Is there anything more magical than checking into a rental house with a group of friends? Some of my favorite memories involve squeezing as many bodies as physically possible into a vacation home, staying up late listening to your friends’ laughter and waking up early to the sound of someone making scrambled eggs, the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. The buzz feels like part sleepover, part summer camp, with a generous sprinkle of getting to stay up past your bedtime.

Yet sharing small spaces makes it hard to eschew the less glamorous sides of group travel. The practicalities, like the bathroom schedule jigsaw or competing for the sole blow dryer, are only augmented by the emotional minefields, like wanting to avoid a friend’s new-and-less-than-universally-loved significant other who tagged along for the trip, or a late-night (and potentially tequila-fueled) argument turning into an awkward morning at the kitchen table for all parties, with a hangover to boot.

My most memorable rental was at age twenty-five, when my high school friends rented a share house in Ocean Beach, Fire Island. Fire Island is accessible only via ferry, which means that the streets are filled solely with pedestrians and bikini-clad bicyclists calling out, “on your left.” It also means that there are no cars, so any dramatic exit plan must adhere to a not-so-frequent ferry schedule. Luckily, that summer, the ferry schedule wasn’t a problem. Instead, we built sandcastles and played silly games and sang off-key karaoke; we drank rocket fuels and ate cold cheese pizza (both Ocean Beach specialties) and danced until our flip-flops fell apart. It wasn’t without growing pains – at the time, I remember grappling with immense career anxiety – but though my sunburns begged to differ, I left that summer feeling healed. 

This is the magic that I wanted to capture in my novel Serendipity, which follows a group of friends who similarly rent a share house in Fire Island for three summer weekends. Because I firmly believe that a trip is the perfect backdrop to explore themes of a complicated friend-group, and to pay homage to the beautiful humanity that is our long-term relationships. Besides, who doesn’t love strapping messy, big-hearted characters into a rental house for a weekend at the beach?

In that same spirit, I’m thrilled to share some of my favorite stories that feature the highs and lows of a friend group getaway, perfect reading material for any upcoming trips or staycations (with friends, family, or, for perhaps the wisest among us, solo travel.)

Happy Place by Emily Henry

I’m always a sucker for Emily Henry’s witty banter and heart-soaring romance, but I think my favorite scene from her 2023 bestselling novel Happy Place is when we get to watch Harriett and her best friends stroll the streets of Knott’s Harbor, Maine perusing bookstores and the local bar scene, falling into a familiar lockstep despite the years that have passed in between. Come for the second chance romance between Harriett and Wyn – a recently-broken up couple who must fake that they are still dating for the sake of the trip — but stay for the themes of found family and friend group growth. This surely won’t be the first time you’re seeing Happy Place on a recommendation list, and because of Henry’s warm and wonderful writing, it won’t be the last.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

In my personal Mt. Rushmore, Rebecca Serle hails queen of the Atmospheric Novel. Her characters’ meals will make you hungry, their apartments will materialize as Zillow listings in your head, and her settings make you feel like you’ve registered for a new mailing address by the turn of her last page. And while In Five Years is set predominantly in the streets of New York City, it features a weekend trip to the Hamptons that will make you feel like you’ve grown up saying the phrase “Out East.” As Dannie and her posse settle into the beautiful beach house – assigning rooms, cooking dinner, taking in the ocean breeze – I could smell the salt air through the pages. It had the magic splendor of sharing space with new and old friends, but I also loved getting to see how that getaway directly impacted Dannie’s relationships and journeys once she’d returned back to her real and regular programming in NYC. Filled with heart, magic, and humanity, In Five Years is the perfect escape.

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

A list about vacations wouldn’t be complete without a highlight from Beach Read Queen, Elin Hilderbrand, and her twenty-ninth novel The Five-Star Weekend reinvents the friend group trip concept in a completely charming and captivating way. After suffering a major heartbreak, protagonist Hollis Shaw decides to host a “Five-Star Weekend” on Nantucket by inviting one best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and her midlife. What follows is a surprising, summery story of friendship, love, relationships, and growth. Reading Hilderbrand’s novels always feel like you’ve been transported to Nantucket’s shores, and The Five-Star Weekend is no exception.   

Best Men by Sidney Karger

In my (biased) opinion, there is no better place for a friend group share house than the beloved Fire Island, and I was so excited when I read Sidney Karger’s debut Best Men last year and was treated to a weekend getaway in Fire Island Pines. The Pines are famous for being an LGBTQIA+ harbor and hotspot, and in Sidney’s debut, it’s the perfect locale for the (titular) gay Best Men, Max and Chasten, to visit as part of the bride Paige’s bachelorette party weekend. The beach scenes and vivid nightlife jump right off the page, but I most loved the moments between the group at the house. The group cooks dinner, goes swimming, spends time with old friends and new as Max also grapples with the growing pains of his best friend moving onto a new life chapter without him. Laugh out loud funny, and a moving portrait of long-term friendship, Best Men has a forever spot as one of my favorite reads.

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Traveling with friends isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, and Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke know this best. Despite its picture-perfect location of Tulum, Mexico, their thriller Girls’ Night Out ends up being the setting of friend-trip-nightmares when one girl goes missing. What starts as three women embarking on a group trip to Mexico to repair their bonds turns into a chilling, page-turning, dual-timeline mystery that demands to be inhaled. The settings are breath-taking, but it’s in the nuanced subtleties of Ashley, Natalie and Lauren’s complicated relationships where Fenton and Steinke’s voice really shines. Given that Fenton and Steinke have been real-life besties for over thirty years (since high school!) and written eight books together, it’s no surprise that they are the experts when it comes to crafting a story about the importance of friendship.

Friends in Napa by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

The title says it all! From Mindy’s Book Studio, Sheila Yasmin Marikar’s sophomore novel Friends in Napa is a darkly comedic mystery, as deliciously tantalizing as gossiping with a great friend over the perfect glass of wine. When Raj and Rachel Ranjani invite their closest friends from college for a reunion weekend in Napa Valley, California, they’re excited to celebrate the grand opening of their new luxury high-end winery. But tensions are immediately high upon the group’s arrival, and it doesn’t take much vino for secrets to spill and the illusion of friendship to crack when a dead body is discovered. It’s a look at the power, privilege, and identity strains that can arise amongst friends, making for a page-turning summer read.

Who We Are Now by Lauryn Chamberlain

Friend group trips aren’t exclusive to beachy destinations, though! One of my favorite getaways featured in a book swapped sunscreen and beach chairs for ski goggles and chair lifts, and I couldn’t have loved it more. While the majority of Lauryn Chamberlain’s dazzling sophomore novel Who We Are Now is set in New York City, following four college best friends as they navigate post-grad careers, relationships, and families, and health, a major plot climax happens outside the city during a friend group ski trip. Chamberlain’s entire novel is filled to the brim with beautiful odes to the loyalty, kinship, jealousy, and adoration that can come as college friends enter the real world together. This ski getaway will leave you gasping, gut-punched, and Googling how to take a shot ski.

In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

On the other end of the destination bachelorette party spectrum from the aforementioned Best Men, meet Ruth Ware’s unputdownable, instant classic, In A Dark, Dark Wood. When Nora is invited to her estranged best friend Clare’s “hen party” for a weekend in a remote English countryside cabin – a glass house in the middle of the woods – she’s anxious but tentatively hopeful that it might be the first step towards mending the friendship. But what should be a cozy, celebratory weekend turns into something much worse, In A Dark, Dark Wood teaches us an age-old lesson: when invited to a group getaway that you have any hesitation about attending, decline! I couldn’t put this thriller down.  

Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro

A wedding is the perfect occasion for a friend group reunion trip, at least in the case of Tomi Obaro’s sensational debut. Funmi, Enitan and Zainab, former best college friends who are now in their forties, reunite in Lagos for one of their daughters’ weddings. It’s rare to read a novel where all three female characters feel so fully realized, the ebb-and-flow of their relationships so realistic, that the storylines truly come to life, yet Obaro pulls this off with effortless mastery. Getting to spend time with the women during their pivotal university years was a perfect way to study the lasting bonds of friendship. Part friendship reunion, part wedding drama, part love story, this is an illuminating novel not to be missed!

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

Okay, maybe this is cheating because I haven’t technically read Emily Giffin’s newest novel yet, but this one is already at the top of the list for my July most anticipated reads. The Summer Pact publishes on July 9^th and is sure to be a moving portrait about the people who help patch up our broken pieces. The premise: in college, four friends made a promise to always be there in any of their times of need. Now, when Hannah experiences an unexpected tragedy, she calls on her college best friends who, despite their recent distance, agree to escape to Capri, Italy together. Sure to be a powerful love story about friendship, grief, and healing, I can’t wait to sob into my beach chair with this in my hands come July.

Half Credit: The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Technically, the characters vacationing to Mallorca in The Vacationers are both family and friends, so this might qualify as more of a half credit, but I’d be remiss not to include Emma Straub’s keenly observed ode to group travel in my round-up. The Vacationers has been one of my favorite books since it published in 2014, because of how vivid a portrait Straub paints of long-term relationships, well-kept secrets, and the highs-and-lows of a family getaway. With Straub’s signature braided storytelling and clever character quirks, this is a family vacation story that might even make you grateful for your own brand of family dysfunction, while of course, enticing you to book a trip to Mallorca.

The post 11 Books Featuring Friend Group Trips appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below if you will be reading any of these!

Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay
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A chilling collection of psychological suspense and literary horror from the multiple award-winning author of the national bestseller The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts.

Pretty Revenge by Emily Liebert
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The name of the game is revenge—no matter the cost—in this emotionally charged thriller reminiscent of The Wife Between Us and The Perfect Nanny.

The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams
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The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding
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A Pretty Woman tale turns toxic and deadly in this provocative and riveting thriller of sex, obsession, and murder from Robyn Harding, the “master of domestic suspense” (Kathleen Barber) and the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Party and Her Pretty Face.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
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In Megan Goldin’s unforgettable debut, The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price of ambition when an escape room challenge turns into a lethal game of revenge.

The Enlightenment of Bees by Rachel Linden
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Rachel Linden’s newest contemporary women’s fiction story speaks to the universal struggle of what it means to live a meaningful life where the passions we have meet the needs of the world.

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky
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A brilliantly funny novel of money, sex, race, and bad behavior in the post-Obama era, featuring a wealthy Connecticut divorcée, her college-age daughter, and the famous American novelist who is seduced by them both.

The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
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Lila Bennett’s bad choices have finally caught up with her. And one of those decisions has split her life in two. Literally. In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.

Layover by David Bell
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In this high concept psychological suspense novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughter, a chance meeting with a woman in an airport sends a man on a pulse-pounding quest for the truth…

While You Were Reading by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus
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Funny, poignant and insightful, While You Were Reading reveals that there’s no such thing as perfection, the value of true friendship and, most importantly, the power of not living in fiction, but still reading it … Often. A love story for book lovers that celebrates much more than romance.

The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson
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In this unputdownable domestic suspense debut, a lonely suburban housewife finds her life entangled with the family that moves in across the street at the same time that she becomes convinced someone is watching her–perfect for fans of The Couple Next Door and The Last Mrs. Parrish.

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess
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A page-turning, coming-of-age story, written with a lyrical sense of place and a profound appreciation for the sustaining power of books, The Last Book Party shows what happens when youth and experience collide and what it takes to find your own voice.

Will you be reading any of these books? Tell us in the comments below!

The post July 2019 Book Releases: Fiction appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover what books are coming out and tell us in the comments below if you will be reading any!

July

The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
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Lila Bennett’s bad choices have finally caught up with her. And one of those decisions has split her life in two. Literally. In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
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The author of Other People’s Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone’s radar.

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
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The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

Dumped, Actually by Nick Spalding
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From the bestselling author of Checking Out and Dry Hardcomes a hilarious story about losing the love of your life, and finding yourself in the aftermath.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
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In Megan Goldin’s unforgettable debut, The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price of ambition when an escape room challenge turns into a lethal game of revenge.

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A Pretty Woman tale turns toxic and deadly in this provocative and riveting thriller of sex, obsession, and murder from Robyn Harding, the “master of domestic suspense” (Kathleen Barber) and the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Party and Her Pretty Face.

August

The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan
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Law student Rachel North will tell you, without hesitation, what she knows to be true. She’s smart, she’s a hard worker, she does the right thing. She’s successfully married to a faithful and devoted husband, a lion of Boston’s defense bar. And her internship with the District Attorney’s office is her ticket to a successful future. Problem is–she’s wrong.  And in this cat and mouse game–the battle for justice becomes a battle for survival.

The Third Mrs. Durst by Ann Aguirre
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Marlena Altizer Durst’s husband controls her every move―what she wears, the food she eats, and the friends she’s allowed to make. If she disobeys, there are…consequences. To outsiders, it seems that she leads a fairy-tale life. Death may be the only exit she’s allowed. Just like his first wife. And his second. Unless she flips the script. Some people just need killing.

The Birthday Girl by Melissa de la Cruz
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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex & Eliza comes a return to adult fiction, centered around a mysterious woman’s birthday celebration—and what it reveals about her past.

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
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A new teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war–with deadly consequences–in a provocative novel from the bestselling author of The Passenger and the Spellman Files series.

We Are All Good People Here by Susan Rebecca White
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From the author of A Place at the Table and A Soft Place to Land, a gripping, multigenerational story inspired by true events that follows two best friends through their political awakenings in the turbulent 1960s—and the repercussions of their actions after their daughters encounter the secrets they thought they had buried long ago.

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney
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The perfect life. The perfect love. The perfect lie. From the bestselling author of The Girl Before comes a gripping new psychological thriller. . . .

September

The Institute by Stephen King
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As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
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In Berlin in 1941 during humanity’s darkest hour, three unforgettable young women must act with courage and love to survive, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman.

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan
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The New York Times bestselling author of What She Knewconjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explores the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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In his boldly imagined first novel, Ta-Nehisi Coates, the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, brings home the most intimate evil of enslavement: the cleaving and separation of families.

Mother Knows Best by Kira Peikoff
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A mother’s worst nightmare, a chance at redemption, and a deadly secret that haunts a family across the generations. Past, present, and future converge in this mesmerizing psychological thriller from critically acclaimed author Kira Peikoff.

The Fragments by Toni Jordan
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From the award-winning, best-selling author of Addition and Nine Days, a superbly crafted and captivating literary mystery about a lost book and a secret love.

October

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
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Set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their unforgettable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond, from the author of Me Before You and The Peacock Emporium

Olive, Again (Olive Kitteridge) by Elizabeth Strout
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#1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions of readers.

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller
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A young widow restores a dilapidated mansion with the assistance of a charming, eccentric genius, only to find the house is full of dangerous secrets in this effervescent Gilded Age debut novel

Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
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International bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers pulse-pounding thrills in a series featuring a brilliant and unusual new heroine, cutting-edge cybertechnology, and stakes that are astronomically high.

Cilka’s Journey (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2) by Heather Morris
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From the author of the multi-million copy bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, comes the new novel based on an incredible true story of love and resilience. 

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram
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Jane Cockram makes her thrilling debut with this page-turning tale of psychological suspense in which a young woman whose life is in tatters flees to the safety of a family estate in England, but instead of comfort finds chilling secrets and lies.

November

Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza
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From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival…

Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
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From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a struggling man, written entirely in lists.

The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
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The Revisioners explores the depths of women’s relationships—powerful women and marginalized women, healers and survivors. It is a novel about the bonds between a mother and a child, the dangers that upend those bonds. At its core, The Revisioners ponders generational legacies, the endurance of hope, and the undying promise of freedom.

Spy by Danielle Steel
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A young woman is caught up in a dangerous double life on behalf of her country during World War II in Danielle Steel’s thrilling new novel.

The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North
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A hauntingly powerful novel about how the choices we make can stay with us forever, by the award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K.

Raven Lane by Amber Cowie
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The truth can bring out the worst in the best of friends. Esme and Benedict Werner have an idyllic life in a tight-knit community until an accident in their cul-de-sac ends in the tragic sudden death of one of their dearest neighbors. After vindicating eyewitness accounts morph into contradictory memories, suspicion, and unaccountable accusations, Benedict is arrested. Esme’s life, too, is changed forever.

December

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison
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J.T. Ellison’s pulse-pounding new novel examines the tenuous bonds of friendship, the power of lies and the desperate lengths people will go to to protect their secrets.

The Kill Club by Wendy Heard
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Jazz will stop at nothing to save her brother. Their foster mother, Carol, has always been fanatical, but with Jazz grown up and out of the house, Carol takes a dangerous turn that threatens thirteen-year-old Joaquin’s life. Over and over, child services fails to intervene, and Joaquin is running out of time. Then Jazz gets a blocked call from someone offering a solution. They’ve formed an underground network of “helpers,” each agreeing to eliminate the abuser of another.

This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
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A profound and enchanting new novel from Booker Prize-longlisted author Niall Williams about the loves of our lives and the joys of reminiscing.

The Wicked Redhead by Beatriz Williams
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The dazzling narrator of The Wicked City brings her mesmerizing voice and indomitable spirit to another Jazz Age tale of rumrunners, double crosses, and true love, spanning the Eastern seaboard from Florida to Long Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson
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The haunting, vivid story of a nun whose past returns to her in unexpected ways, all while investigating a mysterious death and a series of harrowing abuse claims.

Thin Ice by Paige Shelton
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Beth Rivers is on the run. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic’s obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she’s got to get away. Alaska seems tailormade for her to hideout, that is, until she’s told about a local death that’s a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?

Are you excited for any of these books? Tell us in the comments below!

The post July-December Fiction Book Releases You Need In 2019 appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

With three best friends, a troubling past, and hurtful secrets, Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke delivers an interesting take on what friendship should, and shouldn’t be.

The book starts off in an intriguing way, and had me wanting to keep turning the page to see what would happen next. Each chapter was either before Ashley went missing, or after, and showcased the little details that would foreshadow the main plot of the book, and had each character give their own perspective. As the book continued on, you start to learn about why Ashley, Lauren and Natalie slowly began to drift away from each other, and why suddenly Ashley wanted them to come back together as friends.

But, by the time I reached the middle of the book, I began to find myself a little bit irritated at the three main characters. These three women were middle-aged, married mothers, and rather than being somewhat mature regarding the problems in their friendship, they just really acted like young girls in high school. Although each of the characters have gone through terrible things, everything they said or done was childish, and unrealistic in a way. There wasn’t a sense of realism in these characters, but rather, it seemed that these characters preferred to drown themselves in drama and self-pity. None of these characters had a speck of empathy for their friends, and just continued to fight with each other, and all those around them.

The plot was very interesting, and the premise of the entire book had me excited to finish the story and see how the mystery unravelled. But unfortunately, the characters ruin the book. The three women did not grow as the story progressed, they remained flat through the whole book. I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately found it disappointing.

Overall, I’d give this read a 5/10 stars. It had a great plot, and at times, a great dialogue between characters, but, the character development and just overall characters within the book were frustrating and childish.

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke is now available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

Will you be checking out Girls Night Out? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.

Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies?

As the clock ticks, hour by hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit.

The post Review: Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If something with more of a historical setting is of more interest to you, Chariot On The Mountain is set two decades before the Civil War, while A Double Life and The Dying of The Light are set in the 20th century.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below what you’re excited to read!

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott
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Diane Fleming’s academic brilliance lit a fire in Kit Owens, and the two developed an unlikely friendship. Until Diane shared a secret that changed everything between them. More than a decade later, Kit thinks she’s put Diane behind her forever and she’s begun to fulfil the scientific dreams Diane awakened in her. But the past comes roaring back when she discovers that Diane is her competition for a position both women covet, taking part in groundbreaking new research led by their idol. Soon enough, the two former friends find themselves locked in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that threatens to destroy them both.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
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Meet Hanna. She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good. Meet Suzette. She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette’s husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding
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The author of the bestselling novel The Party—lauded as “tense and riveting” by New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda—returns with a chilling new domestic drama about two women whose deep friendship is threatened by dark, long-buried secrets. Harding spins a web of lies, deceit, and betrayal, asking the question: Can people ever change? And even if they can, is it possible to forgive the past?

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.

A Double Life by Flynn Berry
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Loosely inspired by one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century – the Lord Lucan case – A Double Life is at once a riveting page-turner and a moving reflection on women and violence, trauma and memory, and class and privilege.

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
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Two mothers—a suburban housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—struggle to protect those they love in this modern retelling of Beowulf.

Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win by Jo Piazza
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A searing, suspenseful story of political ambition, marriage, class, sexual politics, and infidelity, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win is an insightful portrait of what it takes for a woman to run for national office in America today. In a dramatic political moment like no other with more women running for office than ever before, Jo Piazza’s novel is timely, engrossing, and perfect for readers on both sides of the aisle.

Maze Master by Kathleen O’Neal Gear
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With its scientific and archaeological authenticity and suspenseful clues with a retrovirus that’s inevitable, unstoppable, and utterly catastrophic for humanity. Maze Master will have readers rushing through its intricate maze to find out the fate of the world in this thrilling adventure.

Chariot on the Mountain by Jack Ford
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Based on little-known true events, this is an astonishing account of a time when the traditions of the Old South still thrived, a treacherous journey toward freedom–and a testament to determination, friendship, and courage.

The Boy At The Door by Alex Dahl
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Cecilia Wilborg has it all–a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a gorgeous home in an affluent Norwegian suburb. There is no room for mistakes in her life. Even taking home a little boy whose parents forgot to pick him up at the pool can put a crimp in Cecilia’s carefully planned schedule. Especially when she arrives at the address she was given and finds an empty, abandoned house… There’s nothing for Cecilia to do but to take the boy home with her, never realising that soon his quiet presence and knowing eyes will trigger unwelcome memories from her past–and unravel her meticulously crafted life…

The Dying of the Light by Robert Goolrick
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Reveling in the secrets, mores, and society of twentieth-century genteel Southern life, The Dying of the Light is a romance, a melodrama, and a cautionary tale told with the grandeur and sweep of an epic Hollywood classic.

The Girl From Blind River by Gale Massey
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A gritty tale of how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love for fans of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone and Emma Cline’s The Girls from Gale Massey, a talented new name in crime fiction.

Check out what other books are coming out this month on our Goodreads list!

What book are you most excited to read? Tell us in the comments below!

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