By Rebecca Weigler, Steph Carroll, Charlotte Horsfield and Caitie Woolridge
National Reading Month celebrates all things reading, encouraging us to pick up a book. So if you’re wondering what to pick up next, here are a few books that are about to hit the shelves that you might want to check out.
Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
6 March 2024, Ultimo Press
Set in high-society Shanghai, Sophie Wan highlights the glitz and glamour of socialite proposals and extravagant weddings in a dazzling journey of romance, friendship and indulgence. Having been told her whole life that money is the most valuable thing, Lulu is taken aback when the city’s most eligible bachelor proposes to her.
Torn between the conventional path and saying yes, or following her heart and saying no, Lulu embarks on a mission along with her best friends, Jane and Rina, who are both facing similar predicaments, to decide once and for all if marriage is the only path to financial success. With a heist plan in place, Wan creates an exciting and emotional adventure through Shanghai, where three women stand against society’s expectations of young women and attempt to claim a fortune for themselves.
Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti
14 March 2024, One More Chapter
Hate Mail, a fresh, new, enemies to lovers romantic comedy, is Donna Marchetti’s debut novel.
Since the fifth grade, bitter rivals Naomi and Luca have exchanged letter after letter in an epic battle of insults and verbal jousting. Their hate-filled correspondence and ongoing conflict slowly fade into a friendship, spanning coasts and years. However, one day the letters stop suddenly until it’s been two years since Naomi last heard from Luca – two years since the letter that changed everything and two years since a seemingly unbreakable bond severed.
Then, after all that time, a letter turns up on Naomi’s desk at work taking her by surprise, but Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the last word, not after the two-year radio silence that left her reeling.
Recommended for fans of Emily Henry, Hannah Grace and Lucy Score, and the enemies to lovers romance trope, Hate Mail is the new must-read rom com for 2024.
Finding Friends at the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett
26 March 2024, Boldwood Books
This is a charming story about a woman named Esther who bravely attempts to rebuild her life after an extremely challenging period. Following a difficult break-up with her nasty ex-boyfriend, Esther embraces the good in single life, from learning to be content with her key role in the demanding accident and emergency department to finding pleasure in her new home.
Love has never seemed further from Esther’s life until she finds herself working alongside her closest friend’s brother, Joe. Joe Carter has everything that Esther desires in a partner and more. Yet loving Joe carries the risk of losing the most important friendship in her life should their romantic relationship fail. However, fate forces Esther and Joe to work together to assist a patient.
Working in such close proximity allows Joe and Esther to create a deep connection with one another. Joe also provides a rock of support when Esther’s parents’ marriage difficulties cause a domestic crisis. Can Joe and Esther allow their hearts to take a chance, or will they avoid risk and remain nothing more than friends?
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
26 March 2024, Quercus
Kristen Perrin’s How to Solve Your Own Murder is a debut murder mystery novel featuring an Agatha Christie-style plot.
Frances is seventeen years old when a fortune teller predicts her murder at a local fair. Unaware of when she will be murdered or by whom, Frances spends the next sixty years trying to escape her death. As the local nosy neighbour and amateur sleuth, Frances keeps detailed records of the villagers’ lives and their dirty secrets.
But when Frances’ great-niece Annie finds Frances murdered it seems fate still found its way. Having left her millions to the one who can solve her murder before the police, Frances’ death starts a clock: solve her murder in one week and gain the inheritance. Told from Frances’ great-niece Annie’s perspective and through a collection of Frances’ memoirs, Annie must use Frances’ lifetime of detective work to solve her murder.
But the closer Annie gets to unravelling Frances’ past and exposing her killer, the closer she comes to falling into the murderer’s hands too. Set in a village where everyone is keeping secrets and with a hefty inheritance on the line, can Annie solve Frances’ murder in time without ending up dead too?