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Willett’s novel unfolds in Manhattan circa 1986 where 27-year-old bookstore supervisor Eric Summerfield feels himself a failure as a gay man: He dresses unstylishly stays home watching TV with his cat at night because he finds socializing an ordeal and is so awkward during sex that he’s been celibate for four years. Bookstore clerk Dale Corcoran a flamboyant social butterfly is Eric’s only friend but he undermines Eric so consistently—he invites him to a party then greets him at the door with “you look a little haggard”—that Eric starts avoiding him too. But when Dale contracts AIDS and is abandoned by friends and estranged from his family he calls Eric for help in dealing with the ravages of the illness. Fighting his urge to flee Eric nurses Dale through vomiting and diarrhea hospitalizations progressive blindness creeping dementia and relentless wasting—and finds that the burden fitfully drags him out of his isolation and reinvests him in life. (Further perking him up is Dale’s replacement a gorgeous young man who is ostensibly straight but seems to hint at other proclivities.) Willett depicts Dale’s illness in unflinching detail but avoids maudlin sentimentality—almost until the end Dale remains a spirited bitchy shrewd and charismatic man and his and Eric’s recollections paint a vibrant portrait of gay life in the late 1970s. Writing with a hangdog wit (“was it maybe true that the only way Eric could feel relaxed at a party was if the host had a terminal illness?”) Willett manages the difficult task of making an AIDS story funny; then through a skillful accretion of matter-of-fact details he vividly conveys the pathos of Dale’s decline and Eric’s fumbling tender response. Readers will be laughing through their tears.
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In a restrained narrative that requires patience from readers Campbell sends his young prospector across the Atlantic to New York around Cape Horn and on up north to remote Williams Creek to join the 1860s gold rush. Callum travels through rugged terrain via steamboat canoe wagon mule foot and (in a rare passage where the stiff tone temporarily unbends) even imported camel. Readers can with difficulty plot the last stage of his course on the book’s single cramped map. A summer’s work and a few vague descriptions of gold-mining techniques later he’s ready to start the equally arduous return journey with pockets full. But he’s barely set off when the author leaves him. Aside from one mention of a landscape stripped by miners Callum rarely takes note of his natural surroundings spoiled or otherwise and the people he meets on his trek are barely even two-dimensional. Following the abrupt ending a note on the area’s First Nations residents by university scholar Nicola Campbell who is Nłeʔkepmx Syilx (Interior Salish) and Métis includes the tidbit that the gold rush drew workers from many parts of the world; that diversity is not reflected in the story itself.
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Seventeen-year-old Rosa Viviani can no longer do activities such as climb the staircase to her house or walk along the lakeshore with her father since she suffered an accident while participating in Convalor a racing-themed celebration on her planet Titan which put her in a hoverchair. One day she feels a tingling in her arm; a Faberge egg (an heirloom belonging to a disabled ancestor) falls from her dresser and an announcement pops up on her “tabicus”: A meteor is coming to Titan and if not stopped it will destroy Titan in six days. The narrative then proceeds with a six-day countdown interspersed with chapters touching on Rosa’s life before and after her accident. A highlight of Rosa’s post-accident experience is a growing closeness with classmate Cordelia who doesn’t treat Rosa’s disability with pity as do many around her including a now-discarded boyfriend. Rosa also studies Wicca does tarot readings for classmates and often meditates her way to an “astral temple” where goddesses (some with physical disabilities some invisible) engage her in dialogue about choice free will and ultimately the mentally moving objects ability that she now appears to have. Early in the countdown period Rosa is approached by scientists who have covertly witnessed her unusual skills who want to see if they can be leveraged to fend off the meteor. By novel’s end despite some setbacks and a heartbreaking loss Rosa ends up transforming herself and her world.
Reardon who shares in his “About the Author” note that he is “a brain tumor survivor since the age of 8 and handicapped since the age of 10” offers insightful commentary and perspectives about disability through the journey of his teen protagonist. Readers learn about Rosa’s post-accident suicide attempt frustration with and empathy for her ableist parents (“Hopefully they would evolve. My new life was new for them too”) and eventual epiphany that “Being in a hoverchair is only part of who you are. Once you realize that no meteor could ever stop you.” This last comment is made by an astral temple deity in one of the goddess sequences—these scenes are an element of the book that can get somewhat esoteric. (Another goddess for example remarks that Rosa is “the one who will bring neo-collectivism to Titan.”) Nevertheless these conversations showcase Rosa’s intelligence and psychological makeup (supportive strong Cordelia a lovely secondary character astutely suggests that “The goddesses come from your subconscious right?”). The nonchronological structure of the narrative is at times frustrating; some of the flashback chapters are not as compelling as the looming present-day threat. The way in which Rosa came to be in the apparently now-novel (on Titan) circumstance of being disabled is also withheld until late in the novel and then explained rather hazily (the injury at Convalor is left murky with the medical operation afterward seemingly responsible for the hoverchair issue). Still Reardon creates a fascinating future world in which Rosa must draw on some “old” tech to save the day and her mother an “animac” contemplates the disquieting knowledge that her battery life will outlast the lifespan of Rosa’s father.
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Fiona McConnell grew up running a struggling catering business in Los Angeles with her father. As an adult her big dreams and optimistic attitude have propelled her from kitchens filled with cockroaches to culinary school to a solid career as a pastry cook. Still living in LA she’s often surrounded by close friends who believe in her dreams and her considerable talent. But suddenly a change of staff causes her boss Julia Stone—owner of the high-end restaurant Lucien—to promote her from a cook to a probationary pastry chef. While navigating a local produce market Fiona meets Rory the son of a farmer who’s well known for having the very best fruit around and this new connection leads to new romantic adventures. Back at Lucien a new head chef is hired who makes it clear from day one that there will be no room for mistakes—and absolutely no mercy for those who dare to stray from his vision: “I have a single-minded purpose—one goal. I want our food to be worth the journey.” In the cutthroat world of culinary cuisine the constant criticism makes Fiona realize that she’ll have to make a choice that could change her life’s path. Over the course of this novel Christensen delivers a delightful and multifaceted story that follows a feel-good thread about hard work forgiveness and redemption while also pursuing an entertaining romantic plotline. The appealing cast of characters features not only a likable lead but also close friends romantic partnersand fierce villains.Overall the subject matter gives readers an engaging peek into the world of how premiere restaurants fight for Michelin stars. The quick pace also helps to make this novel a fine beach read.
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Azizi’s impressive debut collection combines careful observations of life’s mundane details with vivid expressions of the range of emotions they evoke. The 45 poems are arranged in three sections titled “before” “before then” and “after.” The author a single mother dedicates the book to her daughter as her muse and centers several poems around her—as a newborn a severely ill toddler a healthy teen and a young adult. Nostalgia for Azizi’s own younger self is another recurring theme; in the poem “Single Mom Finally in Repose” she observes other parents like she once was with their small children wistful for the past while also celebrating the present: “I’d be over the moon to push / my chunky baby in a swing / again but I feel lucky / enough where we’re at.” Women’s bodies and blood—objectified nurturing sensual and powerful—are additional leitmotifs. “We Don’t Win for Losing” describes a litany of ways in which “this flesh I was taught to consider / revolting” can be damaged but ends with a vow to “spread our legs & take up space.” Other poems address sexuality (both straight and queer) sometimes with tender eroticism as in “Silk” and other times with frank depictions of sex work as in “On the Job” and “Guy on the Left” which asks “What is the ratio of the dollar / to self-respect?” while rejecting “the prim experts ... who claim / our choices are warning signs.” The arc of the collection as a whole is a woman’s journey from seeking others’ acceptance to celebrating her own complexity and reconciling conflicting desires for connection and autonomy. Azizi’s language is both matter-of-fact and evocative as she combines mundane imagery—dirty dishes drinking coffee walking the dog “the sounds of cutlery & cracking joints”—with expressions of deep feeling. Rejecting the idea of poetic perfection the author declares that poems should be “messy & glorious”; her poetry portrays a woman’s life full of disorder and delight at once wondrous ordinary and precious.
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Jake Taylor has just lost his boyfriend of six years Tom in a car accident. In addition to being the love of his life Tom was the primary breadwinner and Tom’s sister—who blames Jake for Tom’s death—quickly evicts him from Tom’s apartment. The mourning middle-aged Jake is forced to move back in with his elderly mother and father the latter of whom is slipping quickly into Alzheimer’s. Vicky Harper is a Black trans introvert whose workaholic tendencies have elevated her to the position of senior partner at her law firm. She prefers to keep people at arm’s length and her “self-curated Ice Queen reputation” means she can usually “make do with nodded greetings and avoid the casual chit-chat.” When she receives an anonymous voice message threatening her over one of her cases however she realizes how vulnerable she truly is. Lucy Penrose one of Jake’s oldest friends is wrapped up in planning her wedding to her Canadian boyfriend Colin after a whirlwind romance. Unfortunately her father—a famed author and television host known for uncovering scams—is suspicious of Colin’s intentions and demands a prenup. What’s more it seems like Colin’s family may have ties to the Canadian far right. As the three characters’ stories overlap and intertwine an enemy emerges that threatens not only the them but potentially all of British society. Fanning’s prose is simple but filled with deeply human moments like when Jake goes out to visit his father in his tool shed after the man has been found wandering the town. “He might not know who you are” his mother warns him. “It doesn’t mean he’s forgotten. Not really.” The three main characters are not quite as engaging as the plots that surround them but the stakes are such that the reader is happy to root for them as they attempt to outwit their antagonists.
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Shambaugh professor of Asian Studies at George Washington University writes that America the dominant power until recently has always felt a sense of exceptionalism. This conviction that America’s way of doing things had universal appeal seemed affirmed by its spectacular Cold War victory over the USSR but this simply set the country up for disappointment when an increasingly powerful China began to feel its oats. The first two of nine lucidly written chapters deliver an expert if often painful chronological account of the experience of eight presidents who served since America recognized “Communist China” in 1979 and aimed to modernize liberalize and socialize it. Under the illusion that free-market reforms would relax its oppressive autocracy American leaders brushed off the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and remained optimistic until 2009 when President Obama made an official visit and received rude treatment that was “intentional and not consistent with how previous American presidents had been treated.” The relationship went downhill especially after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 and China became increasingly repressive at home and belligerent abroad. Although its repressive system was inconsequential to President Trump and he admires Xi his administration was dominated by China hawks who matched its truculence. Minus the bombast the Biden administration continued this policy. “Engagement” was in tatters. Reaching the present day at the halfway point Shambaugh reveals why he is not a historian but a political scientist with four chapters delving deeply into government policy strategy and debates with generous use of statistics acronyms speeches and actions from a huge cast of characters NGOs and think tanks many unfamiliar to readers. The final chapter delivers sensible advice on how to deal with a newly assertive China. Apparently composed before the second Trump administration took office it seems a dead letter.
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Adam is in a slump: Once a successful bad-boy author (think Bret Easton Ellis) he floundered when the tides turned against his brand of misogynistic fiction. Adam now teaches at a Los Angeles college but he may not get tenure due to a scandal; after accusing him of sexual misconduct his student Mandy commits suicide. Adding to his stress Adam’s wife Neve wants a baby but he doesn’t. When a black envelope arrives in his faculty mailbox containing an invitation to a Greek island to work on his next novel he accepts. On a yacht Adam meets five other men bound for the same destination. Will is a lifestyle influencer helping men “get made get paid and get laid.” There’s a wealth manager Camillio and a formerly popular guru Hari Rajneesh. Maxim is a conspiracy theorist and River is an itinerant musician. The men discover their destination has caves in the hills resembling a honeycomb and is ruled by a queen. The area’s largely populated by attractive women (“belles and barbies and big bad bitches”); Adam is apprehensive recalling the Agatha Christie mystery And Then There Were None. Hovannisian has composed an intriguing work of meta-fiction about an author writing about writing a novel—a form of literature described by her own character Adam as “contemptible.” The author’s characters reveal other surprising dimensions: gentle River who rescues a bee that’s stuck in honey reveals a dark secret; Neve alternates between being manipulative sweet and self-pitying; Adam an unreliable narrator keeps readers in doubt about what truth is. (He claims to have cared about and been kind to Mandy but he also believes he’s embattled by a hostile environment a “culture of castration.”) Like Adam LA is ambiguously portrayed; it’s both radiant yet seedy with a beautiful sky “like a robe of purple and gold” yet it’s a place where “there is nothing to distract you from the smog of your own soul.” The protagonist’s worldview may be toxic to many but satisfying twists await readers able to make it through.
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Lewis and Richardson both of the British Museum were inspired to assemble this book by the BBC TV series Digging for Britain which describes the exploits of two English hobbyists who scour the countryside with their metal detectors. Readers will not regret looking it up. Organic objects decay (mostly); stone and bone survive; metals are a mixed bag. Amateur searchers with or without detectors find bottle caps discarded toys and metal scraps. Less often items from distant times turn up—buttons bullets arrowheads coins jewelry tools and weapons. Almost no one finds a treasure trove or “hoard” but “almost no one” among thousands of searchers produces a steady stream of bonanzas that will dazzle readers poring over the hundreds of crisp images. People on this island seemed to love burying stuff and even Stone Age inhabitants had a taste for gold and knew what to do with it. Gold does not decompose but it’s an exception and most of the text describes efforts to find extract clean reassemble decipher and interpret long-buried relics. Despite the lovely images this book alone should not be anyone’s introduction to prehistoric Britain. The authors deliver a short summary of the era at the beginning of each chapter but stay focused on the objects themselves: the finders’ experience as well as that of the landowners. Rich hoards have sold for immense sums to private collectors but precious metals and “treasures” belong to the nation and public-spirited owners donate what they find.
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“Why Maya Had to Die” reads the envelope that 36-year-old Munna Dhingra finds outside her office door at a university in Shogie Washington in 1952. Maya Munna’s former childhood friend drowned more than a decade ago. The death and ensuing investigation rocked the small town of Shogie Washington back then but it was determined to have been accidental. So why then does the letter state “She didn’t kill herself. She couldn’t have”—and why was it sent to Munna in the first place? Not trusting the police that apparently bungled the original investigation Munna works with acclaimed psychoanalyst Karenina to investigate the mystery. As it happens Munna knows more than she’s letting on—and seemingly so do others in Shogie where everyone seems to know everyone’s business. Munna must separate gossip from fact to find out what really happened to Maya: “Ask yourself—who was angry with her?” reads the letter at the heart of the mystery. “Ask or soon death will come again.” As Munna digs further she starts to realize that Maya’s heart may have led her into terrible trouble. Sabarwal’s novel is a gripping atmospheric murder mystery that features elements that effectively call to mind such small-town whodunit TV series as Twin Peaks and the cozier Midsomer Murders. Munna is a smart relatable protagonist who’s easy to root for and Sabarwal offers a sharp portrait of growing up as an Indian American woman of color in a predominantly white small town. The secondary characters are fully developed and believable as well and it all adds up to a clever and suspenseful page-turner.
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Life coach and public speaker Oneto offers a refreshing alternative to the hustle culture that defines much of modern professional life and can often lead to feelings of burnout. While drawing on personal experience and her own coaching insights she challenges readers to reconsider how ambition is defined what it means in practice and how it can support rather than sabotage one’s well-being. The book at its core is both radical and comforting in its assertion that ambition isn’t inherently unhealthy but simply needs recalibrating. To that end Oneto introduces readers to the Sustainable Ambition mindset which reframes ambition as something not directed at a specific target but as a kind of personal compass; this in turn leads into her Sustainable Ambition Method which suggests “aligning the right ambition at the right time with the right effort.” The author’s tone is neither prescriptive nor preachy which sets the book apart from some others in the genre; instead she invites readers into a place of reflection on their senses of truth and purpose while providing prompts exercises and practical tools throughout. A particularly resonant aspect of the work is her call to “reclaim” ambition as a source of fulfillment rather than one of self-erasure. Oneto doesn’t promise easy answers nor does she make claims that seem too good to be true about her mindset or method but she does offer a clear roadmap for sustainable growth that respects individuality. The book shows a clear intention to guide and support and it may allow readers to develop a new way of thinking about one’s goals—especially at times when their motivation is low.
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Sabrina Finkelstein is juggling library school part-time work at a branch of the New York Public Library and a geriatric roommate she adores. Marcia Haber is a spry independent 72. The two met on an intergenerational app meant to match seniors who could use a hand around the house with young people who could use a break on rent. When her grandson Adam is laid off from his job in Philadelphia he comes to stay with Marcia and Sabrina. He’s hot passionate about books and excited to connect with his grandmother. Adam’s father had broken off contact with Marcia years ago when she came out as bisexual and Sabrina doesn’t mind having Adam crash on the sofa because it gives Marcia a chance to reconnect with her grandson. Soon the chemistry between Sabrina and Adam is palpable aided by their two-person YA book club and the close quarters make for a steamy buildup. Then returning from a disastrous first date Marcia nearly catches Sabrina and Adam in a steamy make-out session. Sensing how this might complicate their housing situation they decide to keep things platonic. But after Marcia has a minor health scare her doctor suggests that living with two young people is causing her undue stress and she asks Adam to move out. Adam—unbeknownst to his grandmother—tells Sabrina he thinks she should be the one to leave and their hot secret romance turns into a competition to prove who’s the best fit for their septuagenarian roommate. This forced-proximity romance is a cozy homage to intergenerational friendships New York City romance novel fandom and grand gestures. As romantic leads Adam and Sabrina are compelling and the occupational and financial uncertainty faced by single 20-somethings is very real but readers might just find that the secondary story of Marcia’s foray into senior dating on the apps is what they stick around for.
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Lemuel lives in the town of Hmm with his sister Shane whose current ambition is to become Hmm’s next mayor at any cost. When their uncle dies in strange circumstances involving both “fire and explosion” Shane inherits the uncle’s money and Lemuel receives a bizarre Frankenstein’s monster–like creature. With “some pig right there a dab of goat up around back…a little monkey perhaps…And possum in the middle” the creature almost (but not quite) defies description and Lemuel reflects that “simply standing there it disarranged your entire deductive facility.” Eventually they christen the animal Yonder and involve him in a variety of hijinks including Shane’s mayoral campaign and the confirmation of the uncle’s death. Yonder has a will of his own however and ropes his bewildered caretaker into many antics. Lemuel while trying to figure out what Yonder’s nature is investigates a menacing figure he dubs the “Strangitor” and stumbles upon romance with Mabel a woman he meets up in the mountains. The world of the novel is eclectic sometimes bordering on grotesque and Lemuel’s musings artfully littered with malapropisms (“I wished there was some way I could help if it wasn’t too strainuous and didn’t take too long”) are both entertaining and often surprisingly deep. The rollicking plot could be a bit more cohesive—while the ricocheting nature of the events fits with the mood of the narrative this has the side effect of baking a disjointed quality into the chronology that can be confusing. Lemuel’s playfully adversarial relationship with his sister (and almost everyone else he meets) is entertaining and his initial indifference and trepidation regarding Yonder growing into a profound love for the animal is as endearing as any dynamic found in a more traditional “man’s best friend” novel.
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Before tech took over San Francisco before cellphones but after the terrible reign of AIDS there were the gleeful revels of the ’90s. Tradowsky’s ornate novel is a love letter to a foggy analog metropolis lit up with nightlife and art queer friendship and desire movie houses and day jobs and 20-somethings aching to define themselves. Recently graduated film major Walter Simmering out of the closet but unsure of his persona is the Henry James ingenue or Dorothy Gale of the novel collecting a vivacious entourage as he wanders a dazzling new city. He has never been in love but San Francisco is quick to provide fodder for adoration and in time a neonoir science-fiction screenplay that becomes a clever counterpoint to the novel’s narrative. The reader will be as smitten as Walter is with his new friends especially social butterfly Cary a quippy chanteuse in menswear and Sasha lithe in women’s finery he also designs; they bewitch Walter with their breezy understanding of the nebulousness of gender and sexuality. Lawrence an older gay man living with AIDS is a link to past eras of San Francisco and Hollywood while Jeff a technophile grad student already knows about cyberspace. Dreamer Walter projects his own mirages “onto the beautiful gritty eucalyptus-and-urine-scented streets of San Francisco” and mulls over identity and authenticity. At night friends exes and crushes try cocktails make out while “practically radioactive with pheromones” banter bicker and guzzle classic films; connoisseurs of nostalgia and irony they hold tight to “a golden age they were born too late to see.” Tradowsky who teaches art history devotes ample space to San Francisco’s showy architecture and the interiors of the characters’ apartments workplaces and nocturnal haunts. The novel is laden with period references which will school newcomers to the ’90s and create a fusillade of associations for those who lived them.
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Darby Andrews is on the brink of marrying Jackson when something in her heart makes her write a letter to the one that got away. Resigning herself to her fate she puts the letter aside only for her sister Dahlia to send it—setting the stage for her long-lost love Leo Graham to reappear and help her escape the fate of a loveless marriage which has been engineered by her domineering father. The narrative shifts to 10 years earlier when 17-year-old Darby is sent to her grandmother’s home in Pacific Shores California for the summer while her parents deal with a situation involving her rebellious sister. Raised in a conservative and controlling household in Kansas Darby doesn’t know what to do with her feelings for Leo the handsome surfer boy who uses the trail through her grandma’s yard to get to the beach. Over one bewitching summer of freedom Darby and Leo fall in love. The novel switches between timelines and the perspectives of Leo and Darby. Bailey does a great job of contrasting their teenage chemistry with their guarded present selves as they take a road trip in a cherry-red 1976 Mustang far from Darby’s wedding trying to unravel what went wrong before and determine why Darby found herself about to walk down the aisle with somebody else. The dual timeline will have readers absorbed in the captivating love story—even if it isn’t initially clear that “now” and “then” are 10 years apart (the author uses only days and months to show the passage of time in her chapter titles). Bailey’s prose is so achingly romantic (“We are infinite. We are destined. Written in the stars”) that it quickly overrides the timeline confusion to detail a romance in which the fireworks are clear from the very beginning.
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As a 12th grader she’s unable to avoid inquiries about her post-graduation plans. But Emiko who lives in a small coastal town in British Columbia is doing her best to deflect any talk about her future. Rather she focuses on her shifts at Aunt Mitsuko’s café festive celebrations like Obon and New Year’s Day treating people to her homemade meals and baked treats and most excitingly orchestrating romances for those around her. Emiko proclaims herself a “matchmaking GENIUS”; one of her recent targets Aunt Mitsuko even got married. But not all the romances go the way she envisions. And when things go awry Emiko must confront her shortcomings as well as the impact of and motivations behind her actions. Ultimately the flawed matchmaking protagonist turns a welcome new leaf. Uegaki imbues her spin on Jane Austen’s Emma with interesting details of Japanese culture and dramatic hallmark high school experiences. Although the plot beats (some with twists) hit the right notes the lackluster characterization and narration make it hard for readers to feel invested in the romantic entanglements and Emiko’s arc of growing self-awareness. The supporting cast surrounding the Japanese Canadian central characters contain some diversity in race gender and sexuality.
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Rocco Vittori a fallen star of Formula 1 is desperate to reclaim his place on the podium. Nico Angelini a fiercely talented and trailblazing driver is determined to rise to the top of a sport that’s long shut out women like her. The pair’s rivalry kicks off in the public arena of social media and intensifies after a chance encounter in a Las Vegas bar which leads to a steamy charged showdown involving a game of billiards. Before long they find themselves on the same Maverick Racing team. Starling’s narrative thrives on brisk dialogue and the main characters’ quick tempers. Rocco and Nico’s verbal sparring is electric (“Doesn’t Rocco mean dick in Italian?”) but underneath the sexual tension is a deeper exploration of trust and trauma. When Nico reflects on her need to race she reveals the story’s emotional stakes: “Racing Formula 1 was like her blood her bone. If they were gone so was she—not just a persona…but her the real her.” The novel’s alternating perspectives deepen the tension and reveal each character’s troubled past—Rocco’s battle with self-doubt and media scrutiny Nico’s resilience shaped by loss and survival. Despite their combative dynamic the two share a need for speed a passion for racing and the scars of past betrayals. Starling’s prose occasionally veers into melodrama especially in its more sensual moments but the narrative remains grounded by its deft portrayal of ambition its exploration of gender dynamics in male-dominated spaces and its examination of the redemptive power of trust. Supporting characters such as Nico’s lively best friend Charles deliver levity and warmth.
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When his ex-boyfriend Pearson’s text messages make him late for his college scholarship interview and he’s turned away 18-year-old Tyriq Howell pledges to stop letting his love life get in the way of his future. Tyriq receives another chance at the scholarship when mysterious and “stunningly handsome” student worker Desmond 19 offers to wield his influence to get him another interview—if Tyriq will be his fake date to a fundraising event. Tyriq’s promise to himself (and his uber-competent twin brother Troy) to stay focused and not fall in love becomes harder and harder to keep in the face of Desmond’s charm. But Desmond’s secret might be enough to keep them apart especially when paparazzi attention reveals that Tyriq’s crush is the prince of Catalina a fictional North Sea island kingdom located near England. The teens who are both Black and gay face challenges that stem from homophobia and racism as well as Desmond’s familial obligations fame and fortune. The leads are well-developed and complex yet the story’s timeline sometimes skips over what feel like crucial moments of connection; this inconsistent focus may leave readers wanting more depth. Nevertheless this romance tackles larger themes of choice and self-love while also portraying an enchanting flirtatious relationship.
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Seventeen-year-old Indian Canadian Sana Merali loves all things love especially Toronto’s Love Street where she lives with her mother above their struggling flower shop. When gentrification threatens the tightknit community of small businesses on their street Sana throws herself into organizing a “festival of love” that she hopes will restore their fortunes. Co-chairing the planning committee is the handsome but aloof 18-year-old Miles Desai. Sana who’s pansexual is drawn to him despite their opposing views on pretty much everything and eventually their mutual attraction becomes hard to ignore. All too soon however Sana finds herself questioning Miles’ feelings for her and the relationships he seems to have built with her emotionally distant father and stepsister. As the Love Street Festival nears Sana confronts shocking news family secrets and her own reluctance to accept change. Told from Sana’s perspective this is a sweet slow-burn romance with layered and engaging characters. It’s also an examination of love and its many expressions and the transformation of rigid notions about family and belonging. The ponderous second half dampens the lively pace and crackling dialogue of the first but the book redeems itself with an unabashedly romantic ending. The area’s residents are multiethnic. Sana and Miles both have Ismaili Muslim and Indian heritage with roots in Uganda and Tanzania respectively; Miles’ father is Hindu.
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Raoul Vernet has traveled from Belgium to meet with Louisa Jane Evans the grandmother of Dr. Thomas Evans and his sister Rosie. As she sits in the car of Thomas’ partner Tedward né Edwin Robert Edwards who’s struggling to find his way through the pea-souper Rosie confesses that Raoul had seduced and impregnated her and that she’s not inclined to bring the baby to birth. By the time Tedward brings her home Raoul is dead bashed to death with a mastoid mallet that seems to indicate he was killed by a doctor. So DI Charlesworth arrests Thomas whose loyalty to his sister certainly has a strong motive. The trial goes off the rails when Tedward produces evidence of Thomas’ innocence that implicates Tedward who promptly replaces his partner in the dock until franchise hero Inspector Cockrill finally lays the mystery to rest with help from still another confession. As Martin Edwards notes in his introduction Brand (1907–88) loved this best of all her novels and it’s easy to see why. The plotting is ingenious the multiple revelations perfectly paced; the means to conceal the real killer well-nigh unguessable and thoroughly logical; the repeated dipping into the thoughts of the seven suspects deftly deceptive; and the conversation among those suspects unfailingly entertaining even as their number is reduced to six.
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