Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week: June 30 - July 6
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Imagine this:
On a warm July morning, you find yourself nestled into your favorite reading spot, the sun casting a golden hue over the pages of a new book you've been eager to start. The gentle rustling of leaves outside provides a soothing background melody, perfectly complementing the quiet anticipation you feel. Today is the day you dive into a fresh literary adventure, and the promise of unknown characters and stories fills you with a sense of excitement and possibility.
You take a moment to appreciate the stillness around you. The house is calm, a sanctuary of peace before the world wakes up fully. The air is slightly cool, carrying the remnants of the night's breeze, but you know it will soon warm up. This is your favorite time of day, when everything seems possible and the day is a blank canvas, ready to be painted with experiences and emotions.
Opening the book, you run your fingers over the crisp, new pages. There's a distinct pleasure in the scent of a new book, a mix of paper, ink, and potential. You read the first few sentences, allowing yourself to be drawn into the story. The words are like a spell, gradually pulling you away from your surroundings and into the world the author has crafted. You can almost see the setting, hear the characters' voices, and feel their emotions as vividly as if they were your own.
As you turn each page, the morning light shifts, dappling the paper with patterns of light and shadow. You lose track of time, wholly immersed in the narrative. The author's voice is clear and captivating, weaving a tale that is both unique and relatable. You encounter the protagonist, a character who immediately intrigues you. Their struggles, dreams, and quirks start to unfold, and you feel a growing connection to them. You cheer for their victories and empathize with their hardships, the line between fiction and reality blurring as you become more engrossed.
The story takes you on a journey through vibrant settings and intricate plots. There are moments of suspense that make your heart race, and passages of beauty that make you pause, savoring the exquisite prose. You marvel at the author's ability to craft such vivid imagery and complex characters, appreciating the talent and effort that goes into creating a book. It's a reminder of why you love reading so much—each book is a doorway to a different world, a new perspective, a chance to live multiple lives through the experiences of the characters.
By now, the sun is higher in the sky, and the warmth is starting to seep into the room. You stretch, taking a break to reflect on what you've read so far. There's a sense of satisfaction in the act of reading, a fulfillment that comes from engaging with a good story. It's a quiet, personal joy that enriches your day and nourishes your mind. You glance at the cover again, the title now more meaningful after delving into the first chapters.
You decide to pour yourself a cool drink, a refreshing companion to your reading. As you sip and return to your book, you feel grateful for these moments of tranquility and intellectual stimulation. The day might bring its challenges and routines, but right now, you're content to lose yourself in the pages of your new book.
As the story unfolds, you find lessons and insights woven into the narrative, sparking thoughts and reflections. Books have a way of touching your soul, of resonating with your own experiences and dreams. This one is no different, offering both escape and understanding.
By the time you look up, you've lost track of how long you've been reading. The July morning has given way to a bright, sunny day. You close the book, placing a bookmark carefully between the pages. There's a sense of anticipation for when you'll return to it, knowing that the story will be waiting for you, ready to whisk you away once more. For now, you carry the warmth and wonder of this morning with you, a reminder of the simple pleasures found in the pages of a new book.
Scroll down to find out what book you might be reading…
The Curse of the Flores Women by Angélica Lopes, translated into English by Zoë Perry
In this haunting novel about the enduring bonds of womanhood, a young girl weaves together the truth behind her family history and the secrets that resonate through generations.
Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting―against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family.
Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a “curse” that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control.
As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for.
Sorry for the Inconvenience by Farah Naz Rishi
Author Interview with Farah Naz Rishi
From a Pakistani American author comes a bracing memoir about tradition, upending expectations, and the volatility of family, friendship, and, inevitably, love.
Pakistani American Farah Naz Rishi’s first year of college was perfectly, thankfully, uneventful. After all, she was in college to learn and forge a path of self-sufficiency, especially after her last relationship fell apart—dashing her mother’s aspirations for an early marriage. What could Farah expect, anyway? For the ideal guy to just conveniently waltz into her life? Life isn’t a love story.
Enter Stephen, a Jamaican student with an open smile and a disarmingly laid-back attitude. It’s not love at first sight. And there’s no way Farah’s mother would approve of him as marriage material. But they have something better: an inexplicable connection. Through a series of impossible tragedies, grief, and trying to find her place in the world, Stephen is always there as Farah’s confidant, champion, and, most of all, best friend. Anything more could ruin a perfectly good thing…Right?
Spanning thirteen years of complex family dynamics and a surprising kinship, Farah Naz Rishi’s story explores the unpredictability of love—familial, platonic, and romantic, but never truly instant.
Veridian Sterling Fakes It by Jennifer Gooch Hummer
Freshly graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, Veridian Sterling shops her art to every gallery in New York City. Unfortunately, not one of them is interested, so she opts for a personal assistant role working for a difficult woman who has an old grievance with her mother.
No glitz, no glam, and definitely none of the money she needs to help her struggling mother finally realize her dream of starting her own business after having sacrificed everything for Veri to go to art school. So when she overhears her new boss discussing the impressive finder's fee for a lost Van Gogh, Veri takes matters into her own hands. Maybe her own artwork isn't celebrated, but she knows how to copy what is, and maybe those skills can help lead to a discovery.
When a famous art dealer takes her under his wing (and his charming driver takes her interest), Veri realizes she's in deeper than she expected, and quite possibly with the wrong people. With her mother's dreams and her own future at stake, Veri will have to pull out every trick she can think of to wipe her canvas clean and erase the mess she's created before she goes down for someone else's crimes.
The Night the River Wept by Lo Patrick
From the acclaimed author of The Floating Girls comes THE NIGHT THE RIVER WEPT, a contemporary Southern story about a small-town, stay-at-home wife who suffers a tragic miscarriage and finds herself completely lost—until a gig volunteering at the local police station becomes the opportunity to investigate the county’s most notorious cold case. After months of puttering around, mourning her miscarriage, and becoming increasingly irked by her husband, Arlene seizes the change of pace that comes with taking a job at her local police precinct. But when she takes to poking around old case files, she unearths a cold case, the Deck River Tragedy: the murder of three children, followed days later by the prime suspect’s suicide. Arlene recruits the suspect’s prickly, investigative aunt and the station’s straight-laced, tight-lipped receptionist, and she reopens the case.
Where the Crawdads Sing meets Wiley Cash in THE NIGHT THE RIVER WEPT, an ode to the mountain towns of Georgia; an intense yet poignant mystery driven by another magnetic Lo Patrick protagonist; and a mediation on the suffering we ignore, the people we misjudge, and the beauty in recognizing the untapped potential in others—and ourselves.
The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song
The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.
The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place.
In the army, Meilin's relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.
With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.
Beyond Summerland by Jenny Lecoat
Beatriz Williams meets Laura Spence-Ash in this fast-paced and tension-filled novel about secrets and betrayal in a small community recovering from war, and the two young women at the center of a volatile mystery.
In June of 1945, Jersey is in the midst of change as the German occupation of the Channel Islands comes to an end. However, demands for punishment are rising for those suspected of collaborating with the Nazis. Neighbor turns against neighbor as distrust flourishes and accusations fly, especially towards women who had romantic relationships with the German soldiers.
When Jean Parris learns that her father, who died in a German prison, was reported to the Nazis by an anonymous woman, her rage hits a boiling point. The suspect, Hazel Le Tourneur, denies the accusation but has a motive for wanting Jean's father gone. Then, when Hazel catches Jean secretly meeting with a German soldier, the women form an unexpected bond in the face of ruinous consequences. With tension running high and secrets at every turn, the truth behind the accusations may be more complicated than anyone could imagine.
Three Kings: Race, Class, and the Barrier-Breaking Rivals Who Redefined Sports and Launched the Modern Olympic Age by Todd Balf
Marking the 100th anniversary of the Paris Olympics, the never-before-told story of three athletes who defied the odds to usher in a golden age of sports.
Even today, it’s considered one of the most thrilling races in Olympic history. The one-hundred-meter sprint final at the 1924 Paris Games, featuring the world’s three fastest swimmers—American legends Duke Kahanamoku and Johnny Weissmuller and Japanese upstart Katsuo Takaishi—had the cultural impact of the Super Bowl and Wimbledon and the World Cup finals put together. Never before had a major swimming event featured athletes of different races, and never had it been broadcast live. Across the globe, fans held their breath.
In less than a minute, an Olympic record would be shattered, and the three men would be scrutinized like few athletes before them. For the millions worldwide for whom swimming was a complete unknown, the trio did something few could imagine: moving faster through water than many could on land. As sportsmen, they were god-like heroes, embodying the hopes of those who called them their own in the US and abroad. They personified strength and speed and the glamor and innovation of the Roaring Twenties. But they also represented fraught assumptions about race and human performance. It was not only “East vs. West,” as newspapers in the 1920s described the competition with Japan. It was also brown versus white. Rich versus poor. New versus old. The race was about far more than swimming.
Each man was a trailblazer and a bona fide celebrity in an age when athletes typically weren’t famous. Kahanamoku was Hawaii’s first superstar, largely responsible for making the state the popular travel destination it is today. Weissmuller, a poor immigrant, put Chicago on the sports map and would make it big as Hollywood’s first Tarzan. Takaishi inspired Japan to compete on the world stage and helped turn its swimmers into Olympic powerhouses. He and Kahanamoku in particular shattered the myth of white superiority when it came to sports, putting the lie to the decade’s burgeoning eugenics movement.
Three Kings traces the careers and rivalries of these men and the epochal times they lived in. The 1920s were transformative not just socially but for sports as well. For the first time, athletes of color were given a fair (though still not equal) chance, and competition wasn’t limited to the wealthy and privileged. Our modern-day conception of athleticism and competition—especially as it relates to the Olympics—traces back to this era and athletes like Kahanamoku, Weissmuller, and Takaishi, whose hard-won victories paved the way for all who followed.
Dishonestly Yours by Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie
Phoebe Graves grew up in a family where deception and seduction are as commonplace as breathing. The Graves and her best friend Hailey’s family have been on the run their whole lives, but after a high-stakes con job goes south, Phoebe and Hailey decide to run away and start over. The small Connecticut town they settle in seems too good to be true.
The biggest flaw in their plan is Hailey’s frustratingly handsome brother, Rocky, who insists on coming with them. Living honestly isn’t in his DNA, and his past with Phoebe is downright messy. He’s everything she wants, but nothing she can have.
Phoebe worries that Rocky will tempt them back into their old ways, where lying is second nature. She doesn’t want Rocky to mess up the new life she’s begun for herself. The longer she stays in town, the more she realizes what it means to have a reputation—and what a normal life with the man she loves could look like.
In This Ravishing World by Nina Schuyler
In this Ravishing World is a sweeping, impassioned short story collection, ringing out with joy, despair, and hope for the natural world. Nine connected stories unfold, bringing together an unforgettable cast of dreamers, escapists, activists, and artists, creating a kaleidoscopic view of the climate crisis. An older woman who has spent her entire life fighting for the planet sinks into despair. A young boy is determined to bring the natural world to his bleak urban reality. A scientist working to solve the plastic problem grapples with whether to have a child. A ballet dancer endeavors to inhabit the consciousness of a rat. In this Ravishing World is a full-throated chorus— with Nature joining in— marveling at the exquisite beauty of our world, and pleading, raging, and ultimately urging all of its inhabitants toward activism and resistance.
The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore
Emily Henry meets Fleabag...and The Bachelor! An irresistibly sharp and sexy dramedy about a cynical romance novelist who goes on a Bachelor-like reality show to revive her flagging career, only to discover that while she may have just met the love of her life, the producers have turned her into the show’s villain.
Good villains make good TV.
Romance novelist Jacqueline Matthis’s big career has gone bust and she’s ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown. Desperate, Jac dreams up a comeback plan—she is going to be a contestant on the 1, the most obsessively watched reality dating show in the world.
After all Jac is a romance writer—she knows how to pull off a meet-cute and create a spicy plotline.
On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’s heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on the 1? Henry is just as horrified…but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
As Jac plays the game and the show unfurls, she slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure. What happens if Marcus chooses her? Worse, what happens if her affair with Henry comes to light? What if, in trying to save her career, Jac has ruined her life?
Heartbreaking, smart, and sexy, this novel is for anyone who has ever secretly rooted for—or felt like—the villain.
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
A recently deceased woman meets “the one” in the afterlife waiting room, scoring a second chance at life (and love!) if she can find him on earth before ten days are up…
If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, but now she’s standing in her ‘shine like a star’ nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her.
As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife.
When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to earth and reconnect with the mysterious man, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start. But in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind…
The World After Alice by Lauren A. Green
When Morgan and Benji surprise their families with a wedding invitation to Maine, they’re aware the news of their clandestine relationship will come as a shock. Twelve years have passed since the stunning loss of sixteen-year-old Alice, Benji’s sister and Morgan’s best friend, and no one is quite the same. But the young couple decide to plunge headlong into matrimony, marking the first time their fractured families will reunite since Alice’s funeral.
As the arriving guests descend upon the tranquil coastal town, they bring with them not only skepticism about the impromptu nuptials but also deep-seated secrets and agendas of their own. Peter, Morgan’s father, may be trying to dissuade his daughter from saying “I do,” while Linnie, Benji’s mother, introduces a boyfriend who bears a tumultuous past of his own. Nick, Benji’s father, is scheming to secure a new job before his wife—formerly his mistress—discovers he’s lost his old one. Morgan, too, carries delicate secrets that threaten to jeopardize the happiness for which she has so longed. And as for Benji—well, he’s just trying to make sure the whole weekend doesn’t implode.
As the whirlwind weekend unfolds, old passions reignite, deep wounds resurface, and unearthed secrets threaten to shatter the fragile peace the wedding promises. With each new revelation, the to-be-weds and their complicated families are forced to question just how well they know the ones they hold dear.
They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story by Peter James
Some will know how it begins . . .
My name is Sandy.
My husband is Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.
But when I disappeared, even he couldn't find me . . .
This is my story.
There's more to Sandy than meets the eye. A woman with a dubious past, a complicated present and an uncertain future.
Then she was gone.
Some will think they know how it ends . . .
Her disappearance caused a nationwide search. Even the best detective on the force couldn't find her.
They thought she was dead.
But nobody knows this . . .
Where did she go? Why did she run? What would cause a woman to leave her whole life behind and
simply vanish?
For the first time the truth behind Sandy Grace’s dramatic disappearance is revealed. They Thought I Was Dead will thrill fans and new readers alike with its gripping story of a woman on the run. This is Sandy's story.
Echo Road by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh
When two cross-country cases collide, Bree Taggert and Mercy Kilpatrick join forces to catch a serial killer in an addictive novel of suspense by bestselling authors Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.
During a vicious heat wave, a county maintenance worker stumbles upon two suspicious suitcases abandoned by the side of the road. Sheriff Bree Taggert responds to find two bodies stuffed inside the luggage. The press demands action. The community is on edge. Suddenly, Bree is at the center of a media firestorm.
In Oregon, a senator’s daughter goes missing. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick agrees to keep the politically sensitive case on the down-low. When she finds a link between the disappearance and a double homicide three thousand miles away, Mercy takes the next plane out―and lands right in the middle of Bree’s double homicide investigation.
To save the missing girl, Bree and Mercy must work together to stop a killer who’s playing deadly games with the press and stirring up public rage. Hungry for notoriety, he dares Bree and Mercy to catch him before he kills again.
The Match by Sarah Adams
From the New York Times bestselling author of Practice Makes Perfect comes an expanded edition of The Match—a charming romance novel about second chances and the healing power of love, with a never-before-seen chapter.
Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it.
Evie Jones has dedicated her life and very limited funds working for Southern Service Paws, the company that matched her with the love of her life: Charlie, a service dog trained to assist with her epilepsy. But it’s no secret that the company has been struggling to make ends meet. It’s up to her and her longtime mentor and boss to throw the fundraiser of the century to keep the doors open.
Then Evie meets Jacob Broaden at a client consultation meeting. There are instant sparks—but not the good kind, because Jacob’s daughter set up the meeting without his knowledge. Ten-year-old Sam has been recently diagnosed with epilepsy, and has wanted a service animal ever since. While he had hesitations at first, it doesn’t take long for Jacob to be convinced that a service dog, and possibly Evie, with her magical, woodland-green eyes, might just be the best thing for him and his daughter.
As Evie spends more time with Jacob and helps Sam find her perfect match with a lovable golden retriever named Daisy, she starts longing for something she’s never had before: a loving family. For Jacob, falling in love with Evie is the last thing he should be doing, but love has a way of finding those who need it most.
Flashpoint by Catherine Coulter
Agents Savich and Sherlock are back in the latest installment in Catherine Coulter’s #1 New York Times bestselling FBI Thriller series, where the past refuses to stay buried.
A year has passed since Elizabeth Palmer was nearly killed with hundreds more in the attempted bombing of St. Paul’s in London, believed to be a terrorist act until the police discovered it was a cover for something even more sinister. For Elizabeth, life is finally back to normal. She’s optimistic, her painting is getting accolades, when suddenly her world changes in a flash. With three new attempts on her life, and her connection to the terrorist attack, MI-5 gets involved to find out who is trying to kill her and why.
Autumn Backman, twelve years old, begrudgingly accepts a summer job to shepherd Tash Navarro, a shy, bullied little boy. He’s staying with his uncle while his father and stepmother go on a honeymoon in Europe. Then the unexpected happens. Autumn learns Tash is gifted psychically, like her, and Tash’s father, Archer Navarro, is suspected of embezzling from his own firm. The FBI and Interpol are on the case, but Archer and his new wife have disappeared. Tash is scared and convinced his father needs help, so Autumn reaches out to Dillon Savich, the only person she knows who can find them.
Desperate for answers, Elizabeth flies to Washington, D.C., to seek out Savich and Sherlock and is assigned Special Agent Rome Foxe for protection. With deadly assailants in terrifying pursuit, Elizabeth and Rome soon find themselves neck deep in danger and in a race for survival.
Buckle up for a nonstop, action-packed thriller from the one and only Catherine Coulter.
The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh
This wasn’t how Kelsey Worthington’s day was supposed to go. She wasn’t supposed to be picking up Starbucks for her smarmy boss. She wasn’t supposed to get hit by a car that jumped the curb. And she certainly wasn’t supposed to wake up in a hospital room next to Georgina Tate—the legendary matriarch of New York City businesswomen.
Kelsey and Georgina couldn’t be more opposite. Kelsey’s a dreamer, a writer who questions her own skill. And Georgina is a confident businesswoman whose years of shouldering her way into boardrooms and making her voice heard have made her far too outspoken for the faint of heart.
But now, when Georgina’s failing kidneys force her to face some big regrets about the way she’s lived her life, the two women recognize they share a common thread. Maybe it’s time to confront a few things. They must ask themselves: What if I said yes to everything I’ve always said no to?
With Georgina as her companion, Kelsey soon finds herself doing things she’s never done before. Eating street food. Swimming in the ocean. Matchmaking for Georgina with the help of Georgina’s handsome son. And writing her own romance—both in book form and in real life.
So begins the Summer of Yes.
What We Hide by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker
Savannah Webster is trying to find her way forward. She and her husband, Hez, have been separated since tragedy tore them apart and he began numbing his grief and guilt with alcohol. She returned to Tupelo Grove University, which her family helped found over a century ago, to teach history.
When Hez turns up in her classroom asking for a second chance, she rejects the idea immediately. But twenty-four hours later she’s under suspicion for murder, and since Hez is the best attorney she knows, she reluctantly asks him for help. They suspect the murder is tied to someone selling off the university’s pre-Columbia artifacts, but the secrets go much deeper than they realize.
The only hope they’ve got is each other, and they’re going to have to put their past behind them if they’re going to stay alive long enough to uncover all that’s hidden.
Boss Lady by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans
Author Interview with Alli Frank and Asha Youmans
From #1 Amazon bestselling authors of THE BETTER HALF – a Mindy Book Studio Selection – comes a funny, empathetic novel about a mess of a heroine who is desperate to resolve her past so she can finally rediscover who she was always meant to be.
Meet Antonia “Toni” Arroyo. Her protective mother has outdated notions for her daughter’s life: employ her natural beauty and marry young. But Toni has wholly different aspirations.
A promising inventor and budding entrepreneur, Toni fights to keep her passions alive as a financially strapped mother of twins with a job in airport transportation services that has her going in circles. One treasured frequent passenger is elderly traveler Sylvia Eisenberg, Toni’s sage but unofficial adviser and cheerleader. When Toni meets Sylvia’s grandson, Ash, a striking venture capitalist, luck just might bend her way.
With a game-changing new business endeavor in development, Toni hustles an opportunity to pitch her idea on TV’s Innovation Nation. Toni’s unexpected challenger? Her very own recently resurfaced, self-aggrandizing not-quite-ex-husband. As Toni’s interrupted past collides with her tenuous future, she is more determined than ever to follow through on her delayed dreams. Toni’s been clinging to “maybe” for so long—it’s finally time for “absolutely.”
Just Playing House by Farah Heron
Author Interview with Farah Heron
A rising movie star reunites with his high school prom date, now a personal stylist, in this delightful rom-com for fans of forced proximity, second chances, and celebrity romance.This has to be a joke. Stylist Marley Kamal has waited years for the chance to be a private shopper for a major celebrity. But finding out that her first big client is the guy she went to prom with—and slept with and was promptly ghosted by—seems like the universe is mocking her. Because Nikhil Shamdasani is back, about to star in a major movie, and is more drop-dead hot than ever . . . at the worst possible time.
Marley’s only weeks away from an elective double mastectomy and breast reconstruction that’s supposed to save her life. But this surgery is going to change things in more ways than she can possibly imagine. For one, Nik is so eager to have her as his stylist, he’s offered to stay in her home and take care of her while she recovers. Now Marley is about to learn that as the door to her old life closes, something—or rather someone—else will enter . . . if she’s ready to let him in.
