Our Most Anticipated Book Releases of September 2025

The summer is drawing to a close, and we consider this peak reading season. It's still hot enough to indulge in sizzling summer romance, but with fall just around the corner, we're also happy to enjoy cozy reads and embrace the frights of the incoming Halloween season.

Appropriately, September is positively packed with new book launched to make your TBR pile even more unwieldy. Don't fret, because below, we've broken down 10 of the brand-new book drops of September 2025 we're most looking forward to reading.

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross – Sep. 2

Rebecca Ross's beloved YA fantasy romance series Letters of Enchantment got even dreamier with a prequel novel with the release of Wild Reverence. It takes place before the gods fully break out into war, following the young messenger goddess, Matilda, and the secret she holds most dear. A mortal boy, Vincent, who's met her only in his dreams, pleads for her blessing, but ignored, is forced to get on with his life.

In fact, he forgets about Matilda entirely until she comes to him a decade later with an important message, drawn together to discover their true fates—and true love.

(Wild Reverence via Saturday Books)

 

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison – Sep. 9

Rachel Harrison's Play Nice follows Clio, a popular stylist-influencer, who happened to grow up in a house possessed by some kind of malevolent force. After the divorce of her parents, Clio moved into the house with her mom and sisters. Soon, her mother was driven to madness, saying it was inhabited by a demon—and even writing a book about it—and losing custody of her kids in the process.

After her mom's death, Clio and her sisters inherit the home, and even as their troubled past is dredged up, she seizes the opportunity for content creation. However, in both flipping the house and finally reading her mom's book, she realizes there truly is something nasty lurking in the atmosphere of the home.

(Play Nice via Berkley)

 

Also read about: The Most Relatable Truths for Every Bookish Gal

 

Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca – Sep. 9

Jen DeLuca continues her Boneyard Key series with Ghost Business, also taking place in the spectacularly haunted little town of Boneyard Key, Florida. Sophie has called the town home her entire life, and as a lover of all things spooky and supernatural, has made a life for herself directing ghost tours. It's all going great, until rich kid Tristan moves into town, intending to incorporate Boneyard Key into a massive multi-city ghost tour. If he can't make this work,  his dad's cutting off his funds, but there's only room in town for one ghost tour.

After butting heads, the two make a bet—by the end of the summer, the more successful tour gets to stay, and the other goes away forever. Tension between the duo soon becomes some kind of respect and admiration, and of course, sparks begin to fly, but will their potential romance withstand the rivalry?

(Ghost Business via Berkley)

 

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey – Sep. 9

Tessa Bailey's wildly popular Big Shots sports romance series continues with its fourth book, Pitcher Perfect. It follows NHL player Robbie Corrigan, who, until now, has been completely irresistible to every woman, and Skylar Paige, a highly skilled division 1 softball pitcher who's the exception to the rule. Of course, Robbie is immediately enamored with Skylar.

When he discovers she's crushing hard on her brother's best friend, Robbie leaps at the opportunity to be her fake boyfriend and teach her a thing or two about dating to get closer to her. Before long, their false relationship involves into something more as she discovers he's more than just the playboy he makes himself out to be.

(Pitcher Perfect via Avon)

 

We Met Like This by Kasie West – Sep. 16

Kasie West's We Met Like This is a new rom-com telling the story of the ever-romantic Margot Hart. She has dreams of becoming a literary agent with an emphasis on romance, yearning for the kind of storybook romance that drives all of her favorite books. However, the closest thing she's had to a relationship recently was a fling with the athletic, energetic and ever-optimistic Oliver, who she met on a dating app. Not only are they total opposites, but that is not the love story she's interested in telling for the rest of her life.

However, when she's fired and has an unexpected reunion with Oliver, she finds that his supportive and upbeat ways might be precisely what she needs to find happiness and make the job she's always dreamed of a reality.

(We Met Like This via Saturday Books)

 

The Austen Affair: A Novel by Madeline Bell – Sep. 16

Madeline Bell's debut novel, The Austen Affair, combines a bit of time travel with enemies-to-lovers romance for a truly irresistible tale. It follows Tess Bright, an actress on a mission to prove she's the real deal after losing her latest TV role. When she's offered a role in a movie version of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, not just to revitalize her career, but also because her mother adored Jane Austen's works. The only problem is that she's starring opposite stuffy English actor Hugh Balfour, who's as irritating as she is dashing. If they can't create believable chemistry, the film will be a flop.

But when a freak accident sends both stars 200 years back in time to the Regency Era, they'll have to work together to make it back to their time in one piece, and not mess up established history along the way.

(The Austen Affair: A Novel via St. Martin's Griffin)

 

Also read about: 8 Powerful Books About Reading, Book Shops and Libraries to Add to Your TBR List

 

Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi – Sep. 16

If you're hungry for a bit of paranormal romance, look no further than Nadia El-Fassi's Love at First Fright. This paranormal romance follows Rosemary Shaw, a popular horror author (who also happens to be able to see ghosts). She's thrilled when one of her books is greenlit to be adapted into a movie—that is, until she learns that action hunk Ellis Finch has been cast in the lead role. He's exactly wrong for it, and immediately the two are at odds. Little does she know, he's more than he seems, and eager to be taken as the serious thespian he knows he can be.

The two clash as production begins in a spooky manor that's more than a little haunted, and as the spirits see something budding between the two, they're more than happy to give their potential fling a bit of a boost.

(Love at First Fright via Dell)

 

To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth – Sep. 16

Veronica Roth proves her dark fantasy chops yet again with To Clutch a Razor, the second book in the Curse Bearer series and the follow-up to When Among Crows. Incorporating Slavic folklore, the story follows Dymitr, a skilled monster slayer who's been turned into a monster himself. The sorceress Baba Jaga has taken his bone sword, and he'll lose his mind if he doesn't get it back soon. She'll only return it if he kills certain monster hunters, including his own grandmother.

While looking for a way out, he learns of a death in the family, and that he's been asked to return him to participate in a special funeral rite to ward off evil. Given his monstrous nature, this return could be perilous, but the trek might be the perfect excuse to steal something else to satisfy Baba Jaga. Little does he know, he won't be the only monster to attend.

(To Clutch a Razor via Tor Books)

 

Alchemised by SenLinYu – Sep. 23

If you're deeply entrenched in the world of fanfiction, you'll know why SenLinYu's dark fantasty debut novel Alchemised is so eagerly anticipated. It crafts the tale of the war-torn land of Paladia following a long conflict between alchemists and necromancers. Helena Marino was one of these alchemists, now being held prisoner by her enemies. Everyone she knows is dead and gone, and she can't access her own powers or even her memories leading up to her captivity.

Despite her lack of rank, the necromancers believe there must be more to her than appears, sending her to a high-ranking necromancer called the High Reeve to retrieve what's been lost. Helena is also eager to rediscover them, to protect her heritage and history, and perhaps uncover some things about the High Reeve along the way.

(Alchemised via Del Rey)

 

Also read about: 5 Hacks to Build the Personal Library of Your Dreams

 

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver – Sep. 23

Who knew a serial killer story could be the basis for romance?  Brynne Weaver kicks off a brand-new series with Tourist Season. The seaside town of Cape Carnage would be pretty cozy if it weren't for all of the unexpected disappearances, courtesy of gardener Harper Starling. She's willing to protect the cape's and peace and quiet by any means necessary, even if that means killing tourists and burying them under her precious work.

Nolan Rhodes may appear to be just a charming tourist, but he's secretly a killer himself, taking a life on each anniversary of an accident that changed his life forever. When Harper becomes his latest target, the two see the other for what they really are, and when a nosy investigator shows up in town hunting for an infamous serial killer, the two quickly join sides—though their arrangement will lead them both down dark paths that neither of them expect.

(Tourist Season via Piatkus)

Missed last month's hottest releases? Click HERE to check out our favorite books that came out in August 2025.