Archives de catégorie : Contemporary Romance

FLIRTING WITH MURDER d’Amanda Sellet

This mystery and romance mashup features a quirky, contemporary setting and unforgettable characters, think The Agathas meets The Thursday Murder Club.

FLIRTING WITH MURDER
by Amanda Sellet
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, April 2026

Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand lotion: every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.

But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building’s beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.

Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.

In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they’ve always loved.

AMANDA SELLET is a former journalist and the author of rom-coms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter.

SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE de Jenny Elder Moke

A steamy rom-com/murder mystery about a bestselling author who’s stuck at a wedding weekend gone horribly awry, perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey’s My Killer Vacation, and Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Dial A for Aunties.

SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE
by Jenny Elder Moke
Minotaur/St. Martin’s Press, January 2025
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

A high-end wedding on a private island off the coast of Seattle sounds like something out of a magazine. But for bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine, it’s more like a nightmare.

Why Kate agreed to attend her ex-fiancé’s wedding is its own enigma, but she’ll plaster on a fake smile for two nights, with the aid of free champagne, naturally. And because the groom happens to be her editor, she’ll try to finish a draft of her latest Loretta Starling mystery as a wedding gift.

When the bride is poisoned and Kate stumbles across a dead body, she finds herself in a real-life mystery that eerily echoes the plot of her latest novel. And the only person who seems willing to help Kate catch the killer is Jake Hawkins, aka: the Hostralian; aka: Kate’s biggest romantic regret.

As the wine flows and the weather threatens to hold every guest hostage, bitter resentments and long-held grudges surface amongst the colorful crowd. Anyone could be capable of murder, it seems. What would Loretta do? Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t have a clue.

Jenny Elder Moke is the author of award-winning children’s and adult literature. She enjoys fast-paced adventures with plenty of mysteries, surprising turns, and laughs along the way. When she’s not writing, you can find her knitting, puzzling, or fighting imaginary crime as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE is her adult debut.

BETTER THE DEVIL d’Erik J. Brown

Gritty, gripping thriller meets contemporary queer romance in this brand-new YA novel filled with first love, stolen identity and murder, from the award-winning and bestselling author of All That’s Left in the World.

BETTER THE DEVIL
by Erik J. Brown
Storytide/HarperCollins, Summer 2026
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

After being arrested for shoplifting, a homeless teen is afraid the police will send him home to his abusive family, so he assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont—a child who, according to the missing poster on the police station wall, went missing ten years ago. It doesn’t hurt that he looks a lot like the age-progressed picture of Nate. He plans to escape before the police can discover his lie, but when Nate’s family comes to collect him, he unexpectedly starts to bond with them. 

The Beaumonts are nothing like his real family. There’s Nate’s loving, but intensely protective mother, his reserved and imposing father, an older brother wracked with guilt, and a quirky, card shark grandmother. When he looks further into the disappearance, « Nate » learns that the boy he’s pretending to be didn’t just go missing—rumor is, he was murdered. As strange occurrences begin to unfold around the Beaumont home, Nate realizes he’s trapped in a dangerous game with an unknown killer. One who knows he isn’t the real Nate Beaumont.

Nate has three choices: run, confess, or find out who the real killer is…before history repeats itself.

Erik J. Brown is an award-winning writer based in Philadelphia, PA. His debut Young Adult novel, All That’s Left in the World, was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and won the UK reader’s choice Books Are My Bag award. In 2021 he was selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow. His second novel for young adults, Lose You to Find Me, came out in May 2023, and the sequel to All That’s Left in the World, titled The Only Light Left Burning, comes out May 2024. You can find him on Twitter @WriterikJB, and Instagram @ErikJB, and on his website, https://www.erikjbrown.com.

SEEING STARS de Candice Jalili

A spin-off story to the beloved Finding Famous, Candice Jalili is back with another story in the Mashad Family universe: a laugh-out-loud, larger-than-life YA romance that brings reality TV down to earth.

SEEING STARS
by Candice Jalili
Disney Hyperion, October 2025
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

The tabloids wish they could give you gossip this jaw droppingly juicy…
Mona Mashad grew up on camera, with millions of fans around the world tuning in to see her every move. Nothing was off-limits: not her first pimple, her first crush, and definitely not the death of her father, Mashad family patriarch and the best dad ever, Ali.

After more than a decade on screen, Mona has discovered the key to being the most famous teenager on the planet: never let your guard down and never give your heart away (because if it breaks, the whole world will know).

But she didn’t expect to meet Lukas Haas, notorious heartthrob and only son of Jordana Haas, the beloved President of the United States. Lukas sweeps Mona off her feet—he literally saves her when she falls down the stairs at the Met Gala—and for just one second Mona wants to let her walls come down. So, it hurts a lot when he betrays her, and even more when their moms demand they pretend to keep dating to appease their respective fan bases.

Normally, a fake relationship would be manageable for Mona. After all, she’s used to playing a part for the camera. But pretending to fall in love with Lukas when she’s still furious with him is no easy feat. And things get extra complicated when she meets Kai. A (hot) surfer and all-around normal guy. For the first time in her life, she can forget the cameras and just be…Mona. Could he be the escape from this fake reality that Mona needs? Or will fake dating America’s most eligible bachelor lead to real feelings?

FINDING FAMOUS was published in 2024.
Les droits de langue française sont toujours disponibles.

Candice Jalili is an Iranian American writer whose work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, The Cut, Rolling Stone, Elite Daily, and more. Finding Famous: A Mashad Family Novel was her YA debut. Candice lives in New York City with her husband, where she is a convenient walk away from her cousins and childhood best friend. She grew up in the Bay Area and spends hours of her days FaceTiming her parents there. You can find her on Instagram @CandiceJalili and online at www.CandiceJalili.com.

16 FOREVER de Lance Rubin

From acclaimed YA author Lance Rubin of Crying Laughing and the Denton Little series comes this compulsively readable romantic comedy about a boy who every year, on the eve of turning 17, gets kicked back to his 16th birthday—resetting his memory, experiences, and body—while the world moves on normally for everyone else.

16 FOREVER
by Lance Rubin
HarperCollins, January 2026

TIME LOOP REINVENTION: The time loop plot device is a tried-and-true staple, and Lance does an excellent job making it his own. While everyone else grows up, moves on, and moves out, Carter is left behind, stuck at 16. Readers will appreciate this fresh take on a classic trope.

ROMCOM FOR EVERYONE: 16 FOREVER has that perfect touch of YA romance, but it breaks from genre conventions and is relatable to anyone with a heart. While there’s plenty of romance and laughs, the outrageous plot but grounded, likable characters keep the action moving and the tone irresistible.

READYMADE FOR A FEATURE FILM: This novel has all the elements necessary to be a teen film hit—from forbidden lovers to high school parties to sibling heart-to-hearts, 16 FOREVER hits on many touchstones of being a teenager. Plus, the book is an IP project, making it the perfect candidate for an adaptation.

WILL THEY, WON’T THEY: With an established will they/won’t they right off the bat, readers will be on the edge of their seats to see what happens with Maggie and Carter—nor will they be able to see the major plot twist between their love story’s history coming, either!

Lance Rubin is the award-winning author of Crying Laughing, Denton Little’s Deathdate, and Denton Little’s Still Not Dead. He’s also the coauthor of Monster Club: Monsters Take Manhattan; and of the NYT bestseller The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek. Lance is also a voiceover actor and cowriter of the Off-Broadway musical Broadway Bounty Hunter. Visit him at lancerubin.com.