This book is classic Zentner. With lovely prose, it make you laugh, cry, and appreciate the family you have—both by birth and by choice.
In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner, (List Price: $13.99, Ember, 9781524720278, August 2022)
Reviewed by Amanda Gawthorpe, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
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This book is absolutely delightful. I had some great laugh-out-loud moments while reading. Tia Williams is becoming one of my favorite authors by far!
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams, (List Price: $17.99, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538726716, February 2025)
Reviewed by Anastasia Williams, The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee
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The Broposal was a wild ride from start to finish. Alejandro (Han for short) has been best friends with Kenny since they were 8. Now, at 23, they are still inseparable. When Kenny learns that Han lost his job that was meant to sponsor his visa, he comes up with the idea of fake-marrying Han for his citizenship instead. Although their plan seems foolproof, Kenny’s ex Jackie continues to cause trouble for the two. This book has the fun romance trope of fake relationships while also showing the struggle of an undocumented person in America. You’ll laugh and you’ll cry, and hope for their happily ever after.
The Broposal by Sonora Reyes, (List Price: $17.99, Forever, 9781538766682, January 2025)
Reviewed by Gabriela Warner, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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I love having a space to dump all the silly things running through my brain. I feel like living in my head is like sharing an apartment with five other personalities at any given time, and being a writer means not having to ignore them aggressively (and possibly vent about them to my therapist), but instead write them down, free them into the world, so to speak. Writing means the stories running through my head and the ideas that wake me up in excitement in the middle of the night aren’t just for me, but something I can share with everyone, in a sense, and that is just very cool to me.
― Lana Ferguson, Interview, Nerd Daily
What booksellers are saying about Under Loch and Key
About Lana Ferguson
Lana Ferguson is a USA Today bestselling author and sex-positive nerd whose works never shy from spice or sass. A faded Fabio cover found its way into her hands at fifteen, and she’s never been the same since. When she isn’t writing, you can find her randomly singing show tunes, arguing over which Batman is superior, and subjecting her friends to the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings. Lana lives mostly in her own head but can sometimes be found chasing her corgi through the coppice of the great American outdoors.
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This novel is uber-Murakami, the author back to the magical best of his earlier novels such as Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World (note: this makes sense, as the author writes in an afterword that this novel was a second attempt at reworking a novella, the first attempt being Hardboiled Wonderland). You don’t read a Murakami novel; you live it, holding on for dear life until it lets you off at the end, slightly confused but highly entertained. A magical world slowly unravels through an unnamed girl, while everyday life interweaves with it, featuring all the traditional Murakami Bingo tropes (loneliness, high school, jazz, pasta recipes, The Beatles, wells, libraries, cats…all the greatest hits!) There were a few minor logical bugbears, but plot logic was never Murakami’s strong suit. The simplicity of his language has long been a feature, but lately has felt more like a bug at times, with the repetition of banal thoughts (‘it was just my conjecture, but I was sure of it’; I nodded vaguely’ etc.) – perhaps as one of my all-time favourite authors I have come to expect more, but it was still great to be back in Murakami world.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, (List Price: $35, Knopf, 9780593801970, November 2024)
Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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In this brand new YA romance novel, city girl Tia Solanke is NOT looking forward to the holidays. She and her boyfriend, Mike, are on a break, and her mother’s solution is to take a Christmas getaway to the picturesque Saiyan Hedge Farms. Tia takes an instant dislike to the countryside and after the final straw, falling in horse manure and being chased by sheep, she decides to sneak back to London for Mike’s birthday. Quincy needs some help. His family will be the first Black family to ever host the Winter Ball (aka the biggest event of the year), and he is in need of a date after breaking up with his girlfriend. At first, Quincy and Tia don’t see eye to eye, but they soon realize that they both have something to gain by pretending to be a couple. Quincy needs a date to the ball, and Tia, a ride back to London just in time for Mike’s birthday. Soon, fake feelings turn real, and Tia and Quincy realize that maybe what they were looking for is right in front of them…
Only for the Holidays by Abiola Bello, (List Price: $19.99, Soho Teen, 9781641296106, October 2024)
Reviewed by Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Not to cause alarm but this is the best installment in the Rebel Blue Ranch yet. The enemies to lovers was PERFECTION. BEAUTIFULLY DONE. I thought it was going to feel weird because it has a bit of a “nanny” trope, but it was so perfectly executed that it didn’t bother me (I ended up absolutely adoring Riley). I will be raving about this book for the foreseeable future and forcing everyone to read it!!!
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage, (List Price: $17.99, Dial Press Trade Paperback, 9780593732458, November 2024)
Reviewed by Aubrey Miles, Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers in Auburn, Alabama
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I wrote The Pairing to be a bit of every decadent thing. I wanted it to overflow with flavors and pleasures and lush details, to make the reader feel like the two characters at its center, Theo and Kit. They’ve found each other again, four years after their breakup, accidentally booked on the same sumptuous, sensual three-week European food-and-wine tour. Hopefully, if I’ve done my job right, you’ll find yourself just as lost in it as they are.
This is a love story about things that taste better together. Food and drink, art and sex, gender and transformation, laughing and crying, pleasure and need, European travel and bisexuals, falling apart and coming back together. It’s about maximalism, about soul mates who needed time apart to grow into the perfect partners for each other. It’s quite a bit about being slutty abroad. And I had the time of my life drowning myself in cookbooks, art history lessons, and French poetry so I could write it.
–Casey McQuiston, Letter to Readers
What booksellers are saying about The Pairing
About Casey McQuiston
Casey McQuiston is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of romantic comedies, including One Last Stop, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, and Red, White & Royal Blue, whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Bon Appetit. Born and raised in southern Louisiana, Casey now lives in New York City with a poodle mix named Pepper.
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Pick this one up and start reading. You won’t want to stop until you have turned the last page, and then you just might want to turn to page one and start reading it all over again. Sanaka Hiigari has created a magical photo studio that is sure to warm your heart and make you ponder the pivotal moments in your own life.
The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi, (List Price: $22, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538757437, September 2024)
Reviewed by Angela Redden, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee
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Slow Dance is a beautiful tale of humans being human. It’s funny and poignant and heartbreaking, sometimes all at once. It gave me the same emotions I get from watching old home movies…a weird mixture of joy and sadness all wrapped up in nostalgia and a clear, sharp feeling of how much things have changed while also nothing has really changed at all. If you like seeing the flaws of humanity and having faith in them anyway, this book is for you.
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell, (List Price: $28, William Morrow, 9780063380196, August 2024)
Reviewed by Victoria Herrmann, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana
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A cute and heartfelt friends-to-enemies-to-lovers who must come together to try and rebuild their community’s Islamic Center after it burns down. A serious topic interspersed with funny banter and sweet realizations – a very classic YA romcom that teens will love!
Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, (List Price: $19.99, Feiwel & Friends, 9781250890139, June 2024)
Reviewed by Mallory Sutton, Bards Alley in Vienna, Virginia
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It’s a given you’re going to get grade-A smut when you read a Katee Robert novel. Ariadne and Asterion are candy for anyone who loves the forbidden romance trope. Seeing how he is soft for only her made me melt. I loved seeing them find a way to leave behind what was holding them captive and bound, and trust each other. I’ve loved every story in this series, but there’s something about Dark Restraint that I feel brings the plot to bring down Olympus into super clear focus. I feel like I can see the end, but knowing Robert I’m expecting some serious twists. Case and point, Hera really surprised in this installment of Dark Olympus.
Dark Restraint by Katee Robert, (List Price: $16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728262826, August 2024)
Reviewed by Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Georgia
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Darkhearts author Sutter brings the romance with his new novel about a teen ghost hunter who actually finds a ghost. Cara has been obsessed with ghost hunting since she was thirteen, but she’s never found any evidence….until now. After exploring an abandoned factory, Cara finds that she can now communicate with Aiden, a boy who died there a year ago. And Aiden has unfinished business. Since his death, his little sister Meredith has become a recluse. He wants Cara to take Meredith to prom, making her happy so he can move on. What could go wrong?
The Ghost of Us by James L. Sutter, (List Price: $20, Wednesday Books, 9781250869760, June 2024)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia
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This book was a fun read. I really like the dynamic between Jack (the jock) and Viola (the nerd). The reader gets to see their personality and relationship grow as the book progresses and they end up spending more time with each other outside of school. The book has a few twists on the traditional opposites-attract you wouldn’t expect.
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth, (List Price: $19.99, Tor Teen, 9781250884893, May 2024)
Reviewed by Doloris Vest, Book No Further in Roanoke, Virginia
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I have never cared so much about football as I have while reading Kneel. This is a fantastic debut.
Kneel by Candace Buford, (List Price: $11.95, Inkyard Press, 9781335454355, July 2022)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
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