As the FFL book club comes to an end, we look back with complete and utter fondness to the nearly two dozen authors we’ve had a chance to work with since we launched in April 2020. When we launched, we were just beginning to navigate the pandemic, and now we are so good at it…right? The authors we’ve loved have absolutely killed this pandemic though, and they have new books publishing in 2022 to show for it!

If you love their book that we all read together, make sure to pre-order their 2022 titles. With the supply chain being what it is, pre-orders are a great way to show support for an author and make sure you can read the book right away! 

Katharine McGee: American Royals III: Rivals

The news we were all waiting for finally came–Majesty is not the end of the road for our American Royals. American Royals was the book we started the FFL book club with, and no story has been so popular among our readers! The third book in this series will drop in May 2022, along with a prequel novella first available via audio.

“Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change. Relationships will be tested. Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own?   Strangers will become friends.

Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost?

 And rivals will become allies. Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?”

Jennifer Close: Marrying the Ketchups

We first met Jennifer Close when we read her book The Hopefuls in November 2021! In April 2022, you can read her new book: Marrying the Ketchups.

“Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivan’s, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over the course of three strange months, the Cubs win the World Series, Trump is elected president, and Bud drops dead, suddenly everyone in the family finds themselves doubting all they hold dear.Take Gretchen for example, lead singer for a ’90s cover band who has been flirting with fame for a decade but is beginning to wonder if she’s too old to be chasing a childish dream. Or Jane, Gretchen’s older sister, who is starting to suspect that her fitness-obsessed husband who hides the screen of his phone isn’t always “working late.” And then there’s Teddy, their steadfast, unfailingly good cousin, nursing heartbreak and confusion because the guy who dumped him keeps showing up for lunch at JP Sullivan’s where Teddy is the manager. How can any of them be expected to make the right decisions when the world feels sideways—and the bartender at JP Sullivan’s makes such strong cocktails?”

Jennifer Chiaverini: Switchboard Soldiers

In August 2021, we celebrated 100 years of the 19th Amendment with Jennifer Chiaverini’s The Women’s March. Now, she’s giving us a chance to dive into a different part of history. Switchboard Soldiers hits shelves in July 2022. 

“In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information. At the time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women – but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the US Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them. More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT&T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a 20-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.

They were among the first women sworn into the US Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds.The risk of death was real – the women worked as bombs fell around them – as was the threat of a deadly new disease: the Spanish Flu. Not all of the telephone operators would survive. Sometimes mocked as the “hello girls”, the women of the US Army Signal Corps served with honor and played an essential role in achieving the Allied victory. Their story has never been the focus of a novel…until now. “

Emiko Jean–Tokyo Dreaming, Mika in Real Life

We all devoured Tokyo Ever After together in June 2021, and author Emiko Jean is not only giving us a sequel in May 2022, but also her adult debut. Tokyo Dreaming is on sale everywhere in May 2022, and Mika in Real Life is publishing in August!

“When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.Only…Her parents’ engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?”

Gill Paul: The Manhattan Girls

Who doesn’t love getting lost in history? We loved reading about Jackie and Maria with Gill Paul in May 2021. Now, she’s taking us to the 1920s in her latest novel, Manhattan Girls, out in August 2022. 

“New York City, 1921: The war is over, fashions are daring, and bootleg liquor is served wherever you go. It is here that four extraordinary women form a bridge group that grew into a firm friendship.

Dorothy Parker, renowned wit, member of the Algonquin Round Table, and more fragile than she seems. Jane Grant, first female reporter for The New York Times, who is determined to launch a new magazine. The Broadway actress Winifred Lenihan, beautiful, talented, and a casting-couch target. And Peggy Leech, magazine assistant by day, brilliant novelist by night.Romances flourish and falter, while their goals sometimes seem impossible to reach, and their group friendship deepens against the backdrop of turbulent New York City, where new speakeasies open and close, jazz music flows through the air, and bathtub gin fills their glasses.They gossip, they comfort each other, they offer support through the setbacks. But their biggest challenge is keeping their dear friend Dottie safe from herself. . .”

Jasmine Guillory: By the Book

No one does romance quite like Jasmine Guillory, who authored our December 2020 read—Party for Two. She’s giving us bookworms a huge treat with her new bookish romance, By the Book, out May 2022!

“A tale as old as time—for a new generation… Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves. All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be? But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn’t there before. Best-selling author Jasmine Guillory’s reimagining of a beloved fairy tale is a romantic triumph of love and acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person you have to read between the lines.”

 

Chanel Cleeton: Our Last Days in Barcelona

Historical fiction with a Cuban flair? That’s Chanel Cleeton for you. We all loved her book When We Left Cuba, which we read in November 2020. She’s carrying on the Perez story in her new book out in May 2022!

“Barcelona, 1964. Exiled from Cuba after the revolution, Isabel Perez has learned to guard her heart and protect her family at all costs. After Isabel’s sister Beatriz disappears in Barcelona, Isabel goes to Spain in search of her. Joining forces with an unlikely ally thrusts Isabel into her sister’s dangerous world of espionage, but it’s an unearthed piece of family history that transforms Isabel’s life. Barcelona, 1936. Alicia Perez arrives in Barcelona after a difficult voyage from Cuba, her marriage in jeopardy and her young daughter Isabel in tow. Violence brews in Spain, the country on the brink of civil war, the rise of fascism threatening the world. When Cubans journey to Spain to join the International Brigades, Alicia’s past comes back to haunt her as she is unexpectedly reunited with the man who once held her heart.Alicia and Isabel’s lives intertwine, and the past and present collide, as a mother and daughter are forced to choose between their family’s expectations and following their hearts.”

Julie Clark: The Lies I Tell

Thrills a minute with Julie Clark, who took us on a journey with The Last Flight in August 2020. Now, she’s back with a con artist domestic thriller in June 2022. 

“She’s back. Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she’s done, you’ve likely lost everything. Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat’s long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg’s true target is.”

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Aryssa D
FFL Cabinet Member

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