In One in Me I Never Loved, acclaimed Chilean novelist Carla Guelfenbein offers a thoughtful and emotionally evocative meditation on the tension between freedom and possession in women's intimate relations. It is Margarita's 56th birthday, and she suspects her husband may be having an affair. She spends her day away from him on the Barnard campus, where she considers the recent, mysterious disappearance of her apartment building concierge, a woman she never really knew but now cannot stop thinking about. Interwoven with Margarita's story are parallel narratives from the 1940s, when Doris, the young lover of Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, is getting her first taste of freedom, and the life of a young woman named Juliana is about to be changed forever.

Translated from the Spanish by Neil Davidson, the collagist quality of Guelfenbein's narrative provides the story with unexpected texture as these three women's lives overlap and diverge from one another in unexpected ways. While separately each plot--and Margarita's, in particular--may seem quietly contemplative, when threaded together, the three stories take on a new urgency that is enhanced by the novel's compact prose and all-in-one-day time frame. The women at the center of each narrative--Margarita, Doris and Juliana--may be different from one another in their circumstances and personalities, but the bittersweet ways in which they grapple with their desires to belong to someone else, and yet simultaneously break free of expectations, underline the emotional acuity of Guelfenbein's novel. Even Margarita's neglectful husband receives the tender treatment of the author's humanist approach, which is dedicated to putting her characters' emotional nuances before cheap thrills. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor

Rachel Kapelke-Dale's debut novel, The Ballerinas, offers an excoriating view of ballet as an industry, an artform, a calling and a passion. It's the story of three women in the Paris Opera Ballet and how dance shapes their friendship, bodies, lives and, ultimately, understanding of themselves as women.

As the only daughter of one of the most legendary ballerinas in Paris, Delphine has lived and breathed ballet from birth: "Dance is what I do. It was as simple, and as messed up, as that." Ballet school is where she meets her childhood best friends Lindsay and Margot; the POB company is where they grow their friendship as women; and dance is what ultimately brings Delphine back to Paris after 13 years spent choreographing in Russia.

Kapelke-Dale trained in classical ballet, and her deep understanding of this world is evident in the nuanced way she captures complex tensions: between Delphine and her estranged friends, between the company and the dancers they employ, between the female ballerinas who shine and the men, as required by the artform, who "show them off," between an individual's love of dance and the sacrifice it demands. "We'd honed ourselves for so many years into something resembling perfection.... It was about taking our strength and making it pliable, supple, compliant." The Ballerinas reveals with sharp insights what happens when talented and passionate dancers like Delphine and her friends reject that compliance: the strength of the women they are and the friendships they have built, and the beauty of the dance they perform both on stage and off, and what it takes not merely to survive but to shine. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

The title of Kristin von Kreisler's seventh book, A Reason for Hope, has a poignant double meaning. A trauma victim climbs from despair to optimism, aided by Hope, a yellow Labrador retriever "courthouse dog" trained to offer comfort.

Tessa Jordan, 36-year-old bookmobile librarian and caregiver to a band of feral cats on her Puget Sound island, looked forward to a date with a well-respected man from the community. But she awoke the next morning with no memory of their evening, and obvious sexual assault injuries. In sensitively written detail, A Reason for Hope describes Tessa's shame, fear and emotional turmoil as she reluctantly calls the police, as well as County Prosecutor Will Armstrong's efforts to support Tessa while building a case to prosecute her attacker. The conflict between a victim's hesitation and legal protocols leading to justice are well drawn, as is the professional reserve Will and Tessa maintain even as the situation opens to the possibility of a romantic spark. As Hope's handler, Will makes sure she is available when Tessa might need a paw on her foot or a soft ear to stroke. "I am here. Don't you worry. I care," Hope seems to say, lying in her "library-lion" pose. Victim-support group meetings empower Tessa, while Hope stays alert to who might need a calming friend.

Tensions rise during painful trial prep and courtroom confrontations. Meanwhile, Hope's role expands as she and Will befriend Tessa's seven needy cats, offsetting the novel's somber theme of sexual and domestic abuse. As the title implies, both Hope and hope eventually prevail. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

The struggle for justice in the land of the "free" is fueled by equal parts hope and desperation in They Can't Take Your Name, Robert Justice's promising debut novel. Set in the heart of Denver's Black community--the historic Five Points--Justice delivers a touching portrait of loss, love and the courageous exercise of being a Black person in the U.S.

Langston Brown is a man wrongly convicted for the infamous "Mother's Day Massacre" at a downtown Denver bank 15 years ago. His daughter, Liza, leaves behind Juilliard for law school to fight for Langston's release from Death Row. Meanwhile, local son Eli Stone is finally about to realize a "dream deferred" four years after his beloved wife's death--their plans to reopen the renowned Five Points jazz club, The Roz. When a desperate Liza meets Eli at The Roz, she shares the devastating news that Langston's execution date is set within 30 days. Finding strength in each other to overcome the pains and wrongs of the past, Eli and Liza make it their common cause to stay Langston's execution and clear his name.

Justice creates memorable and strong characters and explores the internal tensions among the Black social and political community with an unflinching eye. With the often-overlooked venue of the Mile High City as a viable location for future entries in the crime genre, They Can't Take Your Name is a first novel that hints at more to come for Eli and Liza as they navigate a hopeful, if uncertain, future. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver, Colo.

Cozy mystery lovers have enthusiastically befriended smart, crafty Josie Prescott over Jane K. Cleland's 13 previous novels. An expert appraiser and antiques dealer with her own TV program, Josie unravels spellbinding mysteries in and around her quaint, coastal New Hampshire hometown.

In Jane Austen's Lost Letters, Josie is haunted by the past in more ways than one. Even though her beloved father died decades before, his influence suddenly looms large when a mysterious woman, an elegantly dressed stranger, tracks Josie down after the taping of her TV show. The woman, in her 70s, claims to have been her father's "good friend." This news comes as a surprise as Josie thought she knew everyone in her father's orbit. The woman, in an obvious hurry, gives Josie a package, then disappears. The parcel contains a short, handwritten note from her father and two carefully preserved letters, chattily written and filled with great wit, dated 1811 and 1814. Josie, a literary aficionado and antiquarian, instantly recognizes that the letters were written by Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra and her niece Fanny. Are these authentic literary finds? Who was the delivery woman, and why did she rush off? And what's the connection between the letters, the woman and Josie's father?

These questions set Josie on a winding, deepening quest for answers where danger and murder abound. Cleland's (Hidden Treasure; Glow of Death) knowledge of and admiration for Jane Austen shine through this well-plotted, suspenseful narrative where long-term fans--and new ones--will eagerly invest in this exciting series full of surprises. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Hauntingly atmospheric, Shea Ernshaw's A History of Wild Places explores the isolated cult-like community of Pastoral and one family that is about to be rocked to its core. Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, are lifelong members of Pastoral, an idyllic commune founded in the 1970s. Since its founding, however, Pastoral has grown increasingly alienated from the rest of the world, as its residents have come to believe that to leave the community limits would be to catch a mysterious and deadly disease called the rot. But when Theo finds evidence that two outsiders--a missing children's book author and the man hired to find her--have entered Pastoral and since disappeared, Theo, Calla and Bee's bonds with each other and with their community will be tested.

Split between the three protagonists' perspectives, A History of Wild Places is written as a kaleidoscope of colliding realities. The result is a novel about paranoia that is hypnotic in the way it pieces together the lies its characters tell each other and themselves. While the mystery at its center--the fate of one enigmatic author--keeps readers guessing, it is the mesmerizing details about Pastoral that prove truly captivating in this chilling tale. Full of discomforting rituals, mysterious myths and rugged beauty, Pastoral is as seductive as it is terrifying, a fantasy world transformed into nightmare by an uncannily familiar desire for control. Ernshaw's slow-burn thriller may have a conclusion, but the spell Pastoral places over its readers cannot be so easily resolved. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor

City of Shadows, the delightful fifth entry in the Counterfeit Lady series from historical mystery writer Victoria Thompson (City of Schemes), finds heroine Elizabeth Bates returned from her honeymoon and happily busy with married life. Content to have left her prior life as a professional con artist behind, nevertheless Elizabeth finds herself unable to refuse a request for aid from a dear friend. Her friend's mother has fallen under the influence of Madame Ophelia, a séance medium who is clearly intent on draining their financial resources. Only Elizabeth's shady connections and inside knowledge can save them.

Soon, Elizabeth finds herself fully absorbed in machinations as she and all her friends, including her respected attorney husband, Gideon, plot to run a con of their own. They gleefully concoct a masterful plan to out-con the Madame and her associates. But who will win this test of actors and high-concept deceptions--the dangerous charlatan with her criminal co-conspirators or Elizabeth's crew of gifted amateurs and friends from both sides of the law?

This charming tale has a clever, engaging heroine surrounded by a marvelous cast of secondary characters. Set against the colorful backdrop of late-Gilded Age New York, the heroine's commitment to the suffragette movement provides noteworthy historical context. The interwoven schemes to trick the Madame are brilliantly complicated and thoroughly enjoyable. Although the novel is easily read as a standalone mystery, readers will certainly want to indulge in the prior four connected stories. --Lois Faye Dyer, writer and reviewer

"What drives someone to kill?" It's a question that renowned forensic nurse and criminal profiler Ann Wolbert Burgess is particularly equipped to answer (and does) in her riveting debut memoir, A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind.

One of the few female trailblazers within the male-dominated halls of the FBI, Burgess was a key player in the creation of the Bureau's first criminal profiling team, the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU). In the early 1970s, Burgess's groundbreaking research into rape and sexual trauma attracted the attention of "mindhunter" FBI agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler. Soon she was called in to consult on the most difficult and extreme serial killer cases. Driven by a desire to help victims and prevent future crimes, Burgess worked alongside the FBI for two decades to identify, track down and interview dozens of the country's most violent offenders, such as the "BTK" (bind-torture-kill) killer Dennis Rader and Henry Louis Wallace, the first documented Black serial killer. The memoir includes Burgess's intimate reflections on her work and ability to process horrific acts of violence into actionable data, and reveals a pioneering spirit unafraid to buck convention and spur innovation in a traditional and male-dominated field.

Full of behind-the-scenes depictions of FBI briefing sessions and never-before-seen interview transcripts, the book sheds light on the fascinating intricacies of the profiling process and the criminal mind. A Killer by Design is a crisply written and important addition to the field of criminology. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver, Colo.

Two years after their meet-cute in a Brooklyn post office, 18-year-old ex-boyfriends Arthur Seuss and Ben Alejo reunite in the achingly romantic sequel to What If It’s Us.

"The last time I watched Arthur walk away was two summers ago. I'm reliving that deep uncertainty in my chest all over again," aspiring writer Ben muses when Arthur returns to New York City as an intern for a queer off-Broadway play. Both teens have new love interests, but separately experience glimmers of hopeful uncertainty for a potential relationship "do-over." Arthur admits, "Maybe it's just one of those ex-boyfriend things, but [Ben's] face makes me forget what year it is." Ben and Arthur's sincere introspections, dramatic interludes and sometimes painful self-discoveries are told in alternating points of view and buoyed by interactions with Ben's brash yet steadfastly loyal best friend, Dylan. Ben cursorily examines his race and ethnicity, mostly in relation to Arthur (who's white) and his current love interest, Mario Colón. Ben recalls a conversation with Arthur about being white-passing and Puerto Rican, "something I never had to educate Mario on since he's in the same boat." 

Here's to Us transitions seamlessly from its predecessor yet stands strongly on its own. Powerhouse young adult fiction duo Becky Albertalli (Kate in Waiting) and Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End) craft a rich narrative with strong character arcs that dovetail in an anticipatory conclusion. The two authors answer the question, "What would happen if we got back together?" beautifully in this funny and sweet contemporary YA novel. --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms