AP | July 18, 2022

The Force of Such Beauty grips with the strength of an Olympian and holds it with the endurance of a marathoner. Bourland’s passionate storytelling transmogrifies into an insatiable urge to keep reading Caroline’s story even after its end — an ending that actually caught my breath, not once, but twice in quick succession.

The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland (Dutton)

The Force of Such Beauty opens on the night of Caroline’s second attempt at escaping Lucomo, the small European country in which she became a princess. But author Barbara Bourland quickly jumps back in time to reveal every excruciating and exhilarating detail that led to this moment. Once caught up, the story sadistically marches on to the very end of Caroline’s breathtaking story.

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The Washington Post | July 16, 2022

Here are a few new books to read under a beach umbrella or atop a hammock.

‘The Force of Such Beauty,’ by Barbara Bourland (Dutton, July 19)

This is not your grandma’s fairy tale. Former world-record-holding Olympic athlete Caroline marries Finn, the prince of an idyllic seaside kingdom. As she transforms into an international symbol of femininity, becoming the wife and mother her new homeland demands, the luxurious trappings quickly become a prison. Even her physical body, which once carried her powerfully through competitions, becomes something other people admire and control. Influenced by the struggles of real-life princesses, Bourland’s brilliant satire skewers the theatrics of power, excessive materialism and economic corruption.

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Today | July 13, 2022

Maybe you're the kind of person who doesn't pick their next read based on the weather. But some of us reach for a specific type of book to read in the summer. More than a genre, a summer read is a mood: A book that's breezy and transfixing, able to hold our attention as we enjoy the outdoors.

The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland

Falling in love with a prince is not a fairy tale, as the protagonist of this engrossing novel discovers. Caroline is a former Olympian-turned-princess of a small European country. Her role becomes more like a trap; her husband, more like a captor. Bourland said she was inspired by real-life royals when writing this novel set in pre-recession Europe.

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COMICS BEAT | JULY 12, 2022

Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks

Faith Erin Hicks (NAMELESS CITY trilogy) tackles friends and horses.

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Booklist | July 6, 2022

Though Victoria loves horses, getting riding time requires hours of labor at Waverly Stables to afford it, and she doesn’t care enough about high-level competitions to devote so much time. Edgebrook might not be as fancy a facility, but she can ride without pressure there, and Edgebrook’s regulars—Hazel, Norrie, and Sam—offer her a different, more expansive kind of friendship than what she was getting from her horse-girl friends. Hicks has a keen eye for facial expressions and body language, which she uses to great effect here, making the emotional turns of the plot feel deeply grounded. And of course, there are plenty of affectionate and graceful portrayals of horses. Even if readers aren’t obsessed with horses, Victoria’s realization that she won’t be able to sustain her passion at a competitive level will resonate, and it’s refreshing to see that reality played out on the page. Hicks, with colors by Fitzpatrick, vividly renders Hazel, Sam, and Norrie, who enliven the story, and their shared love for a geeky sci-fi TV show helps Victoria find a new way to connect with peers. Stories about shifting friendships for the middle-grade set are common, but Hicks gives her uncommon depth, thanks to multifaceted and distinctive characters, nuanced conversations about passion and privilege, and heartening emotional growth. A solid, well-wrought comic for fans of character-driven stories and, naturally, anyone obsessed with riding horses.

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Publishers Weekly | July 6, 2022

Strong characterizations and polished digital art distinguish Hicks’s pleasurable graphic novel of building friendship through shared devotion. As summer ends, best friends Hazel and Norrie, along with laid-back Sam, the only boy rider at Edgewood Stables, are intrigued by the arrival of a skilled new rider, Victoria, to Edgewood. Droll, quiet Hazel recognizes Victoria from a schooling show at upscale Waverly Stables, prompting chatty Norrie to conclude that Victoria was sent to infiltrate Edgewood. Indifferent to Norrie’s welcome (“I’m here to ride, that’s it”) and subsequent irritation and shunning, Victoria remains focused on training a young gelding while healing from a friendship breakup with a privileged and demanding Waverly rider. When the Edgewood trio discovers that Victoria shares their fondness for vintage sci-fi show Beyond the Galaxy, Victoria’s iciness begins to thaw, and the riders bond while discovering strength in supporting each other. Featuring funny dialogue (“Let the shunning commence!”) and Hicks’s (Comics Will Break Your Heart) signature art—including sharply rendered horses in motion—this attentively layered, low-stakes graphic novel is told with an insider’s understanding of both stable culture and fandom. Sam reads as Black, Norrie cues as South Asian, and Hazel and Victoria present as white. Ages 10–14. Agent: Bernadette Baker-Baughman, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (Aug.)

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LifeSavvy | July 6, 2022

As we head towards the peak of summer, it’s never been a better time to chill out in the A/C or poolside with a good book. Whether you’re looking for a breezy summer romance, a thoughtful novel spanning generations, or a fresh perspective on a true story, July’s book releases have plenty to offer every reader. Here’s what we’ve got on our TBR list this month.

The Force of Such Beauty: A Novel

Becoming royalty isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Inspired by tales of real-life women who married into royal families, only to find their lives strictly controlled, Barbara Bourland’s novel follows a former Olympian whose career ends with a single, devastating accident. She meets and falls in love with a charming prince, but she soon discovers the cracks beneath the surface in his tiny, hyper-controlled, glamorous-on-the-surface principality. Release date: July 19

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CrimeReads | July 6, 2022

The CrimeReads editors select the month’s best new fiction in crime, mystery, and thrillers.

Barbara Bourland, The Force of Such Beauty (Dutton)

I’d describe this one as “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” if it was written from the perspective of Grace Kelly or Lady Di. A former Olympic athlete, body broken from overtraining, meets the handsome heir to a small kingdom and becomes his blushing bride. Soon, her nuptial bliss turns to waking nightmare, as her husband and her mother-in-law conspire to control every dollar in the kingdom and every moment of the new princess’s life.–MO

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Hasty Book List | July 1, 2022

Caroline, a former marathon runner who dropped out of school at fourteen to pursue an Olympic medal, was the perfect candidate for a tiara: shapely, disciplined, accustomed to public attention, and utterly uneducated.

After she meets Finn, the handsome prince of a small European kingdom, her fate is sealed. With a collar of pearls locked around her throat and a rope of diamonds leashing her to a balcony, Caroline uses her once-powerful body to smile, wave, and produce children with perfect grace.

But once she begins to open her eyes to the world around her—and examine her own reflection—Caroline discovers that she may have entered a bargain that cannot be undone.

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The Times | June 22, 2022

Andrea Oliver, who featured in Karin Slaughter’s recent Netflix series Pieces of Her, has no sooner qualified as a US marshal than she gets a high-profile assignment protecting a judge targeted with death threats. But the job’s not as straightforward as that.

The forgotten girl is the judge’s teenage daughter, Emily, who was pregnant (father uncertain) when she was battered to death on prom night 40 years ago. No one caught the killer. And no one knows that Andrea’s father is an infamous psychopath now in prison. He just happens to have grown up in Longbill Beach, where Andrea finds herself, and to have been close friends with Emily. Girl, Forgotten neatly braids together events from 1982, when Emily and her clique took acid, with Andrea’s probing of small-town past and present.

Helped by her new mentor, the splendidly named Catfish Bible, she uncovers more bodies of women, as patterns of violence that have long been concealed begin to reveal themselves. Slaughter relies less on real surprises to hold the attention than she does on page-turning qualities, which this effortlessly accomplished thriller has in keen-edged spadefuls.

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Good Housekeeping | June 27, 2022

During the publication of my first two novels, I believed I was old enough, and had done enough therapy to understand what it meant to submit yourself for a performance review in public. Naturally, I was wrong: instead of responding with grace, I observed, with horror, as my standard for regular, go-about-your-day-self-worth became "ecstatic praise from others." Anything less was a catastrophe, one that left me feeling trapped in the double-bind of resenting myself for failing and for feeling like a failure, too. When your minimum for “OK” becomes “be the best,” it’s impossible to have a healthy relationship to anything, or anyone. Most of all, I felt like I'd lost my sense of joy. And I wanted it back.

I initially tried to manage this with the obvious: talk therapy. CBT. CBD. Meditation. Running. Drinking. Not drinking. All of these things worked until they didn’t; they were fine Band-Aids, until they fell off. The deeper problem — that my sense of self was fused to my ambitions — couldn’t be solved by breathing exercises, so I did the only other thing I know how to do: I wrote about it.

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Parade | June 23, 2022

Buzzy books! Spicy romances! Race-against-the-clock thrillers! No matter your preferences, there's a new book on this list you won’t want to put down. So pull up a beach chair, grab a poolside seat or lounge under the stars (or patio lights) this season and get to reading.

The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland

After a failed escape attempt, the princess of a tiny European kingdom begins to reevaluate her life in Barbara Bourland’s The Force of Such Beauty. July 19, Dutton

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Library Journal | June 17, 2022

Slaughter’s (False Witness) 22nd book, the second in the “Andrea Oliver” series (following Pieces of Her), begins two years after Andrea learned that her mother was in witness protection and that her childhood was built on lies. Andrea is no longer the timid woman whose life was turned upside down in the series’ first installment. Now she’s a newly deputized United States Marshal, eager to take control and start life on her terms. Her first official assignment takes her to the small Delaware town of Longbill Beach to protect federal judge Esther Vaughn. She is also asked, unofficially, to investigate the 1982 murder of Judge Vaughn’s daughter Emily, who was pregnant and a high school senior at the time. This assignment is personal—the prime suspect in Emily Vaughn’s murder is Andrea’s currently imprisoned father, who might be paroled sooner than she or Judge Vaughn is comfortable with. The plot of Slaughter’s thriller unfolds over a dual timeline—the contrasts between the novel’s 1982 and 2022 United States cannot be ignored—as Andrea uncovers a truth that has been hidden for 40 years.

VERDICT Slaughter skillfully leads readers on a thrilling journey into the past to solve the murder that a small town wants to forget, yet is still haunted by. Will appeal to fans of Michael Koryta, Joe Lansdale, and Jennifer Hillier.

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Publishers Weekly | June 8, 2022

Bourland (Fake Like Me) draws inspiration from real-life princesses for her deliciously scandalous latest. In 2000, 21-year-old Caroline Muller from Johannesburg sets the record for the women’s marathon. A year and a half later, she falls during the Athens marathon, shattering her hip and suffering a cheekbone fracture. After five surgeries at an American hospital, where she meets Prince Ferdinand Fieschi of Lucomo, who’s recovering after a car accident in which his fiancée was killed, her reconstructed face radiates with a new beauty. A relationship develops between Caroline and Ferdinand, and she hopes for a fairy tale marriage (“The force of such beauty is meant to destabilize a person. I was no exception”). The match turns out to be anything but happy, as she is soon confronted by the ridiculous demands of producing heirs and respecting etiquette. Indeed, the life of a princess is far lonelier and more dangerous than she imagined. Though a plot involving the royals’ shady business practices feels anticlimactic, Bourland offers a smart critique of a corrupt world’s disenchanting effects on a naive young woman. The result is satisfyingly dark and twisted.

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Today | June 1, 2022

From a witty romance to a gripping true story, you'll want to add these picks to your summer reading list.

To help you sort through your summer reading list, bestselling author John Searles, whose latest novel is "Her Last Affair," stopped by the 3rd hour of TODAY to talk about what you should be reading for the beach season. Whether you're looking for a lighthearted romance or heart-wrenching memoir, Searles has a list of reads you won't want to put down. Plus a book recommendation that would make a perfect Father's Day gift.

Best summer thriller read

"My Summer Darlings," by May Cobb

"It's about three women living in the same East Texas neighborhood, when a very handsome stranger moves onto their street, they all become very obsessed with him — and a wee bit competitive for his attention too," Searles said. "As it turns out, this guy has got a secret, well, lots of secrets. So what starts out as a playful page turner, ultimately turns into a twisty thriller about obsession and murder. Still it never gets too dark, at moments, is quite steamy — making it a perfect beach read."

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Austin American-Statesman | May 30, 2022

The calendar is finally catching up to our summer temperatures, and it’s time to contemplate your (local) summer book plans. All the authors listed below have some link to Austin, either as a resident or through an upcoming event. Read on, mark your calendars, and enjoy dipping into literary worlds both familiar and new.

May Cobb, 'My Summer Darlings'

Women who do what they want – no matter the cost – populate Austinite May Cobb’s dishy, twisty thrillers, and “My Summer Darlings” (Berkley, $27) is no exception. Cobb sets her sultry new tale in East Texas, where a trio of friends grapples with their relationships with each other and their children. The arrival of swoony (very) bad boy Will Harding stretches their sometimes-tenuous bonds to a breaking point.  

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Bookstr | May 27, 2022

What could be better than sitting by the pool with a good book? If you’re looking for your next poolside read, here are 10 recommendations.

Summertime is almost upon us, folks. The warm air, the cool nights, the sunshine…I love it all. And what’s a better way to take it all in than sitting by the pool and reading a good book? Choosing a perfect book for your summertime tan session could be a difficult feat. There’s just so much to choose from! So, while everyone’s taste is a little different, here are 10 books I think would make a great poolside companion.

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb

Jen, Kittie and Cynthia are approaching forty, but they’re still friends, there is just a lot more wine and gossiping now. When Will Harding, a mysterious stranger moves into the neighborhood the women become fascinated. The summer quickly becomes full of intrigue, obsession, manipulation, and maybe even murder. 

Reasons to Read: This book is a refreshing, shocking, and steamy thriller that will keep you turning the pages.

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Deep South Magazine | May 27, 2022

21 of the best beach reads, mysteries, essays and debut fiction from down South.

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb

Having known each other their whole lives, it only makes sense for Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears and Cynthia Nichols to brace for the onset of their forties together. The trio passes their days by gossiping, drinking wine and reflecting on their disappointing children—until the lavish Will Harding moves into the neighborhood and takes over their lives. Jen, Kittie and Cynthia quickly find themselves in over their heads in this riveting thriller of a beach read.

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