Looking for some new biography and memoir books for your library? There are so many new releases this week that you’re bound to find a new favorite. You can pick up new books from Tom J. Bross, John O'Sullivan, Martha Raddatz, Dusty Baker, and more. Enjoy your new biography and memoir books. Happy reading!
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New Young Adult Books to Read | June 9
Are you an avid reader of Young Adult books? This week you are in luck! With all of these new novels, you’re bound to find a new favorite book to add to your reading list. This week includes new novels from bestselling authors Leoma Retan, S.E. Smith, Sarah Sutton, June Hur, and more. Enjoy your new young adult books. Happy reading!
New Business and Finance Books to Read | June 9
Looking for some new business and finance books for your library? There are so many new releases this week that you’re bound to find a new favorite. You can pick up new books from Peter Hollins, Farzad Mesbahi, Edward Lee, and more. Enjoy your new business and finance books. Happy reading!
Lives Shaped by What Remains: 6 Literary Fiction Books
Some stories begin with what's been lost and what comes after. These literary fiction novels explore the lasting impact of love, grief, memory, family, and the choices that continue to shape lives long after the moment has passed. Rich in emotional depth and unforgettable characters, they offer poignant reflections on what remains when everything else has changed.
Scarlet Yearnings Beyond First Glance (The Scarlet Yearnings Collection)
by Scarlet Ibis James
Release Date: June 1, 2026
What happens after the first spark of love? In twelve powerful stories set between Harlem and the Caribbean diaspora, Black women confront betrayal, friendship, family history, and second chances. Scarlet Yearnings: Beyond First Glance explores the moments when relationships are tested and the choices that reshape a life.
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Nothing Important, Everything Important
by T.L. Johnson
Release Date: May 28, 2026
A wrong-number message becomes a quiet, unexpected anchor in her evenings. As the silence between replies begins to matter more than the words, something shifts. Told over ordinary days, this is a restrained, intimate novel about connection, timing, and the moments that quietly change everything—how something small becomes impossible to forget.
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Amber Unscripted (The Scarlet's Harlots Trilogy Book 3)
by Kirsten Pursell
Release Date: -
Back in the childhood home she never thought she'd return to, Amber begins the messy work of reinvention. With honesty and sass from her fellow Harlots, she faces the story she's long avoided, setting the stage for her next chapter. This is the final novel in The Scarlet’s Harlots Trilogy. It reads as a standalone, but is even better in sequence.
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Fever Dream
by Elsie Silver
Release Date: May 19, 2026
Professional bull rider Emmett Bush is not looking for love. He’s looking for a paycheck to save his family’s farm from bankruptcy. So when he agrees to be the leading man on a hot new reality dating show, Romance Ranch, he’s already decided it’s all one big performance.
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Westerly
by Susan Donovan Bernhard
Release Date: June 1, 2026
In 1946, two German sisters, child refugees in a program dubbed Operation Shamrock, arrive in Ireland to live in foster care while Europe recovers from war. Nearly fifty years later, on a fateful day in a bustling Maine farmhouse, an Irish newspaper clipping threatens to unravel Faye Sullivan’s carefully constructed life with her husband, William, and daughters Maeve and Molly.
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The Quitters Club
by Jessica Strawser
Release Date: June 1, 2026
When four ride-or-die friends reunite for a getaway, they’re desperate for a break, a chance to reconnect. But each is hiding a deeper reason why. Marie feels like an impostor teaching “How to Say No” seminars while her marriage has evolved into something she never said yes to. Brooke’s most heartfelt goal—motherhood—is proving out of reach.
Buy on AmazonLove Worth Every Consequence: Romance Novels For You
Discover romance novels where every choice comes with a price, and every risk is worth taking for love. From forbidden relationships and unexpected marriages to powerful rivals, hidden truths, and heartbreaking betrayals, these stories prove that the greatest romances are often the ones with the most to lose. Perfect for readers who can't resist emotional, high-stakes love stories.
Wed, White, and Blue
by Jan Sloane
Release Date: March 3, 2026
Keri has survived her first month in prison and is happy with the love of her life... until Trevor's ex-girlfriend shows up. The fact that she is Dean's primary target for revenge following his release from ad seg does not help her situation, nor does the arrival of his son. Will her friendship with Jared and her relationship with Trevor survive?
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Billionaire's Private Reserve
by Lena Michaels
Release Date: March 19, 2026
Billionaire Hale Devereaux hires brilliant vintner Bella Ross to save his vineyard. Forced proximity, wine-country luxury, and an adventure to Australia ignite the undeniable chemistry between them. But when a powerful buyer threatens the estate, Hale must protect his legacy and the woman who’s become the heart of it.
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Sealed: The Wedding (Boys of Bishop Mountain Book 5)
by Lexxi James
Release Date: May 28, 2026
I’m a single-dad ex-SEAL who accidentally married my best friend’s baby sister. Yeah… It’s a long story. Now Hollywood’s about to take my wife across an ocean. Problem is, I’m in love with her. And my kids have basically adopted her. So, ready or not, my Pix is getting her happily-ever-after. Even if I have to duct tape the sucker together myself.
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In Love and Revenge (The All in Billionaires Book 1)
by Elle Nicoll
Release Date: May 26, 2026
He’s the arrogant billionaire intent on revenge. She’s the woman who’ll stop at nothing to get justice. Even if it means getting uncomfortably close to the man she hates. Rafael Fairfax: devastatingly handsome, notoriously difficult billionaire CEO of Fairfax Guardian. His staff alternately love him and loathe him.
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Love He Denied
by M.L. Hall
Release Date: May 24, 2026
He said another woman’s name at the altar. Charlotte Hoffman should have known Dominic Weston was too good to be true. He was handsome, powerful, impossibly wealthy. He made her feel like she’d stepped into a life she was never meant to have. In a whirlwind courtship, she fell hard, gave him her heart, and walked down the aisle believing he had chosen her.
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Better Off Wed (Marswood Harbor Book 1)
by Lilian Monroe
Release Date: May 30, 2026
When your arranged marriage to a small-town stranger is the most promising thing on your calendar, it's time to accept that the year has gotten away from you. My Manhattan bridal business is circling the drain. My finances are a crime scene. My wedding singer parents have opinions about my string of failed engagements. Loudly. In public. Often in harmony.
Buy on AmazonDark Schemes and Deadly Puzzles: Mystery & Thriller Novels For You
Uncover Mystery & Thriller books where dark secrets, supernatural forces, and high-stakes investigations collide. From magical murders and haunting legends to medical conspiracies and remote experiments, these novels deliver suspenseful plots that will keep you guessing until the final reveal. Perfect for readers who crave unpredictable twists and heart-pounding intrigue.
Mystic Brews & Malice (Magical Teashop Mysteries Book 2)
by Karen McSpade
Release Date: May 26, 2026
This midlife witch has a gift for magic, a knack for stumbling into murder, and a cat with too many opinions. Romance after forty wasn’t part of the plan, though. Neither is a first sailing date that goes awry when Jack hears a haunting song right before the sea delivers a luxury yacht… and a dead man. Will Samara's magic unravel the dark legend before Eastdare Island claims the man she loves?
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Defense Mechanisms
by Mo Kramer
Release Date: April 22, 2026
At an international medical summit, infectious disease specialist Noah Winter meets Dr. Balodis, a scientist who claims to have created microbes that end aging and cure deadly diseases. But Balodis has a darker plan: redesigning humanity itself. Now Noah must stop a global catastrophe before the cure becomes humanity’s extinction.
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Mark of the Scorpion (Charleston Ghost Book 1)
by VV Sinclair
Release Date: May 15, 2026
The X-Files meets Ghostbusters meets CSI, set in Charleston. When ritualistic murders erupt in Charleston, a former priest–turned–detective and a grieving parapsychologist must stop a powerful Magus from sacrificing victims to unleash the city’s legendary demon of fire.
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When Silence Was Commanded
by Zeljko Kalinic
Release Date: May 17, 2026
When Silence Was Commanded is a gripping historical novel cloaked in the tension of a psychological thriller-an unforgettable journey that reimagines an ancient story for the modern reader. The novel explores silence, guilt, destiny, and revelation through a narrative filled with dramatic twists and emotional intensity.
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The Dorians
by Nick Cutter
Release Date: May 19, 2026
On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause—forever, perhaps.
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The Circle (Rollback Book 3)
by Michael C. Grumley
Release Date: May 28, 2026
Mike Mansfield has spent years finding people no one else can find. He knows their patterns. He knows how they think. He knows where they slip. Until this case.
Buy on AmazonInterview with T.L. Johnson, Author of Nothing Important, Everything Important
What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always been fascinated by the quiet ways people change each other. Not the dramatic, world-ending moments, but the tiny conversations that settle into your life before you realize they matter—a message, a habit. Someone becomes part of your evenings without permission or ceremony. Nothing Important, Everything Important began with that feeling—the strange intimacy of being known slowly. It’s a story about loneliness, timing, connection, and the ways people can become emotionally significant long before they understand what’s happening. I wanted it to feel soft and aching and deeply human; the kind of story that lingers in the silence after you finish it.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
“Cherry Wine” — Hozier
“I Found” — Amber Run
“The Night We Met” — Lord Huron
“Fallingwater” — Maggie Rogers
“Carry You” — Ruelle, Fleurie
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I read very widely, but I tend to gravitate toward emotionally intelligent fiction with strong atmosphere: literary fiction, psychological fiction, modern gothic, romantic suspense, stories where tension hums quietly beneath the surface. As a writer, I love genre-blending. I’m less interested in fitting neatly into one category and more interested in writing stories that make people feel something sharp and recognizable. Whether it’s romance, literary fiction, or psychological tension, I always come back to emotional intimacy and human complexity.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
My TBR pile has become less of a pile and more of an architectural structure threatening my survival. Lately I’ve been reaching for atmospheric literary fiction, emotionally messy romances, and beautifully written speculative fiction. I’m also perpetually buying indie books faster than any reasonable person could read them, which feels occupationally appropriate as the owner of an indie bookshop.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
The quiet scenes. The conversations that don’t look life-changing from the outside but alter something fundamental underneath. There’s a particular emotional shift in the book where the characters begin realizing their lives have started arranging themselves around each other without either of them fully acknowledging it yet. Writing those moments—the hesitation, the almost-confessions, the emotional subtext hiding beneath ordinary conversation—felt incredibly intimate in the best way.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
I write with wooden-wick candles crackling in the background, usually under an electric blanket with a moody playlist streaming. I also talk to my characters while driving and use talk-to-text constantly because my brain moves faster than my hands sometimes. Recently, I acquired two tiny kittens who believe keyboards exist specifically to sabotage manuscripts, so that has added a new level of chaos to the process.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
“I want to be quietly wonderful.” I think there’s something powerful about creating beauty, kindness, art, and connection without needing to perform constantly for attention. I want my work and my life to leave people feeling seen.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
That small moments matter. A conversation can matter. A text message can matter. Being understood at the right moment can matter. People often think life changes in dramatic ways, but sometimes it shifts quietly, almost invisibly, until one day you realize your heart has built a home around someone.
T.L. Johnson is the author of the new book Nothing Important, Everything Important
Connect with T.L. Johnson
Interview with Lexxi James, Author of Sealed: The Wedding
What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
Honestly, I wasn’t ready to let Harrison and Ava go. Readers fell hard for the grumpy ex-SEAL single dad, the Hollywood sweetheart he never saw coming, and the three kids determined to keep her forever. But with Harrison, Ava, and three adorable little chaos gremlins in the mix, I knew there was still so much more in store for them. I wanted to write the kind of romance that feels like the grand finale. Big emotions. Protective hero energy. Family moments that make your chest ache. And two people trying desperately not to fall even harder in love while the entire world keeps throwing obstacles at them.
At its core, SEALED: The Wedding is about choosing love fully. Not halfway. Not conditionally. Harrison and Ava both have to learn that real love doesn’t ask you to become smaller. It asks you to trust someone enough to stand beside you while you chase the life you want.
Also… I may or may not have enjoyed every last second of Harrison’s kids. This family truly deserved a happily ever after.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
In the first book SEALED, it was “Gone, Gone, Gone.” For SEALED: The Wedding, it’s definitely Risk It All by Bruno Mars.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I love books in every form, but romance will always have my heart. My reading list is packed with everything from emotional contemporary and small-town romances to morally gray anti-heroes and darker love stories. There’s just something magical about watching two people fight their way toward each other despite the odds. And yes, it’s absolutely my favorite genre to write, too. I love creating emotionally messy, deeply flawed characters, turning their world upside down, and making them fight hard for love.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
So very many. I just finished “Crooked” by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward, along with “Beach Read” by Emily Henry, both of which completely reminded me why I love romance so much. Right now I’m in the middle of “My Rules” by T. L. Swan, and next up on my TBR are books from Sara Cate, L. J. Shen, and Elsie Silver. Honestly, my TBR pile grows faster than I can read because I feature so many authors in my newsletter. And I’m always looking for good recommendations!
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
Harrison designing Ava’s wedding ring was probably my favorite scene to write. I’ll try not to spoil too much, but he only ducked into the jewelry store to hide from his family for five minutes with absolutely zero intention of buying a ring.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
I tend to carry my pink sparkly MacBook around like it’s a tiny emotional support animal. I even bring it with me in the car on short drives because I’m convinced the second I leave it behind, my brain will suddenly produce the most perfect scene in literary history. Sometimes, I don’t even open it. My better half will look at me and go, “So… the laptop just came along for the ride?” Yes. And it loved it.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
You know the saying, “Dance like no one’s watching”? Mine is probably: write like no one’s reading. I have to love the story first. I have to fall in love with the characters, the banter, the emotional moments, the heartbreak, all of it. Because the second I start writing for trends or expectations instead of emotion, I lose the joy. So I try to write the kinds of books that would keep me up way too late saying, “Okay… one more chapter.”
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
That real love doesn’t ask you to become less. At the heart of my books, no matter how crazy, emotional, funny, or messy things get, I always want readers to walk away believing they deserve a love that feels safe, consuming, supportive, and real all at once. Also… a slightly unhealthy obsession with grumpy fictional men is perfectly fine.
Lexxi James is the author of the new book Sealed: The Wedding (Boys of Bishop Mountain Book 5)
Connect with Lexxi James
Interview with Kirsten Pursell, Author of Amber Unscripted
What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
Amber Unscripted is the final book in The Scarlet’s Harlots Trilogy. When I finished writing Finding Scarlet, I knew there were other strong women whose stories still needed to be told. A reader review became the spark for the second book: “I want to know Missy’s story.” And as soon as I began writing The Unabridged Life of Missy Kinkaid, I knew Amber would be next. At its core, this trilogy is about friendship, reinvention, and the courage to choose yourself. Amber is a woman who embraces risk, welcomes possibility, and learns how to move forward untethered from her past. Amber Unscripted brings the journeys of four courageous women full circle—each choosing to live life on her own terms, even when it gets messy.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
I wrote two songs for this book: Rear View Mirror and Shiny Wrapper. Rear View Mirror is about not being in the same place as someone else, looking back and seeing a part of you left behind. Whereas Shiny Wrapper is about being more than just the outside of the package. It’s based on the old prizes at the bottom of cereal boxes. The hunt for the shiny wrapper was so much fun, but what was inside was always such a letdown. The Harlots challenge that assumption too. Beneath the surface, these women are complicated, vulnerable, resilient, and far more than what the world initially sees. The Harlots know better than anyone: what’s inside is always the real story. Both songs are linked in the back of the ebook, but are also on my SoundCloud.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I have been exploring new genres. I like historical fiction and contemporary romance. But more recently, I’ve liked books that dive into the complexities of life a bit more. All the Colors of the Dark, The Wedding People, and The Road to Tenderhearts were powerful stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
I have become a huge fan of audiobooks. I get so much more reading done that way! Next in the queue are two books recommended by friends: Wreck by Catherine Newman and Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
This is always such a hard question. Amber had a special relationship with her parents that I enjoyed exploring—and the secrets that came to light. It was fun diving into the relationship she had with her half-sisters. The rediscovery of the Tiffany box and the ensuing events were romantic. Giving Audrey a story and maybe even a happily ever after made my heart full. And, of course, wine nights with the Harlots are always a favorite. Too many to list!
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Is drinking too much coffee while writing a quirky habit? Maybe not. But it’s a habit I have and own—unapologetically!
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Yes! I saw this several years ago, and it hangs by my desk: “Love your f-ing life. Take pictures of everything. Tell people you love them. Talk to random strangers. Do things you’re scared to do. F- it, because so many of us die and no one remembers a thing we did. Take your life and make it the best story in the world. Don’t waste that sh*.” This is me.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
I write about unapologetic, deeply flawed women owning their stories. Life is imperfect. Life is constantly changing. We can choose to sit idly by, waiting for it to happen for us, or we can make it happen. Ultimately, we can’t predict the outcome, but we can own the process.
Interview with Scarlet Ibis James, Author of Scarlet Yearnings Beyond First Glance
What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
My readers are entirely to blame for this one! When I wrote Scarlet Yearnings: Stories of Love and Desire, I believed I had emptied the well. I laid out those twelve stories, bared my soul, and thought that was the end of it. But then the questions started coming. Readers kept asking me, “But what happened after?” They wanted to know what happened when the initial dazzling spark faded, and the real work of love began. I realized that the first glance is easy, but the reckoning that comes after—the maintenance, the forgiveness, the choice to stay or leave—that is where the true story lives. This collection is my answer to that curiosity, exploring love in all its demanding, complex, and beautiful forms.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
Oh, I love this question, because I actually built a playlist for this collection! Every story has its own sonic heartbeat. Marcia and Talia in "Love on the Fourteenth Floor" are pure "Brown Skin Girl" by Beyoncé and Wizkid—that celebratory, chosen-sisterhood energy is exactly right. For Nadine and Charles in "Released for the Day," I chose "La Gozadera" by Gente de Zona, because that story is about the brief, electric freedom of a single afternoon that clarifies everything. Cleolin in "He Did Not Come Back" is "Lost My Way" by Sickick—dark, pulsing, and full of an absence that refuses to resolve. Link to full Spotify playlist here.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I am drawn to stories that tell the truth about the human heart, regardless of the genre label. I read widely across literary fiction, contemporary romance, spicy fiction, and creative nonfiction, especially works that center the Black diaspora and the Caribbean experience. The book that has moved me most deeply, and continues to, is Earl Lovelace’s The Wine of Astonishment. It exposes human nature through the lens of Trinidadian history, and the way Lovelace captures the betrayal of roots for personal desire cuts right to the bone. That tension between what a community holds sacred and what individuals sacrifice in pursuit of their own survival or ambition—that is the messy, unresolved struggle with identity, love, and legacy that I keep returning to in my own writing. My reading and writing absolutely mirror each other. I write what I want to read: emotionally riveting stories about mature intimacy, family, and the spiritual connective tissue that binds us across cultures and generations.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
My nightstand is always a beautiful, precarious tower. Right now, the pile includes Ronaldo Katwaroo’s Greetings From The Barracuda Hotel, which I am very curious about, and Talia Hibbert’s The Princess Trap, because Hibbert writes with such sharp wit and emotional precision that I always come away feeling seen. I also have The Horned Women and Other Stories by Christy Matheson and Tessa McWatt’s The Snag: A Mother, a Forest, and Wild Grief. That last one is calling to me in particular. She was the 2026 Bocas Lit Fest winner, and a book about grief, nature, and a mother’s story—that is exactly the kind of layered, emotionally honest work I gravitate toward.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
There is a moment in "Love on the Fourteenth Floor" where Marcia is literally on the ground outside her best friend Talia’s apartment, trying to peer under the door like a spy from a terrible movie. She is terrified something is wrong, but the situation is also completely absurd. Writing that scene brought me so much joy. It captures the exact frequency of true sister-energy—that blend of dramatic nonsense and fierce, protective love. We are meant to share our burdens, and sometimes that looks like making a fool of yourself in a hallway just to make sure your friend is okay.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
My flow state arrives long before the sun does. On weekends, I am up between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. The house is completely silent, my husband is asleep, and the world hasn’t started making demands yet. That is when the ancestors speak the loudest and the stories pour out. I also rely heavily on text-to-speech playback when I am editing in the afternoons. I am a highly auditory person, so I need to hear the rhythm of the sentences to know if the emotional resonance is correct.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
“Love beyond first glance isn’t magic, it’s maintenance.” That is the epigraph of this book, and it is the absolute truth of my life. Whether it is my thirty-three-year marriage, my relationship with my children, or my connection to my heritage, I know that love requires patience, courage, humility, and the bravery to look again. It is the work we do after the fire starts.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
I want readers to remember that the stories of our lives, our families, and our loves deserve a second look. Connection grows when we see each other clearly, honestly, and with compassion. Success in love is not about finding perfection; it is about the willingness to engage in the repair, the care-giving, and the profound grace of staying.
Scarlet Ibis James is the author of the new book Scarlet Yearnings Beyond First Glance (The Scarlet Yearnings Collection)
Connect with Scarlet Ibis James