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Women's Literature August 2026 |
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A few newer titles to try...
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Sunlight Finds You by Laura MoriartyFor seventeen-year-old Nora, St. Petersburg, Florida in 1949 feels like paradise, especially after she meets and wins over Leonard, the shy, brilliant son of transplanted New Yorkers. Leonard's sophisticated mother welcomes Nora into their lives, but his father distrusts her motives. When his suspicions are seemingly confirmed, Nora is forced to cut contact. In her longing and fear, she takes a chance that changes her life, exiling her from the family she loves and setting off a chain of secrets and betrayals that will follow her into adulthood.
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Road Trip
by Mary Kay Andrews
Pack your bags for a summer journey shaped by family secrets, long-buried history, and charming men with Irish accents. Maeve and Therese Dunigan haven't spoken in years. Raised under the same roof in Savannah, the two sisters could not be more opposite--Maeve the rule follower, Therese the unapologetic rebel. But when their mother's death pulls them back together, they inherit more than just grief: a mysterious painting that may be worth millions...if it's real. Determined to uncover the truth--and desperately in need of the money--the sisters set out on a journey to Ireland, tracing their family's roots and the origins of the portrait.
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Rules for the Summer by Meghan QuinnRenley Gossage has one shot to prove she's more than Cape Meril's favorite cautionary tale: restore her favorite candy shop before the town writes her off like they did her father. Theo Williams never planned on ending up in Cape Meril. A drunken game of truth or dare turned into a botched online engagement, and now he's across the ocean, escaping his father's control with nothing but designer shoes, misplaced confidence, and a rental next door to Renley. She's practical, stubborn, and covered in paint. He's posh, persistent, and willing to use a sander if it means earning her trust, and their forced proximity is turning into something dangerously close to real. |
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Meet Me in Parisby Kristin HarmelA captivating new novel about several intertwined stories of love, loss, courage, and redemption set over the course of one magical week in Paris. Nine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light. Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home.
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The Shampoo Effect by Jenny JacksonWhen Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border Collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid, including his ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame. Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van's baby, the delicate balance of the group's friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather.
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When You Loved Meby Beatriz WilliamsWhen a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers catastrophe: The property is mired in debt she can't repay, and old flame Ben Ressler has unexpectedly turned up on her doorstep. Now, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career, Ben has returned to live quietly in the Peabodys' caretaker lodge. He's also the last person who saw Lucy's father alive. As Lucy reconstructs her father's troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. But just as Lucy's long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.
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The Romance Revival by Christina LaurenThree years ago, scientist Emery Finch did something completely out of character: She got married. To Luca--the impossibly charming landscaper she met on one blistering night in Vegas who made her laugh, made her dance, made her feel. But now, Emery is consumed by her top research, missing dinners, forgetting anniversaries, and promising herself Luca will understand once her cutting-edge discoveries come to light. Until the unthinkable happens: A tragic accident takes Luca from her. Desperate not to lose him, Emery breaks every rule, using the classified technology she's developed to bring him back to life. And Luca would probably thank her for it, if only he could remember her. It may be a miracle of science, but for Emery it's her one shot at a second chance. |
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This Book Made Me Think of You
by Libby Page
When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there's a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn't come as more of a shock. Partly because she can't remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. But mainly because Joe died five months ago.... When she goes to pick up the present, Alfie, the bookshop owner with kind eyes, explains the gift--twelve carefully chosen books with handwritten letters from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him. At first Tilly can't imagine sinking into a fictional world, but Joe's tender words convince her to try, and something remarkable happens--Tilly becomes immersed in the pages, and a new chapter begins to unfold in her own life.
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The Austen Affair by Madeline BellTess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. But one thing is standing in Tess's way: Hugh Balfour. A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don't quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). But the film needs chemistry--and Tess's career depends on it. Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen's era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. |
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The Namesby Florence KnappIn the wake of an enormous, history-making storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the child after him. But when the registrar asks which name she wants to pick, Cora hesitates. Spanning thirty-five years, the novel draws us in from the first page, as we follow three unforgettable journeys of one young man, but also his mother, grandmother, and sister. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
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The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie HartnettAt 63 years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren't for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he's going to drive across the country to win Michelle back. Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother's grandchildren. This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for--a fresh shot at love and parenting--but does he have the strength to do both those things again?
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Forsyth County Public Library
660 W. Fifth St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
336-703-2665forsythlibrary.org |
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