Skip to main content

Sharon Kurtzman

Sharon Kurtzman worked in television marketing before pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. She earned her MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. THE LOST BAKER OF VIENNA was inspired by the war and postwar experiences of her own family, who were Holocaust survivors. Kurtzman lives in North Carolina with her husband. They have two adult children.

May 7, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we think is a great summer reading selection. Read more about it, and enter our Summer Reading Contest by Thursday, May 8th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of SKIN & BONES by Renée Watson, which is now available in paperback. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

The newly released A FASHIONABLY FRENCH MURDER is the third installment in Colleen Cambridge’s An American in Paris Mystery series. American expat Tabitha Knight has found a new life in postwar Paris, along with a delightful friend in aspiring chef Julia Child. Yet there are perils in peacetime too, as a killer infiltrates one of the city’s most famous fashion houses. Colleen was a voracious reader at a very young age, and that’s because her mother instilled in her the same love of books that she had. This helped pave the way for Colleen to develop a special bookish bond with her own children.

Colleen Cambridge

Colleen Cambridge is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the American in Paris Mysteries and the Phyllida Bright Mysteries, the first of which, MURDER AT MALLOWAN HALL, was an Agatha Award finalist and an Indie Next pick. The first American in Paris Mystery, MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH MURDER, was both an Indie Next pick and a LibraryReads selection. An accomplished historian whose meticulously researched novels appeal to fans of historical fiction and mysteries alike, she also writes under the pen names C.M.

May 6, 2025

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of May 5th and May 12th 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 Summer Reading Contests and Feature, which we have brought back for a 21st year. On select days through mid-August, we are hosting a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book that we know people will be talking about this summer and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it.

May 6, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we think is a great summer reading selection. Read more about it, and enter our Summer Reading Contest by Wednesday, May 7th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of the New York Times bestseller BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall, a Reese's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter.com Bets On title. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Internationally bestselling author Anna Snoekstra is back with her latest novel, THE ONES WE LOVE, which is now available. This gripping domestic thriller follows the newly transplanted Jansen family, who moved from Australia to Los Angeles for a fresh start. When their reality soon turns into a living nightmare, they each must ask themselves how far they will go to protect the ones they love. Anna’s mother certainly knows a thing or two about protecting her daughter. Read on as Anna explains how a trip to the library when she was seven years old became one of the most important days of her life.

Anna Snoekstra

Anna Snoekstra is the author of ONLY DAUGHTER, LITTLE SECRETS, THE SPITE GAME and THE ONES WE LOVE. Her novels have been published in over 20 countries and 16 languages. She has written for many publications, including The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald and Crime Reads, and is a profile writer for The Saturday Paper. In 2023, she released her first audio drama, This Isn’t Happening.

Special Preview: Bookreporter.com's Summer Reading 2025

This Bookreporter.com SPECIAL PREVIEW Newsletter brings you a sneak peek at the titles that are included in our Summer Reading feature.

Each title below will be featured in a contest where you will have a 24-hour window of opportunity to enter for your chance to win a copy of the book being featured that day. You will need to act quickly! Learn more about the feature here.

We encourage you to scroll down and click on each image to read more about that book on our site.

If you know anyone who you think may be interested in these 24-hour contests, please forward this newsletter to them so they can sign up for it. 

Our first contest kicks off TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 6th at noon ET. Best of luck to you, and Happy Summer Reading!

We welcome back Mary Dixie Carter to our Mother’s Day Author Blog series. This time, she turns her attention to roses and why her mother was so fond of them. As a tribute to her mother, the titular character in Mary Dixie’s upcoming novel, MARGUERITE BY THE LAKE (which releases on May 20th), has a deep love of roses. The book is about the death of a glamorous garden designer, a widower trying to keep his secrets buried, and the beautiful young gardener who finds herself entangled in their lives.