Books to wish for in 2026

These are a few books I am adding to my wishlist for the new year. A Strange the Dreamer meets the Shadow of the Wind immersive fantasy, a YA murder mystery set in an escape room game show, a teen discovering there is more to their childhood visions, a young woman must survive the deadly mythical creature she smuggled on an airship, and a rom-com where the protagonist gets letters from the future!

Romantasies, murder mysteries, fantasy adventures and laugh-out-loud rom-coms, there are books for everyone in this list.

Dream of the Jet Black City

(coming May 14th)

Ash and his crew race across rooftops in pursuit of living lightning from the perpetually raging Motherstorm. This energy, the jet-black city of Onyxia depends upon, is all that stands between them and starvation. When a monstrous nightmare attacks, death is all but certain - until Ash dreams a shadow panther into existence to protect himself. But this new power comes with either conscription to the harrowing Academy or indebtment to a wealthy patron.

Daerna belongs to a devout sisterhood who sing canticles to pacify the eternal storm. Geil is a creature born of Dream and bound to the Drake form she conjured to survive her Academy training. As each pursues their own ends, they soon discover that they share common goals. But can they find a way to learn from the secrets the city has buried within its past before their whole world turns into a living nightmare?

The Escape Game (coming April 7th)

Six months ago, season four of the hugely popular reality TV show THE ESCAPE GAME ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered in the escape room on set. Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show's trickiest escape rooms.

There's Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz influencer; Beck, the escape room enthusiast and wannabe game master, and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister's murder. Or so everyone believes. But Sierra's not just here to win. She's here for justice . . . and revenge.

As the contestants progress through the rounds, they begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia's true killer: the stakes aren't just high in this competition, they're deadly. If these teens want to escape, win and survive, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?

The Light That Blinds Us

(coming February 24th)

After a childhood haunted by disturbing hallucinations of the Shadow Man, Alexis Michaels’s only comfort is the blue amulet he’s had since before he can remember. Now, the visions have gone, and Alexis craves a normal life. But when a trip to Stonehenge unites him with three other teens carrying similar gems, they are all plunged into a hidden world of power-wielding Elementals: chosen ones, who are destined to save the world from an eternal night.

Now Alexis and his companions must venture on a perilous quest, facing tests of love, loss, and loyalty. But a dark past plagues Alexis as they prepare to defeat an adversary more ominous than they could imagine, and a looming secret threatens to corrupt the mission, their lives, and Alexis’s mind.

Devious Prey (coming March 31st)

When an airship’s windmaster dies mid-flight, the crew and its passengers are swept out to sea by a violent storm. They crash on a desolate island, but they’re not alone. A dragoness had been stashed in the hold. After escaping a damaged cage, it begins preying on the surviving travelers in the hopes of remaining free.

The stranded group’s best chance of making it home alive is the young woman who smuggled the dragoness on board in the first place—and the mysterious teen boy who was led onto the ship in chains before takeoff. Both have secrets that could help them survive on the island…but those same secrets could deliver a death sentence if they ever make it home.

Love Me Tomorrow (February 3rd)

Seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher doesn’t believe in love, not after her parents’ bitter divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple: proof that love is real and can last. Emma thinks little of her wish… until she finds a note from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing to her from the future. It has to be a prank, right? But as the notes pour in, each revealing secrets only she knows, Emma is forced to accept the impossible: This is really happening.  Someone is actually reaching out to her from across time.

But who? Ezra, the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo, the literal boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin, the overly confident, overly handsome, overly rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega-mansion? As Emma races to uncover the identity of the letter writer, she’ll discover that love is more than real—it’s the most powerful force in the universe. And it’s been waiting for her all along.