From the publisher:

Trapped in a London hotel room with her lover, a woman must contend with her life and her marriage in this exhilarating debut.

“Room 706 is as tender as it is surprising, a gripping interrogation of womanhood—before and after marriage and children change our identities. I’m sure I won’t be the only one nodding my head throughout. I adored this brilliant novel.” —Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit 

When asked what matters to her the most, Kate would, of course, say her children and her husband. Because she loves her life. Even when it involves making a costume late into the night, scouring the supermarket for the only bread rolls her children will eat, and working during any spare moment in between. And she has found the way to hang onto her sanity in the process: Hours stolen away, once every few months, to have sex with another man.

Until one such rendezvous when Kate turns on the television to discover that the very London hotel they’re in has been taken under siege. And with that, she knows that nothing will ever be the same.

In the confines of a room with everything at stake, Kate is left to contemplate what has led her here, in hiding with a man who is not her husband while her beloved family waits at home. An exploration of marriage, identity, and desire, Room 706 traces the complicated story of one woman’s life as she faces what her future might hold—if she even makes it through the day.

https://amzn.to/3GXWTqP

Levenson’s debut novel is an introspective exploration of a seemingly ordinary life disrupted by crisis. Kate, a married mother of two, appears to have it all — a happy marriage, healthy children, and a job she enjoys. She also has a secret: Kate has a lover she has been meeting a few times a year for afternoon trysts, an escape from her everyday life. Then she finds herself in a morally complex situation: she is in a hotel room with her longtime lover when terrorists seize the hotel, trapping them together in room 706. What follows is more than a suspenseful hostage drama; it is a psychological portrait of a woman forced to confront the choices that brought her here. As death looms, the external siege becomes secondary to Kate’s internal reckoning, and her reflections are both unsettling and painfully honest. Thought-provoking and layered, this novel avoids easy moral judgments and embraces ambiguity, leading to an ending as unpredictable as it is unresolved.

VERDICT Book clubs will find plenty to discuss here. Recommend to readers who enjoy complex novels such as Life of Pi by Yann Martel or The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

©Library Journal, 2026

1/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ROOM 706 by Ellie Levenson. SJP Lit (January 20, 2026). ISBN: 978-1638932321. 320p.

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From the publisher:

A woman learns to be the heroine of her own life in this heartfelt novel inspired by Anne of Green Gables by New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.

She believed life could follow a plotline—until the story she was living unraveled.

Anne Gallagher has always lived by the book. Anne of Green Gables, that is. Growing up on Mackinac Island, she saw herself as her namesake: the same impulsive charm, the same wild imagination, even the same red hair (dyed, but still). She followed in Anne Shirley’s fictional footsteps, chasing dreams of teaching and writing, and falling for her very own storybook hero.

But when a string of real-life plot twists—a failing romance, a fight with the administration, and the sudden death of her beloved father—pulls her back to the island she once couldn’t wait to leave, Anne is forced to face a truth no story ever prepared her for. Sometimes, life doesn’t follow a script.

Back in the house she grew up in, Anne must confront her past and the people she left behind, including Joe Miller, the boy who once called her “The Pest.” It’s time to figure out what she wants and rewrite her story to create her own happy ending. Not the book version. The real one.

https://amzn.to/45wbAtm

Kantra (The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale) returns with an updated retelling of Anne of Green Gables, set on picturesque Mackinac Island.

Anne Gallagher, a devoted teacher from Chicago, heads back to her childhood home after her father’s sudden death and a bitter dispute over her classroom library. Her boyfriend, a pediatric oncologist, accepts a residency in Atlanta and expects Anne to follow without question.

Reeling from professional betrayal and personal upheaval, Anne seeks refuge on Mackinac Island to regroup. Over the summer, she confronts old wounds with her emotionally distant mother, reconnects with her best friend Daanis, now a busy mom, and gets reacquainted with Joe, the childhood crush who once teased her relentlessly.

As Anne helps at her family’s candy store, she rediscovers the comfort of familiar places and rekindles long-lost connections. Joe becomes an unexpected source of support, and their relationship begins to evolve, hinting at something deeper. But Anne’s summer is anything but idyllic; it is a season of grief, reflection, and tough decisions about love, career, and where she truly belongs.

VERDICT This charming modernization of a classic is sure to suit readers who enjoy Kristan Higgins or Carly Fortune, and should have nostalgic appeal for Montgomery fans.

©Library Journal, 2026

1/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ANNE OF A DIFFERENT ISLAND by Virginia Kantra. Berkley (January 20, 2026). ISBN: 978-0593816493. 368p.

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From the publisher:

In this effervescent millennial coming-of-age novel, a woman accidentally upends her entire life after a disconcerting tarot reading

Everyone knows the death card in a tarot reading isn’t a literal death sentence. Well, everyone except Becky.

Becky is not doing well. Her dreaded thirtieth birthday is looming, and she can’t help thinking she’s falling behind in life. Her (smug) friends are all planning weddings, buying houses, or starting their own businesses, but not Becky. She still lives with her mom, hates her job, doesn’t speak to her father, and—despite numerous dates—hasn’t moved on from her ex-boyfriend. Things can’t get much worse.

Becky doesn’t believe in the arcane, but armed with a gift card and a desperate need for guidance, she visits a tarot reader… who tells her she’s going to die. Convinced she’s a goner and panicked about having done nothing with her life, Becky finally takes action. She writes a series of letters to the people she loves unloading all the things she’s been holding back. And she waits. 

But in the morning, she’s not dead. And worse, the mail is already reaching people’s doorsteps. Will the letters be the wake-up call Becky needs, or just the next step in a never-ending downward spiral?

With sparkling wit and compassionate insight, Chloe Seager chronicles the ups and downs of figuring out how you wants to show up in life—for yourself and for the people you love.

https://amzn.to/43b1mih

In this sharp and heartfelt new novel from Seager (Open Minded), we meet Becky, a twenty-something still living at home with her mother—ostensibly to save for a down payment on a house, though she’s mostly stuck in place. She hates her job, feels left behind by her peers, and is convinced everyone else has life figured out. After a disastrous tarot card reading predicts her imminent demise, Becky impulsively writes brutally honest, critical letters to her friends and family, mails them, and sets off to travel the world before her supposed end arrives. But nothing goes as planned; now jobless, homeless, and estranged from everyone she knows, Becky is forced to rebuild her life from the ground up. Along the way, she discovers—with humor and surprising grace—that money can’t buy happiness, that apologizing takes strength, and that what we think we want isn’t always what we truly need. Her journey is a chaotic, emotional rollercoaster—raw and relatable—but it makes her growth all the more satisfying.

VERDICT A witty and moving millennial coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle.

©Library Journal, 2025

11/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

P.S. YOU’RE THE WORST by Chloe Seager. William Morrow Paperbacks (November 18, 2025). ISBN: 978-0063307209. 320p.

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