It's release day for Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey!

Broken Rival

Author: Tessa Bailey

Release Date: October 6, 2026

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Fantasy Romance/Science Fiction/Young Adult

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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey comes a gripping, heated romance about a girl trapped in a new reality, forced to make a choice between two brothers—one who is the high school golden boy, the other sworn to hunt down her kind—time travelers. This is Tessa Bailey as you’ve never seen her before.

Magnolia Brown loves Friday night football games, volunteering and dominating at high school swim meets. Just your average everyday eighteen-year-old. Except for one thing:

She’s from fifty years in the future.

Magnolia’s parents, two brilliant scientists, are the inventors of time travel, but due to widespread destruction and rampant abuse of the technology from a corrupt few, time travel is outlawed and punishable by death. When Magnolia’s parents are seized and executed for illegally traveling to the past, they leave Magnolia stranded in 2026 without a way to get home.

Now Magnolia has nowhere to turn but a complicated Kansas family with two sons—Fallon, her high school sweetheart with secrets of his own, and Ramsey, the brooding militia commander who hunts and kills criminals like her. Magnolia knows Ramsey resents and hates her, but how can he be her true enemy when he looks at her with such hunger, despite his callousness, and guards her with his very life? Which brother can she trust and is the real danger coming from inside the house?

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Tessa Bailey

New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. 

Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books.

Magnolia Brown is a girl trapped in a world unlike her own and it's thanks to her parents meddling in worldly things they should have let be. Their meddling cost them their lives and now their daughter is stuck in the future with no way to return to the home she loves and where she belongs.

Broken Rival is a story of loss, self discovery, bravery, trust, survival and love. Magnolia is trapped in a world she never asked to be left in and the two people that could help her have died. Now she finds herself relying on a family she knows very little about and some of them aren't so happy to have her around. She is the enemy and every minute longer she spends in this world the more dangerous things become for her...she doesn't know who she can trust and constantly has to look over her shoulder. Lucky for her she has one person in her corner... or maybe two?

When I read the synopsis for this one I knew it was going to be unlike anything that I've read, but being by Ms. Bailey I just had a feeling I'd end up liking it. Even if it was a book that I wouldn't normally reach for or have on my reading list. From the very first page this one held every ounce of my attention, it drew me in and wouldn't let go. It was impossible to put down, which is precisely why I found myself up in the wee hours of the morning finishing it. It does stray from Ms. Bailey's usual reads, but I highly encourage you to take a chance on it, just go in with an open mind and enjoy every last word! 

Broken Rival is not at all what I thought it would be, it's pages held surprises that rattled me, drama that keep me fully engaged and a blossoming romance that tortured my heart in all the best ways, it was impressive on every level. Highly recommend!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.