Farnsworth’s cozy debut walks the line between romance and women’s fiction as four well-rounded characters find comfort and community in one another. Lonely Londoner Donna, a brash trivia enthusiast who’s recently suffered a bout of depression, posts an online ad looking for people to form a pub quiz team and gets four volunteers: couple Jamie and Luke are new to London and teetering on the verge of breaking up; Bryony is a stay-at-home mom looking for purpose outside the house; and Harry is “between jobs” and recently went through a breakup. Together the “Red Hot Quizzy Peppers” team up to tackle the London Pub Quiz League tournament, whose grand prize is £10,000. As they progress through the rounds, they grow closer to each other and each team member encounters trials and tribulations in their personal and romantic lives. While the individuals’ lives are interesting, romance fans may be disappointed by the lack of one strong central love story. Still, there’s no denying this has heart. Agent: Laura Williams, Greene & Heaton. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this familiar contemporary from Hanna (Chasing Sunsets), an acerbic single mother and her rebellious teenage daughter find they can go home again. In quick succession, Josie Campbell gets fired from her Atlanta, Ga., marketing job for refusing to be a team player, dumped by her condescending fiancé, and told that her daughter, Kendra, has been expelled from school. Then she learns that her beloved grandmother has died, leaving Josie her house and restaurant back home in Happy Harbor, S.C. Josie does not intend to stay in Happy Harbor, especially after she finds her mother—whose alcoholism made her childhood miserable—working at the restaurant. But her grandmother’s will requires her to stay in town for six months without firing any staff. Josie must learn to moderate her impatient and distrustful nature if she’s going to manage the restaurant, reconnect with her mother, and build a relationship with her grandmother’s handsome tenant. Unfortunately, her bad attitude makes her an unsympathetic protagonist and hampers the book’s intended feel-good vibe. The love interest is too perfect to be believable, and though the setting is quaint, it’s not enough to carry the story. This is nothing special. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Editor Ellis and poet Flame (Apocrifa) bring together 21 exquisite love stories that reflect the mission of Generous Press: “to publish lush, high-caliber romance fiction written by brilliant BIPOC, queer, and disabled authors.” Whether readers are in the mood for a goofy and fantastical romance between an assassin and her impossible-to-kill target (“Why Won’t You Die?” by Jessica P. Pryde) or a tender, sensual meet-cute between two middle-aged Orthodox Jewish women during Shavuot (“The All-Night Deluxe Tea Room” by Temim Fruchter), there’s something for any taste. Lengthy, luxurious stories, like Ayla Vejdani’s “Luna x Noura,” in which a recently divorced woman on the verge of giving up on online dating meets someone shockingly well suited, intermingle with brief, sexy entries, like Richard Siken’s “Stunt Man,” which comprises an imagery-rich moment of longing from the unnamed narrator. There are no duds in the bunch and each story will leave readers wishing they could remain submerged in that world a little longer. This is a triumph. (May)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rains (the Somerset Lake series) draws inspiration from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in this sweet contemporary about second chances. Melody Palmer is shocked when she gets a phone call letting her know that her great-aunt Jo has died and left Melody her Trove Isle, N.C., thrift store, Hidden Treasures. Melody has not returned to her charming coastal hometown since leaving nine years ago, after a car accident killed her younger sister, Alyssa, and fractured Melody’s relationship with her besties Liz Dawson and Bri Johnson, with whom she once shared a treasured charm bracelet that they and Alyssa would pass among them. Now Melody travels from her home in Charlotte to Trove Isle—where she rediscovers the charm bracelet, which had been lost in the accident, within the thrift store’s jumbled inventory. As Melody reestablishes her broken relationship with Liz, who now works at her own mom’s bakery, and Bri, who’s serving time on a drug charge, sparks fly between her and her childhood neighbor, Christopher West. Melody must choose whether to sell the thrift store and return to her lonely life in Charlotte or take a chance on happiness in Trove Isle. The women’s friendship with each other is just as important to the plot as the charming romance. Fans of quaint and affecting small-town stories will be in heaven. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this inclusive, pop-culture-forward romance, Everhart (Wanderlust) sends her heroine into the world of reality television. Cas Morgan works for Friday, a popular dating app. When she’s not running the app’s in-person events, she’s watching Hot Summer, a Love Island–esque British reality dating show about gorgeous people looking for love in a Cypriot villa. Then Cas’s boss announces that Friday has landed an organic marketing deal with Hot Summer and offers Cas a promotion if she appears on the show and makes it to the finals. Cas heads to Cyprus for an eight-week, high-stakes vacation with at least nine other people. Cas, who is bisexual and whose fiancée recently left her at the altar, is looking for career advancement, not love—but she feels an unexpected connection to Ada, a fellow bisexual woman. The two grow closer, but what will happen when Ada learns Cas’s true reasons for appearing on the show? Everhart has a light touch with both plotting and prose, and her heroines’ bisexuality is refreshingly unsensationalized. Meanwhile, the supporting characters—especially obnoxious contestant Brad, a mansplainer with a short temper—feel impressively real. This is one to throw in the beach bag. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Mejia (Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review) returns to the grungy small town of Ridley Falls, Wash., for the story of Cash Delgado, 30-something single mom and bar manager extraordinaire, who is barely holding her life together when she’s hit by a double whammy: a skeezy ex-boyfriend slinks into town with a plan to open a competing bar franchise, and she is blindsided by sudden erotic dreams about her BFF and coworker, Inez. The ensuing warmhearted wish-fulfillment of two plucky Davids facing off against a corporate Goliath—and discovering truths about themselves in the process—makes for a highly satisfying comfort read, realism be damned. Mejia develops their secondary characters with love and care, from fearless Parker, Cash’s daughter, navigating playground politics to Inez’s Granny O’Conner plotting domination in assisted living. A few too many teaching moments are contrived along the way, but even the lectures are delivered with a welcome and welcoming generosity of spirit. This is sure to win fans. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (July)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Transcending traditional contemporary romance tropes to put a spotlight on the intersections of love and mental health, this deliciously spicy and achingly sweet romance showcases Greenwald (Sizzle Reel) at her best. Valeria Sullivan has it all: a stellar acting career, a directorial debut under her belt, wealth, a hard-earned PhD, and a family who supports her—mostly. For all her accomplishments, however, the media’s focused on only one thing: she’s a recently out lesbian. When her anxiety over being so narrowly identified threatens to overwhelm her, she returns to her roots in academia, co-teaching a class at USC with the beautiful and talented Maeve Arko. The women’s professional relationship gets off to a predictably rocky start driven by false perceptions and preconceived notions. With a little help from Val’s friend, Charlie, however, she begins to untangle the web of assumptions and live as her authentic, multifaceted, dynamic self. The romance with Maeve is lovely, but even more compelling is Val’s personal growth as she works through social and internal barriers to love. Add in plenty of pop culture references, and the result is romance gold. Agent: Janine Kamouh, WME. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Romance veteran Ripper (Book Boyfriend), who uses ze/zir pronouns, knows zir way around a meet-cute, but the heroes of this entertaining contemporary, wannabe sportswriter Des and pro soccer player Orion, couldn’t have met in an uglier way: Des outed Orion in his college paper just as Orion was about to become a huge star. Des meant well, but the fallout sent Orion into hiding. Crushed by guilt, Des quit journalism for a low-wage marketing job after graduation. When his boss tells him to sign Orion as the face of their new youth soccer campaign, Des makes the six-and-a-half-hour drive to the one-bedroom cabin where Orion now lives hoping to pitch him on a way back into the sport he loves. Orion is a friendly and kind host—until he realizes who Des is and tells him to get out. Except it’s started snowing. Hard. Trapped and cut off from communication until the snow stops, Des and Orion must hunker down and get through it together. The classic snowed-in trope still works in the smartphone era, and Ripper’s keen character work and lively narrative voice will make readers warm to Des even while wishing he would get his act together. This is good fun. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

The latest from bestseller McQuiston (Red White and Royal Blue) delivers all the hallmarks their readers will expect with lovable queer heroes and zany side characters aplenty. Childhood best friends turned lovers turned exes, aspiring sommelier Theo and pastry chef Kit reunite while cashing in the vouchers for the European food and wine tour they initially purchased while still together. Because they each waited until the last minute before the vouchers expired to use them, they must now spend the next several weeks in close company on the tour, taking in the sights, smells, and tastes of France, Spain, and Italy. It’s a fun and silly conceit with plenty of room for scenic travelogue and mounting sexual tension, marred only by the fact that Theo, who is nonbinary, is not identified as such until more than halfway through, meaning they are misgendered by other characters and readers alike until that point—a distraction from what is otherwise a near-utopian vision of queerness in which almost every character proves to be something other than heterosexual. Despite this quibble, it’s a mouthwatering feast. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

With this funny and fast-paced contemporary, Ellis (Love & Other Scams) makes the familiar story of a closeted movie star feel fresh. Action hero Patrick Lake is mired in constant reshoots for his second Captain Kismet film in Birmingham, England, when his costar’s insistence he visit a gay club leads to a viral photo of him doing poppers. Luckily, a friendly neighborhood drag queen, Grace Anatomy, pulled him from the club before the situation could escalate, but now Patrick is on damage control. Meanwhile, in trying to track down a possibly apocryphal issue of the Captain Kismet comic’s original run, he meets Will Wright, a used bookstore employee who does not initially disclose that he and Grace are one and the same. Will assumes Patrick’s requests to hang out just stem from loneliness until Patrick admits to being gay but not coming out to keep his career on track. After Will signs an NDA, the men embark on a tender secret relationship, using “straight-man drag,” Patrick’s stunt double, and Will’s boisterous found family to outwit the paparazzi. Flashbacks to 1949 and the creation of Captain Kismet by a husband-and-wife team in a lavender marriage unearth the hero’s hidden queer origins and show continuity in homophobic threats to careers. Ellis brings both wit and empathy to bear throughout and crafts characters readers will root for. This is a delight. Agent: Maria Whelan, InkWell Management. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink