Summer is here, and with it, the sort of scorching heat throughout much of the country that basically demands you either hide inside where there’s air conditioning or sprawl near the closest body of water for as long as possible. And for such tasks, you certainly need a good book to keep you company. (Because, let’s be real, it’s too hot to do much else.) Luckily for fantasy fans, this July happens to be one of the most absolutely stacked months in recent memory and chock-full of blockbuster titles.
From buzzy debuts and highly anticipated sequels to new titles from old favorites and fake-turned-all-too-real tales from popular media franchises, there’s so much for fantasy lovers to enjoy this month that your to-read pile is likely to stretch well into August.
Here are the best fantasy books hitting shelves this July. 
Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
Release Date: July 1 from Random House Worlds
Why We’re Excited: This tale of a merchant’s daughter who yearns for adventure and falls for a brooding stranger is technically part of the larger universe of Critical Role. But the story—which is sweet, saucy, and hails from the author of The Hurricane Wars—is charming enough to appeal to any fantasy lover, and you don’t need any previous Critical Role knowledge going in to enjoy it.
Publisher’s Description: As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere’s path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family’s station, and live quietly as a lordling’s obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure.
Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack.
Unlike Guinevere, Oskar’s path is not so set in stone. With his mother dead and his apprenticeship abandoned, all that’s left is a long, lonely walk to a land he’s never seen to find family he’s never met. The last thing he needs is a spoiled waif like Guinevere slowing him down—even if the spark between them sizzles with promise.
Despite his cold exterior, Oskar is brave and thoughtful and unlike anyone Guinevere has ever met. And while Guinevere may be sheltered, she brings out a softness in him that he has never dared to feel before. As the flames of their passion grow, they realize that soon they’ll need to choose between their expected destinations or their blossoming romance.
Sycorax by Nydia Hetherington
Release Date: July 1 from Pegasus Books
Why We’re Excited: A fantastic reimagining of the origin story of the witch from Shakespeare’s The Tempest is certainly targeted like a laser directly at my interests.
Publisher’s Description: Born of the sun and moon, shaped by fire and malady, comes a young woman whose story has never been told…
They call her Sycorax. Seer. Sage. Sorceress.
Outcast by society and all alone in the world, Sycorax must find a way to understand her true nature. But as her powers begin to grow, so too do the suspicions of the local townspeople. For knowledge can be dangerous, and a woman’s knowledge is the most dangerous of all…
Never the Roses by Jennifer K. Lambert
Release Date: July 8 from Bramble
Why We’re Excited: A deeply emotional romantic fantasy that’s described as Genevieve Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart meets Madeline Miller’s Circe is pretty much a perfect Venn diagram of my interests. Bonus: This book is by best-selling romance author Jeffe Kennedy, who is being published by Bramble Books under the pseudonym Jennifer K. Lambert for the first time for this romantasy debut.
Publisher’s Description: The Dread Sorceress Oneira has retired. She’s exhausted from fighting the endless wars of kings and queens, and has long accepted that her death is near. Alone at last but for a few uninvited companions—a near-mythical wolf, a goddess’s avatar, and a feline that embodies magic itself—Oneira realizes that she’s bored. On a whim, or perhaps at the behest of fate, she makes an unlikely trip to the most extensive library in existence: the home of her most powerful rival, the sorcerer Stearanos.
By recklessly stealing a book from him, Oneira inadvertently initiates a forbidden correspondence. Taunting notes and clever retorts reveal a connection neither has found—nor could ever find—in any other.
But Oneira soon learns that Stearanos, bound to a vile king, is tasked with waging war on the queen she once served. A relationship with him is far too dangerous to pursue despite their mutual desire—and yet, Oneira can’t seem to stay away.
A bond with Stearanos could alight the long-extinct flame of life within her… or it could destroy her entirely
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigette Knightley
Release Date: July 8 from Ace
Why We’re Excited: One of the buzziest romantasies of the summer is this snarky enemies-to-lovers tale about an injured assassin who must join forces with a healer from an enemy faction to cure a fatal disease. Trope-filled and full of banter, watching these two characters try not to kill each other (or fall in love) is delightful. An excellent summer treat.
Publisher’s Description: When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.
Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.
As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.
The Secret Market of the Dead by Giovanni De Feo
Release Date: July 8 from S&S Saga Press
Why We’re Excited: An imaginative folklore-tinged historical fantasy about a young girl in eighteenth-century Italy who finds her purpose in the nocturnal realm beneath her town that holds the power to shape human destiny. But all magic, as we all know, comes with a price. Delightfully atmospheric and deftly plotted.
Publisher’s Description: Just beyond the waking edges of Lucerìa, an 18th-century town in the kingdom of Naples, lies the Night: an enigmatic fiefdom governed by seven immortals and fueled by Moira, the power to reshape one’s destiny.
On this porous border separating Day from Night, Oriana spends her time fantasizing about becoming a smith in her father’s forge and eavesdropping on whispered tales of beasts and men who roam the nocturnal realm. But in the Night, these stories come alive, as Oriana saw for herself after she inadvertently trespassed into the Secret Market of the Dead, where vendors hawk Moira to those desperate enough to accept its immeasurably steep price.
Years later, when her father chooses her twin brother to succeed him, Oriana challenges her sibling to a series of trials to determine the forge’s true heir. But as the twins’ fierce competition escalates, with the town and her own family set firmly against her, Oriana realizes that to break free from the stifling confines of Day, she must once again embrace the Night—and, as always, everything comes with a cost.
Ascension by S.T. Gibson
Release Date: July 8 from Angry Robot
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated follow-up to last year’s excellent Evocation, this sequel continues S.T. Gibson’s urban fantasy series with a heady mix of longing, chaos, and emotional devastation.
Publisher’s Description: Ever since Rhys McGowan was a boy, he’s only wanted two things: power and love.
Now, as High Priest of Boston’s premiere Secret Society, husband to his adoring witch wife Moira, and partner to David – his psychic rival-turned-boyfriend, Rhys is finally at peace. But when a strange ritual rocks Boston’s occult community, and opens the Society up to sabotage, Rhys delves even deeper into the dark world of demon-summoning. He’s used to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but the strain of managing so many spirits (not to mention the stress of his loved ones exploring other people) will push him to the brink.
As heaven and hell play tug of war for Rhys’ soul, he’ll have to face the greatest demon of all: his own insatiable ambition.
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
Release Date: July 8 from Forever
Why We’re Excited: If you’ve spent virtually any time in the romantasy space, you’ve almost undoubtedly heard about Julie Soto’s Rose in Chains, a dark romantic fantasy that’s also an original, reimagined version of one of the author’s Harry Potter fanfics in which the Death Eaters ultimately won. (Yes, this story is that dark.) Soto handles uncomfortable subject matter with depth and grace, building a richly magical world adrift in the aftermath of war, full of political intrigue, and an enemies-to-lovers romance that feels genuine, if plenty uncomfortable at times.
Publisher’s Description: The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.
Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, the world as Briony Rosewood knows it is changed forever. Evil has won, and her people face imminent servitude, imprisonment, or death.
Stripped of her magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly sold off to the highest bidders in an auction—and as Evermore’s princess, she fetches the highest price. After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven Hearst, scion of a family known for their cruelty.
Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help—and hope—may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…
The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten
Release Date: July 15 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: The third and final installment in Hannah Whitten’s Nightshade Crown trilogy has been on the top of many most anticipated lists (read: mine) since its second installment, The Hemlock Queen, dropped last year. Picking up from the second installment’s brutal cliffhanger, which saw Lore imprisoned on the Burnt Isles, Gabe exiled, and Bastian possessed by the god Apollius, the stakes couldn’t be higher or more deadly. And Lore will have to sacrifice more than most to find a way to defeat him in this banger of a series ender.
Publisher’s Description: Lore has failed. She couldn’t save King Bastian from the rotten god speaking voices in his mind. She couldn’t save her allies from being scattered across the continent—their own lesser gods whispering to them in their dreams. She couldn’t save her beautiful, corrupt city from the dark power beneath the catacombs. And she couldn’t save herself.
Banished to the Burnt Isles, Lore must use every skill she earned on the streets of Dellaire to survive the prison colony and figure out a way to defeat the power that’s captured everything and everyone she holds dear. When a surprise ally joins her on the Burnt Isles she realizes the way forward may lie on the island itself. Somehow, her friends must help her collect the far-scattered pieces of the broken Fount—the source of all the god’s powers—and bring them back together on the Burnt Isles, returning all magic to its source and destroying, once and for all, the gods corrupting the land
But as Lore gets closer to her goal, her magic grows stronger… and to a woman who’s always had to fight for survival, that kind of power may be hard to give up.
A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
Release Date: July 15 from Viking
Why We’re Excited: An ambitious fantasy with an alternate history twist, A Resistance of Witches follows the story of a young woman who must race against the clock to keep a book of ancient power out of the hands of Hitler’s witches. As she journeys through England, France, and Bavaria, Lydia will confront monsters both human and supernatural and discover the magic of everyday people in the face of evil.
Publisher’s Description: Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, with Hitler’s army rampaging across Europe, the witches of Britain have joined the war effort, and Lydia is key to the cause: she must use her magic to track down magical relics before Hitler and his sycophants can. When a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences, the coven is left shaken, exposed and divided. The elder British witches have no interest in further loss of coven life in service of a government that has forced them into hiding for decades, no matter the consequences to the world. But with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent.
Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia makes her way to the heart of occupied France, where she finds allies in Rebecca Gagne—a fierce French resistance fighter chockful of secrets—and Henry Boudreaux—a handsome Haitian-American art historian with a little magic of his own. Together, they traverse the country, stalked by the natural and supernatural alike, in search of the grimoire. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle—the Grimorium Bellum has a dark agenda all its own. Lydia must subdue it before the Witches of the Third Reich can use it—but she’ll have to survive the book herself, first.
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Release Date: July 15 from Berkley
Why We’re Excited: This whimsical cozy fantasy from the author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches follows the story of Sera, one of Britain’s most powerful witches, who lost most of her power after resurrecting her beloved great aunt. But now she has a chance to get it back—with a little help from a handsome and icy magical historian. Delightful found family vibes and a charming cast of supporting characters.
Publisher’s Description: Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps Jasmine run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests’ shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power…
Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and just might know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.
Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone…and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
Release Date: July 15 from Bramble
Why We’re Excited: A soft, deeply empathetic tale about finding both love and your place in the world, Sarah Beth Durst’s The Enchanted Greenhouse more than secures her spot as one of the peak cozy fantasy writers in the business today. (If that’s not enough, this story has singing flowers. I’m not kidding.)
Publisher’s Description: Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.
This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes―at least until she’s ready to sail home.
But Terlu doesn’t want to return home, and as she grows closer with the unwittingly charming gardener, Yarrow, she learns that the magic that sustains the greenhouses is failing―causing the death of everything within them. Terlu knows she must help, even if that means breaking the law again.
This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by Yarrow and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island―and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.
The Jasad Crown by Sara Hashem
Release Date: July 15 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: This conclusion to Sara Hashem’s Scorched Throne duology, The Jasad Crown picks up where its predecessor, The Jasad Heir, left off, following the story of a fugitive queen who must risk everything to restore her lost kingdom. Throw in some weapons-grade enemies-to-lovers angst and incredibly complex political intrigue, and you’ve got a summer banger.
Publisher’s Description: Held deep in a mountain refuge, Sylvia has been captured by the Urabi, who believe the Jasad Heir can return their homeland to its former power. But after years of denying her legacy and a forbidden alliance with Jasad’s greatest enemy, Sylvia must win the Urabi’s trust while struggling to hide the dangerous side effects her magic is having on her mind.
In a rival kingdom, Arin must maneuver carefully between his father’s desire to put down the brewing rebellion and the sacred edicts Arin is sworn to uphold. He is determined to find Sylvia before it’s too late, but Arin’s search unravels secrets that threaten the very core of his beliefs about his family and the destruction of Jasad.
War is inevitable, but Sylvia cannot abandon her people again. The Urabi plan to raise the Jasadi fortress, and it will either kill Sylvia or destroy the humanity she’s fought so hard to protect. For the first time in her life Sylvia doesn’t just want to survive. She wants to win.
Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland
Release Date: July 15 From Entangled/Red Tower Books
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated conclusion to Mai Corland’s truly excellent Five Broken Blades series, Three Shattered Souls will see the protagonists wrestle with grief, betrayal, and more as they face off
Publisher’s Description: The Blades were never supposed to survive this long. But after the battle in Quu Harbor, escaping is no longer enough. The most dangerous liars in the four realms have one last mission—return to Yusan and finish what they started.
But now a usurper sits on the serpent throne. And he may be more dangerous than the god-king.
With three relics of the Dragon Lord in their possession, the Blades will face the might of the four realms. Enemies will become allies. Allies will become traitors. And the ones they love most? They’ll be the ones to break them.
Grief will carve the Blades into something ruthless and unrecognizable. But only by losing everything can they win this game of kings and crowns.
Silvercloak by L.K. Steven
Release Date: July 29 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: Set in a world where pleasure and pain fuel magical abilities, Saffron Killoran is determined to get revenge for the murder of her family at the hands of the powerful Bloodmoons. A complex, gritty, and morally grey revenge tale ensues, which sees its heroine make dark choices, commit heinous acts, and get what’s perhaps get a little too close to the kingpin’s son. One of the buzziest titles of the summer.
Publisher’s Description: Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.
But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.
Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.
With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.
The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai
Release Date: July 29 from Erewhon Books
Why We’re Excited: Set in a world where two centuries of storms have wiped away not just most of humanity, but most of the survivors’ collective memories of what life was like before the disaster, the story follows Key, who possesses the unique ability to read the blood of others and search their memories for knowledge. But her gift comes with potentially dangerous consequences—if Key dives too deeply into a memory, she can be overtaken by it, and must be killed. It’s why she travels with a bodyguard who is charged with both protecting Key in the wild and safeguarding everyone else they meet. But as the two skirt the edges of an ancient secret that could change their society forever, they’ll both have to decide how much their willing to risk for the truth.
Publisher’s Description: Kiana Strade can dive deeper into blood memories than anyone alive. But instead of devoting her talents to the temple she’s meant to lead, Key wants to do research for the Museum of Human Memory. . . and to avoid the public eye.
Valerian IV’s twin swords protect Key from murderous rivals and her own enthusiasm alike. Vale cares about Key as a friend—and maybe more—but most of all, she needs to keep her job so she can support her parents and siblings in the storm-torn south.
But when Key collects a memory that diverges from official history, only Vale sees the fallout. Key’s mentor suspiciously dismisses the finding; her powerful mother demands she stop research altogether. And Key, unusually affected by the memory, begins to lose moments, then minutes, then days.
As Vale becomes increasingly entangled in Key’s obsessive drive for answers, the women uncover a shattering discovery—and a devastating betrayal. Key and Vale can remain complicit, or they can jeopardize everything for the truth.
Either way, Key is becoming consumed by the past in more ways than one, and time is running out.
The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson
Release Date: July 29 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The latest novel from The First Bright Thing author J.R. Dawson, is a contemporary fantasy that mixes Greek myth, Jewish tradition, and a slow-burning queer romance to create an emotional love letter to life, death and the city of Chicago itself. The book follows the story of a young woman who’s spent her life helping her father ferry the souls of the dead across Lake Michigan, and has serious Hadestown vibes.
Publisher’s Description: At the edge of Chicago, nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, there is a waystation for the dead. Every night, the newly-departed travel through the city to the Station, guided by its lighthouse. There, they reckon with their lives, before stepping aboard a boat to go beyond.
Nera has spent decades watching her father―the ferryman of the dead―sail across the lake, each night just like the last.
But tonight, something is wrong
The Station’s lighthouse has started to flicker out. The terrifying, ghostly Haunts have multiplied in the city. And now a person―a living person―has found her way onto the boat.
Her name is Charlie. She followed a song. And she is searching for someone she lost.
Lacy Baugher Milas writes about Books and TV at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky at @LacyMB