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Review: HEIRESS TAKES ALL by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Mar 252024
 

Kirkus: A Rhode Island teen who went from riches to rags when her parents divorced masterminds a scheme to get even with her father.

After her mom leaves her philandering dad, 17-year-old Olivia Owens and her principled, loving mother are left broke. Swimming in medical debt after her exhausted mom falls asleep at the wheel in between jobs and is injured in a car crash, Olivia assembles a madcap cast of peers, plus a former teacher, each of whose skills are required for her plan to steal the codes for her dad’s offshore accounts. She intends to execute the heist during her father’s lavish wedding to his third wife, who’s only 25. Tom Pham, Deonte Jones, Cassidy Cross, and Mr. McCoy each have their own basically noble reasons for needing their cut of the money, though Jackson Roese, Olivia’s recent ex, still tries to convince her to abandon her potentially dangerous plan when he shows up at the wedding in a bid to win her back. Twists, obstacles, and double-crossing abound in this totally fun, over-the-top novel featuring smart, witty characters whose first impressions belie their more complex selves. Olivia’s frenetic inner thoughts as she navigates each successive snag balance her ongoing hurt feelings from being abandoned by her dad. Most central characters read white; Tom’s surname cues Vietnamese heritage, and Deonte is Black.

Goofy, poignant, and wildly entertaining.

CURSED CRUISE by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Mar 192024
 

All aboard…

After their fateful stay at the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is back with more spooks and more subscribers. They’ve been invited to record onboard the RMS Queen Anne, a transatlantic luxury ocean liner with a colorful past of violent deaths of hundreds of passengers—souls that bought a one-way ticket to the afterlife (and never disembarked).

When Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma board the ship, they have a funny feeling they’ve been sucked into a ghostly time warp—a theory that takes a frightening turn when Chrissy goes missing on the first night.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Chrissy has been sucked into another time by a passenger who wants the Ghost Gang to know her untimely death was not an accident and the perpetrator is still alive—and on board this ship.

Review: THE LAST BOYFRIENDS RULE FOR REVENGE by Matthew Hubbard

Mar 132024
 

Booklist: Ezra feels like a third wheel. His two best friends, Lucas and Finley, have boyfriends, while Ezra is single. Or is he? Well, no, he does have a boyfriend, golden boy Presley, but it’s a secret since Presley is deeply closeted. The status quo is shattered when Lucas’ and Finley’s boyfriends dump them, and Presley turns out to be a player, using Ezra to make his intended jealous. It’s Ezra who suggests exacting revenge. He begins secretly posting anonymous videos of their machinations to TikTok, where they go viral, attracting millions of views as the boys fight their school’s homophobic Watch What You Say policy. Will they succeed and will Ezra find true love? Stay tuned. Hubbard’s first novel is an agreeable success, though it sometimes requires a willing suspension of disbelief. But it is well plotted, even inspirational in the boys’ idealized fight for visibility. The characters are empathic, including Ezra’s father, who is a supportive sweetheart who wisely declares, “Believing in yourself is the best revenge.”

SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY by Aggie Blum Thompson

Mar 122024
 

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the Calhouns are in the midst of hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season. With a house full of friends, neighbors, and their beloved three adult children, the Calhouns are expecting another picture-perfect event. But a brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects.

Behind their façade of perfection, the Calhoun family has been keeping some very dark secrets. Parents who use money and emotional manipulation to control their children. Two sons, one the black sheep who is desperate to outrun mistakes he’s made, and the other a new father, willing to risk everything to protect his child. And a daughter: an Instagram influencer who refuses to face the truth about the man she married.

As the investigation heats up, family tensions build, and alliances shift. Long-buried resentments surface, forcing the Calhouns to face their darkest secrets before it’s too late.

February Subsidiary Rights Deals

Feb 292024
 

a pair of black ear budsAda Palmer and Jo Walton’s TRACE ELEMENTS: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy, from two of the most acclaimed writers in the field today, a groundbreaking look at understanding of how SF and fantasy work, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Emily Blackwood’s WINGS SO WICKED and BLOOD SO BRUTAL, Books 1 and 2 of Golden City duology, to Julie Constantine at Podium Audio, in an exclusive submission, by Katie Shea Boutillier (North American).

Jonathan French’s THE EXILED HEIR and THE ERRANTRY OF BANTAM FLYN, books one and two of the Autumn’s Fall series, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, at auction, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure (world English).

WA Simpson’s TINDERBOX, to Kerri Buckley at Dreamscape Media, to Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Anne Tibbets (world English).

February Translation Deals

Feb 292024
 

French rights to Nebula Award winner Premee Mohamed’s THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST, THE ANNUAL MIGRATION OF CLOUDS, and AND WHAT CAN WE OFFER YOU TONIGHT, to L’Atalante, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry.

French renewal rights to New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s ACADEM’S FURY, PRINCEP’S FURY, and FIRST LORD’S FURY, books 2, 5, 6 in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Hebrew rights to Monica Murphy’s Wedded Bliss series, to Venus, by Beverley Levit at The Israeli Association of Book Publishers, in a three-book deal, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Hungarian rights to New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s GHOST STORY, Book 13 of The Dresden Files, to Delta Vision, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i Prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Korean rights to James Scott Bell’s POWER UP YOUR FICTION, to 21st Century Culture Center, by Sue Yang at Eric Yang Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Slovakian rights to LJ Andrews’s THE EVER KING, to Zeleny Kocur, by Nada Popovic at Prava I Prevodi in association with Katie Shea Boutillier.

Turkish rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s WRITTEN IN RED, MURDER OF CROWS, VISION IN SILVER, and MARKED IN FLESH, the first four books in the Others series, to Marti Yayinlari, by Merve Öngen at AnatoliaLit Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Review: FAKE FLAME by Adele Buck

Feb 282024
 

Publishers Weekly: Buck (Fast Acting) brings the heat in this scorching rom-com. After professor Eva Campbell’s ex, Darren, stages a ridiculous romantic gesture at her place of work to try to get her back, Eva snaps and tries to fend him off with an improvised flamethrower created from the combination of a cigarette lighter and a can of bug spray—and the fire department is called. Hunky firefighter Sean Hannigan, 36, is immediately attracted to Eva, 41, and when Darren tries to intimidate Eva in her office, Sean commits to being her fake boyfriend to keep him at bay. What starts as just pretend quickly becomes all too real and Buck makes it easy to see how perfect these two are for each other. Swoony Sean is an avid reader who isn’t ashamed to love a romance novel, which endears Eva—a professor of literature and pop culture—to him immediately. When Eva witnesses him interacting with his numerous nieces and nephews, she realizes he’d be a great dad, but worries it’s too late for her to give him that. The result is a refreshingly grounded conflict that Buck handles with a great deal of sensitivity. The steamy sex scenes are just a bonus. Readers will have no trouble rooting for the chivalrous firefighter and the plucky professor to get their happily ever after. (Apr.)

THE SOMEDAY DAUGHTER by Ellen O’Clover

Feb 202024
 

Audrey St. Vrain has grown up in the shadow of someone who doesn’t actually exist. Before she was born, her mother, Camilla St. Vrain, wrote the bestselling book Letters to My Someday Daughter, a guide to self-love that advises treating yourself like you would your own hypothetical future daughter. The book made Audrey’s mother a household name, and she built an empire around it.

While the world considers Audrey lucky to have Camilla for a mother, the truth is that Audrey knows a different side of being the someday daughter. Shipped off to boarding school when she was eleven, she feels more like a promotional tool than a member of Camilla’s family. Audrey is determined to create her own identity aside from being Camilla’s daughter, and she’s looking forward to a prestigious summer premed program with her boyfriend before heading to college and finally breaking free from her mother’s world.

But when Camilla asks Audrey to go on tour with her to promote the book’s anniversary, Audrey can’t help but think that this is the last, best chance to figure out how they fit into each other’s lives—not as the someday daughter and someday mother but as themselves, just as they are. What Audrey doesn’t know is that spending the summer with Camilla and her tour staff—including the disarmingly honest, distressingly cute video intern, Silas—will upset everything she’s so carefully planned for her life.

Review: THE LAST BOYFRIENDS RULES FOR REVENGE by Matthew Hubbard

Feb 192024
 

Kirkus: When three queer best friends in Alabama are inspired by The First Wives Club to exact revenge on their terrible exes, a homophobic school initiative takes their mission in an unexpected direction.

Ezra Hayes, who’s coded white, is accustomed to hiding in plain sight, but he feels that he’s fallen by the wayside once his two best friends, Lucas Rivera, who’s cued Mexican American, and Finley Lewis, who’s Black, get into relationships. Ezra thought his summer romance with Presley, the school’s star football player, would finally give him the chance to feel like the main character. But when Ezra discovers that Presley is cheating on him, Lucas and Finley also open up about the poor treatment they’ve received from their partners. Each teen has his own plan for revenge, and they set up an anonymous TikTok account called “Last Boyfriends.” Ezra decides to run against Presley for Winter Formal Lion King; he also burns Presley’s varsity jacket and posts the video to TikTok, tagging it #breakupchallenge. When their account goes viral, and Ezra’s Lion King campaign comes under fire (from the same leadership that dissolved the gay-straight alliance and is censoring library books), the trio’s priorities change, and they begin fighting for queer students everywhere. The friendships are fun and believable, Ezra’s single father is heartwarmingly supportive, and exciting twists keep the plot moving.

A pride-filled story complete with sass, love, and a timely message. (Fiction. 14-18)

Review: SOMEDAY DAUGHTER by Ellen O’Clover

Feb 122024
 

Booklist: Audrey’s mom, Camilla St. Vrain, wrote the self-help book Letters to My Someday Daughter that made her a household name; Audrey only wants to spend time with her boyfriend and work toward her own someday medical career. But Camilla has other plans, bringing Audrey on a tour to discuss the book Camilla wrote years ago. Pushed to answer invasive questions and constantly surrounded by her mother’s interns—including the irresistible Silas—at least Audrey gets a national tour of doctors out of the deal. But will her future even matter if she can’t make peace and connect with her mother? Full of themes around found family and forgiveness, O’Clover (Seven Percent of Ro Devereux, 2023) neatly layers the road-trip narrative over clever family drama and adds a surprise twist. Readers will find discussions of mental health, while immersive romantic relationship drama adds additional substance as Audrey navigates her complicated mother-daughter relationship. A solid addition to any contemporary young adult collection and no doubt resonant for teens growing up in front of their parents’ social media.

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