New Edelweiss E-galleys (5/8/2024)

UNRULY: A Guide To Reclaiming Your True Self by Shelah Marie
9781649630773 | 10/22/24

There’s a new generation of multicultural women who refuse to conform to the “serene and calm” model of spirituality. “We’re Black and white. We’re feminists who twerk. We’re spiritual and take tequila shots. We’re unruly… and our tribe is growing strong,” says women’s wellness influencer Shelah Marie. Yet breaking the mold only gets us so far—what’s needed is a road map for creating a life that embraces our contradictions and lets us shine in our unique glory. In UNRULY, Shelah shares a guide “for that little girl who never quite fit in, and all my other naturally unruly ladies.”

With respect and relatability—no gurus here, sisters—Shelah shares how to become the architect of your life, using a culmination of her best tried-and-true teachings from her retreats, courses, and online programs. The 10-step guided journey mixes story, prescriptive content, and structured practices, opening you up to a new level of agency, self-acceptance, and confidence. “I want you to see the best and highest parts of yourself reflected on each page,” she says. “I want you to say YES to your life and your dreams.”

Finding your true self is an act of love, and expressing it is an act of liberation. “If you join me on this journey,” Shelah promises, “you’ll grow past feeling guilt, shame, or a need to fit in—and you’ll move through life with grace, strength, and unshakable authenticity.”

TWISTED KNIGHT by K. Bromberg
9781250323408 | 9/24/24

Holden

They thought they’d managed to get rid of me once and for all. They thought I’d just forget what they did to my brother.

But I’m going to make sure that they never forget.

If only I can stop thinking about her.

Rowan

No one sees me. Behind my brother, I’m a ghost, managing the family business that he claims to run. But I’m tired of second fiddle. I’m tired of pretending. I’m going to take what’s mine.

The only problem? Well, he just came back to town.

THE NIGHT IS DEFYING by Chloe C. Peñaranda
9781250355508 | 1/14/25

Shaken from the aftermath of the Libertatem, the newly found star-maiden Astraea is determined to keep her freedom, even at the cost of betraying her heart. But time is running out to recover her memories with the hole it will unveil her killer.

Embarking on a journey to discover her past, Astraea’s awakening power spins the hourglass on a history threatening to repeat itself. While Nyte tries to regain control of the vampires hungry for bloodshed, a sinister plan by his brother to overthrow him sparks a dangerous feud. But are they willing to wear the blood of their kin to see it through?

For nothing in the past ever stays buried. Friends have turned into foes, brothers have turned into enemies, and what was written in the stars long ago ignites again in two hearts that were never meant to be. Letting Astraea go would save the world from darkness, but Nyte is no hero. It seems no monster is heartless, and no angel is without sin.

MY THREE DOGS by W. Bruce Cameron
9781250900203 | 10/29/24

When a tragic accident separates three dogs from their human, they find themselves up for adoption—separately. But Riggs, an Australian Shepherd with a heart of gold, refuses to see his family torn apart. After the exuberant and fun-loving doodle Archie and quick-witted jack russell Luna are taken to new homes, Riggs’ powerful herding instincts send him on a journey to bring his pack back together again.

Cameron’s signature style shines in this whirlwind of a novel that showcases how determination, instinct, and love can make a family whole once more.

AN INSIGNIFICANT CASE  by Phillip Margolin
9781250885821 | 11/5/24

Charlie Webb is a third rate lawyer who graduated from a third rate law-school and, because he couldn’t get hired by any of the major law firms, has opened his own law firm, where he gets by handling cases for dubious associates from his youth and some court appointed cases. Described as “a leaky boat floating down the stream of life,” Charlie has led unremarkable life, personally and professionally. Until he’s appointed to be the attorney for a decidedly crackpot artist who calls himself Guido Sabatini (born Lawrence Weiss). Sabatini has been arrested—again—for breaking into a restaurant and stealing back a painting he sold them because he was insulted by where it was displayed. But as Lawrence Weiss, he’s also an accomplished card shark and burglar and while he was there, he stole a thumb drive from the owner’s safe.

Not knowing what else Sabatani has stolen, Webb negotiates the return of the painting and “other items” for the owner dropping charges against Sabatini. But the contents of the flash drive threatens very powerful figures who are determined to retrieve it, the restaurant owner (Gretchen Hall) and her driver (Yuri Makarov) are being investigated for the sex trafficking of minors, and there are others who have a violent grudge against Sabatini. When a minor theft case becomes a double homicide, and even more, Charlie Webb, an insignificant lawyer assigned to an insignificant case, is faced with the most important, and deadliest, case of his life. Going back to his long-time bestselling roots, Phillip Margolin returns with a brilliant standalone legal thriller in the tradition of John Grisham.

THE NAMING SONG by Jedediah Berry
9781250907981 | 9/24/24

When the words went away, the world changed.

All meaning was lost, and every border fell. Monsters slipped from dreams to haunt the waking while ghosts wandered the land in futile reveries. Only with the rise of the committees of the named—Maps, Ghosts, Dreams, and Names—could the people stand against the terrors of the nameless wilds. They built borders around their world and within their minds, shackled ghosts and hunted monsters, and went to war against the unknown.

For one unnamed courier of the Names Committee, the task of delivering new words preserves her place in a world that fears her. But after a series of monstrous attacks on the named, she is forced to flee her committee and seek her long-lost sister. Accompanied by a patchwork ghost, a fretful monster, and a nameless animal who prowls the shadows, her search for the truth of her past opens the door to a revolutionary future—for the words she carries will reshape the world.

THE NAMING SONG is a book of deep secrets and marvelous discoveries, strange adventures and dangerous truths. It’s the story of a world locked in a battle over meaning. Most of all, it’s the perfect fantasy for anyone who’s ever dreamed of a stranger, freer, more magical world.

FILTHY RICH FAE by Geneva Lee
9781649375773 | 6/25/24

Cate Holloway knows the unspoken rule of New Orleans: avoid the powerful Gage crime family at all costs. Of course, that was before her brother got caught in their chaos. Now

Cate has no choice but to confront the dark and forbidding prince of New Orleans himself and beg for her brother’s life.

But Lachlan Gage is as lethal as he is beautiful . . . and the only currency he’s interested in is her soul.

Because Lachlan isn’t just some ruthless criminal. He’s fae. And he has his own secret reasons for binding her to him.

Tricked and desperate, Cate is torn between humanity and the breathtaking Otherworld. A place filled with shadows and secrets, with members of each fae court plotting against her just as her captor’s motives for trapping her become more mysterious.

And if she can’t break this sinister bargain in the next thirty days, she’ll be bound to the inscrutable yet infuriatingly tempting fae prince and his deadly world . . . forever.

THE DOLLHOUSE ACADEMY by Margarita Montimore
9781250320650 | 2/11/25

Ivy Gordon is living a borrowed life on borrowed time. For the past eighteen years, she has been the most famous star at the Dollhouse Academy, the ultra-secretive, elite boarding school and talent incubator that every aspiring performer dreams of attending. But now, at age thirty-four, she is tired of pretending everything is fine. In secret diary entries, Ivy begins to reveal the sordid truth of her life at the Dollhouse: strange medical exams, mysterious supplements, and something unspeakable that’s left Ivy terrified and feeling like a prisoner. As she forces herself to confront the most painful parts of her past, she begins to realize that something truly sinister might be powering the Dollhouse’s success.

Ramona Halloway and her best friend, Grace Ludlow, grew up idolizing Ivy. Now both twenty-two, neither has made much headway in showbiz, until a lucky break grants them entry to the Dollhouse. They’re enchanted by the picturesque campus and the chance to perform alongside their idols—though nothing prepares them for the fiercely competitive training bootcamp. When Ramona begins to receive anonymous, threatening messages, it’s easy to dismiss them as a prank from a rival. Her bigger concern is Grace’s skyrocketing success, while Ramona falls ever further behind. But the messages grow more unsettling, as does life at the Dollhouse. Can Ramona overcome her jealousy and resentment to figure out what’s really going on? And can Ivy finally find her voice, before another young performer follows her catastrophic path to stardom?

With dark academia twists and enormous heart, THE DOLLHOUSE ACADEMY is a novel about the complexities of friendship, our desire to be seen and understood, and the true cost of making our dreams a reality.

TROUBLE ISLAND by Sharon Short
9781250292841 | 12/3/24

Many miles from anywhere in the middle of Lake Erie, Trouble Island serves as a stop-off for gangsters as they run between America and Canada. The remote isle is also the permanent home to two women: Aurelia Escalante, who serves as a maid to Rosita, lady of the mansion and wife to the notorious prohibition gangster, Eddie McGee. In the winter of 1932, the women anticipate the arrival of Eddie and his strange coterie: his right-hand man, a doctor, a cousin, a famous actor, and a rival gangster who Rosita believes murdered their only son.

Aurelia wants nothing more than to escape Trouble Island, but she is hiding a secret of her own. She is not a maid, but a gangster’s wife in hiding, and it has become clear that Rosita wants to keep Aurelia right where she is. When Rosita suddenly disappears, Aurelia plans her getaway, but instead finds Rosita’s body in the water. Then the group of criminals, celebrities, and scoundrels arrives, and an ice storm makes unexpected landfall, cutting Trouble Island off from both mainlands, and with more than one murderer among them.

Both a gripping locked room mystery, and a transporting, evocative portrait of a woman in crisis, TROUBLE ISLAND marks the enthralling standalone suspense debut from Sharon Short, promising to be her breakout novel, inspired by a real island in Lake Erie, and true events from her own rich family history.

AMERICAN RAPTURE by CJ Leede
9781250857927 | 10/15/24

The end times are coming.

A virus is spreading across midwest America, carried by strong, hot winds, which turn the infected feral with lust.

Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must risk everything and traverse the hellscape of Wisconsin as she tries to find her family while the world around her collapses.