Hide Your Wallet

Book Beat: The Circus, Fake Relationships, & More

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.

This time around, I only selected books that are currently out since I know we’re all stocking up on reading materials. 

  • After the Eclipse

    After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott

    Author: Fran Dorricott
    Released: March 5, 2019 by Titan Books
    Genre: ,

    A stunning psychological thriller about loss, sisterhood, and the evil that men do, for readers of Ruth Ware and S.K. Tremeyne

    Two solar eclipses. Two missing girls.

    Sixteen years ago a little girl was abducted during the darkness of a solar eclipse while her older sister Cassie was supposed to be watching her. She was never seen again. When a local girl goes missing just before the next big eclipse, Cassie – who has returned to her home town to care for her ailing grandmother – suspects the disappearance is connected to her sister: that whoever took Olive is still out there. But she needs to find a way to prove it, and time is running out.

    Source: @FranWritesStuff on Twitter

    A mystery/thriller with a f/f relationship!

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  • Harley in the Sky

    Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman

    Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
    Released: March 10, 2020 by Simon Pulse
    Genre: ,

    The Greatest Showman meets This Is Us by way of Sarah Dessen in this heart-wrenching, hopeful contemporary novel about a multiracial teen who risks it all to follow her dreams by joining the circus, from the critically acclaimed author of Starfish.

    Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day.

    After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystère. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion, and collaboration. At the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past—and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams.

    From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, unforgettable examination of love, loyalty, and the hard choices we must make to find where we truly belong.

    Source: “11 Romantic Books That Will Have You Believing in the Power of Love” from Parade

    The main character runs away to join the circus of her family’s rivals!

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  • Jilted

    Jilted by Lilah Suzanne

    Author: Lilah Suzanne
    Released: November 8, 2018 by Interlude Press
    Genre: , ,

    Carters fiancé is in love with someone else. Link has just been left at the altar. After bonding over mutual heartbreak at the would-be receptions open bar, Link and Carter pass out in the honeymoon suite–and are mistaken for the happy newlywed couple the next morning.

    Reluctant to deal with the fallout from their breakups, they embark on an exciting week of fake honeymooning, during which Carter starts to have real feelings for Link. A genderqueer artist who lives life by their own rules, Link inspires Carter to build a new future.

    Against the eclectic and electric backdrop of New Orleans, Carter and Link have to decide if a second chance at love is in the cards, or if they’re only meant to be sidelined in someone else’s story.

    Source: @Julianw_writes on Twitter

    Julian mentioned this one has a genderqueer main character and a fake relationship!

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  • The Lost Queen

    The Lost Queen by Signe Pike

    Author: Signe Pike
    Released: September 4, 2018 by Atria Books
    Genre: ,
    Series: The Lost Queen Trilogy #1

    The Mists of Avalon meets the world of Philippa Gregory in the thrilling first novel of a debut trilogy that reveals the untold story of Languoreth—a forgotten queen of sixth-century Scotland—twin sister of the man who inspired the legend of Merlin.

    I write because I have seen the darkness that will come. Already there are those who seek to tell a new history…

    In a land of mountains and mist, tradition and superstition, Languoreth and her brother Lailoken are raised in the Old Way of their ancestors. But in Scotland, a new religion is rising, one that brings disruption, bloodshed, and riot. And even as her family faces the burgeoning forces of Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons, bent on colonization, are encroaching from the east. When conflict brings the hero Emrys Pendragon to her father’s door, Languoreth finds love with one of his warriors. Her deep connection to Maelgwn is forged by enchantment, but she is promised in marriage to Rhydderch, son of a Christian king. As Languoreth is catapulted into a world of violence and political intrigue, she must learn to adapt. Together with her brother—a warrior and druid known to history as Myrddin—Languoreth must assume her duty to fight for the preservation of the Old Way and the survival of her kingdom, or risk the loss of them both forever.

    Based on new scholarship, this tale of bravery and conflicted love brings a lost queen back to life—rescuing her from obscurity, and reaffirming her place at the center of one of the most enduring legends of all time.

    Source: @Skrishna on Twitter

    Want a retelling of the Arthurian legend from the POV of Merlin’s twin sister?

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Comments are Closed

  1. DonnaMarie says:

    “Want a retelling of the Arthurian legend from the POV of Merlin’s twin sister?”

    Yes, yes I do.

  2. Maite says:

    “The Mists of Avalon meets the world of Philippa Gregory” I so hope this is another person who got bored with TMoA. Because “The Lost Queen” sounds awesome!
    (but so does TMoA)

  3. Deianira says:

    “Want a retelling of the Arthurian legend from the POV of Merlin’s twin sister?”

    Yes, please! Add in Scotland, & I’m a goner.

    Now, where did I hide that wallet…

  4. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    I loved THE MISTS OF AVALON when I first read it in the 1980s. It became a reliable comfort reread for me for years. Then, after Marion Zimmer Bradley died, there was very credible evidence that she not only covered up, knew about, and enabled her husband’s sexual abuse of young boys but that she herself had abused her own children (her husband served prison time for his actions, I don’t think Bradley ever did). As much as I loved TMOA 35 years ago, I knew I couldn’t reread the book ever again. Sometimes you can’t separate the dancer from the dance.

  5. sandral says:

    I couldn’t get into The Mists of Avalon, and eventually gave away my copy when I read about MZB’s abuse. However, the Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart remains a favorite.

  6. wingednike says:

    I couldn’t get into TMoA and I really tried because my friend loved it so much. I liked the re-telling from a different POV, but I didn’t connect with the characters.

    I did like “The White Raven” by Diane L. Paxson. It’s a re-telling of Tristan and Isolde

  7. Vivi12 says:

    The Lost Queen is on KU too!

  8. Maureen says:

    @DiscoDollyDeb-Same with me. I’ve loved Arthurian legend since my first reading of The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart-which I read in the early 70’s. I loved The Mists of Avalon when I read it, but after all that came to light about the author-I will never read anything by her again. I loved your last line “Sometimes you can’t separate the dancer from the dance.”.

    Mostly, I do try to separate the art people create, and their personal lives. I can’t with MZB. I love classic movies, so to find out my favorite actors, directors, actresses were unfaithful to spouses? Not something I would do, but between consenting adults, even though spouses must have been hurt. This is something entirely different.

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