September 2025

New month, new books for our TBRs!

I've got some great reads lined up this month at Gateway Reviews, but with only one review slot each week, I can't possibly cover all the books I'm excited about. Going forward, I want to feature books each month that I haven't had the time to read (and review) just yet.

	BAD IN THE BLOOD Matteo L. Cerilli From the Publisher: In the city of Puck’s Port, where motorized vehicles fill the streets and new technological marvels abound, something rotten is lurking under the surface. A violent murder at the docks seems to point to a fey killer, igniting a powder keg of distrust between the city’s humans and its fey inhabitants — folks who wield wonderful but often uncontrollable magical power. Gristle Senan Maxim Junior finds himself caught in the middle. Forced into the reluctant role of private investigator, like his late father, he’s working to solve the mystery of this fiery murder . . . mainly because his sister, Hawthorne Stregoni, is a fey herself with an unfortunate penchant for setting things ablaze. Hawthorne is part of an experimental study to control feyism but struggles to keep her powerful magic in check in a country that hates what she is. Can she and Gristle work together to find the true instigator of the murder before it’s too late?
EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS MAGIC Bridget Morrrissey From the Publisher: In the charming town of Fableview, every day is Halloween. Darcy Keller, resident ray of sunshine and town spirit princess, loves every moment of Fableview’s fall festivities. But she’s also really ready to leave for college next year, even though her parents expect her to stay and take over their Halloween empire. Enter brooding new girl Anya Doyle, a real-life witch and almost a full member of her coven. In order to be initiated, she has to choose a mortal ally to act as her “protector.” But having moved around so much, Anya is completely friendless. So she does what any self-respecting teenage almost-witch would—she lies and tells her coven her secret crush, Darcy, is willing to do the job. The solution? Work together, of course. The girls agree to help each other out, attending everything from a costume parade to a pumpkin patch party to an apple bobbing contest together. But with Anya’s magical powers and Darcy’s future independence on the line, the last thing they need is the added complication of pesky feelings . . .
	WHO'S ALL GOING (TO DIE)? Lisa Springer From the Publisher: Ariana is ready to get away. From the chill of a New York winter. From the anxiety around her volleyball injury and what that means for her future. Thanks to her new friend Oakley, she can do just that. Oakley has offered Ariana an all-expenses-paid trip to her parents’ wellness retreat on an island off Barbados. The Dream resort seems like the per-fect escape. At least, it did before lifestyle guru Juniper-Moon started introducing sus-pect activities like psychedelic mushroom tea ceremonies and bee venom facials. And as disturbing accidents start happen-ing around the island and tension between the guests and staff builds, Aria realizes she and her friends might not be in paradise after all. Now it’s no longer a question of when but if they can make it home alive.
TRUTH IS Hannah V. Sawyerr From the Publisher: Seventeen-year-old Truth Bangura wants nothing more than to know a life beyond her hometown. Writing and performing is her only solace in a life overwhelmed by a drifting relationship with her best friend, an emotionally turbulent home environment, and the reality that her below average grades make her true dream—escaping her mother’s grasp after graduation—uncertain. When Truth learns she’s pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, she makes one decision she’s finally sure about: an abortion. Determined to move forward, Truth turns to the pages in her notebook with the support of her slam poetry team—including the poet with a voice smooth as summer jazz, who’s been catching her eye during practice. At an open mic night, Truth finally gains the courage to perform a piece that dives into her rocky relationship with her mother–and reveals the choice she never told her. But when a video of Truth’s performance is posted online and starts going viral, her decision quickly becomes everyone’s business–including her mother’s. Told through searing free-verse, journal entries, and interspersed fill-in-the-blank poetry prompts, Hannah V. Sawyerr’s Truth Is reminds us there is always a choice. There is always hope. And there is always a way forward.
	BITTEN Jordan Stephanie Gray From the Publisher: After a vicious werewolf attack on the night of her seventeenth birthday party, Vanessa Hart loses everything she loves in a split second. Her best friend, her father, and even her home. Bitten and imprisoned without explanation, Vanessa endures an agonizing transformation into the very beast that maimed her, and her captors make it clear she cannot escape: she will either swear her life to the Wolf Queen’s Court, or she will die. With no other choice, Vanessa joins their enchanted Castle Severi—where flowering vines grow through the walls, gifts are bestowed by the stars, and a claw can break through skin as easily as silk—but she hasn’t forgotten what they stole from her. Vanessa still seeks vengeance, scheming in the shadows even as she finds herself mesmerized by the golden prince Sinclair Severi, who threatens to steal her heart though he is promised to her nemesis. And by his brooding, disgraced cousin, Calix, whose smoldering gaze hides even darker secrets. Immersed in the magic of their whimsical yet cruel society, Vanessa soon learns not all is as it seems. The Court is at war, and she may simply be a pawn in its lethal game.

This September is full of new-releases from authors who I love, like a new detective noir fantasy from Matteo L. Cerilli (author of Lockjaw). Nothing says "Why can't it be fall already?" like some witchy small town romance from Bridget Morrissey. I think autumn and murder go hand-in-hand, so a thriller like Lisa Springer's is a must! I always like shaking up my reading list with a novel-in-verse, and after Hannah V. Sawyerr's All the Fighting Parts, I trust she can do no wrong. And with the 20th anniversary of Twilight just around the corner (with special new editions releasing later this month), I can't resist some new werewolf fiction, right? What September releases are you adding to your TBR?