Paula's Picks
 
All the water in the world : a novel
by Eiren Caffall

Follows a young girl, Nonie, and her family as they navigate a post-apocalyptic New York ravaged by melting glaciers, as they safeguard cultural history while surviving storms, scarcity and meeting diverse communities in their quest for a hopeful future.
The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz
The Last Ferry Out
by Andrea Bartz

Paradise hides a deadly secret. From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese's Book Club pick We Were Never Here . . . On a trip to the tropical island where her fiancée died, a young woman begins to suspect the death was no accident--and the killer's closer than she could've imagined--in this unputdownable thriller from a master of suspense (Elle). This book is Bartz at her best: twisty, shocking, and riveting--with a narrator you won't stop rooting for.--Laura Dave, #1 bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me When Abby steps foot on Isla Colel, she isn't sure what--if anything--she'll find. She only knows that she needs to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died to try and make sense of the tragic accident. The island is nothing like Abby expected: Though it was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane has left it a shell of its former self, with only a handful of residents remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now runs every week or so. There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter's final days. Before he can tell her more, though, he vanishes from the island. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the others are chillingly cavalier about his disappearance. As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts, and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life. And the deeper she gets in the close-knit expat community, the more she suspects that one of them is Eszter's killer--and will do anything to keep the truth buried. But will Abby discover who it is before she becomes the island's next victim?
The Guest Cottage by Lori Foster
The Guest Cottage
by Lori Foster

Love, forgiveness, and renewal take center stage in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man's betrayals in this uplifting new series from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster. A wonderful read with all the feels!! Give yourself plenty of time with this one. You're going to want to read it again the second you finish! --New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery Marlow Heddings is starting over. She's carried the outrage of her husband Dylan's affair with a younger woman--and the expectations of his family's powerful Chicago holdings company--long enough. Now, after another devastating twist of fate, she's unapologetically moving on. Arriving in tiny Bramble, Kentucky, Marlow revels in her freedom, swapping her executive suits for sundresses . . . and scouting places to open her dream boutique. Best of all is her new residence, an adorable cottage with gorgeous lake views--and a breathtaking landlord, former Marine Cort Easton. Soon they're sharing dockside morning coffee and nighttime firefly gazing. Marlow's new life feels like a dream. Then Pixie Nolan arrives on her doorstep. With a shocking secret. To Marlow's astonishment, Dylan's other woman is a desperate girl of nineteen, destitute, exhausted, and disowned by her family. Defying her manipulative in-laws' demands, and surprising even herself, Marlow vows to lay down roots in Bramble and help Pixie get on her feet. Then they'll part ways. But empathy has a way of forging bonds. As Marlow grows close to the hard-working, devoted young woman, she becomes something of a big sister to Pixie. Now, with each sunrise, Marlow awakens to the life she was truly meant to live, one filled with deepening connections, supportive friendship . . . and even a second chance at love.
Blonde Dust by Tatiana De Rosnay
Blonde Dust
by Tatiana De Rosnay

Pauline, a young chambermaid who works at the legendary Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada, is asked to step in for a colleague and clean Suite 614. Although she was told the rooms were empty, a dazed, sleepy woman appears before her. This is Mrs. Miller, aka Marilyn Monroe, whose stay in Reno coincides with the breakdown of her marriage to Arthur Miller and the filming of what was to be her last film, The Misfits. Set in the American West in 1960 where the mustang horses run wild, an unexpected friendship unfolds between the most famous movie star in the world and a young cleaning woman whose life will be changed forever through the course of a few weeks. A testament to the enduring power of female friendship and a reimagining of a side of Marilyn Monroe that has never been seen before--
Rage by Linda Castillo
Rage
by Linda Castillo

In this gripping installment of the Edgar Award winning series, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates a brutal double murder that takes her into the dark underbelly of society and exposes the dangers of Amish lives gone wrong. Summer has arrived with a vengeance in Painters Mill, and a macabre discovery by three Amish children brings the quiet to a grinding halt. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on scene to find the dismembered body of 21-year-old Samuel Yutzy, a local Amish man who owned a successful landscaping business. What twisted individual murdered him in such a sadistic way? The investigation has barely begun when, miles away, a second body is found, stuffed into a barrel and dumped in a ravine. The deceased is 21-year-old Aaron Shetler, Samuel Yutzy's best friend. What could these two young Amish men have been involved in that led to such violent ends? With a heat wave bearing down, Kate learns quickly that, for reasons she doesn't understand, no one is willing to talk about what happened to the men. Just as she begins to fear the case may be hopeless, a mystery woman comes forward and reveals that fun-loving Aaron and Samuel had recently befriended some very unsavory characters--individuals who may have ties to a larger, more sinister, black market. To solve the case, Kate must delve into the most sordid corners of her community, but when she gets too close, the killers target Kate herself. Will the secrets simmering beneath the surface of Painters Mill take another life before she can expose the truth? Or will Kate be the final victim?
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Party of Liars
by Kelsey Cox

THE INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER AN INDIE NEXT PICKA LIBRARY READS PICK Most Anticipated by Goodreads, People, Glamour, BookRiot, Fresh Fiction and more!This is the thriller of the summer. - Bestselling author Katie GutierrezA lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding new novel -- serving up a fresh take on a classic locked-room whodunnit. Let the festivities begin... Today is Sophie Matthews's sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie's dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion--once thought haunted and shuttered for years from outsiders--is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below. It's a killer guest list . . . DANI: Sophie's new stepmother who's been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house MIKAYLA: the birthday girl's best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can't let go of . . . Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive. My favorite kind of thriller - fun, twisty, fast-paced, and populated by characters who feel so real you'll want to invite them (well, some of them) to your next party. - New York Times bestselling author Rachel HawkinsI couldn't put it down! - New York Times bestselling author Nina SimonExplodes from page one. - Bestselling author Amanda Eyre Ward
A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to Covid-19 by Edna Bonhomme
A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to Covid-19
by Edna Bonhomme

Epidemic diseases enter the world by chance, but they become catastrophic by human design. With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues shows that throughout history, outbreaks of disease have been exacerbated by and gone on to further expand the racial, economic, and sociopolitical divides we allow to fester in times of good health. Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme's examination of humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease takes us across place and time from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania, and from plantation-era America to our modern COVID-19-scarred world to unravel shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Based on in-depth research and cultural analysis, Bonhomme explores Cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish Flu, Sleeping Sickness, Ebola, and COVID-19 amidst the backdrop of unequal public policy. But much more than a remarkable history, A History of the World in Six Plagues is also a rising call for change--
The Summer That Changed Everything by Brenda Novak
The Summer That Changed Everything
by Brenda Novak

It's been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison. He murdered three victims--all people she knew--which ruined her life at just seventeen. But now she's back in Virginia to talk to him, wondering if there's more to the story of what happened that fateful night. An old flame, Ford Wagner, makes his own return to North Hampton Beach, fleeing a marriage that seems destined for divorce. He's wary of Lucy and her digging into the past, but the more time they spend together, the closer they get and the more he finds himself reconsidering the truth behind the death of their mutual friend that summer. Problem is, there are plenty of those in this small coastal town who would prefer things stay quiet...--
The Making of a Matchmaker by Tess Thompson
The Making of a Matchmaker
by Tess Thompson

In the fall of 1910, a violent patriarch with many enemies is murdered, freeing his long-suffering wife and four misfit children. Can a secret matchmaking plan find love for the eccentric members of the Tutheridge family?The four Tutheridge siblings grew up under the savage dictatorship of their wealthy and powerful father. Isolated on a small island in the Puget Sound, his three sons and daughter have little hope for finding love. Given their unique personalities and internal demons, romance seems unlikely. But when their mother secretly engages a team of matchmakers, hope blossoms for this lonely, slightly odd family.As long as they don't know they're being matched, they just might get their happy ending.However, when their father's secrets are revealed in the weeks after his death, everyone becomes a murder suspect. Could one of them have snapped in a moment of rage? Or was it one of the many people he manipulated and hurt over the years that finally had enough?And is it possible for love to grow in the wake of such darkness?A murder mystery meets swoony historical romance in this new clean and wholesome series by bestselling author, Tess Thompson.Listen to this prequel to fall in love with Whale Island and its lovable band of eccentrics!
The Last Caretaker by Jessica Strawser
The Last Caretaker
by Jessica Strawser

Katie's divorce was, in a word, humiliating. So when her friend Bess offers a fresh start--a resident caretaking job at a nature preserve--Katie accepts. No matter that she's not exactly a nature person. How hard can it be? But from day one, something feels off. Katie's new farmhouse looks as if the last caretaker barely moved out at all. When a frantic, terrified woman arrives late at night, expecting a safe place to hide, it's clear caretaking involves way more than Katie bargained for. Suddenly, Katie is no longer sure who she can trust: the brooding groundskeeper, the daily regulars--hikers, dog walkers, bird-watchers, photographers--even Bess. As Katie digs deeper for clues in what the last caretaker left behind, she must discover courage she never knew she had--and decide how much she'll risk to do the right thing.--Publisher marketing.
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