I’m thinking about changing the title of these to “my most anticipated reads being published in December,” but that feels too long. Ha so it’ll probably stay the same.
I like to think of December as the lull month. Not a lot going on, people getting ready for the holidays, and reading reading reading while the snow falls gently outside. It’ll be more sunshine for me, but I’ve got that old holiday feeling in me.
Here’s what I’m excited about publishing this December:
The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin
- Publisher: 47North
- Publishing Date: December 1, 2018
- Genre: Mystery/Romance
MG Martin lives and breathes geek culture. She even works as a writer for the comic book company she idolized as a kid. But despite her love of hooded vigilantes, MG prefers her comics stay on the page.
But when someone in LA starts recreating crime scenes from her favorite comic book, MG is the LAPD’s best—and only—lead. She recognizes the golden arrow left at the scene as the calling card of her favorite comic book hero. The thing is…superheroes aren’t real. Are they?
When the too-handsome-for-his-own-good Detective Kildaire asks for her comic book expertise, MG is more than up for the adventure. Unfortunately, MG has a teeny little tendency to not follow rules. And her off-the-books sleuthing may land her in a world of trouble.
Because for every superhero, there is a supervillain. And the villain of her story may be closer than she thinks…
The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson
- Publisher: Gallery Books
- Publishing Date: December 4, 2018
- Genre: Contemporary Womens Fiction
Charlotte Gorman loves her job as an elementary school librarian, and is content to experience life through the pages of her books. Which couldn’t be more opposite from her identical twin sister. Ginny, an Instagram-famous beauty pageant contestant, has been chasing a crown since she was old enough to enunciate the words world peace, and she’s not giving up until she gets the title of Miss American Treasure. And Ginny’s refusing to do it alone this time.
She drags Charlotte to the pageant as a good luck charm, but the winning plan quickly goes awry when Ginny has a terrible, face-altering allergic reaction the night before the pageant, and Charlotte suddenly finds herself in a switcheroo the twins haven’t successfully pulled off in decades.
Woefully unprepared for the glittery world of hair extensions, false eyelashes, and push-up bras, Charlotte is mortified at every unstable step in her sky-high stilettos. But as she discovers there’s more to her fellow contestants than just wanting a sparkly crown, Charlotte realizes she has a whole new motivation for winning.
Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018 ed. by David Kipen
- Publisher: Modern Library
- Publishing Date: December 4, 2018
- Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
The City of Angels has played a distinct role in the hearts, minds, and imaginations of millions of people, who see it as the ultimate symbol of the American Dream. David Kipen, a cultural historian and avid scholar of Los Angeles, has scoured libraries, archives, and private estates to assemble a kaleidoscopic view of a truly unique city.
From the Spanish missionary expeditions in the early 1500s to the Golden Age of Hollywood to the strange new world of social media, this collection is a slice of life in L.A. through the years. The pieces are arranged by date–January 1st to December 31st–featuring selections from different decades and centuries. What emerges is a vivid tapestry of insights, personal discoveries, and wry observations that together distill the essence of the city.
As sprawling and magical as the city itself, Dear Los Angeles is a fascinating, must-have collection for everyone in, from, or touched by Southern California.
With excerpts from the writing of Ray Bradbury – Edgar Rice Burroughs – Octavia E. Butler – Italo Calvino – Winston Churchill – No�l Coward – Simone De Beauvoir – James Dean – T. S. Eliot – William Faulkner – Lawrence Ferlinghetti – Richard Feynman – F. Scott Fitzgerald – Allen Ginsberg – Dashiell Hammett – Charlton Heston – Zora Neale Hurston – Christopher Isherwood – John Lennon – H. L. Mencken – Ana�s Nin – Sylvia Plath – Ronald Reagan – Joan Rivers – James Thurber – Dalton Trumbo – Evelyn Waugh – Tennessee Williams – P. G. Wodehouse – and many more
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
- Publisher: Atria Books
- Publishing Date: December 4, 2018
- Genre: Fantasy
A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.
Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can it be explained by science?
Replete with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s bestseller The Thirteenth Tale.
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren
- Publisher: Gallery Books
- Publishing Date: December 4, 2018
- Genre: Contemporary Romance
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.
But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship…but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.
The Disasters by MK England
- Publisher: HarperCollins
- Publishing Date: December 18, 2018
- Genre: Science Fiction, YA, LGBTQ
Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours.
But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy. Nax and three other washouts escape—barely—but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats.
On the run and framed for atrocities they didn’t commit, Nax and his fellow failures execute a dangerous heist to spread the truth about what happened at the Academy.
They may not be “Academy material,” and they may not get along, but they’re the only ones left to step up and fight.
Simone and Her Books 