Cassidy has always known that someday she’ll help run Silver Stallion Ranch, just like generations of Sterlings before her. Wilder Nash is a Hollywood heartthrob who’s trying to break out of commercials and high school prom-coms. Being cast as the lead in a historical Western miniseries might be his big break. The only problem: He can’t ride a horse. But he hopes that a stay at the ranch with Cassidy as his teacher will turn him into a believable rider. Over the course of their lessons, the chemistry between the teens slowly builds. But can they take a chance on romance when they’re from two different worlds and their time together is finite? Emmel transports readers to Wyoming, with its rolling fields, winding streams, and smells of dry earth and warm grass. Cassidy loves her home and her life, but she recognizes how confining not having choices can be. Wilder wants to be serious, but he doesn’t know what to say when there’s no script to fall back on. Cassidy and Wilder, who are cued white, feel like real people who are acting on their internal motivations and insecurities. While the growing romantic tension is engaging, the ending wraps up a bit too quickly. Still, this novel offers an appealing blend of love story and coming-of-age themes.

Aria Nguyen is barely staying afloat, balancing college classes in Washington, D.C., with caring for her ailing Aunt Thu and managing the mounting medical bills. As the anniversary of her mother’s disappearance approaches, Aria receives a voicemail from the Les Eaux Police Department with new information, turning her longing into anxiety. By contrast, Aria’s identical twin, Caliste Ha, leads a life of affluence as a Los Angeles fitness influencer. Her father, Paul Ha, owns a Vietnamese food empire. Despite her privileged background, Caliste is worn down by the artificiality that surrounds her. Shocked to meet in Les Eaux, the sisters investigate their mother’s disappearance and uncover secrets that shaped their family. They soon find themselves drawn into a town that’s haunted by mysterious deaths. Aria’s and Caliste’s alternating perspectives propel the novel, punctuated by occasional chapters from the point of view of the Ghoul. As the story unfolds, weaving in supernatural elements inspired by Vietnamese folklore, the author’s detailed character development gradually reveals the connections and contrasts between the sisters. However, her heavy focus on backstory often sidelines the central mystery, slowing both the novel’s opening and its overall momentum.

When the author was 8 years old, she developed bleeding in her brain stem that required surgery. Though the surgery was successful, she was left partially paralyzed on her left side; she had to re-learn how to walk and talk with therapy and carried a lack of self-confidence with her into adulthood. As Goodson entered her 30s, she was eager for love but still hadn’t found the serious romantic relationship she wanted. With the help of life coaches and friends, she realized that her disability wasn’t the thing holding her back—it was her mindset. After years of frustration, the author began working with Londin Angel Winters, an intimacy coach, who helped her to stop judging herself for her disability and lack of sexual experience (“I was judgmental of my history because I thought it was wrong. I thought it wasn’t how I was supposed to be doing life”) and start celebrating her differences. In this book, Goodson shares the insights she has gleaned and frames them for all readers, both disabled and not, who believe that certain parts of their identity are “dating deal-breakers.” In the last section of the book, the author summarizes the principal takeaways from her experience for readers to use on their own journeys. The tone of this book is empathetic and warm; like a good therapist, Goodson instantly puts the reader at ease. As the author shares the lessons she’s learned, they register as authentic because she doesn’t describe them as cure-all solutions that fix everything overnight. (She did not instantly gain a boyfriend, but she did increase her confidence in how she presented herself to the world, which was the real goal.) Often, it feels like Goodson’s stories could be expanded upon to yield deeper insights—for example, she describes the first and one of the last sessions with Londin but not much of their work in between. Still, the overall message is bright and encouraging.

Actually, Kate, who’s married to DCI Tom Mallory, has two, possibly three murders to solve: two in the present, the other from the 14th century. An archeological dig has discovered a woman so well-preserved that the searchers can tell that her eyes were blue. Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, have been asked to examine the grave goods, including a magnificent pearl, which are being stored at an estate called Ravenswyck Court, on whose grounds they were found. They’re invited to dinner at Finchley Hall, home of Kate’s friend Lady Barbara Finchley-fforde, to meet the archeologists, from the University of East Anglia. Their leader, Dr. Simon Sinclair, is a brilliant backstabber willing to do anything to advance himself. The rest of the team includes Barbara’s adopted niece, Dr. Celia Whybrew; Dr. Niall Nevin; and two Ph.D. candidates, Mark Lambe and Tamzin Oliver. The owner of Ravenswyck Court is wealthy entrepreneur Alex Belcourt, whose wife, Carrie Holgate, disappeared years ago. He hires Kate to discover the truth about Egemere Woman in honor of his beloved wife. The site is picketed by people opposed to disturbing the dead—even though the dig had already been suspended—and everyone is shocked to discover Sinclair lying dead in one of the trenches, apparently murdered. Tom is well aware of his wife’s talents when it comes to murder investigations, but his ambitious new DI, Amy Cartwright, is looking for credit herself. As the police check the alibis of the obvious suspects, Mark Lambe finally gets his wish to investigate a nearby plague pit, where the pregnant corpse of Carrie Holgate is found. With Tom busy on another case, Kate has her hands full.

Matalina “Mattie” Redgrave, an introverted freelance writer, is forced to quarantine for 14 days in an Aotearoa, New Zealand, hotel during the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. However, Mattie, calling herself “M,” has fun corresponding via letters with another hotel guest who signs his missives “R.” Soon R is revealed to be the film star Raphael “Raph” Callan. Desperately evading an ex-girlfriend and a repulsive book (That Scarlet, Beating Heart) slated for film adaptation, Raph’s frayed nerves are soothed by M’s correspondence. The budding relationship develops rapidly, encouraged on Mattie’s side by Daphne and friend Rin Butcher, and on Raph’s by his “best mate” Luke Maston. After the quarantine ends and Mattie and Raph test negative for Covid, they can finally meet in a way in person. But crises loom: Mattie is guilted into attending her brother’s wedding as a bridesmaid, paired to a groomsman who bullied her in school, while Raph’s former lover Edie Everette thinks that lies will win him back. Can the mischief-making team of Daphne, Rin, and Mattie again pave the way for love? Spears deftly uses letters, emails, and texts, ranging in tone from witty to wise, to illuminate various facets of the characters. In a group chat, Rin teases, “Mattie’s so thirsty she’s ready to fall in bed SORRY I meant in love after four letters…” But later, Rin and Daphne fiercely contradict Mattie’s self-deprecating texts. Letter-writing levels the playing field between Mattie and Raph, enabling them to find similarities, such as insecurity about their own bodies. Spears promises in an author’s note that “there will be kissing,” and she delivers, but the usual graphic sex for the genre is humorously subverted; Mattie, garbed in “Victorian widow” clothes, has so many layers on that Raph can’t even feel her skin at first. The intriguing New Zealand setting, though, is neutralized by its timeframe, as Covid-related lockdowns are strongly enforced in the country.