Fresh Starts (1/6/26)

Turn the page with these stories that all celebrate new starts!

THE JUMP by Natalie Keller Reinert
9781250387875 | 3/24/26

Brooke Haskell’s got big dreams . . . and she’s running out of time. The equestrian life Brooke craves has always been just outside her reach, but, like every horse girl, she believes that pluck, heart, and hard work can catapult anyone into greatness. Unfortunately, her horse Roxie doesn’t seem to agree. After her most disappointing horse show to date and with only one more year before graduation and real life take over, Brooke is finally upset enough to do something rash. She decides to ditch her college plans and her parents’ wishes, risking everything to apprentice with one of the country’s most famous equestrians, Eddie O’Neill.

As she plunges headfirst into the breakneck pace of a top training stable, Brooke finally feels like she belongs. Her fellow working student might be a trust-fund Instagram star, but they bond over their shared love of horses. And sparks fly with a colleague who seems to love this version of Brooke. But when Roxie goes from steady improvement to angry rebellion, Brooke realizes Eddie’s reputation for training winners may come at a steep price. Brooke is finally poised to have the life she always wanted—but at what cost? Will she discover an uncomfortable truth about her idol, and what is she willing to give up in order to defend the sport she loves?

Against the riveting high-stakes backdrop of the equestrian world, Reinert explores the passions that drive us, the love affairs that fuel us, and the partnerships—both animal and human—that help us thrive and find ourselves.

IF I RULED THE WORLD by Amy DuBois Barnett
9781250378125 | 1/27/26

It’s 1999, and Nikki Rose is the only Black editor on the staff of a prestigious fashion magazine she once thought would be her ticket to becoming a respected editor in chief. But after being told one too many times by her boss that “Black girls don’t sell magazines,” she quits to take over Sugar, a struggling hip hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential.

Thrown into an entirely new world of wealth, decadence, and debauchery, Nikki has just six months to save Sugar—and her own dreams. As she pulls all-nighters at the office and parties with New York City’s most influential bad boys, Nikki must prove she has what it takes to lead. But her most dangerous challenge is evading Alonzo Griffin, her very married, very powerful ex-lover and former boss, who is determined to destroy both her and Sugar. Along the way, Nikki leans on a circle of loyal friends and navigates unexpected romances that force her to reckon with what—and who—she truly wants.

IF I RULED THE WORLD is a smart, utterly immersive journey through one of the most dynamic eras in pop culture history—a story of ambition, friendship, love, and finding your own voice.

BURNOUT SUMMER by Jenna Ramirez
9781250410924 | 5/12/26

Four years after graduation, life isn’t going the way Camille Luna expected. Her corporate career is soul-sucking, she’s in debt from student loans, and her breakup has created a serious rift between her college best friends. When her spiraling lands her in jail for the night, it’s Danny—the lovable burnout from their college clique—who bails her out and offers the perfect solution to her quarter-life crisis: a summer by the beach.

Cam lets herself be whisked away to Elswick, Rhode Island where Danny, who never had his own life together but was always there for Cam, has taken over his uncle’s seaside restaurant and turned it into the spot. Danny, once the designated slacker of their friends, is now a beloved boss and doting dog dad. The hazy summer days start to blur between shifts at the restaurant, dips in the ocean, and a reignited passion for writing, all alongside Danny who makes her laugh like nobody else. Cam can’t help but wonder—is it the salty waves that have her feeling so free, or is it the friend she never gave a chance? But summer can’t last forever, and Cam’s looming student debt reminds her at every turn that the frigid air of corporate office life is waiting.

As Labor Day approaches, Cam must decide between snuffing out the flames with Danny in order to keep her beloved friend group together and return to the corporate grind—or leaning into Danny’s carpe diem arms to burn her old life down.

THE SHIPPERS by Katherine Center
9781250408051 | 5/19/26

When Josephine Clark faints at the altar at the moment she’s about to get married, the wedding is naturally called off. JoJo comes to the stark realization that she is making a huge mistake and this decision is backed up by the sudden appearance of her estranged childhood friend, Cooper Watts.

Cooper had been boycotting her wedding, but now he rescues her from the disapproving eyes of everyone at the venue. But she and Cooper haven’t spoken in years and he’s been living a life away in London. JoJo has been hurt by his mysterious disappearance, but now, he is her savior, much as he always was during the years of their childhood. But there is no time for Jo to lick her wounds over her abandoned wedding: her own sister is planning a destination wedding—on a cruise ship no less—and the entire old neighborhood is invited, including Cooper.

Her sister is determined to find a romantic match for Jo on this ship full of eligible (and not so eligible) men. But is the man she has her eyes on really the one she should be with? And what mysteries is Cooper hiding, to explain his four year absence? Has true love been in front of her this whole time? Or will stormy seas and misunderstandings capsize her chance at happiness? No one does summer romance quite like Katherine Center and THE SHIPPERS will set readers on a course for true love and delicious escape.