New Edelweiss E-galleys (12/3/2024)

OTHER WORLDS by André Alexis
9780374611408 | 5/6/25

In nine stories, OTHER WORLDS quickly takes us deep into the very heart of questions around connection, loneliness, loss, reconciliation, and whether we can ever really know those we love most (or even ourselves).

As playful as they are meditative, as ingenious as they are emotionally arresting, as interested in genre as they are in character, each of these stories is a marvel of construction and imagination. They are, fundamentally, stories of immigration. They span time and place on the page and through their inspirations: “Pu Songling,” inspired by the seventeenth-century Chinese writer, tells about a twentieth-century professor of magic and medicine and his apprentice in Toronto; “Houyhnhnm,” inspired by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, sees a son through bereavement as he cares for his late father’s very literary horse; through the conventions of anime, “Contrition” follows a Carib man who dies in nineteenth-century Trinidad and awakens in the body of a child in twentieth-century Canada.

ROOM ON THE SEA by André Aciman
9780374613419 | 6/24/25

The short fictions in ROOM ON THE SEA deal with the heart-wrenching vicissitudes of amorous ambivalence, in André Aciman’s inimitably nostalgic, lyric style.

“The Gentleman from Peru” tells the story of the life-changing encounter of a group of friends with an enigmatic solitary guest in a hotel on the Amalfi Coast. “Room on the Sea” is a dialogue between a man and a woman who meet on jury duty and embark on a complex relationship. “Mariana” is a modern retelling of a famous seventeenth-century novel about a love affair between a nun and a swashbuckling, unreliable aristocrat.

LOUD AND CLEAR: THE GRATEFUL DEAD’S WALL OF SOUND AND THE QUEST FOR AUDIO PERFECTION by Brian Anderson
9781250319678 | 6/17/25

LOUD AND CLEAR is the first book to tell the full story of the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound,” an unprecedented and since unparalleled speaker system that was as tall as a school bus is long and more than a hundred feet wide. The band’s quest for roaring yet crystal clear sound began after their formation in 1965, colliding with the ‘60s progressive social climate. 

Over the next few years, the Dead’s growing crew of sound-obsessed techies and eccentric roadies took their speaker system to new technological heights. But as the Dead’s relentless, drug-fueled touring schedule met this increasingly burdensome yet sonically perfect machine, in 1974, the Wall brought the band to its knees. The two years of “Wall shows” are legend among Deadheads, and this character-driven tale about human ambition, achievement, and the limits of both on a larger-than-life scale has the potential to reach a wide range of music fans and readers of cultural history.

TOTAL DREAMBOAT by Katelyn Doyle
9781250328069 | 6/24/25

Hope Lanover needs a vacation. Her relationship has imploded, her creative ambitions have flatlined, and she can’t seem to locate the badass girl she used to be. So when her best friend invites her on a luxury cruise, she goes along with it, despite decidedly not being a cruise person.

Felix Segrave, a sober, determinedly single, workaholic chef, hates leaving his restaurant and routine. But when his parents surprise him and his sisters with cruise tickets, he can’t say no—he’s disappointed them too many times in his troubled past.

Hope and Felix are prepared to grin and bear it . . . until they lock eyes at check in. Suddenly, a ten-day fling in the Caribbean with a sexy stranger doesn’t seem so bad. But when their romantic demons catch up to them, and a huge fight leaves them stranded in paradise, they must work together—not to mention share a bed—to make their way home. Can they navigate the stormy seas of love, or will they face romantic shipwreck?

THE GOLDENS by Lauren Wilson
9781250362308 | 7/15/25

Chloe has always dreamed of becoming a bestselling writer. Then she meets Clara Holland, a prominent influencer, socialite, and model. Clara is enigmatic, dazzling, gorgeous. And at last, ordinary Chloe has something to write about.

Bonding instantly, Chloe moves into Clara’s grand family estate. They spend long afternoons together, writing Clara’s memoir, polishing social media posts, and planning sumptuous, decadent parties: fairy lights in the orangery, themed cocktails, sequined backdrops, roaring bonfires. But as Clara opens her home to more girls who want to live like her and inspire one another, the media calls them a cult.

As life becomes more claustrophobic, Chloe begins to hear unsettling rumors about Clara. When a girl goes missing after a spectacular New Year’s Eve party, the rumors take on a sinister new meaning. If she can’t escape Clara’s influence, everything Chloe holds dear may be in danger.

Dark, gut-wrenching, and simmering with danger and atmosphere, THE GOLDENS is about to be your newest obsession.

ALCHEMY AND A CUP OF TEA by Rebecca Thorne
9781250333278 | 8/12/25

On the night of her kidnapping, all Reyna wanted was a relaxing cup of tea. She didn’t expect to be dropped in a hidden cell, but what the hells. She’s flexible.

When Kianthe “rescues” her wife, she expects they’ll be back at New Leaf having tea by noon. But there’s a problem: an alchemy circle marred Reyna’s cell. What does a radical group of alchemists want with the Queendom’s newest sovereign . . . and why did they think they could get away with this?

To make matters worse, Kianthe and Reyna’s hometown is having its own problems. Word of New Leaf Tomes and Tea—and its celebrity owners—has finally spread, and tourists are flooding into Tawney. As their friends struggle with the sudden influx, Kianthe and Reyna have to face a bigger conundrum than rogue alchemists: the fact that closing their bookshop might be the only way to save their town.

Things can’t just be simple, can they?

A DUKE NEVER TELLS by Suzanne Enoch
9781250331090 | 4/1/25

Before entering into a supremely-advantageous arranged marriage with James Clay, the new Duke of Earnhurst, clever, independent Lady Meg Pinwell has to see if he’s really the rake he’s rumored to be. But how is a well-bred young lady going to make sure he’s the man she wants?

With the help of her Aunt Clara, they plan some discreet reconnaissance at the Duke’s country estate. Meg will pretend to be her aunt’s maid/companion to see the true state of affairs at Earnhurst Manor.

But Meg isn’t the only one pretending to be someone she isn’t: In order to escape Clara (who is surely a marriage hunter!), James has traded places with the excellent Riniken, the former Duke’s butler. Soon everyone is falling in love with the absolute wrong person! They say the course of true love never does run smooth . . . at Earnhurst, it’s running amuck!

HERE FOR A GOOD TIME by Pyae Moe Thet War
9781250330550 | 8/26/25

Poe Myat Sabei has the publishing career that any writer would kill for: her first novel sold at auction, became an international number one bestseller, and is being turned into a Netflix film. But now on deadline for her second book, Poe is facing a catastrophic case of writer’s block. The solution? Book a two-week getaway to an exclusive island resort for her and her best friend Zwe where she’ll undoubtedly be inspired to write her next bestseller.

But the vacation of their dreams disintegrates in a flash when the resort is taken over by a group of masked women who are very armed and very angry. As they try to leave the island before the group can track them down, Poe and Zwe suddenly find themselves facing the kinds of conflicts that only come up when, well, you’re trapped in a life or death situation on a remote island with your (hot) best friend.

THE WITCH ROADS by Kate Elliott
9781250338617 | 6/10/25

When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen—once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall—is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination.

When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn’t heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn’t the same man who entered.

The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?