One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus (2017)

A colleague's description of this book had me at "Breakfast Club but with murder."

A bunch of high school kids end up in detention together and suddenly, one (who just happens to write a poisonous gossip blog) suddenly dies of a deliberately triggered allergy. Each of the implicated kids, from the drug dealing burnout to the class princess to the jock with a secret are beautifully drawn and realistic.

And, apparently, there's a sequel: One of Us Is Next (2020).

Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London (2018)

Romance with a librarian? Yes, please. 

When notorious "Bad Bachelor" Reed McMahon and PR genius is recruited to help librarian Darcy Greer with her library's fundraiser, the sparks fly. Ugh. I can't believe I just wrote that. 

ANYHOO, There's this website called Bad Bachelors, which is like a Yelp for dating and Reed's reviews are seriously affecting his work and home life. It all works out, though, as these things tend to do. The first in a series.

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman (2017)

Picked this up off a cart at the library purely for the cover and the spine, which basically says "Ass Mom." (lol!)

Jen, formerly band groupie with two children, one of whom may or may not have been fathered by Michael Hutchence, is married with a five-year-old son and has been recruited as Max's class mom. She sends snarky emails to the parents, gets involved in kindergarten parent politics, and deals with the emotions of being an aging 'cool girl.' 

So readable, so delightful. Even though she's a well-off white woman without a job--which is a very tiring genre--I still liked it. Here's an example of the cuteness: She calls her husband's home gym "Ron's Gym and Tan." Anyhoo. Cute.

Update: Apparently, there are two more in this series. Who knew? Now I do!

Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard (2015)

Fascinating novel about a private detective (Carter) who gets a mysterious bequest of a bookstore currently run by the only surviving descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, who is also African-American. Carter moves to Providence to oversee his new bookstore, but quickly very mysterious and spooky things are happening in town. 

This book has some really chilling moments and I liked it a whole bunch until I got to the end and discovered that there was no ending and I had to read the second book. DANG IT. We'll see if I do. But again, good characters, nice suspense/horror vibe, and fascinating look at the legacy of Lovecraft.

Update: I did not read the second book. I rarely do.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper (2018)

Five women and five men go out into the Australian bushland on a corporate adventure team-building retreat, but only four of the women return. 

A couple of detectives with a vested interest in the missing woman join the search and investigation. Everyone has something to hide and what happened to the missing woman is complicated on a Who Shot Mr. Burns level (basically everybody). Very readable and enjoyable, though.

And apparently, it's the second in a series that starts with Dry and features investigator Aaron Falk. So I'll be requesting that one now!

Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick (2014)

I am always so proud of myself when I read a book that was actually published in the current calendar year. You'd think being in a library almost every day would give me a leg up on the new releases, but I tend to be a bit behind the times.  I blame the excess of amazingly readable books I see every day (and my constantly expanding GoodReads To-Read list--current count: 298).

Anyhoo, this is a delightful chick littish novel about an airline attendant who gets in a plane crash and her pilot bf (who was about to propose), breaks up with her while she's still in the hospital.  So she takes her settlement and her injuries and goes to Black Dog Bay, a town whose entire tourism industry is dedicated to healing people who are getting through break-ups.

The surprisingly delightful part of this novel is that Summer, the stewardess, is hilarious and full of the devil.  No neurotic, shy, insecure chick lit heroine here.  She's funny and full of sassafras and turns the town upside down, in a good way.  A host of wonderful little details (like the Rebound Salon and local bar the Whinery) and great, rich characters, as well as a very dashing romantic lead, make this great fun.