The Breakup Tour

Emily Wibberley and Austin SiegemundBroka. Berkley, $17 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-593-63864-4

Alistair’s eccentric mother, Lady Helena. This zippy, imaginative outing about seizing all that life and love have to offer inspires. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)

Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka (who last collaborated on The Roughest Draft) bring readers a genial second-chance romance set in the music world. In college, Riley Wynn and Max Harcourt shared a whirlwind romance. Ten years later, Riley’s a pop star who channels her heartbreak into song, and her latest breakup album has propelled her to new heights. Though she’s recently split from her obnoxious husband, Wesley, it’s memories of Max that inspired her lead single, “Until You.” When Wesley uses the song to boost his follower count online by unsubtly implying he’s the subject, Riley sets out to change the narrative, reaching out to Max—who truly broke her heart—for the first time in years. Max chose saving his parent’s retirement home business over pursuing his own musical dreams. When Riley unexpectedly reenters his life asking if she can go public about their past relationship, he sees his chance to play guitar again, agreeing only if she will allow him to join her tour. On stage and on the road together, the pair’s spark reignites, but can they move on from past hurt to love again? The authors dedicate the novel “to the Swifties, and Miss Swift,” making the inspiration for Riley clear. Equally apparent is how well suited Max and Riley are. Fans will have no trouble rooting for these two. (Jan.) surrogate big sister. Viv supports herself as an online dominatrix, and Rae asks to learn the ropes. Fast-forward 15 years: Rae has a teenage daughter, Lily, whom she adores—and her own thriving practice as a professional dominatrix. After one of her clients goes missing, Rae and her profession are thrust into the spotlight by Det. Dayton Clearwater. Dayton is fighting his own demons: his cousin, a sex worker, was killed, and though the rest of the force has written off her death, he’s determined to bring those involved to justice. As Rae and Dayton investigate the disappearance, they become more than friends. Levy keeps the twists coming and makes it easy to root for her smart, empathetic leads as they fight to save innocents from evil. The vivid descriptions of abuse are hard to read in parts, but serve to underline the emotional stakes. Fans of highoctane BDSM romances will be riveted. Agent: Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm Literary. (Jan.)

Myrtle’s refreshing candor about her intellect delights, as does Simeon’s quickthinking to cook up lies about their relationship. Historical romance aficionados are sure to fall in love with Frampton’s forward-thinking protagonists. Agent: Louise Fury, Bent Agency. (Jan.)

wealth. When New York City business magnate Arthur Stanhope III dies in 1898, leaving his fortune to his male next of kin (a “weaselly” old uncle), the Stanhope women—Arthur’s mother Junietta, wife Sylvia, and daughter Adelaide—are left adrift and uncertain of the future. Eager to hang onto their mansion and lavish lifestyle, Sylvia decides that 19-year-old Adelaide must marry a man of means. But Junietta has other ideas— “You can go anywhere and be anything want to be,” she tells her granddaughter, recalling how she’d been trapped by the rigid rules of her own high-society upbringing. Adelaide endures her mother’s dinner party setups until she starts to fall for the family’s young, middle-class lawyer. As issues with the mansion crest, Sylvia weighs whether to remain hostage to the rules of the upper crust, Junietta reflects on past regrets and a lost romance, and Adelaide must decide if true love is worth sacrificing her place in high-society New York. Austin brings a complex tangle of family bonds to life with nuance, delivering an inspiring message about the value of following one’s heart in the face of social pressures. The result will please Austin’s admirers and should win her some new ones. (Feb.) the sample Valentine’s Day card she’d shown to her class accidentally gets delivered to charming “bad-boy” Mose Troyer, who’d once briefly left the Amish community. Mistaken identity tropes also form the basis for Hubbard’s “S.W.A.K.,” albeit somewhat less successfully. When shy Fannie Kurtz declares her love for Eddie Brubaker in a letter, confusion ensues because Eddie is being avidly pursued by—and seeking to fend off—another girl named Fannie, who has similar handwriting. Though the similarities between the two Fannies feel contrived, there’s plenty of clean, slow-burning romance for readers to savor in this earnest anthology. It’s a delight. (Jan.) nonviolence, police brutality, and making sacrifices for love. Fans of Afro Samurai will vibe with this high-adrenaline epic. (Dec.)