Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week: July 7 - 13
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Imagine this:
On a lazy July afternoon, you settle into your favorite reading spot, the air heavy with the warmth of the sun. The cicadas are singing their relentless summer song outside, creating a symphony that perfectly encapsulates the season. You have a new book in your hands, the anticipation of delving into its pages making your heart flutter with excitement.
The light filtering through the window casts a golden glow across the room, illuminating the cover of the book with a soft radiance. You take a moment to admire the cover art, running your fingers over the embossed title. There’s a certain magic in starting a new book, the promise of unknown adventures and the potential for transformative experiences.
With a sense of ceremony, you open the book to the first page. The pages are crisp and smell faintly of fresh paper and ink. As you begin to read, you feel the real world fade away, replaced by the vivid imagery of the story. The author's words are like a portal, transporting you to a different place and time. Each sentence draws you deeper, weaving a tapestry of characters and settings that gradually come to life in your imagination.
The afternoon heat is intense, but you’re comfortably cool in your spot. A tall glass of iced tea sits within reach, condensation beading on the glass. You take a sip, savoring the refreshing taste, and then return to the story. The protagonist captures your attention immediately, their journey intriguing and full of promise. You find yourself empathizing with their struggles, rooting for their success, and feeling their emotions as if they were your own.
Time seems to stretch and bend as you immerse yourself in the narrative. The world outside continues its lazy summer rhythm, but you are far away, traversing the landscapes of the book. The plot thickens, with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. You marvel at the author's skill in crafting such a compelling story, appreciating the nuances of the characters and the intricacies of the plot.
Occasionally, you glance up from the book, momentarily brought back to the present by the chirping of birds or the rustling of leaves. The sunlight shifts, casting new shadows and highlights across the room, but you quickly dive back into the story, eager to see what happens next. Each chapter leaves you wanting more, the suspense building and the stakes growing higher.
As the afternoon progresses, the sunlight begins to wane, and a gentle breeze stirs the air. You adjust your position, finding a more comfortable spot, and continue reading. The book’s world feels more real than the one outside your window, and you are completely absorbed. The author's words flow effortlessly, painting vivid pictures in your mind and evoking a range of emotions.
There’s something deeply satisfying about losing yourself in a good book, especially on a warm summer afternoon. It's a chance to escape, to explore new ideas, and to experience different lives. You cherish these moments of solitude and reflection, knowing that the stories you read shape your understanding of the world and of yourself.
By the time you look up again, the afternoon has given way to early evening. The sky outside is tinged with hues of pink and orange, a beautiful backdrop to the fading light. You close the book, carefully marking your place, and take a deep breath. The story lingers in your mind, the characters and their journeys now a part of your own.
You feel a sense of contentment, knowing that you’ve found a new world to explore and new friends to accompany you. The book will be waiting for you when you return, ready to whisk you away on another adventure. For now, you bask in the afterglow of a well-spent afternoon, grateful for the simple joys of reading and the endless possibilities contained within the pages of a new book.
Scroll down to find out what book you might be reading…
The Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn
With a uniquely relatable Persephone, a sapphic romance, and a historically immersive depiction of the ancient world, THE DAUGHTERS OF OLYMPUS by Hannah Lynn is a propulsive new entry in the mythological subgenre that powerfully explores motherhood, grief, and the destruction wrought by the gods in the name of something as human as love.
Core is devoted to her mother, Demeter, even during their millennia in exile from Olympus. When Hades kidnaps Core and names her Queen of the Underworld, Demeter fights fiercely for the return of her daughter. But while Core does yearn for escape, she also revels in her underworld reunion with a mortal lover she lost—and recognizes her power to remake herself in the image of this dark new world.
It's Elementary by Elise Bryant
Mavis Miller is not a PTA mom. She has enough on her plate with her feisty seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, an exhausting job at a nonprofit, and the complexities of a multigenerational household. So no one is more surprised than Mavis when she caves to Trisha Holbrook, the long-reigning, slightly terrifying PTA president, and finds herself in charge of the school’s brand-new DEI committee.
As one of the few Black parents at this California elementary school, Mavis tries to convince herself this is an opportunity for real change. But things go off the rails at the very first meeting, when the new principal's plans leave Trisha absolutely furious. Later that night, when Mavis spies Trisha in yellow rubber gloves and booties, lugging cleaning supplies and giant black trash bags to her waiting minivan, it’s only natural that her mind jumps to somewhere it surely wouldn’t in the light of day.
Except Principal Smith fails to show up for work the next morning, and has been MIA since the meeting. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Mavis, along with the school psychologist with the great forearms (look, it’s worth noting), launches an investigation that will challenge her views on parenting, friendship, and elementary school politics.
Brilliantly written, It's Elementary is a quick-witted, escapist romp that perfectly captures just how far parents will go to give their kids the very best, all wrapped in a mystery that will leave you guessing to the very end.
All This and More by Peng Shepherd
Meek, play-it-safe Marsh has just turned forty-five, and her life is in shambles. Her career is stagnant, her marriage has imploded, and her teenage daughter grows more distant by the day. Marsh is convinced she’s missed her chance at everything—romance, professional fulfillment, and adventure—and is desperate for a do-over.
She can’t believe her luck when she’s selected to be the star of the global sensation All This and More, a show that uses quantum technology to allow contestants the chance to revise their pasts and change their present lives. It’s Marsh’s only shot to seize her dreams, and she’s determined to get it right this time.
But even as she rises to become a famous lawyer, gets back together with her high school sweetheart, and travels the world, she begins to worry that All This and More’s promises might be too good to be true. Because while the technology is amazing, something seems a bit off.…
Can Marsh really make her life everything she wants it to be? And is it worth it?
Honeycomb by S.B. Caves
Big Brother meets Black Mirror in this high-concept thriller in which six strangers take part in a mysterious medical experiment in an isolated mansion.
Amanda Pearson was once the hottest rising star in the music world. Not anymore. Washed up, broke and directionless following a public breakdown, she is certain she will never be adored again. But she is very wrong.
Her old manager calls her out of the blue with an opportunity: a week’s stay at an isolated mansion with five strangers, all under constant observation. Every day they must take a pill. Five people will be taking a placebo, but one person will take an experimental drug that they are assured has no adverse side effects. So, what’s the catch? Amanda isn’t sure, but the pay is too tempting to turn down.
However, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary experiment. Each day Amanda discovers more about her fellow housemates, that the old mansion holds horrifying secrets, and that there is no way out…
The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb
Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny LA.
The Sterlings are warm and welcoming. A perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury: Designer clothes. A sparkling pool. Great pay.
When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy and talented, and Cassidy can’t believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn’t know what she has. Maybe that’s why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn’t around.
But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.
The Hedgerow by Anne Leigh Parrish
Author Interview with Anne Leigh Parrish
It’s 1949, the freedom granted women by the Second World War is over, and stifling social conventions are once more at play. Edith Sloan, the rebellious, well-educated heroine of An Open Door returns in The Hedgerow to pursue her dreams of owning a thriving bookstore on Harvard Square and establishing a poetry press to publish the silent and underserved. Free of her dreary marriage to Walter, she receives a proposal from Henry, a wealthy British peer and the man who made the purchase of her bookstore possible. When she accepts, is it from love or gratitude? Will being his wife help or hinder her plans? Edith soon finds herself at the intersection of free expression and censorship. Duty competes with desire, while serious endeavors are undermined by trivial pursuits. As she tries to balance the competing demands in her life, troubling facts from Henry’s past come to light. Edith also discovers that being a pioneer in publishing comes with consequences she hadn’t foreseen. The decade draws to a close and delivers one more surprise Edith must summon extraordinary courage to face.
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.
Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?
Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.
This Used to Be Us by Renée Carlino
There are two sides to every love story—and every breakup. Get ready for an emotional roller coaster of family, marriage, and divorce that will have you both laughing and crying, from the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers.
After twenty-two years together, Danielle and Alex are getting a divorce. Once fiercely in love, they can barely stand the sound of each other’s voice. Instead of shuffling the kids between two broken homes, Alex and Danielle decide to share a nesting apartment while swapping days with their two teenage boys at the family home.
In the apartment, Dani and Alex, on their own, begin to reflect on the last two decades—why they fell in love, and why the marriage fell, spectacularly, apart. With the newfound space and time, they are given a chance to find their autonomous selves again. They both get back in the dating pool, Dani finds major success at work as a showrunner on her own TV project, while Alex faces the challenges of a new relationship.
Still, they find they just can’t stay away from each other, and somehow, the distance allows them to remember (for the first time in years) what they used to love about one another. When a family crisis draws them back into each other’s orbit, Danielle and Alex are, once again, put to the test, which leads to a dramatic conclusion that will have readers weeping.
Summer Heat by Defne Suman
Melike has it all: a beautiful home in Istanbul, a career as an art historian, an attentive husband. But her yearning for more excitement has led her surreptitiously into the arms of other men.
On the cusp of her fortieth birthday, Melike is resolute: the affairs must stop. Then she receives a mysterious email from a man named Petro, requesting a tour of Istanbul's Byzantine churches. Against her better judgement, she accepts.
As soon as she sees Petro, with his endearing smile and impeccable charm, Melike knows she is in trouble. But she is not the only one keeping secrets. Petro has a hidden agenda of his own – one which, when uncovered, will not only upend Melike's future, but alter everything she believed about her past...
Set alternately between 2003 and 1974, during the Turkish Army's invasion of Cyprus, Defne Suman's third novel to be translated into English tells of one woman's place in her country's devastating history.
The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by MJ Robotham
Everyone knows Ruby Devereaux's books. But no one knows her story... until now.
From a teenager in wartime England to a veteran of modern-day London – via 1950's New York, the Swinging Sixties, Cold War Berlin, Venice and Vietnam – Ruby Devereaux has lived one hell of a life: parties, scandals and conflict zones, meeting men and adventure along the way. In a writing career spanning seven decades and more than twenty books, she's distilled everything into her work. Or has she?
Now beyond her 90th year, Ruby's energy is ebbing and her beloved typewriter put away. Until a call from her publisher presents Ruby with an ultimatum, and the impetus to embark on one last book – “warts and all”, as she says. Even in her dotage, Ruby M. Devereux has the power to surprise, because whatever this author does, she does on her own terms. Always.
Is Ruby finally about to reveal the secrets of her infamous life?
Taking the reader on a rollercoaster ride through the latter half of the 20th Century, The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux is a mesmerising story of one unforgettable woman's place in an ever-changing world.
Side Effects Are Minimal by Laura Essay
When ambitious attorney Claire Hewitt is asked to represent the Satoris, one of Philadelphia’s most prominent families, in a lawsuit over the death of their daughter, she is thrust into an opioid nightmare with deadly impact—and not for the first time. Claire’s guilt for not saving her sister, Molly, has not subsided in the twenty years since Molly’s almost certainly opioid-related death. Now, with this new assignment, her guilt comes full circle. Who was really at fault in Molly’s death? And who is at fault now?
Until Next Summer by Ali Brady
Author Interview with Alison Hammer (Ali)
Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.
When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.
The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez
Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance. Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo’s plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up. Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela’s bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.
The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson
A hockey player and a baker shoot their shot in this steamy new romance by Lana Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author of The Nanny.
When a very public breakup becomes a PR nightmare for Ian Chase’s team, he hopes to focus on his game, but that suddenly seem less likely than a hat trick. With his career and the team’s image in jeopardy, Ian is surprised to find a solution through none other than Delilah Baker, his best friend and teammate’s little sister…who isn’t so little anymore.
Delilah Baker is known as “the darling of baking” on her local cable show, and being in the public eye is her bread and butter. But with her numbers dwindling and her producers turning up the heat, Delilah offers up the half-baked idea to collaborate with her brother’s team to entice the hockey fans of Boston to tune in to her show. Delilah thinks it will be a piece of cake—until the team sends Ian Chase, her brother’s best friend and the object of a decade-long crush that she’s never quite gotten over.
Delilah’s and Ian’s teams think it’s a true win-win situation—gaining higher numbers for Delilah’s show and casting Ian in a more positive light. And viewers are eating them up like a cupcake, sparking the idea to play up their relationship for the goal of good press. With more than just their careers on thin ice, the line between what’s real and what’s for show begins to blur, but one thing’s for certain: This PR stunt will either be a total game changer—or leave them both totally pucked.
Jenny James Is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson
There's having a bad day . . . and then there's having a Very Bad Day.
Thirty-something single mum Jenny James is used to the typical run-in-your-tights, milk-turned-sour, break-a-nail bad kind of day. Attitude from her teenage son? Count on it. Car problems? To be expected. Never quite enough money for monthly expenses? Guaranteed.
And then arrives the Very Bad Day--when Jenny finds out her dull but reliable office job is in jeopardy, her car totally and completely breaks down, and she arrives home (on foot) just in time to see her modest-but-cozy cottage sliding off a cliff into the sea. Jenny's life--not to mention her home--has reached its ultimate low point.
Estranged from her parents since she became pregnant at age eighteen and set out on her own, Jenny has nowhere to turn when she and her son, Charlie, find themselves without a place to live. Her neighbor, the reclusive but attractive Luke who lives alone with his dog in a surprisingly homey RV, opens up his camper--and his vagabond lifestyle--to Jenny and her son.
As the unlikely threesome--four including the dog--hit the road, Jenny finds herself experiencing a new sense of freedom as she reflects on who she was, who she is, and who she could become. Maybe when you fall, you actually find the best way to move forward.
Finding You by Amy Clipston
Both of them want a relationship—but is beginning it a big mistake?
On the outside, twenty-seven-year-old Darcy Larsen is a pretty, put-together professional--but inside she's falling apart. Eighteen months ago, she lost her fiancé in an accident she still blames herself for. After a successful transplant, her kidney disease seems to be in check, but she worries that her future children--if she has any--will also suffer from the same condition. And she's overcome with indecision about finding her birth mother, discovering potentially devastating information, and hurting her adoptive parents.
Mechanic Carter Donovan seems to have everything going for him at first glance. Stunning good looks. A wicked sense of humor. And a heart of gold. But Carter's seemingly perfect exterior hides a host of secrets. After a rough breakup and mounting medical bills from a medical emergency that left him drowning in debt, he doesn't feel like the catch everyone says he is. Plus, he's about to turn thirty--with no romantic prospects on the horizon.
When Darcy's Lexus breaks down in her doctor's parking lot, Carter appears on the scene to try to jump start her car--and her heart. But despite their immediate connection right from the start, the two have perhaps too many obstacles to overcome. Carter questions if getting involved with Darcy will be his next big mistake. And Darcy wonders if she can ever move past her grief and guilt to embrace the gift of Happily Ever After that's dangling in front of her.
A Black Woman's Guide to Getting Free by Tamara Winfrey Harris
Author Interview with Tamara Winfrey Harris
Empowering, feminist guidance for Black women on living unapologetically and authentically—from the bestselling author of The Sisters Are Alright.
Unshackle your authentic self from the expectations and stereotypes of American culture through the 6 pillars of living free as a Black woman.
Tamara Winfrey Harris harnesses her knowledge as a two-time author and storyteller of the Black femme experience and nationally known expert on the intersections of race and gender to deliver a sharp feminist analysis that is illustrated by real-life stories and examples plucked from popular culture and intimate Black woman-to-Black woman truth-telling.
This book is separated into two parts. First, the meaning of liberation is explored and Black women will be guided in creating sustaining practice to mature their well-being along the freedom journey.
In part two, readers are introduced to the 6 pillars of living free as a Black woman:
Spot the distortions
Know your truth
Celebrate the real you
Understand the cost of liberation
Practice freedom
SEE free Black women everywhere
With the bold, astute writing that you have come to expect from Winfrey-Harris, A Black Woman’s Guide to Getting Free urges Black women everywhere to choose themselves, and choose freedom, in a world that would have you chained.
The Day He Never Came Home by Andrew DeYoung
To protect her family, one mother's lie of omission leads to another in this twisty, suspenseful domestic thriller, perfect for fans of Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me.
She thought she knew her husband. She was wrong.
Regan Peters knows her husband John wants to give her and their children a good life. The long hours he puts in as a financial advisor prove his dedication, and despite how mysterious he is about his past, that's been enough for her to get through the hard days. Until the FBI shows up at their door looking for John, and Regan learns that her husband has been running a Ponzi scheme, is mixed up with dangerous criminals, and has been living under an assumed identity all these years. Everything she thought she knew about her husband has been a lie.
That includes the outrageous birthday present John gifted her the day before he disappeared—a lake house, bought with cash, and put in her name only. With her life falling apart, Regan must make a split-second decision: does she tell the FBI about the house? Or does she buy some time to forge her own path to saving herself? But one compromise inevitably leads to another, and one dangerous secret builds on the next.
When her lies of omission to the FBI agents begin to raise questions, Regan becomes inextricably embroiled in John's crimes, the true extent of which are just beginning to be revealed. Now that her comfortable life is clearly over, Regan is learning she is capable of far more than she ever imagined. She will do anything to protect herself, her children, and their future. Anything.
Die Hot with a Vengeance: Essays on Vanity by Sable Yong
DIE HOT WIITH A VENGEANCE is an essay collection about beauty culture that delves deep into the machinations of the multi-billion-dollar industry, offering an incisive yet wry analysis of what it takes to be “hot”–– and arguing that real hot behavior is found in redefining vanity as a tool for self-discovery and embracing what makes each of us unique.
