Beg, Borrow, or Steal

November 11, 2024
Feuding second-grade teachers learn they make a great team in this cute rivals-to-lovers romance, the third in Adams’s When in Rome series (after Practice Makes Perfect). Sharp, witty, and often abrupt, Emily Walker is known and loved by the locals of Rome, Ky., who feel partly responsible for her after the early deaths of her parents and grandparents left her to raise her four younger siblings. When the bane of Emily’s existence, people-pleasing Jack Bennett, a rival from her college days, moves in next door and takes a job at the school where Emily works, she’s furious. Jack has come to Rome to heal from both a broken engagement and a traumatic childhood spent in the shadow of his narcissistic father, a famous author. He and Emily butt heads—until aspiring romance author Emily accidentally emails her super spicy manuscript to the school’s conservative principal and Jack, who has his own secret, pseudonymous publishing career, steps in to help manage the crisis. Readers will love watching this couple grow together as they realize their animosity veils powerful attraction and Jack breaks down Emily’s emotional armor. Folksy locals and plenty of comic misunderstandings add to the fun. This charms.

November 11, 2024
This action-packed rom-com from Wilkens (If I Stopped Haunting You) follows archaeologist besties Louise Morganstern and Isadora “Isi” Ross. Isi’s Cherokee mother, an archaeologist herself, disappeared somewhere in the mountains of Georgia while Isi was in college, and is presumed dead—but Isi still has questions. Though her lifelong friendship with Louise has been rocky for the past few years—in part due to the fact that they’re both repressing feelings for each other—the pair are brought back together by the discovery of Isi’s mother’s journal. The diary may lead them to the truth about her whereabouts—and to the lost Cherokee gold she was looking for. But a group of ruthless treasure hunters are also on the trail and kidnap the women hoping for intel. Isi and Louise manage to escape but now must follow the journal’s cryptic clues with limited supplies and pursuers hot on their heels. The lovely and often steamy friends-to-lovers arc that unfolds in the midst of this danger is only marred by how long it takes the heroines to own up to their emotions. The adventure story, meanwhile, rivets, with well-earned nods to Indiana Jones and respectful treatment of Native culture and tradition. Readers won’t want to put this down. Agent: Rebecca Podos, Rees Literary.

December 1, 2024

Emily and Jack have been enemies since freshman year of college when he spilled coffee on her. They both ended up as teachers in Rome, KY, until Jack left to live with his fianc�e in Nebraska. Emily thought she was finally free of him, until he shows up at her school and at "her" table at the local diner, after calling off his wedding. They fall back into their old ways but also find that they're falling for each other. Matters become tense when Jack purchases the dilapidated house next door to Emily. Fixing the house at all hours of the night, shirtless no less, infuriates Emily--and they're both keeping secrets about their side careers as writers. When those secrets inadvertently get out, they find themselves working together, and things quickly ignite between them. The characters also grapple with harbored family secrets and emotional abuse. VERDICT Full of heart and heat, this third "When in Rome" story (after Practice Makes Perfect) is not to be missed and can be read as a stand-alone, with appeal for romance and relationship fiction readers.--Erin Holt

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