Spellstruck

 Spellstruck- Martha Waters

Atria Books

Release Date: September 29, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis: In an alternate version of 1920s London, vestiges of England’s magical past exist, but the use of magic has been outlawed, leading families still with powers to operate illegal speakeasies for a public still hungry for magic. Vesper Holloway runs her family club, where a dash of spell powder or an enchanted cocktail can add a little extra intrigue to the evening. But one night a man drinking a Flotation Fizz that should allow him to levitate a few inches finds himself bumping his head on the ceiling. Word among the magical elite is that such accidents have been happening more frequently, and the club owners are worried that the danger will spread.

Enter Maxwell Ashbridge, a onetime friend of Vesper’s brother, who has joined the government agency tasked with enforcing the ban, and who has a personal vendetta against the magical elite. But he does not have a vendetta against Vesper; in fact, he finds her rather enticing. He promises her immunity for her club, if she teams up with him to help gain entry to other establishments and find out who is responsible for the contaminated magic threatening her family business. But their investigation does little to quell the chemistry they share. As accidents continue and the fight to repeal the ban gains ground in Parliament, Vesper and Max will have to decide—is the magic between them worth fighting for?

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I haven't read much (possibly any) fiction set in the 1920s and I haven't read many books by Martha Waters, but I could not resist the premise of this book. An alternate 1920s London with magic (though not very powerful). It's been outlawed so people go to essentially speakeasies to enjoy magical drinks or potions in the evenings. One evening Vesper Holloway is running her family's club when a drink goes wrong and what should have a patron floating a foot or so off the floor sends him up to the ceiling. Turns out, this isn't the first time a potion has gone wrong at one of the clubs. It is the first time it happens in front of a government enforcer whose supposed to shut down magical things like this. Vesper convinved Max Ashbrige to work with her to find out what's going on, ignore the past between them, and look at the bigger picture. 

There was a lot trying to go on in Spellstruck and mostly I think it worked The world-building was fun, though a bit heavy-handed at first for me.  Once the info-dumping in the first few chapters was done things smoothed out and were the lighter, more entertaining approach I had hoped for. It's definitely a world the author could come back to if she wanted to explore more.

Ashbridge and Vesper are opposites attract types. She's relaxed, determined to enjoy life, social, and all the things that make a great speakeasy club manager. She's also been hurt a few too many times and is determined to protect her heart. Max seems to be the only one who sees how smart she is and I never quite understood why her family treated her as the flighty, dumb child they should have known she wasn't. Max has a definite chip on his shoulder, hides his sense of humor so well most of his friends call him the 'fun police', and hates magic. They should not work together.

But they do. They see each other's hidden parts. They treat each other as equals. Vesper discovers she enjoys Max's quiet teasing and Max discovers he has a thing for Vesper's utter competence and confidence. It's a slow burn because the chemistry is there, but it surprises them. 

The mystery was a bit of a side story, a reason for them to be together. It was all a bit rushed by the end, which was disappointing because it could have been stronger. 

The more I read, the more I enjoyed Spellstruck. The pacing was slower than I'd expected, but it was a fun world to dive into. I'd go back if Martha Waters wrote another book in this 1920s London.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Well Versed

Well Versed- Jen DeLuca

Berkley

Release Date: September 22, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Caitlin Parker was a teenager when she fell out of love with the magic of the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire—the site of her first real heartbreak. But now, twenty-four and unemployed, she finds herself in her childhood bedroom and her childhood lady-in-waiting costume, assisting a rotating cast of substitute queens for the season. The very last person she wants to see is Alexander Wright—the sword-fighting, Shakespeare-spouting young man who won and broke her teenage heart. Yet there he is, older, annoyingly hotter, and back on stage at her Faire.

When Alex broke things off with Caitlin five years ago, he thought he was just ending a summer fling. He didn't realize how much he’d fallen for her until he let her go, and he certainly didn't know he’d tarnished her memories of her cherished Faire and worse, shattered her view on love and relationships. His need to right that wrong this summer brings them together again and again, and the four-year age difference that kept them apart years ago isn’t a big deal now. This time, it won’t be so easy to let go of this summer fling.

But as summer winds down, real life is catching up to both of them. Caitlin’s always thought that being an adult with adult responsibilities means leaving whimsy behind. Alex, with a life full of stage combat, songs, and sonnets, doesn’t know how to live any other way. Can they go after their dreams and find a future together where they can still say “huzzah”?

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I've been in love with Jen DeLuca's Ren Faire romance series since the first page of Well Met, so course I enjoyed returning to the world of the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire in the final book of the series, Well Versed. This time, it's Caitlin's turn to need the magic and romance of the Ren Faire. 

We first met Caitlin as a teen in Well Met, dragging her aunt Emily into the world of the Faire. Now Caitlin has had her young heart broken and lost her love for the Faire. She's back in Willow Creek after being laid off at a job and agreed to help with the Faire for the summer- but is sure she won't enjoy it. Her memories are now connected to her first love breaking up with her by text at the end of a Faire summer. But Alex is there too and goes from clueless that he's broken her heart and taken away her love of all things Faire to determined to help her get that back. And Caitlin doesn't really stand a chance.

Caitlin likes plans. Goals. Destinations. Without those things she isn't sure who she is or what she's doing. So being part of a massive layoff and having to move home throws her for a loop. She spends the summer trying to figure out what it is she wants-starting off sure of one thing and slowly coming around to seeing something else. It's a journey that all of DeLuca's characters have had to take: yes, you can work crazy hours in competitive, soulless jobs or you can find smaller jobs that are not what your career counselor taught you to think of and be happy. What is it you want out of life? What makes you happy, not what are you supposed to want?

There are times Caitlin seems very young, trying to find paths and decide on love that maybe she isn't ready for. Then as the book progresses you see that she is ready, she just has to believe in herself. The back and forth with Alex was a little slow at times, but sweet. Alex was so careful on not messing up with his second chance that it seems like he really learned his lesson.  Which makes it all the more emotional when he does mess it up. 

You don't need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy Well Versed, but honestly, you should. The books are great. We get lots of cameos from other characters here and they are fun, checking in on how everyone is doing. A lovely mix of light humor and emotion, heat and the magic of the Renaissance Faire, this was a solid ending to a series that is going to remain a favorite of mine. 

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

 Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel - Lucy Foley

HarperCollins

Release Date: September 22, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚 (2.5)

Some spoilers below

Synopsis: High in the Swiss Alps, accessible only by a single, winding railway, stands the luxurious Grand Alpine Hotel. With glorious mountain views and exclusive access to powdery slopes, it draws guests from far and wide.

The notorious actress.
The high-flying politician.
The society wife.
The reckless friend.
The shrewd doctor.

But not everyone is here for a winter holiday.

Beneath the champagne and furs, dark histories simmer; old grudges emerge like cracks in the ice.

And someone is watching from the shadows. A polite, unassuming woman with an extraordinary mind: Miss Marple.

When a body is found and a blizzard cuts off all escape, only Miss Marple can connect the clues before the killer strikes again. Because it isn’t a question of who has a motive, but who’s next…

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Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel  is being touted as a "new Agatha Christie" book, written by Lucy Foley and starring Miss Marple. 

It isn't. It's a historcal mystery, set in 1950, with a cast of set characters that will be familiar to most readers, with a nominal Miss Marple and Dolly Bantry thrown in there to lure in Agatha Christie fans and a few Marple Easter eggs randomly tossed in.

The plot is basic: an obnoxious politician and his wife go to a luxurious Swiss hotel, his out of place war friend is there, his glamorous Hollywood mistress is there. He's clearly up to no good. No one is sorry when he winds up dead, but it does get in the way of everyone's holiday. Miss Marple, Dolly Bantry and her companion Diana Glass are there on holiday and chip in to help the investigation. More deaths happen. No one is who they say they are.

The story is told from multiple first person POVs that (with the overblown exception of the actress) largely sounded the same to me. None of the characters were especially likable and I kept reading mostly to see if I was right about the guesses I had about everyone's secrets than because I was invested in the book. Miss Marple and Dolly both sounded more like they were just repeating lines from the different movies or tv shows than anything else. The author seemed to spend more time describing the scenery than getting into the characters or developing a good plot. There's a lot of scenery description.

As a historical mystery, it was so-so. As a new Miss Marple story, it doesn't add anything to the character, or the series, and I'm not sure why anyone needs this book. If you're an Agatha Christie fan and are really curious, I'd recommend getting it from the library instead of paying for it outright. Personally, I was disappointed.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Fury in Death

 Fury in Death- J.D. Robb 

St. Martin's Press

Release Date: September 8, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas never knows what to expect when she gets word of a body. It could be an elderly man who made the mistake of climbing a ladder in slippery footwear. And the next call could be a wealthy biotech executive beaten to death in his home office—but what was Larry Chu’s mistake?

The victim’s corpse is so mangled and damaged it’s hard to believe a lone, unarmed assailant could have managed it. The killer was clearly unnaturally strong—and smart enough to find a way into Chu’s highly secure building. Most of all, whoever did this was very, very angry.

The excessive violence leads Dallas to conclude that this was a deeply personal act, born of a rage that she can’t excuse but can understand thanks to her own traumatic past. And though the motive seems rooted in heated emotion rather than cold hard cash, she can’t ignore the suspicious bank account in the Cayman Islands, or the shadowy, profit-hungry company Chu worked for. The mystery only grows when it turns out Chu isn’t the only victim—and Dallas will need to tear through one layer of secrecy after another to reveal what lies behind this explosion of fury...

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I'm always a fan of J.D. Robb's "In Death" series, but this one was really excellent. So fast-paced I didn't want to put it down, despite knowing who the killer was and why he was killing people. Once Eve and Peabody figure out the why behind these attacks, everyone feels sorry for the killer- he's as much a victim as anything else. 

But most victims don't make a list and start battering the people they feel wronged them to death. Eve may feel sorry for the killer, and VERY angry at those who wronged him, but she's going to work within the system to bring everyone to justice. The rich and powerful think they can get away with anything because of their money and power (and having other people in their pockets). Eve and her team are going to prove that justice is bigger than all of them.

If you haven't read other books in the series before you'll enjoy the crime solving, but there is also a really good mix of domestic and personal that you may have to just go with. Mavis and Peabody finally have their big house party and lots of friends and relatives show up, some of whom we've met in other books. Plenty of delightful cameos from secondary characters across the book, especially in the final party. 

If you have a violence trigger, be warned the descriptions of what happens to the victims are particularly gruesome in this book and you may want to skim them. The book as a whole isn't any more violent than the rest of the series, and it's balanced with the friends and family domestic scenes. I really liked the ending, very poignant. No spoilers here, but the sense of family, and duty, runs strong throughout the book and the characters right through to the end. 

Another excellent addition to the series.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Queens and Kings

Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History-Lucy Worsley

Pegasus Books

Release Date: September 3, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: No one has lived and breathed the monarchy quite like Lucy Worsley. For over twenty years, she worked as Chief Curator in some of Britain's most splendid palaces—and now she is ready to throw open the doors and welcome us in.

In Queens and Kings, Lucy takes us on a journey through some of our most turbulent and significant moments in history. From the Council Chamber in which Henry VIII decided to break from the pope to lunch with the late Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, from encounters with the Tower of London's Ravenmaster to the depths of Queen Victoria's wardrobe, Lucy shares how she grew to know the queens and kings, courtiers and servants who lived in these buildings over the centuries. 

She traces their footsteps through the corridors and cloisters, the courtyards and kitchens and breathes new life into moments of great joy and consequence‚ as well as tales of intrigue which lurked in the shadows of regal splendor. Packed with new stories told from unexplored places, this is a fresh history of the monarchy.

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The delightful Lucy Worsley does it again! Her latest book, Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History,  offers history lovers a high-level history of British monarchs from the Tudor period to modern day with a certain focus. As the former Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Worsley is intimately familiar with the palaces so many moarchs lived in and offers us specific stories of their lives in connection to the physical locations we migh still know today: Kennsinton Palace, the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, and my personal favorite Hampton Court Palace.

She also shares stories from her own time as curator and filming numerous documentaries connected to the palaces she knows and loves with her trademark sense of humor. From living and working at Hapton Court Palace to army crawling across lawns to preserve the view for important visitors; finding and interpreting blueprints of pre-renovation rooms to see what might actually have happened; reinterpreting the story of George III and more. 

Queens and Kings is an excellent addition to any history lover's collection-fun to read, and definitely a book that will encourage those who don't know Lucy Worsley and Britich history to take a deeper dive!

I received an ARC of this book from Eidelweiss in exchange for an honest review

Think Like a Dog

Think Like A Dog: Canine Adventures into the Science of Positive Psychology- Dr. Jen Golbeck, PhD

Atria Books

Release Date: September 1, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: A engaging exploration of dogs and positive pyschology, this book reveals the surprising science that explains how your dog thinks and acts from Jen Golbeck, the “internet’s dog mom” behind the massive social media platform The Golden Ratio and the author of The Purest Bond.

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I got the advance of this book just as my family and I were adopting a new dog and I thought the timing would be perfect- I'd learn about the latest in dog psychology and how to make sure our new dog could thrive in her new environment. 

Golbeck combines her personal obervations (she rescues and fosters Goldens), social media observations, and scientific studies to look at 7 aspects of Positive Psychology for dogs, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and humor. The scientific studies I found interesting- dogs have been taught to lie down in functioning MRIs so we can actually see what is going on in their brains while they are thinking (proving they aren't actually, for example, feeling guilty when we catch them doing things they know they shouldn't do). I very much appreciated the relaxed, conversational style of writing throughout the book- I didn't need to be a scientist to understand what Golbeck was talking about!

Sometimes a few of the anecdotes seemed to wander off the subject than other times, and I was hoping for more ideas in practical solutions to coming up with engagement and problem solving puzzles (we adopted a Malinois, I'm always looking for those ideas), but there were interesting facts, and it was a fast and fun read. 

Everyone who lives with dogs should definitely read Think Like A Dog!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

House of Boleyn

The House of Bolyen- Tracy Borman

Hodder & Stoddard

Release Date: August 4, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚(3.5)

Synopsis: When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to the newly-anointed eighteen-year-old king, Henry VIII, Thomas's young daughter, Anne, implores him not to leave. "Well, make sure the prize you bring me is worth it, Father," Anne demands of him. "I will try," he responds. "But I'll wager even a crown wouldn't satisfy you." Such premonitions resonate convincingly throughout Tracy Borman's rich and compelling novel. Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life.

Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colourful tableau in which servants play key roles, familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten, and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne's ever-loyal attendant Agnes Frideswide, and Thomas Boleyn's perfidious steward Robert Cranwell, are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of Henry VIII's court, as he pursues Anne relentlessly, only to abandon her when she can't give him the son and heir he desperately seeks.

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I'm a huge fan of Tudor historian Tracy Borman (The Stolen Crown, Henry VIII & The Men Who Made Him) so I was interested to see what she would do with a historical fiction of the Boleyn family. And I wasn't disappointed. 

The first interesting choice is that, while most historical fictions will focus on the royal court and what is happening in it, Borman's book always takes place at Hever Castle, the home of Thomas Boleyn and where Anne, Mary, and George Boleyn grow up. Through letters and gossip to family members and beloved servants the reader gets to know the family, including the often historically ignored grandmother Lady Margaret. And we learn that scheming for money and power aren't only happening at royal courts, but even among families like the Boleyns and their extended family—which helps us to understand (and may foreshadow) some of what happens to Anne later on.

There are some people out for only themselves in this dangerous world. But Borman asks the intriguing question: what if some of those people weren't who we thought they were? Historically we've always believed Thomas, Anne's father, wanted power and pushed his daughters at the king. What if he wasn't eager to have Anne (his favorite) marry Henry? What if George's wife Jane wasn't the villain she has historically been imagined to be?

If you know about the historical Boleyn family you'll still find surprises along the way in The House of Boleyn. And if you don't know much about history and are just reading this for fun (or picked it up because of the absolutely gorgeous cover) you'll enjoy a unique view into the Boleyn family. Either way, make sure to read the Author's Note where Borman explains where she tweaked a few things, which characters are completely fictional, and what you might think is fiction but was in fact totally true.

Tracy Borman puts you right in the world of Tudor homes and danger, where family can't always be counted on, and the biggest prize isn't what you think.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGally in exchange for an honest review