Contemporary

Seraphina Nova Glass returns with a three-POV thriller set in a lakefront community where a Labor Day car bomb cracks open every polite secret in the neighborhood. Sharp dialogue, a strong front half, and rich motherhood stakes carry the book. The back third gets crowded, but the voice work and book-club bait are real.

Molka by Monika Kim is the brutal Korean horror novel about voyeurism, ghosts, and overdue revenge. What works, what stumbles, and who should read it.

Ana Huang's sixth Kings of Sin book gives Sebastian Laurent and Maya Singh the rivals-to-lovers stage they have been waiting for. A forced collaboration, sharp banter, lush food writing, and a careful slow burn make King of Gluttony a satisfying read, even if a familiar third-act beat and a saggy middle keep it from full marks.

Happy Ending by Chloe Liese follows Thea, a Pittsburgh bookseller, and Alex, a celebrity chef, who fake an old friendship in front of their newly paired exes and accidentally build a real one. Two years later, a forced beach vacation makes them face what they have been hiding. A grown-up rom-com about healing after divorce.

Last One Out by Jane Harper is a quiet, atmospheric mystery set in a half-abandoned mining town where Ro Crowley returns on the fifth anniversary of her son's disappearance. Harper's landscape writing and restrained grief carry the book through a slightly baggy middle, delivering a sad, satisfying read that sits just behind her best work.