On Bee's Bookshelf

Genre: Young Adult | LGBTQ+  Release Date: 1st June 2023 Publisher: Penguin Random House It's not that you're not like other girls. It's just that you've never met a girl like you. And then. You do.  You meet her.  And suddenly. The songs make sense. It's summertime and 17-year-old Coley is alone, again. Forced to move to middle of nowhere Oregon after losing her mother, she is in no position to risk her already fragile heart. But when she meets Sonya, the attraction is immediate. Coley worries she isn't worthy of love. Up until now, everyone she's loved has left her. And Sonya's never been with a girl before. What if by opening her heart, Coley's risking it all? Okay first of all - Yes, I adore Hayley Kiyoko and Girls Like Girls is one of my all-time queer anthems. So I was very excited to read this and see if our girl could write a book as well as she writes songs; and it was pretty damn good. Girls Like Girls is a heartfelt, tender story about lov...

Genre: Adult Fiction Release Date: Expected 29th June 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | Sceptre Sam is spending her summer working in London for a marketing agency before she returns back to Stockholm. There's only a few short, sweet months left before she leaves the city - and Lucas behind. She and Lucas weren't meant to be anything when they reconnected this summer, but their passionate relationship is a perfect, beautiful distraction from the fact their lives are going nowhere. For now, life is spectacular and exciting -  a haze of romance, sex and wine. But the summer is almost over and Sam is leaving, and that means they're both going back to a life that is grey and boring.  Unless they're ready to do something about it, and find something between the good and bad. Something that matters, even on the okay days.  "'So either catastrophe or quite sublime. Or both.' I fully fill my lungs. 'I mean, it's a risk.', he says. 'But consid...

Genre: Non Fiction Release Date: 2nd May 2023 Publisher: William Collins The Age of Cats is a delightful non-fiction novel that every cat lover should have, giving us an informative read but with so much care and compassion that clearly shines through in the way the author talks about our furry family members. It explores the history of cats, how they’ve evolved from wild predators to the many types of cat we know today with plenty of research and sources, how cats were domesticated (kinda), and the similarities our household pets have with their cousins like lions and servals . Overall it’s very easily laid out, sectioned into relevant topics that make it easy to pick up where you left off or read them at random if you fancy it — there’s a few parts that were a little drawn out and for me needed something to break up the string of narration but generally it was an engaging read. On top of the interesting knowledge, there’s also a lot of fun in this book too — the authors own experienc...

Genre: Historical Fiction | LGBTQ+ Release Date: 1st June 2023 Publisher: Random House UK | Cornerstone Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by soaring prices and political tensions. By day, John Church preaches on the radical possibilities of love to a multicultural, working-class congregation in Southwark. But by night, he crosses the river to the secret and glamorous world of a gay molly house on Vere Street, where ordinary men reinvent themselves as funny, flirtatious drag queens and rent boys cavort with labourers and princes alike. There, Church becomes the first minister to offer marriages between men, at enormous risk. Everything changes when Church meets the unworldly and free-thinking Ned, part of a group of African activist abolitionists who attend his chapel. The two bond over their broken childhoods, and Church falls obsessively in love with Ned's tender nature. In a fragile, colourful secret world under threa...

    Join me as we take a look through the bookshelves of our favourite writers, readers and book lovers - today we're talking all things books with Stefan Bogdanski, book reviewer and tour host with my wonderful partners at Love Books Tours. Let's Meet Stefan ...   "I'm a father of two with way too little time to get all the reading done I'm craving. One peek at my tbr list tells me I need to hope for some wax too extend my lifespan, but I'm also afraid it would be useless (that pile grows fast!). Also, I'm hopelessly addicted to a growing host of book series. And space operas." What are you reading now? I'm always in the process of reading multiple books, like my long-term project, the complete Chronicles of Conan (and as soon as I'll finish that, the collected works if Lovecraft will take it's place). Current short-term is THROUGH STRANGER EYES by Chris Sarantopoulos, a Cyberpunk Mystery Thriller, and THE CITY STAINED RED by Sam Sykes, a ...

Genre: Mystery | Thriller | Contemporary Fiction Release Date: Expected 22nd June 2023 Publisher: Aria & Aries | Head of Zeus Sometimes dating can feel like murder - but for Gwen, that's closer to the truth than she knows.   She joined a dating app to try and move on from a devastating breakup, but every single man she meets just seems to get worse until she thinks they couldn't possibly get worse. And then - one dies. And another one. Someone seems hellbent on killing everyone she's dated recently, but she has no idea why … or who. But whoever they are, they want her to notice. So now, it's a race to track down every terrible date before it's too late. Before they find all of them. Before they find her. "And now here I was, on the brink of unravelling in an empty corridor, weeping for men I'd barely known, temporary acquaintances, fodder for anecdotes at best. But my life would be intertwined with theirs - forever." This is a bitingly funny and en...

Genre: Mystery | Thriller  Release Date: Expected 11th May 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton The RMS Atlantica is heading off to sea - with promises of luxury, of a peaceful disconnect from the outside world. It should be the dream holiday - but when Caroline wakes up, it's simply a nightmare. When she fell asleep in that cabin next to Pete, she was ready for to wake up and explore the floating city, to have fun and relax. But she wasn't ready to wake up completely alone.  Cas might just be the last passenger left aboard the Atlantica, and now everything is going off-course. She needs to figure out who or what has done this, but first she needs to survive.  "The ghoulish voice is saying that hundreds of people don't just disappear from an ocean liner at sea. It's telling me that this is merely the opening scene of a nightmare." There's a reason Will Dean is considered a Master of Suspense - and you can add his latest release as further proof. The Last...

Genre: Thriller | Mystery | Fiction Release Date: Expected 8th June 2023 Publisher: Pan Macmillan | Pan Nancy and her Daughter Lara have left the city behind to move to the countryside and life a life of quiet, quaint peace. She's looking forward to starting over, creating a happy life in this little community - but instead she finds herself on the outside of the cliques and circles. Especially when Lara is accused of hurting the child of the supposed Queen Bee of the village, and a witch hunt starts against them, These perfect families have shown they'll do anything to ensure their children come out on top - but now they'll see how far Nancy will go to make sure nobody ever hurts her daughter again … "Welcome to Ripton. Once you're here, you'll never leave." Playground politics turn deadly in this twisty thriller that holds a mirror up to the reader to ask just how far they'd go to protect the ones they love.  Immediately, Frances sets the stage with ...

Book One:  All   at   Sea Alice is young, in love and living on the Cornish coast.  Life should be perfect. But when her meets Mia, a magnetic newcomer to town, she starts to question everything.  Kai proposed to Alice before they left for their work trip - she should want to say yes. She wants to say yes.  But suddenly nothing makes sense.  Book two: Changing Tides Can you ever really move forward without looking back? Five years have passed and Melissa has the chance to come back to the cottage by the  sea  where  all  the drama unfolded.  In need of a fresh start, can she put the past behind her in the very place that left her heartbroken? Book three: A Line in the Sand Can you ever be completely honest with someone you love? And with yourself? Just as things were coming together, they are starting to fall apart.  Will Alice be able to put her indecision aside before she loses the love of her life?  Will Mia finall...

Join me as we take a look through the bookshelves of our favourite writers, readers and book lovers - today we're talking all things books with AJ West . Aside from being a truly brilliant writer and co-founder of the legendary book party, he is one of the simply loveliest people in the book community and it's been a joy to be able to work with him. AJ is a huge history fan who loves finding forgotten stories, and you can clearly see that in everything he does - he said if he could have one superpower, it would be to travel back in time to see the stories happen first hand. What are you reading now? Mathilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior by Catherine Hanley.  What are you reading next? A book about medieval sex and sexuality.  What’s the first book you remember reading? Winnie the Pooh What book made you love reading? Wind in the Willows What book can you always re-read? I never read a book twice! What book do you think is under-rated? Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy What book ma...