Fresh Romance Picks

Romance is a genre with prolific writers and many sub-genres, which means there’s always something new to get excited about. Here are a few titles published in the past year; find a list of 25 recent titles selected by librarians in our catalog.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
Naledi Smith is an epidemiology grad student in New York holding down multiple jobs to make ends meet, but what might put her over the edge are the nonstop spam emails claiming she is betrothed to an African prince. But it’s not a scam, and when Thabiso, the crown prince of Thesolo, comes find Ledi and she mistakes him for a new coworker, subterfuge begins and sparks fly.

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
Alexandra Mountbatten repairs clocks for the wealthy in Regency-era London. When an appointment takes her to notorious rake Chase Reynaud’s house, an accident breaks her chronometer and threatens her livelihood. But Chase needs a new governess for his spirited nieces, and Alexandra will take the job if it will get her back on her feet; if she doesn’t end up in Chase’s bed first.

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Attending a Dodgers game with her boyfriend of five months, Nikole Paterson is shocked when he proposes to her on the Jumbotron. It’s an easy answer – no – made difficult by a stadium of disappointed viewers. Carlos Ibarra is at the game with family, and comes to Nikole’s aid. Will their connection just be fun and games, or lead to something more serious?

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins
Mail-order bride Regan Carmichael starts her new life off with a bang when she accidentally shoots Dr. Colton Lee, her husband-to-be. He’s not happy, and Regan is certainly not the docile bride he was expecting. Set against the rugged landscape of 1880s Wyoming Territory, Regan and Colt must navigate differing expectations to forge their marriage.

Wild On My Mind by Laurel Kerr – In this small-town romance, Katie Underwood finds some orphaned cougar cubs and takes them to the local zoo for help. There she runs into Bowie Wilson, the guy who bullied her in high school. Katie thinks up a revenge plan that begins by collaborating with Bowie on a social media campaign to advertise the zoo, only to realize that Bowie may have changed since high school. Kerr includes some scenes narrated by the zoo’s honey badger, for some extra fun.

The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren
Twelve years ago, Liv Arias survived a mass school shooting on her prom night. Now she and other survivors are back in town for a documentary filming. Reconnecting with her close friends and reviewing the promises they made to themselves and each other in the wake of the shooting, Liv runs into Finn Dorsey, her secret high school boyfriend. As Liv tries to make good on the person she wanted to be, will she take a chance on getting close to Finn again? Loren blends a solid romance storyline with reflections on the long term aftermath of trauma.

~ posted by Andrea G.

New and Notable Northwest Nonfiction – 2019 edition

Are you new to the Northwest, or a lifelong resident looking for some historical perspective? 2019 is shaping up to be an exciting year for publishing about our region, so let the reading begin!

The University of Washington Press is releasing a number of regionally relevant titles. Explore local fashion with Seattle Style by Clara Berg, which features garments and accessories from the collection at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). In Transit, Jim Kershner looks back at 125+ years of trolleys, trains and buses that have served the region. Sculpture on a Grand Scale by Tyler Sprague explores the work of Jack Christiansen, whose design of the Kingdome combined thin shell concrete with a modern aesthetic.

New African American Fiction for Teens

2019 is already shaping up to be an excellent year in African American fiction for youth.  Here are a few recent and upcoming titles that are on our radar:

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi
Seventeen different authors explore what it means to be a black American teenager today in this outstanding collection of short stories. While some stories explore issues that are relevant to all teens, like family and coming of age, others deftly explore the intersectionality of race, gender, or sexual orientation.  Edited by Ibi Zoboi, this collection includes a nice mix of established and up-and-coming authors.

Big Golden Books for February

While many books each year have “golden” in the title, these three novels caught my eye. Each had substantial pre-publication buzz and excitement, and all three are out in the world this month. Take a look at these highly anticipated books:

Golden State by Ben H. Winters: Set in the near future, California is a sovereign state where telling a lie can land you in jail.  “Winters has a knack for creating appealing detective fictions that skew reality in thought-provoking ways, producing a hybrid of the familiar and the uncanny,” says a review in the Washington Post. A strong speculative and literary author, you may already know Winters for  Underground Airlines as well as The Last Policeman trilogy.  See also this article about the book from NPR from Feb. 10, 2019. Golden State is a new Peak Pick this month!

Snowbound! Winter Chills and Thrills

Desperate messages came flooding in, through the silent darkness of the winter nights. “Help! Snowed in at home! I need something to read!” So, adding to our recent list of Wintry reads, here are some gripping novels that revolve around winter storms.

• The Quality of Silence, by Rosamund Lupton. An astrophysicist and her precocious hearing-disabled daughter head into a fierce storm to search the Alaska tundra for the girl’s missing father.
• Whiteout, by Ken Follett. A missing canister containing a deadly virus forms the center of a storm that traps Stanley Oxenford, director of a medical research firm, and a violent trio of thugs in a remote house during a Christmas Eve blizzard.
• Death Wore White, by Jim Kelly. In the midst of a line of cars stranded in a blizzard, a man is killed with a chisel andhis murderer escapes without leaving a trace.
• Travelers Rest, by Keith Morris. When a freak snowstorm traps a family, the seek refuge in a grand, crumbling old hotel that holds some ghastly surprises in its strange, labyrinthine depths. A haunting update to Stephen King’s  The Shining.