May's Fresh Picks For Spring Reading

As someone who has been to countless weddings, Jen Doll knows all the ins and outs of attending and taking part in someone else's big day . . . for better or worse. She's written about these experiences in her upcoming memoir, Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest, in which she shares some thoughtful (and funny) insights into dating relationships, marriage, and friendship. Read our interview with the author here!

Out May 1

If you're a fan of John Green and Rainbow Rowell, you need to check out Erin McCahan's coming-of-age love story Love and Other Foreign Words. The smart, funny YA novel stars a 16-year-old girl who is trying to prevent her sister from marrying her unsuitable fiancé while balancing her own relationships to her best friend and boyfriend.

Out May 1

From the authors of the Beautiful Bastard books — Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who go by the pseudonym Christina Lauren — comes the first in their new steamy Wild Seasons series, Sweet Filthy Boy. Ansel is a Vegas fling who whisks away college grad Mia to France for a hot Summer tryst. But what if this wild romantic entanglement becomes something more than a short-lived affair? You'll have to read the series to find out.

Out May 13

Set in the Australian outback, Courtney Collins's historical fiction The Untold follows a female horse thief being chased by both her lover and the law. Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert writes, "This extraordinary novel — propelled by the dark, rich talents of a truly brilliant writer — dazzles, staggers, and amazes."

Out May 29

A New England Summer sets the scene for Beatriz Williams's The Secret Life of Violet Grant, a historical romance about a scandalous love triangle and family secrets that's mysterious, passionate, and engrossing.

Out May 27

What happens when a bestselling paranormal, YA, and historical romance author takes on erotica? You get a steamy Fifty Shades of Grey meets the Russian mafia series about an affair between a young woman and the hit man protecting her. Kresley Cole returns with the first novel in The Game Maker series, The Professional. "Are you ready to play?"

Out May 6

In Morgan Matson's touching YA novel Since You've Been Gone, the play-it-safe heroine embarks on an adventurous Summer of firsts when her wild best friend disappears, leaving her 13 tasks to tackle in her absence.

Out May 6

Adam Pelzman's cross-cultural modern love story Troika is described by Love and Treasure author Ayelet Waldman as "f*cking fantastic" as well as "poignant, painful, impeccably realized, and ultimately joyful."

Out May 1

Molly Wizenberg writes about how opening a restaurant with her husband affected her young marriage in her honest, humorous, and endearing memoir Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage.

Out May 6

After writing books on teen suicide and a coming-of-age road trip, YA author Nina LaCour is tackling a new topic in her latest novel, Everything Leads to You: when two girls fall in love working in the Hollywood film business. Check out our interview with the author here!

Out May 15

Best friends Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale write about their true tales of post-collegiate excitement, disappointment, love, and heartache in their epistolary memoir Graduates in Wonderland: The International Misadventures of Two (Almost) Adults. Perfect for anyone who has been through or is currently going through a quarter-life crisis.

Out May 6

Asa Akira opens up about her life as a stripper, sex dungeon dominatrix, and porn star in her memoir Insatiable: Porn — A Love Story. Tampa author Alissa Nutting writes, "Akira is the Galileo of women's sexuality, shifting our culture from the 'Dark Ages' of slut-shaming into an enlightened celebration of female desire. Hot, hilarious, and engrossing, this book is a path toward greater freedom for us all: read it and evolve."

Out May 6

Mary Rickert's mystical novel The Memory Garden is described by The Jane Austen Book Club author Karen Joy Fowler as "a potent brew of guilty secrets and tragic histories, but also of enduring friendship and love. Add a pinch of the botanical. Serve on a luminous night faintly reminiscent of a Midsummer Night's Eve. A totally charming, totally engaging story told by Rickert, a magus of the first order. Magic in every line."

Out May 6

Marriage, infidelity, first times, babies, and breakups. Emma Straub's funny and tender novel The Vacationers explores several relationships in their various stages of drama and distress as it follows an American family's two-week stay in Mallorca. It's the perfect lighthearted beach read.

Out May 29

Something Borrowed author Emily Giffin returns with her latest chick lit novel The One & Only about a small-town football-loving Texan heroine whose life gets shaken up by an unexpected tragedy.

Out May 20