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Hi reader,

They landed. As of Friday all three August books are out in the world, which means my week has gone from watching a calendar to watching a page refresh, and I am told by people who love me that I should stop doing that.

Here is what is new on the shelf as of Friday, August 21:

The Broken Script of the Stars, by Jennie Wren Foster. The library is at peace, and the peace is the lie. Three months after they broke a god and remade the Last Library into a place that keeps instead of consumes, a student's name goes missing from every mouth in the school, and only the three who love her most still remember the girl existed. What is unwriting people this time is older than the god, and it is grieving. Sapphic-centered romantasy, open door, found family, and the kind of dark that stays with you. Book two of the Chronicles of the Celestial Fold.

The Broker's Mask, by Jennie Wren Foster. A second descent into the Midnight Auction, where nothing changes hands without a price and every face at the table is a mask over a deal. Worldbuilding-forward, bond-driven, romance-forward and closed door. Book two of five.

Feathers and Phantoms, by Jessie Clark. An iron key opens a house shut for thirty-five years, and Winifred Baxter's crow will not be parted from it. The town calls the death on the tower stair a ghost. The town's beloved old doctor calls it a rotten step and enough of this ghost nonsense. They are both wrong. A fair-play paranormal cozy, sweet and closed door, and deeply suspicious of the most reasonable man in the room. Book three, and a fine place to start.

All three, plus everything else this house has put out this summer, live in one place.

Which one first? If you want to cry a little and then feel better about the world, start with The Broken Script of the Stars. If you want a puzzle you can actually solve, and a crow with opinions, start with Feathers and Phantoms. If you want a world with rules and a bargain you can feel closing around you, start with The Broker's Mask. I gave the two Jennie titles a longer look in Wednesday's letter, and Winifred got her own one before that.

And it does not stop. Three more arrive Friday, September 4: The Auction House Affair (Jennie Wren Foster, the third Crabapple Antiques Mystery, where a 1920s brass cash register starts ringing at the lots that are lying) and two from Kira Deveraux, Ashmarked to the Exiled Dragon and The Shatterfield. Full details in the next couple of letters.

The one favor that matters. If any of the three that landed Friday reached you, an honest review in the first week or two does more for a small press than anything else we can buy or beg for. It is genuinely how the next reader finds the book. Two minutes, whatever you actually thought.

And if you would rather read these things before anyone else, join Read It First, our launch team: a free advance copy about three weeks before release, in exchange for one honest review on launch day. The September 4 titles go out to the team shortly. You tick which authors you want on the signup form, so you only hear about the books you actually want: https://readitfirst-jlcollinspublishing.beehiiv.com/p/read-it-first

Something to listen to on a Sunday. The house has a podcast now, Story Worlds from JL Collins Publishing and Glassbound Ink. Episode one is "Every Book Is a Doorway," which is a fair description of the weekend three books opened at once. Watch or listen here. A subscribe helps a brand-new show more than you would think.

If a friend is forever asking what to read next, forward them this email. New readers can subscribe right from the site.

One quick reply and you will make my weekend: which of the three did you pick up first, and did I guess right about why? Hit reply and tell me.

Happy reading,

Lori Collins

Publisher, JL Collins Publishing