Waiting to Read Wednesday: Nosy Neighbors / The Book of Thorns / Relative Strangers / One Step Too Far

The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson
Release Date: April 2, 2024 by Berkley

Two neighbors-at-war band together to stop a dangerous criminal in their midst in this enthralling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Ticket.

Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, and especially not in crumbling Shelley House. According to her neighbors, she’s prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past.

Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling is Shelley House’s longest resident, and if you believe the other tenants, she’s as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Except there’s a good reason Dorothy spends her days spying on her neighbors—a closely guarded secret that no else knows and the reason Dorothy barely leaves her beloved home.

When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home. But when someone starts to play dirty and viciously targets one of the residents, Dorothy and Kat suspect foul play in their community. After the police close the investigation, it's up to this improbable pair to bring a criminal to justice.  [Goodreads Summary]

I enjoy books featuring women from different generations coming together to fight a common cause--and solve a crime. I cannot wait to see how these two women put aside their differences to work together-- perhaps even becoming friends along the way!

The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox
Release Date: April 2, 2024 by Graydon House

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars and the rise of the floriography craze in Europe, two sisters separated at birth are bound together by a secret language of flowers passed down to them by the mother they never knew. When Cornelia leaves her cruel uncle’s home to join Napoleon’s army as a traveling naturalist, her ability to heal any wound and bring soldiers back from the brink of death earns her praise from higher-ups—and exposes her to those who would exploit her powers for themselves.

Meanwhile, Lijsbeth lives in indentured servitude, her only respite her time spent flower arranging. When she meets a young English soldier and falls in love, Lisjbeth must decide whether to flee the clashing of two great armies at Waterloo or risk everything by staying. As the English and French armies collide in Waterloo, the sisters finally cross paths on opposite sides of the war.

With the sisters reunited on the battlefield, they must work together to solve the mystery of their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, all while surviving the war raging around them.  [Goodreads Summary]

Hester Fox is one of those authors whose books I seem to collect but haven't read. Yet again, she's coming out with a book that I really want to read. I admit my experience with the Napoleonic Wars is through the Classics so far, but I am all in for this one when it comes out.

Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim
Release Date: April 2, 2024 by Graydon House

A twenty-first-century family drama featuring two sisters, their ex-hippie mother, multiple messy love affairs, and one explosive secret that could ruin everything

Amelia Bae-Wood’s life is falling apart. Unemployed, newly single, and completely broke—for reasons she hasn’t told anyone yet—she hitchhikes across California to deal with the fallout of her mother’s eviction from the family estate. Needing somewhere to live, she moves with her mother and sister Eleanor to Arcadia, the cancer-retreat center where her sister volunteers.

Eleanor has too much on her plate, including being caught up in a court battle with a man who claims to be her half-brother from Seoul. Her late father’s only son, he’s fighting for a piece of everything that belongs to the Bae-Wood women. When Amelia adds herself to Eleanor’s list of problems, Eleanor must figure out what to hold on to—and when to let go—before things unravel.  [Goodreads Summary]

Relative Strangers is a Sense and Sensibility re-telling, which is enough to catch my interest. I have been hearing good things about this one and am anxious to read this family drama. 

Do any of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

The Old(er) 

Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight those unread books on my TBR in her Books from the Backlog feature, reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis (2013)

An apparently happy marriage. A beautiful family. A dream home. So what makes lawyer Emily Coleman—a woman who appears to have everything—get up one morning and walk right out of her life to start again as someone new?

Deliberately losing herself in London, Emily quickly transforms herself into Cat. Along with her new name, she finds a new home in a shared house in North London teeming with an odd assortment of flatmates, and a new job as a receptionist.

Soon Cat has buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can’t bury the past—or her own painful memories. As the days turn to months, thoughts of all she’s left behind begin to consume her. She cannot outrun the ghosts that haunt her, no matter how hard she tries to elude them. And soon, she’ll have to face the truth of what she’s done—a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far... [Goodreads Summary]

Last month I featured one of the books on the losing end of my first TBR List Poll, which I held here on my blog in January of 2016. This was the second of the two books that didn't win the poll that month. It is one of many books sitting on my shelf that I haven't yet managed to get to.  Just what has Emily/Cat done and what is she running from? Someday I hope to find out! 

Have you read One Step Too Far?  Does this book sound like something you would like to read? 

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