‘Better Than The Movies’ Sequel Releasing In 2024

On January 20, Lynn Painter announced through Twitter that her NYT Bestselling YA romance Better Than The Movies will be getting a sequel titled Nothing Like The Movies, which is slated for a fall 2024 release!

Initially published in May of 2021, the novel has garnered quite an audience via #Booktok (partly due to the use of rom-com and Taylor Swift references, according to readers) with the hashtag #BetterThanTheMovies acquiring 32.1 million views.

In this “rom-com about rom-coms,” as stated by Junior Library Guild, the novel follows high school senior Liz Buxbaum whose willing to do whatever it takes to win over her crush Michael, after her recently moved back into town. But, when her next-door neighbor and childhood pain Wes Bennett seems to hit it off with Liz’s crush, she realizes her only way to win over Michael involves scheming with her annoying neighbor to make sure he becomes Liz’s prom date. But as she becomes closer to Wes, she slowly starts to reexamine everything she thought she knew about love.

Passionate readers have been eagerly awaiting more of Liz and Wes, especially since during August of 2022, Painter revealed a bonus short story (Better Than The Prom) featuring the couple during a prom scene in the novel.

According to Painter’s thread, she stated “I always said I wouldn’t write a sequel because I like where those silly little love lovers landed, but then an idea popped into my head that I couldn’t shake lose. ALSO – I fell madly in love with Wes’s brain during the bonus chapters and I’m not quite ready to get out of his head.”

The novel will be told in dual POV and set during Liz and Wes’s college summer break. Painter stated more details are to be revealed “soon.” Nothing Like The Movies is available to add on Goodreads.

Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbor would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome’s severed head in her little homemade neighborhood book exchange.

Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It’s Liz’s senior year, a time meant to be rife with milestones perfect for any big screen, and she needs Wes’s help. See, Liz’s forever crush, Michael, has just moved back to town, and—horribly, annoyingly—he’s hitting it off with Wes. Meaning that if Liz wants Michael to finally notice her, and hopefully be her prom date, she needs Wes. He’s her in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she actually likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own perception of what Happily Ever After should really look like.

Nothing Like The Movies by Lynn Painter is set to be released Fall 2024!

Stephanie Garber Announces ‘Once Upon A Broken Heart’ Book 3 Title

On December 13, Stephanie Garber revealed through Instagram, the title of the third and final book in her NYT Bestselling Once Upon A Broken Heart series which will be called A Curse For True Love, which will be releasing September 2023!

Evangeline Fox has grown up believing in true love, happy endings and the legends about immortals like the Prince Of Hearts. But, when she learns the love of her life will marry someone else, she turns to the prince for help.

Brief plot details reveal that the finale will contain as follows: “Two villains do battle for the heart of one girl in A CURSE FOR TRUE LOVE, the deadly conclusion of the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.”

Additionally, through her post Garber also stated “I hope you all love the title! I’m really excited that it’s no longer a secret and that I’ll get to share even more about this book in the upcoming months!”

A Curse For True Love is available for preorder through retailers such as Bookshop, B&N, and more!

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game— and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy.

A Curse For True Love by Stephanie Garber is set to be released September 12, 2023!

‘Cemetery Boys’ Sequel Releasing In 2024

On June 28, Aiden Thomas, NYT Bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and Lost In The Never Woods, revealed through Twitter that he will be releasing a sequel to his beloved trans YA paranormal romance slated for a Fall 2024 release with Feiwel & Friends.

In the first novel, Yadriel, a trans gay boy, is trying to prove himself to his family as a true brujo, but summons a ghost on accident, who also happens to be bad boy Julian Diaz. As Julian’s looking to tie up some loose ends before he leaves, Yadriel isn’t expecting to fall in love with him during their adventures.

According to the announcement thread the currently untitled “Cemetery Boys 2” will be told from Julian’s POV, centering around a monster who starts creating “malingo spirits” in East L.A.

Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, is a YALSA 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten pick and has been described by Entertainment Weekly as “groundbreaking.” Cemetery Boys was originally published in September of 2020 under the Swoon Reads imprint (with Fierce Reads).

Thomas commissioned art celebrating the announcement which was created by @/mmarsloud on Twitter.

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is out now!

Margaret Rogerson Announces ‘Sorcery Of Thorns’ Novella Releasing In 2023

On June 13, Margaret Rogerson revealed through her Instagram that the NYT Bestselling 2019 standalone YA fantasy standalone novel Sorcery Of Thorns would be receiving a follow-up novella slated for a January 2023 release with Simon Teen titled The Mysteries Of Thorn Manor.

According to her post, the story will take place “two months after” the epilogue in Sorcery Of Thorns and is pitched as “a lighthearted, romantic comfort-read mystery that reveals previously untold secrets about the world and characters.” The book is planned to be released as a hardcover.

As for what inspired the novella Rogerson stated ” The truth is that I was in a dark place after Covid isolation and lost a lot of confidence in my writing. I decided to try this as a way to help rediscover my love of writing, and hopefully bring some comfort and happiness to my readers, too, since many of you have asked for some extra content like this…”

Rogerson also revealed that Charlie Bowater will return to design the cover. No additional news yet as to other translations for the title.

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

The Mysteries Of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson is set to be released January 17, 2023!

Holly Black Returns To Elfhame In ‘The Stolen Heir’

On June 7, Cosmopolitan revealed an exclusive look into Holly Black’s newest YA fantasy duology set in the Elfhame world with a new duology, with the first book being titled The Stolen Heir, set for a 2023 release!

Alongside a Q&A and official cover reveal, the article states that this return to the world of Elfhame is an entirely new series set 10 years after the initial Folk Of The Air trilogy, which will follow Oak, a faerie prince who is the foster son of Madoc and Oriana, and Suren, a child queen of a different court in the land of Elfhame.

The duology will follow Oak at 17 and according to Black the novels (both TSH and its sequel) will be told from “two different points of view,” starting with Suren.

Black did reveal artwork of Oak via her Instagram alongside what looked to be a manuscript on June 6, in anticipation for the announcement.

In addition to the cover reveal, it was also stated that there is a Barnes & Noble exclusive edition which will feature “an alternate jacket and contains the author’s personal journal pages and notes on the manuscript, giving readers a peek into the writing process.”

The summary has been kept brief: #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elfhame in the first book in a thrilling new duology, following Jude’s brother Oak, and the changeling queen, Suren.

A reluctant prince. A runaway queen. And a quest that may destroy them both. 

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black is set to be released January 3, 2023!

Leigh Bardugo reveals ‘Demon In The Wood’ ― a Grishaverse Graphic Novel

On December 16, GMA revealed in an exclusive announcement in which Leigh Bardugo provided a first look into the first-ever Grishaverse graphic novel and prequel releasing in 2022, which illustrates the origin story of the Darkling, titled Demon In The Wood.

According to Bardugo’s exclusive, the graphic novel will tell the story of “a young many burdened by an extraordinary power who will become the Darkling.”

Bardugo ends the announcement with this question “But is this the origin story of a hero, or a villain? That’s for you to decide…”

Original artwork will be done by Dani Pendergast and adapted by Kyla Vanderklugt, slated for a Fall 2022 release.

Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power.

Eryk and his mother, Lena, have spent their lives on the run. But they will never find a safe haven. They are not only Grisha—they are the deadliest and rarest of their kind. Feared by those who wish to destroy them and hunted by those who would exploit their gifts, they must hide their true abilities wherever they go. But sometimes deadly secrets have a way of revealing themselves…

Discover the start of a grand and sinister destiny in this must-have graphic novel prequel to the bestselling series and international Netflix sensation Shadow and Bone from spectacular new talent Dani Pendergast and #1 New York Times bestseller Leigh Bardugo.

Demon In The Wood by Leigh Bardugo, with artwork from Dani Pendergast is set to be released September 27, 2022!

‘We Were Liars’ Prequel Announced For 2022

As of November 10, Barnes & Noble announced that E. Lockhart’s 2014 novel We Were Liars, which became a #Booktok sensation and a #1 NYT Bestseller is getting a prequel titled Family Of Liars, slated for May of 2022!

We Were Liars follows Cadence Sinclair who returns to her family’s private island for the summer joined by her cousins and family friend off Cape Cod. As Cadence recovers from a head injury, the group known as the Liars uncover secrets and truths that no one wants to speak of.

The forthcoming prequel will follow a previous generation of the Sinclair family during the summer of 1987 on an island off the coast of Massachusetts. The summary promises a “summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.” Following the Liars’ mothers during a “notable summer” the novel centers around them as teenagers as they see what it means to be a Sinclair.

In addition, the online retailer stated that its B&N Exclusive Edition will include “a unique jacket and a customized case and endpapers! Exclusive bonus content includes a map of Beechwood Island and a Sinclair family tree, both hand-drawn by the author, as well as an author Q&A, a playlist/mix tape, Tipper’s lemon pound cake recipe, and more.”

The full summary description reads:

The thrilling prequel to the TikTok phenomenon and #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Liars takes readers back to the story of another summer, another generation, and the secrets that will haunt them for decades to come. 

A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts. 
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy. 
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.
 
Welcome back to the Sinclair family. 
They were always liars.

Family Of Liars by E. Lockhart is set to be released May 3, 2022!

‘The Atlas Six’ Acquired by Tor Books And New Edition Coming In 2022

On September 28, it was announced through Tor Books that The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, an independently published dark academic fantasy that took the book community by storm, is being released with a new hardcover edition in addition to the release of two more books in the planned trilogy.

Originally self-published in 2020, The Atlas Six follows six uniquely talented magicians from around the world who are invited to compete in an academic fellowship as part of the The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of knowledge that has been lost to the greatest civilizations of ancient times. However, elimination holds deadly consequences.

According to Tor’s article, Blake’s “newly revised” edition of her novel will include “new illustration material” which will be releasing in 2022. The first novel now has an ebook version available for purchase through Macmillan.

The novel has garnered over 9.5 million views on Booktok and was recently placed into Barnes & Noble stores earlier this summer. Cover artist for the new edition of The Atlas Six is Jamie Stafford-Hill.

According to the FAQ page, the hardcover edition will contain revisions from the author, be edited and include new interior art. A pre-order campaign is to be announced soon as well.

The highly-anticipated sequel titled The Atlas Paradox is slated for October 2022. Olivie Blake is the pen name for Alexene Farol Follmuth. The official website for the novel can be found here.

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.

Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.

When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.

Most of them.

The new edition of Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is set to be released March 1, 2022!

Sabaa Tahir’s Newest YA Novel ‘All My Rage’ Releasing In 2022

As of June 4, it was announced through Oprah Daily that #1 NYT Bestselling author Sabaa Tahir will be releasing a YA Contemporary standalone novel titled All My Rage in 2022, with an adaptation in the works.

According to the article, it states that the intergenerational novel was 15 years in the making and taking “inspiration from Tahir’s own experience growing up in her family’s 18-room motel in California’s Mojave Desert.” The main characters are described by Tahir has ” ‘best friends and, on the surface, outcasts.’ They are Muslim in a town where there are few other Muslims and are first generation immigrants.”

In addition, All My Rage is set to be adapted for television with PICTURESTART. Tahir and Amer Saleem are set to write the script.

The novel is also mentioned by Tahir as her “passion project” and novel that many authors describe as the book of their heart.

Tahir’s upcoming novel is available to add on Goodreads and for pre-order.

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.  
 
Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.
 
When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.  
 
From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir is set to be released March 1, 2022!

YA Queer Regency Romance Graphic Novel Releasing In 2024

On April 30 it was announced through the author’s Twitter that a Young Adult Queer Regency romance graphic novel titled I Shall Never Fall In Love by Hari Connor will be debuting in Fall of 2024!

According to Connor’s tweet, its the “trans/non-binary romantic hero, queer period drama romcom of [their] dreams.”

This Queer regency romance debut will follow “two friends trying to find their places in the world and each other’s lives. George and Eleanor’s story explores class privilege, trans identity, and friendship in the time of calling cards and Empire waists.” (Credit: Publishers Weekly)

Connor is also the creator of the multi-award-winning LGBTQ+ fantasy webcomic Finding Home. Cover/promotional illustration artist is Hari Connor.

I Shall Never Fall In Love is slated for a 2024 release with HMH!