July 2026 list by Donalee Jacobs |
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Beach Thriller
by Jamie Day
Holly Sinclair, a struggling author, is dead broke. She returns to her family's beach house in New England with one goal: write a book that sells. Fast. Reinventing herself won't be easy, but the seaside town offers a few unexpected allies. Gail, a local Realtor, and Serena, the town psychic, who offers encouragement and an unsettling warning about danger ahead. Jade, a teen runaway, is also hiding out in Holly's attic. Holly takes Jade in, and soon the girl finds work with the Carmichael family. Their dynasty has faded, but their connection to Holly's past is darker than she wants to remember. Not everyone is glad to see Holly return and someone is watching her every move. The past may be a foggy echo, but it's close enough to come rushing in with the tide.
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The Break-Up Retreat
by Camilla Sten
Nestled deep in the Swedish woods, there is a retreat aimed at helping women who have gone through devastating break-ups. The Himlafall Clinic is meant to heal your mind and help you move on. But sometimes people are never heard from again. Armed with a fake story and a phone to record interviews, Isobel is ready to expose Himlafall's founder and get closure for the families of missing loved ones. But when she gets there, nothing goes to plan. And the ghosts of the missing haunt her at every turn. It is clear something is going wrong and Himlafall, and Isobel must uncover the truth, before she disappears once and for all.
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The Butler
by Clare Mackintosh
In his twenty-five years of service as a butler, Baxter has never run into any issues catering to the ultrawealthy. Until now. His latest assignment is at Villa Sérénité, where Alec Prescott is hosting a colorful cast of characters, including his ex-wife, his much younger lady friend, and some Hollywood hotshots, after the Cannes Film Festival. But it doesn't take long for a week of sun, wine, and a family birthday celebration to devolve into bickering and backstabbing. When one of the guests is found dead in the villa's pool, the gendarmes turn to Baxter to help determine who's responsible. A good butler is expected to see everything and say nothing -- but what if he too becomes a target?
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Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep
by Paul Tremblay
When her estranged mother, a CFO for a large tech company, offers Julia Flang a temp job with a big payday she can't refuse. The job: chaperone a man in a vegetative state -- one with proprietary AI implanted in his head -- from California to the East Coast. Julia transports the man she calls Bernie from the company campus onto planes and through one of the largest airports in America. All the while, the man endures an ever-changing and worsening nightmare that offers clues as to who he was -- and who he must track down. And as their two lives intertwine, Julia and Bernie become unlikely allies and fugitives on a collision course with reality. Creepy and unexpectedly humorous.
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The Great Outdoors
by Kayla Olson
From bestselling author Kayla Olson, a new rom-com about a high-maintenance woman who embarks on a wilderness trek to prove to her ex how low-maintenance she can be--only to find herself with no makeup and an extremely attractive trek leader: August Thorn. Thorn lives for adventure and always keeps a professional distance from the trekkers under his care, but there's just something about Sadie, and for the first time, he finds himself wanting to get closer. As they explore the wilderness together, Sadie realizes the great outdoors might truly be great with the right person.
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Green City Wars
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity -- unseen, unheard. Meet Skotch. Raccoon, PI -- yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means. A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is. The fee is good -- perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down. If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
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The Housewife
by Natalie Barelli
Jodie always dreamed of being a housewife. When she marries renowned psychologist Dr. Roy Davies and moves into his perfect Beverly Hills home, she quickly learns his late wife, Deborah, became a recluse before death. She begins to suspect Roy was behind it. And the deeper she digs, the darker Roy's past appears -- obsessive, controlling, unfaithful. Increasingly convinced he had something to do with Deborah's death, Jodie knows she should go to the police, but that would require revealing her own secret. But Jodie won't be silenced. Because the truth about Roy is worse than she imagined, and now, trapped in a house built on lies, she must find a way out before she becomes the next wife to vanish.
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The Jellyfish Problem
by Tessa Yang
Dr. Jo Ness prefers jellyfish to people. Her best friend, Aldo, was the exception, but he died seven months ago. So she spends her days at an underfunded aquarium with her specimens and a draft of the jellyfish guide she and Aldo had been working on together. When she receives a call from her friend Nadia, asking for her help, Nadia tells her a grand tale of a giant jellyfish terrorizing her tiny island off the coast of Maine. Jo drops everything to see Nadia and to find this supposed sea beast. But when Jo arrives on Shattering Point, Nadia is nowhere to be found, and the islanders each have something different to say about the creature they've dubbed Clementine -- a jellyfish who changes all who see it.
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Keep Them Close
by David Ellis
Two siblings. One murder. So many lies. Siblings Allison and Luke have been through a lot together. They've always stood by each other. They'd do anything for each other. Or so it seems. When Allison's husband, Finley, is murdered, the investigation threatens to expose the siblings' darkest secrets. An illicit affair. A decades-old accident. A stunning deception. How do these events explain Finley's death? How far will Allison and Luke go to keep their secrets buried? And can the siblings even trust one another anymore? As the investigation winds tighter and past and present collide, the most shocking betrayal might lie a little too close to home.
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Little Wonder
by Sophie Chen Keller
Song is a food delivery worker from a village in Northeastern China and her son, River, is a musical phenom who is invited to study with a preeminent teacher in Beijing. But in the chaos of the Beijing Railway Station, Song loses her grip on River's hand and is unable to find him. Over the next days, weeks, and eventually, years, Song and River fight to forge a path back to each other as they carve out new lives that carry them farther apart. An evocative exploration of a mother's love and a son's yearning, Little Wonder takes listeners on an extraordinary journey through modern Beijing that pulses with the music of humanity and its impossible -- and impossibly brave -- hopes.
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Lost in the Summer of '69
by Eliza Knight
Summer, 1969. Eleanor Bell doesn't have anything to lose. According to her doctors, she might not remember how to sing or play guitar soon, so why not head west now? Why not join the music festivals sweeping the country and lose herself in the music again in a swan song of her own? Except Eleanor forgets to tell anyone where she's going. When her daughter, Leanne, discovers her mother missing, she enlists the help of her own daughter, Nora, to help her find Eleanor. Nora and Leanne embark on a cross-country road trip, always one step behind Eleanor, who has been dubbed the Dame of Rock n' Roll by none other than Johnny Carson. Full of nostalgia and awash with the warmth of summer, Lost in the Summer of '69 is an epic celebration of savoring the encore -- no matter what the next act may bring.
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Marion
by Leah Rowan
A twist on Hitchcock's iconic classic Psycho--where the leading lady doesn't die, but instead turns the knife on Norm, kicking off a crime spree that turns the silver screen victim into a heroine for our times.
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Moss'd in Space
by Rebecca Thorne
Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia's assessment, it was not a meteoric sign of stupidity. Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now, but it's Torian's ticket to freedom. Except Torian's first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of stealing the ship. It's entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.
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The Neighbors Are Watching
by Aggie Blum Thompson
Just outside Washington, DC, sits Eastbrook, Bethesda. It's not the kind of place where nannies are killed during robberies gone wrong. A year after the unsolved neighborhood murder, Caren has one too many drinks at a graduation party and blacks out on her way home. At least, that's what everyone says happened. Caren suspects she was drugged by someone. But who? When Caren teams up with a new neighbor who is obsessed with figuring out who murdered his best friend, they start to uncover what Eastbrook has tried to forget. But in a place where appearances are everything, their search for the truth means not only shattering carefully curated perfection -- but putting themselves squarely in the crosshairs of a killer.
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Nine Lives
by Catherine Steadman
Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. She's decided to put down roots with Blue, the Persian cat she left her marriage with. But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn't, Frankie's concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused cat cam collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they're hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep.
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The Open Era
by Edward Schmit
Love evens the score between two tennis players in this stunning debut romance. Pro tennis player Austin Hardy is the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam tournament. Suddenly, being gay is a huge deal, with headlines to prove it. Unprepared for this new spotlight, Austin's anxiety hits a breaking point, and he trips and falls at practice. Right next to the very attractive, very talented, Diego Cruz, ranked second in the world. The two rivals start a friendship off the court. But Austin is thrown further off his game by Diego. With the eyes of the world and the weight of history on his shoulders, Austin must decide whether love means nothing or if it means everything as he battles for the trophy during an electric two weeks at the US Open.
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The Shampoo Effect
by Jenny Jackson
When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid. But when Bailey discovers she is pregnant with Van's baby, the delicate balance of the group's friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather. The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary.
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Sisters of a Halved Heart
by Nayantara Roy
Mira Guhathakurta works as a poetry editor at a magazine in New York and when she reconnects with her college friend Jack, feels she has everything she's always wanted. Everything changes when Jack meets her father and sister Joy. Joy commits an unthinkable act of betrayal, leaving the sisters fractured and their father heartbroken. As the sisters navigate their relationship and Mira starts over, it turns out Joy isn't the only one who has been dishonest. In a propulsive story of love and passion and the ultimate pull of family, Sisters of a Halved Heart examines the lengths we will go to in order to make our own narratives of love work out, the lies we tell ourselves, and the ways in which the truth can be impossible to see.
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Somebody Worth Killing
by Jessica Payne
Nadia Davis is living the dream as a successful working mom with a career she loves, two adorable little girls, and a devoted husband who has no idea that she's secretly a hired assassin. So when Nadia finds out she's been mommy tracked by her assassin's agency and is no longer getting the bigger, more exciting jobs, she demands an important mark...somebody worth killing. But it turns out that big kill is her husband. How is the sweet, kind, teller-of-dad jokes she's promised her life to an evil villain who needs exterminating? Has their whole life together been a lie? Now Nadia must choose between the two things she loves most in life, the career that keeps her sane or the family she thought she knew.
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The Someday Garden
by Ashley Poston
Sophie Drear doesn't expect to fall in love when she moves to coastal Maine for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House. But she does: With the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. With the quirky staff and the enigmatic woman who owns the place. And then, the door appears. It leads her to a secret garden with a man trapped inside. The manor's owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires -- including her inconveniently attractive nephew. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, Sophie might be the only person who can figure out what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.
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The Top of the World
by Ethan Joella
June 1975. Maggie Bishop has just graduated high school and is reeling from the death of her brother, Chip. A devastating diagnosis the summer before prompted Chip to leave home for a few months, never revealing where he went. Maggie's search for clues leads her to The Red Maple Inn, a mountaintop resort in the Poconos. As Maggie unravels secrets about her brother's final days at The Red Maple, she begins to connect with the people he loved, and whose lives he touched. Through the warmth of strangers, Maggie begins to heal and is able to help others cope with loss. Set in a nostalgic resort town over two transformative summers, this dual-narrative novel explores sibling relationships, coming of age, and the quiet power of human connection.
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Tropesick
by Lauren Okie
In this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they're crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic itself: it's clear their love story isn't finished. This time, though, they'll work through the pain that tore them apart and fight for their happy ending. Heart-wrenching and tender, Tropesick is a love letter to the romance genre.
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The Typing Lady: And Other Fictions
by Ruth Ozeki
In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. With her distinctive blend of wit, warmth, and deep humanity, she brings us eleven richly imagined stories of characters standing at life's thresholds -- grappling with faded ideals, evolving identities, and the inevitable compromises that shape a life.
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The Unicorn Hunters
by Katherine Arden
Anne of Brittany is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany. Her only hope of resisting is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a secret betrothal to Charles of France's greatest rival. While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A diversion so she can wed in secret. Or so she thinks. In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power.
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The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones
by Lex Croucher
From bestselling author Lex Croucher comes an extraordinary dark academia fantasy about dangerous privilege, corrupted power, and two former best friends caught on opposite sides of the secrets rotting at the heart of Britain's most prestigious boarding school.
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Valley of the Moms
by Hannah Selinger
Hamilton, Massachusetts is a suburban town where a million-dollar property is considered affordable, and the Parent Teacher Organization is a hotbed of controversy. When Anna Plummer realizes her child won't be able to attend the school dance because she didn't pay for a Premium membership, she snaps and sends an email to the president of the PTO -- and one year later, Anna is found dead in the frozen Ipswich River. Left to pick up the pieces, her husband, Denny, sets out to get justice for Anna. Told through the alternating perspectives of Anna and Denny exactly one year apart, and with a shocking concluding twist, Valley of the Moms is a gripping look at the underpinnings of grief, the social structures of wealth, and the secrets people keep.
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Villa Coco
by Andrew Sean Greer
An aspiring archivist takes up residence in the Italian countryside and becomes the assistant to the ninety-two year old Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of visitors, the young man does his best to catalog the villa's collection of art and antiques. When the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an accomplice in Coco's final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it's too late. Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we've always wanted to be. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less.
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Whisper Creek
by Allison Brennan
After the death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat, all while facing pressure to sell to a local businessman. On top of the usual hardships, heavy rain and flooding has the entire family working to protect their land and animals. Then Ellen's oldest son discovers a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion, and her younger kids check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming. Before anyone can figure out what's really going on, the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm and her family, Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.
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You Won't Forget Me
by Mazey Eddings
Cubby Clark is the heart of her band -- loyal, earnest, and determined to make music that matters. But just as they're about to break out, Connor, her boyfriend walks away and rockets to solo fame with a hit song tearing her down. Left with a fractured band, a publicly adored and toxic ex, and relentless writer's block, Cubby is barely holding it together. The only thing keeping her steady are her bandmates Darcy and Harry. Especially Darcy. But, when a romantic photo of Cubby and Harry goes viral the night Cubby and Darcy hook-up, the pair begin to fracture. Thrust into a whirlwind tour, Cubby and Darcy are forced into close quarters. Now Cubby has one summer to decide what she's willing to risk. Walking away would be easier. But staying might mean everything.
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