Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #554: Lies and Dolls by Nev Fountain

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: A pacy, laugh-out-loud funny whodunnit set in the world of cult sci-fi fandom, this novel sees the return of neurodiverse sleuth Kit Pelham as she investigates the destruction of rare vintage action figures and an actual murder at a rare toy museum. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, J. M. Hall, Ian Moore and Andrew Cartmel.

Professional cult sci-fi fan Kit Pelham returns in this laugh-out-loud-funny follow-up to The Fan Who Knew Too Much. 

When Kit and her best friend Binfire head to a stately home in Lincolnshire to view five ultra-rare Vixens from the Void action figures – the main exhibit at the opening of a new toy museum – they come across more than just nerds and toy-collectors. The figures are stolen from their glass case and, just as Kit and Binfire begin to get their heads around this mystery, they start to reappear, broken into pieces, left for their distraught owners to discover.

And that’s when the real killings start.

Lies and Dolls by Nev Fountain is expected out July 22, 2025 from Titan Books. It's book two of The Kit Pelham Mysteries.

Why am I waiting on this book: It sounds like a fun mystery read. I like the idea that the main character is neurodiverse. And while I hope to read book one at some point, I am hoping it can be read as a standalone.

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #553: Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: A sly, funny, action-packed thriller introducing an instantly iconic spy duo, from the author of New York Times bestseller 2034

Skwerl and Cheese are down on their luck. Skwerl, who is resourceful like a squirrel (Marines win battles, not spelling bees), used to work for the CIA’s elite paramilitary wing. He was fired after a raid went bad in Afghanistan. Big Cheese Aziz, a legendary pilot—his country’s Maverick—is equally hard up. The fall of Kabul has left him working the nightshift at a gas station. Skwerl recruits Cheese into an anonymous network of so-called sheepdogs, who operate in the shadowy space between predator and prey.

Their mission, which Skwerl convinces a reluctant Cheese to accept, is to repossess a private jet stranded on a remote African airfield. Their fee: a commission on the jet’s $5 million value. But nothing about the job adds up. Their contact goes missing. Their handler is as mysterious as the real source of the money. And when the women in their lives get involved—one pregnant wife and one dominatrix—the stakes skyrocket.

From the jungles of Kampala to a glamorous hotel in Marseille, from a veteran-run pizzeria in Kyiv to a Panera in northern Virginia, Skwerl and Cheese and the players around them navigate an increasingly tangled set of loyalties. They join forces with an eccentric bomb technician turned off-the-grid survivalist, a lapsed Amish adventurer, a used car dealer elected to Congress, even a case officer known as the White Russian. Globe-trotting and page-turning, full of heart and humor, Sheepdogs is a uniquely perceptive, wild ride through the underbelly of modern war and intelligence.

Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman is expected out August 5th, 2025 from Knopf.

Why am I waiting on this book: It sounds interesting, adventurous, and potentially funny. 

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Happy Book Birthday to Salvacion by Sandra Proudman

 

From the publisher:

In this Latinx YA fantasy inspired by El Zorro, Lola de La Peña becomes the masked heroine Salvación in order to save her family and town from a man who would destroy it for the magic it contains...if she doesn't fall in love with a boy in his company first.

Lola de La Peña yearns to be free from the societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She spends her days pretending to be delicate and proper while watching her mamá cure the sick and injured with sal negra (black salt), a recently discovered magic that heals even the most mortal of sicknesses and wounds. But by night, she is Salvación, the free-spirit lady vigilante protecting the town of Coloma from those who threaten its peace and safety among the rising tension in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

But one night, a woman races into Coloma, barely alive, to tell the horrifying tale of how her town was obliterated by sal roja (red salt), a potent, deadly magic capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with, and about the man who wields it: Damien Hernández. So when Hernández arrives the next day with a party of fifty strong and promises of returning Alta California to México, Lola knows it’s only a matter of time before he brings the region under his rule—all Hernández needs is the next full moon and the stolen, ancient amulet he carries to mine enough sal roja to conquer the land. Determined to protect everything she loves, Lola races against time as Salvación to stop his plans. What she didn’t count on was the distracting and infuriating Alejandro, who travels with Hernández but doesn't seem to share his ambitions. With the stakes higher than ever and Hernández getting closer to his goals, Lola will do anything to foil his plans, even teaming up with Alejandro—who she doesn’t fully trust but can’t help but fall in love with.

Salvacion by Sandra Proudman was released today from Wednesday Books.

I've started reading the book. I am about 25% through. I've been enjoying the blend of a Zorro type character and magical realism. Review to follow.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #552: Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she’ll have to decide whether or not she’s ready to embrace her destiny.

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay is expected to be released October 28th, 2025 from Ace.

Why am I waiting on this book: I love books that have to do with librarians or booksellers. That she is a witch is an added bonus.

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #551: My Wife, the Serial Killer by H.J. Garbett

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: Fran Donoghue has just killed her neighbour. Don’t worry, you’ll agree, he deserved it.

Detective Gareth Donoghue has a terrible feeling about his missing neighbour.

By the time this is over, that will be the least of his worries…

A dark, sharp and hilarious novel about love, marriage, and murder, with an ending you won’t see coming… Gareth certainly didn’t. Perfect for fans of How to Kill Your Family, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone and Killing Eve.

My Wife, the Serial Killer by H.J. Garbett is expected out June 17th, 2025 from Storm Publishing.

Why am I waiting on this book: The blurb is short, but it sounds like it will be an interesting read. It promises to be "a dark, sharp and hilarious novel." And of the three novels listed to compare it to, I've read two. It seems promising. 

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!