Saturday Spotlight: New Book Releases February
By Claire Buss, Deputy Editor, Write On!
At Write On! and Pen to Print, we want to help connect authors and readers, so we’ve created a Spotlight page every Saturday, showcasing some of the exciting new reads available. The list has been curated by Lisa Roullier and myself, based on books that you send us, so if you’re an author and you’d like your book in the spotlight, reach out to Lisa at pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk. Whether you’re an indie author, with a small press or mainstream publisher, we’d love to hear from you and shine a light on your new novel.
Write On! offers other opportunities for writers as well. If you’d like us to feature an extract from your book or a short story, please send the extract, book cover and blurb to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Write On! Showcase (ensuring you have your publisher’s permission, of course).
Pen to Print are also looking for short videos from people reading a passage from their favourite book, or authors reading extracts from their own books. These videos will be featured on the Pen to Print YouTube channel and across our social media. Please send in your videos or links to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Video Stories.
Karma Karma by Lorraine Cannell
Seventeen-year-old Jack Ethan Dray has put his street-gang past firmly behind him, or so he thinks.
When he gets a shout-out from an old gang member and his ex-girlfriend starts acting as though they’re getting back together again, Jack worries his past is coming back to haunt him.
Then Bonita Chang asks for his help to find her twin brother. A brother that used to belong to a rival gang.
Jack knows that his only chance of being with Bonita is if he helps her. But he’s no hero…until she starts acting as though he is one.
Karma Karma is a spellbinding story about the thin line between good and evil, the choices we make, and about facing up to who we are.
Available to buy here
Connect with Lorraine Cannell
The Little Ice Cream Shop By The Sea by Lizzie Chantree
Genie’s family is in crisis. With the loss of Genie’s grandmother and her legendary ice cream flavours, their seafront business is failing. Genie is determined to be the one to save her family’s heritage, but suddenly her mother wants to sell to developers and leave their shared history behind.
Buying the business and taking on a 68-year-old business partner, Ada, with a mysterious past and a gorgeous but distracting (and famous) grandson, Genie sets out to prove her parents wrong.
Ada’s grandson, Cal, wants to protect his gran from ‘pensioner persuader’ Genie, but soon realises that living in a little seaside town and away from the paparazzi in Hollywood can actually give him time to heal. Hiding in a seafront business with its fiery owner and working as kitchen staff, is the only way he can think of to keep his ex-Hollywood glamour-puss gran from harm.
Hiring a private detective and learning about Genie’s parents’ past makes Cal regret his own impulsiveness. The information he has unearthed could destroy their blossoming relationship and turn Genie’s world upside-down.
Can friends become enemies and is it possible your closest family have lied to you your whole life?
Available to buy here
Connect with Lizzie Chantree
The Journey Of Seagulls by
Would you be willing to step into the unknown?
After a bitter divorce, Christina leaves her nursing career and life in London behind, to embark on a journey of a lifetime to Gran Canaria. Haunted by her ex-husband, Christina must follow her heart and the advice of a young boy to discover her true happiness. Will she finally become the successful artist she’s always dreamed of, or will a potential love interest cripple her creativity and stand in her way?
The Journey Of Seagulls is a beautifully woven story about the inner voice we all have but sometimes can’t hear.
Available to buy here
Connect with Agnieszka Dryjas-Makhloufi
The Elfin Pyramid by Penny Fernandes
Do you think the pyramids of Egypt were built by man?
Baah! It was the magic of elves that brought about these wonders. You probably don’t know we exist and that’s exactly the way we want it.
Times have changed; our magic beginning to ebb away. The only hope for Elfin survival lies in a forgotten region of modern Egypt. Sobek, Horus and I have no choice but to hurl through the desert, find a stolen pearl and bring its magic back home. The sands of time aren’t in our favour and, in a world full of deception, we are forced to face our worst fears.
Available to buy here
Connect with Penny Fernandes
Phyllo Cane And The Circus Of Wonder by Sharn W Hutton
When Phyllo accidentally burns down the Big Top, he can forget his dream of being a magical confectioner. It’s ‘The Circuit’ for him instead.
Now he must face a daunting string of magical apprenticeships; his first with The Fabulous Volante: the gravity-defying flyers of the high trapeze.
Training is knee-tremblingly, mind-bogglingly dangerous and, when Phyllo is found at the heart of yet another disaster, he realises it’s not just his nerves holding him back.
Other acts crumble. Masked men stalk the cast. Something dark and evil conspires against them all.
If ‘The Circus Of Wonder’ is to survive, they must solve the problems of the past… or lose the magic forever.
The German Heiress by Anika Scott
Essen, 1946. Clara Falkenberg, once an iconic heiress, is on the run.
With the city in ruins and her dear friend Elisa missing, Clara enlists the help of Jakob, a charming young racketeer with his own reasons for wanting to find Elisa. As the two join forces, it’s not long before Clara’s family secrets catch up with her. But she soon comes to realise the only way to survive is to face the truth of what she’s done.
Available to buy here
Connect with Anika Scott
Remember, if you’re an author and you’d like to see your book in our Saturday Spotlight, email: pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk and send us the details of your new novel.
Further Links
For details of Penguin RandomHouse new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Hachette new releases, visit their website here.
For details of HarperCollins new releases, visit their website here.
For details of PanMacmillan new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Simon & Schuster new releases, visit their website here.
Disclaimer: Amazon links are given for ease but please remember there are a number of other online retailers operating, including hive (which helps to support independent book shops), Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and Nook as well as online stores for bookstores such as Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and WHSmiths. Given the current situation, though, please check first.
We want to help connect authors and readers, so we've decided to create a spotlight page every Saturday, showcasing some of the exciting new reads available.
