This month, we’ve got climate change, matchmaking, and much more. To submit a first line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Broken Dreams: A Callipur Murder Mystery

Aditya Banerjee

“The Bhaskar brothers ran the Callipur Auto Shop.”


Kings of a Lonely Kingdom: Earth Day Essays, Poems, and Musings on Nature

David C. Mahood

“If we all make an effort to understand the myriad of consequences of not only climate change but anthropogenic activity in general, we can’t possibly turn our backs on them.”


The Matchmaker and the Marquess

Scarlett Scott

“There were two truths in polite society. The first was that country house parties were ideal for finding new bed partners, and the second was to never be caught alone with a member of the opposite sex when Lady Clementine Hammond was anywhere in the vicinity.”


Shadows on the Page

Vince Font, illus. by Jane Font

“It is several hours after midnight when I hear the sound of approaching footsteps on the gravel walk that leads in from the old road.”


A Trace of Royalty

Kopp Chronicles

Greg Kopp

“Suddenly, the door of the carriage flung open, as it pulled up to the doors of the Mannheim Palace on an early and cold February morning in 1843.”