12 Most Anticipated Books Of Fall

Fall will be a welcome change of scenery after a roller coaster of a summer. And with it comes a bundle of new book releases. If you've read everything summer has to offer (and there were many great books in the summer 2020 lineup), fall comes with new opportunities to gobble down the latest thriller or coming-of-age tale. Here are 12 titles to look forward to as the leaves change.

1. Goodbye, Orchid by Carol Van Den Hende

Koehler Books / Via amazon.com

Phoenix Walker is falling for Orchid Paige -- a marketing pro collaborating with his do-good agency on a military campaign. As their relationship grows more serious, personally and professionally, she reveals a part of her past that makes it impossible to see images of injured veterans. So when Phoenix gets into an accident that he knows will trigger her, he's faced with a tough choice: love her or leave her to protect her.

2. Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

Little, Brown and Company / Via amazon.com

Irene Steele's husband was living a double life. And when she and her sons take up residence at his St. John home, she receives a visit from an FBI agent who reveals she knows even less than she thought. As they investigate the real cause of her husband's death, the secrets will change them all forever.

3. Don't Ever Forget by Matthew Farrell

Thomas & Mercer / Via amazon.com

When a state trooper is murdered, the footage on his dashboard camera leads police investigator Susan Adler to the home of an older man who's gone missing with his caretaker. Suddenly it's clear that there is more than one crime connected to the event, and her discoveries crack open two cold cases.

4. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

Riverhead Books / Via amazon.com

Vivek Oji's body turns up at his mother's doorstep. But who is he and how did he die? Soon you discover that he was a man struggling with his sexual identity, never genuinely accepted for he was. One person on the outside, another inside, you begin to live through his inner conflict. His ending is clear, but how he got there is a whole other story.

5. And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall

Forge Books / Via amazon.com

Two women -- one is missing, and the other is searching for her. As Grayson Sykes tries to find Isabel Lincoln, she wonders if Lincoln is truly missing or trying to disappear on purpose. But what would cause someone to abandon their life? Sykes is on to her secrets, and the chase is about to get interesting.

6. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

Berkley / Via amazon.com

Vanessa Yu has a gift, but if you ask her, it's a curse. She can see people's fortunes and misfortunes in their tea leaves. She starts avoiding tea, but the visions still find her. As she tries to cope with her ability, determined to get rid of it, her parents are trying to set her up, and her aunt is trying to help her escape to Paris. It's there that she learns more about her gift and what's truly a curse.

7. Jenna Takes the Fall by A.R. Taylor

She Writes Press / Via amazon.com

Jenna's boss Vincent Hull is wealthy and well-known. She is single and new to Manhattan, and she's having an affair with him. Then her boss drops dead, and she does the unexpected -- agrees to take the fall and disappears to start a new life with all the money she'll ever need. Years later, she'll find herself in a position to ask more questions about the scandal that altered the course of her life.

8. When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

William Morrow Paperbacks / Via amazon.com

Sydney is back in Brooklyn, where she was born and raised, but everything is different. It's not just her life that's changed (she's a recent divorcee). So has the now-gentrified neighborhood she used to call home. The people are gone, the buildings have changed, and history is being erased. She starts a walking tour to help change that, but what she discovers is a disturbing conspiracy that may not be a conspiracy at all.

9. Dream Big, Stella! by Ashley Farley

Leisure Time Books / Via amazon.com

Stella is having a rough go. Her career is on shaky ground, her best friend is growing distant, and her boyfriend can't get his act together. Then she discovers that her father has passed away and left her an inn in Virginia -- surprising since she thought he was a nameless sperm donor. It turns out, he was a famous musician. After his death, he’s coming clean to his kin and giving her a clean slate.

10. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Knopf / Via amazon.com

Gifty is smart. She's determined to understand why her mother's depression and her brother's addiction control their lives (and in one case, death). As a Stanford Ph.D. candidate, she's leaning on science to reveal answers to her grief. And when logic isn't coming through, she turns to faith, finding herself conflicted between church and science.

11. Boop and Eve's Road Trip by Mary Helen Sheriff

She Writes Press / Via amazon.com

Boop invites herself on her granddaughter Eve's trip to find her missing friend. She's determined she can help cure Eve's depression (meanwhile, it's a free ride to visit her sister). As Boop's attempts fail and she grows more frustrated, she knows she has one more trick up her sleeve. But playing that card means revealing a secret that's haunted her for sixty years.

12. Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

The Dial Press / Via amazon.com

What happens when two people start to fall in love at a dream retreat under alias identities? Ava is determined to find love in the real world, not on dating apps or cyberspace. Discouraged and putting love on hold, she meets Dutch at a writer's retreat on the coast of Italy. But when they return to London and their real identities are front and center, paradise gets a reality check that will make her question everything.