"Can't Forget You"

New from Grand Central Publishing: Can't Forget You by Rachel Lacey.

About the book, from the publisher:

Jessica Flynn can’t wait to buy up that patch of unspoiled North Carolina woodland next door and expand her spa. What could be more sensuous than a hot-tub soak under the stars? Jessica would love to bask in the romantic view herself-but first she needs to find the right man to join her in this fantasy. Back in high school, she thought that was the dark and brooding Mark Dalton. But then he left to join the Special Forces, and when he returned to town, it felt like their teenage love affair had never even happened.

Mark Dalton has his eye on the same property for his own business. Yet there’s something he wants to have even more. Because Jessica is sweeter than he remembered, and he’s finding it hard to resist his attraction to the competition. When they finally find themselves alone, deep in the forest, nature can’t help but run a little wild. But if she ever finds out what he’s been hiding all these years, she may never forgive him…

Visit Rachel Lacey's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Renegade Cowboy"

New from Grand Central Publishing: Renegade Cowboy by Sara Richardson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Cassidy Greer knows that cowboys are nothing but trouble. But when her childhood crush comes riding into town, she starts to have second thoughts. Levi’s a world-class bull rider now and more handsome than ever. It’s a good thing she’s getting out of Dodge soon or she just might be tempted...

As a famous rodeo star, Levi Cortez could have his pick of any woman on the circuit. But when he reconnects with Cassidy, sweet memories come rushing back. Levi knows Cass doesn’t want to get roped into a relationship. Not with a cowboy. The only question is, can he convince her he’s more than just a renegade cowboy before the summer’s over?

Visit Sara Richardson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Case of the Sexy Jewess"

New from Oxford University Press: The Case of the Sexy Jewess: Dance, Gender and Jewish Joke-work in US Pop Culture by Hannah Schwadron.

About the book, from the publisher:

Amidst the growing forums of kinky Jews, orthodox drag queens, and Jewish geisha girls, we find today's sexy Jewess in a host of reflexive plays with sexed-up self-display. A social phantasm with real legs, she moves boldly between neo-burlesque striptease, comedy television, ballet movies, and progressive porn to construct the 21st Century Jewish American woman through charisma and comic craft, in-your-face antics, and offensive charm. Her image redresses longstanding stereotypes of the hag, the Jewish mother, and Jewish American princess that have demeaned the Jewish woman as overly demanding, inappropriate, and unattractive across the 20th century, even as Jews assimilated into the American mainstream. But why does "sexy" work to update tropes of the Jewish woman? And how does sex link to humor in order for this update to work? Entangling questions of sexiness to race, gender, and class, The Case of the Sexy Jewess frames an embodied joke-work genre that is most often, but not always meant to be funny. In a contemporary period after the thrusts of assimilation and women's liberation movements, performances usher in new versions of old scripts with ranging consequences. At the core is the recuperative performance of identity through impersonation, and the question of its radical or conservative potential. Appropriating, re-appropriating, and mis-appropriating identity material within and beyond their midst, Sexy Jewess artists play up the failed logic of representation by mocking identity categories altogether. They act as comic chameleons, morphing between margin and center in countless number of charged caricatures. Embodying ethnic and gender positions as always already on the edge while ever more in the middle, contemporary Jewish female performers extend a comic tradition in new contexts, mobilizing progressive discourses from positions of newfound race and gender privilege.

Visit Hannah Schwadron's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"World Enough"

New from Severn House: World Enough by Clea Simon.

About the book, from the publisher:

This intriguing, hardhitting, intricately-plotted mystery set in Boston's clubland marks an exciting new departure for cozy author Clea Simon.

The Boston rock music scene is where Tara Winton belongs; the world she's been part of for 20 years. But when one of the old gang dies in mysterious circumstances, Tara sets out to uncover the disturbing truth beneath the surface of the club scene in its heyday.

Visit Clea Simon's website.

Writers Read: Clea Simon (April 2014).

The Page 69 Test: Panthers Play for Keeps.

My Book, The Movie: Panthers Play for Keeps.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party"

New from the University Press of Kansas: Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party: A Political Biography of Gerald R. Ford by Scott Kaufman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Within eight turbulent months in 1974 Gerald Ford went from the United States House of Representatives, where he was the minority leader, to the White House as the country’s first and only unelected president. His unprecedented rise to power, after Richard Nixon’s equally unprecedented fall, has garnered the lion’s share of scholarly attention devoted to America’s thirty-eighth president. But Gerald Ford’s (1913–2006) life and career in and out of Washington spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party captures for the first time the full scope of Ford’s long and remarkable political life.

The man who emerges from these pages is keenly ambitious, determined to climb the political ladder in Washington, and loyal to his party but not a political ideologue. Drawing on interviews with family and congressional and administrative officials, presidential historian Scott Kaufman traces Ford’s path from a Depression-era childhood through service in World War II to entry into Congress shortly after the Cold War began. He delves deeply into the workings of Congress and legislative-executive relations, offering insight into Ford’s role as the House minority leader in a time of conservative insurgency in the Republican Party.

Kaufman’s account of the Ford presidency provides a new perspective on how human rights figured in the making of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War era, and how environmental issues figured in the making of domestic policy. It also presents a close look at the 1976 presidential election—emphasizing the significance of image in that contest—and extensive coverage of Ford’s post-presidency. In sum, Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party is the most comprehensive political biography of Gerald Ford and will become the definitive resource on the thirty-eighth president of the United States.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Senator’s Children"

New from Tin House Books: The Senator’s Children by Nicholas Montemarano.

About the book, from the publisher:

In a country that loves second chances, are some transgressions simply unforgivable?

Sisters Betsy and Avery have never met, but they have both spent their lives under the scrutiny of prying cameras and tabloid journalists. Their father, David Christie, was a charismatic senator and promising presidential candidate until infidelity destroyed his campaign and his family’s life. In the aftermath, Betsy grieves her broken family, while Avery struggles with growing up estranged from her infamous father yet still exposed by the national spotlight. Years later, as David’s health declines, Betsy and Avery are forced to face their complicated feelings about him―and about each other. With delicacy and empathy, Nicholas Montemarano brings these sisters together in a parallel of grief and grace. The Senator’s Children brilliantly distills the American family under pressure.

Learn more about the book and author at Nicholas Montemarano's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Book of Why (January 2013).

Writers Read: Nicholas Montemarano.

--Marshal Zeringue

"As Dark as My Fur"

New from Severn House: As Dark as My Fur by Clea Simon.

About the book, from the publisher:

Blackie does not trust Care's new client, Mr Gravitz, who hired Care to shadow one of his workers, a man he suspects is stealing from him. Blackie knows the client is lying, but how can he protect Care when he is only a cat? The adventure continues for this detective duo as they fight for their lives and for the memories of those they love.

Visit Clea Simon's website.

Writers Read: Clea Simon (April 2014).

The Page 69 Test: Panthers Play for Keeps.

My Book, The Movie: Panthers Play for Keeps.

--Marshal Zeringue

"You Don't Own Me"

New from W.W. Norton: You Don't Own Me: How Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side by Orly Lobel.

About the book, from the publisher:

The battle between Mattel, the makers of the iconic Barbie doll, and MGA, the company that created the Bratz dolls, was not just a war over best-selling toys, but a war over who owns ideas.

When Carter Bryant began designing what would become the billion-dollar line of Bratz dolls, he was taking time off from his job at Mattel, where he designed outfits for Barbie. Later, back at Mattel, he sold his concept for Bratz to rival company MGA. Law professor Orly Lobel reveals the colorful story behind the ensuing decade-long court battle.

This entertaining and provocative work pits audacious MGA against behemoth Mattel, shows how an idea turns into a product, and explores the two different versions of womanhood, represented by traditional all-American Barbie and her defiant, anti-establishment rival—the only doll to come close to outselling her. In an era when workers may be asked to sign contracts granting their employers the rights to and income resulting from their ideas—whether conceived during work hours or on their own time—Lobel’s deeply researched story is a riveting and thought-provoking contribution to the contentious debate over creativity and intellectual property.

Learn more about the book and author at Orly Lobel's website.

The Page 99 Test: Talent Wants to Be Free.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Love, Life, and the List"

New from HarperTeen: Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West.

About the book, from the publisher:

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems ... and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

Visit Kasie West's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Count to Infinity"

New from Tor Books: Count to Infinity: Book Six of the Eschaton Sequence by John C. Wright.

About the book, from the publisher:

Count to Infinity is John C. Wright's spectacular conclusion to the thought-provoking hard science fiction Eschaton Sequence, exploring future history and human evolution.

An epic space opera finale worthy of the scope and wonder of The Eschaton Sequence: Menelaus Montrose is locked in a final battle of wits, bullets, and posthuman intelligence with Ximen del Azarchel for the fate of humanity in the far future.

The alien monstrosities of Ain at long last are revealed, their hidden past laid bare, along with the reason for their brutal treatment of Man and all the species seeded throughout the galaxy. And they have still one more secret that could upend everything Montrose has fought for and lived so long to achieve.

Visit John C. Wright's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Hermetic Millennia.

--Marshal Zeringue