Two Heads Are Better Than One: Must-Read Coauthored Books
Writing is often viewed as a solitary activity, but sometimes two heads really are better than one! When teaming up to collaboratively produce their book, some coauthors write under a single pen name (readers may not even realize they’re getting two for one) while other duos feature both of their names. Whether these literary powerhouses are actual couples, share family ties, or are the result of joint collaborations to fulfill an idea, all of these writing teams should be added to your TBR!
Books you should know about
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel
Mae Marvel is the alias of co-writing duo Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare, bestselling authors of over a dozen romance novels between them. Their first novel, Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous, is a fun and heartfelt sapphic friends-to-lovers romance that was one of the most anticipated reads of 2024. Next up from Mae Marvel, If I Told You, I’d Have to Kiss You, is being described as “Ms. And Ms. Smith meets The Pairing” – yes please! Get ready for that one to come out this June.
From the publisher:
Katie Price is known in every living room in America. A small-town Wisconsin girl who became an A-list star, she rarely makes it home, but this year is different . . . Little does she know it will lead her straight into the piercing blue-eyed gaze of Wil Greene.
A lot has happened in the decade since those cold Wisconsin nights when Wil and Katie drove around in Wil’s Bronco senior year. Since then, Wil’s law career hasn’t taken off. Her father passed away. And what started as a personal challenge—kissing a new person twice a week, every week—has made her a growing sensation, but her life is still stuck in phase one. Through the years, the two have never left each other’s thoughts and desires, but now suddenly, they are back in each other’s lives. Their reconnection is instantaneous, and the passion is palpable…but can it stand the test of time?
Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French
Next up we have Nicci French, the pseudonym of English husband and wife team Sean French and Nicci Gerrard. These two are known for their gripping psychological thrillers, and Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? is no exception as an atmospheric unsolved missing person case is revived decades after the disappearance with the launch of a podcast. Their next book, The Last Days of Kira Mullan, releases next month, and Nicci French has a number of other books, both series reads and standalones, for readers to enjoy.
From the publisher:
On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, his wife, Charlotte, vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes she is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. Then Etty and her friend Morgan find the body of Morgan’s father—and the Salters’ neighbor— Duncan Ackerley, floating in the river. The police conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide.
Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley returns to Glensted with his older brother to make a podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But when the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases.
Allegations fly, secrets come to light, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation. She will stop at nothing to uncover the truth as a new and terrifying picture of what really happened to Charlotte Salter and Duncan Ackerley emerges.
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren is a well-known name amongst romance readers, but you may not know that this is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The international bestselling duo has written twenty New York Times bestselling novels for both adult and young adult audiences, so readers will find plenty to choose from. The Paradise Problem earned a starred review from Library Journal and was named one of the Best Books of 2024 by Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
From the publisher:
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Our next duo is a pair of sisters! Liv Constantine is the pen name of Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. Their domestic thrillers have been translated into 29 languages and have projects in development for both television and film. A follow up to their debut novel, The Last Mrs. Parrish, which was a Reese’s Book Club pick, The Next Mrs. Parrish is the thrilling sequel that throws readers right back into scandal and schemes. Liv Constantine’s next twisty psychological thriller, Don’t Open Your Eyes, comes out in June.
From the publisher:
Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way. Hard work and immaculate planning turned her from invisible wallflower to prominent socialite, though there have been bumps along the way. Less than a year after her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber reigns supreme over the Bishops Harbor community. But with Jackson being released from prison, Amber’s free time—and money—is vanishing.
Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson, swearing she would never go back. But when one of her daughters runs away from home, desperate to see her father, Daphne agrees to return for the summer for their daughters’ sake. Jackson swears he’s a changed man, but Daphne knows all too well that he can’t be trusted.
When a ghost from Amber’s past emerges looking for revenge, these three figures find unlikely allies in one another. But who is playing who? When all is said and done, they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for everything they have left in this zero-sum game.
With shocking turns and entertaining characters, The Next Mrs. Parrish will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about duplicity and betrayal.
The Murder of Mr. Ma by SJ Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee
Not all writing pairs chose to work under a single pen name. SJ Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee are coauthors of this swashbuckling series opener, The Murder of Mr. Ma. Rosen and Nee introduce a Holmes and Watson inspired duo of two semi-fictionalized Chinese historical figures who work together to track down a serial killer targeting Chinese immigrants in 1920s London. The next in the series, The Railway Conspiracy, is set to continue the adventures in April.
From the publisher:
London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his quiet life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he’d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders—or are they next in line as victims?
Blending traditional gong’an crime fiction with the most iconic aspects of the Sherlock Holmes canon, Dee and Lao’s first adventure is as thrilling and visual as an action film, as imaginative and transportive as a timeless classic.
Draw Down the Moon by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Now we turn to fantasy with mother-daughter YA duo P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. This pair has been writing together since 2005, and with multiple series under their belt, they’ve become known for writing magical worlds with relatable characters. Draw Down the Moon is the first in the Moonstruck duology, set in a dark and magical world full of danger and romance. The second book in the duology, Give Up the Night, comes out in April.
From the publisher:
Wren Nightingale isn’t supposed to have any elemental powers. Born of magickal parents but not under one of the four fated astrological full moons, she is destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren’s life is turned upside down, and she’s suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.
Lee Young has always known about his future at the academy. He has three goals: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family’s reputation. But he wasn’t expecting to be attending alongside the girl he’s been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.
As Wren and Lee are thrown into the academy’s grueling trials, they quickly learn there’s something different—and dangerous—about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies . . . and murder. And Lee will have to decide what to protect: his family’s legacy, or the girl he loves.
Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Adiba Jaigirdar
Writers Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar came together to co-write a tale of ex-best friends working together to save their Islamic Center from demolition in a romantic story of growth and rebuilding. The two became friends by bonding over their experiences being Muslim in non-Muslim spaces, and with that Four Eids and a Funeral came to be! The pair also published stories in the same YA horror anthology, The White Guy Dies First, each creating their own scary stories of thrills and chills.
From the publisher:
The town of New Crosshaven has it all—even its own infamous love story.
These days, Said Hossain spends most of his time away at boarding school. But when his favorite hometown librarian, Ms. Barnes, dies, he must return to New Crosshaven for her funeral and for the summer. Too bad being home makes it a lot harder to avoid facing his ex–best friend, Tiwa Olatunji, or facing the daunting task of telling his Bangladeshi parents that he would rather be an artist than a doctor.
Tiwa doesn’t understand what made Said start ignoring her, but it’s probably that fancy boarding school of his. Though he’s unexpectedly staying at home through the summer, she’s determined to take a page from him and pretend he doesn’t exist. Besides, she has more than enough going on anyway, between grieving her broken family and helping her mother throw the upcoming Eid celebration at the Islamic Center—a place that means so much to Tiwa.
But when the Islamic Center accidentally catches fire, it turns out the mayor plans to demolish the center entirely. Things are still tense between the ex-friends, but Tiwa needs Said’s help if there’s any hope of changing the mayor’s mind, and on top of everything, Said needs a project to submit to art school (unbeknownst to anyone).
Will all their efforts be enough to save the Islamic Center, save Eid, and maybe even save their relationship?
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
We’ve seen a number of writing duos, but what about a whole team! Blackout is the work of six – yes, six! – renowned authors that came together to create this heartfelt collaboration of young Black love. With starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Booklist, and School LIbrary Journal, it’s clear to see the magic that these writers have created together. And the good news is, there’s more! This powerhouse team of all-stars came back together with Whiteout.
From the publisher:
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teens in love to this charming, hilarious, and heartwarming novel that shines a bright light through the dark.
A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks…
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new.
When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.
If you’re interested in exploring more titles that center around collaboration, check out some of our complete recommended lists here:
Must-Watch Films
Why stop at books? Check out some of these co-directed films while you’re at it!
Fargo, 1996
Watch on Kanopy here
From the studio:
In this seven-time Oscar®-nominated film, things go terribly awry when small-time Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hires two thugs (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife so he can collect the ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. Once people start dying, the very chipper and very pregnant Police Chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand, who won an Oscar® for her performance) takes the case. Is she up for this challenge? You betcha.
Two Days, One Night, 2014
Watch on Kanopy here
From the studio:
Marion Cotillard gives a powerful performance as a mother fighting to save her job in this gripping emotional rollercoaster from the acclaimed Dardenne brothers. French, subtitled in English.
City of God, 2002
Watch on Kanopy here
From the studio:
Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.
A Little Extra Something
Support your community by diversifying your Libby offerings with Libby Extras. Today we’re highlighting Qello Concerts by Stingray.
Qello Concerts by Stingray offers the world’s largest collection of full-length concerts and music documentaries, streamed on-demand.
Test run Libby Extras to see how each service can entertain and educate your patrons.
Thank you for joining us on this week’s round up of coauthored reads! Reach out to your Digital Content Librarian or Account Manager for more information on how to provide the best content for your community.
About the author: Claire has worked in publicity for the arts, public libraries, and archives. At OverDrive she helps public libraries manage their collections and creates lists of the hottest titles to help her partners shop and promote their collections to their patrons. When she isn’t reading she loves to run, try new recipes (while listening to an audiobook), plan her next road trip, or hang out with her two dogs and cat. Claire is always excited to talk about a good mystery or spooky books!
