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Allen, Jayne. Black Girls Must Be Magic. Harper Perennial. Feb. 2022. 272p. ISBN 9780063211308. $26.99; pap. ISBN 9780063137929. $16.99. CONTEMPORARY

Allen will be debuting this fall with Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, featuring Tabitha Walker’s hard choices after a medical diagnosis threatens to upend her picture-perfect life. In this next in her three-book series, originally self-published, Tabitha faces single motherhood. With a 150,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Birdsong, Destiny O. Nobody's Magic. Grand Central. Feb. 2022. 368p. ISBN 9781538721391. $28. CONTEMPORARY

Sheltered young Suzette, finally experiencing romance; Maple, shattered by the murder of her high-spirited mother; and Agnes, working an exhausting job far from home and possessed of powers that surprise her—all are Black women with albinism living in Shreveport, LA; all are exemplars of women dealing gracefully with grief; and all appear in this debut novel from award-winning poet Birdsong. With a 30,000-copy first printing.

Crimp, Imogen. A Very Nice Girl. Holt. Feb. 2022. 336p. ISBN 9781250792778. $26.99. CONTEMPORARY

Aspiring opera singer Anna studies at an elite London conservatory by day and supports herself by singing jazz at a ritzy bar by night, finding relief from the stress in her budding relationship with cool, wealthy, just-divorcing financier Max. Soon, though, she is caught between him and her career. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Fox, Hester. A Lullaby for Witches. Graydon House: Harlequin. Feb. 2022. 352p. ISBN 9781525804694. pap. $16.99. CONTEMPORARY

Thrilled with her new job at Harlowe House, a museum in coastal Tynemouth, MA, Augusta Podos follows up a single reference to a woman in the Harlowe family who seems to have been all but wiped from the historical record. Margaret Harlowe, the striking daughter of a late-1800s shipping magnate, was sufficiently interested in herbs and spells to spark rumors that she was a witch. Now she seems to be creepily reaching out to Augusta over the decades, as strange events begin to unfold at the museum. From the author of the library-loved The Witch of Willow Hall; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Janowitz, Brenda. The Liz Taylor Ring. Graydon House: Harlequin. Feb. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781525899874. $28.99; pap. ISBN 9781525806476. $16.99. FAMILY LIFE

In 1978, Lizzie Morgan and Ritchie Schneider’s tempestuous romance mirrors that of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, right down to the 11-carat diamond ring Ritchie gives Lizzie after a nine-month-long breakup; it’s just like the one Burton gave Taylor. Lost for decades, the ring has now reappeared, which means certain conflict and some painfully reawakened memories for the Schneiders’ three children. With a 150,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Jio, Sarah. With Love from London. Ballantine. Feb. 2022. 240p. ISBN 9781101885086. $28. Downloadable. CONTEMPORARY

As a teenager, Seattle-based librarian Valentina Baker was abandoned by her mother, who returned to her native London. Now she has inherited her mother’s Primrose Hill apartment and the deed to the Book Garden bookshop, and Valentina starts over with a fight to save the bookstore. Originally scheduled for August 2021.

Katz, Erica. Fake. Harper. Feb. 2022. 384p. ISBN 9780063082588. $26.99. COMING OF AGE

Once aspiring artist Emma Caan makes a living as an art forger—legitimately, as her creations are commissioned by museums and rich collectors wanting to protect their investments. A job offer from oligarch art collector Leonard Sobetsky promises the funds and security Emma needs, but she’s unprepared for the underside of the bright and shiny new world she enters. From the author of The Boys’ Club; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

Korelitz, Jean Hanff. The Latecomer. Celadon: Macmillan. Feb. 2022. 368p. ISBN 9781250790798. $28. CONTEMPORARY

Born into wealth and given very advantage, triplets Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally Oppenheim are looking forward to college and the chance to go their own ways. But then a sibling is born from an embryo leftover from their in vitro beginnings, and life gets complicated. From the author of You Should Have Known, the basis of the HBO show The Undoing; with a 200,000-copy first printing.

Wilkerson, Charmaine. Black Cake. Ballantine. Feb. 2022. 400p. ISBN 9780593358337. $27. CONTEMPORARY

Estranged siblings Byron and Benny come together over their mother’s death and their confusion regarding her final legacy: she’s left them a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a venerable family recipe, along with a voice recording sharing her story as a young swimmer who left her island home with suspicions of murder hanging over her head. But she doesn’t tell her whole story, and Byron and Benny have more secrets to discover. Bought in a sizzling auction; from debuter Wilkerson.

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