Young Adult Fiction – Young Adult Thrillers and Suspense – Supernatural -African American and Black

RELEASE DATE: 2/17/2026 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER’S WAREHOUSE)

In this young adult speculative mystery, a teen must find a way to free a cursed witch in order to save her best friend before time runs out.

Every year horror-loving Simone Washington throws an epic Halloween party for her classmates. Party-planning is her favorite escape from the dark secrets in her past, and this year, shes taking things up a notch with an invitation-only event to celebrate her eighteenth birthdaysomething that will leave the halls of Pinegrove Academy flooded with gossip about the big ghoulish bash. The overnight stay at Dolls Head Lake will be filled with spooky pranks and scary stories told by the fireincluding the legend of a local witch named Regret.

But those dark secrets from Simones past are forced to the surface at the party when her best friend Kira drowns under questionable circumstances. The witch appears and offers Simone a deal: if Simone can figure out how to release Regret from the curse trapping her at the lake within fourteen days, all of Simones regrets will be erased. If Simone accepts, Kiras life will be immediately restored. But if she fails, Kira will die againand Simone will be the one to kill her.

AUTHOR BIO:

CHANNELLE DESAMOURSis a high school science teacher from Atlanta, Georgia who loves writing tales about magical Black girls. When she’s not napping to recover from her five a.m. writing sessions, she can be found building tiny homes onThe Sims 4or tending to her house plants. She is also the author ofNeedy Little Things.

Praise forThey Call Her Regret:

“Suspenseful and well-paced; a strong addition to the genre.” -Kirkus

“Desamours delivers another speculative Georgia-set mystery in her propulsive sophomore novel…Smartly paralleling high-stakes horror with Simone’s twisty personal struggle to reconcile elements of darkness both within herself and her town results in a volume that thrills and chills while probing layers of guilt that build to an unexpected resolution.” -Publishers Weekly

“The fast-paced plot, creepy dolls, and complex main character are all chillingly engaging.” -Booklist