Natalie Xenos

The world of unknowable objects has been quiet for decades. Yet three members of the secret society dedicated to finding and protecting magical items from the outside world still gather in a bookshop every six months for their biannual meetings.

As World War II rages across Europe, the future looks bleak. That is until the witches of Britain emerge from the shadows and offer Winston Churchill their help in fighting against the atrocities being committed by Hitler and his armies.

The year is 1749 and Hannah Cole is struggling to keep her head above water. Following the murder of her husband in what looks like a violent robbery, her confectionery shop in London is barely turning a profit and her suppliers are taking advantage of her situation because they don’t like a woman in trade.

It’s peak summer reads season and you’ll be hard pushed to find a novel more perfect for lazing away these sultry July days than Laura Wood’s romance novel Let’s Make A Scene – a standalone companion to last year’s Under Your Spell.

High in the Appalachian mountains is a hotel unlike any other. Run by its efficient and enigmatic General Manager, June Hudson, the Avallon is famed for offering unrivalled luxury to the most wealthy and discerning patrons.

Summer is officially here but you don’t need to book a beach holiday to feel as if you’ve travelled somewhere exciting. With our fiction picks you can journey to the glittering island of Capri, stay at an exclusive retreat in the Costa Rican rainforest, immerse yourself in the French art world, find thrills in the Australian outback, go back in time to 18th century Edinburgh and discover imaginary worlds that will make you forget reality even exists.

There’s nothing quite like a book about space travel to remind us just how tiny our place in the cosmos is. Atmosphere – the latest novel by Daisy Jones and the Six author Taylor Jenkins Reid – is set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and it’s a book that’s impossible to read without reflecting on the smallness of humanity compared to the immovable stars above.

Seventeen-year-old Aurelia Wycherley is entering her debutante season as a witch. She should be excited about finding the perfect match to tether her magic to.

When Thayer Wren, the ‘father of modern technology’ and CEO of Wrenfare Magitech, unexpectedly dies, he leaves behind an incredible legacy. But which of his three children deserves to take their father’s place?

Honora ‘Nora’ Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in Gammanix. Her family controls all the money and all the magic in the entire country.