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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An Inconvenient Duke
Author: Anna Harrington
Released: February 25, 2020 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: Lords of the Armory #1Marcus Braddock, Duke of Hampton and former general, is back from war and faced with mourning the death of his beloved sister, Elise. Marcus believes his sister’s death wasn’t an accident and he’s determined to learn the truth, starting with Danielle, the beautiful daughter of a baron and his sister’s best friend.
Danielle is keeping deadly secrets of her own. She has dedicated her life to a charity that helps abused women―the same charity Elise was working for the night she died. When Danielle’s work puts her life in danger, Marcus comes to her rescue. But Danielle may not need rescuing…
Source: Sarah E. Young (@seyitsme) on Twitter
New historical romance series! Also, I really love the covers for these. I think it’s the color palette.
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Caster
Author: Elsie Chapman
Released: September 3, 2019 by Scholastic Press
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Caster #1If the magic doesn’t kill her, the truth just might.
Aza Wu knows that real magic is dangerous and illegal. After all, casting killed her sister, Shire. As with all magic, everything comes at a price. For Aza, it feels like everything in her life has some kind of cost attached to it. Her sister had been casting for money to pay off Saint Willow, the gang leader that oversees her sector of Lotusland. If you want to operate a business there, you have to pay your tribute. And now with Shire dead, Aza must step in to save the legacy of Wu Teas, the teahouse that has been in her family for centuries.
When Aza comes across a secret invitation, she decides she doesn’t have much else to lose. She quickly realizes that she’s entered herself into an underground casting tournament, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Real magic, real consequences. As she competes, Aza fights for her life against some very strong and devious competitors.
When the facts about Shire’s death don’t add up, the police start to investigate. When the tributes to Saint Willow aren’t paid, the gang comes to collect. When Aza is caught sneaking around with fresh casting wounds, her parents are alarmed. As Aza’s dangerous web of lies continues to grow, she is caught between trying to find a way out and trapping herself permanently.
Source: I Read YA (@ireadya) on Twitter
Described as Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Fight Club.
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Eighty Days to Elsewhere
Author: K.C. Dyer
Released: August 11, 2020 by Berkley
Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: An Exlibris Adventure #1“The Amazing Race” meets Around the World in 80 Days as a woman desperate to save her family bookstore falls for her competition.
Born and raised in New York City, Ramona Keene dreams of attending photography school and traveling to Paris, but her reality never quite catches up with her imagination. Instead, she works at her uncles’ quaint bookstore, where the tea is plentiful and all the adventures are between the covers of secondhand books. But when the new landlord arrives with his Evil Nephew in tow, Romy’s quiet life comes crashing down. He plans to triple the rent, something her uncles can’t afford.
In order to earn the money to help save the bookstore, Romy applies for a job at ExLibris Expeditions, a company that re-creates literary journeys. Romy snags the oddest internship ever: retrace Phileas Fogg’s journey from Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days and plan a suitable, contemporary adventure for a client. The task is close to impossible; sticking to the original route means no commercial aircraft permitted, and she’s got a lot less than eighty days to work with. Shaking off her fear of leaving home, Romy takes on the challenge, only to discover she’s got competition. Worse, Dominic Madison turns out to be the – unfortunately hot – nephew of her family’s worst enemy.
Can Romy win the race and circle the globe in time to save the bookstore? And what happens when she starts to fall for the very person who may just be the death of her dreams?
Source: Publishers Lunch announcement
A bookshop owner + lots of travel elements!
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Tight Knit
Author: Shaya Crabtree
Released: August 20, 2019 by Ylva Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceA charming, second-chance lesbian romance about finding love in all the old places.
Four years ago, Lara Spellmeyer left her small-town life in Perry, Oklahoma, to pursue her dream of starting a cat sweater business. After being swept up in online fame and success, Lara is suddenly back home, dealing with her grandmother’s poor health and potentially career-ending negative press.
The only bright spots are Tight Knit, the knitting circle she starts with her friends, and Kerry, the charming young woman her best friend sets her up with.
When Chief Editor Paige Daley asks Lara to appear in her local paper’s Hometown Heroes series, it just might restore Lara’s image to its former glory. But working with Paige on the story is a battle between Lara’s loyalty to her community and a reminder of the suffocating small-town mentality she grew up with.
It doesn’t help that Paige is her ex, completely maddening, and can’t see eye to eye with Lara on anything. How could this possibly end well?
Source: Shana in Slack!
Shana was hopping there would be knitting of cat sweaters in this one.
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I’m confused by the fact there seem to be two posts refered as “Hide Your Wallet Part 2.”
I’m probably going to buy Marriage by Arrangement by Sophia Singh Sasson. It got good review on All About Romance. It’s a Harlequin Desire about an Indian/Indian-American? couple who have a fake engagement. The cover looks gorgeous.
Are cat sweater businesses the new cupcake bakeries of heroine jobs?
@Emily A: It’s a typo. We started doing Book Beat before the HYW was separated into 2 parts and I just forgot to change the intro.
How weird, I live about 30 minutes from Perry OK currently!
@ReadKnitSnark: Dog sweaters I can see. But I don’t want to be the one trying to put a sweater on a cat. It also seems like a really small niche market, and not one that would provide an income you could actually live on.
@Sandra: Hard agree. (About dogs and cats.)
And as *people* sweater designers are earning peanuts for the most part, I don’t see how designing for animals would be especially lucrative. (I’m not talking about the Big Name Designers or the designers who also teach at knitcons and publish books and have a job associated with a yarn company, but the ones who do it as a hobby/second job—they can’t afford to quit their main job if they want to eat regularly.)