VICTIM OR VILLAIN de L.T. Ryan & C.R. Gray

From the authors of the Maddie Castle series: She came to hide from her past. Now she must fight to protect her future.

VICTIM OR VILLAIN: A Gwen Kane Thriller
by L.T. Ryan & C.R. Gray
Podium Publishing, April 2026

Having escaped her abusive husband, Gwen Kane found safety at Rhiannon’s Ranch, a secret refuge for survivors of domestic violence. Now she works at a local bakery and lives a quiet life among friends who share her scars. She’s almost convinced herself the worst is over.

But when her best friend’s abuser storms into their sanctuary, Gwen erupts in a flash of panic and rage―with deadly consequences. To protect the ranch, she must cover up the evidence of what she’s done. But burying one body doesn’t erase the past. And what’s more, somebody witnessed everything . . .

As Gwen’s fragile peace unravels, she’s drawn into a romance with the one man who could either save or destroy her. With vengeance and justice blurred beyond recognition, she must decide whether she’s still the woman that runs―or the one who fights back.

Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and Big Little Lies, VICTIM OR VILLAIN is an emotionally charged psychological thriller featuring a heroine readers won’t soon forget.

L.T. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal–, USA Today–, and Amazon-bestselling author of the Jack Noble, Rachel Hatch, and Gwen Kane series, among other mysteries and thrillers. More than eight million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. When not penning his next adventure, Ryan enjoys traveling, hiking, riding his Peloton, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and four dogs at home in Charlottesville, Virginia.

C.R. Gray is the author of gritty, emotionally charged mystery thrillers designed to linger in the minds of readers long after the final page. She also writes fantasy romance under the pen name Charlie Nottingham. When not writing, Gray enjoys hiking the Appalachian Mountains with her dog, tackling DIY projects, and reading late into the night.

THE WRETCHED DIVINE d’Adalyn Grace

The heart-pounding adult debut from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Adalyn Grace, about an ancient war between angels and demons, and the human knight determined to end it at any cost.

THE WRETCHED DIVINE
by Adalyn Grace
Feiwel, September 2026
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

Aurelie Chantelune was born to serve. Raised as a knight in a kingdom ravaged by demons, she’s spent her life honing her blade, driven by the memory of the monsters who tore her family apart and by the knowledge that she’s one of the few who can stop them.

If Aurelie can claim her first kill, she’ll inherit a legacy passed down through the Chantelune bloodline: a soulbond with Yuriel, an angel whose power is vital to her kingdom’s survival. But when those she loves begin turning into the very monsters she’s sworn to destroy, Aurelie is forced to seek help from the last place she ever imagined. Desperate, she forges a second and far more dangerous bond with Severin, a demon she can hardly trust, but who claims to know how to end the war for good.

With their lives and fates entwined, Aurelie, Yuriel, and Severin must team up to hunt down a cure capable of turning demons back into humans. But the more they learn about one another and the deeper their relationships grow, the more Aurelie begins to question the war and her place in it. With both of her bonded on opposing sides, she’ll have to make a choice: continue to stand with the angels, or risk everything by trusting a demon.

“An utterly original and epic tale of angels, demons, and magic.” —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Alchemy of Secrets

“Enthralling, romantic, and devastating in the best of ways.” —Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Wild Reverence

“Effortlessly weaves magnificent worldbuilding and haunting and complex characters with a deliciously entangled romance. I adored every page.” —Sue Lynn Tan, USA Today-bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Adalyn Grace is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, IndieBound, and International bestselling author of the Belladonna series and the All the Stars and Teeth duology. Prior to becoming an author, she spent four years working in live theatre, acted as the managing editor of a nonprofit newspaper, and studied storytelling as an intern on Nickelodeon Animation’s popular series The Legend of Korra. Local to San Diego, Adalyn spends her non-writing days by watching too much anime, and by playing video games with her two dorky dogs.

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM de Randee Dawn

Welcome to Seaview Haven. A delightful village of charming humans, quaint homes – and cozy mysteries! Fortunately, there’s silver-haired author-turned-sleuth Winnie Arrowmaker on hand to solve them all.

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM
by Randee Dawn
Solaris Nova, March 2026
(via JABberwocky)

But things aren’t exactly as they seem. Seaview Haven is one of the Seelie Court Network’s many invented TROPE towns, and the “mysteries” are scripted and streamed for the entertainment of enchanted creatures across the Veil. Or, rather, they were…

Winnie has a wicked case of writer’s block, moviemaking across the Veil has ground to a halt, and the town is crumbling.

Enter Finch, an SCN intern who might be the worst Unseelie ever. With aid from his reluctant brownie assistant, Finch is assigned to figure out what’s gone wrong in Seaview Haven… so he can dismantle it forever. But after landing in town, Finch soon learns that real lives – and real friends – aren’t so easily canceled.

To keep “The End” from being stamped on Seaview Haven, Winnie and Finch are going to have to tell a Truly Great Tale. Because as they realize, real power lies not in the stories we watch, but in the stories we tell ourselves.

Tropes List:
👵 older woman solving mysteries
🍄 mixed-up Unseelie gardener
🍞 shortbread magic
❓ disappearing TROPE town residents
💔 fae-human romance on the rocks
👦👩🏿 intrepid young sleuths
👸 goddess gal-cation gone wrong?
🖨️ write a great story… or else!

Randee Dawn is the bestselling author of the pop culture fantasy novel Tune in Tomorrow and its Tune-iverse follow-up WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM. She’s also the author of the dark Celtic musical fantasies The Only Song Worth Singing and Leave No Trace. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, including most recently Dark Spores: Stories We Tell After Midnight. She is the co-author of The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion.

THE ZEN HUSTLE CODE de Bhasker Jaiswal & Anupam Mukherji

Forget everything you’ve been told about the soul-crushing sacrifices you need to make to achieve corporate success.

THE ZEN HUSTLE CODE:
Life-changing Strategies for Unstoppable Career Growth
by Bhasker Jaiswal
with Anupam Mukherji
HarperCollins India, March 2026

Whether you’re a twenty-five-year-old facing corporate dread, a thirties-something climbing the professional ranks or a forty-plus executive wondering why you spent your youth perfecting PowerPoint fonts, THE ZEN HUSTLE CODE shows you how to excel in both your career and in your life.

C-level advertising veteran Bhasker Jaiswal tells you how to crack the code to becoming a top performer, create long-lasting legacies — all while having time for your hobbies, holidays and the things that truly matter in life. Co-authored with Anupam Mukerji, better known as the once-anonymous blogger Fake IPL Player, this radical guide transforms complex career strategies into practical insights that actually stick.

Through this book, you’ll learn the sure-shot way to:

– get your promotion
– understand the dynamics of your office – red and green flags
– get to CXO while still owning your weekends, and much more.

Using brilliant analogies and real-world examples, Bhasker and Anupam deliver the blueprint for an impressive career while keeping your peace of mind intact. Because life’s too short to spend pretending conference rooms are living rooms!

BHASKER JAISWAL is ex COO of the media business at Dentsu India—the fifth largest advertising network in the world. Over a twenty-five-year career, Bhasker has worked with advertising giants like Omnicom and Publicis across India and SEA. He has handled some of their largest clients including Apple, Pepsi, P&G, Coca-Cola, Danone, Intel, Visa, Johnson & Johnson, etc.

OUR FRIENDS IN GOOD HOUSES de Rahul Pandita

Renowned journalist Rahul Pandita’s first novel takes a precarious double journey, into the world and into the heart.

OUR FRIENDS IN GOOD HOUSES
by Rahul Pandita
HarperCollins India, October 2025

Neel is a journalist drawn to war zones. It’s in these spaces riven by conflict that his sense of dislocation, of not belonging anywhere, drops off him. At all other times, he’s in quest, seeking solid ground: a home. It is a pursuit that takes him halfway across the world to America and back to the urban dystopia of Delhi, headlong into fleeting relationships that glimmer with the promise of shelter

Is Neel—haunted by the past and exiled from the present—likely to find what he desires in ephemeral associations? Will he chance upon the quiet anchorage he seeks in short-term dwellings and the objects he gathers within them-coffee percolators and rugs, posters and penknives? Or is the home he so badly wants elsewhere? Not in the noise and blood and lust outside, but in some sanctuary within?

Vulnerable, provocative and astute, OUR FRIENDS IN GOOD HOUSES is one of the finest explorations yet of the long road to a place called home.

Rahul Pandita is a journalist who is known for his reporting from war-torn areas. He is the author of Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India’s Maoist Movement; Our Moon has Blood Clots: A Memoir of a Lost Home in Kashmir; The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur: How the Pulwama Case was Cracked; and is the co-author of The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance. He was awarded the International Red Cross Award for conflict reporting in 2010. He is a Yale World Fellow and also the recipient of the New India Foundation Fellowship. He lives in Delhi.