12/14/2020
In Rogers’s frothy debut, a high-achieving 20-something Black woman blows up her life. Grace Porter is spending a weekend in Las Vegas with her two friends to celebrate completing her doctorate in astronomy, when she wakes up to find a note from Yuki Yamamoto, a woman she’d hooked up with—and gotten married to—the night before. Back home in Portland, Ore., Grace reckons with her reckless behavior and hazy “champagne-pink” memories while trying to continue living up to her strict, financially supportive military father’s expectations as she pursues a career in a field dominated by white men. Even though Grace is surrounded by a loving group of friends and roommates, she still feels alone and untethered. She decides to abandon her life plan to travel to New York to meet Yuki, a waitress and late-night radio storyteller. Still feeling restless, Grace heads to Florida to work on her free-spirited mother’s orange grove. There, Grace searches for a way to move forward on her own terms. While the story’s minimal tension gives the reader ample time to wonder if it’s worth plowing through, the dialogue is pitch-perfect (“What the hell would I look like on Dateline talking about how you disappeared in Las Vegas?” a friend admonishes Grace). Patient readers will find plenty to appreciate in this rom-com. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Feb.)
With imagery that leaps from the pages, HONEY GIRL is a brilliant debut. A story about finding your place in the world, about finding love—and accepting it by learning to love yourself. Prepare for this one to vault its way to the top of your TBR pile.” — Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author
“For all the sweet charm of the blossoming love between Grace and Yuki, the book is especially notable for its celebration of friendship, especially in queer communities, and for exploring the many ways relationships can be meaningful and intimate beyond romance... A strong romantic fiction debut that will appeal to readers looking for a story of true love via self-discovery.” — *STARRED REVIEW* KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Honey Girl is an absorbing read, and deftly captures the trappings of millennial life, especially for queer Black, Indigenous and people of color characters in American cities. Its expansion on what a love story can be feels restorative, especially as we cross the threshold into our second year of a pandemic during which expressing love has become more important than ever. This is the kind of non-YA coming-of-age novel the world could use more of.” — Sarah Neilson for Seattle Times
"Rogers's debut novel is a soul-stirring rom-com in reverse."—OPRAH MAGAZINE
"HONEY GIRL is an emotional, heartfelt, charming debut, and I loved every moment of it. Morgan Rogers is an incredible talent; she creates characters I couldn't stop thinking about, and who I loved immediately. I can't wait to see what she does next." — Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal
"HONEY GIRL is a fun, heartfelt and uncompromising look at the risks we take to find love and discover who we are. Morgan Rogers' unique and often poetic prose makes you feel found. It makes you feel seen, no matter who you are. There is a sweetness to HONEY GIRL you'll want to savor for a very long time!" — Catherine Adel West, author of Saving Ruby King
"A captivating story—readers will be rooting for Grace to come into her own." — Yaffa S. Santos, author of A Taste of Sage
“Pitch-perfect... readers will find plenty to appreciate in this rom-com.”—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“One of the best parts of this book is the friendships. These friends listen to, support, and love each other…For fans of Queenie and The Bride Test.”—SHELF AWARENESS
“With a cast of diverse and underrepresented characters, Rogers’s debut is a beautiful story of learning to love in so many ways: untraditionally, through deep hurt, through mental illness, and through struggles with which readers can relate. Highly recommended.”—LIBRARY JOURNAL
"It's earnest and funny and captures that time after you finish school when you have a life crisis in such a poetic and awesome way. Also, lesbian romance with an astronomy PhD?! YES PLEASE!" — Felicia Day on Instagram
OprahMag.com – “27 Most Anticipated Romance Novels”
Cosmo – "30 New LGBTQ+ Books to Add to Your Reading List in 2021"
Goodreads – “The Most Anticipated Books of 2021”
Refinery 29 – “22 Great Books To Kick Off Your New Year’s Resolution To Read More”
BookRiot – "Exciting Queer Women, Bisexual, and Lesbian Books Coming Out in Early 2021"
Brit + Co – "15 Highly Anticipated Novels We Can't Wait to Read in 2021"
The Rumpus – “What to Read”
Betches – “The Betches Winter 2020-2021 Reading List”
BuzzFeed – “16 Queer Love Stories To Read This Pride Month”
Bookish – “Women’s Fiction Rave Reviews on NetGalley”
Autostraddle – “69 Queer and Feminist Books Coming Your Way”
OprahMag.com – “32 LGBTQ Books That Will Change the Literary Landscape in 2021”
12/01/2020
DEBUT Grace Porter just received her doctorate in astronomy, and though she may not be practicing medicine, as her no-nonsense father intended, she is on track to put her doctorate to use. But as a Black lesbian, Grace doesn't seem to "be the right fit" for most companies in her field. Then the ever-responsible Grace wakes up in Vegas with a hangover, a wedding ring, fuzzy memories, and a note from her new, and absent, wife. Using a business card, Grace tracks down her wife, Yuki, in New York City. Grace leaves Portland and gives her marriage a shot, staying with Yuki and her roommates. They develop a deep connection. However, the life Grace left behind catches up to her as depression, difficulties reconnecting with her mostly absent mother, and deep wounds left by her disapproving father surface. Can a marriage between two virtual strangers wed in a Vegas chapel actually work when life gets in the way? VERDICT With a cast of diverse and underrepresented characters, Rogers's debut is a beautiful story of learning to love in so many ways: untraditionally, through deep hurt, through mental illness, and through struggles with which readers can relate. Highly recommended for all libraries.—Brooke Bolton, Boonville-Warrick Cty. P.L., IN
★ 2021-02-10
What happens in Vegas follows two women home.
Grace Porter, newly minted Ph.D. in astronomy, has done everything right—that is to say, she’s done everything according to her father’s plan, and “a Porter always does their best.” As a Black woman in a predominantly White field, she’s had to, so when her friends take her to Las Vegas to celebrate, it’s not a shock that she abandons her lifetime of discipline for just one night of fun. The shock comes the next morning, when, gripped by her hangover, she realizes she got married the night before, and the woman she married is already on her way back to New York City. Grace and her friends want to learn more about her new wife, Yuki Yamamoto, and Grace gets to know her through her late-night radio show out of Brooklyn and old-fashioned phone calls. Before long, she does the second impulsive thing of her life. Frustrated by the bias she’s encountering in her job search, she moves out East to take a break from her perfect plans and get to know Yuki and see if their marriage is worth keeping. But now that she’s started pushing back against the rigid confines of her life, feelings kept tightly locked away are beginning to appear. And for all their attraction to each other, Grace might be carrying too much unresolved pain and confusion to make their marriage work out. This novel, Rogers’ debut, may not strictly be a romance, but it will strongly appeal to readers of the genre. For all the sweet charm of the blossoming love between Grace and Yuki, the book is especially notable for its celebration of friendship, especially in queer communities, and for exploring the many ways relationships can be meaningful and intimate beyond romance. Both Grace and Yuki have diverse, tightly woven groups of friends who buoy and ground them, and the richness of these relationships is the true core of the story. Romance fans will appreciate the happily-ever-after of it all, with a rewardingly emotional conclusion, but this is a book with true crossover appeal as well.
A strong romantic fiction debut that will appeal to readers looking for a story of true love via self-discovery.
Narrator York Whitaker gives a mixed performance of this charming novel about finding your purpose in the unlikeliest of places. To celebrate finishing her PhD, Grace leaves Portland, Oregon, and heads to Las Vegas, where she marries a woman she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by postdoctoral choices, she spends the summer getting to know her new wife. Whitaker excels at voicing Grace's internal monologues but falls short voicing other characters. The diverse and engaging cast, who range from Grace's parents to her found family, all sound about the same. As a result, the dialogue is hard to follow. Nonetheless, listeners will appreciate the way Whitaker brings the novel’s beautiful prose to life. L.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Narrator York Whitaker gives a mixed performance of this charming novel about finding your purpose in the unlikeliest of places. To celebrate finishing her PhD, Grace leaves Portland, Oregon, and heads to Las Vegas, where she marries a woman she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by postdoctoral choices, she spends the summer getting to know her new wife. Whitaker excels at voicing Grace's internal monologues but falls short voicing other characters. The diverse and engaging cast, who range from Grace's parents to her found family, all sound about the same. As a result, the dialogue is hard to follow. Nonetheless, listeners will appreciate the way Whitaker brings the novel’s beautiful prose to life. L.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine