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
This week, cozy up with a cozy fantasy and two 2025 horror releases, take a look:
New York Times bestselling author Sarah Beth Durst invites you to her new standalone novel nestled on a far-away island brimming with singing flowers, honey cakes, and honeyed love. The hardcover edition features beautiful sprayed edges.
Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.
This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.
But Terlu can’t return home and doesn’t want to—the greenhouses are a dream come true, each more wondrous than the next. When she learns that the magic that sustains them is failing—causing the death of everything within them—Terlu knows she must help. Even if that means breaking the law again.
This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by the gardener and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.
Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst. Releases in July 2025 from Bramble. If this is half as good as The Spellshop, I am there for it! Could this possible be a prequel?? The sentient spider plant is one of the characters in The Spellshop, and this story focuses on the woman who was responsible. I cannot wait!
In this luminous, bewitching debut novel from brilliant new voice Jen Julian, a young man reluctantly returns to his repressive hometown to uncover the truth of his mother’s mysterious death. The town of Blacknot is not what it appears, and a place in the woods known only as The Night House is calling…
Jesse Calloway hadn’t planned to return to his repressive, backwoods hometown of Blacknot, North Carolina, after only one year away at college, but an anonymous messenger has lured him home. Eighteen years ago, his mother died under unexplained circumstances. Every story he has heard is incomplete. Now, the messenger claims to have the answers. But Jesse will have to hunt for them.
Alice Catherine, the daughter of a local pork manufacturer, obsesses over Jesse in turn. To her, he is a key player in unearthing the dark family history she’s convinced her father is concealing. Alice knows Jesse must find the answers himself, with the hope that once he does, he’ll help her change both their futures.
But Jesse’s path to Alice isn’t a straight line, and his questions are stirring up issues with locals, including his much older and well-armed ex-boyfriend, Harlan. When an old fling of Jesse’s goes missing and Alice’s plans start to unravel, it’s clear there’s more at stake than either of them could imagine. On a collision course littered with psychotropic fungi, time-warping magic, and far too many alligators, Jesse and Alice will need to determine how far they are willing to go for the truth, and whether they can trust each other enough to get there…
Red Rabbit Ghost by Jen Julian. Releases in July 2025 from Run For It (Orbit). Wow, this sounds good, and I’m in love with the cover. This sounds like an ambitious debut, and I can’t wait.
From an incendiary new talent, a contemporary queer folktale about a mother and daughter living in the woods, for fans of Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, and Julia Armfield.
A FOLK TALE. A HORROR STORY. A LOVE STORY. AN ENCHANTMENT.
Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember.
When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she picks apart their bodies and toasts them off with some vegetable oil.
But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her own bid for freedom.
With this gothic coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.
The Lamb by Lucy Rose. Releases in February 2025 from Harper. Cannibal horror? I’m very curious about this. And the cover is rather odd and disturbing, but it could be perfect for the story.
The Enchanted Greenhouse sounds amazing. I’ll definitely have to check thar out. I’m also oddly curious about The Lamb. Cannibal horror definitely isn’t my thing but the folktale elements have left me curious regardless
I’m a little wary about the cannibal aspect, but it’s still calling to me, lol.
I haven’t read my copy of The Spellshop, but I’m already sure I need to read The Enchanted Greenhouse too!
They will look gorgeous together on the shelf:-)
I think I’ll have to try Lamb! Thanks for introducing me!
I want to try it too:-)
I thoroughly enjoyed The Spellshop, even though I had a few niggles about some of the aspects of the story. But Terlu’s story caught my attention as one of the more memorable parts of the book – it didn’t hurt that it involved my favourite character, the sentient spider plant:)). So getting hold of this one is a must-have – and I LOVE that gorgeous cover. Thank you for sharing, Tammy!
I hope we both love it!
Yep – I’m adding all three to my wish list. I saw The Enchanted Greenhouse announced this week and the special edition is lovely. Might have to add it to my special edition of The Spellshop, even though I’ve not read it yet. Can the rabbit overpower book snake? I think it’s definitely in the running the past few years!
Barb @ Booker T’s Farm recently posted…Feed Your TBR – The Whisperwood Legacy
There are a lot of rabbits lately, right?
Interesting books. 🙂
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I hope they are!
All of them sound intriguing, but I need The Enchanted Greenhouse and I need it now! I loved The Spellshop and that cover is even more beautiful than the first one!! I need it!!
I agree! Super exciting:-)
All of these sound good, especially The Enchanted Greenhouse. I still need to read The Spellshop so glad to hear you enjoyed that one 😀
I loved The Spellshop, and I’m so glad she’s written another book set in the same world.
I love how the description of The Lamb suddenly goes like “Then she picks apart their bodies and toasts them off with some vegetable oil.” That went from 0 to 100 real fast. It sounds disturbing but also like a good creepy read!
Ha ha I agree!
I’ve enjoyed Sarah Beth Durst in the past. I need to read more by her. That last cover is interesting!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Book Blitz with Giveaway: Love in Overtime (Love on Thin Ice Series) by Melissa Baldwin
I’ve read two Sarah Beth Durst books I love:-)
Too funny, cozy and horror! Perfect combo! 🙂
It did work out well this week:-)
I’m a little disturbed by the synopsis of THE LAMB, but at the same time that last paragraph about the themes is exactly what I like to read about. So, I’m torn on whether I want to read it, lol.
I feel the same! Very disturbing but strangely enticing…
I need the Enchanted Greenhouse!!!!
Me too, I’m so excited:-)
I loved the Spellshop so can’t wait for The Enchanted Greenhouse.
Lynn 😀
The Sarah Beth Durst book does look like it’s at least set in the same world! I hope so!