April 21, 2026

April 21, 2026

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 20th and April 27th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our Fiction Author Spotlight of the newly released THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB by Susan Patterson and James Patterson, along with our review. This follow-up to the New York Times bestseller and book club favorite THINGS I WISH I TOLD MY MOTHER revolves around the emotional reunion of the Mother-Daughter Book Club --- four longtime college friends and their five daughters --- which leads to surprising revelations.

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This Week's Bonus News:
Our Fiction Author Spotlight & Featured Review of
THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB
by Susan Patterson and James Patterson

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

On Sale the Week of April 20th in Hardcover

April 20th

THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB by Susan Patterson and James Patterson (Fiction)
Between their busy lives and their far-flung residences, the Mother-Daughter Book Club --- four longtime college friends and their five daughters --- more often discuss the books on their nightstands via 2am texts than in-person meetings. And maybe it’s just as well, after what happened at their last get-together. So it’s an emotional reunion when they finally gather again, this time on the spectacular shores of Italy’s Lake Como. Sightseeing excursions, reminiscing fueled by “Como-politans,” and a hint of vacation romance all build toward the book club’s trademark “Night of Secrets.” These friends, and sometime rivals, are close readers --- of novels, memoirs, and each other. But as the years and the distance cast shadows and doubt, confidences and sympathies turn into surprising revelations.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316580595 

April 21st

BUMBLEBEE SEASON by Eileen Garvin (Fiction) 
Beekeeper Jake Stevenson’s fledgling honey farm has been inundated with orders. But he can’t seem to hire anyone, and there’s no way he can handle the approaching harvest all by himself, no matter how adept he’s become at maneuvering among the beehives in his wheelchair. Meanwhile, Flaco López, a young migrant from Mexico, is lost on Mount Hood when he stumbles upon Jake’s beehives in a high alpine meadow. As Flaco takes refuge on Jake’s farm, they begin to form a tentative friendship. And the two soon cross paths with Abigail Plue, a scientist who’s on Mount Hood studying a threatened native bumblebee. Then a local rabble rouser begins to rally support to build a commercial hunting camp that would destroy Mount Hood’s pristine wilderness. Jake, Abigail and Flaco must come together to protect everything they hold dear.
Dutton | 9798217044900 

THE CARETAKER by Marcus Kliewer (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY: Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY. Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention. It had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all --- vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for. Besides, it’s only three days’ work. Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness. What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property --- and Macy Mullins just might be the only thing standing between it and the rest of humanity.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books/12:01 Books | 9781982198817 

THE LANGUAGE OF LIARS by S. L. Huang (Science Fiction/Space Opera) 
In his training as a spy, Ro was warned: You will always be living a lie. Jumping into a Star Eater's mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species. The only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. The species Ro's own small civilization, with its dwindling resources and withering reach, needs to know more about. It will feel real, his elders impressed upon him. It will never be real. But Ro's certainty runs deep: he will be different. Ro will not be an imposter hiding the truth of his past, because his heart will be one of them. He will be one of them. To understand is to become. It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy.
Tordotcom | 9781250405333 

LAST NIGHT IN BROOKLYN by Xochitl Gonzalez (Fiction)
Spring, 2007. Alicia Canales Forten is in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother’s beliefs, and saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and she moves in. No one embodies this milieu more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza’s life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness that Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself. But when Alicia’s wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza’s precarious lives.
Flatiron Books | 9781250372031 

LIDIE: The Further Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley (Historical Fiction)
Christmas, 1857. America's future is precarious; civil war looms on the horizon. After her abolitionist husband is murdered in the lawless Kansas Territory, Lidie Newton returns, in mourning, to her hometown of Quincy, Illinois. But her sisters have little comfort to offer, and Lidie is haunted by the memories of her failures --- until she takes an interest in her niece, Annie. Annie becomes an actress at the local theater, and when she is offered the opportunity to perform abroad, she decides to run away. But travel is dangerous for a young unmarried woman, so Lidie, armed with her pistol and her wit, goes with her. The two women embark on a perilous journey across the Atlantic. Once they arrive in Liverpool, they vanish into new roles in the household of Annie's benefactor, Mr. Mallory Cunningham. But will either of them be content with her new lot in life?
Knopf | 9780593802298 

LIVONIA CHOW MEIN by Abigail Savitch-Lew (Fiction)
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong. Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. Joining together the present and the past is community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who also was displaced by the fire and has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668075234 

MAD MABEL by Sally Hepworth (Domestic Thriller) 
Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: 81 years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea --- or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying. Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller --- Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for decades. Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road; Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public interest. So Mabel does what she’s always done best --- she takes matters into her own hands.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250284549 

NO WAY HOME by T.C. Boyle (Fiction) 
Terrence Tully is at work when he receives news that his mother has died. A third-year medical resident in a gritty community hospital in downtown Los Angeles, he sees death daily, but the news that his mother has passed away jolts him like no other. Turn the page, and he’s heading north on I-15 through a lifeless desert to the small Nevada town where his mother had retired. Overwhelmed with grief and the burden of having to sort out the remnants of his mother’s life, he stops at a café and has a chance encounter with a pretty young local girl in a turquoise minidress. What seems to him a chance meeting like so many we all experience daily will come to upend his life and morph into a fatal obsession.
Liveright | 9781324097525 

PARADOX by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston (Technothriller)
When a reclusive man is found dead under grisly circumstances in the Colorado wilderness, CBI Agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff Jim Colcord, whom we met in EXTINCTION, team up again on their most enigmatic and dangerous case yet. Their investigation uncovers a trail of bizarre killings, baffling money transfers, and a fanatical secret society. And all the while, the resurrected Neanderthals, who vanished into the Colorado mountains, seem to be biding their time for something…spectacular.
Forge Books | 9781250413901

PERMANENCE by Sophie Mackintosh (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Clara and Francis are in love, but nobody knows it. For months they have been stealing away from their respective lives, leaving no trace of their relationship behind. Their time together is always excruciatingly sweet and all too short. Until one day they wake up in an apartment neither of them recognizes, with no memory of how they got there. They find themselves in a new, unnamed city, a self-contained sanctuary where adulterers live openly as couples. Here there are fountains and old town squares and perfect cafes with checkered tablecloths. Contact with the real world is impossible, and the city’s whims are mysterious. But now those stolen afternoons never have to end. How much would you sacrifice for a life you never thought possible? And how long can you stay in paradise before the cracks start to show?
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781668206522 

THE ROLLING STONES: The Biography by Bob Spitz (Music/Biography)
All great music is a threat. What left is there to say about The Rolling Stones? A hell of a lot, it turns out. Bob Spitz has brought his indefatigable energy and five decades of experiences in the fields and hollows of rock 'n’ roll to bear on his five-year journey to reexamine one of popular music’s greatest stories. There are myriad revisions to the conventional narrative that underscore just how in control of that narrative the band has been up to now. But, as with the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, Spitz’s greatest gift is for the big picture. He knows where the magic is, and why it is. He is as clear-eyed a connoisseur of the show business, the spectacle and the collateral damage of this whirlwind as anyone alive. But the ultimate goal is to connect with a creative force whose power shows no signs of fading, over 60 years on. 
Penguin Press | 9780593489093 

A ROOM IN BOMBAY: A Memoir by Manil Suri (Memoir)
Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai), which his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. At age 20, Suri managed to break free from their single room and come to the US, where he finally found the freedom to embrace his sexuality and find a life partner. But the room, which still held his parents hostage, kept wrenching him back to Bombay. By now, real estate prices had risen so much that neighbors had begun conspiring to take over the room. Eventually it was only his mother, Prem, left, who had staked all her happiness on her son but was unable to escape the room’s hold on her. When a rash of mysterious incidents seemed to beset the room, Suri realized how little time he had left to convince Prem that a happier life might await beyond the four walls that both enthralled and imprisoned her.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324106388 

SHADOW STRIKE: A Pike Logan Novel by Brad Taylor (Political Thriller/Adventure) 
After its proxies are devastated and its offensive capability pummeled in the latest war in the Middle East, a rogue group of Iranian regime officials create a brazen plot to strike back at their hated enemies once and for all. They envision a series of operational dominos culminating in a devastating attack, and the first step is the assassination of the Israeli prime minister. And there’s only one assassin with the skills to pull it off: Abdul Rahman, known in the shadows as the Ghost. When a routine prison transfer is ambushed, the Ghost escapes and is given the assignment. The only Operator who can hunt him down is the man who stopped him before: Pike Logan. Pike and his team soon learn that the mission involves something bigger than just the escape of his old enemy.
William Morrow | 9780063433199 

SHORT CIRCUIT written by Wolf Haas, translated by Jamie Bulloch (Literary Mystery)
Franz Escher is waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection. To pass the time, he buries himself in a book about a Mafioso-turned-informant, Elio Russo. Elio is in jail, awaiting his imminent release into witness protection. He has betrayed so many people that he fears for his life. Unable to sleep, he lies awake at night reading a book about a man named Franz Escher, who's waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection. So begins SHORT CIRCUIT, an inventive new take on the detective novel. Styled after one of M. C. Escher’s impossible drawings, its two stories gradually intertwine only to solve each other, culminating in one final short circuit. 
HarperVia | 9780063469167 

SMALL BOAT written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson (Fiction)
In November 2021, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the UK capsized in the English Channel, causing the deaths of 27 people on board. Despite receiving numerous calls for help, the French authorities wrongly told the migrants they were in British waters and had to call the British authorities for help. By the time rescue vessels arrived on the scene, nearly three hours later, all but two of the migrants had died, the worst single loss of life ever to occur in the Channel. SMALL BOAT is a fictional first-person account of the French navy officer who took the migrants’ calls --- and her attempts to justify the indefensible. Accused of failing in her duty, she refuses to be held more responsible than others for this disaster, than the crises behind these tragedies.
Mariner Books | 9780063491694 

SMALL TOWN GIRLS: A Writer's Memoir by Jayne Anne Phillips (Memoir/Essays) 
Jayne Anne Phillips grew up in the small town of Buckhannon, West Virginia. The distinctly American landscape of Appalachia has been the great setting for her fiction, even as she and her boundless imagination have traveled to other times and places. In these pieces, Phillips brings us into her childhood and family, most movingly her mother. She recreates the place she calls home, its foundational truths and the densely woven ties between the women of the town. She traces her journeys across the country and her discovery of writing and reading as tools for both survival and revelation, offering insights into the fellow writers and touchstones that moved and influenced her. From the local beauty salon to the legendary Hatfield–McCoy feud, Phillips ponders her relationship with inspiration, spirituality, culture, and the troubled annals of the last American centuries.
Knopf | 9780593804933 

TO THE END OF RECKONING by Joseph Moldover (Psychological Thriller/Literary Mystery)
Lukas Moore has returned to his hometown and left his burgeoning acting career behind to care for his father. Dr. Richard Moore is a psychiatrist known for being nearly as misanthropic as he is brilliant, but a recent traumatic brain injury has changed his worldview in unexpected ways. He now sees mysteries where other people see settled facts --- nowhere more so than in the disappearance of his former colleague and neighbor, Dr. Jason Grant, one year ago. The obvious conclusion was suicide. But Jason’s younger sister and Lukas’ high school girlfriend, Misty, has questioned his fate, so she asks for the Moores’ help in finding out what really happened to him. As Lukas, Richard and Misty are drawn into the puzzle, they are forced to confront the secrets behind both Jason’s disappearance and Richard’s injury.
The Mysterious Press | 9781613167588

A WOMAN'S PLACE by Danielle Steel (Historical Fiction)
In April 1912, 23-year-old Lady Victoria Oldbrooke is traveling with her beloved father from England on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. But when the ship strikes an iceberg and lifeboats are lowered with women and children first, Lord Alfred gives his place to another, and they are separated. Before he goes down with the ship, he asks his friend, Bert Banning, to promise he’ll marry his daughter and care for her. As friendship turns to deeper feelings, Bert hesitates to propose. Not only is he 40 years her senior, but her marrying an industrialist will cause Victoria to be ostracized by the aristocratic world she comes from. She marries Bert anyway and --- cruelly shunned by everyone she knows --- moves to his home in Manchester. When Bert meets a tragic end, she steps into his shoes and applies everything she has learned, in spite of opposition from all sides.
Delacorte Press | 9780593973080 

On Sale the Week of April 20th in Paperback

April 21st

THE 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road by E.A. Hanks (Memoir)
Driving her trusty minivan, “Minnie,” E.A. Hanks retraces the route of a memorable road trip she once took with her mother, seeking to understand the complex woman who shaped her life. Along the way, as she follows her mother’s diaries and her own recollections of the route, she begins to uncover secrets --- some unexpectedly wonderful, and others darker and more violent than she ever imagined --- that bring more questions than answers. Reckoning with the past, the present, her memories and herself, Hanks brings us along a poignant journey, revealing how the stories tied to the places we come from shape the narratives of who we are.
Gallery Books | 9781982131302

THE BEWITCHING by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Historical Fantasy/Gothic Horror)
“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter, Minerva, who is now researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales. In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story. Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus.
Del Rey | 9780593874349

THE BRIGHT YEARS by Sarah Damoff (Fiction)
Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall. When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide if she can open up to love for them --- or herself --- while there’s still time.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668061459

THE CONFESSIONS by Paul Bradley Carr (Technothriller)
LLIAM is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, built to make the toughest decisions for its users. But when it suddenly goes offline with no explanation, the world is thrust into chaos. Then, on every continent, mysterious envelopes arrive in the mail, exposing people’s darkest secrets and most shocking crimes. All beginning with the same chilling words: “We must confess.” With millions of people suddenly made to confront their past transgressions, CEO Kaitlan Goss must track down the only person who can help undo the resulting violent chaos: Maud Brookes, an ex-nun who taught LLIAM what it means to be human. But when Maud receives a letter herself, revealing Kaitlan’s own unforgivable sin, the two women are forced into a deadly game of deceit as the world teeters on the brink.
Atria Books | 9781668074411

DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING: A Rip Through Time Novel by Kelley Armstrong (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchell and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie. Mallory, Gray and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. When they arrive at the Cranston estate, Gray and Mallory decide to explore the castle and the surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. When one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.
Minotaur Books | 9781250321336

DON’T STOP by Bonnie Friedman (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Ina is a 41-year-old literary scholar on the cusp of professional success. With a coveted university job, a kind husband, and a book on Eugene O’Neill due in months, her life appears enviably stable. But when an impulsive kiss with a stranger shatters her self-control, Ina finds herself plunged into an erotic and emotional freefall. She tells herself it’s research --- a brief detour before returning to real life. But what begins as a flirtation becomes a reckoning with everything Ina thought she wanted: marriage, intellect, control. As she navigates the ecstatic confusion of newfound desire, she risks upending her work, her relationship, and her understanding of who she is. 
Europa Editions | 9798889661740

A HISTORY OF HEARTACHE: Stories by Patrick Strickland (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
In A HISTORY OF HEARTACHE, boys grow up fast in the blazing heat of North Texas, and men grow old before their time. A wayward son rides shotgun into a night he can't take back. A janitor at an abortion clinic can’t outrun a ghost --- or a camera. Patrick Strickland writes with clear-eyed realism and unsparing craftsmanship about common people --- fathers and sons; widowers and junkies --- poised on the knife-edge of hope. With taut sentences and a wicked sense of humor, these 14 stories chart the small mercies and big mistakes that make a life: the songs we inherit, the bottles we empty, the tools we fashion from whatever is at hand. Gritty and tender in the same breath, this debut fiction collection asks what it costs to stay, what it takes to leave, and who we become when we do.
Melville House | 9781685892357

HOT AIR by Marcy Dermansky (Fiction/Dark Humor)
Joannie hadn’t been on a date in seven years when Johnny invites Joannie and her daughter to dinner. His house is beautiful, his son is sweet, and their first kiss is, well, it’s not the best, but Joannie could convince herself it was nice enough. But when Joannie’s childhood crush, a summer-camp fling turned famous billionaire, crash-lands his hot-air balloon in Johnny’s swimming pool, Joannie dives in. Soon she finds herself alighting on a lost weekend with Johnny the bad kisser, Jonathan the billionaire, and Julia, his smart, stunning wife. Does Joannie want Jonathan? Does Julia want her husband? Or Joannie? Or Joannie’s beautiful little girl? Does Johnny want Julia? Does Jonathan want Joannie, or Julia, or maybe his much younger personal assistant, Vivian, who is tasked to fix it all?
Vintage | 9780593315361

JAMES by Percival Everett (Historical Fiction)
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Percival Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion as never before.
Vintage | 9780593686867

JULIE CHAN IS DEAD by Liann Zhang (Psychological Thriller)
Julie Chan finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe Van Huusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke. When Julie discovers Chloe’s body, she doesn’t call the police. Instead, she slips into her dead sister’s meticulously curated life: luxury fashion, high-end skincare and a devoted online following who never noticed they weren’t quite the same. Now, trapped on a private island retreat with Chloe’s inner circle --- an elite clique of influencers obsessed with status and secrecy --- Julie is forced to keep up the act while being haunted by her sister’s untimely death. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.
Atria Books | 9781668067901

THE MISSING HALF by Ashley Flowers, with Alex Kiester (Mystery/Thriller)
At 24, Nicole “Nic” Monroe lives alone in a dinky apartment in her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years --- since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both cases eventually went cold. Nic wants nothing more than to move on from her sister’s disappearance and the state in which it has left her. But then one day, Jules’ sister, Jenna Connor, walks into Nic’s life and offers her something she hasn’t felt in a long time: hope.
Bantam | 9780593727003

THE MOUNTAINS WE CALL HOME: The Book Woman's Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
In this stand-alone and companion novel to the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival and the magic of the printed word, THE MOUNTAINS WE CALL HOME is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky life: examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464239335

MUTUAL INTEREST by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith (Historical Fiction)
When Vivian Lesperance meets Oscar Schmidt, a middle manager at a soap company, at the turn of the 20th century, she finds a partner she can guide to build the life she wants --- not least because, more interested in men himself, Oscar will leave Vivian to tend to her own romances with women. But Vivian's plans require capital, so the two pair up with Squire Clancey, scion of an old American fortune. Together they found Clancey & Schmidt, a preeminent manufacturer of soap, perfume and candles. When Oscar and Squire fall in love, the trio form a new kind of partnership. Vivian reaches the pinnacle of her power, building Clancey & Schmidt into an empire of personal care products while operating behind the image of both men. But exposure threatens, and all three partners are made aware of how much they have to lose.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639738403

THE PERFECT DIVORCE by Jeneva Rose (Domestic Thriller)
It's been 11 years since high-powered attorney Sarah Morgan defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. Her life is back to being exactly how she always wanted. Or is it? After discovering Bob engaged in a one-night stand, Sarah wastes no time filing for divorce. However, amid their ugly separation, new DNA evidence is uncovered in the case against Adam, forcing the police to reopen the investigation and putting Sarah right back in the spotlight. Everyone wants to know what really happened, most of all former Deputy Hudson, who is hell-bent on finding the truth. But when the woman Bob slept with is reported missing, he and Sarah start to fight dirty, and a high-stakes game of cat and mouse ensues.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798228646087

THE SAMURAI’S OCTOPUS by Jonelle Patrick (Historical Mystery)
Paperback Original
It’s the year 1784, and the shogun rules with an iron fist...except within the walled pleasure quarter of Yoshiwara. Inside the Great Gate, samurai law does not apply, and it’s women who pull the strings. But beneath the surface runs a deadly current of greed, deception...and murder. Takahisa Takeda will never forgive the first shogun for rewarding his ancestor’s loyalty with more honor than land. He’s the head of a venerable samurai family who barely can make ends meet, until the night he witnesses a terrible crime and seizes the opportunity to turn tragedy into gold. Birdie is just a child when she’s chosen to serve Yoshiwara’s number one courtesan and given a new name at the House of Treasures. Her only way out is to discover why the victim had to die, and hunt down a witness whose life depends on not being found.
Seventh Street Books | 9781645061151

SEALED WITH A HISS: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Mystery)
In Crozet, Virginia, restorations to the long-shuttered local segregated school are nearly complete, and it will be renamed to commemorate an important community member. To honor the former students, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and her friends are hard at work planning a reunion. But the 15 acres behind the school are enticing for more than just a school reunion. One realtor soon reveals plans to buy the land and build over it --- unless the crew can find a way to stop the sale. In their search to prevent the purchase, they come across a dead body. With a little aid from Tee Tucker the corgi and Irish Wolfhound Pirate, as well as feline sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, Harry just might have a chance at solving this mystery and preventing the land purchase once and for all.
Bantam | 9780593874103

SUMMER LIGHT ON NANTUCKET by Nancy Thayer (Fiction)
With three of her kids in the throes of teenagerhood and one not too far behind them, Blythe Benedict has plenty of drama to keep her busy every single day, but no amount of that drama could change the family’s beloved annual summer trip to Nantucket. Blythe has always treasured the months spent at her island home-away-from-home. However, this summer’s getaway proves to be much more than she bargained for. Yes, there are sunny days enjoyed at the beach. But Blythe must contend with teenage angst, her ex-mother-in-law’s declining health, and a troubling secret involving her ex-husband. Meanwhile, she reconnects with her first love, her former high school sweetheart. But their second-time-around romance becomes complicated when another intriguing man enters the picture.
Ballantine Books | 9780593724057

THIS SONG IS ABOUT ME by Melissa de la Cruz (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Ryan Holding, the most famous pop star in the world, won every music award imaginable at the industry’s highest event. She exited the stage to thunderous applause…then disappeared off the face of the earth. Six years later, her social media accounts remain untouched. Her band has broken up. Her Malibu estate sits quiet. And billions of obsessed fans still ask: Whatever happened to Ryan Holding? Amid theories, suspicions and rumors, reporter Elyse James wants the truth about the girl who poured her heart into every song she wrote. As Elyse searches through the stories of Ryan’s life, a portrait of a flesh-and-blood icon begins to emerge. So do clues to a mystery that has captivated the world. Did Ryan disappear to find herself? Or did someone deliberately make Ryan disappear? The answers are the stuff of legend.
Little A | 9781662533686

WE LIVED ON THE HORIZON by Erika Swyler (Dystopian Fiction)
A walled city built to protect and preserve the people who managed to survive a series of great cataclysms, Bulwark was founded on a system where sacrifice is rewarded by the AI that runs the city. Over generations, an elite class has evolved from the descendants of those who gave up the most to found mankind’s last stronghold, called the Sainted. Saint Enita Malovis feels the end of her life and decades of work as a bio-prosthetist approaching. She is determined to preserve her legacy and decides to create a physical being, called Nix, filled with her knowledge and experience. In the midst of her project, a fellow Sainted is brutally murdered and the city AI inexplicably erases the event from its data. Soon, Enita and Nix are drawn into the growing war that could change everything between Bulwark’s hidden underclass and the programs that impose and maintain order.
Atria Books | 9781668049600

On Sale the Week of April 27th in Hardcover

April 28th

BREAK ROOM written by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Eight unsuspecting people receive an invitation to participate in a new reality show called “Break Room.” But what starts as an opportunity for fame is quickly revealed to be something far more unsettling when they learn how they were chosen --- voted in by their respective coworkers as "the office villain." Among them is an imposter, a mole planted by the show's producers. The only way to win the prize money is to uncover the saboteur before time runs out. As alliances shift and paranoia festers, the contestants begin to realize that the true challenge isn't surviving the show --- it's facing their own selves.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639739073 

CERTAINTY by John Twelve Hawks (Dystopian Science Fiction)
In a post-pandemic future where AI has infiltrated daily life, the line between what is real and what is digital has eroded to nothing. As long as she can remember, 10-year-old Kate has felt like someone was watching her. She has been orphaned since the pandemic, her foster parents find her eccentric and off-putting, and her legal guardian is nowhere to be seen. Now, an algorithm has predicted the very worst --- within 30 days, Kate will either be killed or become a killer. When two police officers arrive at her home in Maine intending to implant her with a tracking device, Kate is urged by her trusted AI Interactive Toy (a talking stuffed seal named Zeno) to make an immediate escape. Confused and looking for answers, the girl sets a course for New York City and begins an Orwellian journey into the unknown.
Doubleday | 9780385551205 

CHASING THE CLOUDS AWAY by Debbie Macomber (Romance) 
Maisy Gallagher has her own dreams, but when her father passes away, she selflessly sets them aside to help her family. Chase Furst, the hardened heir to a financial empire, is primarily focused on his own life and on his work as a bank executive. His childhood was marred by his mother’s struggle with addiction, and it left him cynical and emotionally distant. But then Chase meets Maisy, a beautiful woman full of optimism and kindness who can see past his defenses. To his surprise and annoyance, she offers to help him during a time of need and declines his offer of payment. Instead, she asks him to pay it forward --- and not with money or a quick fix, but through an act of true selflessness. At a loss, Chase doesn’t know where to begin.
Ballantine Books | 9798217091676 

CLAWED AND DANGEROUS: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Mystery)
The leaves have fallen in Crozet, Virginia, and with a sudden downpour of cold rain, autumn gloom has settled. But Harry and her best friend, Susan, are determined to cheer up the town. Dr. Anglin is the owner of multiple properties, and he agrees to let Harry and Susan use one of his homes to throw a spooky Halloween bash. But around town, things grow even spookier when a local townsperson turns up dead. Soon, one dead body turns into multiple --- and what’s even spookier is that the deaths seem to be connected. Could they be the result of a lover’s quarrel? Or is something even more sinister haunting the town? With help from her feline sidekicks, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and her helpful hounds, Tee Tucker and Pirate, Harry has no choice but to get to the bottom of it.
Bantam | 9780593874141 

THE COUNCIL by Matthew Betley (Thriller)
To the world, Owen Pierce is just another handsome, successful Miami lawyer. But to the secret American organization known as the Council, he's one of the most dangerous assassins in the world. When Owen lost everything, it was the Council that gave him purpose. He became their most dangerous weapon, the man they send to eliminate high-value, hard-to-reach criminals who escaped the judicial system. But when a mission to take out a cartel leader goes disastrously wrong, Owen starts to uncover the sinister truth of the Council and what they're really after. He and his team go from the Council's top operatives to their number one target. But the Council has made one critical mistake --- they chose Owen because he lost everything…and that means he has nothing left to lose.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798228459977 

DARK IS WHEN THE DEVIL COMES by Daisy Pearce
(Psychological Thriller/Supernatural Horror)
Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister, Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet. Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either. But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying: If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.
Minotaur Books | 9781250334411

A DEADLY EPISODE by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery)
Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne is dead. Or, rather, the actor playing him in the film adaptation of The Word is Murder is. Rising star David Caine has been stabbed, and it seems that everyone on the set had a motive. Caine had just fired his PA. He had fallen out with his director, slept with the screenwriter, humiliated his co-star, and dropped his agent days before he was about to sign a multi-million-dollar deal to appear in the next Spider-Man movie. But what if Caine’s murderer had made a mistake? What if it was the real Hawthorne who was the intended victim? For it turns out that the brilliant detective may have gotten it wrong 10 years earlier. An innocent man has died in jail. And perhaps someone has decided that Hawthorne must pay the price.
Harper | 9780063305748 

DREAMT I FOUND YOU by Jimin Han (Romance)
When Dahee Shin was nine years old, she made a promise to protect her favorite cousin, Channing, who has always been like a sister to her. Now, at 30, Dahee has found herself in a Korean American community in a New England beach town, once more running to the rescue of her debt-ridden relative. Ever the idealist, Channing --- who has spent her life haunted by the tragic story of Chunhyang and Mongryong, Korea’s parallel Romeo & Juliet --- has fallen in love with Minjae Oh, all the while fending off the advances of powerful, manipulative Kent Cho, a local politician. As Channing and Minjae’s romance blossoms, and as Kent's suspicion and obsession grow, Dahee begins to realize that it may be up to her to make sure her cousin and beloved escape Chunhyang and Mongryong’s doomed end.   
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316582797 

GHOST TOWN by Tom Perrotta (Fiction)
Jimmy Perrini lives in 1970s suburban New Jersey, a few miles from Manhattan, but a world apart. At the end of eighth grade, after tragedy strikes, Jimmy finds himself lost in a fog of grief that alienates him from friends and family, drifting instead into troubling friendships with two older teenagers. One is a notorious local burnout with a fast car, an endless supply of weed, and a shaky grasp of reality. The other is a smart, eccentric girl, to whom Jimmy finds himself drawn as they become entranced by her Ouija board, which just may offer the only salve to their grief. As a fateful public drama unfolds, Jimmy is torn between the occult beyond and the cold realities of the place he has called home. 
Scribner | 9781668080634 

THE HOTEL GUEST by Rosemary Hennigan (Psychological Thriller) 
Kit's summer position at the Abbaye de Saint Maurice, an upscale hotel in the French Alps, was meant to be a new start. But after she became entangled with a mysterious group of guests, the estate came to hold her darkest secret, which left her with no choice but to flee. After a decade spent laying low, Kit receives an invitation to return to the hotel. But who is calling her back? Kit can't resist the pull of the Abbaye and the chance to finally find closure. But upon arrival, she learns that a former flame is writing a book that could expose the group's shared secret. The others need her help to stop him, but will Kit be able to betray the man she once loved? When new details surface about that long-ago summer, Kit is forced to question the story she's been telling herself and what it all says about the person she really is.
Park Row | 9781525830341 

HOW TO CHEAT YOUR OWN DEATH by Kristen Perrin (Mystery)
1968: Frances Adams is loving her new London life, and she’s stepped into a world of glamour thanks to her new friend, Vera Huntington --- a magnetic socialite as mysterious as she is provocative. Present day: When Annie Adams heads to London to visit her famous artist mother, Laura, the last thing she expects to find is a dead body. Least of all for it to be Laura’s new protégée, left in an alley with her heart surgically removed from her chest. Annie is no stranger to murder; after all, she’s solved a few already. And something about this case feels familiar. She’s read about one just like it in the journals of her late great aunt Frances, whose friend Vera was killed in the 1960s in the exact same way. As Annie investigates, threats pile up on Laura’s doorstep, and it soon becomes clear that she’s next.
Dutton | 9798217047505 

IN THE SPIRIT OF FRENCH MURDER: An American in Paris Mystery by Colleen Cambridge (Historical Mystery)
As Tabitha Knight arrives at her grandfather’s rue de l’Université mansion, a woman bursts out of the door babbling about messages from spirits and a warning Grand-père must heed. While she’s on a date that evening, she’s accosted by her again --- and learns that Madame Vierca is a medium who claims to have visions of a dark fate that awaits Grand-père and Oncle Rafe. The very next night, Tabitha’s messieurs host a soiree at their new restaurant, inviting fellow Resistance fighters from the war known as the Nine Bluets. But shortly after the revelers leave, one of Grand-père’s old friends is found dead on the street. When a second member of the Nine Bluets is found poisoned the next day, Tabitha cannot ignore Madame Vierca’s frightening predictions about her dear messieurs.
Kensington | 9781496751225

THE ISLAND CLUB by Nicola Harrison (Historical Fiction)
1956: On idyllic Balboa Island, life seems peaceful and welcoming. But when the lives of three women begin to unravel in shockingly different ways, an unlikely friendship --- and the game of tennis --- may be the only thing that can save them. Milly Kinkaid's plan to fix her crumbling marriage seems to be falling apart before it even begins. Society matriarch Sylvia Johnson and her husband have begun a new business venture: The Island Club, a place for members to swim, play tennis and dine in style. But when she learns that he has been risking their financial security, she's poised to lose not only the club, but the entire community she holds dear. Meanwhile, standoffish loner Adele Lambert's entire world is on the brink of being destroyed if the dark secrets of her past and her hidden identity are revealed.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250277404 

THE LAST MOVEMENT written by Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins (Historical Fiction)
In the spring of 1910, Gustav Mahler --- wrapped in a wool blanket --- sits on the deck of the Amerika, sailing back to Europe. The ocean around him is gray and endless, the air sharp with wind and steel. Not yet 50, Mahler is already a legend. In Vienna and New York, audiences fight for tickets to see the restless, small man who commands the most stubborn orchestra in the world. Yet his fame is shadowed by illness. His body is failing, and his wife, Alma, has fallen in love with another man: the young architect Walter Gropius. Mahler has begged, humiliated himself, tried everything to keep her. Nothing worked, except the certainty of his approaching death. Alma has stayed, tending to him with care, perhaps to ease his final passage. On board, Mahler reflects on life, art and, above all, love.
Europa Editions | 9798889661801 

LIAR'S DICE by Juliet Faithfull (Fiction)
Dolores and Mita grow up in rural Brazil, identical and inseparable. But Mita develops a mysterious illness that challenges the family. One day, Dolores wakes up to find her sister gone --- sent to a hospital in their father’s native London. There is no Dolores without Mita. And now Mita is gone. When the family moves to Rio, Dolores’ parents act as if Mita never existed. Lonely and grief-stricken, Dolores struggles to learn to read and write at the stodgy British School --- until she meets Andrea, a headstrong, streetwise girl from the dangerous part of town. Andrea shows Dolores a new side of Rio --- and how to survive it. As the dictatorship cracks down on dissenters, and people disappear, Dolores begins to wonder if her sister is dead and if her parents are lying.
Random House | 9798217153886

MRS. BENEDICT ARNOLD by Emma Parry (Historical Fiction)
Philadelphia in the 1770s. Peggy Shippen longs for the war she’s living through to end. Though not always appreciated at home, she finds her curiosity is welcomed by a lively and influential circle of friends, including a glamorous rising star in the British army, Captain John André. When the war separates them, Peggy is devastated before finding consolation in a man whose heroics for the Patriots have captured the world’s imagination: General Benedict Arnold. As she trades Loyalist balls for Patriot salons, entertaining the most prominent figures of early America, and navigating the country’s lethal political currents, she conceives of an audacious scheme to achieve peace and her family’s survival, unleashing what would become the most famous act of treason in history.
Zando | 9781638933793 

THE ORIGINAL by Priya Parmar (Historical Fiction)
When a young Katharine Hepburn loses her beloved brother, she makes two decisions: she will become famous, and she will never let anyone hurt her again. Leaving home at 21 to pursue an acting career, Kate is lured to Hollywood, accompanied by her lover, Laura. Los Angeles in the early 1930s is a town full of secrets, and Kate has plenty to hide. Soon she is scooped into the studio system and launched as a star. But stars must play by the rules, and Kate --- brilliant, bisexual and strong-willed --- refuses to conform. Surrounded by a legendary circle of intimates, Kate navigates a web of sex, ambition and betrayal. As her career ascends, she faces an agonizing choice: be the star everyone wants her to be, or risk everything to become the woman she always was.
Ballantine Books | 9780593984130 

THE RADIANT DARK by Alexandra Oliva (Fiction) 
It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard and her husband are living an ordinary life in a small town in the Adirondacks. They have just had their first child, and though Carol is struggling with the challenges of new motherhood, her future seems clear. Until something extraordinary happens: an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky, which is ultimately determined to be communication from intelligent life on another planet. But these beings are 11 light-years away, and nothing is known about them other than the fact that they seem to know we exist too. And so begins a decades-long exchange of messages with this mysterious, faraway civilization. As humanity reels from a shifting understanding of its place in the universe, we follow the stories of the Girard family.
SJP Lit | 9781638932529 

THE SAPPHIRE SEA by Davis Bunn (Romance)
Colin Eames recalls his late mother’s tales of a faraway place called the Sapphire Sea, where happiness forever is a way of life. When Colin is accepted into the Outer Banks Academy for the Gifted, it's his chance to slip out from under his father’s control, chart his own course, and embark on a quest for the one thing that eludes him: love. As the years pass and Colin’s freedom offers dream opportunities, his yearning to make a connection grows stronger. Then he meets Mira, an empathetic girl weathering tragic losses of her own. She’s there for him, supporting each new step he takes. For Colin, maybe the promise of the Sapphire Sea wasn’t a bedtime story after all, but rather a true and genuine place in the heart --- one worth searching and waiting for.
Kensington | 9781496754240 

SELLING OPPORTUNITY: The Story of Mary Kay by Mary Lisa Gavenas (Biography) 
Growing up in Depression-era Texas, Mary Kathlyn Wagner is a dutiful daughter and diligent student with ambition aplenty and no place to use it. Married at 16, she is a grandmother at 34. When she is not cooking or taking care of the kids, she peddles cleaning products to other housewives. In 1963, she sets up her own company, selling second chance and self-invention for the price of a skin care showcase. Soon millions know her as the little lady in the big wig who gives away pink Cadillacs. From its unpromising start in a 500-square-foot Dallas storefront, Mary Kay Inc. grows into a global phenomenon. Based on 15 years of research, SELLING OPPORTUNITY gives us a page-turning rags-to-riches story set against the background of direct selling in all its overstated, over-the-top glory.
Viking | 9780670015412 

THIS WEEKEND DOESN'T END WELL FOR ANYONE by Catherine Mack
(Mystery/Humor) 
Eleanor Dash can never catch a break. Not only has she had to solve two real-life murder plots in the past year, but both times it was when she was meant to be on vacation. Now she finally has a ticket to a relaxing weekend --- an all-inclusive resort at the Bahamas where she’s speaking at a conference for murder mystery writers --- but she arrives to find a body on the floor of her hotel room. With plenty of familiar faces at the resort, any one of them could have been the intended target or the culprit behind it all. Surrounded by mystery writers who know all too well the many ways to craft the perfect crime, Eleanor is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and do whatever it takes to get out of this weekend alive.
Minotaur Books | 9781250326164 

A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE by Jordan Harper (Crime Fiction/Thriller)
Los Angeles, right now. America with its back up against the wall. This Frankenstein's monster of crimes and lurid dreams sewn together into something like a city. A city ready to explode: A Hollywood pedophile is arrested, and he is ready to tear down the city to get his freedom. A young woman goes missing --- and men in black rubber gloves who look like cops clean out her apartment in the middle of the night. And the serial killer known as the LA Ripper is on the loose, leaving tragic/graphic/brutal crime scenes in his wake. Three people trying to keep their heads above the dirty water will find themselves coming together to unite these strands into one enormous, unspeakable crime.
Mulholland Books | 9780316458405 

WE BURNED SO BRIGHT by TJ Klune (Fantasy) 
A rogue black hole is coming for Earth, and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone. Suddenly, after 40 years together, husbands Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over. On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how --- impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals and new friends. And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.
Tor Books | 9781250881236 

On Sale the Week of April 27th in Paperback

April 28th

51% by Matt Witten (Dystopian Thriller)
Paperback Original
Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments...even human beings. When a young immigrant woman --- 51% owned by the syndicates --- is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. Detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, Crime Marketing Consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can't crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer. Their search for the truth leads them to Juke's ex, Safiya Jones, a Resistance leader on the syndicates' most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom.
Level Best Books | 9798898201739

ALL THAT LIFE CAN AFFORD by Emily Everett (Fiction)
Anna first fell in love with London at her hometown library. Its Jane Austen balls were a far cry from her life of food stamps and hand-me-downs. But when she finally arrives after college, the real London is a moldy flat and the same paycheck-to-paycheck grind --- that fairy-tale life still out of reach. Then Anna meets the Wilders, who fly her to Saint-Tropez to tutor their teenage daughter. Swept up by the sphinxlike elder sister, Anna soon finds herself plunged into a heady whirlpool of parties and excess, a place where confidence is a birthright. There she meets two handsome young men --- one who wants to whisk her into his world in a chauffeured car, the other who sees through Anna’s struggle to outrun her past. It’s like she’s stepped into the pages of a glittering new novel. But what will it cost her to play the part?
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593545157

ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME by Sarah Harman (Domestic Thriller/Humor)
Florence Grimes is a 31-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her 10-year-old son, Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She has to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever. The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect that Dylan might not be as innocent as she’d like to believe.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593851470

BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Fiction)
When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she and her daughter, Iris, are locked out of their house by the FBI and thrust into the spotlight of @JuniperShoresSocialite, the town’s snarky anonymous Instagram account. Cut off from her bank accounts and feeling desperate, Charlotte takes up an acquaintance’s offer to stay at a beachfront former bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in the small coastal North Carolina town. But when the women discover a secret link between them, it changes everything they thought they knew about the unconventional family they’ve created and leaves them wondering if their coming together was a coincidence at all.
Gallery Books | 9781668074817

BERTIE’S THEORY OF ICE CREAM: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction/Humor)
Paperback Original
Settle in and take a trip back to Scotland’s favorite fictitious street with Bertie, Irene, Big Lou, newcomer Galactica Macfee, and all the rest. Once more, we catch up with the delightful goings-on in 44 Scotland Street. With his singular warmth and charm, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another installment in this popular series, where anything could happen to Bertie and the gang.
Vintage | 9798217008346

BIBLIOPHOBIA: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya (Memoir/Literary Criticism)
Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal and provoke you. She calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners.” Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s THE BLUEST EYE, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed her deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. But Sarah had always lived through her books, seeking escape, self-definition and rules for living. She built her life around reading, wrote criticism, and taught literature at an Ivy League University. Then she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question. Could we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593594742

BURNED BRIDGES: An Irene Rivers Thriller by John Gilstrap (Thriller)
She thought the lovely farm in the heart of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle would be the perfect refuge from DC politics. But this seemingly peaceful new home is anything but safe for former FBI director Irene Rivers and her children. After Irene’s 12-year-old nephew finds a body in a cave on her property, grim evidence points to a long-ago murder and cover-up. Soon Irene’s family is the target of the kinds of threats and intimidation she’s seen before. But this time, the enemy determined to tear them down is local, and the motive is personal. Then comes the attack she most fears. Irene knows she won’t get any help from the local police force. And she’s burned too many bridges in Washington to get help from the feds. This time, Irene Rivers is on her own. Her adversaries are in big trouble.
Kensington | 9781496753625

CARE AND FEEDING: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever (Memoir)
In CARE AND FEEDING, Laurie Woolever traces her path from a small-town childhood to working at revered restaurants and food publications, alternately bolstered and overshadowed by two of the most powerful men in the business. But there’s more to the story than the two bold-faced names on her resume: Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Behind the scenes, Laurie’s life is frequently chaotic, an often pleasurable buffet of bad decisions at which she frequently overstays her welcome. As the food world careens toward an overdue reckoning and Laurie’s mentors face their own high-profile descents, she is confronted with the questions of where she belongs and how to hold on to the parts of her life’s work that she truly values: care and feeding.
Ecco | 9780063327627

DEAR MOTHER by Rea Frey (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
After a childhood riddled with trauma and unanswered questions, Isabelle Archer vows to chase down the truth. So when her estranged mother dies, the investigative journalist returns to the one story that still haunts her. Isabelle was 13 when her three foster siblings died tragically in a fire. The blaze was ruled an accident, and despite the neglect, Isabelle never wanted to believe her mother was a killer. But 25 years later, the accusations linger. Back in Cedarloch to settle the estate, Isabelle revisits her childhood home. A familiar dread permeates the surrounding woods. And when autopsy reports cast new suspicions, Isabelle unearths much more than just terrifying memories. With help from her ex, Isabelle frantically digs for answers. What they find could poison long-held memories --- and incinerate everything she thought to be true.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662532283

THE DEVILS by Joe Abercrombie (Historical Fantasy)
Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain that a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends. Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing that Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.
Tor Books | 9781250880079

THE DOORMAN by Chris Pavone (Thriller)
Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favorite doorman at the Bohemia, the most famous apartment house in the world. But gathered in the Bohemia’s bowels, the building’s almost entirely Black and Hispanic working-class staff is taking in the news that just a few miles uptown, a Black man has been killed by the police, leading to a demonstration, a counterdemonstration, and a long night of violence across the tinderbox city. As Chicky changes into his uniform for tonight’s shift, he finds himself breaking a cardinal rule of the job. Tonight, he’ll be carrying a gun, bought only hours earlier, but before he knew of the pandemonium taking over the city. Chicky knows that there’s more going on in his patch of sidewalk in front of the Bohemia than anyone is aware of.
Picador | 9781250437921

EAT THE ONES YOU LOVE by Sarah Maria Griffin (Fantasy/Horror)
After losing her job and her fiancé, and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy. But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow --- and Neve’s secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show. He is hungry...and he has a plan for them all.
Tor Books | 9781250910714

EVERYTHING HAS HAPPENED by T. Greenwood (Mystery)
Paperback Original
It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, vanished on his walk home from day camp. In her 50s now, Edie teaches at her old high school and has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother. When the long-dormant tip line set up for Charlie rings for the first time in years, Edie assumes it’s a wrong number. But on the other end is Jericho Jenkins, the only person of interest ever identified in the investigation. Jericho believes he’s found something of Charlie’s on his property, and with this news, all the pain and uncertainty of that summer rushes back to Edie, including vivid memories of her best friend, Trill: their shared secrets and the devastating lie Edie told that could have changed everything. Now Jericho is under suspicion again, Trill is coming home, and her mother’s hope is renewed.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892425292

THE FLOAT TEST by Lynn Steger Strong (Fiction)
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters’ friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever --- if only they could trust each other.
Mariner Books | 9780063390799

FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM by Heather McGowan (Fiction/Dark Humor)
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a 24-hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters. Orbiting her is a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation --- among them a line cook staring down a huge opportunity he’s not sure he wants; a costume curator stuck in an inescapable rut; and the ambivalent curator of the museum’s film program, whose first day on the job might very well be his last. On this day of the museum’s annual gala, every plate that Diane has kept spinning will fall --- and by daybreak, someone will be dead.
Washington Square Press | 9781668031285

THE GHOSTWRITER by Julie Clark (Psychological Thriller)
June 1975. The Taylor family shatters in a single night when two teenage siblings are found dead in their own home. The only surviving sibling, Vincent, never shakes the whispers and accusations that he was the one who killed them. Decades later, the legend only grows as his career as a horror writer skyrockets. Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of Vincent Taylor. Now on the brink of financial ruin, she's offered a job to ghostwrite her father's last book. What she doesn't know, though, is that this project is another one of his lies. Because it's not another horror novel he wants her to write. After 50 years of silence, Vincent Taylor is finally ready to talk about what really happened that night in 1975.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464221316

THE INCANDESCENT by Emily Tesh (Dark Fantasy)
Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job --- no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its 600 students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity that Walden most needs to keep her school safe from…is herself.
Tor Books | 9781250835031

THE LITTLE BOOKSHOP BY THE HARBOR by Jean Stone (Fiction)
Paperback Original
It’s been a life-changing year since Maddie moved to the picturesque, historic fishing village of Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard, where her late mother was born. Maddie has rediscovered her grandmother, as well as her own Indigenous roots as half Wampanoag. She’s also found an unexpected second chance at love with restauranteur Rex Winsted. And then she spots a vacant shop right on the harbor. Maddie boldly decides to end her days as a college journalism professor and open a bookshop that also will serve teas her grandmother makes from island herbs. For Maddie, it’s all too good to be true…until the threats begin. An unexpected incident makes the situation worse, and just as the shop is about to open, revelations from the past erupt.
Kensington ‎| 9781496743022

LIVE THROUGH THIS by Douglas Corleone (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Crime writer Gregg Dryer returns to his Pennsylvania campus for Homecoming weekend to revisit the death of his girlfriend, Jess. During their freshman year, everyone assumed she took her own life when she fell from the roof of D’Amelio Hall --- everyone except Gregg. After 30 years of struggling with grief, guilt and personal demons, Gregg still has his doubts about how and why Jess really died that night. His search for answers is also a chance to reconnect with four friends from his college class. As Gregg’s investigation leads deeper into a past he doesn’t recognize, the trail grows darker and more dangerous with each new revelation. As a reunion among old friends becomes one of secrets and suspicions, Gregg must confront his own troubled history --- and a truth with which he may not be able to live.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662532610

MATRIARCH: A Memoir by Tina Knowles (Memoir)
Tina Knowles, the mother of iconic singer-songwriters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: a determined, self-possessed, self-aware and wise woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that. MATRIARCH begins with a precocious, if unruly, little girl growing up in 1950s Galveston. As the realities of race and the limitations of girlhood set in, she begins to dream of a more grandiose world. Her life’s journey --- through grief and tragedy, creative and romantic risks and turmoil, the nurturing of superstar offspring and of her own special gifts --- is the remarkable story she shares with readers here.
One World | 9780593597422

MEMORIAL DAYS: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks (Memoir)
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz --- just 60 years old --- collapsed and died. After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf. Three years later, she flew to a remote island off the coast of Australia to finally give herself time to mourn.
Penguin Books | 9780593654002

MS. MEBEL GOES BACK TO THE CHOPPING BLOCK by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Fiction)
Paperback Original
For 63-year-old Mebel, retirement means her husband of more than 40 years announcing that he's leaving her for their private chef. Mebel has the perfect plan: she’s going to win back her husband. No one knows what he needs better than her. And if he wants a wife who can cook, she will simply go to cooking school. And where better to learn to cook for your husband than France, the most romantic country in the world? However, Mebel quickly learns that she has mistakenly enrolled in a culinary school not in glamorous Paris but rather in England. Despite the less-than-warm welcome from her much younger classmates, Mebel manages to befriend Gemma, the breakout star of the program. And this unlikely friendship starts to show Mebel that maybe there’s more to her than being the perfect trophy wife.
Berkley | 9780593953051

MURDER AT GULLS NEST by Jess Kidd (Historical Mystery)
1954: When her former novice’s dependable letters stop, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows. Haunted by a line in Frieda’s letter, Nora arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent. A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest, it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.
Atria Books | 9781668034040

THE NAMES by Florence Knapp (Fiction)
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Spanning 35 years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora’s last-minute choice of name. In richly layered prose, THE NAMES explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
Penguin Books | 9780593833926

THE NANTUCKET RESTAURANT by Pamela Kelley (Fiction)
Mandy, Emma and Jill O'Toole are as close as three sisters who live hundreds of miles apart can be. They grew up together on Nantucket but have scattered around the country. When their beloved grandmother passes peacefully in her sleep a week before her 99th birthday, she leaves them quite a surprise. In addition to her Nantucket home, they learn that they've inherited Mimi's Place, one of Nantucket's most popular year-round restaurants. They had no idea that she was the silent owner of a restaurant, and no idea how they're going to handle this kind of inheritance. There is, of course, a catch. She left the restaurant equally to Mandy, Emma and Jill --- and also to Paul, the executive chef for the past 15 years. And before they can sell, all three women need to work at the restaurant for a period of one year.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464246203

NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING by Catherine Mack
(Mystery/Humor)
Attending your best friend’s wedding should be a piece of (wedding) cake, but not for Eleanor Dash, the bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series. Because murder seems to follow her every time she goes on vacation. Emma Wood, Eleanor’s best friend since childhood, is starring in the movie adaptation of When in Rome, Eleanor’s first novel. Emma is also marrying Fred Winters, a major movie star and Emma’s co-star, who just happens to be playing Connor Smith, Eleanor’s ex and leading man of the series. Filming wraps, and they invite the whole cast and crew to their wedding at nearby Catalina Island. There may be a storm headed their way, but nothing will stop their nuptials. That is, until Emma receives a note that says “Someone is going to die at the wedding.”
Minotaur Books | 9781250326157

REDBELLY CROSSING by Candice Fox (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Since a violent confrontation tore apart a family five years ago, brothers and fellow cops Russell and Evan haven’t spoken a word to each other. When they’re both assigned to the murder of a young journalist in the tiny town of Redbelly Crossing, their paths are forced to cross again. This was supposed to be the week Russell could repair things with his teenage daughter. Instead, he has to drag her on a murderous ride into the middle of snake-infested nowhere. For Evan, this case is exactly what he needed: a high-profile investigation that will give him the chance to rebuild his career after a terrible mistake that nearly ended it. Then a dark discovery leaves Evan with only one way out: to bury the truth Russell is so determined to uncover.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892425650

SALTWATER by Katy Hays (Psychological Thriller)
In 1992, Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, Italy, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident. And every year, the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the 30th anniversary of her death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them --- the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died. Haunted by the specter of that night, the paranoid, insular Lingate family begins to crack, and Helen seizes the opportunity with the help of Lorna Moreno, the family assistant. But then Lorna disappears, and the investigation into Sarah’s death is reopened. As long-hidden secrets about that night boil to the surface, one thing becomes clear: Not everyone will leave the island alive.
Ballantine Books | 9780593875575

SHOW, DON’T TELL: A Writer, Her Teacher, and the Power of Sharing Our Stories by Kristine Gasbarre (Memoir)
Mrs. Korthaus has always been ahead of her time --- an educator who inspired her students to dream bigger, think deeper, and live boldly. For decades, she led an English classroom with caring and conviction, but it’s not until she’s retired, and then fighting cancer, that she begins to share her story: long ago marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., building a corporate career, and overcoming heartbreak before “accidentally” becoming a teacher and forever shaping the lives of countless young adults --- including bestselling author Kristine Gasbarre. In SHOW, DON'T TELL, Kristine reflects on her 30-year friendship with this extraordinary teacher who shaped her life so significantly.
Worthy Books | 9781546008071

SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY by Alka Joshi (Historical Fiction)
1937. Young nurse Sona is drawn to the renowned, feisty, scandalous painter Mira Novak when they meet while the latter is recovering at a Bombay hospital, and the two women bond over their half-Indian identities. But when Mira dies suddenly and mysteriously, Sona falls under suspicion. The key to proving Sona's innocence may lie in a cryptic note and four paintings Mira left in her care, sending the young woman across a tumultuous Europe to meet Mira’s former lovers and friends. As Sona travels from Bombay to Istanbul, Prague, Paris, Florence and London uncovering Mira's life story, she learns that behind the charming facade was a complicated, troubled woman with dangerous secrets. But will Sona discover them in time to clear her name?
Park Row | 9780778305835

STUART WOODS' BLOWN AWAY: A Teddy Fay Novel Featuring Stone Barrington by Brett Battles (Thriller/Adventure)
Teddy Fay whisks away to join Peter and Hattie Barrington in Palm Springs. But his hope for a relaxing vacation vanishes when he attends a prominent actor’s annual birthday party, where he witnesses a heated squabble between two women, only for one of them to turn up dead the next day. Teddy investigates who might be lurking in the shadows and uncovers a web of intrigue involving a sinister plan to take over a cutting-edge energy company. If he doesn’t act fast, valuable secrets risk falling into the wrong hands, but more importantly innocent lives could be in jeopardy.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593854754

WHERE THE CREEK BENDS by Linda Lael Miller (Romance)
Madison Bettencourt has moved back home to Montana to care for her grandmother, who is slipping further and further away. She has called off her wedding and worries that her dreams of a family are fading with it. Bliss Morgan transformed eight-year-old Madison with her loyalty, and for a while, the two girls were as close as can be. But Madison never understood why Bliss suddenly vanished, leaving only a friendship bracelet and a message etched into a matchbook. Before she can begin again, Madison must uncover what happened to Bliss, and Liam McKettrick --- a widowed dad trying to repair his relationship with his two children --- becomes her unlikely ally. Yet there are mysteries that Madison hesitates to explore with anyone, and strange energies in Bettencourt Hall that blur the lines between past and present.
Mira | 9781335001252

WRITTEN ON THE DARK by Guy Gavriel Kay (Historical Fantasy/Adventure)
Thierry Villar is a well-known tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins and invading armies. But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction. As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king --- and help his forces in war.
Ace | 9780593954034

May 1st

THE LAST SUNDAY IN MAY by Kate Clark Stone (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Mack Williams was the next big thing in motorsports. Until her wild ways forced her to leave racing in her rearview mirror. Ten years later, she’s a single mom in rural Indiana, with a struggling family business and a dad who needs full-time care. But Mack’s childhood idol, Janet Joyner, gives Mack a last-ditch chance to qualify for the coveted Indy 500. Mack can’t say no, whatever the risks --- moving in with her estranged sister, facing down her daughter’s absentee father, and working with Mack’s new teammate, Leo. He’s gorgeous, supportive, and every kind of distraction Mack can’t afford. Juggling her personal life with a professional dream close within reach, Mack won’t let a second chance slip away again.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781662533525

WAKE-UP CALLS by Mariah Stewart (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Kit Porterfield is coping with the upheaval of her personal life when another shock blindsides her. Maxine Meadows, an aunt she never knew existed, has bequeathed to her a rustic campground in Maine. With it comes a long-buried family secret that Kit’s late mother took great pains to hide for her entire life. When Kit arrives to tenuously claim her inheritance, she learns the town’s history and finds the lakeside sporting camp and its beautiful wooded acres in need of restoration to their former glory. But it’s Kit’s own history that compels her to stay, and she’s not returning home until she uncovers the secrets that tore two sisters apart so many years ago. Kit soon discovers clues in old photographs and in the tale of a tragic and enduring love story. But the most startling revelations are yet to come.
Montlake | 9781662512698

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