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My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel AllendeIn San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man's pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny.
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The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel CañasIn 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancâe, Carlos, to his family's isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong. Elâias, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family's legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin's betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can't help but notice her every time she enters a room or the growing tension between them... and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon's thirst for blood grows stronger. In the fight for her life, Alba and Elâias become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and one another... not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom.
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The Enchanted Hacienda by J. C. CervantesHarlow Estrada returns to the enchanted Hacienda Estrada, a family farm in Mexico where her mother, sisters, aunt and cousins harness the magic of charmed flowers. When she's chosen to watch over the farm, she panics since she, herself, is magic-less, until she opens her heart to love and creativity.
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Before She Finds Me by Heather ChavezJulia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. When Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. A sudden attack leaves the campus stunned and only Julia's quick actions save Cora's life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn't as random as everyone believes? Newly pregnant Ren Petrovic has an unusual career: she's a trained assassin, operating under a strict moral code. Ren wasn't on campus that day, but she knows who was: her husband, Nolan. What she doesn't know is why Nolan has broken their rules by not telling her about the job in advance. The more Ren looks into the attack, the more she begins to question: Who really hired Nolan? And why did one woman in the crowd respond so differently from all the rest? Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. Both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.
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The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel CleetonLondon, 2024: American expat Margo Reynolds is renowned for her talent at sourcing rare antiques for her clients, but she's never had a request quite like this one. She's been hired to find a mysterious book published over a century ago. With a single copy left in existence, it has a storied past shrouded in secrecy, and her client isn't the only person determined to procure it at any cost. Havana, 1966: Librarian Pilar Castillo has devoted her life to books, and in the chaotic days following her husband's unjust imprisonment by Fidel Castro, reading is her only source of solace. So when a neighbor fleeing Cuba asks her to return a valuable book to its rightful owner, Pilar will risk everything to protect the literary work entrusted to her care. It's a dangerous mission that reveals to her the power of one book to change a life. Boston, 1900: For Cuban school teacher and aspiring author Eva Fuentes, traveling from Havana to Harvard to study for the summer is the opportunity of a lifetime. It's a whirlwind adventure that leaves her little time to write, but a moonlit encounter with an enigmatic stranger changes everything. The story that pours out of her is one of forbidden love, secrets, and lies... and though Eva cannot yet see it, the book will be a danger and salvation for the lives it touches.
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Our Share of Night by Mariana EnriquezIn 1981, a young father and son set out on a road trip across Argentina, devastated by the mysterious death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travels to her family home near Iguazâu Falls, where they must confront the horrific legacy she has bequeathed. For the woman they are grieving came from a family like no other: a centuries-old secret society called the Order that pursues eternal life through ghastly rituals. For Gaspar, the son, this cult is his destiny. As Gaspar grows up he must learn to harness his developing supernatural powers, while struggling to understand what kind of man his mother wanted him to be. Meanwhile Gaspar's father tries to protect his son from his wife's violent family while still honoring the woman he loved so desperately.
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The White Hot by Quiara Alegría HudesApril is a young mother raising her daughter in an intergenerational house of unspoken secrets and loud arguments. Her only refuge is to hide away in a locked bathroom, her ears plugged into an ambient soundscape, and a mantra on her lips: dead inside. That is, until one day, as she finds herself spiraling toward the volcanic rage she calls the white hot, a voice inside her tells her to just walk away. She wanders to a bus station and asks for a ticket to the furthest destination; she tells the clerk to make it one-way. That ticket takes her from her Philly home to the threshold of a wilderness and the beginning of a nameless quest: an accidental journey that shakes her awake, almost kills her, and brings her to the brink of an impossible choice.
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Thirty years ago, musicians Emilia Oliveras and Paul Winstead were married in Puerto Rico. Forty-eight hours later, Paul vanished from their honeymoon cruise, leaving Emilia devastated and the prime suspect in his disappearance. She ran for her life, leaving behind her love, her dreams, and her identity. Today Emily Oliver is a divorced music teacher and mother of two daughters who know nothing about her past: Gracie, a talented attorney who excels in the courtroom but grapples with personal relationships, and Meg, a gifted concert pianist who wrestles with her ambition and purpose. When a cryptic caller claims the unthinkable: that Paul is alive, Emily returns to Puerto Rico in search of the truth. What she doesn't know is that her daughters aren't far behind. Shocked to find their mother isn't the woman they thought she was, Gracie and Meg wonder how much of their lives have been a lie. As the paths of the three women intertwine, they are compelled to confront their pasts, reevaluate their relationships, and seek forgiveness. Together they embark on a quest to unravel the mystery of Paul's disappearance and redefine their futures on their own terms, navigating a maze of family ties, secrets, and redemption. |
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No Place to Bury the Dead by Karina Sainz BorgoIn an unnamed Latin American country, a mysterious plague quickly spreads, erasing the memory of anyone infected. Angustias Romero flees with her family, but their flight is tragically cut short when she loses both her children. Consumed by grief, she finds herself within the hallucinatory expanse of Mezquite, a town corrupted by greed and populated by storytellers, refugees, and violent, predatory gangs. Here, Angustias is finally able to lay her children to rest at the Third Country, a cemetery run by the larger-than-life Visitación Salazar and a refuge beyond suffering and fear. While Visitación remains defiant in her mission to care for the dead, the cemetery she oversees is the focal point of a bitter land dispute with Alcides Abundio, the most feared landowner of the border. Caught in this power struggle, Angustias and Visitación-friends and sometimes rivals- stand their ground on a frontier where the law is dictated by violence; a surreal territory whose very nature blurs the boundaries between life and death.
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Alter Ego by Alex SeguraIn the present day, a comics legend is given the chance to revive a beloved but forgotten character. But at what price? Annie Bustamante is a cultural force like none other: an acclaimed filmmaker, an author, a comic book artist known for one of the all time best superhero comics in recent memory. She's never been able to tackle her longtime favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. Only known to the most die-hard comics fans and long out of print, the rights were never available, until now. Annie is skeptical of who is making the offer: Bert Carlyle's father started Triumph Comics, and has long claimed ownership of the Lynx. When she starts getting anonymous messages urging her not to trust anyone, Annie's inner alarms go off. Even worse? Carlyle wants to pair her with a disgraced filmmaker for a desperate media play. Annie, who has been called a genius, a sell-out, a visionary, a hack, and everything else under the sun, is sick of the money grab. For the first time since she started reading a tattered copy of The Legendary Lynx #1 as a kid, she feels a pure, creative spark. The chance to tell a story her way. She's not about to let that go. Even if it means uncovering the dark truth about the character she loves.
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When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia SosaOn the eve of their college graduation, best friends Javier Báez and Marisol Campos swore never to date someone the other doesn't approve of. Now, almost a decade later, Javi has a problem. Mari, the woman he's secretly pined for since sophomore year, is engaged, and Javi didn't even get the chance to vet the Pedro Pascal knockoff she plans to marry. A successful entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, Mari is no longer seeking Javi's dating advice or waiting for him to declare his love. Instead, she's made a different pact with herself. To succeed, Mari's vowing to build a future with someone who wants to commit to her. With his life and career finally on track, Javi's ready to confess his feelings, except Mari's changed the script and moved on without him. Javi has just six weeks to convince Mari this marriage is a flop. If that means he needs to ruffle some feathers to help her avert disaster, well, he's up for the challenge. After all, isn't that what best friends are for?
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Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto UrreaIn 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiance in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle. After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact.
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The Magic of Untamed Hearts by Raquel Vasquez GillilandLike her sisters, Sage and Teal, Sky Flores has a touch of magic, and it's caused nothing but heartache. Not only did she disappear into the woods years ago and reappear with no rational explanation, she's also more comfortable talking to animals than to people. Different and misunderstood, Sky is shunned in the small town of Cranberry. Sky's neighbor, Adam Noemi, has his own problems. After being laid off from a prestigious newspaper, Adam, ever the ambitious reporter, needs a big headline to redeem his career. Enter Sky, a girl with a story that news outlets have been chasing for years. Sky agrees to grant Adam an exclusive interview on one condition: that he befriend Sky, in a very public way, to prove to everyone in Cranberry that she's not an outcast. As Sky shares her experiences with Adam, something much bigger than a simple agreement begins to grow between them. For love to take root, Adam will have to take a leap towards a life that defies expectations, and Sky must open her heart, full of flora and fauna and mystical energies, to his curious mind.
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