12 anticipated books of 2026

by Ellena Savage

What happens when the past refuses to stay buried? A tight-knit group of friends begins to unravel as jealousy and unresolved resentment resurface.

by Romy Ash

If you love slow-burn tension, this one’s for you. When Ursula returns to her childhood home, she is drawn back into a landscape shaped by grief, memory, and long-held secrets.

by Lily Crozier

Perfect for fans of enemies-to-lovers romantasy. Clara is abducted and forced into a political betrothal with Prince Raleigh, a vampire ruler feared for how he feeds. Trapped in his world, Clara plots her escape before the vow binds her forever. 🩸

by Fiona Wright

Keira is thirty, broke, and living in a rotting share house with a hole in the floor that keeps getting bigger. As home ownership slips further out of reach, she hatches a plan that asks just how far someone might go for a place to call their own.

by Candice Fox

Brothers Russel and Evan are both cops and deeply estranged. When an investigation threatens to be uncovered, Russel pushes for the truth while Evan is determined to keep it hidden. 

by Katherine Johnson

On remote Maria Island, eighteen-year-old Min longs to escape her father. When a biologist, a visiting journalist, and a mysterious stranger arrive, the island’s fragile balance between care and control begins to unravel with devastating consequences.

by Keely Jobe

A feminine community is crumbling under the weight of ideological divides and dwindling numbers. As one elder falls ill, women across the community mysteriously begin falling pregnant. 

by John Morrissey

David has spent a decade scavenging the ruins of an alien civilisation. As he prepares to leave, his mentor disappears and a final expedition draws him towards a terrifying force at the heart of the world.

by Fiona Kelly McGregor

Sydney, 1942. As police corruption and entrapment scandals surface, those on the city’s margins must navigate danger, desire, and survival during wartime.

by Yumna Kassab

After leaving her marriage, Amina finds the relationship’s shadow still shaping her life. Set within an Arab community, this novel traces the long emotional aftermath of love, divorce, and departure.

by Kathryn Heyman

As cancer shortens her future, Roni begins a Book of Wonders to record small moments of beauty. Over one lunar month, the women closest to her gather, each bringing love, tension, and unfinished history.

by Amanda Lohrey

Psychiatrist James Mather is asked to treat patients who all claim to have been abducted by aliens. As their stories unfold, belief, doubt, and truth begin to blur in unsettling ways.