Tantalizing Tales — January 2025 — Part Two

Hello, readers! There have been so many exciting books publishing this month that January’s Tantalizing Tales is expanding to three columns. Let’s dive in!

First off are several books that debuted on January 14, also known as (to give him his full title: my kids’ future stepdad) Declan Rice Day! First is a hilarious thriller that I’m itching to find time for, that sends up reality television while also playfully blurring the line between reality and fiction itself. Its author, Astrid Dahl, is not actually a real person. She’s a construct of Anna Dorn’s, and stars in several of Ms Dorn’s other books. But “Astrid” has now written a standalone novel, The Really Dead Wives Of New Jersey, that doesn’t require any knowledge of the rest of Ms Dorn’s oeuvre to enjoy (tho it probably couldn’t hurt!)

In this thriller, one of the (fictional) Huzzah channel’s most popular shows, Garden State Goddesses, is in need of a refresh. Largely centering on the Sicilian American Fontana family of Shady Pond, New Jersey, showrunner Eden Bennett has used it to find a solution to more than just one of her problems. Sparks flew after she introduced lovable bachelor Leo Fontana to her estranged cousin Hope, a blonde beauty and aspiring singer. Following a whirlwind romance, the latest season of GSG opens on the ratings bonanza of Hope and Leo’s wedding.

But not everyone is happy about this, least of all Hope’s new sister-in-law Carmela, who finds Hope’s lack of family, friends, pop cultural knowledge and social media presence deeply sus. Regardless of Carmela’s feelings, Hope is joining her and their other sister-by-marriage Valeria (a lovable ditz who’s probably too dependent on Carmela,) as well as wealthy grand dame Birdie St. Clair as GSG’s new leads. Hope quickly bonds with their other castmate Renée, a down-to-earth single mom whose daughter Ruby aspires to become the next Ariana Grande.

When one of the goddesses collapses while filming at the Broke Not Broken gala at Birdie’s manor, there will be a reality reckoning. Even with so much of their private business seemingly aired for public consumption, the Fontanas still have other rivalries and grievances that go back decades, some with serious legal, financial, physical and romantic consequences. Eden herself is forced to confront the ways in which she uses emotional manipulation and coercion to get what she wants, even as she uses her skills as a producer to seek out the truth behind her goddess’ death.

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Another thriller relevant to modern interests, tho with a much spookier atmosphere, is Helena Echlin’s Clever Little Thing, about a kid who does a sudden attitude 180, and stressed out parents who don’t quite know how to deal with it.

Charlotte’s daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her parents. Following the sudden death of Stella’s babysitter Blanka, the once disruptive and anti-social child has become docile and agreeable. What’s unsettling tho is that she’s begun to mirror Blanka’s personality, from Blanka’s repetitive phrases, to her accent, to fierce cravings for Armenian meat stew despite having been raised vegetarian.

Charlotte is pregnant with her second child, and feeling depleted and sick with the pregnancy. Most people might think that Stella’s transformation is just a complex display of grief, but Charlotte has other ideas. She’s become convinced that Blanka herself has taken an active role in creating this new Stella. But how could the dead woman still be entwined in their lives? Has Blanka somehow possessed Stella? Has Stella become Blanka? Her husband thinks that this is all in Charlotte’s head, but nothing will stop the obsessed mother from growing increasingly certain that only she can save her daughter.

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Another family in turmoil forms the centerpiece of Sara Sligar’s debut novel Vantage Point, a seductive Gothic tale of suspense revolving around the dramatic downfall of one of America’s most affluent clans.

The old-money Wieland family has it all: wealth, status and power. They’re also famously cursed. Clara and her brother Teddy grew up on a small island in Maine, haunted by rumors and paparazzi, in the shadow of their parents’ tragic deaths.

Fourteen years later, they’ve mostly put their turbulent past to rest. Teddy has married Clara’s best friend Jess, and the three of them have moved back home to take over the sprawling, remote family mansion known as Vantage Point. Then Teddy decides to run for the Senate, an unnerving prospect made much worse when intimate videos of Clara are leaked online. The most frightening part is that she doesn’t remember filming any of them. Are the videos real? Are they deepfakes? Is someone trying to take down the Wielands for once and for all?

Everyone thinks Clara is losing her grip on reality, but she knows that the videos are only the beginning. Years ago, the family curse destroyed her parents. Now it’s coming for her.

Brimming with palpable tension, Vantage Point reveals a twisted web of family secrets and political ambition that raises questions about the blurred lines between public and private personas and the nature of truth in the digital age.

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A different kind of family curse drives the narrative of Elba Luz’s Young Adult rom-com Build A Girlfriend, about a teenage girl who, after a particularly bad breakup, decides to do a deep-dive into her dating history. If she can fully research why all her exes broke up with her, maybe she can get revenge on the ultimate ex who actually broke her heart.

Fresh out of high school and shit out of luck, seventeen-year-old Amelia is once again single. According to her mother, sister and aunts, it’s the Hernandez family curse: none of the women in her stubborn Puerto Rican family can keep a partner, whether due to heartbreak, death or other unfortunate relationship-enders.

Fortunately, the Hernandez women are content with living single — except, that is, for Amelia. After her ninth failed relationship, Amelia is convinced that she has to be the problem. To figure out what she’s doing wrong, she works her way down her list of exes, eager to figure out what each ex liked and what caused them to dump her. Her prize? Hopefully, true love with her new crush Arno.

When she’s unwillingly reunited with Leon, the ex to end all exes, she plans to use him as a guinea pig to see if her persona of collected ideal girlfriend traits will get him to fall in love with her again. It’s the perfect plan: she can have her revenge and break her ultimate ex’s heart while learning to be the girlfriend nobody can break up with.

Everything is going according to plan until her pesky feelings for Leon reemerge. As the lies grow, Amelia finds out that she may be in for more heartbreak than she bargained for.

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If you’re looking for a romance that’s a little less comic but just as culturally representative, Stefany Valentine’s Young Adult novel First Love Language is our next recommendation. Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her own culture and to find her biological mother.

So Catie is shocked and pleased when an opportunity to do both unexpectedly emerges. Her summer spa coworker Toby offers to teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so that he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. Luckily, she has the resources to fake it!

With her late father’s copy of The Five Love Languages and all his annotated notes, Catie becomes the perfect dating coach, or so she thinks. As she gets dangerously close both to Toby and to finding out what really happened to her biological mom, she realizes that learning the language of love might be tougher than she thought.

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Finally, if you’ve had enough of escapism for a while and want to figure out what to do next in the face of our awful and absurd current political climate, check out this non-fiction treatise on leadership, What Hangs In The Balance.

Retired Air Force officer Philippe Johnson draws upon his decorated twenty-four-year military career to offer a studied, thorough examination of how the actions and inactions of elected and appointed leaders can determine whether the people they serve flourish or suffer. This insightful book offers a clear-minded analysis of the core leadership traits and competencies essential for success in both public and private sector organizations, using President Donald Trump’s conduct as a pivotal case study on exactly what not to do — and why leaders like him fail to live up to the standards expected from those charged with governing the fate of others.

Rather than focusing solely on specific policy decisions, WHitB centers on evaluating leadership through a wider, more practical lens, with a measured take on exactly how and why everything a leader does — from his/her actions in office, to their public and private statements, to their personal conduct both in and outside of the workplace — impacts an organization, company or a nation as a whole. By incorporating insights from subject matter experts and wisdom from historical figures, as well as using Trump’s social media posts as references for the leadership characteristics (both in style and substance) that are aberrant to expected standards, Johnson provides a compelling critique that implores elected officials and CEOs across the country to do and be better.

In a time when exceptional leadership is more crucial than ever, WHitB equips readers with the foundational tools that they need to navigate the complexities of leadership effectively, and determine how to lead their organizations with integrity. This book is an essential read for anyone looking to understand the nuances of leadership and its profound effects on corporate culture and society, as well as those looking to break down the defining characteristics of the first Trump administration as both a fascinating example of failed governance at the top and, in several instances, principled and courageous stewardship underneath from those who elected to push back in deference to their higher values and oaths of office.
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Let me know if you’re able to get to any of these books before I do, dear readers! I’d love to hear your opinions, and see if that will help spur me to push any of them higher up the mountain range that is my To Be Read pile.

And, as always, you can check out the list of my favorite books in my Bookshop storefront linked below!