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Editorial Content for Kissing Kosher

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pamela Kramer

KISSING KOSHER is a Romeo and Juliet-type romance, but in Jean Meltzer's seasoned hands, it's much more. Meltzer is passionate about educating as many readers as she can about chronic illness and pain. It seems to be a strange match for a romance, but we see how important it is for someone with chronic pain to find an understanding partner. In this novel, it feels as if Meltzer has shared more than usual about her inner feelings regarding the daily grind of living with chronic pain and its effect on one’s career and personal relationships. Read More

Teaser

Chronic pelvic pain has forced Avital Cohen to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing. She needs hired help. And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems to be the perfect fit. Except Ethan isn’t there to work --- he’s undercover, at the behest of his grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe. As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief --- and pleasure --- she’s been missing.

Promo

Chronic pelvic pain has forced Avital Cohen to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing. She needs hired help. And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems to be the perfect fit. Except Ethan isn’t there to work --- he’s undercover, at the behest of his grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe. As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief --- and pleasure --- she’s been missing.

About the Book

From the author of THE MATZAH BALL and MR. PERFECT ON PAPER comes this hilarious and emotional rivals-to-lovers romance.

Step 1: Get the secret recipe.
Step 2: Don’t fall in love.

Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants --- woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing.

She needs hired help.

And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit.

Except Ethan isn’t there to work --- he’s undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe.

As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief --- and pleasure --- she’s been missing.

But perfecting the recipe for romance calls for leaving out the lies…even if coming clean means risking everything.

Audiobook available, read by Dara Rosenberg

Editorial Content for Las Madres

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

“I was born [in Puerto Rico]. I was raised, until I was 13, in rural Puerto Rico. And so that’s the life that I knew and my expectations, as a child, were that that would be my life --- I would be like the women around me…. So, of course at 13 there is what I used to think as the most traumatic event in my life, which was when we leave the island of Puerto Rico…. I think a lot of my writing is to continue to process that experience for myself as an elder in our community. Read More

Teaser

They refer to themselves as “las Madres,” a close-knit group of women who, with their daughters, have created a family based on friendship and blood ties. Their story begins in Puerto Rico in 1975 when 15-year-old Luz is seriously injured in a car accident. Tragically, her parents are both killed in the crash. Now orphaned, Luz copes with the aftershock of a brain injury when two new friends enter her life, Ada and Shirley. In 2017, in the Bronx, Luz’s adult daughter, Marysol, wishes she better understood her. But how can she when her mother barely remembers her own life? To help, Ada and Shirley’s daughter, Graciela, suggests a vacation in Puerto Rico. But despite all their careful planning, back-to-back hurricanes disrupt their homecoming, and a secret is revealed that blows their lives wide open.

Promo

They refer to themselves as “las Madres,” a close-knit group of women who, with their daughters, have created a family based on friendship and blood ties. Their story begins in Puerto Rico in 1975 when 15-year-old Luz is seriously injured in a car accident. Tragically, her parents are both killed in the crash. Now orphaned, Luz copes with the aftershock of a brain injury when two new friends enter her life, Ada and Shirley. In 2017, in the Bronx, Luz’s adult daughter, Marysol, wishes she better understood her. But how can she when her mother barely remembers her own life? To help, Ada and Shirley’s daughter, Graciela, suggests a vacation in Puerto Rico. But despite all their careful planning, back-to-back hurricanes disrupt their homecoming, and a secret is revealed that blows their lives wide open.

About the Book

From the award-winning, bestselling author of WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN, a powerful novel of family, race, faith, sex and disaster that moves between Puerto Rico and the Bronx, revealing the lives and loves of five women and the secret that binds them together.

They refer to themselves as “las Madres,” a close-knit group of women who, with their daughters, have created a family based on friendship and blood ties.Their story begins in Puerto Rico in 1975 when 15-year-old Luz, the tallest girl in her dance academy and the only Black one in a sea of petite, light-skinned, delicate swans, is seriously injured in a car accident. Tragically, her brilliant, multilingual scientist parents are both killed in the crash. Now orphaned, Luz navigates the pressures of adolescence and copes with the aftershock of a brain injury, when two new friends enter her life, Ada and Shirley. Luz’s days are consumed with aches and pains, and her memory of the accident is wiped clean, but she suffers spells that send her mind to times and places she can’t share with others.

In 2017, in the Bronx, Luz’s adult daughter, Marysol, wishes she better understood her. But how can she when her mother barely remembers her own life? To help, Ada and Shirley’s daughter, Graciela, suggests a vacation in Puerto Rico for the extended group, as an opportunity for Luz to unearth long-buried memories and for Marysol to learn more about her mother’s early life. But despite all their careful planning, two hurricanes, back-to-back, disrupt their homecoming, and a secret is revealed that blows their lives wide open.

In a voice that sings with warmth, humor, friendship and pride, celebrated author Esmeralda Santiago unspools a story of women’s sexuality, shame, disability and love within a community rocked by disaster.

Audiobook available, read by Esmeralda Santiago

Editorial Content for The Continental Affair

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Christine Mangan’s latest novel, THE CONTINENTAL AFFAIR, is set in the 1960s but feels like it exists outside the boundaries of time. It is easily the best book she has written since her stunning debut, TANGERINE, and is the literary equivalent of a classic Bogie and Bacall film. Read More

Teaser

Meet Henri and Louise. Two strangers, traveling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul. Except this isn't the first time they have met. It's the 1960s, and Louise is running. From her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen --- and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it. Across the Continent Henri follows, desperate to leave behind his own troubles. The memories of his past life as a gendarme in Algeria that keep resurfacing. His inability to reconcile the growing responsibilities of his current criminal path with this former self. But Henri soon realizes that Louise is no ordinary mark. As the train hurtles toward its final destination, Henri and Louise must decide what the future will hold --- and if it involves one another.

Promo

Meet Henri and Louise. Two strangers, traveling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul. Except this isn't the first time they have met. It's the 1960s, and Louise is running. From her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen --- and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it. Across the Continent Henri follows, desperate to leave behind his own troubles. The memories of his past life as a gendarme in Algeria that keep resurfacing. His inability to reconcile the growing responsibilities of his current criminal path with this former self. But Henri soon realizes that Louise is no ordinary mark. As the train hurtles toward its final destination, Henri and Louise must decide what the future will hold --- and if it involves one another.

About the Book

With gorgeous prose, European glamour and an expansive wanderlust, Christine Mangan's THE CONTINENTAL AFFAIR is a daring literary caper that is quick on its feet and delightfully surprising.

Meet Henri and Louise. Two strangers, traveling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul. Except this isn't the first time they have met.

It's the 1960s, and Louise is running. From her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen --- and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it. Across the Continent --- from Granada to Paris, from Belgrade to Istanbul --- Henri follows, desperate to leave behind his own troubles. The memories of his past life as a gendarme in Algeria that keep resurfacing. His inability to reconcile the growing responsibilities of his current criminal path with this former self.

But Henri soon realizes that Louise is no ordinary mark. As the train hurtles toward its final destination, Henri and Louise must decide what the future will hold --- and if it involves one another.

Audiobook available, read by George Weightman and Hannah Kelly-Turner

Editorial Content for Bridge

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Lauren Beukes’ new thriller features a protagonist who has the uncanny ability to build her own bridge to different points in time. It’s also about mothers and daughters and the often complex relationship that develops between them.

Beukes is a dynamic writer who excels in many genres. Her most successful work is THE SHINING GIRLS, which Apple TV+ turned into an outstanding series in 2022. She uses the concepts of time and time travel once again in BRIDGE, which proves to be a very effective plot device. Read More

Teaser

Twenty-four-year-old Bridge is paralyzed by choices: all the other lives she could have lived, the decisions she could have made. And now, who she should be in the wake of her mother’s unexpected death. Jo was a maverick neuroscientist fixated on an artifact she called the “dreamworm” that she believed could open the doors to other worlds. But in packing up Jo’s house, Bridge discovers Jo’s obsession hidden amongst her things. And the dreamworm works, exactly the way it’s supposed to, the way Bridge remembers from when she was a little girl. Suddenly Bridge can step into other realities, otherselves. In one of them, could she find out what really happened to her mother? What Bridge doesn’t know is that there are others hunting for the dreamworm --- who will kill to get their hands on it.

Promo

Twenty-four-year-old Bridge is paralyzed by choices: all the other lives she could have lived, the decisions she could have made. And now, who she should be in the wake of her mother’s unexpected death. Jo was a maverick neuroscientist fixated on an artifact she called the “dreamworm” that she believed could open the doors to other worlds. But in packing up Jo’s house, Bridge discovers Jo’s obsession hidden amongst her things. And the dreamworm works, exactly the way it’s supposed to, the way Bridge remembers from when she was a little girl. Suddenly Bridge can step into other realities, otherselves. In one of them, could she find out what really happened to her mother? What Bridge doesn’t know is that there are others hunting for the dreamworm --- who will kill to get their hands on it.

About the Book

A grieving daughter’s search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities in this dazzling new thriller from the author of THE SHINING GIRLS that is "sheer thrilling madness with a big, beating heart that reminds us we're all connected" (Grady Hendrix).

There are infinite realities. She's looking for one...

Twenty-four-year-old Bridge is paralyzed by choices: all the other lives she could have lived, the decisions she could have made. And now, who she should be in the wake of her mother’s unexpected death.

Jo was a maverick neuroscientist fixated on an artifact she called the “dreamworm” that she believed could open the doors to other worlds. It was part of Jo’s grand delusion, her sickness, and it cost her everything, including her relationship with her daughter.

But in packing up Jo’s house, Bridge discovers Jo’s obsession hidden amongst her things. And the dreamworm works, exactly the way it’s supposed to, the way Bridge remembers from when she was a little girl. Suddenly Bridge can step into other realities, otherselves. In one of them, could she find out what really happened to her mother? What Bridge doesn’t know is that there are others hunting for the dreamworm --- who will kill to get their hands on it.

BRIDGE is a highly original, reality-bending thrill-ride that could only have come from the brilliant mind of award-winning novelist, Lauren Beukes, about mothers and daughters, hunters and seekers, and who we each choose to be.

Audiobook available, read by Lisa Cordileone

Which of the following fiction titles releasing in September are you planning to read? Please check all that apply.

September 8, 2023, 661 voters

September 8, 2023 - September 22, 2023

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of September 8 - September 22.

September 8, 2023

First of all, thanks to those of you who wrote such lovely notes to both Tom and me about the 27th anniversary of Bookreporter and what the site and newsletter mean to you. They were so appreciated! They were shared with the team, and we note some of them below in the Reader Mail section.

We all had a fabulous break and came back well-read. I spent time with a mix of books that came out earlier this summer, some just out this week, and a few on the horizon --- including one coming in January (FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston) --- that I am crazy about. I had a wonderful time reading IN the pool. I perfected standing in the pool, working out with ankle weights, and doing side kicks and leg lifts while reading. My legs are now in very good shape. I should add up the pages that I read and contemplate how many leg lifts to do per book.

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota, gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast.

Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who recently has returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also to put to rest the demons from his own past.

September 5, 2023

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 4th and September 11th 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 Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks feature for September, which includes Indie Next, LibraryReads, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Reese's Book Club, the "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, and more.

September 2023

September's Books on Screen roundup includes the season premieres of "The Morning Show" on Apple TV+, "The Wheel of Time" on Amazon Prime Video, and "Virgin River" on Netflix; the series premieres of AMC's "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon," Hulu's "The Other Black Girl," Apple TV+'s "The Changeling," and Netflix's "Dear Child"; the season finales of "Harlan Coben’s Shelter" on Amazon Prime Video and "Dark Winds" on AMC; the Netflix film Love at First Sight, along with the theatrical releases of Dumb Money and A Haunting in Venice; and the DVD releases of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, God Is a Bullet and Corner Office.