Books of the Month July 2024

2024 has been an eventful year, and while 2025 is already beginning to loom on the horizon, there's still plenty to get done before then. This includes reading great books, which, once again, our readers had many choices to pick from. The titles below are the ones that came out on top across the different genres and are the books of the month for July 2024. 

Best Romance

A Dance with the Fae Prince

By Elisa Kova

A Dance with the Fae Prince is a stand-alone fantasy romance by Elisa Kova. When Katria is married off to the mysterious Lord Fenwood, she's determined that feelings won't enter the equation and that the best she can hope for is a better life than the one she is leaving. However, her new husband makes it difficult not to fall in love, but as their attraction grows, so do the oddities in Katria's new life. Eventually, she finds herself spirited away to the land of Midscape, where she must survive the fae wilds as a bloodthirsty king seeks to take her life to keep his stolen throne.     

Best Action & Adventure

Horse Hunts

By Gary J. George

Horse Hunts is part of the A SMoke Tree Series by Gary J. George. Smoke Tree Substation Commander Carlos Caballo, known as "Horse" in the Colorado River Valley, is called to find a man responsible for shooting an inspector in the tiny desert community of Vidal, California. Horse and a California Highway patrolman make a gruesome discovery inside an abandoned car alongside the highway, and he realizes that the killer is loose in the vast unpopulated area on foot. As Horse and his deputies hunt down the killer, they encounter a mysterious Native American who becomes a vital part of their pursuit. 

Best Mystery & Thriller

The Cause

By Dan Klasing

The threat of a second civil war looms in The Cause by Dan Klasing. The story is about the world's only anti-gravity aircraft, developed deep inside the underground laboratories of Area 51. However, instead of going to the United States government, the cutting-edge technology was stolen and presented to a ruthless secret society known as The Cause. To try and prevent disaster, the FBI calls on Special Agent Frank Deal and his expert team of WMD hunters to recover the technology and prevent the balance of power in the world from changing forever. 

Best Children's Book

The Cake of Happiness

By Yossi Lev

The Cake of Happiness is a charming children's book by Yossi Lev featuring beautiful illustrations by Yaniv Shimoni. The story centers around a magical cake, which, according to legend, caused anyone who tasted it to feel tremendous happiness. Unfortunately, this cake was lost and remained so despite the efforts of many people seeking to find it. However, when the legendary cake is finally rediscovered, something incredible happens in the process. 

Best Young Adult

The Moss Dragon of Brittlekeep

By Ashley Capes

The Moss Dragon of Brittlekeep by Ashley Capes is the tale of a woman named Penny who has a power that people would kill to possess. Unfortunately, this means she has to hide in the shadows of the city of Brittlekeep for survival. It's a lonely, cautious existence, with her only solace coming from a mysterious talking locket containing hints about her lost family. However, her life changes when she discovers a dragon's tooth, and she becomes the target of a dark mage seeking to seize her magic and the tooth. She is also forced to flee when desperate rebels begin hunting her for her power. 

Best Fantasy

Pantheon

By Joshua Landeros

Pantheon is a dark epic fantasy novel by Joshua Landeros starring a spirited young farmhand named Athaliah Sowel. She was raised amid the aftermath of a devastating war, and as the eldest of her clan, she faces a daunting responsibility as tensions begin to simmer and smoke clouds the horizon. It is also the tale of Yaphet, an outcast within his own clan who has been shunned from birth and forbidden from learning the enchanted arts of the Mystic Order. However, fate has something else in store for him, and as Athalia and Yaphet embark on separate journeys, they are unaware that their destinies are intricately intertwined.  

Best Historical Fiction

The German Orphan 

By Israel Zer-Aviv

The German Orphan is a WW2 historical fiction novel by Israel Zer-Aviv based on a true story. It is the tale of Herman Lehrer, an orphan since the age of six, who is only eleven years old when Nazis destroy his orphanage on the Night of Broken Glass. Left to fend for himself again, young Manny is aware of the terrible fate awaiting Jews in Eastern Europe, so he travels from Frankfurt to occupied France. Along the way, he learns how to conceal his true identity and changes his name frequently, knowing that every mistake could be his last. 

Best Horror

Luna's Veil

By Wes Verde

Wes Verde's Luna's Veil sees the protagonist, Leonard Burton, jailed for a murder he did not commit. However, he is rescued by an enigmatic investigator named Dr. Cecil Gainor, the only one who believes that Leonard is the victim of unnatural horrors. Together, the two men follow the trail of the dark forces responsible for the death of Lenny's wife and save many other lives in the process. Unfortunately, they are in a race against time as they must track down the real killers and clear Lenny's name before the full moon.  

Best Literary Fiction

Another Broken Wizard

By Colin Dodds

Another Broken Wizard by Colin Dodds is set in Worcester, Massachusetts, a place Jim Monaghan really didn't want to return to. Unfortunately, his sudden unemployment and his father's surgery forced his hand. Joe seeks out his childhood best friend, Joe Rousseau, only to find he's in a feud with a local gang. Joe has a plan to resolve the matter but only ends up making things worse, and Jim has to make a painful choice to try and save his friend. It is a choice that leaves him having to live with the consequences. 

Best Science Fiction

Glitches of Gods

By Jurgen ‘jojo” Appelo

Glitches of Gods is the first book in the Playspheres epic science fantasy series by Jurgen' jojo" Appelo. Julien is a brilliant engineer who creates the AI that kills his father. However, his attempts to evade working on the world's first human-level android in case it might result in more people getting killed lands him in an even stranger situation. Due to a jump across timelines, Julien finds himself having to try to prevent a second AI disaster. Even worse, he soon learns that he has gotten himself into a war between gods and must choose between saving his new family or trying to prevent an AI apocalypse.  

Best Paranormal

First to Fall

By Alexa Whitewolf

First to Fall is part of Alexa Whitewolf's Moonlight Rogues series of werewolf shifter paranormal romance suspense novels. The story follows Lucrezia, a human who falls in love with her boss, Lucas, who just so happens to be a werewolf. Her best friend, Dominic, who is also Lucas's second in command, comes up with a plan that she pretends to be his girlfriend to make Lucas jealous enough to realize he loves her too, but things don't quite go as planned. Especially after weird killings start in town and a rival pack makes their appearance.