Saturdays at the Café

Saturdays at the Café is a weekly feature hosted here to talk about and discuss the books I’ve discovered during the past week, added to my shelf and am excited about reading. They may be new/scheduled releases I’ve seen on NetGalley, at the library, or from publishers or they may be older titles my friends have reviewed and shared on Goodreads or blogs.

---

When a pop star’s life takes a sinister twist, Bree Taggert treads the dark side of fame to find a killer in an icy novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

In wintry upstate New York, someone leaves a frozen body wrapped in a pink bow outside Naomi Skye’s gated rural estate. A macabre birthday present for the terrified pop star. A chilling investigation for Sheriff Bree Taggert.

Bree and her fellow investigator—and fiancé—Matt Flynn eye a myriad of suspects from Naomi’s world of obsessed exes, paparazzi, stalkers, and secretive locals with something to hide. Someone is killing the people in Naomi’s life. She fears her family could be next.

Bree, already balancing a dangerous career and her family, must untangle a twisted web of starstruck fanatics, revenge, and betrayal before the killer strikes again.

Thanks to Anne @ Books of My Heart for featuring this next book in the Bree Taggert series in her Sunday Post. Scheduled for release in January, it’s an audio review hopeful.

---

Bring on the holiday cheer in this delightful collection of three feel-good novellas from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Night We Met—with bonus recipes and illustrations, perfect for gifting! Featuring an ensemble cast.

Sweater Weather: Read by Anthony Palmini and Patti Murin.
Stealing Christmas: Read by Grayson Owens and Mollie Stark.
Marry Little Christmas: Read by Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber.

Stay tuned after the credits for a conversation between the author and her daughter, Maya.

Tis the season to fall in love!

Anna thought only the food would be a disaster at her Christmas dinner—until her high school ex shows up and they quickly have to hatch a fake-dating scheme to save face with their families. For Matty, the idea of sitting in a diner all day dressed as a zombie Santa after losing a bet has zero appeal. But his cute and funny server might just make him change his mind. And finally, will Lauren be able to convince her best friend that getting married after a three-day relationship is absolutely ridiculous? Or will the town called Little Christmas pull her in with its happily-ever-after magic once she meets the best man?

Within these stories, you’ll find:
• The worst Christmas dinner imaginable
• A granny determined to dismantle the patriarchy
• Matching Christmas sweaters (by accident!)
• A Mission Impossible-style cat rescue (with a saxophone)
• Mouthwatering recipes from Abby for dishes like Disco Pancakes

Because this year, you deserve the perfect holiday gift.

I learned about this from the author’s newsletter. Scheduled for release in October, it’s an audio review hopeful.

---

A desperate writer’s pursuit of a powerful literary agent takes a dark turn in this new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Hitchcock Hotel and Darling Rose Gold.

All Arnie Tenderton wants this Christmas—all he’s ever wanted—is to be a published author. For decades he has toiled over one novel after another. Each was missing something. Until now.

He’s finally written his perfect book.

What he needs next is a literary agent, someone who can get his book into publishers’ hands. Not just any agent will do, of course. Arnie wants the best. Arnie wants Claudia Conley.

She already rejected him once, and Arnie has never forgiven her. He could move on. Instead, he finds out where Claudia is spending the alone in a remote house in the Catskill Mountains. He decides to show up there to make his pitch.

Claudia may try to turn him down again, but this time Arnie won’t take no for an answer.

Because his book is about her.

And he’s not leaving until the story ends the way he wants.

Thanks to Stephanie @ Stephanie Likes Books for featuring this in her book mail post. Scheduled for release in November, it’s a library audiobook hopeful.

---

An unsettling, groundbreaking novel that crackles with immediacy, It’s Not What You Think masterfully delivers a thriller steeped in current tensions and thought-provoking characters. Long after the stunning ending, Clare Mackintosh will make you question not only what happened on the page but our world today. For fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian McAllister and Alice Feeney, It’s Not What You Think grabs you by the throat and never lets you go.

He has a secret. She knows he’s lying…

Nadeeka is certain Jamie is having an affair. She knows the tell-tale signs. She’s been here before.

When Jamie claims to be at work late, she knows he’s lying. He’s with another woman, and she’s determined to catch him in the act.

But when Nadeeka arrives home to confront him, Jamie can’t explain himself. The house has become a crime scene…Jamie is dead.

YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE

YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHO YOU CAN TRUST

YOU THINK YOU KNOW HOW THE STORY ENDS

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

Thanks to Nikki @ Nikki Lee Thrill Seeker for her great review. The audiobook is on my library wishlist.

---

From the USA Today bestselling author of Blade comes a propulsive, emotional thriller about a man whose homecoming from prison threatens long-buried secrets about a murder in a suburban enclave.

After a ten-year sentence for murder, Griffin Ford is finally free and ready to make peace. But within hours of his release, he escapes a harrowing abduction. Someone doesn’t want Griffin to come home. Forced into hiding, Griffin is now determined to uncover the truth that was buried a decade.

Back then, he had risked everything to cross the tracks between working-class Milltown and affluent Newfield to pursue his teen love, Clare Keaton. But after a wealthy suburbanite was murdered and the evidence began to point in his direction, Griffin did the He confessed to the brutal crime.

He told Clare to forget him. But she never did—not even with her wedding just days away. And now, on the day of his release, cryptic text messages cast doubt on everything she thought she knew about Griffin Ford.

Propelled by restless secrets and enduring love, Griffin and Clare race to make sense of their past. But whoever’s pulling the strings is determined to finish what they started.

Thanks to Jodie @ That Happy Reader for featuring this in her Can’t Wait Wednesday post. Scheduled for release in January, it’s an audio review hopeful.

---

Every wedding guest’s worst nightmare is on repeat in this wild and twisty new horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of So Thirsty and Play Nice.

It’s the picture-perfect wedding The venue is dreamy, the weather is beautiful, love is in the air—and Willa Sullivan is having a bad time. She’s excited to celebrate her best friends finally having the big wedding they’ve always wanted, but this is the first time she’s seen her ex-fiancé in months, and he brought a date. Everything feels off, like she stumbled into an alternate universe. But things start to look up when Willa meets Danny, the groom’s charming and single childhood best friend. When they sneak off together, their rendezvous is interrupted by a masked killer terrorizing the reception. Willa and Danny fight to save the ones they love and survive the night, but the killer is unrelenting. A final girl, Willa is not.

Or is she? She wakes up and it’s the morning of the wedding. She just had the most intense nightmare of her life. Only as the day unfolds, there are some uncanny coincidences that make her question whether it was really a dream, déjà vu, or something more sinister. After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she’s stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death—being an eternal wedding guest.

After reading so many rave reviews from trusted friends, I accepted this for audio review.

---

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts, a new novel of danger, courage, and love lost and found. . .

Rye Tremayne knows about bad guys, starting with deadbeats and cheaters like his estranged dad. So from a young age, he’s been one of the good guys―a hero, even. He’s always had a knack for finding things: the lost dog he tracked down, which earned him a hundred-dollar reward and a hug from a pretty girl. The little kid who wandered away from a campsite. And in one case, a daring rescue that hit much closer to home―and taught him that triumph can come from trauma.

His uncle, the deputy, always said he’d make a great cop. But as he grows up and leaves his small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Rye decides to turn his talent into a business, taking on jobs involving everything from teenage runaways to stolen cars. The financial rewards are nice, but stopping bad guys is even more satisfying. The work takes him all over the country, but something always brings him home to Solitary, Michigan. The people he loves are there―the ones who tie him to his past, and just maybe, the one he might find a future with.

But a hero’s homecoming isn’t welcome news to everyone. And just as Rye closes in on what he’s always wanted, one twisted soul plots to take it all away.

I learned about this from the publisher’s newsletter. Scheduled for release in May, it’s an audio review hopeful.

---

An undercover cop. A mobster’s daughter. The best love stories start with a lie in this funny, emotional, suspenseful rom-com by New York Timesbestselling author Max Monroe.

Valentina Cordone doesn’t need a prince—she’s got a thriving bagel-and-book shop in Nashville, game nights with her quirky crew, and a perfectly good life. But when her attractive new neighbor shows up with effortless charm and an award-winning smile, she starts to reconsider.

Detective Shane Maddox went undercover to surveil a mob boss’s daughter. What he didn’t expect? That she’d be a lovable ray of sunshine, nothing like the crime princess he imagined. He planned to get close but walk away untouched. Instead, he’s falling hard…and realizing she’s in more danger than she knows.

Torn between duty and desire, Shane keeps his identity secret while protecting Valentina from her family’s criminal empire. As the truth explodes, he must prove his love is real while keeping her alive—no small feat when she won’t take his calls.

Even though the prince is a liar, he can’t risk losing his princess.

Sometimes fairy tales don’t start with once upon a time. They start with once upon a lie.

I accepted this second book in the series for audio review.

---

What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?