AGATE
Crabs in a Barrel (July, $15) by Byron Harmon focuses on 11 shipwrecked African-Americans trying to survive on a desert island.
AKASHIC
Becoming Abigail (Apr., $11.95) by Chris Abani (winner of the 2005 PEN/Hemingway Prize) tells of a woman brought to London from Nigeria and forced into prostitution. 11-city author tour.
ALLEN UNWIN (dist. by IPG)
Fire Fire (May, $14.95) by Eva Sallis examines a daughter's struggle for identity while living with her unusual family.
AMISTAD
Ladies Listen Up (June, $14.95) by Darren Coleman blends drama, romance and comedy.
ANCHOR BOOKS
Espresso Tales (July, $13.95) by Alexander McCall Smith is the second installment in the 44 Scotland Street series. The O'Henry Prize Stories 2006 (May, $14), edited by Laura Furman, collects works by established mainstream writers and promising newcomers.
APHRODISIA
Sexy Beast (Mar., $12.95) by Kate Douglas et al. Three writers of erotic fiction contribute shape-shifting stories.
ARTE PBLICO PRESS
We Happy Few (Apr., $14.95) by Rolando Hinojosa examines the politics of faculty promotions and zany student protests at a Texas university.
ATRIA
The Right Fit (July, $14) by Sinead Moriarty. The protagonist of The Baby Traildecides to adopt after failing to conceive. 40,000 first printing.
The Sista Hood: On the Mic (July, $14) by E-Fierce. A talent show forces an uneasy collaboration among four divas. 35,000 first printing.
AVON
Deadly Housewives (May, $13.95) by Christine Matthews collects mystery stories from 14 female mystery and suspense writers.
Fate & Ms. Fortune (Aug., $12.95) by Saralee Rosenberg follows a Park Slope makeup artist and aspiring comic in the aftermath of her divorce. 30,000 first printing.
BALLANTINE
Learning Curves: A Novel of Sex, Suits and Business Affairs (Mar., $12.95) by Gemma Townley revolves around the daughter of rival divorced management consultants who goes undercover to investigate one of them. Ad/promo.
Family Baggage (June, $13.95) by Monica McInerney tells of a tour guide who loses her foster sister on a trip to England. Ad/promo.
BALLANTINE/ONE WORLD
Riding Dirty on I-95 (Apr., $13.95) by Nikki Turner incorporates gambling, drugs and romance in the story of a woman who finds her lover was involved in her father's murder. Ad/promo.9-city author tour.
What Goes Around (May, $13.95) by Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown. Catherine Hawkins, the protagonist of The Shirt off His Back, returns—and she's meaner than ever.
BARBOUR
The Widows' Club (May, $9.97) by Joyce Livingston shows how women overcome the heartache of loss through faith and friendship. 30,000 first printing.
BELLE BOOKS
The Crossroads Cafe (July, $14.95) by Deborah Smith. A disfigured beauty queen learns to live and love again.
BERKLEY
Your Big Break (Mar., $14) by Johanna Edwards recounts the goings-on at Your Big Break Inc., a professional breakup service.
California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (June, $14) by Julie Kenner is a sequel to Carpe Demon.
BERKLEY HEAT
Forbidden Zone (Aug., $14) by Elise D'Haene and Stacey Donovan consists of four erotic tales about men and women letting go.
BERKLEY JAM
Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (June, $9.99) by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi celebrates a family reunion with weredragons, beaststalkers and werachnids.
BERKLEY SENSATION
Dead and Loving It (Apr., $14) by MaryJanice Davidson collects werewolf and vampire romances.
BETHANY HOUSE
The Englisher (May; $13.99, cloth $19.99) by Beverly Lewis. Will romance derail Annie's plans to join the Amish church? 275,000 first printing.
BLACK CAT
The Scent of Your Breath (Aug., $12) by Melissa P. The author of 100 Strokes of the Brushshowcases a 19-year-old girl who leaves Sicily for Rome. 50,000 first printing.
MARION BOYARS
The Gaze (June, $14.95) by Elif Shafak raises questions about body image and desirability in men and women. Author tour.
BRAVA
Bad Boys in Kilts (Mar., $14) by Donna Kauffman introduces three Highland laddies who let women know what's under their kilts.
Perfect Weapon (Mar., $14) by Amy J. Fetzer deals with a murder suspect who claims she's innocent.
BROADWAY BOOKS
Fever (Apr., $12.95) by Geneva Holliday features the characters from Grooveenjoying a hot summer in New York.
Consider Lily (June, $11.95) by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt follows characters experiencing love and trials in the big city.
CARROLL GRAF
Drag King Dreams (Apr., $14.95) by Leslie Feinberg is a follow-up to Stone Butch Blues, 12 years later.
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (May, $14.95) by Mojha Kahf evokes female adolescence while looking at orthodox religion against an American backdrop.
CENTER STREET
Like Dandelion Dust (June, $12.95) by Karen Kingsbury portrays two parents' love for their adopted son.
CITY LIGHTS
Jumping over Fire (Mar., $15.95) by Nahid Rachlin. Sisters who flee Iran with their parents react very differently to the West. 15,000 first printing. Author tour.
CLEIS PRESS
Lips Like Sugar: Women's Erotica Fantasies (Mar., $14.95), edited by Violet Blue, collects erotica by women.
The Back Passage (June, $12.95) by James Lear adds a gay erotic twist to the classic British drawing room mystery. Author tour.
COFFEE HOUSE PRESS
A Strange Commonplace (May, $14.95) by Gilbert Sorrentino observes fathers and sons as they grapple with inexplicable coincidences connecting their lives. Author tour.
COOK COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRIES/RIVEROAK
Electric Beach (May, $12.99) by Joe Hilley. Det. Mike Connelly discovers a tanning parlor that is a front for crime.
COUNTERPOINT
A Boy of Good Breeding (June, $14) by Miriam Toews considers growing up, getting old and falling in love in a small town. Author tour.
DAFINA
Down and Dirty: Another Landlord's Tale (Mar., $15) by Gammy L. Singer. A reformed numbers banker tries to help a friend in trouble.
Nothing but Trouble (Mar., $14) by Bettye Griffin. Three best friends find they can deal with any tribulations as long as they take care of one another.
DALKEY ARCHIVE
Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! (May, $14.95) by Mark Binelli uses slapstick comedy in retelling the story of Sacco and Vanzetti.
DELTA
Gucci Gucci Goo (May, $12) by Sue Margolis features a baby boutique owner whose 50-year-old mother announces she's pregnant. 55,000 first printing. Ad/promo.
DOWNTOWN PRESS
Why Moms Are Weird (Aug., $13) by Pamela Ribon. A woman must deal with her injured mother, a sister who's dating an ex-con and her own attraction to a married man.
I Did (but I Wouldn't Now) (May, $13) by Cara Lockwood. Lily finds that there's life—often a better one—after divorce in the sequel to I Do (but I Don't).
DUFOUR
Houseboating in the Ozarks (Apr., $14.95) by Gary Forrester describes a minivan road trip with two young children through the American Midwest.
FARRAR, STRAUS GIROUX
The Nimrod Flipout (Apr., $12) by Etgar Keret, trans. by Miriam Shlesinger and Sandra Silverston, collects stories by an acclaimed young Israeli writer with subjects such as shrinking parents and a case of impotence cured by a terrier.
FC2 (dist. by Northwestern Univ. Press)
Book of Portraiture (Mar., $17.95) by Steve Tomasula is a postmodern epic about the human need to preserve an image of ourselves.
FORGE
It Wakes in Me (July, $13.95) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear explores the Native American practices of sexual healing.
GENESIS PRESS
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (Mar., $9.95) by Gwyneth Bolton. Childhood rivals discover sparks when they meet as adults.
GLAS (dist. by Northwestern Univ. Press)
Seven Stories (Apr., $15.95) by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, trans. by Joanne Turnbull, presents a lost work by a 20th-century Russian writer.
GRAYWOLF PRESS
Shyness and Dignity (Aug., $12) by Dag Solstad follows an Ibsen scholar who falls out of society.
GROVE PRESS
The Third Brother (Apr., $13) by Nick McDonell (Twelve)portrays a young man attempting to come to terms with his past and find his future. 35,000 first printing.
HARCOURT/HARVEST
To Feel Stuff (Aug., $14) by Andrea Seigel features a college student grappling with the supernatural while healing from an illness.The Edge of Pleasure (Mar., $14) by Philippa Stockley. Two women with very different motives become involved with a formerly famous artist.
HARLEM MOON
Drama Is Her Middle Name: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Vol. 1 (June, $10.95) by Wendy Williams and Karen Hunter. Shock jock Williams presents the first installment of a series about radio DJ Ritz Harper.
HARPER PAPERBACKS
The People's Republic of Desire (Apr., $13.95) by Annie Wang reflects modern China through the lives of four professional women in contemporary Beijing. 30,000 first printing.
HARPER SAN FRANCISCO
The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show (May, $13.95) by Ariel Gore revolves around a Catholic-themed traveling freak show starring a stigmatic 28-year-old. 35,000 first printing.
HARVEST HOUSE
Altar Call (Mar., $11.99) by Hope Lyda. Friends discover that doing the right thing is more important than finding Mr. Right.
HOWARD PUBLISHING
Storm (Mar., $12.99) by Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh. The third entry in the Great Awakenings series follows a student at Yale who takes a stand for his faith.
INDIANA UNIV. PRESS
Murambi, the Book of Bones (Apr.; $16.95, cloth $45) by Boubacar Boris Diop, trans. by Fiona McLaughlin, portrays the Rwandan genocide.
INTERLINK
The Stone of Laughter (Apr., $12.95) by Hoda Barakat, trans. by Sophie Bennett, describes a gay man in war-torn Beirut trying to avoid ideological affiliations.
LEAPFROG PRESS
Confessions of a Memory Eater (July, $14.95) by Pagan Kennedy. A college professor becomes addicted to a memory-enhancing designer drug. Author tour.
LITTLE, BROWN/BACK BAY
First Aid (Aug., $13.95) by Janet Davey. An act of domestic violence tests a mother's love for her daughter.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIV. PRESS
The Complete Works of Kate Chopin (May, $39.95), edited by Per Seyersted, collects Chopin's 96 short stories, two novels, 20 poems and 13 essays.
MACMILLAN CARIBBEAN (dist. by Interlink)
Marly; or, A Planter's Life in Jamaica (Mar., $15) by Anonymous, edited by Karina Williamson. A 19th-century novel depicts life on a sugar estate before the abolition of slavery.
MACMILLAN UK (dist. by Trafalgar Square)
The Song of Departure, The Sun of Austerlitz, The Emperor of Kingsand The Immortal of St. Helena (May, $12.95 each) by Max Gallo constitute the Napoleon Quartet, a series of historical fiction about Napoleon Bonaparte.
MARINER BOOKS
The Vanishing Point (June, $12.95) by Mary Sharratt features two star-crossed sisters in 17th-century Maryland.
MCGILLQUEENS UNIV. PRESS
Ha!: A Self-Murder Mystery (Mar., $24.95) by Gordon Sheppard spotlights a filmmaker who investigates the suicide of a friend who was a writer and former terrorist.
MOODY PUBLISHERS
Madman (Apr., $14.99) by Tracy Groot features a servant who is sent to a Greek academy in Palestine only to find that it has disappeared.
MULTNOMAH
Full Tilt (Mar., $12.99) by Creston Mapes. A rock star fights meth users and mobsters who would stop him from reaching his gambling-addicted brother with a Christian message.
NAL JAM
Love from London (Mar., $9.99) by Emily Franklin. The third entry in the Principles of Love series features the daughter of a principal at a New England boarding school.
Fringe Girl (Apr., $9.99) by Valerie Frankel explores the unspoken social hierarchy at a Brooklyn Heights high school.
NAVPRESS
Dark Hour (July, $12.99) by Ginger Garrett incorporates matricide, patricide and infanticide in the story of Athaliah and Jehoshebeth.
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Forbidden Pleasures (July, $14) by Bertrice Small tells of a romance novelist whose publishers request true-to-life material.
Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill (Aug., $14) by Susan Holloway Scott is based on the lady-in-waiting who helped bring James II to the throne.
NEW DIRECTIONS
Terrestrial Intelligence: International Fiction Now from New Directions (Apr., $14.95), edited by Barbara Epler, showcases contemporary writers from Argentina, Cape Verde, Croatia, Israel, Russia and elsewhere.
NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS
English, August: An Indian Story (Apr., $14.95) by Upamanyu Chatterjee takes a satirical look at Indian society. An NYRB Classic. Author tour.
W.W. NORTON
Sylvanus Now (Apr., $14.95) by Donna Morrissey follows a couple in a 1950s Newfoundland fishing town. Author tour.
Flash Fiction Forward: 80 Very Short Stories (Aug., $15.95), edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard, considers how short a story can be and still be a story.
PEGASUS
Reader, I Married Him (May, $13.95) by Michele Roberts depicts a thrice-widowed heroine's Tuscan romance.
PERSEA BOOKS
Scribblers on the Roof (June, $15.95), edited by Melvin Bukiet and David Roskies, collects the work of established masters and a new generation of American-Jewish storytellers.
PICADOR
The Gift of Numbers (Aug., $14) by Yoko Ogawa charts the friendship between a housekeeper, a mathematical genius and a 10-year-old boy.
PLUME
And God Created the Au Pair (May, $14) by Benedicte Newland and Pascale Smets chronicles two years in the lives of sisters dealing with child-rearing.
The School for Husbands (Aug., $14) by Wendy Holden follows a husband who enrolls in a clinic to help spouses mend their ways and avoid divorce.
POCKET BOOKS
Rabbit Heart (May, $14) by Colleen Hitchcock presents a French temptress who loves men to death in Victorian England.
Have a Little Faith (June, $14) by Jacquelin Thomas et al. collects four stories about faith, family and forgiveness from four different writers.
POCKET/MTV BOOKS
Cruel Summer (Mar., $9.95) by Kylie Adams follows five friends living out their senior year in Miami.
RED DRESS INK
Looking for Mr. Goodfrog (Apr., $12.95) by Laurie Graff spotlights a woman revisiting the "frogs" of her past.
Girl's Night Out (June, $14.95), edited by Carole Matthews et al., includes stories from a variety of writers, including 11 New York Timesbestselling authors.
REVELL
Rachel's Prayer (July, $12.99) by Leisha Kelly continues the saga of the Wortham family during the WWII era.
RIVERHEAD
City of Tiny Lights (Apr., $14) by Patrick Neate introduces a Ugandan-Indian PI who gets caught up in the murder of a London MP.
SERPENTS TAIL
Sleepwalking Land (Apr., $14.95) by Mia Couto follows an old man and a young boy who are refugees from the civil war in Mozambique.
SIGNET ECLIPSE
Wild Ride (Mar., $13.95) by LuAnn McLane. This follow-up to Hot Summer Nights serves up a second collection of erotic novellas.
The Code of Love (May, $14) by Cheryl Sawyer depicts two characters defending a dangerous secret during the 19th-century Peninsular War.
SS/TOUCHSTONE
The Last Voyage of the Valentina (June, $15) by Santa Montefiore ranges from the Amalfi Coast after WWII to '60s London.
SOURCEBOOKS LANDMARK
Darcy & Elizabeth: At Home at Pemberley (May, $16.95) by Linda Berdoll joins characters from Pride and Prejudicewith newly imagined creations.
SPICE BOOKS
Tease (May, $13.95) by Suzanne Forster observes an advertising wunderkind pitted against a rival at a new job.
STEEPLE HILL CAF BOOKS
Georgia on Her Mind (Aug., $12.95) by Rachel Hauck follows Macy Moore's return to her hometown, post-firing and post-breakup.
STRAPLESS
She'll Take It (Mar., $12.95) by Mary Carter features an aspiring actress and kleptomaniac who steals a man's heart.
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION/ CHRYSALIS
Embracing Relationships: Chrysalis Reader Number 12 (Mar., $14.95), edited by Carol Lawson and Robert Lawson, presents short stories, essays and poetry that explore the spiritual dimensions of partnering.
TALONBOOKS (dist. by Northwestern Univ. Press)
The Hunting Ground (Mar., $13.95) by Lise Tremblay, trans. by Linda Gaboriau, depicts smalltown North American culture.
TARCHER
Fear of Flying (June, $14) by Erica Jong. A reissue of the famously racy 1973 novel includes essays by John Updike and Henry Miller, plus an update from Jong herself.
TIN HOUSE BOOKS (dist. by PGW)
Best of Tin House (May, $18.95), edited by Tin House editors, collects some 24 stories from six years of the award-winning literary journal.
TOBY PRESS
The Penultimate Chance Saloon (Mar., $14.95) by Simon Brett. On his 60th birthday, Bill Stratton discovers divorce, his sexual coming-of-age and a chance to act his age.
TOR
Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch (Aug., $12.95) by Lara Parker continues the narrative of the Dark ShadowsTV series by transporting vampire hero Barnabas Collins to modern-day Maine. Ad/promo.
TYNDALE HOUSE
Magdalene (Apr., $13.99) by Angela Elwell Hunt imagines the life of Mary Magdalene based on the biblical version of her story. 50,000 first printing.
UNIV. OF NEVADA PRESS
Juniper Blue (Mar., $20) by Susan Lang follows a woman seeking her own identity during the Depression.
UNIV. OF VIRGINIA PRESS
Dog Days: An Animal Chronicle (Apr.; $18.50, cloth $49.50) by Patrice Nganang, trans. by Amy Reid, recounts an Africa of military dictators and poverty in the voice of a dog.
URBAN BOOKS
Gigolos Get Lonely, Too (Mar., $14.95) by Dwayne S. Joseph et al. Three men discover that love is more important than sex.
VERSO
George and Martha (Apr., $15) by Karen Finley. The performance artist imagines a torrid affair between Dubya and Martha Stewart during the Republican National Convention.
VINTAGE
The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories (May, $13) by Valerie Martin explores the inner lives of artists as they struggle to work and fall in and out of love. Author tour.
WALK WORTHY PRESS
Brother Word (Apr., $12.95) by Derek Jackson explores the world of a faith healer and the lives he touches. 3-city author tour.
WESTBOW PRESS
When Crickets Cry (Apr., $14.99) by Charles Martin opens with a seven-year-old running a lemonade stand to raise money for her own heart transplant.
WHEREABOUTS PRESS
Japan: A Traveler's Literary Companion (May, $14.95), edited by Thomas Rimer and Jeffrey Angles, arranges contemporary Japanese literature by region.
ZEBRA
When You Believe (June, $13) by Jessica Inclan launches a trilogy in which a San Francisco poet opens the door into another world.
