Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week: June 16 - 22
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Imagine this…
The sun hangs high in the sky on this lazy June afternoon, casting a golden glow over the serene lake before you. You walk down the gravel path, feeling the crunch under your sandals, as the gentle breeze whispers through the trees, bringing with it the sweet scent of blooming flowers and fresh water. In your hand, you carry a brand-new book, its pages unturned and full of promise.
Reaching the lakeside, you find the perfect spot: a large, flat rock warmed by the sun, nestled under the shade of a sprawling oak tree. You settle down, the rock's heat seeping through your clothes, contrasting pleasantly with the cool shade. The water laps gently against the shore, its rhythmic sounds harmonizing with the rustling leaves and distant calls of birds.
You take a moment to appreciate the tranquility of the scene, the world seeming to slow down around you. The hustle and bustle of daily life feel a million miles away, replaced by the simple pleasures of nature. You feel the tension drain from your shoulders as you close your eyes, savoring the moment.
Opening your eyes, you turn your attention to the book in your lap. The cover is inviting, a tantalizing glimpse of the adventure or mystery that lies within. You run your fingers over the smooth surface, feeling the slight ridge of the embossed title. With a sense of anticipation, you open to the first page, the crisp paper crackling softly.
As you begin to read, you are immediately drawn into the story. The words flow effortlessly, painting vivid pictures in your mind. The characters come to life, their voices clear and distinct, each one adding to the tapestry of the tale. The lake, the trees, and the sky around you start to fade as the world within the pages becomes more real.
You pause occasionally to look up, letting your eyes rest on the shimmering water and the dance of light and shadow. These moments of reflection are brief, though, as the pull of the narrative is too strong. You are eager to know what happens next, to uncover the secrets and follow the twists and turns of the plot.
The afternoon stretches on, the sun gradually making its way across the sky. The light shifts, casting different patterns on the water and the ground around you. The warmth of the rock beneath you is comforting, a steady presence as you lose yourself in the story. You marvel at the skill of the author, the way the words seem to come alive, making you laugh, gasp, and ponder.
You are so engrossed in the book that you almost don't notice the small fish jumping in the lake, the splash of water a gentle reminder of where you are. A dragonfly flits past, its wings a blur of iridescent color. The world within the book and the world around you blend seamlessly, each enhancing the other.
As the afternoon turns to early evening, the air cools slightly, and the shadows lengthen. You reach a natural stopping point in the book, a cliffhanger that leaves you eager for more but also provides a perfect moment to pause. You close the book reluctantly, your fingers lingering on the cover as you take a deep breath, bringing your attention back to the present.
You stand and stretch, feeling the pleasant ache of having sat still for so long. The lake is calm, the surface smooth like glass, reflecting the soft colors of the setting sun. You feel a sense of contentment, a quiet joy in having spent the afternoon in such a peaceful, beautiful place, lost in a good book.
As you walk back up the path, the book tucked under your arm, you look forward to the next opportunity to return to this spot. You know that the story will continue to beckon, the lake will still be there, and the magic of a June afternoon by the water will always be waiting for you.
Scroll down to find out what book you might be reading…
We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
The Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as the family enters their home, strange and inexplicable things start happening, including their toddler going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?
All Our Tomorrows by Catherine Bybee
From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee comes the story of a reluctant billionaire who takes on his father’s empire, its dark secrets, and a fiery assistant he can’t get out of his head.
When Chase Stone’s estranged father dies, leaving his multibillion-dollar business to his children, no one is more surprised than him. Growing up outside of the high-stakes world filled with human vultures, Chase and his sister, Alex, are less than enthusiastic about stepping into their father’s shoes. That is until they learn of a half brother they didn’t know existed, and must find to share their inheritance with.
Piper Maddox was the elder Mr. Stone’s übercapable assistant―abruptly fired two weeks before his death. She knows everything about Stone Enterprises and the man who built it. But Piper has no desire to work for another member of the Stone family. Even one as down to earth as Chase.
Desperately needing financial security, Piper agrees to return so long as kissing up to Chase and accepting unwanted advances were not part of her job description. A task that becomes a serious hurdle for both of them. Piper and Chase scramble to find the third Stone sibling before the media does, sharing secrets along the way. Secrets that can bring them together or tear them irrevocably apart.
The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.
Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.
Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?
Elk Love: A Montana Memoir by Lynne Spriggs O'Connor
Author Interview with Lynne Spriggs O'Connor
Having spent ten summers on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near Glacier National Park, part of her doctoral fieldwork for a PhD in Native American Art History, forty-two-year-old Lynne Spriggs thinks of Montana as her healing place. When she moves to “Big Sky Country” from the East Coast in a quest to reset her life, she has high hopes for what awaits her.
Great Falls, a farming and military town in central Montana, is not what Lynne imagined when she decided to leave city life behind. But her dream of being more connected to nature in the American West comes alive when she meets Harrison, a handsome rancher thirteen years her senior. Wary but curious, with her dog Willow by her side, she leans into the seasonal rhythms of Harrison’s hidden valley and opens her heart to a wild language that moves beyond words. In a modern world where listening is rare, Elk Love explores an intimate place where loneliness gives way to wonder, where the natural world speaks of what matters most.
A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell
A delightfully queer Victorian love story, featuring a boldly brash trans hero, the beguiling botanist who captures his heart, and a buoyant bicycle race by the British seaside — from the author of The Duke Undone.
Former painter and unreformed rake Kit Griffith is forging a new life in Cornwall, choosing freedom over an identity that didn't fit. He knew that leaving his Sisterhood of women artists might mean forfeiting artistic community forever. He didn’t realize he would lose his ability to paint altogether. Luckily, he has other talents. Why not devote himself to selling bicycles and trysting with the holidaymakers?
Enter Muriel Pendrake, the feisty New-York-bound botanist who has come to St. Ives to commission Kit for illustrations of British seaweeds. Kit shouldn’t accept Muriel’s offer, but he must enlist her help to prove to an all-male cycling club that women can ride as well as men. And she won't agree unless he gives her what she wants. Maybe that's exactly the challenge he needs.
As Kit and Muriel spend their days cycling together, their desire begins to burn with the heat of the summer sun. But are they pedaling toward something impossible? The past is bound to catch up to them, and at the season’s end, their paths will diverge. With only their hearts as guides, Kit and Muriel must decide if they’re willing to race into the unknown for the adventure of a lifetime.
The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne
A beautiful and enriching novel about unforgettable love and the power of friends and family by Melissa Payne, the bestselling author of The Night of Many Endings and A Light in the Forest.
Mack Anders will do anything for his wife, Daisy. Even die. With the woman he loves fading away from Alzheimer’s, Mack fakes his own passing. The insurance makes certain that Daisy will be taken care of with dignity and comfort until the end. In a lonesome cabin in the Wyoming wilderness, he lives off the grid with nothing but thoughts of the past to keep him company and the belief that Daisy is better off without him.
Strong-willed eighteen-year-old Brandi has just been released from juvie. Willing to risk everything to save her young brother, Sy, from their unstable mother, Brandi takes him on the run. Her destination is their aunt’s house in Casper. Maybe there she can finally find a stable home for Sy. After a busted tire strands them in the remote wildlands of Wyoming, they cross paths with Mack. Brandi quickly realizes this quiet stranger might be their only hope of reaching safety.
On an unpredictable road ahead, escape brings these three kindred souls together. But the real world is closing in, and to help Brandi and Sy, Mack will have to come back to life in ways he never imagined.
The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Author Interview with Liv Constantine
The follow-up to the million copy plus bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick, The Last Mrs Parish. Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into one another’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line. Perfect for those who love the razor-sharp tension of domestic intricacies of Shari Lapena plus the hairpin twists by way of Megan Miranda. But with the fabulous Liv Constantine flair that we’ve come to know and love. THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH is the Liv Constantine brand at its height—salacious, exclusive, escapist fun!
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Emlyn doesn't let herself think about the past. How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the love of her life, left her half dead on the side of the road three years ago. Her new life is simple and safe. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer and works as a fishing and hunting guide in scenic Idaho. Her closest friends are the community's makeshift reverend and a handsome Forest Service ranger who took her in at her lowest.
But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged boyfriend. She hasn't posted lately, though, and when Emlyn realizes the most recent photo doesn't match up with its caption, she reluctantly teams up with Tyler to find her old friend. As the two trace Janessa's path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can't deny the chemistry still crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn't the only one in danger.
A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry
In USA Today bestselling author Connie Berry’s fifth Kate Hamilton mystery, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton follows bloodstained clues to discover the truth about the murder of a modern-day Victorian gentleman.
As Kate Hamilton and her new husband, DI Tom Mallory, honeymoon in Devon, a local history museum asks them to trace the provenance of a bloodstained dress said to belong to a Victorian lacemaker accused of murder. If genuine, the dress and its puzzling connections to a nineteenth-century Romani family who camped on Dartmoor will be the centerpiece of a new historic crimes exhibit—exactly Kate’s kind of mystery. But matters turn deadly when a shot is fired during a fundraising gala, injuring the man who donated the dress.
The injured donor, Gideon Littlejohn, is a cybersecurity expert who lives and dresses as a Victorian gentleman, but everyone believes the real target of the attack to be another attendee—a controversial politician intent on rooting out local corruption. This belief is overturned when Gideon is found dead in a pool of blood. But then the politician receives a death threat.
Who was the real target? Who would want to kill both a man with an obsession for history and a tough-on-crime politician? When asked to assist in the investigation, Kate races to discover the truth, as it becomes clear the killer isn’t going to come quietly.
The Helper by M.M. Dewil
Mary Williams—faced with unexpectedly losing her job and the possibility of losing custody of her daughter as well—answers an unusual help wanted ad. When an ailing man offers her an outrageous proposal that could solve all her problems, Mary takes fate into her own hands and accepts, agreeing to the extraordinary thing this man is asking.
It’s a decision that changes everything.
Because what Mary thought was true is in fact a lie, and now she faces a new reality that is far more disastrous than anything she could have imagined.
Relentless and propulsive, The Helper is a compulsive page-turner fueled by lies, deceit, and revenge. Punctuated by biting wit and satirical social commentary, Dewil’s debut gives us a peek behind the lie that was once the American dream and explores the story of one woman struggling for footing in the modern world.
Jackie: A Novel by Dawn Tripp
In this mesmerizing novel about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, acclaimed author Dawn Tripp has crafted an intimate story of love and power, family and tragedy, loss and reinvention. Jackie is the story of a woman—deeply private with a nuanced, formidable intellect—who forged a legacy out of grief and shaped history even as she was living it.
A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber
Author Interview with Anna Lee Huber
October 1832. Kiera is enjoying the slower pace of the English countryside. She, Sebastian, and their infant daughter have accompanied her father-in-law, Lord Gage, home so that he can recuperate from the injuries he sustained in a foiled attempt on his life. But as the chill of autumn sweeps across the land, they receive a summons from an unexpected quarter. Lord Gage’s estranged uncle—a member of the notorious Roscarrock family—has been murdered, and his family is desperate for answers. Despite Lord Gage’s protests, Kiera and Sebastian press on to Cornwall to assist.
It isn’t long before they discover that almost nothing is as it seems among the Roscarrocks, and they’ve been lured to their isolated cove under false pretenses. There are whispers of a lost treasure and frightening allusions to a series of murders stretching back decades that touch the lives of the family personally. Kiera and Sebastian are left with no choice but to uncover the truth before the secrets of the past threaten to destroy them all
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
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.
Shadowheart by Meg Gardiner
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Gardiner comes a new high-octane thriller in the acclaimed UNSUB series.
FBI Special Agent Caitlin Hendrix faces a case from nightmares.
In a Tennessee prison, Efrem Judah Goode draws haunting portraits of women he claims he has killed. Around the country, desperate families of the missing seek answers in his eerie drawings. And on darkened back roads and New York City streets, a new killer poses duct-taped bodies at the sites of Goode’s murders.
Two serial killers are locked in a twisted rivalry. To stop the brutal slayings, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix must unravel the connection between Goode and the Broken Heart Killer. Their warped competition destroys anyone in their path. Caught between a manipulative psychopath and a ruthless UNSUB, Caitlin has to dive into not one, but two dark and twisted minds. She will risk everything, plunging into the depths of their depraved clash to hunt down an unstoppable killer.
