Welcome to Book Beat! Think of Book Beat as Hide Your Wallet, Part Two!
In Hide Your Wallet, we talk about books coming out in a particular month that we really want to read. But there’s more to good books than just new releases!
Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.
We hope you find something new to read through Book Beat, and please let us know what books you’ve discovered recently!
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It’s a Whole Spiel
Author: Katherine Locke
Released: September 17, 2019 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: LGBTQIA, Young AdultIncludes a special introduction by Mayim Bialik, star of The Big Bang Theory and author of the #1 bestseller Girling Up!
Get ready to fall in love, experience heartbreak, and discover the true meaning of identity in this poignant collection of short stories about Jewish teens, including entries by David Levithan, Nova Ren Suma, and more!
A Jewish boy falls in love with a fellow counselor at summer camp. A group of Jewish friends take the trip of a lifetime. A girl meets her new boyfriend’s family over Shabbat dinner. Two best friends put their friendship to the test over the course of a Friday night. A Jewish girl feels pressure to date the only Jewish boy in her grade. Hilarious pranks and disaster ensue at a crush’s Hanukkah party.
From stories of confronting their relationships with Judaism to rom-coms with a side of bagels and lox, It’s a Whole Spiel features one story after another that says yes, we are Jewish, but we are also queer, and disabled, and creative, and political, and adventurous, and anything we want to be. You will fall in love with this insightful, funny, and romantic Jewish anthology from a collection of diverse Jewish authors.
Source: Hypable cover reveal
Just in case you missed hearing about this one on yesterday’s podcast episode with Dahlia Adler!
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Reverb
Author: Anna Zabo
Released: May 6, 2019 by Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Twisted Wishes #3The tougher they are, the harder they fall.
Twisted Wishes bass player Mish Sullivan is a rock goddess—gorgeous, sexy and comfortable in the spotlight. With fame comes unwanted attention, though: a stalker is desperate to get close. Mish can fend for herself, just as she always has. But after an attack lands her in the hospital, the band reacts, sticking her with a bodyguard she doesn’t need or want.
David Altet has an instant connection with Mish. A certified badass, this ex-army martial arts expert can take down a man twice his size. But nothing—not living as a trans man, not his intensive military training—prepared him for the challenge of Mish. Sex with her is a distraction neither of them can afford, yet the hot, kink-filled nights keep coming.
When Mish’s stalker ups his game, David must make a choice—lover or bodyguard. He’d rather have Mish alive than in his bed. But Mish wants David, and no one, especially not a stalker, will force her to give him up.
Source: Anna Zabo (@amergina) on Twitter
A rockstar romance between a pansexual bass player and her trans queer bodyguard!
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Stealing Luna
Author: Carla de Guzman
Released: April 26, 2019 by Midnight Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Cincamarre #2Cora Justa Dumagat has had enough.
She is tired of watching the corrupt, fat cats of the council override the monarchy and risk the people’s lives in exchange for a payday. Despite advice from her Queen, Cora has decided to take matters into her own hands and hit the Joaquins where it hurts—to steal their precious Juan Luna painting right from under their noses in Barcelona.
The job shouldn’t be too difficult. If only Luis Ang, her ex-boyfriend, wasn’t hired to be her bodyguard.
Luis knows that Cora is up to something, and will stop at nothing to make sure she’s safe, even at the cost of Cora’s plans.
As Luis and Cora become more and more deeply entangled into each other, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Will Cora have her revenge? Or will stealing Luna be the last thing she ever does?
Source: Carla de Guzman (@carlakdeguzman) on Twitter
Another bodyguard romance! This one, though, has an art heist and some second chance elements.
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Thornfruit
Author: Felicia Davin
Released: February 27, 2018
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Gardener's Hand #1There were two secrets in Varenx House, and Alizhan was one of them.
Alizhan can’t see faces, but she can read minds. Her mysterious ability leaves her unable to touch or be touched without excruciating pain. Rescued from abandonment and raised by the wealthy and beautiful Iriyat ha-Varensi, Alizhan has grown up in isolation, using her gift to steal secrets from Iriyat’s rivals, the ruling class of Laalvur. But Iriyat keeps secrets of her own.
When Alizhan discovers that she isn’t the only one of her kind, and that a deadly plot threatens everyone like her, there’s only one person she can trust.
Ev liked having a secret. None of the other girls in the village had a thief-friend.
Evreyet Umarsad—“Ev” to her parents and her one friend—longs to be the kind of hero she reads about in books. But the rest of the world feels impossibly far away from her life on a farm outside Laalvur. Ev will never lay eyes on the underground city of Adappyr, the stars of the Nightward Coast, or the venomous medusas that glow in the dark depths of the sea.
At least on her weekly trip to the market, Ev gets to see her thief—the strange young woman who slips by her cart and playfully steals a handful of thornfruit. When the thief needs help, Ev doesn’t hesitate. Together, they uncover a conspiracy that draws them all over Laalvur and beyond.
Thornfruit is the first book in The Gardener’s Hand trilogy.
Source: @FeliciaDavin on Twitter
LGBT fantasy with some romantic elements. And it’s currently FREE! Also, I don’t want to spoil the trilogy, but click through to the Tweet to find out how the romance shakes out.
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Queen of the Conquered by Kheryn Callender came to my attention via a cover reveal announcement on Twitter. The stark black and bright pink on a mostly white background are striking. “An ambitious young woman with the power to control minds seeks vengeance against the royals who murdered her family, in a Caribbean-inspired fantasy world embattled by colonial oppression.”
One Day to Fall by Therese Beharrie also popped up on Twitter and gave me gimme hands when it was described as a romance between TWO grumpy people!
I’m looking forward to next week’s release of JUNK MAIL by Kendall Ryan. It’s about a (solicited) d*ck pic texted to the wrong person. Wrong as in, the recipient of the picture is the new client of the sender’s company. Ryan writes sexy, flirty fun without being troubled by the real-world implications of some of the details (none of us wants unsolicited dick pics, but this is the fictional world…). When I’m in the right mood, her books can be very entertaining.
May brings a new Harlequin Presents from my favorite HP writer, Caitlin Crews: THE ITALIAN’S TWIN CONSEQUENCES. As with most HPs, you can tell by the title what tropes you’re getting and whether the story will be to your liking. I’m pre-disposed to like everything Crew writes, so—secret babies or not—I’m there for her new book. I believe Crews also has another HP scheduled for release in May: THE UNTAMED BILLIONAIRE’S INNOCENT BRIDE. Excuse me while I one-click.
Caitlin Crews must have been incredibly busy because under her alternate name of Megan Crane her SNIPER’S PRIDE, the next in her Alaska Force series, is also scheduled for a May publication.
I’m also looking forward to the May 14 release of Skye Warren’s CONCERTO, sequel to her OVERTURE, about a violin prodigy in love with her much older guardian. Her feeling are reciprocated but there’s the age gap, power imbalance, and dark family secrets keeping them apart. Angst at its finest. I am so there!
DiscoDollyDeb, I read the synopsis for Overture and one-clicked SO FAST. Gimme all that angst.