By Chrissy Brown | C.A.A.B. Publishing
1. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Eva Mercy is a single mother and best-selling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up unexpectedly in New York. When Shane and Eva meet at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas but also the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that 15 years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry – or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years. Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect – but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered….
2. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago. When she shot her husband in the head five times. Since then she hasn’t spoken a single word. It’s time to find out why.
3. Waiting for the Winds to Change by Claire Beesley
Her life is pampered, quiet…suffocating. Home is both sanctuary and prison to loyal Emeline, as she tries to fill the void her mother left when she walked out fifteen years before. And her dad might be a bit overbearing at times, but she feels sorry for him. So, she stays. But, he has secrets. When Emeline finds a box of letters from her Aunt Juliana to her mother, she cannot deny anymore that her family is fractured and broken. As she uncovers the truth, she discovers she’s been sheltered from a lifetime of pain and betrayal. And that she doesn’t really know her family at all. As her world caves in, she longs for the winds to change, to bring her a fresh new start. But will she realise that the only person who can change the course of her life, is her?
4. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
When Katy’s mother dies, she’s left reeling from the loss. Carol had been her best friend, her anchor, and they’d been so close to their dream of travelling to Positano together. Feeling untethered from her own life and unable to connect with anyone, Katy makes a rash decision. In a bid to keep her mother close, she follows in a young Carol’s footsteps, flying to Italy alone. Katy had imagined a holiday painted by grief but finds more comfort than she had expected. Then, in a sharp twist of fate, Carol’s past and Katy’s present collide, leaving Katy to wonder if she ever really knew her mother at all…
5. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence with her best friend Gabby. Shortly after, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan. Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan? In concurrent story lines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she’s found him.
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CAAB Publishing Ltd is a traditional, small, indie company helping unknown authors have a voice and inspiring new writers to take that first step into the world of publishing.
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Article originally Published in the June / July / August 2023 Issue: Summer Reads.