Blending aspects of romance, family, trauma, escapism, and spirituality, this novel from Anna (author of Passage of Promise) finds the Barstone sisters—Michaela, Gloria, and Seraphima—reunited by personal will and tragedy in a story set amongst city life and immersed in the natural beauty of Colorado. Years before, as Michaela watched a 13-year-old Gloria disappear from their family’s home after a horrid night of beating and fear, there was no certainty they would ever all be together again. But an entreaty from their ailing mother to “find her” sets Michaela (and eventually the others) on a journey back towards each other—and a past that’s still hard to face. Watching a family return, discover, accept, and heal can be a most astounding step-by-step process.

Anna’s empathetic novel takes on many difficult topics, yet it is still written with an inviting ease—with a featherlike touch—capturing the essence of pain and hurt but not dwelling too much on the details. Readers can infer just how much abuse Gloria endured, what horrid drinking bouts Michaela’s husband has started on, and how not-involved Seraphima’s boyfriend was in their relationship. Anna doesn’t give all of this away to us. Instead, she sets us into small spaces with each sister and paints their individual versions of escapism. Michaela escapes through denial and self-righteous blame; Gloria’s escape is physical (running away); and Seraphima’s is through world-building, a fantasy of marriage.

Gloria’s relationship with discovering spirituality stands out, reflecting her youth and naivety, though she later expresses what she learns in clear, direct terms: “Reality will always return. If there’s anything I’ve learned lately [it's that] you’ve got to face your problems, not run from them.” Fitting Ana’s admirably light prose, What She Didn’t Know offers a warm, simple message of allowing oneself to accept and heal. Readers will feel comforted even amongst the chaos and come from it hoping for continued healing for the Barstone sisters.

Takeaway: Touching story of a family’s step-by-step process of healing.

Comparable Titles: Annie M. Ballard’s A Heart for the Homeless, Karen McKenna’s Just Last Year.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

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This action-packed debut from Sun blends heady science-fantasy storytelling about the origins of our world with a coming-of-age space adventure complete with green-scaled reptilian alien enemies. The story follows the elite leaders of a distant planet, Ohum, as they use their advanced technology and abilities to create other planets and lifeforms. Celebrated as the “Savior of the Nation,” Theo, the newest Godian Supreme, leads his noble Godians into an era of creation and peace. Theo's latest passion project is Earth, a new planet being crafted by his hand-selected team of experts. Amongst the team tasked with creating that promising new planet is Theo's son-in-law, Ike Skyler, an athletic farm boy with relatable everyday rivalries and problems. But when their beautiful new planet catches the eye of the lizard-like Sauras, Ike is going to have to grow up fast, as he, the Godians, and the Earth itself face war.

Sun's imaginative exploration into the creation of planets, especially Earth, will grab young readers attention while also educating them on the basic components that make up our world. This reimagining of the secret history of our home and solar system is captivating and inventive, but despite the headiness of the concepts, the world building and character development throughout is easy to follow. It’s even playful—one Saura general is named Dino. Ike's harrowing journey to hero status, and the many close bonds between his friends and family (“Just put your heart and soul in it,” Theo tells him) ensure readers will root for this out-of-this world but down-to-Earth protagonist.

The story features themes of family, friendship and love as Sun creates a backstory for our very existence, complete with intriguing discussions of what humankind will be like, how identities will develop, and more. Readers get to see the day that the Godians turn on our very sun. Fans of ambitious yet accessible science fiction storytelling with a YA bent will find much here that’s engaging and surprising.

Takeaway: Inventive space opera that blends coming-of-age adventure with the origins of Earth.

Comparable Titles: M.K. England’s The Disasters, J. Brian Clarke’s Alphanauts.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A-

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The third in Hutson-Wiley’s Sugar Merchant series of richly textured stories of commerce in Europe and the Middle East amid the religious conflicts of the High Middle Ages, The Merchant from Sepharad tells the tale of Joshua ben Elazar, the son of a Jewish merchant, as he strives to create a life for himself, impress his father, and honor his faith and his love in the face of oppression. Joshua’s forays into business find him traveling to the Iberian Peninsula, then known as al-Andalus, and to the great city we now know as Lisbon, then ruled by the Al-Murabit Emirate of Qurtuba. There Joshua’s quickly cheated out of his money, but he finds protection with Rabbi Al-Daudi, who offers welcome instruction—“Our strength and survival depend upon our unity.”

Hutson-Wiley’s storytelling continues to the surprise, and the novel, like its protagonist, takes unexpected paths. After an impulsive act of revenge, Joshua must flee the city, and the rabbi sends him as a messenger to Portugal’s King Alfonso, telling him that the time to seize Lisbon is now. At the school run by Maimon Ben Joseph at Qurtuba, Joshua falls in love with Hannah, but marriage is forbidden as she belongs to the Karaite group of Jews. And, intent upon proving his skills as a merchant, takes on his most dangerous mission yet: establishing a new trade route to India.

Hutson-Wiley’s prose is straightforward and unadorned, often touched with a fable-like quality, especially as the novel reveals culture, characters, and the textures of life. Not all lives, though–apart from Hannah, and Sophia, William’s love interest, the tale is devoid of women. When the protagonist returns to his father’s house, will he not meet his mother? Still, Joshua’s journeys are compelling, and his inner conflicts—his philosophical confusions, his anger at discrimination he experiences, his innate good heartedness—make for immersive reading.

Takeaway: Absorbing tale of a Jewish merchant’s travels and dangers in the twelfth century.

Comparable Titles: Richard Zimler’s The Incandescent Threads, José Saramago’s The History of the Siege of Lisbon.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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Screenwriter Smith promises readers that “the affair with color that one experiences on the Island not only stimulates the eyes but can inspire the soul” in this passionate celebration of and guide to Catalina Island’s vintage tiles. During one of his first opportunities to travel at age 17, Smith was enchanted by the island’s allure—an attraction that stayed with him over the years, eventually serving as the impetus for this interactive guide. The vintage tiles spread throughout the island are his muse, and he gives readers an in-depth look into the island’s history alongside first-hand accounts of where readers can see the tiles in person, accompanied by QR codes that offer access to maps.

Smith fashions this unusual guide with an eye for adventure: he urges readers to undertake the “quests” he’s constructed throughout the book, including special tiles to spot on each of his customized area tours, and scatters interactive elements across the pages, QR codes for extra photographs, and more. The curious will find plenty to learn—Smith delves into the materials that went into making the island’s tiles, shares interesting construction details (the island’s casino “to this day is the largest circular ballroom in the world”), and even describes his culinary encounters—including a recap of local “secret creation” lobster mac ‘n’ cheese heaped with “a full cup and a half of lobster.”

History buffs will be intrigued by Smith’s attention to detail—local legend insists the island’s original owner, William Wrigley, Jr., and contractor D.M. Renton discovered the clay for the tiles after getting their vehicle stuck in the mud, leading to the quarry of clay deposits on the island to manufacture the Spanish Revival-style tiles that have graced Catalina’s public spaces since the 1920s. Smith’s fervor for the island is contagious and will leave readers eager to discover its beauty for themselves.

Takeaway: Interactive and entertaining guide to Catalina Island’s vintage tiles.

Comparable Titles: Dan Austin’s Your Complete Guide to the Pottery of Catalina Island, Joe Belanger’s Catalina Island: All You Need to Know.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about In Search of the Vintage Tiles of Catalina Island

Crisp prose, engaging characters, and welcome senses of vigor and momentum distinguish this ambitious yet at times familiar fantasy debut from Stitle. A world long used to being ravaged by Tempests now faces a grim Resurgence, as powerful ancient sects like the Blood Sorcerers return to the land, with their ancient gods possibly to follow. Standing against the deluge are a trio of protagonists whose stories twine throughout the massive first volume of a series with a projected massive—even Sandersonian—scope. Asteros Silverglade, something of a plane-shifting demi-god, leads a sect of Shadow-Swifts on the hunt for the truth of the conflict that led many of Auris’s summoners to vanish from the world. Arvedonian soldier Castien Varic, meanwhile, is tasked with joining the hunt for the Blood Sorcerer Velarus—a member of one of those until-now extinct sects—who appeared in the chambers of King Avenos Titansworn and issued a demand for the surrender of the kingdom.

Rounding out the main cast is Faelyn Titansworn, a young prince and Summoner who must master the politics of the realm—and suss out the secrets of an apparent conspiracy. Despite the prevailing male-ness, the three leads’ perspectives are distinct, as are the challenges they face, with Castien facing Blood Sorcerers, ancient magics, and the withering comments of warrior Ilyana perhaps the most compelling. Stitle deftly layers clues and connections across the storylines, and passages about how this world works grow organically from the characters.

Inevitably, all the magic, sects, shapers, beasts, ancient secrets, contemporary schemes, and more may overwhelm readers not in love with fantasy’s excesses, and diehards will find some elements edging the line between comfort-food familiar and derivative. The novel’s length feels determined by the genre rather than what this story needs. Still, Stitle’s clear love of his cast and world shines through—the result is a polished, exciting debut that, while not breaking new ground, pulses with infectious love for the ground that it claims. Promising for future volumes: the climax is pained and powerful.

Takeaway: Polished epic fantasy debut building to a pained, powerful climax.

Comparable Titles: Brandon Sanderson, R.A. MacAvoy.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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As the title suggests, learning how to live in the moment—to be truly attentive, present, and not ruled by self-imposed limitations—is the resounding message in Duncan's empathetic self-help guide, now updated in a 20th anniversary edition. Duncan (author of Coming Full Circle: Healing Trauma Using Psychedelics) offers exercises to prompt readers to face emotions that cause anxiety and stress within their lives and to adjust their mindsets to calm their worries and make the most of the present. Filled with motivational quotes, probing questions, and encouraging advice, Present Moment Awareness examines the possibility of having a "level of knowing, relaxed confidence that illuminates your path through life with amazing clarity.”

Duncan writes invitingly while uniting disparate sciences and therapeutic practices into a coherent and flexible system that never gets too abstract. Personal anecdotes and stories from friends highlight how the exercises and concepts laid out in the book look when put into practice. He explores how childhood and past experiences can shape our emotional responses, stirring fear and anxiety, and guides readers in taking inventory of the tensions within the body, understanding how certain emotions affect the present moment and why, and in asking the question why certain incidents trigger certain "Negative Core Beliefs.” Despite some big ideas, the emphasis is refreshingly practical, as Duncan lays out clear advice for overcoming "mind traps.”

Interactive elements include a link to a "Focus Tool” app that allows readers to set a daily reminder to work on the book’s "Core Exercise," a seven-step centering exercise that encourages anchoring in the moment with practiced breathing, performing a body scan for tension, and more. Present Moment Awareness will appeal to seekers struggling with anxiety or overthinking. Leaning on practices of mindfulness and intentionally getting to the root of certain emotion responses, Duncan lays out persuasive ways to help readers to breathe deep and limit emotional reactive responses and "have the opportunity to observe ourselves in our environment in a whole new way."

Takeaway: Compassionate guide to mindfulness and transcending “Negative Core Beliefs.”

Comparable Titles: Joyce Meyer’s Living Beyond Your Feelings, Ernest Holm Svendsen’s How to Live in the Now.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Present Moment Awareness: A Step by Step Guide to Living

Giesler’s thoughtful, accomplished followup to The Nothing Within again posits a future dystopia, this time with the U.S. divided in four nations, and tech-shy empath Harmony “Bibi” Cain numbing his way through his later years on kali as he pedals an old-school push bike around Wisconsin’s Marquez Family Farm Golden Grove Senior Celebration Cozyminiums. But the assassination of four of the continent’s top empaths in coordinated strikes by “mote”s—unstoppable drones only an empath can control—upends his malaise, as he’s taken into custody by Homeland Security, who at first suspect his involvement, and then seek to use his talents.

Plagued by wrenching flashbacks to his service in the Mosaic War, Bibi has come to feel that he’s something like a kite, always on someone else’s string, and he vows, in narration, “Before I’m too old, I want to do something important because I chose it.” What that potential rebellion will look like is the novel’s primary tension, more so than the mystery of who ordered the strikes. Bibi tells much of the story himself, in 2104, five years after the fact, to an unidentified collective voice that occasionally interrupts—at one point, bluntly offering crucial information that Bibi was building to, inspiring him to offer a lesson about suspense and storytelling.

That sense of play powers the novel, which blends Bibi’s first-person story with excerpts (some lengthy) of after-the-fact interviews trying to make sense of Bibi’s life—and seeding the mystery of whatever it is that he chooses to do as the novel’s present develops. Also included: occasional poems plus excerpts from a textbook establishing the science of empaths. Giesler pens all this with sharp prose, arresting detail, an ear for memorable dialogue, a fascinating political situation, and a deep interest in empathy itself, though the material’s richness and Bibi’s tendency to recount conversations at length diminishes narrative momentum. The worldbuilding’s exciting and surprising, though, especially a visit to the St. Louis of the future and the potential of war between Canada and the “Old States.”

Takeaway: Provocative, empathetic dystopian SF with a sense of narrative playfulness.

Comparable Titles: Omar El Akkad’s American War, Christopher Brown’s Tropic of Kansas.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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The intense, ultimately hopeful novel debut from Wilde traces protagonist Trey’s journey through trauma towards peace in a blunt first-person style. Trey, a marketing professional dispatched to Atlanta to close a big deal, is an angry, cynical, often self-sabotaging woman who uses these tendencies as a form of armor to avoid connection and commitment—and, most urgently, to avoid facing her past, especially a still-raw heartbreak and an abusive upbringing in a fundamentalist household. She’s blundered through several bad relationships, longing for the one person she can never have: Rose, her brother’s wife. For all its hard-edged directness (“No one has ever wanted to find the me that actually exists”), Trey’s narrative voice hints throughout at intriguing mysteries: recurring nightmares, family secrets, and the hidden longings of a wounded soul.

Trey must confront both her past and her broken heart in order to heal. Wilde’s at-times disturbing story about families, religion, abuse, rejection, and love is fast-paced, with frequent leaps in time that challenge readers to keep up. Trey’s story is often driven by anger, as she lashes out at others and plays with their emotions, but refuses any insight into herself. The physical and verbal abuse of Trey and her siblings in the childhood flashbacks are wrenching, as are frank accounts of her parents’ violent fights, Trey’s anorexia and a suicide attempt, and the rejection she’s faced for being a lesbian from her family, her church, and even Rose. Here’s a protagonist who feels dead on the inside, one who finds it easier to pretend that Rose is dead rather than married to Bobby.

More uplifting is her shaky friendship with Jonah, who excels at listening and giving heartfelt advice, and the cracks in Trey’s armor as she struggles to learn to live and trust again. Other signs of grace come as a relief, eventually giving Trey the courage to return to her hometown to confront her heartbreak and her tormentors. This is a disturbing yet uplifting study of a woman’s emergence from darkness.

Takeaway: Pained but uplifting novel of an abuse survivor feeling her way out of anger and darkness.

Comparable Titles: Jaye Viner’s Jane of Battery Park, L. Dreamer’s The Burden of Happiness.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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This fascinating supernatural tale from Nagele (A Housefly in Autumn), told in an offhanded style that keeps readers off balance, opens with five-year-old Emma’s asking, at a family dinner, about “The Other Place.” She has recurring dreams of a mysterious being, The Gatekeeper, who takes her from present-day Pennsylvania to a late nineteenth century farm where she sees an older girl, Mary Ellen, who looks very much like Emma. For mysterious reasons, the Gatekeeper repeatedly forces Emma to get the other girl in trouble by setting fires—and he threatens to harm Emma’s parents, Rob and Marcia, if she disobeys. Rob and Marcia alternate between dismissing Emma’s dreams to fearing that she might be losing her grip on reality, echoing the thinking of Alex and Janet, Mary Ellen's parents. That couple frequently beats Mary Ellen, as punishment for the fires, and The Gatekeeper urges her to take murderous revenge.

Quick paced and unsettling, The Other Place offers readers teasing mysteries to work through along with Emma’s parents. One surprising thread: what is the connection between The Gatekeeper and the song version of William Hughes Mearns’s poem “Antigonish”? As Emma’s dreams increasingly seem like they might be real, she finds herself inside Mary Ellen’s mind, fighting to keep Mary Ellen from being driven to murder, while Rob and Marcia eventually accept that their daughter is not delusional, they struggle to save both girls from The Gatekeeper.

Nagele weaves an intriguing story about families, childhood, the supernatural, self-sacrifice, and innocence both lost and saved, though the pace and pared-down language come at the expense of fleshing out the characters, especially Emma and her family. Scenes of abuse and terrorized children will put off some readers, but Emma’s fight to save Mary Ellen from evil is admirable, her determination and kindness shining through. The Other Place is rich in detail of the places past and present, and readers of horror-tinged historical mysteries will be intrigued to learn more about Glen Miller and William Hughes Mearns.

Takeaway: Unsettling supernatural story of a determined young girl’s dreams of a horrific past.

Comparable Titles: Penelope Farmer’s Charlotte Sometimes, Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Other Place

Schur takes young readers on a fantasy adventure through the Kingdom of Wisland and beyond as twelve-year old orphan Wynnfrith, in a time of war, must keep five-year-old Prince Oliver safe from the king’s enemies. At the story’s heart is the fascinating figure of The Word Dancer, a magical man who always sees the truth within turbulent situations and bestows upon individual citizens a single word of importance. It is up to each to interpret the word’s meaning in their life. As Wynnfrith and Oliver journey through the kingdom, meeting a variety of friends, foes, and even the Word Dancer, they discover the importance of language and the power of words.

The main characters’ quest moves quickly on the page and will captivate young readers and ignite their sense of adventure. Schur creates whimsical characters such as maternal healer Mistress Plummety Peache, who quickly embraces Wynnfrith and Oliver, and Glutt the prison guard, a creature with “a misshapen head like a puzzle piece” that banters with Peache through fun alliterations (“Greasy Grubber,” Mistress Peache cried. “Grimy. Grinning. Grotesque. Grasper.” “Gross and greedy too” the creature howled…). The importance of language becomes paramount to Wynnfrith’s journey, as Schur crafts the story to emphasize the great influence that words can have on how we perceive and are perceived.

As the children face their trials, including moral lessons sprinkled throughout, Schur weaves into the plot strong themes of inner-strength and righteousness, universal ideals that play pivotal roles in Wynnfrith’s personal growth and offer encouragement to readers. Knowledge and respect for the written word also is presented as something of a power. A map of the Kingdom of Wisland is conveniently provided for young readers to help visualize the vast land. Middle-grade readers looking for a bit of whimsy and adventure will enjoy this fantasy that presents reading itself as as part of a hero’s growth.

Takeaway: This quick-paced fantasy centers on the power of words.

Comparable Titles: Chris Colfer, Jessica Day George Tuesdays at the Castle series.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Word Dancer

Punch your ticket and enjoy the trip with Schur in the heartfelt and funny essays collected here, which tell the story of her journeys—both literal and figurative—through adulthood and around the world in an era of historical turmoil. Covering 18 months worth of travel adventures in the early 1970s, these sharp-eyed but often poignant essays (originally appearing in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, starting in 1990) find Maxine and her husband Stephen kicking off married life with a globe-crossing honeymoon, visiting 32 countries. They encounter all the breathtaking sights you would hope for (“I see a camel caravan and get the eerie sense that it was deliberately placed there to mark the horizon lest we forget the separateness of Heaven and Earth”) but also many amusing and sometimes frightening situations, like the “Mutiny of the Crockery” on the SS Evelyn, whose crew discovered that the captain had gambled away their pay.

Throughout, Schur captures each new milieu in striking detail: the “knotty pine walls” and “emerald meadows” of the fir-wood chalet the couple acquired for $25 a week in Troistorrents, Switzerland, will warm readers, characteristic of Schur’s assured, compelling scene painting. In Schur’s telling, though, the couple’s travels are as much about the people they meet as the places they visited, brought to life here with quick, vivid portraiture. Readers will marvel at the couple’s resourcefulness—whether securing passage on a ship or recruiting new friends to construct a home in their van—and ability to connect with key figures in every region of the globe.

Among the most memorable are Serkan, in Turkey, who tells the couple over raki “The people of my country are very good” and then offers a gripping story as demonstration. The travelers, too, exhibit a welcome authenticity as they make friends (during a singalong in Antalya, Schur does a Betty Boop impression), face dangers, and continually make discoveries, with courage, luck, and an infectious zest for life.

Takeaway: Arresting memoir of a globe-crossing honeymoon in the early 1970s.

Comparable Titles:Rosita Boland’s Elsewhere, Terry Tarnoff’s The Bone Man of Benares.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

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Wordsworth’s debut sets a supernatural mystery on a New Jersey college campus as Hanna Popov, a student studying Japanese language and culture, begins to suspect that she’s suffering a highly selective amnesia—and that Theo, her boyfriend from high school, might have something to do with it. As Theo assures her that occasional lapses of memory are normal, readers discover (well before Hanna does) that Theo’s lying. In truth, he’s deliberately causing her to forget with the use of a magic Japanese dagger, a kaike. Even more troubling: he’s behind a rash of recent abductions of women who wake up in unfamiliar surroundings with no idea how they got there.

Wordsworth’s split-perspective storytelling quickly dispels the mystery of what’s happening to Hanna, though she doesn’t quite figure out that she needs to take decisive action until over halfway through the quite long book. But that imbues scenes between doting Hanna and cagy Theo with a queasy tension, and other mysteries keep Theo’s chapters lively: why is he targeting Hanna’s memories? Who is this Arthur person who seems to be instructing Theo in how to test the dagger’s capabilities? And what’s he doing with these women—and eventually a federal judge’s son, too—who awake with gaps in their memory? Meanwhile, rumors of a secret society called The Makers, possibly the creators of the kaike, haunt the narrative.

Scenes tend to run long, with lots of dialogue, and until the novel’s last third the pacing tends toward the leisurely. A tendency toward awkward descriptions during dialogue scenes hampers the opening chapters, though the prose tightens up as the novel progresses. Hanna’s aversion to swearing, drinking, and sex are interesting character traits that could benefit from more exploration, though other aspects of her life—her classes, her piano playing, the miserable challenge of collegiate group work—are engagingly detailed. The novel’s biggest surprise, before the cliffhanger ending: Wordsworth stirring empathy for Theo.

Takeaway: Dual-perspective thriller about a college student losing memories and the boyfriend behind it.

Comparable Titles: S.J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep, Alice LaPlante’s Turn of Mind.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A-

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In this touching women’s fiction drama by debut author Holly, a worn-out Texan mother struggles with the trials of parenthood. For Jenna Cartwright, managing three unruly children brings chronic depression. She routinely screams, experiences panic attack-like symptoms, and hides in her car for moments of fraught quiet. One afternoon, hiding isn’t enough. Jenna leaves her husband and kids and drives through the night to her childhood town of Asher, Alabama. Soon, her best friend, grandmother, and mother surround her with comfort and stories of child-rearing survival. Jenna learns her worth over the next week, but will her husband welcome her home?

“When the dark days come, I often ponder how the weight of being a mother is like no other,” narrator Jenna notes. Holly excels at portraying the everyday frustrations of caregiving and the unique loneliness it can bring. Acute details and a confessional first-person present tense effectively draw the reader into Jenna’s intimate sense of perceived failure. Some aspects of her unhappiness are so familiar that they can be mundane to read, especially in detailed dialogue. Nonetheless, Holly balances hardship with levity, such as when Jenna is jailed for public intoxication.

In Jenna’s case, the idea that nobody wants to hear negativity about family life stymies her. Luckily, her tribe of feisty women vent their tears and laughter—without straying into melodrama—and discover that sharing their experiences heals life’s wounds. Most affecting is the notebook in which Jenna doodles and records words of wisdom quoted by loved ones. Many mothers will identify with Jenna’s plight and find solace in its message: caregivers should not suffer alone. The solution? Sharing their stories of failure and triumph will help them to grieve, normalize, and honor their most challenging experiences.

Takeaway: A touching novel of the importance of sharing the trials of motherhood.

Comparable Titles: Anna Hogeland’s The Long Answer, Anita Kushwaha’s Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about The Stories We Keep

Familiar in its thrust but singular in its details, this collaboration between Huntington (Darling Venom) and Shen (Vicious) announces its ambitions from the first lines: “I always assumed my life was a romance novel,” protagonist Dallas Townsend declares, before adding that this, of course, was a mistake: her life is edging more towards horror. What she misses in that declaration: her story's playful spirit of comedy. A sass-mouthed, romance-reading virgin in a highly conservative and patriarchal Southern town who only agrees to go to a debutante ball for the dessert table, Dallas is engaged to a man who doesn’t excite her. But her bumptious, scandalous introduction to megabillionaire Romeo Costa, who looks like “menace decanted into a Kiton suit,” upends everything. Romeo, a competitor of Dallas’s fiancée, decides he’ll marry her instead—and Dallas’s father agrees to the match.

Dallas feels she has to go along with it, though she won’t go quietly: “I’m not gonna be a headache. I’m going to be, at the very least, a deadly brain tumor,” she says, before eventually spitting out her “I do.” The novel that follows lives up to the promise of her irresistible dialogue, as the seasoned authors offer an extravagant, often darkly comic slow-burn romance of a coerced bride’s efforts to maintain autonomy—at times through sexy games at Romeo’s expense. (The whipped cream scene is a sticky standout.)

Despite the “Romeo” in the title, the classic story powering this over-the-top but continually engaging tale is “Beauty and the Beast.” After many spirited chapters of them at odds, written with playful energy, the seemingly monstrous groom softens and reveals the backstory that made him this way, and the unyielding bride whom he calls Shortbread begins to see more in him besides fuel for her fury. The sex, when it comes, is vivid and connected to feeling. The novel’s long, and begins to feel so in its second half, but the authors keep the chatter and surprises lively as they conjure adventures in Humvees, private jets, corporate takeovers, and even wilder ideas.

Takeaway: Engaging coerced-marriage romance pulsing with sass and surprise.

Comparable Titles: R.S. Grey’s To Have and to Hate, Melanie Moreland’s The Contract.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about My Dark Romeo

Chirashnya crafts a suspenseful thriller exploring an intriguing concept: what if you had access to a website that told you what was going to happen the next day? Facing that dilemma is Mike, an underpaid tech genius, who stumbles across a website called Breaking News Of Tomorrow and soon realizes that its predictions of murders, business transactions, and sporting events are startlingly accurate. The author of the website is the novel’s first mystery, though Chirashnya soon pivots into something deeper. Mike’s own influence on the site’s stories becomes evident when he shares with reporter Rachel Sorrow information about its report of an upcoming murder.

Breaking News of Tomorrow keeps readers guessing—both about the site itself, and about the morality and cause-and-effect of Mike’s engagement with it. Mike starts to see the site as the work of a deeply connected hacker, but his fiancée Jenn thinks it's actively evil. Mike ignores her concerns, studies the site's predictions, and develops an algorithm that makes an enormous amount of money, occasionally feeding Sorrow information that helps make the predictions come true, which leads to a dizzying set of questions regarding cause and effect with this information. Mike's ambitions lead him to make bold moves in an effort to become one of the world’s richest and most powerful men—at the price of possibly losing Jenn, and of making powerful enemies.

For all the excitement of the premise and wealth of convincing detail, the end, where Mike at last meets the site’s creator, is confusing and somewhat rushed. The dialogue that drives the story feels a bit stilted at times, though Chirashnya gives his characters vivid personalities and backstories. Still, Chirashnya's attention to detail and willingness to take an idea to its logical extreme creates a scenario where a good person goes down a path of ethical corruption, where the world becomes a series of transactions engineered for maximum efficiency.

Takeaway: A smartly plotted thriller of seeing and betting on the future.

Comparable Titles: Tim Tigner’s Stolen Thoughts, Douglas E. Richards’s The Immortality Code.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A-

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The fast-paced and agreeably compact second installment of Lutts’s Charm Wars series follows secretly powerful mage Alyse Dejune and her cousin and “backwatcher,” Kate in their escape from Caldon, home of the political elite (and appallingly corrupt) Dejunes, who have forced Alyse into a strategic marriage with another elite “noblesse” family, the Estatis. Close on their heels is Alyse’s would-be betrothed Troy Estati and a rescue crew charged with finding Alyse and bringing her home. As Alyse and Kate strive to elude them, the duo crosses paths with a band of outlaws who see the Dejune runaways as an opportunity for ransom and revenge.

In the matriarchal Charm Wars world, “magic is the root of all that’s wrong in the world,” used to give more power to the powerful rather than as a tool to help people. Thus, a violent resentment exists between the “noblesse” families and those in the lower classes. Alyse, though, is different—she uses her magic to heal and defend rather than conquer. Lutts continues to generate suspense from these philosophical and factional differences, especially with the outlaw group Kate and Alyse come across: its leader hates all noblesse, and the pair need all the help they can get, even from the Estati rescue team, to escape them.

Fleet, suspenseful, and replete with exciting battles that include sword-fighting, some clever spells, and fantasy mainstays like fireballs, A Light in the Window offers welcome momentum, though at times it all moves too fast, as the characterization and sense of surprise in the world-building is not as compelling as in the first book in the series, as Alyse often faces variations on a similar choice. That’s a classic second-book situation, however, but as this volume surges toward its cliffhanger ending, Lutts challenges her with an unexpected found family that refreshes the emotional stakes. Readers who loved the first book will appreciate the continuation of Alyse’s story, and the promise of more to come.

Takeaway: A princess on the run powers this fast-paced fantasy sequel.

Comparable Titles: Adalyn Grace’s All the Stars and Teeth, Julie Eshbaugh’s Crown of Oblivion.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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