Published by Hanover Square Press on July 7, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating:
Goodreads
Tucked behind the trees in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, the beloved Marble café offers a cup of warm, healing matcha to all who pass through its doors.
Customers flock all week to Café Marble, tucked away behind the cherry trees. But Monday is a special day: the enigmatic owner hosts a tea tasting. The ritual invites its clientele to pause, reconnect with their inner peace, and rediscover the value of simplicity, allowing the bitterness of matcha to soothe their troubles.
Following the twelve calendar months, Matcha on Monday follows people from all walks of life: a woman who needs to change her attitude, a couple facing a crisis, an artist who has lost her purpose, and a young woman struggling to break free from family expectations. As each customer frequents Café Marble’s cosy haven, they start their week with a warm sip of matcha and the joys of everyday human connection.
Warm and luminous, this heart-warming story brings together a community of untold unfolding lives. As a snow-white cat peacefully puzzles over the surrounding humans, Café Marble becomes the setting for unexpected encounters that will change everything for those who walk through its doors—all starting with a cup of matcha.
The Marble Cafe is a warm and cozy refuge which is usually closed on Mondays, but this Monday there was matcha.
Like its predecessor, Hot Chocolate on Thursday, Matcha on Monday was an interconnected collection of short stories. I adore these snapshots and took great joy in looking for the connections between and among the stories.
Each chapter in the last book was a color. This time around, we get a story for each month, many highlighting a Japanese holiday. I enjoyed learning about the holidays and also liked the way the author blended the celebrations into the stories.
What stands out the most in Aoyama's books is the exploration of human connection and human nature. There were martial relationships, familial relationships, and romantic relationships on display, but the author also examined friendships, old and new. In many of these stories, the characters would see something from a different point of view and change their mind about someone or something. It was always very subtle and gentle, but made an impact nonetheless. There were also a lot of threads about being true to yourself and pursuing your dreams which were very hopeful.
I LOVED the first story and the way we came full circle at the end. It was such a wonderful way to wrap it all up while leaving me brimming with happiness and joy.
Published by Lake Union Publishing on September 1, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
An introverted history professor and a former romance cover model collaborate on a life-changing endeavor in a witty and swoonworthy novel about new beginnings in unexpected waters.
When a sinkhole nearly swallows her whole, burned-out history professor Philippa Flynn takes it as a wake-up call. Leaving her carefully planned but unfulfilling life behind, she moves into an old seaside house she inherited from her grandmother, a bestselling author of swashbuckling romances. Philippa expects the clutter, disrepair, proximity to the family she deliberately moved away from, and reclusive writer she’ll be sharing the house with. She doesn’t expect that writer to also be the cover model who personified Iris Flynn’s bare-chested, cavalier-booted pirate king.
While navigating their awkward cohabitation and searching for creative inspiration, the pair discovers the outlines for six more novels they could work on together. But Philippa’s used to facts, Dylan has writer’s block, and neither can craft a love scene while real sparks are flying.
To write the story on the page, Philippa will have to embrace the one she’s living, even if it means swapping tenure for treasure maps and plans for pirate kings.
After almost meeting her end in a sinkhole, Philippa Flynn upends her life and embarks on a year of panic and piracy.
Philippa was at the end of her rope. With nowhere else to go, she decided to return to a home that was once her refuge. Her grandmother's house was a place of escape and comfort for Philippa and was now hers per her grandmother's will. The only catch was that her grandmother's assistant (and cover model for her romance book series) was welcome to live there. This set the stage for some awkward and awesome moments.
I will say what I always say about academia - why does anyone do it???? Our heroine here was a burned out academic who was miserable in her position. This part of the story was something that got old quick, but there were many parts of the story I LOVED!
- I adored the search for Philippa's grandmother's outlines and the partnership that arose between her and Dylan (aka The Pirate King) as they worked together to write that next book.
- I was not too keen on Philippa's mother, but her siblings were fantastic! The group chat made me laugh, and they endeared themselves to me every time they rallied around Philippa. Her sisters and brother were the support system she didn't believe she had, and the relationship they shared built the case for why Philippa had to fight to stay in Maine.
- Dylan was quite complicated and complex. He was quiet but contained multitudes. His unconventional upbringing left him with super thick armor to break through, but it was very satisfying when Philippa did.
- The grand gesture was a GRAND gesture! I was bouncing up and down while it was happening. Fantastic!
- I am all for taking chances and making changes to improve your life. Philippa was miserable and needed to shift gears. It was not an easy path, but she never gave up. I was proud of her.
Overall: Philippa's Flynn's Year of Panic and Piracy was a wonderful slow-burn romance which was part of a bigger personal journey. I loved seeing Philippa take back parts of herself she had lost as she paved the way for a new future punctuated with happiness and joy.
*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
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