Yulin Kuang’s debut romance is an enemies to lovers trope about two writers linked by an incident in their past who end up working on the same TV show. I know you know I’m reading this at the moment, so I can’t give it a review yet but it’s a really interesting premise and without giving too much away, I’m really not sure if their shared past is overcome-able (is that even a word?) and any sensible person would have decided not to work together, but hey this is a romance novel and people don’t do sensible things in them always! Kuang is working on the adaptation of a couple of Emily Henry’s novels and I love them so I’m hoping optimistic.
Before you ask, I haven’t read this, but I have started to see this every where which is why I’m mentioning it today. This is a debut novel, with a heroine who realises her attic is creating an endless supply of husbands for her to try out. But how do you decide whether to stick with the one you have or keep going to see if you can find a better option? This has blurbs from Marian Keyes and Gabriele Zevin and is being comped with Really Good, Actually – so if you’re looking for a book at the airport in the near future and liked Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow this could be the one to pick!
The third book in Jesse Q Sutano’s series that started with Dial A for Aunties is out today. I’ve got a copy to read – and I’m hoping it will be a return to what I loved about the first book, rather than the second which I found disappointing as the things that I had liked less about the first book were the things that had been increased and the cringe factor was just too much for me. But as we know, I am very bad with cringe and second-hand embarrassment. Cross your fingers, and I’ll try and remember to report back, but what ever happens, I have loved the covers for this series – the UK versions and the US ones are so pretty.
Also – before I go, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy, which was one of my favourite books of last year is out in paperback today too and is really, really good.
After a nearly two year wait (in which Cartmel released a book in the same universe but with a different cast) we finally have a new Vinyl Detective book. And as I said in my anticipated sequels post, this one is about the dance music scene which should be fun – because Him Indoors did a lot of clubbing in this era so I’m looking forward to seeing what I recognise from the stories that I’ve heard!
We’re a few week behind the US but it’s It’s that time again – the latest Veronica Speedwell has come out in the UK. My love of Deanna Raybourn’s writing is well known here – after all I’ve written an about it Veronica, her Lady Julia series and Killers of a Certain Age (which is getting a sequel). Anyway, this is book nine in the Speedwell series – I have been saving book eight so I think I can read that now – but I always look forward to seeing what she and Stoker are up to.
I was hoping the picture for this post would be from an Armistead Mapin in conversation event, but I missed it on Monday night because work have sent me to a different continent, although by the time you read this I should be nearly home. Anyway, this is the tenth Tales of the City novel, you know I love this series and that I’ve been looking forward to forward to filling in the gaps and finding out what Mona was uptown in England in the 1980s. Hopefully my copy will have arrived at my parents house while I’ve been away!
I think this is the first of the books I mentioned in my anticipated sequels post to come out into the world. This promises a widowed heroine who arranges a fake engagement so that her sister will feel that she’s able to marry, and they’ll call it off once her sister is happily married. Except the engagement is to someone that she was almost engaged to when she was younger – so what could possibly go wrong… Doesn’t that sound great? I’m resisting the urge to buy it already!
It’s new book Thursday again and I’ve got a new murder mystery to mention. This features chef who gets roped in to teach a residential cookery course in Belgravia. But when someone ends up dead on the first night Paul needs to solve the mystery himself so he doesn’t get blamed. I’m well underway in this and I’m enjoying it so far – and Orlando Murrin is a cookery writer and chef himself so it has recipes and some of them look really good!
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka was a BotW in March last year – and they’ve got a new book out this week – actually today in the UK (it was Tuesday for the US version). And given that I was talking about second chance romances yesterday it’s quite apt that this is about a music superstar who ends up back on tour with her college boyfriend after she asks him to go public as the inspiration for her breakout hit. And I’m not going to lie, this has a strong sniff of Taylor Swift inspired plot to it – i mean check out the US cover – but hey there’s a bit of that about at the moment, and I’m trying to judge the books on the actual writing and content and I’ve liked the guys before! I’ll probably be picking this up as soon as it’s at a price I’m prepared to pay…
I know. I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I’m justifying it because I’ve given you the non- series stuff last week – so this week I feel like I can give you the update on which of my favourite series have new books coming up this year…
Let’s go a bit chronologically because hey, I’m in charge. So in February we have the next in Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lovers series, which has reached number 15 with Fatal First Edition. And let’s keep authors together – so Fondant Fumble, the sixteenth in McKinklay’s Cupcake Bakery series is out early June. Keeping it mystery, but this time historical, we have a new Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes on the 13th – The Lantern’s Dance is book 18 in Laurie R King’s series. Also in February is the fifth and final book in Martha Waters’ Regency Vows series, To Woo and to Wed.
In March we have the next Veronica Speedwell – A Grave Robbery is book nine in the series and the blurb is promising Madame Tussaud’s meets Frankenstein but is also giving me strong thoughts of the Peter Wimsey short story with the very, very lifelike sculpture. If you know, you know. And before it comes out I need to read book 8 – which finally dropped to a price I was able to justify the other week. Also, while I’m talking about Deanna Raybourn, she’s announced a sequel to Killers of a Certain Age – but we have to wait until Spring 2025 for that I’m afraid!
I mentioned it last week but the next after that is the new Vinyl Detective novel, which is out in early April, so I’ll skip over that
No news on another Kate Shackleton, but Frances Brody does have a second book set in Brackerley Prison called Six Motives for Murder coming out in May, which really means I should get around to reading the first one which is in the pile in front of the pile. Also in May is another baseball-set story from Cat Sebastian. She’s not saying it’s a sequel to We Could Be So Good, just that You Should Be So Lucky is set in the same universe – so it probably should have gone in last week’s post – except that she only announced it on Tuesday this week. Hot off the press indeed – I’ve already preordered it.
Having mentioned one Sherlock Holmes inspired series; I should probably nod to the other, even though I also mentioned that last week Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock number 9 is due in June – A Ruse of Shadows looks like it’s going back to Lord Ingram’s family for the main mystery.
I’ve only just read Birder, She Wrote and haven’t read Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow! yet, but we already have the names and dates for this year’s two Meg Langslow’s from Donna Andrews: Between a Flock and a Hard Place is out in early August and Rockin’ Around the Chickadee arrives in mid-October. I continue to be in awe of whoever it is who keeps coming up with these title puns and long may they continue!
The fourth in Sarah MacLean’s Hell’s Belles series doesn’t even have name yet (or at least not that has been publicly announced!) but we do know it’s out in mid-September. And September also sees the long awaited Nightingale novella in the Rivers of London series. It’s called The Masquerades of Spring and you all know how much I’ve been looking forward to this – since Ben Aaronovitch mentioned it at an event for a previous book in the series.
I think that’s pretty much it – or at least all that I know about at the moment.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 