Archives de catégorie : Fiction

LUCKY THING de Tom Baragwanath

In this follow-up to his award-winning debut novel Paper Cage, Tom Baragwanath delivers another bone-deep exploration of life in the margins of small-town New Zealand. LUCKY THING is a thrilling new instalment in the Lorraine Henry series.

LUCKY THING
by Tom Baragwanath
Text Publishing, September 2025

When brilliant young student Jessica Mowbrie is found beaten nearly to death in a remote patch of New Zealand bush, nobody has a clue what happened— or how to begin piecing it together. Except long-serving police records clerk Lorraine Henry.

Lorraine knows the Mowbries, like she knows everyone in her part of Masterton, and soon she’ll know a lot more. Because as something of an institution at Masterton police station, Lorraine is a woman people don’t expect much from. But sometimes, that’s an advantage. When her colleagues are busy stomping around making threats and accusations, Lorraine is listening and observing, quietly piecing together a different understanding of what happened to Jessica—an understanding that threatens everything she thought she knew about her community, her friends, and even her own family.

To get to the bottom of things, Lorraine must navigate fractured neighbourhood allegiances, and unearth all kinds of long-buried secrets—secrets that could provoke a danger hiding in plain sight and threaten those she loves the most.

In this follow-up to his award-winning debut novel Paper Cage, Tom Baragwanath delivers another bone-deep exploration of life in the margins of small-town New Zealand. Lucky Thing is a thrilling new instalment in the Lorraine Henry series.

Praise for Tom Baragwanath and Paper Cage:

‘Just the kind of dark, disturbing, gritty, and unusual treat thriller lovers are looking for.’ ―Kirkus [starred review]

‘Magnetic…This beautifully constructed plot has already won awards, and it is easy to see why with a protagonist who is impossible not to root for…Breathtakingly compelling.’ ―Daily Mail

Tom Baragwanath is originally from Masterton, New Zealand, and now lives in Paris. His debut novel, Paper Cage, published in 2022, introduced the world to records clerk Lorraine Henry. It was the winner of the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize, shortlisted for Best International Crime Fiction in the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards and shortlisted for Best First Novel in the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

THE PHONE SWAP de Lia Louis

When a scientist and movie star accidentally swap phones on a busy flight, they must oversee each other’s digital lives until they meet again to swap them back.

THE PHONE SWAP
by Lia Louis
Zaffre (UK)/Emily Bester Books (US), July 2025
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Private, never-been-love scientist Allie Lake is on a busy held-up flight on her way back home when she is seated next to troubled, hopeless romantic movie star Milo Ford. She is in no mood to talk. Her most recent project at a research station has just come to an end and she really doesn’t want to go home. Especially to what’s waiting for her.

As for Milo? Milo wants nothing more than to be at home hiding out with a little normality. Instead, he has to go and film a movie in the Romanian mountains… all the while, the press are getting closer, circling his secret. A secret he’s scared will come to light.

Allie lands and goes home.
Milo lands and heads to the mountains.

And both quickly realise they don’t have their phones – except they’re not lost. They’ve just picked up each other’s, forcing them to stay connected as they try to find a way to swap back.

Lia Louis has written five books, Better Left Unsent, The Key to My Heart, Eight Perfect Hours, Dear Emmie Blue and Somewhere Close to Happy. Somewhere Close to Happy was pre-empted in Italy and sold at auction in Spain, and Dear Emmie Blue took the rights world by storm and has sold in a total of 16 territories apart from the UK, including Germany where it became a bestseller.

THE OTHER LATA de Kirthana Ramisetti

A compulsively readable romcom of mistaken identity set within high society New York and the sacrifices made to keep up appearances.

THE OTHER LATA
by Kirthana Ramisetti
Grand Central/Hachette, April 2025
(via Harvey Klinger, Inc.)

Somewhere in New York City, Lata Murthy knows there is another person with her name living a much more interesting life. That’s because Lata often receives the other Lata’s emails: invites to Hampton soirees, fundraising appeals from the New York City Ballet and reminders about sample sales at Soho boutiques.. Lata’s own life—working in digital content, watching Food Network marathons, spending recklessly on clothes she can’t afford—feels pathetic in comparison. So, one day she decides to take on this other Lata’s identity and jumps headfirst into the glamorous New York lifestyle … but not without consequences.

At first, it all feels like a fairy tale. Lata learns that the invites were meant for a Mumbai socialite who shares her name, and finds a way to step into the woman’s shoes. In doing so, all of Lata’s NYC dreams come true: she gets a higher-paying job, moves into a chic Chelsea apartment and is embraced by an elite friend group that includes Rajeev, an up-and-coming fashion designer intent on making a splash at New York Fashion Week.

But Lata doesn’t just catch the attention of the handsome fashion designer—she also incurs the wrath of the mysterious woman she is impersonating. And this Other Lata wants Lata to pay…but in the oddest of ways. Other Lata’s blackmail seems designed to humiliate Lata in front of her wealthy new circle, and Lata has no choice but to submit to her demands if she doesn’t want to lose her new friends and lifestyle.

Despite Other Lata’s machinations, Lata and Rajeev’s romance finds ways to blossom. But when Other Lata’s demands change from mischievous to illegal, Lata must find a way to extricate herself from Other Lata’s control once and for all.

« Kirthana Ramisetti is a gifted storyteller, and Advika and the Hollywood Wives is such a gift. The glitz and underlying darkness of Hollywood make for a setting as complex and compelling as Ramisetti’s characters, and every page of this smart, sharply observed novel rings with insight – and with heart. » ―Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Kirthana Ramisetti earned her MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, and has had her work published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and more. Her debut novel, Dava Shastri’s Last Day, was a Good Morning America Book Club Pick and is currently in development as a television series for HBO Max. She lives with her husband in New York City.

A THORN IN EVERY HEART de Kate King

Beauty and the Beast meets Anastasia in this spicy and addictive modern fairytale mashup from the USA Today bestselling author of Wilde Fae.

A THORN IN EVERY HEART
(Enchanted Legacies Series, Book 1)
by Kate King
Kate King Publishing, April 2025
(via JABberwocky)

What if Belle never returned to the enchanted castle?

After her cheating husband ruins her life, twenty-nine-year-old musician, Alixandria Knight, moves from Chicago to Ironhill, Pennsylvania—a near-abandoned Appalachian ghost town with a firey history. Officially, she’s there to help her aging grandmother. Unofficially, Alix just wants to escape reality.

She’ll get her wish.

When a one night stand with a wickedly handsome stranger turns out to be more than she bargained for, Alix is whisked away to the land of the fae. There, she uncovers her family’s darkest secret: sixty years ago, Alix’s grandmother, Isabelle, broke her promise to marry a beastly king. Now, the fae are hungry, and it’s up to Alix to clear her family’s debt.

USA Today and International best selling author Kate King loves sassy heroines, crazy magic, and alpha-hole heroes. An avid reader and writer from a young age, she has been telling stories her whole life. Ever a fan of the dramatic, she lives in an 18th century church with her husband and two cats, and often writes in cemeteries.

THE PAPER BIRDS de Jeanette Lynes

Imagine you have only a pencil and paper, a pocketful of hunches, and your puzzle-solving skills to help end the war.

THE PAPER BIRDS
by Jeanette Lynes
HarperAvenue/HarperCollins Canada, June 2025

Fresh out of high school, Gemma Sullivan lands what she believes is an office job, only to learn that she’s been hired for top-secret government codebreaking work in a cottage in Mimico, Ontario. The codebreaking “Cottage”—run by the brilliant, eccentric Miss Fearing, who was trained at England’s Bletchley Park—pulls Gemma in with its urgent lure and mystery. But along with this comes an oath of lifelong secrecy.

Gem can’t tell anyone about her job, not even her elderly Aunt Wren, who has raised her since the age of three after the tragic death of Gem’s parents. Her aunt harbours a deep love for crossword puzzles and Tarot cards and an equally passionate hatred for war after the death of her own fiancé in World War I. The last thing she’d want for her niece is a job that involves anything to do with the war.

The codebreaking is intense, even mind-numbing at times. One day during her lunch break Gem goes for a walk and discovers a German POW camp not far from the cottage. At the barbed-wire fence, she encounters a prisoner named Toby. Even though she risks losing her job, or worse, if she’s caught fraternizing with the enemy, Gem can’t stop visiting him. After several weeks of risky conversations, Toby disappears from the camp.

While Gem grows into her engrossing job, she hadn’t anticipated the tremendous mental strain it would cause, and she struggles with the burden of secrecy both at work and in her private life. As Gem is pulled deeper into wartime intelligence work, she becomes an integral part of the codebreakers’ circle. The Cottage codebreaking unit is small but determined; her female coworkers all possess a range of complementary skills. But in order to be successful, they must learn to work together.

THE PAPER BIRDS is a WWII love story that reveals the struggles and sacrifices of everyday working women during the war and highlights the previously unknown codebreaking work undertaken by women in Canada during the war. This novel is both one woman’s story, and many.

JEANETTE LYNES is the author of the bestselling novel The Apothecary’s Garden, a finalist for a High Plains Book Award and two Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her second novel, The Small Things That End the World, won the 2019 Fiction Prize at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her first novel, The Factory Voice, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a ReLit Award. She has also written seven books of poetry. Her forthcoming non-fiction book Apron Apocalypse: Lyric Essays received the John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award. A settler, Jeanette Lynes grew up on the traditional territory of the People of the Three Fires: the Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations of Anishinabek peoples. Since 2011 she has directed the MFA in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. THE PAPER BIRDS is her fourth novel.

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