Books Publishing This Week
The morning arrives with a quiet kind of brightness, the kind that only early March can bring. The air is still crisp, but there’s something different about it now—a softness, a promise. Winter hasn’t fully let go, but spring is beginning to stir beneath the surface. When you step outside, the ground is damp with the remnants of last night’s rain, and the air carries the faintest scent of earth waking up. Somewhere in the distance, a bird sings, tentative but hopeful.
But you don’t linger outside for long. This is a morning made for slow, peaceful beginnings. You move through your routine with ease, filling the kettle and listening to the quiet hum as the water heats. The steam curls into the air as you pour the hot water over your tea, the scent of chamomile and honey wrapping around you like a gentle embrace.
You gather your essentials: a soft sweater, just warm enough for the lingering chill of the morning; a plush throw blanket to drape over your legs; and, most importantly, the book you’ve been waiting to start. It’s been sitting on your nightstand for days, its spine unbroken, its pages untouched. You’ve been saving it for a morning like this, when the world feels just slow enough for you to truly sink into a story.
The couch by the window calls to you, bathed in the gentle light of the morning sun. You settle in, tucking your legs beneath you, pulling the blanket close. The book feels solid in your hands, its cover cool against your fingertips. You run your fingers along the edges of the pages, savoring this moment—the anticipation, the quiet excitement of beginning something new.
With a deep breath, you open the book. The first words meet your eyes, and just like that, the rest of the world melts away. The rain-speckled window, the faint ticking of the clock, the occasional creak of the house—all of it fades into the background as you slip into the story.
The words unfold, pulling you in, each sentence a thread weaving a world around you. You can almost hear the voices of the characters, almost feel the places they inhabit. The plot moves forward, slowly at first, like the careful turning of a season. But soon, it picks up, and you find yourself leaning in, drawn deeper into its rhythm.
From time to time, you pause, taking small sips of your tea, letting the warmth spread through you. Outside, the light shifts, the morning stretching into something brighter, softer. You glance up for just a moment, watching as a breeze stirs the bare branches outside, shaking loose a few lingering raindrops. There’s a quiet beauty to it, the way March hovers between two worlds, not quite winter, not quite spring. It reminds you of the way a book can hold you in a moment outside of time, existing somewhere between reality and imagination.
You turn another page, the sound crisp and satisfying. The morning slips by unnoticed, wrapped in words and warmth, and you don’t mind in the slightest. This is exactly how a March morning should be—unhurried, filled with the quiet magic of a new book, a new beginning.
I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.
Books Publishing This Week: March 2 - 8
Braving the Workplace: Belonging at the Breaking Point by Dr. Beth Kaplan
Named one of the world’s leading experts in belonging, Dr. Beth Kaplan is sharing her insights on navigating the rapidly changing, modern workplace landscape. Her nonfiction book, Braving the Workplace: Belonging at the Breaking Point, combines groundbreaking research with engaging storytelling to offer a comprehensive guide for both employees and senior leaders to transform their work environments. Dr. Kaplan provides a clear, actionable framework to help individuals and organizations cultivate a sense of belonging at work while promoting mental health.
Ambush by Colleen Coble
The first book in the riveting Sanctuary Series from USA TODAY bestselling author Colleen Coble, where a young woman will do anything to uncover the truth of her parents' murder--even work alongside the man who once broke her heart. Perfect for fans of Allison Brennan and Dani Pettrey.
Paradise Alden's childhood in Nova Cambridge, Alabama, was idyllic until the night her parents were murdered. Since then, life has left her scarred. The abuse she suffered in the foster care system, her first love's betrayal, and the jaguar attack that nearly destroyed her career have led to an unshakable distrust--in men, in God, and maybe in even in herself.
After fifteen years, returning to her hometown is a last resort to finding her life again. She's hoping the wildlife refuge where she's accepted a veterinarian job will be the perfect place to heal from her recent traumas and unlock her memories about the night her parents died. But the day she arrives at The Sanctuary, a body is discovered on the grounds. And soon, a series of deadly events threatens not only her future, but the man who, despite all odds, still makes her pulse stutter. Arson, a shooting, a break-in, and multiple instances of animals being freed from their enclosures all point back to him, but Paradise knows Blake Lawson isn't responsible. Not the man who has been helping his mother manage The Sanctuary these past six months and care for his stepbrothers in the wake of their father's death . . . even if his betrayal years ago cost her everything.
Someone dangerous is lurking beneath the town's moss-draped trees, and Paradise refuses to let another murderer disappear into the shadows.
Colleen Coble's Ambush is just what her readers want--edge-of-your-seat suspense perfectly balanced with closed-door romance. The intricacies of a wild-animal sanctuary, sabotage, secrets that someone is willing to kill to keep hidden, and the resurrection of first love make this a compelling story you won't want to miss.
Also in The Sanctuary Series: Prowl (book #2, available November 2025) and Descent (book #3; available July 2026).
Available now from Colleen: Fragile Designs, and from Colleen Coble and Rick Acker: What We Hide and I Think I Was Murdered.
All include discussion questions that are perfect for book clubs.
Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam
Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie at her own award-winning clothing boutique, when suddenly her college best friend reenters her life. Derek Bui is offering a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago.
Derek has loved Zoe since freshman year but never had the guts to confess his true feelings. Now he’s directing the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college. The stakes are high: it’s the first production with an all-Asian cast and creative team at Washington, D.C.’s largest theatre and if they can make it work, they’ll head to Broadway. But his real goal: get Zoe back in his life.
A proud demisexual, Zoe only ever saw Derek as her best friend, but working on their dream production together brings them closer than ever. Sparks ignite under the hot spotlights. But when the theatre’s artistic director pressures Derek to make the musical “less Asian,” he and Zoe clash on whether to stay true to their vision or compromise to keep the production alive.
Will Zoe and Derek finally let love take center stage or will their creative differences close the curtains on them forever?
Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall
A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic.
In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget: the mother who left without a trace, the sisters from whom she feels increasingly distant, and most of all, the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.
But when an ancient evil awakens, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to the handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling the sizzling chemistry with a man she can’t trust, Calliope must confront painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to protect the town and all she loves. But will she have anything left of herself?
The Midwives' Escape: From Egypt to Jericho by Maggie Anton
Author Interview with Maggie Anton
After years of archaeological research and biblical studies, award-winning author Maggie Anton has created a historical novel filled with adventure, warfare, and romance, that is true to both Torah and to history.
The Bible contains many extraordinary stories of a sometimes benevolent, sometimes vengeful deity, who guides the Israelites out of slavery, across the Sea of Reeds and through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Maggie Anton's THE MIDWIVES ESCAPE: From Egypt to Jericho brings to life this exceptional Biblical journey through vivid descriptions of what daily life was like at this time, epic battlefield scenes and a colorful cast of characters.
An Egyptian mother and daughter, Asenet and Shifra, a midwife and her apprentice, wake up on the morning of the tenth plague to find Asenet's husband and son, both firstborns, dead. Asenet's sister Pua, married to an Israelite, urges Asenet's family to leave Egypt with them, which they reluctantly do, along with Asenet's wainwright father and his two apprentices. Recognizing that the Hebrew god is more powerful than any of the Egyptians' gods, other non-Israelites join the exodus, including Hittite and Nubian palace guards. Once hearing and accepting God's commandments at Mt. Sinai, these two Egyptian midwives join the Israelites on their forty-year journey to The Promised Land where they tend to the wounded, share hardship and adversity, fall in love, and start a new home and a new generation.
With THE MIDWIVES' ESCAPE, Anton has written an original and stunning recreation of the trials and tribulations on the road to the Promised Land.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
How do you find yourself after you lose the one you loved the most?
Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not.
Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Ever since cancer stole away her best friend, she has been completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with her best friend, and the ever-laminated “live again” list of things she’s promised to do to survive her grief. But maybe if she acts like she has it all together, no one will notice she’s falling apart.
The only gigs she can handle right now are temporary babysitting jobs, and she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. The only catch: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of. . . a walking version of the grumpy cat meme. Worse – he seems to be able to see right through her.
Surprisingly, Miles knows a lot about grief and he offers Lenny a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the void her best friend has left behind, but between late night ferry rides, midnight ramen, and a well-placed shoulder whenever she needs it, Miles just won’t stop showing up for her. Turns out, sometimes your life has to end to find your new beginning.
The Love Simulation by Etta Easton
Brianna Rogers has been told a time (or six) she needs to stop jumping into things head first. But when the principal rescinds his approval for a library upgrade, deciding to spend the money on a football field instead, she sees red. Literally. Brianna throws her hat in the ring and joins a team of teachers who will spend their summer in a Mars simulation. As the sister of an astronaut, this should be easy, right? What she didn’t count on was the last-minute addition to the team—Roman Major: science teacher, son of the principal, and too handsome for his own good.
Roman and Brianna have been hot and cold all year, and living in close quarters intensifies their animosity and attraction. Brianna is sure he’s been sent by his father to sabotage them, foiling their chance at prize money that will cover all of the school’s actual needs. But each day, Roman proves himself to be a dedicated teammate—and Brianna finds herself falling harder and harder. While it’s clear the feeling is mutual, she can’t shake the sense that he’s hiding something. As the simulation nears its end, Brianna realizes she may have to make an impossible choice, between the school she’s dedicated herself to, and the man who has won his way into her heart.
The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths
“A witty, charming, delight of a book!” —Evie Dunmore, USA TODAY bestselling author
A tart young woman and an arrogant lord collide in this flirty, sexy, and remarkably modern historical romance, perfect for fans of Bridgerton.
Anna didn’t intend to ride in a high-stakes horse race or start up a betting ring. She certainly didn’t mean to find herself in so many darkened corners with Lord Julian Ramsay, quarreling and kissing. But when her grandfather’s strange will stipulates that Anna must marry or she’ll be left broke, there’s nothing she won’t do to win her fight for independence. Even go head-to-head with Lord Ramsay, with her own heart as the prize.
Fans of the slow burn will devour this frenemies-to-lovers story perfect for fans of Sarah MacLean and Evie Dunmore.
Play, With Knives by Jeanette Horn
Edgar Cosentino can't stand lies. A talented painter, he's hired as the set designer for a struggling theater troupe touring the Midwest by train. Within its eccentric cast, he finds happiness in his budding relationship with actress Ava Vale, but Ava soon realizes his revulsion for lying has accidentally trapped her with a secret-- she's technically married. All the while, playwright Fallon Finn-Dorset watches this drama unfold and incorporates aspects into her plays. But strange things happen on the train-- the troupe is accompanied by a partly tame fox and a barman resembling Abraham Lincoln, and random elements of Fallon's writings magically come to life. Lies blur with truth, and fiction populates reality in ways that have dangerous consequences for Edgar, Ava, and others. Can their stories be rewritten to save the relationship as well as the future of the troupe? Play, With Knives is a highly inventive novel-- surreal and poetic, yet full of lighthearted humor-- about the morality of art, the subjectivity of truth and reality, and the magic of the written word.
Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar
From critically acclaimed author Shveta Thakrar comes a beautifully imagined contemporary fantasy about two teens, one a believer of magic who yearns to belong, the other a skeptic searching for an escape, who find themselves embroiled in a twisty world of court intrigue when they venture into a forest ruled by yakshas, mysterious woodland spirits drawn from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.
Plant-loving Ridhi Kapadia and popular Nilesh Batra were friends once.
Now, seventeen and alone, Ridhi blends natural perfumes, wears flower crowns, and wanders her local woods, listening for the leafy whispers of her beloved trees. Pleading for the yakshas to admit her into their enchanted forest kingdom, where she knows she truly belongs.
After learning his parents’ perfect marriage is a sham and getting suspended from school, a heartsick Nilesh lands at Ridhi’s doorstep—the last thing either of them wants. So when a pretty yakshini offers him the distraction of magic, the same magic he mocked Ridhi for believing in, he jumps at it.
Furious, Ridhi strikes a bargain with a noblewoman named Sulochana. In exchange for helping restore her reputation, Sulochana will turn Ridhi into the yakshini she yearns to be—and teach her to divine the trees’ murmurs.
But when Nilesh ends up trapped in the yakshas’ realm, Ridhi realizes the leaves might be telling a disturbing story about the forest her heart is rooted in—one that, even if the two of them band together, threatens to shred the future like so many thorns.
The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig
Author Interview with Lauren Willig
Based on the true story of a famous trial, this novel is Law and Order: 1800, as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr investigate the shocking murder of a young woman who everyone—and no one—seemed to know.
At the start of a new century, a shocking murder transfixes Manhattan, forcing bitter rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr to work together to save a man from the gallows.
Just before Christmas 1799, Elma Sands slips out of her Quaker cousin’s boarding house—and doesn’t come home. Has she eloped? Run away? No one knows—until her body appears in the Manhattan Well.
Her family insists they know who killed her. Handbills circulate around the city accusing a carpenter named Levi Weeks of seducing and murdering Elma.
But privately, quietly, Levi’s wealthy brother calls in a special favor….
Aaron Burr’s legal practice can’t finance both his expensive tastes and his ambition to win the 1800 New York elections. To defend Levi Weeks is a double win: a hefty fee plus a chance to grab headlines.
Alexander Hamilton has his own political aspirations; he isn’t going to let Burr monopolize the public’s attention. If Burr is defending Levi Weeks, then Hamilton will too. As the trial and the election draw near, Burr and Hamilton race against time to save a man’s life—and destroy each other.
Part murder mystery, part thriller, part true crime, The Girl From Greenwich Street revisits a dark corner of history—with a surprising twist ending that reveals the true story of the woman at the center of the tale.
It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time by Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on television—legendarily bad productions.
Some of his work lives in infamy—The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. How did these ever seem like a good idea?
Well, everyone has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been.
And it explains to the person in the audience who says to himself, once he has gotten his jaw off the floor, “’How did this ever get made?”
Don’t we all want to know?
Dead Man's List by Karen Rose
On a long-anticipated second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves—right as things are getting steamy—Kit stumbles across the mutilated body of a local San Diego politician. The man was loved by many of his constituents but is hated and reviled by many more. That the suspect list is long surprises no one, but exactly who ends up on it stuns Kit and her team.
As the SDPD reveal the victim’s sinister dealings, Kit and Sam are forced to navigate the closely guarded world of the city’s richest and most powerful citizens to find answers. But time is rapidly running out, with their sources of information dropping like flies as the killer methodically eliminates loose ends—and anyone else who stands in the way.
Protecting Jess by Karna Small Bodman
In the Shadows of Brazil, Where Wealth and Crime Collide, Unfolds a Gripping Tale of Intrigue and Survival
White House economist Jessica Tanner is a rising star—young, brilliant, and beautiful. When her boss falls ill, she is sent to Brazil on his behalf to speak at an international conference. What begins as a glamorous work trip, with visions of sun-drenched beaches, quickly spirals into a nightmare of danger and intrigue.
Assigned to accompany her is Bill Black, a stoic State Department official tasked with keeping her out of trouble. However, Bill is hiding a secret—he's a CIA agent with a long history in Brazil where his very life is in jeopardy. A year earlier, Black was part of a covert operation to intercept a massive drug shipment in Brazil. When the operation went awry, the drug kingpin’s brother was killed, and Bill was blamed. Now, the kingpin is hunting for revenge. Bill knows that returning to Brazil could cost him everything—but with a powerful enemy closing in, he must protect Jess while staying one step ahead of those who want him dead.
Protecting Jess is a gripping thriller of political intrigue, danger, and high-stakes diplomacy—written by a national security insider who knows the world of espionage and betrayal like no one else.
The Middleman by Mike Papantonio
The Middleman is an epic drama of whistleblowers, murder, thrills, and legal combat—torn out of today’s headlines.
Nicholas “Deke” Deketomis and his law firm take on America’s Big Pharma when Deke’s college pal, Matt Redmond, presents him with a case of possible fraud involving EirePharma, the Redmond family business and a powerful Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). PBMs serve as the “middlemen” between drug manufacturers and insurance companies, working in cryptic ways to determine not only the cost of drugs but also placing them on insurers’ preferred formularies. EirePharma was recently taken over by the charismatic CEO, Connor Devlin, who has a Rasputin-like influence over Matt’s cousin, Amy, the company’s current president. Devlin may be utilizing racketeering practices—and perhaps murder—to raise the prices of insulin and other drugs for his own profit and to the detriment of consumers.
Amy, who at first was in love with Devlin, decides—at great peril—to become her company’s whistleblower and provide evidence to Deke and his team. When key witnesses and even Redmond family members meet mysterious and violent deaths, Amy finds herself a pawn caught in the center of a frightening and deadly game of wills between a formidable gangster, who in the eyes of the public is a respected businessman, and a law firm that is determined to investigate and uncover the Middleman’s crimes.
In the tradition of Suspicious Activity and Inhuman Trafficking, Mike Papantonio takes Deke and his cohorts on a new and different kind of legal gamble in The Middleman, which is chock full of the action and thrills for which he is known.
The Memory Ward by Jon Bassoff
From critically acclaimed author Jon Bassoff, The Memory Ward is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man’s attempt to discover what’s real and what isn’t …
They say it’s always beautiful in Bethlam, Nevada. No place you’d rather live. The people are friendly, if a little nosy, and there’s no crime to speak of. Life is pretty perfect.
But postal worker Hank Davies has started to suspect something is off in this idyllic little town. And he’s certain of that when he realizes the letters he’s been delivering are just blank pages.
Hank isn’t the only one who’s noticed the oddities in Bethlam. One such person knocks on his window in the middle of the night, urging him to investigate his bedroom wall. When Hank pulls back the wallpaper, he discovers dozens of sheets of paper, full of a story that is either complete madness or unbelievable truth. As he begins looking beyond the veneer of his smiling neighbors and their white picket fences, Hank is drawn further and further into a disturbing new reality …
Told in Bassoff’s lyrical and evocative style, The Memory Ward is a disquieting page-turner that examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.
American Fever by Dur e Aziz Amna
On a year-long exchange program in rural Oregon, a Pakistani student, sixteen-year-old Hira, must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and try to understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama. A skeptically witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. The experience is memorable for reasons both good and bad; a first kiss, new friends, racism, Islamophobia, homesickness. Along the way Hira starts to feel increasingly unwell until she begins coughing up blood, and receives a diagnosis of tuberculosis, pushing her into quarantine and turning her newly established home away from home upside down.
American Fever is a compelling and laugh-out-loud funny novel about adolescence, family, otherness, religion, the push-and-pull of home. It marks the entrance on the international literary scene of the brilliant fresh voice of Dur e Aziz Amna.
