Fantasy Books Releasing in July 2026 (Most Anticipated!)

After her first love nearly sank her family’s business, Marin traded heartbreak for the helm of her own supply ship. Sailing between the Crescent Islands with a crew consisting of a sea serpent and a sentient sailor shrub, she’s built a life that is lonely, quiet, and—most importantly, safe.

But safety vanishes when she sails into Alyssium to find the capital in flames. In the middle of a revolution, she rescues Dax, a stubborn composer who would rather burn with his instruments than leave them behind. When Marin offers him passage, a rescue mission turns into a bargain: Dax gets a ride, and Marin gets a fake boyfriend for the End-of-Harvest Festival back home. But as they navigate treacherous waters and Dax’s infectious passion for life, Marin realizes that while she might be the one steering the boat, he’s the one guiding her heart back to shore.

Tropes: cozy fantasy, friends to lovers, magical creatures

In Belavere Trench, the Artisans and the Craftsmen are at war. Patrick, the last Alchemist, and Nina, the world’s only known earth Charmer, have been captured by the Artisans, putting Patrick’s rebel union in a precarious position.

Though he hasn’t forgiven Nina her betrayals, Patrick has other things to worry about. He is finally reunited with his father, a prisoner of the Artisans, and the group lands a narrow escape only with the help of Nina’s first love, Theo. Decoding an ancient prophecy, they set off in search of an infinite supply of idium that will determine the course of the war, should it prove more than a myth. Fleeing across Craftsman towns on the brink, they will encounter old friends, and enemies, in search of answers.

Tropes: alchemy, betrayal, myths

Osric is a loyal blade of the Fyren Order, an assassin who views murder as a business transaction. Aurienne is a Haelan scholar-healer dedicated to a life of “harm to none.” Their worlds are separated by an ocean of blood and belief—until Osric offers a bribe Aurienne can’t refuse.

What starts as an illicit healing session under the light of the full moon soon becomes a dangerous addiction. As Aurienne’s hands mend Osric’s body, she begins to reach the parts of him he thought were long dead. But their forbidden connection is interrupted by a nightmare: a deadly Pox is sweeping through the Tīendoms, and it isn’t an act of nature. It’s a weapon. To stop the plague, the assassin and the healer must join forces against an enemy darker than any they’ve ever faced, proving that the line between life and death is as thin as a heartbeat.

Tropes: assassins, forced proximity, forbidden love

Clara Graysword is a master of tarot and the realm’s most wanted fugitive. When she’s finally cornered, her salvation comes from the most unlikely source: the Worldkeepers, a secretive order that offers her a chance to rewrite her destiny. But the price of her freedom involves entering the lion’s den, Arcana Academy.

Hidden in plain sight, Clara must navigate a school of magic led by the one man she should fear most: Prince Kaelis. He is the Crown’s ruthless enforcer and a headmaster who sees too much. Bound together by a pull neither can explain, Clara and Kaelis are drawn into a dangerous dance of secrets and desire. As the mysteries of the tarot begin to unravel, Clara realizes that the Prince isn’t just her greatest threat—he might be the only one who can help her save a world on the brink of ruin.

Tropes: dark academia, tarot

Now, she’s finally stopped hiding. Having claimed her ancestral crown and a new, grotesque magic, Imogen is more powerful, and more haunted, than ever. The ancient deity Eusia is etched into her very soul through a corrupted bond, and though Imogen is desperate to sever the connection, the god isn’t letting go without a war.

As alliances shift and the realm hungers for her power, Imogen finds her greatest distraction in Theodore, the King of Varya. Theodore is already buckling under the weight of his own throne, and when Imogen appears on his ship, his carefully guarded duty begins to crumble. Together, they are a collision of secrets and perilous desire. But as they move to strike down a god, Imogen must face the terrifying possibility that she isn’t there to save the world, she’s there to end it.

Tropes: sirens, dark fantasy

She survived the Retterheld only to find herself a prisoner of her own success. While the palace at Wrohelm celebrates her as a hero, Rose is drowning in the fallout of her sister’s betrayals. To make matters worse, Prince Kyor still wears the crown he chose over her, and the electric tension between them threatens to burn the court to the ground.

When the secrets of the past become too loud to ignore, Rose flees the safety of the city walls to hunt for the truth. But outside Wrohelm, she discovers that her reclaimed power is more volatile than she ever imagined. In a kingdom of shifting alliances, Rose must decide if she’s chasing the man she lost, the vengeance she’s owed, or a freedom she’s never known.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance, court intrigue, betrayal

Sixteen years of playing the dutiful princess was only the rehearsal. Now, Princess Elara is trapped within the gilded walls of her father’s castle, hiding a sister in the dungeons and a rebel king in her shadow. Trew, the man she loves and the kingdom’s greatest enemy, is hiding in plain sight as her bodyguard. One wrong look, one lingering touch, and his life is forfeit.

But the clock is ticking toward the Day of Mercy, when twenty-three innocents are scheduled for execution, the same day Elara is forced to choose a husband from a sea of lethal suitors. As a conspiracy involving her mother’s bloodline and forbidden magic begins to surface, Elara’s mask is finally slipping. She isn’t just a princess anymore; she’s a weapon. And she will dismantle her father’s empire brick by brick to protect her own.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, court intrigue, hidden identity