Archives de catégorie : Fiction

NATE PLUS ONE de Kevin van Whye

A fun new, gay rom-com from the author of Date Me, Bryson Keller!

NATE PLUS ONE
by Kevin van Whye
Random House Children’s, May 2022

Seventeen-year-old Nathan Hargreaves has done the bravest thing a gay teen can do: he’s come out to all those around him. But when he and his Mom are invited to his extremely wealthy paternal Aunt’s wedding retreat in South Africa, he’s filled with dread because he knows that all eyes will be on him— the gay boy. Disaster strikes when his Mom can’t make it and Nate will be forced to brave his extended family alone. Enter Jai Patel. Jai is an indie musician whose band is hoping to get their big break through a talent competition. When Jai’s band loses their lead singer weeks before the big competition, Nate steps up to help his friend out. The truth is, Nate is starting to feel more than friendship for the other boy and he’s pretty sure that Jai feels the same way. So, when Jai volunteers to be his plus one to the wedding, Nate’s looking forward to what will be the most perfect first date ever. That is, until Nate’s secret ex-boyfriend enters the picture.

Kevin van Whye is a gay writer of color born and raised in South Africa, where his love for storytelling started at a very young age. At four years old, he quit preschool because his teacher couldn’t tell a story. Kevin’s love affair with stories led him to film school, where he studied scriptwriting. Date Me, Bryson Keller is his first novel. Kevin lives in Johannesburg, and when he’s not reading, he’s writing books that give his characters the happy rom-com endings they deserve.

NEVER THE ROSES de Jennifer K. Lambert

With atmospheric and lyrical stylings akin to This Is How You Lose the Time War and Genevieve Gorniches’s The Witch’s Heart, NEVER THE ROSES is a debut star-crossed loversfantasy romance that is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Stephanie Garber, Elodie Harper, and Erin Morgenstern.

NEVER THE ROSES
by Jennifer K. Lambert
Tor, 2025
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Oneira’s tale begins at the end, or so she thought. Exiling herself from the warring courts of men, she seeks peace in a remote forest where the mountains meet the beach. She’s long acceptedthat her death is near, as it and destruction have been her constant companions since she was a child when her family sold her to the Academy of Sorcerers.

Her seclusion is first interrupted by three otherworldly companions—a near-mythical wolf, a goddess’s avatar in the form of a kestrel, and a feline that embodies magic itself. Then on a whim,or perhaps at the behest of fate, Oneira invites a second interruption when she makes an unlikely and otherworldly trip to the most extensive library in existence. Which is the home of hermost powerful rival, the sorcerer Stearanos.

There, she finds herself stealing a book from him, and this act of reckless thievery inadvertently initiates an unlikely correspondence. Taunting notes and clever retorts reveal a connectionneither has—nor could ever find—in any other. But a relationship is far too dangerous to pursue despite their mutual desire.

When Stearanos is called to war, he pleads with Oneira to help, jeopardizing the vows Oneira made to herself on her darkest day and to the Queen she once served. Faced with the impossible,to save her love or herself, Oneira must once again choose between life and death.

NEVER THE ROSES gives fantasy readers everything they could want: expansive world-building, an intriguing magic system, a timeless story of star-crossed lovers, and beyond all else—a yearning forsomething more.

Jennifer K. Lambert is a member of SFWA.

THE REDEMPTION OF MORGAN BRIGHT de Chris Panatier

A woman checks herself into an insane asylum to solve the mystery of her sister’s murder, only to lose her memory and maybe her mind.

THE REDEMPTION OF MORGAN BRIGHT
by Chris Panatier
Angry Robot, April 2024
(via KT Literary)

From the subversive voice behind The Phlebotomist comes a story that combines the uncanny atmosphere of Don’t Worry Darling with the narrative twists of The Last House on Needless Street.

What would guilt make you do?

Hadleigh Keene died on the road leading away from Hollyhock Asylum. The reasons are unknown. Her sister Morgan blames herself. A year later with the case still unsolved, Morgan creates a false identity, that of a troubled housewife named Charlotte Turner, and goes inside.

Morgan quickly discovers that Hollyhock is… not right. She is shaken by the hospital’s peculiar routines and is soon beset by strange episodes. All the while, the persona of Charlotte takes on a life of its own, becoming stronger with each passing day. As her identity begins unraveling, Morgan finds herself tracing Hadleigh’s footsteps and peering into the places they lead.

The terrifying reality of THE REDEMPTION OF MORGAN BRIGHT unfolds over the course of chapters told from the points of view of both Charlotte and Morgan, police interviews, and text messages.

Chris Panatier is an artist and writer living in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, daughter and a fluctuating herd of dogs. He writes short stories and novels. Chris has also been a trial attorney for almost two decades. He represents people who have been injured, poisoned, or killed due to the conduct of others.

TO EACH THIS WORLD de Julie E. Czerneda

From an Aurora Award-winning author, a new sci-fi novel follows three intrepid humans caught up in a conflict that stretches across time and space.

TO EACH THIS WORLD
by Julie E. Czerneda
DAW Books, November 2022
(via KT Literary)

Biologist Julie E. Czerneda’s new standalone science fiction novel follows a desperate mission to reconnect with long lost sleeper ships, sent centuries earlier from Earth to settle distant worlds.
A trio of Humans must work with their mysterious alien allies to rescue any descendants they can find on those worlds. Something is out there, determined to claim the cosmos for itself, and only on Earth will Humans be safe. Or will they? The challenge isn’t just to communicate with your own kind after generations have passed. It’s to understand what isn’t your kind at all. And how far will trust take you, when the truth depends on what you are?

“The search for the 21st-century’s Larry Niven is now officially over. Julie E. Czerneda gives us a galaxy-spanning vision of credible aliens and high-stakes conflict. A wonderful book.” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids

“Czerneda serves up the real stuff—a suspensefully original, sci-tech tale of alien contact, as interstellar humanity seeks a perilous path out of a lethal trap.” —David Brin, author of Earth and Kiln People

Having written twenty-three novels (and counting) published by her beloved DAW Books and Hugo-winning editor Sheila E. Gilbert, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies over the past 25 years, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2022. Her work has received international acclaim, multiple awards,and best-selling status. Julie’s works combine her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism.

ON HER OWN de Lihi Lapid

A moving, page-turning story of two families in crisis that melds the clock-ticking tension of Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me with the “issue-driven” gravity of Jennifer Haigh’s Mercy Street.

ON HER OWN
by Lihi Lapid, translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverton
HarperVia, March 2024

Watching her Russian immigrant mother, Irina, struggle to put food on the table, Nina, a beautiful and restless teenager, vows her life will be different. When a strapping older man in a fancy car appears at school one day offering her luxuries her single mother cannot afford, Nina believes he’s her ticket out of her dumpy little town. Ignoring the danger signs and her mother’s constant pleas—which end in exhausting screaming matches—she packs a suitcase and leaves home after one last fight.

Ten days later, a terrified Nina, her dress torn, is hiding in the stairwell of a Tel Aviv apartment after witnessing a murder she cannot talk about. She is discovered by one of the building’s tenants, a confused, lonely old widow who mistakes her for the granddaughter she hasn’t seen for a long while, not since her son moved his family to America. “You’ve come back to me, Dana’le.” Instead of correcting the mistake, the desperate Nina jumps at the chance for a place to hide.

Hiding from her mother and the dangerous man who are both frantically searching for her, Nina settles into the old woman’s apartment. But how long can Nina possibly hide out until the poor woman realizes she’s not who she says she is, or before someone else – her homesick son in America who keeps calling, or the lovely local neighbors who drop by with groceries—catches on?

Set between the eve of Passover and Israel’s Independence Day, On Her Own is a tense and immersive psychological read about two families looking for redemption, the transformative bonds between strangers, and the unexpected places from which love can grow.

Lihi Lapid is a bestselling Israeli author, photojournalist, columnist, and activist. She lives in Tel Aviv with her husband Yair Lapid, the former Prime Minister of Israel, and their two children. This is her third novel.