|
|
|
|
|
|
The Best Little Motel in Texas by Lyla LaneAfter a childhood spent combing the dive bars of Sarsaparilla Falls to collect her fun-loving momma, Cordelia West now enjoys a simple, respectable life in Dallas. Then one phone call from the hometown she's spent years trying to forget throws it into chaos. Cordelia's great-aunt Penelope has passed away, naming Cordelia the sole heir to the Chickadee Motel. She has no memory of a great-aunt and no interest in hospitality, but the will stipulates that the motel can't be sold until its residents leave or pass away - so she reluctantly heads back down to Sarsaparilla Falls to figure out who's living in the Chickadee, and how to get them out. But upon her arrival, Cordelia discovers the Chickadee isn't a motel--it's a brothel, housing three women in their sixties known as the Chicks. For decades, Daisy, Arline, and Belinda Sue have entertained the men of Sarsaparilla Falls (with their wives' blessings)--including the upright Pastor Reed-Smythe, who thunders against the town's favorite sins when he's not indulging. Cordelia doesn't want to be a hotel manager or a madam, but she can't just sell the only home the Chicks have known--especially not after the pastor is found poisoned in Daisy's bed. With the Chicks--and the town--on the verge of a breakdown, Cordelia steps up to mop up the mess. For a small town, there are plenty of suspects: could it be the obsessed nurse with access to arsenic? Developers eager to gobble up the land? The righteously angry town librarian? Things are heating up in Sarsaparilla Falls, and with the Pastor's obnoxiously attractive son Archer--Cordelia's childhood nemesis--investigating the Chicks and getting close, straightlaced Cordelia may just have to get a little dirty to make a killer come clean.
|
|
|
|
Common Goal: Now Streaming on Crave and HBO Max
by Rachel Reid
Veteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge--life after hockey. It's time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time. Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He'd sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He'll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away. Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends -with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won't happen if they're too stubborn to come clean about their feelings--
|
|
|
|
The Long Game: Now Streaming on Crave and HBO Max
by Rachel Reid
Ten years. That's how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they've been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family...from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything? Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship...Ilya wants it all. It's time for them to decide what's most important--hockey or love. It's time to make a call--
|
|
|
|
Role Model: Now Streaming on Crave and HBO Max
by Rachel Reid
The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal... Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He definitely doesn't want to 'work on his online presence' with the team's peppy social media manager. Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn't happy about the trade, but Harris doesn't give up on people easily. Even when he's developing a crush he's sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy's smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior...That's a man Harris couldn't turn his back on if he wanted to. Suddenly, Troy's move to the new team feels like an opportunity--for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to explore their growing attraction. But being together behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all--
|
|
|
|
Hell's Heart by Alexis HallThey are monsters, legends, gods. They are our prey. Earth is dead. Which leaves us stuck living in atmospheric domes on planets that will kill us if we blink wrong, or run out of fuel. And by fuel I mean the cerebrospinal fluid of gargantuan, quasi-psychic space monsters. I joined the hunt hoping to get paid and maybe laid, but mostly paid. Instead, I followed a captain chasing abominations in the skies of Jupiter. We battled the Mobius Beast itself, there in the red eye of the world. Spoiler: we lost.
|
|
|
|
It Girl by Allison PatakiAt the dawn of the twentieth century, New York's streets teem with change: electricity, automobiles, the brash young President Teddy Roosevelt--and the It Girls. As artists' muses and working models, these independent young women soar to stardom not because of their pedigrees or inherited wealth, but because of their talent, charisma, and irresistible beauty. Pop culture is born, and in a world alight with Mr. Edison's new bulbs, no one shines brighter than America's sweetheart, Evelyn Talbot. But the journey to stardom is not simple or straight. While working as a shopgirl, the young Evelyn is recruited as a studio model and soon catches the eye of the preeminent artists of the age. When Broadway comes calling, Evelyn solidifies her status as the first self-made American female celebrity: the iconic Gibson Girl, the most sought-after figure and face of her time. Enter a parade of powerful and power-hungry men, from world-famous architect Stanley Pierce, the visionary behind Manhattan's mansions and iconic landmarks, to Hal Thorne, the shockingly wealthy railroad heir and premier playboy of high society. Each man promises comfort, glamour, security--even love. But fame and fortune are cruel teachers, and Evelyn learns that the only person she can rely on is herself. When Evelyn finds herself at the center of a murder of passion declared the Crime of the Century, she is blamed for the acts of the men in her life. In the media frenzy that spirals around her, Evelyn realizes that to survive, she will have to write her own ending. But can this artists' muse turned showgirl pull off the greatest act of her life? It Girl is a breathtaking ride inspired by a singular artist and icon who captured the collective imagination of American society. Allison Pataki has crafted yet another unforgettable leading lady, a heroine who must find the power to change not only the world around her but her own destiny.
|
|
|
|
A Lie for a Lie by Ren DeStefanoMargaux leads a double life that would make most people dizzy. By day, she's a seemingly ordinary interior decorator with a picture-perfect marriage. By night, she works for a mysterious employer known only as Mr. X. Her specialty: infiltrating the lives of dangerous targets, gaining their trust, and ultimately exposing their crimes. Her latest assignment: unraveling the reclusive life of Bertram Casimir, a billionaire tech CEO whose career is as mysterious as his past. His sister claims he stole her app to build his fortune. Not only that, his girlfriend may or may not have recently gone missing. Bertram sees through Margaux's carefully constructed facade, matching her move for move. As the lines between hunter and prey blur, Margaux finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Bertram. They share more than she'd like to admit--a dangerous intelligence, a taste for high-stakes manipulation. When the evidence begins to shift, threatening to destroy everything she knows, Margaux realizes this is far more than just another job. Her hidden past--and her life--are now on the line. One lie remains, and it might just save her.
|
|
|
|
Mistakes Were Made (Deluxe Edition) by Lucy ScoreLiterary agent Zoey Moody doesn't like small town life, but here she is: exiled from Manhattan's publishing scene and trapped in a tiny Pennsylvania town with her BFF and only remaining client, Hazel. The problem? She's totally broke. All she needs is for Hazel's next romance novel to become a gigantic hit, and Zoey will be back in New York. Nothing will stand in her way. Nothing except her six-foot-two-inch landlord, Gage Bishop. He's smart, serious, and sexy. Worst of all, he's ready to settle down. Zoey might be the most beautiful woman Gage has ever met, but it's clear they're all wrong for each other. She's allergic to commitment and can't work a calendar app; he's looking for a wife and has the next five years all planned out. She's afraid of animals. He lives in a literal barn. But when Gage's world is rocked by a devastating family secret, he turns to Zoey for one night to forget everything. That one night just might change everything...or ruin it. Perfect for fans of the heart, humor, and hope found in Things We Never Got Over and Things We Left Behind, Mistakes Were Made is a steamy escape to small town romance--full of emotional twists, slow-burn tension, and Lucy Score's trademark charm.
|
|
|
|
No Friend to This House by Natalie HaynesThis is what no one tells you, in the songs sung about Jason and the Argo. This part of his quest has been forgotten, by everyone but me . . .Jason and his Argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece. The journey is filled with danger, for him and everyone he meets. But if he ever reaches the distant land he seeks, he faces almost certain death. Medea--priestess, witch, and daughter of a brutal king--has the power to save the life of a stranger. Will she betray her family and her home, and what will she demand in return? Medea and Jason seize their one chance of a life together, as the gods intend. But their love is steeped in vengeance from the beginning, and no one--not even those closest to them--will be safe. Based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, this is Medea as you've never seen her before . . .
|
|
|
|
Nonesuch by Francis SpuffordIt's the summer of 1939, and the air in London is thick with the tension of impending war. Iris Hawkins, a fiery young financial secretary, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a genius engineer from the new technology of television. What was supposed to be one night of abandon draws her instead into a nightmare of otherworldly pursuit--into a reality where time bends, spirits can be summoned, and history hangs by a thread. Soon there are Nazi planes droning overhead. In a time when death falls randomly from above each night, when the streets are darker than the wildest forest and all the men are away in uniform, the defense of the city is in the hands of its women. But Iris has more to contend with than just the terrors of the Blitz. Over the rooftops of burning London, in the twisted passages between past and present, through the vast night sky and across the tiny screens of early television, a fascist fanatic is travelling with a gun in her hand, and only Iris can stop her from altering the course of history forever. Both a thrilling page-turner and a profound exploration of ambition, love, and the fight against tyranny, Nonesuch is a story that is as enchanting as it is urgent. Packed with twists, tension, and wonder, it is a triumph of storytelling.
|
|
|
|
Once and Again by Rebecca SerleThe women of the Novak family were each born with a gift: they can, just once, turn back time. Lauren has known since she was fifteen that her mother Marcella saved Lauren's father from a deadly car accident. Dave is alive and happy, and out on the Malibu waves. But ever since, Marcella, her power spent, has lived in fear of what she won't be able to reverse. Her own mother, Sylvia, is her polar opposite: a free-spirited iconoclast with a glamorous past she only hints at. Lauren has spent her life between these two role models--and waiting for her own catastrophe to strike. Then one summer, Lauren's husband takes a job in New York and she moves back to Broad Beach Road, back into her childhood home on the shores of Malibu. Lauren looks forward to surfing with her dad again and perhaps repairing an unspoken fracture in her relationship with her mother. What she doesn't expect is for the boy next to door to return home as well: Stone, Lauren's first love, who broke her heart nearly a decade before. As Lauren falls into familiar patterns, with her family and, more dangerously, Stone, she finds herself thinking about all the choices, large and small, that have brought her to this moment. And wondering, finally, if one of them should be undone.
|
|
|
|
Spoiled Milk by Avery CurranIn 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet's death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close--they only need to prove it. Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet's spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun. Something deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more threatening. As the body count rises and the students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself. Avery Curran channels the indelible ambience and intrigue of the classic boarding school novel while turning the beloved genre on its head in this visceral, exuberant debut.
|
|
|
|
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany CrumBenny Abbott and Joy Moore host one of the most beloved podcasts in the world. Each week, they delight listeners with a different against-all-odds survival story, gleefully finding the weird, life-affirming humor in near-death experiences. Since their first episode on Joy's experience with severe narcolepsy, they've been the best friends everyone wants to befriend - and thanks to the meticulous management of Joy's husband Xander, they've built a lucrative empire. The problem is, their next survival story may be their own. When Benny arrives at Joy and Xander's one morning to record, he finds shattered glass and an empty house. The one clue shedding light on the couple's disappearance is the incomplete, previously-unseen first draft of Joy's memoir. Benny is desperate to find them, even when the police soon zero in on him as their prime suspect. Millions of devoted listeners think they know the real Benny and Joy. But as the hours tick by, and the odds seem increasingly stacked against Joy and Xander being found alive, not even the most devoted fans could guess the secrets their favorite famous BFFs have hidden from the world - and from each other--
|
|
|
|
Voidverse by Damien OberWhen the Sinker was a child, all she knew was violence. To survive, she fled into the Void--a seemingly infinite nothingness where people live on rocks, individual lands spread out in all directions, floating in the vast empty space. Some rocks are giant magnets, others burn with eternal flame, and some are influenced by seemingly magical anomalies with such great powers that evil forces would stop at nothing to possess them. And while most are afraid of traveling through the Void, the Sinker is not. With a sword on her back, she speeds through the darkness, running from a past that is quickly gaining on her. Emery only knows the comfort of Fairviel, but when her son falls ill and the Sinker arrives on her doorstep, she ventures into the Void in search of a cure. When she returns, Fairviel is destroyed. With no home, Emery begins to sink, chasing a recurring dream that feels bigger than a dream, that feels like the key to everything. But they are not alone in the Void. Mercenaries rise and fall around them, princes and kings guard their kingdoms, and a great machine fuels its ascent by consuming all in its path. With the Void destabilizing, Emery and the Sinker find themselves at a turning point in history, a moment when everything could collapse or realign, and the only thing that may save them exists at the bottom of it all. Or so legend says...
|
|
|
|
Westward Women by Alice MartinIt starts with an itch. In homes across the country, women ages eighteen to thirty-five begin to slow down. Tired. Blank. Restless. Drawn to the Pacific Ocean like it's calling them home. They abandon their lives--jobs, families, their very selves. And once they reach the West, they vanish forever. At the center of the story are three young women caught in the pull of something unstoppable. Aimee follows the trail of her missing best friend to a man called the Piper--known for leading infected women West. Teenie, afflicted and unraveling, clings to a single memory as she looks out the window of the Piper's van. And Eve, a former journalist, is chasing the story that might just consume her. Each on the edge of transformation. Drawn toward the unknown. In search of a way forward.
|
|
|
|
Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin StevensonTen heists. Ten suspects. A murder mystery only Ernest Cunningham can solve in this delightfully clever and twisty new novel in Benjamin Stevenson's bestselling series--perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz. I've spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I've never been a hostage before. The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Turns out, more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? Are they willing to kill for it? And can I solve the crime before the police kick down the door and rescue us?
|
|
|
|
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle CosimanoLife hasn't been easy for Finlay Donovan lately, but it just got a whole lot harder. Her nanny and partner-in-crime, Vero, has been extradited from Virginia to Maryland, where she's facing criminal charges for a theft she swears she didn't commit. A prisoner to an ankle bracelet as she awaits her trial, Vero is forced to live with her overbearing mother and nosy aunt. Threatening messages keep arriving on her mother's door, demanding Vero turn over the money . . . or else. And if she doesn't figure out who really stole her former sorority's treasury funds, her next home might be a prison cell. But proving her innocence might be an impossible feat. Vero was the treasurer of her sorority when the money went missing--one of the only people who had access to the cash. And her alibi is a date who ghosted her. With her court date quickly approaching, and her mysterious stalker on her tail, Vero needs to clear her name fast. Finlay decides a trip to Maryland is in order. After all, Vero stood by her through her darkest moments, and Finlay will be damned if she lets her best friend and children's nanny be convicted for something she didn't do. She sets off on a mission to suss out the real thief and bring Vero home.
|
|
|
|
Ashland by Dan SimonA deeply moving family story unfolding in richly evocative prose during the final decades of the American century, Ashland is a book of metamorphoses--of the dance between permanence and transformation. The story takes place in Ashland, New Hampshire, a former mill town in the lakes region, and is told in six voices, among them Carolyn, a twenty year old writer at a turning point in her life; Gordon, who arrives in Ashland in the twilight of his years; Andy, a local boy; Geoff, Carolyn's writing teacher at Plymouth State; and Edith, Gordon's wife, who is inadvertently Carolyn's spiritual guide and friend. Then there is Jennie, Carolyn's aunt, who seems to offer her a model for how to live. But things aren't always what they seem, and Carolyn must discover her own rules and make her own way. Ashland is a debut novel of great intensity, beautifully told in the voices of many vivid characters and, through them, in the voice of Ashland itself.
|
|
|
|
The Bookstore Diaries (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Novel of Secrets, Drama and Second Chance Love by Susan MalleryJax has a slight issue with control--as in, she needs it. Always. Too bad she has power only over the Painted Lady Bookstore, the Victorian mansion turned bookshop she inherited. No one else listens to a word she says. Her ex gets engaged for questionable reasons. Her beloved sister, Ryleigh, wants to move away to find a husband. And the handsome contractor Jax has chosen to convince Ryleigh to stay is only interested in Jax. Still, she's living the bookworm dream--until an unhappy accident erases the names from the bookshop lockboxes where the town keeps their diaries. Which means the only way to find a diary's owner is...to read it. As secrets spill and scandals surface, life at the Painted Lady Bookstore gets a lot more colorful and chaotic. But for a woman who's always had to take charge, Jax will see that losing control--especially with the right wrong guy--can set you free.
|
|
|
|
Hard Times by Jeff BoydBuddy Mack has been caught in the middle of two worlds at war. As an English teacher at a South Side, Chicago, high school lauded for its football team, but at risk in every other way, he tries to instill a love of literature. While all of his students face challenges, he's especially concerned with a trio of boys who test him to no end but are full of promise and heart: Zeke, the football star; Truth, the sweet-talking charmer; and Dontell, Buddy's most promising student. At home, his wife, Chrissy, a successful corporate lawyer, is ready to upgrade to a big house on the North Side and start a family, but Buddy's torn over the implications. And the closest person he has in his life to talk to is Chrissy's little brother, Curtis, a corrupt Chicago cop. When the two worlds collide in a shocking moment that rocks the school, Buddy has to choose a side and fight for all he holds dear. Hard Times takes stock of what it means to be there for your people whether you want to or not and unflinchingly confronts the American Dream--a moving, engrossing, and necessary read.
|
|
|
|
I Love You Don't Die by Jade SongFor as far back as she can remember, Vicky has been fascinated and obsessed with death as the only inevitable thing in life. From living above a Chinatown funeral parlor to working at a celebrity start-up for bespoke urns, she has surrounded herself with death--in her home, in her work, and in her ever-growing collection of zhizha, paper creations meant to be burned for the dead, adorning the walls of her apartment. Yet, though living in Manhattan and working her dream job is all she ever wanted, she still struggles to have meaningful connections--or find any meaning at all--in her life. Too often she spends the day in bed, only drawn out from time to time by her best (and only) friend, Jen. That changes when a dating app leads her into a throuple with an artist and a labor organizer, who offer exactly the kind of love she needs. For some time, it's perfect, but no one understands better than Vicky that all things must end. As doubts grow over the love in her life, her friendship with Jen, and her professional success, the oddly comforting abstraction of death starts becoming something else altogether. With everything beginning to feel hollow and temporary, Vicky must decide how to keep moving forward. To try and hold on to what she has, or to once again do what she does best: destroy.
|
|
|
|
The Iron Garden Sutra
by A. D. Sui
Klara and the Sun meets S. A. Barnes's Dead Silence with a touch of Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild-Built in Nebula Award-winning author A.D. Sui's darkly philosophical, locked room murder mystery, as a death monk and a team of researchers trapped onboard a spaceship of the dead encounter something beyond human understanding... Vessel Iris has devoted himself to the Starlit Order, performing funeral rites for the dead across the galaxy, guiding souls back into the Infinite Light. Despite the meaning he finds in his work and the comfort of AI companionship, his relationships with the living leave him longing for deeper connection. The spaceship Counsel of Nicaea has been lost for more than a thousand years, its passengers reduced to dust and bone. A relic of Earth's dying past, its sudden appearance has attracted a team of academics eager to investigate its archeological history. And Iris has been assigned to bring peace to the crew's long departed souls. Carpeted in moss and intertwined with vines, Nicaea is more forest than ship. Iris's religious rituals are met with bemusement by the scientists--and outright hostility by engineer Yan Fukui. But the plant life isn't the only sentience to have survived in the past millennia. Something onboard is stalking the explorers one by one. And Iris with his AI enhancement may be their only hope for survival. . . IN OUTER SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOUR PRAYERS
|
|
|
|
Keeper of Lost Children
by Sadeqa Johnson
In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman's vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way. Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI's, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes. Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever. In 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark is given an opportunity to attend a prestigious all white boarding school and escape her heartless parents. While at the school, she discovers a secret that upends her world and sends her on a quest to unravel her own identity. Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman's vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms--familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self--can be transcendent.
|
|
|
|
Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth BergAs ninety-two-year-old Florence Flo Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will. But as it goes on, telling surprising stories about those little things Flo will leave behind (What could possibly be the worth of a rubber band kept in a matchbox tied up in red ribbon?), an unforgettable portrait of the life she has lived emerges. The letter starts off as an autobiography in things, but it turns out to do much more than that: ultimately, it will transform Flo and those around her. In the time she has left, Flo decides to take herself up on tiny dares. She encourages Ruthie to reconsider her impending divorce by sharing a startling, long-buried secret about her own perfect-seeming marriage. Flo has never had a pedicure before now, and as long as she's going to a beauty parlor, she arranges to have a blue streak put in her hair, too. And as these adventures lead her to make new friends, Flo helps them, too, find the fulfillment that living a full life has led her to understand. Full of Elizabeth Berg's characteristic mix of warmth, humor, and poignancy, Life: A Love Story is a reminder that whatever your circumstances, as long as you're alive, you can keep on investing in life. The joy will inevitably follow.
|
|
|
|
The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives: A GMA Book Club Pick by Elizabeth ArnottBeverley, Elsie, and Margot are not your average housewives. They are all wives of convicted killers. During the sun-drenched summer of 1966, the three women form an unlikely friendship after the discoveries of their husbands' brutal crimes. With their exes--some of California's most infamous murderers--dead or behind bars, they are attempting to forge a new future for themselves. Headstrong Beverley tries compulsively to maintain control of everything around her, all while raising two children. Bookish Elsie fights to make a name for herself in the newsroom, working among men who sneer at her career goals. Glamorous Margot prefers partying to homemaking and devotes all her energy to upholding the appearance that everything is fine--anything to quell the shame from her husband's deceit. They know people look at them and think only one thing: How could they not have known what their husbands were doing? How much are they to blame? And yet when a string of local killings hits the news, the three women--underestimated, overlooked, shrewd--decide to get to work. After all, who better to catch a killer than those who have shared their lives and homes with one? At once a riveting portrayal of shattered trust and a story of gripping suspense, The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives is a testament to the intricacies of women's lives and how the deep bonds of female friendship can empower, uplift, and lead us to endure.
|
|
|
|
Stakeouts and Strollers: A Mystery by Rob PhillipsCharlie Shaw is low on sleep. And cash. Otherwise, life is going pretty well for the ex-crime reporter: he's happily married to his college sweetheart, he's a first-time dad to the most adorable baby girl in existence, and he's making ends meet as a rookie PI. But when Charlie meets Friday Finley, a frightened sixteen-year-old runaway on a stakeout-gone-wrong, his world gets a little more complicated. Friday is looking for her estranged father Shawn, an unreliable alcoholic who left when she was young--and who also happens to be her only shot at avoiding the foster care system since her mother's death a few weeks earlier. At first, Charlie believes the man is simply hiding out somewhere, avoiding his responsibilities as usual, but the more he investigates, the more unsettling--and dangerous--Shawn's disappearance becomes. When his own family is threatened, Charlie realizes he's in over his head, but can he back out now that he's begun to care for Friday as his own? A perfect page-turning blend of humor and high stakes, Stakeouts and Strollers is a heartwarming story of fatherhood, family, and what it really means to be a Girl Dad.
|
|
|
|
Stolen in Death by J. D. RobbA blow to the head with a block of amethyst has left multibillionaire Nathan Barrister dead--while nearby, a vault, its door ajar, sits filled with priceless paintings, jewelry, and other treasures. Lieutenant Eve Dallas's husband, Roarke--who misspent his youth in Ireland as a scrappy thief--recognizes at least two stolen pieces among the hoard. The crime scene suggests a burglar caught in the act. But only one item seems to be missing. Then it's revealed that the vault had actually belonged to the victim's late father--and no one in the household knew it was there until a recent remodeling project exposed it. To protect the family name and business, they explain to Eve, they'd been looking for a way to return the ill-gotten gains anonymously and avoid the police. But now the police are all over their elegant house, and have a bigger, bloodier mystery to solve. By all accounts, Nathan Barrister was a good man, a generous employer, a devoted husband and father. As for his father--he clearly had secrets. Now it's up to Eve and her team to find out if those secrets got Nathan killed--and if it was a crime of passion or revenge.
|
|
|
|
This Is Not about Us: Fiction by Allegra GoodmanWas this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubenstein family, it could go either way. When their beloved older sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into decades of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives-divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitals-their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible. With This is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman--whose prior collection was heralded as one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life (The Boston Globe)--returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters. A big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations--
|
|
|
|
The Violin Maker's Secret
by Evie Woods
'Moved me to tears.' Madeline Martin The brand new book from the international bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop!
|
|
|
|
All the World Can Hold by Jung YunIt's Sunday, September 16, 2001. Franny and her husband have traded in their elegant Park Avenue co-op for a suite on board the Sonata, a once-glittering cruise ship with a complicated history now long past its prime. Though they're not cruise people, Franny is determined to host the trip as planned because it's her mother's seventieth birthday, or chilsun, a major rite of passage celebrated by Korean families. But as her husband keeps pointing out, Franny and her mother aren't close, and it is surreal--even wrong--to be on a cruise as the death toll from the attacks on 9/11 continues to rise. Also on board is Doug, an aging actor and former star of Starlight Voyages, the hit Love Boat-style television series famously filmed on the Sonata. With few professional prospects, a now sober Doug has reluctantly joined his former castmates on a reunion cruise for fans of the show, but he dreads the dark specter of his past misdeeds. Meanwhile, Lucy, the only Black female graduate student in her department at MIT, has uncharacteristically accepted an invitation to join her roommate on the cruise during the height of recruitment season. Lucy's impulsive decision reflects her growing ambivalence about the tech companies that are trying to hire her, including a new one with a strange-sounding name, Google. All the World Can Hold beautifully explores how we balance our needs and our wants, as well as the regrets we live with and the chances to set them right. And though it's not a 9/11 novel, it does remind us that while the great world spins, the interpersonal dramas don't cease, even as more dire ones play out in the larger world.
|
|
|
|
Bloodlust by Sandra BrownTwo years ago, Detective Mitch Haskell lost his wife to a vicious act of retribution, and has since attributed her murder to two men: Roland Malone and the unidentified mastermind of the crime known only as Oz. Malone, a ruthless executioner and drug dealer who fronts as a restaurant owner, neutralizes so cleanly that he doesn't leave a trace. And he performs his handiwork at the biddings of Oz, the faceless kingpin of a drug trafficking operation whose name alone evokes terror. Obsessively vowing to avenge his late wife's murder, Mitch has been on a downward spiral, jeopardizing his closest relationships and drinking excessively to numb his pain. After going one step too far, Detective John Bowie, his former best friend and now his boss, has forced Mitch to get therapy to sort himself out. Dr. Dylan Reede is immediately empathetic to the pain she senses beneath Mitch's cavalier attitude and wisecracking. She's determined to make the most of his mandated sessions. But from the moment Mitch breezes into her office, Dylan finds it a struggle to maintain the professional and personal boundaries that keep her own tragic past at a safe distance. As Mitch begins to close in on Oz and Malone's operation, they're prepared to stop him by any means necessary. And when it's revealed that Dylan might hold the key to bringing them to justice, Mitch and Dylan's irresistible attraction to each other may not only compromise both of them professionally, but place them in Oz's bullseye.
|
|
|
|
The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten WhiteAnneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing--doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires--until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night. Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn't the only inexplicable dead body. There's a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they're all connected. But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola. The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn't a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola's tragic past, she suspects there's still a heart somewhere in that undead body. A heart that beats for Anneke alone.
|
|
|
|
The Golden Boy by Patricia FinnAfter an involuntary retirement from his high-flying Hollywood career, Stafford Hopkins has retreated to a luxury estate on Maui, along with his wife Agnes, both grimly resigned to life in a paradise where neither feels fully at home. Stafford is ready to retreat into himself, too, when a letter arrives with shocking news. Stafford has been named guardian of four children he didn't know existed: the grandchildren of his late childhood friend, Bobby Shepherd, whose ghost Stafford can no longer ignore. Returning to both the hardscrabble farming town and the dark secret he'd tried to forget for decades, Stafford is forced to confront his past in order to rebuild his future - and to redirect the fates of his family and the four young people suddenly in his care. Slyly funny and deeply moving, The Golden Boy is a captivating debut about love, mercy, and second chances--
|
|
|
|
How to Write a Love Story
by Catherine Walsh
One writer, one editor, one hot summer . . . Will this be a romance for the books? Ciara Sheridan's father has left her with three things: a sprawling and distinctly ramshackle estate on the Irish coast, the outline for the finale to his bestselling epic fantasy series that he wanted her to finish--and writer's block. Enter Sam Avery Frank Sheridan fanboy and hotshot editor, sent from the New York publishing house direct to Ciara's doorstep--against Ciara's wishes and red pen at the ready. With the deadline looming, Ciara and Sam have just a few weeks to stop bickering, write this novel, and secure Frank's legacy. But as the summer heats up, so too does the tension between them. Will their own love story be the plot twist neither of them see coming? Book Lovers meets Leap Year in this dual-POV, forced-proximity, bookish romantic comedy--the brand-new book from Irish author and romance bestseller Catherine Walsh
|
|
|
|
Innamorata by Ava ReidOnce there was an island where the dead walked the earth, and seven noble houses ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy. A conqueror's blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic. But defiant against the new order stands the House of Teeth and its last living members: beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes. Though she has not spoken a word in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House's legacy. And she has her orders. She must recapture the secrets of death magic and avenge her family's fallen honor. She must arrange the betrothal of her beloved cousin Marozia to Liuprand, heir to the conqueror's throne, for access to the forbidden library in his grotesquely grand castle. Revenge burns in Agnes's heart but so do stranger passions--and it is Liuprand, the golden prince, who speaks to her soul. This passion is as treasonous as it is powerful, poisoning the kingdom's roots and threatening to tear the already shattered realm in two. For Agnes's final order is the gravest: She must not fall in love. Book One of The House of Teeth Duology
|
|
|
|
Judge Stone by James PattersonThe most respected citizen in Union Springs, Alabama (population 3,314), is Judge Mary Stone. She holds two responsibilities sacred: running her family farm and presiding over her courtroom. It's there she draws the most controversial case in the history of the South. Criminally, it's open-and-shut. Ethically, there is no middle ground. Essentially, it's a choice between life and death. No judge can satisfy everyone. It would be dangerous to try. But Judge Stone is willing to fight to bring justice to the people and place she loves.
|
|
|
|
A Lady for All Seasons by Tj AlexanderIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman who has lost her fortune must be in need (not want) of a husband. Beautiful, cunning Verbena Montrose must marry to save herself and her odious family from abject poverty. Fortunately, what she lacks in a dowry, she makes up for in the currency of gossip. When she hears an alarming rumor about her very dear, very queer friend Etienne that could ruin him, she comes to his aid with a proposal--for a marriage of convenience, that is. But when Verbena discovers that a mysterious and celebrated poet by the name of Flora Witcombe has been publishing verses that hint she is onto their scheme, Verbena has no choice but to pretend to be a poet herself to confront her in a local salon. And--unexpectedly--be charmed by her. Flora, in turn, is terrified by and smitten with Verbena in equal measure. But she holds a secret of her own: he is also William Forsyth, a struggling novelist and fifth son of a minor noble family. And if circumstances don't allow Flora to woo Verbena, perhaps William can. Faced with two suitors and a fiance, Verbena, who has always had to be clever to survive in society, starts to realize she may need to think outside of society's constraints to find true happiness.
|
|
|
|
Nobody's Baby by Olivia WaiteWelcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger. A wild baby appears! Dorothy Gentleman, ship's detective, is put to the test once again when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew's doorstep. Fertility is supposed to be on pause during the Fairweather's journey across the stars--but humans have a way of breaking any rule you set them. Who produced this child, and why did they then abandon him? And as her nephew and his partner get more and more attached, how can Dorothy prevent her colleague and rival detective, Leloup, a stickler for law and order, from classifying the baby as a stowaway or a piece of luggage? Told from Dorothy's delightfully shrewd POV, this novella series is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take--perfect for fans of the plot-twisty narratives of Dorothy Sayers and Ann Leckie.
|
|
|
|
My Grandfather, the Master Detective
by Masateru Konishi
A Japanese The Thursday Murder Club, taking healing fiction for a mystery-filled spin with this bestseller that has sold more than 200,000 copies in Japan. He's not your average Grandpa. As a lover of classic crime stories, it's no surprise that schoolteacher Kaede encounters everyday mysteries more often than your typical twenty-seven-year-old. Solving them is another matter, though. For that, she turns to her beloved grandfather, who retains a keen sharpness of mind despite his dementia, and who was once a key member of The Waseda Mystery Club. From impossible locked room murders to confounding missing persons cases, the grandfather-granddaughter duo weave stories to get to the bottom of every mystery. But all the while, an insidious shadow from Kaede's past slowly closes in on her . . . Steeped in references to classic crime from Christie to Chesterton to Poe, My Grandfather, the Master Detective plays with the genre, capturing readers' imagination in this Tokyo-set escapist mystery. Its charming characters and affectionate focus on relationships echo heartwarming Japanese titles such as Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
|
|
|
|
Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith AssadiAll his life, exile has been the shadow stitched to the sole of Sufien's shoe. Born in Palestine on the precipice of 1948's Nakba, Sufien is forced to leave the only home he's ever known, the one on the hill with a beautiful blue door. This is the precise moment when time stops making sense. He spends the rest of his life propelled forward, always on the way--although in search of what, he is never quite sure. In the dusty, oil-rich desert of Kuwait, he meets his first love and decides he must leave his family. In a small Italian university town, he spends his youth wrapped up in the sweet promise of the West and the forgetful assurance of wine. When life takes him to a gritty New York, he discovers his true vocation and falls for a Jewish woman born into a wholly different world. Finally, he finds himself recalled to the wild, vast open skies of the desert, in Arizona. Sufien's life spans friendships lost and maintained, a stint selling leathers at a tanner's stall, the ineffable company of cats, and the freedom of the open road, the glowing pride of fatherhood, Sufi myths, prophetic dreams, and visions of the afterlife--and always, always, no matter how far he chases joy, the sweet, treacherous song of a balcony urging him to fly, to fall, to fall. The lyrical pages of Paradiso 17 weave in and out of time and space, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning. They are haunting, haunted with grief, struck through, as Dante once wrote, with the arrow that the bow of exile / shoots first, and yet they throb with light--not just the light that Sufien sees as he approaches his own end, but the brilliant light of a life lived. Like all of our dead, Sufien still speaks, the book begins. Listen, this is his story.
|
|
|
|
Sisters in Yellow by Mieko KawakamiHana has nothing - she's fifteen years old and living in a tiny apartment in a suburb of Tokyo with her young mother, a hostess at a local dive bar. They have no money, no security. Then Kimiko appears. Kimiko is older, a bright light in Hana's dark world. Together they set up Lemon, a bar that, despite its shabby setting and seedy clientele, becomes a haven for Hana. Suddenly Hana has a job she loves, friends to share her days with, and the glittering promise of money. She feels like a normal girl. She feels invincible. But in the narrow alleys of Sangenjaya, nothing is as it seems. Soon all of Hana's hope, her optimism, and her drive will be pushed to the limit . . . A story of enduring friendship and deep betrayal, Sisters in Yellow is a masterpiece of teenage dreams and adult cruelties that confirms Mieko Kawakami as one of the great writers of her generation.
|
|
|
|
After Marissa loses her mother at six, the most intimate relationship of her life begins. Her marine biologist father, determined to channel his grief into completing his wife's research, whisks her across the globe to Thailand. There she meets Arielle, and a fairytale friendship takes hold. During the week, the girls live at the resort owned by Arielle's parents; on the weekends they join the tight-knit community of researchers on a nearby island. Together the girls discover the fragile wonders of its reefs, forests, and beaches. Together they learn to dive into the deep, holding their breath for minutes at a time, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name. Together they learn to swim their way out of danger. But then comes a wave Arielle can't outpace, leaving Marissa gutted with loss. Years later, Marissa is back in New York, adrift and haunted by the memory of her friend. Over the course of two fateful days, as another cataclysm approaches the city and the past comes flooding back, she discovers how to sustain herself in a precarious world. |
|
|
|
Vanished in the Crowd: A Molly Murphy Mystery
by Rhys Bowen
In the latest in the New York Times bestselling series from Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles, retired detective Molly Murphy Sullivan investigates the disappearance of a female scientist New York is busier than ever as two million visitors come to the city to witness the Hudson-Fulton celebration in 1909, marking the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River. Parades, exhibitions, carnivals, and a marvelous display of the wonders of the latest invention--electricity--across the city make for two straight weeks of celebrations, which Molly and her family, along with their friends Sid and Gus, are excited to enjoy. But Molly is secretly dealing with financial troubles. She is too proud to ask her friends for a loan, but when they want to hire her as a detective she jumps at the chance. Sid and Gus are hosting fellow Vassar graduates to take part in one of the parades but one of the women, a brilliant scientist, never shows up. It seems nobody knows where she is, including her husband. Is she trying to run away from her life or is it something more sinister? Why have the Vassar women really come to New York City? When Daniel asks Molly to spy on her friends and find out just what they are planning she finds her loyalties horribly divided. Then the parade turns deadly and only Molly has the tools to find out the truth.
|
|
|
|
200 Monas by Jan Saenz Arvy Keening is just trying to get through the week. Tantalizingly close to leaving her college years at Westheimer University behind, all she has to do is pass her finals, pack up her life, and ship off to San Francisco for a prestigious Big Pharma internship. The problem? Arvy just found 200 hits of Molly in her dead mother's closet. And when two drug dealers come to collect what they are owed, they reveal that the pills are not Molly, but Mona--a rare pharmaceutical that induces intense orgasms. The dealers give Arvy an ultimatum: Sell 200 Monas in 48 hours or die. To aid in her seemingly impossible quest, Arvy recruits Wolf, Westheimer's resident drug dealer who also happens to be infuriatingly charming and distractingly sexy. In a race against the clock, Arvy and Wolf barrel through their college town, leaving a series of erotic shenanigans in their wake; appealing to horny co-eds, lonely barflies, and a mysterious sorority whose sisters have their own ideas for Mona's potential uses. But if Mona has a knack for unleashing visceral reactions in the body, what will it unlock in Arvy, who has been repressing grief over her mother's death for weeks? Unashamedly brash, bold, and blistering, 200 Monas is a truly one-of-a-kind read, a playful and honest examination of sexuality and grief, and a sharp, searing love letter on how to release all that's inside you.
|
|
|
|
Python's Kiss: Stories by Louise ErdrichWritten over the past two decades, Louise Erdrich's magnificent story collection features a range of characters--a tribal newsletter editor whose son tells her a story that nothing in her experience can encompass, immigrant farmers whose tenuous hold on the earth, and sanity, is challenged, and ordinary people, bird lovers, artists, grade-school teachers, and romantics. A girl decides to spend her life with a stone. A man is confronted with a folk-singing thief. A woman enters a corporately owned afterlife to seek revenge on her father. Accompanied by specially commissioned artwork by Aza Erdrich Abe--an intimate and revelatory creative collaboration between mother and daughter--these stories offer an opportunity to celebrate the wisdom and brilliant, wide-ranging imagination of one of America's most important writers.
|
|
|
|
Aicha
by Soraya Bouazzaoui
TEMPTRESS. MONSTER. WARRIOR. Aicha is the story of Morocco's warrior goddess, her strange magic, fierce rebellion, and devastating romance. Soraya Bouazzaoui weaves an epic tale of female rage and hidden myths, perfect for fans of The City of Brass and The Stardust Thief. The Portuguese empire has planted its flag across Morocco, ruling with an iron fist. But eventually, all empires must fall. Aicha, the daughter of a Moroccan freedom-fighter, was born for battle. She has witnessed the death of her people, their starvation and torture at the hands of the occupiers, and it has awakened an anger within her. An anger that burns hot and bright and that speaks to Aicha's soul. Only Aicha's secret lover, Rachid, a rebellion leader, knows how to soothe her. But as the fight for Morocco's freedom reaches its violent climax, the creature that simmers beneath Aicha's skin begs to be unleashed. It hungers for the screams of those who have caused her pain, and it will not be ignored.
|
|
|
|
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood HargraveErica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacr -Coeur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her PhD at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman. The moment the two women meet, the spark is undeniable, but their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make... Erica and Laure's love story spans decades, marriage, children, secret trysts, and the agonizing changes--both personal and political--that might mean they can be together, after all. But when life brings them within touching distance again, will they be brave enough to seize a future together? Beautifully capturing young love and all its complexities, Almost Life is a story of longing for the paths not taken, and the almost lives we live.
|
|
|
|
The Beheading Game by Rebecca LehmannWhen Anne Boleyn wakes up the day after her beheading, she sews her head back on and sets out to seek revenge-in a queer-feminist retelling of one of history's most egregiously wronged women--
|
|
|
|
Celestial Lights by Cecile PinJanuary 28, 1986: Soon after launch, the Challenger shuttle falls out of the sky and into the sea. At the same time, Oliver Ines is born. Celestial Lights is his story. Ollie spends his childhood in an English village where his bedroom is covered in glow-in-the-dark wallpaper bearing the planets and stars. Decades later, he has become one of the most renowned astronauts of his time. When an enterprising billionaire taps him to lead a landmark mission to the distant moon Europa, Ollie makes a choice that will send his whole world spinning. As the mission advances deeper into unchartered territory, Ollie finds himself retreating into the past: his university days in London and years in the navy, relationships found and lost, becoming a husband and father. But will the world he remembers still be waiting for him ten years later when he returns? A portrait of a complicated man and a breathtaking tale of memory, personal choices, and the relationships that define us, Celestial Lights is an unforgettable story that questions what we owe ourselves and our loved ones when our ambitions and loyalties collide.
|
|
|
|
The Complex by Karan MahajanA brilliant, sweeping, tour de force moving between America and modern India, following the illicit liaisons, real estate dramas, political ambitions, and mortal betrayals of one prominent Delhi family--
|
|
|
|
Daughter of Egypt by Marie BenedictIn the 1920s, archeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert--daughter of Lord Carnarvon--whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible. Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt's lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary--and nearly erased from history. When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut's secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father's legacy--or forge her own. Propelled by high adventure and deadly intrigue, Daughter of Egypt is the story of two ambitious women who lived centuries apart. Both were forced to hide who they were during their lifetimes, yet ultimately changed history forever.
|
|
|
|
A Day of Judgment
by Charles Todd
Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard travels to England's windswept coastline to investigate a murder in a place where, several years after the end of WWI, the memory of the war still runs strong . . .
|
|
|
|
The Night We Met (Standard Edition)
by Abby Jimenez
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Say You'll Remember Me comes a beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way. In everyone's life, there's a split-second decision that can change everything... For Larissa, it came when choosing who to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she'd met the perfect man. She and Chris are great friends, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win ). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy. But she didn't choose Chris to drive her home all those months ago--she went with his best friend, and he became her boyfriend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. How can something that feels so right be absolutely impossible?
|
|
|
|
Now I Surrender by Álvaro EnrigueA visionary novelist imagines the fiercely fought end of an epoch of almost unimaginable freedom and radically recasts the story of how the West was won. In the contested borderlands between Mexico and the United States, a woman flees into the desert after a devastating raid on her dead husband's ranch. A lieutenant colonel in service to the fledgling Republica, sent in pursuit of cattle rustlers, discovers he's on the trail of a more dramatic abduction. Decades later, with political ambitions on the line, the American and Mexican militaries try to maneuver Geronimo, the most legendary of Apache warriors, into surrender. In our own day, a family travels through the region in search of a truer version of the past. Orchestrated with a stunningly imagined cast of characters, both historical and purely fictional, their storylines playing out in multiple eras, Now I Surrender is Alvaro Enrigue's most expansive and impassioned novel yet. Part epic, part alt-Western, it weaves past and present, myth and history, into a searing elegy for a way of life that was an incarnation of true liberty-and an homage to the spark in us that still thrills to its memory--
|
|
|
|
Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-MohtarFull of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar.With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose.
|
|
|
|
The Tree of Light and Flowers
by Thomas Perry
Jane Whitefield is used to protecting vulnerable people, but after she gives birth, the fugitives she must rescue are her own family.
|
|
|
|
Wolf Worm by T. KingfisherI saw the devil in these woods. Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator--but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father's reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, or hope. So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. Once there though, she encounters dark happenings in the Carolina woods, and even darker questions come to light, like what happened to her predecessor? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about blood thiefs? With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder's entomological studies have taken him down a twisted road. His ground-breaking discoveries come with a cost--one that Halder is paying with human flesh. If Sonia can't find a way to stop the monstrosity, she may be next under the knife.
|
|
|
|
Wretch: Or, the Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw
by Eric Larocca
From rising horror star and award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke comes a nightmarish, haunting, tech-Gothic thrill ride about sorrow, memory, and the unabashed complexity of love as a transgressive act. After his husband dies, Simeon Link finds himself overcome by grief and seeking comfort in an unusual support group called The Wretches, who offer an addictive and dangerous source of relief. They introduce Simeon to a curious figure known as Porcelain Khaw--a man with the ability to let those who are grieving have one last intimate moment with their beloved...for a price. Hallucinatory, fiendish, and destructively beautiful, Wretch transports us to a world where not everything is as it seems, and those we love may be the ones who haunt us most.
|
|
|
|
American Han by Lisa LeeGrowing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player. But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended up: Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don't want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn't all it promised it would be. Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee's debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape.
|
|
|
|
A Good Person by Kirsten KingLillian and Henry have been enjoying each other's company, particularly in bed. Even though Lillian's best (and only) friend calls it a situationship, Lillian knows better. And she has a plan to lock Henry down. She'll be the best, most accommodating version of herself until he falls in love with her. But when Henry blindsides Lillian with a breakup instead of a love declaration, Lillian is left with no choice but to exact revenge with a hex. Lillian expects Henry to grovel and come crawling back to her. What she doesn't anticipate is becoming a prime suspect in his murder case when he's found dead. Desperate to control the narrative, clear her name, and assume her rightful place as Henry's mourning girlfriend, Lillian's pursuit of the truth will throw her into a dangerous tailspin, which may just upend her life for good. A deliciously addictive novel that explores our darkest, most human impulses, A Good Person heralds Kirsten King as a striking new voice in fiction.
|
|
|
|
The Keeper by Tana FrenchOn a cold night in the remote Irish village of Ardnakelty, a girl goes missing. Sweet, loving Rachel Holohan was about to be engaged to the son of the local big shot. Instead, she's dead in the river. In a close-knit small town, a death like this isn't simple. It comes wrapped in generations-old grudges and power struggles, and it splits the townland in two. Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper has friends here now, and he owes them loyalty, but his fiancee Lena wants nothing to do with Ardnakelty's tangles. As the feud becomes more vicious, their settled peace starts to crack apart. And when they uncover a scheme that casts a new light on Rachel's death and threatens the whole village, they find themselves in the firing line.
|
|
|
|
The Moonlight Runner: A Gripping Historical Novel of Survival and Bravery and Romance Set Against the Irish War of Independence by Karen RobardsIn the wake of the Great War, a young woman joins the Irish rebellion and risks everything for her country in this sweeping story of love, bravery and the relentless pursuit of freedom from New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards. Ireland, 1918. In a world brutalized by the Great War and devastated by the Spanish flu, twenty-two-year-old Rynn Carmichael is suddenly pulled into the war of independence when Donal O'Reilly, the boy she has loved for most of her life, takes up gunrunning in support of the rebellion. Raised in a small Irish village on the shores of Donegal Bay, Rynn is working as a nurse in a convalescent home for soldiers wounded in the Great War when she overhears a British officer gloating over the trap that has been set for Irish gunrunners bringing a boat full of smuggled arms ashore. Knowing that Donal must be involved, she rushes out at midnight to warn the incoming boat, only to find herself caught up in a terrifying and tragic series of events that take her from the glittering ballrooms of London to the narrow back alleys of Dublin as she and those she loves fight for their lives and their country.
|
|
|
|
The News from Dublin: Stories by Colm TóibínThe eleven stories transport readers across continents and eras. In The Journey to Galway, a mother who has learned of the death of her son, a fighter pilot in World War I, travels to Galway to inform his wife and their three now fatherless children. Sleep, originally published in The New Yorker, explores the rift between two lovers as one of them cannot reckon with his grief and fear after the death of his brother. Death, again, is a central character in the title story, The News from Dublin, as Maurice Webster travels to Dublin to try to save his younger brother who is dying of tuberculosis. Maurice must petition the health minister for access to a new experimental drug, and this is the only hope. Tóibín's stories are rich with the complexities of family dynamics, the haunting pull of the past, and the quiet revelations that define our lives. His characters, whether navigating the aftermath of war, or forbidden love, or the desires of a girl in Catalan, or the quiet struggles mundane life, are rendered with illuminating, unforgettable empathy and insight. The News from Dublin is an exquisite introduction to Tóibín's short fiction for new readers who may have discovered Tóibín with the publication of Long Island, and a glorious new collection for longtime fans of this achingly beautiful writer...with infinite compassion.
|
|
|
|
Ruins by Lily Brooks-DaltonProfessor Ember Agni is a rising star in archeology, trying to balance an unfulfilling career in academia and a crumbling marriage, all while pursuing her true passion: unearthing a lost empire that no one else believes existed. Just as she's about to give up on the ambitious expedition she spent a decade trying to fund, a message arrives from overseas. A former student claims to have found something extraordinary-an artifact that hints at the forgotten world lying beneath history's tidy surface. With vindication finally within reach, Ember risks everything for the sake of discovery and undertakes an odyssey that will either make her name or ruin her. Driven by unwavering faith in her vision of the past, she challenges the limits of her nation, her colleagues, and herself in order to exhume the missing pieces of how humanity began. But as she journeys deep into an untouched wilderness, in dogged pursuit of a dead civilization, she collides with the wreckage of her own life. On the brink of either discovery or destruction, Ember must choose who she wants to be, and to what kind of world she wants to belong--
|
|
|
|
Son of Nobody
by Yann Martel
From the author of the international bestseller Life of Pi, a brilliant retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of two commoners: an ancient soldier and a modern scholar.
|
|
|
|
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn't take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she's been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel. Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters' ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she's coming to love--a motley band that includes a former lady's maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes--and attentions--of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war. For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.
|
|
|
|
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna EverhartOn a brisk February morning while walking to the diner where she works, 24 year-old Ruth Foster is stopped by the local sheriff. He insists she accompany him to a health clinic, threatening to arrest her if she doesn't undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease. Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day's end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some are there because they were reported for promiscuity by neighbors, husbands, strangers. Some were accused of prostitution. Others were just pretty and unmarried. Or poor and suspicious. One was eating dinner alone in a restaurant. Another spoke to a soldier. Josephine's sin was running a business as a single woman. Maude's was trying to drown her sorrows. Frances had lost her mind. Opal married a man with a mean streak. Some, like 15-year-old Stella, are brought in because they're victims of assault. She's too naive and broken to understand how unjust this imprisonment is. Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she's transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women's medical treatment and training until they're deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker's rule book or face the consequences-solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse. But some refuse to be cowed. Some find ways to fight back - at any cost...
|
|
|
|
Beneath
by Ariel Sullivan
Hundreds of years before the Illum ruled supreme, humanity risked everything to rebuild after a devastating war in this explosive dystopian romance and prequel to Conform. This stunning hardcover features beautifully designed endpapers and a gorgeous custom-stamped case Twenty-three-year-old Sasha Cadell knows time is running out in the underground city, filled with survivors of the nuclear fallout six years ago. She works in the Expansion Sector, trying to escape the memories of those she lost. Her bleak existence is upended when Tristian Hayes, a stunningly handsome, frustratingly determined commander of the Force, recruits her to join him and his elite team of soldiers as they embark on a secret mission to the surface. Sasha is thrust into brutal training with stakes far beyond mere survival. The fate of the remaining humankind depends on their success--or failure. As she confronts her own demons, Sasha finds both allies and foes in the training program, as well as a sizzling attraction between her and Tristian that threatens the walls she's built around her heart. But under the surface, secrets and deception run as rampant as illnesses. And not everyone will survive the rise of a power more terrifying than anything they've ever known.
|
|
|
|
The Bridge Back to You by Riss M. NeilsonOlivia owes everything to Celia's Place. It's where she learned how to be a great chef. It's also where she first fell in love. But at nineteen, Olivia had a wanderlust she couldn't deny. And Carmello, whose mother owned the restaurant, couldn't leave Celia's Place behind any more than he could force Olivia to stay. Now, ten years later, Olivia is a successful personal chef. Her job allows her to travel the world, and she has never stayed in the same place for too long. When Carmello learns that his mother left shares of her beloved restaurant to both him and Olivia, he plans to buy her half of the shares back quickly and painlessly. That is until Olivia shows up at the restaurant, ready to help run it. Now Carmello sees an opportunity: drive Olivia away from his restaurant so that she will want to sign over her shares. But Olivia sees a different opportunity. She finally has the chance to stay in one place and build a home after years on the move, and perhaps now is the right time to explore whether that home can be with the one who got away. Soon enough, sparks begin to fly, but can Olivia and Carmello avoid the mistakes of the past?--
|
|
|
|
The Final Storm by Fern MichaelsIn her award-winning wildlife photographs, Charlotte Gray captures all the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Far better to focus on breathtaking landscapes than to turn the lens on her own painful childhood and the uncaring mother she left behind in Florida. Piece by piece, Charlotte has built a new, independent life, one she's eager to protect. A chance encounter on assignment in Las Vegas sparks an intriguing relationship, and for the first time, Charlotte impulsively follows her heart. But along with love and fresh beginnings comes a trove of secrets about her new husband. And someone in his past is determined to upend Charlotte's happiness by threatening what she cares about most. After everything she's weathered, Charlotte is about to face the task of rebuilding her life yet again. But this time she's doing it with hard-won strength, experience, and the wisdom to know when to forgive, when to let go, and how to walk into the sunshine and claim the support and love she deserves . . .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|