Our Woman in Moscow
By: Beatriz Williams
Release Date | June 1
Genre | Historical Fiction
The Digby family vanished in the autumn of 1948. Iris and her family are gone within the blink of an eye and the world is shocked by their disappearance. Was it because of the Soviet Intelligence? Did they defect to Moscow? What happened to the Digby's?
Four years after their vanishment, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from her twin sister Iris whom she hasn't heard from since their tumultuous parting in 1940 as Rome was engulfed by war. Within days, Ruth is embarking on a journey to extract her sister and family from the Iron curtain.
But Iris's marriage is more complicated than Ruth understands and as they race towards safety, a KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice to determine where their loyalties lie.
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Dead Dead Girls
By: Nekesa Afia
Release Date | June 1
Genre | Mystery
Dead Dead Girls follows Louise Lloyd, the survivor of a harrowing kidnapping ordeal in her teens that sent her on a path of normalcy; a path that she's happily succeeding at too. She works at a Café during the day and a speakeasy at night.
When a girl turns up dead in front of the speakeasy, Louise is forced to face reality - local black girls that look like her are being murdered. After a police altercation, she is given a choice: Solve the case or become an example. Louise chooses the former soon looking to catch a killer and save herself in the process.
Girl One
By: Sara Flannery Murphy
Release Date | June 1
Genre | Science Fiction
The first of nine "miracle babies" conceived without male DNA, Josephine 'Josie' Marrow is Girl One. Josie has spent her life on the Homestead, a commune with the babies and the mother's, until a suspicious fire destroys her home claiming two of their lives. The remaining girls and Mothers scatter losing touch along the way.
Years later, her own Mother goes missing and Josie starts off on a road trip, desperate to find her estranged sisters who seem to hold the secrets to her mother's disappearance. Tracing the clues left behind, Josie joins forces with the others facing those who seek to eradicate them and discovering secrets they could have never dreamed of.
Malibu Rising
By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Release Date | June 1
Genre | Historical Fiction
August 1983, Malibu. It's the annual end of the summer party hosted by Nina Riva and everybody's itching to rage. The partygoers crave to be around the famous Riva's - Nina, Jay, Hud, and their younger sister Kit. Together, the four are a source of awe in Malibu and the world.
The only person not eager to party is Nina herself. Never one to crave the center of attention and having just been abandoned by her husband, Nina wants peace. Oh, and maybe Hud who has had ample time to confess something to his brother also prefers if the event didn't happen.
Jay on the other hand can't wait for the party, eager to connect with a girl who promised she would be there. And Kit, well she's hiding things of her own including a guest that the others didn't know was invited.
By midnight, the party will be insane. By morning, the mansion will have gone up in flames. But before, the party will rage and secrets will be exposed.
Find the full review | HERE | for Malibu Rising
Strange Creatures
By: Phoebe North
Release Date | June 1
Genre | Young Adult
Annie and her brother Jamie have been close since the day she was born. They grew up facing the world together and when it all became too much, they hid away in their fantasy world within the woods. A place where they could be themselves and no one could find them. It was enough until Jamie started middle school and Annie was pushed away. Jamie got a girlfriend, made new friends, and let Annie drift further and further away. By the time Annie herself was in eight grade, she hardly knew her brother.
And then Jamie disappears. The days turn into weeks, into months, and then years and everybody but Annie has accepted Jamie is gone. She believes he's entered their childhood world and that she's the only one who can bring him home.
As she searches for answers she finds more than she expects with discoveries about her brother and a new relationship with a girl she did not anticipate. It's these discoveries that make Annie question how much she is willing to give to keep her hope alive.
The Disappearing Act
By: Catherine Steadman
Release Date | June 8
Genre | Mystery
Pilot season calls all actors to Los Angeles. It is the season of casting for the hopeful, the desperate, and the anxious - all willing to do what they must to make it. Stars will be born and dreams will be dashed.
British star Mia Elliot is one of the hopeful. An actor with a leading role in her country desperate to go to the next level in Hollywood who upon arrival is immediately faced with a world of ruthless competition and constant auditioning. Mia is exhausted but determined and one day she meets Emily, another actor not from Hollywood who appears to have a similar spirit.
Emily is friendly and stands out in auditions, she is a woman Mia has taken a liking too. But a simple favour soon turns sinister and when Emily reappears on her doorstep the following day, the woman claiming to be Emily is not the same woman Mia remembers.
All Mia has is her memory and the terrible feeling something bad has happened. The police don't believe her and it's up to Mia to uncover the truth, forcing her to question herself and risk the role of a lifetime.
Smoke
By: Darcy Woods
Release Date | June 15
Genre | Young Adult
What lengths would you go to save the ones you loved? Sixteen-year-old Honor Augustine is forced to answer that question when she discovers her Father's veteran benefits dwindling and a bank letter threatening to close the family's business.
A dedicated daughter determined to find a solution, one that is presented to her on her English lit. board. An idea that begins to blossom and then soon grow within her family's greenhouse. Hopefully, the medicinal plant can save them all.
Lady Sunshine
By: Amy Mason Doan
Release Date | June 29
Genre | Historical Fiction
Everything changed the summer of 1979 for Jackie Pierce. Three months at her uncle's estate filled with the Californian coast, free spirits, artists, and a fast friendship with her cousin Willa that brought happiness to her soul. Until the summer ends in tragedy and Willa disappears into the night.
Twenty years later and Jackie surprisingly inherits her uncle's estate returning only to get it ready for sale. Reluctantly she extends her stay when she realises a previous commitment her aunt made for a tribute album to be recorded at the property prevents the immediate sale of it.
As musical guests arrive, they bring the estate back to life and Jackie is soon transported to that summer twenty years ago. When a piece of the past resurfaces bringing with it questions about Willa's disappearance, Jackie is forced to discover what is the truth and what is lies.
Survive the Night
By: Riley Sager
Release Date | June 29
Genre | Thriller
Riley Sager is an authour I discovered late in 2020 whose works I have found to be quite enjoyable. They are easy to read and occasionally throw in a surprise in that I could have never guessed. Home Before Dark is one of his novels that I adore and I cannot wait to see what Survive the Night brings.
Charlie Jordan is stuck in a car with a potential serial killer. The man behind the wheel, Josh Baxter, is a stranger to Charlie. They met on a campus car-ride board both looking for an affordable way to get to Ohio and both have reasons for leaving.
Charlie is trying to cope with her best friend's murder having fallen victim to the Campus Killer and Josh is heading to Ohio to care for his ailing father. Except Charlie has doubts about his story. There's something suspicious about him, how his stories have holes, and why he's so adamant Charlie doesn't see the inside of his trunk.
As they travel along the highway to Ohio, Charlie becomes more nervous that she's picked a ride home with the Campus Killer and what ensues is a game of cat-and-mouse and all Charlie must do to win is survive the night.
This Poison Heart
By: Kalynn Bayron
Release Date | June 29
Genre | Fantasy
Look at this cover. This cover exudes mystery and power, This Poison Heart is about a girl who with one touch can make plants bloom. Briseis's aunt leaves her a rundown estate and Bri's family decides to relocate to it in hopes that surrounded by nature Bri will learn to control her gift. The estate is more sinister than imagined coming with instructions, an apothecary, and a section filled with the deadliest plants in the world.
When strangers begin to arrive asking for plant-based medicine, Bri learns she has a knack for creating them befriending one young woman named Marie, a woman Bri soon discovers that is keeping secrets.
There is more to the inheritance than Bri can imagine and she is determined to find the truth until a group comes searching for her and a mysterious immortality elixir. Bri must put her gift to the test to protect herself against the plants and a century-old curse.
