Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week
I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.
One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
If you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it? From the author of Curfew comes a suspenseful, heart-wrenching novel about the consequences of your answer.
Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.
Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn’t possess the "violent" M gene.
Bea refuses to let her son take the test. She believes his life should not be determined by a positive or negative result.
These women will go to any length to protect their sons.
But one of them is hiding a monster.
And there will be fatal consequences for everybody....
A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing
Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They've never felt anything like it. It's the type of romance people write stories about.
But what kind of story?
When it's good, it's great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears.
When it's bad, it's really bad. Vengeful fights. Damaged property. Arrest warrants.
But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconciliations needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy--and she's a detective.
There's something Wes and Ivy never talk about--in good times or bad. The night of their worst breakup, when one of them took things too far, and someone ended up dead.
If they can stick together, they can survive anything--even the tightening net of a police investigation.
Because one more breakup might just be their last…
Reconfigured: A Memoir by Barbara Wolf Terao
When Barbara Terao moves into a new home in Washington, two thousand miles from her husband in Illinois, she doesn’t know when—or if—she’ll ever live with him again. Her diagnosis of breast cancer three months later changes both of them in ways they never imagined.
In the ensuing months, Barbara’s husband and adult children show up to help her through a year of difficult treatments and surgery, and Barbara, in her Whidbey Island cottage, learns to listen to her heart and intuition. Nurtured by Douglas fir forests, the Salish Sea, and her community, she changes her life from the inside out. Her journey, she realizes, wasn’t about leaving her husband so much as finding herself. Reconfigured in body, mind, and spirit, Barbara finally has words for what she wants to say—and the strength to be a survivor.
The Spymaster's Mistress by Pamela Winnick
HBL NOTE: This title is no longer being published after the untimely death of the author. Read more about her here.
At the height of the American Revolution, seventeen-year-old Rachel must flee her home in New York City to escape the imminent British invasion. She settles with her aunt and uncle in Philadelphia—which is still free, but soon falls into enemy hands. There, an old friend from New York, Alexander Hamilton, approaches her and asks her to become an American spy.
Rachel chooses Captain John André, a high-ranking British officer, as her target. He eventually breaks down and gives her military secrets; and Rachel, week after week, finds her way through the streets of Philadelphia every Saturday after religious services to deliver coded letters to “Will,” a fellow spy. Is she being followed? Will her victim learn of her espionage? She recalls Hamilton's warning: “If caught, you will hang.”
The Beauty of Rain by Jamie Beck
Two devoted sisters at a tragic breaking point discover the beautiful and painful truths of being alive in a powerful novel by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Jamie Beck.
Winning the lottery changed Amy Walsh’s life, but the cost was greater than she could bear. In the aftermath, she struggles to find joy and purpose. Only one thing feels certain now―she will never spend one cent of the prize money on herself.
Worried, her older sister, Kristin DeMarco, invites Amy to live with her family while she heals. Unfortunately, this arrangement leads to trouble for Kristin: Divided focus affects her career. Her daughter prefers Amy to her. And Amy’s unsolicited opinions provoke tension between Kristin and her husband.
Meanwhile, Amy is making drastic plans of her own, which include giving away all her money. But first she must convince Kristin not to squander her most valuable asset―time with her family.
As the sisters help each other reimagine their futures, life’s unpredictability sends them to surprising places that test their love and resilience. Will they learn to live in the now, before it’s too late?
Faraway and Forever--More Stories by Nancy Joie Wilkie
“Faraway and Forever—More Stories” is a compilation of interstellar fictional tales that takes the reader from the not-too-distant future to a time when travel between worlds is a common occurrence. Each stop along mankind’s journey outward to the stars is accompanied by a deeper look inward—from examining how extraterrestrial beings might use our own biology against us, to whether a human consciousness can survive in a virtual environment, to how wishes are really granted. Original and thought provoking, these stories will stimulate the intellect and engage the imagination.
Only Good Enemies by Jennifer Estep
New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Estep continues her Galactic Bonds series with a new, action-packed adventure that blends science fiction, fantasy, and historical romance. This rollicking space opera features a mix of magic and technology, along with a soul mates, slow burn, and enemies-to-lovers story. Perfect for fans of Star Wars, Bridgerton, and Pride and Prejudice.
A WOMAN ON A MISSION . . .
My name is Vesper Quill. I used to be a lowly lab rat, toiling away in obscurity developing brewmakers and other household appliances. But thanks to my seer magic and my own ingenuity, I’m now a Regal lady and the head of a successful corporation.
My mission? To destroy the Techwave, the dangerous group that has stolen my designs and plans to weaponize them against the Imperium. But when my mission takes an unexpected turn, I’m once again surrounded by enemies and fighting for my life.
Further complicating matters is Kyrion Caldaren, an arrogant Regal lord whose fate is bound to mine. Kyrion doesn’t realize the two of us still have an unwanted connection that puts us both in grave danger . . . or does he?
A MAN SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES . . .
My name is Kyrion Caldaren. As the leader of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force, I’ve been tasked with tracking down and destroying the Techwave before they seize control of the Archipelago Galaxy.
My other mission? Find a way to assassinate Lord Callus Holloway, the Imperium ruler who wants to take my psion power for his own. Holloway is also a threat to Vesper Quill, who haunts my thoughts, despite the broken bond and distance between us.
When I realize Vesper is in danger, my priorities change, and I vow to use all my telepathic, telekinetic, and other abilities to help her. I will save Vesper from her enemies and mine—even if I have to burn down the whole bloody galaxy.
Praise for Only Bad Options, book 1 in the Galactic Bonds science-fiction fantasy series:
“This is space opera at its finest.”—Ilona Andrew, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Mixing sci-fi and fantasy, this space opera romance is an absolute delight.”—BookBub
“I absolutely love it! This is 429 pages of reading joy.”—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
“A rocketship ride of star-crossed soulmates, Only Bad Options delighted me from start to finish! I highly recommend this romantic, action-packed space opera to all lovers of science fiction, fantasy, and romance!”—Jeffe Kennedy, award-winning and best-selling author of Dark Wizard and The Pages of the Mind
Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders
For fans of A League of Their Own, a debut historical novel that gives voice to the pioneering Black women of the of the Six Triple Eight Battalion who made history by sorting over one million pieces of mail overseas for the US Army.
1944, New York City. Judy Washington is tired of working from dawn ‘til dusk in the Bronx Slave Market, cleaning white women’s houses and barely making a dime. Her husband is fighting overseas, so it's up to Judy and her mother to make enough money for rent and food. When the chance arises for Judy to join the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and the ability to bring home a steady paycheck, she jumps at the opportunity.
Immediately upon arrival, Judy undergoes grueling military drills and inspections led by Second Officer Charity Adams, one of the only Black officers in the WAC who has a secret relationship with one of the other women officers. Yet just as quickly as she arrived, Judy and her newfound friends Stacy, Bernadette, and Mary Alyce are transferred to Birmingham, England as part of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion—the only unit of Black women to serve overseas in WWII. Here, they are assigned the mission to sort a backlog of over one million pieces of mail to troops who marched on Normandy.
The women work tirelessly, knowing that they're reuniting soldiers to their loved ones through the letters they write. Meanwhile, their fearless leader, Officer Charity Adams, advocates for better work conditions and hours. However, their work becomes personal when Mary Alyce discovers a backlogged letter addressed to Judy that will upend her personal life. As life-changing findings and unexpected romances arise, will the group of women fail the daunting task ahead of them, or will they succeed?
Told through the alternating perspectives of Judy, Charity, and Mary Alyce, Women of the Post is an unforgettable story of perseverance, female friendship, romance, and self-discovery.
The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan
Opening in the summer of 1929, THE STOLEN HOURS focuses on Effie’s best friend, Mhairi MacKinnon, a young woman who finds herself in desperate need of a husband. She is the eldest girl of nine children, and her father has made clear that he cannot support her past the coming winter. Yet on her isolated island home, the options for marriageable men are severely limited. Fortunately, the MacKinnon’s neighbor, Donald, has a business acquaintance on Harris who happens to be in need of a wife. Donald offers to chaperone Mhairi and make the introduction on the final crossing of the year, before the stormy autumn seas and winds close St. Kilda off to the outside world until the return of calm waters in the following spring.
Mhairi arrives home in St. Kilda an engaged woman who has lost her heart—but not to her fiancée. She is in love with Donald, a man who can never be hers, and the feeling is mutual. Over the winter, the two begin a forbidden affair, dreading the arrival of spring, when Mhairi will be forced to sail off to her fate as a stranger’s wife. When word comes that St. Kilda is to be evacuated in August, the lovers are granted a few months’ reprieve. Will Mhairi find a way to change the course of her future before her entire world is upended?
Along with Mhairi’s story, THE STOLEN HOURS offers glimpses of Effie’s ongoing struggles and her startling new romance. For fans of historical fiction filled with passion and intrigue, Karen Swan’s Wild Isle series is sure to captivate and keep readers rooting for its remarkable young heroines.
Framing a Life by Roberta S. Kuriloff
On a blustery Maine day, thirty-nine-year-old Roberta Kuriloff found herself standing on a plot of land purchased with her former partner, holding a couple of wood stakes to mark off exactly where her new house would sit. No longer their land. No longer their dream. Now, just hers.
Immersed in a world of blueprints, materials, contractors, and critters, Roberta confronted the major losses she’d suffered in her life—in particular the deaths of her mother and aunt from cancer and her separation from her father and brother during her placement in an orphanage—and to try to understand how those losses had shaped the woman, lawyer, and activist she’d become. As she cleared land, hammered nails, lifted beams, and shivered in her rented mobile home, the answers began to come to her.
Roberta soon found love again, with a woman named Nancy . . . only to lose her abruptly just one year later in a car accident. Her grief over Nancy’s death, and the psychic and out-of-body events she experienced following that loss, led to an eight-year spiritual quest where she explored her Jewish roots, the Kabbalah, Buddhism, and reincarnation. As she healed, new love beckoned with Bernice—and at long last Roberta found that intrinsic sense of self, that unshakable foundation of heart and soul, that home, that she’d been searching for all along.
Sinners of Starlight City by Anika Scott
From the author of the international bestseller The German Heiress, a gripping historical drama about a woman determined to avenge the crimes against her family, set at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.
“The magnificent Anika Scott has written a lush and beautifully rendered novel that will keep you turning pages long into the night." —Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone
Vengeance is in the family, and the family is a bond like no other…
It’s the worst year of the Great Depression, and America needs all the hope it can get. The Chicago World’s Fair, a glittery city-within-a-city, becomes a symbol of the good that’s yet to come. But every utopia has a seedy side—and that’s Rosa Mancuso’s world. As the mysterious Madame Mystique she mixes magic with a dose of bare skin burlesque, bringing customers to the home of the Fair’s carnival rides and spectacles.
Rosa doesn’t perform for fame, though. She has come from Mussolini’s Italy to America, where she’s plotting her revenge for the murders of her family. The perpetrator will soon arrive at the World’s Fair via a celebrated Italian air fleet, and Rosa is determined to be prepared.
But when her estranged cousin, Mina, comes to her desperate for help, with a dangerous mobster close on her heels, Rosa agrees to protect Mina and her new baby, born across the color line. With the clock ticking, Rosa decides the only way to survive is to make vengeance a family affair and prompt everyone to, at last, confront the sins from their pasts.
A gripping story of retribution, belonging, and survival, Sinners of Starlight City boldly explores the complexity of identities straddling ethnic lines and asks, who gets to decide who we are and where we belong?
Resonance Surge by Nalini Singh
StoneWater bears Pavel and Yakov Stepyrev have been a unit since birth, but now Pavel’s life is veering in a new direction, his heart held in the hands of Arwen Mercant, a Psy empath—and the only man who has ever brought Pavel to his knees.
This is it. A point of irrevocable change. For Pavel . . . for Arwen . . . for Yakov . . . and for another pair of twins whose bond has a far darker history.
A low-Gradient Psy, Theodora Marshall is considered worthless by everyone but her violently powerful twin, Pax. She is the sole person he trusts in their venomous family to investigate a hidden and terrible part of their family history—an unregistered rehabilitation Center established by their grandfather.
Places of unimaginable pain designed to psychically wipe minds, leaving the victims shells of their former selves, the Centers are an ugly vestige of the Psy race’s Silent past. But this Center was worse. Far, far worse. And now Theo must uncover the awful truth—in the company of a scowling bear named Yakov, who isn’t about to take a Marshall at face value . . . especially a Marshall who has turned his dreams into chilling nightmares.
Because Yakov is the great-grandson of a foreseer . . . and he has seen Theo die in an unstoppable surge of blood. Night after night after night . . .
Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane
Obsessive friendships lead to tragedy in this early-twentieth-century novel about a charismatic schoolmistress, a naïve new teacher, and an impressionable student—with an afterword by Melissa Broder, author of Milk Fed and The Pisces.
Clare Hartill is a brilliant, commanding educator at a private all-girls boarding school: the undisputed queen of her own small kingdom. But her tightly controlled world is disrupted when she meets Alwynne Durand, a nineteen-year-old teacher with no formal training. Alwynne's innocence and openness endear her to the secretive Clare. Alwynne is drawn to Clare's intelligence and sophistication. The two women fall headlong into an all-consuming friendship and begin planning a life together.
But their relationship is tested when an exceptionally gifted student named Louise enters their orbit. Louise will do anything to win Clare's approval. Meanwhile, Clare's jealous and manipulative nature slowly pulls Alwynne away from her friends, her students, and her family—anyone, in fact, who is not Clare Hartill.
Written in the early twentieth century by queer writer Winifred Ashton (writing under the pseudonym Clemence Dane), Regiment of Women is a complex tale of love and power that asks: How well do we truly see the people we love? And what are we willing to sacrifice for them?
The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance.
A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Only his memories can save her…
A great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come.
But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though—something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her.
And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout revisits Poppy and Casteel’s epic love story in the next installment of the Blood and Ash series. But this time, Hawke gets to tell the tale.
