Things are Heating Up with May's New Book Releases: PART 2
- BirdieMama
- Apr 21
- 17 min read
If you read the first part of this article, then you know that the first half of May promises nothing short of amazing reading material. In part 2, let's explore the second half of the month which has just as many enticing new book releases to rev your engine. Continue reading to see what other hot new releases are preparing to hit shelves in May 2025.
-YA LGBTQ+ Coming-of-Age-
Shampoo Unicorn by Sawyer Lovett
Expected Release: May 13, 2025
Description
Shampoo Unicorn: (noun)
1. A shower hairstyle in which one styles their lathered hair into the fluffiest soapy unicorn horn possible.
2. A podcast by two mysterious hosts exploring rural queer life—the isolation, the microaggressions, the boredom, and occasionally, the sky-shattering joy.
In the small town of Canon, West Virginia, most people care about three things: God, country, and football.
Brian is more into Drag Race, Dolly Parton, and his gig as one of the mystery hosts of his podcast, Shampoo Unicorn.
Greg’s life should be perfect as the town’s super-masc football star, but his secret is he’s just as gay as Brian.
Leslie is a trans girl living in nearby Pennsylvania, searching for reasons to get out of bed every day. Her solace is listening to her favorite podcast. . . .
When a terrible accident occurs, it’s Shampoo Unicorn that brings the three teens’ lives together. And what begins as a search for answers becomes a story of finding connection.
Sawyer Lovett’s powerful and ultimately joyful debut novel is about three teens, one podcast, and carving out a rainbow pocket in an otherwise red state.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Shampoo Unicorn, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781368108959>.
-Contemporary Small Town Romance-
Winks & Windows by Laurel Holl
Expected Release: May 15, 2025
DESCRIPTION
Can I find my way again?
Brinn
My days have become a monotonous slog of grief and solitude since my life changed tragically three years ago. I am trapped in this house, a tomb of the life I’ll never have... Until a misdelivered package forces me outside to talk to my handsome new neighbor and his adorable dog.
Isaac
Art block happens to every artist, but when it happens at the height of your career? Bad news. My dog, Pork Belly, and I moved to Calysto’s Cove to look for inspiration in the beautiful town and its quirky residents. What I didn’t expect to find is my beautiful and enigmatic neighbor, Brinn.
Winks & Windows is an emotional and steamy neighbors to lovers contemporary romance featuring a plus-size heroine, mental health representation, and the best dog in Calysto’s Cove.
Welcome to Calysto's Cove, an idyllic beach town where paranormal and contemporary romance sit side by side, and love can be as stormy as the sea. Calysto's Cove is a shared world created by a group of romance authors for readers of diverse interests. All books are standalones and can be read in any order.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Winks & Windows, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/d4yhUqA>.
-New Adult Mythical Fantasy-
Ashes & Rubble by Dartanyan Johnson
Expected Release: May 16, 2025
Description
Prince Aeveus Fehlik, heir to the throne, is a wanted man.
No one knows why the second most powerful man in the kingdom murdered his own father, but the reward for his capture is enough for Karessa Auruchie to move out of the slums. Determined to change her fortune, she teams up with a tracker named Clyde—a handsome, charismatic elf with a disarming smile—and together, they venture across monster-ridden forests in search of their quarry.
Aeveus is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The only problem: everyone saw him do it. Now he’s a man on the run, hoping that his one clue—the sigil of a long-forgotten territory—leads him to the true culprit. With the royal guards hot on his trail, and a sizeable bounty looming over him, time is not on his side. If he’s apprehended before he can clear his name, he’ll face trial and be swiftly executed.
Ashes & Rubble is an action-packed fantasy, a gripping tale of secrets, heartache, friendship, and love, that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, eagerly turning the pages to uncover the mystery.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Ashes & Rubble, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/0hZama4>.
-Ya Fantasy / Supernatural Mystery-
Winter Murder by L.A. Brown
Expected Release: May 16, 2025
Description
In Winter Murder book two of the Bird Girl Witches series, ghosts have invaded Talus Hall and renowned 15-year-old medium Francesca LeGentil is just the person to exorcise them.
But she’s also been secretly hired to investigate a murder which happened next door at Talus Manor, a place where evil has taken root ever-more deeply.
Delving into the cursed history of the duelling Durr-Iggsby’s, Francesca uncovers a pattern to the persecution, tying it to the roots of the Dorojenja.
But when her sleuthing awakens a more ancient evil, no one in The Korvids is safe.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Winter Murder, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/5Ajryf7>.
-Small Town Romantic Comedy-
Late to Love by Valerie Pepper
Expected Release: May 16, 2025
Description
She’s a woman with a tool belt and a dream. He’s the grumpy bartender who falls head over heels.
Darcy Belle is full of contradictions. At twenty-four, she’s the beach town’s best carpenter with plans to launch her own custom furniture store online. The only thing she loves more than furniture is irritating the grumpy bartender at her weekly all-female bowling team practice. And when said grump agrees to let her flex her skills by renovating his loft? Life just took a turn for joy, folks.
Anthony Hall has lived a life of consistency and hard work. Owner and bartender at Hall’s Balls, he’s every bit the town grump people think he is. It’s not until Darcy Belle barrels into his life at full tilt, all luscious curves with power tools to boot, that he understands he’s got more to give. A lot more.
Forced to see each other almost daily, Darcy and Anthony slowly realize there’s more to their arguments than meet the eye, despite their seventeen-year age difference. But age is just a number, until years of hurt reveal that Darcy isn’t the one who needs to grow up.Late to Love is an age gap grumpy-sunshine romcom where he falls first with a guaranteed happily ever after.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Late to Love: An Age Gap Small Town Romantic Comedy (Lucky in Love Book 3), Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/6kg0Wqc>.
-Magic / Witch/ Paranormal Romance-
A Thousand Burning Ravens by Kier Smelcer
Expected Release: May 3, 2025
Description
On the day blood oaths were to be sworn to the King of Falkmere, crimson spilled in an entirely different way. When the Fallen Fae God, Vesperian Shayd decapitated the King, an ancient magic died with him, leaving Falkmere at the mercy of an equally ancient curse.
In possession of a burdensome prophesy and ruinous secrets — such as a hidden pregnancy— newly widowed queen, Myla Alerys, must step into a role of leadership she never wanted.
In order to break Vesperian’s curse (something it seems she cannot accomplish without rekindling a childhood love with the steadfast Captain Bryar Monroe) Myla must seek help in the most unlikely of places.
On this quest of found families and second chance loves, Myla will join forces with a mysterious Seer, a cloister of quiet monks, and the formidable Ashborn to break free of the Blood Stealer’s curse.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, A Thousand Burning Ravens: The Queen Who Bleeds Stars Series - Book 1, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/2i9aaI9>.
-Second Chance Romance-
Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt
Expected Release: May 20, 2025
Description
This time, they'll get it right.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another . . . until they fell apart. Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.
When Ellis and Wren move Sam into college, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous California coastline and the intimacy they have missed for years, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But can the past truly be left behind? When words fail and old wounds resurface, it’s a soul-baring letter that could finally reveal the truth—or close the door on them forever.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Left of Forever, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781250329448>.
-Fantasy-
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Expected Release: May 20, 2025
Description
Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum's windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.
Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral's cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, The Knight and the Moth, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9780316582704>.
-Contemporary Sports Romance-
Slipstream by Madge Maril
Expected Release: May 20, 2025
Description
In the high-speed world of Formula 1, documentarian Lilah teams up with racing driver Arthur Bianco for a whirlwind of revenge—and perhaps something more.
Lilah Graywood never imagined she’d be spending her summer amidst the roaring engines and adrenaline-fueled world of Formula 1 racing. As a serious documentarian, her passion lies in capturing the raw, unfiltered truth. But when her best friend, business co-owner, and secret boyfriend Max decides to pivot their documentary company to film the Ignition Energy Drink Racing team, Lilah is thrust into a world she despises. Her disdain turns to fury when Max blindsides her, not only ending their relationship but also threatening the company she painstakingly built.
Enter Arthur Bianco, the charismatic and enigmatic F1 reserve driver whose career is as tumultuous as the races he dreams of winning. Initially, Lilah is supposed to document Arthur’s relegation to backup driver, but together they concoct a plan to take control of Max’s documentary, each with their own motives—Lilah’s revenge and Arthur’s redemption. Their secret alliance promises to change the narrative, both on and off the track.
As they navigate the glamorous circuits and behind-the-scenes secrets of Formula 1, an unexpected speedbump forces Lilah and Arthur’s partnership to evolve into a fake relationship that feels all too real. The chemistry between them is off-limits and undeniable, and as Arthur’s cinematic comeback plays out over the hot globe-trotting summer, Lilah finds herself drawn to his true charm and hidden vulnerability. But as the cameras roll and the world watches, Lilah must confront her own feelings and the reality that no script can dictate the course of true love.
Slipstream is a captivating tale of love, revenge, and the unexpected turns life takes. With its blend of humor, heart, and high-speed drama, this contemporary romance is a must-read for anyone who believes in the power of second chances and the thrill of the chase.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Slipstream, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781668098776>.
-Gothic Romance-
Catalyst to the Lumens by C. R. Kaine
Expected Release: May 22, 2025
Description
Dahlia’s mundane world is brought to life in the dark hours while the world is asleep. Her purpose has been built on answering calls of the distressed, being the calm in the dark. But when she answers a call from a mysterious man who admits to murdering his wife, her life takes a turn she never could have anticipated.Merrick is dangerous, elusive, and far too captivating for Dahlia to ignore. As their lives crash into one another by happenstance, a forbidden attraction ignites between them. Dahlia is lured into a relationship tangled with hard truths, deep secrets, and an even darker past.Haunted by their traumas, they must navigate the delicate line between love and obsession, where trust is fragile and every truth uncovered only deepens the toxic connection between them. As their pasts face each other head on and unbearable truths surface, Dahlia and Merrick are left to question where they stand in the midst of it all.In this twisted and dark tale of obsession, mystery, and deception, nothing is as it seems—and in the darkness, even toxic love can become the lumens.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Catalyst to the Lumens, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/6fHKVEs>.
-Murder Mystery-
Murder in Oxford by Christina Koning
Expected Release: May 22, 2025
Description
1942. When Frederick Rowlands arrives in the city in answer to an urgent summons, he finds that the effects of war have not bypassed Oxford, which feels more like a military camp than a university town. His old friend and fellow war veteran, Major Ian Fraser, has been told that there is a spy at large in the university and at nearby Blenheim Palace, the heart of British Intelligence. Rowlands swiftly becomes embroiled in matters involving MI5 and enemy agents, but not before a vicious killer strikes.
Now the race is on to find the murderer before he - or she - can kill again, and to prevent vital plans for a covert British mission being compromised. For Rowlands, the stakes could not be higher, as a deadly game of cat and mouse plays out.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Murder in Oxford, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/dZSG7N7>.
-Romance-
Always: The Fire We Tried to Forget by Shania Elliot
Expected Release: May 22, 2025
Description
Fifteen years of marriage.
Four kids.
One unforgettable love she never got over.
Brielle was the perfect wife, mother, and businesswoman. Until the quiet emptiness became too loud to ignore. Until DeShawn-her almost, her what-if, walked back into her life.
Now love has returned.... but it comes with rules, regrets, and a fire that won't burn out.
Because some loves never leave.
Even when you try to forget.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Always: The Fire We Tried to Forget, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/7SrZ72P>.
-Fantasy-
The Witch's Pet by Kerri Andrews
Expected Release: May 23, 2025
Description
They’re giving her to the Witch.
Devil, monster, enemy of God.
Shackled by the chains that lock around her head, Pandora has always been confined within the kingdom behind the Wall. The tales of what lay beyond were merely stories—dark fairy tales designed to keep them trapped there.
But when those tales turn into her nightmare, she’s offered as a symbolic sacrifice, a final punishment for the darkness marring her soul.
Pandora isn’t the only one being punished.
Prince Sitri has no desire for a bride, least of all his enemy—garbed like a holy maiden from another century. Tasked with the burden of watching over this stubborn, naive outsider he takes the role of her reluctant protector. Locking her away in his chambers like an unwanted pet, he insists it’s the only way to keep her safe in a kingdom that would prefer to see all those who lack magic dead.
Pandora fights to break free. Yet when strange new desires begin compelling her toward her captor instead of away, she knows his magic must be the culprit, manipulating her very will. Battling to retain control, she slowly works to unravel the mystery as to why she’s been sentenced here: a plot to humiliate him and tarnish his bloodline. But for every secret she uncovers, her own darkness grows harder to contain.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, The Witch's Pet, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/eUB7MFb>.
-Dystopian Mystery / Fantasy-
Marked by Fate by K.B. Riley
Expected Release: May 24, 2025
Description
Every soul is marked with a countdown to the moment they meet their destined partner.
But when fate is manipulated by an unseen hand, can love ever truly be free?
Christopher Hawthorne has spent his life as a specimen under the cold, calculating gaze of the Countdown Control Agency. The CCA controls the lives of those born with a mysterious Countdown Mark - a timer that dictates when you'll meet your soulmate. Born with the first Mark ever recorded, Christopher has become the object of intense study and manipulation, his every step orchestrated by the Agency to serve their agenda.
When his Mark hits zero during a mandatory CCA presentation at a local high school, Christopher is thrust into the eye of the storm. His Mark binds him to Noa Mitchell, a senior girl who appears to lead an ordinary life-until you look closer. Beneath the surface, she carries the weight of a lifetime of silent battles that have shaped how she sees the world. As their lives collide, they quickly uncover dark secrets about the Agency and their shared fate-secrets that threaten to destroy everything they've ever known.
Together, they must navigate a treacherous path filled with deception, betrayal, and a powerful Agency determined to maintain control at any cost. In their fight for freedom and truth, Christopher and Noa must learn that sometimes, the fates we're bound to are the very ones we must break.
Marked by Fate is the electrifying first book in The Chronicles of Fate series, blending dystopian mystery and heartfelt romance in a gripping tale that will leave you breathless from the first page to the last.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Marked by Fate, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9798992998313>.
-LGBTQ+ Romance-
Casual Sparks by Britton Ashley
Expected Release: May 26, 2025
Description
Daisy's summer in Gunnison is supposed to be all about work and family before she heads to law school in the fall. But a steamy Halloween kiss with a curvy, red-headed Dolly Parton look-alike in Montrose keeps haunting her thoughts. When this mystery woman unexpectedly reappears at her aunt's law firm, their sizzling chemistry reignites. As they work side by side every day, Daisy struggles to keep it casual.
Will their fiery connection burn out, or will it lead to a future neither of them anticipated?
Dolly has faced more than her fair share of challenges this past year, and she's eager for a fresh start. When her first post-college job offer comes, she jumps at the chance. But upon arriving in Gunnison, Dolly is stunned to find that the beautiful, feisty blonde she kissed on Halloween—the one whose name and number she never got—is not only in town, but working at the same law firm! As Dolly navigates her new job and the undeniable attraction to Daisy, she finds herself struggling to keep her past hidden.
Can they keep it casual this summer, or will they let the sparks fly?
This "Legally Blonde" meets "Mid-Western Princess" vibed open-door romance is great for fans of Ashley Herring Blake and "Mistakes Were Made" by Meryl Wilsner.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, Casual Sparks, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/6lDKut3>.
-Crime mystery-
Discipline by Marc Avery
Expected Release: May 27, 2025
Description
Two homicide detectives track a brazen killer who’s dropping bodies at historical Philadelphia landmarks in this action-packed crime thriller.
Giuseppe “Discipline” Cain is a cold-hearted, calculated, and resentful murderer who turns Philadelphia into his own personal killing ground. As the death toll rises, city officials and the police department clamor to calm the fears of the citizens about this brazen serial killer. When an elected official’s family member is found dead, no one in the city is safe.
Detective Aaden Bravo is a highly decorated officer with a legendary clearance rate. Detective Christian Bennett is flashy, reckless, and a serial womanizer. After Christian’s transfer to the Philadelphia Police Department’s homicide division, these two starkly contrasting officers are forced to work together. Despite their disdain for each other, Aaden and Christian’s skill sets complement each other. While Aaden is all about the job and Christian is all about the women, their next case is all about survival.
Will they succumb to the pressure of maintaining their partnership, or can they cast aside their differences and stay alive long enough to bring Discipline to justice?
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Discipline, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781957950723>.
-LGBTQ+ New Adult Romance -
To the End of the Line by Sage Greer
Expected Release: May 27, 2025
Description
It's been five years since Nicholas Fisher had a falling out with his older brother's best friend Matías Romero. The star of their college soccer team, unnaturally optimistic, and handsome as hell, Matías was seemingly perfect. But brooding, grumpy Nicholas learned the truth the hard way, and he's determined never to fall for Matías's tricks again.
Now a second-year PhD student and newly rooming with his brother, Nicholas just wants to keep his head down and survive the school year. So it's just his luck that Matías is not only moving to Chicago but needs to crash on their couch for a while.
Despite his best attempts at avoiding Matías, there's only so much he can do when the living room is Matías's temporary bedroom. Matías's reappearance in Nicholas's life, along with a budding romance with a TA, reopens old wounds and upends everything he thought he knew. Nicholas might finally be able to be happy and live, really live. That is, if he can just stop getting in his own way.
A story about academia, siblinghood, and finding joy even when it seems impossible, Sage Greer's debut novel explores the winding, painful, wonderful path toward love and healing.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, To the End of the Line, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781965422021>.
-YA Horror Fantasy -
Light Weaver by Lusine Torossian
Expected Release: May 28, 2025
Description
When eighteen-year-old relic thief Satya steals an ancient resurrection artifact from the Golden King, she uncovers his dark secret: he's a puppet to a soul-harvesting sorcerer who is building an undead army-one that includes her fallen family.
Her escape through the treacherous Sophene Highlands leads her to Rei, an enemy warrior whose haunted history is intricately woven with her tragic past. As forbidden love blossoms amidst a divine war, Satya discovers that the legendary relic holds dual powers. Now she faces an impossible choice: resurrect her family by sacrificing her soul, or save the kingdom and lose them forever.
Caught between gods and demons, love and duty, Satya must decide what price she's willing to pay for the dead.
Some legends refuse to stay buried. Some choices demand everything.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Light Weaver, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781509261406>.
-Fantasy-
Phoenix Raised by Breanna Atkinson
Expected Release: May 31, 2025
Description
Phoenix Raised
In the mythical country of Markandeya resides the Landing, four distinct districts, and an entire hoard of secrets. As Phoenix and humans populate the land with a unique alliance that serves both sides Abbigail finds herself and her phoenix Brigid in a predicament after being called to the Landing by the Queen due to safety concerns.
This will be her first time leaving her home district where she received a spotty education, further more concerning her phoenix is in a moult affecting her ability to fly. She is joined by her childhood best friend as she forges new relationships within the landing and embarks on a trip around the country she's never seen. Her lack of knowledge of the country she calls home becomes a hinderance as she ventures into the different districts.
Unfortunately the adventure doesn't quit for Abbigail as she's plagued by an arranged marriage, an impending war, the secrets of her husband as well as the fate of Markandeya and all of the countries phoenix.
Burn It All.
Source Citation:
Bookshop.org 2025, Phoenix Raised, Bookshop.org website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://bookshop.org/a/109400/9781069453518>.
-Dark Fantasy Horror-
A Kingdom of Blood and Vows by Zandile KaMbokazi Zulu
Expected Release: May 31, 2025
Description
The Kingdom of Blood and Vows Series weaves an enchanting tale of forbidden love, ancient power, and the unbreakable ties that bind fate itself. When a mortal healer is torn from her peaceful life and thrust into the blood-soaked world of the Fae, she discovers a dangerous truth: she is the only one who can tame the darkness within a ruthless Fae king, whose centuries-old thirst for blood has scarred both his soul and his kingdom.
Their bond—born of magic and blood—cannot be broken, no matter how fiercely she tries to escape it. As their fates intertwine, a fierce and fiery romance blooms between them, one forged in the heat of rivalry, betrayal, and unspoken desire. The Fae king, a monster of myth, cannot live without her touch, and yet, every moment they share pulls them deeper into a world where love is both a weapon and a curse.
In a realm where power is intoxicating, alliances are fragile, and love is both a blessing and a curse, they must navigate treacherous landscapes, both of the heart and the world around them. With every twist and turn, their love will be tested, and the cost of their vows may just be the destruction of everything they hold dear.
The Kingdom of Blood and Vows is an epic saga of passion, magic, and danger that will sweep readers into a world where love is the deadliest magic of all.
Source Citation:
Amazon.com 2025, A Kingdom of Blood and Vows, Amazon website, Accessed 20 April 2025, <https://a.co/d/8gSbkZS>.
So what books caught your eye? I personally want to read them all! There’s something incredibly exciting about new book releases and I can't wait to see what fresh perspectives, ideas, and stories that they bring to the table. I also look forward to seeing what people think of these upcoming releases. But also, I can't wait to dive into them myself. The thought of snuggling up with new books and a warm cup of tea screams perfection to me. I look forward to being transported to new world, introduced to enchanting characters, and getting lost in some dramatic new plot twists. With that, I cheers you friends and hope you decide to invest and support these hot new releases and authors. Let's get reading!
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