When Zoe Nichols, the newbie BLM officer in Eagle Ferry, Alaska, is accidentally assigned to a land-lease lottery—picking a name from a jar to see who gets to lease a tract of federal wilderness—she does it fairly. Instead of giving it to Sebastian Fisher, the oil tycoon who controls the town, she draws the name of Heller Mason, patriarch of a clan of well-armed environmental zealots who have lived there for over a century. Fisher pressures her into offering Mason $100 million to obtain an easement for his gas pipeline, but Heller refuses to let big fossil fuel companies poison the land. Fisher’s mercenaries, led by Venezuelan heavy Urso, blockade the Masons to prevent them from filing the lease fee by the ten-day deadline—after which the parcel will fall under Fisher’s control. Plagued by alcoholism and guilt over her family’s death in a car crash, Zoe initially sits on the sidelines, but she’s a Marine combat veteran and can’t resist joining the good fight on the Masons’ side. Assisted by investigative reporter Daniel Reeves and Native Alaskan U.S. Army vet Guwaii (a crack shot and spiritual counselor), Zoe takes command of the Mason militia and girds for a showdown with Fisher, Urso, and their dozens of gunmen. Reece’s yarn depicts an atmospheric and slightly noirish small-town Alaska that’s visually gorgeous but harsh (in short: mosquitoes and frostbite) with suitably flinty inhabitants: “‘Alaska doesn’t lie,’ [Urso] said. ‘It promises death if you’re weak, survival if you’re strong.’” The action is gripping, balancing precise physical movements with gory results. Zoe is an appealing mix of sodden pathos and hard-bitten leatherneck and also proves to be a captivating center of attention.

Orion Casey lives for music, but she won’t sing in public. She developed a phobia after her frenemy, Melissa Rae, and her minions openly mocked Orion’s singing voice. So while Melissa Rae takes the spotlight in their school’s musical production, Orion is just fine working backstage. Her self-esteem gets a welcome boost from an unlikely source: anonymous text messages signed J. They’re complimentary and encouraging: “You are strong! You are fearless! And super talented.” Orion can’t help but think (and hope) that those texts are from Jesse, the guy she’s crushing on. He always says hello, and he’s even given her the nickname Red, after her fire-emoji-hued hair. Best of all, he sings and plays guitar, just like Orion. She’s overjoyed when she gets the chance to play music with Jesse and considers rethinking her no-singing-in-public rule. But if Jesse isn’t J, then who’s been sending all those texts, and why? Orion’s quirky first-person narration gives DaVeiga’s book a sense of buoyancy. She notes that Melissa Rae has someone wrapped around her “press-on-nailed finger”; Orion goes through a “zillion emotions” in a matter of seconds. She’s an immensely likable protagonist, although her best friend, Izzy, nearly steals the story; Izzy is funny, fiercely loyal, and knows how to draw out a big revelation. Other characters show depth as well—Orion’s and Izzy’s families share history, and Jesse eventually drops some particulars about his “mysterious past.” The author deftly portrays the world of middle school, with potential bullies, hallway interactions, and social media providing much fuel for the story. The one downside to this novella is that it’s over too soon; thankfully, sequels will follow.

Naina Shetty has no time for romance. If she did, she wouldn’t have become the best junior legal associate at Akhtar, Kumble & Co. in Bangalore, India, or be the top pick for a major promotion as the only woman on her team. Naina is a self-proclaimed workaholic with little time for relationships, which she swore off for good after last year’s sexy summer fling. Reeling from a broken engagement, Naina found herself in Goa 17 months ago in search of two weeks of no-strings-attached fun. She found it with her handsome hostel roommate, Tejas, who was nursing his own broken heart following his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. Together, they ran through the items on Naina’s Anti-Honeymoon Checklist, including skinny-dipping, attending a rave, and kissing a stranger. When the summer ended, so did their fling, and neither expected to see each other again. But then Tejas unknowingly takes a position at Naina’s firm, where they’re placed on the same assignment—a high-profile Bollywood murder scandal. As Naina and Tejas work together to uncover the details of the Preethi Acharya case, they discover that a relationship they’d thought was just casual might be something much deeper. Are they willing to let the sparks between them catch fire, or are they too afraid of getting burned again? Hegde’s latest romance follows two unlucky-in-love people afraid that committing means getting hurt again. Naina and Tejas embody the phrase “opposites attract,” with her studious perseverance and his sunny demeanor, and it’s refreshing, if slightly out of character, to see them let loose in the flashback scenes as they navigate heartbreak and hookup culture. As a second-chance romance, their journey will be rewarding to readers who want to see them face their relationship anxieties head on and come out stronger.

Readers familiar with Harriet Smith as Emma Woodhouse’s mousy, unmarriageable protégé will be surprised to learn that Harriet (not her real name, by the way) is already at age 18 an accomplished con artist, trained by the father she turned on and fled, who’s hired by Mrs. Lavinia Churchill to recover some prized jewelry Jane Fairfax pinched from her and prevent Jane from marrying Frank Churchill, the client’s nephew, ward, and heir, by any means necessary. Throwing herself into the assignment with vigor, Harriet gets intermittent help from her friend Robert Martin, a tenant farmer and aspiring author whose lover, Reuben Denny, is the “heartthrob of the Derbyshire militia.” The plot seriously shades Emma and her future husband, George Knightley, who have little more than walk-on roles. But it does make room for multiple poisonings, a scorpion planted in a box on a dressing table, and Harriet’s growing fear that the force behind all these alarums and excursions is none other than her father, determined to avenge himself on his treacherous daughter. The melodramatic climax places multiple interested parties, three of them armed with guns, on a cliff two of them end up plunging over. That aptly summarizes the principal pleasure of this improbable series debut: The tension that arises from Andrew’s desire to duplicate the characters of Austen’s novel, inviting the reader to wonder if she’s willing to bend their possible fates—will any of Austen’s own characters emerge as victim or killer?—and then unleash a criminal fantasia that borrows only some names from its celebrated source.

Lonely, Vera makes a wish on her favorite star for Grace’s return, but a few nights later, her wishing star disappears. At the library, Vera meets Malcolm, a fellow night sky enthusiast who explains that stars move. “My star didn’t leave me! It’s just on the other side of the world—in Grace’s sky!” Vera realizes. Malcolm helps Vera feel connected to Grace, who is seeing the same pattern and movement of stars where she is. Vera makes a map of the stars and mails it to Grace, creating a meaningful way to stay in touch while spending time with her new friend. Swemba makes space for Vera’s sadness, which, notably, doesn’t magically resolve by book’s end; while she enjoys her new friendship with Malcolm, she still misses Grace. Walker-Parker’s soft illustrations are well matched to the text; though gentle and cartoonish, they also convey complex emotions like longing, loneliness, and contentment. The night sky drawn full of stars is an important presence, cluttered and bright, a fixture and a comfort. The book ends with advice for how to handle a friend’s move, as well as instructions for creating a star map like Vera’s. Vera is pale-skinned; Grace and Malcolm are brown-skinned.