Good Morning, Love

January 1, 2022

In Honey and Spice, following Babalola's buzzy debut story collection, Love in Color, young Black British woman Kiki Banjo--host of a popular student radio show and known for preaching bad-relationship avoidance--gets tangled in a fake liaison with the very guy she's been citing as big trouble. From Bays, co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning series How I Met Your Mother, 2015 New York-set The Mutual Friend features Alice Quick, mourning her mother, barely managing as a nanny, and trying to make herself sign up for the MCATs even as her tech millionaire brother experiences a religious awakening. In Blush author Brenner's latest, three sisters from a Gilt-edged family in the jewelry business are torn apart following a publicity stunt gone wrong, with one sister dying in a subsequent accident and her daughter struggling to regain traction within the family. In Coleman's Good Morning, Love, aspiring songwriter/musician Carlisa "Carli" Henton's efforts to keep her business and personal lives separate crumble when she meets rising hip-hop star Tau Anderson (50,000-copy first printing). From Egyptian-Irish BBC broadcaster El-Wardany, These Impossible Things features friends Malak, Kees, and Jenna, on the verge of adulthood as they struggle to be good Muslim women yet wanting to follow their dreams (50,000-copy first printing). In Fowler's It All Comes Down To This, three sisters--freelance journalist Beck, struggling with her marriage and a desire to write fiction; Claire, an accomplished pediatric cardiologist, recently divorced; and Sophie, leading a glamorous life she can't afford--face their mother's impending death and the fate of their beloved summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, ME. In Ho's Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic, a follow-up to the LJ-starred Last Tang Standing, a hardworking career woman gives up on finding the right guy after her fianc� calls off their marriage and signs up for an elective co-parenting website so that she can have a baby--with unexpected consequences. In USA Today best-selling Moore's latest, Maine is not exactly Vacationland for Louisa when she visits her parents one summer with her three children, as she's dealing with an unfinished book, an absentee husband, and a father suffering from Alzheimer's, plus a young stranger in town trying to get her own life in order (100,000-copy first printing). In popular Patrick's The Messy Life of Book People, Liv Green forms a tentative friendship with the mega-best-selling author for whom she works as a housecleaner but is surprised when the author dies suddenly and in her will asks that Liv complete her final book (75,000 paperback and 10,000-copy paperback first printing). In Saint X author Schaitkin's Elsewhere, an interesting departure, Vera grows up in a small town where for generations women keep vanishing mysteriously (200,000-copy first printing). Vercher follows the Edgar-nominated, best-booked Three-Fifths with After the Lights Go Out, about a biracial MMA fighter aging out of his career and facing his father's end-stage Alzheimer's when he scores a last-minute comeback fight. Already a multi-award winner, Wolfe debuts with Last Summer on State Street, about Felicia "Fe Fe" Stevens and two close-as-hugging friends--a happy threesome that expands to an uneasy foursome even as the Chicago Housing Authority prepares to tear down the high-rise in the projects where Fe Fe's family lives (50,000-copy first printing).

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April 15, 2022
Music industry professional Coleman draws on her expertise in her debut novel, which brims with authentic details about how musicians are discovered, how records are produced, and how megastars live. Tau Anderson is an R&B artist who has made it to the big leagues. High living has littered his life with regrets, but having found the presence of religion life-affirming, he has turned back to his roots of warmth and generosity of spirit. Carlisa "Carli" Henton works with artists at a creative agency. In her spare time, she moonlights as a songwriter. She hopes to succeed in the industry without relying on her famous musician father. While being the object of pursuit by a famous musician is flattering, she wants to excel at her job, so she tells Tau bluntly to back off. He does not take the hint. His kindness and genuine fascination with Carli eventually win her over. This work of women's fiction tells the tale of Carli's courageous growth as a musician and songwriter, sweetened immeasurably by Tau's tender attentions and musical connections. The happy-for-now ending is convincing and satisfying.

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June 6, 2022
Music exec Coleman takes readers behind the scenes of the business in her insightful but uneven debut. Since college, aspiring songwriter Carli Henton has been working as an account manager at Garter Media in N.Y.C.; she’s good at her job but her heart isn’t really in the business of promoting musicians when she’d rather be writing for them. A budding flirtation with a prominent client immediately opens doors for Carli, but it presents her with a conundrum. She’s previously vowed not to date anyone in the industry, after having witnessed her musician father refuse to settle down through years of touring and fame. Coleman does a nice job developing Carli and her friend group, with her best friend and roommate Talia at the center, all of whom balance their Christian faith with a hip lifestyle complete with boozy brunches, and Carli herself is deliciously self-aware. The second half of the novel, however, contains multiple missteps, including a family mystery plot that feels unnecessary and disjointed, as well as an unsatisfying ending. Readers looking for a perceptive take on the contemporary music business will enjoy Coleman’s insights, but those looking for a rewarding emotional arc might want to skip this track.

May 15, 2022
How do you become a songwriting star in an industry riddled with potential pitfalls? Carlisa "Carli" Henton has a high-pressure job at a media agency representing musicians; she's the owner's right-hand woman. But her excellence at work and the time she spends on it is at odds with her real aspiration--to write music for major artists and labels. Diligence and talent have led her to the cusp of success there as well, but in the music industry, personal relationships can cause huge complications. Three years ago, she rejected a producer's advances, and, in retaliation, he cut her out of working on an album that could have made her career. In her present and possible future is R&B star Tau Anderson, one of her agency's clients, coming on strong with the romance, the connections, and a reputation for trouble. Carli is deeply ambivalent about the best way forward. Strangely, her ambivalence never comes to a clear emotional resolution. A lot of recognizable tropes get teased--nice guy vs. playboy; demanding job vs. artistic ambitions--but these don't quite play out in satisfying ways. What Coleman delivers instead is a great look inside the music industry, especially the creative aspect. Many industry-immersive novels are high gloss but low depth. This one gives as much rich, loving detail to its nonfamous characters as it does to the flashier ones. Everyone here has complications, and they have great conversations with each other, which may just be enough for some readers. More angst-y and informative than the romp it first appears to be.

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