May 12

May 12 Books Publishing This Week

The day in mid-May feels full before you’ve even decided what to do with it. Light pours in early and stays, stretching long into the evening, and the air carries that perfect balance—warm, but still fresh enough to make you notice it on your skin. When you step outside, everything feels alive. Trees are no longer tentative; they are lush and complete. Flowers bloom without apology. Even the breeze feels purposeful, as if it knows exactly where it’s going.

You feel it too—that quiet sense of being in motion without needing to rush.

The book has been waiting for you, though you haven’t been in a hurry to start it. Mid-May isn’t a season that asks you to retreat. It invites you outward, into longer days and open windows and conversations that linger. But today, you find yourself wanting a different kind of openness—one that happens inward, page by page.

You gather what you need without much thought. The book. Something to drink—maybe iced tea, maybe something sparkling, something that matches the brightness of the day. You look for a place to sit, somewhere you can feel the season without being pulled away by it.

A chair in the sun. A blanket on the grass. A quiet corner where the window is open wide.

You settle in, shifting until you’re comfortable, one leg tucked beneath you, the other stretched out. The book rests in your hands, its weight familiar, its pages still untouched. You pause for a moment before opening it—not out of hesitation, but because you’re aware of the moment. Mid-May carries a kind of fullness, and beginnings here feel different. Less about starting over, more about stepping into something that’s already in motion.

You open the book.

The spine yields gently, the pages parting with a soft, almost reassuring sound. The first line meets you without urgency. You begin to read.

The story unfolds in a way that feels natural, unforced. You don’t have to settle into it—it meets you where you are. The words move steadily, and you follow, letting your mind shift from the world around you into the one being offered on the page.

And yet, the world doesn’t disappear.

You’re still aware of it—the way the light filters through the leaves, casting shifting patterns across your hands. The distant hum of a lawnmower. The laughter of someone passing by. A breeze moves through, lifting the edges of the page, and you press it down absently, your eyes never leaving the words.

You turn another page.

The characters begin to take shape, their voices distinct now, their world growing clearer. You feel that quiet pull—not a dramatic hook, but a steady invitation. You lean into it, your body relaxing further, your focus sharpening.

Mid-May doesn’t ask you to slow down, but it allows you to.

You notice it in the way you read—lingering on sentences, pausing not because you’re distracted, but because something in the words resonates. You glance up occasionally, letting your eyes rest on the world around you, then return to the page without effort.

The light shifts, warmer now, deeper. The air moves gently against your skin, carrying the scent of something blooming nearby. You take a sip of your drink, noticing how it complements the moment—cool, refreshing, easy.

You read on.

Time moves differently here. Not slow, not fast—just unmeasured. The story deepens, layering itself quietly. You feel yourself opening to it, not as an escape, but as an extension of the day itself.

When you finally close the book—marking your place carefully—you don’t feel like you’ve stepped away from anything. Instead, it feels like you’ve added something to the day, something that will continue to unfold alongside everything else.

You sit for a moment longer, the book resting in your lap.

Mid-May is not about beginnings or endings. It’s about presence. About fullness. About letting things grow in their own time.

And this—this new story, just beginning to take root—feels like exactly that.

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Books Publishing May 10 - 16

Worthy of Fate by A.N. Caudle

A fae must risk everything to save her realm from the darkness plaguing the land in this thrilling first novel in the Realms In Peril series.

The plague on Kya’s Nation has taken everything: her family, her home—and now it’s threatening to obliterate her entire realm. Since the Gods marked her skin at birth, she always knew she’d be forced to participate in the Trial of the Gods when the time came. There, she could be deemed Worthy and be gifted incredible powers with a Nation to protect, fail and potentially lose her life…or experience a fate worse than death.

Ryker will do anything for his Nation, but when he finds his mate, the pull is too strong to ignore. When claiming his mate becomes at odds with the safety of his people, he must make a decision no fae should have to face and battle between the Gods' will and protecting his Nation from the plague.

A Writing Marriage: With excerpts from Blue Antiquity by Lori Carlson-Hijuelos

A uniquely styled memoir that blends fiction and nonfiction to illuminate the love, faith, and artistry of two American writers: Lori Carlson-Hijuelos and Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos.

A Harlem Wedding by Tiffany L. Warren

From The Unexpected Diva author Tiffany Warren—a dishy and dramatic novel of the Harlem Renaissance and its most famous Black debutante, Yolande Du Bois, daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois, whose spectacular wedding to poet Countee Cullen was the society event of the year...even though the bride and groom were not-so-secretly in love with other people.

A century ago, Harlem’s glittering social scene had a single princess: Yolande Du Bois, the only child of N.A.A.C.P. icon W.E.B. Du Bois. Yolande was bold, vivacious, and beloved of every gossip columnist. A true daddy’s girl, Yolande followed her father’s advice on everything: from where she went to college (Fisk—Papa’s alma mater) to which sorority she joined (Delta Sigma Theta). But in matters of the heart, Yolande and her father did not agree. Dr. Du Bois himself curated a string of handsome suitors from the “Talented Tenth” for her, but Yolande’s true love was jazz musician Jimmie Lunceford, son of a working-class family from far-off Denver, Colorado. Their romance was an open secret, and more than a little scandalous.

Despite it all, Yolande wound up marrying her father’s choice: famed poet Countee Cullen. Their lavish uptown wedding was the hottest social ticket of 1928. With three thousand attendees, sixteen bridesmaids, and Langston Hughes as a groomsman, it was truly a sight to behold.

But, immediately after the wedding, Yolande’s carefully constructed fairy tale begins to crumble. Torn between the expectations of her father and society and her heart’s true desire, Yolande is forced to decide whether she must leave Harlem to create a more authentic life on her own terms.

A Harlem Wedding is a heady read about love, notoriety, Black excellence, deception, and the très chic lifestyles of the Black elite, from speakeasies of Harlem and the green fields of Fisk University, all the way to Le Grand Duc in Paris.

The Last Page by Katie Holt

A bookseller with a dream of running her beloved bookstore vs. the owner’s out-of-touch grandson who inherits everything. Game on.

From the author of Not in My Book comes another irresistible, bookish contemporary romance.

Ella has grown up at The Last Page, a charming local bookstore in New York City where she now works. Her first kiss was in the women’s health section. A boyfriend dumped her in comedy. The owner is like a second father to her and has begun training her to take over the store. So when he unexpectedly dies and his estranged grandson is left everything in the will, Ella is devastated.

Henry doesn’t know the first thing about running a bookstore. With his aging mom back in Tennessee, he plans to stay in New York just long enough to ensure things are running smoothly and then head back home. What he never could have counted on was the beautiful, funny bookseller who loves The Last Page more than any place in the world—and who sees him as the villain who’s come to ruin her life.

But when it becomes evident that the store is in deep financial trouble and Henry and Ella are both at risk of losing everything, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and team up—despite the inconvenient chemistry blossoming between them.

Fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood will adore this rivals-to-friends-to-lovers bookish romance!

The Last Lady B by Eloisa James

In the depths of winter, Lady Genevieve Hughes, her pet piglet, and her septuagenarian husband travel to a haunted abbey in the Scottish Highlands. Evie is excited to meet a ghost (perhaps one of her husband’s three previous wives), but didn’t expect the funny, quirky guests to become the friends she’s never had. And she certainly didn’t imagine meeting Sir Godric Everly, a sardonic, witty solicitor who loathes her husband.

Yet as secrets and lies turn Evie’s world upside down, Sir Godric becomes the one person whom she can trust.

When ghosts, multiple wills, and a shocking marriage certificate bring Lord Burnsby’s past crashing into his present, Burnsby promptly dies, leaving Evie free to remarry…though as a virgin wife, now a virgin widow, she is more unnerved by the marriage bed than a spectral visit.

More importantly, she has to figure out whose identity is false, whose vows are dishonorable, whose truths could destroy her reputation—and where her heart belongs.

The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos by Kendra Langford Shaw

A writer and city councilwoman from Billings, Kendra Langford Shaw grew up in Alaska, and—drawing on her family’s stories and experiences, and her own wild imagination—has crafted this heartwarming and quirky novel, THE PILLAGERS' GUIDE TO ARCTIC PIANOS (on sale 5/12/26). Perfect for readers of Karen Russell, Maggie Shipstead, and Eowyn Ivey, it’s an exuberant epic about a family who puts down roots in the far reaches of the Arctic and builds an unexpected industry.

Reality Bites by Amy Mass

A wickedly funny debut romcom in which a young scientist reluctantly becomes a contestant on a reality TV dating show to save her lab—and realizes her secrets are threatened when romance unexpectedly finds her behind the scenes.

Grace Lambert’s entire family are all influencers. Her mom runs an HGTV-like Instagram, her dad operates a Yoga for Men Youtube channel, and her brothers are famous on Tiktok and Twitch. Grace, however, is a scientist devoted to saving the Southern Mountain yellow-legged frogs from extinction, who has never had social media.

When her mom signs her up for a dating show with a cult-like following, Grace hangs up on their lawyer, Andrew, immediately. She has no interest in reality TV—until her lab loses its funding, and her coworkers learn about not only the show’s worldwide viewership . . . but the cash prize.

Arriving on set, Grace immediately feels like a frog out of water. She doesn’t know how to mug for the cameras, make effortless small talk with the contestants, or watch her tongue in an interview—making her a constant thorn in Andrew’s side.

The more time Grace spends competing in challenges, unexpectedly flirting with contestants, and making Andrew’s life a living hell, the more she realizes that being there for the wrong reason and keeping it secret might be trickier than she thought—not to mention just how much trouble an illicit, off-screen romance can bring.

Vile Lady Villains by Danai Christopoulou

A queer, gothic horrormantasy that’s perfect for readers of S. T. Gibson and Kiersten White.

With the consequences of her murderous actions closing in, Lady Macbeth turns to the three witches for help. They give her a potion that transports her to an unknown realm. Desperately lost, she opens a door and comes face to face with a beautiful woman drenched in blood.

Klytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, is exacting bloody vengeance on her husband. Yet as she revels in her triumph, an otherworldly door appears and a strange woman steps in. Thinking this stranger a spirit, she chases Lady Macbeth into the realm of stories.

Hunted by screaming wraiths into worlds that are hell bent on their demise, this murderous pair are forced to form an alliance or perish. Yet the realm’s goddess, The Mistress of the House of Books, claims to hold the key to saving them.

As every threat brings our vile lady villains closer, turning ill intentions into fiery attraction that no author dare write, they have a choice: remain within the confines of their original tales … or burn down the world to pen a new story together …

The Unraveling of Michael Galler: A Novel by Steven M. Rubin

After observing multiple terminal effects of varying illnesses of those close to him that he perceives as cancer, Michael Galler gains a heightened cognizance of the physical threats that can grow unknowingly inside a person. As a result, he dedicates himself to healthily fortifying his body against any comparable assault.

While growing up with his loving, widowed father and the younger brother he feels compelled to protect, Michael is able to balance the pressures of his young life—academic achievement, high school athletic competition, and even training for the Boston Marathon. But as he moves toward college life, he develops a promising relationship with a girl who too easily fills the gaps of his motherless upbringing—and his long-held fear of what he now thinks of as capital-C Cancer begins to take over. Everything he experiences, he experiences through the filter of trying to outrun a disease he thinks is pursuing him.

A dramatic coming-of-age tale with a dark psychological twist, "The Unraveling of Michael Galler" explores the motives of a teenage boy so overwhelmed by an obsessive fear that he loses his grip on reality.

The Temple Road: A Doctor's Journey by Fazlur Rahman, M.D.

A veteran cancer physician, Dr Fazlur Rahman’s story is astonishing. He was born and raised in a Mullah family, an old-line Muslim clan, in a remote village in what is now Bangladesh, with its hardships and heartaches, its myths and superstitions. The people, places and cultures that he was a part of have almost entirely disappeared. The temples, mosques and palaces, though gone, come alive again in this beautifully written memoir.

And the tales of love, suffering and fate of the village occupants are intertwined with Rahman’s unlikely story of finding medicine and success in America. As a young boy, Rahman lost his mother, the heart of his family, and soon after, barely survived kala-azar, a parasitic illness.

The Temple Road: A Doctor’s Journey (originally published in India in 2016) takes readers from the jungles of Bangladesh to Dr Rahman’s training in leading medical centers in New York and Houston and unveils the overwhelming emotions that come with his work as one of the most talented oncologists in the US.

Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, Fifth Edition by Marilee Adams, PhD

What if better questions could change everything?

The questions you ask yourself shape every decision, relationship, and result. This international bestseller—over 500,000 copies sold—gives leaders, coaches, and professionals a proven system called Question Thinking to shift from reactive, stuck thinking to curiosity, clarity, and breakthrough outcomes.

Through an engaging business fable, Dr. Marilee Adams shows exactly how—and why—it works.

The landmark fifth edition includes the following:
• 14 Question Thinking tools, including 2 brand-new tools built from reader feedback
• The Choice Map, a visual framework for recognizing where your thinking is headed
• Q-Storming, a collaborative approach that generates better questions, not just answers
• New chapter on thriving through AI and technological change
• Step-by-step practices for leadership, coaching, team development, and personal growth

Used by Fortune 500 leaders, executive coaches, educators, and therapists worldwide.

With a foreword by #1 New York Times bestselling author and world's #1 executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith.

The Taverna at the Edge of Night by H.Y. Hanna

Sometimes the most beautiful locations hide the deadliest betrayal. When Daphne travels to a remote fishing village on the Greek island of Crete, she’s looking forward to sun-drenched days, dazzling sea views, and a happy reunion with her best friend. But from the moment she arrives at her friend’s new taverna, something feels wrong. Roxy is jittery and evasive, the locals avoid questions, and rumours of a cliffside murder have everyone on edge.
After a terrifying night-time attack that leaves her reeling and desperate for answers, Daphne turns to her best friend for help. But she's met with gaslighting and lies that make her question her own sanity. Isolated and unsure who to trust, she finds herself trapped in a lethal game of deception, and a dangerous attraction to a stranger with secrets of his own. As Daphne digs deeper, she realises that someone in this idyllic village is hiding a deadly secret… and that her closest friendship might be the most dangerous thing of all.

Out of Her League By Ava Rani

Dr. Isabelle Mercado is this close to having it all. Top of her class at the country’s most competitive orthopedic surgery residency, a dream career within reach, and a golden ticket to the wedding of the year in Paris.

There’s just one problem: her ex—the one who got away—is going to be there… with his perfect new fiancée.

Desperate to save face (and maybe spark a little jealousy), Isa enlists soccer legend and global heartthrob Austin Cade to be her fake date. It’s the perfect match: after an injury and some unfortunate encounters with the press, he needs good PR and the kind of elite connections this wedding will attract. Plus, her ex just so happens to be his #1 fan. Win-win.

But between champagne toasts and stolen glances under Parisian stars, pretending starts to feel a lot like the real thing. Isa’s always been all-in on her career—love was never the goal.

But maybe, just maybe… this time, the heart has its own agenda.

Royal Summer by Kass Morgan

Aspiring writer Hannah has scored the opportunity of a lifetime—escaping her sleepy Midwestern town for the summer to intern in Scotland for her favorite author. But her plan to spend the next few months being the best assistant ever is derailed when her idol suddenly decides to abscond to Japan with her boyfriend.

So it almost seems too good to be true when a mysterious stranger—a tall, obnoxiously cute stranger—she meets at the pub one night gets her job at the royal family’s castle in Inveresk. It’s only when she shows up to her first day of work that she realizes the stranger is Finnian, the prince of England.

Finn is confined at Inveresk as punishment for his party boy antics, and clearly just wants Hannah around for his own amusement. But the more she gets to know him, the more she wonders if this is just a fling or if she’s found herself in a star-crossed summer romance that she never could have imagined…

Sparks Fly by Hazel Henry

Three girls, one summer—and the perfect beach read for fans of Gilmore Girls, Jenny Han, and Elin Hilderbrand!

Georgia is bummed to be spending the summer away from her boyfriend, until a local boy catches her eye... Daisy kissed her best friend Owen right before she left for the lake. Does that mean she shouldn't be hanging out with Mateo, the hot older guy who drives her around? Eden is spending her summer in the woods doing a survival course, which was bad enough before she found out that her ex-boyfriend would be there.

The River Muse by Laura Resau

A French chateau. A forest with secrets. A magical spring. Welcome to La Chanson, where lost souls are found again…

At the brink of summer, Callie arrives in a secluded village in the South of France with her young daughter, after barely escaping her menacing ex-partner. Desperate to hide, she rents a cottage on the grounds of the Chateau of the Lost. Her new home sings with flowing water, rustling olive trees, and whispering poppies—an otherworldly nook of hidden magic. Little by little, she warms to her quirky neighbors—a witchy landlady, an acclaimed truffle hunter, his kind veterinarian son, and their lovable dogs. Oh, and a mischievous ghost boy.

Slowly but surely, her new friends help her discover herself again. Years earlier, she gave up music at the insistence of her ex, but as she reclaims her voice, everyone finds that her songs open hearts and heal old wounds. When her ex tracks her down, the stakes grow deadly, and she must tap into her most powerful self to protect her newfound family.

Whimsical and atmospheric, The River Muse will enchant readers with its myth and music—showing how we can find friendship, love, and our truest selves in the most unexpected places.

The Kotler Legacy by Philip Kotler

Philip Kotler is widely revered as the ‘Father of Modern Marketing’” and the most influential marketing mind of our time Kotler is an acclaimed author of over 100 books. His latest, “The Kotler Legacy” from publishing house, Sutherland House Experts is available now for pre-sale. “The professor is a mentor whose guidance has reached millions, from business students in America and Canada to learners in a remote village in Bangladesh, a desert in Saudi Arabia, or a tech hub in China. His new book, “The Kotler Legacy” takes readers on a journey with 40 selected writings spanning themes of marketing, business, economics, sustainability, capitalism, democracy, inequality, and other matters germane to the evolving role of business in society. “The Kotler Legacy” captures the thinking that continues to reshape marketing, ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility worldwide, a responsibility Kotler lives and breathes. Each essay reflects not only Professor Kotler’s intellectual rigor, but also his moral clarity.
“The Kotler Legacy” is empowering, refreshing and forward-thinking, an essential read for C-suite executives seeking to lead with impact in an era of disruption and accountability. It offers actionable insights needed to build sustainable business strategies rooted in the 3Ps—People, Planet, and Prosperity. “The Kotler Legacy” will serve as a valuable and much needed resource for professionals across marketing, branding, PR, and sales, as well as for business students preparing to shape the future of sustainable global business leadership. Kotler’s credentials are impressive. He is an acclaimed author, consultant, professor emeritus at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and ranked #3 in the management category 2026 in the top 30 ranking on Global Gurus. Kotler developed groundbreaking concepts “prosumers,” “atmospherics,” and “societal marketing. His concepts have influenced businesses and educators worldwide. “The Kotler Lagacy” pulls it all together for the reader exploring economic justice, capitalism and the role of marketing in driving social change, from one of the most influential thinkers in business history. Kotler encourages readers to rethink leadership, responsibility and the role of business in advancing the common good and shaping a better future. There is a better way and “The Kotler Lagacy” gets you there.

Your Promise by Camille Laurens

An ingenious legal thriller in the vein of Anatomy of a Fall, this gripping story of a writer’s toxic relationship exposes the gap between who we are and who we seem to be.

When novelist Claire Lancel’s relationship with Gilles Fabian began, it felt like a dream, an idyllic love story. 6 months in, during a romantic dinner by the sea, he asked her to make him a promise, which she did: She would never write about him.

Why, after years together, is Claire finally breaking her promise? What could have happened in their relationship that brought her to the witness stand, defending herself in court?

Through Claire’s own testimony and the conflicting accounts of friends, Your Promise offers a brilliant reconstruction of a crime, and a stinging portrayal of modern narcissism, characterized by a lack of empathy.

An Old Man's Darling: A Memoir by Deborah K. Shepherd

In her captivating memoir, Shepherd examines her first great love, with a man thirty-four years her senior. In 1968 and at age 21, Shepherd ditched college in Tucson for hippie life in New York. When that soured, she found a low-level corporate job, where she met Bill Shepherd, an unhappily married, 55-year-old senior executive. That they had a fling is unsurprising for the time. What is surprising is that they stayed together, for twenty years and two children, despite their age gap, differing religions, and society’s expectations.

With today's perspective, and the benefits of both age and hindsight, Shepherd revisits her past, scouring old letters and asking tough questions, of herself and about romantic love, religious roots, judgement from others, and feminism. But she offers no easy answers in what becomes a powerful, engrossing, and unforgettable read about an unlikely love.

Views by Marc-Uwe Kling

Black Mirror meets Stieg Larsson in Views, a compulsive thriller that explores the toxic relationship between technology and humanity, and the fallout after unthinkable lines are crossed.

Sixteen-year-old Lena Palmer has gone missing when a violent video of her assault by masked men goes viral. Yashira, chief inspector at the German FBI, has been put in charge of the case. As a single mother of a sixteen-year-old girl herself, Yashira is deeply affected by the crime and swears she will do everything in her power to find Lena Palmer. Surely the video must contain clues. Who are these people? Why would they commit such a horrible crime?

Together with her partner Michael they follow all the usual suspects. Lena’s father. Her boyfriend. Her friends. Nothing in this case seems to follow any of the usual patterns. Far-right groups are quickly taking matters into their own hands. Yashira is running out of time, but it feels like she’s chasing a ghost.

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