We have quite a few on our release list this week including one I got to read early – The Vacation Shift. If you like rom-coms or travel related stories, you’ll want to grab that one, but several others are calling to me.
Doe by Rebecca Barrow
Nancy Paulsen Books
Maris Larsen is the captain of the West Eaton High cheer team. She’s Coach’s favorite and the team worships her. Being on the team makes her feel special—powerful. When she’s leading the girls on the mat, Maris doesn’t have to think about her dead-end life in a dead-end town. She can forget about her depressed mother and absent father and the fact that her girlfriend doesn’t really love her. But when newcomer and Coach’s new golden girl, Genevieve Ray, joins the team, the only thing going right in Maris’s life is suddenly in jeopardy. A bitter rivalry develops between the two, but Maris is determined to take Genevieve down. The knife she needs to wield comes to Maris in her dreams.
While sleepwalking, Maris is visited by a monstrous, decaying beast in the shape of an enormous deer. Doe is an ancient, tired creature who has been wandering, trapped in her current form for decades. She cannot die, but she cannot go on living as she has. Only a girl related by blood to those who bound her in this form can free her, but those girls she loved died years ago—murdered in a fire.
But Maris is somehow linked to Doe’s beloved girls—linked by blood—and so she has the power to free Doe, to unleash her immense power. In Maris’s dreams, she and Doe form a bond, but Maris doesn’t know the creature from her dreams is real. Maris doesn’t understand the danger she’s in. She only knows Doe has promised her a way to win her battle with Genevieve. But for Maris to win, someone has to die, and the only real winner in the end will be Doe.
The Vacation Shift by Lily Chu
Quill Tree Books
Ivy Yu is cursed. Her parents separated six months ago, and she’s fallen into a fog. To help, her mother books an impulsive trip to Japan (cool) on a bus tour (very uncool). Ivy should be grateful, but this summer is her last chance to get her situationship, Connor, to fall in love with her.
When they arrive in Tokyo, it’s even worse than she imagined. Ivy and her Mom are the youngest of a group of seniors. Make that two of the youngest: there’s brooding Matteo, with his single dad, Keith.
Then Ivy discovers her mother and Keith are getting close, and her crush back home is hooking up with someone else. Desperate for some semblance of control and a distraction from the heaviness she can’t seem to shake off, she makes a deal with Matteo to keep their parents apart. Luckily, he agrees—and their devious plans begin.
Dodging nosy old ladies on the bus ride through Japan, their strange partnership begins to blossom into something unexpected and exciting—but can their romantic spark survive the journey?
Checking You Out by Jennifer Chen
Wednesday Books
Lizzie Wei is a huge book nerd, and proud of it. And when she realizes there is a mysterious reader who has been checking out all of her favorite books from the library, she can’t help but get a crush on someone she’s never even met. Her friends make it their mission to find Lizzie’s long lost book soulmate and convince her to leave notes for her crush. But what if the person Lizzie is looking for, isn’t at all what she expects?
Dylan Lin loves reading, secretly anyway. Ever since a bullying incident at his last school, he’s hidden his love of fantasy novels, instead leaning into his jock persona. Now he’s the tennis team captain, runs every day, and actively avoids reading. So, when he decides to start volunteering at a kitten nursery, and his super cute co-volunteer Lizzie asks if he likes reading, he says no. He never expects the look of complete and utter disappointment on Lizzie’s face.
Lizzie is certain her secret crush isn’t Dylan. It can’t be! But when he accidentally makes an obscure reference to her favorite book during their volunteer shift, she’s not so sure anymore. Can Lizzie forgive Dylan for lying? And can Dylan be brave enough to be himself?
Jennifer Chen’s Checking You Out is a contemporary romance about being true to yourself and celebrating what you love, because you just might find the perfect person to share it with.
Good Luck, Babe! by Erin Baldwin
Viking Books for Young Readers
Reality TV enthusiasts Noelle and Yumi spent ten years attached at the hip—until the summer after junior year. One ill-fated night (and one awkward kiss) ended their friendship, and after a year of no contact, fate throws the girls back together when they’re offered a last-minute spot on their favorite show—an Amazing Race analog called The Adventureverse.
It’s a chance to put their superfan status to the test, a dream come true. Except for a few snags: It’s an all-couples season, filming starts in two days, and Noelle hasn’t spoken to her “girlfriend” in a year. But Noelle already has plans to use the prize money on her ailing father’s medical expenses. She would do anything for him—including fake date her ex-bestie on national television.
Can Noelle walk a tightrope between reality and TV while juggling a pretend relationship and true feelings? Or will she get sent home empty-handed and brokenhearted?
The Romance Rewind by Sarah Everett
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Zadie expected her anniversary dinner with her boyfriend, Jason, to end with a dreamy promposal—not a breakup and a car crash!
When she wakes up in the hospital, she gets even worse news: Jason is in a coma. With nothing to do but wait by his side, Zadie is left wondering where the relationship went wrong and if anyone else knows about the breakup.
Suddenly, Zadie is catapulted back to their first date, trapped in a time loop she can’t escape. To make matters worse, Jason’s cousin Marcus is along for the ride, threatening to spill her secret. Can Zadie mend her relationship with Jason before he wakes up, or will Marcus shatter her hopes for a happily-ever-after?
For fans of The Do-Over and Check & Mate, get whisked away in this charming new rom-com abounding with betrayal, twists, and romance tropes.