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.
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A Day in the Death of Walter Zawislak
Author: Molly O'Keefe
Released: December 9, 2019
Genre: Literary FictionIf, at the end of your life, you got to pick one day to relive, what day would you pick?
Walter Zawislak wants none of it. Not a day to relive, not a trip down memory lane through a life he wasted. His wife, Rosie, died twenty years ago, and without her he hasn’t done much living. So if it’s lights out for him, then just turn them off already and let him get some peace and quiet.
But Peter, the mysterious young man in charge of Walter’s afterlife, isn’t listening to Walter. In Peter’s eyes there is beauty in every day, even the bad ones. Even the really bad ones. Of which Water has had more than a few. But there are also days of bravery and heroism. Selflessness and grace.
And Rosie…there are lots of days of Rosie.
Before it’s too late for both of them, Peter has to remind Walter that there’s more to life than dying.
Source: @MollyOKwrites on Twitter
I believe this is more contemporary fiction than romance, but O’Keefe is a fantastic writer.
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Hearts on Hold
Author: Charish Reid
Released: February 3, 2020 by Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceWhat happens in the stacks stays in the stacks…
Professor Victoria Reese knows an uphill battle when she sees one. Convincing her narrow-minded colleagues at the elite Pembroke University to back a partnership with the local library is a fight she saw coming and already has a plan for. What she didn’t see coming? The wildly hot librarian who makes it clear books aren’t the only thing he’d like to handle.
When a tightly wound, sexy-as-hell professor proposes a partnership between his library and her university, children’s department head John Donovan is all for it. He knows his tattoos and easygoing attitude aren’t quite what she expected, but the unmistakable heat between them is difficult to resist.
And then there’s the intriguing late fee on her record. For the Duke’s Convenience… A late fee and a sexy romance novel? There’s more to Dr. Reese than she’s letting on.
John might like to tease her about her late fee, but when he teases her in other ways, Victoria is helpless to resist. Mixing business with pleasure—and oh, it is pleasure—always comes with risks, but maybe a little casual fun between the sheets is just what Victoria needs.
Source: @AuthorCharish on Twitter
Reid seems to promise lots of book nerdery and sex, which is what we’re here for!
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The Hunting Party
Author: Lucy Foley
Released: February 12, 2019 by William Morrow
Genre: Mystery/ThrillerEveryone’s invited…everyone’s a suspect…
For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue.
All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.
During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.
They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.
The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.
Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?
Source: @LucyFoleyTweets on Twitter
“A murder mystery set in a remote lodge in the Scottish wilderness.”
Also, I love the UK cover so much more.
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One Dead Vampire
Author: Kris Ripper
Released: December 17, 2019
Genre: LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Mystery/Thriller
Series: Rocky Fitzgerald #1In the city of Conquistos, California, things are frequently not what they seem. The police force has a strong gargoyle contingent, one of the high school’s best science teachers is a vampire, and Rocky Fitzgerald’s first great love—and current great frenemy—has rematerialized just when she thinks she’s got her life together. (Not rematerialized-rematerialized. Nichelle isn’t even a little supernatural.) Rocky 1.0 was an insecure queer girl who was afraid of selfies. Rocky 2.0 is an Insta-celeb fat activist with a serious following and a side hustle helping people fulfill their dreams.
Rocky’s life coaching job doesn’t exactly put her in the path of capital-D-Danger, and as an adopted human kid in a gargoyle cop family, no one expects her to save the world. But when her old chem teacher gets hauled in on suspicion of having murdered his husband, Rocky knows something’s not quite right. Finding out Mr. B is a vampire is one thing; investigating the twists and turns of vampire politics while attempting to not draw attention to herself and solve the mystery of who the real murderer is takes things to a whole new level of capital-C-Crazy.
When Nichelle Crawford shows up right in the thick of it—sorry, that’s Detective Nichelle Crawford these days—Rocky can’t decide if it’s a godsend or the universe trolling her. Together with her (borrowed) springer spaniel, she investigates a couple of vampire business moguls, goes up against a pharmaceutical company with a supernatural R&D section, and discovers a sex toy shop that deals in black market vampire meds. Also, she totally saves the day. (That’s her story and she’s sticking to it.)
First in a series.
Source: @Kris_Ripper on Twitter
A queer cozy paranormal mystery! I feel like there aren’t many of those out.
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I added the Charish Reid book to my list after @JenniferRNN on Twitter said of it “She is prickly and wants to plan a sordid affair via spreadsheet.”
@Ren Benton: that reminds me of an episode of 30 Roc where Liz is trying to figure out when she could make time for sex with her husband during her optimal fertility period and she put her whole day on a spreadsheet and got completely turned on by the fact that she was able to neatly assign a time-block to every task of the day—including the sex.
/Spreadsheets, amirite?
I enjoyed the Kris Ripper mystery – I hope it finds its audience. Here’s my GR review;
3.5 stars. Kind of like a goofier, queer, Californian Sookie Stackhouse – with a very diverse cast of supporting characters. I enjoyed this a lot but I don’t think it’s for everyone. I think it comes down to whether you’re entertained or annoyed by Rocky, the narrator and 20 something queer fativist instagrammer, life coach and unlikely amateur sleuth. Read the sample!
The plot is pretty thin for a mystery, cozy or otherwise (and the romance is way too understated for genre romance). It’s the first in a planned UF queer mystery series and it’s mostly an introduction to Rocky’s wacky hometown, where most of the humans are unaware that their friends and neighbors are supernatural beings.
As a human, adopted into a gargoyle family, Rocky has a unique view of both her human and supernatural neighbors. She is also terrible at sleuthing (IMO) and I had to put the book down several times when she was about to do something dumb. I was surprised by the resolution of the mystery – and not in a good “wow that author was really clever with the plotting” way, but more of a “ok, that was random” way.
The Molly O’Keefe was already on the the tbr pile. Don’t care if it’s a romance, as she’s a grocery list author for me.
That Cherish Reid book, however, was nowhere on my book horizon and is now a must have and I thank you.
I have the O’Keefe book on my kindle and am wondering about it being romance-y enough for me. But I couldn’t pass up the premise, and it is Molly.
@DonnaMarie: I just finished O’Keefe’s WEDDNG AT RIVERVIEW INN which was very good and reminded me in way of her ONE LAST CHANCE (a favorite book of 2019): Former spouses are reunited while the wife works temporarily as a chef for the husband’s new venture. Incredibly emotional, angsty, and melancholy. Loved it!
The Hunting Party came out last February and is currently $1.99 on Amazon (US).
@TripleD, I haven’t got to that one yet. So many books, etc. Have you read The Heart Of It? Four chapters of brilliance that a lot of authors can’t achieve in 30.
I received an ARC of One Dead Vampire from the author and, unfortch, ended up rating it 2 stars.
Some of my mehs deffo had to do with my high expectations since Kris Ripper is one of my few autobuy authors. In addition, I also had the same criticisms that Cleo mentioned and second the suggestion of reading the sample first. If it doesn’t click for you, give it a pass.
My summary of my review:
TL;DR: The first book in a series featuring a queer and fat female protagonist solving mysteries of a supernatural nature. I was more disappointed than not despite the book not being terribs. The humor was so-so and the main character never clicked for me.
ION, I read Ann Aguirre’s newest book (Strange Love) last night and can say that’s my first fave read of 2020. Happily gave it 5 stars on GR.
I’d say that, if you shipped The Predator/Lex from the 2004 Alien vs. Predator movie and added more rom-com elements (there’s a dog who talks and he’s LOLARIOUS), then run and get a copy.
(It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited)