**The smoke billows from my chimney as I stack the firewood one piece on top of the other. The cold has set in even more, so I use the fire, blankets, and tea to keep myself warm. Most nights, I sit by the fire with a book in one hand and a hot drink in the other. The year’s end is almost upon us, which opens up a whole new reading year with all new books to be released. I can only imagine what magical tales I will find then.**

As I was planning out some posts for the next few weeks, I realized I didn’t set aside a week to do 2026 anticipated releases, so I figured now is the perfect opportunity. I have several that I am interested in reading, and can’t wait for their release. There are probably so many more interesting ones, but let’s start with these.

📖 Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova (01/06)

Our first released book of the year is Dragon Cursed. So far, the only Elise Kova books I have read are the A Trial of Sorcerers series. I’m actually reading the last book right now. That was an indie series, but this new one is traditionally published and is a fantasy about people who are “dragon cursed.” I think they slowly turn into dragons, and the synopsis mentions something about there only being one human village left, but the main character thinks she may be dragon cursed. It seems pretty interesting and I wanted to try out some other Elise Kova books. I really want to try her book Arcana Academy at some point as well.

📖 Sparking Fire Out of Fate by Brigid Kemmerer (01/27)

This is for sure one of my most anticipated releases. I adore Brigid Kemmerer and can’t wait for the third and final book in the Forging Silver Into Stars series. This series is a spinoff from A Curse So Dark and Lonely and follows a blacksmith, a baker, and the king’s courier as the three of them get tangled in a political web and battles against the throne. I am so excited to see where the story goes and really hope we get lots of Rhen and Harper moments.

📖 The Silversmith by L.J. Claren (02/24)

This is a book I randomly found a few weeks (months?) ago. It was indie published but I believe is getting picked up by a traditional publisher. It’s a fantasy following a girl with magic abilities who needs to stop a shadow wielder in order to save the kingdom alongside the commander she’s supposed to marry. It seems like it could be an interesting book so I’m willing to give it a try.

📖 Just Friends by Haley Pham (03/03)

When I saw that Haley Pham was coming out with a book, I was very interested to see what it would be like. It’s an adult romance with a childhood friends to strangers to lovers trope. This is not usually a trope I gravitate towards, but it seems like a summery story with lots of potential. I really hope we get to see a lot of the coffee shop that the main character works at as well.

📖 Perfect Cover & Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (03/03)

These two books are actually getting rereleased with new covers. I have been working through Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ backlist, which is taking quite a while I will say, and wanted to try out The Squad series next as I continue with the Inheritance Games books. I believe this one is about cheerleaders who are secretly government operatives. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ books and her writing, so I’m sure this one will be great. I also love the new covers for this series.

📖 The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst (03/31)

This is a book I discovered pretty recently as I was scrolling through Goodreads. It’s a young adult fantasy about a girl who spends some time at her great aunt’s inn after a breakup with magical elements surrounding the inn. It feels slightly different from what I normally read, but the synopsis seems pretty interesting.

📖 The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (04/28)

This is one I’m not sure if I’ll read. This is the sixth book in the Truly Devious series. I read books 1-3 in 2021 and the 4th in 2022 and haven’t continued on yet. Book #5 is sitting on my shelves so I do hope to read it, but I don’t know how much farther I plan to continue with the series. Books 1-3 were really good. They followed a girl who was accepted to an elite boarding school who hopes to solve the murders and kidnappings that happened there decades prior. It was a great trilogy, but I didn’t love the fourth that much and it’s been quite a while since I’ve continued, so I plan to read the fifth book in 2026 and figure it out from there.

📖 First and Forever by Lynn Painter (05/12)

Lynn Painter is an auto-buy author, so when I see that she has a new book, I immediately put it on my list of anticipated releases. This is an adult sports romance with a PR stunt between a baseball player and our main character. I love everything Lynn Painter writes, so I’m sure this will be no exception.

📖 The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham (06/02)

This was another I randomly came across on Goodreads after the cover caught my attention. It follows two sisters that look for the sleeping princess from a fairy tale and get stuck in her subconscious. That’s what I’m understanding from the description at least. It seems like it could be such a magical fantasy story and I would love to give it a try.

📖 Six of Crows A Darker Shore: Letters From Ketterdam by Leigh Bardugo (06/30)

Unpopular opinion, but Six of Crows is not my favorite Leigh Bardugo series. However, I did enjoy it and do want to read this one. As I’m writing this, I am just realizing that this is only about 64 pages and a short addition to the series, not a full book. It looks like it involves letters between Kaz and Inej after the events of the original series. I’ll definitely still give this a read though.

📖 The Gilded Blade by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (07/14)

This is the third and final book in the Grandest Game series, and the final book in the Inheritance Games universe. I still have a few books to read, but I am very much looking forward to this. To prevent spoilers, I’m not going to explain what this new series is about, but I have been enjoying it and am very intrigued to see how Jennifer Lynn Barnes decides to wrap it all up.

📖 Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo (09/01)

This has been a long time coming. I read Ninth House back in 2022, Hell Bent in 2023, and have been waiting for this one since. This is the third and final book in the Alex Stern series which follows a girl going to Yale to monitor their secret societies. This series has ghosts, demons, magic, and a great dark academia story. I love Alex as a character as well as some of the side characters, and have been very invested in the story and am very interested to see what happens next.

📖 Falling Like Snow by Misty Wilson (10/06)

Finally, we have Falling Like Snow, the second book in the Bramble Falls series, right after Falling Like Leaves, a book I recently read and enjoyed. This one follows the main character’s cousin from the first book as she navigates her own romance. The first book was pretty good, so I want to try this one.

I would also love to pick up the new editions of Since You’ve Been Gone and Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson since I love collecting her books. I would also consider the collector’s edition of Better Than the Movies as well. These have all been out though, and I have read them all, so I didn’t want to include them with the rest since it’s just new editions that are releasing.

2026 has a lot of great releases and I look forward to giving them all a read. Let me know if there are any I missed or ones that you are looking forward to.

xoxo,

Just another reader