I Can’t Wait for… Most Anticipated 2021 Releases (Part 1)

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about and have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released, but not necessarily. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, which was originally hosted at Breaking the Spine.

For the next 2 weeks I’m going to shift gears a bit from highlighting individual titles to showcase my most anticipated releases of next year, starting with those hitting shelves January through April.

January

• The Frozen Crown by Greta Kelly features a princess with a powerful and dangerous secret who must find a way to save her country from ruthless invaders in a story packed with heroism, treachery, magic, and war. [January 12th]
• The Scorpion’s Tail by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child is the second novel following archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson as they work together to solve a twisted crime that reaches far beyond any of their worst fears. [January 12th]
• In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish explores an evil that continues to thrive, an entity that knows no boundaries and crosses dimensions – bending and twisting time itself – leading two women into a battle is on for their bodies and souls. [January 19th]
• The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick is a darkly magical fantasy adventure in which a con artist returns to the city that betrayed her, determined to have her revenge—only to find that her fate might be to save it. [January 19th]

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February

• Initiates of the Blood by Cecilia Tan is the start of a suspenseful erotic urban fantasy series full of secret cabals, romance, and sex magic. [February 2nd]
• Best Bondage Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 by Rachel Kramer Bussel features characters of all ages, genders, and sexualities in an anthology that will pique the interest of any reader with even a glancing interest in bondage. [February 9th]
• Skeleton Key by Piers Anthony offers a shape-changing alien cuttlefish, a girl in a boy’s body, and the promise of hosting a Demoness. [February 9th]
• Fairhaven Rising by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is the start of a new character arc in the long-running Recluce saga, this time featuring Taelya, the young woman who stole the final book of Beltur’s arc for me. [February 16th]

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March

• The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst is a standalone epic fantasy from the author of The Queens of Renthia about aging warriors, dead husbands, and what happens after the end. [March 9th]
• The Queen’s Weapons by Anne Bishop is the next Black Jewels book, in which Daemonar, along with his father and uncle, must uncover the source of a familiar evil, and Daemon Sadi, the High Lord of Hell, may be forced into making a terrible choice. [March 9th]
• The Unbroken by C.L. Clark an epic political fantasy unlike any other, in which two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire. [March 23rd]
• Your Turn to Suffer by Tim Waggoner sees Lorelei Palumbo harassed by a sinister group calling themselves The Cabal, who accuse her of having committed unspeakable crimes in the past and begin taking her life apart one piece at a time. [March 23rd]

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April

• Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden is my most-anticipated read of the new year, a sequel to one of my favorite reads of this year, featuring a proud hijra warrior princess heroine. [April 13th]
• The Queen has a Cold by Jane Kolven is a romance between the intersex heir to the throne of the tiny nation of Montamant, a sassy lesbian she meets at graduate school, and a queen whose cold means exposure for Remy. [April 13th]
• Spectrum by Julie E. Czerneda is the third book in the Web Shifter’s Library series, returning to the adventures of Esen, a shapeshifting alien who must navigate the perils of a hostile universe. [April 20th]
• Familiarity by Regina Watts is a, modern mash-up of Lolita and Dangerous Liaisons for any reader with a strong stomach looking for a fresh take on the Marquis de Sade. [April 30th]

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Stay tuned next Wednesday for Part 2 of my list!