You know the feeling you get inside when you see the first holiday display out in stores? Or the feeling you experience when you pop into your favorite bakery and see the staff putting out a fresh-baked pastry just as you walk in? 🥐

Choosing the first three books for my NEW virtual book club, In Our Bookish Era, felt a bit like that—the excitement of knowing something delicious awaits, even if you haven’t tasted it yet!

Because these books are all new(ish) releases, I haven’t read them myself, but the buzz around them, the intriguing blurbs, and the rave early reviews have me convinced that we’re in for something special.

There’s something thrilling about diving into brand-new stories together—no spoilers, no preconceived ideas, just all of us experiencing every twist and turn for the first time.

Enough delaying—here’s a peek at the titles we’ll be exploring together inside the virtual book club in January and February 2025. I can’t wait to see where these stories take us!

January’s Pick: The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt (Romance)

They say love and construction don’t mix.

By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.

Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.

But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they’re thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.

LaRynn has the money, but to access her trust, she has to be married.

Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.

A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.

Thrust into a home without walls, they quickly learn that it’s easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But, with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks) they’ll also have to learn what it means to truly co-operate as a team.

The Co-op is a steamy story about restoration and renovation, and uncovering all the things that build character within ourselves. It’s about the never-ending construction project that partnership is, and finding enjoyment at every stage.

***

February’s Pick: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Thriller)

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.

Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.

***

The beauty of a book club is that it’s not just about reading a book that others are reading at the same time, too; it’s about connecting with other fans of romance and fantasy, diving into virtual book discussions and informal bookish chats on Instagram, and sharing the experience of reading a book for the first time together.

Did you miss the chance to join In Our Bookish Era this quarter? You’ll have another opportunity to join again in February for a March 2025 start! Join the waitlist here to be notified when enrollment opens again.