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A LibraryReads Pick
 
“HONEY GIRL is an emotional, heartfelt, charming debut, and I loved every moment of it.”
— Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal

When becoming an adult means learning to love yourself first.

With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know…until she does exactly that.

This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her parent’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows.

In New York, she’s able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along—the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood. - (Harlequin)

Booklist Reviews

In the late eighteenth century, Nella owns an apothecary specializing in remedies for women, with a brisk side business in poisons. Her latest customer is Eliza, a servant girl charged with procuring poison for her mistress. Nella's dreams of motherhood were destroyed by a callous young man, and Eliza is curious about the intricacies of Nella's business. The two form a tenuous bond that quickly strengthens when Nella's livelihood is threatened. In the present day, Caroline's romantic anniversary trip to London becomes a solo sojourn because of her husband's infidelity. Determined to make the best of the situation, Caroline joins a mudlarking expedition and finds a mysterious bottle in the river. Her investigation into the bottle's provenance unravels the long-hidden mystery of Nella's apothecary, while also reminding Caroline of her pre-marriage dreams. Penner finds clever parallels between Nella and Caroline, and avoids the pitfall of one storyline outshining the other—all three women have compelling tales, and while Nella's business may not be on the up-and-up, her motives are understandable. Readers who enjoy Katherine Howe and Susanna Kearsley will be drawn to this promising, fast-paced debut. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Queer black millennial Rogers presents overachiever Grace Porter, a freshly minted PhD in astronomy who gets drunk in Las Vegas, then gets married to a woman whose name she doesn't know and devotes a summer to acquainting herself with her wife. A debut novel reportedly sparking millennial interest.

Library Journal Reviews

DEBUT Grace Porter just received her doctorate in astronomy, and though she may not be practicing medicine, as her no-nonsense father intended, she is on track to put her doctorate to use. But as a Black lesbian, Grace doesn't seem to "be the right fit" for most companies in her field. Then the ever-responsible Grace wakes up in Vegas with a hangover, a wedding ring, fuzzy memories, and a note from her new, and absent, wife. Using a business card, Grace tracks down her wife, Yuki, in New York City. Grace leaves Portland and gives her marriage a shot, staying with Yuki and her roommates. They develop a deep connection. However, the life Grace left behind catches up to her as depression, difficulties reconnecting with her mostly absent mother, and deep wounds left by her disapproving father surface. Can a marriage between two virtual strangers wed in a Vegas chapel actually work when life gets in the way? VERDICT With a cast of diverse and underrepresented characters, Rogers's debut is a beautiful story of learning to love in so many ways: untraditionally, through deep hurt, through mental illness, and through struggles with which readers can relate. Highly recommended for all libraries.—Brooke Bolton, Boonville-Warrick Cty. P.L., IN