Saturday Spotlight: New Book Releases August 2026

By Claire Buss, Deputy Editor, Write On! 

At Write On! and Pen to Print, we want to help connect authors and readers, playwrights and audiences, so we’ve created a Spotlight page on the last Saturday of the month, showcasing some of the exciting new reads and plays available. The curated list is based on books and plays that you send us, so if you’re an author or a playwright and you’d like your book or play in the spotlight, reach out to us at pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk. Whether you’re an indie author, with a small press or mainstream publisher, established or brand new playwright, we’d love to hear from you and shine a light on your new work.

Write On! offers other opportunities for writers as well. If you’d like us to feature an extract from your book or a short story, please send the extract, book cover and blurb to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Write On! Showcase (ensuring you have your publisher’s permission, of course).

Pen to Print are also looking for short videos from people reading a passage from their favourite book, or authors reading extracts from their own books. These videos will be featured on the Pen to Print YouTube channel and across our social media. Please send in your videos or links to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Video Stories.

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Love Unlocked by Cecelia Ahern

 

Melody has vowed never to fall in love again. Al is a hopeless romantic. So, when they quite literally bump into each other, there’s no reason sparks should fly. But the world seems a little upside down lately.

A few weeks ago, Al ordered the removal of all the lovers’ padlocks from one of Dublin’s beautiful bridges. Ever since then, couples across the world have split up. And as Melody begins investigating this mysterious wave of break-ups for her podcast, it seems there might be a bigger story to tell.

Together, they decide to uncover what’s unravelling so many love stories. And, in the middle of solving everyone else’s heartbreak, can they unlock their own?

Available to buy here
Connect with Ceclia Ahern

Don’t Miss Perfect by Gulnaz Aybenk

 

What if your perfect partner was written in your DNA?

In a society shaped by efficiency and science, the government has launched a DNA-based programme designed to pair people with their ideal partners. It promises stronger relationships, healthier families and a more stable population. For genetic researcher Angela Swytch, the programme represents the pinnacle of her life’s work. For loyal citizen Zara Remson, it offers certainty, belonging, and the reassurance that no one needs to be alone – everything she’s ever hoped for.

As profiles are activated and matches are assigned, cracks show behind the cheerful propaganda. Friendships fracture, trust erodes, and the line between protection and control blurs beyond recognition. A growing resistance emerges. When Zara is forced to choose between faith in the system and the people she loves most, the truth begins to unravel.

Available to buy here
Connect with Gulnaz Aybenk

Murder At Clover Farm by Jane Bettany

 

Former rockstar Tarquin Gold thought he had left his wild days behind when he traded in his glamorous lifestyle to become a farmer, but his dreams of a peaceful life come crashing down when murder rocks his newly opened glamping site.

As fate would have it, amateur sleuth Violet Brewster is also a guest at the Clover Farm glampsite – and, finding herself once again at the centre of a crime scene, she can’t resist getting involved in the investigation.

Is the killer a random stranger, or does one of the campers have a hidden agenda? Can Violet solve the mystery and restore peace to Tarquin’s tranquil retreat before the killer strikes again?

Available to buy here
Connect with Jane Bettany

To All The Men I’ve Killed Before by Katy Brent

Available to buy here
Connect with Katy Brent

Liesel’s War by Corin Burnside

 

April, 1945

Hamburg is a city on the brink of collapse, and Liesel Heinemann is caught in the storm of war. Once a promising student of translation, she’s now a reluctant interpreter for the Nazis, her life irrevocably altered by the horrors surrounding her. Everything changes when she saves a British soldier who has lost his memory in a tank explosion. Naming him ‘Tommy’ they set off with Liesel’s two brothers on a treacherous journey westward, seeking refuge and the hope of finding their mother in England.

With danger lurking at every turn and the realities of war weighing heavily on her heart, Liesel discovers love can bloom even in the darkest of times. Growing closer to her British soldier against the war-torn landscape, she must make tough decisions to keep her family alive. In a world torn apart by war, love and hope become guiding stars on their desperate journey.

Connect with Jaqueline Crooks

Can we truly overcome what we most fear? Or is this very fear pre-determined in some way?

From Jack’s psychological imprisonment for a crime he fiercely refuses to admit, to Rachel and Ravi’s desperate attempt to deal with the repercussions of their sister’s cultural downfall, Lost Souls: Finding Solace delves deeply into the intricacies of human relationships and the complex psychology of connection and guilt.

This captivating short story collection closely studies the harrowing effects of family breakdown, the profound impact of grief and the desperate quest for identity. Through a tapestry of intertwined stories, Danielian explores the hidden wounds, buried truths and quiet desperation that shape our identity, in the hope of finding solace.

Available to buy here
Connect with Lucineh Danielian

The Ruins by Becky Docton

 

 

Nuremberg, 1938. 

Lisavet Levy’s watchmaker father saves her from the Nazis by pushing her through a mysterious doorway. There, she discovers the Time Space: a vast, magical library where the memories of everyone who has ever lived are stored in books. Her father promises to follow, but he never comes.

Trapped in the library, she encounters timekeepers, who decide whose memories survive and whose are destroyed.

Lisavet tries to save as many memories as she can, but when she falls in love with a timekeeper, the whole course of history could be at stake…

Available to buy here
Connect with Hayley Gelfuso

Forced Proximity by Dana Hawkins

She’s hired to protect. Not to fall in love.

Lexi Morgan is one of the best personal security guards in the business: an elite fighter, focused and loyal. What she’s not? A glorified babysitter. Especially for an irritatingly handsome A-list actor like Justin Greenwood – who doesn’t think he needs her help. At all.

But when a dangerous stalker sets their sights on Justin, Lexi begrudgingly accepts the job. As the stalker’s disturbing messages accelerate, so does the unexpected electricity between them. Forced to spend every waking minute together, will sparks fly? Or can she keep things strictly professional?

Available to buy here
Connect with Dana Hawkins

The Apple Cider Orchard by Melissa Hill

 

Welcome to Golden Valley – where roots run deep and so can love.

Molly Harris hasn’t taken a real breath since her grandmother died – so when her Manhattan boss forces her to take a month-long sabbatical, she does the one thing she’s been avoiding for a year: she flies to Ireland to keep a promise. All she has to do is reach the ancient oak in Golden Valley – the place her nan loved most – and complete one final goodbye.

Instead, Molly arrives to rain, cobblestones and an apple-cart collision that puts her squarely in the path of Jack Flynn: Goldenridge Orchard’s fiercely protective owner, local legend and the grumpy kind of handsome that makes a girl forget her jet lag. Jack has corporate buyers sniffing around his land, and he doesn’t trust outsiders – especially not a polished New Yorker with a laptop and too many questions.

But Golden Valley has a way of pulling people into its orbit. Between festival planning, fresh bread and a village that treats curiosity like a sport, Molly finds herself helping Jack fight for the orchard’s future… while falling for the man who refuses to fall for anyone.

Keeping her promise means telling the truth. And the truth might cost her everything she’s beginning to love.

Available to buy here
Connect with Melissa Hill

To Be Young, Gifted And Black by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason 

 

What does it mean – and how does it feel – to grow up as a Black artist today?

When Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason’s eldest daughter, Isata, made her solo debut at the BBC Proms in 2023, she could not have been prouder. Watching years of hard work transform into a transcendent performance was profoundly moving, both as music-lover and parent.

All fractured when her younger daughter turned to her in tears a few days later, having read online abuse about her sister. Isata, it was declared, did not deserve to be there. How do you prepare your child for the fact that no matter their talent, technique or dedication, they will be told they do not belong?

Through conversations with her extraordinarily gifted family, Kanneh-Mason explores what it’s like to come of age in these turbulent times, when Black artistic self-expression is so often met with disparagement and abuse online – and offers a hopeful, powerful way through.

Available to buy here
Connect with Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

The Quiet Girls by Dorothy Koomson

 

When MJ Hudson, an old work acquaintance, shows up at Dr Kez Lanyon’s house in the middle of the night, Kez knows she has no choice but to help.

At the prestigious boarding school that MJ’s daughter attends, a teacher has been killed and a pupil is missing. And it seems the same thing happens every few years. Only this time, the school hasn’t been able to cover things up and MJ’s daughter and her group of nice, quiet friends are at the heart of the scandal.

Undercover as the new school therapist, Kez quickly realises there are some seriously powerful and well-connected forces at play. By continuing to investigate the mystery, perhaps even stepping outside the law to do so, Kez risks putting her own family in serious danger.

Because no one wants their secrets aired. And some will go to any lengths to keep them buried.

Available to buy here
Connect with Dorothy Koomson

Skillathon: East London Young Adults – Rewriting The Narrative About Britain’s Lost Generation by Learnagoo Ltd

 

What if we can make people’s lives better and easier? In an age of uncertainty, where so much seems wrong, Skillathon offers something different, a reminder of what we can do right.

18 – 25 year olds living, working or studying in Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, Hackney, Redbridge, Havering, Newham and Waltham Forest were invited to Queen Mary University of London on June 9. In a day packed with workshops, panels across multiple disciplines, conversations, challenges and unexpected moments of connection, attendees pushed themselves out of their comfort zones, asked thoughtful questions, and engaged with honesty and courage.

The second part of the Skillathon is this book.

Featuring a foreword by campaigner Sir Patrick Vernon, who was also the keynote speaker on the Skillathon Day, this book is an anthology celebrating resilience and rising talent.

Available to buy here

Eleanor by Alice Loxton

In 1290, England mourned the death of a Queen, Eleanor of Castile, beloved wife of King Edward I, the ‘Warrior King.’ Her body was carried on a 200-mile journey from Lincoln to London, a solemn procession that would become immortalised in stone. To mark the places where it stopped overnight, a heartbroken Edward commissioned 12 magnificent Eleanor Crosses.

More than seven centuries later, bestselling historian Alice Loxton set herself an epic challenge: following in history’s footsteps by walking the entire 200-mile funeral route on the corresponding dates.

As Alice journeys in search of one of England’s medieval Queens over ancient paths and modern motorways, history comes alive in surprising ways. Lively and entertaining, Alice uncovers the extraordinary life and formidable character of this lesser-known royal, revealing her inspiring legacy and the hidden history of Britain.

Available to buy here
Connect with Alice Loxton

Claws Out by Bella Mackie

 

Meet Diana Leyland. Widowed three times, but let’s not blame the woman now…

Diana’s on the hunt and has the perfect new target.

Finally, the type of wealth she’s always dreamed of. A five-storey house in Hampstead, unfettered access to London’s liberal elite and a bloated bank account.

If she can ensnare David Farrand, then she really will have clawed her way to the top.

The only snag? David’s daughter, Cat.

Diana might have got her claws into David, but Cat is sharpening her own. Entitled, suspicious and used to getting her own way, she’s been digging into Diana’s past.

And it turns out Diana’s last three marriages have one thing in common: the silly old fools are all six feet under.

To lose one husband is unlucky. To lose two is careless. But three? Three must be murder. 

Available to buy here
Connect with Bella Mackie

Faith’s War by Shirley Mann

Malta, 1941.

A tiny island sits at the heart of the Mediterranean – and at the tipping point of the Second World War. As bombs rain down, beneath the ancient stone of Valletta’s fortifications, a young nurse tends the wounded in the darkness. But Faith Simcock has a deeper connection to Malta. Before she left her home in England, her parents dropped their own bombshell: she was adopted and her birth mother is Maltese.

With only a rusty old tin of photographs from her great-aunt, Faith is drawn into a search for her past. Torn between a growing attraction to a guarded doctor and her longing to uncover the truth of her origins, she must navigate a world under siege. As the island is relentlessly blasted by bombs and the residents face starvation, Faith must find the courage to survive – and to find out where she belongs.

Available to buy here
Connect with Shirley Mann

Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason

 

Sophie Pattison is a lovely person – warm, kind, relentlessly positive.

She’s cherished by her brother Laurie, adored by her best friend Emma and valued by her colleagues. Sometimes, it’s true, one day in her life can feel like the entire month of January. It’s also true she can go an entire day without speaking. But she’s fine really. She spends her time alone reading, finding comfort in the pages of the books she devours.

Until one day she stumbles upon an author she hasn’t read in years. Her books, interviews and podcasts soon become a lifeline; every word is a solace, company she hasn’t felt in so long. It’s almost like love.

A lot like love. And Sophie would love to meet the author, although she never will, obviously. In a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie’s entire life. Wouldn’t it?

Available to buy here

Time Travel For Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty

 

On a bustling road in Sydney, between a gelato bar and a chemist, lies an unassuming shopfront known simply as the ‘Time Travel Agency.’

Anna – possibly lightly concussed after a chance encounter with a car, possibly thinking clearly for the first time in a long time – quits her miserable job and agrees to work at the unusual business.

Teddy just can’t seem to get up since his wife left him for his brother. When he spies an advert promising journeys into your past, he figures he can at least learn what went wrong.

And Jade can’t stand the place. Behind the cosy waiting room and the smell of freshly brewed coffee, all the agency has to offer is false hope.

Over the course of one winter, three lives converge around this unusual agency claiming to offer a chance to revisit past choices. But is it a hoax? And if it’s real, what is the catch?

Available to buy here
Connect with Jaclyn Moriarty

The Strangling Fig by Fauzia Musa

 

Hyderabad, 1946

Ashraf is asleep in her mother’s bed when her father is murdered on the eve of Partition. She may as well have lost her mother that day too. Her fight to connect with her mother will follow her to America, seeping into who she is as a daughter, a lover, a mother, a wife, and will be felt through the next generation of women.

California, 2002

Seher is 16 years old when she first sees her grandmother’s ghost. Feeling lost and abandoned by her own mother, she clings to Ashraf’s ghost, and it becomes the guiding presence she has always craved. But as Seher starts to move forward with her life, it becomes clear that Ashraf’s support comes at a cost.

Available to buy here
Connect with Fauzia Musa

Sunrise by Téa Obreht

Three lives, one hundred years, one forgotten town.

In 2024, Nina’s small aircraft crashes into a lake in the Wyoming mountains. Lost, freezing and alone, she stumbles upon Sunrise – an abandoned frontier town that is strangely well-maintained.

In 2003, Sunrise’s golden boy Coll is about to start rehearsals for the town’s annual historical reenactment when he’s linked with a scandalous incident at a local bar. When an author comes to him with questions about one of Sunrise’s most beloved figures, Coll is forced to reassess everything he thought he knew about the city and himself.

In 1902, town founder, gunslinger and adventure-novel hero Anton Vargas returns to Sunrise and helps the search for a missing boy. But who really is Vargas? What does he know about the boy’s disappearance? And why has he returned after so many years away?

These three are strangers, separated by time. But Sunrise has secrets which lie in waiting like gunpowder: quiet, until they encounter a spark. 

Available to buy here
Connect with Téa Obreht

Eyes On You by Adele Parks

 

Be afraid. Someone’s watching.

At 15, Amy witnessed her father brutally murder his secret lover. Her testimony sealed her father’s fate. With him in prison, Amy and her mother must rebuild their lives in the shadow of a notorious crime.

Years later, Oliver Harrington walks into the restaurant where Amy works. Just like Amy, Oliver has a past he’d rather forget. Amy is drawn to him at a profound level; they feel a connection, an understanding.

This seems a lot like love, but does it hide something darker – an obsession that could lead Amy into a web of deception and violence she thought she’d escaped? As the truth looms ever closer, Amy must confront a harsh reality: where there is love, there is often betrayal.

Available to buy here
Connect with Adele Parks

The Bad Mother by C.J. Parsons

 

Natasha was plunged into every parent’s ultimate nightmare when her son was taken from hospital shortly after his birth.

Worse still, in the vital 24  hours after Baby Justin went missing, the police focused on the wrong suspect because TV producer Chloe, greedy for a quick headline, broke the rules by revealing the suspect’s identity. The mistake derailed the case and her career.

Now Chloe has a chance at redemption. New evidence surrounding Justin’s abduction has come to light.

But for both Natasha and Chloe, revisiting the past means facing up to their own decisions. And unspeakable secrets.

Available to buy here
Connect with C.J. Parsons

The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin

 

In a city full of stories, can she write her own?

Introvert and self-described whodunnit enthusiast Viviane has never much believed in living life outside of the pages of a book. But when her interfering mother insists that Viviane needs some friends who aren’t fictional, she decides to head into the bustling streets of Porto in search of her community.

What better place to start than by reading her favourite mystery in the corner of a little-known café? But when one, then two, and then outrageously six other people decide to join her silent book club, Viviane realises she’s firmly out of her depth. There’s Thomas, a middle-aged man hiding his love for romance novels, Lucinda, a chic 60-something with a penchant for Agatha Christie, and then there’s Tiago, the hot alpha male of every romance novelist’s dreams.

But when one of these newfound friends disappears from the book club without a word, will the community come together to find their fellow lost soul, and will Viviane find love along the way?

Available to buy here
Connect with Rebecca Raisin

The Ethical Gardener by Thomas Rutter

A practical guide to eco-friendly and sustainable gardening for the modern world.

While we might feel that our little gardens are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, quite the opposite is true. If we garden in harmony with nature, and in a way that supports and protects local ecosystems, we can play a valuable role in making our planet healthier and more sustainable for all its inhabitants.

Whether you’re horticulturally minded, environmentally conscious, or new to gardening and wanting to make an intentional start, there’s something for everyone in this informative guide to ethical gardening.

With success stories and inspiration from across the globe, you’ll discover:

• Seasonal planting tips from the mastermind behind the High Line garden in New York
• How to grow your own food forest from a gardener in Devon, England
• How to nurture delicious microgreens on your balcony or windowsill
• How to make conscious choices when selecting gardening supplies or deciding what plants to grow, no matter what climate or soil you’re working with

In this beautifully curated and illustrated companion, discover not only a wealth of sustainable gardening wisdom, but also an inspiring sense of peace, solidarity and hope for the future.

Available to buy here
Connect with Thomas Rutter

The Country House At War by Judith S. Lewis

 

The story of how English country houses were repurposed during the Second World War, told through the lives of those who lived and worked in them

In the Second World War, country houses across England were requisitioned by the government for the war effort. These homes opened their doors to evacuated children, were transformed into hospitals, and played host to training camps for the armed forces. The care of the estates was often left to young women and the elderly, who had to completely change the running of their homes to accommodate essential wartime activities.

In this fascinating history, Judith S. Lewis explores the lives of country houses during the Second World War. Some homes were requisitioned for intelligence operations, like Audley End, which was used as the headquarters of the Polish Section of SOE, whereas others, like West Wycombe, were used to house artefacts of national importance. Examining the long legacy of the war, Lewis reveals why some houses survived, whether as family homes, museums, or public parks, while others simply disappeared altogether.

Available to buy here

The Girl With The Seven Lives by Vikas Swarup

 

Devi is a fighter. Growing up in the slums of Delhi, she has learned that survival comes at a cost – and naturally, that means she’s made a few enemies along the way.

Now she’s being held captive, her life up for sale in an online auction, where the highest bidder will determine her fate.

With her existence hanging in the balance, Devi proceeds to give her captor ‘a confession to beat all confessions’ – as over the course of a single night, she unveils the secrets of her seven extraordinary lives.

Devi is the ultimate survivor, a girl from the gutters who dares to rewrite her own destiny. But will she survive the longest night of her life?

Available to buy here

A Fatal Love by Louisa Treger

 

It’s Easter Sunday in 1955 and a young man lies face-down on the ground covered in blood. A woman, blonde and petite, stands over him with a gun in her hand. This is the story of Ruth Ellis as never told before.

As Ruth awaits her trial in Holloway Prison, she recollects growing up in England during the Second World War and the events that led to the death of her lover, David Blakely.

Meanwhile, Kitty Carrington – the assistant to Ruth’s trial lawyer – tries to forge her own path through the male-dominated legal world of the 1950s and ensure Ruth receives a fair trial.

Navigating secrets, betrayal and a broken justice system, Ruth and Kitty try to take control of their own lives and narratives. But do we ever really know the full story?

Available to buy here
Connect with Louisa Treger

Maiden, Mother, Crone: The Anthology by Madeleine F White and Mary Petiet

 

Fifty Poets. One Timeless Journey. Countless Stories.

Maiden Mother Crone: The Anthology is a contemporary poetry anthology featuring 50 poets from around the world. Inspired by Madeleine F White’s acclaimed Crossing Places series and edited by Madeleine F White and award-winning poet and publisher Mary Petiet, this remarkable poetry collection celebrates poetry’s enduring power to connect, inspire, and transform.

The Third Book in the Crossing Places Series

Maiden Mother Crone: The Anthology is the third volume in Madeleine F White’s celebrated Crossing Places series, a collection of books exploring identity, creativity, resilience, and the shared human experience through poetry and storytelling.

Available to buy here
Connect with Madeleine F White

Killer Instinct by Nicola Williams

 

When the Senior Clerk at her Chambers is found dead in an alley, Lee Mitchell doesn’t know who she can trust.

Junior Clerk Dean is pinned for the crime. Working-class and still living on the estate where he grew up, he has the most to gain from Tom’s death.

But Lee knows how easily prejudices can snowball into convictions – and steps in to defend him.

As her Chambers crumble into a world of chaos and deceit, and long-buried secrets come to light, Lee must question how well she really knows those closest to her, and who would kill to keep their past hidden.

Available to buy here
Connect with Nicola Williams

She Wants Revenge by Yana Yanovich

Eden thought being dumped was the worst thing that ever happened to her… until she met Sofia.

After seeing her ex show intimate photos of her to boys at school, Eden curses him with the help of the magnetic new girl Sofia. Together they target more boys who have behaved badly and what begins as heated revenge burns into something more.

But Eden soon discovers there’s a darker side to Sofia’s petty curses and passionate embraces.

When murder is on the cards, will Eden be strong enough to resist temptation and uncover hidden family magic to stop her?

Available to buy here
Connect with Yana Yanovich

Remember, if you’re an author and you’d like to see your book in our Saturday Spotlight, email: pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk and send us the details of your new novel.

For details of Penguin RandomHouse new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Hachette new releases, visit their website here.
For details of HarperCollins new releases, visit their website here.
For details of PanMacmillan new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Simon & Schuster new releases, visit their website here.

Disclaimer: Amazon links are given for ease but please remember there are a number of other online retailers operating, including hive (which helps to support independent book shops), Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and Nook as well as online stores for bookstores such as Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and WHSmiths. 

Issue 27 of Write On! is out now and you can read it online here. Find it in libraries and other outlets. You can find previous editions of our magazines here.

You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo, or find us on Podcasters.Spotify.com.

We want to help connect authors and readers, so our Saturday Spotlight page showcases some of the exciting new reads available each month.