Oct 28

Oct 28 Books Publishing This Week

The afternoon light in the last week of October has a kind of magic to it—soft, slanting, almost golden as it stretches long shadows across the ground. The world feels quieter now. The air carries a chill that hints at what’s coming, yet the warmth of the sun still lingers when it breaks through the clouds. You wrap a scarf around your neck, step outside with your book tucked under one arm, and feel that familiar sense of anticipation that comes with beginning something new.

You find your favorite spot—a wooden bench near a cluster of trees whose branches are half-bare, half-flaming with color. The ground beneath them is blanketed in a mosaic of fallen leaves, each one curling delicately at the edges. The wind stirs them now and then, and they tumble softly across the path, whispering as they go. The scent of autumn is everywhere: woodsmoke from a nearby house, damp earth, a trace of apples carried on the breeze.

You sit down, the bench cool beneath you, and place the book on your lap. It feels good to be here, outside in this in-between season when everything seems to hold both beginnings and endings at once. The cover of the book catches the light, and you run your fingers over it before opening to the first page. The spine cracks softly—a small, satisfying sound that marks the start of something you know you’ll remember.

You take a breath, sip from the thermos you brought—something warm and comforting, maybe tea with honey or hot cider—and start to read. The first words greet you gently, weaving you into their world. The story unfolds in steady rhythm, its tone perfectly matched to the day: calm, reflective, tinged with quiet beauty. You turn each page slowly, savoring it.

The world around you hums softly but doesn’t intrude. A dog trots by on the path, leash loose in its owner’s hand. A breeze shakes loose another flurry of leaves, and they scatter like a hundred tiny flames. The sound of a rake scraping pavement echoes faintly from a nearby yard. You feel completely present, and yet half lost to the story already—suspended between the book’s world and this golden October afternoon.

Every so often, you pause to look up, marking your place with a finger. The light has shifted just slightly, deepening into that late-afternoon richness that makes everything glow. The sun filters through the thinning trees, catching on the edges of the leaves so they seem to burn from within. You sip from your thermos again, the warmth grounding you, the flavor mingling with the crisp air.

There’s something about this season that makes reading feel different—more intimate somehow. Maybe it’s the knowledge that the days are getting shorter, that the cold is coming, that soon you’ll be reading indoors again, tucked beneath blankets. But today, here, the world feels like it’s holding still just for you.

The story deepens, its rhythm syncing with the quiet heartbeat of the afternoon. You lose track of time, the sun inching lower as you turn page after page. Eventually, the shadows lengthen, stretching across the bench, and the air grows cooler against your skin. You close the book, marking your page carefully, and rest it in your lap.

The light is fading now, the world softening into evening. You sit for a moment longer, listening to the wind move through the trees, watching the last leaves drift down like confetti from a season that knows it’s almost done. The story you’ve begun feels like the perfect companion for the turning year—something to carry with you as autumn fades toward winter.

You stand, book in hand, and take one last look at the golden world around you. Then you head home, the promise of the story warm in your mind, the sound of leaves crunching softly beneath your feet.

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Books Publishing October 26 - November 1

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk

Agatha has every reason to board the 6:40 train from Toronto to Montreal: a first-class ticket, blank pages where her next bestselling novel should be, and a "nothing to lose” attitude now that her body is giving itself over to cancer. Agatha should’ve known the day would be trouble when the train agent refused her a coffee during a snow-related stop, and while she leaves room for concern, she is secretly thrilled when one of her fellow passengers dies. When a second meets a bloodier end, she is downright moved to the page. Will writing this unexpected—sure to be big—story help Agatha find their unknown assailant, or will she meet an even earlier than expected death?

When I Picture You by Sasha Laurens

ONIX Retailer Description
A big-hearted and sexy queer rom-com celebrating the kind of sweeping romance that inspires our favorite love songs.

Renee Feldman is desperate for a fresh start. She’d hoped to rediscover her creative spark by taking time off from her MFA in documentary film. Instead, she’s stalled. Barista-ing doesn’t chip away at her debt, her thesis project is nonexistent, and if she doesn’t re-enroll next semester, she’ll be out of the program.

Pop star Lola Gray is supposed to be the songwriter of her generation—but she hardly feels like it anymore. It’s been a year since her secret relationship imploded, simultaneously breaking Lola’s heart, annihilating her plan to come out, and plummeting her into writer’s block.

But when Lola sees Renee at her sister’s wedding, all that stress comes to a grinding halt. Lola’s teenage crush on the fearless lesbian next door was so overwhelming, it secretly inspired her debut album. Lola and Renee haven’t crossed paths in a decade, but that night sparks fly.

Renee is still processing the hottest—and most unexpected—one-night stand of her life when Lola surprises her again. Her team is producing a documentary alongside her next album, but the director they hired is a creep. Lola needs Renee to replace him…and filming starts in a week. With her thesis deadline approaching, Renee knows this is her only ticket to graduation.

As Lola and Renee reconnect, there’s no denying the feelings they have for each other or the renewed creativity it inspires. But neither realizes how hard it will be to tell their love story in an industry that sets a narrative of its own.

Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport

Enter a new world of romantic fantasy from award-winning author N.E. Davenport—a journey of powerful magic, enemies-to-lovers, and political intrigue—as a warrior-princess and a vengeful king from rival fae courts form a fierce alliance to take down a merciless despot.

Princess of the Aether Dominion, Kadeesha wants nothing to do with fae politics. She is a warrior, first and foremost, and believes her greatest strength is leading her squadron of elite winged serpent flyers to protect her homeland. But bound since infancy to be betrothed to the Hyperion High King, ruler of all Dominions, she has no choice but to do what men have chosen for her.

Repulsed by the idea, she decides to spend one last night of freedom—in the arms of a dangerous stranger who takes her to sexual heights she’s never experienced before…but who is only using Kadeesha to set a trap for the High King.

For the High King and the kings of his six Dominions were responsible for the decimation of the Apollyon Court, and its new king, Malachi, wants his pounds of flesh.

On Kadeesha’s wedding day, Malachi and his special forces attack. Her father is killed, and Malachi wounds the High King, ultimately taking Kadeesha as hostage back to his land.

But she is no true hostage. The two form a pact: she will help lure the High King so Malachi can kill him once and for all, and he in turn will not harm Kadeesha or the Aether people. And as much as Kadeesha hates politics, she is now the Queen of her folk. Fae bonds are unbreakable…and so, perhaps, is the attraction Kadeesha and Malachi feel for each other. For even as they must publicly display their connection to provoke the High King’s jealousy, they struggle to resist the powerful allure between them in order to achieve their ultimate goals.

Sonora by Jenni L. Walsh

Author Interview with Jenni L. Walsh

Inspired by a true story of one of the first female horse divers, Sonora explores a world of daring feats and extraordinary adventures set in the heyday of the American carnival scene.

Sonora Webster is penniless but plucky, and despite the looming Great Depression, she follows her wanderlust, answering an advert to dive with horses. Little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a world teeming with danger, excitement, and fierce competition.

As Sonora delves into the cutthroat world of show business, complete with trapeze aerial acts and juggling bears, her undeniable talent and unwavering dedication propel her into the limelight, making her a sensation, and after marrying the show runner, her entire life becomes their act and their horses. But she soon learns that a diver--and her horse--are only as good as their last show, a show some are hellbent on shutting down. When a tragic accident changes her life forever, can Sonora muster the courage to climb the forty-five-foot tower and dive again, risking her life to save the show and their horses from falling into the wrong hands?

In Sonora, Jenni L. Walsh vividly captures the spirit of a brave woman who defied societal norms to follow her dreams, diving into the unknown with courage and resilience.

Pickle Perfect by Ilana Long

Lulu Gardner only takes predictable shots. After faulting on tennis stardom at eighteen, Lulu, now a thirtysomething single parent, is in control of her game. But when an unanticipated blunder threatens her teaching job, Lulu’s stable, well-planned—okay, boring—world spins out. And somehow, her godparents convince her to join them for a “de-stressing” destination pickleball vacation in Costa Rica. Maybe an all-inclusive picklecation is just the pick-me-up she needs to loosen her grip.

Or it would have been if she wasn’t backhanded by the sight of her high school fling Tyler Demming on the beachside courts. Fresh off the tennis pro tour, the reigning bad boy of paddle sports is as studly and snarky as ever. Even though his public image took a hit with a ballsy publicity stunt, Tyler seems to be the big shot he’s always been.

But Lulu’s had years to steel herself against his rugged good looks and hypnotic charm. Despite the changes she sees in Tyler since their teenage days, Lulu will have no problem keeping her head in the game and her heart on the sidelines. Or so she tells herself….

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell

Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors.

“Have you travelled a long way?” she asked carefully..
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Well, yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.”

London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.

His name is Max Everly—curiously, the same name as Eve’s favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.

Each of them has been through the trenches—Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War—but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.

The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah

The brilliant Belgian detective rings in the New Year with a chilling murder investigation on a Greek island in this all-new holiday mystery from Sophie Hannah, author of Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night.

New Year’s Eve, 1932. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool arrive on the tiny Greek island of Lamperos to celebrate the holiday with what turns out to be a rather odd community of locals living in a dilapidated house. A dark sense of foreboding overshadows the beautiful island getaway when the guests play a New Year’s Resolutions game after dinner and one written resolution gleefully threatens to perform “the last and first death of the year.”

Hours later, one of the home’s residents is found dead on the terrace.

In light of the shocking murder, Poirot reveals to Catchpool the real reason he’s brought him to the island—the life of another community member has been threatened. Now both men resolve to ensure that the first murder will be the last.

Becoming Sarah by Diane Botnick

For fans of Claire Messud and Téa Obreht, a debut novel that examines how the Holocaust shapes the life of one tough survivor and the toll it takes on her daughters and granddaughters.

Sarah Vogel invented herself. She had no choice. Born in Auschwitz to a mother who died, and sustained by numerous other women out of sheer will and hope, Sarah has no roots or history she can remember.

Liberated at age three, adopted at six, Sarah goes on to live a determined, practical existence. She loves her daughters but is tough; she knows the world is tough. To navigate it, she lets people believe the life story she tells. Better to have a past than none, right? Can she call herself a Survivor if she remembers nothing? Could this grainy photo in a book be her mother? But then her granddaughter, Moll, demands to know the truth.

Told in multiple voices, and spanning 1945 into the near future, this story of generations of women struggling to understand their history, each other, and themselves is rich, moving, compelling, and unconventionally told - because Sarah is unconventional, her own construct, both a wonder and a concern, yet in the end, finally, herself.

Some Kind of Famous by Ava Wilder

In this steamy and emotional small-town romance, a disgraced ex-musician and a local handyman try to resist their growing attraction for each other—until a house renovation forces them together—from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood and Will They or Won’t They

It’s been a decade since Merritt Valentine’s height as a celebrated singer-songwriter . . . and her subsequent career-ending mental breakdown. In the following years, she’s abandoned the glitz of Los Angeles to move in with her sister, Olivia, in the sleepy Colorado ski town of Crested Peak, hoping to heal her lingering emotional wounds somewhere out of the spotlight.

Life in Crested Peak would be uncomplicated if not for Merritt’s inconvenient crush on the local contractor and handyman, Nikolaos Petrakis. Niko is disarmingly handsome and too kind-hearted to ever be right for the complex and prickly Merritt. Though tempting, a fling with Niko would only invite the kind of drama Merritt has vowed to leave behind.

After his last heartbreak, Niko is done dating his fellow townies. Still, he can’t shake his fascination with the brilliant Merritt, even as he heeds their mutual friends’ warnings to steer clear of her chaos. But when Merritt needs help fixing up a house of her own, Niko is glad to be the only man for the job.

As the two spend more time together, their mutual attraction sparking a deeper connection than either one expects, they’re forced to confront the idea that they may have underestimated each other—and themselves.

The Last Love Song by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker

Sweeping from the rural coast of Ireland to the glamour of 1960s London, Losing You is a spellbinding story of love and loss from the internationally bestselling author of The Seven Sisters series, Lucinda Riley. Discover this reimagined novel from an author loved by millions of readers worldwide.

She knew she’d love him for the rest of her life. Whatever the cost . . .

All Sorcha O’Donovan knows is life in her small windswept village on the rugged West Cork coastline. When she falls head over heels for handsome local musician Con Daly and he asks her to run away with him, Sorcha knows she has to follow her heart.

Penniless in London, the young lovers soon realize you can’t live on dreams alone. But then Con finally gets his big break, and their lives change beyond all recognition. Suddenly the future looks bright.

But as fame and fortune begins to take its toll, Con and Sorcha must try to hold on to who they truly are, or risk losing what matters most . . .

Long before she became the bestselling author of The Seven Sisters series, Lucinda Riley wrote Losing You as Lucinda Edmonds. This lost treasure has now been reworked and given new life by Harry Whittaker, Lucinda’s son and co-author of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt.

Sisters in Death: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter by Eli Frankel

Who killed the Black Dahlia? In this eye-opening shocker, an award-winning producer, true-crime researcher, and Hollywood insider finally solves the greatest - and most gruesome - murder mystery of the twentieth century just before its 80th anniversary.

In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, completely drained of blood, was discovered in an undeveloped lot in Los Angeles. Its gruesome mutilations led to a firestorm of publicity, city-wide panic, and an unprecedented number of investigative paths led by the LAPD—all dead ends. The Black Dahlia murder remained an unsolved mystery for over seventy years.

Six years earlier and sixteen hundred miles away, another woman’s life had ended in a similarly horrific manner. Leila Welsh was an ambitious, educated, popular, and socially connected beauty. Though raised modestly on a prairie farm, she was heiress to her Kansas City family’s status and wealth. On a winter morning in 1941, Leila’s butchered body was found in her bedroom bearing the marks of unspeakable trauma.

One victim faded into obscurity. The other became notorious. Both had in common a killer whose sadistic mind was a labyrinth of dark secrets.

Eli Frankel reveals for the first time a key fact about the Black Dahlia crime scene, never before shared with the public, that leads inexorably to the stunning identification of a criminal who was at the same time amateurish and fiendish, skilled and lucky, sophisticated and brutish. Drawing on newly discovered documents, law enforcement files, interviews with the last surviving participants, the victims’ own letters, trial transcripts, military records, and more, this epic true-crime saga puts together the missing pieces of a legendary puzzle.

In Sisters in Death, the Black Dahlia cold case is finally closed.

Darker Days by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, Bird Street is a special place. The residents of this pretty cul-de-sac on the edge of the woods are all successful, healthy, and happy. Their children are prodigies; well-mannered and… unnaturally smart.

But come November, the “Darker Days” descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, conflict, and illness. Luana and Ralph Lewis-da Silva prepare for this, and so do their children Kaila and Django. It is in November when a stranger appears to collect on a longstanding debt. A price must be paid for the good fortune they enjoy the rest of the year. A sacrifice must be made.

So it has been for over a century. To assuage their guilt, the residents of Bird Street choose carefully who will be sent into the woods. Usually, it is an elderly or terminally ill individual who wishes to die with dignity and is content to be helped on their way.

But this year, things don’t go to plan and events take a terrifying turn . . .

Darker Days is a propulsive, haunting novel that begs the question: “How far will we go for our own happiness and what sacrifices we are willing to make?”

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she’ll have to decide whether or not she’s ready to embrace her destiny.

Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage by Kelly Foster Lundquist

“When I tell this story as a joke, I am its punchline. Leaning in close, I might start with this bit: The night before my first husband got outed to me, I was in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood dressed up as Liza Minnelli for Halloween.”

Kelly Foster Lundquist was nineteen when she met Devin at church camp in the late ’90s. Immediately inseparable, the two bonded over bootleg Tori Amos recordings and a sense of disconnection from the spiritual fervor of their fellow camp counselors. Devin was classically handsome and Kelly on the plain side of pretty, but they matched. Their twinned search for God, acceptance, and love would profoundly shape the rest of their lives.

In this striking debut memoir, Lundquist revisits her relationship with Devin twenty years after their divorce, as she investigates the “beard” trope in literature, culture, and her own romantic life. The straight woman who unwittingly marries a gay man is either a laughingstock or a fool—or both—in the popular imagination. And yet reality—much like desire—is more wild. Reality is midnight pad Thai, tenderness in Ralph Lauren sheets, ritual visits to Blockbuster, and beginning a PhD in queer theory while your husband secretly struggles to reconcile his double life.

A tour de force of empathy and vivid prose, Beard reckons honestly with the harm done to both husband and wife by churches that required rigid performances of gender and sexuality. In contrast, Lundquist learns to let go of brittle certainties as she embraces what her first marriage taught her about risk and redemption.

The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold by Cate Holahan

Author Interview with Cate Holahan

A harrowing abduction becomes a tantalizing nationwide game in a twisty and ingenious novel of suspense by a USA Today bestselling author.

Alice Ingold has been kidnapped. Call the police. Alert the media. You can’t play this game without all the pieces.

Beautiful, blond, and immensely privileged, Alice Ingold is the perfect victim for a true-crime obsessed culture—and for a masked duo with a singular purpose. Instead of a demand for ransom, her captors have a riddle, and they’re inviting the entire country to solve it.

No one is more invested in the search than Alice’s parents: Catherine, a socialite with obscene generational wealth, and Brian, a visionary AI tech guru. But while Brian turns to machines to solve the problem, Catherine tries to crowdsource the solution, stopping at nothing to bring her daughter home. And America isn’t just watching the story unfold…it’s playing along. The nationwide scavenger hunt for Alice is on.

As an increasingly desperate Catherine strives to understand each new clue, a complex picture of the crime develops. Soon, everyone will see the kidnapping of Alice Ingold for what it is—and Alice won’t be the only one who will need saving.

The Moorwitch by Jessica Khoury

In this sweeping romantic fantasy from bestselling author Jessica Khoury, a young witch caught in a twisted bargain with the fae must disguise herself as a governess and uncover the gateway to the realm of faerie in order to save her dying magic and escape the clutches of her controlling fae handler—even as she finds herself falling for her new employer, an enigmatic young Scottish laird and the owner of a crumbling estate brimming with secrets. Set against the fog-drenched moors of Scotland, THE MOORWITCH blends folklore, forbidden longing, and gothic atmosphere as a witch with unraveling powers navigates secrets, sisterhood, and the consequences of dark deals.

The Night Guests by Marina Scott

1903. Omaha, Nebraska. Once a prominent fixture in Omaha’s high society, Nina Wilson is now drowning in debt and disgrace following the untimely death of her father. Her engagement has been broken off, her family’s grand estate has fallen into disrepair, and her mother, consumed by grief, is incapable of running the household. Desperate to bring closure to her grieving mother, Nina invites a charismatic medium into their crumbling home—only to awaken something older and more dangerous than grief. Inspired by the real history of American spiritualism, The Night Guests is a gothic suspense novel about class, grief, and the haunting consequences of letting a stranger in.

The Fix by Mia Sheridan

From New York Times bestselling author Mia Sheridan comes a chilling take on second chances, where a brutal break-in comes back to haunt the sole survivor with a new threat―and another victim.

Eleven years ago, Cami Cortlandt’s mother and sister died cruelly in a violent home invasion. The trauma and notoriety still linger, but Cami has managed to build a life in her hometown despite everything she’s lost.

Then one day it all comes rushing back.

A distorted voice on the phone: Would you like a do-over? A disturbing video of a room with bars on the window, trapping a young boy inside who looks achingly, impossibly familiar. Four days to find him.

With the help of Rex Lowe, an old classmate whose past is inextricably tied to her own, Cami races to uncover everything she can about the boy―where he is, who he is, and why she’s the only one who can save him.

But as Cami and Rex unravel one clue after another, the past and present converge in an explosion of secrets they never saw coming…and a truth they never could have imagined.

Chasing Stardust by Erica Lucke Dean

A crazy promise is still a promise. Zoey Jones is spreading her late mother’s ashes along a path her eccentric grandma G-Lo followed in 1972: David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour. G-Lo was no ordinary groupie. According to her, Zoey’s mom was conceived somewhere between Memphis and Malibu, and Zoey’s grandpa is the glam rock icon himself. Revving up G-Lo’s old Cutlass, complete with her mother’s journal and a Ziggy Stardust 8-track, Zoey hits the open road.

After breaking down outside Nashville, Zoey is weighing her next move when she makes an immediate connection with Dash Hammond at an all-night diner. Dash is a college graduate fleeing the expectations of his family just as fiercely as Zoey tries to make sense of her own family’s colorful past. He offers to drive Zoey on the remainder of a life-changing road trip, and it’s more epic than Zoey ever dreamed. What lies ahead is a cross-country journey of self-discovery, first love, glittering revelations, and finding the heart of a rebel that’s been beating inside Zoey the whole time.

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