While you wait for Yesteryear
While you wait for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Natalie Heller Mills is a social media celebrity living a traditional pioneer lifestyle in a charming farmhouse filled with her loving husband and six young children. She bakes sourdough and collects fresh farm eggs. Natalie is perfect.
However, behind the phone screens Natalie’s lifestyle isn’t so traditional. She’s building an empire with the help of her social media platform and it’s comes complete with nannies, producers and industrial grade kitchen equipment. What her millions of followers don't know won’t hurt them, right?
One morning Natalie awakes in a world that’s not her own. She’s been transported to an authentic version of the pioneer lifestyle without any of the modern luxuries she's become dependent on. How did this happened? Was she kidnapped for a brutal reality TV show? Time travel? A test from God?
Natalie’s unusual circumstances have grabbed many readers’ attention and there is now quite a long wait list for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. While you wait for the book check out one of these other stories that explore what happens when the glitz and glam disappears from lives of fame and fortune.
The Perfect Home by Daniel Kenitz
Dawn and Wyatt are the charismatic hosts of The Perfect Home, a hit Tennessee‑based renovation show where everything looks flawless on camera. Off screen, their marriage is strained by fertility struggles and Wyatt’s growing hunger for fame.
When a risky decision finally gives them the family they’ve wanted, it also sets off unsettling changes Dawn can’t ignore. As cracks begin to form in their polished public image, Dawn finds herself questioning who she can trust. Can the truth survive in a world built for an audience?
While both Natalie and Dawn are facing different circumstances, they both come to realize what can really happen when the glamour of fame is stripped away because danger can lurk even in the most unassuming places.
“This book had me shocked, despondent and furious in turns, and I loved it. Kenitz crafts a terrifying modern-day villain and turns the perfect home into a nightmare with proficiency and horrifying pizzazz.” —Associated Press
“Switching back and forth between the couple's perspectives, this diverting thriller is full of twists and evokes Gone Girl by way of Chip and Joanna Gaines.” —Booklist
You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Aspen Palmer didn’t become one of the biggest mom-fluencers on TikTok all by herself. Meredith Lee was once her social media teacher and she can’t stand just how quickly Aspen left her behind. But Meredith can stop following everything Aspen does. It’s just a little bit of stalking, nothing too harmful, right?
When Meredith finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads, it changes everything. She now has access to all of Aspen’s information including her calendar filled with potential sponsor meetings and Aspen’s prized social media accounts.
When Aspen’s life begins to fall apart, she knows there’s a deeper issue. Someone must be behind it all dismantling the work she put into building her online platform. Aspen isn’t going to let her perfect life escape, no matter what the cost.
Unlikable influencer characters are abundant in both Yesteryear and You Will Never Be Me. You will certainly be questioning the characters and their motives for entering the world of social media.
"Sutanto has devilish fun with her premise, lacquering the story’s well-executed twists with a satirical sheen that pokes wicked fun at internet celebrity. The result is a near-perfect beach read."—Publishers Weekly
Small Game by Blair Braverman
Mara runs a survival school where rich clients learn how to survive a night in the wild. Impressed with her skills, reality TV producers ask her to be a cast member in their show alongside four complete strangers. Filming will only take four weeks and Mara can receive a huge payout. She can’t resist the offer. The producers quickly whisk her away to a remote, undisclosed location.
When the show's cast wakes one morning, something has gone horribly wrong. They aren’t sure whether it was an intentional miscommunication from producers or if they are truly caught up in a dangerous and unexpected new reality.
While Mara may have initially agreed to temporarily live a rougher lifestyle in the wilderness, her sudden thrust into more dire circumstances makes this novel a great fit if you were drawn to Yesteryear because of Natalie’s sudden change in scenery. Survival isn’t easy when modern luxuries are nowhere to be found. What will it really take for each character to make it out alive?
“ wilderness know-how is put to good use in her first novel… Braverman does a great job of developing the characters, building suspense and raising the stakes…A propulsive read” - Kirkus
Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom
At 19 Anna was an Instagram celebrity, but now at 35 she’s working a day job at a beauty counter, selling anti-aging products.
Anna is desperate to be reborn, to reconnect with her truer self again. When she learns of Aesthetica, a high-risk surgery that will reverse all her past plastic surgery procedures, she jumps at the opportunity it presents. It's what she's been hoping for, but will she survive going under the knife again?
The night before her Aesthetica surgery Anna’s past creeps in to haunt her. Her former manager/boyfriend isn’t the man people believe him to be and a public take down of him is being planned. The time has finally come for Anna to deal with the ugly truth of what really happened to her during her time of Instagram fame.
Like Yesteryear, this novel is a dark and slightly frightening examination of the way women’s lives become intertwined with social media, for better and for worse.
