August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

As summer comes to an end, the August 2023 most exciting new book releases are an incredible blend of new titles, big authors, and a new adult novel from a YA favorite that hasn’t been heard from in years. Gallagher Girls had my heart when I was a young girl, I cannot WAIT to see what Ally Carter does in 2023.

 
But if you can’t wait for these books, make sure to check out last year’s August releases!
 

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

August 1st

With Love, from Cold World

by Alicia Thompson
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Lauren Fox is the bookkeeper for Cold World, a tourist destination that’s always a winter wonderland despite being located in humid Orlando, Florida. Sure, it’s ranked way below any of the trademarked amusement parks and maybe foot traffic could be better. But it’s a fun place to work, even if “fun” isn’t exactly Lauren’s middle name.
 
Her coworker Asa Williamson, on the other hand, is all about finding ways to enliven his days at Cold World–whether that means organizing the Secret Santa or teasing Lauren. When the owner asks Lauren and Asa to propose something (anything, really) to raise more revenue, their rivalry heats up as they compete to come up with the best idea. But the situation is more dire than they thought, and it might take these polar opposites working together to save the day.
For Fans Of: Opposites Attract romance, Rachel Lynn Solomon
 

The Art of Scandal

by Regina Black
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
On the night of her husband Matt’s fortieth birthday, Rachel Abbott receives a sexy, explicit text from her husband that she quickly realizes was meant for another woman. Divorce is inevitable but Matt is a rising star mayor with his eye on the White House and can’t afford a messy split in the middle of his reelection campaign. They strike a deal: Rachel gets one million dollars and their lavish house in the wealthy DC suburb of Oasis Springs, as long as she keeps playing the ideal Black trophy wife until the election.
 
Then Rachel meets Nathan Vasquez, a very handsome, very lost twenty-six-year-old artist, and their connection makes Rachel forget about being the perfect politician’s wife. As Rachel reawakens Nathan’s long-dormant artistic aspirations, their attraction becomes impossible to resist. But secrets are hard to keep in a town like Oasis Springs, and Nathan has a few of his own.
For Fans Of: Tia Williams, Romance
 

Bring Me Your Midnight

by Rachel Griffin
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Tana Fairchild’s fate has never been in question. Her life has been planned out since the moment she was born: she is to marry the governor’s son, Landon, and secure an unprecedented alliance between the witches of her island home and the mainlanders who see her very existence as a threat. Tana’s coven has appeased those who fear their power for years by releasing most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. But when Tana misses the midnight ritual—a fatal mistake—there is no one she can turn to for help…until she meets Wolfe.
 
Wolfe claims he is from a coven that practices dark magic, making him one of the only people who can help her. But he refuses to let Tana’s power rush into the sea, and instead teaches her his forbidden magic. A magic that makes her feel powerful. As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance as well as her island. Tana will have to choose between love and duty, between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart.
For Fans Of: Fantasy, Alexandra Bracken
 

The Roommate Pact

by Allison Ashley
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits.
 
Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock-climbing accident. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving into Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned.
For Fans Of: Katherine Center, Contemporary Romance
 

The Freedom Clause

by Hannah Sloane
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Dominic and Daphne met in their first week of college, and they’ve been happily married for three years. They love each other deeply but perhaps have become too comfortable, and their sex life isn’t what anyone would call thrilling. So, on New Year’s Day, Dominic blurts out a suggestion before it’s fully worked out in his mind: what if they open up their marriage? Daphne agrees–with conditions. They can sleep with one other person, one night a year, and the agreement has a five-year expiration date. It’s not a total free-for-all on their vows, but an amendment. They call it the Freedom Clause.
 
It isn’t long before Daphne and Dominic find themselves–and their marriage–altered in unexpected ways. Embracing the spirit of the Clause, Daphne pushes herself to be more assertive in asking for what she wants. She begins chronicling her journey of self-discovery in an anonymous newsletter, sharing recipes inspired by her conquests, and soon realizes that one night off a year isn’t a small change . . . it’s a seismic one.
For Fans Of: Contemporary Romance, Amanda Eyre Ward
 

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

August 8th

The Blonde Identity

by Ally Carter
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory. She only knows three things for certain:
1. She has a splitting headache.
2. The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run.
3. People keep trying to kill her.
 
According to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s a spy’s identical twin sister. Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear.
That’s easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they’re lying their way across Europe–dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister’s name.
For Fans Of: Contemporary Spy Thriller, Elle Cosimano
 

Text Appeal

by Amber Roberts
bookshop.org // Amazon
As the only woman programmer at her firm, Lark is thrilled to land the lead role managing an account for a huge client. But her dream job quickly becomes a nightmare when she accidentally projects a scandalous picture from her phone onto the screen during a presentation. Before she can recover, her coworkers jump in to steal the account, leaving Lark jobless and broke.
 
When a friend suggests text message-based sex work as a stopgap between jobs, Lark is dubious. Still, she needs the money, and after a few false starts, sexting turns out to be not so bad. She might even like it, especially with one particularly charming and nerdy client who keeps popping up in her DMs. But when good friend and longtime crush Toby confesses feelings for Lark, she finds herself with a decision to make: tell Toby that she’s a sex worker—and try to forget the anonymous client whose conversation skills have her struggling to separate work from real feelings—or keep the secrets that are piling up in her inbox.
For Fans Of: Ali Hazelwood, Contemporary Romance
 

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

by James McBride
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.
 
When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe. As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive.
For Fans Of: Literary Ficton, Colson Whitehead
 

Out of the Dawn (Into The Mist #2)

by P.C. Cast
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Mercury Rhodes barely remembers life before the bombs fell, before the green mist. While it proved deadly to all the men who breathed it in, it gave new life to some women who did the same. The green mist provided each member of her newfound family an ability: Stella’s sense of the future, Imani’s earthly connection, Karen’s bond with Spirit, and Gemma’s healing ability. Although Mercury now has incredible physical strength—she doesn’t know if she will be strong enough for what comes next. Especially after the death of Ford, their companion through the aftermath of the mist.
 
But Mercury knows it won’t be simple, not when she knows someone, or something, is hunting them. Something that wants to rule the ruins of the world and something who sees Mercury as a threat to get rid of.
For Fans Of: Dystopian Fiction, Naomi Alderman
 

Medusa’s Sisters

by Lauren J.A. Bear
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa and her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were unique among immortals. Curious about mortals and their lives, Medusa and her sisters entered the human world in search of a place to belong, yet quickly found themselves at the perilous center of a dangerous Olympian rivalry and learned—too late—that a god’s love is a violent one.
 
Forgotten by history and diminished by poets, the other two Gorgons have never been more than horrifying hags, damned and doomed. But they were sisters first, and their journey from sea-born origins to the outskirts of the Parthenon is a journey that rests, hidden, underneath their scales.
For Fans Of: Mythology, Jennifer Saint
 

Under the Influence

by Noelle Crooks
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Harper may not be familiar with self-help guru Charlotte Green, but her relentless optimism and charismatic can-do spirit has created a cult-like following of women across the country. When she selects Harper among thousands of other applicants in less than twenty-four hours, it’s obvious she sees something she likes. Despite the pressure to accept the offer just as quickly as she’s been given it, Harper decides to take a leap of faith and become the newest member of The Greenhouse.
 
Accepting the job means a move to Nashville, and Harper is quickly dazzled by the glamorous world Charlotte has built in Music City. The Greenhouse is more than a workplace—it’s a family—and Harper soon finds herself swept into its inner circle. At first, she loves working in such an inspirational environment, where mandatory dance parties, daily intentions, and group bonding activities make up for long hours and Charlotte’s persistent demands for loyalty. But the deeper Harper is pulled into Charlotte’s world, the more she realizes that having it all and being it all comes with a price.
For Fans Of: The Devil Wears Prada, coming-of-age stories
 

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

August 15th

The Witch is Back

by Sophie H. Morgan
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
There’s nothing wrong with being a wallflower. Not to Emmaline Bluewater, anyway. Emma may have been born into witch society, but her days of trying to fit in where she doesn’t belong are over—they ended seven years ago, when the man she’d hoped to marry left town without a word. She’s much happier now, living a delightfully mundane human life in Chicago and running her bar, Toil and Trouble.
 
Until Bastian Truenote walks through the door and announces that he wants her back.
Bastian had his reasons for leaving—even if he can’t tell Emma what they are. Now, to win Emma’s heart, he’s got to face down an adorably goofy dog familiar, a best friend who’s all too eager to hit him with a carefully aimed hex, and a woman who’s far from the meek witch he remembers.
For Fans Of: Paranormal, Erin Sterling
 

Managing the Matthews

by Haleigh Wenger
bookshop.org // Amazon
Everyone knows Kell Simmons manages the Matthew brothers, the three hottest stars in Hollywood: action hero Ryan, romantic lead Ash, and sports star Jonah. But no one knows that she’s hopelessly in love with one of them. When Ryan’s surprise engagement to a fan just about breaks Kell’s heart, Ash, himself unhappily in love, lends his shoulder to cry on. All this is great fodder for a reality TV show, one for which the brothers sign on for, and soon the days of their lives are filled with scripted dates, fake drama, and real heartache—all in front of a camera.
 
As the brothers’ popularity skyrockets into the stratosphere, Kell finds herself wondering how much, if any, of the spotlight she wants, if it means foregoing real love for fun and games on TV.
For Fans Of: Friends-To-Lovers, Sarah Adams
 

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

August 29th

The Breakaway

by Jennifer Weiner
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Thirty-four-year-old Abby Stern has made it to a happy place. True, she still has gig jobs instead of a career, and the apartment where she’s lived since college still looks like she just moved in. But she’s got good friends, she’s got her bike, and her bike club in Philadelphia. Abby and Mark met at the weight-loss camp Abby’s perpetually-dieting mother, Eileen, forced her daughter to attend. Fifteen years later, when Abby reconnects with a half-his-size Mark, and finds out that he still adores her, it feels like fate.
 
Yet Abby can’t escape the feeling that something isn’t right…or the memories of one mind-blowing night spent with a man named Sebastian two years ago. So when Abby gets a last minute call to lead a group bike trip from New York City to Niagara Falls, she’s happy to have time away from Mark, and a chance to make up her mind. But when both Sebastian and Eileen show up to go on the trip Abby’s certainties about herself, her mother, and the nature of love will be challenged.
For Fans Of: Familial Relationships, Elin Hilderbrand
 

Good Bad Girl

by Alice Feeney
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Twenty years after a baby is stolen from a stroller, a woman is murdered in a care home. The two crimes are somehow linked, and a good bad girl may be the key to discovering the truth.
 
Edith may have been tricked into a nursing home, but at eighty-years-young, she’s planning her escape. Patience works there, cleaning messes and bonding with Edith, a kindred spirit. But Patience is lying to Edith about almost everything. Edith’s own daughter, Clio, won’t speak to her. And someone new is about to knock on Clio’s door…and their intentions aren’t good. With every reason to distrust each other, the women must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might just find out what happened to the baby who disappeared, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them.
For Fans Of: Thrillers, Alex Finlay
 

Reign (American Royals #4)

by Katharine McGee
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
America’s royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it’s exactly what they wanted, a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it’s the ultimate dream come true.
 
Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can’t really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?
For Fans Of: YA Romance, Meg Cabot
 

Learned by Heart

by Emma Donoghue
bookshop.org // Amazon // Audiobook
Drawing on years of investigation and Anne Lister’s five-million-word secret journal, Learned by Heart is the long-buried love story of Eliza Raine, an orphan heiress banished from India to England at age six, and Anne Lister, a brilliant, troublesome tomboy, who meet at the Manor School for young ladies in York in 1805 when they are both fourteen.
 
Emotionally intense, psychologically compelling, and deeply researched, Learned by Heart is an extraordinary work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Full of passion and heartbreak, the tangled lives of Anne Lister and Eliza Raine form a love story for the ages.
For Fans Of: Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+ Romance
 

Happy Reading!!
~Alison

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases

 
Hi there! I’m Alison in Libraryland, and I’ll be here for all your book related needs. Many of you know me as the girl with the book recommendations. Don’t be shy! Ask me! If you’re looking for a good book or movie adaptation, let me help you find it. I’ll be here for all your literary needs. This is a book blog run on an obsession for shiny new books (just like this August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases), worn-through old classics, and all attempts at moving those stories to the screen, just like this August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases!

August 2023 Most Exciting New Book Releases