Some Girls Do

Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan is a young adult romance where opposites attract.

Morgan is changing high schools. Kicked out of her private school for being lesbian, she is suing her former school to make it easier for others to come out. 

Ruby has been in the same town her whole life. She is a beauty pageant contestant who wants to become a mechanic. Really the pageant thing is her mother's dream.

Morgan and Ruby meet when Ruby almost runs over Morgan as she sprints across the parking lot to catch her brother before he drives off with her backpack. 

Dugan has written a sweet tale of falling in love with someone who seems like your opposite. This is a great YA romance.

Dugan, Jennifer. (2021). Some Girls Do. New York: Putnam.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a wonderful story of a Hollywood starlet.

The Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo, one of the biggest stars in the history of tinsel town, has been out of the limelight for years. Now she is donating some of her most iconic dresses to auction.

Monique Grant is a writer / journalist working at Vivant magazine. Her editor is shocked when Monique is requested to interview Hugo. No one has interviewed her since her starlet days. Now in her eighties she is considered a recluse. 

What follows is the story of Evelyn Hugo's life - in more detail than any other source has ever had access to. Told in chapters of her life - based on the time with seven different husbands - this is the glamourous life all fans crave.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has written a wonderful tale of a very full life. There are twists and turns, love and scandal. I absolutely love this book. Read it today!

Reid, Taylor Jenkins. (2017). The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. New York: Atria. 

The Cellist (Gabriel Allon #21)

The Cellist by Daniel Silva is the twenty-first book in his Gabriel Allon series. Allon is an Israeli spy who is now the head of Mossad.

Victor Orlov, a Russia oligarch fled to UK years ago. Not that the Kremlin ever forgot about him. Case in point, he was just poisoned, apparently by an envelope dropped off by the journalist Nina Antonova.

Filled with all of the characters you have loved in previous books, Allon heads to London to help solve this mystery whose path will lead all over Russia and North America. 

Silva is a beautiful writer. His words are always well chosen and his plot twists impeccable. His is one of the best writers around. If you don't know about him and like political intrigue, espionage and a fast pace, get started today.

Silva, Daniel. (2021). The Cellist. New York: Harper.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (Salvagers #1)

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White is the first book in his science fiction / fantasy series Salvagers. A tale in outer space but fueled by magic!

Nilah is a racecar driver, but not like the cars you can watch on Earth. Her car runs not on gas but on her own magic. She is a mechanist, and as such she can talk to any machine. She is also up for racer of the year - or she was until she found herself frozen in a spell and then transported away.

She wakes up in the city next to the racetrack. The news reports are looking for her, wanted for murder of the driver who was frozen with her at the track. The only clue she has is the conversation between what looked like the grim reaper and her track mate - find Boots.

Boots is an ex-celebrity treasure hunter. Now she sells somewhat dubious maps to suckers willing to pay. Which seems to be connected to what just happened to Nilah. At the same time, Boots is running from her old ship captain who has come looking for her.

The Capricious is going hunting - for the same treasure that caused all of these problems. The rumor of an extremely large ship called the Harrow. 

White has created a fascinating universe combining science fiction and magic. His characters are wonderful and I will be following them onto their future adventures. 

White, Alex. (2018). A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. New York: Orbit.

While Justice Sleeps

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams is a thrill ride through the Supreme Court. 

When Justice Howard Wynn slips into a coma, his clerk Avery Keene is as shocked as everyone else that she is his power of attorney. Not his son or his estranged wife, but a law clerk with whom he has only a working relationship.

Justice Wynn is often the swing vote on and otherwise 4-4 court. Nearing the end of the session, there are still some big cases to decide. And it is starting to seem that one of them is related to what happened to the Justice.

Keene has a mystery to solve and little time to do it. Not helping her deadline is the fact that the NSA and FBI think it is fishy that she was named his executor. 

Abrams is a brilliant legal and political mind. She has the knowledge and has had the access to create a story that goes deeper into D.C. politics than most. 

If you are looking for a completely engrossing thrill ride, this is the book you are looking for. 

Abrams, Stacey. (2021). While Justice Sleeps. New York: Doubleday.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is the story of a pirate and an aristocrat falling in love in the midst of a kidnapping.

Lady Evelyn Hasegawa has been betrothed to a man across the sea. It is not uncommon for the upper classes to marry off daughters to secure their fortune. It is, however, so far away that she is unlikely to ever see her family or her city again. But the only person she is likely to miss is her maid.

Evelyn is taking a passenger ship across the sea to meet her husband. As is tradition in these cases, she has packed her belongings into a coffin for transport, signifying her pledge to remain there for her lifetime.

What Evelyn and the other passengers do not know if that their passenger ship is really a pirate ship in disguise. They are all likely to be sold at the end of the voyage.

The pirate Florian does what it takes to survive - including changing their gender presentation to get by on a male only ship. But due to this, they have been assigned to guard the Lady Evelyn to keep her from harm (so her price is higher). 

Tokuda-Hall has written a great fantasy adventure with wonderful, fantastical creatures, budding young love, and pirates! What more could you need. 

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie. (2020). The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea. New York: Candlewick Press.