Debut Indie Book Recs
Quiet Writers 2025 Reading Challenge, prompt 1: A debut book
Last year we did set up a reading challenge with prompts to encourage folks to read more indie books (and ensure some diversity). We were not particularly organised last year. We also had a lot of trouble organising lists, so there was only one list and it was in December, which is… not particularly helpful.
So this year we’re planning to do a rec list each month with books related to the prompt we’re up to.
Starting off with our first prompt: A debut book. Seems fitting to make this the prompt for 2025’s debut month, right?
The books in this list were added from Threads, where we asked authors to tell us about their debut release.
Before I get to the book recs, here’s a reminder of the full list of challenge prompts!
1. A debut book
The first book this author has published.
2. A local author
"Local" in this instance could be narrowed down to the same state. If you're in a smaller country, try for someone in your country. Whatever the closest is that works for you.
3. Something outside your usual genres
A genre that you don't often read. Not your go-to genre.
4. A book with a disabled author or main character
A book featuring a disabled main character, or written by a disabled author. Any kind of disability.
5. A seasonal book
This could be a book specific to an event or holiday (Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas etc), or an actual season (summer, autumn, winter, spring).
6. A book with an LGBTQIA+ MC
A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ main character.
7. A book with a BIPOC author or MC
A book featuring a BIPOC main character, or written by a BIPOC author.
8. An author you haven't read before
This is the first book you've read by this author.
9. A collection of short stories or poetry
A book containing short stories or poetry, by a single author, or by multiple authors. (If you get stuck, try an edition of Quiet Writers)
10. An #OwnVoices book
A book written by someone with the shared experiences of their character, such as an autistic character written by an autistic author or a trans character written by a trans author.
11. A non-fiction or children's book
A non-fiction book, or a children's book. Whichever suits you best.
12. free space :)
There are thousands of indie & self-pub books out there. Go pick one that takes your fancy!
Last year I only managed to complete half of the challenge goals, so I’m hoping to do better this year!
If you’d like to join in, the challenge is listed on Storygraph.
Accidentally Joining His Cult by Lexi Amber (releases Apr 25, 2025)
Genres: contemporary, romance
Age category: adult
Notes: LGBTQIA+, bi-awakening, one bed
It’s about an oblivious sunshine himbo who doesn’t realise the company he works for is a cult and the NHL team owner who accidentally joins just trying to spend time with him.
This book will be available on Amazon.
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
The After Hours by Aspen Andersen (releases Apr 3, 2025)
Genres: urban fantasy
Age category: new adult
Sloane knows you’re not allowed to change the past, but when Sloane has a chance to stop a killer- and get her exBFF back- altering the future seems like a small price to pay.
This book will be available on Amazon.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Prax by Nikki Auberkett (Apr 15, 2022)
Genres: supernatural thriller
Age category: adult
Notes: mythological retelling, inspired by a real-life cold case the author was involved in
After a devastating storm wipes out a cluster of small towns, one survivor discovers the aftermath of her injuries includes seeing the imminent death of people around her. While she struggles to figure out what happened to her and why this, two young girls go missing and our heroine is plunged into the mystery.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (bookshop) • author site
Monstra Inter by C. Britt (Jul 7, 2023)
Genres: horror
Age category: new adult
Notes: zombie apocalypse, multi-P.O.V.
This zombie apocalypse story follows multiple characters as they try to learn how to live in their new, apocalyptic reality. Character paths cross and converge. Who will make it out alive? Who won't? And who will end up as the monsters in between?
Goodreads • store page (books2read) • author linktree
Son of the Crown by K.J. Burrage (Aug 30, 2022)
Genres: historical fantasy
Age category: young adult
Notes: first in a trilogy
Born under 3 ill omens and with a forbidden power, Jodathyn is isolated at court. When he foils an attempted assassination he finds himself a fugitive. Will he choose his life or family?
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
Dancing, Disasters & Demon Spawn by CL Callaghan (Dec 12, 2023)
Genres: paranormal, romance
Age category: adult
3 women, their new incubus love interests and the insanity that happens when you try and mix normal and paranormal.
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
All the Men Are Gone by K. A. Claytor (Mar 13, 2024)
Genres: speculative fiction
Age category: adult
Their decline occurred over the course of generations, fewer boys born every year, until eventually, none were born at all.
But when an imprisoned old woman writes a deathbed revelation, it creates unrest in a civilization where men had become little more than myths.
Rumours of the last men bring the battle for womankind’s future straight to one woman’s doorstep.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
Silent Night by Emma Couette (Oct 23, 2019)
Genres: dystopian
Age category: young adult
Notes: first in a trilogy, female assassin MC, future world, civil war, found family, brutal villains, “I don’t care about anyone except you…”
It follows a young female assassin in a future, broken world as she navigates her own morals and dreams alongside taking down the Guild she grew up within.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (books2read) • author site
Realm Leaper by P.E. Craven (Apr 14, 2023)
Genres: epic romantic fantasy
Age category: new adult
She’s fallen into a world of fae, crashing to the earth in a fireball. She’s got no memories of her past, but one thing is certain— this world is not her own. Now, Sage must decide if she can trust the fae claiming to keep her safe while also reclaiming control over her wild, elemental magic. All the while, new evil has crept into the world, and Sage worries it followed her from her own.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Bounty by J.D. Cunegan (Jun 1, 2015)
Genres: mystery, superhero
Age category: young adult
Notes: first in a series
Baltimore homicide cop Jill Andersen catches a case that threatens to reveal her secret, as a costumed vigilante emerges in the city and a local billionaire proves quite shady.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Someday Away by Sara Elisabeth (Jan 26, 2024)
Genres: romance
Age category: adult
Notes: MFM college romance, enemies to lovers, spice, LGBTQIA+, introverted heroine, golden boy, broody bad boy, standalone in an interconnected series, happily ever after, found family, snarky banter
"You’re everything I never knew I always wanted."
It’s an appropriate quote considering the source is an underrated cheesy nineties movie—my favourite kind of flick. It describes the three of us perfectly. Not at first, though. Because after I met Lincoln Evans and Trey Walker on my first night at Whitmore U, we were a mess. Between Lincoln’s unveiled hatred and Trey’s slick, playboy ways, these were the guys everyone told me to avoid.
Except I can’t because they’re everywhere. And the more we fight whatever this is, the more we learn that we’re connected in unexpected and heartbreaking ways. I don’t know whether they’ll be the ones to shatter my already fractured psyche or put me back together.
Then there’s Matt Johnson—the cheating ex I never wanted to see again—who reappears in my life like a ghost from my past, stirring up tension with his presence alone. His intentions—whether good or bad—are only complicating my life further.
If my past and present collide, it could have devastating consequences for everyone involved.
Lucky me, it seems I’m powerless to stop it.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (books2read) • author site
Paint It Black by Kaos Emslie (Oct 15, 2023)
Genres: horror (cosmic, queer, occult)
Age category: adult
Notes: LGBTQIA+
Jack Miller and Charlie Duvall descend into madness as the creature that is bound to the house they live in demands more and more blood.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
What the Tide Brings by Heather Ewings (Apr 22, 2020)
Genres: historical fantasy
Age category: adult
Myna is a Selkie, but taken as an infant she doesn't remember her life under the waves, so she doesn't understand why she's so drawn to the sea. When she learns the truth she has a choice, find her seal skin and return to the family and ocean she's always pined for, or stay on land, with the husband she loves and the daughter who can never enter the ocean...
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (books2read) • author site
Ctrl+Z by Lesley Floyd (Mar 14, 2022)
Genres: urban fantasy
Age category: adult
Notes: first in a series
Zoey's spent her whole life being the best agent DNP has ever produced. Despite her rather rebellious nature, the Director has remained focused on cultivating her skills and moulding her into the deadly asset she's become. But when Zoey is sent on a high-level mission, she is forced to confront a dangerous truth.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
Blood on the Snow by Luke Geldmacher (Oct 27, 2024)
Genres: horror
Age category: adult
Five hunters venture into forbidden territory in the frozen wilds of Alaska, seeking game but finding something far more dangerous. A creature out of ancient folklore lurks beyond the trees, stalking their every move. As they realise they are now the hunted, survival becomes a desperate game. Will they find an escape, or will nature’s relentless predator claim them as his trophies?
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
To Save a King by Bradley Gosselin (Mar 27, 2022)
Genres: dark fantasy
Age category: adult
Notes: first in a series, dragons, witches, vampires, magic
Ada Calder gets sent by a witch-woman to find a possible cure for her father. If she doesn’t, a war spanning decades will erupt. But in seeking the cure she may bring forth a new threat, one that has lain dormant for a millennium. For the Death Blossoms are his and his alone, and he will destroy anyone who takes them.
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author site
Relativity: First Contact by Archer A. Grant (Sep 1, 2024)
Genres: sci-fi
As secrets unravel and alliances shift, heroes must confront not only the alien threat but also the challenges within their own ranks. Relativity: First Contact is a gripping space opera that explores human courage and survival in a vast, unforgiving universe.
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author site
Unwinding the Spiral by Peta Hawker (Jun 7, 2022)
Genres: epic fantasy
Age category: young adult
Notes: secret heirs, a cursed star, elemental powers, chosen family, forbidden magic
It’s about a young women on the precipice of her adult life starting who becomes star-cursed and has to disappear. She meets a young princess who also ran away from home to escape a terrible fate at the hands of the cabal of wizards. In their quest to stay free of those who hunt them, they uncover an unlikely truth about their families and the curse on the stars.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (beacons) • author Threads
The Moon Could Only Weep by Rara Hope (Nov 19, 2024)
Genres: fantasy, adventure
Age category: adult
Notes: villain P.O.V., three fates, betrayal, emotional journey, suppressed primordial magic, deadly family secrets, blood magic
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Ageless by Paul Inman (May 3, 2016)
Genres: sci-fi
Age category: young adult
A “young” woman with a genetic anomaly that keeps her from aging is on the run from people who would exploit her ability. Ageless asks the question, is eternal life a gift or a curse.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
The Cupcake Standard by Maren Jenner (Aug 15, 2023)
Genres: contemporary, romance
Age category: new adult
Notes: open door, curvy FMC, forced proximity, fake dating, all the banter, cinnamon roll MMC
Avery kisses a stranger to get out of dinner with her overbearing mother, and a second run in with the man has him proposing a solution to help them both. Fake dating. Since she doesn’t believe in true love, being in a fake relationship with the man of her dreams should be a piece of cake.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
My Next Obsession by Beth Kay (releases Jan 14, 2025)
Genres: dark romance
Age category: adult
Notes: BDSM, stalkers, masked MC, bisexual rep, mental health rep, feminine rage, lots of smut, heavy on content warnings
I’m not obsessive. I just love and feel really hard and really deep. I also have these compulsions to see an idea to completion once it pops into my head- no matter the cost. All my life I’ve been told I’m being too much, and doing too much.
My childhood was traumatic, and my relationships have all been toxic and tumultuous. So now I have to know what everyone is doing at all times when they aren’t with me. And if you lie or deceive me? Well let’s just say, no one ever gets away with hurting me.
When I meet Micah, I think I have finally found the one. The man is hot, caring, and knows his way around a woman. He knows all the tricks and makes me feel worshipped. I am crazy about him. Sneak into his house kind of crazy.
But there is someone whispering in my ear that he is not who he seems to be. My stalker. Someone who seems to know Micah better than I do. Someone who seems determined to steal my interest from him. And it might be working…
When the stalker becomes the stalked, how deep will the obsession go…
This book will be available on Amazon.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Long Grows the Dark by Catherine Labadie (Nov, 2018)
Genres: urban romantasy
Age category: new adult
Before Glenna, court sorceress in the service of Princess Jael, struggles to hide her feelings for her best friend’s betrothed. Yet even as the realm approaches its golden age, an unforeseen enemy rises to corrupt the princess and take the land for himself. Fate may lead them down a path too painful to contemplate, but are Glenna’s choices enough to dispel the inevitable darkness set to veil their future?
Now Gwendoline Hallewell, a Starford University student in a world where magic is commonplace, has always been unusual. When her casting book summons a man from the past to interfere with her dangerous new present, she has no choice but to trust him. As she and her friends Colt and Everleigh reconcile what happened before with what must happen in the present. Gwendoline must decide what it means to make her own choices, suffer her own consequences, and if free will is really within her grasp.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
The Shadowbearer’s Curse by Jasmyn Morning (Sep 23, 2024)
Genres: dark fantasy, romance
Age category: new adult
Notes: LGBTQIA+
In an enchanting forest, Micah crosses paths with a mysterious man, igniting an unexpected romance that challenges all of his preconceived notions about his identity. But as their bond deepens, they face an ominous presence that threatens to change their destinies forever.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Fallen Star by IG Peters (Aug 31, 2024)
Genres: crime, thriller
Age category: young adult
A shameless photographer, an unfulfilled MI6 translator, and a corrupt politician are dragged into a deadly chase through London's streets.
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
The Vermilion Ribbon by Hayley Price (Jun 1, 2024)
Genres: fantasy, adventure
Age category: adult
Notes: Sapphic, mild spice, high violence, low fantasy, seamstress to assassin, pursuit of freedom
Tells the story of Corelle, a garment maker who falls in love with another woman and becomes a ruthless killer pursued by violent men.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
The Wizard and the Welshman by Laura Rayndrop (Oct 31, 2024)
Genres: fantasy, mystery
Age category: young adult
Notes: dark magic, forbidden love, gripping Victorian mystery, M/M romance, inspector x rentboy, grumpy x sunshine
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
The Demon's Apprentice by Ben S. Reeder (Mar, 2012, then Dec 16, 2014)
Genres: urban fantasy
Age category: young adult
Notes: “I originally published this book through a small press, but after a couple of years, got my rights back and self-published, which allowed me to write for a living for a few years. The strength of my first release was how I got my agent.”
What it's about: Chance Fortunato escapes from his demon master, and ends up in a different kind of hell: high school. When his new mentor is killed, he must find a supernatural killer before he gets blamed for the crime.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
Becoming Starlight by Elle Reese (Jun 1, 2024)
Genres: fantasy, romance
Age category: adult
Girl escapes her life of abuse and flees to Iceland to study abroad to learn about the Northern Lights and astronomy. One night chaos occurs, and the next thing she knows she wakes up in a new realm to find out she is a magical lost princess. She has to navigate this new life with all its twists and turns and try not to ☠ in the process. Becoming Starlight is a journey of self-discovery, love and adventure.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Binding Fate by Alyssa Rose (Nov 6, 2023)
Genres: fantasy
Age category: young adult
Notes: first in a duology
Duty and loyalty above all—everything else second. Binding Fate is a coming of age fantasy with fairytale vibes, royalty, some magic, Fate, and a love story subplot!
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author linktree
Glitched by Eisley Rose (Feb 1, 2024)
Genres: action, adventure, dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi
Age category: adult
Notes: mythology, badass FMC, soulmates, secret society, amnesia, revenge plot, The Chosen One, hidden identity
When smallpox is released, Alessa, a fierce modern-day Spartan warrior, battles the biological threat and a shadowy organisation hellbent on world domination.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
El & Em by M.E. Samm (Oct 8, 2024)
Genres: romance
Age category: adult
Notes: MM romance
It’s about a rock musician and the trumpet player who joins his band, starts in the early 1970s and follows them for 20 years. As the blurb says, “No heroes, no villains, just people doing their best in a messed up world.”
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (books2read) • author linktree
To the Gallows by Elizabeth Skarpnes (Aug 16, 2024)
Genres: romantasy
Age category: new adult
Notes: cosy cottagecore, witty banter, found family, strangers to friends to lovers, ADHD FMC, he falls first x she falls harder, magical bond, marriage of convenience, slowburn, forced proximity
like Tangled meets The Princess Bride and My Lady Jane about a devout cleric forsaking her faith as she falls in love with the charming criminal she saved from death & is now magically bound to. No spice but plenty of yearning/pinning & a heartwarming romance that makes you believe in true love again.
Goodreads • store page (author store) • author site
On Impulse by Heather Texle (Apr, 2023)
Genres: sci-fi, murder mystery
Age category: adult
Notes: first in a series, strong heroine, space opera, snarky computer, intergalactic fugitive
A former cop is accused of murdering her best friend. She goes on the run to find his killer and clear her name. In space.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
A Reign of Emerald Fire by Matthew J. Turner (Dec 13, 2024)
Genres: comedic fantasy
Age category: adult
Notes: various scenes of violence, swearing, horrible puns, naff humour
Disgraced Commander of the King's 1st, Stánwilte Yoakilor pins his hopes upon a hastily cobbled together band of misfits, gallivanting around the kingdom of Uprynenos on a mishap-strewn path to redemption.
Brolo, the half-elf/half-dwarf tags along, deluded by a desire to experience the skull-cracking, knuckle-dusting escapades allegedly undertaken by his absent father, if his drunkenness and sharp tongue doesn't get him killed first.
Far away in the desolate Ánad, a desert far beyond the reaches of the King's Law, Yilonia flees the wrath of her father, the Earl of Stunheath, unaware that his fiery temper should be the least of her concerns.
Set within a double-edged world where stark and brutal events are cut with a wry-humoured absurdity, this opening tale focuses on the painful fusing together of outcasts into a dysfunctional family, bonded by their shared magnetism for misfortune and grief.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (linktree) • author Threads
The Long Night by Sean Van Damme (Oct, 2011)
Genres: dark fantasy, horror
Age category: adult
Darkness has suddenly fallen across the world unleashing monsters and death. A small band of survivers are the only ones who can stop The Long Night.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author Threads
The Butterfly Crest by Eva Vanrell (Nov 29, 2024)
Genres: contemporary, epic fantasy
Age category: adult
Notes: enemies to lovers, multicultural mythologies, tenacious FMC, cursed inheritance, chthonic gods, prophecy, destined to die, hot villain
For anyone who loves Greek Mythology (with a multicultural twist!). Cross-pantheon storyline. FMC finds herself in the middle of a Greek Myth and a war between gods, the heir to a curse that’s killed all the women in her bloodline. Can Thanatos, the god of Death, help her survive her deadly Fate?
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
The Judge, the Jailer and the Thief by Gemma Walker (Dec 12, 2024)
Genres: thriller
Age category: adult
Notes: heist, LGBTQIA+
Alex is a thief and she has a plan for a heist but it has to happen now. She’s obsessed with the most prestigious building in the city but why? And will the disgraced cop or esteemed judge get in her way? Full of intrigue it’ll keep you guessing till the very end!
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Sovereign by AJ Whitney (releases Feb 28, 2025)
Genres: dystopian
Age category: young adult
Follows 13-year-old Orphan Number 332, who has been raised to be a sacrifice to her remote village's mysterious gods. But when the village leaders start to question whether the gods even exist, will 332 finally have the real life she's never dated to hope for, or will the Sovereign make them all pay?
This book will be available on Amazon.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (Amazon) • author site
Blind the Eyes by K.A. Wiggins (Jun 1, 2018)
Genres: gothic dystopian, dark fantasy
Age category: young adult
Note: first in a series
A prickly haunted weirdo (affectionate) has to untangle the lies of a crumbling state & take back her stolen power in a drowned city overrun by monsters.
Goodreads • Storygraph • store page (author store) • author site
The Woods by N.R. Wolfman (Nov 17, 2019)
Genres: gothic horror
Age category: young adult
When a hike in the woods leads to the disappearance of Lexi’s sister, Amara, she recruits her cousin and three friends to help track her down. However, nothing is as it seems in the small town of Hecate, Texas…
Goodreads • store page (Amazon) • author linktree
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