Books Coming Out in June
Books Coming Out in June
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Small Marvels by Scott Russell Sanders
Part folktale, part tall tale, part comic romance, Small Marvels revels in the wonders of everyday life. So, welcome to Limestone, Indiana. You won't find it on a map, but you may remember visiting the place in dreams, the rare, blissful ones in which puzzles are solved, kids flourish, hard work pays off, and love endures.
Fred: An Unbecoming Woman by Annie Krabbenschmidt
In “Fred,” Annie charts her adolescence through a constellation of her coded interactions with 2000s media — including "The Notebook," "Twilight," and, of course, "Mean Girls." Wielding her Marin-County-bred compulsory social grace, Annie invites readers to be a part of her “coming out” story, though the road is far from unidirectional. This book is a lesson in accepting comfort, love, and desire, and freeing yourself of the ties that bind from both sides. Annie not only dissects her personal interactions in “Fred,” but frees themself from the buried hurt that those interactions brought about to ultimately stand victorious, pull off a suit, profess her love to a friend, and declare and embrace her identity.
Same Time, Same Place by David M. Barnett
Daisy and Nate are security guards at the Manchester Museum of Social History, and they interact for five minutes each day when their shifts overlap. Daisy takes her work very seriously. It’s an identity beyond caring for her mother, arguing with her sister, and avoiding her childhood guilt. Despite his cheerful work demeanor, Nate is quietly overcome with fear that he will be barely a better parent than his own abusive father–a worry compounded when it seems his son loves his mother’s new boyfriend more than he loves Nate. When museum artifacts begin to mysteriously disappear and then reappear days later, Nate is the only who agrees to help Daisy investigate. As they search for clues, they also discover how little they understood about the other’s life – and that perhaps they aren’t complete opposites, after all. What does that mean for the others they thought they knew – their family, friends, and coworkers? What secrets are they hiding? And who is responsible for the museum thefts?
The Physicists' Daughter by Mary Anna Evans
Sabotage. That's the word on factory worker Justine Byrne's mind as she is repeatedly called to weld machine parts that keep failing with no clear cause. Could someone inside the secretive Carbon Division be deliberately undermining the factory's war efforts? Raised by her late parents to think logically, she also can't help wondering just what the oddly shaped carbon gadgets she assembles day after day have to do with the boats the factory build. Unable to trust anyone—not the charming men vying for her attention, not her unpleasant boss, and not even the women who work beside her—Justine draws on the legacy of her unconventional upbringing to keep her division running and protect her coworkers, her country, and herself from a war that is suddenly very close to home.
A Week of Warm Weather by Lee Bukowski
Tessa Cordelia appears to have it all—a loving husband who’s just opened a dental practice, a beautiful baby girl, a big house in the suburbs, and a large, supportive family. But when her husband's reckless choices resurrect a trauma from her childhood, she must decide which is more costly: keeping his secrets or revealing them. He manipulates Tessa into believing his career and their happiness depend on her silence. She feels like she’s losing her mind. Is her husband's habit so awful? In many ways, he’s an ideal husband; should she let him have this one thing? Determined to maintain the lie that she’s living the perfect life, Tess lies to everyone she knows—except for CeCe, a woman new to the area whom she’s just befriended. But after confiding in her, Tessa learns that CeCe has an explosive secret of her own, and her world is further upended. A gripping, nuanced exploration of the havoc addiction can wreak on a family, A Week of Warm Weather is the story of a woman who has to figure out how much she is willing to lose in order to find herself.
The Empress and the English Doctor by Lucy Ward
The astonishing true story of how Catherine the Great joined forces with a Quaker doctor from Essex to spearhead one of the first global public health campaigns. As smallpox ravaged her empire and threatened her court, Catherine the Great took the momentous decision to summon the Quaker physician Thomas Dimsdale from Hertford to St Petersburg to carry out a secret mission that would transform both their lives. Lucy Ward expertly unveils the extraordinary story of Enlightenment ideals, female leadership and the fight to promote science over superstition.
Butter Side Up: How I Survived My Most Terrible Year and Created My Super Awesome Life by Jane Enright
When Jane survived one terrible year of three life-altering events where she lost everything, she knew she could resist the change and become bitter or roll with the punches and come out the other end stronger and more resilient than before. In this feel-good story that everyone can learn from and relate to, Jane shows us how there can be happiness and joy from unexpected change through “edutainment” for the soul. This isn’t self-help jargon; it’s learning how to successfully navigate big life changes so you can land butter side up when life turns the tables.
Carry Me: Stories of Pregnancy Loss by Frieda Hoffman
After Frieda Hoffman’s second miscarriage, she felt alone, ignorant, and overwhelmed with emotions. Finding little literature or support available, her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and she decided to create the resource she wished she’d had: real stories about pregnancy loss from real women without the off-putting lens of religion or academia so typical of the self-help genre.
Through Hoffman’s own journey and those of nineteen women she interviewed, Carry Me explores universal themes of grief, bearing witness, transforming adversity into opportunity, and the paradox of feeling alone while sharing a common experience. The diverse women and narratives unpack the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of loss; notions of womanhood and motherhood; and the intersections of public health, body politics, and patient care. Readers are called to action to share their own stories in order to heal themselves and support others.
Nearly everyone knows someone affected by pregnancy loss, yet most of us are not comfortable, even in the relative safety of the company of friends and sisters, discussing this serious health issue. It’s time to normalize the dialogue and help one another through our losses by sharing our resources, our wisdom, and our stories—by carrying one another.
The Lifestyle: A Novel by Taylor Hahn
Georgina Wagman has it all—that is until she walks in on her husband Nathan in a compromising position with a junior associate. Her plan to fix things? She and Nathan are going to become swingers. Her friends Felix and Norah and their respective partners decide to tag along (while Georgina secretly plots their reunion, because what is Emma without the meddling), she runs into a college ex on the swinging circuit, and Georgina finds herself torn between her head and her heart. The Lifestyle has a refreshing, unconventional plotline that explores the reasons why people swing, the dynamics of those relationships, and the emotions that arise.
The Gatekeeper by James Byrne
The gatekeeper of the title is Desmond Aloysius Limerick—aka Dez—a retired mercenary. When the California hotel Dez is staying in is attacked with ruthless precision by a team of highly-skilled mercenaries—out to kidnap the legal counsel of a military contractor—Dez is a one-man spanner in the works, foiling the attempt. Having saved Petra Alexandris from the kidnappers, he sticks around to help her with another corporate problem and the two fall down a rabbit hole so full of adventure, intrigue, and nonstop action it’s worthy of Bourne, Reacher, or Orphan X.
Exactly Where You Need To Be by Amelia Diane Coombs
Turtles All the Way Down meets Love and Luck in YA author Amelia Diane Coombs’s newest novel, EXACTLY WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, a road trip story filled not only with friendship, adventure, and romance, but also a nuanced look at life with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Screams from the Dark, edited by Ellen Datlow
In SCREAMS FROM THE DARK, award-winning and up-and-coming authors like Stephen Graham Jones, Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw, and Gemma Files attempt to answer the question, "what is a monster?" These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from mainstream to literary, from familiar monsters to the unknown and unimaginable.This bone-chilling collection has something to please—and spook—everyone, so lock your doors, turn off your lights, and try not to scream.
Contributors include: Ian Rogers, Fran Wilde, Gemma Files, Daryl Gregory, Priya Sharma, Brian Hodge, Joyce Carol Oates, Indrapramit Das, Siobhan Carroll, Richard Kadrey, Norman Partridge, Garry Kilworth, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Chikodili Emelumadu, Glen Hirshberg, A. C. Wise, Stephen Graham Jones, Kaaron Warren, Livia Llewellyn, Carole Johnstone, Margo Lanagan, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Evenson, Nathan Ballingrud, Cassandra Khaw, Laird Barron, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Ford, and John Langan.
A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari
Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to blaze a new trail at the University College London, but with her colleagues’ beliefs about women’s academic inabilities and not so subtle hints that her deceased father’s reputation paved her way into the botany department, she feels stymied at every turn. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn’t expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect and evidence quickly mounts. Joined by fellow researcher--and potential romantic interest--Alexander Ashton, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons to clear Maxwell's name. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list, in this entertaining examination of society’s expectations.
When Life Gives You Risk, Make Risk Theatre
When Life Gives You Risk, Make Risk Theatre expands on the ideas laid out in Wong’s debut book and elaborates on how chance is a powerful and misunderstood force that directs the action, both on and off the stage. By making risk the cornerstone of their craft, actors are able to soar to new heights, as exemplified by the three prize-winning tragedies included in the book. These plays are thoughtfully paired with six theatre essays that explore chance, risk and uncertainty (how pertinent to the time we're living in!).
So Happy for You by Celia Laskey
SO HAPPY FOR YOU follows a wedding weekend that spirals murderously and hilariously out of control. Weaving in elements of thriller, satire, and speculative fiction, it's both a send up to our collective obsession with weddings and a poignant depiction of female friendship in all its messy glory. Our narrator is Robin, a grumpy, queer, academic. She begins with: “If you want to know the story of how my best friend and I ended up trying to kill each other, I should probably start with the night she asked me to be her maid of honor.”
Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey
Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years. So when Iris is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker. He’s a caring, reassuring presence who’s making her feel safe and alive again. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal, and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help. They’re reaching out to terrorize her.Now the only way for Iris to move forward in life is to confront the past she’s been running from…a threat that has now followed her into the dark.
The Heart of the Deal by Lindsay Macmillan
Rae is in a romantic recession.
The Wall Street banker is single in New York City and overwhelmed by the pressure to scramble up the corporate and romantic ladders. Feeling her biological clock ticking, she analyzes her love life like a business deal and vows to lock in a husband before her 30th birthday. The Manhattan dating app scene has as many ups and downs as the stock market, and outsourcing dates to an algorithm isn’t exactly Rae’s idea of romance. She considers cutting her losses, but her friends help her stay invested, boosting her spirits with ice cream and cheap wine that they share in their sixth-floor walk-up while recapping cringe-worthy dates. And then Rae meets Dustin, a poetic soul trapped in a business suit, just like her. She starts to hear wedding bells, but Dustin’s struggles with depression will test their relationship, and no amount of financial modeling can project what their future will look like. Can Rae free herself from the idea she had of what thirty was supposed to look like and let love breathe on its own timeline? Or is she too conditioned to stay on the “right track” to follow her unpaved intuition? Moving and timely, The Heart of the Deal is the story of one woman’s reckoning with what success really is in a city, an industry, and a relationship whose low lows continually challenge the enchantment of the high highs.
Tell Us No Secrets by Siena Sterling
TELL US NO SECRETS, Siena Sterling's stunning debut thriller, is set in a girls’ boarding school in New England, circa 1970. Publishing June 7, 2022, this page-turning thriller is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Simone St James, and Riley Sager. Both a propulsive thriller and an unsettling examination of female friendship, TELL US NO SECRETS casts a powerful light on jealousy, the terrible pain of betrayal, and the tragic consequences of peer pressure running riot.
Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan
Fruiting Bodies: Stories by Kathryn Harlan is a genre-bending debut collection of stories that constructs eight eerie worlds full of desire, wisdom, and magic blooming amidst decay. These stories range confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanmy, as they follow characters—mostly queer, mostly women—on the precipice of change. In “The Changeling,” two young cousins wait in dread for a new family member to arrive, convinced that he may be a dangerous supernatural creature. In “Endangered Animals,” Jane prepares to say goodbye to her almost love while they road trip across a country irrevocably altered by climate change. In the title story, partners Agnes and Geb feast peacefully on the mushrooms that sprout from Agnes’s body—until an unwanted male guest disturbs their cloistered home.
Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman
First in a captivating Jazz age mystery series from author Katharine Schellman, Last Call at the Nightingale beckons readers into a darkly glamorous speakeasy where music, liquor, and secrets flow.
The Great Book of King Arthur: And His Knights of the Round Table by John Matthews
The legends of King Arthur, the most famous and influential work of English fantasy ever published, are reimagined for a new generation of readers by John Matthews, one of the world’s leading Arthurian experts, and illustrated by internationally acclaimed Tolkien artist, John Howe.
Against Progress: Intellectual Property and Fundamental Values in the Internet Age by Jessica Silbey
When first written into the Constitution, intellectual property aimed to facilitate "progress of science and the useful arts" by granting rights to authors and inventors. Today, when rapid technological evolution accompanies growing wealth inequality and political and social divisiveness, the constitutional goal of "progress" may pertain to more basic, human values, redirecting IP's emphasis to the commonweal instead of private interests. Against Progress considers contemporary debates about intellectual property law as concerning the relationship between the constitutional mandate of progress and fundamental values, such as equality, privacy, and distributive justice, that are increasingly challenged in today's internet age. Following a legal analysis of various intellectual property court cases, Jessica Silbey examines the experiences of everyday creators and innovators navigating ownership, sharing, and sustainability within the internet eco-system and current IP laws. Crucially, the book encourages refiguring the substance of "progress" and the function of intellectual property in terms that demonstrate the urgency of art and science to social justice today.
The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar
This unforgettable and devastating story was inspired by real-life hero of the Holocaust, Janusz Korczak, and reminds the world that even one single person can create meaning, hope, and love. Wonderful for fans of The Warsaw Orphan and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
I'll Be Seeing You by Robin Lee Hatcher
As generations of secrets unfold, young college student Brianna Hasting learns the truth about her great-grandmother, Daisy, and her World War II heartbreak and love. Could the trials that Daisy endures be enough to help Brianna and save her from her own heartache three generations later? I’ll Be Seeing You is perfect for fans of Francine Rivers and Karen Kingsbury.
The Paper Tiger Syndrome by Rebecca Ward
The Paper Tiger Syndrome is a guidebook on the journey of healing and self-repair, which demonstrates that the most direct way to overcome fear, stress, and trauma in your life is to regulate your physical body. Ward—a trauma survivor herself—shares her own inspirational story to show what’s possible and helps you understand how to regain control so you can freely live again.
Living and Leaving My Legacy: A Legacy Journal by Merle R. Saferstein
Merle R. Saferstein began journaling in 1974 at age thirty. But what had started as a sporadic activity took on the form of a daily practice in 1982, continuing until to date she has completed 380 volumes. And now those pages where she expressed her more intimate frustrations, fears, and desires have taken on a new form in her book, Living and Leaving My Legacy: A Legacy Journal (Great Mother Press; On Sale: June 7, 2022; 978-0-9996960-4-0; trade paperback).
Four Ways to Wear a Dress by Gillian Libby
The spirit of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets the charm of Take a Hint, Dani Brown in this bright, hopeful story about self-discovery and self-acceptance, and creating your own happily ever after, even if it looks different than everyone else’s.
Sunday Afternoons and Other Times Remembered by Ben Ewell
On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1992, Ben Ewell’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece were all murdered. While trying to make sense of this staggering tragedy, Ben can’t help but think back through his life: the hard work and the many peaceful Sundays afternoons growing up on his family farm in Ohio in a house without a bathroom or running water; his high school antics in the 1950s; his time in Haight-Ashbury while attending law school in 1960s San Francisco; and the highs and lows, both personal and professional, of life after school. Threaded throughout these reminiscences, Ben reveals the details of the investigation of his family members’ murders—and the arrest and trial of the parties involved.
In this decades-long saga, there is marriage and divorce, love and loss, family and friendship; there are political campaigns and business ventures, some failed and some fruitful. Ultimately, this is a story of perseverance in the face of tragedy, of creating opportunities out of problems, and of appreciating the gift of life and the world around us—with some humor along the way.
The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley
From the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes an emotional romance that is "beautifully written and plotted" (Candis).
Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery by Linda Murphy Marshall
After both her parents die, Linda Murphy Marshall, a multi-linguist and professional translator, returns to her midwestern childhood home, Ivy Lodge, to sort through a lifetime of belongings with her siblings. Room by room, she sifts through the objects in her parents’ house and uses her skills and perspective as a longtime professional translator to make sense of the events of her past—to “translate” her memories and her life. In the process, she sees things with new eyes. All of her parents’ things, everything having to do with their cherished hobbies, are housed in a home that, although it looks impressive from the outside, is anything but impressive inside; in short, she now realizes that much of it —even the house’s fancy name—was show. By the time Murphy Marshall is done with Ivy Lodge, she has not only made new discoveries about her past, she has also come to a new understanding of who she is and how she fits into her world.
Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering
Molly Diamond was an aspiring Brooklyn writer when she fell in love with Jake Danner, the lead singer of a band whose career takes off after writing a hit song about her. Nearly a decade later, she has given up on her writing dreams and living in Connecticut with her young daughter and husband Hunter. She feels like an outsider amongst the women in her wealthy suburb and struggles to conceive a second child. When a new woman in town Sabrina enters Molly’s yoga studio, they form a friendship as they bond over their own fertility struggles. But as the two get to know more about each other, they begin to unspool secrets that reveal a connection neither of them could prepare for.
The Well of Truth by Elizabeth A. Gould
Incorporating elements of fantasy, mysticism, and lore, The Well of Truth follows Grace through poignant moments of her adult life as she embarks on her journey of self discovery. Through the initiations of marriage, raising children, getting divorced, going through menopause, losing loved ones, and ultimately making an independent life for herself, she gains insight and spiritual wisdom from unexpected places. A novel of the feminine experience, The Well of Truth is filled with reflections on feminine resilience, power, and agency.
Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg
When a mysterious Scotsman suddenly appears in the middle of the road, Klara thinks the biggest problem is whether she hit him with her car. But, as impossible as it sounds, Callum has stepped out of another time, and his arrival marks the beginning of a deadly adventure.
Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton
Fiona’s 2016 debut, The Widow, was an instant New York Times bestseller with wall-to-wall praise for its riveting storytelling and characters; Fiona quickly followed up with The Child and The Suspect. Now, after four years, Barton is back with an all-new suspense novel set in a small English seaside town brimming with tension after new weekenders begin moving to town, and the locals resentful of the changes they bring.
Bottled Lightning by L. M. Weeks
Bottled Lightning is an international legal thriller set in Japan with a tech lawyer and his super-scientist client (both Japanese-Americans with past relationship issues) trying to protect themselves and the world-changing energy technology invention destined to make existing energy industries obsolete. When dangerous operatives threaten to bury them and this bleeding edge technology, they are forced into survival mode even as their complicated personal relationship heightens the stakes.
Belinda by Mark Zvonkovic
Belinda “Lyn” Larkin is at a crossroads. A beautiful and experienced attorney who is married to the law, faces the end of a long and successful law practice at the hands of the “men in suits” who run her firm, when a man once her lover suddenly appears after a long and mysterious absence. Set in the conference rooms of white shoe Houston law firms and the stunning coastline of Baja California, Belinda is the story of a woman’s bravery and resourcefulness as she navigates the end of her career and a complex world of international intrigue, legal infighting, and unexpected romance. This character-driven third book in The Raymond Hatcher Stories (which easily reads as a stand-alone novel) explores questions of dedication, loyalty and love as Lyn contemplates what’s next in her life.
City of Likes by Jenny Mollen
Megan Chernoff is a talented but unemployed copywriter in an identity crisis after the birth of her second child. Seeking a fresh start, she and her family move to New York City, where she meets Daphne Cole-a gorgeous, stylish, well-known momfluencer. To Meg's surprise and delight, Daphne shows an inordinate amount of interest in Meg, showering her with compliments, attention, gifts, and all the perks that come with having a massive digital platform. Before she knows it, Meg finds herself immersed in Daphne's world-hobnobbing at exclusive power mama supper clubs, partaking in fancy wellness rituals, and reveling in the external validation she gets from her followers who grow daily by the thousands. Her friendship with Daphne, as well as the world she's been granted access to, is intoxicating and all-consuming. But is it authentic? When Meg realizes she's losing track of what matters most-her relationship with her sons and her husband-the deep cracks in Daphne's carefully curated façade are finally exposed. It's up to Meg to find her way back to her real life. But first she must determine what "real" even means.
Since Sinai by Shannon Gonyou
Shannon explores her decision-making, her feelings, and the conversion process that she and her husband went through in Chicago and then, later, New York City, as they embrace their instincts and find their spiritual home in Conservative Judaism. Honest and unflinching, Shannon's story of coming home to Judaism encourages everyone—Christian, atheist, Jewish, and anything in between—to search relentlessly for the place where they belong.
The Local by Joey Hartstone
BIG BUSINESS
James Euchre lives an easy life as a local attorney in a small Texan town, making plenty of money from patent infringement cases.
BAD BLOOD
But when his mentor is killed and one of his clients is arrested for murder, James is forced to take on his first criminal case - defending the man who allegedly killed his friend.
BETRAYAL
The deeper James goes into the case, the more he fears that he'll fail to save an innocent client's life - or worse, wind up freeing a guilty man...
The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark
From New York Times bestselling author Julie Clark comes the thriller readers have been hotly anticipating since finishing the last pages of The Last Flight. The Lies I Tell is a heart-racing cat-and-mouse story about two women on an unwavering quest to get revenge—or is it justice?—for the past, and rewrite their stories, on their own terms.
Community Klepto: A Novel by Kelly I. Hitchcock
Ann Josephson is a twenty-something sociopath who dodges her friends as well as her well-to-do parents, even though they support her. Don’t even talk to her about dating. She even avoids her graphic design job when she can—and she works from home. But the one place Ann does go, and she goes religiously, is to the local community center gym. The problem is that when she arrives, her anxiety reaches fever pitch, expressing itself as compulsive kleptomania. Despite therapy, Ann can’t stop stealing. When a charming, semi-attractive guy starts chatting Ann up while on the treadmill next to hers, she finds herself drawn in, despite her fears. She doesn’t want him to know she’s a thief. For the first time in a long time, she’s connecting with someone. Set in suburban Kansas City in 2012, COMMUNITY KLEPTO is a darkly humorous and compelling tale of a troubled young woman who discovers what risks are really worth taking, and that hope is fragile—but possible.
A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey
Dee Matthews is the cohost of the smash-hit podcast Did I Forget To Tell You?, where she interviews family, friends, and past lovers. Nothing is off-limits, except for one man (known on the show only as Name Redacted) who happens to be her high school best friend Ben. During their senior year spring break, Dee and Ben took a road trip to visit Ben’s grandma. They buried a time capsule in her backyard, pledging to return in ten years to open it. Then their friendship fell apart in spectacular fashion. They haven’t spoken to each other since.
Ben Porter’s life since that moment has been unexciting but comfortable until his grandma reveals a family secret that flips his whole world upside down. Her dying wish is for him to stop doing what is safest and go after what he really wants. He starts by showing up on Dee’s doorstep with every intention of fulfilling their long-ago promise. Despite her reservations, Dee can’t say no. This trip could be her chance to give her listeners the Name Redacted interview they’ve been begging for—and finally, put her unresolved feelings for Ben to rest.
As the miles fly by, Dee and Ben's friendship reignites. But the closer they get to reaching their destination, the more apparent it becomes that their attraction to each other cannot be ignored. Their last adventure ended in disaster, and they’re about to find out if any hope of a future together is in the rearview mirror.
Cinder-Nanny: A Novel by Sariah Wilson
With her sister’s medical bills mounting, Diana Parker can’t say no to a high-paying opportunity to accompany a wealthy couple to Aspen and nanny their precocious five-year-old son for three months. Necessary qualifications? She must know how to ski and teach math, speak fluent French, excel at social graces, and hold a master’s degree in childhood development. Who’ll be the wiser that Diana’s only skill is packing for Colorado? And the perks―like a ticket to a lavish charity fundraiser, a new gown, and a Prince Charming–adjacent earl named Griffin Windsor―are pretty irresistible. Wary of gold diggers and scandal, England’s most eligible bachelor is nevertheless falling for Diana, and sweeping the not-quite princess off her feet. The warmer their relationship becomes, the slipperier the slopes are for Diana. Sooner or later, she’ll have to come clean. When that happens, does an honest-to-goodness happy ending stand a chance?
Assassin's Lullaby by Mark Rubinstein
In every life, there lurks catastrophe.
So believes Eli Dagan, a thirty-nine-year-old man whose traumatic past led to his service as an assassin for the Mossad. He now lives in New York City, where under various assumed names he’s a contract killer.
Anton Gorlov, the head of the Brooklyn-based Odessa mafia, has a new and challenging assignment for Eli. Gorlov wants to leave the country permanently, so all loose ends must be eliminated. He’s willing to pay $1 million for a task divided into two parts. The job involves extreme measures along with unprecedented danger for Eli, who has lived a ghostly existence over the last ten years.
Is accepting Gorlov’s offer a subliminal death wish? Or is it a way to reclaim part of his damaged soul?
For the first time since his pregnant wife and parents were killed by a suicide bomber years earlier, Eli Dagan faces challenges that will reconnect him with his blighted past and may yet offer hope for a new and better life.
Beneath Cruel Waters by Jon Bassoff
In “Beneath Cruel Waters,” a Kansas firefighter returns to his hometown in Colorado after two decades away for the funeral of his estranged mother, but when he discovers a gun, a love letter, and a picture of a man lying in his own blood at her home, he begins an investigation into his mother’s past, and his own. Told in Bassoff’s lyrical and evocative style, “Beneath Cruel Waters” examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.
Here for the Drama by Kate Bromley
Becoming a famous playwright is all Winnie ever dreamed about. For now, though, she'll have to settle for assisting the celebrated, sharp-witted feminist playwright Juliette Brassard. When an experimental theater company in London, England, decides to stage Juliette's most renowned play, The Lights of Trafalgar, Winnie and Juliette pack their bags and hop across the pond.
But the trip goes sideways faster than you can say "tea and crumpets." Juliette stubbornly butts heads with the play's director and Winnie is left stage-managing their relationship. Meanwhile, Winnie's own work seems to have stalled, and though Juliette keeps promising to read it, she always has some vague reason why she can't. Then, Juliette's nephew, Liam, enters stage left. He's handsome, he's smart, he is devastatingly British…and his family ties to Juliette pose a serious problem, forcing Winnie to keep their burgeoning relationship on the down-low. What could go wrong?
Balancing a production seemingly headed for disaster, a secret romance and the sweetest, most rambunctious rescue dog, will Winnie save the play, make her own dreams come true and find love along the way—or will the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune get the best of her?
Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud
It’s 1939. On the brink of World War II, Jane Benjamin wants to have it all. By day she hustles as a scruffy, tomboy cub reporter. By night she secretly struggles to raise her toddler sister, Elsie, and protect her from their mother. But Jane’s got a plan: she’ll become the San Francisco Prospect’s first gossip columnist and make enough money to care for Elsie.
Jane finagles her way to the women’s championship at Wimbledon, starring her hometown’s tennis phenom and cover girl Tommie O’Rourke. She plans to write her first column there. But then she witnesses Edith “Coach” Carlson, Tommie’s closest companion, drop dead in the stands of apparent heart attack, and her plan is thrown off track.
While sailing home on the RMS Queen Mary, Jane veers between competing instincts: Should she write a social bombshell column, personally damaging her new friend Tommie’s persona and career? Or should she work to uncover the truth of Coach’s death, which she now knows was a murder, and its connection to a larger conspiracy involving US participation in the coming war?
Putting away her menswear and donning first-class ballgowns, Jane discovers what upper-class status hides, protects, and destroys. Ultimately—like nations around the globe in 1939—she must choose what she’ll give up in order to do what’s right.
Project Namahana by John Teschner
Two men, unified by a string of disappearances and deaths, search for answers—and salvation—in the jungles of Kaua‘i. Together, they must navigate the overlapping and complicated lines between a close-knit community and the hated, but economically-necessary corporate farms—and the decades old secrets that bind them. Project Namahana takes you from Midwestern, glass-walled, corporate offices over the Pacific and across the island of Kaua‘i; from seemingly idyllic beaches and mountainous inland jungles to the face of Mount Namahana; all the while, exploring the question of how corporate executives could be responsible for evil things without, presumably, being evil themselves.
Harmony of Fire by Brian Feehan
The We walk among us—beings who existed long before humans ever did, filled with powerful magic. Owen and Alice are both Etherealist, rare humans born with magic and a target for those We that wish to take it from them. At nine years old and against her will, Alice's soul was tied to one such powerful and evil We. She escaped and was trained as a weapon so she might one day break the bond and safely return home. Everything is going to plan until she meets Owen.
Owen is a musician who is trying to outrun his past while keeping those around him safe in an increasingly dangerous world. Owen keeps them on the move until a band of Hunters makes their discovery inevitable. Owen must go home, a place he swore never to return, and seek protection from the We who could destroy them. And then he meets Alice. Only through finding each other do either Alice or Owen have a chance of survival.
A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen
A young woman has a closetful of shoes and one month to discover the future she thought she'd lost in this captivating new novel from the author of Eliza Starts a Rumor and Nine Women, One Dress.
Up All Night with a Good Duke by Amy Rose Bennett
Artemis Jones—"respectable" finishing-school teacher by day and Gothic romance writer by night—has never lost sight of her real dream: to open her own academic ladies’ college. When Artemis is unexpectedly called upon by a dear friend, a fellow Byronic Book Club member, to navigate her first London Season, she comes at once. Perhaps she can court the interest of a wealthy patron for her school. As long as she can avoid her high-handed aunt’s schemes to marry her off.
Dominic Winters, the widowed Duke of Dartmoor, needs a wife—someone who will provide him with an heir and help him to manage his spitfire adolescent daughter. The problem is, Society has dubbed him "The Dastardly Duke." But then he meets the ravishing and passionate Artemis Jones, who might just be the solution he needs…
The Precious Jules by Shawn Nocher
After nearly two hundred years of housing retardants, as they were once known, the Beechwood Institute is closing the doors on its dark history, and the complicated task of reassigning residents has begun. Ella Jules, having arrived at Beechwood at the tender age of eight, must now rely on the state to decide her future. Ella’s aging parents have requested that she be returned to her childhood home, much to the distress of Ella’s siblings, but more so to Lynetta, her beloved caretaker who has been by her side for decades. The five adult Jules children, haunted by their early memories of their sister, and each dealing with the trauma of her banishment in their own flawed way, are converging on the family home, arriving from the far corners of the country—secrets in tow—to talk some sense into their aging parents and get to the root of this inexplicable change of heart. The Precious Jules is a deeply felt family narrative that will make you fall in love with these flawed and imperfect characters standing on the threshold of an awakening they never expected.
The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer
The enmity between two women from opposing sides of the war culminates in a shocking event as anti-German sentiment sweeps America, when the aristocratic wife of a German scientist must face the social isolation, hostility and violence leveled against her and her family when they’re forced to relocate to Alabama in the aftermath of WWII. For fans of Beatriz Wiliams, Pam Jenoff, and Kristin Harmel.
For the Love of the Bard by Jessica Martin
Literary agent and writer Miranda Barnes rolls into her hometown of Bard’s Rest with one goal in mind: to spend the summer finally finishing her YA novel, the next installment in her bestselling fantasy series. Yet Miranda’s mother, deep in the planning stages for the centennial of the town’s beloved annual Shakespeare festival, has other ideas.
Before you can say “all’s fair in love and war,” Miranda is cornered into directing Twelfth Night—while simultaneously scrambling to finish her book, navigating a family health scare, and doing her best to avoid the guy who broke her heart on prom night.
When it comes to Adam, the veterinarian with a talent for set design and an infuriating knack for winning over Miranda’s dog, the lady doth protest too much. As any Shakespeare lovers knows, the course of true love never did run smooth, and soon Miranda realizes she’ll have to decide whether to trust Adam with her heart again.
The Truth About Ben and June by Alex Kiester
One morning, Ben Gilmore wakes to the sound of his crying baby and quickly realizes that his wife isn’t home. Her suitcase is gone, but there’s no clue to where she’s gone. As he attempts to put the pieces of her disappearance together by questioning her new friends, they mention things he knows nothing about —a mysterious petition, June’s falling out with another mom, her strange fixation on a Greek myth. The more Ben uncovers about his wife, he comes to realize how distant he’s been. And the only way to bring June home, is to understand why she left.
The Accidental Newlywed Game by Jaci Burton
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, when one night out turns into a wedding that neither newlywed can remember, from New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton.
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Beach Read meets Ghost in Ashley Poston’s adult debut about a millennial ghostwriter who sees ghosts and no longer believes in romance—until she sees the ghost of her new editor…and starts falling in love with him. This is a wonderful quirky read from a strong new voice in romance fiction that beautifully addresses themes of grief and self-acceptance. The story marries the wonderful humor and insight of books like Beach Read with a twist on the genre that readers won't be able to stop talking about.
(P)luck: Lessons We Learned for Improving Healthcare and the World
Alfred Sadler and Blair Sadler, a doctor and a lawyer, who are also twin brothers, worked together on the early laws concerning organ donation and the first heart transplants, the emergence of the physician assistant profession, the birth of bioethics, and the creation of emergency medicine including 9-1-1. In this compelling and stirring book, they take us on a fascinating journey through the National Institutes of Health, Yale University Medical School, The Hastings Center on Bioethics, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rook by Stephen G. Eoannou
Rook is based on the true story of Al Nussbaum. To his unsuspecting wife, Lolly, Al is a loving, chess playing, family man. To J. Edgar Hoover, he is the most cunning fugitive alive. Al is the mastermind behind a string of east coast robberies that has stumped law enforcement. After his partner, one-eyed Bobby Wilcoxson, kills a bank guard and wounds a New York City patrolman, Al is identified as one of the robbers and lands on top of the FBI’s most wanted list. He is forced to flee his hometown of Buffalo, New York as the FBI closes in and Lolly learns of her husband’s secret life. One million wanted posters are printed and The Reader’s Digest offers a ten-thousand-dollar reward for Al’s capture. While Al assumes another identity and attempts to elude the police, Lolly is left alone to care for their infant daughter and adjust to her new life as ‘The Bank Robber’s Wife’. Friends, family, and federal agents all pressure Lolly to betray Al. While Lolly struggles at home financially, with unrelenting FBI agents, and her conscious, Al and Bobby continue to rob banks, even as Bobby grows more mentally unstable and dangerous. Al has only two goals: avoid capture and steal enough money to start a new life with his family. Returning to gather his wife and baby is suicidal, but as Al said, he’d only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly.
Red on the River by Christine Feehan
#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan goes all in with this sexy romantic thriller set among the dangers—both man-made and natural—of Nevada’s breathtaking landscape.
Vienna Mortenson isn’t your typical gambler. She prefers to stay under the radar, using her poker winnings to support her family and her community, including the local search and rescue team, which she heads up. Out in the backcountry there’s no time for hesitation when lives are on the line. Vienna prides herself on being tough and decisive. She’s not the sort to make a fool of herself over a guy, especially one who left her high and dry without a backward glance.
Zale Vizzini’s job constantly puts him in harm’s way. Working undercover and disappearing for months at a time isn’t exactly a recipe for a stable relationship. Despite the challenges and the risks, Zale wants something real with Vienna. He just needed time to figure out how to be in her life without putting her in danger. Now, he’s determined to win her back, and he’s ready to lay all his cards on the table.
As their friends’ wedding approaches, Zale takes advantage of the festivities to make a play for Vienna’s heart. But there are more deadly forces waiting to strike in the rugged terrain of Nevada and the western Sierras. Soon both of their lives are threatened, and the odds are stacked against them....
Dog Friendly by Victoria Schade
A burned-out veterinarian takes a much-needed beach vacation, where a charming surfer makes waves in her love life, and a unique foster pup renews her passion for her work.
After Everyone Else by Leslie Hooton
Bailey thought she’d gotten her happy ending. She is married to the man she loves and her design business is flourishing. But when Bailey’s ex-husband, a famous TV chef, is found murdered with her DNA all over his apartment and body, she is suddenly facing murder charges in a high-profile case. Already burdened by the demands and challenges of marriage, motherhood, and her career, Bailey now must do everything she can to prove her innocence. But it’s the ones she thought would surely be on her side—her enigmatic lawyer and her husband—who might be doubting her innocence the most. Alternating between the past and present, AFTER EVERYONE ELSE chronicles the grip of the past, the challenges of forgiveness, and the resilient love we save for the person we love after everyone else.
