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.
-
The Big Reveal
Author: Jen Larsen
Released: December 7, 2021 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Genre: Young AdultA dazzling YA novel about a girl who isn’t afraid to be big and sexy and dance her heart out, and a discussion-provoking exploration of the mixed messages our society gives young women about their bodies and sexuality.
Addie is a talented dancer, a true-blue friend, and a fat, fierce, and driven young woman. When she’s accepted into the prestigious dance company of her dreams, she thinks nothing can bring her down—until she realizes she doesn’t have enough money to go. Refusing to give up, Addie and her friends decide to put on a top-secret, invitation-only burlesque show to raise funds. But word soon gets out, and the slut- and body-shaming begin. Has Addie been resisting the patriarchy, or playing right into its hands?
The Big Reveal asks hard-hitting feminist questions while reveling in some of life’s greatest joys: chasing your passions, falling in love, and embracing yourself exactly as you are.
Sarah posted about this one in the SBTB Slack and I can definitely see this working for fans for Dumplin’.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Can’t Spell Treason without Tea
Author: Rebecca Thorne
Released: September 15, 2022 by Rebecca Thorne
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, LGBTQIA, Mystery/Thriller, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Tomes & Tea Cozy Fantasies #1“You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?”
All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters… all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn’t so easy.
But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she’s thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility–all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra of dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.
What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other… and the world.
Cozy fantasy is having such a moment and this one has a sapphic romance to top it all off.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Darkhouse
Author: Karina Halle
Released: May 12, 2011 by Metal Blonde Books
Genre: Horror, New Adult, Romance
Series: Experiment in Terror #1Book one in a slow-burn psychologically thrilling romance series, from a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author
Perry Palomino seems like your average twenty-something girl on the surface. She’s had bad luck dating, her job sucks, and she’s disillusioned by her place in life, not sure exactly what she wants or where she’s even going.
She also sees ghosts, which makes things extra complicated, especially when she’d do anything to be normal.
But normal people don’t go exploring an abandoned and supposedly haunted lighthouse on the Oregon coast, where she ends up getting the attention of Dex Foray, an enigmatic producer who wants to exploit her talent for seeing the dead on his webseries.
At first, Perry’s not sure she wants to work with Dex on his amateur ghost-hunting show. He’s cocky, sarcastic, mysterious, and perhaps a little disturbed, not to mention aggravatingly sexy. But the more Perry works alongside Dex, her sanity tested at every turn, the more she realizes that falling for this man might just be the scariest thing of all.
Sometimes the ghosts we really need to fear are the ones that live in our pasts.
I’m always searching for more blends of horror and romance.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity
Author: Suzanne Moss
Released: November 19, 2022 by Aesculus Books
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, RomanceAn heiress, an obligation and an unfortunate love for physics, fossils, dead fish and… ladies?
A tale to shine a light on the overlooked female pioneers of eighteenth-century science. Penned by Dr Suzanne Moss – expert in historical collection, plants and gardens – this refreshing story is inspired by real events and formidable women who broke the mould. Chemistry, physics, botany, cabinets of curiosity and collections of natural philosophy become the theatre for intrigue and a romance nobody was expecting. Within a tender and unconventional love story, the passion and ambition of these perpetually curious women comes to life in an exploration of Enlightenment scholarship and sexuality.
“At once the easiest truth to know, and the hardest to realise”
Thea Morell, Georgian heiress and eligible lady, is not normal. At least, that’s what she has come to believe. She loves nothing more than spending hours at the study of natural history, collecting fossils, insects, dead fish, bones and even the odd spider. Up to now, she has held off her mother’s entreaties to marry, but this year may be her last chance to make a good match and the pressure is mounting.
In her search for scientific truth, Thea also begins to acknowledge a truth about herself – a most inconvenient one which sparks at the lips of the ‘electrical venus’ and bursts into flame in the presence of the very proper Lady Eleanor Harrington. Despite her attempts to observe and understand, this particular truth defies all rationalisation. Has her obsession with the male-dominated world of natural history caused the unnatural tendencies she can’t seem to control? And more importantly, can she protect her family’s interests whilst reconciling the dual passions of her mind and her heart?
Tara mentioned this on in Slack that it was getting some buzz in her own reading circles.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
Of course the one that interests me is Amazon-only. I understand the decision from a business perspective, but whew, the audience lost.
I learned about The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard from an r/Fantasy post titled “7 reasons I adored this 969 pages of epic, high-fantasy without a single fight, war, or romance about a bureaucrat who saves the world by reforming tax law and being a very good listener and dancer.” If that sounds a bit like a slog (as it did to me), here’s the post that might convince you otherwise (as it did to me):
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/z7t8az/the_hands_of_the_emperor_7_reasons_i_adored_this/
Yeah, I flew through the 969 pages of “The Hands of the Emperor” in 2 days, missing some meals I was so engrossed! In my review at the time, I wrote, “The best thing it’s got going for it, probably, is the detailed consideration of Cliopher Mdang’s home culture (so very different from that of the capital city and aristocracy), how he deals with pressure to assimilate, how he explicitly thinks through his culture and uses it to form his ideas of a better world, and also works to force the aristocracy to recognize his home as a cultural equal.”
Oh wow, I love the cover of The Big Reveal so much. Matches the Pantone color of 2023, too.
@Lena Brassard and @Vasha
If you loved The Hands of the Emperor, have you tried Goddard’s Greenwing and Dart series? I can heartily recommend them! Great characters, great adventures, humor and some snark, not a lot of romance though there is a very slow burn possible romance. I glommed all six and am hoping for more in the series.
T. Kingfisher has a new book out, Illuminations. From what I can tell, it’s part of the Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking world. I got a Kindle notification about it, but I ordered a paper copy directly from Argyll Productions, who publishes her non-Tor books. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it arrived.
I just bough Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, because that sounds like a great read for someone who loved Legends & Lattes
@LisaM thanks a bunch! I didn’t know this book existed, let alone was available now!