Books We Loved, Sep. 2026

Is it just us at Five Directions Press, or do the seasons seem to roll over faster with each year that passes? Be that as it may, September means that summer is officially withdrawing in favor of autumn (or winter giving way to spring, if you live Down Under). Why, Amazon has already started sending messages about Christmas trees! So before you pull out the pumpkin spice, check out the latest trio of books we love, to give you something to do while you wait for the muffins to bake and the lattes to brew.

Five Directions Press also has a new title of our own to announce: Song of the Silk Weaver, the latest in C. P. Lesley’s Songs of Steppe & Forest series, is officially available on Kindle and in print as of September 15. The link and book description are on the book page. Tatar women with attitude and sexy Italian merchants—what more need we say? And if that were not enough, we hear that the author is already hard at work on the sequel.

Ariel Lawhon, The Frozen River  (Vintage, 2023)

The historical mystery The Frozen River is based on the real-life character of midwife Martha Ballard, who kept a detailed diary of events for more than twenty years. Martha delights—a capable, intelligent woman who does not suffer fools but who brims with compassion for the mothers she tends. A further draw is that Martha, at fifty-four an older woman, still enjoys intimacy and closeness with her husband and doesn’t condemn women who become pregnant before their wedding.

The mystery concerns the murder of Joshua Burgess, a cruel man of poor standing, who along with the more respected Colonel North assaulted the preacher’s wife several months prior to his death. Many would want Burgess dead, among them the preacher himself, and perhaps even Colonel North. Martha wants the truth, while at the same time hoping it will not set her at odds with the preacher’s wife, whom she counts as a friend, or implicate her own sons, who fought with Burgess that night. In her search for justice, she struggles to get her observations and medical expertise accepted, not only for the murder investigation but also for the upcoming rape trial of the enigmatic Colonel North himself.

The Frozen River is a gripping and engaging tale, featuring well-drawn characters and historical accuracy.—GM

Lynn Morrison, What’s a Little Blackmail between Friends?  (Marketing Chair Press, 2026)

Historical mystery series featuring feisty young women from various social classes and snooty or otherwise disapproving males determined to protect them for their own good are anything but rare. I have at least a dozen examples in my Kindle app at any given time, some published by the Big Five and many more, like this one, from self-published or small-press authors. And, in the way of Amazon, that means I get pitched still more every time I open the app or visit the store.

That said, not all such books draw me in, and few have appealed to me as much as Lynn Morrison’s latest series, The Etty and Tris Victorian Mysteries, of which What’s a Little Blackmail between Friends? is the first installment. (I should mention that I tried the book in part because I’ve enjoyed several of Morrison’s previous titles.)

I’m not sure what it is, exactly, that separates this series from many others that appear to resemble it closely. The heroine, Edith (Etty) Redgrave, the daughter of a minor nobleman yet a friend of Queen Victoria’s daughter Louise, is definitely one attraction—bold and determined yet not blind to the constraints placed on her as a young woman of the gentry. So is her nemesis/love interest Tristan, duke of Rockingham, charged by the queen with resolving various social and political disputes without drawing attention to either those involved or himself. In this opener the two of them clash over Etty’s attempts to protect Louise from a blackmailer, something Tristan considers to be more his purview than hers. From there they build a mutual respect that leads them to work together when an acquaintance is shot in a duel (illegal in Britain by the 1860s), then aim to solve a poaching case at a country house.

And it’s that relationship between the leads, I think, that pulls me into each new book in the series. These two respect each other for their differences as well as their strengths, and despite their romantic ups and downs they really do work together to solve problems. The books are relatively short and, if you have Kindle Unlimited, free to read, but it’s the rapid pacing, the complex plotting, and the tension of wondering just how long Etty and Tris can avoid facing how much they care about each other that explain why I love these books.—CPL

Lacie Waldon, From the Jump  (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022)

Liv Bakersfield has spent her whole life following the rules—work hard, stay disciplined, never rock the boat. But when she impulsively joins her tight-knit college friend group on their annual trip to South Africa, that carefully controlled life starts to unravel.

Thrown into close quarters with the infuriatingly gorgeous, maddeningly aloof Lucas Deiss, Liv discovers that the version of herself she’s been suppressing might be the one worth listening to.

Waldon blends a swoony friends-to-lovers slow burn with a genuinely moving story about self-discovery. The found family dynamics feel lived-in and real, and the first half’s South African setting adds a layer of wanderlust that makes this the ultimate escapist read. It’s a book that sneaks up on you: you pick it up for the romance and stay for the reminder that saying “no” to what's expected of you is its own kind of freedom.

Perfect for readers who love enemies-turned-friends-turned-lovers tension, a heroine who’s finally learning to want things for herself, and a setting that’ll have you Googling the next flight out.—CJH