Spring Books You Dont’ Want to Miss…
The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine (thriller) June 18
Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into each other’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line, in this thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way from being an invisible wallflower. Her hard work and immaculate planning have paid off now that she’s a prominent socialite, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been bumps along the way. Less than a year since her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber is still at the top of the Bishops Harbor community pecking order, free to do as she wishes while Jackson sits in prison. But that freedom is quickly coming to an end. With Jackson getting released from prison, Amber’s time—and money—is vanishing.
Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson Parrish, swearing she would never go back. But when one of her daughters runs away from home, desperate to see her father, Daphne agrees to return for the summer to allow him supervised visits. Once out of prison, Jackson swears he’s a changed man, but Daphne knows all too well that he can’t be trusted.
When a ghost from Amber’s past emerges looking for revenge, the three of them find unlikely allies in one another, but who is playing who? When all is said and done, they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for everything they have left in this zero-sum game.
With shocking turns and entertaining characters, The Next Mrs. Parrish will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about duplicity and betrayal.
I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This by Chelsea Devantez (memoir/essays) June 4
“It’s f*cking great!!! Raw, intimate, hilarious, actually inspiring.” –Jon Stewart
A dynamic memoir-in-essays by comedian, screenwriter, and podcaster Chelsea Devantez, detailing her tumultuous upbringing and uproarious career path into Hollywood.
There are things Chelsea Devantez probably shouldn’t be telling you. Many of them are in this some are embarrassing (like when she tried to break her three year spell of celibacy using a guide of seduction tips). Some are confessional (getting sentenced to the “hell hill” at Mormon church camp). Some are TMI (a series of outrageous doctor visits that ended with one doctor misdiagnosing her as “pregnant.” Woopsies!).
Then there are things Chelsea really shouldn’t be telling like the time her biggest family secret was publicly outed, or about the drive-by shootings and the precipitating domestic violence she survived. Yet through it all, it’s the women in Chelsea’s life who kept her going – from the lowest points of her childhood when she and her mom had only $100 left to their name, all the way to her career highs as the Emmy-nominated Head Writer for The Problem with Jon Stewart and sensational podcaster deemed “the celebrity memoir whisperer” by her fans.
In I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, Chelsea centers each story around a different woman who shaped her life, taking us on a tour of friends and strangers, fictional characters and celebrities, heroes and villains who will destroy any Netflix algorithm for a “strong female lead.” Reading it will feel kinda like that moment at a party when your friend beckons you close, sloshes her martini around, and covertly whispers, “I really shouldn’t say this, but…”
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan (romance) June 4
Benefits of a summer romance: it’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.
There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (thriller) June 18
In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.
The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?
The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.
The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.
Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart (thriller) June 11
In this thriller full of action, humor, and charm, the world’s most lethal assassin has left the violent life behind and joined a 12-step group for recovering killers. But when he’s attacked and barely survives, he must figure out who’s after him and why—without breaking his pledge never to kill again.
Mark is the most dangerous killer-for-hire in the world. His nickname—the Pale Horse—breathes fear into the cold heart of every rival who hears it. But after learning the hard way that this life has made him more monster than man, Mark has left all of that behind. With the help of his sponsor, Kenji, he has joined a group of former assassins who meet in secret for support in recovery.
Then he’s viciously attacked by an unknown assailant. Thrust back into the shadowy world of betrayal and assassination, injured and on the run from New York to Singapore to London, Mark must solve the mystery of who’s coming for him and why. Has the Agency decided he knows too much and must be taken out? Has a rival decided to attack now that he’s laid his weapons down? Has one of the thousands of people who might want revenge finally come for it? And how will he survive the onslaught without killing anyone? For an assassin, Mark learns, non-violence is a real hassle.
A perfectly paced, globe-trotting, and action-filled thriller, Assassins Anonymous is also full of both hilarity and heart, witty and surprisingly affecting, and will delight fans of John Wick and Barry .
The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick (fiction) June 25
Can the future be rewritten?
A month away from her second marriage, Carla Carter has taken every precaution to make sure her fiancé, Tom, is “the one.” They met through Logical Love, a dating agency she founded for the pragmatically minded. Carla is convinced she will finally undo an old family curse that claims Carter women are destined to be unlucky in love.
But Carla’s highly superstitious family insists she visit a fortune teller before her big day, and the tarot cards reveal that a different man holds the key to Carla’s happiness—someone she met while traveling during a gap year, twenty-one years ago. This startling information spurs Carla to trace and revisit the ex-boyfriends she met during that time before she walks down the aisle. From Barcelona to Amsterdam, Turkey to Paris, will she find her perfect match? And can a face from her past help Carla rewrite her entire family history, forever?
Look for Phaedra Patrick’s previous charming bestsellers!
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (mystery/thriller) June 25
From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.
“Impeccably crafted, deeply emotional, entirely shattering. I was captivated from page one.” ―Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry
1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.
A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.
Margot’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (fiction) June 11
“An audacious, wildly funny, completely unpredictable novel by a writer so singular that it’s hard to compare her to anyone else . . . absolutely brilliant.” —Kevin Wilson
A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world—from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (romance) June 11
She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?
Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams (historical fiction) June 25
Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—discover second chances at love in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.
A sprawling and exciting new novel from Beatriz Williams, the acclaimed author of A Hundred Summers and The Summer Wives.
Bear by Julia Phillips (fiction) June 25
A mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor — a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods, by the celebrated, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth.
They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.
Sam and her sister, Elena, dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works long days on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.
Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the plan to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.
A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us — and within us — Bear is a propulsive, mythical, rich novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.
Lula Dean’s Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (fiction) June 18
The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.
That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town…and change it forever.
The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight (fiction) June 11
From USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight comes an endearing and vivid novel told from the unique multi-narrative viewpoints of a young Queen Elizabeth; Hanna Penwyck, the fictionalized Keeper of the Queen’s dogs; and Susan, the Queen’s Corgi, whose love and loyalty were boundless.
A reigning queen…
Elizabeth wasn’t born to be queen. But when her uncle abdicates and her father steps in as king, everything in her life changes. There is one thing that never wavers, however: her endearing love of her Corgis—especially the new puppy Susan, a gift for her eighteenth birthday. Susan is by her side during Elizabeth’s WWII service, falling in love with Philip and getting married, the death of her father King George VI, her accession to the throne, the birth of her first child, and the early struggles with running a country—an ever-present reminder to find the balance between self and crown.
A loyal servant…
Hanna Penwyck has grown up with her family in service to the crown. Awkward and shy, she has a connection with nature, animals—and the young princesses at Windsor. When she becomes the Keeper of the Queen’s Corgis, her job is to maintain the health and wellness of those most prized companions. With their shared love of the dogs, the Queen can open up to Hanna and feel free to be herself, so that is a service she happily provides as well.
A faithful companion…
From the moment Susan became a royal dog, her duty was clear: To remind Elizabeth that she is more than just a queen, she is a human, and what matters is not just duty and honor, but connection, family, and unconditional and enduring love. Susan is the keeper of memories, of secrets. Through Susan we gain a dog’s eye view of royal life, human relationships, and the heartwarming bond between a queen and her beloved companion.
Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo (fiction) June 18
The New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had (“wonderfully immersive…deliciously absorbing”—NPR) returns with another brilliantly observed family drama in which the enduring, hard-won affection of a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present.
Same As It Ever Was showcases the consummate style, signature wit, and profound emotional intelligence that made The Most Fun We Ever Had one of the most beloved novels of the past decade. Featuring a memorably messy family and the multifaceted marriage at its heart, Lombardo’s debut was dubbed “the literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler” (The Guardian) and hailed as “ambitious and brilliantly written” (Washington Post). In this remarkable follow-up—another elegant and tumultuous story in the tradition of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, and Celeste Ng—Lombardo introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, this time by way of her singularly complicated protagonist.
Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.
She’s unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenaged daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor’s edge.
Same As It Ever Was traverses the rocky terrain of real life, —exploring new avenues of maternal ambivalence, intergenerational friendship, and the happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs us all. Delving even deeper into the nature of relationships—how they grow, change, and sometimes end—Lombardo proves herself a true and definitive cartographer of the human heart and asserts herself among the finest novelists of her generation.
When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow (history) June 4
A glittering, glamorous portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them, from the award-winning author of The Plaza .
The American department a palace of consumption that epitomized modern consumerism. Every wish could be met under one roof – afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.
In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel’s took risks, innovated and competed as very different kinds of career women, forging new paths for the women who followed in their footsteps. In the 1930s, Hortense came to her husband’s department store as a housewife tasked with attracting more shoppers like herself, and wound up running the company. Dorothy championed American designers during World War II–before which US fashions were almost exclusively Parisian copies–and beyond, becoming the first businesswoman to earn a salary of more than $1.5 million. And Geraldine re-invented the look of the modern department store in the 1960s, and had a preternatural sense for trends, inspiring a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers as well as decades of copycats.
In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, journalist Julie Satow draws back the curtain on three American women who made twentieth-century department stores a mecca for women of every age, social class, and ambition. This stylish account, rich with personal drama and trade secrets, captures the department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round.
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (fiction) June 4
“Utterly consuming. . . . Fire Exit absolutely smolders.”—Tommy Orange
The blood that came out of me was blood that ran through her veins. It’s strange: all bloodlooks the same, yet it’s different, we’re told, in so many various ways and for so many various reasons. But one thing is for certain, I thought: you are who you are, even if you don’t know it.
From the porch of his home, Charles Lamosway has watched the life he might have had unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. On the far bank, he caught brief moments of his neighbor Elizabeth’s life—from the day she came home from the hospital to her early twenties. But there’s always been something deeper and more dangerous than the river that divides him from her and the rest of the tribal community. It’s the secret that Elizabeth is his daughter, a secret Charles is no longer willing to keep.
Now, it’s been weeks since he’s seen Elizabeth, and Charles is worried. As he attempts to hold on to and care for what he can—his home and property; his alcoholic, quick-tempered, and bighearted friend Bobby; and his mother, Louise, who is slipping ever deeper into dementia—he becomes increasingly haunted by his past. Forced to confront a lost childhood on the reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved stepfather, Fredrick, in a hunting accident—a death he and Louise are at odds over as to where to lay blame—Charles contends with questions he’s long been afraid to ask. Is his secret about Elizabeth his to share? And would his daughter want to know the truth, even if it could cost her everything she’s ever known?
From the award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty’s debut novel, Fire Exit, is a masterful and unforgettable story of family, legacy, bloodlines, culture and inheritance, and what, if anything, we owe one another
Someone Saw Something by Rick Mofina (thriller)
“Mofina expertly weaves together an anguishing story of a family’s trauma with a propulsive, twisty thriller that pays off to the very last page.”—Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author.
A missing child is every parent’s worst nightmare. For journalist Corina Corado, it’s a terrifying reality. When six-year-old Gabriel vanishes from Central Park, his mother, news anchor Corina Corado, is desperate for answers. Who would take her son—and why? Detectives suspect there’s a connection to the barrage of hate mail Corina’s received over the years. In her line of work, it’s not unusual for agitated conspiracy theorists to send messages that threaten violence…or worse. But as the investigation deepens, the secrets that Corina, her husband, Robert, and her stepdaughter, Charlotte, have kept start to unravel. As the truth behind Gabriel’s disappearance emerges, Corina must race the clock to track down her missing child…before paying the ultimate price.
Some Murders in Berlin by Karen Robards (thriller) June 25
This pulse-pounding, brilliantly twisting new thriller is a gripping tale that will leave you questioning everything.
A serial killer on the loose. A profiler with a hidden past. Trust is a luxury no one can afford.
September 1943: Berlin is the heart of darkness—and the last place Dr. Elin Lund wishes to be. An expert in psychological profiling, she’s been summoned from Copenhagen to investigate the gruesome murders of eight young women. Even in the midst of unspeakable evil, these killings stand apart. And with her homeland now under Nazi occupation and a young son to protect, Elin can’t refuse such a request.
Homicide Detective Kurt Schneider, head of the criminal police unit, is grudging in his welcome. The orders to find the killer come from the top, and to fail means death. The stakes are too high to risk any mistakes—or to trust a stranger. Yet the pair, trapped in an uneasy partnership, each has expertise the other needs. And Schneider, like Elin, is clearly guarding secrets of his own.
Racing to complete the investigation and return to her son, Elin feels the net tightening. Every sliver of evidence reveals a killer infinitely more dangerous, and more powerful, than anyone suspected. And in drawing closer to the terrifying truth, Elin has unwittingly made herself his new obsession…
Pink Whales by Sara Shukla (fiction) June 4
Falling in with the cool moms of her preppy New England town might upend one woman’s life, in a sparkling and sharp-witted novel about marriage, escape, and deceptively tidy little lives.
Charlie is already feeling adrift when she relocates to an exclusive town in coastal New England with her mysteriously distant husband, Dev, and their young twins in tow. She hopes the move will recharge her stalled marriage, and she wants her kids to feel like they belong, even if she’s clearly a fish out of water herself. In a strange new world where summer is a verb and both the harbor and the partygoers are awash in a dizzying constellation of pinks and pastels, she’s never felt so confounded or alone. She’ll need more than a preppy handbook to find her way.
Then a trio of power moms—imposing, beautiful, and monogrammed—comes to the rescue, and Charlie clings to their attention like a life raft. As Dev pulls further away, Charlie dives into her newfound friends’ circle of yacht clubs, rivalries, and bizarre theme parties, hoping to find her sea legs. She even dares to cozy up to a hot, barefoot, and aggressively flirty local. But if she’s running from her problems at home, where exactly is she escaping to? Charlie is beginning to wonder. This ridiculous new normal—and her desire to be part of it—might just eat her alive.
The Summer Escape by Jill Shalvis (fiction) June 11
Secrets are revealed and forbidden sparks ignited in this sizzling Sunrise Cove tale of enemies to lovers, redemption, missing treasures, and love—by romance superstar and New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.
Anna Moore didn’t just wake up one day and decide to go on a wild quest — especially since her life no longer lends itself to wild anything — so how in the world does she end up racing against the clock with Owen Harris, a sexy, enigmatic adventurist, to prove her beloved dad innocent of stealing a million-dollar necklace?
It’s all Wendy’s fault. Her older, bossy sister, who’s seven months pregnant and on bed rest in their small Lake Tahoe hometown, is desperate to clear their dad’s name. Owen though is convinced he’s guilty as hell and wants to return the jewelry back to its rightful owner—his elderly great aunt. Together they go on a scavenger hunt for clues to the past (with Wendy remotely along for the ride via an ear bud, supplying a running wry commentary to boot).
On opposing sides and suspicious of each other as they are, Anna and Owen still can’t deny the inexplicable and explosive chemistry between them on this heart-stopping adventure, the outcome of which will prove the necklace isn’t the only thing stolen — their hearts have been as well.
The Road Trip Rewind by Kate and Danny Tamberelli (romance)
Readers of Christina Lauren and Emily Henry will adore this standalone follow-up to The First Date Prophecy from 90’s Nickelodeon star of The Adventures of Pete and Pete and his real-life wife, as Back to the Future meets 10 Things I Hate About You when the past, the present, and two hearts (with unfinished business) collide in the most epic, hilarious, and downright poignant way . . .
Up-and-coming screenwriter Beatrix Noel’s dream project is finally a reality—her 90s-era script is in production. Less dreamy is the A-list actor in the starring role—none other than Rocco Riziero, who jilted Beatrix on New Year’s Eve back in 1999. Without his celebrity status, the project would likely still be withering on her hard drive, but that doesn’t mean Beatrix won’t shame him at every opportunity
on-set—especially when it becomes painfully obvious he doesn’t even remember her . . .
Boxed-in as a Hollywood pretty-boy, Rocco is thrilled to tackle a genuinely dramatic role. But he’s perplexed about why the screenwriter treats him like a maggot. And awkward becomes irksome when their bickering results in a car crash right outside the famed Roxy Theatre on Sunset Boulevard—site of the New Year’s Eve party where everything went wrong . . .
Shockingly, Beatrix, Rocco, and the car, are uninjured. The twist? They’re clearly, truly, somehow, still in December, still on Sunset—but in 1999 . Their mission? They’ll have to work together to correct their old mistakes—which just might bring them closer than either expects . . .
But can they change the past without altering their future selves—and hold on to what they’ve found together? Only time-travel will tell . . .
The Glass Maker by Tracy Chevalier (historical fiction) June 18
From the bestselling historical novelist, a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to present day.
It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.
Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is as inventive as it is spellbinding: a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate (historical fiction) June 4
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.
Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.
Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.
In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.
