Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Read an Author's Debut Title (Romance)
- Ariel H.
- Saturday, January 21, 2023
Collection
Fulfill the "Read a book written by an author of Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese descent" prompt with these titles.
This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Love in Color
Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold
Published in 2020
"A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company--and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family's politics or be true to her heart. In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places. With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres" -- From publisher's description.
Lease on Love
A Novel
Published in 2022
"After getting passed over for an promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night-stand. Drunk, she mixes up a dating app for a roommate-finding app and finds herself on the doorstep of Jack Thomas's gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone. Jack, still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, has learned to find comfort in video games and movies instead of friends. So while he doesn't know just what to make of the vivaciously verbose Sadie, he's willing to offer her his spare bedroom. As the house becomes a home, the two grow closer"-- Provided by publisher.
Love at First Spite
A Novel
Published in 2022
To spite her cheating ex-fiance, Dani Porter buys the vacant lot next to his house, planning to build a vacation rental to mess with his view, but must rethink her mission when love with her seemingly arrogant architect trumps revenge.
The Treehouse on Dog River Road
A Novel
Published in 2022
A young, determined woman figures out life and love while staying true to herself in this whip-smart and genuinely witty debut.Twenty-eight-year-old Hannah Spencer wants nothing more than to change everything about her life. After ten years of living in cities, Nathan Wild has just moved back home to Vermont and doesn't want to change anything about his. Recently laid off from her depressing job in Boston and ready for a challenge, Hannah heads to Vermont for the summer to take care of her sister's kids and do some serious soul searching. There, against the stunning landscape of the Green Mountains, she embarks on an ambitious project: building a treehouse for her niece and nephew. As she hammers away, she formulates a plan to jump-start her life with a new job out West. But will Nathan-next-door complicate her desire to change course? A witty, romantic, and inspiring story of a young woman taking control and making tough choices about love and work to build the life she wants, The Treehouse on Dog River Road will have you rooting for Hannah every step of the way.
The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale
Published in 2022
"Pregnant and divorced, Josie Hale moves in with two old friends (both male), who make it their mission to prepare for Josie's baby, not least by making sure Josie always has the food she's craving. Together they discover the true meaning of family and second chances in life"-- Provided by publisher.
Sadie on a Plate
Published in 2022
"A chef's journey to success leads to discovering the perfect recipe for love in this delicious romantic comedy. Sadie is a rising star in the trendy Seattle restaurant scene. Her dream is to create unique, modern, and mouthwatering takes on traditional Jewish recipes. But after a public breakup with her boss, a famous chef, she is sure her career is over-until she lands a coveted spot on the next season of her favorite TV show, Chef Supreme. On the plane to New York, Sadie has sizzling chemistry with her seatmate, Luke, but tells him that she won't be able to contact him for the next six weeks. They prolong their night with a spontaneous, magical dinner before parting ways. Or so she thinks. When she turns up to set the next day, she makes a shocking discovery about who Luke is.... If Sadie wants to save her career by winning Chef Supreme, she's going to have to ignore the simmering heat between her and Luke. But how long can she do that before the pot boils over?"-- Provided by publisher.
The Sign for Home
A Novel
Published in 2022
"Arlo Dilly is young, handsome and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah's Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none. And yet, it happened once before: many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life-a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever. Or so Arlo thought. After years trying to heal his broken heart, Arlo is assigned a college writing assignment which unlocks buried memories of his past. Soon he wonders if the hearing people he was supposed to trust have been lying to him all along, and if his lost love might be found again. No longer willing to accept what others tell him, Arlo convinces a small band of misfit friends to set off on a journey to learn the truth. After all, who better to bring on this quest than his gay interpreter and wildly inappropriate Belgian best friend? Despite the many forces working against him, Arlo will stop at nothing to find the girl who got away and experience all of life's joyful possibilities"-- Provided by publisher
Every Summer After
Published in 2022
"Five summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right. A magazine writer has to make a choice when she returns to the lake she grew up on, and to the man she thought she'd never have to live without, in this achingly nostalgic debut. They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser that has felt too true for the last decade, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until the day she gets a call that sends her racing back to Barry's Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek. For five summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family restaurant and curling up together with books-medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her-Percy and Sam had been inseparable. And slowly that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart. When Percy returns to the lake to attend Sam's mother's funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. Percy must confront the decisions she's made and the years she's spent punishing herself for them, in order to determine, once and for all, whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past. Told over the course of five years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever"-- Provided by publisher.
Season of Love
Published in 2022
"A witty, glittering rom-com about finding the courage to face your past and learning what it truly means to return home, perfect for fans of Jenny Bayliss and Alexandra Bellefleur. Artist Miriam Blum has her decoupaged glitter ducks perfectly lined up. Only for one phone call to bring her whole life all crashing down. Her beloved and eccentric great-aunt has just died-leaving her part-owner of the only Jewish-owned Christmas tree farm in the country. Facing the family Miriam abandoned terrifies her. But facing the farm's unbelievably sexy zaftig manager is another complication entirely... Noelle Northwood is horrified that the first woman she's been attracted to in years is the same careless virago whose absence devastated the people Noelle considers family. She hates, even more, the thought of working alongside Miriam to save Carrigan's Christmas Tree Farmland. Only Miriam decides to give working at the farm a trial run, and Noelle must find a way to keep the peace-and their undeniable chemistry at bay. At least until the end of the holiday season. But when the ghosts of the past endanger the farmland, both Miriam and Noelle will need to put aside their misconceptions... and discover if what they've been looking for has been right in front of them all along"-- Provided by publisher.
The Make-up Test
A Novel
Published in 2022
"One to Watch meets Beach Read in Jenny L. Howe's smart, swoony debut The Make-Up Test, in which two exes find themselves battling against each other-and their unresolved feelings-for a spot in a prestigious Ph.D. program.."-- Provided by publisher.
The Accidental Pinup
Published in 2022
"Rival photographers are forced to collaborate on a body-positive lingerie campaign, but they might have to readjust their focus when sparks fly. Photographer Cassie Harris loves her job-her company, Buxom Boudoir, makes people look beautiful and feel empowered with her modern twist on classic pinup photography. Cassie's best friend, Dana, is about to launch her own lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot and direct the career-changing national campaign. But company politics and Dana's complicated pregnancy interfere, and Cassie finds herself-a proud plus-size Black woman-not behind the camera but in front of it. Though she's never modeled herself, Cassie's pretty sure she can handle the sheer underwear and caution-tape bralettes. She's not sure she can work so intimately with the chosen photographer, her longtime competitor in the Chicago photography scene, Reid Montgomery. But there's more to Reid's easygoing demeanor and flashy photo style. Their chemistry is undeniable on set, and feelings can develop faster than film..."-- Provided by publisher.
Never Been Kissed
Published in 2022
"Wren Roland has never been kissed, let alone been in love, but he wants that movie-perfect ending more than anything. Feeling nostalgic on the eve of his twenty-first birthday, he sends emails to all the boys he (ahem) loved before he came out. He didn't expect a response from Derick Haverford, Wren's #1 pre-coming-out-crush...but now that they're working together at their hometown's vintage drive-in theater, maybe that perfect-kiss-before-the-credits is finally within reach"-- Provided by publisher.
In the Event of Love
Published in 2022
"With her career as a Los Angeles event planner imploding after a tabloid blowup, Morgan Ross isn't headed home for the holidays so much as in strategic retreat. Breathtaking mountain vistas, quirky townsfolk, and charming small businesses aside, her hometown of Fern Falls is built of one heartbreak on top of another... Take her one-time best friend turned crush, Rachel Reed. The memory of their perfect, doomed first kiss is still fresh as new-fallen snow. Way fresher than the freezing mud Morgan ends up sprawled in on her very first day back, only to be hauled out via Rachel's sexy new lumberjane muscles acquired from running her family tree farm. When Morgan discovers that the Reeds' struggling tree farm is the only thing standing between Fern Falls and corporate greed destroying the whole town's livelihood, she decides she can put heartbreak aside to save the farm by planning her best fundraiser yet. She has all the inspiration for a spectacular event: delicious vanilla lattes, acoustic guitars under majestic pines, a cozy barn surrounded by brilliant stars. But she and Rachel will ABSOLUTELY NOT have a heartwarming holiday happy ending. That would be as unprofessional as it is unlikely. Right?"--Page 4 of cover.
Set on You
Published in 2022
"A gym nemesis pushes a fitness influencer to the max in Amy Lea's steamy debut romantic comedy. Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym - her place of power and positivity. Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents' engagement party. In the lead up to their grandparents' wedding, Crystal discovers there's a soft heart under Scott's muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, she just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength"-- Provided by publisher.
Four Ways to Wear a Dress
Published in 2022
"When Millie Ward loses her job in New York and decides to finally chase her dream of being a social media influencer in California, her best friends have her back. They send her to Peacock Bay with the little black dress they share, giving Millie the confidence she needs to make the move. But Peacock Bay is full of mega influencers who have perfected the look of the surf lifestyle, and a minor misunderstanding has Millie and her magical dress joining their ranks. Now she has to convince her crush Pete Santana that pretending to be her Instagram Husband will help bring new business to his struggling hotel and help her launch her influencer career. But maybe posting all her failures isn't the best way to win Pete's heart, no matter how good it is for his business. When she reveals her biggest screw-up of all-their fake relationship-there's a good chance she could lose not only her new following, but Pete as well..."-- Provided by publisher.
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell
Published in 2022
While renovating her house and her life, Savvy Sheldon finds things going not as planned and soon realizes that she should have started her renovation the other way around, beginning with how she sees and loves herself before she can love someone else.
Pride and Protest
Published in 2022
"Pride and Prejudice meets Black-ish in this exciting new rom-com by debut author Nikki Payne. Liza B-The Only DJ That Gives a Jam-wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But her planned protest at their corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering hot CEO for the waitstaff. When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks fly-but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but she'll settle for getting him out of her head. At first, Dorsey writes Liza Bennett off as an over-caffeinated woke weekend warrior. As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family he's always felt a bit out of place, and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Liza's protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionary is the most real woman he's ever met"-- Provided by publisher.
Must Love Books
A Novel
Published in 2022
"After five years working at Parson's Press, an old-school business book publisher, Nora is the last editorial assistant standing, desperate to get out. But she can't leave until she finds another job to cover rent, especially when Parsons cuts already unlivable salaries. That's when Nora is forced to lie her way into moonlighting for a rival publisher...and maybe poaching a few authors along the way. But when Nora accidentally falls for Andrew Santos, an author Parsons Press can't afford to lose, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Parsons Press, Andrew, or herself and her future"-- Provided by publisher.
The Noh Family
Published in 2022
Chloe Chang travels to Seoul to meet her deceased father's ultra-rich family, but there is a reason why her mom kept her away from the Nohs, and Chloe begins to wonder if her new family's intentions are pure.
Sari, Not Sari
A Novel
Published in 2022
"Manny Dogra is the beautiful young CEO of Breakup, a highly successful company that helps people manage their relationship breakups. As preoccupied as she is with her business, she's also planning her wedding to handsome architect Adam Jamieson while dealing with the loss of her beloved parents. For reasons Manny has never understood, her mother and father, who were both born in India, always wanted her to become an 'All-American' girl. So that's what she did. She knows next to nothing about her South Asian heritage, and that's never been a problem--until her parents are no longer around, and an image of Manny that's been Photoshopped to make her skin look more white appears on a major magazine cover. Suddenly, the woman who built an empire encouraging people to be true to themselves is having her own identity crisis. But when an irritating client named Sammy Patel approaches Manny with an odd breakup request, the perfect solution presents itself: If they both agree to certain terms, he'll give her a crash course in being 'Indian' at his brother's wedding. What follows is days of dancing and dal, masala and mehndi as Manny meets the lovable, if endlessly interfering, aunties, and uncles of the Patel family, and, along the way, discovers much more than she could ever have anticipated"-- Provided by publisher
In a New York Minute
Published in 2022
"When Franny meets Hayes, it's the opposite of a meet-cute-she's just been laid off, and her dress is caught in the subway doors. As if her day could get any worse, the flimsy fabric rips, and she's left in the hipster equivalent of a hospital gown. Hayes is the stuffy suit who offers to give Franny his coat-alongside an unwelcome zing of attraction. He may have saved her from showing her butt to (more of) the city, but that one act is his only redeeming quality. Franny is eager to forget the whole embarrassing encounter. But thanks to a fellow rider liveblogging the whole incident, Franny and Hayes are NYC's new favorite love story with their very own hashtag: #subwaybaes. While Franny is quick to dismiss Hayes as just another rich guy, whose nicest assets are hanging in his closet, she's forced to re-evaluate her opinion when their paths keep crossing. Both are desperate to move past their fifteen minutes of fame-enough so for the one-time "subway baes" to form a grudging alliance. But the more time they (reluctantly) spend together, the more Franny begins to wonder if the line between love and hate is just a subway stop away..."-- Provided by publisher.
How to Fake It in Hollywood
A Novel
Published in 2022
"A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship . . . and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this sexy debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners. Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen show has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she's finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist's scheme: fake a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons. Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, struggles with drinking, and grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, Ethan slowly has let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it's the last thing he wants to do. Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn't take long before Grey and Ethan's sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?"-- Provided by publisher.