The Two of Us
By Andy Jones (Simon & Schuster, $29.99)
If you liked David Nicholls' One Day and Us, you'll love this offering from Andy Jones. Fisher and Ivy have known each other for 19 days but just know they're meant to be together forever. Falling in love is easy, being and staying in love are completely different things, as the pair face all the issues a long-term relationship would but somewhat back to front. Fisher is the perfect narrator, vulnerable, funny, observant, and while it might take you a time to warm to Ivy, she too will win your heart. The story is one of life and death and love that will have you hooked til the end and shedding more than a few tears along the way.
The Girl in 6E
By A R Torre (Orion, $29.99)
A graphic and gripping story about Jessica, just your regular girl with homicidal tendencies who has locked herself away in her apartment so she doesn't kill anyone. She's got to make money somehow so she sets up a webcam sex site and finds herself among the most popular sites in the world. Everything is going pretty well until one client crosses the line and Jessica must decide whether she will face the world to try and set things right. Depictions of both the sex and the murder are pretty full on. Torre also writes erotic fiction. You'll be shocked, perhaps tantalised and maybe just a little horrified but you'll keep reading.
Mobile Library
By David Whitehouse (Macmillan, $29.99)
A road story with a difference. Twelve-year-old Bobby has been having a bad time. His mother is missing, his father abuses him and he's bullied at school where he has no friends. Then he meets Val and her daughter Rosa. Val cleans a mobile library. Remember your own childhood when the bus would turn up, a vehicle full of dreams and a way to escape. Here somewhat literally as this unlikely family takes to the road to find themselves and the stories that matter. A joyous story that will fill your heart.
