Sneak Peek: May 2025 Indie Next List

The May 2025 Indie Next List includes FIVE Macmillan titles!

BRIGHTER THAN SCALE, SWIFTER THAN FLAME by Neon Yang
9781250357342 | 5/6/25

“Yang’s (THE GENESIS OF MISERY) emotion-laden novella will be a hit with fans of dragons and slow-burn romantasy. Readers of Aliette de Bodard and the ‘Singing Hills Cycle’ series by Nghi Vo will especially enjoy Yang’s prose.”—Library Journal, starred review

MY BEST FRIEND’S HONEYMOON by Meryl Wilsner
9781250873323 | 4/29/25

“Readers looking for nonbinary main characters, sapphic friends-to-lovers romance, and sexy vacation novels will appreciate this heartfelt exploration of what it means to fall in love with someone you have known almost your entire life.”—Library Journal

THE MAN MADE OF SMOKE by Alex North
9781250757890 | 5/13/25

“Fans of Thomas Harris will be creeped out by North’s hair-raising antagonist and gripped by the plot’s dual investigations. This is a winner.”—Publishers Weekly

NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING by Catherine Mack
9781250326133 | 5/13/25

“Mack’s fast and funny sequel to EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES finds bestselling mystery author Eleanor Dash in California, where the film adaptation of her first novel, When in Rome, is being shot… Mack complements the twisty plot with Eleanor’s brisk and biting first-person narration, chock-full of amusing asides (often in footnotes) that examine the movie business and the craft of mystery writing. This one goes down smooth.”—Publishers Weekly

STATE CHAMP by Hilary Plum
9781639735433 | 5/13/25

“The distressing tale is buoyed by Angela’s incisive narration and frank humor, such as her quip that the pro-life ‘whiners’ who gather outside the clinic to oppose her campaign are ‘like a sorority [that] had spent 20 years braiding each other’s hair too tight while driving up the costs of each other’s weddings.’ Readers won’t want to put this down.”—Publishers Weekly