Can't-Wait Wednesday: Mother of Night by James Bennett

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Mother of Night: A Medieval Horror Novel by James Bennett
Expected publication: March 23, 2027 by Evil Twin

After being stranded in the remote Alps of Europe, a shipwrecked crew of knights are stalked by both human and monstrous threats in this medieval horror that’s perfect for fans of The Terror and Between Two Fires.

There are strange things in the mountains, my lord. Things older and darker than our Christian God. And hungrier.

1192 AD: Jean is a teller of tales meant to bring sense to a world emerging from the darkest of ages steeped in religious conflict. His weary companions are survivors of both miracles and massacres, weighed down by the secrets of their past, and desperate to return to England. When they are shipwrecked on unforgiving shores, the group begins the dangerous trek home and are hunted; both by vengeful men, and something primal and deadly—something not meant to walk in this world.

As the band of men fall victim one by one, Jean wrestles with suspicion of an unknown threat. His love for his master has already survived a journey of many years and miles; now it will see them both through the dangers ahead. For if they do not make it home a legendary king will fall, a priceless relic will be destroyed, and Jean will lose the person who holds his heart in his keeping. And for his master, Jean would walk into hell itself.

Soon, in the cold and dizzying heights of an isolated mountain road, these mortal men will discover that heroes are merely human, and monsters are very real.

 

This just sounds SO good! Medieval horror, stranded in the Alps and this sentence of the description is excellent: "There are strange things in the mountains, my lord. Things older and darker than our Christian God. And hungrier."

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Gorgon's Guide to Getting a Life by Ellen Meny

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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A Gorgon's Guide to Getting a Life by Ellen Meny
Expected publication: May 11, 2027 by Ace

Sometimes your sisters won’t talk to you. And sometimes a goddess gives you snakes for hair and a lethal stare. And sometimes the only way you can face your demons is by leaving the cave you call home. . . even if the outside world is filled with idiots. Just another day in the life of a gorgon.

Fifteen years after Athena turned them into gorgons, Medusa and her sisters’ relationship has gone from inseparable to impossible. Euryale is annoyingly perfect, and Stheno has disappeared. Guilt-ridden and traumatized by the past, Medusa spends her days hiding in her cave, enduring patronizing visits from Eury, slamming a bottle of ouzo (or six), and turning wannabe heroes into stone. Fun!

But when some kid named Perseus tries to behead her to save his mother from a wicked king, Medusa sees an opportunity: take Perseus under her wing (literally), rescue his mother, and finally prove to her sister that she definitely has her life together. But the journey across Ancient Greece quickly brings fresh horrors: screeching, topless harpies hound their every move, a hot demigod keeps trying to kill her (or worse, date her), and Medusa’s newfound crew wants to…be friends. Ugh.

This gorgon’s got a decision to make: go back to her safe, sad life or finally take off the bedazzled sunglasses and face not only gods and monsters, but her worst enemy yet – herself.

I first came across this book on a post by Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy. And of course I had to put it on my wishlist right away. Greek mythology, Medusa + it sounds hilarious. I can't wait to read it!

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas
Expected publication: October 27, 2026 by Bloomsbury Publishing

What was broken will be remade.

Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he's been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories, attracting powerful allies hell-bent on reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands.

The Night Court will not stand idly by while innocents are attacked. But with Prythian still piecing itself together in the wake of the devastating Hybern War, the task of uniting is proving more difficult by the day.

To make matters worse, those who rule and protect the Night Court are reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths. The rifts dividing them seem insurmountable.

But to defeat Koschei's creeping shadow, they must find a way back to each other and resurrect their former alliances. To survive, they must find a way to repair the splintered harmony all around them.

I think it's needless to say that I'm really looking forward to this book (also equally scared). And I can't believe the previous book was released back in 2021. It's been a hot minute!

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace
Expected publication: September 22, 2026 by Gollancz

Aurelie Chantelune was born to serve. Raised as a knight in a kingdom ravaged by demons, she's spent her life honing her blade, driven by the memory of the monsters who tore her family apart and by the knowledge that she's one of the few who can stop them.

If Aurelie can claim her first kill, she'll inherit a legacy passed down through the Chantelune bloodline: a soulbond with Yuriel, an angel whose power is vital to her kingdom's survival. But when those she loves begin turning into the very monsters she's sworn to destroy, Aurelie is forced to seek help from the last place she ever imagined. Desperate, she forges a second and far more dangerous bond with Severin, a demon she can hardly trust, but who claims to know how to end the war for good.

With their lives and fates entwined, Aurelie, Yuriel, and Severin must team up to hunt down a cure capable of turning demons back into humans. But the more they learn about one another and the deeper their relationships grow, the more Aurelie begins to question the war and her place in it. With both of her bonded on opposing sides, she'll have to make a choice: continue to stand with the angels, or risk everything by trusting a demon.

I saw this book last week on Lindsey Reads and was immedately obsessed. The cover, the synopsis... it sounds SO good!!

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy
Expected publication: September 22, 2026 by Avon

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Plated Prisoner series comes the first book in an alluring and addictive romantasy duology set in a world of fae and dark magic, loosely inspired by the legend of the Pied Piper.

It’s time to pay the Piper.

Our world cracked open like an egg. Power burst out, and with it, nine monstrous Banes ready to destroy everything. The powerful Core fae finally slayed them all, but each Bane left a Plague to punish us.

But that’s not the only thing they left behind.

I’m half Bane, half fae, and wholly hated. Survival means enduring every vicious glare and cursed outbreak. Until one day, a Plague descends upon my city that means certain death.

Then he comes. The Pied Piper.

He rids my city of the Plague, but it comes at a cost. One hundred and thirty people are taken as payment. Including me.

I don’t know what he’s going to do to us, but I know I have to get home. My family’s lives depend on it. But the Piper won’t let me go, and something wicked stirs between us. The sweet scent in my veins beckons him, while the seductive lure of his magic sinks under my skin.

I have to escape before it’s too late. Because if I don’t, it’s not just my heart at risk…

But the entire world.

Note: Pied Piper reimagined. This dark fantasy is full of romance and secrets, with mature themes and explicit scenes only suitable for adults. This is book one of a duology.

I love the idea of a dark Pied Piper romantasy retelling and this one sounds really good! The tropes are:

Forced Proximity
Captive Romance
"Who hurt you?"
Only one bed... and horse...and tent!
So. much. banter!

What book are you awaiting today?

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Down Where Monsters Dwell by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Down Where Monsters Dwell by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Expected publiscation: March 9, 2027 by Tor Nightfire

From Hildur Knútsdóttir comes Down Where Monsters Dwell, a dark, historical fairytale steeped in Icelandic folklore about the powerful bond between mothers and daughters, and how quickly fear can lead to violence; perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Brom, and Victor LaValle.

In the isolated fjords of Iceland, a young woman named Halla rescues a baby girl, abandoned by her parents who fear she’s a changeling. Halla doesn’t believe in such nonsense and decides to take her home.

And she’s right – the child, Æsa, is not a changeling. But she’s not exactly human either. As she grows up, terrifying rumors of a violent woman with a monster’s face begin to spread through the fjord’s other farmsteads.

Human or not, Halla knows her daughter isn’t a monster. She must do whatever she can to protect Æsa because she knows: scared people can do terrible things.

The synopsis had me at "a dark, historical fairytale steeped in Icelandic folklore". It sounds right up my alley and I can't wait to read it!

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Haunting of Lady Death by Maddie Martinez

 
Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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The Haunting of Lady Death by Maddie Martinez
Expected publication: February 9, 2027 by Tor Books

From bestselling author Maddie Martinez comes a deliciously dark sapphic retelling of The Phantom of the Opera drenched in Polish folklore–perfect for fans of Ava Reid, Catherynne M. Valente, and S.T. Gibson.

A tale of obsession and desire…

The city of Larzeg glitters as bright as its famous Nectar Performance House, where violinist Kasia has worked her fingers to the bone to chase one dream: becoming Perła, the theater’s prestigious concertmaster. When the current Perła mysteriously dies during a performance, Kasia refuses to be distracted by whispers of a phantom in the theater’s wings. All she sees is her chance to replace the fallen star—until the orchestra director refuses her an audition because of her Azjarian heritage.

Devastated, Kasia is desperate enough to strike a bargain with the phantom of the theater—revealed to be Death herself. Behind her dark veil, Lady Death is prepared to help Kasia in her quest to become Perła, if Kasia becomes her companion. But one cannot be companion to Lady Death without bearing her mark, and soon Kasia discovers that her music is entrancing, capable of bending the audience to her will.

This alluring new gift thrusts Kasia into the spotlight, but also into the city’s highest circles of power, where influential men seek to control her, Lady Death’s demands grow increasingly dangerous, and Kasia finds herself falling further into the thrall of a master who promises her everything… as long as Death can call Kasia hers.

 A dark sapphic retelling of The Phantom of the Opera with Polish folklore??! Of course I want to read it! It sounds incredible and just look at that cover! 😍

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros

 
Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros
Expected publication: September 29, 2026 by Entangled: Red Tower Books

The next book in te blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing Day contains thirteen stories starring your favorite characters and their dragons

The full blurb is yet to be revealed but I'm already excited to read this book!

What book are you awaiting today?

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Fatal Monsters by Jane Draycott

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Fatal Monsters: Cleopatra, Her Sister Queens and the Downfall of a Dynasty by Jane Draycott
Expected publication: November 5, 2026 by Atlantic Books

Today, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt is the most famous woman of the ancient world. Yet she was not the only queen of her generation. She had an elder sister, Berenike, and a younger one, Arsinoe, both of whom also ruled Egypt.

The circumstances in which three sister queens each sought power for themselves were unprecedented. Women had not ruled Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs, 1,500 years earlier. But it was also anathema to the Romans, who had many vested interests in Egypt. As Republicans, the Romans despised monarchy - a monarchy controlled by women was beyond comprehension.

Acclaimed historian Jane Draycott tells the fascinating story of three powerful sisters, their rivalry and their efforts to stand up to the might of Rome.

Another book about Cleopatra (and her sisters)?
SOLD!

What book are you awaiting today?

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Medea: A Life by Edith Hall

 
Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Medea: A Life by Edith Hall
Expected publication : September 8, 2026 by Yale University Press

The story of Medea, a maligned and misunderstood woman of Greek mythology, from one of Britain’s foremost classicists

Mothers who kill their children are universally abhorred but perennially fascinating. In this book, the award-winning scholar Edith Hall explores the possibility that Medea, mythology’s archetypal murderous mother, could be based on a historical figure who migrated to Greece in the late Bronze Age.

Medea has appeared in countless works of art—plays, operas, musicals, ballets, movies, poems, paintings, sculptures, and novels—but until now no one has written a biography of her. Through meticulous research and fast-paced narrative, Hall brings new life to Medea’s story, from her lonely childhood on the shores of the Black Sea through her dramatic escape with Jason and the Argonauts, the murders and attempted palace coup in Thessaly, her deadly revenge in Corinth, and her final exile in Athens.

In reframing a figure long reduced to villainy, Hall restores Medea’s humanity, illuminating a woman pushed to extremes by betrayal and displacement—a brilliant, embattled outsider navigating the violent patriarchies of the ancient Mediterranean.

Another day another book about Greek mythology that I can't wait to get my hands on. It would be my first book by Edith Hall and I've heard great things about her as a classicist. I'm really excited to read it.

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: A History of the World in 51 Heroes and Villains

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.

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A History of the World in 51 Heroes and Villains by Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook
Expected publication: September 10, 2026 by Bloomsbury Publishing

'The world's most successful history podcast ... Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' THE TIMES

'The history publishing phenomenon of my lifetime' NEW STATESMAN

From the award-winning podcast The Rest is History and Sunday Times bestselling authors Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook comes a riotous deep dive into history's biggest heroes and most notorious villains

Welcome to a shadowy realm where the divide between the noble and the nefarious isn't quite as clear as it seems. Where supposed saints appear suspiciously traitorous, and so-called scoundrels reveal unexpected glimmers of virtue. Prepare for sword fights, scandals and enough moral ambiguity to make Machiavelli blush - from the imperial court of eleventh-century Japan to the studios of twentieth-century Hollywood.

Along the way, Holland and Sandbrook debate questions like:

-Was Caligula an irredeemable monster or history's favourite scandal magnet?

-Was Joan of Arc a saintly saviour or a dangerous heretic?

-Was Wojtek the bear a true Second World War hero or simply a cuddly mascot?

-Was Elizabeth I a true Virgin Queen or just brilliant at branding?

So polish your armour, don your villainous moustache and get ready to choose a side in the ultimate showdown between history's greats and rogues...

This book sounds right up my alley! It initially caught my eye because it's partly written by Tom Holland who's is already a favorite author of mine. Dominic Sandbrook is a new name to me but I can't wait to read some of his work now.

What book are you awaiting today?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Goddess Queen by Alice Roberts

  

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.

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The Goddess Queen by Alice Roberts

Expected publication: September 1, 2026 by Simon & Schuster UK

There was a moment, just over two thousand years ago, when the whole Mediterranean world could have been ruled by a woman. The Roman Republic was crumbling, torn apart by rivalries. Egypt was a wellspring of wealth. But its rulers had squandered their advantage and ended up hopelessly indebted to the protection racket that called itself Rome. Now a woman, as Pharaoh, had a chance to reclaim what Egypt had lost, to forge an alliance which would save both Rome and Egypt. Ancient history, high politics, sex and power collide in this dramatic story of the Egyptian queen who confronted and contested the power of Rome. This is Cleopatra and Antonius as you've never seen them before, in the first novel from number one bestselling author Alice Roberts.

I may have screamed when I saw the review of this novel. It'll be the first fictional book by Alice Roberts who usually writes nonfiction and I couldn't be more excited. I love her nonfiction books and can only imagine how amazing this fictional one is going to be. AND IT'S ABOUT CLEOPATRA! 

What book are you awaiting today?