Category Archives: 2025 Releases

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of… a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental infidelity
  • Stroke
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted

Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves. One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental abandonment & divorce
  • Miscarriage motioned (off-page)
  • Police brutality mentioned
  • Gentrification discussed

Love Letters for Other People by Shaylin Gandhi

When mathematician Aubrey MacLean’s career implodes, she has no choice but to return to her rural Indiana hometown, at least temporarily. But small towns have long memories, and so does she, especially when it comes to Nick Thacker, the boy who broke her heart. Nick’s life is routine: long shifts at the steel mill, plus a side business writing love letters for other people. It’s enough to numb his regrets—until his first love returns, stirring up a past he thought he’d buried. Aubrey is focused on rebuilding her career, until she falls for a new man whose love letters feel… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child neglet
  • Parental infidelity
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Financial difficulties & food insecurity

Love Stories by Elizabeth Eulberg

Teffy, Tay, Taylor, and TS have been best friends since middle school. As they enter their high school freshmen era, relationships bring on the drama. Teffy is crushing on the boy next door who belongs to someone else. Tay finds herself down bad for a tortured poet. Things get treacherous as an older boy starts flirting with Taylor. And TS is definitely focused only on soccer and doesn’t fancy her new teammate, a cute London girl . . . right? Suddenly, it feels like everything has changed. Pulled in different directions between navigating high school and new relationships, will their friendship be long lived or is it so long, Taylors?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned (secondary character)

Grim and Oro by Alex Aster

This premium, dual-sided volume includes two complete novellas bound together to create one can’t-miss collector’s item. The first novella—told from Grim’s perspective—gives readers insight into his past: the motivations and events that cemented his fate as Isla’s eventual love interest. The second is narrated by Oro and offers a window into his complex identity: that of a king torn between desire for justice and passion for the woman he loves more than anything.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Self-injury for magic
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction and emesis
  • Torture of a child (on-page)
  • Poisoning (date rape drug)
  • Weapon violence & battle scenes

Crowntide by Alex Aster

Isla Crown has charted a new destiny and leapt into the unknown, determined to defeat her insidious ancestor, Lark, no matter the cost. But Skyshade is nothing like she anticipated, and she’ll have to use all of her skills just to survive, let alone end Lark for good. Meanwhile, Grim and Oro would sooner set fire to their own kingdoms than leave Isla stranded on a path toward certain death. But getting her back will involve forging an alliance―if they can find a way to forgive their long history of betrayals. The key to Isla’s… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction and emesis
  • Murder by stabbing & torture
  • Knife, sword & weapon violence
  • War themes & battle scenes

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

In an age of miracles where our greatest heroes from history have magically, unexplainably returned to shake us out of our confusion and hate, Harriet Tubman is back, and she has a lot to say. Harriet Tubman and four of the enslaved persons she led to freedom want to tell their story in a unique way. Harriet wants to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life, and she needs a songwriter to help her. She calls upon Darnell, a once successful hip-hop producer who was topping the charts before being outed on a BET talk show. Darnell has no idea what to expect when he steps… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & slavery discussed
  • Outing & homophobia recounted
  • Smoking
  • Death of a friend from cancer mentioned
  • Kidnapping of a child
  • American Civil War mentioned

You’ll Never Know by Caleb Stephens

Grant Wilson has never been happier. He has a wife he loves, a home in the country, and a brand-new baby on the way. But all of that shatters when two masked men abduct his wife, Avery, in broad daylight. The instructions Grant receives are bizarre: If he wants Avery back, he must solve a series of riddles that arrive one after another—and the clock is ticking. With every piece of the puzzle more outrageous and complex than the last, Grant knows he’s playing a dangerous game. But he’s determined to do whatever it takes to save Avery’s life … even if it kills him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Suicide
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Heart attack mentioned
  • Death of a child & partner
  • Gun violence
  • Fatal car accident
  • Kidnapping of a pregnant wife (theme)

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. The bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words: bat eater. Months pass, the killer is never caught, and Cora can barely keep herself together. She pushes away all feelings, disregards the bite marks that appear on her coffee table, and won’t take her aunt’s advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic racist & anti-Asian hate crimes
  • Parental abandonment & nglect
  • Health anxiety & intrusive thoughts
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore dpeiction and body horror
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Murder
  • Police brutality mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Car accient
  • Fire
  • Animal cruelty & dead bodies

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein

Mia and Cricket have always been close. The gifted daughters of a young single mother, the “Lowe girls” are well-known in the small Maine town they call home. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible and academically minded Mia assumes the position of caregiver far too young, while Cricket, a bouncing ball of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price. As Mia and Cricket grow up, they must grapple with the legacy of their mother’s secret past while navigating their own precarious… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Traumatic childbirth resulting in chronic kidney disease and a need for a transplant
  • Secondary character with Type-1 Diabetes
  • Death of a mother