March is a great month for book lovers (Image: Fotografía de eLuVe via Getty Images)
Between suggestions from friends, relatives and colleagues and the countless reviews accessible on TikTok, Instagram and Goodreads, deciding what to read next can prove more challenging than it appears. However, if you’re seeking something new, you’re lucky, as March brims with thrilling fresh releases from cherished authors including Tayari Jones and Liz Tomforde, alongside numerous highly-anticipated debuts.
From fantasy and romance to literary fiction and thrillers, here are some of the best books coming out this month. For more book recommendations, reviews and news, you can subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, The Bookish Drop, on Substack.
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1. Kin by Tayari Jones
From the author of An American Marriage, Kin follows Vernice and Annie, two girls born within days of each other who become inseparable throughout their childhood. They are united by a shared loss, with neither girl ever knowing her own mother.
Coming of age in the segregated America of the 1950s and 60s, fate leads them down very different paths. Vernice looks to the future, pursuing an education before marrying into an affluent family, whilst Annie becomes possessed by an all-consuming desire to find her absent mother. But when her search leads to danger, it’s Vernice who must risk everything to save her.
A stunning, contemplative read exploring everything from sisterhood and chosen family to racism and inequality, this is a novel that will shatter your heart – before mending it once more.
2. In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde
Sports romance enthusiasts, this one’s for you. Liz Tomforde revisits the Windy City universe as Reese Remington, Major League Baseball’s first female team owner, begins falling for Emmett Montgomery, her driven yet cocky field manager.
As fiery exchanges evolve into electric chemistry, professional lines become increasingly blurred and the connection between them grows undeniable. Yet Reese remains acutely aware of those eager to witness her downfall, making it prudent to maintain distance from Emmett. However, staying apart proves a match neither can win….
With irresistible chemistry and tension guaranteed to have you grinning and swooning throughout, this delivers genuine delight for Windy City devotees.
Kin by Tayari Jones (Image: Talya Honebeek)
3. Innamorata by Ava Reid
Once there existed an island where the deceased roamed the land, and seven noble houses governed through the mysterious arts of necromancy. A conqueror’s sword brought their reign to an end, incinerating their libraries, slaying their lords and snuffing out their otherworldly magic.
Yet standing defiantly against this new regime is the House of Teeth and its surviving members: Marozia, the house’s heiress, and her cousin Lady Agnes. Despite remaining silent for seven years, Agnes carries the true burden of the House’s inheritance, entrusted with her own mission.
However, while vengeance smoulders within her, so do more peculiar desires, with the bond between Agnes and Liuprand, the golden prince, threatening to corrupt the kingdom’s foundations and split the already fractured realm asunder.
Eerily atmospheric and brimming with treachery, vengeance and political scheming, this is the ideal choice for any devotee of gothic fantasy.
4. Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall
When Hope discovers her actual life within the pages of a bestselling novel, reality and fiction become indistinguishable. As a young woman, Hope’s ambitions matched her optimistic name.
She secured employment with an emerging author and quickly became immersed in the bohemian circles of his world, though her tenure there concluded in fatal catastrophe. To protect him, she withdrew from her life, guarding the truth in silence. Yet a decade later, it seems he hasn’t honoured his end of their agreement.
But which of them can be trusted as narrator? And what price must you pay to seize control of your own life’s narrative? This is a superbly fast-paced thriller that will provoke thought and linger in your mind well beyond the final page.
5. Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson
The most esteemed citizen of Union Springs, Alabama (population 3,314), is Judge Mary Stone. She regards two duties as sacred: managing her family farm and presiding over her courtroom – where she faces the most contentious case in Southern history.
From a criminal perspective, it’s straightforward. Morally, there’s no grey area. Fundamentally, it’s a decision between life and death. No judge can please everyone. Attempting to do so would be perilous. But Judge Stone is willing to fight to bring justice to the people and place she loves.
Judge Stone is a thoroughly compelling courtroom thriller guaranteed to keep you gripped from start to finish. The audiobook, narrated by Viola Davis herself, adds an extra cinematic edge; you’ll be searching for reasons to continue listening.
Innamorata by Ava Reid (Image: Talya Honebeek)
6. 200 Monas by Jan Saenz
On the cusp of graduation, Arvy Keening is poised for her life to commence. The complication? She’s just discovered 200 pills in her recently-deceased mother’s wardrobe.
When two drug dealers arrive to collect, they disclose that the pills are Monas – a scarce pharmaceutical that triggers life-altering orgasms. Arvy receives an ultimatum: sell 200 Monas in 48 hours or die.
After enlisting Wolf, a (devastatingly hot) local dealer, Arvy and Wolf charge through town, targeting students, solitary pub-goers, and an enigmatic sorority, whilst Arvy attempts to suppress a tempest of sorrow brewing within. Can Arvy and Wolf shift the narcotics and rescue Arvy’s existence?
Unfolding across 48 hours, this rollercoaster of a story will keep you flipping pages well past midnight. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, while remaining genuinely suspenseful, and Arvy’s choices will leave you feeling as though you’re witnessing a car crash in slow motion.
7. Strangerland by Monika Radojevic
London, 1990. Zivoin has just landed in unfamiliar territory. The reliable eldest child, he grafts around the clock, dispatching every spare pound homeward to his relatives. Through television broadcasts, he observes his native Yugoslavia gradually disintegrating.
Thousands of miles distant, amidst the sweltering climate of Uberlândia, Brazil, Alegria readies herself to depart the nation – and the relatives – she cherishes deeply. Clever and driven, she endeavours to provide her parents with the existence they merit, regardless of how far it takes her from their side.
A fortuitous encounter brings Alegria and Zivoin together – and momentarily, they discover belonging. Yet their odyssey has only commenced, and subsequent events will pull them magnetically across nations and continents, transforming them both permanently.
Rooted in actual events, this compelling and deeply moving novel traverses multiple continents and proves so absorbing you’ll find yourself racing through it in a single sitting.
Strangerland by Monika Radojevic (Image: Talya Honebeek)
8. Our Monstrous Bodies by Emma Cleary
Following an ill-fated relationship with a horror film enthusiast, Brooke travels to Vancouver to support her sister, Izzy, who faces reproductive surgery. However, Izzy’s rapidly deteriorating apartment block, its corridors haunted by a menacing elderly woman known solely as Medusa, provides scant sanctuary for the siblings.
Finding comfort in the films her former partner cherished, Brooke quickly discovers elements of horror seeping from the cinema into her reality. Past traumas resurface and fresh tensions emerge, and when Brooke starts displaying peculiar symptoms herself, Izzy’s worry escalates into fixation. The boundary between self and sibling dissolves until just one question persists: who, or what, will endure when everything unravels?
Perfect for fans of the burgeoning ‘fem-gore’ trend, Our Monstrous Bodies delivers a gripping family drama infused with dysfunctional relationships, visceral body horror and mounting suspense.
9. If I Ruled the World by Amy DuBois Barnett
It’s 1999, and Nikki Rose stands as the sole Black editor within the team of a high-profile fashion magazine she once believed would pave her way to becoming a respected editor-in-chief. However, after repeatedly hearing from her boss that ‘Black girls don’t sell magazines’, she resigns to take the helm at Sugar, a floundering hip-hop music and lifestyle magazine brimming with untapped potential.
Thrust into an unfamiliar world of opulence, indulgence and excess, Nikki has a mere six months to rescue Sugar – and her own aspirations. As she burns the midnight oil at work and mingles with New York City’s most influential rogues, Nikki must demonstrate her leadership capabilities.
Yet, her most perilous challenge lies in avoiding Alonzo Griffin, her married, influential ex-lover and previous boss, who is hell-bent on ruining both her and Sugar. Throughout her journey, Nikki relies on a close-knit group of faithful friends and navigates unforeseen romantic entanglements that compel her to confront what – and whom – she truly desires.
Brimming with scandal, romance and a generous helping of 90s New York glitz, this gripping debut is a must-read for any fan of The Devil Wears Prada or America’s Next Top Model.
Intelligence by Robert Newman (Image: Talya Honebeek)
10. Intelligence by Robert Newman
Oxford, 1938. Ida and Medora are two exceptionally bright young philosophers at the core of a group who convene in historic rooms to dance, drink and debate theories of morality. But as the world hurtles towards war, theoretical discussions of life and death become starkly real.
Whilst her comrades are summoned for intelligence duties, Ida, the indefatigable Texan outsider, seeks scholarly diversion. However, she stumbles upon clandestine Nazi information that could dramatically alter the course of the war. Can she and Medora seize the attention of London’s spymasters and bureaucrats in time to save thousands of lives?
Easy to read yet compellingly unputdownable, Intelligence is full of historical allusions, unforgettable characters and thrilling escapades.
11. Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
The year is 1899, and scientific illustrator Sonia Wilson finds herself devoid of employment, opportunities and optimism. Thus, when the elusive Dr. Halder proposes a role illustrating his extensive insect collection, Sonia readily accepts.
However, it isn’t long before Sonia discerns more ominous undertones. Assisted by the housekeeper and a local healer, she unveils dark secrets and monstrous experiments, which threaten to engulf her too.
With T. Kingfisher’s characteristic humour and a gradually intensifying narrative teeming with suspense that culminates in something truly terrifying, Wolf Worm isn’t for the squeamish – but it unquestionably merits a place on your bookshelves this spring.