The Hundred Loves of Juliet

YA author Skye (The Crown’s Game) makes her adult debut with a swoony, Shakespeare-inspired fantasy romance that seamlessly imbues the Bard’s star-crossed lovers with a contemporary feel. Helene, 30 years old and fresh from being passed over for a promotion and in the midst of divorcing her narcissistic husband, flees to Alaska. It’s supposed to be a refuge, a place she can work on a manuscript linking the romantic vignettes she’s written ever since starring as Juliet in a middle school play. Her first night in town she meets local fisherman Sebastien—and recognizes him immediately as the hero of all her love stories. Sebastien knows Helene, too, and has known her under many different names. Originally, she was Juliet and he was Romeo. He’s been cursed to find her across lifetimes. Every time they fall in love, however, it ends in her death. The pair dance around each other—a flirtation that is both new and centuries old—as the oft-heartbroken Sebastien desperately searches for a way to change the ending. His melancholy is perfectly balanced by bold, courageous Helene’s sweetness. The result is a rich, heartfelt tale of love and loss and love again. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Aug.)