In need of a laugh right about now (who isn't!)? Here are eight hilarious adult 2022 debut novels for the laugh-till-you-cry emoji in us all. ![]() Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins Graydon House/HarperCollins - 1.4.22 https://www.22debuts.com/anna-e-collins.html They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé's house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House. That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on-site and off, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter... ![]() Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead Graydon House/HarperColllins - 4.5.22 https://www.22debuts.com/ashley-winstead.html Lee Stone is a twenty-first-century woman: she kicks butt at her job as a communications director at a women-run electric car company (that’s better than Tesla, thank you) and after work she is “Stoner,” drinking guys under the table and never letting any of them get too comfortable in her bed… That’s because Lee’s learned one big lesson: never trust love. After four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom all the way to Ben Laderman in grad school—who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was, so she reciprocated in kind. Then Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated—and competitive—as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds just as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas. ![]() Love From Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill Penguin Random House/Delacorte Press - 4.5.22 https://www.22debuts.com/kaitlyn-hill.html This summer, Reese Camden is trading sweet tea and Southern hospitality for cold brew and crisp coastal air. She's landed her dream marketing internship at Friends of Flavor, a wildly popular cooking channel in Seattle. The only problem? Benny Beneventi, the relentlessly charming, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing culinary intern--and her main competition for the fall job. Reese's plan to keep work a No Feelings Zone crumbles like a day-old muffin when she and Benny are thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral, making them the internet's newest ship. Audiences are hungry for more, and their bosses at Friends of Flavor are happy to deliver. Soon Reese and Benny are in an all-out food war, churning homemade ice cream, twisting soft pretzels, breaking eggs in an omelet showdown--while hundreds of thousands of viewers watch. Reese can't deny the chemistry between her and Benny. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner... ![]() Bad Girls Drink Blood by SL Choi City Owl Press - 5.17.22 https://www.22debuts.com/sl-choi.html There is only one hybrid fae in existence, and that dishonor goes to Lane Callaghan. After a life spent dodging slurs, threats, and assassination attempts, Lane gave her past the one finger salute and ditched her former fae home for good. The detective agency she and her sisters run on the edge of Las Vegas continues to limp along, with Lane doing more debt collecting and intimidating than investigating, but anything to pay the bills. Between working for low-lifes to bring down even lower-lifes, eating cheesy poofs by the bucket, and flirting with the criminally attractive bartender where she conducts business, life is good. That ends when a routine job goes sideways, leaving Lane with a sack full of stolen sun shards—the source of sun fae power. Without the shards, the sun fae face giving up their magic completely, or risk death if they use their power. Considering they would rather see her dead, good riddance, as far as Lane’s concerned—except her father and adopted sister are sun fae. Lane must choose—return home to save the fae bastards that almost killed her, or let them burn. ![]() As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr Forever/Grand Central Publishing - 6.7.22 https://www.22debuts.com/meredith-schorr.html Emerging journalist Adina Gellar is done with dating in New York City. If she’s learned anything from made-for-TV romance movies, it’s that she’ll find love in a small town—the kind with harvest festivals, delightful but quirky characters, and scores of delectable single dudes. So when a big-city real estate magnate targets tiny Pleasant Hollow for development, Adi knows she’s found the perfect story—one that will earn her a position at a coveted online magazine, so she can finally start adulting for real . . . and maybe even find her dream man in the process. Only Pleasant Hollow isn’t exactly “pleasant.” There’s no charming bakery, no quaint seasonal festivals, and the residents are more ambivalent than welcoming. The only upside is Finn Adams, who’s more mouthwatering than the homemade cherry pie Adi can’t seem to find—even if he does work for the company she’d hoped to bring down. Suddenly Adi has to wonder if maybe TV got it all wrong after all. But will following her heart mean losing her chance to break into the big time? ![]() Florida Woman by Deb Rogers Hanover Square Press/HarperColllins - 7.5.22 https://www.22debuts.com/deb-rogers.html Jamie is a Florida Woman. She wears cutoffs, thrives in humidity, has been slapped by palm frond more times than she can count and now, after going viral for an outrageous crime she never meant to commit in the first place, she has the requisite headline to her name. But when the chance comes for her to escape viral infamy and imminent jail time through a community service placement at Atlas, a wildlife refuge for rescued monkeys, it seems like just the fresh start Jamie needs to finally get her life back on track—until it’s not. Something sinister stirs in the palmetto woods, and secrets lurk among the three beguiling women who run the refuge and affectionately take Jamie under their wing for the summer. She hears the distant screams of monkeys each night, the staff forgo food in the name of sacrifice, and the land, which has long been abandoned by local farmers and resort developers, now proves to be dangerously, relentlessly untamed. As Jamie ventures deeper into the offbeat world and rituals of Atlas, her summer is soon set to become material for an even stranger Florida headline than she ever could’ve imagined. ![]() For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa Harlequin/HQN - 7.26.22 https://www.22debuts.com/erin-la-rosa.html An enemies-to-lovers mash-up of THE HATING GAME and THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF, in which two rival hosts of a massively popular cooking show have to fake a relationship to save their careers after an explosive on-air fallout, only to find their feelings for each other becoming real. Their feelings are about to boil over... ![]() Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne Berkley - 11.15.22 https://www.22debuts.com/nikki-payne.html Liza B–The Only DJ That Gives a Jam—wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But her planned protest at their corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering hot CEO for the waitstaff. When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks fly—but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but she’ll settle for getting him out of her head. At first, Dorsey writes Liza Bennett off as an over-caffeinated woke weekend warrior. As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family he’s always felt a bit out of place, and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Liza’s protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionist is the most real woman he’s ever met. List curated by: Susan Azim Boyer
Posted to the blog by: Ren Hutchings
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Need a break from doom scrolling? Here are nine sharp, funny MG and YA 2022 debut novels to get you laughing again! ![]() This May End Badly by Samantha Markum Wednesday Books - 4.12.22 https://www.22debuts.com/samantha-markum.html This May End Badly follows Doe, a senior at an all-girls boarding school whose life has revolved around a century-long rivalry with the boy’s school across the street. When she embarks on a fake-dating scheme to get under her worst enemy’s skin, she must contend with the lies she’s told, as well as the future of her beloved school. ![]() Freddie vs. The Family Curse by Tracy Badua Clarion Books - 5.3.22 https://www.22debuts.com/tracy-badua.html In this thrilling and hilarious middle grade adventure, a young Filipino-American boy must team up with his ancestor to break the curse that’s haunted their family for generations. . . or be trapped in an amulet forever. ![]() The Loophole by Naz Kutub Bloomsbury - 6.7.22 https://www.22debuts.com/naz-kutub.html Pitched as a speculative Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda with a focus on identity, found family, and friendship, the novel follows a queer Indian-Muslim boy travelling the world for a second chance at love after a possibly magical heiress grants him three wishes. ![]() Boys I Know by Anna Gracia Peachtree Publishing/Peachtree Teen - 7.5.22 https://www.22debuts.com/anna-gracia.html June Chu is the “just good enough” girl. Good enough to line the shelves with a slew of third-place trophies and steal secret kisses from her AP Bio partner, Rhys. But not good enough to meet literally any of her Taiwanese mother’s unrelenting expectations or to get Rhys to commit to anything beyond a well-timed joke. While June’s mother insists she follow in her (perfect) sister’s footsteps and get a (full-ride) violin scholarship to Northwestern (to study pre-med), June doesn’t see the point in trying too hard if she’s destined to fall short anyway. Instead, she focuses her efforts on making her relationship with Rhys “official.” But after her methodically-planned, tipsily-executed scheme explodes on the level of a nuclear disaster, she flings herself into a new relationship with a guy who’s not allergic to the word “girlfriend.” But as the line blurs between sex and love, and the pressure to map out her entire future threatens to burst, June will have to decide on whose terms she’s going to live her life—even if it means fraying her relationship with her mother beyond repair. ![]() Moth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S. Zrull Flux - 7.19.22 https://www.22debuts.com/lindsay-s-zrull.html Bounced between foster homes since the age of seven, Jessica knows better than to set down roots. Most of the kids at her new Michigan high school think she’s a witch anyway (because, you know, goth). The only one who gives her the time of day is geeky Oscar, who wants to recruit her fashion skills for his amateur cosplay group. But Jess is fine showing off her looks to her Insta fans—until a woman claiming to be her biological mother barges into her DMs. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, who are aiming for that big convention in New York. So Jess joins Oscar’s team—with every intention of using them to get to her mom. But her plan gets complicated when she discovers that, actually, cosplay is pretty great, and so is having friends. And Oscar, who Jess thought was just a shy nerd, can be as gallant and charming as the heroes he pretends to be. As the big convention draws near, Jess will have to decide whether or not chasing a dream of “family” is worth risking the family she’s built for herself. ![]() Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt Peachtree Teen - 9.6.22 https://www.22debuts.com/amanda-dewitt.html Some people join chess club, some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring in his private school’s basement. What else is the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul supposed to do? Everything starts falling apart when Jack’s mom is arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime. His sister Beth thinks this is the Shannon family’s chance to finally go straight, but Jack knows that something’s not right. His mom was sold out, and he knows by who. Peter Carlevaro: rival casino owner and jilted lover. Gross. Jack hatches a plan to find out what Carlevaro’s holding over his mom’s head, but he can’t do it alone. He recruits his closest friends—the asexual support group he met through fandom forums. Now all he has to do is infiltrate a high-stakes gambling club and dodge dark family secrets, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right? ![]() The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum Penguin Random House/Philomel - 9.13.22 https://www.22debuts.com/isaac-blum.html Hoodie Rosen has recently moved to the town of Tregaron, where his Orthodox Jewish community is looking to build a new home. But the people who live there aren’t that thrilled about it, and are blocking them at every turn. Hoodie isn’t so bothered, though. He’s got studies to avoid, basketball to play, and a supermarket full of delicious kosher snacks to eat. But when he meets–and falls for–Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, he runs into a couple of problems. First, as a good yeshiva boy, he’s not supposed to talk to girls, especially girls who aren’t Jewish. And second, Anna-Marie’s mother happens to be Tregaron’s mayor and the leader of the effort to stop Hoodie’s community from living in her town. ![]() Shad Hadid and the Alchemist of Alexandria by George Jreije HarperCollins - 10.4.22 https://www.22debuts.com/george-jreije.html Twelve-year-old Shad Hadid is an aspiring baker who’s life is uprooted when he discovers he’s descended from a long line of alchemists and sent to the mysterious Alexandria Academy. Only, his arrival at the school awakens a nefarious force long lurking in the shadows, and he’ll soon learn he holds the key to either stopping—or unleashing—their evil plot. ![]() Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win by Susan Azim Boyer Wednesday Books - 11.1.22 https://www.22debuts.com/susan-azim-boyer.html Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win features a bitingly funny, Mindy Kaling-esque, Iranian American heroine, who makes messy, complicated choices that snowball into an avalanche when an international incident intrudes on her high school election, forcing her to reckon with her identity in a way she never has before. List curated by: Susan Azim Boyer
Posted to the blog by: Ren Hutchings They say that spring comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. In keeping with the season, these spring debut novels start with rivalry, banter, and sworn hatred, and end with swoonworthy romance! ![]() FOOL ME ONCE by Ashley Winstead HarperCollins/Graydon House - April 5, 2022 Lee Stone is a twenty-first-century woman: she kicks butt at her job as a communications director at a women-run electric car company (that’s better than Tesla, thank you) and after work she is “Stoner,” drinking guys under the table and never letting any of them get too comfortable in her bed. After four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom all the way to Ben Laderman in grad school—who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was, so she reciprocated in kind. Then Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated—and competitive—as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds just as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas. https://www.22debuts.com/ashley-winstead.html ![]() LOVE FROM SCRATCH by Kaitlyn Hill Delacorte/PRH - April 5, 2022 Reese Camden landed her dream marketing internship at Friends of Flavor, a wildly popular cooking channel in Seattle. The only problem? Benny Beneventi, the relentlessly charming, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing culinary intern--and her main competition for the fall job. Reese's plan to keep work a No Feelings Zone crumbles like a day-old muffin when she and Benny are thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral, making them the internet's newest ship. Soon Reese and Benny are in an all-out food war, churning homemade ice cream, twisting soft pretzels, breaking eggs in an omelet showdown--while hundreds of thousands of viewers watch. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner... https://www.22debuts.com/kaitlyn-hill.html ![]() THIS MAY END BADLY by Samantha Markum Wednesday Books - April 12, 2022 This May End Badly follows Doe, a senior at an all-girls boarding school whose life has revolved around a century-long rivalry with the boy’s school across the street. When she embarks on a fake-dating scheme to get under her worst enemy’s skin, she must contend with the lies she’s told, as well as the future of her beloved school. https://www.22debuts.com/samantha-markum.html ![]() LOVE, HATE & CLICKBAIT by Liz Bowery Harlequin MIRA - April 26, 2022 Cutthroat political consultant Thom Morgan is thriving, working on the governor of California’s presidential campaign. If only he didn’t have to deal with Clay Parker, the infuriatingly smug data analyst who gets under Thom’s skin like it’s his job. In the midst of one of their heated and very public arguments, a journalist snaps a photo, but the image makes it look like they’re kissing. As if that weren’t already worst-nightmare territory, the photo goes viral—and in a bid to secure the liberal vote, the governor asks them to lean into it. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,” the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts. https://www.22debuts.com/liz-bowery.html ![]() CHEF'S KISS by TJ Alexander Simon & Schuster/Atria - May 3, 2022 Simone Larkspur is a perfectionist pastry expert with a dream job at The Discerning Chef, a venerable cookbook publisher in New York City. But when The Discerning Chef decides to bring their brand into the 21st century by pivoting to video, Simone is thrust into the spotlight and finds herself failing at something for the first time in her life. To make matters worse, Simone has to deal with Ray Lyton, the new test kitchen manager, whose obnoxious cheer and outgoing personality are like oil to Simone’s water. When Ray accidentally becomes a viral YouTube sensation with a series of homebrewing videos, their eccentric editor in chief forces Simone to work alongside the chipper upstart or else risk her beloved job. But the more they work together, the more Simone realizes her heart may be softening like butter for Ray. Things get even more complicated when Ray comes out at work as nonbinary to mixed reactions—and Simone must choose between the career she fought so hard for and the person who just might take the cake (and her heart). https://www.22debuts.com/tj-alexander.html ![]() SET ON YOU by Amy Lea Penguin Random House/Berkley - May 10, 2022 Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym - her place of power and positivity. Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents' engagement party. In the lead up to their grandparents' wedding, Crystal discovers there's a soft heart under Scott's muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, she just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength. https://www.22debuts.com/amy-lea.html ![]() THE LAST FEATHER by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou Flame Tree Press - July 19, 2022 Twenty-two-year-old Cassia's sister is dying, and she doesn't know why. When she's abducted by a dangerous man, Cassia wakes up in another realm to find her missing best friend, Lucas, who knows how to save her sister. Meanwhile, Lucas is part of a community of Reborns, people who were born on earth and after death, were reborn in this realm with magical abilities. The original beings of the realm, the Firsts, rule over them, including the man who abducted her—Lochlan, Crown Prince of the Firsts. But it takes more than a title to scare her, instead, she finds herself more curious than anything else. However, his father, the king of the Firsts, releases a curse to cull the Reborns and keep their numbers manageable. Cassia needs to break the curse before her time runs out and she is trapped there forever. https://www.22debuts.com/shameez-patel-papathanasiou.html List curated by: Liz Bowery
Posted to the blog by: Ren Hutchings Happy St. Patrick's Day! Channeling the good luck of the occasion, here are 10 books that it will be your good fortune to add to your TBR list. ![]() LIA PARK AND THE MISSING JEWEL by Jenna Yoon Aladdin / Simon & Schuster, 6/28/2022 When Lia Park gets invited to the biggest birthday party of the year—her parents say she can’t go. So she sneaks out. But in doing that Lia breaks not only her parents’ rules, but also an ancient protection spell, allowing an evil diviner spirit to kidnap and ransom her parents for a powerful jewel that her family has guarded for years. Soon, Lia finds herself chasing mysterious clues that take her around the world from her grandmother’s home in Korea to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King. Along with her friend, Joon, Lia must dig deep and find courage to stand up for those who are weak—and become the hero her parents need. www.22debuts.com/jenna-yoon.html ![]() THE FINALIST by Joan Long Level Best Books, 3/15/2022 Five authors are chosen to compete for the chance to finish a deceased novelist’s unfinished manuscript. At stake is a million dollars and a contract to continue the famous novelist’s bestselling thriller series. For single mom Risa Marr, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. Transported to tropical Key Island, the finalists are cut off from the world and given seven days to draft their best ending for the book. But when one of them turns up dead, theories and accusations abound. To what lengths exactly are these competitors willing go to win? https://www.22debuts.com/joan-long.html ![]() BEING MARY BENNET by JC Peterson HarperTeen, 3/15/2022 Being Mary Bennet is named in honor of the forgotten middle sister of Pride and Prejudice. Like Mary, Marnie Barnes wants to be the main character in her own life and love story. Determined to reinvent herself, Marnie enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens herself up to the world—leading lady style. https://www.22debuts.com/jc-peterson.html ![]() CASINO QUEEN by Cara Bertoia Wild Rose Press, 3/16/2022 Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California working in a Native casino. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis, being mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar. Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. And in the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. Because it often does. https://www.22debuts.com/cara-bertoia.html ![]() AS SEEN ON TV by Meredith Schorr Forever/Grand Central Publishing, 6/7/2022 In As Seen On TV, New York journalist Adina Gellar realizes that she's more likely to find love in a small town than the big city, at least according to romantic movies. So, when she pursues a story in a small town called Pleasant Hollow, she thinks this might be her opportunity to improve her love life. That is until she gets there and finds it's without many redeeming qualities...except possibly a single one, named Finn. https://www.22debuts.com/meredith-schorr.html ![]() LONG PAST SUMMER by Noué Kirwan HQN/Harper Collins, 8/2/2022 Mikaela Marchand is a successful New York lawyer with a promotion in her sights when an old photograph of her and her former best friend, Julie, lands on the cover of a high-profile fashion magazine. Julie files a lawsuit, leaving Mikaela caught in the middle as defense lawyer for the photographer: the former love of her life--and Julie’s ex-husband--Cameron Murphy. https://www.22debuts.com/noue-kirwan.html ![]() THE BOOK EATERS by Sunyi Dean Tor, 8/9/2022 The Book Eaters concerns The Family, a secret line of people who eat books for food. And among them, a young woman named Devon who learns that her son desires not books, but human minds. A contemporary fantasy. It's a story of motherhood, sacrifice, and hope, of queer identity and learning to accept who you are; of gilded lies and the danger of believing the narratives others create for you. https://www.22debuts.com/sunyi-dean.html ![]() THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF HOODIE ROSEN by Isaac Blum Philomel/PRH, 9/13/2022 The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is a story of a Romeo and his Juliet. Hoodie Rosen has only just moved to his new Orthodox Jewish community when he meets Anna-Marie Diaz-O'Leary, whose mother is the town mayor leading a charge against his community. Stuck between two worlds and wants, Hoodie has to find out where he belongs. https://www.22debuts.com/isaac-blum.html ![]() THE SURVIVING SKY by Kritika H Rao DAW/PRH, Fall 2022 In living, plant-made cities of a jungle-planet, the last refuges of humanity float high above devastating earthrage storms below. And architects are revered above anyone else in their society for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture. Iravan is one such architect. In his city, his word is nearly law. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his wife, they are a way for survival to be reliant on the elite few. Like most others, she cannot manipulate the plants. And she desperately seeks change and wants him to use his privilege to tip the balance of rule in their society. https://www.22debuts.com/kritika-h-rao.html ![]() JASMINE ZUMIDEH NEEDS A WIN by Susan Azim Boyer Wednesday Books, 11/1/22 Jasmine Zumideh is an ambitious high school senior living in suburban Southern California in 1979. Only a measly year from escaping to her dream school in New York, Jasmine tells a little white lie to pad her college application. She claims to be the Senior Class President-Elect. She's got the election in the bag anyway against an aggressive wet-blanket named Gerald Thomas. That is, until the Iran Hostage Crisis shines an unkind light on Jasmine's Iranian heritage. And now she's faced with the dilemma of claiming her heritage or hiding it, standing by outspoken family members or turning her back on them, winning the election or abandoning her dreams. https://www.22debuts.com/susan-azim-boyer.html List curated by: Noué Kirwan
Posted to the blog by: Ren Hutchings As part of celebrating Women's History Month, we'd like to highlight the first installment of novels that focus of fierce women that, as the heading states, should not be crossed. ![]() Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins 1/4/2022 by Graydon House They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé's house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House. https://www.22debuts.com/anna-e-collins.html ![]() Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas by Leigh Lewis 1/11/2022 by National Geographic This wow-worthy book proves that women have been making their mark in all aspects of history―even the high seas! Meet Ching Shih, a Chinese pirate who presided over a fleet of 80,000 men (by contrast, Blackbeard had some 300). Get the scoop on Anne Bonny who famously ran away from an arranged marriage to don trousers and brandish a pistol in the Bahamas. And there are more! https://www.22debuts.com/leigh-lewis.html ![]() Second Star to the Left by Megan Van Dyke 2/15/2022 by City Owl Press Banished for doing the unthinkable, selling the hottest drug in Neverland—pixie dust, Tinker Bell wants absolution. Determined to find a way home, Tink doesn’t hesitate to follow the one lead she has, even if that means seducing a filthy pirate to steal precious gems out from under his…hook. https://www.22debuts.com/megan-van-dyke.html ![]() The Hitman's Daughter by Carolyne Topdjian 2/22/2022 by Agora/Polis Books When hotel employee Mave Michael finds the resident artist dead, and shortly thereafter security finds Mave alone with the body, the reputation that Mave has fought long and hard to outrun comes back to haunt her: Her father is a notorious hitman serving multiple-life sentences in prison. She has changed her name and location dozens of times, but he somehow manages to track her down—even sending her a postcard on the eve of her birthday, January 1st. She's the perfect choice to frame for murder, and now the number one suspect. Mave can no longer deny the lessons in survival her father taught her, or her uncanny sixth-sense in “finding” lost objects. To save herself, she not only has to stop running from her own past, she must unearth the history of the hotel, its elite guests and buried secrets—one deadly sin at a time. https://www.22debuts.com/carolyne-topdjian.html ![]() Only a Monster by Vanessa Len 2/22/2022 by HarperTeen It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down. As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . . . . . she is not the hero. https://www.22debuts.com/vanessa-len.html ![]() One For All by Lillie Lainoff 3/8/2022 by FSG (Macmillan) An OwnVoices, gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a Musketeer and uncovers secrets, sisterhood, and self-love. Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl.” But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion. Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for new Musketeers: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a sword fight. www.22debuts.com/lillie-lainoff.html ![]() Casino Queen by Cara Bertoia 3/16/2022 by Wild Rose Press Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar. Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption.In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. Because it often does. https://www.22debuts.com/cara-bertoia.html ![]() The Girl Beyond The Gate by Becca Day 3/22/2022 by Embla/Bonnier Books Arriving at her new home in the exclusive gated community of Kensington Grove, journalist Jodie Evelyn instantly feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the community, built around a converted psychiatric hospital, unnerves her – as does her new neighbour Norah Williams and her terminally-ill teenage daughter, Lacey. When a death rocks the community, she suspects Norah may have been involved and sets out to save Lacey from her mother. But as Jodie delves deeper into Norah’s shadowy past, she is forced to come face to face with her own, with devastating consequences. https://www.22debuts.com/becca-day.html ![]() Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May 3/29/2022 by Hatchette/Orbit On Crow Island, people whispered, real magic lurked just below the surface. But Annie Mason never expected her enigmatic new neighbour to be a witch.When she witnesses a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix at one of Emmeline's extravagantly illicit parties, Annie is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where magic can buy what money cannot; a world where the consequence of a forbidden blood bargain might be death. https://www.22debuts.com/francesca-may.html List curated by: Shameez Patel Papathanasiou
Posted to the blog by: Ren Hutchings Few things are as transportive or immersive as a good fantasy story--tales about faraway, magic-filled kingdoms, fearsome creatures, valiant heroes and vicious villains. Here is a spectacular selection of adult fantasy novels and novellas by 2022 debut authors who have built compelling worlds and created characters that won't soon be forgotten. ![]() Second Star to the Left by Megan Van Dyke City Owl Press, February 15, 2022 In this Peter Pan retelling, Tinker Bell seeks absolution after being banished for selling the hottest drug in Neverland—pixie dust. Determined to find a way home, Tink doesn’t hesitate to follow the one lead she has, even if that means seducing a filthy pirate to steal precious gems out from under his…hook. https://www.22debuts.com/megan-van-dyke.html ![]() The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong Angry Robot Books, March 8, 2022 Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the galaxy's infamous pleasure moon. But it doesn’t take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and finds himself faced with a choice: he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him, or face vivisection. https://www.22debuts.com/khan-wong.html ![]() The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport Harper Voyager US, April 5, 2022 Blending fantasy and science fiction, this fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior. https://www.22debuts.com/ne-davenport.html ![]() Flames of Mira by Clay Harmon Rebellion Publishing, April 26, 2022 In this stunning debut, Ig is a powerful elemental, forced to work as an enforcer for a corrupt ruler Sorrelo Adriann. When his lord is overthrown in a coup, Ig quickly learns he can do worse — far worse — than what Sorrelo has asked from him so far. https://www.22debuts.com/clay-harmon.html ![]() Bad Girls Drink Blood by S.L. Choi City Owl Press, May 17, 2022 "Part sun fae, part blood fae, all abomination." Readers are sure to be hooked about this story about Lane Callaghan, the only hybrid fae in existence, who runs a Las Vegas detective agency together with her sisters. https://www.22debuts.com/sl-choi.html ![]() Let The Mountains Be My Grave by Francesca Tacchi Neon Hemlock Press, May 17, 2022 This debut novella is set in 1944 Italy, where Veleno is a partisan fighter intent on avenging his father and killing as many Nazis as he can before leaving this world. He is also beloved of the ancient Italic goddess Angitia, which makes him the perfect person to recover a strange weapon the Nazis are planning to use against the Allies in the battle of Montecassino. Cover to come. https://www.22debuts.com/francesca-tacchi.html ![]() Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver Neon Hemlock Press, May 17, 2022 In this 1920s gothic comedy novella, bright young socialite Julia and shy Jewish magician Simon decide they aren’t beholden to their families’ unhappy history. Together they confront such horrors as murdered ghosts, alive children, magic philosophy, a milieu that slides far too easily into surrealist metaphor, and, worst of all, serious adult conversation. Cover to come. https://www.22debuts.com/emily-bergslien-and-kat-weaver.html ![]() Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane Harper Collins/William Morrow, June 7, 2022 Drawing on ancient texts and modern archeology to reveal the trans woman’s story hidden underneath the well-known myths of The Iliad, this book weaves a compelling, pitilessly beautiful vision of Achilles’ vanished world, perfect for fans of Song of Achilles and the Inheritance trilogy. https://www.22debuts.com/maya-deane.html ![]() The Last Feather by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou Flame Tree Press, July 19, 2022 Twenty-two-year-old Cassia's sister is dying, and she doesn't know why. She wakes up in another realm to find her missing best friend, Lucas, who knows how to save her sister. Lucas is part of a community of Reborns, people who were born on earth and after death, were reborn in this realm with magical abilities. The original beings of the realm, the Firsts, rule over them. To keep the Reborn numbers manageable, the king of the Firsts releases a curse to cull them. Cassia needs to break the curse before her time runs out and she is trapped there forever. https://www.22debuts.com/shameez-patel-papathanasiou.html ![]() The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean Tor, August 9, 2022 Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. But besides that captivating premise, this book is also a gripping story of motherhood, sacrifice, and hope; of queer identity and learning to accept who you are; of gilded lies and the danger of believing the narratives others create for you. https://www.22debuts.com/sunyi-dean.html ![]() The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia Tachyon Publications, August 9, 2022 In this intricately layered debut fantasy, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease causing political rifts in their new homeland. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender, healing, and family. https://www.22debuts.com/naseem-jamnia.html ![]() Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans Orbit, September 14, 2022 Since the city of Bezim was shaken half into the sea by a magical earthquake, the Inquisitors have policed alchemy with brutal efficiency. When Siyon Velo, a glorified errand boy, accidentally commits a public act of impossible magic, he’s catapulted into the limelight. Except the limelight is a bad place to be when the planes themselves start lurching out of alignment, threatening to send the rest of the city into the sea. Cover to come. https://www.22debuts.com/davinia-evans.html ![]() Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai Tachyon Publications, October 18, 2022 Magical calligrapher Elle put her dreams on hold to hide her brother from their murderous family. But when her crush commissions her for a career-defining project, she must choose: risk her brother's life for a brush with fame, or walk away from the art - and the man - she loves. Cover to come. https://www.22debuts.com/mia-tsai.html ![]() The Surviving Sky by Kritika H Rao DAW/PRH, Fall 2022 High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. Here we follow the charismatic architect Iravan and his wife, the headstrong Ahilya, who seeks to change the balance of rule in their stratified society. https://www.22debuts.com/kritika-h-rao.html ![]() The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz Orbit, Fall 2022 Full of twisted family politics, dark magic, and fantastical beings, this debut transports readers into a lush world inspired by the history and mythology of 1800s South America. https://www.22debuts.com/gabriela-romero-lacruz.html ![]() Called to the Deep by Desirée M. Niccoli City Owl Press, 2022 When the lone survivor of a shipwreck learns she’s descended from the vicious mermaids who devoured her crew, she must find ways to curb her flesh-eating instincts or the sea captain who rescued her could become a tasty snack in more ways than one. https://www.22debuts.com/desiree-m-niccoli.html ![]() Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans Orbit, November 8, 2022 Magic, mystery, and revolution collide in this fantasy epic where an unlikely team of mages, scribes, and archivists must band together to unearth a conspiracy that might topple their empire. https://www.22debuts.com/erin-m-evans.html Curator: Victor Manibo
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