Hi, Kate! What drew you to this setting and this time period? Are there any works of art or pieces of entertainment that made Oxford intriguing for you?

I love the voice of midcentury British authors and naturally gravitated toward jumping into that world for research. Postwar England is also a less popular story setting, and the ways it differed from America during that time (e.g. ongoing economic instability, a shifting class system) held fascinating story potential. Oxford has always enchanted me, and Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh are two of my favorite novels. The Endeavour series also left its fingerprints on this story.

Gin and Sidney are fascinating characters, and as readers find out more about their backstories, they become real in a very specific way. Are they based on real people?

Though Sidney is not based on anyone, he does share a few similarities to John le Carré (David Cornwell), whose background with the British Intelligence Corps made him an ideal recruit to infiltrate Oxford student groups for MI5 in the early 1950s. Both Ginevra and Sidney also ended up with pieces of myself which made them easy to embody (Ginevra got my snark, Sidney my endless capacity for overthinking). Their voices were so loud and clear while writing this story that I often followed their lead, even when it deviated from the outline, and the results were always better than whatever I had originally planned.

What’s more difficult to research and write about: The British class system, or the British intelligence organization?

A lifetime consuming British historical novels gave me a leg up on writing the class dynamics, but the Security Service required focused research. It was often more humorous than I think people imagine the internal workings of intelligence agencies, with everything from office drama to operations going comically awry that reminded me more of Yes, Minister or Thick of It episodes than James Bond. But that kind of subtle hilarity also made a perfect backdrop for amateur sleuthing amid some hijinks.

Did you come across anything surprising or intriguing while doing the research for this book?

Ginevra’s problems with her ancestral home came from a rabbit trail fascination with the destruction of manor houses during the 1950s (by mid-decade, one every week!). Few families could afford to repair the damage incurred during wartime requisitioning and many refused to accept government grants which required opening their homes to public tours. Going into service was also a much less popular choice for young people, and maintaining large houses became increasingly less feasible with reduced staff.

What’s next for Gin, Sidney, and the Rook? 

I was really interested in lingering class division in The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies, but book two explores the dynamics of a disparate group of people with a niche obsession that brings them together. There are new faces, new shenanigans, and new corners of Oxford to explore!

Will you be picking up The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kate Westbury, Author of ‘The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

While Cemetery Boys worked wonderfully as a standalone, I am so glad that Aiden Thomas decided to return and give us readers more time with Julian and Yadriel. Whereas the first book focused on Yadriel and his uphill battle to get his family to accept him, Espíritu shifts the focus to Julian as he struggles to catch up to everything that has happened to him—you know, being dead for a few weeks and not so casually chilling as a ghost, and then being undead and able to communicate with ghosts and all that fun stuff—while new issues arise as Julian suddenly begins to see things no one else can, shadows that do not seem all that friendly.

I was absolutely stoked when I learned that we get Julian’s POV, which may have been my only gripe with Cemetery Boys, which was (for very valid reasons) only Yadriel’s POV. I was itching to finally hear Julian’s voice and boy, I was not disappointed in the slightest. In Cemetery Boys, he won readers’ hearts with his sarcastic, funny remarks and genuine golden-retriever vibes but here, you get to hear his side of things and learn to understand his motivations behind always bringing the good mood to everything in a whole new way that made me even more endeared to him. Besides that, it also added a new layer of depth and a brand-new perspective to Yadriel’s family dynamics and the lore that many readers loved in Cemetery Boys.

Yadriel, who also gets his own POV in the novel, continues to be the soft place where Julian can land when his thoughts are all over the place. While their relationship is not the focus of the novel, these quiet and sweet moments felt like it gave you the space to breathe and take everything in when the plot and the action picked up and you needed a moment to sit with it. Despite the struggles and the secrets they keep (especially Julian), they find comfort in each other in various ways throughout the novel which made my heart soar. These moments of emotional intimacy and support truly showed their relationship blossom.

You’d think with such a big focus on Julian and his struggles Yadriel might be waylaid, but no, we still get to see plenty of growth from him. After what happened in Cemetery Boys, it felt vindicating to see him finally establishing himself as the brujo he was meant to be despite still having to fight to not just be seen as a little kid anymore by his family (mostly his dad). I appreciate that there wasn’t really a “villain” here for him. While it’s of course frustrating to see Yadriel being held back, you can also actually tell that Enrique is coming from a place of fear and a desire to keep his son safe from a world that seems to grow darker every day. I won’t spoil Cemetery Boys in case you haven’t read it yet, but let’s just say the betrayal that the family and mostly Yadriel experienced there still lingers and it was satisfying that it wasn’t just hidden under a rug but addressed and resolved.

Another highlight was of course the setting. Readers who loved Cemetery Boys will already be familiar with Yadriel’s family and their many traditions that invite you into a whole new world of rites and special occasions, and the fact that this book was set in the Christmas period felt like an absolute treat. We get even more glimpses of the Mexican-inspired lore that make everything feel even more magical.

The mystery was also well done. Those types of mysteries where you can tell who the bad guy is pretty early on can be hit or miss, but here the fast pacing and the already established bonds between characters helped keep you on your toes as the clues drop. The creepy shadows that linger add a darker tone to the narrative and somehow make the entire story feel more mature.

I also really liked the juxtaposition of thinking of Julian’s ability as a gift which quickly gets turned on its head and becomes entirely unsettling and traumatic in its own kind of way when you see dark spots enveloping the people you care about – and when they start following you. As always, I’m not a fan of miscommunication or hiding something when talking about it would actually just resolve everything but here at least it made sense that Julian doesn’t tell anybody about what he’s seeing. Overall, it gave his found family a chance to show him just how important he is to them, so in that way the resolution of the mystery will satisfy readers for sure.

The underlying themes of identity and belonging that I loved in Cemetery Boys are only stronger here. I loved how we got to see not only Yadriel but Julian trying to find their place and struggling with what belonging even means. Especially in connection to Julian’s power and the choice between what’s right and what would make life easier, this just resonated a lot with me.

While I could spend another fifteen books in this wonderful world, each one with new mysteries – and maybe some more new additions to their found family – I think fans of Cemetery Boys will feel wholeheartedly satisfied by this sequel, even if it is the last we see of Yadriel and Julian.

Whether you’re looking for a slightly haunted narrative with a great mystery and wholesome found family vibes to get you in the autumn mood or just want to reunite with beloved characters, fantastic queer rep and epic found family vibes, diving into Espíritu is sure to keep you turning those pages all night long!

Espíritu is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 8th 2026.

Will you be picking up Espíritu? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis

New York Times-bestselling author Aiden Thomas returns to the beloved world of Cemetery Boys, this time following Julian—chaos magnet extraordinaire. With restless spirits vanishing and a dark demon from their past emerging, he and Yadriel might be the only ones reckless enough to stop a threat that could tear their world apart.

Julian used to be a ghost and now he can’t stop seeing them.

Ever since Julian was sacrificed as part of a forbidden ritual, he has been able to see and talk with spirits. And that’s really cool, since it allows him to be part of his new boyfriend’s community. But Julian’s seeing other things, too: flickers at the edge of his vision, eyes burning in the night, and “dark spots” on people—gaping wounds that thrum and bleed shadow. Yadriel has never heard of anything like it, either, and he’s so busy with his new brujx responsibilities that Julian hates for his problems to ruin what little time they have together.

Then a strange new brujx shows up. Angel, as a nonbinary bruje, can heal the living and release the dead, but more than that, they can also see the same dark spots as Julian. Despite Yadriel’s reservations, Julian eagerly accepts their help. But, Angel’s ruthless methods feel wrong to Julian.

With the shadows growing darker and the discovery of a gaping dark spot on his friend Luca, Julian has to decide who he wants to put his trust in, and just how far he’s willing to go to save what is his.

The post #ReadWithPride: ‘Cemetery Boys: Espíritu’ by Aiden Thomas appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

You have written more than fifty novels for children and teens, eight of which, written under the pen name Kate Brian, have been New York Times bestsellers. What inspired you to start writing novels for adults? And What drew you to the thriller/suspense genre, in particular?

There were a few things that inspired the shift into the adult market. First, I had this one story I had always wanted to tell—the story in WISH YOU WERE GONE—and when my father passed away, I felt finally free to tell it. That was definitely one for adult fiction, so I found myself writing my first adult novel. I also realized around that time that I’d been a legal adult for 22 years and had a few stories to tell to my peers! And finally, I felt pretty disconnected from my teenaged years at that point. I didn’t really feel that I could write a teenager who felt authentic to the current readership. As for the thriller question, I discovered my love for writing mystery thrillers when I wrote the PRIVATE and PRIVILEGE series, so if I get to choose, that’s the genre I’m writing in.

If you could describe your new novel, THE GETAWAY, in five words, what would they be?

Oooh tough one! I’d say “character flaws lead to death.” I know you were probably looking for five adjectives, but I think this sums it up!

What can readers expect?

Secrets, back-stabbing, naivete, female friendships, multiple murders, drama, twists and turns, lots of bad weather, two cheeky teenagers and one adorable chihuahua.

Where did the inspiration for THE GETAWAY come from?

I’m at the age where people are starting to get divorced, go to couples therapy, explore—shall we say—alternate marital living arrangements. It got me thinking about how people always discuss how divorce affects the kids, for good reason, but I never really hear people talk about how divorce affects the friend group. What if you had a close group of four or five couples and the keystone couple in that group—the relationship everyone sort of looked aspired to—broke up? How might that change things and what might transpire?

Why do you think we, as readers, are so interested in stories about rich people behaving badly?

I think readers get a lot out of these stories, because there’s the aspirational aspect—you get to see the big houses and the lavish decorating and the incredible clothes, cars and parties. But then you also get the satisfaction of seeing these people who have all these unattainable things as human, as flawed, as potentially more flawed than we are. There’s something about that peek into their humanity that makes us feel better about our own humble lives. Also seeing a narcissistic billionaire who uses their money as a weapon get murdered can be fairly satisfying. As long as it’s, you know, fictional.

Critics have praised you for your excellent character development. THE GETAWAY features a pretty large cast of characters – four visiting couples, as well was the hosts and a few surprise guests. Were there any characters who were easier to write than others?

I somehow find the people most unlike me the easiest to write. I think it’s because I’m able to say, “Okay, obviously I would do this, so let’s have her do the exact opposite.” In this book, I found Suzy really easy to write, because I am not one to cause drama or challenge others. I’m basically allergic to confrontation. There’s a scene early on where Suzy questions the authority of her kids’ camp director, and it made me very uncomfortable as a person, but was very easy to write. I also enjoyed writing the teenaged twins because I have two teenaged boys, and I think the way they live and think is so interesting. They veer slightly toward caricatures of influencers, which was just fun to write.

What personal fears or fascinations found their way into this book, intentionally or not?

Well, I’m terrified of hurricanes and tornadoes, so that’s an obvious one. I also have this recurring nightmare wherein my husband dumps me for another woman and then doesn’t care at all that I’m upset. Which is HILARIOUS because he is the most loyal, loving, sanctity-of-marriage believer you’ll ever meet. Like sitting here, I can’t even imagine him doing this, but my subconscious is apparently terrified of it. Therapists have told me in the past that I have a serious fear of abandonment, which is where I assume the nightmare comes from. It definitely informed the Lincoln/Lily dynamic.

If readers take one thing away from your book—beyond being wildly entertained—what do you hope it is?

I hope it makes people think a bit about their relationships and what they mean to them. How far are they willing to go to maintain them? What do they find tolerable in friendship and where do they draw the line?

What films, art, and music have influenced your writing?

I think the TV shows and films I’ve been consuming all my life have really informed the way I craft my plots. My mom watched Hill Street Blues and LA Law and Miami Vice, so I was hooked from a young age. These days I watch everything from The Lincoln Lawyer to The Diplomat to Will Trent to The Night Agent. It’s basically mysteries, thrillers, spy stories, crime dramas. It all feeds the mystery muscles. When I’m writing, I listen to classical piano or string trios. I find the music calming and it helps me concentrate.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and how have they impacted your writing?

I read a lot of literary fiction and romance, which might surprise some people. Some of my favorite authors are Jennifer Weiner, who has helped me learn how to create layered characters, and Maeve Binchy, who was so talented at creating large casts of characters. I also adored the late, great Sophie Kinsella, who always made me laugh. Recent insta-buys in the mystery category are Richard Osman, Deanna Raybourn and Nita Prose.

What are some of your favorite recent reads? And what are some upcoming thrillers you can’t wait to get your hands on?

I loved Margot’s Got Money Trouble. The voice was so vivid and authentic and I thought the relationships were so well-drawn. As for thrillers I’m looking forward to, The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen looks amazing. I adore a sister story and a psychological thriller sister story? Say less. Also, My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney has the sickest pitch ever. I only wish I’d thought of it.

Will you be picking up The Getaway? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kieran Scott, Author of ‘The Getaway’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from One for the Road by Elliot Fletcher, which is out now.

Burned-out GP Alistair Macabe never planned to return to his tiny hometown on the Isle of Skye. Especially not to live next door to Isla, a newly single mom with zero time for grumpy doctors.

But when Alistair needs a popularity boost in order to start taking on patients again, and Isla wants to ruffle her smug ex’s feathers, a fake relationship seems like the perfect solution.

And with the pair taking their roles very seriously, they might just forget they are pretending after all …

EXCERPT

Prologue
March
Alistair

I couldn’t say exactly when my life had become a heaping pile of flaming shit. Maybe it was two years ago, when I’d been suspended from my inner-city GP practice for “unpro­fessional conduct”.

Maybe it was months before that, when I’d started riding the Glasgow Subway an extra stop on my way to work every morning, just to hold off the pandemonium that inev­itably awaited me: a backlog of angry patients, mounting paperwork and not enough hours in the day.

Or maybe it was years before that, when I’d dumped my fiancée, Juniper, only weeks after her dad had died. A life-changing conversation I’d handled in a single phone call. Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds was all it had taken to prove to everyone in my life what a selfish arsehole I truly was.

There were probably an infinite number of tiny moments in between those milestones, micro misdeeds adding to the tapestry of a man who wasn’t worth very much. But today really took the cake.

“Please tell me you didn’t just skip out on our father’s funeral?” The hard voice of Callum, my eldest brother, filled the cab of my rented Land Rover.

My hands tightened around the wheel, the narrow slice of tarmac slipping beneath its wheels. “I stayed as long as I could,” I said. Until the coffin was in the ground, and I’d felt like my chest was ready to explode.

I barely even recalled clambering behind the wheel or tossing the crumpled copy of my dad’s will onto the pas­senger seat before peeling out the cemetery’s car park. I’d meant to drive somewhere that reminded me of him. Anywhere to scrub the image of that wooden box beneath mounds of earth from my brain. Within minutes of driving out onto the main road, I’d realised Dad had spent so much of our childhood working, chained to his desk at Kinleith Surgery, he’d never taken us anywhere. Not a single day trip or even a fucking picnic at the beach.

So, I’d driven the entire length of the Isle of Skye to Neist Point Lighthouse and just sat in my car, the rain lashing the windows, until my body began to tremble from the cold.

“As long as you could? Alistair! This wasn’t a family barbecue. I get that we all had our issues with him but shit – he’s still our dad.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Our father, Jim Macabe, had been a hard man to grow up with. He’d run his household like an army unit. We were like Scotland’s answer to the Von Trapp family without the genetic predisposition for perfect pitch. Even now, at thirty-seven years old, I couldn’t set foot in my parents’ house without recalling his dad stare, levelled at whichever of his four kids had pissed him off that day. Cold and flat, like he was taking inventory of every bad choice we’d ever made.

He’d been an arsehole, to put it plainly. Short-fused.

Impossible to please. And yet, weeks after he’d died, I still couldn’t shake the urge to try to live up to those unachiev­able standards.

It was like, at some point during my teen years, I’d become an addict and his approval was my drug of choice. With enough effort, I could craft myself into exactly the man he wanted me to be – a doctor, just like him – and in return, I’d gain his affection.

Fucking pathetic.

My hands tightened on the wheel, a sob I’d been holding in for months now working its way up my throat. “Shit, Callum, I – I’m sorry. Is Mum okay?” Had she seen me leave?

“She’s fine. Juniper and I are staying with her tonight.” Maybe I was too numb, because the guilt that should have dug into my chest like shrapnel at the sound of my ex-fiancée’s name was nothing more than a dull twinge.

Callum’s girlfriend, I reminded myself. It had been several months and that revelation was still taking some getting used to.

Talk about fucked family dynamics.

“Good,” I said, absently. “That’s good.”

“Just tell me you’re okay. I can send Mal—”

“No. Don’t bother him.” My younger brother had enough on his plate. “I’m nearly home now anyway.” I turned my car into the blink and you miss it turning toward Kestral Cove and the little cottage I’d started renting back in December. It wasn’t quite a home. But it was quiet. Clean, if not for the smell of fermented cabbage I was still trying to air out of the soft furnishings (I’d come to the conclu­sion that the previous tenant was a hobbyist pickler). Good enough for the few short months I planned to stay here while I sorted my shit out.

“Okay,” he clipped. The shine of taillights in the distance distracted me as he continued, “How about we meet in the morning—”

“Shit!” I cut him off. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I pointlessly hit my indicator, coming to a stop behind an ancient pink VW Beetle.

“What’s that?” Callum asked.

“Nothing. Just a damn tourist. Must have taken a wrong turn off the main road.” There was nothing down this way except miles of fields and two little cottages perched right by the cliff edge.

My windscreen wipers were working overtime in the downpour, and I flashed my headlights, indicating they should move over – they weren’t even stopped at a passing place. “It’s really coming down out there, I can come out—” Callum offered.

Always the hero, offering a hand no matter how weird things had become between us. Guilt slithered through me. It was more than I deserved. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you should be alone.”

But I am alone, I wanted to say. Glasgow. Skye. It doesn’t matter.

My siblings were the only ones who reached out to me now. Family duty and all that. Who knew it only took professional ruination to find out who your true friends were?

If you’re asking stupid questions, you already know the answer. I could hear my dad, his stern voice taking up the empty passenger seat like a spectre.

My Glasgow friends were all ones I’d met in medical school. The kind who stuck together out of habit and circumstance. Frequenting bars from our uni days on the weekends, recounting the woes of our underfunded health service and the weird smell that always lingered in Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary over drams of whisky.

Now I’d become part of the conversational checklist at medical conferences. “Did you hear Alistair Macabe blew up his own life? And how about that new endoscopic platform . . .”

Not that I cared.

I didn’t need friends.

Who had the time or inclination to foster new relation­ships as an adult, anyway? I barely had time to nurture the ones I had. And even those I eventually found a way to fuck up.

From One For the Road by Elliot Fletcher. Copyright © 2026 by Elliot Fletcher. Reprinted by permission of Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘One for the Road’ by Elliot Fletcher appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi, Kat and Rosiee! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?

We’re a co-author duo who live on opposite sides of the US and love opposite parts of the writing process, but we share a love of puns, jokes, and shenanigans.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

Kat: I’ve loved stories all my life, and I first started writing novels when I was 12. I got hooked and never kicked the habit, so here I am.

Rosiee: Basically same here. I’ve always been an avid reader and enjoyed making up stories to tell anyone who would listen. I first put (sparkly gel) pen to paper in fifth grade to write my first longform story and never really stopped.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading:
  • Kat: I remember reading Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss, which is one of the easier to read, so I was probably pretty young.
  • Rosiee: I think mine was Blueberries for Sal. I don’t remember much about it, but it clearly had a lasting impression since my favorite food now is blueberries.
• The one that made you want to become an author:
  • Kat: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. My dad read it to me after I became obsessed with the movie at age 4.
  • Rosiee: I really imprinted on Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series in middle school. It was the first time I was compelled to write fanfiction, and I realized writing was a real career people could have.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about:
  • Kat: There are so many over the years, but my latest favorite is The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
  • Rosiee: I’ll never shut up about Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland. Never has a book made me laugh so hard and feel so much.

Your latest novel, Summer Coven, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Punny, paranormal, whimsical, mysterious, fun

What can readers expect?

More of Arthur and Sal solving a murder, with familiar townsfolk and new friends–and suspects. Lots of puns.

Where did the inspiration for Summer Coven come from?

We wanted to explore the world of witchcraft in the paranormal setting—how would witches interact with today’s culture of hustling? A summer solstice festival crawling with suspects was the perfect backdrop for our vampire husband sleuths to take on their next case!

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

Writing Sal is always such a delight, because he gets to be silly and unserious most of the time. His antics in Summer Coven were consistently our favorite bits to write. We also have a lot of affection for some of the new faces in town like the totally normal human librarian, Paige Turner, as well as some of the returning cast like Lore, the elven coroner, and the always reliable and never confusing family of raccoons who frequent the trash bins in Trident Falls.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Because we co-write, we don’t have a lot of the problems that come with getting stuck in your own head about a project. Writing a book is never easy, but with a partner, the work goes faster and it’s so much more fun! It helps so much to have another brain to bounce ideas around with when we run into plot problems.

What’s next for you?

• Rosiee: Next up, I have a tie-in novel for the Life is Strange video game franchise coming out! It’s about a queer punk band in Seattle and a supernatural mystery.
• Kat: I’ve got a fantasy romcom coming out February 2nd, 2027, called Necromancy and the Art of Hero Killing, about an immortal necromancer and the hero determined to defeat him accidentally falling for each other.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?

Kat: I loved Immortal Game by Allison Saft, and I’m looking forward to diving into A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett

Rosiee: I can’t wait to get my hands on K. Ancrum’s next book, Adam Mine. Her style is so unique and I’ll read anything she writes forever. And recently I’ve enjoyed Homeward for a Spell by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos.

Will you be picking up Summer Coven? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor, Co-Authors of ‘Summer Coven’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Wish You Well by Jamie Sumner, which releases on September 1st 2026.

Violet Marino doesn’t want sympathy. And she definitely doesn’t want friends. She just wants to play soccer and deal with the whole slowly-going-blind thing on her own terms.

Then she witnesses a boy choke on a hot dog at a hospital picnic. Enter Wyatt: dangerously charming and full of terrible ideas, especially for a kid with a newly transplanted heart. Add sharp-as-a-blade Noor, who is always armed with excellent snacks she can’t eat, thanks to chemo. Other than their illnesses, the three don’t have much in common—except for the fact that a wish-granting foundation keeps calling.

Ever the optimist, Wyatt has a plan: team up to game the foundation, even if it means faking friendship. One wish is fine, but three sick kids on three epic adventures? That’s history-making. The scheme starts off as a distraction. But soon the stakes feel real. Because when you finally let someone in, there’s more to lose.

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Kathryn Foxfield consistently delivers excellent concepts, layered characterisation and interesting twists. I have enjoyed her work for a long time and am so delighted to see her getting the love she deserves. Her work builds on those brilliant ideas and turn them into chilling stories that leave a trace on your skin. This latest book continues that trend with possibly my favourite story from her yet.

This is a thrilling read with a well-constructured plot and whodunnit at its core. Foxfield carefully paces it with an atmosphere that keeps bearing down on you. It feels relentless and you cannot tear yourself away, mirroring Cicely’s increasing desperation to beat the clock and unveil the truth. This also felt like such a rich world with plenty more stories you could wander off and uncover. For example, I really loved the magic system in this book. It feels ancient and sprawling with this intensely privileged family exploiting this for their own ends. There is this history that we tap into a little but feels like there’s further depth to explore. With the magic, the way each gift manifests and informs that person’s way of navigating the world is fascinating. The characterisation is intertwined with their gift and that speaks to the way the power we hold shapes us.

Cicely’s gift is the perfect choice to place her as the protagonist with the ability to uncover secrets. While this may make her the perfect detective, it has far-reaching consequences for the way her family view her and her relationship with each of them. The journey she goes on through this book is delectable and something that I hope will land with the readers who need it. I also enjoyed the various relationships she has within the story and how they shift. Around her is this complicated, fractured family of the incredibly wealthy whose hands are drenched in blood. They are all fully aware of the cost of their luxurious lives and the power they wield. Foxfield has a fascinating thread of the idea of complicity and the way guilt affects us all in different ways. Cicely’s investigation unearths a lot of buried secrets and forces confrontations with actions that they would have rather ignore. It takes a familiar trope and takes it to totally new territory. There is also a romantic thread that I enjoyed and it adds even more emotional intesnity to the story. It feels believable and grows into something that makes your heart flutter but also exposes it to new danger.

Of course, the Winter family then starts meeting their demise in rather gruesome ways. There is this sense of dark humour that I thoroughly enjoyed and Foxfield balances it well in terms of tone. The horror is palpable but it is also evident in the sheer monstrosity of humanity you are grappling with, before you even start weaving in the speculative elements. That deal may end up being more of a curse and requires reckoning with your own place in the world, specifically what was sacrified for you to stand there. Everything builds to a brilliant conclusion that shatters your heart but may also give you a little hope.

Our Wicked Gifts is a brilliant mix of genres and delivers this wonderful Gothic romantasy thriller that puls you into its dark heart.

Will you be picking up Our Wicked Gifts? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis

The post Review: Our Wicked Gifts by Kathryn Foxfield appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Mantras & Minotaurs By Ashley Bennett, which releases on September 1st 2026.

Pam Rollins is ready to date again after spending the last few years alone. Now that her kids have grown up and moved out, she’s committed to changing her life by starting yoga classes and, at her daughter’s urging, joining a dating app. She doesn’t expect much to come from her swiping, especially not a first date with buff, kind, and generous minotaur Alistair.

Alistair Reid is the kind of swoon-worthy monster that every woman dreams of. After one date, Pam is feeling hopeful in love for the first time ever—and Alistair has fallen head over hoof for her. The only problem: they live states apart and have thriving lives of their own.

However, as romance blooms, it becomes harder to envision a future without the other in it. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, after all….

EXCERPT

Tegan snorted, which brought a smile to my face. She was definitely my daughter. “Mom, you’re not old. I really think you should download it and make a profile. If you don’t like it, you can just delete the app, and it’ll be like it never happened.”

I did want to see who was out there . . .

“Fine. I’ll check it out. What’s it called?” I transferred her to speakerphone so I could search for it.

“It’s called Mate Match. It only allows profiles to message you if you’ve already marked them as a match you’d be interested in.” Huh. Well, it sounded like there was a certain level of safety and anti-harassment built into the app. “All right, I’m downloading it now.”

Tegan squealed and I jumped, almost spilling my wine.

“You have to tell me if you match with anyone. Promise me you’ll tell me?” she pleaded.

“I promise, but I doubt I’m going to match with anyone.” “Mom. Seriously? You’re a babe. Besides, some younger men are into older women.”

I tsked. “Oh, no, no, no. No younger men for me. They need to be my age or older—no exceptions.”

“Make sure you set your age preferences on the app, then. Let me know if I need to come over tomorrow and help you with it, okay?”

I knew she was trying to be helpful, but I wasn’t so old that I couldn’t figure out how to set up my own profile on a dating app. How hard could it be?

“Will do, honey. Give Atlas my love.”

“I will. And remember to text me if you match. I’m serious, Mom. I want to see pictures!”

“Pinky promise. Bye, sweetie.”

I hung up the phone before she could get another word in. Tegan seemed confident I’d find a match, but I wasn’t so sure.

I peered down at my phone through my bifocals, the blue light reflecting off my lenses as I scrolled through my photo gallery, searching for a profile pic.

There were limited options. Me with Remi. Me with Reece and Tegan. Me with Atlas.

I didn’t want to give the impression that I was already taken or that my kids were my entire personality. I mean, they were, but that wasn’t the sort of information I wanted to advertise right out of the gate.

Eventually, I stumbled upon a picture Tegan had snapped of me last Christmas. I was wearing a rust-colored sweater I’d knit myself, a tight black skirt, and a pair of pumps that matched my sweater. My ruby red hair was streaked with gray and piled high on top of my head in a messy bun, my freshly cut bangs just barely touching the rim of my glasses. Even though the photo was a year old, it was recent enough that I still looked the same. And in the words of my daughter, like a total babe.

“Let’s see here,” I mumbled to myself as I uploaded my profile picture and scanned the categories.

Employment.

Well, I was retired, which was fairly uncommon at my age, but I supposed it was best not to lie about it.

Education.

That one stung. I always wanted to go to pastry school and get some formal training, but between Don and the kids, it wasn’t in the cards for me. Let’s just go with “some college.” Surely, the pottery class I took at the local community college counted for something.

Location.

Briar Glenn, of course. For the most part, I was well aware of who was available to date here. At my age, there were slim pickings, but with the recent town revitalization initiative and all the growth Briar Glenn had experienced, maybe I’d be pleasantly surprised. To cast a wide net, I selected a radius that would include the three neighboring towns.

About me.

Hmm.

Do you include that you’re widowed in your profile? What kind of vibe does that give off? What if they think I’m some sort of black widow, meeting men on dating apps and murdering them once my name is listed as the beneficiary on their insurance policy?

Gods, I’d been listening to way too many true crime podcasts. I tapped a manicured nail against the glass of my phone, pondering what else to say about myself. This was always so difficult.

Ultimately, I decided to go with:

Widowed. Knitter. Avid reader of romance books. Film buff. Former wedding cake baker and pastry shop owner. Mom to two amazing adult children (and one hairless cat). Looking for companionship with the potential for something more.

Sweet and concise.

Just like me.

Remi popped his head out from under the blanket as I set the age range for acceptable matches.

“What do you think, Rem? Should I open it up to younger men? Is sixty too old? I mean forty is the new thirty, so fifty must be the new forty, making sixty the new fifty. I’m fifty-four, so it’s only a six-year age difference.”

The tiny wrinkled gremlin stared up at me, his wide eyes un-blinking.

“All right, forty-five to sixty it is.”

Was I really one of those people who stayed at home and asked their cat rhetorical questions?

The answer was yes, yes I was.

Once I’d set the parameters for appropriate matches, I watched eagerly as a loading bar flashed across the screen. This was the part I was most excited about. I’d heard about the swiping, and I was anxious to experience it for myself.

The first profile suggested for me was a human man in his late forties. He was cute. His black hair was in a tight crew cut that fit his chiseled features, and the beginnings of crow’s-feet formed in the corners of his deep brown eyes when he smiled. According to his bio, he was a mechanical engineer whose hobbies included reading and watching movies, but he was in an open relationship. I admired folks who could do open relationships, but it wasn’t my style. Even though I was looking for something casual, I wasn’t too keen on sharing a partner. Apparently, all those years of monogamy had really done a number on me.

Photo after photo passed on the screen as I swiped left on pretty much every profile. A guy in his fifties who worked as a Rod Stewart impersonator. A gargoyle who owned a cranberry bog. A sixty-year-old naga who performed with a traveling Shakespeare group. They were certainly interesting individuals, but nothing about them really drew me in.

Until a candid shot of a curly-haired minotaur caught my attention.

His hair was a light cream color, full of cowlicks that swirled in all different directions. A set of ridged deep brown horns curled over the top of his head, running across his fluffy eyebrows and connecting above his snout. His dusty pink nose was adorned with a shiny gold ring, the type you’d commonly see on a bull. A buffalo plaid shirt stretched across his barrel chest, with a tuft of hair sprinkled with grays sticking out from beneath the unbuttoned collar.

Gods, he was handsome.

Another photo showed him standing next to an elevation marker on a rocky mountainside. A backpack was slung over his broad shoulders, and a wide grin was plastered to his face as he gave the camera an enthusiastic thumbs-up. It appeared he was quite the outdoorsman.

The third photo showed him sipping from a tiny espresso cup with his pinky out in a display of civility.

So, he was a caffeine guy.

Now that I could get behind.

According to his profile, his name was Alistair.

Alistair.

How distinguished.

He was a fifty-five-year-old divorcé who worked in the agricultural industry. A suspicious maple-like leaf graced that portion of his profile . . . Did that mean he worked in the cannabis industry? Although I’d embraced the whole grunge aesthetic in the ’90s,

I’d never smoked pot before . . . How would that even work?

I mean, not everyone who worked in that industry smoked pot, right? There was no way the investors with their tailored suits were toking doobies in their high-rises.

I was being ridiculous. Weed was legal. I was making a stink about nothing.

His location was listed as . . . right here in Briar Glenn?

He must have moved here recently. I would have noticed him around town, I’m sure of it.

I scrolled to his “About Me” section.

I live in Colorado, but I’m visiting to help care for my daughter. I have a degree in agriculture and work in the cannabis industry. I enjoy the great outdoors, coffee, and good food with even better company. I’m looking for casual, no strings attached fun.

Well, it appeared I should edit my profile. His was much more professional.

My finger hovered over his photo.

He was visiting from another state, but I wasn’t looking for anything serious. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself . . .

“Aw, what the hell?” I said to Remi, and swiped right. Now to wait and see if he’d respond.

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Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan, which releases on September 1st 2026.

The sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents, Eliza Ramsey and her sister Bea share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the eleventh anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her pre-teen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza’s.

Eliza knows her sister would never leave her precious Piper behind, and fears the worst. But did Bea plan her own disappearance?

The Ramseys’ lives have already crashed and burned once. Now, Eliza discovers she’s the only one who can protect her niece from the horrifying legacy of her family’s sinister history. Together, the two must prevent their lives from going up in flames once again.

A missing mother. Her frightened daughter. And a sister on a desperate search for a happy ending. But someone knows the deadly key to their shared past, and won’t stop until they’ve written a devastating final chapter. Mother, daughter, sister—stranger.

EXCERPT

CHAPTER 12

The sugar maple in our backyard—Bea’s backyard—is eleven years older than it was the last time I happily lived here. I stand at the base of the trunk, my feet on the well-kept grass, wishing I had sneakers instead of my cemetery flats. Hands on hips, I look up, measuring the distance from ground to lowest branch, the distance to a higher branch, the distance from branch to rooftop, the span of flat shingled roof to the bedroom window. I can’t break down a door, so a window is my only shot.

“Can you get up there?” Piper sounds dubious.

Someone watching would think we looked like the most unlikely burglars in the universe, both in our prim little outfits, and Piper holding the iron lever from my flat-tire jack.

“I’ve done it a million times.”

“But now you’re older,” she says. “I should go.”

“Forget about it, Pipe. Let me think.” It’s not only about the physicality of the climb, but apprehension of what I’ll find inside.

If Bea has security cameras, great, let them watch me. I keep thinking I should go to the police station, but I’m here now. I’ve convinced myself, even though I pray it’s ridiculous, that something is really wrong in there. The longer I wait or procrastinate or follow rules, the longer it is before we know what.

I puff out a breath, feeling the steamy afternoon against my skin, a sheen of humidity on my face. Where are you, Bea?

She might be unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, or bleeding out on the kitchen floor. She might have invited a guest who then hurt her or killed her or robbed her or left her tied up. A stranger could have knocked on the door, and when she opened it—or it might have been someone she knew. Someone she just divorced. Who has his own key. And is not actually in Japan.

Inside this house could be a disaster, or chaos, or an emergency, or death

And I am standing here with a little girl whose future is in the balance.

“It’s your own house,” I say out loud. “So it’s fine.” I make a mental plan, and recognize the gap. “Where’s the alarm keypad, Piper? To put in the code?”

“In the kitchen by the microwave,” she says. “It looks like an iPad.”

“And it’s five two two seven.”

“Like our initials, Kyle, Bea, and Piper. The A in ‘and’ is the two.”

“Five two two seven,” I repeat. “Kyle, Bea, and, Piper. Why do you call him Kyle, anyway?”

“Because he doesn’t want to be my father anymore,” she says.

“Of course he does.” I turn, looking at her square-on for a beat. It’s heartbreaking, her defensiveness about Kyle. Parents. An irresistible force. “Nothing can change that.”

“He could. But he went away.”

“Let’s see if we can get in, okay?” I’m brazenly changing the subject. A person can only put out so many fires at once. “Here I go.”

I puff out a breath again, assessing the climb, not liking this idea. And then I see the basement window. I mentally compare the width of that narrow pane of glass with the circumference of my head. The window is surrounded by a well filled with tiny bits of gravel.

“Give me that jack thing,” I say to Piper.

“Why?”

“Stand over here.” I scoot her along, park her by the arborvitaes. I don’t want her hit by shattering glass. “Don’t move. Hold my blazer. I’m going in through the basement window.”

“Maybe I should go. I’m littler.”

In a happier universe, Piper has a good idea. But not with the haunting prospect of what she might find inside, what she might be the first to see. The poor child has had enough trauma, I don’t need to add to it.

“No way,” I say. “Stand right where you are.”

“But can you fit? The window is kinda small.”

“Shush. Yes. I can fit.”

If nothing has changed, the basement window is not too high off the floor. It’ll depend on the angles, and the distance, and whether I can ease myself down and touch without losing my grip, falling onto the concrete floor, hitting it with my knees and breaking my nose and all my teeth. Or my back. I erase that picture from my brain. I can do this. I have to do this.

“I’m recording it on my phone,” Piper says. “I love to record. It’ll be cool.”

I have never broken a window in my life, and I don’t know how hard you have to swing to smash it.

We’ll soon find out.

“Five two two seven,” Piper calls out.

Excerpted from Mother Daughter Sister Stranger, by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Minotaur Books, 2026. Reprinted with permission.

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About Harbour of Hungry Ghosts: Babel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer – a family of demon hunters find their hands full when unfamiliar monsters start stalking the streets of Opium War-era Hong Kong, in this historical fantasy adventure from No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Eliza Chan.

It might seem too early to be talking ghosts, but unlike the West when Halloween and the darker evenings are the time for ghost stories, in many parts of Asia and for the Asian diaspora, it’s the long summer nights that are the prime time: telling stories around a campfire, fanning yourself as the old house creaks its bones under you, listening to the incessant thrum of insects outside. It’s also when Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15^th day of the seventh lunar month, August 27^th this year. This is when the gate between the living and the dead is opened and forgotten ghosts come to sate their appetite. The perfect time to read a creepy book or two about vengeful spirits, the hopping undead and all things the monstrous.

My recently released novel, Harbour of Hungry Ghosts, is about exactly this. Babel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a historical fantasy adventure filled with action scenes, banter and horror-comedy. Kiamling is a rookie monster hunter in the mid 19^th Century, used to dealing with hopping vampires and hungry ghosts. When her grandmother is captured by a mysterious shadow beast, she realises the British may have brought their own monsters across the ocean.

If this sounds like your kind of cuisine, here are some other book recommendations featuring East and Southeast Asian ghosts and monsters.

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean

Dean’s sophomore novel defies classification as it takes the reader on a dizzying rollercoaster of twists as the eponymous girl with a thousand faces stalks protagonist Mercy Chan. It’s simultaneously set in 1940s and 1970s Hong Kong, an urban fantasy and a literary ghost story, about unfinished business, trauma and revenge. Trust me, just read it.

Bat Eater and other names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Having seen her sister pushed in front of a subway train before her eyes, apparently the only logical profession for Cora Zeng is crime scene cleaner. The novel spirals as the New York Chinatown murders pile up and Cora’s point of view is claustrophobically discomforting as she starts seeing ghosts everywhere. Not for the faint of heart.

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

A gothic haunted house story but make it Vietnamese, queer, diaspora and colonial. Jade is determined to keep her head down whilst visiting her estranged father in Vietnam over summer but the colonial house he is restoring has other ideas…

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Li Lan is offered a way to save her bankrupt family, become the ghost bride of the deceased son of an affluent family. Set in 19^th Century Malaysia, The Ghost Bride is filled with real traditions around the dead, lingering ghosts and a young woman finding her own voice. One to savour.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Closeted Jessamyn Teoh drifts after graduating from Harvard and finds herself back in Malaysia. Tasked by the rather persistent ghost of her grandmother, she must stop real estate developers demolishing a local temple. It starts with Zen Cho’s trademark lightness but the women of the novel are satisfyingly complex and it takes darker turns than expected.

Prodigal Tiger by Samantha Chong

Catherine Chua, daughter of a prestigious magic family, is living in exile in New York because of something terrible she did in the past. However when her brother is abducted by vengeful ghosts she is summoned home to Penang to help. Action-packed and filled with diaspora feels.

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