A late bloomer romance where 1) they meet at a sex club, 2) the plot critiques the use of genAi in entertainment & news, 3) the friendships get plenty of attention outside of the romance plot. I ate this debut adult romance right up.
Sparks Fly by Zakiya N. Jamal, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593953839, December 2025)
Reviewed by Alex Reinhart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Thou shalt read this book for laughs, tears, awesome sibling dynamics, romance, and a comedy of errors. This one’s healing, hopeful, and all about learning how to accept and embrace yourself with a little help from the important people in your life.
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, (List Price: $18.99, Balzer + Bray, 9780063060234, May 2022)
Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
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Adler knocks it out of the park with this sweet, spicy YA romance. Lara has had a crush on teen dream Chase for her entire high school career, to no avail. After a summer spent on her own in the Outer Banks of NC, she returns to school even more beautiful and full of confidence after a romance with a girl named Jasmine. Chase takes notice of Lara for the first time, and she’s about to jump in with both feet when none other than Jasmine shows up at her school. The girls haven’t spoken since they parted for the fall. Lara is torn between the guy she’s always wanted and the girl she never knew she needed. This hits a previously neglected spot in LGBTQ fiction and romance, and I love the way it explores identity and how teens may not understand who they are and how they feel yet.
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler, (List Price: $12, Wednesday Books, 9781250888471, June 2023)
Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
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House’s collection of poetry is full of beauty, of perfect lines that punch one in the gut and evoke profound feelings. His imagery immerses readers in the South, capturing every day life experiences, yet his poems are also memories of family love and sacrifice, of loss and grief. This collection inspires reflection on how we relate to the past, on how we grieve the loss of people and place, on how nature soothes us in troubled times, on how deeply we love. All These Ghosts is a remarkable gift to the world.
All These Ghosts by Silas House, (List Price: $22.95, Blair, 9781958888698, September 2025)
Reviewed by Lera Shawver, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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So glad that the former Kentucky Poet Laureate has a poetry collection at last! As with his fiction, House’s work resonates most deeply the closer he stays to his Appalachian roots. With poems like “Double Creek Girl” and “Lunchlady” he transports the reader to a hardscrabble start that was tough but also suffused with the joy of family ties and the beauty of nature. Poems about queerness, protest, timesickness and soup beans all exist side by side in this collection, as in life.
All These Ghosts by Silas House, (List Price: $22.95, Blair, 9781958888698, September 2025)
Reviewed by Sam Miller, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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This was a sweet story about death and life and the beauty in both. The sweetness of life’s little moments and memories made more precious in loss. A reminder to treasure all the love you can find in life.
The Leaving Room by Amber McBride, (List Price: $19.99, Fiewel & Friends, 9781250908087, October 2025)
Reviewed by Victoria Thatcher-Milton, The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee
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Cinderella and I had an odd relationship when I was a child. The fairy tale is stuffed full of iconic imagery–those glass slippers! That magical dress! The looming, thrilling deadline of Midnight!
And yet I found Cinderella, the character, left me a little cold. Perhaps because I was not a naturally helpful and easy-going child. I was obstinate and voracious. When plunged into an unfair and isolating situation, Cinderella…stays home. She doesn’t run away. She doesn’t even go out and make friends. (Talking mice, I considered sternly, did not count.)
“Aren’t you bored?” I wanted to yell. “Aren’t you angry? Don’t you ever, as the old internet saying goes, want to go apeshit?” ― Freya Marske, Letter to Readers
What booksellers are saying about Cinder House
Cinderella is one of my favorite fairytales of all, due to how much I connect with Ella, but, it gets harder every year for people to find new ways to retell or reimagine the story. Freya Marske was able to give this story a new polish, and in novella format, which is a feat in and of itself. I was delighted by every turn, and when the end came, it had me swooning! Who would have thought- Cinderella, a ghost story.
― Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina | BUY
queer, gothic, fairytale retelling >>> obsessed
― Ash Spaulding, Writers Block Bookstore, Winter Park, Florida | BUY
About Freya Marske
Freya Marske is a USA Today bestselling author and has been nominated for two Hugo Awards. Her books include Swordcrossed and A Marvellous Light, which was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. She lives in Australia.
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In the poems of The New Economy, author Gabrielle Calvocoressi pours themself out in the repeated image of the cistern: a way to hold themselves and the weight they have been carrying. Readers who carry duality in their own body will resound with poems brimming with exquisite lines like: “I want a full opening / absurd in its bounty” and “Sometimes the things / that matter to you won’t matter to anyone but you. And that’s redemption.” Calvocoressi has once again written a book with heart, full of attention to the line and the body, that will fill a reader with deep feelings–among them, gratitude and hope.
The New Economy by Gabrielle Calvocoressi, (List Price: $22, Copper Canyon Press, 9781556597213, October 2025)
Reviewed by Julia Paganelli Marin, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
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Filled with wit, culture, and a wonderful depiction of LGBTQ+ youth, Cemetery Boys was a fast-paced and heartwarming read. I would definitely recommend this to any YA reader!
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, (List Price: $12.99, Square Fish, 9781250792075, August 2025)
Reviewed by Ashton Ahart, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
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Cannon by Lee Lai is a blow to the nervous system with cathartic aftershocks. Through gorgeous linework, paneling, and speech bubble placement, Cannon portrays a pressure cooker of circumstances for “stoic” protagonist Cannon/Lucy, in her relationships (platonic, romantic, and familial), stressful restaurant job, and attempts to keep everything under control (even as she’s seeing birds) in the form of going on runs while listening to breathing meditation podcasts. I sweated. I felt too seen. I devoured it.
Cannon by Lee Lai, (List Price: $29.95, Drawn and Quarterly, 9781770468023, September 2025)
Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
A quaint ocean-side town run by drag queens? It’s the best summer everrrr! Except for whatever came on land from the depths of the Atlantic. Or the old chemical spill. The Dead of Summer (Book 1) is another Ryan La Sala winner. I have a low threshold for horror. I can’t do graphic gore but I adore creepy and La Sala provides this in spades. He also gives us some truly multi-dimensional characters so that you are on the edge of your seat to see if they’ll survive the night. I love how Ollie had his musical ear and how that plays into the storyline. And his friendship with the Suds is the stuff of friendship legends. We all wish we were Suds. The various formats (transcripts/ narration/ journal entries) used to tell the story really increase the tension and allow for some plot twists I did not see coming.
The Dead of Summer (Book 1) by Ryan La Sala, (List Price: $19.99, PUSH, 9781546125877, September 2025)
Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
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A man terrified of the ghosts he sees falls in love with a transmasc nonbinary person who creates haunted houses for a living. Loved it, their relationship troubles resolve early-ish in the book, but that doesn’t mean life is smooth sailing as their individual families provide some unique challenges as well as the characters going through their own spats of personal development. Very cute!
The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish, (List Price: $17.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781464238741, September 2025)
Reviewed by Kelly McLeod, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
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Lucky Day is a ROLLER COASTER. An existential CRISIS. A foray through the blood and guts of reality itself to the abyss at the heart of it all, where you just have to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well? Do ya? •••••• I loved this scifi-heavy romp of a story where the true horror is existence itself. Or is it? Chuck Tingle weaves an intricate web of sharp nihilism, absurdity, and genuinely creepy moments, building a structure upon which rests the ultimate truth: life is chaos, and existence is precious. I laughed, I shuddered, I cried. I finished this book at 2:00 a.m. this morning and am still processing all its truths. In fact, I’ll be thinking about it for a very long time. 5/5 stars, 10/10 recommend.
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle, (List Price: $27.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250398659, August 2025)
Reviewed by Rachel Derise, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
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Grab your beach cruiser and join Blue as they make the daily bakery deliveries around the community. Along the way, they’ll create a little havoc with their untamed magic abilities, but are always there to help clean up the remnants of the spells. Perfect for young witches-to-be who like cooking, helping their community, and want to start their own coven.
Witchycakes #1: Sweet Magic by Kara LaReau, Ariane Moreira (Illus, (List Price: $15.99, Random House Books for Young Readers, 9798217025855, August 2025)
Reviewed by Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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Nguyen’s mix of satire, social commentary, and the story’s central relationship are impossible to deny. Hot Girls with Balls captures perfectly what it is like to be in the public eye, the myriad of positives and pitfalls that come with social media, and the pressure trans people face just daring to exist in our world. “Hot Girls” Six and Green are amazing characters that I won’t soon forget. Bold, unapologetically queer, and sharp – what a debut!
Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyen, (List Price: $28, Nguyen, Benedict, 9781646222476, July 2025)
Reviewed by Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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