September and summer are officially over, but it feels hard to believe when it’s still so warm across much of the U.S. Also because I have barely made a dent in all the new fall releases I was going to read! I need to get reviews written, but The Pirate Queen still stands as my favorite September book.
No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
Published by Harper
Publication date: March 10, 2026
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In No Friend to This House Natalie Haynes looks more closely at the life of the despised Medea. A beautiful witch, she betrayed her family by helping Jason steal the golden fleece from her father. What’s fresh is that we don’t hear her story from Jason. In fact, we don’t hear from him at all. It’s only the characters surrounding him, largely women, whether goddess or mortal. Some of them have only minor roles, but together they fill in the blanks of the original story. Even better, instead of a Greek chorus, it’s a chorus of Greeks. All of them are addressing the reader directly to give them a front row seat at what was considered an epic quest.
It’s well-known that I’m a fan of Greek mythology so I enjoyed this novel, but it’s not going to be for everyone. If you’re new to Greek myths, I’d suggest trying a different one of Haynes’ novels (you can find my reviews in the Author Index) because here the characters come and go so fast it’s hard to keep up. Still, Haynes once again upends a classic tale of humble hero on an epic quest to reveal a mediocre man who achieved greatness thanks to the women around him, whether goddess or mortal.
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Published by Berkley
Publication date: July 15, 2025
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When A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping opens Sera is a 15-year-old witch living in the English countryside with her aunt. Her aunt who now lies dead in the garden. Sera wants desperately to bring her back and so relies on a spell given to her by another witch. It works, but it drains Sera’s untapped powers and leads to her being barred from the British Guild of Sorcery, meaning she loses access to all of the historical texts that would help her regain her power. Fast forward and she’s in her 30s and helps her aunt run their B&B. It’s a haphazard life complete with a talking fox, a young man who works as a knight at the local Renaissance fair and stays in character at all times, and Sera’s young nephew, Theo, who also has magical powers and is attending the Sorcery Guild’s school. Into this chaos comes Luke, a Guild historian Sera had a crush on and his autistic young niece who has magical powers, but can’t control them.
All of this comes together as Sera still struggles with the grief over losing the powers she loved and felt defined her while also trying to accept herself as she is. Magical Innkeeping is a classic romance novel in that there is a happy ending, but there are universal deeper themes woven throughout the story and each character is given a vital role in the story. My only quibble was with the fox who is another witch who accidentally cursed herself. She is so annoying I would have killed and skinned her by the third chapter. Sorry PETA. Beyond that, this is fun, well-blended fiction that’s perfect any time of year.
The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann
Published by Crown
Publication date: March 24, 2026
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The Beheading Game was not what I expected. Yes, there’s the shock value of a queen of England regaining consciousness in a wooden box with her head resting on her feet. Which is the truth of how Anne Boleyn was treated after she was beheaded. No coffin, no respect at all. In the novel, this Anne Boleyn escapes, gets herself back in one piece and goes to seek revenge on her old, vile husband, King Henry VIII. Who’s already lined up his next wife who was almost half his age. This sounds like it should be either horror, a thriller, or a full-on fantasy, but it’s none of those. It’s more of a character study as to how a member of the British aristocracy would survive amongst the common people. Anne has no money and so no way to get back to the king’s current palace to kill him. While her milieu was a complex one of political intrigue she has no idea how to operate in the real world. The fish out of water element is handled realistically rather than as satire or farce making for an interesting amalgam of history, politics, and the everyday life of the times. Towards the end there’s another injection of fantasy/magical realism, but while it’s an uneven blend of the macabre and charming it’s still great reading.
That wraps up September for me. How was your reading?
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*I received a free copy of these books from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.*
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