I’ve been a fan of New York Times bestselling author, Chanel Cleeton, ever since I was introduced to her writing in Reese’s Book Club pick, Next Year in Havana. I’ve come to expect beautiful, rich historical fiction stories with strong female characters. In her newest atmospheric novel, The House on Biscayne Bay, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide as death stalks a gothic mansion. About the Book | The House on Biscayne Bay With the Great War finally behind them, thousands of civilians and business moguls alike flock to South Florida with their sights set on makin ..read more

Christine Ma-Kellams’s whip-smart, darkly funny, and biting debut, The Band, follows a psychologist with a savior complex who offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-pop idol on the run. About the Book | The Band Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he’s abruptly cancelled. To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los A ..read more

While horror isn’t my usual genre, I’ll wade into it for the right book. Things I usually look for if I’m thinking of reading a horror book include an interesting premise (duh), a compelling setting, a broader theme or message, and nothing too gory (I’m more of a cozy horror girl). Nick Medina’s Indian Burial Ground seemed to fit the bill, so I gave this book a try. This is a complex and sometimes uneven story, but one that delivered some powerful messages. Told in two timelines, the story is set on an Indian reservation and centers around a family. In the mid-eighties, Louie is a 17-year-old ..read more

A new mystery featuring the meddlesome aunties is headed to bookstores from the bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties. About the Book | The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Chinese New Year, already the biggest cele ..read more

A captivating novel exploring whether there really is a difference between who we are and the roles we play. S.C. Lalli is the abbreviated name that popular contemporary fiction and romance author Sonya Lalli uses to publish psychological thrillers. Are you Sara? Is her first thriller (she has a new one coming out later this year!). Sara and Sarah are at a bar near closing and both order their rideshares. When they arrive, they each get in a car and depart in different directions. The only problem is, they got into the wrong cars. Sara isn’t paying much attention during her ride until she real ..read more

If you are a fan of stories about small towns with big secrets, Wendy Walker’s American Girl is must-add to your to-be-read list! About the Book | American Girl A pulse-pounding novel about a small-town business owner found dead and the teenage girl caught in the crosshairs, American Girl is the latest thriller from international best-selling author Wendy Walker. Charlie Hudson, an autistic 17-year-old, is determined to leave Sawyer, PA as soon as she graduates high school — in the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at a sandwich shop called The Triple S to save money for ..read more

A no-strings-attached summer romance set in Chicago? This was an obvious choice for me as a Chicago girlie myself! A breezy read that may not be ground breaking but featured some fresh aspects to diversity in romance that I think make it worth a read. About the Book Details This is the second book in the Buxom Boudoir series by Danielle Jackson. The first book, The Accidental Pinup was published in 2022 and Accidentally in Love exists in the same world of characters. Genre: Contemporary Romance Publisher: Berkley Publishing, August 8, 2023 Summary | Goodreads When Sam is stuck sharing the st ..read more

A rabbi and a porn star walk into a romance novel… Author Rosie Danan’s book The Intimacy Experiment features a supporting character from her prior book, The Roommate. Naomi Grant is a former porn star with an advanced degree who has evolved her career away from sex work and towards co-leading a successful sex-positive online platform called Shameless. With her background, Naomi knows she can be a voice for helping people embrace sex positivity and improve how they engage in intimacy. Her approach is all about empowerment and seeing sex as more than just an act, but a part of having a fulfilli ..read more

There are a lot of neighborhood noir psychological thrillers out there and they range from the popcorn-thriller variety, to heart-pounding terror, and everything in between. The best ones for my personal tastes are the ones that engross the reader so deeply into the dynamics among the neighbors that I forget for just a moment that there is a broader mystery going on. The latter type is what I found in Melissa Adelman’s debut novel, What the Neighbors Saw. Layered, well-crafted, and compelling, I was so immersed in the stories of the two leading female characters that I almost forgot the book s ..read more

While they aren’t for everyone, I have always loved a well-written unlikable character, and the lead in Amanda Jayatissa’s debut novel My Sweet Girl is unlikable in the best way. Spoiled, disinterested in how others feel about her, impatient, and quick to anger, Paloma seems like someone that you wouldn’t want to read. And yet pretty quickly in this psychological thriller you see the other side to Paloma—the young girl in a very restrictive and underfunded Sri Lankan orphanage who just hopes for a family who cares for her. Told in dual timelines between the present mystery and Paloma’s time at ..read more