Welcome to Book Beat!
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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The Honeys
Author: Ryan La Sala
Released: August 16, 2022 by Scholastic, Inc.
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA, Young AdultFrom Ryan La Sala, the wildly popular author of Reverie, comes a twisted and tantalizing horror novel set amidst the bucolic splendor of a secluded summer retreat.
Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline’s radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who’d grown tragically distant.
Mars’s genderfluidity means he’s often excluded from the traditions — and expectations — of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place.
What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister’s old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying — and Mars is certain they’re connected to Caroline’s death.
But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars’s memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can’t find it soon, it will eat him alive.
Source: Sarah!
She linked me this tweet from the author that described the book as Heathers meets Midsommar, two movies I really enjoyed!
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I Like You Like That
Author: Kayla Grosse
Released: August 6, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceBirdie Wilder and Liam Miller haven’t spoken in ten years—but that’s all about to change.
Tall and chubby sixteen-year-old Birdie Wilder thought she and her best friend Liam Miller were always meant to be more than friends. But after he harshly dashes her dreams of any romantic relationship between them, their friendship ends, and they find themselves at odds.
Ten years later, Birdie is a famous rock star traveling the world and proving that plus-size women can rock with the best of them; size never equals talent, and her adoring fans love her… maybe a little too much. When a stalker begins to threaten her safety, the label hires her a personal bodyguard. A bodyguard who just happens to be the subject of her hit songs, and the face of her teenage rejection, Liam Miller.
Recently recovered from a horrible accident in the line of duty, Liam Miller is Birdie Wilder’s new bodyguard. Practically forced to take the job by his friend and roommate Ben, who also happens to be a friend of Birdie’s, Liam tries to make the best of his new predicament. Though he’s spent the last ten years avoiding Birdie, it’s time to face the music.
Now reunited, the once teenage best friends must overcome their differences and repair everything that’s broken, while dealing with the increasing threat of Birdie’s stalker—which is only complicated further by their growing sexual tension.
Will Birdie and Liam be able to mend their hearts and move forward?
Or will the past be too much to handle?
Source: @KaylaGrosse on Twitter
Saw this cover art going around and I love it!
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Infamous
Author: Lex Croucher
Released: March 21, 2023 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, RomanceDickinson meets Booksmart with a dash of Little Women in Infamous, a Regency-era romantic comedy with a deliciously feminist twist, from Lex Croucher, the author of Reputation.
Twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer Edith (“Eddie”) Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together—from climbing trees and sneaking bottles of wine, to extensive kissing practice. But Rose has started talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. Why can’t they continue as they always have?
Then Eddie meets charming, renowned poet Nash Nicholson––a rival of Lord Byron, if he does say so himself––and he welcomes her into his world of eccentric artists and boundary-breaking visionaries. When Eddie receives an invitation to Nash’s crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside, promising inspiration (and time to finish her novel, a long-held dream), she eagerly agrees. But the pure hedonism and debauchery that ensues isn’t exactly what she had in mind, and Eddie soon finds herself torn between her complicated feelings for Rose and her equally complicated dynamic with Nash, whose increasingly bad behavior doesn’t match up to her vision for her literary hero.
Will Eddie be forced to choose between her friendship with Rose and her literary dreams––or will she be able to write her own happily ever after?
Source: @lexcanroar on Twitter
A sapphic Regency romance set on a poet’s spooky island! This one is already out in the U.K., though won’t get a U.S. release until the spring.
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Muscles & Monsters
Author: Ashley Bennett
Released: May 27, 2022
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Series: Leviathan Fitness #1Leviathan Fitness is known for monsters, muscles, and wolven who rescue damsels in distress.
After a wedding cake catastrophe, local decorator Tegan finds herself being helped by a solid wall of fur and fangs named Atlas. She’s never met anyone like him and finds herself enamored by his wolfish charm. After their sweet encounter, Atlas invites her to his gym anytime she needs his cake lifting services.
Tegan decides that instead- she wants to lift the cakes herself. She signs up for a membership with Leviathan Fitness, determined to build her strength.
Primal desires emerge as Atlas and Tegan test just how much their new love can lift— and if there are any limits to what monsters and humans can do.
Muscles & Monsters is book one in the Leviathan Fitness series. Each book will center around the gym and feature a different monster pairing.
Source: Goodreads ad
I love the cover for this one and I’m a bit curious. However, I noticed reviews mention the hero very much stays in his monster form.
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What’s the difference between UK and US release for ebooks? Why can’t a US reader create a bookstore account with a UK mailing address and download the book (using a VPN if the store truly snoops into where you’re connected, which I think would be inappropriate)?
It’s usually a “rights” issue for UK/US release. If a book is originally published in the UK, a publisher in the US usually needs to buy the rights to have it published here. Same goes for any other country/region. I find that UK publishers often have cooler cover variations, so I use Book Depository to buy UK editions, which I feel like is also a work around for readers who want a book early or a book that is only available in the UK. There’s probably no difference in terms of content save for some spelling variations.
If you want to purchase a book released in the UK, I recommend shopping at Blackwell’s, a terrific store in Oxford. Their website gives prices in dollars, and prices include shipping to the United States. I bought A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting there months before it was available here. https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home
The problem is for ebooks. My understanding is most bookstores can’t afford the cost of the equipment needed to sell digital books and publishers still insist on adding DRM. I would love for someone to tell me I’m wrong.
@Vasha: You can do exactly that. Just don’t use an obvious address such as Buckingham Palace. Your billing details are whatever is local for you.