3 to Watch: Rising Books You Should Know 📚🧐 - Issue #5

Hi,

Thanks for joining us for our fifth edition!

This week, we've spotted three fascinating YA titles gaining momentum: a romance set during wartime, an atmospheric horror in the woods, and a fantasy exploring the boundaries between life and death.

This week’s selection:

Ruthless Vows
In Ruthless Vows, the sequel to Divine Rivals, Iris returns from the war front while Roman remains trapped behind enemy lines, his memories erased. Working as a writer for the opposition, Roman receives mysterious letters from someone strangely familiar. As their written correspondence reconnects them across battle lines, both must navigate conflicting loyalties when the ongoing war forces them to make difficult choices about their relationship and futures.

What the Woods Took
In What the Woods Took, Courtney Gould's December 2024 release, a group of troubled teens finds themselves stranded in an experimental wilderness therapy program when their counselors mysteriously disappear in Idaho's forests. This atmospheric horror story explores transformation and survival as the participants confront both supernatural threats lurking among the trees and the dangerous secrets they hide from each other. Since publication, the novel has gained significant recognition in YA horror and queer literary circles, appearing on several "most anticipated" lists and earning selection as an Indie Next Pick for early 2025.

His Mortal Demise
In His Mortal Demise, the concluding novel of Vanessa Le's fantasy duology, healer Kochin desperately seeks to resurrect his beloved Nhika. While he journeys to the ancestral island of heartsooths, Nhika mysteriously awakens to find him missing and their world changed by war. As she traces his path, she discovers the disturbing sacrifices he made for her return. Set in a Vietnam-inspired fantasy world, this romantic tale explores the boundaries between life, death, and the price of defying nature for love.

If you’re curious, excited, or already thinking of ways we could work together, we’d love to hear from you.

👋 Get in touch, ask us anything, or just say hi.

Until next week,

The NextSeller Team (Stan & Bo)

Follow NextSeller on LinkedIn