September 2025 Book Releases:
Your Ultimate Guide For The Third Week’s Must-Reads
15th-21st September: The third week of September features some exciting new stories as part of the 2025 book releases.
This Week’s September 2025 Book Releases
Discover my top 12 picks for the third 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 genres and marking an ideal week for fantasy lovers, we have a prequel to the Roots of Chaos series, a new series based on Salavic folklore from the author of Divergent, and lastly, an electrifying and enraging retelling of the life of the Greek goddess Hekate.
For readers who prefer their fantasy with a mix of romance, we have two new additions: a spellbinding new cosy fantasy romance set in the same enchanting world as Rewitched, and secondly, a debut gothic paranormal romance inspired by Beauty & the Beast and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.
For the fans who prefer their fiction more grounded in reality, we have two new additions for the historical fiction genre: a wickedly funny and delightfully charming debut that is a tribute to Jane Austen, and the much-anticipated second book from a National Book Award finalist, which arrives with an era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship.
As for the romance genre, two new additions will capture your interest: the next highly anticipated Dream Harbour romance, and secondly, a sparkling, seductive adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected to fall for.
Last but not least, for the mystery and thriller fans, we have three new additions to wrap up the third week’s 2025 book releases, starting with a wickedly dark, suspenseful and well-written debut about a woman who hasn’t set foot in her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin, in almost twenty years, secondily, a twisty tale of domestic suspense about four neighbours who become the prime suspects in a murder investigation that reveals the sinister underside of their picture-perfect community, and lastily, a gripping and mysterious debut thriller about a shocking murder in the New Zealand bush and the witness who looks all too familiar draws a woman back to the very place she swore she’d never return.
Genre – Fantasy Books
Title: Among the Burning Flowers
Author: Samantha Shannon
Series: The Roots of Chaos (0.2)
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages:288
New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree returns with a prequel. With the awakening of fire-breathing dragons, witness the first sparks of danger that threaten to consume the world. Perfect for readers of stories of human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, vivid world-building, and LGBT themes.
The book’s synopsis;
It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.
Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.
A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.
And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .
Title: To Clutch a Razor
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Curse Bearer (2)
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 240
New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series pulls from Slavic folklore to explore family, duty, and what it means to be a monster in the sequel to her bestselling novella, When Among Crows. It is an ideal read for fans of fantastic world-building, fascinating mythology, and intergenerational trauma.
The book’s synopsis;
A funeral. A heist. A desperate mission.
When Dymitr is called back to the old country for the empty night, a funeral rite intended to keep evil at bay, it’s the perfect opportunity for him to get his hands on his family’s most guarded relic—a book of curses that could satisfy the debt he owes legendary witch Baba Jaga. But first he’ll have to survive a night with his dangerous, monster-hunting kin.
As the sun sets, the line between enemies and allies becomes razor-thin, and Dymitr’s new loyalties are pushed to their breaking point.
Family gatherings can be brutal. Dymitr’s might just be fatal.
Title: Hekate: The Witch
Author: Nikita Gill
Series: Goddesses of the Underworld (1)
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 384
From internationally bestselling poet Nikita Gill comes a propulsive, electrifying and enraging retelling of the life of Greek goddess Hekate. The perfect read for fans of Greek mythology, witchcraft, and exploring the themes of loss, betrayal, war, and ultimately, redemption.
The book’s synopsis;
Born into a world on fire, Godling Hekate has never known safety. After her parents are on the losing side of the war between the ruling Titans and new Olympian Gods, Hekate is taken by her mother Asteria to the Underworld, where Styx and Hades agree to raise her. Meanwhile, Asteria is pursued across the world by Zeus and Poseidon and, to escape their clutches, transforms herself into an island in a stormy sea.
Orphaned and alone, Hekate grows up amongst the horrors and beauties of the Underworld, desperate to find her divine purpose and a sense of belonging in the land of the dead.
When Hekate finally uncovers her powers and ascends to Goddess status, she realises that even the most powerful Olympians are terrified of her. But when immortal war breaks out again, threatening to destroy everything from Mount Olympus to the Underworld itself, the Goddess of witchcraft and necromancy is the only one who can bring the deadly conflict to an end. . .
Genre – Fantasy Romance Books
Title: Uncharmed
Author: Lucy Jane Wood
Series: Rewitched (2)
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 384
From Sunday Times bestseller comes a spellbinding new cosy fantasy romance that is practically perfect, in every witch way. Set in the same enchanting world as Rewitched, it is the ideal read for fans of found family tropes, unconditional love, and the joy of embracing your true magical self.
The book’s synopsis;
Annie Wildwood is practically perfect in every witch way. Her life is a haze of pink, magic and impossibly high standards. But, when she is tasked with mentoring a troubled teenage witch with extraordinary powers, Annie’s charmed existence is quickly thrown into utter chaos…
Title: Wicked Beasts
Author: Shelley Leigh Crane
Publisher: Steely Co. Publishing
Publication Date: 18th September, 2026
Pages: 300
A debut gothic paranormal romance inspired by Beauty & the Beast and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. The perfect read for fans of Gothic themes, dark romances, and the ideal mash-up of fairy tale and horror.
The book’s synopsis;
Amara Rose thought she knew what to expect when she took a personal assistant job at Black Manor, a remote estate up north on the island of O’ahu. But nothing could have prepared her for the charm of the intelligent and enigmatic Mr. Black or the seductive allure of his older brother, Dr. Shadow. As strange occurrences and unsettling truths swirl around her, Miss Rose begins to fear that the brothers’ captivating presence hides a far darker reality when the whispers of the skeletal woods start to terrorize her mind. Will she uncover the truth behind the manor’s haunting mysteries—or will she be consumed by them forever?
Genre – Historical Fiction Books
Title: The Austen Affair
Author: Madeline Bell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 336
A wickedly funny and delightfully charming debut, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, when two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era. The ideal read for fans of second chances and love across the space-time continuum.
The book’s synopsis;
Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.
A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.
Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.
Title: The Wilderness
Author: Angela Flournoy
Publisher: Mariner Books
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 304
The much-anticipated second book from a National Book Award finalist arrives with an era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship, as they navigate the dizzying and sometimes precarious period between young adulthood and midlife. The perfect read for fans of stories about the power of friendship, motherhood, and the creation of chosen family.
The book’s synopsis;
Desiree, Danielle, January, Monique, and Nakia are in their early twenties and at the beginning. Of their careers, of marriage, of motherhood, and of big-city lives in New York and Los Angeles. Together, they are finding their way through the wilderness, that period of life when the reality of contemporary adulthood—overwhelming, mysterious, and full of freedom and consequences—swoops in and stays.
Desiree and Danielle, sisters whose shared history has done little to prevent their estrangement, nurse bitter family wounds in different ways. January’s got a relationship with a “good” man she feels ambivalent about, even after her surprise pregnancy. Monique, a librarian and aspiring blogger, finds unexpected online fame after calling out the university where she works for its plans to whitewash fraught history. And Nakia is trying to get her restaurant off the ground, without relying on the largesse of her upper middle-class family who wonder aloud if she should be doing something better with her life.
As these friends move from the late 2000’s into the late 2020’s, from young adults to grown women, they must figure out what they mean to one another—amid political upheaval, economic and environmental instability, and the increasing volatility of modern American life.
Genre – Romance Books
Title: The Gingerbread Bakery
Author: Laurie Gilmore
Series: Dream Harbor
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 358
From the international bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Café and The Cinnamon Bun Book Store comes the next highly anticipated Dream Harbour romance. The perfect read for fans of cosy romances, enemies-to-lovers dynamics, and small-town settings.
The book’s synopsis;
A wedding in Dream Harbor can only mean one thing, everyone wants to get involved!
With Jeanie and Logan set to tie the knot, and Kira desperate to hire out her newly renovated barn at the Christmas tree farm, everything seems to be going well. Annie has agreed to bake the cake, and Mac is responsible for, well… just being Mac. And as the whole of Dream Harbor comes together to celebrate the wedding of the year with the snow falling around them, can Annie and Mac put aside their dislike for each just long enough for the ‘I Do’s’ or is that one request too far…
Title: We Met Like This
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Saturday Books
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 368
The beloved author’s sparkling, seductive adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected to fall for. The perfect read for fans of witty banter, second chance romances, meet cutes gone awry and, ultimately, true love.
The book’s synopsis;
Can a swipe right turn into swept away?
Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as the books she reads—a mixed up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.
The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster…well, until the make out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.
When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one thing: a repeat of the hot make out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in cute way!
But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive, by opening her own agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.
Genre – Thriller and Mystery Books
Title: No Rest for the Wicked
Author: Rachel Louise Adams
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 336
A wickedly dark, suspenseful and well-written debut about a woman who hasn’t set foot in her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin, in almost twenty years. When she suddenly receives a phone call from the FBI informing her that her father has gone missing under suspicious circumstances. The ideal read for fans of kidnappings, parental estrangements, small-town settings, and eerie atmosphere and tension.
The book’s synopsis;
In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone’s on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it’s only the beginning.
It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father–the former mayor turned US Senator–is missing under mysterious circumstances.
Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late
Title: The Wives of Hawthorne Lane
Author: Stephanie DeCarolis
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 357
USA Today best-selling author of The Guilty Husband returns with a twisty tale of domestic suspense about four neighbours who become the prime suspects in a murder investigation that reveals the sinister underside of their picture-perfect community. The perfect read for fans of neighbourhood drama, unpredictable reveals, and satisfying endings.
The book’s synopsis;
Hawthorne Lane is the perfect place to live. Its tree-lined street and stately homes are the envy of the town. Every Halloween the residents of Hawthorne Lane come together to host their famous Fall Festival. But this year, someone won’t survive the night.
As a murder investigation ensues, it quickly becomes clear there’s more going on behind closed doors on Hawthorne Lane than meets the eye. And four women, each with secrets worth killing for, find themselves at the center of it all.
There’s Georgina, the perfectionist and reigning Queen Bee, who pays a high price for her elevated status. There’s Audrey, the bold and beautiful neighbor with the high-flying corporate career, but whose marriage is on the rocks. There’s Libby, the working mother who is struggling to come to terms with her recent divorce while parenting her teenage son. And finally, Hannah—the newcomer with a mysterious past that’s returning with a vengeance.
As the clock ticks down to Halloween, their lives will cross in the most unexpected ways. And soon only one question remains: Who will pay the ultimate price for the lies they all tried so hard to bury?
Title: The Vanishing Place
Author: Zoe Rankin
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 16th September, 2026
Pages: 384
A gripping and mysterious debut thriller about a shocking murder in the New Zealand bush and the witness who looks all too familiar draws a woman back to the very place she swore she’d never return. An ideal read for fans of violence, neglect and heartbreaking tragedy.
The book’s synopsis;
A child who ran from the forest.
A woman who must return to it
Growing up with her younger siblings in the unforgiving New Zealand bush, Effie believed their parents had cut them off from civilization because they loved Nature. She never suspected that their reasons might be more menacing. After witnessing a terrifying episode of violence, she escaped the wilderness to forge a life for herself halfway across the globe.
Now, when she learns the only witness to a murder is a little girl who looks just like her, Effie is compelled to return to the scene of her troubled childhood, where the secrets of her upbringing and the terrors of her past come rushing back to the surface. In order to find out once and for all what became of her family—and possibly help this mysterious girl who could be her younger self—Effie must face her greatest fears once more.
Conclusion
The third week of September features twelve exciting new book releases that explore human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, vivid world-building, LGBT themes, fascinating mythology, intergenerational trauma, Greek mythology, witchcraft, and exploring the themes of family, duty, loss, betrayal, war, and ultimately, redemption within the fantasy genre.
For the fantasy romance genre, we have found family tropes, Gothic themes, unconditional love, dark romances, the joy of embracing your true magical self and the ideal mash-up of fairy tale and horror.
On the other hand, for the romantic at heart, cosy romances, enemies-to-lovers dynamics, small-town settings, witty banter, second chance romances, meet cutes gone awry and, ultimately, true love.
For the historical love fans, we have second chances and connections across the space-time continuum, the power of friendship, motherhood, and the creation of chosen family.
Lastly, we have the thriller and mystery genre, which includes kidnappings, parental estrangements, small-town settings, eerie atmosphere and tension, neighbourhood drama, unpredictable reveals, satisfying endings, and heartbreaking tragedy.
Stay tuned, as I will post my following article next week about the latest 2025 book releases for the final week of September’s monthly line-up. Additionally, if you’re interested in more book-related articles, check out my book section page for reviews, recommendations, details and discussions.
