New York Times bestselling author Christine Riccio delivers a witty romantic comedy with a magical twist, blending the wedding chaos of *27 Dresses* with the self-aware humor of *Crazy Ex-Girlfriend* in a story about a name that’s a curse, a dating life that’s a disaster, and the universe that might just be paying attention. 💍 When your name literally means “forever alone,” staying optimistic about dating requires Olympic-level positive self-talk. But Rikki Romona, approaching thirty with determination and anxiety in equal measure, refuses to give up on finding her person. She’s a columnist, therapist, podcaster, and entrepreneur—an overachiever who thrives on color-coded schedules and detailed life plans. She can absolutely handle attending two weddings in two days while simultaneously locking down a plus-one who won’t embarrass her or ghost mid-ceremony. She’s got this. Except spoiler alert: she absolutely doesn’t have this.

✨ Rikki finds herself flying hopelessly solo at a themed wedding in New Jersey, dressed as Rapunzel and waiting for her Flynn Rider to materialize. Instead of the romantic meet-cute her name seems cosmically designed to prevent, she’s stress-eating cake alone and wondering if maybe her pessimistic parents were onto something when they named her. Enter Reed Tyler—writer, podcast producer, wannabe actor, and somehow both surprisingly single and frustratingly perfect with his startling blue eyes and easy charm. They connect immediately, the kind of chemistry that makes you believe in fate and destiny and all the romantic nonsense Rikki professionally recommends to others but privately doubts for herself.

🌎 The catch? He lives across the entire country. Not “inconvenient commute” far, but “would require one of us to completely uproot our life” far. After one unforgettable night together—the kind that rewrites your definition of connection and makes you question every relationship choice you’ve made before—Rikki braces herself for inevitable heartache. Long-distance relationships are hard. Cross-country long-distance relationships are nearly impossible. She’s a realist underneath the positive affirmations and the therapy-speak. This is obviously the end, a beautiful moment doomed by geography and logistics and the curse of her literal name.

🎲 But then the universe, which has been listening this whole time, decides to intervene. Riccio injects magical realism into the contemporary romance framework, suggesting that maybe fate, coincidence, and cosmic intervention aren’t mutually exclusive. As Rikki and Reed keep finding themselves in the same city despite impossible odds, she has to confront whether she’s willing to trust that the universe might actually be rooting for her this time—or whether her fear of disappointment will cause her to sabotage the exact thing she’s been searching for. For readers who appreciate Emily Henry’s blend of humor and heart or Christina Lauren’s rom-coms with unconventional twists, this delivers both the laugh-out-loud moments and the genuine swoon.

Why this charms: Riccio crafts a romantic comedy that acknowledges how exhausting modern dating is while still believing in magic, both metaphorical and literal. Perfect for fans of wedding-adjacent chaos, long-distance relationship challenges that test genuine connection, and stories where your name might be a self-fulfilling prophecy until you decide it’s not.

Jeffrey Kluger, bestselling author of *Apollo 13* and space history expert, delivers the definitive account of NASA’s Gemini program—the overlooked middle child of American space exploration that made the Apollo moon landings possible. 🚀 Without Gemini, there would be no Apollo. That simple truth gets lost in the shadow of more famous space achievements, but it’s undeniable. We went from launching Americans into low-Earth orbit to successfully landing on the moon’s surface, and that leap required an intermediary step—ten flights over twenty months that taught NASA everything it needed to know about spacewalking, orbital rendezvous, long-duration missions, and the countless technical challenges that stood between Earth and lunar surface. The Gemini program was that crucial stepping stone, and its story deserves to be told with the same reverence we give to Mercury’s pioneering flights and Apollo’s moonwalks.

🌑 Kluger brings his signature cinematic storytelling and exhaustive research to chronicle a program defined by both darkness and triumph. There were deaths and near-deaths that haunted the project, moments when everything hung by a thread and the entire space program could have ended in catastrophic failure. The Cold War blood feud with the Soviet Union provided constant pressure—every American success was measured against Soviet achievements, every setback a propaganda victory for the enemy, and the knowledge that failure meant more than technical disappointment; it meant losing the space race to communist rivals. Meanwhile, a war raged in Vietnam, lawmakers called for NASA budget cuts, and the success of Gemini—or the space program in general—was never guaranteed.

✨ Yet against all odds, the remarkable scientists and astronauts behind Gemini persevered. They solved problems that had never been encountered before: how to dock two spacecraft traveling at thousands of miles per hour, how to survive and work in the vacuum of space during EVAs, how to precisely target orbital mechanics for rendezvous, how to handle the physical toll of extended weightlessness. Each Gemini mission built on lessons from the previous one, turning theoretical concepts into operational reality. By the time Gemini concluded, NASA had the knowledge base necessary to attempt the impossible—landing humans on another celestial body and returning them safely home.

🏆 Kluger conducted extensive interviews and archival research to bring readers inside the Gemini program’s triumphs and tragedies. His narrative captures the brilliant problem-solving, the competitive urgency of the space race, and the human drama of astronauts and engineers pushing boundaries while knowing that mistakes would be fatal. The book reveals how political pressure, budget constraints, and Soviet competition created a crucible that either destroyed programs or forged them into legendary achievements—and Gemini survived to become the latter. Without the hard-won lessons of Gemini, Apollo’s success would have been impossible, a fact that makes the program’s relative obscurity even more unjust.

Why this matters: Kluger rescues the Gemini program from historical footnote status, giving it the detailed, thrilling treatment it deserves as the true bridge between early spaceflight and lunar exploration. Perfect for fans of *The Right Stuff*, readers fascinated by Cold War space race history, anyone who loved *Apollo 13* and wants to understand what made those missions possible, and space history enthusiasts who appreciate stories of engineering triumph under impossible pressure.

Co-authors J.J. Arias and Bryce Oakley deliver a sapphic romantic comedy about two women who meet through a heartbreak recovery app, bond over holiday meet-ups from Miami to LA, and discover that sometimes the person helping you get over your ex is actually the person you’ve been waiting for all along. 💔 Alix swore off serious relationships—too complicated, too vulnerable, too likely to end in exactly the kind of heartbreak she’s currently nursing. Grace swore off messy situations—too chaotic, too unpredictable, too emotionally draining when life already requires enough mental energy. Neither woman was looking for anything when they matched on a heartbreak anonymous app, just support from someone who understood that moving on is harder than everyone pretends it is. A stranger to vent to, maybe trade breakup survival strategies with, nothing more complicated than that.

✈️ But what starts as anonymous mutual support evolves into something neither expected. Their holiday meet-ups—first in Miami’s heat and chaos, then Colorado’s winter magic, then LA’s sunshine and possibility—begin to feel less like friendship obligations and more like something neither wants to name because naming it makes it real and real things can hurt you. The chemistry between them builds across three holidays, two coasts, and countless conversations that start as heartbreak processing and end as genuine connection. They’re funny together, comfortable in ways that feel rare, and the more time they spend in person rather than behind app anonymity, the harder it becomes to pretend this is just platonic support.

🌈 Arias and Oakley craft a friends-to-lovers romance with genuine obstacles—long distance that makes relationship building complicated, fear of losing the friendship that’s become essential, and the very real concern that jumping into something new while still healing from something old is a recipe for disaster. Alix’s commitment to staying emotionally safe wars with her growing feelings for Grace. Grace’s determination to avoid messy complications runs headlong into the reality that love is inherently messy and the only way to avoid vulnerability is to avoid connection entirely. Both women have to decide whether the risk of heartbreak is worth the possibility of happiness.

🎄 The holiday structure adds seasonal magic and built-in stakes—each meet-up has a deadline, each parting could be the last if they don’t figure out what they want, and the countdown to their next reunion creates urgency. The authors balance humor with genuine emotional depth, ensuring the comedy comes from character rather than caricature and the romance feels earned rather than convenient. For readers who appreciate Alexandria Bellefleur’s sapphic rom-coms with emotional authenticity or Meryl Wilsner’s explorations of friendship-to-more relationships, this delivers both the laugh-out-loud moments and the genuine swoon.

Why this delights: Arias and Oakley craft a sapphic romantic comedy that understands heartbreak recovery isn’t linear and sometimes the person who helps you heal becomes the person you want to build with. Perfect for fans of long-distance relationship challenges that test genuine connection, holiday-structured romance that builds across seasons, and stories where the greatest risk is admitting that you’ve stopped pretending you’re fine because you’ve found someone who makes you want to be honest.