Book Review: "Destination Funeral" by Paige Harbison

I don’t know if I’d ever want to get stuck in a time loop. That being said, though, I sure do love reading about them!! Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. Paige Harbison has done it again!

“Does it really matter if you make a mistake, I wonder, as long as you know it’s a mistake?”

Babe Bennett was larger than life. Everyone on Mercy Island had a story about her. When she died, the reading of her will and her memorial service summoned her two daughters, Didion and Sammie, and their two closest friends, Matt and Austin, to the island.

Estranged from her mother for the last several years, Didion has to see her sister and her friends for the first time in a while. There are a lot of hurts and resentments that have cropped up, not just for Didion, but the others as well. How could they go from being inseparable every summer to not speaking at all?

When they learn that Babe has left her summer house, Birdsong, to all four of them, they have to decide what to do with it. Her will stipulates that they have to spend a weekend all together, with no phones or internet access. And then they discover that they keep waking up to find it’s Saturday, so the weekend will never end. It’s up to them to find their way out of the time loop—and maybe confront all the things left unsaid for so long.

This was a funny and emotional story. There were so many issues they all dealt with. I will say that Didion is a hard character to warm up to, but once she got out of all of her spirals, I felt for her.

The book publishes 7/21.

Book Review: "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt" by Ben Reeves

“I always thought life was a bit like a house. People buy a house and they spend their whole lives trying to make it perfect. They decorate the rooms the way they want them. Make it a happy place to be. Make it somewhere they could die in.”

What a profoundly moving book this was! I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and it absolutely blew me away.

Travis seems like an ordinary man. He lives with his cat and mostly keeps to himself. But Travis has a very specific role in the world: he is Death.

Travis visits people in the last hours of their lives. He tries bringing them comfort, calm, a friendly face in their final moments. These are people he has kept track of throughout their lives; many of them are ready for his visit.

One day he meets Dalia, his neighbor from across the hall, and her young daughter, Layla. For the first time, he understands what it feels like to have someone want your company, to belong. But in the end, he has a purpose, and he must keep his responsibilities in mind.

I loved this concept and found the way the story was told to be so beautiful. Travis is an incredibly compassionate character and you can see how conflicted he feels at times. This really touched me.

The book publishes 7/7.

Book Review: "The Someday Garden" by Ashley Poston

I love magical realism in books, particularly romances. Ashley Poston is one of the authors who has helped develop my fondness for magical realism. I love the way each of her books have challenged my mind and touched my heart.

While in college at Duke University, Sophie saw a documentary about Lilymoor House & Gardens up in Maine. The beauty of the gardens, the mazes, even the legendary stories about the magic to be found intrigued her completely. She and her best friend Harriett visited during their senior year and were utterly obsessed. They made a promise to return 10 years later.

Ten years later, Sophie is a horticulturist for the New York Botanical Garden. She gets a summer job at Lilymoor, helping prepare the estate’s gardens for its bicentennial celebration. Working at Lilymoor is everything she dreamed it would be, and she quickly falls in love with its grounds, its staff, and Eula Beck, the spry and crafty old woman who owns the place.

There are definitely mysteries she can’t quite figure out, including the origin of vines that threaten to kill the hedges. But one evening she finds a door that she’s never seen before. It leads to an unfinished garden no one seems to know about. And there’s a handsome man who seems to be stuck there. But the door is never in the same place twice.

As the celebration draws closer, the estate’s quirks prove endearing and frustrating. Eula plans to retire but is quiet about what she plans to do with Lilymoor. And Sophie wants to help free the man from the garden, but not her heart.

There are a lot of separate storylines that take a while to gel and pick up momentum. I felt like the book really hit its stride in the last third or so, and there’s lots of emotion to be had. The supporting characters, including Damnit, the ornery goose, are endearing as well.

Book Review: "The House of Now and Then" by Edward Underhill

I thought this was a really special book. Give me magical realism, emotional growth, and a beach cottage and I’m more than happy, but this just really hit me in all the feels.

“You ever feel like when you look back at something you know happened to you, it feels sort of like it happened to someone else? Or like you’re watching a movie? Like you can’t recognize that version of you anymore?”

Harlowe needs to get away. He and his boyfriend, Jackson, have broken up and Jackson is keeping the apartment. His academic career is going nowhere as well, just like his thesis advisor told him it would. So he rents a cottage on Cape Cod for the summer in the hopes he can reset everything.

But the cottage has some surprises. The first day Harlowe is there, he realizes he has some unwanted roommates. His father is in the kitchen, his thesis advisor is at the dining room table, and Jackson is in the bathroom. No one else can see them, they won’t go away, and Harlowe has no idea how to make them leave.

As the summer moves on and Harlowe settles into the community, he starts spending time with Nathan, the cottage owner’s nephew. A younger version of Nathan appears in the cottage as well from time to time. What do the ghosts want from him, and how can he help Nathan with his own issues.

This really moved me, and I really wasn’t sure how the story would tie up. I’ve enjoyed Edward Underhill’s YA books and I definitely hope to see more adult books from him!!

Book Review: "Leave and Come Back" by Lavanya Lakshmi

If you love Bollywood musicals or at least Bollywood dancing, you’ll understand why I say that this book would be so fantastic to see onscreen. The imagery that Lavanya Lakshmi used, to describe the outfits, the food, the dancing, were so vivid but I know they’d be incredible to actually see.

Simran loves her life in Toronto. She works for a university but teaches an afterschool dance class. She lives with Liv, her college roommate. She has also just started dating Liv’s brother Leo after the two of them have been flirting for years. But as happy as she is, there’s a hole in her heart. She’s been estranged from her aunt, uncle, and cousins—who adopted her when her parents died—for seven years.

Her younger cousin is about to get married, and Simran is torn about whether to return to New Jersey. Her older cousin and (former) best friend Kavitha convinces her to come—for the full two weeks of wedding festivities. When Leo accidentally crashes the engagement party—and makes an enemy of Veena parima, Simran’s judgmental aunt and the family matriarch, disaster is about to strike.

But the cousins come up with a scheme, modeled after their favorite Bollywood movie, DDLJ. They’re going to pretend Leo is a stranger to Simran and give him the time to ingratiate himself with the family, the community, and Veena. Sounds easy, right?

I thought this was such a fun debut novel. Sure, it’s predictable, and miscommunication isn’t my favorite thing, but there are a lot of themes here that brought emotion and insight to the plot. It was a great example of how a community comes together to honor its own, and how everyone is in everyone’s business.

Book Review: "Meeting New People" by Daniel M. Lavery

Barbara is in her fifties, and one of her best friends, Susan, has just surprised her by ending their friendship. This wasn’t a random argument—Susan had a list of things about Barbara that she found objectionable. This incident bothered Barbara more than anything.

“But there’s nothing in the world as immovable as a woman who’s finished with you. A woman who’s finished with you, not just mad at you but finished with you, might as well be dead or on the moon or living a thousand years ago because there’s no path a person can walk anymore between the two of you, not even a little one, no matter how wide the road was before.”

As Barbara reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Susan, she realizes that she has had nine other best friendships in her life. All of them ended at one time or another, for one reason or another. But it makes her wonder if there’s some flaw in her personality that has caused these relationships to fall apart.

She starts thinking about how she’ll meet her next best friend—hopefully someone she can grow old with. It’s so difficult to make friends as adults, especially once you reach a certain age. She weighs the options—should she befriend a colleague, join a group or a church? And what should she do differently this time?

This is really a thought-provoking book. I’ve thought about the challenges of making new friends as an adult. Parts of this book are really funny, but my challenge is that the majority of the book is told as an inner monologue. I needed more interaction between the characters to move the plot forward.

Book Review: "Villa Coco" by Andrew Sean Greer

I hope when I eventually get the opportunity to travel to Italy that I love it as much as I love books set there! Even when I don’t love the book, an Italian setting always makes me feel better.

Our narrator has just (barely) graduated from college but his career prospects seem dim. He’s encouraged by his advisor to apply for a job in Italy, to be assistant to the Baronessa, an eccentric wealthy woman who shows no signs of slowing down, even at age 92.

Of course, what he pictured the job to be and what it is are vastly different. While he expected to spend the majority of his time cataloguing the art and antiques in the dilapidated estate, he quickly gets pulled in many different directions by the Baronessa, who is known as Coco.

Villa Coco always seems to be full of larger-than-life guests, from princesses to plumbers. The whole experience is well beyond his comfort zone, but he falls under Coco’s spell. And while his cataloguing efforts are hampered by the disappearance of items he knows he saw, he finds an even more noble calling. When the Baroness loses someone close to her, she realizes the one thing she must do is locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late.

There is definitely lots of emotion (repressed and otherwise) in this book, and the eccentric characters lightened the mood a bit. Parts of the book felt almost like an E.M. Forster novel—I kept expecting Maggie Smith to pop in. I wanted to love the book more than I did, but it was fun.

Book Review: "Waiting on a Friend" by Natalie Adler

It’s 1984 in New York City’s East Village. AIDS has started ravaging communities all over the country, but NYC has been hit particularly hard. Renata has been seeing ghosts of people who have died, some she was friends or acquaintances with, some she never knew. She isn’t quite sure how to help them, but for the most part, they don’t cause trouble.

When Mark, Renata’s best friend and roommate, dies from complications of the disease, she is devastated. She wasn’t at the hospital when he died, which was how she imagined it would be. So she’s eagerly awaiting Mark’s ghost to visit her. But for some reason, he’s not showing up.

“I thought about the ghosts I had known. Were any of them suffering? How would I know? Who can really tell what goes on in someone else’s life, or death? Some of them remained, outwardly, at least, concerned with the petty issues of their lives, and others were above everything, as if they had one foot in our world and another in a place we couldn’t imagine.”

As Renata mourns Mark and takes tentative steps toward a relationship with a nurse she met, Claude, she tries to move on. But at the same time, a company has popped up in the city promising to rid people’s apartments of ghosts or other disturbances. Renata is convinced this shady company is not doing the good deeds it purports to do, and it’s up to her and her friends to try and uncover their true motives.

“How was I supposed to mourn anyone—Mark, François, my mother, whoever was next—when it would take the rest of my life to accept that they were gone when they should have been here still? How do I mourn someone when I can’t get over that one fact, that they were supposed to be alive but they were not and there were people responsible for that?”

This is another terrific 2026 debut. It definitely packs an emotional punch, and some scenes remind me of the movie Longtime Companion, which I love. How much would we love a glimpse of loved ones we’ve lost, just one more time?

Book Review: "Make Nice" by Ryan Effgen

I love dysfunctional families. (Fictional dysfunctional families.) There’s just so much fodder for drama and confrontation. Ryan Effgen’s debut novel takes one such family on vacation—what could go wrong? Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the advance copy!

The Pickford family is gathering at The Grand Hotel, a ritzy resort on an island in Lake Michigan. It’s been three months since their mother died, and their father has decided that they all should vacation together. No one is exactly sure why.

Viv is fairly sure her marriage is over, what with the recent discovery that her husband is gay. But she’s determined to pretend everything is fine, especially to her teenage daughter, Ash (don’t call her Ashley). Pete is a scientist, recently referred to as the nation’s foremost expert on gastropods.

And then there’s Corey, the black sheep of the family. Corey didn’t attend their mother’s funeral, and in fact, Pete and Viv didn’t even know their father invited him. But Corey isn’t the type of person to shrink under scrutiny—he almost seems to relish his role as family outcast. However, he’s ready to take control of his life—and he has five pounds of cocaine he plans to sell to the rich tourists, which should give him a good start.

Of course, you bring a family together, and there are always secrets to be revealed, old wounds to be reopened, and lots of emotions. Why did their father summon them to the island? Can peace and love be found amidst the fudge and ice cream shops and the horse-drawn carriages?

The book is billed as a cross between Sandwich and The Wedding People. There are certainly similarities but I didn’t feel as connected to the characters in this book as I did in those others. This was enjoyable but not necessarily unique in any way.

The book publishes 7/14.

Book Review: "Whistler" by Ann Patchett

I have been eagerly anticipating the release of Whistler since I first saw it pop up sometime late last year. Ann Patchett is one of my absolute favorites, so needless to say, I snapped this one up with a preorder!!

“She would say it was because childhood never leaves us. We seal the room up and cover it in sheetrock. We dry and sand and paint, but the pocket of history remains, and sooner or later someone always winds up tapping on the wall, commenting on the way it sounds strangely hollow in there, and then the whole thing comes tumbling down.”

Daphne and her husband Jonathan are spending an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As they walk through the museum, Jonathan notices that an older man is staring at Daphne and is following them. She doesn’t recognize the man at all.

It turns out the man is Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather. Eddie was married to Daphne’s mother for about a year when she was 9, about 45 years ago. While Daphne had long forgotten about Eddie, seeing him triggers her emotions. He was very special to her (and her to him), and despite being in each other’s lives for a short time, both played impactful roles.

Eddie is thrilled that Daphne is happy to see him, and it’s clear from their first few minutes together that they intend to rekindle their connection with one another. They share some special—and traumatic—memories, but they also learn the full truth of why Eddie’s marriage ended and what Daphne and her younger sister knew about it all. This renewed relationship brings joy to both of them.

Patchett has an uncanny talent to wring complex emotions out of what initially seemed like a simple reunion. I knew how I wanted the story to go, and I was pleased she didn’t take it down any overly melodramatic paths. This is a beautiful story of love, bravery, family, reconnection, and the warmth of memory. I absolutely loved it.

Book Review: "Frat Around and Find Out" by Devon McCormack

I like reading “important” books that challenge me as much as the next person. But sometimes I need a smutty M/M romance. This hit the spot and actually had more emotional complexity than I was expecting.

Sigma Alpha and Alpha Theta Mu are two rival fraternities. They’re constantly trying to one up each other, and when the annual TaskFrat challenges come around, the two are always neck and neck until the very end.

Lance is the president of Alpha Theta Mu. He takes his responsibilities seriously, especially when it comes to battling their foes. And he has a worthy rival in Ty, the Sigma Alpha president.

Ty is supremely confident about everything, including his prowess with women. He’s the type to love ‘em and leave ‘em, and he teases Lance for focusing more on feelings than conquests. But he also can’t seem to get Lance out of his mind, and not for competitive reasons. What’s that about?

Lance, too, realizes that Ty has an inexplicable hold over him. Is it possible that he’s crushing on his rival? The more they’re pushed together, the more they’re drawn to each other. Is this just a curiosity thing for the both of them, or are there feelings behind the attraction? And how will the brothers of both of their frats handle this?

I’m excited that this is the first book in a series, because I really enjoyed it. Both Ty and Lance are dealing with grief-related issues, and it was nice to see how each helped the other. (And in case you were wondering, the steam was pretty hot.)

Book Review: "Prestige Drama" by Séamas O'Reilly

The townspeople in the Irish town of Derry are excited, which doesn’t happen that often. A show about the Troubles in Northern Ireland is going to be filmed in town. Then it is announced that famous American actress Monica Logue is going to play the lead, and the excitement reaches a fever pitch.

Not long after Monica’s arrival in Derry, where she rubs shoulders with the locals, she disappears without a trace. Everyone in town has a theory on what happened and where she could have gone. But her disappearance throws the future of the show into doubt, which could prove disappointing to many in town.

This is one of those books with multiple narrators—some that are recurring, some we hear from only once. Everyone has their own perspectives, on the Troubles, on the show, and, of course, Monica’s disappearance. And when you have multiple people sharing their views, you don’t know who’s telling the truth.

We hear from the alcoholic screenwriter, trying for one last chance at success; the woman who lost her teenage son during the Troubles and is now the focal point of the script; a local man hoping to have a part in the show; and a woman whose house is going to be used for some of the filming, among others. Each person has their own unique voice.

This was an entertaining book, because you get to shape the plot based on how you saw the characters and what they said. There are some surprises which slowly unfold, and that made the narrative a bit richer.

Book Review: "Look What You Made Me Do" by John Lanchester

Jack and Kate have been together more than 30 years, since meeting in college. They both have the roles they usually play in life, Jack is a successful architect prone to pontificating, Kate has various charitable and community projects she works on.

Phoebe is a screenwriter who doesn’t care who likes her and who doesn’t, at least personally. She has a difficult, narcissistic mother and a handsome, somewhat flaky partner, Tony.

Phoebe finally hits it big with Cheating, a television series that seems to hold the whole country in its thrall. But when Kate sees it, she recognizes details of her life and her relationship with Jack mirrored back at her. Even pet names he used to call her are used in the series.

Kate is distraught. Was Jack cheating on her? Was he treating his lover the exact same way he treated Kate, using the same seduction techniques, everything? She’s determined to figure out the truth behind the creation of the series.

The book flashes back and forth, tracing Kate and Phoebe’s lives. We see the history of Kate and Jack’s relationship, and we see the issues Phoebe has dealt with all her life, particularly with her mother. And we’re captivated by how both women react to what’s in front of them.

This was definitely a slow burn, but I found the book to be a captivating story of love, betrayal, survival, and even a little bit of revenge. I really enjoyed the way things unfolded and the little twists John Lanchester threw in along the way.

Book Review: "This Town Won't Tell" by Rhodi Hawk

Damn, this was soooo good! This was a twisty, gritty, slow-burn thriller that felt a bit like a mashup of S.A. Cosby and Rachel Caine, yet with its own unique power and an unforgettable main character.

Ever since Janey’s mom died when she was young, her life has been messier than most. She drifted from foster family to foster family and did a stint in juvie, where she gave birth to a daughter, Em. After her release she married the baby’s father but they eventually divorced and he was able to keep their house.

Now a recovering alcoholic, her ex has a restraining order against her, which makes sharing custody a challenge. She works as a waitress at a Montana roadhouse (which no longer has a road) and is determined to give Em a better life than she had.

One night she goes to confront her ex for not taking Em to school. She plans to break into his house and frighten him with her cousin’s gun. But she gets caught by a corrupt lawyer, who threatens to turn Janey in for violating the restraining order, which means she’ll lose custody of her daughter. She gets blackmailed into a “one and done,” making a drop under a bridge.

Of course, the blackmail continues far beyond just one time. When she finds out that her cousin used to do the drops and he got murdered, she realizes she’s in trouble. What follows is a tangled web of small-town corruption, violence, and enemies she can’t uncover. Will she survive and get her life back, however bleak it is?

Janey was such a terrific character—tough yet vulnerable, wanting a better life but feeling powerless to change things. I loved the small-town Montana setting and all of the twists Rhodi Hawk threw in. I’d love to see what’s next!

Book Review: "Good Joy, Bad Joy" by Mikki Brammer

After reading Mikki Brammer’s wonderfully heartwarming book, I feel the need to give all of my friends hugs and tell them how important they are to me. So for those of you reading this review, consider yourself hugged and loved.

“Do we ever truly shed the lessons ingrained in us as kids or are they part of our beings forever? Is there still time for me to try out a different way of being in the world? I think I’d like to find out.”

Joy is 89 years old. Although she’s surprised at her longevity, and it’s been sad losing her husband and her friends, she still has a lot to live for. She loves her daughter Elizabeth and her grandson Finn, her young piano students, and her bountiful garden.

One of her biggest joys is her best friend Hazel. They’ve known each other since they were 8 years old, and while the paths they took in life were quite different, there is a fierce love between them. Hazel has always seemed larger than life, wearing brightly colored clothes and dyed red hair, and she has so much gusto for adventure.

But when Hazel tells Joy she has terminal cancer, Joy can’t fathom a world without her friend. And while she’s always done the right things in life, trying not to make any ripples, Joy is suddenly wanting to be different. She starts causing mischief, which leads to shoplifting, and suddenly she’s in the midst of a crime. While she loves the recklessness of “Bad Joy,” she knows this isn’t her real self.

I was both moved and amused by this book. Brammer did such a great job being true to her characters and keeping the story melodrama-free. (There were many places a lesser writer might have gone for big crises.) Joy is a memorable character, and I’m inspired to borrow some of her kindness for myself.

Book Review: "Five" by Ilona Bannister

“Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station. It will happen in the next five minutes when the 7:06 to London Victoria arrives.”

So begins Ilona Bannister’s new thriller, which was utterly fascinating. We get a first-hand look at a chaotic morning at a train station, which will end in someone’s death. We don’t know who will die but we assume we know how it will happen.

The book introduces us to five people. There’s Emma, a woman whose life has totally been upended by her sociopathic young son, Gideon. He throws a temper tantrum while waiting for the train and Emma is unable to control him, which makes her an object of judgment by others in the train station.

There’s Sonny, a handsome and impeccably dressed young man, who is seriously addicted to gambling. Matilda is a cantankerous old woman whose anger masks the difficult life she has had. And then there’s Liam, a business manager who appears to know Emma and Gideon but seems to incur their wrath.

While we wait for the train to come into the station and end one of the five people’s lives, the book gives us each of their stories. We don’t have to rest on generalization; we know what each person is struggling with and what brought them to the train station today.

This was so compelling. The narrator invites you to think about who will die, but also who you think deserves to die. We see how flawed each person is, what made them tick, and what are their redeeming qualities. While some of the backstories dragged a bit, I really thought this was a fascinating read.

Book Review: "Top of the World" by Ethan Joella

Five years ago, I received a surprise piece of bookmail: Ethan Joella’s debut novel, A Little Hope. I loved that book fiercely, and each subsequent book cemented him on my list of favorite authors. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance copy of his upcoming book, which was utterly beautiful!

“My dear, you’ve got to focus on the pieces. We will never forget what we’ve lost, we will never be the same because of it, but we can build something new. That’s the key. That’s what your brother taught me. Remember what’s lost, but try to build something else.”

In the summer of 1975, Maggie is reeling from the death of her older brother, Chip. She’s just graduated from high school and the thought of being home, dealing with her grief and her grieving parents, is totally unappealing. She needs something, but can’t figure out what that is.

A year earlier, after Chip graduated from high school and received bleak news about his health, he needed to get away. He left home and headed to the Poconos, to find a job at the luxurious Red Maple Lodge. He was gone for the summer but when he came back, he didn’t tell his family where he was or what he did, only that it was his experience.

Maggie decides to follow in her brother’s footsteps. She heads to the Red Maple Lodge, in the hope that she can find people who knew Chip, and could tell her about his last summer. She finds that in a few short months, Chip left an indelible mark on those he worked with and for. Maggie is able to start healing and planning for her future, thanks to the memories that people shared.

Ethan Joella’s writing weaves a spell with its simple beauty, through evocative imagery and rich emotions. His books always touch my heart and make it soar, and this one was simply amazing.

It will publish 6/30.

Book Review: "We Are Gathered Here Today" by Bobby Finger

Families have their dysfunction, but nothing brings them out quite as much as a wedding. And the literary world is so much richer for that fact. Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!

Fin’s beloved cousin Elaine is getting married and she has asked him to officiate. The wedding is in June in the sweltering heat and humidity of Texas—and it’s being held at a kitschy Wild West-themed resort, which is something he’d never imagine Elaine choosing.

He and his best friend Jacque are reunited when he arrives in Texas from his home in Brooklyn. Both of them have been to their share of disastrous weddings and neither has come close to taking the plunge themselves. Although Fin has a secret: he and his boyfriend Mark recently got engaged, but Fin is so sure the relationship will fall apart before a wedding ever happens.

Fin and Jacque connect with friends of Elaine’s husband-to-be: Todd and his overbearing alcoholic husband, David, and their best friend, Marina. The five of them comprise the wedding’s “queer table,” and do all they can to enjoy the activity-filled days leading up to the wedding. But the fun comes with some awkward moments for each of them, with secrets being revealed and arguments catching fire, as everyone tries to keep the peace for Elaine and Rupert’s sake.

Often the best part of a wedding is getting the opportunity to criticize it afterwards. When their college friends started getting married, Fin, Jacque, and Elaine instituted The Hour of Disrespect, a period of 60 minutes after the wedding where criticisms can be discussed, and then never be spoken of again. Will there be a wedding to disrespect? And will they all be there to see it happen?

I had really high hopes for this book, as I absolutely loved Bobby Finger’s two previous books. I enjoyed this but it all seemed to drag on for too long, and the miscommunication among some of the characters frustrated me. But in the end, this was a sharply insightful and emotional read.

The book will publish 6/16.

Book Review: "The Open Era" by Edward Schmit

I love that I’m still in my sports romance era. But while hockey romance started the fire, I’ve become super-athletic over the last year or two. (I’ve read baseball, soccer, sailing, and tennis romances, among others.) Thanks so much to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the advance copy of this one!!

Austin has worked so hard to fulfill his dream of being a professional tennis player. He’s played challenger tournaments all over the world. And now, he’s made it to the main draw of the U.S. Open.

But while the realization of this dream is exciting, there’s an extra level of history being made. Austin is the first openly gay male tennis player to compete in a Grand Slam tournament. While he’s been out since high school, this is a big deal for the tennis world, and it imbues Austin’s matches with an extra something.

He’d like to just focus on his tennis, but the media wants to talk more about his sexuality. It’s not helping his anxiety—while practicing before his first big match he has a panic attack, which sends him tumbling on the court. His team says Austin’s collapse was due to the heat, so no one asks questions. No one except Diego Cruz, the second-ranked player in the world, who helped him back up. Handsome Diego, with the 8-pack.

Much to Austin’s surprise, Diego wants to become friends. Austin believes Diego is straight, but their flirty banter and deep conversations confuse him a bit. While the two may meet in the fourth round of the Open, Austin’s anxiety starts to intensify the more he falls for Diego. Can he put those feelings aside to go after his tennis dreams?

While there are definitely romantic elements and some steam in the book, I loved the way Edward Schmit focused on Austin’s anxiety and other issues. There’s lots of tennis action but nothing too technical, just some great play-by-play to get your adrenaline pumping. I really enjoyed this debut novel.

The book publishes 6/2.

Book Review: "The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances" by Glenn Dixon

Are you the kind of person who says “thank you” to Alexa or Siri? Do you worry that one of these devices will spill all your secrets one day? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you may enjoy The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances.

⁣ ⁣ Harold and Edie are an elderly couple who live in a smart house, where all of the devices watch over them. A young yet technologically advanced Roomba feels comfort in various things that happen in the house, from Edie playing the piano to Harold reading To Kill A Mockingbird to his ailing wife.⁣

⁣ Inspired by the courage of one of the characters, the Roomba names herself Scout. She seems to feel things in a more visceral way than her older appliance counterparts, and they think she’s a bit foolish and naïve.⁣

Edie dies, leaving Harold alone in the house. The all-powerful Grid, which operates all of the smart devices in the world and monitors homes, decides the house is too big for one person, and makes plans to move Harold to a facility. His estranged daughter, Kate, returns home and has a debt to be paid to the Grid, so she is expected to pack Harold up.⁣

⁣ But Scout doesn’t think this is fair, and she tries to rally her fellow smart appliances to help Harold keep his house. Yet most of the appliances are frightened of the Grid, and of being turned off for good. So it’s up to Scout, with help from Kate and Adrian, one of Edie’s former piano students, to try and figure out how to defeat the Grid.⁣

⁣ I was really fascinated by this concept and impressed by the world-building Glenn Dixon did. This book definitely had a creepy vibe (more menace than horror) but there are lots of emotions at play, too! I want a Roomba to talk to!