Books Publishing This Week

Jun 10

Jun 10 Books Publishing This Week

The afternoon sun filters gently through the leaves overhead, dappling the wooden table with shifting patches of light and shadow. You ease into a chair, still warm from the midday sun, and let out a quiet sigh. It’s mid-June—just warm enough to make the air soft against your skin, just breezy enough to carry the scent of summer blooms. You can still feel a trace of morning dew in the garden soil, but the day has begun to hum with full-summer energy.

Your table is rustic, a little weather-worn, the kind that creaks when you lean on it just right. You’ve placed a small bouquet at the center—freshly picked this morning, still fragrant and wild with color. Delicate zinnias, lavender sprigs, and the golden faces of black-eyed Susans lean out of an old glass jar, catching the light. Their presence feels like a celebration, a small but lovely reward for no reason at all other than being here, being now.

You’ve been waiting for this exact moment all day. Not necessarily the flowers or the table or even the weather—though those certainly help—but the quiet, unhurried hour to open a brand new book. One that’s been waiting, tucked in your bag or lying on your nightstand, spine still uncreased, full of possibility. You slide it out now and set it gently on the table, taking a moment to admire the cover before cracking it open.

You press the book flat and begin to read. The first lines are like stepping onto a forest path you’ve never walked before. Everything is unfamiliar, yet inviting. You read slowly at first, taking in names, places, moods. Around you, the world buzzes softly—bees flit between blossoms, a distant lawnmower hums, and birds chirp in the high branches. These are not distractions. They’re part of it. Part of the story of this moment.

You tuck your feet up beneath you and lean into the book, one hand resting lightly on the table, the other turning the pages. Every so often, a breeze stirs your hair and ruffles the edges of the paper. The scent of the flowers wafts up with each gust—clean, sweet, sun-warmed. You pause now and then to glance at them, at the way the petals catch the light or how the leaves curl at their tips. It feels good to be surrounded by something so alive.

And still, the story pulls you deeper. Maybe it’s a coming-of-age tale that transports you to a coastal town, or a suspenseful novel that makes you suspicious of every character. Or maybe it’s something quieter—contemplative and lyrical—that asks you to slow down and listen between the lines. Whatever it is, it’s working. You’re hooked.

You’ve read twenty pages before you even realize how much time has passed. The sun shifts, casting longer shadows now, and the jar of flowers glows golden against the grain of the table. You reach for your glass of iced tea, the condensation wetting your fingers, and take a long sip. It tastes like lemon and mint and ease. It tastes like June.

You could stay here for hours, and maybe you will. Maybe this book is the kind that stretches over several afternoons like this, each one bookmarked by the rustle of pages and the rustle of leaves. Or maybe you'll fly through it today, chasing the plot until twilight. You’re open to both. You’re simply glad to have this pocket of time, this corner of the world that feels so perfectly yours.

You turn another page. And another. The story continues, and the flowers nod quietly in the breeze beside you.

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The Hockey Experiment by Ava Miles

Date a hockey player?? Why the heck would she want to do that?

But study him? Sign her up for that experiment!

Except when Dr. Valentina Hargrove meets the captain of the Alexandria Eagles, Brock “The Rock” Thomson, she isn’t sure her original hypothesis that hockey players are Stone Age throwbacks stands up.

Stock options and impressive IQs weren’t on her checklist. Brock may have the requisite scary scar, but it’s on a sexy, after-shave scented, rock-hard jaw—and he chews his food with his mouth closed.

Only she can’t date him—her proposal guidelines are strict. She is to study hockey players to determine whether they are modern cavemen. Hockey stick/club—same, same. Even their dental issues make the similarities seem academic.

Except Brock’s manly come, now, mine routine seems to answer the one question plaguing women since the beginning of time: what is it about men that women find so irresistible? His desire to make her his isn't just about him making fire to impress her and finding them a nice fur-lined cave with a picket fence for their happily ever after.

He's more than a guy with a wooden stick, putting Val's whole study in jeopardy and the team's path to victory when they discover she's also the daughter of the Eagles' new owner...

Just Emilia by Jennifer Oko

When Emilia Fletcher finds herself trapped inside a Washington, DC Metro elevator, getting out is the least of her problems. Sharing the confined space with her are Em, a troubled teenager plagued by suicidal thoughts, and Millie, an elderly woman yearning to mend ties with her estranged daughter. As the hours drag on, hunger, exhaustion, and panic set in, revealing an almost incomprehensible truth: they are the same person. Locked in an uncompromising match of memories, the three women excavate and attempt to reckon with the shared shame and suffering stemming from an unresolved trauma that has cast a profound shadow over their lives. Brimming with biting humor, compassion, and quick-witted insight, Just Emilia is remarkable journey of self-discovery.

Sing Me Home to Carolina by Joy Callaway

Author Interview with Joy Callaway

This witty and effervescent southern romance is perfect for fans of Hart of Dixie, Schitt's Creek, and Sweet Magnolias.

Event planner Hattie Norwood only came back home to Mountain View, South Carolina to support her parents as they receive word that the family potato farm is infertile. This news doesn’t come as a surprise to Hattie, and she plans to return to Charlotte at the weekend’s end.

But then the town councilwoman begs Hattie to use her event planning prowess to help Mountain View put on a musical benefit to stop the construction of the new Carolina Panthers stadium—a project Hattie is actually in favor of, much to the dismay of the locals—and she finds herself agreeing to stay until the town’s Founder’s Day celebration a week later, just as her old flame, former MLB standout Lee Lockhardt, materializes in town after a career-ending injury.

When the hunky and mysterious new owner of Fox’s Hardware, Fox Ryan, suggests the Founder’s Day celebration be moved to the Norwoods’ barn in an attempt to reinvent the failing farm as a music and event venue, Hattie agrees, unaware this move will thrust the town, her love life, and the brewing tension over the stadium into a very public spotlight.

Filled to the brim with charm (an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, Twinkie cakes, a hardware store that doubles as a bar after dark, barn weddings, 5k races where you have to eat a whole coconut pie at the halfway mark, Nashville music execs making dreams come true…), fans of small-town romance and quirky casts of characters will be rooting for Team Lee or Team Fox as Hattie decides if love, like most music, is meant to fade or last forever.

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay

Author Interview with Katherine Reay

Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.

As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate's Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist--and she's waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone's expectations--the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim--until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, "It's a forgery." The gallery falls silent.

Lily's boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She's worked hard to become the trusted voice in London's modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate's Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist's most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting--one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.

All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana's footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor's. Unless . . . Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she's always wanted, but her freedom.

Block off your calendar and lose yourself in The English Masterpiece, a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end from the author who brought you The London House and The Berlin Letters.

Jill is Not Happy by Kaira Rouda

Author Interview with Kaira Rouda

Some secrets keep a couple together.

If you ask Jill Tingley, she’ll tell you she and her husband Jack are college sweethearts living the dream in Southern California. Wealthy, popular and genetically blessed, theirs is an enviable life, though they’ve grown distant in recent years. Newly empty nesting with their daughter Maggie away at college, Jill suggests a road trip to reconnect.

Jack would rather do anything else than drive to Utah with his wife. He’s only stayed in this marriage because of a shared secret, a tragedy in the past he wanted to keep buried. And for his daughter’s sake. But Jack is finished with the charade of his marriage. He’s filing for divorce as soon as they return, no matter what.

But he doesn’t realize what else Jill is hiding.

So begins a cat-and-mouse road trip as a cunning wife―think Ripley in yoga pants―and a reluctant husband match wits and drive each other to the edge. But everything will be fine. Jill still loves Jack and believes he’s the only one for her. She’ll do anything to keep him. Anything. She always has.

Realm of Thieves by Karina Halle

Two thieves vie for dominance in the illegal dragon-egg trade, putting both their lives and their hearts on the line in this scorching romantasy from New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle.

For Brynla Aihr, crime and survival have always gone hand in hand. Ever since she escaped the fanatical dragon-worshipping cult that controls her homeland, she’s had to carve out a life doing the unthinkable: stealing dragon eggs. Egg theft is illegal and, in most cases, fatal. To breach a dragon’s nest means a harrowing journey through the ancient wards spelled to keep the monstrous beasts confined. Dragons can’t get out and only those with a death wish can get in.

Despite the risks, dragon eggs are highly coveted for their magic. An illegal trade flourishes under competing criminal empires, and Brynla’s loyalty has always been to the highest bidder. Until she finds herself kidnapped and blackmailed by Lord Andor, a formidable lieutenant of House Kolbeck, and thrust into the dangerous political games of rivaling dynasties.

Brynla and Andor clash at every turn, sparking heat in ways Brynla’s never felt before. But in a world that’s prophesized to return to the dragons, and rife with betrayal and secrets at every turn…how close to the flames is she willing to stand?

Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West

Author Interview with Kathleen West

Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones gets caught up solving a murder in her new neighborhood after unknowingly befriending a dangerous con artist (who’s nothing like what she seems) in this playful, twisty mystery from acclaimed author Kathleen West.

It feels like kismet when Sarah Jones, newly relocated to Minneapolis after abruptly calling off her engagement, gets invited to join a group of women who share her same very common name. For years Sarah has received all types of correspondence intended for different Sarah Joneses, but now it seems that this mistake has given her the opportunity for an instant community.

What starts as a low-stakes meet-up called “The Sarah Jones Project” soon turns sinister when another local Sarah Jones is found dead, under suspicious circumstances, at the base of the downtown Minneapolis bridge. After fielding numerous calls from concerned loved ones ruling out their Sarah as the victim, the surviving Sarahs decide to take matters into their own hands.

Aided by the dead woman’s nanny, a newly commissioned (and very handsome and eligible) FBI agent, and a cloistered nun with a complicated past, the motley crew of unlikely friends are determined to get to the bottom of the murder of one of their own.

Far and Away by Amy Poeppel

Author Interview with Amy Poeppel

The “absolutely hilarious” (Real Simple) Amy Poeppel delights once again with a charming new novel about a house swap gone wonderfully awry.

A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell

When an aspiring archaeologist teams up with her childhood enemy for a treasure hunt, they find it impossible to bury their growing feelings, in a charming queer historical romance from the author of A Shore Thing.

Elfreda Marsden has finally made a major discovery—an ancient amulet proving the Viking army camped on her family’s estate. Too bad her nemesis is back from London, freshly exiled after a scandal and ready to wreak havoc on her life. Georgie Redmayne is everything Elfreda isn’t--charming, popular, carefree, distractingly attractive, and bored to death by the countryside. When the two collide (literally), the amulet is lost, and with it, Elfreda’s big chance to lead a proper excavation. Now Elfreda needs new evidence of medieval activity, and Georgie needs money to escape the doldrums of Derbyshire. Joining forces to locate a hidden hoard of Viking gold is the best chance for them both.

Marsdens and Redmaynes don’t get along, and that’s the least of the reasons these enemies can’t dream of something more. But as the quest takes them on unexpected adventures, sparks of attraction ignite a feeling increasingly difficult to identify as hatred. It’s far too risky to explore. And far too tempting to resist. Elfreda and Georgie soon find that the real treasure comes with a steep price… and the promise of a happiness beyond all measure.

Last Night Was Fun by Holly Michelle

You’ve Got Mail meets The Hating Game! Vying for a promotion against a bitter rival as the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team, Emmy finds solace in the text-flirting relationship that started as a wrong number exchange—unaware that the man she’s texting is the one she’s fighting for the promotion.

Emmy Jameson lives by three rules: no dating, no sharing personal news at work, and baseball above everything. As the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team, Emmy is constantly trying to prove herself.

Especially when she’s put up for a senior analyst position against her arrogant, infuriating coworker Gabe Olson. Sure, he’s gorgeous and smart and he was a baseball star in college who knows the sport inside and out, but so does Emmy. She is not going to lose to him again. There will be no distractions this summer. Not even her sister’s pending destination wedding in Mexico for which she needs to find a plus one.

But then she receives a text from an unknown number with a simple message: “Last night was fun.” When she strikes up a conversation with the mystery texter, they realize that he was given a fake phone number after a bad date that just so happened to be Emmy’s. Despite her rules, Emmy can’t deny the instant connection she feels and soon finds herself falling for the stranger on the other side of the screen…and inviting him to her sister’s wedding.

Emmy’s world turns upside down when her mystery man turns out to be none other than Gabe Olson. They are left having to travel to the wedding together while trying to sort out which version of their relationship is real: their in-person rivalry or the deep connection they found in their messages.

Charity Trickett is Not So Glamorous by Christine Stringer

Hollywood, 1997. When Charity Trickett moves to LA to assist the director of the biggest blockbuster film of the year, she quickly realizes that Hollywood isn’t all red carpets and Rodeo Drive. But her determination to become a screenwriter and producer in this glamorous yet cutthroat industry cannot be stifled. Working harder than she ever has before, she impresses the top brass at Canopy Studios and inches herself closer to her dream. But her ambitions and tender heart are threatened by backstabbing coworkers, an evaporating bank account, love gone wrong, a mistake that could cost the studio hundreds of millions of dollars, and an FBI investigation that could land her in jail.

Surrounded by fame and money but unsure how to access either one, Charity’s grit and kindness steer her toward devoted friends and hopeful artists. If she can manage to stay out of trouble, maybe she can change bad to good.

A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux

For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don’t survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla’s face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy…Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what’s she's been robbed of: her life.

Love, Coffee, and Revolution by Stefanie Leder

Deftly weaving romance, action, and humor with a quest for integrity in an unjust world, Love, Coffee, and Revolution is a timely and relatable coming-of-age novel.

Idealistic and naïve college senior Dee Blum is suffocating. Trapped in the soul-killing plan laid out by her parents—go to law school and become a divorce lawyer—she is desperate for an escape. She’s also desperate for a more meaningful life. So when she unexpectedly lands a job organizing eco-tours of coffee farms in Costa Rica, she drops out of school, setting off on a journey of activism and adventure.

In Costa Rica she finds freedom—maybe a little too much of it—and discovers she’s woefully unprepared to navigate another culture and the real world in general. Dee quickly meets not one but two attractive men. Adrián is sexy and fun but politically wrong for progressive Dee. Matías is a globe-trotting revolutionary organizer who sets her mind and heart ablaze.

As Dee pursues her work, she soon discovers that a powerful fair-trade organic coffee network is actually exploiting the environment and the very people it claims to help. Risking her safety to uncover the depth of their wrongdoings, Dee confronts the real-world implications of her progressive ideals. If she doesn’t act, what will happen to the farmers whose livelihoods—and lives—are at risk?

Will Dee find the courage to chart her own course? The wisdom to understand her own heart? And has she finally found a cause worth fighting for?

Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson

Micah's relationship to music is complicated. As teenagers, her band took off after being featured on a popular TV show, but the group barely released their sophomore album before breaking up. Now, over a decade later, the band is reuniting for one more performance on a themed cruise, and Micah is determined to learn from her past mistakes -- no losing herself in the music, and no losing her heart along the way.

John misses playing in a band, and mostly he misses Micah, who'd been his best friend until the music stopped. Back then, he didn't take the lead, either in his guitar parts or while he sat back and watched her date another bandmate. John's never been one to rock the boat, but he's faced with another chance now that this cruise has brought music -- and Micah -- back in his life.

Onboard, Micah can't help but see John with brand new eyes, and John's feelings only intensify as the discordant band's tension grows to a breaking point. With five days at sea, there's a ticking clock on anything that might develop between them, and they'll have to decide if their relationship is destined to be more than a one-hit wonder.

Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh

Sometimes what you think you want and what you actually want turn out to be different things . . .

Rosie Waterman has one dream: to become a working actor. But lately, that hasn't been working out. When she loses her apartment and her job on the same day, she does what she always does--puts herself out there, ready to find the next big thing. But a trip home makes her realize that while she's been struggling to make this dream come true, all her friends have become real adults with careers and weddings and babies on the way. Rosie's been at this for years, and she has nothing to show for it. But how does she simply let go of her dream?

When she's offered a job as the director of a regional theatre's production of Cinderella, she jumps at the chance--even though she's only directed in college and the job is in Door County, Wisconsin, and not in New York. She has no other offers, and at least she'll be getting paid to do something theatrical. But when she arrives, she quickly realizes that the "regional theatre" is actually in a retirement community, and the "actors" are actually senior citizens with no acting experience whatsoever.

Working on the show presents new challenges, forcing Rosie to learn how to step up and be the leader this fledgling theatre troupe needs. The more time she spends with her new cast, the more she begins to rethink what it means to dream big, especially when that big dream hasn't turned out to be at all what she thought it would be. It's not at all what she expected, but could it be exactly what she needs?

Writing Mr. Right by Alina Khawaja

Ziya Khan is a legal secretary by day, but she spends her nights working hard to be a published author. She’s spent the last few years trying to get her novel published about a young brown woman falling in love with a small-town brown man—but with no luck.

After one particularly painful rejection on the night before her thirtieth birthday, Ziya decides to give up her pen for good and instead just wishes to be happy. Then, the next morning, Ziya wakes up to find Aashiq, a physical manifestation of her writing muse, sitting on her couch.

Aashiq has materialized to help Ziya find her love for writing again, despite Ziya’s determination to keep her dreams in the past. But bit by bit, Aashiq starts to remind Ziya of why she loved writing and that her words matter more than she thinks. And impossibly, something more starts to blossom between them.

But as Ziya falls for Aashiq, he begins to disappear, which prompts her to choose: her art or her heart?

Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight

Author Interview with Eliza Knight

It starts with a pair of pink pantyhose. Junior copyeditor Bernadette Swift is in the habit of pushing her life aside for the intentionally unmanageable workload her boss piles on her desk until she is offered a bold pair of pantyhose and the chance to join a feminist book club. With a new fervor for her dreams to run the publishing house alongside her female coworkers, Bernadette begins to lead a movement for more. More scandalous books for the club; more time for her life (and a certain charming male colleague); more women’s equity marches; and certainly, more women’s voices in publishing.

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler

A steamy sapphic romance with a fantastical twist about two bitter tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates—perfect for fans of Expiration Dates and Here We Go Again.

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver

A talent agent hires an actress to play the part of “novelist” on a book tour for his agency’s publicity-shy client in this delightful rom-com from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club Pick One Day in December

She’s playing the part of romance author, but has she found her own real life love story?

Talent agent Charlie Francisco has three problems: a divorce that ended his screenwriting career, a business he never planned to inherit, and a take-your-breath-away romance novel whose author wants nothing to do with its publication. The book is a surefire hit, if only his agency can find someone to “play” author on its summer book tour.

Enter Kate Elliott, a former soap actress who’s miraculously right for the part at the very moment her life seems to be going all wrong. Kate is still recovering from her own divorce and Charlie’s job offer is a lifeline. She agrees to the pretense for all interviews, signings, and appearances surrounding the novel’s publication. But she can’t know who really wrote the remarkable story—the one so beautiful it’s made her believe in love again.

When Kate and Charlie meet they’re all friction and sparks—the one thing they have in common is they’re determined to play their respective parts. But as the summer heat ups and the lies get bigger and bigger, can they stick to their lines . . . or will they go off-script?

The Fire Concerto by Sarah Landenwich

A literary page-turner about a mysterious inheritance, a gifted female pianist lost to history, and a young woman’s journey to let go of her past and reclaim her own legacy

Eleven years and another life ago, Clara Bishop was a rising star pianist. Everything changed on the night of a festival marking the 145th birthday of Poland’s revered composer and Clara’s distant relative, Aleksander Starza. She began that night as an artist in her own right—no longer defined by Madame, her exacting teacher. But after a devastating fire broke out in the concert hall, she left badly scarred. Since then, Clara hasn’t touched a piano or spoken to Madame, whom she blames for her career-ending injuries. Now, at 30, she has a new life in Texas as a bartender. No one there knows about her past—until Madame dies and leaves her a cryptic inheritance: a metronome linked to a notorious 19th-century murder. \

In her literary debut, THE FIRE CONCERTO (Union Square & Co.; June 10, 2025), Sarah Landenwich presents a richly layered, twisty story about three women of remarkable musical talent connected by tragedy. For Clara, what starts as a search for the origins of Madame’s unusual bequest turns into a mission to find the lost compositions and restore the tarnished reputation of a brilliant 19th-century female pianist from Poland. Along her journey, Clara uncovers startling truths about her formidable mentor and herself.

THE FIRE CONCERTO opens in 1997 with Clara as she struggles to make sense of the gift Madame left her. Could this oddity be the metronome, missing since 1885, that belonged to her ancestor, the composer Aleksander Starza? Was it the murder weapon used by the woman accused of killing him, the pianist Constantia Pleyel? How did Madame, an orphan who fled Poland in 1939 and made her own way into Juilliard and onto the concert stage, come to possess this priceless, storied antique?

Seeking answers, Clara finds an unexpected ally in her childhood rival and teenage crush, Tony Park. Another of Madame’s chosen beneficiaries, Tony offers to help Clara unravel the metronome’s history. Can she trust him? He’s not the only one interested in this coveted object. First, she receives an eerie phone call and then a threatening letter. Finally, someone breaks into and ransacks her home. Though filled with dread about revisiting the scene of her nightmare, Clara agrees to join Tony on a fact-finding trip to Warsaw, where Aleksander Starza lived and died.

Scouring museum archives and private stashes of letters, Clara works to uncover the metronome’s haunted past. Gradually, she realizes that nothing about Starza and his murder are what they seem. And the truth about his relationship with Constantia Pleyel, who was far from the raging madwoman history has alleged her to be, is complicated. What Clara discovers could rewrite the history of music. For Clara, the revelations also strike a deeply personal chord. The metronome has a hidden inscription in Polish, translated as: “From pain, we must make beauty.” Were these words engraved to speak to Starza or to Pleyel? Did Madame intend for Clara to take this message to heart?

Filled with tension and surprises, THE FIRE CONCERTO vividly captures the brutal realities for women of exceptional talent in the 19th century. A classically trained pianist herself, Sarah Landenwich names several of her characters in honor of 19th-century female musicians, artists, and intellectuals who have been largely forgotten. While drawing readers into the mystery of the metronome, Landenwich will keep them rooting for Clara to find the resolution and peace that has eluded her all these years.

SARAH LANDENWICH is a writer, a writing instructor, and a classically trained pianist. Her debut novel The Fire Concerto was inspired by her love of music of the Romantic period and pays tribute to 19th-century female musicians, artists, and scholars who have been largely forgotten. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and daughter.

Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life by Tiffany Jenkins

The fascinating story of how private life was won, and how it might just as easily be lost . . .

Private life is in mortal danger, following decades in which it has been relinquished and ransacked. It is threatened by a three-headed monster: state and corporate surveillance, a confessional, "tell-all" culture that makes people complicit in the invasion of their own privacy, and the intense politicization of private life.

Tiffany Jenkins’ groundbreaking book traces the emergence of private sanctuaries from authority and public opinion to show that private life is a very recent – and hard-won – achievement. It also warns that, if we’re not careful, it will be a temporary one.

Strangers and Intimates is animated by dramatic human confrontations: from the political struggles in the seventeenth century that led to Edmund Coke’s rallying cry that "an Englishman’s home is his castle"; to the first modern privacy panic in 1844, when the British government opened private letters sent to the exiled Italian republican Giuseppe Mazzini; and from the embrace by the public of reality TV to the Chinese government’s social credit system.

A private life is a precious, sustaining resource that is of profound intrinsic value, and it must be defended. We won’t know what we have lost until it has gone . . .

Her First Mistake by Kendra Elliot

Author Interview with Kendra Elliot

When a very personal cold case murder is reopened, a detective’s secrets come to light in a novel of shocking twists and suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home by an intruder. His wife, Noelle Marshall, was left for dead. The crime was unsolved, but it wasn’t forgotten.

Today the FBI is tackling a fresh perspective on the case and looking to Noelle, now a detective for the Deschutes County sheriff’s office, for new clues. It is reopening everything Noelle thought was behind her. Memories of her escape from a traumatic childhood. A marriage that wasn’t the perfect love story she’d been promised. And a husband whose charm and privilege hid a dark side. But Noelle has been hiding something too: a secret about the night Derrick died that she has never told anyone.

As past and present and leads and misleads collide, one thing is frighteningly clear. Derrick’s murder wasn’t just unsolved. It’s unfinished. And only the truth—no matter the risk—can save the next victim.

Always Be My Bibi by Priyanka Taslim

Clueless meets Jenna Evans Welch in this young adult rom-com about a spoiled American teenager who faces some major culture shock—and potential romance—when she jets off to Bangladesh for her sister’s wedding.

Bibi Hossain was supposed to get her first kiss this summer.

Too bad her father finds out and grounds her for breaking his most arcane rule: No boys until your sister gets married.

Just when Bibi thinks she’ll be stuck helping him at their popular fried chicken chain until school reopens, her oh-so-perfect older sister Halima drops a bombshell: she’s marrying the heir of a princely estate turned tea garden in Bangladesh. Soon, Bibi is hopping on the next flight to Sylhet for Halima’s Big Fat Bengali Wedding, hoping Abbu might even rethink the dating ban while they’re there.

Unfortunately, the stuffy Rahmans are a nightmare—especially Sohel, the groom’s younger brother. The only thing they can agree on is that their siblings are not a good match. But as the two scheme to break their siblings up, Bibi finds it impossible to stay away from the infuriatingly handsome boy.

Could her own happily ever after be brewing even as she stirs up trouble for her sister’s engagement—or is there more steeping at the tea estate than Bibi knows?

A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marias

How do you solve a murder that hasn't happened yet?
Destiny Whip is a former child prodigy, world-renowned enigmatologist and very, very alone. A life filled with loss has made her a recluse, an existence she’s content to endure until a letter arrives inviting her to interview for the position of Scruffmore family historian. Not only does an internet search for the name yield almost nothing, it’s a role she never applied to in the first place!
She decodes the invitation's hidden message with ease, and its promise to reveal her family secrets proves too powerful a draw for the orphaned Destiny, who soon finds herself on Eerie Island. It’s a place whose inhabitants are almost as inhospitable as the tempestuous weather. The Scruffmores themselves turn out to be not much better, a snarled mess of secrets and motives connected by their mistrust for one another.
Their newly arrived guest proves to be just as much an enigma to them as they are to her. While Destiny slowly works to unravel the mysteries hidden throughout the ominous castle, she struggles to interpret disturbing nightly visions of what is to come. In the midst of cryptic ciphers, hidden passages, and the family’s magical line of succession, Destiny is certain of two things: one of the Scruffmores is going to die and she’s running out of time to stop it.
Interspersed with riddles and puzzles that both Destiny and the reader must solve, A Most Puzzling Murder is a one-of-a-kind mystery that will leave you guessing and gasping until the very last page!

Fleet Landing by Wendy Gee

ATF Special Agent Cooper “Coop” Bellamy is forced to work with tenacious TV reporter Sydney Quinn as fires ravage the city. Quinn, whose pursuit of justice puts her on a collision course with a sinister figure known only as the Falcon, uncovers a decades-old conspiracy. Coop navigates a labyrinth of lies and corruption alongside Quinn, all while trying to repair his strained relationship with his 11-year old daughter. Can the two put their differences aside and catch the arsonist without hurting anyone in the process?

Milo's Reckoning by Joseph Olshan

An intercontinental investigation into the demise of a college professor, reminiscent of Mark Prins’ The Latinist and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Inspired by the life and presumed death by suicide of Italian author and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi, Olshan explores how grief can cloud a loved one’s acceptance of loss. When Milo Rossi, a graduate student in Italian at New York University, learns of the sudden and mysterious death of his professor, Primo Levi scholar Lenny D'Ambrosio, he’s stunned and instinctually questions the coroner’s verdict. Afterall, he’d spent the previous evening with his mentor discussing literature and the complicated life and death of Levi. Embarking on a quest for answers, Milo’s investigation leads him quite unexpectedly back to the accidental death of his brother Carlo, six years prior. As Milo delves deeper, he discovers unsettling truths about Carlo's life and death, unearthing a web of secrets and hidden connections. His search takes him through New York City and eventually to Lucca, Italy, where he makes a horrifying discovery. Confronted with the harsh realities of human suffering and the complexities of justice, Milo's journey is one of personal reckoning and profound transformation. He must confront his own grief, question his assumptions, and ultimately decide how to respond to the darkness he has uncovered.

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