"The Witches of Cambridge" by Alice Hoffman

The Witches of Cambridge (Sept. 8, 2026) by Alice Hoffman.

<This is the first book in a series.>

We Fly Together. In 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts, the town seems far removed from the legendary witch trials of the late 1600s. Ava Abbot is a red-haired young woman from Genesis, Maine, and she’s arrived for her first year at Radcliffe College. Her assigned roommate is Lauren Bell, the brazen daughter of a well-to-do Cambridge family. Both are so opposite, yet are connected. Lauren knows she’s imbued with magic, and she knows they’ve both been recruited as that year’s two Lilith Society initiates. It’s a clandestine organization of witches at Radcliffe that dates back to colonial times, and only those who are legacy witches can be recruited. Ava is convinced there is a mistake. She knows who her parents are, and there isn’t anything minutely witchy about them. Ava grew up in strictness and solitude, but she flourishes at Radcliffe and falls for the wrong young man. Jamie Mather is a descendant of those Mathers that were around for the Salem Witch Trials. Where Ava practically glows red with love, Lauren wends down the Crooked Path (of left-handed magic), aiming to make black her heart. When a few of their Lilith Society cohort go missing, they know that witch hunters are not a thing of the past.

            From the author of Practical Magic comes the first in a new, adult fiction series. It blends historical fiction, magical realism and mystery against a backdrop of dark academia. The era of McCarthyism, the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare run parallel to the overall patriarchal system of the 1950s where women have limited rights. Fortunately, Hoffman creates a rich story that lifts up feminism in spite of the misogyny, gives magic a foundation despite the discrimination surrounding witches and provides lore amidst struggles. I’m impressed that her supporting characters shine as brightly as her main characters. For example, there’s Carrick, who’s called Goliath, but is the type to secretly care for the stray cats near him, and there’s Maureen, a working-class witch whom Lauren looks down upon. This witchy series opener is smart and is a searing story of history as well as a twisting tale of the paranormal.

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 13

My commitment to the Wayward Children Series is going strong. I started reading this set of books in June. Thanks again to my coworker, Brittany, for the series recommendation!

            FYI: The write-ups are in chronological order.

In an Absent Dream (Jan. 8, 2019) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the fourth novel in a series.>

In a house in an ordinary town is Katherine Victoria Lundy. She’s “ordinary enough to have become remarkable entirely without noticing it.” She’s a child who’s mature beyond her years. She’s complex, quiet, self-assured. She loves books as well as rules, and when she’s eight, she is “always sure” as she steps through an impossible door into a tree with leaves running the entire spectrum of green. She enters the Goblin Market, “a place where dreamers go when they don’t fit in with the dreams their homes think worth dreaming,” first meeting Moon (who’s smart but sometimes careless) and then the Archivist (as old as the Market’s time). The latter explains the rules. Katherine chooses to go by Lundy, and she must learn about fair value. If one doesn’t learn fair value, debt will follow, and one probably won’t care to experience what fully happens when too much debt is incurred. Lundy often gets meat pies and fruit pies from Vincent, a unicorn-centaur. There’s Mockery, too, but we never actually meet her. Lundy returns to her family, but that place is no longer home. She knows that she’ll become a permanent resident of the Goblin Market before curfew. Because she is sure. What she doesn’t know is that she’s going to make a bargain that was better left in the bin.

            Another standalone fantasy comes forth as the fourth title in the Wayward Children Series. The gothic portal fantasy is also a magical realism tale that is capricious and logical in equal measure. Despite its slim length, it blooms with complexity, imagination and the rustle of wings. This is a fable of youth who don’t fit a mold and prime world-building. It’s a story suffused with pragmatism to balance what’s unfair, sagacity to the tale’s fairy tale fancy.

            Books One Through Three

            1: Every Heart a Doorway

            2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

            3: Beneath the Sugar Sky

Come Tumbling Down (Jan. 7, 2020) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the fifth novel in a series.>

<Alert: Potential spoilers ahead.>

Always exuding cold calm and aloof logic, mad scientist-in-training Jack Wolcott is carried through a door from the Moors into Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children by Alexis. Jack is unconscious and, in a nasty turn of events, is residing in Jill’s body. Jill stole Jack’s never-been-dead body so she can fulfill her fanatical dream of becoming Master vampire’s vampire daughter. Dr. Bleak bought them time to leave and likely paid with his life. Jack aspires to be a mad scientist herself and knows she’s a monster – the Moors makes monsters of everyone – but this is madder than Jack or Dr. Bleak would ever conceive (and Jack has a horse named Pony who’s made up of many animal skins, so, just saying). As Sumi so indelicately puts it, “...this is bonus terrible. This is the awful sprinkles on the sundae of doom.” She doesn’t want to need it, but she needs help. Kade, Christopher, Sumi and Cora (the only one Jack doesn’t know) heed her request. The Drowned Gods will call to one, another will fall heroically into the sea, and Jack, the ridiculously scientific-headed, is unraveling. If Jack doesn’t get her body back, if she fails, the Moors will be unbalanced, and that is, perhaps, the most monstrous thing of all.

            The standalone fifth installment in the Wayward Children Series is a dark portal fantasy that also suits the horror genre. Sumi’s nonsensical manner and forthright speech counterbalance Jack’s unsympathetic manner and equally blunt speech. Sumi is a rainbow of bold colors to Jack’s miasma of bleak tones. It’s all a bit deranged with Jill the shining beacon topping the cuckoo cake. The series continues to be inclusive, bittersweet and evocative. McGuire’s prose gets readers to think as she regales. In a story of Jack and Jill, who will come tumbling down?

            Noteworthy lines: “Science is my god. Lightning is my miracle, and storm clouds are my catechism.” --Jack Wolcott

Across the Green Grass Fields (Jan. 12, 2021) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the sixth novel in a series.>

Welcome to the Hooflands, where humans are heroes and lightning rods for disaster. Regan Lewis loves horses, and in the world she was born in, horses are acceptable. When one of her best friends is shunned by the best friend she wants more, she doesn’t fully understand the scope of her mistake until it’s too late. She’s sure at 10 years old when she walks through a door in the woods near her house, not knowing she’ll be gone for six years. She expects she’s dreaming when she comes across a unicorn and is further in awe when a centaur comes to find the wandering creature. Pansy is the centaur who finds Regan, and she’s ecstatic to find a human. Humans in the Hooflands mean something big is going to happen, but Regan doesn’t want to be a hero, nor does she believe in destiny. She’s finally found where she belongs and Chicory, a centaur her age, is like the best friend she always had even when they’ve just met. She loves her time with the herd, but being the only human in the land means potential danger for her and maltreatment to other centaurs. She’ll have to be the hero she doesn’t want to be in a land that is not as equal as it seems with creatures that may eat her if given the opportunity (beware the kelpies and perytons).

            The sixth short novel in the Wayward Children Series features all-new characters, making it a good choice for anyone wanting to read a true standalone story. The portal fantasy begins with the ups and downs of girlhood. It’s easy, as an adult, to see that Laurel is a terrible friend and an entitled bully, but that’s hard for Regan to see when she’s the kid that doesn’t want to be ostracized and seen as other for any reason. (FYI: My mother would NEVER have let me get away with snubbing Heather.) I’d wondered how I’d feel about a story featuring characters I didn’t yet know in a series that I’m now six books into, but I needn’t have doubted. Life in the Hooflands is an adventure, an education and a bildungsroman. It’s another wondrous tale that has heart (and many hooves).

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 12

It is a rare post that features one author. Here is one of those posts. The author is Evie Woods. The first book I picked up caught my eye when I was wandering around Barbara’s Bookstore at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport early spring of 2025.

            The books are in order by publication/US publication date.

The Lost Bookshop (Nov. 7, 2023) by Evie Woods.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Three characters in two timelines have been supporting characters in their own lives. Opaline Carlisle/Gray faces an arranged marriage to a leering man by a misogynistic brother. Martha Winter has fled a marriage filled with domestic abuse, and Henry Field is fanatically searching for a lost bookshop while avoiding his alcoholic and emotionally abusive father. Opaline’s timeline starts in the 1920s and wraps up years after World War II. She’s a progressive woman of her time, opening her own bookshop and becoming a leader in rare book dealings. She also experiences tremendous loss and years of time when life seems to stop (but no spoilers).

            In the present day, Martha has taken work as a live-in housekeeper for Madame Bowden (first name: Eileen). It’s never what Martha would’ve chosen for herself, but she needs work. Meanwhile, Henry’s obsession crosses paths with Martha’s; she originally thinks he’s a pervert trying to peer in her window. He’s merely obsessed with the location of where Martha is living on Ha’penny Lane. Unfortunately, his fanaticism is costing him, not only financially, but in his relationships with others. The characters are all lost, but not all is lost, and the lost bookshop will prove it.

            This adult fiction novel is historical and contemporary with magical realism and splashes of romance. Despite traversing themes of domestic abuse, alcoholism and misogyny, this is an enchanting story that means to transport readers to a spellbinding Dublin that highlights the wonder of books and storytelling. It’s a story meant for bibliophiles that’s delightfully written and has a captivating warmth at its heart. While not always easy to read, it’s an absorbing novel of escapism. There is joy in storytelling and delight in reading books that capture your imagination.

The Story Collector (Aug. 13, 2024/US edition) by Evie Woods.

<This is a standalone novel.>

In present-day New York, influenced by inebriation, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland and not to Boston, where her sister and brother-in-law are expecting her. While staying in the modest Butler’s Cottage in Thornwood, she finds the 100-year-old diary of Anna Butler, a teenaged farm girl who’s helping Harold Griffin-Krauss, an American visitor, who’s seeking fairy stories that have been kept alive. Anna translates the stories from Gaeilge (Irish) to English. The American is handsome and well-educated, while Anna and her family are working class. She laments that she has no real hope of catching the eye of Master George Hawley, who resides at the Thornwood mansion with his twin sister, Olivia, their father and all of their finery. That is, until she does. Oh, how tickled she is to have caught the eye of such a gentleman. But is George the gentleman he comports himself as? Will Anna trust Harold enough to share the secret of her older sister? Back in 2011, Sarah is weighed down by her own grief, questioning the wisdom of her hasty choice to fly to County Clare. Fortunately, she meets good folks like Marcus O’Brien (hotel manager), an upbeat sort, and Hazel Sweeney, who appreciates stories of The Good People. Her dad, Oran, is a good man who continues to sort through his own grief. Myth and magic in the everyday are par for the course when in Ireland.

            A standalone that is part contemporary romance and part historical fiction contains elements of fantasy and magical realism with the cottage life lending a domestic fiction feel. I didn’t fancy this tale as well as Woods’ other two books in this compilation, but the magical feel of the story is tantalizing. There is mystery and darkness, yes, but also beauty and light and, of course, the folklore and otherworldliness of fairies. The story is a tale of grief, but it’s also one of new hope, brighter days and the uplifting power of friendship. If this story were set to music, it would be haunting and lyrical, crescendoing at the highest turmoil and in the deepest grief. It is bewitching.

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris (Apr. 8, 2025/US edition) by Evie Woods.

<This is a standalone novel.>

It’s been over a year since Edith (Edie) Lane’s mother passed away. She doesn’t regret helping to care for her mom, but she knows she used her caretaker role to put her own life on hold on purpose. Now life’s staring her in the face in a big, big way and so she accepts a position in a bakery on the Rue de Paris in Compiègne, France, despite lacking strong fluency in French. The proprietor, Madame (Genevieve) Moreau, is disdainful toward her at best, and Edie’s room is the lonely attic at the top of the building, which sits over La Boulangerie et Pâtisserie de Compiègne. Edie wonders if she made a mistake, but after she makes new friends in Nicole and her husband Johnny and meets Hugo Chadwick, life seems more than a sprinkle brighter. The recipe book that Edie finds with a dash of magic in the ingredients spells deliciousness, but a recipe for disaster waits around the corner, and it involves the last person she’d suspect. Going through it also helps her see that she is exactly where she needs to be, not on the bustling streets of Paris, but in a small, locally-owned bakery on Paris Street in an entirely different town. She’s in a magical place where hot cocoa can unlock a precious memory, and a residual mystery resides in the basement.

            While this standalone novel read slow out of the gate for me, it picked up the whispers of wistfulness and whimsy that I felt when reading “The Lost Bookshop,” and then I got lost in the deliciousness of homemade bread and pastries. There is magic in a fresh croissant or a perfectly made macaron. Grief is at the forefront of the story, no matter the façade one puts on. A brave face still has struggles and sorrows, and the story balances that with secrets and sweets aplenty. The novel is a delight to the senses, even when you must use your imagination, and a literary tribute to hardworking, family-owned bakeries and all who love carbs (this includes me). Go ahead and eat a profiterole for luck!

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 11

The year is scooting along, isn’t it? How are we halfway through August already? What have you been reading? I always welcome recommendations, though I never promise that I’ll get them read, knowing the length of my TBR (To Be Read) list at any given moment. Here is this year’s second adult fiction compilation.

            P.S. Although other posts are technically also adult fiction, I did not nickname them under that banner, making this post still the second.

The Charmed Library (Jan. 26, 2026) by Jennifer Moorman.

<This is a standalone novel.>

The public library in [fictional] Blue Sky Valley, North Carolina, is a sanctum for readers, as libraries should be. Unlike other libraries, fictional characters can step off the page into the contemporary world. Greetings, Mr. Darcy! Hello, Ichabod Crane! Ahoy, Robinson Crusoe! Thirty-year-old assistant librarian Stella Parker is oblivious to this. She’s living in the outdated house inherited from her late father, and she’s holding onto bitterness from a breakup. So she burns one of her journals. She’s always seen actual words rising from people, places and objects, but once she “murders” the words in her journal, she experiences purple words that physically hurt as they arise. Words matter, but why these ones? The truth starts coming to light when Arnie (Arnold) Cohen, the 68-year-old head librarian, has a medical emergency, and he needs her to keep his friends in the library. Suddenly, Stella is faced with her fictional crush, a 27-year-old WWII soldier named Jack Mathis. He is her ideal man: heroic, handsome, kind. It’s too bad that there’s a time limit. Like a library checkout, characters must return to their books after two weeks, and characters can only “visit” once a year. Jack’s already been out for 11 days. With a villain on the loose (Stella’s fault) and the annual Blue Sky Valley Festival coming up this weekend, Stella must maintain control while keeping the library’s secret. She must also face the reality that all stories come to an end, no matter how good. All magic comes with a price.

            An adult fiction novel of contemporary romance and magical realism, it honors libraries, favorite stories and anyone who’s ever fallen for a fictional character. The title caught my eye, but it’s the idea of favorite characters wandering around where you can interact with them that really struck me. This story should’ve been wondrous, but Stella is a woman who’s stuck and is so fixated on romance that she’s miserable. I’ll admit that if she was my friend, I’d be struggling with her. Frustrating Stella aside, this is a novel of hope and renewal that brims with magic, the wanderlust found through reading and book boyfriends come to life. There is whimsy and heartbreak and quite a bit of charm.

Menu of Happiness (Oct. 14, 2025/US edition) by Hisashi Kashiwai.

   Jesse Kirkwood, translator.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

Anyone for thirds? The food detectives and father-daughter duo are back at the Kamogawa Diner serving up lost recipes and reviving suppressed memories. They may not realize it, but their clients aren’t just hungry for food; they’re hungry for nostalgia. A professional dancer looks for kake soba (plain noodles in hot broth with no trimmings) as an upscale lacquerware artisan wants curry and rice made by his estranged daughter who’s currently in prison. A former piano prodigy who injured her own hand for love seeks yakisoba made by the man she loves but hasn’t seen in 15 years while a man unhappy in his decades-long marriage yearns for gyoza served by the parents of the woman he once had an affair with in his student years. A businessman wants omurice (an omelet on fried rice) made by the mom of his best friend growing up and a popular romance author desires croquettes that she serially stole from a stall as a desperately hungry child. They come for the sustenance and will return for the solace.

            This is the third novel in Kashiwai’s Kamogawa Food Detectives series, and it’s the third of his I’ve read. The adult fiction, cozy mystery is one to warm you up on a chilly day and bring you the luxury of comfort food, even if one isn’t familiar with all of the food in these books. Step into the diner on Shomen-dori and sit yourself down. Might Chef Nagare serve you omi beef with miso sauce and tempura vegetables? Will you wash it down with the hojicha (a Japanese green) tea Koishi brings you? Or do you prefer sake? A nice cava? The entire book is succinct and reading it makes me feel nutrient-rich. Hungry, too!

          Book One: The Kamogawa Food Detectives

          Book Two: The Restaurant of Lost Recipes

Tales from the Cafe (Oct. 12, 2021) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

   Geoffrey Trousselot, translator.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

<Alert: Potential spoilers ahead.>

Clang-Dong. Return to Tokyo’s Funiculi Funicula to meet four new patrons looking to travel back in time. There are familiar faces, too, in Kazu Tokita, waitress and coffee pourer, and Nagare Tokita, Kazu’s cousin and proprietor of the cafe. There’s Miki, Nagare’s daughter, who’s eager to become the cafe’s pourer (when she’s seven). Gohtaro Chiba wanders into the shop wanting to meet Shuichi Kamiya. Gohtaro’s been raising Shuichi’s daughter all these years as a single dad, and she’s about to get married. Yukio Mita’s life isn’t going according to plan. He isn’t the successful potter he thought he’d be, and his mother (Kinuyo), his biggest champion, passed away from cancer without her or his sister (Kyoko Kijima) ever telling him she was sick. Katsuki Kurata wants to travel to the future to see Asami Mori, but he doesn’t want to meet her if either of two circumstances has come to pass. Kiyoshi Manda, a homicide detective at Kanda Police Station, wants to give his wife (Kimiko) a birthday gift, but he needs the advice of those at Funiculi Funicula. And ever present is the woman in the white dress: Kaname. Kazu’s mom. Clang-Dong.

            The follow-up to “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” is a short, adult fiction, Japanese literature novel that isn’t limited to one genre. There’s time travel in a contemporary setting with dashes of magical realism and patrons who each must face their past (or, for one, his future) in order to move on with their lives. It’s wistful and charming, deeply moving and sometimes sad. The story contains the multitudes of life and death, love and loss, the gladness of renewal and the awe of happiness. It manages to show pragmatism within the magic of the cafe.

            Book One: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"The Beheading Game" by Rebecca Lehmann

The Beheading Game (Mar. 24, 2026) by Rebecca Lehmann.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Disgraced, beheaded, died. Awoke, sewed on ... survived? The story starts in the hours after Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, has been beheaded. She’d been falsely accused of incest, adultery and high treason. And she hadn’t given the king a male heir. She finds herself unceremoniously in an arrow chest, grabs her head and borrows a woman’s sewing kit to sew it back on. Just another day of a woman being proactive! She’s gone from a genteel upbringing to a royal life and now has to disguise herself as a commoner to blend in. She’s learning as she goes, and she’s got a lot to learn. She knows her world as a living, breathing queen, not as the dead returned to life dressed like a working-class woman. She doesn’t realize the shopkeeper is sizing her up for weaknesses, and the fenlanders are not the simpletons she envisions. A prostitute who saves her becomes a trusted friend, but she hesitates to tell Alice her biggest secret. Anne tells her that she needs to find her daughter before harm comes to her. While she would truly love to see Elizabeth, she means to exact revenge and set in motion Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne. She’ll have to sneak into Whitehall Palace and slip into the one place Henry VIII is ever alone (and no, that place is not the bathroom). Anne is out for revenge. An eye for an eye ... or how about a head for a head?

            Wander through the wilds of England during the Tudor reign of 1536. The adult fiction tale blends speculative fiction and magical realism in a historical fantasy with an alternate history. It is crafty and inventive, vicious and macabre. There is danger and unpleasantness, and no one who’s easily queasy should read this. Lehmann’s novel is bold, upsetting, triumphant, vulnerable and strong. She fashions a new future for one of history’s most maligned women. She gives voice to one who was historically mouthy.

"The Midnight Train" by Matt Haig

The Midnight Train (May 26, 2026) by Matt Haig.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

It’s the three-cylinder passenger express engine of Wilbur Budd’s childhood, the Duke of Gloucester, except this one has carriages trailing behind, and the gray nameplate on the side of the boiler reads The Midnight Train. The station location isn’t SHEFFIELD, but WILBUR. Wilbur has just died, you see. Dead or not, no one can change a past that’s already been, but the Midnight Train can take you to all of those places where there is something to be observed and learned. It’s a chance to relive the moments that meant the most. With Agnes Deborah Amaryllis Bagdale (a.k.a. Mrs. Bagdale) of Bagdale’s Bookshop as his guide, Wilbur’s about to take a really hard look at the person he was in life. He’ll visit his best days with Maggie Shaw (eventually Mrs. Budd), the love of his life, when their love was young and their compasses centered. Then there was after. The shop expansions, the trips, more business trips, a husband that is never home and a wife who no longer feels like she has a husband. He wants more, more, more, but pushes Maggie aside as he achieves all of that more-ness. He loses his compass. Referring to his deceased self as the Ghost, he anticipates the memories he’s about to relive and there are those he wishes he could skip over (but he can’t). The regrets he didn’t have in life are staring back at him through his memories. He wishes he could go back and live better. He has an idea ... but the risk might be too great.

            Penned as the second novel in The Midnight World series but easily read as a standalone (Nora Seed makes an appearance), this is a time travel fiction novel of fantasy and magical realism that gives readers an interesting take on a journey after death. This love story is an adventure, as well as an exploration of what’s truly important in a lifetime. Through Wilbur, Haig reminds us that we should remember to live in the moment, but not in a way that feels clichéd. The love story is an appreciation expedition, a journey, a lesson and a reflection. It’s an adult fiction novel that makes readers think and encourages us “...to be nostalgic about the present.” Let none of us ever be in the sidecar of anyone’s ambition!

            Book One: The Midnight Library

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 7

It is a commitment to begin a new series, but this one is comprised of short novels. I tend to gravitate toward fantasy stories, so this series is right up my alley. As of this posting, there are 11 published books with the twelfth slated for publication early next year. I plan to read and review each of them. Thanks to my coworker, Brittany, for the recommendation!

            FYI: The write-ups are in chronological order.

Every Heart a Doorway (Apr. 5, 2016) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

There sits an elegant manor. It houses Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. Eleanor – once little Ely West – has a door that remains open, though that is not the norm for most who cross the threshold of her house. They come desperate to return to the worlds they have visited. They are desperate to find their doors. This includes Nancy Whitman, who’s just arrived. She went to the Halls of the Dead and plans to return to the darkness and stillness and right otherness of that Underworld. All this color and fast movement is as nonsensical to her as terms like Nonsense, Logic, Wickedness and Virtue (world types). But Nancy’s only just arrived, and three students are murdered in quick succession. Who’s an easier target to blame than the new girl with darkness in her veins? Fortunately, Nancy has comrades in Kade (Prism: a Fairyland), Jack Addams (the Moors with a mad scientist) and Christopher (Mariposa/Country of the Bones: a world of happy, dancing skeletons).

            Here is a gothic fantasy series opener for adults that is a grown-up version of holding childlike imagination. When one door closes, the door each of these people want may not actually open again. Or it may be lurking, but the traveler isn’t looking in the right place. This short novel is a gem of darkness, yearning and hope. The story can be mean, and it isn’t typically pretty. It’s a portal fantasy that’s “Grimm” but strangely charming, too. It is for every person who’s ever felt out of place, but I hope you, dear reader, don’t have to portal to another world to find your home.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (June 13, 2017) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

When Chester and Serena Wolcott got pregnant, it was for the convenience of a handsome baby boy or a beautiful baby girl. When they were told they were expecting twins, they were smug about the idea, how it “smacked of efficiency.” Instead of a girl and a boy, out came two girls: Jacqueline and Jillian. While Louise Wolcott (a.k.a. Gemma Lou) tried to raise them with love, she was kicked out by her son after five years. The twins were given a type according to their parents’ whims: Jacqueline got the frilly dresses and long tresses, while Jillian got the pixie cuts and sports gear. When they’re 12, Jack and Jill open an old steamer trunk holding an impossible stairway instead of clothes and costume jewelry. They find the Moors. They are promised three safe nights, but Jack leaves with Dr. Bleak after only one, and Master despises being selected second. Jill had already chosen him, though. The same of face, Jack and Jill are competitors as well as companions, but here, where a vampire and a mad scientist reside, they are as different as night and day in a land of eternal twilight. Jack learns of love from Alexis, a plump, well-endowed teen whom she and Dr. Bleak once resurrected, but Jill does not. Yearning to become Master’s daughter, she chooses ruthlessness. She also chooses desperation, and it has devastating results for the both of them.

            While someone could read this without reading the first book, I’d still start at the beginning. Jack and Jill are 17 in the series starter, but this is the story of what happened first. It gives context to why they wound up at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. The Moors are dark and fantastical, but they aren’t the only land through that doorway, and I do wish more had been said about the werewolf lords of eternal winter in the mountains and the Drowned Gods of the sea. McGuire’s prose is lyrical even when upset and is lush in its discontent. The second short novel in the Wayward Children Series is richly crafted, a gothic fantasy charmer with horror always at its heels.

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Jan. 9, 2018) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

<Alert: Potential spoilers ahead.>

A girl falls from the sky and lands with a splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, her sugary dress dissolving and leaving her [confidently] naked. The girl is Onishi Rini, from Confection, a “land of the culinary art become miracle.” She is looking for Sumi, her mother (who was in political exile per the Countess of Candy Floss), not expecting to hear that her mother was murdered. Rini is from a Nonsense world, and Reality cannot stop her quest. But without Sumi existing, Rini’s story is dissolving. Rini sets off with Kade (Goblin Prince: Prism), Cora (Mermaid: the Trenches), Christopher, beloved of the Princess of Skeletons (Mariposa) and Nadya (Drowned Girl: Belyyreka). They travel to the Land of the Dead to meet with Nancy, who was at the Home, but was able to find her door again, but there is a cost. One of them must stay behind. With Sumi’s walking skeleton (it cannot talk and has no soul), the group falls into Confection. Literally. Here, the world rearranges itself so that anywhere is within a day’s walk from one’s starting point: “A good day’s journey is like baking soda: use it well, and the cake will rise up to meet you.” To everyone’s dismay, they’re captured by the Queen of Cakes’ soldiers. Without Sumi to overthrow her, she’s back in power. They’ll have to escape a jail of baked gingerbread bricks “glued” together with hard-packed frosting and trick the cakey queen if they’ve any hope of finding the mythical Baker and baking Sumi back to life.

            The third in McGuire’s Wayward Children Series is a magical, restorative tale of adventure, baking and friendship. The gothic portal fantasy exists with reality, even when reality for one world is nonsensical to another, and this story homes in on a character’s struggle with self-acceptance as readers are wooed by robust and zesty prose. This installment is another diverse one, and it happens to contain a world where milk grows on trees and candy corn farms exist. It’s a world where brownies are perfect treats that also double as roofing materials. It’s a world where the Wizard of Fondant can whip up sugar traveling beads. It’s a world where one might go to great lengths to save Confection, even if it means, “I was just a candy shell filled with shadows.” Most importantly, it’s a world where “...everything was different, and everything was finally the same.”

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 6

Welcome to this first edition of adult fiction titles for 2026. I actually have more adult fiction than usual plotted for this year, but some are saved under different nicknames and not specifically as adult fiction posts. Stay tuned, my fellow readers! I didn’t plot the post this way, but each of the short novels is from a Japanese author.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Nov. 17, 2020) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

   Geoffrey Trousselot, translator.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

Clang-Dong. Customers at Funiculi Funicula can go back in time, but there are unbending rules to be followed, including the one that states the trip will only last until the coffee gets cold. The cafe in Tokyo is small and unassuming, but it’s significant for four people one sweltering summer. She knows she can’t change the present, but Fumiko Kiyokawa still wants to tell her boyfriend Goro Katada how she feels. Kohtake, a nurse, wants to retrieve a letter from Fusagi, her husband battling dementia. Yaeko Hirai runs a successful bar after leaving her family’s inn, but is desperate to connect with Kumi, a sister six years her junior. Kei Tokita, the wife of proprietor Nagare Tokita, wants to travel to the future, but not to know if she’s alive. She knows her heart is weak, and she isn’t afraid of dying. They will be guided by Kazu Tokita, cousin to Nagare, and the only one who can serve the transporting coffee. There’s also a teenage girl looking for someone, but no one knows who she is when she turns up in that seat, the one normally occupied by the woman in the white dress (she’s a ghost). It remains to be seen if the travelers will find the answers they’re looking for, but one thing’s for sure -- they must all return before the coffee gets cold. Clang-Dong.

            The first in a series of the same name is a short, adult fiction, Japanese literature novel centering on magical realism and time travel. It’s as immersive as one’s favorite cup of hot coffee/tea/chocolate and is wistful, delightful and totally individual. It’s also heartwarming and heartrending, and it made me teary, but I can’t deny its charm and simple beauty. The story is engaging and highlights the power of human relationships and love. Based on one of the cafe’s rules, it reminds readers that you can’t change what’s already happened, but you can change yourself.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop (Aug. 20, 2024) by Mai Mochizuki.

   Jesse Kirkwood, translator.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

Welcome to the Full Moon Coffee Shop. There are no set hours, no fixed location, and it typically appears without notice. The shop is currently appearing under a Kyoto moon to people feeling lost who are also interconnected. The shop doesn’t have a menu, but guests will be served by talking cats who will discuss astrology and natal charts and say things like Mercury is in retrograde and With Venus in your fifth house. There’s Mizuki Serikawa, a scriptwriter down on her luck, Akari Nakayama, a director who isn’t as goody-goody as she presents herself despite the perfectionism she places on herself and others, and Satsuki Ayukawa, a lead actress crumbling under a public scandal. There’s Jiro, a stylist whom someone hasn’t admitted she has romantic feelings for, Takashi Mizumoto, co-owner of M Y Systems and its server security engineer who feels like things go wrong more for him than his partner, and Megumi Hayakawa, a hairdresser who’s made a rather impulsive career choice based on a dream. They will be served delectable, otherworldly treats like Astral Milk from the Milky Way, Aquarius Trifle, Mercury Cream Soda and Sunrise Syrup (none of which can be replicated with regular, mortal ingredients). It may be served by Master, a six-foot tall tortoiseshell cat; Caelus, a Singapura; Cronus (Saturn), a tuxedo cat; Venus, a Persian; or Mercury, a Siamese. With varying personalities and cryptic wisdom, these working lost will reclaim their paths.

            Although I don’t drink coffee, I do love cats, and with cats on the cover, I was drawn to this short, adult fiction novel of contemporary fantasy and magical realism. It’s a cozy Japanese literature story and a gentle one. Even though I’m not into astrology, this tale is charming and well-crafted. Reading it goes down smooth like a luscious milkshake and dazzles like diamond stars in the night sky. Clever celestial confections, unruffled fantasy and enchantment create a feel-good story, despite the woes of the human characters. The magical cats are a delight, too. I will be continuing this series.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Oct. 8, 2024/US edition) by Hisashi Kashiwai.

   Jesse Kirkwood, translator.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

In this second helping, Chef Nagare Kamogawa and his adult daughter Koishi continue running the unassuming but incredible Kamogawa Diner and the Kamogawa Detective Agency, respectively. Nagare’s turned his past as a former detective and his passion for food into a culinary sleuthing business. He serves a mouthwatering set menu to first-time customers. They might be served miso-marinated pomfret, deep-fried Manganji peppers, hamo eel and chilled tofu, but they seek lost recipes. An Olympic-level swimmer looks for nori-ben (nori seaweed on a bed of rice) made by his estranged father as a gray pantsuit-ed woman always in a hurry looks for a Japanese-style hamburger steak recipe that she thinks her father made. A couple who run a traditional bakery are hoping for a Western-style Christmas cake as an offering for their young son’s shrine (he died in a car accident six years ago) while a model friend longs for fried rice made by her deceased mother. A managing director of a printing company seeks ramen from a yatai (food cart) existing during his university days over 30 years prior and a singer pursues ten-don (tempura served over a bowl of rice) she once had after her one hit from a restaurant that’s no longer open. Each of these characters longs for lost recipes. They need help finding them again.

            When you’re on Karasuma and reach Higashi Honganji temple, turn onto Shomen-dori to find the tucked away Kamogawa Diner. The second novel in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series is as comforting as rich hot cocoa and as healing as any balm. The adult fiction, cozy mystery highlights the marvel of delectable food. I love the details of the served food as well as the found food. This short novel is easy to devour with a lot of flavor and nourishing to boot. The only unfortunate part isn’t the story, but the lack of any Japanese restaurants near me.

            Book One: The Kamogawa Food Detectives

"Arsenic and Adobo" by Mia P. Manansala

Arsenic and Adobo (May 4, 2021) by Mia P. Manansala.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

Big city life in Chicago was the dream and still is, but Lila Macapagal is back home with Tita (Aunt) Rosie and Lola (Grandmother) Flor. The Calendar Crew of aunties not by blood (Mga Ninang April, Mae and June) give her a hard time for leaving for three years, showering her with love and judgment, as Lila is back working at Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. When the particularly unpleasant, self-proclaimed food critic in Shady Palms, Illinois (population around 20,000), drops dead soon after a wisecrack from Lila about, “Would it kill you ...,” her life tilts. Not only is the deceased her ex-boyfriend, but Detective Jonathan Park treats her like the only suspect and is convinced of her guilt based on evidence [definitely] planted in her work locker. Lila has no choice but to conduct her own investigation. She’s got a list of restaurants who’ve been targeted by Derek Winter (the dead guy), the nosy auntie network, her barista bestie Adeena Awan and her trusty, overweight Dachshund Longganisa. There’s also the family lawyer, Amir Awan, Adeena’s golden-child big brother and the guy Lila’s had a crush on for forever. And Dr. Jae Park, town dentist, has entered the picture. Both are attractive. Both are successful. Both are single. But first, Lila must figure out who killed Derek, framed her and brought further distress upon her family’s already struggling restaurant.

            The debut adult fiction novel in Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries series brings Filipino American food culture to the forefront of a cozy, culinary mystery series with a sizzling plot and mouthwatering dishes. It is ripe with sticky situations and satisfying snark, humor, hard work and heart. Lila is plucky and sarcastic and is definitely new to amateur sleuthing, flawed bits and all, but I rooted for this tight-knit (if sometimes overbearing) family and community of color. There is one moment where I really struggled with Lila, as she’s the one who’s bringing the “high school drama.” Not Adeena. Yeah, I realize she’s going through a lot, and while I have compassion for her, I have zero patience for bratty behavior. There is emphasis on culture and language (Tagalog) with the story tackling heavier matters like drug-dealing, racial discrimination and fatphobia. (There is a trigger warning.) I flew through this story like a contestant in a timed showdown (minus all the stress and the actual cooking or baking). There is food. There is murder. It is cozy and culinary with the right amount of drama. It’s a little sweet, a lot salty, but all the mentions of food balance it out and keep me hungry. Now, how about a plate of ube crinkles?

            P.S. This library checkout was my Blind Date with a Book this month.

            P.P.S. There are recipes at the back of the book, including a recipe for those ube crinkle cookies!

Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 19

A third adult fiction compilation post?! I’m surprised, too!

Dreadful (May 28, 2024) by Caitlin Rozakis.

<This is a standalone novel.>

You know it’s bad when you wake up in a partially-destroyed workshop with no memories and no eyebrows. There’s an abducted princess in a cell of the evil wizard’s castle and the goblin workforce fatalistically expects to one day be immolated on the whim of the evil wizard. Also, the evil wizard is ... him. What is his name? Others refer to him as Dread Lord Gavrax, but as he has no memories of the time before, he refers to himself as Gav. He plans to fake it until he makes it, but he might still die a horrible death at the hands of the evil wizard leader, Zarconar. Or maybe the moat squid will succeed in eating his face. Or he’ll self-immolate accidentally. He doesn’t want to die, and he also doesn’t want to be like Gavrax. He wants to be a, well, not a good wizard, but also not an evil wizard. He wants to be a wizard Orla will talk to about a hosting menu in her gamboling monster kitty apron that her granddaughter made her. And a wizard that Grrribeetle isn’t afraid of and will do more than mumble to. And a wizard that Princess Eliasha (apprentice name Wren) wants to be friends with. There is something truly evil at work. The princess is definitely only there for a nefarious purpose, which will assuredly mean her death. There’s a gathering of evil wizards, an upcoming summoning of demon evil, the arrival of hero types doing Artharno the White Wizard’s bidding and a village garlic festival. Candied garlic or garlic brittle, anyone? Gav has lots more to worry about than his flames-adorned cloak. He needs to decide who he wants to be going forward.

            I definitely judged this book by its sprayed edges, which are black and include skulls in the decorative edge-work, but I only bought it after I read the jacket copy and found myself intrigued. This adult fiction novel is a comedic fantasy with splashes of violence. There’s even a little gore, but it’s a quick scene, so it can therefore be sometimes spicy with dashes of darkness. Gav, with his missing memories, is more a bumbling fool than any threat to anyone – except the guy he turned into a chicken – so the story’s more entertaining than anything and not scary. I don’t know that I’d call it cozy, but it is genuinely funny. It contains wit, self-awareness and empathy, giving a fresh take on fantasy tropes. This book won’t bite, but if you’re not careful, something from the story might, so beware!

Gone Before Goodbye (Oct. 21, 2025) by Reese Witherspoon & Harlan Coben.

<This is a standalone novel.>

A renowned combat surgeon with a renowned combat surgeon husband and co-founder of a successful medical mission called WorldCures, Maggie McCabe was making a positive impact, and she had it all. Her reality now is a life where her medical license has been revoked, her husband is dead, her sister is going through a messy divorce, and both sisters are struggling financially. She’s thrown a mighty lifeline, and when she accepts, debts are erased, litigation against her is suddenly resolved, and she has a whole lot of money in her bank account, and that’s only half the payment. Absolute discretion is imperative, but she knows HIPAA. She arrives at a remote location in Russia. It’s a palace, and one of her clients is a reclusive oligarch. When he goes missing while he should still be under her care, Maggie becomes a fugitive herself around people who can afford Bugatti Tourbillons that cost $4.1 million (starting) and can jet-set in their own private planes with their own Michelin-star-level personal chefs. Her combat training as well as her medical expertise are going to be tested, and the truths she might uncover may cost her her life.

            There’s cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art equipment and people who can live in gluttonously opulent luxury in this adult fiction, mystery and medical thriller by Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and internationally bestselling thriller author Harlan Coben. The novel is action-packed, though it really didn’t pick up for me until an intense escape about 150 pages in. It’s also part globe-trotting adventure, part psychological thriller. The story contains twists and suspense, the plot is high-stakes, and the story is dynamic and pedal to the metal. It has me wondering what I’ve been missing out on since this is my first Coben novel, and I don’t know how much of the writing Witherspoon did, but this collab really works.

The Second Chance Convenience Store (June 17, 2025/US edition) by Kim Ho-Yeon.

   Janet Hong, translator.

<This is a standalone novel.>

The owner of the Second Chance Convenience Store, Mrs. Yeom, is a retired history teacher who keeps her store open in Cheongpa-dong to keep her few employees employed. She’s distraught over the loss of her purse until she receives a call from Seoul Station. Dokgo is an unhoused man who can’t remember his past or his actual name due to alcohol-related dementia. To thank him for returning her purse, she invites him to come to her store every day to receive an unexpired boxed lunch free of charge. He comes, but insists on only eating the expired boxed lunches. He even cleans up the picnic table, though it’s wintertime and very cold. When Dokgo saves the store from a robbery attempt, Mrs. Yeom offers the big, bear-like Dokgo the night shift. She requires him to stop drinking alcohol, but she buys him new clothes and a haircut. He learns fast and quickly wins over the denizens of the neighborhood, though his coworkers are slower to warm up to him. He’s grateful to his new boss, and business sees an uptick with his customer service, slow and methodical though it may be. The better business upsets Mrs. Yeom’s ne’er-do-well son, Minsik, who wants to try to convince his mom to back his latest venture (and they either tend to fail or turn out to be scams). Minsik hires a man to look into Dokgo’s past, because his mom’s convenience store is an inconvenience store to him.

            In this adult, cozy, urban fiction story, already an international bestseller from Korea, readers will find a broken man who gets his life back, a store owner with a kind soul and a wayward son, a caustic morning shift employee and a mid-shift employee who’s questioning what to do next. The fiction is realistic and sometimes unpleasant, but it’s encouraging and compassionate, too. It’s a story of community and healing. Overall, it’s a soft, heartfelt novel.

"Remain: A Supernatural Love Story" by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan

Remain: A Supernatural Love Story (Oct. 14, 2025) by Nicholas Sparks.

   With M. Night Shyamalan.

<This is a standalone novel.>

New York architect Tate Donovan is in Heatherington, a [fictional] town on Cape Cod, meeting with his best friend, Oscar, and his wife Lorena. He’s designing their summer home and picking up Paulie, his cat. Tate’s aiming for a new start since losing his sister, Sylvia, to illness, then spiraling downward and being recently discharged from a swanky psychiatric facility. It’s said that Sylvia could see spirits trapped on this plane of existence, but he’s skeptical of her “gift” until he encounters a captivating woman doing yoga in the living room. After he speaks with Louise and Reece Gaston, the property’s caretakers, Tate learns that the woman is Wren Tobin ... and she’s been dead almost two years. Reece is Wren’s last-remaining blood relative. Tate comes to learn that there’s a Daytime Wren – who doesn’t realize she’s dead – and Nighttime Wren – who is terrifying and sometimes grotesque. Her death wasn’t gentle, and when Nighttime Wren finally communicates that she was murdered, Tate can’t help but do his own civilian investigation with Oscar’s help. He’s fallen in love with a ghost. Was it Griffin, Wren’s estranged, alcoholic husband whom she wanted to divorce? Or Nash, the business partner who was stealing money from her, and she was preparing a civil suit against him? What about Dax, the substance abuse counselor and Wren’s friend who wanted to be more than friends despite both being married? Tate will try to free Wren from what still tethers her here, knowing that that will mean the end of their strong, yet tenuous, relationship.

            A collaboration between romance author Nicholas Sparks and supernatural genre filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan? Talk about a plot twist! A collab such as this one I couldn’t pass by. Yes, I did find the paranormal love story to be a little weird sometimes, but the relationship remains a moving one. I did enjoy the supernatural element, and the contrast between Daytime Wren and Nighttime Wren is as different as a warm, sunny beach and a blizzardy winter night. There is strength in loving others, as this adult fiction standalone showcases. I’m pleased that I read this haunting and emotional love story. For those who startle easily, there are small sparks of horror. But worry not, for “Remain” is a reminder to “live well and love deeply. Look for reasons to be grateful. Treasure your friends. Embark on wonderful adventures.”

Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 12

I’ve done companion novel posts in the past, but not one specifically nicknamed Novellas (includes short stories). I don’t think this will be a regular post annually, but I wouldn’t be opposed.

The Housemaid’s Wedding (Nov. 4, 2024) by Freida McFadden.

<This short story fills the gap between Books 2 and 3.>

It’s her special day, the day she’s marrying the man of her dreams, and it starts with a death threat. Wilhelmina “Millie” Calloway has helped multiple women get away from abusive men, so threats aren’t uncommon in her line of work. But, come on, it’s supposed to be the happiest day of her life! Between the threat and a very important dress not fitting perfectly as it did a week ago, problems are being had. Millie tells herself she will tell her fiancé, Enzo Accardi. Tomorrow. All she has to do is fit into her dress, get married and contend with an unplanned obstacle, one that wants her dead.

            While not my usual way, my first book by McFadden is her short story. The hard part about short stories is that they can feel rushed and contrived, and that’s how this one felt. I know that her novels are hugely popular (I work in a library and see this firsthand), so I’m disappointed by this short story. Sure, there’s a thriller element, but the danger never feels intensive, and the wedding takes up nothing more than a piece of a short chapter. I would not spend money on this unless you’re a diehard McFadden fan. Consider checking it out from the library, as I did.

Book 1: The Housemaid

Book 2: The Housemaid’s Secret

Book 2.5: The Housemaid’s Wedding

Book 3: The Housemaid is Watching

The Shifting Current (May 2, 2023) by Dani Pettrey.

<This is a companion novella ending a series.>

When the call comes from Tom Mahoney, his high-school-buddy-turned-hometown-sheriff, Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Special Agent Logan Perry is on the next flight to Silver City, New Mexico, with his teammate, CGIS Special Agent Emmy Thorton, the woman he also secretly loves. His grandfather’s been murdered in his own home in [fictional] Cauldron Creek. It looks like a robbery gone wrong. Their prime suspect is a female drifter who’d been staying in one of the guest bunkhouses. She always seems to be one step ahead. They suspect there’s at least one other person involved who’s male. Emmy’s grateful to be along to assist the investigation however she can without overstepping their bounds (since it’s not their jurisdiction). Logan thinks she’s there to be his teammate as she would on any assignment, but she secretly loves Logan and considers him to be husband material despite his playboy past. If they want a chance to grow their relationship, they’ve got to catch the killer before they become the next victims.

            Although I miss that this isn’t a full-length novel, this is a compact, romantic suspense tale of the Coastal Guardians series. It’s got grit to balance the pain, love and friendship to outweigh hatred and vileness with faith to cover everything. A little rushed, I felt, because of the short page count, but Pettrey still manages to include a solid plot, clean romance and danger that you know will be turned into a happy ending. After all, how can it not when the book includes the occasional Stetson hats, Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots and horses?

            Book One: The Killing Tide

            Book Two: The Crushing Depths

            Book Three: The Deadly Shallows

What Does It Feel Like? (Oct. 8, 2024) by Sophie Kinsella.

<This is a standalone novella.>

She’s a bestselling novelist whose books have been movies and garnered her walks on red carpets, photos with celebrities and time on movie sets. She buys a Jenny Packham dress, because “an occasion will present itself.” That’s Before. Then After arrives, and Eve Monroe awakes in a hospital bed with a brain that’s forgetful. She’s made her success with her words, and now she looks at a picture of a shirt and calls it a bag. She relearns how to walk and reminds herself that she has five children, her husband’s name is Nick, and what are the lyrics to ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ again? With her lacking short-term memory, many days are the first time she learns that she has glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that does not have a good prognosis. All she wants is to keep going. That is her happy ending.

            Author Jodi Picoult states that, “This is the bravest book you’ll read all year,” and she may be right. While Eve Monroe is a fictional character, this story is the author’s. Sophie Kinsella has been battling glioblastoma and has survived longer than the average. This contemporary, adult fiction novella is funny in parts, sad in others, but is full of optimism and love throughout. Kinsella’s work of autobiographical fiction is a story of triumph, courage and strength, but vulnerability, too. It stirs the soul and encourages us all to live our best lives. This book is a gem, and I’m so glad that my coworker, Maggie, recommended it to me. Let it embolden us to be glowing beacons in heavy darkness, in our lives and the lives of others!

Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 11

I aim to make this a regular compilation post annually, but its nickname all these months has been Christmas in July. None of these books were published in July, but as you can see from the titles, they all have a Christmas theme. Happy Christmas in July! (^-^)

Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor (Sept. 3, 2024) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is a standalone novella.>

In Edwardian-era England, 19-year-old Lady Mariah Lyons is the beloved stepdaughter of Lord Geoffrey Lightbourne, the Earl of Castleton. Her mother married the earl when Mariah was only two years old. Lady Mariah has grown up in the idyllic Plumford Manor, a home and village she cherishes, and it’s rechristened Sugar Plum Manor every Christmas holiday. Her childhood friend, whom she hasn’t seen in 12 years, 22-year-old Cyril Lightbourne, is set to return to Plumford as its heir. Lady Mariah once dreamed her friendship with Cyril would spark into something more, but she’s learned that he’s courting the cruel Lady Pearl Kingeland. She vows to accept him as a friend and prays he’ll be the heir her stepfather and Plumford need.

            A youthful misunderstanding kept Cyril away from Plumford Manor, and he no longer has an attachment to Lady Pearl. He hopes Mariah is still a friend, but winning her heart may pose tricky, as a Danish lord, Søren Gyldenkrone, is determined to win her hand and whisk her back to Denmark. Will the magic of the holiday season usher in true love like sugar plums, cinnamon and gingerbread usher holiday merriment into a festive home?

            This short tale is layered with friendship, love, sugar plums, gingerbread and an E.T.A. Hoffman-inspired Nutcracker play. The main characters are easy to root for, and it’s even easy to root for Lord Gyldenkrone and hope for a happy outcome for Lady Louise, Lady Mariah’s 26-year-old widowed sister. There are Scrooge-y hearts that need thawing. The whimsical backdrop of this novella, with its holiday descriptions and Christmassy foods, makes for a charming historical romance. While outside the realm of her usual novels, White remains a powerhouse in Christian, historical fiction. What a treat that it’s Christmas-themed this time!

The Christmas Tree Farm (Sept. 3, 2024) by Melody Carlson.

<This is a standalone novella.>

After several years of teaching in Mongolia, Madison McDowell has returned to her family’s Christmas tree farm in Oregon. There’s damage after a recent wildfire, and it’s also been neglected due to her younger sister’s unwillingness to invest her time and money into the farm. Addie wants to sell, claiming there wasn’t much to inherit after their other grandparent passed away, but Madison is prepared to invest in the farm, and she does. Her time, her money, her sweat. She isn’t thrilled that their property-adjoining neighbors want to create a dusty, noisy, dirt bike track, but maybe dirt bikes aren’t so bad? The neighbor is a widower and her first love, Gavin Thompson, whose younger daughter, Lily, wants the track. The older daughter, Lucy, is away at college. Now all she wants is for them to be good neighbors and friends. Just friends. (Maybe.) Her focus is the Christmas tree farm and restoring the one place that ever felt like home to Madison. It’ll take grit, hard work and great effort to restore the farm, but that may prove easier than reconciling with her sister. Will unexpected help spell a second chance at love or will it just dredge up painful memories right before Christmas?

            This Hallmark moviesque novella is a Christian, contemporary romance with drops of faith that will have readers wanting a custom wreath, the fresh scent of a real Christmas tree and plenty of hot cocoa. Readers know the story will be tied up with a neat bow by the story’s end, but that’s not a bad thing when you know going in that you’re in for a swift, sweet, charming story that encourages holiday spirit.

Santa’s Secret (Sept. 24, 2024) by Fern Michaels.

<This is the third book in a series.>

With Christmas fast-approaching, ‘tis the season for high school friends Frankie (Francesca) Cappella, Amy Blanchard, Rachael Newmark and Nina Hunter to go on a Girls’ Trip. Their trip finds three-quarters of them traveling with partners, and Frankie’s parents are going, too. They’re traveling to Salerno, Italy, where Giovanni Lombardi’s family lives. Giovanni is Frankie’s boyfriend. Giovanni and his older brother, Marco, run an Italian restaurant in Manhattan, and the traditional family recipes delight tourists and locals alike. But one recipe eludes them, and it’s their mother’s coveted panettone. She claims it’s “Santas’ secret.” Amy, Rachael and Nina have their own side quests planned before converging on the Lombardi family. From lost luggage to the wrong tour group to jet lag and Vespas, there’s never a dull getaway with this crew of high school friends and company.

            The third in the Santa’s Crew series (I’ve not read the previous two) likely finds strong readership with viewers who enjoy their Hallmark holiday movies era. There’s amazing food, mischief-making, holiday merriment and wholesome romance in this contemporary romance, Christmas story. It’s a story of beloved traditions and making new memories. My one struggle is how she writes her interactions with her friends. The friends are in my generational age group, but none of my various friends with their varied backgrounds and current stations interact like that, not even those friends who are huggers. Those interactions are cringey to me. Still, for readers looking for a little merry mayhem during the holiday season and copious amounts of delectable Italian food, this may be the Christmas story for them.