This first entry in a new series opens with Violet encountering Miller one summer night—he’s taking a walk, and she looks out her bedroom window and spots him in the moonlight. Wealthy Violet, a self-described nerd, becomes a friend and safe haven for aspiring musician Miller, who’s living in a car with his mother. The teens, who are coded white, form a fast and intense bond. The storyline jumps to high school, where Miller makes some friends of his own and Violet tests the waters with the popular crowd. The presence of these new people in their lives complicates their friendship and, delightfully, pushes their feelings for each other to the surface. Even as they graduate from high school and pursue vastly different dreams, they stick by each other. Readers will swoon over the romantic tension between the pair. Alongside the love story, the novel tackles heavy subjects (some successfully), like homelessness, sex work, child neglect and abuse, domestic violence, chronic illness, being closeted, and financial strain. The novel contains some melodramatic, far-fetched situations and includes sporadic diary entries that add little to the story, but many readers will happily overlook these issues for the strong character arcs and central relationship.

Why do all journalists in early 20th-century New York get to party with the Fitzgeralds? Morris Markey squired Zelda to the scandalous Midnight Frolic in Mariah Fredericks’ The Girl in the Green Dress (2025), and now Freddie Archer, author of the Touch of Rouge column in Gotham magazine, pours herself into a taxi and goes off to frolic with Zelda and her husband at the Biltmore Cascades to escape the midsummer heat. Unfortunately, bootlegger Jake Haskell is murdered that same night, bringing NYPD Detective Mike Sullivan to the Gotham office while Freddie’s nursing her latest hangover. Sullivan asks Freddie to describe the woman Haskell was with at the Biltmore and to keep her eyes open during her nightly pub crawls. That she does, and she’s rewarded by witnessing an almost daily string of murders: at the Greenwich Inn (edgy bohemian vibe), King Tut’s (strictly for the butter-and-egg crowd), Club Monaco (ho-hum decor but fabulous music), and the alley behind designer Sophie Carmaux’s studio (gutter ambiance, smells like fish). Having thrown over fiancé Nick Peters for suggesting that after their marriage, they might move to Connecticut, she’s happy to meet Brandt Abrams, one of the few men she’s encountered who respects her taste for urban adventure. Mulhern gives Freddie a host of colorful characters to play off, but her spirited heroine is clearly the star of the show.

The book opens as middling fashion reporter Irene Bigelow watches her old friend Felicity Wild suffer through her arraignment. The charges allege that while working as a professional escort, Felicity manipulated two clients into naming her as beneficiary of their life-insurance policies before killing them. Reenie hasn’t seen Felicity in years, but she knows in her gut that her old friend, a bird-lover who’d wanted to be a biologist, couldn’t have committed the acts of which she’s accused. When catching sight of Reenie in the courtroom, Felicity mouths one message: “Go away.” Reenie doesn’t buy it. Thus begins her quest to find information she can use in an article intended to clear Felicity’s name. The only problem is that nobody wants her to proceed—not Reenie’s boss at the fashion magazine, not Felicity’s handsome attorney, and, most especially, not any of the people in Felicity’s life who might actually possess useful information. Even so, Reenie won’t be deterred, and she begins investigating Felicity’s personal history as well as the crimes, no matter what it might cost her. Narrated in the first person, the book follows Reenie as she knocks on doors, tracking down Felicity’s family members and old acquaintances. The novel includes a preponderance of dialogue, which, though often witty and insightful, slows the pace in a story meant to deliver heightened drama and suspense. Likewise, the large cast of characters proves difficult to follow as most supporting characters fail to distinguish themselves. Despite the slow pace, the author does an admirable job of creating a complex criminal scenario and portraying characters with nuanced feelings about old friendships, while also highlighting the interplay between sex, money, and power.

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.