What are you excited to read that comes out in 2022? Each year, we love sharing just a few of the MANY books we're excited to read in the new year!
Bookish Check-in
Ashley - Uzma Jalaluddin’s Ayesha at Last (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jen - Sarah Adams’s The Enemy (Bookshop.org)
Sara - Sarah Morganthaler’s Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
New Releases in 2022 We Can't Wait to Read
Ashley's Picks
Alexis Hall’s Husband Material - 8/2/22 (Bookshop.org) B.B. Alston’s Amari and the Great Game - 4/5/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jen's Picks
Tracy Deonn’s Bloodmarked (Legendborn sequel) - 7/26/22 (Note: Publication date pushed back to 11/8/22) (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Emily Henry’s Book Lovers - 5/3/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Sara's Picks
Rebecca Serle's One Italian Summer - 3/1/22 (Amazon | Libro.fm) Melissa de La Cruz’s Cinder & Glass - 3/8/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Mentioned in Episode
Cinderella Is Dead (Bookshop.org)
Legendborn (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Boyfriend Material (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Amari and the Night Brothers (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Beach Read (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
In Five Years (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
The Dinner List (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
The Tourist Attraction (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Hana Khan Carries On? (Sequel to Ayesha at Last) (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
The Match (Bookshop.org)
Give Me One - Series You Want to Finish But Haven't
Listen in to hear a series each of us would like to finish, and on Monday, hop over to Instagram to let us know one you'd like to finish!
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
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Bookish Check-in
Ashley was reading . . .
Uzma Jalaluddin’s Ayesha at Last (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
"A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love.
"Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.
"When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself."
Jen was reading . . .
Sarah Adams’s The Enemy (Bookshop.org)
"It's been twelve years since I've seen him. Twelve years since he won our war of wits by outsmarting me with a tactic I didn't even know was allowed. But tonight...I resurrect the battle.
"Ryan Henderson is back in town for our best friends' wedding, and I plan on showing him exactly how much I don't care about him-or the almost kiss he ruthlessly dangled over me after graduation.A lot has changed since our feuding days. I'm a successful bakery owner now, and I plan to rub every delicious detail of my life in his ugly face. Just one problem: his face is gorgeous. He wasn't supposed to look like this or pursue me like a sexy guided missile. I must stay strong until the wedding is over and Ryan scurries back into whatever alternate universe he escaped from. His interest in me is nothing but a continuation of the games we played in high school...right? But the longer he stays, the more I wonder if I'm wrong and his tender smile and heated attentions are genuine. Maybe it's not a game. Ha! Who am I kidding? This is Ryan we're talking about. Of course it's a game. A game called war. And this time, I will win.
"The Enemy is a closed door romance, perfect for readers who love lots of sizzle but no explicit content."
Sara was reading . . .
Sarah Morganthaler’s Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
"How the moose (almost) stole Christmas.
"Lana Montgomery is everything the quirky small town of Moose Springs, Alaska can't stand: a rich socialite with dreams of changing things for the better. But Lana's determined to prove that she belongs...even if it means trading her stilettos for snow boots and tracking one of the town's hairiest Christmas mysteries: the Santa Moose, an antlered Grinch hell-bent on destroying every bit of holiday cheer (and tinsel) it can sink its teeth into.
And really...how hard could it be?
"The last few years have been tough on Rick Harding, and it's not getting any easier now that his dream girl's back in town. When Lana accidentally tranquilizes him instead of the Santa Moose, it's clear she needs help, fast...and this could be his chance to finally catch her eye. It's an all-out Christmas war, but if they can nab that darn moose before it destroys the town, Rick and Lana might finally find a place where they both belong...together."
New Releases in 2022 We Can't Wait to Read
Ashley's Picks
Alexis Hall’s Husband Material - 8/2/22 (Bookshop.org)
"Wanted: "One (very real) husband "Nowhere near perfect but desperately trying his best
"In BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends...and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc's feeling the social pressure to propose. But it'll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from I don't know what I'm doing to I do.
"Good thing Oliver is such perfect HUSBAND MATERIAL."
B.B. Alston’s Amari and the Great Game - 4/5/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
"After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.
"But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!
"But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind.
"The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?"
Jen's Picks
Tracy Deonn’s Bloodmarked (Legendborn sequel) - 7/26/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
(Note: Publication date pushed back to 11/8/22)
"The shadows have risen, and the line is law.
"All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power. Now, Bree has become someone new:
"A Medium. A Bloodcrafter. A Scion.
"But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.
"Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.
"When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.
"If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process."
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers - 5/3/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
"One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming...
"Nora Stephens' life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
"Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
"If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves."
Sara's Picks
"When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
"But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
"And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
"Rebecca Serle’s next great love story is here, and this time it’s between a mother and a daughter. With her signature 'heartbreaking, redemptive, and authentic' (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) prose, Serle has crafted a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us."
Melissa de La Cruz’s Cinder & Glass - 3/8/22 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
"For this princess, winning the crown is no fairytale. "1682. The king sends out an invitation to all the maidens in France: their presence is requested at a number of balls and events that will be held in honor of the dashing Prince Louis, who must choose a bride. - - - "Cendrillon de Louvois has more grace, beauty, and charm than anyone else in France. While she was once the darling child of the king's favorite adviser, her father's death has turned her into the servant of her stepmother and cruel stepsisters--and at her own chateau, too!
"Cendrillon--now called Cinder--manages to evade her stepmother and attend the ball, where she catches the eye of the handsome Prince Louis and his younger brother Auguste.
"Even though Cendrillon has an immediate aversion to Louis, and a connection with Auguste, the only way to escape her stepmother is to compete with the other women at court for the Prince's hand.
"Soon, as Cendrillon glows closer to Auguste and dislikes the prince more and more, she will have to decide if she can bear losing the boy she loves in order to leave a life she hates.
"Melissa de la Cruz takes a lush, romantic hand to this retold fairy tale classic."
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