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June Fiction Reviews are here! Are you SO excited ?!
For a sneak peak into next month, click here: Upcoming Releases
If you missed last month's reviews, we have a link for you RIGHT HERE: May Fiction Reviews
THANK YOU for reading!
Available in Paperback on June 6 from G.P. Putnam's Sons
From the author of Nora Goes off Script, comes a new, fresh, and entertaining novel about a second chance romance. When 30 year-old Sam goes to visit her family in Long Island, she runs into her childhood sweetheart, Wyatt. Sam has organized her life with her doctor fiancé and her corporate job. What could be missing?
This novel is more than just a romance; Same Time Next Summer is about living your most authentic life and following your dreams. Although the characters are younger than in Annabel's first novel, fans of Emily Henry books will enjoy this wonderful summer read.
Reviewed by Andrea Fossier
Available in Paperback Now from Berkley Books
If you’re looking for a light summer book to read, then Meet Me At the Lake is an excellent pick for you. Right after college graduation, Fern Brookbanks spends a perfect 24 Hours with Will Baxter, a man she had just met while he was painting a mural at her cafe. At the end of a whirlwind day touring Toronto, Will and Fern share the respective dreams they each have for themselves and the future. To keep each other on track, they promise to meet up again 1 year later at the lakeside resort Fern’s mom owns and runs to see how each other is doing on making their dreams a reality. But…a year later, Will never shows for the rendezvous which leads Fern to wonder if their magical connection was only one sided. Now 9 years after the missed meet-up, Fern finds herself running the lakeside resort she had been trying to avoid her whole life. An ex-boyfriend is the manager of the struggling resort, and the consultant her mother hired to help save the resort is none other than Will Baxter. Did he feel the same magical connection that Fern did 10 years earlier? Is it too late for them to start a real relationship? Is Will hiding something? (Hint: he is!) While the plot was reasonably predictable, I really enjoyed the story and its twists. This book felt like a wonderful trip to the lake in summertime- complete with sunny days, cocktails at five, and several laughable family dramas.
Reviewed by Julie Harms-Muth
Available in Hardcover Now from William Morrow & Company
Indie Booksellers have spoken and the #1 Pick on the June Indie Next is Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. The fifth novel by this well-loved author has been called gripping and addictive! Readers who loved the page-turning thriller, The Plot, will not be disappointed by this new novel by Kuang.
Opening with the untimely death of Athena Liu, a successful young author, Yellowface is narrated by Athena's good friend June. While everything has gone Athena's way, things have not been the same for June. So what do you do when you find yourself with the opportunity to steal your way to success? And just how much would you steal from your friend? June truly believes she should tell Athena's important story, but just what will it take to hold onto her stolen success? We're all excited to find out.
Reviewed by Amy Morrison
Available in Hardcover Now from Little Brown and Company
This may be my favorite book of the year so far... that's unconfirmed though, as I still have 50 pages to go!
Good Night, Irene depicts World War II from a new and unique perspective. The Red Cross sent out "Coffee & Doughnut" trucks to raise soldier morale out in the field and at various towns, bases, and stops along their way; the author's grandmother was one of these female Red Cross workers, and he tells a bit of her story here. Irene and Dorothy both have reasons to leave their hometowns and join the war effort. Irene breaks off her wedding engagement in New York City, while Dorothy has nothing holding her to the farm in Iowa, since her brother was killed by the Germans and her father passed on as well. The battles and locales they visit and serve are all familiar, but it is the viewpoint that is different. I'm swept along for the tumultuous ride in "Gator" and "Dottie's" truck, through the battles and on leave, and now to the liberation of a concentration camp. There is still a bit of the book remaining, and I don't want it to end (but I want to know what happens!) I am always desperate for a happy ending... come by the store this month to ask me about it!
Reviewed by Alli Gilley
Available in Hardcover on June 20 from Harpervia
The latest book by Gail Tsukiyama is unlike anything she has written. It is the fictionalized story of the first Chinese American actress in film. Anna May Wong was born in the United States as were her parents. She spoke Chinese at home but spoke English in school and outside her home in San Francisco. Anna was bullied by her classmates for being “different” as were other foreigners even if born in the US. Anna was intrigued with the movies (which were silent in the early 1900s). She often skipped school to go to the movies and decided that she would be an actress even though the Chinese in films were played by Americans made to look Asian with make-up. Anna gets a break when she is noticed by a director and does become famous. Years later, Bennett Cerf, who is the “big time publisher at Random House” and her friend, asks Anna to write her biography. He doesn’t know that she has already done so in several notebooks. As Anna travels by train from California to New York, she reads what she has written. This is the inventive way Gail Tsukiyama tells us the story of Anna’s life.
Reviewed by Marla Alexander
Available in Hardcover on June 6 from Sourcebooks Landmark
The newest book of historical fiction by Nancy Horan takes place in Springfield, Illinois from 1859 through 1909. The main character, Ana Ferreira, comes to Springfield from Madeira, Portugal with her family when she is a young girl. When she is a teenager, she lands a job at the Lincoln's home, helping to take care of their sons and helping with household chores. In her hometown, Ana not only gets to know all the Lincolns, but also some individuals who were instrumental in the Underground Railroad. While Ana and her best friend Cal are fictional characters, many of the others in The House of Lincoln really existed and were important figures in Springfield and in the fight against slavery in the late 19th century. Like Nancy Horan's popular, Loving Frank, this novel is a readable work of historical fiction in which I learned interesting facts about that era.
Reviewed by Nancy Randall
Available in Hardcover Now from Atria Books
This is a delicious novel. It takes place at Grafton Manor, the family estate of Betsy Martin, famous cookbook author, BakeWeek inspiration and judge, who grew up in this idyllic Vermont setting. Betsy has been dubbed “America’s Grandmother” and prides herself on this famous baking competition that she alone started and has run for 10 years. This year, much to her dismay, she has been given a male co-judge whose style and focus is quite different from hers. But surprise: the novel opens with a dead body. This knowledge floats behind the story- who is it and who did it? Along with the show's employees, we meet 6 contestants, each as unique in their life stories as they are in their driving desire to win "The Golden Spoon". They applied, tried out, and were selected, and now they have left their homes, jobs and phones for an intense week of competition . But this story is so much more than a murder or a contest for best baker; it has tempting baking details, espionage, secrets of the characters, secrets of the mansion, plot twists, and surprises. This is a very engaging novel. You might equate it to the Great British Bake-Off meets a “locked room mystery”. My only complaint is that they didn’t include any recipes- especially for the Blue Berry Coffeecake!
Reviewed by Carol Pickering
Available in Hardcover Now from Henry Holt & Company
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? is Crystal Smith Paul's debut novel. This deep and thought-provoking story spans three generations and highlights strong female characters facing difficult choices. In the 1930's, Hazel, the loyal and hard-working servant of the esteemed Lakes family in the South, faces a difficult choice regarding her young daughter. In the second generation of this saga, we move across the country and to 1950's Hollywood. We follow the journey of Kitty Karr, a young woman struggling to make it on her own, far from home while potentially life-shattering secrets are threatening to ruin her. When Kitty dies in 2017 as a Hollywood superstar, she has no heirs and leaves her fortune to the three Black St. John girls. Nobody knows why, not even the St. Johns themselves. Living the glamorous, successful lives of the Hollywood elite doesn't protect the St. John's family from the past they have tried to hide.
Reviewed by Amy Morrison