Can't Wait Wednesday #257

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

In a world where love is forbidden, one girl must fight for her heart and freedom through deadly trials in the first book of a new dystopian romantasy duology from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. Elle.

Welcome to The Heart Trials.
The prize is love.
The cost is everything.

In Ethyria the highborn may love; the lowborn may only feel what the Benevolent allows.

Saltblood lowborn Axira Merreri survives the decaying districts by keeping her heart locked tight, couriering goods by day — and smuggling the ruler’s euphoric Heartfillers to the highborn by night. Until a drop goes wrong and her execution looms.

When she strikes a dangerous bargain to steal something from the Tournament of Hearts, a ruthless dating competition for highborn citizenship, she enters. Not for love. For freedom. But as the twisted allure of the competition turns deadly, an unexpected connection cracks her defenses, forcing her to confront a truth she In a regime built on engineered happiness, the most dangerous weapon she has is her heart.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. Elle delivers a breathless series opener that is bold, bone-chilling, and wholly original. For fans of the cutthroat competition of The Hunger Games, Love Island, and Powerless, this dystopian romantasy explores what happens when the heart becomes the empire’s sharpest blade.

I still need to finish Elle's previous trilogy but this new series of course sounds amazing!

TITLE: The Heart Trials
AUTHOR: J. Elle
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2026

DELUXE EDITION - featuring gorgeous stenciled edges - In The Wolf Queen's Curse, the much anticipated sequel to Witch of the Wolves, Cordelia and Bishop must seek alliances with other packs and confront their Alphas in order to restore their beloved Trevelyan, no matter the cost.

The previously quiet life of Cordelia Levine, half-werewolf, all witch, has been turned upside down. Both of her parents are now dead, and her grandmother’s vicious attack on Trevelyan, her pack’s home, has left the Albion Pack fleeing and severely reduced in number.

As they recover and strategize a path forward, Cordelia is navigating her role in the pack as well as her feelings for her new husband, the Alpha. But even as their love grows stronger, the fate of the pack lies in their hands, and they must focus on finding a way to survive.

The pack decides that the only way to defeat the cabal and forge a path back home is to rekindle old alliances. The journey proves complicated, however, as each Alpha they encounter has an agenda of his own. But Cordelia and Bishop will stop at nothing to protect their pack – and reclaim their rightful home.

OOOMG! I LOVED the first book of this series and am eager for this one!! #IYKYK

TITLE: The Wolf Queen's Curse
AUTHOR: Kaylee Archer
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2026

Rachel Gillig, the queen of gothic romantasy, returns with higher stakes, darker mysteries, and deeper longings in this gorgeous sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling sensation The Knight and the Moth.

Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumored to be dead—and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union and solidify his power over Traum, Benji proposes a series of tournaments throughout the hamlets. Captive and drugged, Sybil remains determined to vanquished him as she once did the Omens, even if she destroys the kingdom’s faith—and herself—in the process.

But then a mysterious knave rises to the top of the lists, a man with no name and no memory who may just be Sybil’s ticket to undoing Benji’s power. For in a land where stories repeat themselves, where a king can prove as cruel as a god, the only way to truly destroy the Stonewater Kingdom’s faith is to save it.

I STILL need to read the first book, but since this was another duology (I think at least!), I decided I would wait and binge like I did with her first one!

TITLE: The Knave and The Moon
AUTHOR: Rachel Gillig
PUBLISHER: Orbit
GENRE: Gothic Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2026