Romance, Women’s Fiction, Mysteries and More
Hopefully Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month inspired you to read more widely across Asian, Polynesian, and Oceanic perspectives. To keep the party going, here are 21 upcoming releases from Asian authors (not just Americans!) hitting shelves through the end of 2022. We’ll feature June and July releases today and keep going through the year. If you’re impatient, all 21 covers are at the end of this post.
Add them to your Goodreads or Storygraph, pre-order them using the affiliate links below (it supports my work at no cost to you) and support Asian authors year round.
This list reflects my own personal interests from romance to cozy mystery to contemporary fiction and obviously isn’t exhaustive. This also updates an Instagram post I did earlier in the month. I was a missing a few. That’s what happens when you don’t update your own tracker!
The Candid Life of Meena Dave – June 1 – Contemporary Fiction/Women’s Fiction
Debut author Namrata Patel’s found family story explores identity and belonging as an Indian American transracial adoptee. Photojournalist Meena Dave lost her adoptive (white) parents in a freak accident when she was 16 and has resisted putting down roots and making meaningful connections ever since. She inherits an apartment from someone she’s never met and intends to sell it as soon as possible. But once she meets her neighbors who operate more like a family, uncovering her connection to the woman who left her the apartment becomes an obsession. If they’re not actually strangers, how does Meena fit in to the picture?
The book officially hits shelves June 1, but it’s part of Amazon’s First Reads program. If you’re a Prime member, you can grab it now for free, or join First Reads and get the ebook for $1.99.
Get The Candid Life on Meena Dave at Bookshop.org | Amazon |
Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho – June 21 – Contemporary Fiction
We’ve seen every permutation of the dating app, but what if there was an app for finding a co-parent? Lauren Ho brings her distinctive voice and trademark humor to a story about the ups and downs of pregnancy and parenting in your late 30s.
Lucie Yi’s clock is ticking. She’s a 37-year old successful management consultant on the partner track at her firm. Her last long-term, live-in boyfriend cheated on her after she had a miscarriage. With no partner on the horizon, she decides to take a less conventional approach to parenthood and enlists the help of a co-parenting app. Neither she nor her co-parent Collin is looking for romance as part of the package. The question is, what’s her family going to say? And how are they going to navigate pregnancy and co-parenting?
Get Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen – June 5 – Contemporary Fiction
Fashion, crime, and friendship collide in Kirstin Chen’s story about two former college roommates who come together 20 years later to transform “a counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise” when one of them is left holding the, ahem, bag. Chen takes on the Model Minority myth in this “surprising and sharply comic” caper novel.
Get Counterfeit at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Matched by Masala by Mona Shroff – June 9 – Romance
The second book in Mona Shroff’s Once Upon a Wedding series pairs two chefs in a best friend’s brother love story. Amar Virani’s been crushing on Divya Shah since they were teenagers, but has kept his feelings under wraps because of a painful tragedy. Things start to heat up with the two are thrown together working in Divya’s food truck. The question is, can these two overcome the past and take a chance on love?
Get Matched by Masala at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow – July 5 – Cozy Mystery
The first book in Jennifer J. Chow’s new Night Market cozy mystery series features two cousins who start a booth at their local Night Market. Yale and Celine haven’t seen each other in 20 years, and starting a food stall isn’t the most obvious idea for these two, given that Yale hasn’t cooked in years and Celine is a social media influencer. But just as business picks up, one of their customers goes down, making Yale and Celine suspects. To get out of this one, they’re gonna have to work together, or as the blurb says, “the only thing they’ll be serving is time.”
Get Death by Bubble Tea at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu – July 12 – Romance
Office romance alert! Set in a real estate office, Cadence Lim used to be a behind the scenes number cruncher who’s now a star sales person at Prism Realty. Perpetually single work bestie Matt enlists her help to get his family off his back, posing as his girlfriend at an out-of-town family gathering. In a completely new environment, Matt and Cadence discover they just might have feelings for each other, but back in the real world, possible promotions throw their budding relationship into turmoil and these two have to sort out how their professional aspirations, friendship and families all fit together.
Get Circling Back to You at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
The Comeback by Lily Chu – July 14 – Rom-com (Audible Original)
Coming off the paperback release of The Stand In, Lily Chu serves up another celebrity romance, this time featuring lawyer Ariadne Hui and K-Pop star Choi Jihoon, who just happens to be her roommate’s cousin. Jihoon is in town crashing at their place after a breakup and it’s not long until Ariadne finds herself falling for him. But in the glare of the spotlight, being associated with a superstar isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t know what it means, but the blurb says, “Now with her heart, her future, and her sense of self on the line, Ari will have to cut through all the pretty lies to find the truth of her relationship…and discover the Ariadne Hui she’s finally ready to be.”
Get The Comeback from Amazon
Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee – July 26 – Rom-com
Lizzy Chung is a lawyer on the edge of burnout. While she’s achieved almost everything her parents wanted for her, she reaches the breaking point and passes out after a panic attack in a key professional moment. A little rest and relaxation is just what the doctor ordered so she heads to the town where she spent her summers as a kid. Only to unexpectedly bump into Jack Park, her childhood bestie (who had a massive crush on her). So when Lizzy decides she’s going to help rejuvenate the local bookstore (in the three weeks she’s in town?), Jack’s totally game to help. But as the blurb says, “the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to ignore there might be more than just friendship among the dusty shelves and books…”
Get Booked on a Feeling at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
