Top 5 anticipated books of Q1 2025

Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen.

High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.

But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin… and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.

Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart — and at the center of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything Ivy knows.

Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758.

For Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of one of Saint-Malo’s wealthiest ship-owners, the high walls of the city are more hindrance than haven. While her sisters are interested in securing advantageous marriages, Luce dreams of escaping her elegant but stifling home and joining a ship’s crew. Only Samuel — Luce’s best friend and an English smuggler — understands her longing for the sea, secretly teaching her to sail whenever she can sneak away. For Luce, the stolen time on the water with Samuel is precious.

One stormy morning, Luce’s plans are blown off course when she rescues Morgan de Chatelaine, the youngest son of the most powerful ship-owner in Saint-Malo, from the sea. Immediately drawn to his charm and sense of adventure, she longs to attend the glittering ball held in honor of his safe return and begins to contemplate a different kind of future for herself.

But it is not only Luce’s hopes at stake — the local fae are leaving Brittany and taking their magic with them, while the long-standing war with the English means Saint-Malo is always at risk of attack. As Luce is plunged into a world of magic, brutality, and seduction, secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface. The truth of her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.

Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.

They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.

Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul ― and survival ― is tethered to hers.

The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:

1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life ― before they find her first.
2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.
3. Try not to fall in love.

Eighteen-year-old Cass Isaac is the queen of ghosting. She’s had to move a lot due to her dads’ house-flipping business — always a different school, a new friend group. She’s learned that there’s no need for drawn-out-goodbyes with people you’ll lose touch with anyway. Which makes Grad Nite at Disneyland the perfect way to finish up high school, and have a magical last night with her bestie, Bryony.

But amid the roller coaster rides and Cars Land dance party, the night turns into one big disaster. When she meets cute British bassist Freddie Patel, she accidentally ruins his big break. Worse still? Cass gets in a major fight with Bryony. And instead of being able to make a quick exit, she’s thrown for a literal time loop. Forced to relive the most dramatic night of her life, Cass will have to find a way to make set things right… or be stuck at Grad Nite forever.