Release Week: 18 February 2025
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Release Week: 18 February 2025
Posted on 2025-02-18 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:
My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher, read by Kirsten Leigh for Recorded Books -- "Clearly, for Ash, a career as a musician isn't exactly an option. Plus, he's cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth. But it's harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tail. The four rogues quickly become the Underworld's Most Wanted, and if they're caught, the consequences will be dire. Yet everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. It must be too good to be true, but, no matter the risk, he has to have her."
Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis, read by Amanda Leigh Cobb for Macmillan -- "In a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down."
A Curse for the Homesick by Laura Brooke Robson, read by Ruth Urquhart for Harlequin -- "On Stenland, there comes a time known as skeld season: one day, any woman on the island can wake with three black lines on her forehead, the mark of a skeld. Skeld season comes around without warning, and while each window of time lasts only three months, anyone a skeld turns to stone is very much dead. That's how Tess’s mother killed Soren’s parents. Maybe for this reason alone, Tess and Soren should not have fallen in love. "
The House of Light and Shadow by Lauren Westwood, read by Laura Kirman for Boldwood -- "When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before. But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems."
BACKLIST PICKS:
The Wings upon Her Back by Samantha Mills (2024), read by Amy Hall for Scribd -- One of my most missing audiobooks of 2024, here already, woo hoo! "In this gripping debut novel from acclaimed Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus Award-winning author Samantha Mills, a disgraced soldier fights to make sense of her world and the gods who abandoned it."
Joy: A Novel by Angelo R. Lacuesta (2022), read by Richard Klein for Random House -- "Ariston Letrero is a renaissance man: audio producer, insurance salesman, musician, composer, part-time fast food mascot, and a philanderer who quickly and quietly abandons his wife and son, Lucas, at the peak of his mottled career, for a new life in America with his lover Odette. Years and years later, he sends an email to his son, Lucas Letrero, an advertising man who has been brought up on super robot cartoons, Catholic school truisms, and a diet of fast food and loneliness, and who has reconnected with his childhood sweetheart Dedes, who has made a post-annulment life for herself in America. In the 30-odd years in between is a story that sings songs and anthems of identity, relations, loneliness, and loss, and how they figure in the lives of contemporary Filipinos who are not scattered across space and time, but who are also connected and separated at the same time."
Fury by Clyo Mendoza (2021), translated by Christina MacSweeney (2024), read by Cynthia Farrell for Tantor -- "A novel of extraordinary beauty where language embarks on a hallucinatory trip through eroticism, the transitions of conscience, and the possibility of multiple beings inhabiting a single body. In this journey through madness, incest, sexual abuse, infidelity, and silence, Fury offers a moving questioning of the complexity of love and suffering. The desert is where these characters' destinies become intertwined, where their wounds are inherited and bled dry. Listeners will be blown away by the sensitivity of the writing, and will shudder at the way violence conveyed with a poetic forcefulness and a fierce mastery of the Mexican oral tradition."
MORE BACKLIST:
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg (1972), read by Samuel Eldritch and Will Watt for WF Howes -- "Four students discover a manuscript, The Book of Skulls, which reveals the existence of a sect, now living in the Arizona desert, whose members can offer immortality to those who can complete its initiation rite. To their surprise, they discover that the sect exists, and is willing to accept them as acolytes. But for each group of four who enter the rite, two must die in order for the others to succeed."
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett (1914), read by David Bendena for Dreamscape -- "The story of Rodion Raskolnikov, an ex-student who plans to murder a pawnbroker to test his theory of personality. Having accomplished the deed, Raskolnikov struggles with mental anguish while trying to both avoid the consequences and hide his guilt from his friends and family."
Wild Rain: A Leopard Novel, Book 2 By: Christine Feehan (2004), read by James McAdams for Recorded Books -- "Explores the dark past of a woman on the run—and her dark desire for the only man she dares to trust."
INDIE WATCH:
The Lazy Witch's Guide to Vampires & Villainy By: Jessica Gadziala, read by Savannah Thomas and Patrick Zeller for Podium -- "Roxanne Caulderone is not a witch who enjoys adventure. She's perfectly happy curling up on her couch, munching on snacks, binge-watching her favorite shows, and fostering a borderline problematic online shopping addiction while letting her spell vending machine do all the work for her. That is until a handsome, brooding vampire tricks his way into her life."
Dark Whisperings: The Dark Whisperings Saga, Book 1 and Dark Path: The Dark Whisperings Saga, Book 2 by Maria Dembouski, read by Dallin Bradford -- "There isn't just one world. There's two. Monsters roam about their lands, but they are not free. They are caged; they are prisoners. Their one escape is that of a Dreamer, an individual born with a gift to dream into The Realm, the monsters' home. If a Dreamer fails to kill these nightmarish beasts there, they escape to The Waking World, our world. There, they are free. There, they can wreak havoc. There, they reign. Fiske, a Dreamer and known thief, has his world turned upside down when he happens across a blind boy with no home to call his own. Their paths quickly become intertwined, but the friendships and pleasantries must face the dark forces that surround their world."
Animal Husbandry: And Other Fictions by Jeff Fleischer (2024), read by Sebastian Brown -- "Mythology, from animal fables to imaginary friends to the myths people tell themselves. In some cases, the myths are fantastical: a farmer finds his cow has given birth to a surprising offspring; a guitarist tries to improve his skills with a visit to the crossroads; or a young girl meets with a visitor in the woods to plot against her neighbors. Others concern everyday mythology: a small-town ballplayer struggles to earn a nickname; a man's clean bill of health arrives at the worst possible time; or a long-retired screen actress receives a letter that makes her confront her past."
The Dragon's Gambit: Underkeeper, Book 1 By: Hankthemoose, read by Daniel Thomas May for Tantor -- "Bernt might have graduated from the Mage Academy, but not everyone has the money or connections to launch a prestigious career as a mage."
WTF WATCH:
- I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming, read by Hazel Addison for Penguin -- Look, we see titles and covers like this by the dozens, but this one is coming out from Penguin Audio by the Orbit-published author of "That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf" and despite myself I have to be at least curious what is going on here: "A hilarious and sexy romance about a woman who gets dropped on a strange planet only to fall for not one, but two, aliens."
MOST MISSING:
- The Viscount St. Albans: Love In Netherford, Book 2 by Natania Barron (Solaris) -- The first book was a bit Downton Abbey and Witches. This one is billed as more "Sense and Sensibility and Vampires": "Silas Drake, the Viscount St. Albans, is one of the most desirable bachelors in England: approaching thirty, wealthy, and poised to inherit his father’s seat in Parliament. His aunt, the dowager viscountess, insists he marries well, and soon—or she’ll take matters into her own hands. But his love belongs to Viola Brightwell, who is a commoner of modest means... and a vampire. Newly transformed after the recent battle to save Netherford, Viola rages in a locked room in Silas’s mansion, wrestling with the violent passions of her new affliction. As Silas struggles to balance the demands of his rank with the desires of his heart, he finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy by ancient and terrible powers..."
FEATURED PICK:
- Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow, read by Wil Wheaton -- The latest Kickstarter-backed "Martin Hench" novel! "Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues to bring us the origin story of Martin Hench and the most powerful new tool for crime ever invented: the personal computer. The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco. Here, Martin Hench will invent the forensic accountant--what a bounty hunter is to people, he is to money--but for now he's an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever, one we now take completely for granted. When Marty finds himself hired by Silicon Valley PC startup Fidelity Computing to investigate a group of disgruntled ex-employees who've founded a competitor startup, he quickly realizes he's on the wrong side. Marty ditches the greasy old guys running Fidelity Computing without a second thought, utterly infatuated with the electric atmosphere of Computing Freedom. Located in the heart of the Mission, this group of brilliant young women found themselves exhausted by the predatory business practices of Fidelity Computing and set out to beat them at their own game, making better computers and driving Fidelity Computing out of business. But this optimistic startup, fueled by young love and California-style burritos, has no idea the depth of the evil they're seeking to unroot or the risks they run. In this company-eat-company city, Martin and his friends will be lucky to escape with their lives." (Note: don't look for it at Audible, as since they require DRM, Doctorow's audiobooks are not available there. LibroFM has it, and likely Downpour and other places will as well.)
MORE PICKS:
Dream State: A Novel by Eric Puchner, read by MacLeod Andrews for Random House -- "Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined."
Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim, read by Kosar Ali for Mantle -- "Twenty-three-year-old Sirad Ali is a woman adrift. Abandoned by her father in childhood, doing her best to support her mother and younger brother in their small flat in South London, she can’t help but wonder if this is the life she really wants. One morning, Sirad boards her bus to work and finds herself transported to an alternate timeline in present-day Mogadishu. Over the course of a single day, under the sweltering East African sun, Sirad must contend with a lost reality. There she encounters an almost unrecognizable version of her family and comes face to face with her double, Ubah – the woman she could have been, had her parents never fled to London during the Somali Civil War. Back home in Greenwich, Sirad must go on with life, consumed by all she now knows. But then Ubah mysteriously appears in London, and Sirad begins to understand that nothing will ever be the same again."
Hungerstone, by Kat Dunn, read by Perdita Weeks for Zando -- A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula: "It’s the height of the industrial revolution and ten years into Lenore’s marriage to steel magnate Henry, their relationship has soured. When Henry’s ambitions take them from London to the remote British moorlands to host a hunting party, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into their lives. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night. Carmilla, who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger."
Upon a Starlit Tide By Kell Woods, read by Esther Wane for Macmillan -- "A dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of "The Little Mermaid" and "Cinderella" into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal."
The Garden by Nick Newman, read by Nicolette McKenzie for Penguin -- "In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother. When a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once-solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?"
The Echoes: A Novel by Evie Wyld, read by Sebastian Humphreys and Vivien Carter for Random House -- "Max didn’t believe in an afterlife. Until he died. Now, as a reluctant ghost trying to work out why he is still here, he watches his girlfriend, Hannah, lost in grief in the apartment they shared and begins to realize how much of her life was invisible to him. In the weeks and months before Max’s death, Hannah was haunted by the secrets she left Australia to escape. A relationship with Max seemed to offer the potential of a fresh new chapter, but the past refused to stay hidden."
Ibis: A Novel By Justin Haynes, read by M.L. Sanchez for Tantor -- "There is bad luck in New Felicity. The people of the small coastal village have taken in Milagros, an eleven-year-old Venezuelan refugee, just as Trinidad's government has begun cracking down on undocumented migrants—and now an American journalist has come to town asking questions. New Felicity's superstitious fishermen fear the worst, certain they've brought bad luck on the village by killing a local witch who had herself murdered two villagers the year before. The town has been plagued since her death by alarming visits from her supernatural mother, as well as by a mysterious profusion of scarlet ibis birds. Skittish that the reporter's story will bring down the wrath of the ministry of national security, the fishermen take things into their own hands."
Nesting: A Novel by Roisín O'Donnell, read by Louisa Harland for Algonquin -- "In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over."
Maya & Natasha: A Novel by Elyse Durham, read by Yelena Shmulenson for Harper -- "Maya and Natasha are twin sisters born in the midst of the Siege of Leningrad in 1941 and immediately abandoned by their mother, a prima ballerina at the Kirov Ballet who would rather die than not dance. Taken in by their mother’s best friend at the Kirov, the girls are raised to be dancers themselves. The Vaganova Ballet Academy—and the totalitarian Soviet regime—is the only world they know. In 1958, now seniors at the Vaganova at the height of the Cold War, all Maya and Natasha and their classmates want is to dance with the Kirov, and to join the company on its tour to America next year. But a new law from the Kremlin upends Maya and Natasha’s lives: due to fears of defection, family members may no longer travel abroad together. The Kirov can only accept one of them."
NON-FICTION WATCH:
Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back By: Marc J. Dunkelman, read by David de Vries for PublicAffairs -- "A provocative exploration about the architecture of power, the forces that stifle us from getting things done, and how we can restore confidence in democratically elected government."
Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood's First Stuntwoman by Mallory O'Meara, read by the author for Harlequin -- "The story of America's first professional stuntwoman, Helen Gibson, who rose to fame during a time when women ruled Hollywood."
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison, read by Kristen DiMercurio for Books on Tape -- " The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show."
YOUNG ADULT WATCH:
The Girl You Know by Elle Gonzalez Rose, read by Victoria Villarreal for Bloomsbury YA -- "The week before Luna’s twin sister Solina was supposed to head back for her final semester at Kingswood Academy, an elite boarding school in the Washington mountains, she told Luna she was dropping out. When Luna refused to let her throw away her future, Solina disappeared. Twelve hours later, she was dead. Luna knows Solina’s death wasn’t an accident, even if the police say otherwise. There’s a reason Solina didn’t want to go back to Kingswood, and Luna knows she’ll find the truth there. All she has to do is become Solina. Playing Solina comes easy, but finding answers is far from it."
Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson, read by Imani Jade Powers for Listening Library "A teen girl travels to an exclusive boarding school after a deadly incident at her old school, but the wood-paneled halls of Agathion are built over centuries of secrets—including an ancient society which may have ties to demonic magic."
The Forest King's Daughter by Elly Blake, read by Eleanor Bennett for Little Brown Young Readers -- "Once upon a time, among the bloodred trees of Thirstwood, a young forest princess became friends with a lonely boy from underground. He gifted her an amber ring, a worthless trinket—or so he thought—because no sooner did he slide it onto her finger than the queen of the underground and the forest king declared war. Years later, Cassia is a crucial force in her father’s army, wielding her ring of light that can blind and disorient hundreds of enemies at a time. Then battle-hardened Zeru abducts her, planning to steal the ring back to fix his costly childhood mistake. Exhausted, terrified, and more than a little mistrusting, Cassia is forced to travel with Zeru to a place they both believed only existed in storybooks, one where their childhood friendship slowly rekindles into something much more. But it's only a matter of time before the war they’ve escaped comes for them, and a hidden threat to forest and underground folk alike grows in the shadows."
SERIES WATCH:
Witch of Whispervale: DemonWars: The Buccaneers, Book 2 By: R. A. Salvatore, read by Simon Vance for Simon and Schuster -- "The traitorous invasion by the Xoconai of the eastern realms of Corona. However, the heroes of the last war against their demon god may be forgotten, but they are not powerless."
Cursebound: Faebound, Book 2 By: Saara El-Arifi, read by Nicole Lewis for Random House -- "They’re no longer prisoners to the fae court, but now two elven sisters are each bound by shackles of the heart."
The Antlered King: The Raven's Trade, Book 2 by Marianne Gordon, read by Kristin Atherton for Harper -- "Hellevir’s bargains with Death to save the ones she loves—including the princess she risked everything to bring back to life—may just lead to the ultimate sacrifice."
The Fox and the Falcon: No Other Gods, Book 2 By: Piper CJ, read by Luna Rey for Tantor -- "Marlow has spent most of her life believing the shadowy demon she loves isn't real. Not only is he the living, breathing Prince of Hell, but he is now in serious danger. Their reunion is cut short as Caliban remains in a vicious battle with a Phoenician goddess after Marlow's escape. To save him, Marlow must venture into her ancestors' domain for help—the Norse Pantheon—where shared blood is no guarantee of an alliance and the line between gods and beasts blurs."
The Portal 2: Portal to Xibalbá, Book 2 By: Brandon Q. Morris and Tim L. Rey, read by Kim Ramirez and Gary Tiedemann for Podium -- "Months after the expedition through the portal, Tyler Drake is still struggling with the gruesome consequences. So the call for help from Mexico comes just in time: Adriana's brother is missing—and seems to have made the journey alone to the world beyond the cave."
A Dragon of Black Glass: Moonfall, Book 3 By: James Rollins, read by Nicola Barber for Macmillan -- "With the apocalyptic threat of moonfall looming ever closer, Nyx and her allies must venture into the eternally sunblasted lands to search for an ancient weapon buried untold millennia ago."
The Bookstore Keepers: The Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories, Book 3 by Alice Hoffman, read by Jennifer Jill Araya for Amazon Original Stories -- "A deeply moving short story about the love of family and the power of dreams."
Cold as Hell: Haven's Rock, Book 3 by Kelley Armstrong, read by Thérèse Plummer for Macmillan -- "Casey Duncan hunts down a dangerous killer during a deadly blizzard."
Miss Amelia's List: Elemental Masters, Book 17 by Mercedes Lackey, read by Zura Johnson for Tantor -- "The seventeenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows Amelia Stonehold and Serena Meleva as they navigate property acquisition, marriage proposals, and other ancient horrors in Regency England, but with the help of elemental magic."
Death of a Smuggler: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery, Book 37 by M. C. Beaton with R.W. Green, read by David Monteath for Grand Central -- "A murder, a missing man, and his newest constable’s secret past are all that’s standing in the way of Sergeant Hamish Macbeth's relaxing winter."
TIE-IN WATCH:
Halo: Empty Throne By: Jeremy Patenaude, read by Scott Brick for Simon and Schuster -- "2559. It has been a year since the rogue artificial intelligence Cortana seized control of the Domain, an otherworldly dimension housing a vast information network. With an array of Forerunner weapons at her disposal, Cortana set out to enforce an authoritarian peace on the civilizations of the galaxy. But as the United Nations Space Command flagship Infinity prepares to strike against Cortana at Zeta Halo, another plan has also been set in motion."
Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf: A League of Legends: Arcane Novel by C. L. Clark, read by Ellen Thomas for Orbit -- "A thrilling epic fantasy novel where Ambessa Medarda learns what it means to be a Chosen of the Wolf. Set in the blockbuster and award-winning universe of League of Legends: Arcane. Read by Ellen Thomas, the voice of Ambessa Medarda in Arcane."