Thanks goodness for books. Every month sees more thrilling releases than we could ever make time to catch up on, but with our favorite publishers giving us the opportunity to preview the titles that catch our eye, we can at least dip a toe and catch a glimpse at what the literary world has to offer. This month was no different, and August has some truly exciting books in store.
That includes new chapters of a couple of our favorite romantic series, from a steamy bad boy billionaire romance to a cute YA boy band love story, plus stories of unexpected relationships blooming amid fae chess tournaments and the gardens of a dystopian megacity. Interest piqued? Keep scrolling to discover four August 2026 releases we loved and why you should read them, too, once they drop next month.
Immortal Game by Allison Saft – Aug. 4
We’ve been enchanted by a couple of excellent sapphic romances coming out in August, the first of which being Allison Saft’s Immortal Game. It tells the tale of Shea Fury, a 19 year old chess prodigy whose entire world was turned upside six years prior when her older sister, Aideen, was taken by the High King of the fae Otherworld, Midir, to be his wife. Aideen was always different, clearly belonging to another world with beauty that bewitched every man she met. At 13, Shea believed she could best Midir at a game of chess to keep her sister safe and at home, and she’s been obsessed with the loss ever since.
She’s spent more than half a decade focused on just one thing——becoming the best player in the world in order to conquer Midir and reunite with Aideen, rescuing her from the Otherworld. The chance finally comes when she’s invited to take part in a once-a-century tournament, whose winner gets to have one wish granted by the High King. It’s a rare occasion for the Iron Veil separating the two worlds to open, and she’s going to make the most of it. Once she arrives in the land of the fae, however, she realizes there’s more at stake than she imagined. The Otherworld is full of dark trickster magic, and some force seems to be working extra hard to rattle her enough to break her confidence in winning. Shea has more to contend with than just the matches themselves, and a single loss could send her home and dash her dreams and everything she’s worked toward. She also has to contend with close proximity to her rival, the fae princess Ciara, who happens to be Midir’s younger sister, and their growing attraction toward each other, knowing they’re equally desperate to win the top prize.
We’d never read anything quite like Immortal Game, but we loved the unique take on rivals-to-lovers centered around chess, especially with the inspiration from Irish folklore weaved throughout the story. It makes the parts of the book that take place in our realm quite mundane and grounded, creating a bold contrast when Shea goes to the world of the fae where everything is fantastic, magical and entirely unpredictable. As readers who know the basic rules of chess but none of the advanced technique or names or gambits and strategies, we didn’t find that it got mired down too deeply in the details, allowing us to get the general gist. True chess lovers will probably get even more out of each vividly described game. For the rest of us, there’s the powerful sense of love that exists between sisters, the romance that grows between former enemies and also Shea’s rediscovery of her love of the game to keep us turning the page.
(Immortal Game via St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
The Divine Gardener’s Handbook by Eli Snow – Aug. 18
Eli Snow’s The Divine Gardener’s Handbook is a story that throws readers right into a post-apocalyptic world of megacities, ancient AI’s and biobots and expects us to keep up, and we’re so glad it does. It takes place in the densely packed city of Asperia, built atop the skeleton of the cities that came before it. The beautiful Divine Gardens, where God lives, is also located here, but not just anyone is allowed to stroll into the gardens. Cyprin Voltag has worked all of her life to get inside, not just because it’s a stunning despite from the drudgery of the city, or because of her love and knowledge of gardening, but because she has unfinished business with one of its workers, who abandoned her as a child.
Purcell Whitlock’s life is much cushier. She’s the nepo baby head gardener who comes from a long, long line of head gardeners—which has also endowed her with a secret ability to talk to and manipulate plant life. She’s very passionate about her garden, and takes great care in her duty of looking after God, aka the Petaled Divine, who prefers to be referred to as Saul. It’s clear he’s not actually a deity of any kind, but the rules are strict, and she does her job with care and attention. Purcell has also won the Divine Gardens’ annual flower pageant for the past half of a decade thanks to her family flowers that grow in the garden. The prize is a job in the Divine Gardens, and she’d prefer no one gets it at all.
From their first meeting, the two can’t stand each other—or stop thinking about each other. Upon Cyprin’s job interview at the gardens, Purcell immediately shuts down her chances. Cyprin’s only choice is to enter the pageant herself, stealing one of Purcell’s beloved roses and sabotaging the plant so that Purcell can’t enter a similar flower herself. Her win means the two must learn to work together, despite their conflicting approaches, growing animosity and the fact that neither would mind if they accidentally kissed. As the story hops between their different perspectives—and occasionally into other characters’ as well—we learn about their hopes and dreams as discover dark truths about their city’s religion, the formation of a secret rebellion and secrets so old that no one alive knows anything about them. Their actions might undo the world as they know it, but would that be such a bad thing?
We love the way all of the pieces of The Divine Gardener’s Handbook work together, from the fearlessness of the worldbuilding and all of its implications to the two leads and their increasingly complicated attraction. Both are too ambitious and proud for their own good, but in completely different directions, so that it at first seems as if they have nothing in common, and their understanding grows over time. The book also masterfully sprinkles in clues throughout to reveal the true nature of the destroyed world these characters inhabit, without being afraid to add more twists and turns to completely shift the status quo and reveal the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
(The Divine Gardener’s Handbook via Saturday Books)
Ethan and Grace by Laura Kneidl – Aug. 18
After falling in love with Laura Kneidl’s Henry and Kate, which released in May of this year, we were thrilled to discover that its sequel would be out in just a few months, and we happen to thinking Ethan and Grace is even more sizzling hot than its predecessor. The soon-to-be trilogy revolves around the three Darlington brothers, heirs to the famous Darlington hotel, and this time around, we get to know Henry Darlington’s youngest brother, Ethan, who finally stops to reflect on years of wild partying and womanizing when he discovers his brother’s been hiding an addiction problem. He decides to get his act together and start acting right as he deals with father’s now public history of assaulting women—and subsequent trial—and the fact that woman was killed in a hit and run just outside the hotel.
No one is hurting more from this death than Grace Claymore. The victim, Amy, was her twin sister, and now, even Grace’s own family can’t stand to look at her because of the resemblance, and the police seem to have given up entirely on the search for Amy’s killer. After several weeks, she returns to her work at the Darlington as a maid, where she dreads the way she’ll be treated by pitying coworkers, and especially encounters with her least favorite hotel occupant, Ethan, who she’s nicknamed Beelzebub. She expects animosity but it might be even worse that he’s nice to her for the first time. She’s always found him attractive, but she makes herself ignore the new feelings he stirs within her, especially as she decides to secretly snoop around in an effort to find out about what happened to Amy, convinced someone at the hotel has helped important clues disappear.
As the days pass and Grace’s search continues, she warms to Ethan’s behavior and finds out he might not be at all what she suspected. When he catches wind of her investigation, he’s even willing to help. It’s not long before any resentment between the two melts away completely and they embrace their attraction, even knowing his parents will despise their relationship as much as they hate Henry and Kate’s. What Grace doesn’t realize is that digging into the wrongdoings of the rich and powerful has put a big target on her back, and some people will go to any lengths to keep their crimes hidden.
Once again, Laura Kneidl knocks it out of the mark with her rags-to-riches romance in the Darlington series, and we loved the snarkier, more playful relationship between Ethan and Grace even more compelling than the one that came before it—especially after it being teased in the previous book. As the story unwinds through their dual first-person perspectives, their chemistry feels like it’s built on real history and affection as they realize that the other offers precisely what they need in the moment. We were also glad to see that the story manages to avoid a third-act romance trope it absolutely didn’t need. Be aware that this is definitely an adult romance with more spice than the previous story. If that’s your thing, Ethan and Grace won’t disappoint.
(Ethan and Grace via LYX)
Also read about: Ali Novak on Heartstrings, The Heartbreak Chronicles and Bringing Passion to Writing
In a Heartbeat by Ali Novak – Aug. 25
And finally, there’s the fourth and final book in Ali Novak’s The Heartbreak Chronicles series, In a Heartbeat. Each book focuses on one member of the popular band, the Heartbreakers, and following the tales of lead singer Oliver, bassist Alec and guitarist Xander, it’s finally time to fall in love with their dummer, JJ Morris. It’s told from the perspective of Cara Samuel, a longtime Heartbreakers fangirl who feels like her life was mostly put on pause when she was diagnosed with cancer at 14. As a triplet, she got to watch her brother Drew and sister Stella live out their normal teenage lives—normal besides the fact that Stella happens to be dating Cara’s longtime crush, Heartbreakers frontman Oliver Perry.
Now 19, Cara’s lymphoma is in remission, but she feels as uncertain about life as ever. She feels stuck, without ideas about how to move forward and figure out how to life her life, especially with the possibility of the cancer coming back at any moment and taking it all away from her again. Stella’s pressure to move on makes her feel even worse, but at least some mandated spring cleaning leads her to rediscover a years-old bucket list. She’s only done one thing on the list, meeting the Heartbreakers, even it was just a quarter of the band, and only because of her sister’s relationship.
But soon, attempting to follow the list (and subsequently hide out in a bedroom at a house party) leads to an unexpected friendship with the band’s tattooed and obnoxious, but secretly sweet, drummer JJ. He’s not what she expects, and takes a keen interest in helping her finish her bucket list. Soon, with JJ needing an excuse to avoid his toxic ex-girlfriend, he proposes a fake dating situation that benefits them both. Cara’s happy to play along, until she realizes that JJ fake feelings might be turning into the real deal. She refuses to let him fall for her, not sure she even has a future to share with him, even if she might have to lie to herself and break his heart in order to protect him.
In a Heartbeat is a sweet and apt conclusion to the The Heartbreak Chronicles, dealing with some of the trickiest subject matter with a deft touch, so that it feels neither too flippant nor too weighty for a YA romance. We were surprised to find that the loudmouthed and boisterous JJ may be our favorite of the Heartbreakers boys, being just the right personality to bring Cara out of her shell, push her to do big things and realize her own patterns of self-sabotage. After readers for first introduced to the band and the Samuel triplets more than a decade ago, the release makes for a lovely full-circle moment. We’re as eager as ever to learn more about the upcoming TV series that’s currently in development.
(In a Heartbeat via Sourcebooks Fire)
Didn’t catch our favorite releases from last month? Click HERE to discover the top July 2026 book releases you shouldn’t miss.
