Here are a few of the most notable debut fiction titles being published this month. These have all received positive review from library journals. For a longer list of titles, please visit our catalog.
“The Spite House” by Johnny Compton
Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money — it’s not easy to find steady, safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.
When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.
The job calls to Eric, not just because there’s a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it’ll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running.
“Stone Cold Fox” by Rachel Koller Croft
Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she’s worth and is determined to get all she deserves — it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.
When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she’s ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn’t getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin’s family and everyone else in their 1% tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester.
Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn’t a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be.
Like mother, like daughter?
“Ana Takes Manhattan” by Lissette Decos
As a reality TV producer, Ana Karina orchestrates extravagant marriage proposals that always (well, mostly) go as planned. When they don’t, she’s not afraid to cut and paste scenes to make the moment picture-perfect. If only Ana’s own life was as simple to direct. Her colleagues are getting promotions. Her best friend and her younger sister are both getting married. Everyone is moving forward — except Ana.
Sick of feeling stuck, she decides to start living with no regrets. She’s going to pitch all her ideas at work, no matter how unlikely. She’ll take a chance on a guy even if he doesn’t check all her boxes for Mr. Right. Soon, she’s swept up in a roller coaster of exhilarating dates — a comedy show, a Jane Austen reenactment, a rave pool party, and a whirlwind trip to Vienna. With all this excitement, Ana should be on her way to her own happily-ever-after, but instead, her life is getting messier by the second. Yet throwing caution to the wind may still bring Ana more than she hoped for as she begins to listen to her heart and realizes the life — and man — truly meant for her might be the one she never saw coming.
“An Autobiography of Skin” by Lakiesha Carr
Heat. Fire. Rain so blue. The blackness. The color of our hue. This book is a magisterial, intimate look at Black womanhood: the grief that is carried within the body and the bonds of love that grant strength.
“Powerful in its love for the generations of Black women at its heart… Lakiesha Carr unspools her stories with a patient fearlessness, venturing into unexpected places and unique perspectives to fully illuminate them.” ~Dawnie Walton, author of “The Final Revival of Opal and Nev”
A middle-aged woman feeds slots at a secret, back-room parlor. A new mother descends into a devastating postpartum depression, wracked with the fear that she is unable to protect her children. A daughter returns home to join the other women in her family waging spiritual combat with the ghosts of their past.
