Unboxing My Latest Book Haul
Book Mail: A Roundup of the Book Mail I Received Last Week
Late January has that soft, introspective hush, and this week’s book mail arrived like a perfectly timed love letter. My TBR pile has grown into a comforting stack of possibility, thanks to a cozy book haul filled with new book releases that make the long winter evenings feel romantic instead of endless. Each package carried thoughtful book recommendations, little reminders that the right story always finds you at just the right moment. With so many titles already destined to be among the best books of 2026, it feels like the season is gently nudging me to stay in, turn the page, and fall in love with reading all over again.
Where to Buy These Books:
I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.
This Week’s Book Mail Includes:
Chef’s Kiss at the Chalet by Sookie Snow — A cash-strapped culinary student escapes to a snowy Colorado chalet for work, only to find sizzling chemistry and impossible choices simmering alongside her career dreams.
Risky Business by Annabelle Slator — A woman disguises herself as her brother to break into the male-dominated tech world, only to complicate everything when desire, deception, and ambition collide across Europe.
The Inklings Detective Agency by John R. Kelly — When members of a secret society start turning up dead, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Agatha Christie team up to solve a murder that threatens literary history itself.
The Undead by Svetlana Satchkova — A young Russian filmmaker’s satirical horror movie draws the deadly attention of an authoritarian regime in this chilling parable about art, censorship, and survival.
Cross Your Heart and Hope He Dies by Jenny Elder Moke — A high-powered publishing executive hunts for a killer inside an elite country club while dodging romance, scandal, and the possibility she’s next.
The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda — In post-conquest Mexico, a young woman embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the hidden truth of her mother—the last Aztec empress—and her own destiny.
In the Great Quiet by Laura Vogt — A fiercely independent woman claims land in the Oklahoma territory and must confront violence, secrets, and loneliness in her elemental search for home.
Ada Holloway’s Had Enough by Randi Smith — A fed-up high school senior launches a banned book club to survive her final semester—and accidentally ignites a rebellion against censorship.
Shattered Dreams by Natasha Madison — A single tragic night binds six lives together forever, as grief, guilt, and forbidden love collide in a small town that will never be the same.
The Aftermyth by Tracy Wolff — At a myth-infused academy where fate rules all, one girl discovers her story doesn’t fit the script—and rewriting it may change everything.
16 Forever by Lance Rubin — A boy trapped reliving his sixteenth birthday must decide whether love is worth the heartbreak of being forgotten again and again.
Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon — A glamorous soap star’s double life leaves lasting scars on her children in this sweeping, emotionally layered meditation on ambition, motherhood, and legacy.
Paper Cut by Rachel Taff — A former cult survivor turned true-crime icon risks everything when a documentary threatens to expose the secrets she’s built her life—and fame—upon.
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James — Summoned home by the ghost of their missing brother, three siblings must confront the terrifying secrets of a town that never lets go.
When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen — A luminous reimagining of the intense friendship between Marilyn Monroe and photographer Eve Arnold, capturing ambition, artistry, and the cost of becoming an icon.
The Method by Matthew Quirk — When her best friend vanishes, an actress must go undercover in New York’s most dangerous circles, turning performance into survival.
Savage Lands by Stacey Marie Brown — Thrown into a brutal fae prison, a human woman must forge deadly alliances—and resist a lethal attraction—to survive a shattered world.
Eleanor by Alice Loxton — A historian retraces a queen’s funeral route seven centuries later, bringing medieval England and Eleanor of Castile vividly back to life.
