You know it’s Summer when a new Elin Hilderbrand book comes out, and reviews suggest that fans will find much to love in her latest, which adds a new twist to her successful formula. Elsewhere there’s much to look forward to this week, with unique spins on love stories, fantasy, and suspense.
FICTION
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
It’s wedding season on Nantucket. The beautiful island is overrun with summer people–an annual source of aggravation for year-round residents. And that’s not the only tension brewing offshore. When one lavish wedding ends in disaster before it can even begin–with the bride-to-be discovered dead in Nantucket Harbor just hours before the ceremony–everyone in the wedding party is suddenly a suspect. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash digs into the best man, the maid of honor, the groom’s famous mystery novelist mother, and even a member of his own family, the chief discovers that every wedding is a minefield–and no couple is perfect. Featuring beloved characters from The Castaways and A Summer Affair, The Perfect Couple proves once again that Elin Hilderbrand is the queen of the summer beach read.
Description from Goodreads.
“Hilderbrand throws enough curveballs to keep readers guessing, but not too many, maintaining the breezy pace her novels are known for. The mystery element is new, but The Perfect Couple is classic Hilderbrand.” – Booklist
“The Perfect Couple is the must read of the Summer – it’s Elin Hilderbrand’s best book yet.” – Pop Sugar
Available Formats:
Print Book | Audiobook | eBook | eAudiobook
When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
Katie Daniels is a perfection-seeking 28-year-old lawyer living the New York dream. She’s engaged to charming art curator Paul Michael, has successfully made her way up the ladder at a multinational law firm and has a hold on apartments in Soho and the West Village. Suffice it to say, she has come a long way from her Kentucky upbringing.
But the rug is swept from under Katie when she is suddenly dumped by her fiance, Paul Michael, leaving her devastated and completely lost. On a whim, she agrees to have a drink with Cassidy Price-a self-assured, sexually promiscuous woman she meets at work. The two form a newfound friendship, which soon brings into question everything Katie thought she knew about sex—and love.
When Katie Met Cassidy is a romantic comedy that explores how, as a culture, while we may have come a long way in terms of gender equality, a woman’s capacity for an entitlement to sexual pleasure still remain entirely taboo. This novel tackles the question: Why, when it comes to female sexuality, are so few women figuring out what they want and then going out and doing it?
Description from Goodreads.
“As timeless, warm, and funny as When Harry Met Sally, with the same irresistible Big Apple backdrop and a modern tribe of bar-hopping friends who become as close as family. Perri’s latest will inspire you to go after what you want and hold on to what you already have with both hands.” – Glamour
“This unconventional love story will keep you believing in love this summer.” – Brit + Co
“A smart, sexy read for your beach bag that will leave you looking at sex and love in a completely different way.” – PopSugar
Available Formats:
The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah
To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the world, Kate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine Examination. She’s failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last. Suddenly finding herself without a job and with the test a few months away, she travels to Burgundy, to spend the fall at the vineyard estate that has belonged to her family for generations. There she can bolster her shaky knowledge of Burgundian vintages and reconnect with her cousin Nico and his wife Heather, who now oversee the grapes’ day-to-day management. The one person Kate hopes to avoid is Jean-Luc, a neighbor vintner and her first love.
At the vineyard house, Kate is eager to help her cousins clean out the enormous basement that is filled with generations of discarded and forgotten belongings. Deep inside the cellar, behind a large armoire, she discovers a hidden room containing a cot, some Resistance pamphlets, and an enormous cache of valuable wine. Piqued by the secret space, Kate begins to dig into her family’s history—a search that takes her back to the dark days of the Second World War and introduces her to a relative she never knew existed, a great half-aunt who was teenager during the Nazi occupation.
As she learns more about her family, the line between Resistance and Collaboration blurs, driving Kate to find the answers to two crucial questions: Who, exactly, did her family aid during the difficult years of the war? And what happened to six valuable bottles of wine that seem to be missing from the cellar’s collection?
Description from Goodreads.
“Charismatic…resonates on many levels, and [Mah’s] engaging story will appeal to readers who enjoy the family sagas of Kate Morton and Kristin Hannah.” – Booklist
“Fans of World War II historical fiction have a new title to add to their book club reading list this summer….You’ll easily start and finish the entire book in the span of a long weekend.” – Bon Appétit
Available Formats:
MYSTERY & SUSPENSE
Providence by Caroline Kepnes
Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready to confess his feelings, he’s suddenly kidnapped by his substitute teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.
Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of entering young adulthood and “fit in” with the popular crowd, but thoughts of Jon are never far away.
When Jon finally escapes, he discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the answers to his new identity–but he’s soon being tracked by a detective who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear connected.
Whisking us on a journey through New England and crashing these characters’ lives together in the most unexpected ways, Kepnes explores the complex relationship between love and identity, unrequited passion and obsession, self-preservation and self-destruction, and how the lines are often blurred between the two.
Description from Goodreads.
“[An] engrossing supernatural thriller… Kepnes provides readers with a spellbinding examination of what keeps people human.” – Publishers Weekly
“Kepnes offers up another intriguing and provocative storyline that continues to ask questions that’ll stay with readers long after finishing her novel. Providence is a compelling mystery wrapped in a love story stuffed into a supernatural thriller. . . and Caroline Kepnes invokes a wide range of emotions with her strong prose and tantalizing descriptions.” – The Real Book Spy
Available Formats:
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone—never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story.
Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there’s something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him…even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her.
Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla—hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla’s past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen’s house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive—and on Finn’s trail—what does she want? And how much does she know?
A tour de force of psychological suspense, Bring Me Back will have you questioning everything and everyone until its stunning climax.
Description from Goodreads.
“Paris once again proves her suspense chops with this can’t-put-down psychological thriller.” – Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Outstanding Hitchcockian thriller…Paris plays fair with the reader as she builds to a satisfying resolution. Fans of intelligent psychological suspense will be richly rewarded.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | Audiobook | Playaway | eBook
ROMANCE
Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean
When Wicked Comes Calling…
When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees—on one condition. She’s seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won’t accept a marriage without it.
The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain…
Bastard son of a duke and king of London’s dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy.
For the Promise of Passion…
But there’s nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she’d rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil’s carefully laid plans are in chaos, and he must choose between everything he’s ever wanted…and the only thing he’s ever desired.
Description from Goodreads.
“The romance is intensely passionate, the heroine is clever and perceptive, and the hero is the wickedest in his corner of the world… When these opposites attract, the chemistry is combustible.” – All About Romance
“Sexy, smart, and dangerous – Sarah MacLean delivers the whole package.” – Hypable
Available Formats:
SCI-FI & FANTASY
Witchmark by C.L. Polk
In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.
Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.
When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.
Description from Goodreads.
“A crackler, with layers like a nesting doll and just as delightful to discover. Witchmark is a can’t-miss debut that will enchant readers.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Polk’s stellar debut… blends taut mystery, exciting political intrigue, and inventive fantasy… Polk is a writer to watch.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“The world of this new series feel rich and familiar, yet wholly unique. The atmosphere is perfect for this tale of dangerous magic, lost souls and lonely hearts.” – RT Book Reviews