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It was impossible to choose what to get into this week because there are genuinely so many updates in the book world. Authors announced new books, major adaptations were picked up, casting updates dropped, and somehow that still wasn’t even half of it. If you think you know everything that went on last week, think again, because today we’re jumping into everything you might have missed. Buckle in and get ready to add some titles to your reading & watch list :)

Releasing on November 3 of this year, Bad Idea will follow AJ Connelly and Ivy Di Laurentis. In true Elle Kennedy fashion, this will be a spin-off book about Dean Di Laurentis’ daughter and Jake Connolly’s son. There is no official synopsis or cover yet, but we should expect one soon if the release is this year.

I’m slowly but surely making my way through Kennedy’s spin-off books, but I haven’t read Love Song or The Charlie Method yet. I could not determine which book Ivy and AJ have appeared in, but a few Goodreads reviews allude to them having some contact with each other in a past book.

In the past, I’ve never been the biggest fan of spin-off books by any author or in any universe because they often feel like stretching a story too thin. I don’t mind a few glimpses of other characters, but anything more than that feels too muddy. I don’t want to pick up a new series and meet a bunch of characters I don’t understand because I didn’t read the original series. I think Elle Kennedy did a very smart job with the spin-off for the kids, so it lets the original couples feel completely new. Meghan Quinn, who also writes hockey romances, has two series that subtly intertwine yet still feel completely new. They are my blueprints. So, all in all, I’m excited for Bad Idea, but I definitely feel like I should read the other books to make sure I know the history between these two!

➡️ Are you still excited by “next generation” spin-off books, or are publishers/authors relying too heavily on familiar universes?

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As the show travels back to the Summer of 1999, so do the characters. In the original development agreement for the series, the rights were for both We Were Liars and its prequel, Family of Liars. Also in the deal was E. Lockhart’s standalone novel Again and Again. Season 2 is confirmed to draw on Family of Liars, which explores Carrie, Penny, and Bess as teenagers. The official logline for the series reads, “In an effort to confront her truth, Cadence returns to Beechwood. As she digs deeper into family secrets, she learns about the Sinclair Sisters’ summer of 1999 — a summer rife with first love, rivalry, and even murder. In flashbacks, we see Carrie, Penny, and Bess navigate their own teenage summer, as they come to terms with their past in the present day.” The new cast additions include:

Josh Dallas (Once Upon a Time): Young Harris Sinclair

Peyton List (Mad Men): Young Tipper Sinclair

Parker Lapaine (House of the Dragons): Young Carrie Sinclair

Elysia Roorbach (The Pitt): Young Penny Sinclair

Madison Wolfe (The Hunting Wives): Young Bess Sinclair

Costa D’Angelo (Tell Me Lies): Pfeff - New Character

Now, if I’m being honest here, I still have not read Family of Liars. I loved We Were Liars, but the ending broke me, so I have taken a few years’ break. Now that season 2 is in the works, I will most definitely go back to the world.

Written by Lynn Painter, Better Than the Movies is about a high school senior, Liz, who uses her love for rom-coms to try to get the attention of her crush, Michael. Then her next-door neighbour, Wes, enters the picture as Michael’s friend. Since the boys are friends, Liz is one step closer to her crush seeing her, so Liz and Wes scheme to fake-date.

On top of directing the movie for Netflix, Julia Hart is a co-writer on the project with her husband and creative partner Jordan Horowitz. They have written one draft, and Heather Flanders has completed one as well.

I can’t quite recall why I didn’t LOVE this book, but I definitely see why it makes sense as a movie. I love Lynn Painter’s writing and the way she brings Gen Z lifestyles and dialogues to life, but something didn’t do it for me in Better Than The Movies. Maybe my expectations for #BookTok were too high, but I will still reread it closer to the film's release.

Ahead of its release this year, Freida McFadden’s The Divorce has been optioned by Studiocanel. The project is in early development, with Studiocanal fully financing the film and co-producing with Working Title. The current plan is to release the movie theatrically across Italy, Germany, France, the U.K., Poland, Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m delighted to be working with the teams at Studiocanal and Working Title to bring ‘The Divorce’ to the big screen. From the start, they have come forward with an unparalleled enthusiasm and a strong vision for how to get this project off the ground. I can’t wait to see what unfolds!” — Freida McFadden

The Divorce follows Naomi after her husband kicks her out of their home, drains their bank accounts and hires a divorce attorney. In return, Naomi becomes fixated on uncovering secrets about his new 20-something-year-old girlfriend.

At this point, I’ve probably read 10 Frieda McFadden novels, and only 1 has wowed me. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the others, but only one has 5 stars in my brain, and that’s Never Lie. I think McFadden writes perfect thrillers for several readers:

Readers who want to dip their toes in the thriller genre
Readers who find themselves in a book slump
Readers who want to escape into a fun, easy thriller.

Her books are reliable and predictable thrillers. Considering I loved The Housemaid more as a movie than as a book, I’m actually quite excited to see this book come to the screen. Some of the books, like The Teacher or The Inmate, live better on the page than the screen, but colour me intrigued. The book releases on May 26th, so we will have to wait until then.

Sunnie is Hello Sunshine’s brand for younger women, and every other month, they choose a Sunnie Reads pick and treat it similarly to a book club! It helps with reading inspiration and is very low-pressure for those looking to join a club! Their May pick is That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall and follows a native Hawaiian teen as she travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Keala Kendall about her journey in writing this book and what it means to her to have readers read this story. In the early stages of writing this story, Kendall described the process as “ingredient sourcing,” where everything in her life adds to the book, but there are certain aspects that will be the “starter dish” or “something to bring out that flavour. But at her core, Kendall has always been a fan of social horror commentary and always wanted a story about Hawaii, so That Which Feeds Us was born. White Lotus, combined with the feeling of homesickness, were also a major building block of this story.

A few months after the first draft was written, Lāhainā, Hawaii, suffered from devastating wildfires, which was the original inspiration for the fictional resort in the novel. Kendall said it was heartbreaking, but she couldn’t imagine taking it out of the story because it would feel like losing it all over again.

The anticipation around the book has already been massive. Last December, That Which Feeds Us was the 4th most requested YA novel on NetGalley. Kendall describes last year as a year of many firsts, and 2026 already feels the same. It’s impossible to track, but she says they’re pretty confident it's the first native Hawaiian book to be carried in Target. Despite being feeling pressure about this book, Kendall says she just wants readers to see how great her Hawaiian culture and people are.

“I can’t believe Elle Woods touched my book” — Keala Kendall

Hearing an author speak with such passion is already enough to convince me to read this book, but its uniqueness is what truly pushes me to pick it up. I’ve fallen into the narrative that Hawaii is “paradise” my entire life, but I’m super intrigued to see it from the perspective of someone who calls it home, not as a vacation.

Last week, the rights to Liz Tomeforde’s Windy City series were scooped up at Amazon MGM with a keen draw towards TV development. Alison McDonald will executive produce and write alongside Premeditated Productions. The author, Liz Tomeforde, will also executive produce.

“I started writing Mile High while working as a flight attendant for a professional hockey team. What started as a personal passion project has turned into a career that I truly never thought was possible. And now, thanks to Premeditated Productions and Amazon Studios, it’s becoming something bigger than I ever dreamed. Soon readers who fell in love with my characters will get to watch their stories step off the page and unfold on screen.” — Liz Tomeforde

The Windy City series includes 5 books, all centred around 5 professional athletes and the women they fall in love with. The second book in this series, The Right Move, will forever be one of my favourite books in the entire world, and I can only hope that it gets a similar treatment to Heated Rivalry, which started with the adaptation of book 2.

➡️ In an ideal world, which book from the Windy City series would you want to see adapted first?

Everything That Happened In The Book World Last Week

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