May 2025 Book Releases:
Your Ultimate Guide For The Final Week’s Must-Reads
26th May – 31st May: The final week of May features some exciting new stories as part of the 2025 book releases.
This Week’s May 2025 Book Releases
Discover my top 12 picks from this final week’s exciting new book releases! In this line-up, I’ll share the captivating synopses and discuss which books will resonate with each reader. Kicking off the fantasy romance genre, we have a Celtic-inspired fantasy romance and the first in a planned duology. For the fiction genre, we have a delightfully moving new novel about a mother-daughter duo and reclaiming the power to reshape your destiny.
For readers who prefer their fiction more grounded in reality, we have two new additions to the historical fiction genre: the story of the thousands of young women sent from Irish workhouses to Australia after the Famine and the spectacular tale of two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II who find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women.
This week brings exciting books for horror fans. The master storyteller Stephen King is returning with his fourth instalment in the Holly Gibney series, and this week’s anticipated debut horror is about four unlikely allies in a small town investigating a local teen’s disappearance.
For the romantic at heart and fans of spicy romance books, three new additions will catch your interest: a sizzling dark hockey romance set in a glamorous secret world, second, a very problematic summer in Italy, where what is wrong meets what feels right in an age-gap romance, and lastly, an uplifting series debut, where an unlikely friendship blossoms in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals.
Last but not least, three new additions for the thriller and mystery lovers wrap up this week’s 2025 book releases: alternating between two friends’ art school tenures and their lives in 2001 New York and the difficulty in searching for answers when you’d rather have anything but the truth. Second, a dysfunctional book club must pull together when one of its members goes missing, and the final novel is a spectacular exploration of grief, guilt, and hatred in a small town filled with paranoia, rumours, and tension.
Genre – Fantasy Romance Books
Title: A Fate Forged in Fire
Series: Bonded to Beasts
Author: Hazel McBride
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 416
The first book in a sizzling Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology. To become the first queen in centuries, a powerfully blessed blacksmith must use her wits and fire magic to overthrow the corrupt powers ruling her kingdom, while also fighting her growing desire for one of her dragon-riding adversaries. It is an ideal read for fans of dragons, feisty female main characters, political intrigue, and enemies-to-lovers romance.
The book’s synopsis;
Once a territory built on matriarchal rule and values, Tìr Teine has since grown frail from a long line of fruitless kings. The most recent of which have ruled under the influence of the True Religion, an oppressive group who have steadily poisoned the region with their anti-magic teachings.
Born to rule and blessed by fire, Aemyra has begrudgingly lived in hiding rather than risk her life in court, waiting in anticipation for the current king’s death so she can bond to his dragon, claim her throne, and protect her people. But when the king dies and Aemyra is ready to take what is rightfully hers, her ambitious plan is foiled and she is thrust into a game of vicious politics and plots.
Her biggest adversary is Prince Fiorean, a dragon-rider and one of the most powerful fire wielders in the territory. Cold, arrogant, and blindly supportive of his corrupt family, he is everything Aemyra despises. But as chaos engulfs the court, they find themselves reluctantly entwined, forced to forge an uneasy alliance—one that quickly ignites into something more dangerous than either of them expected.
Behind enemy lines and slowly falling for her so-called adversary, Aemyra uncovers just how far the rot of corruption has spread, and what she may have to sacrifice to claim her throne.
Genre – Fiction Books
Title: Beach House Rules
Author: Kristy Woodson Harvey
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 368
Author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a delightfully moving new novel about a mother-daughter duo. It is a charming exploration of the joy of friendship, the true meaning of family, and reclaiming the power to reshape our own destiny. It is an ideal read for fans of second chances, the power of a community, and exploring themes of loyalty, trust, and family.
The book’s synopsis;
When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she and her daughter Iris are locked out of their house by the FBI and—what’s potentially even worse—thrust into the spotlight of @JuniperShoresSocialite, the town’s snarky anonymous Instagram account. Cut off from her bank accounts and feeling desperate, Charlotte takes up an acquaintance’s offer to stay at a beachfront former bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in the small coastal North Carolina town.
Charlotte and Iris find solace and are surprised by how much fun they’re having with the other families despite their circumstances. But when the women discover a secret link between them, it changes everything they thought they knew about the unconventional family they’ve created and leaves them wondering whether their coming together was a coincidence at all. Will the skeletons in the mommune closets help Charlotte and Iris reclaim their place in the Juniper Shores community—or shatter the sisterhood forever?
Genre – Historical Fiction Books
Title: The Famine Orphans
Author: Patricia Falvey
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 368
An evocative, powerful, and captivating novel from the acclaimed author of The Titanic Sisters, a historical fiction based on historical facts about the thousands of young women sent from Irish workhouses to Australia after the Famine. It is an ideal read for fans of Irish history and themes of perseverance, adversity, and love.
The book’s synopsis;
1848: The girls, 4,000 in all, come from every part of Ireland—from the shores of Galway to the Glens of Ulster and Belfast’s teeming streets—to board ships bound for Australia. All were chosen from Ireland’s crowded workhouses. Most are orphans. The Earl Grey Scheme was presented as an opportunity for young women to gain employment as domestic servants in the Colony. But there is another, unstated purpose—the girls are to “civilize” the many men sent there as convicts, so that settlements can be built.
Kate Gilvarry has spent six months in a Newry workhouse, subsisting on a diet of watery porridge. She knows there’s no future for her either within its walls or outside, in a ravaged, starving land. But once Kate’s ship completes the harrowing voyage, she and her companions find their reception in Sydney dismayingly unwelcoming, as anti-Irish sentiment grows. Homesick, and disillusioned by love following a shipboard crush, Kate strives to fit in, first as the servant of a demanding English woman, then as a farmer’s bride in the Outback.
When heat and drought force her husband to leave for long periods to work on a sheep ranch, Kate is left alone to fend off wild animals, drifters, and her aching loneliness. She longs to return to Ireland. But first, this beautiful, unforgiving country will teach her about resilience and survival, and the limitless possibilities that come with courage and love.
Title: The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club
Author: Martha Hall Kelly
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 336
From the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls comes a spectacular tale of two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II who find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women. This is an ideal read for fans of time frames, sisterhood, mystery, and family secrets.
The book’s synopsis;
2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.
1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old aspiring writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended.
In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend, Bess, start a book club, which grows both in members and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war . . . before it’s too late?
Genre – Horror Books
Title: Never Flinch
Series: Holly Gibney
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 439
From master storyteller Stephen King comes the fourth instalment in the Holly Gibney series. With intertwining storylines, the extraordinary novel is thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing. It features a dynamic new cast of characters and the return of the beloved Holly Gibney. It is an ideal read for fans of jaw-dropping twists, moral dilemmas, and themes of justice and revenge.
The book’s synopsis;
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Title: When Devils Sing
Author: Xan Kaur
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 400
The next anticipated debut horror is about four unlikely allies in a small town investigating a local teen’s disappearance and what they discover festering at the core of their community—a far more sinister and ancient evil than they could’ve ever imagined. It is an ideal read for fans of town secrets, power politics, mysterious disappearances, and supernatural intrigue, especially Southern Gothic tales.
The book’s synopsis;
When Dawson Sumter goes missing, all he leaves behind is a smattering of blood in room 4 of the debt-ridden motel owned by Neera Singh’s family. Disappearances like this aren’t uncommon in the rural Georgia town of Carrion, especially every thirteen years when a periodical cicada brood returns from underground, shrieking their deafening screams.
For Neera, Dawson is another reminder that in this corner of the South, the rich only get richer, and the poor—well, nothing good comes their way.
Neera sets out to investigate Dawson’s whereabouts—if he even still lives—along with three other teens: Isaiah, son of a prominent judge and clandestine true crime podcaster; Reid, son of the wealthiest man in the region; and Sam, estranged daughter of the local hitman. As they find themselves entangled in a messy web of secrets and lies, they discover the riches of the adjacent Lake Clearwater community may have a terrifying source of power dating back to the town’s founding and an ancient urban legend about three devils, each more sinister than the next. How deep does the rot go, and can they find a way to escape its reach?
Genre – Romance Books
Title: Beautiful Venom
Series: Vipers
Author: Rina Kent
Publisher: Bloom Books
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 496
From New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a sizzling dark hockey romance set in a new glamorous secret world and the first novel in the new Vipers series. It is an ideal read for fans of sports romances, secret societies, enemies to lovers, and twisted games.
The book’s synopsis;
In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom.
They shattered my world; now, I’ll bring down theirs.
The problem? I have virtually no way to trace the puppet master.
My only lead: The Vipers.
An elite college hockey team that rules the ice—and the shadows beyond it.
To infiltrate their secret society, I set my sights on their weakest link.
Kane Davenport.
The charismatic captain and the lone green flag in a nest of serpents.
But too late, I realize I’ve enticed the most venomous snake.
Kane’s friendly façade hides a predator more dangerous than I imagined.
He quickly unveils the monster lurking beneath the surface.
A monster who lured me in only to trap me in a lethal game with no escape.
Title: Problematic Summer Romance
Series: Not in Love
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 416
From New York Times bestselling author of Deep End comes the next romance in the Not in Love series. It is a very problematic summer in Italy, where what is wrong meets what feels right in this age-gap romance. It is an ideal read for fans of forbidden love, wedding chaos, secrets, and stunning Italy.
The book’s synopsis;
Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life.
Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him.
It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life.
But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists.
When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.
Title: The Guest Cottage
Series: Firefly Summer
Author: Lori Foster
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 304
In this uplifting series debut, forgiveness and unlikely friendship blossom in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals. It is an ideal read for fans of interesting dynamics, small town settings, second chances, and dramatic characters.
The book’s synopsis;
Marlow Heddings is starting over. She’s carried the outrage of her husband Dylan’s affair with a younger woman—and the expectations of his family’s powerful Chicago holdings company—long enough. Now, after another devastating twist of fate, she’s unapologetically moving on.
Arriving in tiny Bramble, Kentucky, Marlow revels in her freedom, swapping her executive suits for sundresses. … and scouting places to open her dream boutique. Best of all is her new residence, an adorable cottage with gorgeous lake views—and a breathtaking landlord, former Marine Cort Easton. Soon they’re sharing dockside morning coffee and nighttime firefly gazing. Marlow’s new life feels like a dream.
Then Pixie Nolan arrives on her doorstep. With a shocking secret.
To Marlow’s astonishment, Dylan’s “other woman” is a desperate girl of nineteen, destitute, exhausted, and disowned by her family. Defying her manipulative in-laws’ demands, and surprising even herself, Marlow vows to lay down roots in Bramble and help Pixie get on her feet. Then they’ll part ways. But empathy has a way of forging bonds. As Marlow grows close to the hard-working, devoted young woman, she becomes something of a big sister to Pixie.
Now, with each sunrise, Marlow awakens to the life she was truly meant to live, one filled with deepening connections, supportive friendship . . . and even a second chance at love.
Genre – Thriller And Mystery Books
Title: Tell Them You Lied
Author: Laura Leffler
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 384
Tell Them You Lied alternates between two friends’ art school tenures and their lives in 2001 New York and reveals how difficult the search for answers is when you’d rather have anything but the truth. It is an ideal read for fans of complex female friendships and exploring themes of trust, power, control, and the plight of young women.
The book’s synopsis;
Anna had never met anyone like Willow. Entering art school with lofty ideas about Art and her role in it, Anna was wholly unprepared for someone as mysterious, moody—and cool—as Willow. Here was Anna’s muse and collaborator all in one, ready to bring her in on Art’s great secrets.
Now, five years later, Anna is weary. Where art school was boundless creativity and collaboration, the New York art scene is all about survival. Worse: Willow’s true nature as a muse only to herself has become nakedly apparent, as has her cruelty.
So the mugging Anna has staged for Willow this morning? It’s supposed to send Willow running back to her true friend. The knife is supposed to be a mirror in which this ‘artist’ can finally see the monster she’s become. It’s supposed to give Anna her power back.
But this morning isn’t just any Tuesday. It’s September 11, 2001. And as the city reels from the seismic events of that day, Willow never returns home. Anna keeps quiet about the prank and her growing panic that she’s to blame for Willow’s disappearance. But as the hours and days tick by, Anna begins to question whether she’s the mastermind she thought she was, or the pawn.
Title: The Busybody Book Club
Author: Freya Sampson
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 336
From the USA Today bestselling author of Nosy Neighbors comes her latest novel, in which a dysfunctional book club must pull together when one of its members goes missing. It is an ideal read for fans of mysteries full of humour and heart, amateur sleuths, and quirky characters.
The book’s synopsis;
The five members of the St. Tredock Book Club disagree on everything, from the books they read to the biscuits they eat. But when one of the group suddenly disappears and a dead body is discovered at his house, these bibliophiles must put their differences aside to solve the mystery.
Having recently moved to Cornwall, Nova Davies started the book club to impress her new colleagues at the community center, but so far it’s a disaster. To make matters worse, six thousand pounds is stolen from the community center during one of her meetings, putting both her job and the whole center at risk.
Suspicion for the theft falls on book club member Michael, especially when a dead body is discovered at his house and Michael disappears. The police think he’s simply run away, but the other members have their own theories. Agatha Christie superfan Phyllis is determined to prove he’s a murderer as well as a thief, while secret romance reader Arthur believes Michael’s eloped with his mistress, and teenage sci-fi fan Ash thinks dark forces are at play.
While trying to find Michael and recover the money, each book club member has their own secrets to protect. With inspiration from their favorite fictional sleuths, they won’t rest until they’ve cracked the case and everyone is safe at home where they belong.
Title: Whispers of Dead Girls
Author: Marlee Bush
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 27th of May, 2025
Pages: 368
Author Marlle Bush’s second novel is a spectacular exploration of grief, guilt, and hatred. It is described as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, but from the perspective of the teachers. It is an ideal read for fans of small-town vibes, female main characters, and themes of paranoia, rumours, and tension.
The book’s synopsis;
She’s right. It can never happen again. She won’t let it.
Ten years have passed, and Ren Taylor is back at square one, having accepted a job at her old high school. She’d hoped to make peace with the past but now she’s thrust back into it: her murdered teenage sister is still immortalized in town, and Ren can’t stop seeing her wherever she goes. She’s dogged by the scandal that ruined her childhood and killed her sister.
Then Ren meets physics teacher Bryson Lewis. Handsome and charismatic, all the other teachers and students seem to fall at his feet. But Ren knows men like him – she knows they can’t be trusted.
The more Ren watches him, the more suspicious she becomes. And when she notices his close relationship with a girl in one of his classes – a girl just like her sister – she worries history is about to repeat itself. This time, she won’t sit back and watch another girl be taken before her time.
This time, Ren will do what she must to save her, even if it means revealing her own darkest secrets.
Conclusion
The final week of May features twelve exciting new book releases, including a Celtic-inspired fantasy romance, a delightfully moving fiction novel about a mother-daughter duo, a historical tale about the thousands of young women sent from Irish workhouses to Australia after the Famine, and a second, a spectacular story of two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II.
For horror fans, the master storyteller Stephen King returns with his latest novel and the arrival of this week’s anticipated debut horror from author Xan Kaur. The romance genre adds three new additions: a dark hockey romance, a very problematic summer fling in Italy, and an unlikely friendship blossoming between two very different women over their mutual betrayals.
The thriller and mystery genre includes a story of searching for answers when you’d rather have anything but the truth, a dysfunctional book club and the disappearance of a member, and finally, a spectacular exploration of grief, guilt, and hatred in a small town filled with paranoia, rumours, and tension.
Stay tuned, as I will post my following article next week about the latest 2025 book releases for the first week of June’s monthly line-up. Additionally, if you are interested in more book-related articles, check out my book section page for reviews, recommendations, details and discussions.
