On Bee's Bookshelf

  Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction | Adult Fiction Publisher: HQ Release Date: Expected 7th October 2021 CW: Police violence, Death, Racism, Infertility, Pregnancy.  Not Every Story is Black and White. Riley and Jen have always been opposites, but their differences never stopped them being friends.  Riley is a news reporter climbing the ladder, Jen is happy being a receptionist and trying for a baby with her husband.  Jen is agressively friendly and magnetic, Riley prefers her spotlight being on the screen only.  Jen doesn't know a loving family, Rileys family always has room for one more.  Riley is black, Jen is white.  When Jens husband, a police officer, shoots an unarmed young black man and Riley is assigned lead reporter on the case, they suddenly find themselves on opposite sides for the first time ever.  Lives have been taken, lives have been ruined - can their friendship survive the fallout?  We Are Not Like Them is a powerful, blazi...

Genre: Thriller | Psychological | Adult Fiction Release Date: Expected 14th April 2021 Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph UK Content Warnings: Graphic sexual imagery, student/teacher relationships, self harm, alcohol, sexual assault, suicide.  Steven Harding is a successful, handsome professor. Methodical, Precise, and the complete total opposite of Ellie Masterson. Ellie is a fiery, messy college student seventeen years his junior but this weekend they're finally going away to celebrate their six month anniversary together. They're planning a weekend far away from the city, far away from prying eyes with the promise of nothing but seclusion, silence and sex to fill their days. But as they arrive in their snow-covered home for the weekend, it's not just the weather causing a chill. It seems like the perfect trip to get to know each other even better - but they don't know each other at all. They're both pretending to be someone they're not, and the consequences ...

  Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Hood and her next-door neighbor, Evie Verver, are inseparable, best friends who swap clothes, bathing suits, and field-hockey sticks and between whom, presumably, there are no secrets.  Then one afternoon, Evie disappears, and as a rabid, giddy panic spreads through the balmy suburban community, everyone turns to Lizzie for answers. Was Evie unhappy, troubled, or upset? Had she mentioned being followed? Would she have gotten into the car of a stranger? Compelled by curiosity, Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power as the centre  of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secret after secret and begins to wonder if she knew anything at all about her best friend. Megan Abbott has a strange skill of making words on a page seem like something much more - this entire book read like a fever-dream, a weird trance that you can't seem to look away from. With a gritty, hard...

  " I'm going to tell you a story. The story is true and it's tragic, though it's not without its own dark humour. So if you feel the urge to laugh somewhere along the way, by all means, indulge yourself. But this is a story I promised to tell." Miguel is going to die.  Diagnosed with not one but two terminal conditions, his time is running out and he realises he's never really lived.  Desperate to leave a mark on the world, he latches onto the idea of donation - maybe donating a kidney and saving a life - what better thing to leave behind? But why stop there - why can't he give it all away if he doesn't need it anymore?  Along with his best friends, Doctor Javeed and a Lawyer Kristine, Miguel sets off on a mission to complete his final task - to save lives and die peacefully when he chooses to. But when a Broadway producer hears the story and asks to write a musical about Miguels life, the peace is shattered and the tale can really begin. "So, I...

  Genre: Horror | Mystery | Retelling Release Date: Expected 28th September 2021 Publisher: Titan Books  CW: Violence, Death, Deadnaming Everyone knows the story about what happened all those years ago in Sleepy Hollow when the Horseman arrived to chase Schoolmaster Ichabod Crane out of town. But now, it's nothing more than a myth. A scary story to keep the kids from venturing too deep in the woods and getting lost.  Ben loves the story, even re-enacts it with their best friend, even when their Grandparents Katrina and Brom insist it's nothing more than a ghost story. But when they finds the body of a headless child out in the woods, they're sure the Horseman is there, watching on. But if everyone is right and he's just a bad dream, then what other monsters are out there hiding in plain sight? "Strange things come true in the Hollow. Everybody knows that."   It's always risky to retell a famous story, and even riskier to come up with a sequel to an iconic ...

  Genre: Historical Fiction | Homage | Adult Fiction Release Date: Expected 14th October 2021 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Many people know the name Antoine De Saint-Expéry for the classic novel The Little Prince. But long before he put pen to paper, he was a pioneer. In the 1920's and beyond,  Antoine was a pilot - and was responsible for wonderful progression in the skies, opening up worldwide postal routes and getting into all kinds of trouble. In The Prince of the Skies, Antoine must try to pursue his love of flying with the pressures of his aristocratic background and the the woman he loves, but the call of adventure is always there.  And as war breaks out across Europe, he finds there's much more waiting for him out there. The Prince of the Skies is a wonderful homage to a familiar name, based largely on true autobiographical fact from Antoines life but with beautifully magical storytelling to create something truly unique. Full of rich history, teaching us about t...

  When family is all you have, how far would you go to protect yours? Rowans Uncle Jack has been her rock since she turned up on his doorstep as a pregnant teenager, he took her in when her own parents wouldn't. Since then, he's been the most important person in her life. He encouraged her to progress herself, helped her raise her daughter and even gave her a job helping out at his PI agency.  But she never could have known her first case would be Jacks murder. As amazing as Jack was, it's hard not to make enemies in his line of work, and Rowan starts to dig into his past to find out the what could have led him here ... but when you dig, you're going to bring up dirt.  "Three weeks ago I would've laughed if you told me Jacks life was at risk ... Now I'm standing in a windowless room alone, waiting to be shown a dead body. A body they say is Jacks." The first in a new series, this has got all the makings of an epic detective mystery saga.  Full of hidde...

  Love can be found in the most unexpected of places.  Dr Tess Carter is sure of many things - she's an excellent doctor, her ex boyfriend is a cheater and there's no such thing as happy endings. So far, between her Dad leaving without so much as a goodbye and finding her last boyfriend in bed with another guy, nothing has come along to prove her wrong. And she's usually giving herself a hard enough time with the constant monologues running through her head without Edward Russell adding to the problem. The son of one of her new patients, who she spent an almost forgotten night with years ago. He's a typical successful, wealthy guy who loves to hear the sound of his own voice. But Tess can't even drown out her own voice, let alone his - can she figure out how to really listen to herself so she can figure out what she wants? Love Life was a somewhat charming story about a woman struggling with her own negative thoughts and learning to love herself - but  while this is...

  An Irish Village Mystery  Siobhán O’Sullivan has a lot going on. Between her new career as a local Garda, trying to arrange her wedding and dealing with her large and chaotic family, she's looking forward to getting a chance to relax when her small town finally opens its first bookshop. But when it finally opens it's doors .. she's greeted by riddles, strange hosts ... and murder.  Three Authors gathered with the townsfolk for opening night, showcasing their new novels and fighting for the attention of a legendary Irish Literary Agent, but only two made it through the celebration. As a storm raged outside, Deidre Walsh was killed, her mouth stuffed with pages from another writers books. Now  Siobhán  finds herself living in the pages of a murder mystery novel, as she races to figure out exactly what an small indie author from a small Irish town could have known to leave her dead ...  "Even the cows are nosey in this village." Now, I'm from an Irish family...

  "I've seen it before. Kids like you, I mean, an awakening of sorts - a sudden calling." Yuri had always liked Tengo. Or maybe that's the wrong word for it. She'd always been interested by him, since the moment she first saw him getting into chaos at their high school. But her curiosity was always from afar, until now. She'd been feeling something strange for a while - powers, abilities she can't quite explain. She knows things, can do things that she shouldn't. And this newfound intutiton is telling her Tengo might just be like her - and if that's the case who knows what they'd be capable of together.  So when the mysterious and infamous activist Monkey Man, Yuri's Idol, hints to the existence of the awakening, she knows something world-shattering is about to begin.  In under 80 pages, this short story manages to create an entire world in so very few pages. With such a uniquely beautiful writing style, this story blends a world of scienc...

  Genre: Fantasy | Romance | Adult Fiction Release Date: Expected 28th September 2021 Publisher: Headline Eternal "Never mix witchcraft and vodka." Nine years ago, Rhys Penhallow stole her heart ... and then broke it. But that's what she gets for dating a witch boy, just like her family said. But she knew the best cure for a broken heart is a strong vodka, a hot bath and a good curse. But just a silly one, of course, because as if it'd really work using a Bath and Body scented candle and a petty rhyme? But now Rhys is back. As a descendent of the towns founders, he's been sent to attend the Founders Festival and strengthen the Ley Lines. Vivi thought Rhys being back in town was going to be the worst thing that happened, but it looks like maybe her 'silly little curse' wasn't so silly after and now they need to work together to save their magic and maybe even Rhys himself.  "You literally said 'I curse you, Rhys Penhallow,' and now you'...

  Genre: Thriller | Psychological Thriller | Mystery |  Release Date: Expected 3rd February 2022 Publisher: Pan Macmillan He loves you. He loves you not.  Six months ago, Amy had it all. A sucessful career, her own home, a wonderful group of friends. The only thing missing was a partner to share it all with it. She just didn't expect to find one after a dangerous fall that wiped away the last six months of her memories. She can't remember why she was found laying on an icy street, she can't remember that she's meant to be leaving for her 30th birthday skiiing trip next week, and she definitely can't remember falling for Dr Jack Stewart three months ago. And he's definitely the type of man you'd remember; sexy, sweet and totally smitten with her. But as she heads off to her birthday trip with her friends in tow and tries to get to know the man she's supposedly in love with, there's not butterflies in her stomach but a feeling that something isn't ...

  "A church rises from the sea, a small, solid island of grey rock. On the spire, a spike of metal, a weather vane with the only arm remaining pointing west, as if reminding the sea that it still has work to do. This way. The whole of England waits to be quenched." The world as we know it is being eaten alive by the sea. The outer towns and countryside are swamped, only a few inland towns remaining unclaimed by nature. Food is scarce and production has moved overseas seeking more land. A chorus of feral cows wander the abandoned land, watching on silently as the people around them try to survive. Jesse and his family live in quiet peace in a small remainder of the isolated countryside, playing in the woods, growing food, and clinging to the last memory of home they have before they are forced to give in and move to London. Isolde has always lived in London, but after meeting the man convicted of murdering her Mother when she was a child, she walks away from the city in sea...