Can’t-Wait Wednesday – August Reads
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.
With the first of the month having come and gone, it’s time to look ahead to the books I’m most excited about seeing on shelves next month.
The Shroud Of Hades by Andy McDermott
Thriller
July 31, 2025 by Headline
THE WORLD’S RICHEST MAN IS DEAD
HIS FINAL ACT: A BILLION DOLLAR BOUNTY ON THE PERSON HE BLAMES
ARCHAEOLOGIST NINA WILDE IS ABOUT TO HAVE A VERY BAD DAY
A global social media message from late trillionaire Rafael Loost makes Nina the most hunted person in history. She and her husband, former SAS soldier Eddie Chase, are forced on the run – with everyone they meet a potential assassin.
When a deadly old enemy of Eddie’s joins the pursuit, the couple realise their only hope of survival is a mysterious ancient artefact: the Shroud of Hades. But can they stay alive long enough to find it?
I love the Wilde & Chase adventures, the perfect mix of Indiana Jones, The Relic Hunter, and Romancing the Stone. McDermott pulls his McGuffins from mythologies and histories around the world, which elevates this series for me.
A Tale of Mirth & Magic by Kristen Vale
Romantasy
August 5, 2025 by Forever
A maker of magical jewelry finds her life turned upside down when she ends up on the run with a half-giant in this spicy and cozy fantasy romance—perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and The Spellshop.
Elikki may not have a family, but she has her fierce independence, boundless charm, and enough talent as a jewelry artisan to make a living on the road. Unfortunately for some, she also can’t yet manage to control her chaotic magic. . . and her temper. Sweet, soft Barra lives a quiet life with his mas and three sisters, managing the books for his family’s business. All he wants is to blend in and not make waves—a bit tricky, as a nearly eight-foot-tall purple half-giant.
When Elikki lands in hot water after dealing with a particularly rude customer, Barra finds himself helping her flee the constables. With a bounty on her back—and a severe crush forming on his end—they decide to travel together to the next town. So begins a journey filled with cozy inns, delicious meals, heaps of excellent sex, and a sprinkling of danger. As their adventures bring them closer together and the threat of capture rises they find themselves changing in surprising ways. He’s given up on finding love. She’s always refused to try. But traveling together, they may discover unexpected, powerful romance and stronger self-identities—if the bounty hunters don’t get them first.
Okay, first of all, look at that cover! Isn’t it gorgeous? Add in a fiercely independent woman and her sweet, soft love interest, and I’m sold!
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Horror
August 5, 2025 by Tor Nightfire
One woman’s deadly obsession with a haunted archival film precipitates her undoing in Black Flame, from the USA Today bestselling author of Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin.
A cursed film. A haunted past. A deadly secret.
The Baroness, an infamous exploitation film long thought destroyed by Nazi fire, is discovered fifty years later. When lonely archivist Ellen Kramer―deeply closeted and pathologically repressed―begins restoring the hedonistic movie, it unspools dark desires from deep within her.
As Ellen is consumed by visions and voices, she becomes convinced the movie is real, and is happening to her―and that frame by frame, she is unleashing its occult horrors on the world. Her life quickly begins to spiral out of control.
Until it all fades to black, and all that remains is a voice asking a question Ellen can’t answer but can’t get out of her mind.
Do you want it?
More than anything?
Yeah, this sounds weird . . . and dark . . . twisted . . . and deeply uncomfortable, but that is what Gretchen does so well.
The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford
Fantasy
August 12, 2025 by Orbit
The start of an edge-of-your-seat, action‑packed epic fantasy series from the irreverent Jackson Ford, where a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.
WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE . . . BUT OUR GIANT FIRE-BREATHING LIZARDS DID.
You don’t f*ck with the Rakada. The people living in the grasslands of the Tapestry call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their armour. But being a raider is tough these days. There’s a new Great Khan in the Tapestry. He plans to use his sizeable military to get rid of the raider clans. And then there are the huge fire-breathing lizards that are straying into the grasslands a little too often these days.
Sayana is a raider scout. She knows that to protect their way of life, she needs do something drastic. Like convincing her clan to ride those huge lizards, instead of horses. Sayana doesn’t know how to do it without being eaten and/or cooked alive, but she’d better figure it out fast – or she and her clan, along with every other raider in the Tapestry, will be wiped out.
Kick-ass women, huge fire-breathing lizards, and a warlord looking to end them? I am so down for this!
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Urban Fantasy
August 19, 2025 by Tor Books
In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders’s own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic.
A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.
Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.
Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.
Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.
Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.
I’ve loved Anders since her run on io9.com, discovering so many great reads through her eyes, but I’ve only read her short fiction, so this is a must-read for me.
The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand edited by Christopher Golden & Brian Keene
Science Fiction
August 19, 2025 by Gallery Books
An original short story anthology based on master storyteller Stephen King’s #1 New York Times bestselling classic The Stand!
Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King’s seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for television. Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel—generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters.
Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today’s greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand—brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with readers everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.
It’s stories set in the world of The Stand, selected by Golden & Keene, including authors like Poppy Z. Brite, Richard Chizmar, Jonathan Janz, Tim Lebbon, Hailey Piper, and Catherynne M. Valente. This sounds awesome.
House of Dusk by Deva Fagan
Romantasy
August 26, 2025 by Daw
A romantic epic fantasy featuring a fire-wielding nun grappling with her dark past and a young spy caught between her mission and a growing attraction to an enemy princess
With complex relationships, a rich and mythic world, and brisk pacing, this standalone novel is perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Samantha Shannon, and Shannon Chakraborty
Ten years ago, Sephre left behind her life as a war hero and took holy vows to seek redemption for her crimes, wielding the flames of the Phoenix to purify the dead. But as corpses rise, a long-dead god stirs, and shadowy serpents creep from the underworld, she has no choice but to draw on the very past she’s been trying so hard to forget.
Orphaned by the same war Sephre helped win, Yeneris has trained half her life to be the perfect spy, a blade slipped deep into the palace of her enemies. Undercover as bodyguard to Sinoe, a princess whose tears unleash prophecy, Yeneris is searching for the stolen bones of a saint. Her growing attraction to the princess, however, is proving dangerous, and Yeneris struggles to balance her feelings for Sinoe with her duty to her people.
As gods are reborn and spirits destroyed, the world trembles on the edge of a second cataclysm. Sephre must decide whether to be bound by her past or to forge a better future, even if it means renouncing her vows and accepting a new and terrible power. Meanwhile, when the real enemy makes their bid for power, Yeneris must find a way to remain true to her full self and save both her mission and her heart.
As dead gods rise and corruption creeps across the world, this sweeping standalone fantasy tale of forbidden sapphic love and dark betrayal will set your heart ablaze.
Okay, the Tasha Suri, Samantha Shannon, and Shannon Chakraborty comparison is great, but this won me over with a war hero nun, spies, the undead, dead gods, and sapphic love.
Lady Dragon by A.M. Strickland
Fantasy
August 26, 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina meets The Priory of the Orange Tree in Lady Dragon, a sapphic YA romantasy from A.M. Strickland.
The age of queens is over…unless they can save it.
Since the last war between humans and dragons left the leaders of both species slain – the last human king of Andrath and the legendary dragon queen – both queendoms have been living under a tentative truce: only women will sit on the throne of Andrath, the dragons will have free passage through the human lands…and if men ever try to retake the throne, the draconic realm will retaliate.
Samansa and Kirek are two new leaders coming of age in war-scarred lands – Samansa a reluctant human princess and Kirek the favored contender for the draconic queenship. Per tradition, Kirek must undergo the distasteful task of using a mysterious gem called the Heartstone to shift into human form and maintain the strained ties between the species . . . and study human weaknesses, a new and secret task she’s been given by her queen. As the princess and the dragon girl grow closer, they are sent to investigate a potential breach of the treaty and encounter a plot that could reignite an even bloodier war. While fighting to maintain the peace their ancestors fought for and uncovering centuries-old secrets, Samansa and Kirek must grapple with betraying their clashing nations . . . or their unexpected feelings for each other.
Sure, it’s YA romantasy, but it’s also sapphic romantasy, and anything that compares itself to The Priory of the Orange Tree is going to pique my interest,
