JUST SOME STUPID LOVE STORY de Katelyn Doyle

This witty and endearing novel follows the will-they-won’t-they of a couple who are just out of reach of each other, perfect for fans of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren.

JUST SOME STUPID LOVE STORY
by Katelyn Doyle
(aka Scarlett Peckham)
Flatiron, 2024
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Screenwriter Molly Marks is a love cynic, despite the fact that she writes rom-com screenplays for a living. She thought ghosting her high school boyfriend, Seth, was the end of her chance at love—until a 15-year reunion sets something in motion that some would call fate—but absolutely not Molly Marks.
Divorce attorney Seth Rubinstein believes in love, true love at that, despite his job. He’d never admit it, but he carried a torch for Molly long after their sudden and devastating breakup. Over the last decade, he’s sought his soulmate in one bad date and one rushed relationship after another.
When Seth and Molly are seated at the same reunion table, sparks fly, and a bet is made: whoever can more accurately predict the outcome of five relationships over the next five years must declare that the other is right about love. The two are then launched into a years-long series of entanglements, breakups, and friendship attempts showcased throughout the narrative in emails, texts, late-night calls, and accidental run-ins until they reach a breathtaking conclusion that will force them to confront one more relationship—theirs—and whether their story is one of timeless heartbreak or if they are truly meant to be.

Katelyn Doyle has already won the hearts of countless readers through the historical romances she’s penned as Scarlett Peckham. As Peckham, Doyle is a USA Today bestselling author. The Washington Post selected her debut, The Duke I Tempted, as one of the Best Romance Novels of 2018. Entertainment Weekly has called Peckham’s “storytelling breathtakingly human,” and her contemporary work is no different. She continues to showcase the witty, romantic, and feminist voice that has already earned acclaim everywhere, from Kirkus and NPR to The New York Times Book Review (twice).

SORRY: Ich habe es nur für dich getan de Bianca Iosivoni

Love can sweep you away – but what if it drags you into its darkest abysses? Perfect for readers of Colleen Hoover and fans of the Netflix series You.

SORRY:
Ich habe es nur für dich getan
(I’m Sorry: I Did It All For You)
by Bianca Iosivoni
Penguin Germany, March 2023

San Francisco. Robyn, a young and ambitious journalist, is shocked when the police show up on her doorstep. Her ex-boyfriend Julian has been reported missing. At a single stroke, the past comes flooding back: the longing, the pain, the disappointment… Robyn thought she had put it all behind her. She’s deeply worried about Julian. What could have happened? Robyn seeks help from her best friend, Cooper – though she has long felt much more for him than that. When the police suspect Cooper of having something to do with Julian’s disappearance, she doesn’t know what to believe, or what to feel. Who can she trust? Can she even trust herself?
An irresistible mix of powerful emotions, psychological suspense and addictive twists.

Over the years, Bianca Iosivoni has won thousands of fans with her new adult and fantasy bestsellers. She loves heady love stories with all their highs and lows, as well as thrills and twists – and combines both in her books for Penguin. SORRY will give you goosebumps and butterflies with its gripping blend of toxic feelings and psychological suspense.

TIANANMEN SQUARE de Lai Wen

A truly remarkable novel about coming to see the world as it is, TIANANMEN SQUARE is the story of one girl’s life growing up in the China of the 1970s and 80s, as well as the story of the events in 1989 that give the novel its name: the hope and idealism of a generation of young students, their heroism and courage, and the price that some of them paid.

TIANANMEN SQUARE
by Lai Wen
Swift Press, late 2024
(via Emily Randle Editorial & Literary)

It is Beijing in the 1970s, and Lai lives with her parents, grandmother and younger brother in a small flat in a working-class area. Her grandmother is a formidable figure – no-nonsense and uncompromising, but loving towards her granddaughter – while her ageing beauty of a mother snipes at her father, a sunken figure who has taken refuge in his work.
As she grows up, Lai comes to discern the realities of the country she lives is: an early encounter with the police haunts her for years; her father makes her see that his quietness is a reaction to experiences he has lived through; and an old bookseller subtly introduces her to ideas and novels that open her mind to different perspectives. But she also goes through what anyone goes through when young – the ebbs and flows of friendships; troubles and rewards at home and at school; and the first steps and missteps in love.
A gifted student, she is eventually given a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University; while there she meets new friends, and starts to get involved in the student protests that have been gathering speed. It is the late 1980s, and change is in the air…
This novel manages to balance both the sense of an individual girl growing up and going through all the changes that every young person goes through – falling in love, realising that grown-ups are people who make mistakes, reckoning with your own character – with the sense of growing up in the China of the time and the tragic events that give the book its title and its culmination.

Lai Wen is a pseudonym. She was born in Beijing in 1970 and left China in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square protests. She now lives in the UK with her husband and two children.

MOLLY AND BEAR de Bob & Vicki Scott

Based on the beloved comic strip by Bob Scott, the Molly and Bear series by Bob and Vicki Scott is a pitch-perfect, lighthearted, hilarious odd couple graphic novel adventure that’s sure to become a new favorite for middle-grade readers.

MOLLY AND BEAR
by Bob & Vicki Scott
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, Summer 2024
(via Writers House)

11 year old Molly has an unusual new BFF: an 800 pound scaredy bear! When Bear wanders into Molly’s life, it doesn’t take long for her to figure out she’s just met her new bestie. Loyal, sweet, inquisitive…and terrified of almost everything. . . Bear makes a great new friend. And he’s not scary AT ALL! But try telling that to the rest of the world.
Molly eventually convinces her mom and dad to let Bear stay with them, but convincing everyone else that Bear isn’t dangerous (not to mention convincing Bear that he isn’t in constant danger!) is going to take some work. Lucky for Bear, Molly doesn’t give up easily so she’s up for the challenge.

Bob and Vicki Scott began their careers in animation and have worked on films for Dreamworks and Pixar. Molly and the Bear, which is based on Bob’s syndicated comic strip Bear with Me, is their middle-grade debut.

LOST TIME de Tas Mukanik

Jurassic World meets How to Train Your Dragon in this gorgeously drawn, adventure-packed middle-grade graphic novel about a girl who gets trapped 65 million years in the past and must learn to survive with only her wits…and the pterosaur she befriends.

LOST TIME
by Tas Mukanik
Razorbill/ Penguin BYR, October 2023

Twelve-year-old Evie didn’t mean to get lost—especially in the Cretaceous period! Now she’s alone, without her parents or anyone else to turn to for help. That is until she rescues a baby pterosaur and raises it on her own. As the baby grows into a giraffe-sized flying reptile, which Evie names Ada, the two manage to to find a way to survive in the prehistoric wilderness.
But Evie will have to risk everything when she makes a discovery that may just be her only chance of returning home. Putting Ada’s flying skills to the ultimate test, the duo must embark on a journey halfway across the world—battling all nature throws at them, from fearsome dinosaurs to raging storms. Will Evie manage to overcome all the odds and find a way back to her family… or is she truly lost in time?

Tas Mukanik is a queer artist best known for her YA and adult self-published works, such as The Sanity Circus and Paint the Town Red. She has a keen interest in drawing fun characters with big expressions, as well as a fascination with birds, nature, and prehistoric life. Lost Time is her debut middle-grade graphic novel. Originally from Alberta, she now lives in Montreal, where she and her partner jointly run Windy & Wallflower, an online business. You can see more of her work at windywallflower.com.