On the Shelf: August 2026

With 25 books under my reading belt, August is tied with June for the second highest count of 2026 thus far. The "Are you okay, Suleikha?" award goes to May with a whopping 29. Since I was dealing with numbers anyway, I went ahead and totaled up the year to date: 173. Would I remember the plots of all 173 if pressed by internet people who worry about shit like that? Probably not. That does not negate how each title made me feel—whether it was joy, stress, fear, or disappointment. This is not a competition. This is not a test. I read voraciously because I have always read voraciously. And, holy crap, I voraciously read a lot of frontlist books this past month.

Naina Kumar's Just a Highland Fling had me sniffling by chapter five. The cover kinda gives rom-com, but Neelu and Jacob's story packs an emotional punch too. I told the author that it turned from a gut-punch into a tattoo needle pain because she's so good at slipping in those little moments that hurt. I also love that her protags are from South Indian Christian backgrounds. Desi romance leans North Indian and Hindu, but there's so much more cultural diversity to explore! Elsewhere, Heir by Sabaa Tahir got me primed for Empire. It actually took me a few tries to get into it. It was this latest attempt that clicked and I couldn't put it down, just like the Ember in the Ashes quartet. Proof that sometimes it's the mood that's off, not the book. Speaking of mood, Karina Halle's new gothic romance definitely set one. Atmospheric and sexy, rooted in Irish folklore that I haven't come across in romance before. Have I been privately thinking of it as Bonertide? Yes, of course.

The Reading Rundown
Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend by Abigail Barnette (erotic romance)
The Daddy's Girl by Sara Cate (erotic romance)
A Curse of Beasts & Magic by Jeaniene Frost (paranormal romance, urban fantasy)
Bonetide by Karina Halle (gothic romance, paranormal romance)
Learn to Love You by Jade Hernandez (contemporary romance)
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher (horror, suspense)
Just a Highland Fling by Naina Kumar (contemporary romance)
When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd (historical romance)
Captured By the Werewolf Highwaymen by Eva Leigh (out 9/9, paranormal polyam romance)
[Redacted] by TK (out 12/1, suspense, for professional review purposes)
Big Trouble in a Little Mafia by Tanvier Peart (dark rom-com, mafia romance)
[Redacted] by TK (out 10/13, suspense, horror, for professional review purposes)
Heir by Sabaa Tahir (young adult fantasy)
Silent Flames by Cate C. Wells (contemporary romance, dark romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: I went to my physical bookshelf for rereads of Joanna Bourne's six Spymaster books, historical romances set during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Then it was back to the Kindle for my first time through Remember When by Judith McNaught and Captured by Beverly Jenkins. The latter sent me to rereads of Through the Storm, and Forbidden. No regrets. Reading Ms. Bev is always fulfilling and also a huge comfort. I snapped up The Secret by Julie Garwood on sale, just like I did the McNaught, and that was the end of my backlist adventures for August. I'm not mad, because my frontlist title consumption more than made up for things.

Currently reading: I'm almost done rereading Mercy Fletcher Meets Her Match by Aydra Richards.

On the TBR/wish list
Well Versed by Jen DeLuca
Lady X by Molly Fader
One For the Road by Eliot Fletcher
Captive Traitor King by Brigid Kemmerer
The Lines We Cross by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Empire by Sabaa Tahir
Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite