August is one of the hottest months of the year and this month’s selection of new release books may be even hotter!
There are some real heavy hitters coming out with thrillers this month. New books from Alice Feeney and Karin Slaughter are sure to be highlights and there’s even a book sequel to a famous film with writing from Meg Gardiner. This genre never disappoints me and this month looks to be no different.
Some excellent cozy mysteries this month as well. A new Chet & Bernie book is always a treat and a new Meg Langslow looks to be another winner. We also have a new series about a pair of older women who can’t get along and solve mysteries. That is right up my alley.
I’m also really interested in checking out The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. The premise is incredible with people who can eat books to gain their knowledge, but with a dark twist that really has me intrigued. There’s also The Devil Take s You Home which looks incredibly dark in all the right ways.
There is some excellent fantasy and science fiction coming out this month as well. The Women Could Fly looks to be one of my must-reads of the month as it is giving me some real Octavia E. Butler vibes. There is also The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez, an epic fantasy that looks especially epic.
Some excellent romance novels this month with a new STEMinist rom-com from Ali Hazelwood, paranormal romance for Gena Showalter, and the sequel to Boyfriend Material all looking like great reads.
A lot to get to this month. Let’s take a look at the best upcoming books for August 2022.
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: August 2022
A Colorful Scheme by Krista Davis: This will be the fourth entry in the Pen & Ink series. The story follows a coloring-book creator named Florrie as she is attending the wedding of her boss and a famous romance author. The wedding is filled with people from the literary world and they bring plenty of drama with them. One of them, Arthur Bedlingham, is upset about a bad review from another guest at the party. When his assistant turns up dead it leads Florrie to try and sort through the drama and find out whodunit.
Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews: The latest in the Meg Langslow series sees Meg’s nephew Kevin coming to her in need of some help. He’s been working as the tech guy for a true crime podcast and believes that the podcast has made someone mad enough to kill. Kevin is a tech wiz, but he can’t find out who is behing this without the real world skills that Meg has.
Peg and Rose Solve a Murder by Laurien Berenson: This brand new series looks like a lot of fun as it has a little bit of The Odd Couple and a little bit of Murder, She Wrote. A great combination if you ask me. Rose and her sister-in-law are as opposite as can be, but they are trying to work together when they join the local bridge club. They get their first win, but then one of the club’s better players is killed. The two are looked at with some suspicion so they decide to do some investigating of their own.
Double Trouble by Diana Orgain: The Maternal Instincts Mystery series continues here. Kate is the mother of two new twins that keep her plenty busy, but she adds to her plate by launching her own female detective agency.
Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn: I love this mystery series because I love dogs so I’m definitely ready for the next one. Chet and his human partner Bernie meet up with Rocket, a struggling man with a cardboard sign by the highway, who turns out to be one of Bernie’s former high school baseball teammates. They try to help him out, but not long after he goes missing. In order to find him and find out why, Bernie goes back to his old school for answers. He soon finds he’s on the right track as there are some very powerful people who don’t like the question that he’s asking.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: August 2022
The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings: Fourteen years have passed since Josephine Thomas’ mother disappeared and she’s heard every theory about what happened to her, but found no answers. Jo is ready to let go of the past while her future is in doubt. In this world, the State mandates that all women must marry by the age of thirty or enroll in a registry that gives up their autonomy. She’s twenty-eight and not sure about marriage, but the ability to control her own life is on the line and it has made her understand her mother more. A final request from her mother’s will leads Jo to leave her regular life in order to feel one last connection to her lost mother.
The First Binding by R.R. Virdi: This will be the first book in a new fantasy series known as the Tales of Tremaine. The first book will be the story of Ari and how they let loose the first evil. The storyteller and singer goes on the run in hopes of finding obscurity, but the past will always catch up with you.
Hell of Hosanna by Kip Langton: James’ father, Fep English, has managed to monopolize all forms of industry into one perfect company called U. Ownership is a thing of the past in this world and anyone can have anything, temporarily. James finds this lifestyle to be a total hell and he holds dreams of becoming something more. He gets the opportunity to break away, on a U space shuttle, to the unknown reaches of space where he hopes to find real freedom.
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez: The Moon Throne has controlled this place for centuries as the people have suffered beneath them. The royal family is made up of an emperor and his three sons, known as the Three Terrors. They control the land with powers they took from a god they have locked in their palace, but the god won’t be contained forever. The god manages to escape her royal captivity with help from Jun, a guard, and Keema. The Three Terrors are her own children, but she must flee from them. She will escape with her rescuers and embark on a search for freedom and a way to end the Moon Throne.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: August 2022
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean: There is a secret group of people on the Yorkshire Moors who eat books for food, absorbing the content of them as they eat. As a child, Devon’s brothers were given stories of valor and adventure to eat. While she and the other women were given fairy tales and cautionary tales. Now, Devon has a child of her own, but he’s not like the rest of them. He was born with a darker kind of hunger where he doesn’t want to eat books, he wants to eat human minds.
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias: Mario is really struggling with debt from his daughter’s illness and his marriage on the brink, and ends up taking work as a hitman for money. He’s surprised to find how good he is at it. Tragedy strikes and destroys the life he knew which leads Mario to taking a job to hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. It’s a suicidal mission, but nothing can prepare him for the nightmares that await.
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste: This unique historical horror novel follows Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s victims, and Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s attic-bound wife from Jane Eyre, as they team up to go against the toxic men that made their lives hell.
Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer: Amy and her group of mom friends, Liz, Jess, and Melissa, live in the suburbs and make the decision to put together a clubhouse known as the She Shed in Liz’s backyard. It’s going to be a place just for them, away from kids and spouses. On the night they go to christen the She Shed, things begin to go wrong as they end up releasing a demonic force into their cul-de-sac and Liz ends up possessed. The remaining women will do their best to fight the evil spirit and save the neighborhood.
Anybody Home? by Michael J. Seidlinger: There is nothing scarier than a home invasion and Seidlinger is exactly the type of author who can take that to the next level.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: August 2022
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney: This should be a good one as the “Queen of Twists” releases a new book. The story sees a woman named Daisy Darker attending her Nana’s 80th birthday party on a tiny island. The family had been avoiding each other for years, but they now get together for this event. They all have secrets and at the stroke of midnight, Nana is found dead. An hour later, another family member dies. Someone is killing the Darkers one by one and they’ll need to find a way to work together if they want to stop it.
All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers: When Margot Davies was six years old, tragedy rocked her town as a girl named January Jacobs was found in a ditch and the crime went unsolved. Margot remembers the story well as they were next door neighbors, but she has long since moved away. She now works as a journalist, but she’s never forgotten the case and the feeling that it could’ve been her. Margot returns home to see not much has changed. Then a young girl goes missing under eerily similar circumstances. Now, Margot believes there is a connection between the two that nobody else wants to talk about. She’ll set out to find the girl and find out what really happened twenty years ago.
Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner: Heat is one of my favorite movies. Val Kilmer, Robert DeNiro, and Al Pacino, are you freakin’ kidding me? So good! Well, we’re finally getting a sequel to that classic movie. In book form. Yes, please!
Overkill by Sandra Brown: This isn’t my usual fare, but the description of this one is just too good to pass up. A former football player’s life changes when his ex-wife is attacked and ends up on life support. Despite their separation, he holds power-of-attorney and her life in his hands. Rebecca’s attacker, Eban, only spends four years in prison as he gets an early release. The prosecutor, Kate Leon, wants to get him back behind bars, but there is not much she can do while his ex-wife is still on life support. It’s a terrible position to be put in and Eban knows it, putting the both of them in his sights.
Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter: In 1982, Emily Vaughn is getting ready for her prom, but she doesn’t know that it will be her last night alive. Forty years later, the murder remains unsolved and everyone seems to have moved on. Now, a US Marshall will come to town and change all of that. Andrea’s official assignment is to protect a judge, but she has an ulterior motive: to find just for Emily.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: August 2022
Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey: Sandy always thought she would end up happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank. They both had dreams of leaving town together, but things happened and Sandy stayed while Hank went to Boston. Fifteen years later, Sandy has made a nice life for herself and everything is going well for her. Then Hank, now a famous country singer, comes to town with his son. Seeing him reminds her of what she lost and when the two are teamed up to organize the town’s street festival, they realize they may get a second chance at it.
Ruthless by Gena Showalter: This book will continue the Immortal Enemies series of paranormal romance. Micah the Unwilling is the fae King of the Forgotten who can tame any beast. He is ready for war, disciplined and focused, but then Viori de Aoibheall walks into his camp. She has the power to sing monsters to life and the monsters were the only friends she’s ever known. She is unprepared for Micah, but can’t deny the fierce connection between them. However, things are complicated as her brother is Micah’s greatest foe and she must stop him.
The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon: London Kelly is a busy pediatric surgeon who needs to find balance in her life and she some stress. Her friends believe the best way to do so would be with a casual hookup. She ends up taking their advice, but didn’t expect it to be with her arch nemesis Drew at her high school reunion. Things get complicated when she finds out Drew is in town to decide whether or not to close her hospital while he’s also trying to make their relationship last more than one night.
Husband Material by Alexis Hall: This is the sequel to Boyfriend Material which was a fake dating smash hit. This book picks up after the events of that book as Luc is feeling pressure to take their relationship to the next level.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood: I really like the niche Ali Hazelwood has carved out for herself, writing STEMinist romantic comedy novels. This latest looks like another winner with a pair of enemies teamed up on a neuroengineering project. Levi made his feelings about Bee Königswasser known in grad school, but now he’s starting to soften when they are teamed up as co-leads on the project. They work well together and are really doing great work, but will Bee let it become something more?
I sure am going to be busy this month with all of this reading! What are you most looking forward to? Let me know what you’ll be reading in the comments below.
