Believe it or not, the official start of summer is just a week away. From chick lit to young adult to historical fiction, this year there are plenty of fabulous new books to pass the time whether you're lounging at the beach, sunning by the pool or just hanging out in your backyard.
Now in bookstores:
"The Icing on the Cupcake" by Jennifer Ross: Ansley, a spoiled Southern belle with a penchant for baking, is suddenly dumped by her fiancé and moves to New York City to live with her estranged grandmother. Ansley finds her way in the big city by starting her own bakery, learning a lot about the meaning of family and friendship along the way. The best part: baking tips are sprinkled throughout the story, and each chapter ends with a thematically appropriate (and delicious) cupcake recipe.
"Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives" by Josie Brown: If you like Desperate Housewives, then you'll fly through this gossipy novel full of Wisteria Lane-esque characters living in a suburban jungle. Lyssa Harper, a stay-at-home-mom living in California's posh Paradise Heights community, befriends the neighborhood DILF (Dad I'd like to...) after his wife leaves him. Suddenly their friendship has Lyssa's catty "momtourage" talking, her place on the women's league board in jeopardy and her own marriage seriously in question. Brown entertains up to the satisfying (if predictable) ending in this lively novel.
"The Opposite of Me" by Sarah Pekkanen: Anyone with a sister can relate to this touching debut novel about Lindsey and Alex Rose, twins who are unidentical in every way, both in looks and personality. When smart, successful Lindsey loses her bigwig advertising job in New York and moves home with her parents in Maryland, she finds herself once again in the shadow of Alex, a beautiful model and TV personality. Even worse, Lindsey realizes at Alex's engagement party that the photographer, her childhood friend and current crush, seems to have fallen for Alex, too. Years of jealousy and resentment come to a halt when something happens that changes the sisters' relationship forever.
Coming soon:
"For the King" by Catherine Delors (release date: July 8): Historical fiction fans will be transported to the corrupt world of 18th century Paris in this fast-paced novel, which chronicles the aftermath of an assassination attempt on Napoleon Bonaparte and the hunt by police inspector Roch Miquel to find who did it. A complicated love story adds to the intrigue of Delors' latest release.
"Waxed" by Robert Rave (release date: August 3): Rave's fun and surprisingly touching sophomore novel follows three sisters at Impresarios, the posh New York waxing salon owned by older sister Carolina. Anna, a harried single mom, is the newbie at the salon and forms an unlikely friendship with an elderly client; Carolina, the ultimate type-A woman, is secretly torn between two men; and Sofia, a newlywed with a perfect (from the outside) marriage, makes a new gay BFF and discovers her wild side. Make sure to reapply your sunscreen, because you won't want to put this one down.
"The Eternal Ones" by Kirsten Miller (release date: August 10): Twilight fans will fall for this addictive story of reincarnation and love through the ages. Haven Moore, a teen from a small town in Tennessee, has been haunted almost her whole life by strange visions of a girl named Constance in love with a boy named Ethan. When she sees bad boy Iain Morrow on TV, she instantly knows this is Ethan reincarnated. Haven contacts The Ouroboros Society, a group for people who remember past lives, and runs away to the Big Apple to track down Iain and try to find out the truth about her past life. Miller keeps you guessing right up to the end about Iain's true intentions and leaves the reader hoping for a sequel.
Look for summer reads part two next week, including picks from Amazon.com's senior book editor, Anne Bartholomew.
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