When we were officially in the home stretch of 2022, I knew I was excited for all the new releases in the year to come! While this was a time to look back and reflect on the past year, it was also a time to look ahead. Evidently, we’ve been looking ahead to the major book releases of 2023 we can’t wait to get our hands on.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, Talia Hibbert— January 3
Talia Hibbert, author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, is back with another heartwarming romance.
Bradley Greame is a star football player, a part of the popular crowd. Meanwhile, Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed, and her social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption. And yet, she’s not “cool enough” for the popular crowd. The way she sees it, Bradley abandoned her for a spot in the in-crowd.
The two used to be best friends— now the only thing between them is petty insults and a heated academic rivalry.
When Celine signs up for a wilderness survival course, she’s more than shocked to find Brad taking the course too. Forced to work as a team for a chance to win a grand prize, the two begin to remember the good parts of their history. But will this wilderness adventure rekindle their friendship, or something more?
The Stolen Heir, Holly Black— January 3
Holly Black brings her readers back to the world of Elfhame with a new duology!
It’s been eight years since the Battle of the Serpent, but in the north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has recaptured the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she’s using an ancient relic to create monsters to do her bidding so she can exact her revenge.
Her daughter, Suren, the child queen and the only one with power over Nore, has fled to the human world. Haunted by the torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, Suren lives feral in the woods, bidding her time. Suren thinks she’s been forgotten, that is, until Bogdana, the storm hag, chases her through the streets.
Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame. Once promised in marriage to Oak, Suren resents him. But Oak is on a mission that will lead him into the icy north, and he needs Suren’s help. If Suren agrees, it’ll mean facing horrors she thought she had left behind and guarding her heart against a boy she once knew.
Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo— January 10
Leigh Bardugo fans, rejoice! The anticipated sequel to The Ninth House is almost here.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory, even if it costs her future at Lethe and Yale. Forbidden from attempting a rescue to save the gentleman of Lethe, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help. So, they assemble a team of dubious allies.
Together, the group will have to navigate arcane texts and artifacts to uncover the societies’ most guarded secrets. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows it’s no accident. If she’s going to survive, Alex will have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness that’s built into the very walls of the university.
How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix— January 17
First, Grady Hendrix gave us demons in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. Now, he’s giving us a story about a house that just doesn’t want to be sold.
When Louise finds out her parents have passed away, she dreads going home. She dreads facing her family home, which is stuffed to the brim with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s creepy doll collection. More than that, she dreads dealing with her brother, Mark, who’s been getting fired from one job after another, and openly resents Louise’s success.
Louise will need Mark’s help getting the house ready for sale, though, because it’s going to take more than a coat of paint and some cleaning to get the house on the market. Some houses don’t want to be sold, and Louise and Mark’s family home has other plans for them.
Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey— February 7
Tessa Bailey is back with yet another sweet rom-com that’s sure to become your new favorite romance read.
Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at 14. They almost kissed in the vineyards of Julian’s family’s winery. So when Julian to their small Napa town and Hallie is hired to revamp the vineyard’s gardens, she sees it as the perfect chance to rekindle that almost-romance.
But time has changed the two of them, and their opposite personalities clash instantly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t help but feel like she did something reckless— then she remembers the drunken secret admirer she wrote and left for Julian.
Julian is home on sabbatical, trying to write a novel. But it’s pretty hard to focus when Hallie is gardening right outside his window. When Julian finds the anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past, he begins to wonder about his secret admirer while getting sucked into Hallie’s chaotic, colorful orbit.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, Roshani Chokshi— February 14
Fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic will love this dark, atmospheric fairy tale.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married the mysterious Indigo Maxwell-Castañada. He was a scholar of myths and she was an heiress. In exchange for her love, Indigo requested one promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
When Indigo learns her estranged aunt is dying, she and her husband return to Indigo’s childhood home, the House of Dreams. Within the crumbling manor’s dark halls lurks the shadow of Azure, Indigo’s childhood friend who disappeared. As the House of Dreams slowly begins to reveal Indigo’s secrets, her bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so will threaten their marriage… and lives.
A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon— February 28
Return to the universe of The Priory of the Orange Tree in this standalone prequel from Samantha Shannon. A Day of Fallen Night follows the lives of four women and a course of events that will shape their world for generations to come.
Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory— she’s trained to slay wyrms for over 50 years. But none have appeared since the Nameless One, and many have begun to question the purpose of the Priory.
In the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in her parent’s shadows— exactly where she wants to be.
Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber, but someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, it’ll bring with it an age of terror and violence, and these women must find the strength to protect their world from a devastating threat.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, S.A. Chakraborty— February 28
Bestselling author Shannon Chakraborty of the City of Brass trilogy is back!
After a storied career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, Amina al-Sirafi is ready to retire peacefully with her family and nothing that hints of the supernatural.
But when a wealthy mother of a former crewman tracks her down, Amina is offered a job she can’t refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a huge sum. How can she say no to one last adventure that could set up her and her family for life?
But the deeper Amina dives, the clearer it becomes that there’s more to this job (and the girl’s disappearance) than meets the eye. The chance for glory is all too tempting, but the price of it could very well be Amina’s soul.
The Foxglove King, Hannah Whitten— March 7
Following the success of The Wilderwood duology, Hannah Whitten is back with another dark fantasy to obsess over.
At thirteen, Lore escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. In the 10 years since then, she’s done her best to avoid being found by them again. With her death magic, though, that’s been easier said than done.
When her power to raise the dead is revealed to King August, the Sainted King, she expects a death sentence. Instead, King August has other plans in mind. On the outskirts of the country, entire villages are dying at random overnight. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Thrust into the dangerous and glittering world of the Sainted King’s royal court, Lore becomes tangled in a web of politics, religion, and forbidden romance. But even as she gets sucked further into the King’s court, the past Lore thought she left behind in the catacombs below draws ever closer.
In the Lives of Puppets, T.J. Klune— April 25
From the author of The House in the Cerulean Sea comes a story about a family assembled from spare parts.
Victor Lawson, a human, lives deep in the heart of a peculiar forest with his family, safe and protected. The family? Three robots: fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a vacuum desperate for love and attention.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android named “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio— one spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life about their whereabouts, the family is no longer safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory, where he faces decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Fighting his conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap while trying to rescue Gio, Victor must decide if he can accept love with strings attached.
Happy Place, Emily Henry— April 25
We can’t sing Emily Henry’s praises enough— we’re dying to get our hands on her new romantic comedy, Happy Place.
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college… until now. They’ve been broken up for five months now, but still haven’t told their best friends. Now they’re sharing a bedroom in the Maine cottage that’s been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last 10 years. For one week, the friends leaves their lives behind for a blissful week of relaxation.
The cottage is up for sale, and this is the last year they’ll all have the place together. Can Harriet and Wyn lie through their teeth about the breakup to avoid breaking their friends’ hearts while trying to ignore how desperately they want each other?
Love, Theoretically, Ali Hazelwood— June 13
Fans of The Love Hypothesis and the all-too-perfect fake dating trope will love this new romantic comedy from Ali Hazelwood.
Elsie Hannaway lives many lives, and this time, they’ve caught up with her.
By day, she’s an adjunct professor, grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in hopes of landing tenure. By other day, she’s making up for her practically nonexistent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend.
It all comes crashing down when Jack Smith enters the picture. Jack is the attractive and arrogant older brother of Elsie’s favorite client. He’s also the cold-hearted experimental physicist standing between her and her dream job at MIT.
Elsie’s ready for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage. But those long, penetrating looks Jack gives her? Let’s just say Elsie’s tempted to put her theories on love into practice.
The Chalice of the Gods, Rick Riordan— September 26
Percy Jackson stans, RISE! Rick Riordan has blessed us with a new story featuring the original heroes from The Lightning Thief and we couldn’t be more excited.
After saving the world multiple times, Percy Jackson is looking forward to a normal senior year… but the gods aren’t done with him quite yet. In order to get the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college, Percy will have to fulfill three quests.
The first quest? Helping Zeus’ cupbearer retrieve his goblet before it falls into the wrong hands.
These books are just a taste of what’s in store for bookworms in the New Year. Head over to Goodreads to see what other 2023 book releases readers are excited about. Don’t forget to stay tuned for Bookstr’s monthly roundups of 2023 book releases, and keep an eye out for more of our New Year countdown lists.