Tantalizing Tales — October 2026 — Part Three

I just unexpectedly received some super intriguing recently published books. so let’s cover those before diving into upcoming releases!

First up, we have Emmeline Duncan’s Hysteria At The Historical Society, the third Halloween Bookshop mystery. This one is kinda on me: I thought it had recipes in it, as I super enjoyed prior series of the author’s which did. Alas, this series does not, but I always enjoy how tightly written her cozies are and am not at all unhappy to have this book otherwise. It’s also the perfect read for Spooky Season, as it’s set in an Oregon town that celebrates Halloween year-round!

That said, the residents of Elyan Hollow are getting ready to welcome another big holiday season by putting their signature spin on Christmas. Bookstore owner Bailey Briggs is booked and busy but loving it. Adding to the festive air is the news that the Elyan Hollow Historical Society has received a Historical Preservation grant to map out the town’s tunnel systems. The society’s director Jude is especially thrilled.

Not everyone is happy about this tho. Graham, the leader of a rival historical society, and his second in command Walter are both in opposition, leading to a blowout fight at EHHS’ winter holiday reception. As the duo are escorted out by security, Walter threatens revenge. The arguing continues during an escape room party several days later that Bailey is also attending. When Walter collapses, dead, everyone is shocked — except for his murderer. Bailey is soon in a race against time to find his killer before the wrong person is convicted of this terrible crime.

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Our next selection is Andrea Max’s recently published Academy Of Muses, the paperback reissue of her previously title The Art Of Exile.

Ava Castle has always believed in her family’s mission of finding and exposing The Genesis Institute, a rumored utopia where the descendants of Renaissance masters live and work to create art and technology that’s nearly indistinguishable from magic. When she’s rescued from an attempted kidnapping by a dashing, brilliant man who also happens to be a Genesis Institute recruiter, she seizes this chance to infiltrate the school and finally expose its technology for the benefit of all humanity.

But the institute isn’t exactly what she expected. As she works her way up the Guild system that will allow her to access their most closely guarded secrets, she finds herself falling ever harder for her totally off-limits recruiter-turned-mentor. Things get worse when, in an effort to figure out what happened to a new friend who’s abruptly disappeared, she has to pretend to be in a relationship with another student, a dangerously attractive scholar who’s already convinced that she’s a spy. Exposure could be deadly: there’s a reason that The Genesis Institute has managed to remain hidden for centuries, after all.

Soon, Ava is caught between conflicting loyalties, as truths are revealed and her heart and mind are forced to choose between what she’s long believed and what she now knows. Can she successfully navigate these treacherous situations and make it out alive?

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If the cold weather already has you ready for Christmas, check out Misty Wilson’s adorable teen romance Falling Like Snow (or grab it now and save it for December, like I’m planning to!)

Sloane Sullivan did her daughterly duty and more while helping her mom plan and run the wildly successful Falling Leaves Festival in their small town of Bramble Falls, Connecticut. Now all she wants to do is chill out and marathon Nora Ephron movies with her best friend Asher. Mom has other plans tho, roping her in for the brand new Falling Snow Festival to follow on the heels of Falling Leaves.

While Sloane could definitely use some R&R, Christmas is also her favorite time of year, so she’s down to help her mom. It doesn’t hurt that both Asher and her cousin Ellis have been roped in too, as well as the rest of their usual crew. But when cute hockey player Micah unexpectedly flirts back with her one day, she suddenly finds herself with a whole lot more on her mind than just the festival. He’s super hot… so why is she suddenly looking at Asher in a new light, too?

Sloane throws herself into organizing the festival in order to distract herself from these unexpected matters of the heart. Will the magic of Christmas help her figure out what, and who, she really wants?

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If you’d prefer your romance with a speculative twist, check out Robbie Couch’s exciting new romantic mystery Just The Good Parts. From the promotional materials:

“Caspen Coolsby’s dad is missing. But even though it’s only been a few months, everyone has given up on finding him. Except for Caspen.

“He finally gets a break in the case when he meets his new upstairs neighbors and discovers he can somehow transport himself into each of the college students’ memories using candle scents that remind them of important moments. No one loved candles more than his dad, so Caspen is sure there must be clues pointing toward where to find him hidden in the memories.

“His thinking hits a snag, though, when a handsome boy named Lars keeps popping up in memories where he also doesn’t belong. As the lines between memory and reality begin to blur, Caspen can’t help but fall for the mysterious boy who keeps chipping away at the rose-colored lens he’s always seen life through. But will Caspen be able to find his dad and his crush outside of these stolen moments if it means reliving the hard truths of his past and not just the good parts?”

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Looking forward to books publishing soon, we have our last romance of the list, Elba Luz’ Legally Yours, Violet Lopez. Honestly, one of my favorite trends in book covers lately is when the characters depicted on them bear more than a passing resemblance to a celebrity. I love that Violet looks like Jenna Ortega, and would absolutely pick up this book on the basis of that alone!

Violet herself is a girl on a mission. She’s going to graduate as valedictorian of her elite private school, get into Harvard, then become a big shot lawyer so that her injury-prone single dad can finally rest. Towards this end, she’s an active member of her school’s law society, tasked with representing students against the school’s disciplinary board. She’s understandably proud of her near perfect record.

When the school’s lazy but infuriatingly popular golden boy Theo Hudson is accused of a prank he swears he didn’t commit, Violet recuses herself from the case on account of hating his guts. Not even a proffered bribe from classmates who want her to deliberately tank his case will dissuade her. But when Theo uncovers a secret Violet is desperate to keep hidden, he blackmails her into representing him. A furious Violet decides that she’ll pretend to comply, but secretly undermine him in exchange for the cash.

The more time she spends with her client tho, the more she realizes that maybe he’s not actually such a bad guy. Yes, he’s charming and laidback, but he’s also surprisingly kind. Will she be able to backtrack her way out of this ethical quagmire before it’s too late, and she loses the relationship blooming between her and Theo for good?

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And if that’s enough romance for you this Spooky Season, check out K-Ming Chang’s weird and terrifying coming-of-age tale Needlemouth.

Cousins Mandy, Cindy and YangYang are spending a hot, tedious summer in their grandmother’s house. Mandy, the eldest, chats up strangers online, while YangYang, the youngest, retreats into her imagination. But it’s Cindy who keeps waking up every morning with a strange new object in her mouth, small things like berries and coins that definitely weren’t there when she fell asleep.

Then one night a starved figure with a mouth the size of a needle tip appears at Cindy’s bedside. She is Needlemouth, a hunger-afflicted demon who lacks descendants to feed her offerings. Part-vampire and part-hungry-ghost, she’s come to the girls to force them to kill a man. The cousins are soon plunged in and out of the demon world as they reckon with the coping mechanisms that they’ve built to deal with the rage and grief they share in the face of their own family’s cyclical traumas. Will they be able to satisfy the demon’s hunger and free themselves, from both her malign influence and their family’s crushing demands?

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All of these books are either available or available for pre-order now, so let me know if you’re able to get to them before I do, dear readers! I’d love to hear your opinions, and see if that will spur me to push any of them higher up the mountain range that is my To Be Read pile.

And, as always, you can check out the list of my favorite books in my Bookshop storefront linked below!