Welcome to Future Fiction, my reimagining of the Waiting on Wednesday meme! There are so many amazing new books coming out, that I can no longer pick just one. My goal with Future Fiction is to share at least three new books each week, a combination of recent cover reveals and books that I’ve recently added to my TBR pile. I’m still going to be linking up with Wishful Endings/Can’t Wait Wednesday, and I also want to give a shout out to Jill at Breaking the Spine for starting the original Waiting on Wednesday meme. I hope you’ll find some new books to add to your TBR piles, and as always, I look forward to hearing what YOU’RE looking forward to:-D
Magic, Pride and Prejudice, Hamlet and a locked room mystery. Check out today’s new books:
A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.
In this exuberant reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story from her own perspective. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves; Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.
But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat, and Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would you expect from a demon? And if you think Mr. Darcy was uptight about dancing etiquette, wait till you see how he reacts to witchcraft. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that when you’re a witch, promises have power . . .
Full of enchantment, intrigue, danger, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice—while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister.
The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub. Releases in October 2023 from Grand Central Publishing. Ooh this sounds like fun. A supernatural Pride and Prejudice retelling? This appears to have some humor and cozy elements, so I can see it appealing to a wide range of readers.
When Harlow Estrada is abruptly fired from her dream job and her boyfriend proves to be a jerk, her world turns upside down. She flees New York City to the one place she can always call home—the enchanted Hacienda Estrada.
The Estrada family farm in Mexico houses an abundance of charmed flowers cultivated by Harlow’s mother, sisters, aunt, and cousins. By harnessing the magic in these flowers, they can heal hearts, erase memories, interpret dreams—but not Harlow. So when her mother and aunt give her a special task involving the family’s magic, she panics. How can she rise to the occasion when she is magicless? But maybe it’s not magic she’s missing, but belief in herself. When she finally embraces her unique gifts and opens her heart to a handsome stranger, she discovers she’s far more powerful than she imagined.
With unforeseen twists, romance, and a heavy sprinkle of magic, The Enchanted Hacienda is a captivating coming-of-age debut exploring identity, unconditional family love, and uncovering the magic within us all.
The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes. Releases in May 2023 from Park Row. Romance and magic is a combo I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I’d love to give this a try.
A lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a locked-room thriller
A Twenty-First Century Hamlet.
Hayden Lichfield’s life is ripped apart when he finds his father murdered in their lab, and the camera logs erased. The killer can only have been after one thing: the Sisyphus Formula the two of them developed together, which might one day reverse death itself. Hoping to lure the killer into the open, Hayden steals the research. In the process, he uncovers a recording his father made in the days before his death, and a dying wish: Avenge me…
With the lab on lockdown, Hayden is trapped with four other people—his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul—one of whom must be the killer. His only sure ally is the lab’s resident artificial intelligence, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies, and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.
The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu. Releases in September 2023 from Rebellion Publishing. This one’s pushing all the right buttons for me: a queer Hamlet retelling and a locked room mystery? I actually just got a NetGalley copy and I’m excited to read it:-)
The Hamlet retelling sounds very, very intriguing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…GHOSTWRITTEN, by Ronald Malfi
Agreed! And ambitious:-)
I love the cover for The Enchanted Hacienda – it reminds me of Encanto but darker. Very interested in checking that one out!
It’s so pretty, right? Hopefully we both get to read it:-)
Ooh, I’m really looking forward to all of these!
It’s a good bunch, right?
It seems like ages since I read anything by Jane Austen, probably back in college, but I did listen to an audio version of Hamlet last year.
It’s been a while since I’ve read Austen or Shakespeare:-)
The Hamlet retelling sounds very interesting. I’m looking forward to your review.
It sounds very unique. I hope it lives up to the premise:-)
I would definitely read the Lydia Bennet book! The other two sound pretty great too. 🙂 Nice picks!
I’m so intrigued by P & P with witches:-)
Hope you get to try them! 🙂
Stormi recently posted…Review for Of Manners and Murder
Thanks Stormi:-)
Wow! What a strong selection, Tammy… The one that has me drooling with envy is the P & P retelling:)). Austen + magic??? Lead me to it!
I’m really looking forward to that one as well, and it has such a great cover:-)
Oh my, they all sound wonderful!!
They do, I’m excited for all of them:-)
I would read any book that has the word ‘witch’ in the title so The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch already sounds like a good read to me!
I also love romance and magic and well… the cover of The Enchanted Hacienda looks very magical.
I may have gasped when I read the synopsis of The Death I Gave Him. “A lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a locked-room thriller” that sentence says it all and packs quite a punch!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Messalina: A Story of Empire, Slander and Adultery by Honor Cargill-Martin
Me too, “witch” grabs me every time:-) And I can totally see you enjoying The Death I Gave Him!
That last one sounds fabulous. A locked room mystery and his only ally the AI? Yes please. I’m looking forward to Enchanted Hacienda as well. ..
Greg recently posted…Aldebaran
Yeah, it sounds pretty awesome!
I got The Death I Gave Him for review too, it does sound great! I LOVE the covers for the others (especially Enchanted Hacienda) but I do worry it is too much magic for me? But I am still interested for sure, so thanks for putting them on my radar!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: March’s Finale
Too much magic?? lol
I like the sound of all of these. Love the idea of a witchy version of P&P, especially involving Lydia, and the cover of The Enchanted Hacienda is lovely. Great picks 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Reading Review: March 2023
I like that Lydia is the MC as well, should be fun:-)
I haven’t read Hamlet nor Pride and Prejudice but these sure do sound exciting! Thanks for sharing! 😀
I’ve only seen Hamlet, but a Hamlet retelling is very tempting:-)
I would definitely give The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet a try based on that description! Added that to my list!
It sounds really good, right?
I recently added The Enchanted Hacienda to my tbr (I think it was in a Goodread newsletter) and I adore the cover The Death I Gave Him has been on my tbr for a while so it’ll be intersection to see what you think of it. I hope you enjoy your arc.
I love that cover too:-)
Well a witchy Pride and Prejudice is tempting!
Isn’t it??