Reader's Corner: Books We Can’t Wait to Read in August 2026

Kittens, Road Trips, Magical Watches, and our Favorite Fantasy Mystery Mash-up

Hello Protagonists!

It’s almost August, which means it’s time for a favorite ritual: previewing some of the upcoming book releases we’re excited about—the ones that we’ve been waiting for, tugged at our bookish hearts, or whispered “Just one more chapter.”

💕, Joanna & Evelyn

Note: We don’t receive affiliate commissions or payment for these mentions. We haven’t read all of these yet. They are genuine picks based on love of the author, intriguing premises, or early buzz that feels promising.

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📚 August’s Most Anticipated New Releases

Kitten by Stacey Yu (August 4th release)

Fresh out of college and adrift, Katie is happy to let her generous boyfriend James make the decisions until a vacation at his family's seaside house introduces her to Silver, his childhood cat, and a giddy new obsession begins to crack something open inside her. Darkly playful and unexpectedly heartfelt, Kitten is Stacey Yu's debut about a young woman who finds in a cat the life she secretly longs for, and what she might have to risk to become a person of her own.

Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LaCour (August 4th release)

In New Orleans in 1944, Odette Honore shares her deepest secrets with her cousin Delphine in a hidden garden where they dream of lives full of art, passion, and freedom, but five years later, Odette is a widowed mother in Los Angeles, and Delphine, now passing as white, has spiraled away from her. Inspired by Nina LaCour's own Creole roots, Meet Me in the Garden is a decades-spanning story of love and longing, art and motherhood, and the shattering choice one woman must make to hold her family together.

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (August 11th release)

When the heir to one of the Empire's most powerful families is jailed for a murder he can neither deny nor explain, detective Ana Dolabra and her assistant Din must prove his innocence before the canton of Sapirdad erupts into a war that could starve the whole Empire. We cannot wait for this book in the Shadow of the Leviathan Series from Hugo and World Fantasy award winner Robert Jackson Bennett.

Ideal Life by Evelyn Skye (August 18th release)

When a glitch in Talia Morgan's neuroscience app destroys everything she has built on the eve of her startup's acquisition, she wakes to find a mysterious watch that lets her rewind the last twenty-four hours and perfect every messy moment, including her Sundays with Sam, the best friend who has quietly loved her for decades. Warmhearted and lightly magical, Ideal Life is our very own Evelyn Skye's story about a woman optimizing her way toward flawless, until one rewind goes too far and she begins to wonder whether the imperfect version was the only one worth living.

Full Throttle J.K. MacLearn (August 18th release)

When Juliette Marchmont becomes the first female driver in Formula 1, she has skeptics, rivals, and the worst car on the grid to contend with, then add to that…her new teammate: Dominic Hastings, the Prince of F1 and the man who broke her heart back in their academy days. Sizzling and fast-paced, Full Throttle is an enemies-to-lovers romance about two drivers forced into close quarters, wondering whether a bruised love can be repaired when only one of them can cross the finish line first.

That Night by Gillian McAllister (August 18th release)

When Frannie calls her sister and brother from a family vacation in Italy, they find her kneeling over an unmoving body, and the three of them make a promise that night to bury what happened and never tell a soul. From Gillian McAllister, author of Wrong Place Wrong Time, That Night is an electrifying thriller about how quickly a family's lies begin to spiral once the police come calling, and which sibling will crack first.

Love Me Like a Rock Song by Shelly Jay Shore (August 25th release)

Left at the altar by her much more famous fiancée right before recording her first solo album, singer-songwriter Delilah Cohen turns her honeymoon road trip into a desperate search for inspiration, and finds it in Emmett, the mysterious passenger she picks up two hours in, who happens to be a golem bound for one final, fatal task. From the bestselling author of Rules for Ghosting, Love Me Like a Rock Song is a soul-stirring romance about a woman chasing an unforgettable album down the California coast and the love she never expected to find waiting at the end of it.

Our Indie Author of Interest for August….

A Betrothed’s Betrayal by Deb Marlowe (August 11th release)

After ending her betrothal and losing her brother, the Duke of Winbury, Lady Lisette Birtwhistle inherits the leases to the Cotswold village of Lockstone Hollow and travels there hoping for a fresh start, only to have her former fiancé turn up dead soon after she arrives. Aided by new friends, a reserved carpenter, a suspicious constable, and a baby goat or two, she must untangle the village’s secrets to find the killer and clear her own name.

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🥰 Your Turn: What Are You Looking Forward To?

What’s been your favorite read so far this summer?

What new releases have you been looking forward to?

Leave a comment below — it’s fun to get excited together.