The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Paranormal

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh

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The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
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I can still remember reading The Wrath and The Dawn for the first time, and how much the beautiful world, and incredible romance affected me. Today I’m gushing about Renee’s new book about vampires in 19th century New Orleans! The best part of it is, she doesn’t stick strictly to vampires, at all, nor the normal glittering, sometimes scary vampires we’re used to today! Ahdieh takes the vampire mythos and shapes it into something all her own, making it beautiful and lush and terrifying. But even without the vampires, our protagonist, Celine, is a french girl with passions and whims considered inappropriate for a girl of any age, let alone a young girl trying to find a proper husband. But truthfully, Celine comes to New Orleans to flee from a dark secret in her very near past, and from herself too. Celine is an incredibly interesting and complex protagonist that demands your love even as she pushes everyone away, because you the reader are the only one that knows her thoughts and can see beyond her actions. Sebastian is a powerhouse of a love interest, and when we do get a point-of-view chapter from him, he just continues to baffle and break hearts, but in more depressing ways. These two together make for an incredibly frustrating slow burn that grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let up. I also had no idea where the story was going to go. Ahdieh managed to keep me in the dark about many things, and that was perfect because it meant I was able to dive in further and really dig for clues and such. This all made The Beautiful an incredibly enchanting read that kept me on my toes the entire time and absolutely delivered on a delicious romance set in a New Orleans ruled by the supernatural.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh, (List Price: $5.99, Nancy Paulsen, 9781524738198, August 2021)

Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Nahia by Emily Jones

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Nahia by Emily Jones
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Solidly enjoyable YA historical fiction. As an avid reader of Clan of the Cave Bear as a child, this one immediately jumped out at me (LOVE the cover). It’s fun to have a “next generation” of this type of story to introduce to teen readers. I loved the historical context provided at the end and appreciate the research and care that went into accurately representing the world.

Nahia by Emily Jones, (List Price: $18.99, Holiday House, 9780823458356, April 2025)

Reviewed by Kate Snyder, Plaid Elephant Books in Danville, Kentucky

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Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson

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Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson
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I loved the Gothic setting of a castle with ancient roots on a desolate Scottish moor. I’m not really one to go after books about demons because I feel they can hem in the plot, but I loved the way Oak described them as elementals, and how he could see everything alive on the empty-looking moor just by knowing how to look. He was probably my favorite character. I also liked how Page took her chronic pain and made it her superpower later in the book. A big theme of the book is physical bodies versus the mind, and I think Wilkinson did an excellent job weaving that theme through every aspect of the book. From the lessons the Agathion professors taught, to Page’s endometriosis, to the LGBTQ characters, and to the ancient stories of the gods.

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson, (List Price: $19.99, Delacorte Press, 9780593810989, February 2025)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Book Buzz: I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming

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Kimberly Lemming, photo by the author

I was just desperate for a bit of fun. The world is dark and terrible enough as it is. When I wrote the first book, I just wanted to take myself on a fun little adventure where I knew everything was going to be ok in the end….Imagine you’re minding your business as an animal researcher and then out of nowhere you get attacked by a lion. Rude right? Now imagine you and that lion get abducted by aliens and brought onto a ship with a bunch of freaky looking birds trying to poke and prod at you. You manage to fight your way to freedom, steal an escape pod and crash land onto a planet populated by taller, hotter aliens and dinosaurs. Also, the lion talks now. So, there’s that.

― Kimberly Lemming, Interview, Parnassus Books

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming

What booksellers are saying about I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

  • Kimberly Lemming’s stories are pure joy. They’re comforting and cozy, while also being funny and bringing the spice and heat. I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com is all of that and more. It’s a wonderful start to a new series and Kimberly does a wonderful job at complicated world building and making us believe everything that happens to Dorothy Valentine is possible. I laughed out loud so many times and could not put the book down. I can not wait to read more Cosmic Chaos and see more of Dotty, Sol, Lok, Toto, and Cupid. There is so much to be explored!
      ― Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Georgia | BUY

  • I am a sucker for alien romances in general, but I have to say that Ms Lemming has done an amazing job with this one! I’ve read her previous works and it’s amazing how much you can see her growth as an author! I immediately fell in love with Dorothy and Toto, they made me grin like a fool as I read. This is also a fun “why choose?” novel that does the trope well. Most of the time it feels almost too cheesy for me to believe, but Lemming knocks it out of the park with Sol and Lok, creating a perfect foil between the two that still manages to be balanced. I eagerly look forward to the next Cosmic Chaos book! If you need a break from reality with some spice and cuddly lions that adopt you into their pride, this is the one for you!
      ― Katlin Kerrison, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia | BUY

  • Sure, Lemming brings the hilarity, but she also brings the sweetness and the spice! Dory is SO close to getting her PhD when she’s abducted by aliens and plopped down on a new world. All she wants is to figure out a way home, but her new BFF, Toto the lion, and her new love interests, Sol and Lok, are making her feel more at home every day. But she’ll have to fight her way through the terrain of this new planet and defeat or befriend the wildlife before she can even attempt that. As a wildlife biologist, that shouldn’t be too hard. Key word: shouldn’t.
      ― Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia | BUY

About Kimberly Lemming

Kimberly Lemming is a USA Today bestselling author who is on an eternal quest to avoid her calling as a main character. She can be found giving the slip to that new werewolf that just blew into town and refusing to make eye contact with a prince of a far-off land. Dodging aliens looking for Earth booty can really take up a girl’s time. But when she’s not running from fate, she can be found writing diverse fantasy romance. Or just shoveling chocolate in her maw until she passes out on the couch.

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
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If you’ve ever found yourself longing for a spooky beach read, this is it! Set in a quiet beach town, Haunted Ever After brings all of the deliciously warm ambiance that comes from a seaside setting while also balancing the paranormal element of meddling ghosts.

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593641217, August 2024)

Reviewed by Tara Leimkuehler, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
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Such a cute book! If you live in a small Florida town, then you will definitely relate to this spooky romance. Imagine moving to a town, and the house you purchased is haunted, like truly haunted. When Cassie first buys her house and moves to the little town of Boneyard Key, she doesn’t believe ghosts are a thing, but then she realizes that the people who live here are very serious about their ghosts and actually talk to them. Nick, who owns a small bakery, is one of those people, the old owner is always texting him and telling him what he thinks about how he is running the business. When Cassie comes into his shop, he is star-struck and ready to keep her from running away from her haunted house so she will stay in town. Will they be able to figure out the backstory of the ghost that is living in the house Cassie lives in? Why is it that when Nick comes around to the house, he suddenly acts like someone else? Such a cute quick read that will get you in the mood for spooky season and have you almost wishing your house was haunted too.

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593641217, August 2024)

Reviewed by Kelli Dynia, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

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Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
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This is a great summer romance full of coffee, sunsets, and ghosts! Cassie is starting over in a small Florida town, independent of those she’d clung to in Orlando, and ready to make a new life for herself. What she was not prepared for was sharing her newly purchased home with a ghost. This book is full of different kinds of love and loss and I found it an oddly therapeutic read as much as a fun romance!

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593641217, August 2024)

Reviewed by Jamie Southern, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
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It’s been a long time since a book ending has made me cry, but Maas made me sob. The growth of Aelin and her court is phenomenal. Over the course of this series, I have seen Aelin grow from an injured, malnourished assassin to a strong, magical queen. The journey and backstories of these characters is mind blowing and will stick with me for a while after finishing the series.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, (List Price: $19, Bloomsbury, 9781639731039, February 2023)

Reviewed by Melissa Gray, The Blytheville Book Company in Blytheville, Arkansas

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The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

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The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
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“In a few strides she hit the tree line, and then she was in the dark. Everything was different here, like the trees had tugged her out of the world of open water and night skies and into an empty void.” Logan Ortiz-Woodley just graduated from high school, and all she wants is to find a place to call home. But first, she has to go with her dads to their hometown, Snakebite, Oregon, to do some location scouting for their ghost-hunting show ParaSpectors. But things are wrong in Snakebite, and they might be getting worse. Ashley Barton is one of the popular girls and her boyfriend Triston has gone missing. Time is running out, things are weird, and Ashley just wants things to go back to normal, so she enlists Logan’s help. The Dead and the Dark is a book that takes some time to pull you in, but once it does, there is no escape. Readers of both YA and Adult thrillers and horror will find something to love in Gould’s writing, which keeps readers on edge. Keep the lights on and start this book in the early morning because you won’t be able to stop but you won’t want to read after dark! Content warnings for absent parent, homophobia, assault, and harm to children.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, (List Price: $12.99, Wednesday Books, 9781250861092, September 2022)

Reviewed by Faith Parke-Dodge, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

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A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
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This was genuinely one of the best books I have read so far this year. It felt all at once familiar and brand-new, and I found myself lost in the subtle magic of the story. I laughed out loud, I cried, I grieved, and celebrated. I enjoyed falling through every page the way Elsy fell a little bit more in love with the world around her each day. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Poston’s other books, anyone who ever wished they could live in a literal Hallmark small town, anyone learning how to do life after loss, and generally anyone who likes a well-earned and well-deserved happily ever after. 10/10!

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593640975, June 2024)

Reviewed by Jonlyn Scrogham, A Novel Romance LLC in Louisville, Kentucky

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Blood City Rollers by V.P. Anderson

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Blood City Rollers by V.P. Anderson
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Fast-moving, silly, with just the right amount of character introspection. When you fail at something you’ve literally dedicated your life to, it can feel like you’ve failed at life. Mira’s journey is very literal in that she gets injured and can no longer skate, disrupting her parents’ plans for the Olympics. Luckily, she’s kidnapped by a vampire roller derby team that is in desperate need of a “mandatory human member.”

Blood City Rollers by V.P. Anderson, (List Price: $13.99, Labyrinth Road, 9780593485712, April 2024)

Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

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My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino
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Full disclosure, I’m a wimp when it comes to horror books so I almost didn’t pick this up because of the title and cover. I know…unpopular opinion. But the folk part of folk horror got my attention and Bovalino’s reader’s note really sealed the deal. She says “the realization that the scary things are not always the things we’re told to be afraid of [and] related: charming characters who we’re told to be afraid of, but realize are not actually the scary thing after all.”Questioning what you’ve been taught to fear? Okay, yes please. I grew up in a small town, I’ve got this.I didn’t always agree with Leah, but the Lord of the Woods’ domain (and Tristan himself!) was so awesome, it was tempting to find my own way through the woods.

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino, (List Price: $18.99, Page Street YA, 9781645679301, February 2024)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood
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The “couldn’t put down”-ness with this book was unreal. A new vampire, werewolf romance that had me enthralled from page one. The relationship dynamic between the two main characters had a wonderful progression of tense unknown to familiar like. This book will be for all the “romantasy” readers who have been missing vampires and werewolves in their reading piles. But don’t worry we only have one team to root for and it is the RIGHT team.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood, (List Price: $19, Penguin Publishing Group, 9780593550403, February 2024)

Reviewed by Mekhala Villegas-Rogers, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida

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Spotlight On: Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

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Lyndall Clipstone, photo credit the author

I’ve always loved to write, and storytelling is an enormous part of how I make sense of my emotions. Especially as a young adult, a time in my life where I felt quite adrift, immersing myself into books and writing provided so much solace. I love the endlessness of possibilities with speculative fiction, and how I can use things like magic, or monsters, or body horror as a lens through which to examine the real world.
― Lyndall Clipstone, Interview, Geeks Out

Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

What booksellers are saying about Unholy Terrors

  • A Monsterous boy and a fierce girl, Clipstone delivers another beautiful YA gothic fantasy. From the moment we first cross through the bone wall with Evie, to traveling through the moorland with Ravel, and facing down the Thousandfold. Clipstone takes us on a journey that feels like a Studio Ghibli film crossed with a horror movie. A gripping family legacy that makes you question everything that happens to Evie, is it fate that Evie and Ravel journey together or is it a curse? A curse that has Haunted Evie since before she was born.
      ― Cass W, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC | Buy from The Country Book Shop

  • Clipstone’s Unholy Terrors takes us to a Wuthering Heights-esque setting, wildly beautiful in its ruin, and drops us off with only the honey and ash prose we fell in love with in her Lake’s Edge duology to guard our hearts and souls against the monsters of truth and generational loyalty that howl in the Thousandfold. A beautiful and haunting read for fans of transforming girls and kissable monsters.
      ― Candice Conner from The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, AL | Buy from The Haunted Book Shop

  • Unholy Terrors is the perfect gothic romance fantasy for all your October spooky season needs. For fans of Crimson Peak and Labyrinth and every dark, haunted thing that deserves to be kissed and killed and brought back again. For the ghastly, and the horrifying, and still beautiful despite it all. Unholy Terrors is perfect, full stop.
      ― Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Lyndall Clipstone

Lyndall Clipstone writes about monsters and the girls who like to kiss them. A former youth librarian who grew up running wild in the Barossa Ranges of South Australia, she currently lives in Adelaide, where she tends her own indoor secret garden. She has a bachelors in creative writing and a graduate diploma in library and information management. She is the author of Lakesedge and Forestfall.

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The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

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The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
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The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic casts a spell! Can’t get enough witchy reads? Me neither! It has all the good things, family, true love, magic, and mystery. Get ready for spooky season with a great read.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall, (List Price: $18.99, Alcove Press, 9781639105731, September 2023)

Reviewed by Susan Williams, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina

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