(Tor Books; September 29, 2026) “Written in the stars” usually refers to an epic love story, but Bel Banta’s romantic fantasy debut uses it to set up a murder mystery in a Tudor-inspired court where fates are determined by magicians specializing in star signs. Bianca Mortlake is an especially rare Moonborn magician, thanks to the precise alignment of heavenly bodies at her birth. Despite wishing for a quiet life, she is dragged to the court of Alvion, where two queens have already met gruesome deaths and the remaining royals are ruthless. The only person Bianca can rely upon is Roland, who she studied alongside; a Venusborn, he can sense the desires of the living. Whether that will mean solving the mystery, or calling out why Bianca finds him so alluring, is anyone’s guess.
