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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A Shot in the Dark
Author: Victoria Lee
Released: September 5, 2023 by Dell
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceAn emotionally powerful romance novel about two people finding love after struggling with addiction–ultimately discovering what it means to be completely and unapologetically themselves.
Elisheva Cohen has just returned to Brooklyn after almost a decade. The wounds of abandoning the Orthodox community that raised her, then shunned her because of her substance abuse, are still painful. But when she gets an amazing opportunity to study photography with art legend Wyatt Cole, Ely is willing to take the leap.
On her first night back in town, Ely goes out to the infamous queer club Revel for a celebratory night of dancing. Ely is swept off her feet and into bed by a gorgeous man who looks like James Dean, but with a thick Carolina accent. The next morning, Ely wakes up alone and rushes off to attend her first photography class, reminiscing on the best one-night stand of her life. She doesn’t even know his name. That is, until Wyatt Cole shows up for class–and Ely realizes that the man she just spent an intimate and steamy night with is her teacher.
Everyone in the art world is obsessed with Wyatt Cole. He’s immensely talented and his notoriously reclusive personal life makes him all the more compelling. But there’s a reason why his past is hard for him to publicize. After coming out as transgender, Wyatt was dishonorably discharged from the military and disowned by his family. From then on he committed to sobriety and channeled his pain into his flourishing art career. While Ely and Wyatt’s relationship started out on a physical level, their similar struggles spark a much deeper connection. The chemistry is undeniable, but their new relationship as teacher and student means desperately wanting what they can’t have.
In this deeply romantic adult debut, bestselling author Victoria Lee creates stunningly genuine characters and crafts a love story that you won’t ever forget.
An emotional, queer, contemporary romance. We’ve mentioned Lee’s books on the site before. Check trigger warnings for this one, as addiction plays a major role in the book.
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The Framed Women of Ardemore House
Author: Brandy Schillace
Released: February 13, 2024 by Hanover Square Press
Genre: Mystery/Thriller“A must read for any mystery lover.” – DEANNA RAYBOURN, New York Times bestselling author of KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE
An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever muder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.
Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.
After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.
With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…
Sarah put this on our radar and it’s out soonish!
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Grove Hollow Metamorphosis
Author: Shelby Nicole McFadden
Released: October 1, 2023 by Maple Projects, LLC
Genre: Gothic, Paranormal, RomanceThe year is 1985, and eighteen-year-old Jade Whitney is about to discover her family holds a secret that will change her life forever. Jade moves into her family’s grand, gilded mansion with her Great Aunt Ruth, where she begins to uncover the scandalous history of her affluent ancestors. As she adjusts to her new life and a new private school, Jade struggles to navigate the social hierarchy that divides her friends, The Misfits, from the popular crowd of jocks and cheerleaders. When she meets the charming rugby captain, Bradley Phillips, she experiences falling in love for the first time-or so she thinks.
When Jade finds a cursed locket connected to a ghost named William, her life turns in an unexpected direction. While aiding Will in his quest to cross into the afterlife, Jade discovers a deep connection between them that goes far beyond what she could ever imagine.
A Gothic paranormal romance set in the 80s! I feel like I don’t see a ton of contemporary Gothic romances.
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The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch
Author: Melinda Taub
Released: October 3, 2023 by Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Historical: European, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction/FantasyA NEW YORK TIMES BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY PICK FOR 2023
A “witty, magical, romantic and altogether brilliant” (Lev Grossman) reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.
In this exuberant retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves, Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.
But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat; Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would one expect from a demon? And if Mr. Darcy is uptight about etiquette, that’s nothing compared to his feelings about magic. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that for a witch, promises have power . . .
Full of enchantment, intrigue, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice—while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister.
I feel like the combination of witchiness and Jane Austen will appear to some of you!
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Is an 1980s setting still considered contemporary? Or has it crossed over to near history? Not necessarily because of time elapsed, but so many things were just so different.
Oh God I feel old (re: Barbara’s comment). I went to college in the 1980s.
Lydia Bennet was one of my favorite books of last year and I am VERY picky about my P&P sequels/retellings.
Ditto @Lisa F. I thought the Lydia Bennet book was delightful, especially in audio.
I went to a New Year’s party that was themed as the ’80s and it made me remember how my friends and I used to theme parties to the ’50s because retro was cool.
What was 1985 like? I was 30 then and my first child was still a baby so I was too tired to remember anything else.
Considering that we are now further away from 1980 than 1980 was from WWII, then yes, much as it pains me to say so, the 1980s are now history! Also, the 1970s—which I think of as “my era”—are now further away than the Jazz Age was from 1970. God, I’m old!
Ugh, alas, yes, the 80s are not really contemporary any longer… time keeps on flying by!
@Barbara, at least when it comes to publishing world terms, historical is 50 years or older. So anything set more recent than that would still be considered contemporary.
“I feel like I don’t see a ton of contemporary Gothic romances.”
I think Gothic romances are harder to pull off in more recent times – harder (not impossible, but harder) to create a sense of dread and isolation in the age of Google and smart phones.
Jennifer Crusie’s Gothic, Maybe this Time, is set in 1992 and I thought that was a smart choice.
@ cleo Your point about Google and smart phones and how they’ve impacted plot devices in contemporary fiction is a good one. It’s fascinating to see technology and social media interwoven in romance novels over the past 20 years. You can almost date a story by how characters access information and communicate with one another. Makes you wonder about the future.