Melissa DeWild, Comstock Park, MI

Herself born in Spain to a Spanish mother and English father, Aikin offers her second English-language novel (after We Shall See the Sky Sparkling). Her visceral writing effectively evokes the Spanish setting, but even with the hopeful ending the melancholy characters and their experiences make for dark reading.

While the multiple rare medical conditions that drive the plot may strain credulity, Ian and Tess are pitch-perfect in this sweet and sizzling stand-alone story from best-selling Phillips (First Star I See Tonight). [See Prepub Alert, 12/9/19.]