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Beach House Rules
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
A mother-daughter duo learn to lean on their community of women—and each other—after their world is turned upside down.
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A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge
by Kate Khavari
Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor—in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.
Start with book 1
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Food Person
by Adam Roberts
After a public soufflé disaster costs her job at a digital cooking magazine, foodie Isabella Pasternack reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite a cookbook for scandal-ridden actress Molly Babcock, sparking a chaotic journey of culinary devotion, unlikely friendship and second chances.
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Fox : a novel
by Joyce Carol Oates
After the vehicle belonging to the enigmatic new teacher at a boarding school is discovered submerged in the woods near a dead body, the community begins to unravel in the new novel by the author of We Were the Mulvaneys.
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The River Is Waiting
by Wally Lamb
Corby Ledbetter, grappling with addiction, prison life, and the tragedy that shattered his family, finds unexpected kindness and connection behind bars, as he seeks redemption and hopes for forgiveness from those he's hurt the most.
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The Second Chance Convenience Store
by Kim Ho-Yeon
In this million-copy international bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in an unhoused man who does a good deed, a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighborhood—a heartwarming tale of community and redemption.
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Mystery, Adventure, & Thriller
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Cry Havoc
by Jack Carr
Amidst the turbulent backdrop of 1968, Navy SEAL Tom Reece navigates a clandestine mission across Vietnam and beyond, uncovering a Soviet plot that threatens to reshape global power in a high-stakes tale of espionage, betrayal and brutal realism.
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FDR Drive
by James Comey
Returning as a federal prosecutor, Nora Carleton takes on a rising far-right extremist threat in New York City, building a high-stakes case while racing against time to prevent a deadly attack at the United Nations.
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Heart of the Sun
by Mia Sheridan
Amid the sun-drenched orange groves of California, childhood friends Tuck Mattice and Emily Swanson shared a bond that seemed unbreakable—until life ripped them apart.
Thirteen years later, Emily is a rising pop sensation in need of security, and Tuck, a brooding ex-con, is in need of a fresh start. When fate brings them together once again, Emily hires him on as her new bodyguard. They butt heads and bicker, just like the old days—yet neither can deny the heat rekindling between them.
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It's a love story
by Annabel Monaghan
"The heartwarming and hilarious story of Jane Jackson, who spent her adolescence as the funny girl, the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on a B-list tv show, and learning that true love doesn't exist. Now a grown woman, she is determined to be the executive calling the shots, and never to be laughed at again"
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The great mann : a novel
by Kyra Davis Lurie
In 1945 Los Angeles, Charlie Trammell is drawn into the glamour of Sugar Hill, where Black success clashes with white privilege, but as he grows close to the enigmatic Reaper Mann, he uncovers hidden tensions, personal betrayals, and a court battle that threatens the community's future.
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Rules for Ruin
by Mimi Matthews
On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim—train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful politician’s systematic attack on women’s rights, the Academy summons its brightest—and most bitter—pupil to infiltrate the odious man’s inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.
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Blood beneath the snow
by Alexandra Kennington
Revna, a magicless royal outcast, enters the deadly Bloodshed Trials to save her friends, only to be kidnapped by a powerful enemy general whose unexpected motives could change both her life and the fate of her kingdom.
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The Bridge Kingdom
by Danielle L. Jensen
A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is sent to the Bridge Kingdom as a bride under the guise of peace, but Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses—and the defenses of its king.
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Unshaken
by Shelley Shepard Gray
When Stephanie Miller planned her visit to a dollar store in southern Ohio, she was expecting to pick up a few items she couldn't find in her Amish community. She was not expecting to find herself an innocent bystander as a drug deal went horribly wrong. The sole witness to a murder, now Stephanie is targeted by the gunman.
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Every Hour Until Then
by Gabrielle Meyer
Gifted with the ability to time-cross between Victorian-era London and World War II Washington, DC, Kathryn faces two lives fraught with danger. In 1938 amid the looming shadow of war, Kathryn is invited to the London Museum as a guest curator to create a groundbreaking exhibit on Jack the Ripper and his reign of terror. As she delves into her grim research, she uncovers a chilling Her own sister is destined to become the Ripper's final victim decades earlier.
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Christine's Library Journal Reviews
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An Overdue Match
by Sarah Monzon
This review by librarian Christine Barth first appeared in the January 2025 issue of Library Journal.
Evangeline wears her librarian uniform, including a pencil skirt, book themed t-shirt, and high tops, like a suit of armor—just daring patrons to try and slip damaged materials through her book return in Little Creek, TN. Eschewing a heroine arc for herself, she secretly tries to play matchmaker to single patrons with similar reading interests. When tattoo artist Tai, Little Creek's resident bad boy, offers to help her in exchange for a few dates, Evangeline fears her deepest secret will be revealed: the most important piece of her daily armor is a wig, defending her against stares due to her alopecia. VERDICT Lovingly poking fun at a variety of romance tropes, Monzon (All's Fair in Love and Christmas) delivers all the swoony feels, along with a message about true beauty and God's pursuing love, timely in an age of toxic social media comparison traps. Readers will be eager for more books about Little Creek's side characters and appreciate the zany situations similar to those in the work of Melissa Ferguson and Becca Kinzer.
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Welcome to the Honey B&B
by Melody Carlson
This review by librarian Christine Barth first appeared in the January 2025 issue of Library Journal.
When Honey vowed to love CT in sickness and health, she never imagined spending their retirement years hiding the guns so CT won't shoot the neighbors, putting out literal fires, and watching True Grit at least once a day—all because her beloved husband now has frontotemporal dementia and needs round-the-clock care. Their impulsive adult daughter Jewel, while talking on the phone with her mother, hears her unspoken cry for help and uproots her recalcitrant teenager to move back to rural Oregon and help on the family farm. The farm's transformation into a honey-themed B&B is secondary to the transformation in the hearts of the family members as they navigate an unforgiving illness with grace, humor, and some very relatable frustration. VERDICT Equally hilarious and heart-rending, Carlson's (The Christmas Tree Farm) novel draws on her own experience as a caregiver to provide a devastatingly real novel of deep, quiet faith in the face of a family's worst fear. Pat Simmons and Katie Powner explore similar themes in Lean on Me and A Flicker of Light.
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Every Deadly Suspicion
by Janice Cantore
This review by librarian Christine Barth first appeared in the January 2025 issue of Library Journal.
When the son of a local business tycoon crashes his plane and dies, small-town police chief Hanna Keyes knows it is going to be a long week, especially after she learns the death was not accidental. Dry Oaks, CA, is usually quiet, but with a nearby wildfire raging and the first murder case in 30 years, Hanna's team is working overtime. To add to the stress, Hanna learns via a phone call that her estranged father, a convicted murderer, is being given compassionate release from prison to die at home. Everyone in Dry Oaks seems to have an opinion about a past better left buried. Add in some personal drama between her first love and current boyfriend, and Hanna is about to drop one of the plates she juggles. VERDICT Cantore (One Final Target) draws on her real-life experience as a police officer to write compelling thrillers that accurately portray cop life and also offer a deep thread of faith, along with interesting characters. Cantore fans will also enjoy DiAnn Mills, Elizabeth Goddard, and Cara Putman.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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