Welcome to Book Beat!

Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.

• The Backtrack

  

  Life, rewound …

  Nearly twenty years ago, Sam Leto left her small hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia, to pursue her dreams of becoming a pilot. While she’d prefer to keep flying away from her painful childhood memories, her beloved grandmother Pearl decides it’s time to sell the family home. Reluctantly, Sam is summoned back to pack up the house.

  The 2000s nostalgia from Sam’s old bedroom hits Fall Out Boy posters, drawers of roll-on body glitter and even her favorite CD player with a mixtape from her best friend, Damon Rocha. Damon was always a safe place and Sam often wonders what if her teenage self admitted her feelings for him back then…

  Mysteriously, the CD player still works all these years later. And somehow it has the power to show Sam an alternate version of her life.

  Song by song, Sam receives flashbacks from her past—senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them; they show what could have been. Suddenly, Sam knows exactly what would have happened if she’d taken a chance with Damon—and she can’t help feeling she made a terrible mistake leaving Tybee all those years ago.

  Does it make me sad that the early 2000s were twenty years ago? Absolutely! Do I have some nostalgia and fondness for the time? Hell yes I do. 

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• Director’s Cut

  

  After taking a guest teaching gig, Oscar-winning Valeria Sullivan finds herself trapped in a battle of wits with her sexy co-professor, but can she keep her cool when things heat up in and out of the classroom?

  At twenty-nine, Valeria Sullivan is a celebrated, award-winning actress. But when her acting options start to decline and her attempt to transition to directing is complicated by a bad interview on a late night show, Val decides she’s had enough of Hollywood. Intent on pursuing a neglected passion, she pours herself into a guest professorship at USC, hoping to transition to academia fulltime.

  Standing in her way is her co-professor, Maeve Arko, whose brilliance and beauty is matched only by her contempt for Val. As Val rises to the challenges that teaching throws at her, though, Maeve starts to soften, and soon sparks are flying.

  Now with a job and a girlfriend she adores, Val should be happy. But Hollywood isn’t done with Val quite yet. Her directorial debut, Oakley in Flames, starts getting attention, and soon Val has to choose between her obligations to her class—and Maeve—and the burgeoning dream Hollywood career she may not be ready to leave behind.

  An actress looking for a career change co-teaches a class at UCLA! This feels like catnip for Tara. 

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• Do Me a Favor

  

  Willa Lieu-Endicott moved from California to the Pacific Northwest to start over. Since her husband’s death, she’s been struggling to get back her old career as a cookbook ghostwriter. Unfortunately, her latest project—ghostwriting for a viral cooking sensation known more for his washboard abs than his meals—has her stuck.

  Until she meets her new neighbor.

  Hudson Daws, the handyman next door, lives on a farm with his parents and two adult children. He’s the opposite of everything she’s ever known. His happily chaotic life includes biker barbecues, an escape artist dog, and adorably menacing goats. He’s also got a sinfully sexy smile and a rumbling bass voice that makes her shiver. He inspires her.

  From their first meeting, the two fall into an escalating cycle of favors, paybacks…and attraction, even though Willa’s trying to keep her distance.

  They both have their own pasts to deal with. Now, they just have to figure out if they have a future.

  A delectable rom-com about a widowed cookbook writer and a divorced handyman who find that it’s never too late for a fresh start.

  This one is technically out on Tuesday, but I was really surprised it didn’t make next week’s Hide Your Wallet picks so it feels like it’s flying a little under the collective radar.

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• May the Wolf Die

  

  Author: Elizabeth Heider
  Released:
  July 2, 2024 by
  Penguin Books
  Genre:
  Mystery/Thriller

  For readers of Jane Harper, a gripping mystery set in Italy, following a female detective haunted by her family’s past and tasked with untangling the city’s organized crime and the modern U.S. military presence there.

  Nikki Serafino is enjoying the sunset from her boat in her beloved port city of Naples, Italy, when she discovers the body of a man in the warm waters of the bay. An investigator working as the liaison between local police and American troops, Nikki is certainly no stranger to violence and organized crime, but this case grows complicated when the victim turns out to be a U.S. Navy captain stationed at the nearby military base—and the autopsy reveals foul play. As she delves into the case, another body is found and Nikki must face connections linking the murders to her own complicated history as a daughter of Naples. Smart and steeped in sun-soaked Italy, this propulsive mystery is the perfect summer binge read.

  The comparison to Jane Harper might perk some people up, including myself!

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