“You made a bargain...Your soul for his—and now, you are mine.”In New Orleans, one rule stands above the rest: never cross the Gage crime family. Their word is law. Their enemies disappear. And their prince—lethal, beautiful, and utterly inhuman—does not grant mercy.Cate Holloway has spent her life avoiding them—until her brother makes a mistake that cannot be undone. Now, to save him, she must face Lachlan Gage, the dark prince of the city's underworld. But Lachlan doesn’t deal in money or favors. He deals in souls.Bound by a bargain she never wanted, Cate is dragged into a world she never should have seen—where shadows whisper secrets, fae courts plot in the dark, and her captor is far more than just a crime lord. With only thirty days to break the curse that binds her, Cate has two choices: outwit the ruthless fae who holds her fate… or surrender to the dangerous temptation he offers.Because if she fails, she won’t just lose her soul. She’ll lose her heart—to the one being she swore to hate.The Filthy Rich Fae series is best enjoyed in order.Reading Order:Book #1 Filthy Rich FaeBook #2 Fallen Court

Filthy Rich Fae (Filthy Rich Fae, 1)

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERDon't miss out on the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run in the U.S. and Canada only, a must-have for any book lover.Fans of Crescent City and Scarlett St. Clair will be swept into a world of ruthless fae, forbidden romance, and treacherous bargains in this spellbinding fantasy romance.One fae prince. One deadly bargain. And a mortal caught between desire and damnation.Cate thought she knew darkness. As a trauma nurse, she had witnessed the worst of humanity. But nothing―not the blood, the violence, or the despair―could have prepared her for the fae underworld. A realm where beauty is a weapon, desire is a trap, and mortals who stray too far don’t return.She almost didn’t.Until Lachlan Gage―shadowed, ruthless, and feared even among his own kind―bound her to him with a deadly bargain. As the prince of New Orleans and ruler of the Nether Court, he is as much a curse as he is salvation. And with the Wild Hunt at his heels and war stirring between the fae courts, even his protection may not be enough to save her.Because Cate is more than just his reluctant mortal. She is wanted. Coveted. And the prince of the Hallow Court will do anything to claim her.But something ancient is rising in the dark, warping fae magic into something unnatural and cruel. It has nothing to do with Cate’s past―or so she tells herself. Even though the ring left behind by her mother whispers otherwise.There is only one thing more dangerous than the fae who would kill for her.The fae who would die for her.And Lachlan Gage has never been one to lose.The Filthy Rich Fae series is best enjoyed in order.Reading Order:Book #1 Filthy Rich FaeBook #2 Fallen Court

Filthy Rich Fae: Fallen Court (Filthy Rich Fae, 2)

She knows the taste of death. He’ll stoke her hunger for it. Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land—and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder.   Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra—because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant…   A dazzling Ancient Rome-inspired romantasy debut, This Monster of Mine is a bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love.

This Monster of Mine

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this lighthearted romantic fantasy reimagining of a Korean legend.Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime―a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light―a power she has kept hidden since childhood―and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from―and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he―and a hundred other swords-for-hire―is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts―and destinies―are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined...Praise for The Floating World:"The Floating World has everything I love in a fantasy story: A grand adventure that perfectly balances romance and humor, set in a uniquely magical world. … An enthralling read to the very last page." ―Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison"Axie Oh has crafted an exquisite tale filled with mythology, heart, romance and magic, set in a remarkable and intricate world that enthralled me. … Am already excited for the sequel!" ―Sue Lynn Tan, New York Times-bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon GoddessAlso by Axie OhThe Girl Who Fell Beneath the SeaThe Demon and the Light

The Floating World

From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic. "A Gentleman's Gentleman is a thoroughly charming confection of a romance. If you're looking for a tender, gentle slow burn, this is the book for you." --Cat Sebastian, author of We Could Be So GoodThe notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a "man of unusual make" and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father's will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff. Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsome--if rigidly traditional--valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher's impending nuptials--and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

A Gentleman's Gentleman

From the author of Oprah's Book Club pick and New York Times bestseller Nightcrawling, here is an astonishing new novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle.Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone’s red truck.The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.Full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of these friends’ secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big confirms Leila Mottley’s promise and offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman.

The Girls Who Grew Big: A Novel

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.This is a story about hunger.1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets. This is a story about love.1827. London.A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.This is a story about rage.2019. Boston.College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.This is a story about life—how it ends, and how it starts.USA Today, 15 Most Anticipated of 2025BookBub, Most Anticipated of 2025 (and Reader’s Pick)Readers Digest, 20 Most Anticipated Books This YearPaste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025BookRiot, Most Anticipated Books of 2025Men's Health, 25 Best & Most Anticipated Books of 2025The Nerd Daily, SFF to Devour in 2025Goodreads, Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2025At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

“A dark and endlessly enchanting fairy tale…. I adored every page.”―#1 New York Times bestselling author Ava ReidThe Maiden and Her Monster is a gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance―perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten, and Naomi Novik.The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark.As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the wood’s curse has plagued her village, but the Ozmini Church only comes to collect its tithe, not to protect heretics with false stories of monsters in the trees. So when a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes an impossible bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings the monster out, he will spare her mother from execution.When she ventures into the shadowed woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only if Malka helps her fulfill a promise first and free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save―and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.

The Maiden and Her Monster

Nat Cassidy, author of the acclaimed horror Mary, returns with When the Wolf Comes Home, an unabashed, adrenaline-fueled pop horror thriller where the darkest fears can become reality.. “This is the kind of great, big, epic horror novel we got back in the '80s that came out swinging for the fences and left everything on the field. Welcome back, you shaggy, bloody monster of a book!”―Grady Hendrix. "The Stephen King of TikTok"―The Lineup. One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.. As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, Jess slowly comes to a horrifying understanding of the butchery that follows them―the boy can turn his every fear into reality.. And when the wolf finally comes home, no one will be spared.. Other Books by Nat CassidyMary, an Awakening of TerrorNestlings

When the Wolf Comes Home

In a broken system, do you save yourself or fight for the people you love?

With the godspower waning, the queen of Ashvi has had to find another way to bolster her fight against her imperialist oppressors. The solution: wrenching children of other cultures from their homes and conscripting them into service.

Hammer was one of those children. Now, she’s a jaded soldier waging Ashvi’s perpetual war, thinking only of her own survival. But when she accidentally rescues Viridian, a child with rare and potentially devastating powers, her priorities shift. The girl appears to be the answer to the queen’s prayers—the perfect weapon to restore her kingdom’s ancient borders, even if the colonized cities they reconquer don’t want her version of liberation. Can Hammer protect Viridian from the system that broke her . . . before the girl’s power is unleashed on the world?

Cry, Voidbringer is a gripping saga of how far one will go for freedom and control—and how easily it can all be taken away.

Cry, Voidbringer

Orange Wine

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Not So Well Read

Genre-focused indie bookstore owner with the personality of a border collie and the tastes of a victorian ghost.

Courtney Ulrich Smith

During this phase, we're reviewing manuscripts and deciding which book we want to publish. At the end of this phase, we offer an author a book deal.

Consideration

As the manuscript goes through several phases of editorial work, the cover and interior design takes place, while format decisions about paper stocks and printing treatments are made.

Editorial & Design

While the books are on press, the pre-order links go live and the marketing campaign ramps up with waves of review copy mailings to media and influencers.

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Courtney

I’m a genre-obsessed reader who has made books my entire life–literally, I own a independent bookstore and founded a non-profit book festival in my hometown. I believe that reading is meant to be fun and so there’s no such thing as a “guilty” pleasure read. I’m here to help folks find their next favorite book sans stigmas, expectations, or required reading.
