Skeet Lopez has a plan: save up enough money to purchase the bakery she manages in Comfort, Alabama. Her mom’s from Comfort, her dad’s from Mexico, she loves to bake and clog in that order, and falling for her best friend Jasper is absolutely not part of the picture. Then she sees him shirtless washing his car and good goobidy do, it should be against the law for that man to go shirtless. 🍰

Jennifer Youngblood writes small-town romantic comedy with genuine charm and a narrator whose voice is warm and funny without trying too hard. Skeet has her words mixed up half the time and her life worked out — until everything explodes. Or is it implodes? Her beloved bakery is being snatched away, and there’s not a dang thing she can do about it. 😰

The best-friends-to-lovers setup is executed with real warmth, and Skeet’s determination to save her bakery gives the romance genuine stakes beyond just whether she and Jasper figure out what everyone else already knows. Youngblood balances the humor with heart beautifully. 💕

What makes this irresistible: A baker in small-town Alabama has her life worked out — save the bakery, don’t fall for her shirtless best friend — until both plans explode simultaneously. Contemporary romance with Southern charm, a heroine who clog-dances to burn calories for more cookies, and the kind of best-friends chemistry that was inevitable all along.

Alice’s number one secret to success as a bodyguard? Staying under the radar. Then a public disaster blew up her career and her reputation, and her perfect solo life took a hard left turn to crazy town. She figured her hometown of Nowhere would be a low-profile refuge to wait out the media storm. She figured wrong. 💥

Kirsten Weiss writes small-town mystery with genuine humor and a gift for absurd detail. Alice’s little brother has moved into a treehouse. The town has decided to attract tourists with the world’s largest collection of big things — they now have the world’s largest pizza cutter, lawn flamingo, and ball of yarn. And then Alice stumbles over a dead body, because of course she does. 🔍

All the evidence points to her brother being the killer. Alice may have been out of his life for five blissful years, but she knows he’s no murderer. Clearing his name before he becomes Nowhere’s next Big Fatality means diving into an investigation she absolutely did not sign up for. Weiss balances the comedy with genuine mystery mechanics beautifully. 😂

Why this grips from page one: A disgraced bodyguard flees to her hometown — which now boasts the world’s largest pizza cutter and lawn flamingo — and immediately stumbles over a body that makes her brother the prime suspect. Small-town mystery with quirky charm, a heroine trying to stay low-profile, and a town that makes lying low impossible.

A mysterious spacecraft has crashed in North Korea, setting off a geopolitical firestorm. The ship is now in the hands of a tyrannical dictator determined to unlock its secrets and bring the West to its knees. What North Korea’s Supreme Leader doesn’t know is that a small prototype vessel — the Reaper — lies hidden within the wreckage, and its purpose could either save humanity or lead to extinction. 🚀

Todd Hosea sets up the military thriller with precision: Captain Ava Tan is recruited for the boldest mission in military history. Her orders: infiltrate the most isolated country on the planet, avoid triggering World War III, and pilot an alien vessel light years beyond anything she’s ever flown. It’s a suicide mission that will test Ava’s courage and force her to decide where her loyalties truly lie. ⚡

Hosea writes first contact science fiction with genuine tension and geopolitical stakes that feel grounded rather than fantastical. Earth’s fate hangs in the balance, the clock is ticking, and Ava has to steal an alien ship from one of the most dangerous places on the planet. 😰

What makes this a must-read: An alien spacecraft crashes in North Korea, and a pilot is recruited to infiltrate the most isolated country on Earth and steal the prototype vessel hidden inside — first contact science fiction with military thriller stakes, geopolitical tension, and a mission that could save humanity or trigger World War III.