2book

Romance

Boys get beastie

Feature by Lois Dyer

There’s something downright delicious about otherworldly bad boys with magical powers. These three novels feature heroes and heroines who are anything but the boy or girl next door.

LIGHTNING STRIKES
Bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks launches a new paranormal series with How To Tame A Beast In Seven Days. This charming tale is set in a mythical world where handsome but dangerous Leofric of Benwick is Lord Protector of the Realm, nephew to the king and leader of the realm’s armies. Hit by lightning as a child, Leo carries its power within him and is routinely struck anew during storms. No one can physically touch him, for to do so would bring instant death. Citizens have dubbed him “The Beast” and are terrified of him.

When Leo is commanded by the evil king to marry the daughter of a duke, he knows he has no choice. But he never expected to fall in love with the beautiful, kind heiress. More importantly, he never expected she would miraculously withstand his touch. What Leo doesn’t know is that the woman he knows as Tatiana has magical powers of her own. Attraction sparks instantly between the two, but danger surrounds them, for their king plots to kill them both and sweep their wealth into his own coffers. The attempts on their lives multiply even as the connection between them blazes ever higher.

This novel is a delightful fairy tale for adults, complete with a lovely lady in a tower, the “Beast” who saves her, an evil villain, much danger and derring-do and lots of humor. Toss in a plot with several intriguing twists and it all adds up to a novel readers will love.

SHAPESHIFTERS!
Television actress and author Sara Humphreys leads off a new series with Undiscovered. Private investigator Rena McHale grew up in foster homes and never knew her parents; she doesn’t know why she has the gift of finding lost people. Nor does she understand why she keeps having terrifying dreams of dragons and death. When a handsome stranger steps into her office and hires her to find his brother, however, Rena has a feeling he knows the answers to her questions.

Dragon shifter Zander Lorens needs Rena’s help to unlock the centuries-old curse that has trapped him in his human form and his twin brother in his dragon form. Zander never planned to fall in love with Rena, but the compelling attraction between them is irresistible. He knows he can’t claim her, however, for only she can become his brother’s mate and free them both. But there are dark forces at work, determined to keep Zander away from his brother, even if that means Rena’s death. When secrets are revealed and time runs out, will Zander save her, or will Rena’s dreams of death and dragons finally come true?

Imaginative and compelling, this interesting take on shapeshifters living among humans has lots of adventure, action and sexual tension.

THE DARK KINGS RETURN
New York Times bestselling author Donna Grant returns to the world of the Dark Kings with Firestorm, the tenth novel in the popular series. Absent-minded archeologist Dr. Faith Reynolds is fascinated by an ancient dragon skeleton she has discovered in a cave on a remote island off Scotland. Speculation in the press is rampant, for dragons are, of course, fictional creatures. Her discovery interests more than humans, however, for the Dark Fae and the hidden Dragon Kings each want the skeleton. White Dragon shifter Dimitri is sworn to protect the secrets of the Dragons, and arrives at Faith’s island to destroy the skeleton. One glance at Faith, however, and he feels an attraction so strong that he begins to wonder if she might be that rare human who is unafraid of his dragon form.

Faith is fascinated by Dimitri and soon, her curiosity about the man evolves into passion. But Dimitri has secrets—so many secrets. When the Dark Fae arrive on the island, determined to claim the rare dragon skeleton and endangering everyone on the windswept, wild island, will Dimitri be able to keep Faith alive, his secrets safe and defeat the Dark Fae?

This rousing tale of adventure, thousand-year-old secrets, lust and love is vivid and intense. This is another excellent installment in this fan-favorite series.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

There’s something downright delicious about otherworldly bad boys with magical powers. These three novels feature heroes and heroines who anything but the boy and girl next door.
Fiction

Untold stories

Feature by Savanna Walker

We all love books about queens and iconic artists, but historical fiction can also uncover the untold stories of history—from lady detectives to aspiring bohemians to scandalous beauty queens. Here are three novels about the stories you didn’t learn in school.

MADAME DETECTIVE
Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective, is a legend of American law enforcement. Greer Macallister’s vastly entertaining novel Girl in Disguise brings this feminist pioneer to life in all her skill and complexity. Kate is a perceptive and determined character, and being inside her head while she makes deductions and analyzes her targets is an enormous amount of fun. Even more enjoyable is the way Kate wrangles her new detective colleagues, most of whom are varying degrees of sexist and some of whom have surprising hidden depths.

Macallister wrings a great deal of tension out of the various setups and traps the Pinkerton detectives use to ferret out crime and sedition, at times simply by adhering to the restrictions of the detective work of the period. The story is episodic at first, allowing the reader and Kate to bounce from case to case while Macallister fleshes out the world of pre-Civil War America and expertly darkens the mood of the book.

Once war breaks out, Kate and her colleagues are devoted to the Union war effort and Macallister’s carefully laid groundwork pays off. The shift from hunting down criminals to facing off against Confederate spies (one of whom is a clever mirror image of Kate herself) raises the stakes of the book and forces Kate into closer quarters with her colleagues and boss, setting up the characters for a satisfying series of confrontations. Long-simmering quarrels come to a head and an unexpected romance blooms that is both touching and maturely sexy.

Steeped in the details of the period, Girl in Disguise is an entertaining ride as well as an homage to a brilliant woman who found and seized her chance at a life full of adventure and purpose.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
The inspiration for Edvard Munch’s The Scream is often said to be the artist’s own existential angst and possible mental illness. In The Girl Between, Lisa Strømme gives the painting a more personal origin story—a passionate love affair between the painter and Tullik, a vacationing admiral’s daughter, seen through the eyes of Johanne, Tullik’s young maid.

The strength of Strømme’s novel is her awareness that having Johanne serve as only narrator would be a missed opportunity. The Girl Between is nominally the story of a love affair between two people, but truly the story of an emotional affair between three people. Johanne, who has grown up in the seaside town where Edvard lives and Tullik visits, is an aspiring artist herself as well as a girl just starting to question the boundaries and mores of her conservative upbringing. Johanne’s own artistic talent and burgeoning sense of her own desires color the entire novel, bursting forth in impressionistic passages that connect her emotions and sensations to the art she creates. Her vivid senses of the world around her, brought to startling life by Strømme’s prose throughout the novel, make the passages of impressionistic fancy even more surreal. In The Girl Between, the boundary between the everyday world and the world of art and iconography is porous, with emotion, inspiration and passion constantly flowing from one character to another.

Tullik is an especially fascinating figure as she is painfully aware of the limitations imposed on her because of her wealth and gender. She regresses into a childlike state as often as she attempts to be a bohemian firebrand. Because she is only ever viewed through Johanne’s eyes, it is unclear whether the fascination she provokes in others is entirely unconscious or carefully cultivated, whether her seduction of Edvard is a genuine meeting of souls or a frantic grasp for freedom. Strømme does not hesitate to show how Tullik and Edvard use their privilege to purse their own ends—Tullik with her wealth and control over Johanne, and Edvard with his ability as a man to walk away unscathed by the repercussions of his affairs. Johanne may pity and often idealize the lovers, but Strømme allows the reader to decide for themselves whether The Girl Between is a tragedy of two lovers, or the origin story of a woman who found herself in the wreckage they left behind.

THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN
In the history of the Miss America pageant, there has in fact been one winner who rejected the position. Her name was Betty Cooper, and she disappeared for 24 hours after winning the title in 1937. Michael Callahan uses her story as a template for The Night She Won Miss America, set in 1950 and centered on reluctant Miss Delaware Betty Welch, who only enters the competition to please her mother. Once in Atlantic City for the final days of competition, Betty find herself more interested in her dashing escort Griff than vying for the crown. But Griff isn’t exactly the picture-perfect suitor Betty thinks he is.

Callahan masterfully creates the sparkling world of Atlantic City in the 50s, draped in the post-war glamour of the Miss America pageant. From the lingo to the elaborate wardrobes of the contestants to the nightclubs and cocktails they frequent, his infectious enthusiasm for the period enlivens every page. Thankfully, he doesn’t rely solely on the delicious window dressing and provides the reader with two well-drawn main narrators—the innocent but self-possessed and intelligent Betty, and her more world-wise roommate Ciji.

Betty is a keen, dubious observer of the pageant, whose increasing success in the competition mainly comes from her refusal to play the part of ambitious beauty queen. But when she meets and falls madly in love with Griffin McAllister, her good sense wars with her powerful attraction to her escort. Callahan does a superb job at evoking the sweep and rush of first love, while at the same time undercutting the fantasy as Betty’s skeptical nature refuses to allow her to fully relax into Griff’s affections.

Ciji, who only entered the pageant because she sees it as a stepping-stone to Hollywood, takes over sections of the narrative once the pageant is over and the strain of the real world sets in. A beauty queen with the cynicism of Humphrey Bogart, Ciji moves through the world with the ever-present knowledge that her good looks are a useful tool (up to a point). As Betty and Griff’s relationship darkens, Ciji finds herself torn between helping her friend and acting in her own best interests.

The drama that unfolds is like one of the movies Ciji hopes to star in. Callahan nimbly guides the reader from the rounds of the Miss America competition to Times Square to a climax on a seaside cliff during a masquerade ball. The Night She Won Miss America is a delightfully dramatic and fast-paced summer read, with just the right amount of darkness to balance out the fluff.

We all love books about queens and iconic artists, but historical fiction can also uncover the untold stories of history—from lady detectives to aspiring bohemians to scandalous beauty queens. Here are three novels about the stories you didn’t learn in school.
Romance

Romance with a twist

Feature by Lois Dyer

Romance novels often employ clever and creative plot twists to surprise and delight readers. We’ve chosen three tales with hooks sure to pique your interest.

A BRILLIANT DISGUISE
Award-winning author Tracy Anne Warren delivers Bedchamber Games, the third installment in The Rakes of Cavendish Square series. When brilliant Rosamund Carrow’s father dies suddenly, she agrees to masquerade as a barrister to complete his court cases. Her brother is also an attorney, but due to a stress-induced stutter cannot perform courtroom speaking duties. Dressed as a young male, Rosamund begins to move in legal circles and it is here that she meets the handsome, wickedly intelligent rake Lord Lawrence Byron. A rising star in London legal circles, Lawrence is also the younger brother of a duke and a member of the ton, a level of society far above Rosamund. When Lawrence loses a case to Rosamund, he’s intrigued by who he believes to be a much younger attorney and sets out to become better acquainted. He’s stunned when he discovers the young man he knows as “Ross” is actually Rosamund. The attraction between them is compelling and before long, they are engaged in a blazing affair. However, each know that Rosamund’s time as an attorney must end, and with it, their connection. Rosamund cannot countenance becoming his mistress and Lawrence has always believed he must marry to further his career. When it appears all is lost and they must end their alliance, these two adventurous souls will have to choose. Can they forge a unique path together or will they follow society’s dictates to a future certain to leave them bereft and alone?

The author makes good use of the girl-masquerading-as-boy plot device, seamlessly melding the romance with the heroine’s delight to be employing her wit and knowledge in the legal setting. The sex scenes are hot, the affection between the hero and heroine just as well-developed and the barriers between the two equally believable.

COVERT OPERATIONS
Chicago author Julie Ann Walker uses her home town as the setting for Wild Ride, the ninth book in the Black Knights Inc. series. Fearless reporter Samantha Tate planned to use charming Ethan “Ozzie” Sykes as a source of information about his group, the Black Knights. When their time together turns them into friends, Samantha discovers bad boy Ozzie is really a good guy at heart and she finds herself falling in love with him. Ozzie also loses his heart but he’s keeping secrets—the kind that could get people killed if Samantha exposes them. When Samantha’s investigative work sets a killer on her trail, Ozzie will have to decide if he can keep her safe without revealing the truth about his world. Which will Samantha choose: a shot at winning the Pulitzer Prize for reporting or concealing a covert ops organization that reaches all the way to the President himself?

While the first quarter of the novel moves a bit slowly, the story takes off from there and becomes a non-stop roller coaster ride. Pop culture references and well-drawn secondary characters add texture to this tale of romantic suspense, motorcycle clubs and government intrigue.

A WRINKLE IN TIME
In a stellar adventure tale, author Lynn Kurland shuttles an American heroine and Scottish hero from one era to another in Ever My Love. When jewelry designer Emma Baxter left Seattle for Scotland to escape an annoying ex-fiance, she didn’t expect to flit back and forth between centuries. Handsome and rich Scotsman Nathaniel MacLeod, however, is reluctantly accustomed to jumping between centuries and when he meets Emma, she’s inexplicably drawn through time with him. Nathaniel and Emma have romantic chemistry but that doesn’t explain why she keeps appearing in the mist when he’s wearing chain mail in the fourteenth century and using his sword to defend his kin. At first, he’s busy saving her, but soon the two are exploring the many ways they fascinate and complement each other. Together they foil the interference of Emma’s obnoxious ex-fiance and Nathaniel’s overbearing grandfather. But all their combined brains and brawn may not be enough to conquer the unasked-for time jumping and the mysterious evil determined to destroy them.

This delightful novel boasts a fascinating plot, colorful settings and intriguing characters. The romantic connection between Emma and Nathaniel is charming and warm, and a colorful supporting cast provides depth. Readers will thoroughly enjoy this tale of magic and intrigue.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

Romance novels often employ clever and creative plot twists to surprise and delight readers. We’ve chosen three tales with diverse story-hooks to pique your interest.
NonfictionMemoir

Sustained by faith

Feature by Julie Hale

Three new memoirs offer messages of hope, focusing on God’s goodness in trying times and the blessings that await those who move forward with faith.

A SURVIVOR'S STORY
April 15, 2013 was a day that changed Rebekah Gregory’s life forever. She was standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon with her young son when—a mere three feet away—two terrorist-planted bombs exploded. Her son was spared, thanks in part to the cover provided by Gregory, who suffered severe injuries due to the blasts. In Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing, she recounts the horror of that day and the long process of recovery that followed 18 surgeries and the amputation of her left leg.

As Gregory proves in this heartening memoir, her personal journey is a testament to the power of faith. She grew up in an abusive household, the daughter of a violent-tempered preacher, and her early experiences with religion were unsatisfying. But her belief in Christ blossomed over the years, giving her the ability to face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. “Repairing my body wouldn’t have had much point if my spirit couldn’t have thrived,” she says. “The power of Christ alone sustained my strength.” Gregory’s is a story of trials turned into triumphs, and she shares it in a refreshingly frank and unaffected manner. Readers in need of a spiritual boost will find it in this inspiring book.

TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY
Grammy Award-winning musician Steven Curtis Chapman has been writing and recording heartfelt country songs rooted in faith for 30 years. A native of Paducah, Kentucky, he’s a Nashville favorite who has performed on stages around the world. As a small-town boy who made it big, Chapman has had his share of personal and professional struggles. In his new memoir, Between Heaven and the Real World, he traces his path to success and offers an up-close look at the spirit-filled life he leads with his wife and fellow adoption activist, Mary Beth, and their six children.

Despite the career highs—winning 58 Dove Awards, selling more than 11 million records—Chapman has wrestled with questions of faith, never more so than after the death of his adopted daughter Maria in 2008, a tragedy that nearly ended his career. But, as Chapman recounts in the book, through his belief in God’s design, he found a way to move forward. In his songs, Chapman says, he hopes to provide “the voice of a friend encouraging and challenging others from my own experience.” That’s the voice readers will find in this open, honest memoir. Seasoned with Bible verses and anecdotes from the Opry, Chapman’s story will resonate with his many fans and with folks for whom he’s a new discovery.

A LOVE THAT ENDURES
Married in 2002, Joey and Rory Feek had plenty of blessings to count: three wonderful daughters, a farm in Tennessee and a joint career as the celebrated country-music duo Joey+Rory. On his popular blog, thislifeilive.com, Feek posted updates from the farm and shared the message of Christ. But everything changed when Joey was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her death in 2016 at the age of 41 left Feek devastated. In This Life I Live: One Man's Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever he tells his unforgettable story.

Born in Atchison, Kansas, Feek was raised mostly by his mother, who struggled to make ends meet. After serving in the Marine Corps, he entered the music business, penning tracks for Kenny Chesney and Randy Travis. He found success as a performer with the radiant Joey, and their popularity was growing when her illness struck. In his book, he recounts the painful process of letting her go and the challenges of moving on. Throughout, he emphasizes the comfort he finds in Christ. “I have peace,” he says. “Because of my faith. And finally opening my hands and turning my life over to God.” Feek is a gifted writer with a plainspoken, down-to-earth style that’s appealing. His faith is palpable on the page. So is his love for Joey.

Three new memoirs about the trials and triumphs of life—perfect for the Easter season!
Children's & YAPicture Book

Getting readers ready for class

Feature by Lynn Beckwith

It's time again for new pencils, paper and folders, and the excitement that rolls around for kids as the school season returns. A fresh crop of books out this fall will help students face the year with confidence and, most importantly, a sense of humor.

Laura Numeroff's If You Take a Mouse to School continues her popular mouse series. With the comforting, familiar story line that has made her previous books such a hit with the preschool set, the newest installment in the adventures of Numeroff's jolly little critter finds him following his boy-owner to school. The mouse is packed and ready to go, starting with a lunchbox, which leads to a sandwich, then notebooks and pencils and a cozy spot in the boy's backpack. You get the picture. Or do you? Look closely at the illustrations and the fun really begins. As the children are solving basic addition problems, the mouse is blithely sailing through calculus. Look inside the children's house of blocks, and you will see the mouse lounging in a tidy mouse-made house. Because this is certainly a book that readers will want to return to again and again, they'll enjoy discovering new details in the illustrations each time.

Further hilarity is in store with Lynn Plourde's School Picture Day. Thor Wickstrom's cartoony illustrations are the perfect complement to Plourde's exaggerated situations. It seems that Josephina Caroleena Wattasheena the First does not know that it's picture day at school. Everyone else starts the morning dressed in their best outfits, but our heroine marches onto the school bus in overalls, with a jaunty hat over her multiple pigtails, carrying her trusty toolbox. She's not thinking about the photograph; she's just wondering how things work. When the bus' gearshift makes an odd sound, Josephina rushes to the rescue. After some highfalutin "fidgeting, fiddling, fuddling, and foopling," she solves the problem, but her oilcan sprays grease on all the well-dressed kids on the bus! Josephina's "help" with the pencil sharpener, school sprinkler system, heating vent and a wind-up chicken culminates in a rather odd class picture. The photographer is hilariously goofy, asking the children to show their "teethy weethies" and to say "cheesy weezy if you pleasy." And what about the fidgeting, curious Josephina Caroleena Wattasheena the First? She is off to bigger and better projects even a rocket that looks ready for the moon.

Hunter's Best Friend at School is Laura Malone Elliott's delightful tale of the pleasures and perils of friendship in the classroom. Lynn Munsinger's wonderful signature watercolors illustrate this story of peer pressure. Hunter and Stripe, two raccoons, like the same things: striped sweaters, Goldilocks and the Three Raccoons and cartwheels. However, sometimes their friendship can be a problem. "When Stripe comes to school one day in a mischief-making mood," he distracts Hunter at reading time, uses poor table manners at lunch and misbehaves during painting time. Hunter ends up following his friend's lead, but he's disappointed in the results. After a loving talk with his mother, he figures out a way to follow her advice: "Being a best friend doesn't mean always following along," she says. "Sometimes being a best friend means you have to help your friend be his best self." Good advice for any student!

It's time again for new pencils, paper and folders, and the excitement that rolls around for kids as the school season returns. A fresh crop of books out this fall will help students face the year with confidence and, most importantly, a sense of humor.

…
Children's & YA

ABCs of America: Celebrating presidents, patriotism and pie

Feature by Lynn Beckwith

The flags that began flying right after September 11 might have faded a bit in the sun, but the feelings of patriotism they symbolize remain as strong as ever. Just in time for Independence Day, BookPage spotlights a number of books that will remind kids of what makes America so special.

Lynne Cheney, besides being the wife of the vice president, is an author and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Along with noted illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, she has written America: A Patriotic Primer. This alphabet book follows the familiar routine, starting with A is for America, the land that we love. Each page is jam-packed with information about our nation its history, symbols and people. Cheerful watercolor-and-ink illustrations are filled with details about everything from how to fold Old Glory to the concept of patriotism to the philosophies of Jefferson, Madison and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As with many alphabet books, some letters work better than others, but readers will forgive the occasional awkward letter ( X marks the spot, Z is the end of the alphabet. ) because the illustrations are so interesting and marvelous. Children will pore over the pages and find new details in the borders each time they look at this book. Who would have thought a children's book would mention the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act?

Kids like to know about presidents. They remember that Abe Lincoln was skinny and wore a tall hat, and that George Washington had wooden teeth. After reading Michael Garland's hilarious The President and Mom's Apple Pie, they will never forget that William Howard Taft was an enormous man with an equally big appetite . . . and an excellent sense of smell. In Garland's charming tale, the rotund Taft pays a visit to a small town in order to dedicate a new flagpole, and everyone is all a-twitter. After the young narrator gets over the shock of seeing the president fill the doorway of the train (and I do mean fill), the whole town gets into the act of walking with Taft to the flagpole. Just as he approaches it, he suddenly sniffs the air and moves in the direction of a mysterious, wonderful aroma. Everyone follows the 27th president as he runs down the street and samples the variety of foods the city has to offer. From a big pile of spaghetti at Tony's Italian Village to ribs at Big Ed's Barbecue to steamed vegetables at Mrs. Wong's Hunan Palace, Taft is up to the task of searching for the marvelous aroma! Who cares if he has a little snack on the way? Well, Taft eventually finds the source of the intoxicating aroma: an apple pie baked by the narrator's mother. Garland's drawings are impossible to forget: Taft's enormous body looks like a bowling ball with tiny legs, and his handlebar mustache bisects his square head. A rollicking, memorable story.

Poet and author Janet S. Wong's newest offering, Apple Pie 4th of July, will make young readers reconsider the significance of the nation's birthday. The story is told from the perspective of a young Chinese-American girl whose family owns a Chinese restaurant. Like many children, she does not think her parents understand the world. Even though my father has lived here since he was twelve, even though my mother loves apple pie, I cannot expect them to know Americans do not eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July. Although the restaurant is open for business on the Fourth, the day wends on with nary a customer, and the sun lowers in the sky. But eventually patrons do arrive. They buy picnic food: chow mein, egg rolls and sweet-and-sour pork, among other things, turning the Fourth of July into a celebration of America's multi-culturalism. Brightly painted illustrations that resemble collages reveal more details of the story. The narrator is decked out in all-American red, white and blue, and one of the customers is carrying a pie into the restaurant. The family, after feeding so many other families, climbs the steps to the rooftop of their restaurant, where they watch fireworks and eat their own apple pie. This vivid book is the perfect menu for a patriotic celebration.

Happy Birthday America!

The flags that began flying right after September 11 might have faded a bit in the sun, but the feelings of patriotism they symbolize remain as strong as ever. Just in time for Independence Day, BookPage spotlights a number of books that will remind kids of what makes America so special.

Children's & YA

How to survive being a teen

Feature by Lynn Beckwith

Being a teenager isn't easy. With various social minefields, clothing styles that change by the minute and academic stresses, each day seems fraught with danger: Is that boy going to be nice to me? Am I good enough to make the team? Should I give in to peer pressure about drugs and alcohol? Am I too fat? It's a wonder any kid makes it through these years.

Enter two new books for adolescents, For Teens Only: Quotes, Notes and Advice You Can Use by Carol Weston and No Body's Perfect: Stories by Teens About Body Image, Self-Acceptance, and the Search for Identity by Kimberly Kirberger. Both these titles provide invaluable advice to young people on how to survive and flourish during the difficult coming-of-age years.

Carol Weston, author of Girltalk and the Melanie Martin books, talks directly to teens with advice straight from her heart and mind. Each short essay in her new book starts with a quotation. With wise words from notables like Pablo Casals, e.e. cummings and Wallace Shawn, along with up-to-date advice from such successful female role models as Jennifer Aniston and Alicia Keys, Weston's breezy book offers advice that young adults may actually take to heart. Never didactic, always comforting, Weston writes in a just-chatting-with-you-on-paper style, and she knows her audience. A grown-up with valid advice, she's more like a fun aunt or older cousin than a mom or a teacher.

One of the book's most provocative pieces begins with a quotation from Lisa Kudrow: "This is who I am. Not everybody has to like it." What follows is Weston's direct style at its best. "You don't have to like everybody. Not everybody will like you. And that's okay. . . . When people are not friendly, let that be their problem, not yours. Focus on the people who are your friends. And on pleasing yourself." Hear, hear!

At the beginning and end of this appealing book are a few pages of inspiring quotations. I know many teens who keep journals of meaningful lines they hear in music and read in poems and books. This volume will be a treasure trove for them.

In her new book No Body's Perfect, Kimberly Kirberger, author of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul and Teen Love: On Relationships, A Book for Teenagers, has compiled a variety of poems, essays and stories by teenagers that address issues surrounding body image, food and self-acceptance. Though the stories vary in length and quality, they are heartfelt, moving and, in some instances, devastating. No problem escapes the insightful reflection of these young, mostly female, writers. Difficult topics like anorexia, bulimia, drug addiction and alcohol abuse are discussed with unflinching honesty.

The raw scabs of young adulthood are exposed here, but Kirberger also offers hope between the covers of her book. There are chapters brightly titled "Give Yourself a Break" and "Stay True to Yourself" and "Ask for Support." Young people who are recovering from the ravages of adolescent choices write some of the hopeful pieces; others are simply the words of supportive friends who care about their suffering peers and offer encouraging words. Many read like journal entries complete with the horror and angst of new pain and the joy of self-discovery and healing.

Kirberger has also created a fill-in-the-blank journal to accompany her new book. The No Body's Perfect Journal offers exercises in self-reflection along with writing activities all perfect opportunities for young readers to stop, ruminate and record their feelings about peer pressure, body image and conformity.

These new books are the perfect way to open up sensitive discussions about how to deal with the everyday stresses of being a teen. Leave them on the bedside or coffee table for your youngster to find, and they're sure to discover words of wisdom on negotiating the bewildering road to adulthood.

Being a teenager isn't easy. With various social minefields, clothing styles that change by the minute and academic stresses, each day seems fraught with danger: Is that boy going to be nice to me? Am I good enough to make the team? Should I give in to peer pressure about drugs and alcohol? Am I too fat? It's a wonder any kid makes it through these years.

NonfictionMemoirCookbooks

Meditations on maternal life

Feature by Julie Hale

Mother’s Day is May 14! Honor mom with one of the engaging books featured below. Each provides a unique take on the challenges and rewards of motherhood.

In My Mother’s Kitchen, Peter Gethers salutes his foodie mom, the cookbook writer and expert chef Judy Gethers. During the course of her culinary career, Judy shared counter space with the likes of Julia Child and Wolfgang Puck. When she suffers a debilitating stroke in her 80s, the author is heartsick. As a salute to his mom, Gethers decides to whip up her pet recipes—an intimidating selection of delicacies with instructions that range from complex to incomprehensible. The story of Gethers’ labor of love is filled with family anecdotes, scenes from his mother’s remarkable life and plenty of humor (“as soon as I saw things like ‘swirling’ and ‘fine mesh’ when it came to making simple poached eggs, I got woozy,” he writes). Gethers balances the bitter and the sweet with skill in this moving memoir. 

FOR NEWLY MINTED MOMS
“Adulthood, it seems to me, is about narrowing,” Sarah Menkedick writes in Homing Instincts. To combat that narrowing, Menkedick cultivates a life of travel and exploration that includes backpacking solo in South America. She feels most at home when on the way to a fresh destination, but after she becomes pregnant and moves with her husband to family property in rural Ohio, her attitude shifts. In the eight essays that comprise this poignant, probing memoir, Menkedick contemplates the mysteries of motherhood and the surprising pleasures of establishing a permanent home—a place where she can write, reflect and prepare for the arrival of her daughter. “For the first time, I recognize this delving into my own heart, mind, and body as a journey,” she says. This revealing book is a lovely exercise in self-inquiry that will resonate with mothers-to-be.

FOR MOMS OF THE FUTURE
Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie provides parental advice that will stand the test of time in Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Adichie, author of the bestselling novel Americanah, began this brief tract as a letter to a friend who asked for her input on how to raise an empowered daughter. The letter grew to include 15 ideas for bringing up a fearless feminist. In a voice that’s companionable and open, she addresses critical mother-daughter issues such as sex, clothes and makeup, and she espouses an attitude of self-determination when it comes to marriage and career. Adichie, who has a daughter of her own, writes from experience—and from the heart—in this wise and inspiring book.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Mother’s Day is May 14! Honor mom with one of the engaging books featured. Each provides a unique take on the challenges and rewards of motherhood.

Romance

Small towns, big romance

Feature by Lois Dyer

The charm of life in a small town provides the perfect setting for warm, cozy romance. We’ve chosen three such tales for your enjoyment this month.

COOKING UP ROMANCE
Midwestern author Jules Bennett returns to Haven, Georgia, for Lost in You, the third novel in The Monroes series. Chef Liam Monroe has reluctantly returned to Haven to help his two adoptive brothers honor his late sister’s memory by opening her dream B&B. He plans to return to Savannah as soon as possible and open his own high-end restaurant, and he’s purposely trying to avoid developing deeper emotional connections while in Haven. Despite his best efforts, however, Liam can’t avoid being drawn to beautiful Macy Hayward. For her part, Macy was attracted to Liam as a teenager and finds it impossible to ignore the very sexy, brooding and damaged adult Liam. The dynamics of small-town life and family connections throw Liam and Macy together, threatening all determination to remain uninvolved and free. They become friends as well as lovers, but despite the threads that bind them together, each has dreams they can’t give up. Liam is a man who cannot stay in Haven, and Macy is a woman who cannot leave. How will this pair of wounded, fiercely loving people find their way to a happy future together?

Bennett has created an absorbing family drama, complete with tests of endurance and faith, successes and failures, heartbreak and happiness. The small-town setting is charming, and readers will fall in love with this wonderful couple.

CITY GIRL MEETS GEORGIA BOY
Bestselling author Lia Riley chooses a small town in the deep South as the setting for the utterly charming It Happened on Love Street. New Yorker Pepper Knight arrives in Everland, Georgia, confident that her summer internship as a law clerk to the local judge will be the first step in a stellar legal career. When the job falls through, Pepper finds herself stuck in Everland for the summer with no job prospects and miles from home. As luck would have it, she runs smack into local veterinarian and reigning heartthrob, Rhett Valentine. He finds her employment as a dog walker, and much to Pepper’s surprise, she not only likes her new job but soon finds herself becoming involved with the town’s residents. Rhett can’t seem to stay away from the beautiful city girl, and before long, the two have decided to indulge themselves in a summer-only affair. Soon, however, their neighbors-with-benefits arrangement deepens into much more. Can a career-driven city girl find her happily ever after with a laid-back Southern boy, or will these two end up brokenhearted?

In this thoroughly delightful novel, the sexual tension is steamy, the plot engaging, the characters always entertaining, the dialogue witty and the situations often hilarious. Who knew small-town life could be so downright funny? This tale is certain to make readers smile, laugh outright and sigh dreamily. In short, it has everything a reader is looking for in a romance.

A BOY, A GIRL AND A DOG
Eastern Canadian author Donna Alward delivers Somebody’s Baby, the third novel in the Darling, Vermont, series starring the Gallagher siblings. The third Gallagher brother, handsome heartbreaker Rory, is awakened late one night with a call for help. Beautiful Oaklee Collier, the younger sister of Rory’s best friend from high school, turns to veterinarian Rory to treat a dog she accidentally hit with her car. When her concern for the dog leads to her spending more and more time with Rory, Oaklee quickly discovers that her schoolgirl crush on her older brother’s friend never went away. In fact, she finds the adult Rory even more attractive. The two bond over the injured dog, and before long, the dog is living in Oaklee’s apartment and Rory is spending more and more time there as well. Both Oaklee and Rory have had their hearts broken in the past, and both are wary of becoming involved. They’ve been friends since childhood—will becoming lovers result in the loss of that important relationship?

This warm, endearing friends-to-lovers tale features an engaging hero and heroine who encounter very real and human obstacles in their relationship, while a solid cast of secondary characters lend texture to the small-town setting.

 

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

The charm of life in a small town provides the perfect setting for warm, cozy romance. We’ve chosen three such tales for your enjoyment this month!

FictionDebut Fiction

Land of lawlessness

Feature by Amy Scribner

Two historical novels offer searingly good stories set in the raw and dangerous American West.

Set in 1876 Wyoming, Dragon Teeth is a “found” manuscript from the great Michael Crichton, who died in 2008. Not a typical Crichton blockbuster, it draws from the best of Western fiction. (Think shootouts and a villain whose entrance makes the saloon music halt.)

On a foolish bet, sheltered Yale student William Johnson joins a summer expedition to Wyoming, where he assists a paleontologist digging up dinosaur bones. They hit the jackpot, unearthing a previously undiscovered skeleton. But Native Americans, water buffalo herds and a scheming, rival paleontologist send the expedition packing. Johnson is separated from the group and finds himself in a rough town with the deliciously perfect name of Deadwood. On his first morning, he steps outside the hotel to find a body in the street. “Flies buzzed around the body; three or four loungers stood over it, smoking cigars and discussing its former owner, but no one made any attempt to move the corpse, and the passing teams of horses just wheeled past it.” This is, needless to say, a long way from the rarified air of New Haven. Burdened with crates of fossils he feels compelled to protect, Johnson is challenged for the first time in his life to survive on his own wits, not his parents’ money.

Full of twists and a cool appearance by the Earp brothers, Dragon Teeth is both thrilling and thought-provoking.

Also fighting for survival is Dulcy Remfrey, the heroine of Jamie Harrison’s debut, The Widow Nash, set in turn-of-the-century Washington and Montana. Dulcy is fleeing her abusive ex-fiancé, Victor, but two factors complicate her efforts: One, Victor is her father’s business partner, and two, her dear father has just died after suffering for years from syphilis. While accompanying her father’s body on a train from Seattle to New York, Dulcy disappears—or so it seems.

Actually, Dulcy fakes her own suicide and slips off the train in windy Livingston, Montana, where she becomes Maria Nash, a recent widow. Although she tries to keep to herself in this “place where she’d stopped being herself,” Dulcy gradually becomes part of the colorful Livingston community, with its corrupt police, promiscuous innkeeper and gossipy women. After a lifetime of attending to her father while he searched the globe for a cure for his illness, this is the first time Dulcy has been truly alone. She buys a home and plants a garden, reads stacks of books and quietly starts a tentative romance with a writer.

“She had finally peeled off her old life, lost her ability to fret over secrets before this new one,” Harrison writes. But a slip-up in Dulcy’s carefully cultivated new life could lead Victor right to her door.

Richly descriptive, The Widow Nash is the luminous story of a woman suspended between two worlds, one promising, the other catastrophic.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Two historical novels offer searingly good stories set in the raw and dangerous American West.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Get your feet wet, take the plunge

Feature by Julie Hale

Swim season is here! If fear is keeping your little one out of the water, check out the books below. These inspiring stories will motivate youngsters to ride the tide.

RESCUE AT SEA
In Carolyn Crimi’s There Might Be Lobsters, Eleanor and her pint-size pooch, Sukie, hit the beach for a day of fun and sun. But the steep, sandy stairs that lead to the shore and the big beach ball scare Sukie. Most of all, she’s afraid of lobsters! Spunky Eleanor tries to coax her into the water—to no avail. But when their beloved toy gets swept up in a wave, Sukie is forced to be brave and forget her fear. In the end she saves the day, earning dog biscuits and a prime spot on the beach blanket. Laurel Molk depicts Sukie’s switch from downcast canine to tail-wagging champ in winning illustrations that bring a transformative day at the shore to vivid life. This is an appealing story with an important upshot for readers: Never underestimate yourself!

A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
In Aaron Reynolds’ delightful aquatic adventure, Sea Monkey & Bob, two pals conquer their ocean-based phobias. Puffer fish Bob and his friend Sea Monkey can’t figure out how to navigate their watery world. Surely Bob will float in the ocean, rise to the surface and get carried away! As for tiny little Sea Monkey—won’t he drift right down to the ocean floor? The two buddies struggle in the water until they find the key. Solving this dilemma requires teamwork! In the end, friendship keeps the critters afloat, as they join hands and help one another stay safe in the water. At last, they’re at home in their element. The story’s standout text and Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s inviting illustrations of the two pals and their fish friends will inspire timid swimmers to take a dip.

DARING TO DIVE
Jabari has aced his swimming lessons and listened to a pep talk from his pop. Is he ready to make the leap from the giant diving board? In Jabari Jumps, Gaia Cornwall tells the story of his progression from self-doubt to (big splash!) celebration. Jabari, his father and little sister have settled in at the pool. This is it—the day Jabari will make his big dive: “I’m a great jumper,” he says, “so I’m not scared at all.” Watching the other kids ascend the ladder, looking like “tiny bugs,” he hesitates. Maybe he should rest first. And stretch. With more encouragement from his father, Jabari finally embraces the moment—and finds that he really is a great jumper. Cornwall creates a vivid poolside setting through innovative collage and watercolor illustrations, and Jabari’s joy is infectious. His story proves that preparation combined with courage can bring a big payoff.

Swim season is here! If fear is keeping your little one out of the water, check out the books below. These inspiring stories will motivate youngsters to ride the tide.

FictionSpeculative Fiction

Hidden worlds

Feature by Savanna Walker

With the boundaries between literary and genre fiction increasingly eroding, it’s never been a better time to explore the in-between world of speculative fiction. And these two books, one a lyrical, modern fairy tale and the other a sprawling adventure story, have deeper concerns bubbling under their magical surfaces than you might expect.

A SURPRISINGLY TIMELY FAIRY TALE
Victor LaValle’s The Changeling is, on the surface, a lyrical modern-day fairy tale. In the opening chapters, Apollo Kagwa meets, marries and has a baby with librarian Emma Valentine. Apollo, who is haunted by his absentee father, throws himself into raising baby Brian with gusto. But Emma becomes more and more withdrawn, and what initially looks like post-partum depression turns out to be a growing suspicion that Brian is not a real baby. When Emma goes to terrible lengths to prove herself right and then disappears, Apollo decides to hunt her down and take revenge on behalf of their son.

For most of the novel, LaValle sits at a distance, intruding into Apollo’s mind only in moments of great feeling or to take stock, and otherwise letting the tale play out. His remove prevents the whimsy inherent to such a tale from overshadowing the darkness at its heart, and stylistically ties his novel to the Grimms’ fairy tales that inspired it. Like those stories, The Changeling can be read as literal, symbolic or both, with moments that function better the more one accepts the dream logic of the novel.

Just when the novel begins to look like a disappointingly shallow update—a modern setting with retrograde themes bubbling beneath it—LaValle uses the reader’s assumptions against them, laying the foundation for a more complex take on the changeling myth. As Apollo travels further into the underworld of New York and the novel moves ever deeper into outright fantasy, LaValle’s true concerns slowly unfurl.

At its core, The Changeling is a story about colonization and oppression, with a clear awareness of racial and gender dynamics that reveals the ugliness of assuming Western European superiority over immigrants like Apollo’s Ugandan mother, or male superiority over women. And it does it all in a gritty, chilly New York City where monsters and warrior women lurk in dark corners—an alternate city that for all its fairy-tale wonder feels startlingly immediate.

Careful and deliberate in its setup, LaValle’s novel is a magic trick that earns every bit of wonder. It’s so compelling that you won’t be able to look away, even at its darkest moments.

BACK TO THE FUTURE (WITH WITCHES)
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., a 700-page collaboration between master of sci-fi Neal Stephenson and historical fiction writer Nicole Galland, is about a secret government organization that sets out to use magic and time travel against America’s enemies. It’s a setup that absolutely should not work. And yet somehow, D.O.D.O. is entertaining and sprightly, gleefully skipping through its fast-paced plot, scattering character grace notes and barbed critiques of government overreach with aplomb.

Historian Melisande Stokes is approached by military intelligence operative Tristan Lyons to help the U.S. government in a seemingly insane quest—to bring back magic. Galland and Stephenson ground the premise of the novel in realistic science, which leads to a few fairly dry passages but may be necessary given how very silly the concept could have been in lesser hands. In the world of D.O.D.O., magic was real until the 19th century, when witches’ power rapidly decreased until it completely sputtered out. In the present day, the United States government wants to build a machine that allows witches to practice magic—specifically time travel so that operatives can make changes in the past that affect the future.

Stephenson and Galland construct a web of fascinating personalities, all with divergent motivations and moralities. Due to a framing device in the beginning of the novel, it is clear that at some point one or multiple characters will betray Mel and Tristan, stranding them in different eras. However, the reader may be so distracted by the sheer fun of D.O.D.O.’s time-traveling exploits—which include jaunts to Elizabethan England, Constantinople on the eve of the Fourth Crusade and, in one instance, a spectacular joke that’s quite literally hundreds of pages in the making—that they could forget that it’s coming.

Stephenson and Galland seed character development and lay the groundwork for the novel’s many twists within these trips through time, using their immersive renderings and deepening character development to direct their readers’ attention away from the growing danger that Tristan and Mel invite into their own organization. And when the villain is eventually revealed, it’s a character so deliciously entertaining and engaging that readers may very well find themselves sympathetic to their cause.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Nicole Galland and Neal Stephenson for The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

With the boundaries between literary and genre fiction increasingly eroding, it’s never been a better time to explore the in-between world of speculative fiction. And these two books, one a lyrical, modern fairy tale and the other a sprawling adventure story, have deeper concerns bubbling under their magical surfaces than you might expect.

Romance

Love on both sides of the law

Feature by Lois Dyer

Criminals stalk the pages of the three romance novels we’re featuring this month—and the hearts of the heroes and heroines who find themselves inconveniently, uncontrollably attracted to the lawbreakers they've set out to bring down. Forbidden love is a hallmark of romance for a reason, and you don't get much more forbidden than a crusader falling for a crook. . . .

THE QUEEN OF CON ARTISTS
Eva Leigh launches a new Regency-set series with From Duke Till Dawn, first in The London Underground novels. Beautiful, intelligent Cassandra Blake barely survived life on London’s streets before becoming a successful swindler, posing as a vulnerable, distressed young widow and fleecing men of their funds. When she met the Duke of Greyland, however, she lost her heart before taking his money and disappearing. Two years later, they meet again in London when he walks into the gambling hell where she is acting as hostess.

Greyland is an honorable member of the aristocracy, trained from birth to fulfill his many duties. The only person he felt truly saw him as a man and not a Duke was Cassandra Blake, the beautiful woman he loved for only one night before she disappeared. He’s never forgotten her and when he finds her at the gaming house, he’s alight with hope. Soon, however, he discovers her deception and the fury of betrayal and anger swamp his tender feelings.

Cassandra bitterly regrets the loss of Greyland’s regard and knows she has only herself to blame. When her mentor absconds with the gambling club’s funds and leaves her to face their debtors alone, Cassandra is threatened with disaster. The moneylenders are criminals who will not hesitate to kill her if she cannot repay them. She has no friends, nowhere to turn and realizes only one person has the power and influence to help her. Greyland has reason to hate her but Cassandra has no choice. She offers him a bargain—if he will help her find her mentor and reclaim the stolen funds, she will be able to repay the original five hundred pounds she took from him two years earlier. It isn’t enough for the damage she did to him—and to her own bruised heart—but it’s her only card left to play. If Greyland refuses, the moneylenders will surely destroy her.

Much to her relief, Greyland agrees, but on his terms. They will search together, and she must not leave his sight until they are finished. Cassandra agrees, for truly, she has little choice. They set off to find her mentor, both knowing they play a dangerous game. Neither, however, expected to learn so much about their old flame—or the lengths they will go to protect each other. Love wasn’t part of the bargain but Greyland and Cassandra know there can be no happy ever after for them. For how can a Duke and a con artist find a way to a shared future?

This eminently likeable hero and heroine are complicated and intriguing, as is the fascinating view into the underbelly of Regency England. This novel is short on balls and soirees and wonderfully long on the criminal side of 1817 London, with a chasing-the-bad-guy appeal that’s fresh without being too dark. Readers will eagerly anticipate the next book in the series.

ILLICIT PASSION
Midwest author Anne Calhoun delivers Turn Me Loose, the third in her Alpha Ops series. As a college freshman, Riva Henneman was busted by a young undercover cop, Ian Hawthorn. To stay out of jail, she agreed to become his confidential informant. The initial surge of attraction they both felt was submerged by their official connection and after the resulting trial, they went their separate ways. Neither ever forgot the other.

Seven years later, Police Lieutenant Ian happens to walk into Riva’s restaurant and is stunned to recognize her. Riva is equally shocked to see Ian. She’s turned her life around and helps endangered youth learn cooking skills in her upscale organic restaurant. Shaken by his appearance but determined to remain calm, Riva serves Ian and when he leaves, asks him not to return.

Unfortunately for Riva’s plan to put Ian out of her thoughts and life once again, a young man in her training program is picked up and questioned about his brother’s involvement in drug running. To save her trainee, Riva agrees to gather incriminating information about the man at the head of the organization—her father. Ian is blindsided by her offer but refuses to let her set out alone. Together, they drive across the state to her parents’ home, where Riva is ostensibly helping her mother organize an upcoming society luncheon. They quickly learn the situation at home is even worse than Riva expected, for her sociopathic father is using drugs to control and abuse her mother. Riva and Ian will have to work together to safely negotiate the tangled, dangerous world of her family's business. When faced with death, can they save themselves and Riva’s mother, or will they lose to the ultimate evil?

Turn Me Loose is a nail-biting novel with lots of chilling moments and well-crafted suspense. The romance between the hero and heroine smolders with unrequited love and lust, while the emotional engagement is equally riveting.

TO CATCH A THIEF
USA Today bestselling author Vanessa Fewings launches a new series with The Chase, first in The Icon Trilogy. Forensic art specialist Zara Leighton is a new hire at one of London’s most prestigious investigative art firms. To her surprise and delight, she’s assigned to a team working on tracking down the elusive and notorious art thief, Icon. The puzzling case is engrossing and the unique aspects of the case fascinate Zara. Surprisingly, her boss also calls her in to work with Tobias Wilder, an American billionaire, who needs her unique ability to visually identify counterfeit paintings.

Zara is immediately attracted to Tobias, and he to her. Together, they gain entry to an exclusive gathering at a palace to view a questionable painting. Her adventure with Tobias draws Zara into an ongoing connection that is quickly complicated by her own past and the artwork she grew up with. As her work with the team attempting to unravel the Icon mystery becomes entangled with her hours spent with Tobias, Zara is increasingly conflicted. Is it her imagination that the mysterious Icon and Tobias appear to have many of the same character traits? Is the man she’s falling in love with capable of art thefts which confound the best investigators? Where does Tobias go when he’s not with her? And if Tobias truly is Icon, how will she bear the fallout when he’s caught?

The details of the fascinating world of high profile art make an intriguing background for the mystery. The first half of the novel is more remiscent of Fifty Shades of Grey than traditional romance but the connection between hero and heroine soon turns tender. Read this one with a fan and a glass of ice water at hand!

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

Criminals stalk the pages of the three romance novels we’re featuring this month—and the hearts of the heroes and heroines who find themselves inconveniently, uncontrollably attracted to the lawbreakers they've set out to bring down. Forbidden love is a hallmark of romance for a reason, and you don't get much more forbidden than a crusader falling for a crook. . . .

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features