Forward into Fall: Fiction/First Novels & Collections

Ballantine

Loving Frank (Sept., $23.95) by Nancy Horan fictionalizes the story of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, longtime lover of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 13-city author tour.

Bantam

Garden Spells (Sept., $20) by Sarah Addison Allen. In the magical town of Bascomb, N.C., caterer Claire Waverly's life is upended by unexpected developments. 75,000 first printing. Ad/promo.

Beautiful Books

Speaking of Love (Sept., $25) by Angela Young considers the consequences of not telling someone how much he or she is loved.

Broadway Books

Outside In (Sept., $23.95) by Courtney Thorne-Smith. The TV actress delivers a comedic take on the flip side of Hollywood fame.

Carroll & Graf

Selfish and Perverse (Sept., $25.99) by Bob Smith. The standup comic answers the question of whether a gay guy can find love in Alaska amid salmon and botulism.

Crown/Shaye Areheart

Obedience (Feb., $24) by Will Lavender. Three college students come to grief when a puzzle in their logic course mirrors an actual murder case.

Cumberland House

The Last Christmas Ride (Sept., $18.95) by Edie Hand with Jeffery Addison portrays a dying brother's horseback ride with his devoted sister.

Dial

The Opposite of Love (Feb., $25) by Julie R. Buxbaum examines the difficulties of relationships as seen through the eyes of a 29-year-old Manhattan attorney. 75,000 first printing. Ad/promo.

Grove Press

Sons and Other Flammable Objects (Sept., $24) by Porochista Khakpour. An Iranian-American grapples with his independence and his Iranian roots after 9/11.

Harcourt

The Spanish Bow (Sept., $25) by Andromeda Romano-Lax tracks the struggles faced by three musicians amid international turmoil. 75,000 first printing. Author tour. Ad/promo.

Houghton Mifflin

Maynard and Jennica (Sept., $24) by Rudolph Delson. A New York City musician meets a transplanted Californian while he's filming fashion faux pas of subway commuters. Ad/promo. Author tour.

Hyperion/Voice

The Monsters of Templeton (Feb., $24.95) by Lauren Groff. A young woman whose love affair has ended returns to her hometown to solve the mystery of her birth. 100,000 first printing.

Key Porter Books

(dist. by PGW)

Unfeeling (Oct., $22.95) by Ian Holding depicts a 16-year-old's coming of age during a journey across Africa. Ad/promo.

Little, Brown

Beginner's Greek (Jan., $23.99) by James Collins. A coast-to-coast flight becomes the jumping-off point for love, adultery and happy endings. Ad/promo.

Milkweed Editions

The Farther Shore (Oct., $22) by Matthew Eck. A U.S. army unit of soldiers in coastal Africa becomes separated from its command and left for dead. Author tour.

Morrow

Missing Witness (Oct., $24.95) by Gordon Campbell. Nothing is what it seems in this case of a murdered husband, his stunning widow and the hotshot lawyer hired to defend her. 75,000 first printing.

The Jewel Trader of Pegu (Jan., $24.95) by Jeffrey Hantover. At the end of the 16th century, a young Jewish widower travels from Venice to the kingdom of Pegu, where he falls under the spell of a forbidden love. 50,000 first printing.

Novello Festival Press

(dist. by John F. Blair)

Absolution (Oct., $22.95) by Miriam Herin. An idealistic wife and mother discovers disturbing secrets about her husband, a Vietnam vet, when he is murdered. Ad/promo.

Pantheon

All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well (Feb., $24) by Tod Wodicka. A medieval re-enactor must deal with his present-day life while being stuck in the past.

Pegasus Books

(dist. by Consortium)

The Malice Box (Sept., $25) by Martin Langfield trails a group of college friends through Manhattan as they hunt for ways to disarm an arcane weapon.

Schaffner Press

Father Michael's Lottery: A Novel of Africa (Nov., $25) by Johan Steyn portrays the efforts of a doctor and his clinic battling the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa.