place. The storm won’t last forever. Neither will the forced proximity. Neither will the heat that builds every time he looks at me like he’s already chosen. He says he’s serious about me. And that terrifies me more than the storm ever could. ❄️ Snowed-In Romance 🔥 Firefighter Hero 🏔️ Small-Town Mountain Setting 🍲 Caretaker Moment 🧣 Forced Proximity 💕 Instalove Sparks 🛡️ Protective Hero Energy 🌨️ Winter Storm Isolation 💫 Opposites Attract 🏡 Found Family Vibes Mountain Man's Winter Sweetheart is an OTT age-gap firefighter romance featuring an alpha hero and V-card heroine. It's a forced proximity ex-military, lumberjack romance with lots of steam that's designed to be read in only 1 hour. If you like short, steamy instalove novellas, you’ll love the entire Wildwood Valley Firehouse series!

Rescued by the Cursed Phoenix (Rescued From Ruin) by Vala Stone

Have I just stumbled from one monster, straight into the clutches of another? Ava I have a habit of doing what people tell me I shouldn’t. Like eating that extra cookie, or you know, dating the bad boy. When I try to get out of this latest pickle, running is my only option. A dark gloomy mansion in the middle of the woods, surrounded by an ominous fence. Yeah, that’s not where you expect to find salvation. But the man that swoops down on me, pulling me from the snapping jaws of danger… He sets my blood on fire and makes my heart melt with his care and his cute pet cat. Lucius I just want to be left alone. The world is a dangerous place and I want nothing to do with it. But when pretty Ava stumbles onto my doorstep, I can’t help myself. Parts of me ignite that I thought had long ago turned to ashes. To keep her safe, to keep us both safe, I must let her go. I should send her away. To break my curse, to rescue her from ruin, I might have to break all my rules. I might have to ignite all the flames and make the ultimate sacrifice. Rescued by the Cursed Phoenix is a short, steamy novella that is part of the Rescued From Ruin shared author series. It features one sexy, cursed Phoenix, a plucky damsel in distress, and a very wise matchmaking cat.

The Lunar Quartz Library by Melanie Steele

At thirty-five, Esme thought her life was set—until a magical book offered her a whole new chapter. Esme has lived the same quiet, bookish life for as long as she can remember—mornings spent sorting rare tomes at the beloved Goldsteins' Bookshop, evenings sipping tea in her tiny flat, and weekends buried in classics and comfort reads. Then a curious delivery arrives: an oversized book with a lock, but no keyhole. It doesn’t appear on any inventory list—and it doesn’t seem to belong to this world. When the Goldsteins' bookshop, where Esme has worked for half her life, suddenly shuts its doors, she finds herself adrift. Her routine is gone, her future uncertain, and the quiet, bookish life she’s always known begins to unravel. When a mysterious stranger shows up claiming the book belongs to another realm—and that Esme is the only one who can unlock its secrets—she’s offered a chance to start again. But stepping into her new role as Librarian of the Quartz Falls Library won't be easy. Esme must learn to wield magic, confront enemies who want the library sealed forever, and—most daunting of all—believe that she’s worthy of a life beyond the quiet edges of the world. A heartwarming, whimsical tale of transformation and quiet courage, this low spice cosy fantasy is perfect for fans of The Spellshop, Legends & Lattes, and The House in the Cerulean Sea. 🌙 Tropes & Themes You’ll Love 🙋 Midlife Protagonist ✨ Sweet romance 🏡 Found family 📚 Light academia 💐 Strong female friendships 🌈 LGBTQ+ rep 🧠 Neurodivergent rep ❤️ A comforting, low-stakes fantasy full of heart

Hide & Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin by Sunny Dhillon

In 2018, Sunny Dhillon resigned as a journalist with the Globe and Mail. His blog post announcing his departure went unexpectedly viral. It was a decision that had been long brewing and Dhillon posted the piece with the hope that it would lead to “meaningful reflection on the lack of diversity in Canadian journalism and the problems therein.” But he was not optimistic. In this sharply funny memoir, shaped as a series of letters to his daughter, Dhillon explains why he was not hopeful. From his earliest memories, his experience of being Canadian was shaped by race, and as a child he’d often found himself confused by what he should do when the fact he was “different” was raised. His first reaction was to hide – from his skin colour, from his native tongue and even from his name. Until he realized he didn’t feel the need to hide anymore, that he didn’t want to hide anymore. With warmth, honesty and lots of humour, Dhillon shares his journey so that his daughter will not have to struggle through the lessons he took too long to learn, so that she will know who she is and be proud. Sunny Dhillon is a former news reporter whose viral essay “Journalism While Brown and When to Walk Away” highlighted the significant challenges that journalists of colour can face. Sunny worked as a print reporter for ten years. He has also appeared on television and radio and has spoken at conferences. He is passionate about racial justice and continues to write on that theme. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of British Columbia. He and his young family now live in Ontario, where Sunny attends law school. This is his first book.

Syncopation by Whitney French

In this speculative and intoxicating novel, French offers readers an intricate future-world that resonates so powerfully with our own, as it explores a people gripped in the war-torn politics of migration, memory-keeping, labour and survival. In the aftermath of a Memory War, society is fragmented into strange new cultures, castes and coalitions. Set against a backdrop of retrofitted food garages, microchip-sorting factories and hyperloop terminals, Whitney French brings us a dazzling novel-in-verse where memory is the highest currency and love, like all revolutions, is dangerous, unruly and singed with hope. O and Z are two young women searching for purpose in a world where a decades-long earthquake reverberates through the Earth's crust, and the population scrambles to hide from deadly acid rain. Descended from space pirates, O is drawn to the sky, while Z is earthbound, a skilled forager with connections to the black market. The two become travel companions and lovers until, torn between choosing their values or each other, a fateful decision must be made at the el Corazón space station. In this speculative and intoxicating novel, French offers readers an intricate future-world that resonates so powerfully with our own, as it explores a people gripped in the war-torn politics of migration, memory-keeping, labour and survival. About Whitney French: Whitney French (she/her) is a writer, educator and publisher. She is the editor of the award-winning anthology Black Writers Matter (University of Regina, 2019) and Griot: Six Writers' Sojourn into the Dark (Penguin Random House, 2022). Whitney is a Black futurist who explores memory, loss, technology and nature in her work. She is a certified arts educator and an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Colombia. She is also the co-founder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist press in Canada.

Beneficiary by Joann McCaig

A novel about what it means to face the world as a woman on her own terms from the award-winning author of The Textbook of the Rose and An Honest Woman. Seren was doomed to a country club cage and a leash of pearls until out of the blue on a Tuesday night in 1969, she found herself suddenly saying “no.” More than fifty years later, she looks back on her life and each choice that followed, beautiful, tragic and completely her own. Leaving her family for the freedom of the 1970s, Seren began a quest to discover how to live in this world as her true self—a quest that would take her from the heady countercultural milieu of communal houses on Vancouver Island through marriage and motherhood, divorce, and an unexpected inheritance that changed everything. Suddenly wealthy, Seren must wrestle with money, with class, and what it means to have more than most. What does it mean to live truly, through tragedy and heartbreak? How do we create ourselves in a world that keeps changing? What does it mean to have money when so many people don’t? A richly written, fiercely feminist novel imbued with real bravery, Beneficiary weaves the past and the present in a rich tapestry of life. JoAnn McCaig is the author of The Textbook of The Rose and An Honest Woman. She is the proud owner of Shelf Life Books, an independent bookstore in her hometown of Calgary, AB.

Shoebox by Sean Paul Bedell

Shoebox is a gritty and emotional exploration of the human condition, Steve Lewis, a dedicated paramedic, faces the devastating aftermath of a fatal accident that casts a dark shadow over his once-passionate commitment to saving lives. Plagued by guilt and grief, he finds his career, family, and very existence at risk as he navigates the complexities of trauma, both personal and professional. As Steve grapples with the high stakes of his job amidst the scrutiny of a community that admires yet questions him, each life he saves rekindles his passion for his work, reminding him of the profound connections he can forge through compassion and care. About Sean Paul Bedell: Author of the novels Shoebox and Somewhere There’s Music, Sean Paul Bedell has been writing and publishing for more than 30 years. Sean was a longtime paramedic and captain with the fire service. Bedell has worked in the finance, insurance, and aerospace industries. He is a leading safety expert and has provided safety consultation to private and public sector entities, including transportation, mining, manufacturing, and construction operations. Sean holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation. He was a director with Capital Health, the precursor of Nova Scotia Health and he was appointed by the Minister of Labour to Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Board. Sean is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, The New Brunswick Writers’ Federation, and the Nova Scotia Writers’ Federation. He served on the board of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia for many years, including as president. Sean was instrumental in the creation of the Jampolis Cottage writing retreat centre. Sean is married to Lisa, and they live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with their golden retriever, Maggie. They have two grown children, Amy, and Luke. Sean enjoys reading, travel, music, hiking, kayaking, golf, and spending time at the cabin on North Mountain.

WOMEN AMONG MONUMENTS: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik

What does it take for a woman to don the mantle of genius — a title long reserved for male artists? From her studies in Montreal to a dead-end job in Berlin, a midnight tour of Paris, a bankrupt art residency on the Toronto Islands, and a mysterious sculpture garden in the Karoo desert, South African—Canadian author and professor Kasia Van Schaik considers what it means for a young woman to call herself an artist and claim a creative life. Drawing on a diverse web of literary and cultural sources and artistic icons — from Georgia O’Keeffe to Ana Mendieta, Gertrude Stein to Jamaica Kincaid, Leslie Marmon Silko to Bernadette Mayer — Women Among Monuments asks, What, beyond a room of one’s own, are the necessary conditions for female genius? Where does the inner flint of artistic permission come from? What is the oxygen that keeps it burning? In her memoir interwoven with incisive biographies of female solitude, constraint, and perseverance, Van Schaik blazes a trail for more inclusive artmaking practices, communities, and monuments. Kasia Van Schaik is the author of the linked story collection We Have Never Lived On Earth, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her writing has appeared in Electric Literature, the LA Review of Books, the Best Canadian Poetry, and the CBC. Kasia holds a PhD in English Literature from McGill University and lives in Montreal.

Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby

Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive is due to be released on March 1, 2026. Extraordinarily powerful, both edgy and foreboding, Alison’s layered character-driven stories search for happiness and hope in an unhappily-ever-after world. More about Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive: Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive blurs the lines between horror, catastrophic speculative fiction, and psychological realism in a collection that might best be described as weird fiction. These connected stories offer dark reconstructions of lives brimming with desperate loneliness. They allow us to bear witness to the life-altering love of sisters, brothers, mothers… the life-altering love that buoys them as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of childhoods they merely survived. About Alison Gadsby: Alison Gadsby lives and writes in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her short fiction appears in Blank Spaces, The Temz Review, The Ex-Puritan, Blue Lake Review, and many other literary journals in Canada and abroad. She holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia, and a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from York University. She is the founder/host of Junction Reads, a prose reading series in the west end of Toronto where she lives in a multigenerational home that includes several dogs. She enjoys writing novels, but is always writing weird, dark and strangely funny short stories. You can find links to her work at www.alisongadsby.ca and more information about Junction Reads at www.junctionreads.ca

Stan On Guard by K.R. Wilson

Stan On Guard, forthcoming with Guernica Editions on March 1, 2026. Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite immortal keeping his head down in Toronto and recounting some of his experiences. Tróán is an immortal Trojan princess who thought she’d killed Stan in post-war Berlin but who now knows he survived. Yes, technically Stan can die. He has just managed not to for 3200 years. As their stories braid together toward a final reckoning they take us through a subversive retelling of the Odysseus story, the resistance of pagan Lithuania against Papal crusaders, the decline of Friedrich Nietzsche in a German clinic, the arts scene in belle epoque Paris, and the descent of Europe into the horrors of the Great War. Strap in. Stan On Guard is the follow-up to K. R. Wilson’s tragical-comical-historical novel Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia, which was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour. About K. R. Wilson: K. R. Wilson is a Toronto-area writer. His novel An Idea About my Dead Uncle won the inaugural Guernica Prize in 2018, and his novel Call Me Stan was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal. His follow-up novel Stan on Guard will be published by Guernica Editions in 2026 and his SF-noir Tendrils by Palimpsest Press in 2027. His work has appeared in various literary journals and the flash fiction anthologies This Will Only Take a Minute (Guernica Editions) and Sticks and Stones (Chicken House Press). He can be found at www.krwilson.ca and on social media at @krwbooks.

Marmalade Parade by Matthew Joudrey

Marmalade Parade is a mesmerizing short novel that explores themes connected to different forms of memory. Memory as construct that is both built, destroyed, and altered daily, its reliability fleeting. A first-person narrator arrives at a house set high in the mountains in an undisclosed, remote location. He is confused, disoriented, and guarded. The home is owned by a man who is suffering from an illness affecting his memory. Both must navigate their combined gaps in memory to determine why they’ve been brought together. M. C. JOUDREY is an award winning Canadian writer, artist and designer. His second novel Of Violence and Cliché was released 2013, followed by his collection of short storiesCharleswood Road: Stories in 2014 (nominated for a 2015 JohnHirsch Manitoba Book Award). His novel Fanonymous was released in 2019 and won the Independent Publisher gold medal for best work of fiction for Western Canada. It was also nominated for two Manitoba Book Awards, including the Margaret Laurence Award for best work of fiction. M. C. Joudrey has been a member of the submission selection committee for the CBC Short Fiction Prize and a jury member for the Manitoba Book Awards. As a designer, his work has been awarded two Alcuin Design Book Awards and the Manuela Dias Manitoba Book Award for Design. He is also a bookbinder and a number of his works are held in galleries internationally.

Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josée Poisson (translated by Flora-Lee Bendit)

Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josée Poisson (translated by Flora-Lee Bendit) which is forthcoming with Guernica Editions March 1, 2026. This is a fascinating and intriguing fictional story steeped in history about Madame de Pompadour — Louis XV’s long time mistress, friend and advisor. In Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties, costume historian Geoffroy Le Hideux recognizes the coat of arms of Madame de Pompadour on a blood-stained dress found hidden in the walls of the lyse Palace. In a genealogical investigation taking her from Montreal to Paris, Lou Ashby, a successful communications agent at a television station called La Chane, meets Geoffroy. Together they will expose a secret that alters what was considered historical fact: Madame de Pompadour did not have descendants. But what if she had? Why hide the fact that she had a son who, contrary to historical belief, survived childhood?

Flint in the Bones by Eva St. John

In a city where history bites back, murder is just the beginning. Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby thought she’d left her home behind—along with its plague outbreaks, random time-shifts, and tendency to accidentally host people from the 1600s during breakfast. But when a dangerous practitioner escapes custody in London, Bish is forced back to Norwich, a city where ancient maps hide deadly shortcuts, angry nuns have scores to settle, and Puritans throw acid at those they don’t approve of. Armed with only a gun she can’t fire, a spaniel who thinks he’s a wolf, and a partner who dresses like a rejected Bridgerton extra, Bish must stop a killer before wild magic unravels the city’s fragile balance. But keeping her own forbidden talents hidden is just as dangerous as catching the murderer. And in a place where past and present bleed together, the only way to solve this mystery might be to embrace the very magic she fears. Grab the brand new adventure from Eva St. John, author of the bestselling Quantum Curators series

A Little Feral by Maria Giesbrecht

In A Little Feral, Maria Giesbrecht navigates faith, family, and personal resurrection through a voice at once wild, intimate, and quietly rebellious. Written in the aftermath of leaving a conservative Mennonite upbringing, these poems chart a parallel journey of breaking away—from father, from God, from the confines of obedience. Giesbrecht’s language is lyrical and unflinching, a cadence that moves between tenderness and defiance, weaving ancestral memory with moments of stark revelation. A Little Feral asks readers to reimagine where holiness might be found—in the fractures of family, in the undoing of inherited faith, and even in the loneliness of a world shaped by patriarchy and exile.

The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery

Moving on is hard—even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo faces a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter forever. The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s journey from teenage pregnancy in Iran through exile to Canada, exploring questions of sexuality, identity, and survival with extraordinary imagination and heart. What makes this novel particularly compelling is its bracingly effective central conceit—first-person narration by the protagonist’s sock puppet. This approach provides a unique lens for the examination of female shame, neurodivergent experience, and the courage required to break free from internalized oppression. It’s a story about finding authentic voice and reconnecting with the people you love told through a lens that’s moving and refreshingly unconventional. This promises to be a standout debut novel from an already acclaimed author whose memoir Fuse won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award and whose short fiction collection Widow Fantasies is a finalist for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards.

Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges

Weird Babies is a short story collection about weird babies: a miraculous set of reincarnated quadruplets, babies born from the bellies of trout, babies who are destined to molt like tarantulas, babies who hatch from piles of warm clothes. It’s also about the weird baby living in each of us—the tenderest part of ourselves that longs, at whatever the cost, to be loved.

Wound Archive by Anna Veprinska

Wound Archive is a collection of minimalist poems that document the concurrent ending of a relationship and the onset of a chronic invisible illness. These fragmentary pieces turn woundedness—both emotional and physical—into an act of linguistic reformation. The symbol of the wound recurs throughout, tracing the ways heartbreak and illness inhabit the body, and how the corporeal becomes a portal to the incorporeal: god, ghosts, healing. Tender and precise, Veprinska’s work reveals how brevity can hold the vastness of ache.

We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us by Roxanna Bennett

We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us marks a striking formal shift for Bennett, moving away from the recombinant sonnets that defined her previous three volumes. Infusing disability poetics with concepts of collage, Bennett enacts the improvised experience of disabled persons navigating an inaccessibly constructed world, using whatever comes to hand to make meaning and survive. Though her approach has evolved, her voice remains as singular, incisive, and powerful as ever.

Gitwaałtk by Crystal AJ Smith

Gitwaałtk tells the story of a young Indigenous woman who loses her sister to the Highway of Tears and embarks on a journey with her nux nux (spiritual beings) to find—and bring to justice—the person responsible. Weaving prose, poetry, and oral tradition, Smith’s novel traces a path through grief toward healing, where family, community, and culture become sources of strength and reclamation. The story is at once a personal act of remembrance and a larger statement on resistance, love, and spiritual continuity.

Living History: Essays on A. F. Moritz by Jim Johnstone

Living History gathers new essays from some of Canada’s most respected poets and critics—among them George Elliott Clarke, Robyn Sarah, and Karen Solie—to illuminate the life and art of A. F. Moritz. From his early publications to his tenure as Toronto’s Poet Laureate, the collection explores how Moritz’s lyric vision continues to shape Canadian poetry and the ways in which history, politics, and the natural world intersect in his work. Thoughtful, personal, and scholarly, Living History brings one of North America’s most celebrated poets into sharper focus.

The Fall-Down Effect by Liz Johnston

Exploring protest, climate change, and fractured family relationships, Liz Johnston’s eagerly anticipated debut novel, The Fall-Down Effect, asks what we really owe people in our lives when we are fighting for a greater cause. As a child in the late 1980s, Fern is the wild heart of her tree-hugging family—quick-tempered and yearning to spend every minute in the woods of the small Pacific Northwest logging town where they live. She is also most like her environmental activist mother, Lynn, who chafes against the demands of motherhood and yearns for the protests of her youth. As tensions escalate, Lynn leaves her partner, Tom, and their three children, telling herself she will devote her life more fully to fighting for the earth. At nineteen, Fern commits her own radical act of protest in the town, which authorities label ecoterrorism. When Fern goes underground, her parents and siblings—responsible grad student Sylvia and budding artist River—struggle to make sense of her actions while also trying to cover up her absence. Fern’s secret proves impossible to keep, and when she becomes a wanted woman, the rest of the family trades blame. Years later, when Lynn takes shelter from a forest fire in the home she left so many years before, the family is forced to confront their regrets during a fraught, baggage-filled reunion.

The Tinder Sonnets by Jennifer LoveGrove

Unabashedly confessional and radically vulnerable, The Tinder Sonnets rallies against the long-standing demand that “women of a certain age” politely accept being rendered non-sexual. Each poem is based on a date, relationship, or contemporary dating insight, and highlights how misogyny impacts the way we connect in the modern world–or don’t. Juxtaposing folklore and the natural world against the digital sphere of texting and dating apps, this is poetry that defies invisibility and instead confronts and subverts it through a discerning feminist lens. While experimenting with the traditional form of the sonnet, these sonically textured poems are playful and wry, erotic and joyful, all while refusing to shy away from palpable anger, frustration, and disappointment. Centering strength and resilience in the face of a resurgence of misogynistic chauvinism, The Tinder Sonnets is a staunch refusal to recede from view, to cede sexual space, or to be quiet and polite.