Lots of Layers, Totally Jonesing
Digging Up Love by Chandra Blumberg
Contemporary romance
Montlake, January 2022
Unearthing relics of the past in actual and metaphorical ways challenges small-town baker Alisha Blake and big-city scientist Quentin Harris to face the traumas of their pasts to claim the full potential of a joyous future. Plus, assorted ornery senior citizens, meddlesome siblings and friends, professional nemeses equal a compelling “Indiana Jones" meets “Love Jones" romp with emotional range and depth.
Look for Stirring Up Love this summer.
Fresh Spins on Shakespeare
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
Contemporary romance
Avon, March 2022
Karena and Prem joust verbally and emotionally while the aunties plot matchmaking genius—a decadent abundance of witty repartee, complex family dynamics, generational shifts, cultural inheritances, tenderness… It's binge-worthy.
Growing Pains
Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades
Contemporary YA fiction
Random House, January 2022
A literary concerto in movements of eight parts, each one layered and swelling in scale and range of place and time, memorable individuals and overlapping connections as it peaks and sustains its multiple tensions until it concludes with “Brown Girls Ascend Beyond the Final Frontier & All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" chapter as summary refrain. It's worthy of buying in order to savor and to reread.
Fake It ‘Til You're Mated
Not the Witch You Wed (Supernatural Singles #1) by April Asher*
Contemporary supernatural romance
St. Martin’s Griffin, February 2022
In this charmingly buoyant comedic second-chance tale of former teen lovers who are now combatants with common interests, Violet and Lincoln smolder as they snark, tease, taunt, and eventually reconcile their way into their HEA. A dynamic cast of characters generates anticipation for future entries in this effervescent, funny, and poignant spin on supernatural beings in love. This series debut includes some notes of Shai August’s grittiness, K.M. Jackson's hilarity, and a less bombastic Shelley Laurenston along with vibes from early MaryJanice Davidson and Kathy Love.
*aka contemporary romantic suspense author April Hunt
Turbulence
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Contemporary romance
Jove, January 2022
With two bosses who daily turn their newsroom workplace into re-enactments of scenes from a 21st-century War of the Roses (Kathleen Turner v. Michael Douglas movie, not European historical conflict), meteorologist Ari Abrams and sportscaster Russ Barringer join forces to negotiate a ceasefire. Other challenges surface.
Stories Within Stories
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegmund-Broka
Contemporary romance
Jove, January 2022
Katrina and Nathan's emotional roller coaster of a relationship saga uses the meta context of romantically involved writers in real life writing about fictional former lovers as they write a romance. The narrative sweeps and twists between their present and past to move them toward healing as individuals and as a couple. Deftly crafted. Beautifully composed.
Bright Ideas
Mother of Invention by Katrine Marcal
Non-fiction
Harry N. Abrams, October 2021
How to Start Your Own Business… And Make It Work
Non-fiction
DK, February 2021
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