Fresh New Books January 6, 2024 - Kiss Your $ Goodbye

 New Books Because You Know You Need Them!

I'm going to start spotlighting brand new releases I've added to my "want to buy" list so you can succumb to temptation too. The focus will be on dark fiction and romance and the occasional thriller.

Today I found two tempting horror novels and one dark romance from new-to-me writers. 

The Bloody Brick Road by Maude Royer (horror fiction)

In this wildly creative, horror-soaked reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, nothing is as it seems in Dorothy’s dystopian nightmare. Fans of Tender Is the Flesh and Maeve Fly will want to follow her twisted journey down the yellow-brick road.

When nineteen-year-old Dorothy Noroît finds out she is pregnant, the road ahead seems bathed in golden light. She has a hard-working boyfriend, a beautiful home, and a job where she works with her best friend. But on October 2nd, 1994, everything changes.

Fast forward twenty-four years.

The city of Montreal is plagued by extremist group, The Winged Monkeys. The gruesome murder of a young man has just made headlines. Just when Lieutenant Henri Duhaime and his partner Detective Emilianne Saint-Gelais begin to wrap their heads around this heinous act of violence, another young man is found brutally murdered. And then another. As the body count rises, they race against the clock to track down the killer.

This unhinged retelling of the beloved classic, filled with a twisted cast of your favorite characters, brings together horror and revenge in a blood-soaked, funhouse mirror reflection of the timeless tale—and with endless Easter eggs for readers to discover. Translated to English for the first time from the original French, The Bloody Brick Road will transport you to a dark new world.

They had me at Maeve Fly.

Learn more at Goodreads.

 
The Wind Witch Murders by Casey Dunn (gothic horror/mystery fiction)

A haunting Southern Gothic mystery where dark magic meets deadly secrets, and a daughter must uncover the truth about her mother before it's too late.

Arkansas, 1999. Eighteen-year-old Raven Moore has spent her entire life trying to outrun her mother's dark reputation. Twelve years ago, two bodies were found burned in a field at the base of the Hill, and Raven's mother, Deanne—the woman they called the Wind Witch—was convicted of their murders.

Three days ago, Deanne died in an asylum, without ever speaking a word in her own defense.

Then, at the funeral, a stranger appears with a red feather in his hand. He knows things about Raven's mother that no one in Silverfield will speak aloud. Things about the Hill People—a community rumored to practice witchcraft who vanished the day Deanne was locked away.

Things about the wind, and blood, and the gift that runs in Raven's veins…whether she believes in it or not.

Raised by her fiercely religious grandmother to fear everything her mother represented, Raven’s life has been built on secrets and doubt. But when the past reaches out to claim her, she must remain in the world that has always feared her, or step into the legacy her mother left behind.

Because the wind remembers what everyone else has forgotten. And some murders were never what they seemed…

A captivatingly dark, unsettling novel of secrets, lies, superstition, and murder, for fans of Tana French and Rebecca James.

They had me at witches and haunting southern gothic mystery.

Learn more at Goodreads.

Our Monstrous Hearts by Delilah Thorne (dark romance)

Cassandra

A half-dead monster haunts Rose Falls. They whisper that he is grotesque, that he feasts on bones and defiles women. I was trapped in my husband's shadow, forced to live a life not my own, but I’ve been suddenly drawn into the monster's world, seduced by sin and desire.

My husband is coming, but now I hold power over my fate. I must return to a life of pain, or surrender to the darkness that calls to me, risking everything for freedom.

The Monster

After centuries in solitude, I have found the one for whom I hunger. My blackened soul is bound to Cassandra, a blood-red thread winding through the universe leading me to her. I will not stop until I consume her soul, until I make her mine.

Our Monstrous Hearts is an erotic horror romance exploring feminine rage, revenge, and sexual empowerment through embracing your monstrous nature. Will you offer your soul and descend into depravity? Read now to discover if you devour the darkness within.

They had me at monster, tbh.

Learn more at Goodreads.