Narrated by Shae Strong
Spring is my favorite time of year for so many reasons. It’s getting warmer, flowers are blooming, I can start planting my garden, and we have more sunlight. I can get my legs out again. I don’t have to bundle up every morning. It’s the best.
But my librarian’s heart also loves spring because it’s spring release time in the publishing world. For this year’s spring releases, I’m focusing on two of the library’s most popular genres: Romance and Thrillers. If you enjoy either of these genres, you may want to put these titles on your to-be-read list.
ROMANCES
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Release date: 4/23/2024
Daphne has the best job ever (and I can attest to this) as a children’s librarian and a fiancée who loves to tell the story of how they met. She’s living the dream until the day her fiancée realizes he’s in love with his childhood best friend, Petra. Needing to find a new place to live, Daphne ends up roommates with the only other person who could possibly understand what she’s going through; Petra’s ex, Miles. While they seem to be complete opposites, one night while drowning their sorrows they hatch a plan to post pictures of themselves having the time of their lives together. But it’s all for show… right?
The Paradise Problem by Christina Henry
Release date: 5/14/2024
In college, Anna married West so she could have access to subsidized student housing. Three years later, West now needs Anna’s help. While Anna thought they had divorced at graduation, she finds out now that they are still married and that fact can help West gain his inheritance. If only she can convince his very wealthy and very dysfunctional family that they have been happily married all these years. Finding herself on an island with all of West’s family, Anna realizes that pretending to be in love with West isn’t the problem, but dealing with his family might be more than she can handle.
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
Release date: 6/11/2024
Rue has a life she finds very pleasant. She enjoys her job as a biotech engineer for a startup in the field of food science, and it offers her the stability she always yearned for. She has friends she can count on. Life is good. Until Eli Kilgore and his business partner attempt a hostile takeover of Rue’s company. Bigger problem: Eli is devastatingly handsome, and while Rue wants to hate him, she can’t help but be attracted to him. When they start a no-strings-attached affair, they both know it can’t last because it has to end when one company comes out on top.
THRILLERS
She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica
Release date: 4/2/2024
Meghan Michaels has always prided herself on being an efficient nurse who is able to emotionally detach herself from her patients. Until Caitlin, a woman who attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge to the train tracks below, arrived at the hospital. When a witness comes forward saying Caitlin was pushed, Meghan lets herself get too close to the situation. The deeper she gets, the more she realizes that by getting involved, she may have put herself in danger.
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Release date: 5/21/2024
Lyla is in a rut, so when her boyfriend, Nico, decides to try out for a reality show, she figures she might as well try out with him. The show The Perfect Couple pits five couples against each other, and when Lyla and Nico are selected, they find themselves whisked off to a deserted island. Things start badly and only get worse. When a storm cuts them off from the mainland, they must find a way to survive. Suddenly, they are not all competing for a cash prize anymore; they are playing for their lives.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Release date: 6/18/2024
Opening weekend at The Manor always coincides with the Solstice and is always a production. This ultra-luxurious resort doesn’t cater to just anyone. The guest list is highly curated. Yet, somehow in this rarefied environment, a rot can still exist, and at the end of the opening weekend, not everyone will still be alive.
Other books to keep an eye out for this Spring:
- Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (Release date: 4/2/2024)
- A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci (Release date: 4/16/2024)
- Mind Games by Nora Roberts (Release date: 5/21/2024)
- You Like it Dark by Stephen King (Release date: 5/21/2024)
- Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand (Release date: 6/11/2024)
- Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs (Release date: 6/18/2024)
Sarah Johnson is a collection librarian at Mid-Columbia Libraries. She reads more than 120 books a year. In her free time, she teaches fitness classes, gardens, and brews kombucha.
