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Invasive Species
by Ellery Adams
The women in Cold Harbor all have something to prove, and they'll have to do it in a world full of monsters.
Something's not right in Cold Harbor--more so than usual. While this sleepy small town has seen its fair share of monsters in cheating husbands and leering bosses, none are as hungry as Mrs. Smith. The mysterious resident has finally emerged from her crumbling mansion on the hill, mesmerizing the townspeople with her beauty. Her secret? Nine human sacrifices to feed her immortality. Natalie Scott is more worried about Mrs. Smith blocking her first real estate sale--the one that will take her from stay-at-home mom to working woman extraordinaire. She's eager to prove herself in a world where the social mores of 1980s suburbia reign, where she's expected to keep a magazine-perfect home and raise beautiful children, all while sticking to her husband's budget. Natalie's two best friends are facing their own demons, and Mrs. Smith and her deep, dark woods are an easy scapegoat for everyone's problems.
But Natalie's twelve-year-old daughter, Jill, and her Icelandic housekeeper, Una, can sense something deeper at play. Armed with library books and a whole lot of grit, Jill and Una team up to save the town once and for all. But as the rest of Cold Harbor sinks into anger, fear, and jealousy, they'll have to confront the question: What does it really mean to be a monster?
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A Killer in the Family
by Amin Ahmad
Ali Azeem, a naive Muslim bachelor from Mumbai, thinks he has hit the jackpot when he agrees to an arranged marriage with Maryam Khan, daughter of Abbas Khan, a self-made real-estate tycoon and one of the richest men in New York. Moving with her to the United States, Ali quickly enters an intoxicating, Gatsbyesque world of supertall skyscrapers, sumptuous clothing, and helicopter rides to the Hamptons. However, shortly after the newlyweds move into one of the city's most luxurious apartments, Maryam's older sister, Farhan, tells Ali that beneath her father's success lies sinister deeds. But can Farhan be trusted? She is a rebellious outsider and, according to Maryam, an unstable liar. Plus, as the newly minted husband of Abbas's favorite daughter, Ali has an open invitation to join Tiger Corp., the family's business empire.
Before he commits, Ali launches his own investigation to determine who the Khans really are: the embodiment of the American dream--or cutthroat one-percenters out for themselves? As he closes in on the truth, Ali must ask himself if he can pay the price unimaginable wealth demands-- Provided by publisher.
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The Lumber Baron's Wife
by Lynn Austin
1873. After a devastating loss, Hannah Wagner never imagined she'd leave her comfortable home for the harsh, unfamiliar wilderness near Lake Michigan. But when Henry Abernathy--a friend of her husband, John--offers them a fresh start in a booming lumber town, where John's skills as a doctor are sorely needed, Hannah reluctantly agrees. There, she meets Kate, Henry's spirited, much younger wife. Kate's sharp tongue and outsider status have made her unwelcome among the town's elite, and when she begins confiding in Hannah, it's clear her marriage is not what it seems . . . and that a secret from her past could destroy everything.
Present day. Ashley Gilbert never planned to settle in Michigan, but when her husband lands his dream job as a conservationist, she agrees to follow. While restoring their historic home--built in the 19th century for a doctor and his wife--Ashley becomes captivated by its past and its connection to the nearby Abernathy mansion, now being transformed into a museum. While volunteering with the restoration, she stumbles upon the unsolved mystery of Kate Abernathy's disappearance. What begins as curiosity soon becomes a quest for the truth--one that will connect her to two women whose stories and struggles echo and inspire her own.
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Hope Rises
by David Baldacci
Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him. He has nothing left to lose and with long, rigorous training under his belt the gentle and sensitive Nash has transformed into something he never thought he'd be: a physically imposing man with lethal skills. And now he has only goal left in life: taking down Victoria Steers. In order to succeed, he's going to need to cross enemy lines and work the job from the inside. But Steers is shrewd and only brings those with her complete trust into her inner circle. Nash must rely on every ounce of his hard-earned skills in order to prove himself an ally to Steers if he's ever going to get close enough to decimate her criminal empire. Yet, despite hating the woman for destroying his life, Nash finds himself oddly drawn to Steers in ways that he never could've imagined. And what he ultimately discovers will turn all he believed upside down, forcing Nash to do something truly unfathomable. So, will the truth set Nash free? Or end him?
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All Booked Up
by Melody Carlson
Empty nester Virginia Meadows faces financial struggle and pressure from her daughter to leave her beloved family home brimming with memories and a cherished library. Determined to keep the house, she opens her home to board women who need a lifestyle change, but when romantic schemes begin to brew, Virginia starts to reconsider love as a possibility.
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The Ending Writes Itself
by Evelyn Clarke
Arthur Fletch, one of the world's bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch's agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter--for a mind-boggling sum--they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch's magnum opus.It's the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
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The Girls Trip
by Ally Condie
Hope, Ash, and Caro met at an online book club. Over the past two years, they've been there for each other in every way--except in person. When each of their lives reach a crossroads, they decide to meet in real life at the gorgeous Sonnet Resort at Eden National Park. Hope, an actress, has become entirely too famous and needs to get away from it all. Ash, a successful online entrepreneur, isn't sure what has happened to her marriage. Caro, a doctor, has lost a patient and doesn't know if she wants to carry on or start all over. And none of them are telling each other the full story...
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Last Night in Brooklyn
by Xochitl Gonzalez
SPRING, 2007 At twenty-six, Alicia Canales Forten feels smothered by her future. She's in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother's beliefs, saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and moves in. No one embodies this milieu more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza's life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself. But when Alicia's wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza's precarious lives.
Against the backdrop of a potentially life-changing presidential election and a looming once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis, Last Night in Brooklyn explores the dark compromise of the American Dream for people of color living, unknowingly, in the twilight of a cultural moment. It is a story about everything money can buy--and the destruction of what it can't.
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Last One Out
by Jane Harper
Carralon Ridge, a once vibrant village in rural New South Wales, has become a shell of itself, its houses and buildings bought up and left to rot by the mining company operating at its borders. A decade into its slow death, surrounded by industrial noise and swathed in thick layers of dust, the skeletal town is all but abandoned, with just a handful of residents clinging onto what remains. After years of scorning those who left the Ridge behind as it fell into ruin, Ro never imagined she'd become one of them. But everything changed when she lost her son.
Five years ago, Sam vanished while visiting during a break from college, leaving behind a rental car with his belongings inside. Sam had loved Carralon Ridge, and had been working on an oral history of the town to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether. It wasn't long after his disappearance that the rest of the family began to crumble away too. But when Ro returns to Carralon Ridge to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam's disappearance, she begins to suspect that something important was overlooked in his case. Because while nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, someone seems to want to make sure that its secrets die with it.
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More Than Friends
by Denise Hunter
Who knew that returning home after a broken engagement could be the best decision you ever made? Denise Hunter is back with another heartwarming contemporary romance with a sweet friends-to-more story that will keep readers turning the pages late into the night.
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We Burned So Bright
by TJ Klune
The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky....Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they've experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world. Now, the world is ending for real. A rogue black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they've ever known will be gone. Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They're in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it's all over.
On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how--impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends. And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough. Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?
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The Night We Met
by Abby Jimenez
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?
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The Drop
by S. R. Masters
A terrifyingly twisty, wholly original thriller following a group of amusement park visitors who get stuck on a roller coaster high above the ground--with no way down.
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The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker
A moonfall is coming. Raeve's thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor--a staunch beacon from a past she's yet to face. With Rekk's blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the world will face its most devastating moonfall yet, forcing her to pick a path: Chase death. Or life. Desperate to save his kingdom from ruin, Kaan's crown has never felt so heavy. His many larks to scattered friends and family remain unanswered, and time is running out. As allies merge and enemies surge with bloodlusting agendas of their own, secrets brew hot enough to burn, but none so mighty as the truth nesting within the icy depths of Raeve's long forgotten past. Something ... Other. Something with the knowledge to change it all.
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Death Meets Cute
by J. Penner
I am more than capable of being evil today. I think...Iris Weyward wants to be bad. Truly bad. Terrifyingly, gloriously villainous. But after helping her sisters unleash a spell to throw the realm into chaos, Iris is left feeling strangely empty--and still not the villain of her dreams. So, she sets off for the quiet town of Fraywell to build her wicked legacy alone. Things start promisingly: a crooked little cottage, a reputation for curses and potions, and a healthy dose of fear from the locals. But when her ogre bodyguard disappears, Iris needs new muscle. Good thing a fearsome orc just toppled over in her yard. Naturally, she decides to reanimate him. It's a perfect solution. Only, Talon isn't the brooding warrior she was hoping for. He's gentle. He bakes. Worst of all, he's nice. But Iris can't possibly have a thing for her new employee. She's supposed to be the most wicked witch in town!
While Iris struggles to turn Talon into the enforcer she deserves, her sisters arrive seeking help--their magic is fading, and the cause may be closer than any of them realize. The timing couldn't be worse, and falling for an orc wasn't supposed to be part of her villain era, but it might turn out to be the best spell she's ever cast...
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Rites of the Starling
by Devney Perry
Calandra's five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I've been separated from the man who owns my heart. I'm lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It's my turn to become the Guardian. Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, when I learn the real meaning of fear--and the depth of my own strength. Everyone wants me to be something I'm not--a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm? What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love? For too long, I've feared the monsters we make. It's time to discover the monster within. The Shield of Sparrows series is best enjoyed in order.
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Enemies to Lovers
by Alisha Rai
Sejal Chaudhary inherited her mama's calculating brain, her daddy's quick fingers, and the boatload of trauma that comes with being the eldest daughter of criminals. Although Sejal has never claimed to be a good girl, she's spent the last couple years laying low and going (mostly) straight. That is, until a con gone wrong sends her into the arms of a handsome stranger who's set on dragging her back into her messy family drama.
Krish Anand never mastered the fine art of being a bad boy...he would take a book over bullets any day. But when his FBI agent brother goes missing, he has no choice but to suit up for the adventure of a lifetime. Certain that someone in Sejal's little crime family is behind the disappearance, a desperate Krish manages to convince the beautiful thief that his brother's badge is actually his. The deal is simple: help him find his brother, and Krish and the law will leave Sejal be.
With an up-to-no-good ex also hot on her trail, Sejal reluctantly agrees. As they wind their way across the country on planes, buses, and automobiles, sparks ignite, and what began as a fragile temporary truce starts to look more and more like a partnership. Falling for the enemy? So cliche, but so good...if only they can survive long enough to chance a happily ever after.
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Cherry Baby
by Rainbow Rowell
Everybody knows that Cherry's husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie . . . Almost nobody knows that he isn't coming home. Tom is the creator of Thursday--a semi-autobiographical webcomic that's become an international phenomenon. Semi-autobiographical. That means there's a character in this movie based on Cherry . . . Baby. Wide-hipped, heavy-chested, double-chinned Baby. Cherry never wanted this. No fat girl wants to see herself caricatured on the page--let alone on the big screen. But there's no getting away from it. Baby looks so much like Cherry that strangers recognize her at the grocery store. While her soon-to-be ex-husband is in Los Angeles getting rich and famous and being the Internet's latest boyfriend, Cherry is stuck in Omaha taking care of the dog he always wanted and the house they were going to raise a family in . . . and wondering who she's supposed to be without him.
One night, Cherry decides to leave all her problems, including Tom's overgrown puppy, at home. She ventures out to see her favorite band play her favorite album . . . and someone recognizes her from across the room.
Russ Sutton knew Cherry when she was a young art student with a fondness for pin-up dresses and patent leather heels. Before Tom.Russ knows Cherry. He likes Cherry.And best of all . . . he's never heard of Thursday.
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Where We Belong
by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Four lives from Kansas and New York cross paths in a joyful novel of love, determination, and the unbreakable bonds of family-from the beloved and bestselling author of Hope's Enduring Echo.
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Odessa
by Gabrielle Sher
Yetta is a bright, quick teenage girl with a wild, searching spirit. Stifled by her mother's anxiety, her father's rules, and the path that's been laid out for her, she craves a freedom whose edges she doesn't know. But her family has reason to be cautious and restrictive. Fear has wrapped itself around their shtetl. Jews are mysteriously disappearing, and there are whispers of an impending Gentile attack. When violence comes to their door, Yetta is killed. Her father, in his grief, fumbles through his nascent knowledge of ancient texts and old magic to bring her back. By some miracle, Yetta is returned--but although she looks the same, Yetta is not the girl she once was. She knows there is a secret her family is keeping from her. The answer resides, in part, in the creature stalking the villagers and their enemies, lurking in the woods beyond the shtetl, something that may be of her father's making, and a being that has plans of its own.
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West of Wicked
by Nikki St Crowe
Dorothy Gale doesn't know where she came from. At the age of five, she was dropped on Em and Henry's doorstep while a terrible storm rolled across the Kansas prairie. Now as an adult, Dorothy has made the most of her life on the farm. But when a cyclone tears through the night, ripping her, her dog, and the farmhouse away, Dorothy wakes to find herself far from home in the strange, cursed land of Oz. Desperate to find her way back, Dorothy takes the advice of the Witch of the North and sets off on the yellow brick road to find a wizard...with a warning to avoid forest monsters, heartless mercenaries, and wicked witches.
It isn't long before Dorothy encounters the dark side of Oz, stumbling on a man beaten and bloody, tied to a pole in a cornfield. Not unlike the scarecrows on the Kansas farm. With no memories, the mysterious stranger joins Dorothy. Rook is ridiculously handsome, endlessly charming, and somehow understands Dorothy in a way no one ever has. But when they cross paths with the infamous Tinman and his axe, Rook proves he may be hiding his own secrets. Nothing and no one is what they seem in the cursed land of Oz...maybe even Dorothy herself.
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American Fantasy
by Emma Straub
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood. Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, newly divorced, turning fifty with an empty nest, and here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members--not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend--she has accessed a new sense of possibility.
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Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Retirement should mean long-awaited trips to the sapphire waters of Santorini or careening down a sand dune in Dubai. For sixty-three-year-old Mebel, retirement means her husband of more than forty years announcing that he's leaving her for their private chef. Mebel isn't sure who's the bigger loss. Not to worry, Mebel has the perfect plan: she's going to win back her husband. No one knows what he needs better than her--after all, she's been anticipating his needs their whole marriage. And if he wants a wife who can cook (why else would he leave her for a chef?), she will simply go to cooking school. And where better to learn to cook for your husband than France, the most romantic country in the world? However, Mebel quickly learns that she has mistakenly enrolled in a culinary school not in glamorous Paris but rather in England--and in some small village outside of Oxford no less. Despite the less-than-warm welcome from her much younger classmates, Mebel manages to befriend Gemma, the breakout star of the program. And this unlikely friendship starts to show Mebel that maybe there's more to her than being the perfect trophy wife...
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Plainfield Area Public Library
15025 South Illinois Street
Plainfield, Illinois 60544
815.436.6639papl.info |
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