The truth changes everything. For years Jess believed that Joe -- the father of her child and the only man she ever loved -- had abandoned her during her greatest time of need. That belief nearly destroyed her. Seventeen years later, when cleaning out her mother’s house, Jess unpacks a...  more

The truth changes everything. For years Jess believed that Joe -- the father of her child and the only man she ever loved -- had abandoned her during her greatest time of need. That belief nearly destroyed her. Seventeen years later, when cleaning out her mother’s house, Jess unpacks a box of cards and letters hidden in the attic and makes a discovery that changes everything about life as she knows it. Shaken but empowered, Jess -- and her two stalwart best friends -- set out on a remarkable journey to follow a set of faded postmarks around the world. Is Joe still alive? Does he know that Jess never forgot him? Maybe their love story isn’t over. Maybe one day they’ll find each other again…

"A comic gem" (Alexander McCall Smith) about a housewife who kisses her chintz and her cheating husband goodbye  Constance Harding lives in a picture perfect house. She is, however, absolutely clueless about the real world, e.g., *why her twenty-five-year-old son still...  more

"A comic gem" (Alexander McCall Smith) about a housewife who kisses her chintz and her cheating husband goodbye  Constance Harding lives in a picture perfect house. She is, however, absolutely clueless about the real world, e.g., *why her twenty-five-year-old son still hasn't found a nice girl, *why her Lithuanian housekeeper's thongs keep turning up in her husband's study, and *why her teenage daughter is dressed in head-to-toe spandex . . .   When disaster strikes, she flees her comfortable nest. Constance is about to discover a wider world she thought it was too late to find. And she's putting it all in her blog-thingy.

When a Cambridge university student dramatically attempts to take her own life, DI Mark Joesbury realizes that the university has developed an unhealthy record of young people committing suicide in extraordinary ways. Despite huge personal misgivings, Joesbury sends young policewoman DC Lacey...  more

When a Cambridge university student dramatically attempts to take her own life, DI Mark Joesbury realizes that the university has developed an unhealthy record of young people committing suicide in extraordinary ways. Despite huge personal misgivings, Joesbury sends young policewoman DC Lacey Flint to Cambridge with a brief to work undercover, posing as a vulnerable, depression-prone student. Psychiatrist Evi Oliver is the only person in Cambridge who knows who Lacey really is -- or so they both hope. But as the two women dig deeper into the darker side of university life, they discover a terrifying trend... And when Lacey starts experiencing the same disturbing nightmares reported by the dead girls, she knows that she is next.

Ruddy McCann, former college football star, has experienced a seismic drop in popularity; he is now Kalkaska, Michigan's full-time repo man and part-time bar bouncer. His best friend is his low-energy Basset hound Jake, with whom he shares a simple life of stealing cars. Simple, that is,...  more

Ruddy McCann, former college football star, has experienced a seismic drop in popularity; he is now Kalkaska, Michigan's full-time repo man and part-time bar bouncer. His best friend is his low-energy Basset hound Jake, with whom he shares a simple life of stealing cars. Simple, that is, until Ruddy starts hearing a voice in his head. The voice introduces himself as Alan Lottner, a dead realtor. Ruddy isn't sure if Alan is real, or if he's losing his mind. To complicate matters, it turns out Katie, the girl he's fallen for, is Alan's daughter. When Alan demands Ruddy find his murderers, Ruddy decides a voice in your head seeking vengeance is best ignored. When Alan also demands he clean up his act, and apartment, Ruddy tells him to back off, but where can a voice in your head go? With a sweet romance, a murder mystery, a lazy but loyal dog and a town full of cabin-fevered characters you can't help but love, New York Times bestselling novelist W. Bruce Cameron's The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man is yet another laugh-out-loud, keep-you-up-late, irresistible read.

The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one's relationship to one's creator. Later versions of this 'artificial human' story (and indeed later...  more

The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one's relationship to one's creator. Later versions of this 'artificial human' story (and indeed later adaptations of Frankenstein) changed the focus to more modernist questions: What is the nature of humanity? What does it mean to be human?  These stories continued through the golden age of science fiction with Isaac Asimov's I Robot story cycle, and then through post-modern iterations from new wave writers like Philip K. Dick.  Today, this compelling science fiction trope persists in mass media narratives like Westworld and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, as well as twenty-first century science fiction novels like Charles Stross's Saturn's Children and Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl. The short stories in More Human than Human demonstrate the depth and breadth of artificial humanity in contemporary science fiction. Issues of passing... of what it is to be human... of autonomy and slavery and oppression, and yes, the hubris of creation; these ideas have fascinated us for at least two hundred years, and this selection of stories demonstrates why it is such an alluring and recurring conceit. Contents: Dolly (2011) / short story by Elizabeth Bear A Good Home (2016) / short story by Karin Lowachee The Djinn's Wife [India 2047] (2006) / novelette by Ian McDonald And the Ends of the Earth for Thy Possession (2015) / novelette by Robert B. Finegold Patterns of a Murmuration, in Billions of Data Points (2016) / short story by JY Yang The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees (2010) / novella by John Barnes Fixing Hanover (2008) / novelette by Jeff VanderMeer Grand Jeté (The Great Leap) (2014) / novella by Rachel Swirsky Brisk Money [Ray Electromatic Mysteries] (2014) / novelette by Adam Christopher Act of Faith (2010) / short story by Fadzlishah Johanabas The Caretaker (2011) / short story by Ken Liu Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots (2010) / short story by Sandra McDonald We, Robots (2007) / novella by Sue Lange The Education of Junior Number 12 [Machine Dynasties] (2011) / novelette by Madeline Ashby A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight (2012) / short story by Xia Jia (trans. of 百鬼å¤Âœè¡ÂŒè¡Â— 2010) The Man [Jackaroo] (2012) / short fiction by Paul J. McAuley The Robot's Girl (2010) / novelette by Brenda Cooper .identity (2016) / short story by E. Catherine Tobler American Cheetah (2008) / novelette by Robert Reed Artifice (2014) / short story by Naomi Kritzer Small Medicine (2014) / short story by Genevieve Valentine Silently and Very Fast (2011) / novella by Catherynne M. Valente I, Robot (2005) / novelette by Cory Doctorow Bit Rot [Saturn's Children] (2010) / novelette by Charles Stross Angels of Ashes (1999) / novelette by Alastair Reynolds The Old Dispensation (2017) / short story by Lavie Tidhar Today I Am Paul (2015) / short story by Martin L. Shoemaker

From the New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente comes a ferocious riff on the women in superhero comics. The Refrigerator Monologues is a collection of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who?s ever been...  more

From the New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente comes a ferocious riff on the women in superhero comics. The Refrigerator Monologues is a collection of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who?s ever been ?refrigerated?: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero?s storyline will progress. In an entirely new and original superhero universe, Valente subversively explores these ideas and themes in the superhero genre, treating them with the same love, gravity, and humor as her fairy tales. After all, superheroes are our new fairy tales and these six women have their own stories to share.

Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls in this adorable witchy rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguiree, with a bisexual cinnamon roll hero, a commitment-averse heroine, and a chemistry between them that causes literal sparks. Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch--daughter,...  more

Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls in this adorable witchy rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguiree, with a bisexual cinnamon roll hero, a commitment-averse heroine, and a chemistry between them that causes literal sparks. Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch--daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family "feedback," Danica made a pact with her cousin: they'll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica's mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path. Three blocks down from the Fix-It Witches, Titus Winnaker, owner of Sugar Daddy's bakery, has family trouble of his own. After a tragic loss, all he's got left is his sister, the bakery, and a lifetime of terrible luck in love. Sure, business is sweet, but he can't seem to shake the romantic curse that's left him past thirty and still a virgin. He's decided he's doomed to be forever alone. Until he meets Danica Waterhouse. The sparks are instant, their attraction irresistible. For him, she's the one. To her, he's a firebomb thrown in the middle of a family war. Can a modern witch find love with an old-fashioned mundane who refuses to settle for anything less than forever?

Caroline Jacobs has lost herself. She's a wife, mother (to a tattooed teenage daughter she avoids), Sears Portrait Studio photographer, and wimp. Asserting herself, taking the reins, or facing life head-on are not in her repertoire. So when Caroline suddenly cracks and screams "Fuck you!" at the...  more

Caroline Jacobs has lost herself. She's a wife, mother (to a tattooed teenage daughter she avoids), Sears Portrait Studio photographer, and wimp. Asserting herself, taking the reins, or facing life head-on are not in her repertoire. So when Caroline suddenly cracks and screams "Fuck you!" at the PTA president, she is shocked. So is her husband. So is the PTA president. So is everyone, But Caroline soon realizes the true cause of her outburst can be traced back to something that happened to her as a teenager, a scarring betrayal by her best friend Emily. This act changed Caroline's life forever. So, with a little bit of bravery flowing through her veins, Caroline decides to go back to her home town and confront Emily. She busts her daughter Polly out of school, and the two set off to deliver the perfect comeback, which is twenty-five years in the making. But nothing goes as planned. Long buried secrets begin to rise to the surface, and Caroline will have to face much more than one old, bad best friend. A heartwarming story told with Matthew Dicks' signature wit, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs is a deceptively simple novel about the ways in which our childhood experiences reverberate through our lives, and the bravery of one woman trying to change her life and finds true understanding of her daughter, and herself, along the way.

Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi” Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, but now she’s writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. Mimi reluctantly complies -- with a few...  more

Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi” Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, but now she’s writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. Mimi reluctantly complies -- with a few stipulations: No Ivy Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids. Quiet, discreet, sane. When Alice Whitley arrives at the Banning mansion, she’s put to work right away -- as a full-time companion to Frank, the writer’s eccentric nine-year-old, a boy with the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth graders. As she gets to know Frank, Alice becomes consumed with finding out who his father is, how his gorgeous “piano teacher and itinerant male role model” Xander fits into the Banning family equation -- and whether Mimi will ever finish that book.

What happens in the library stays in the library. But oh, what happens in the library! Dewey has a book club, and you do not talk about Book Club. Colleen has a blog, but she doesn't know everyone can read it. Someone gave vegan Tamara a membership to the ham-of-the-month-club. And Merv reserved...  more

What happens in the library stays in the library. But oh, what happens in the library! Dewey has a book club, and you do not talk about Book Club. Colleen has a blog, but she doesn't know everyone can read it. Someone gave vegan Tamara a membership to the ham-of-the-month-club. And Merv reserved every copy of the new Harry Potter for purposes nefarious. This fourth Unshelved collection also features dozens of full-page full-color comic-format book talks, plus a very special storytime zombie nursery rhyme.

Buffalo Winged is women's fiction served medium hot and extra crispy. But there's something for guys too: There's football! There's violence! There's crazy weather! Will love triumph over a nasty wind chill factor? After a nightmare wedding reception and a honeymoon trip with friends...  more

Buffalo Winged is women's fiction served medium hot and extra crispy. But there's something for guys too: There's football! There's violence! There's crazy weather! Will love triumph over a nasty wind chill factor? After a nightmare wedding reception and a honeymoon trip with friends instead of a husband, Nikki Holloway would rather have a root canal than a date. Jack Buchanan's bold attempts to win her over are hampered by a secret that could destroy his hope for a relationship. Is it too late for him to earn her trust? Buffalo Winged is a multi-generational story set in Buffalo, New York, a quirky city known for the pluckiness of its residents, the character of its neighborhoods and the idiosyncrasies of its weather. Whether cheering the Sabres, battling a blizzard or stuck in traffic near the big blue water tower, Nikki Holloway and her friends reflect the down-to-earth qualities Buffalo's natives take for granted. The themes of love and loss, betrayal and forgiveness are echoed in their parents' generation as former friends wonder if some fences are better left un-mended. Whether standing up to a co-worker while wielding office supplies as a weapon, or fending off the attentions of an unwanted suitor using only her wits, Nikki tries to piece her life together while regaining her emotional balance. Only time will tell if Jack can melt her frozen heart. The story opens on one of the hottest days of the summer, and ends on one of winter's coldest. The reader can enjoy a story set legitimately in Western New York (unlike faux TV shows in which everyone has the wrong accent and no one even owns an ice scraper.) The Bills matter, the Sabres matter, who has the best chicken wings matters, what your family thinks matters, and, (unless you're a glutton for frostbite), the weather matters. It's a story about friendships that last, families that care, and loves that are lost, found and rekindled. By the end if you aren't from Western New York, you'll wish you were. And if you are from Western New York, you'll understand.

From the author of The Someday Jar comes a witty and warm novel about a matchmaker who?s an expert at matters of the heart?except when it comes to her own... � Matchmaker Bree Caxton has a 98% success rate, a book about to hit the stands, and an amazing boyfriend. Until,...  more

From the author of The Someday Jar comes a witty and warm novel about a matchmaker who?s an expert at matters of the heart?except when it comes to her own... � Matchmaker Bree Caxton has a 98% success rate, a book about to hit the stands, and an amazing boyfriend. Until, that is, he gets cold feet about their future and runs from their relationship. � Afraid no one will buy a book on love from a woman whose love life is a mess, Bree begs her one matchmaking failure, Nixon Voss, to pose as her boyfriend. But when they become a hit with readers, they must carry on their charade just a little longer. Fortunately, they?re both having fun... � But then Bree?s ex decides he wants her back and a newspaper presents a challenge that could expose the truth about her rocky love life. Now she must find the courage to embrace what is, or risk losing something much bigger than her reputation: her heart...

Lex Gracie doesn't want to think about her family. She doesn't want to think about growing up in her parents' House of Horrors. And she doesn't want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped, the eldest sister who freed her older brother and four younger...  more

Lex Gracie doesn't want to think about her family. She doesn't want to think about growing up in her parents' House of Horrors. And she doesn't want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped, the eldest sister who freed her older brother and four younger siblings. It's been easy enough to avoid her parents -- her father never made it out of the House of Horrors he created, and her mother spent the rest of her life behind bars. But when her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can't run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the home into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her siblings -- and with the childhood they shared. What begins as a propulsive tale of escape and survival becomes a gripping psychological family story about the shifting alliances and betrayals of sibling relationships -- about the secrets our siblings keep, from themselves and each other. Who have each of these siblings become? How do their memories defy or galvanize Lex's own? As Lex pins each sibling down to agree to her family's final act, she discovers how potent the spell of their shared family mythology is, and who among them remains in its thrall and who has truly broken free. For readers of Room and Sharp Objects, an absorbing and psychologically immersive novel about a young girl who escapes captivity -- but not the secrets that shadow the rest of her life.  

In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science, when she’s recruited by Russia’s largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she’s in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America’s most famous technology companies. In between her...  more

In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science, when she’s recruited by Russia’s largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she’s in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America’s most famous technology companies. In between her executive management (make offers to promising startups, crush them and copy their features if they refuse); self promotion (check out her latest op-ed in the WSJ, on Work/Life Balance 2.0); and work in gender equality (transfer the most annoying females from her team), she funnels intelligence back to the motherland. But now Russia's asking for more, and Julia’s getting nervous. Alice Lu is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she’s working at Tangerine (such a successful company!). Too bad she’s slogging away in the lower echelons, recently dumped, and now sharing her expensive two-bedroom apartment with her cousin Cheri, a perennial “founder’s girlfriend”. One afternoon, while performing a server check, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she’s burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine’s privacy settings aren’t as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself.  The closer Alice gets to Julia, the more Julia questions her own loyalties. Russia may have placed her in the Valley, but she's the one who built her career; isn’t she entitled to protect the lifestyle she’s earned? 

Lucy used to handle her adult romantic life according to the script she’d been handed. She met a guy just like herself: same age, same background, same hopes and dreams; they got married and started a family. Too bad he made her miserable. Now, two decades later, she’s a nearly...  more

Lucy used to handle her adult romantic life according to the script she’d been handed. She met a guy just like herself: same age, same background, same hopes and dreams; they got married and started a family. Too bad he made her miserable. Now, two decades later, she’s a nearly divorced, forty-one-year-old schoolteacher with two school-aged sons, and there is no script anymore. So when she meets Joseph, she isn’t exactly looking for love—she’s more in the market for a babysitter. Joseph is twenty-two, living at home with his mother, and working several jobs, including the butcher counter where he and Lucy meet. It’s not a match anyone one could have predicted. He’s of a different class, a different culture, and a different generation. But sometimes it turns out that the person who can make you happiest is the one you least expect, though it can take some maneuvering to see it through. Just Like You is a brilliantly observed, tender, but also brutally funny novel that gets to the heart of what it means to fall surprisingly and headlong in love with the best possible person—someone you didn’t see coming.

Budo is Max's imaginary friend. But though only Max can see him, he is real. He and the other imaginary friends watch over their children until the day comes that the child stops imagining them. And then they're gone. Budo has lasted a lot longer than most imaginary friends -- four years...  more

Budo is Max's imaginary friend. But though only Max can see him, he is real. He and the other imaginary friends watch over their children until the day comes that the child stops imagining them. And then they're gone. Budo has lasted a lot longer than most imaginary friends -- four years -- because Max needs him more. His parents argue about sending him to a special school. But Max is perfectly happy if everything is just kept the way it is, and nothing out of the ordinary happens. Unfortunately, something out of the ordinary is going to happen -- and then he'll need Budo more than ever...

Ryan Francis has it all -- great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child -- and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman's home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to...  more

Ryan Francis has it all -- great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child -- and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman's home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to help, but when Blake threatens to reveal Ryan's darkest secret -- which could jeopardize everything in Ryan's life -- Ryan has no choice but to honor Blake's request. When he arrives at the woman's home, Ryan is shocked to find her dead -- and just as shocked to realize he knows her. Then his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the woman. With police sirens rapidly approaching, Ryan flees, wondering why his friend was setting him up for murder. Determined to keep his life intact and to clear his name, Ryan must find the real murderer -- but solving the crime may lead him closer to home than he ever could have imagined.

Retired bank manager George Pearmain is, apparently, dead. According to the behavior of everyone around him, it would seem that he is no more. Not only that, but his mother has also passed away too - and on the eve of her 99th year, poor dear. Not only that, it could be that they were both...  more

Retired bank manager George Pearmain is, apparently, dead. According to the behavior of everyone around him, it would seem that he is no more. Not only that, but his mother has also passed away too - and on the eve of her 99th year, poor dear. Not only that, it could be that they were both murdered. He feels fine otherwise. As George's family gather for the birthday-celebration-that-never-was, he hovers around the house, watching and listening, entirely unseen. As a result, he makes all sorts of discoveries about himself, his wife Esmeralda, and his supposedly happy family . . . One of internationally bestselling author Nigel Williams' best books to date, Waking Up Dead is both a screamingly funny cozy mystery and startlingly strange ghost story asking the question: What would you do if you could bear witness to your own demise?

Every Dress has a history, and so does Phoebe... Phoebe Swift always dreamt of opening her own vintage dress shop. She imagined every detail, from the Vivienne Westwood skirts hanging next to satin gowns, to sequinned prom dresses adorning the walls. At the launch of Village Vintage,...  more

Every Dress has a history, and so does Phoebe... Phoebe Swift always dreamt of opening her own vintage dress shop. She imagined every detail, from the Vivienne Westwood skirts hanging next to satin gowns, to sequinned prom dresses adorning the walls. At the launch of Village Vintage, Phoebe feels the tingle of excitement as customers snap up the fairytale dresses. Her dream has come true, but a secret from the past is casting a shadow over her new venture. Then one day she meets Therese, an elderly Frenchwoman with a collection to sell, apart from one piece that she won't part with... As Therese tells the story of the little blue coat, Phoebe becomes aware of a profound connection with her own life, one that will help her heal the pain of her past and allow her to love again.

In the vein of Jojo Moyes and Cheryl Strayed?s Wild, a warm and touching novel about a woman who embarks on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral after losing her mother, sharing life lessons?in the best Chaucer tradition?with eight other women along the way. Che Milan?s life is falling apart....  more

In the vein of Jojo Moyes and Cheryl Strayed?s Wild, a warm and touching novel about a woman who embarks on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral after losing her mother, sharing life lessons?in the best Chaucer tradition?with eight other women along the way. Che Milan?s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage. Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years. Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation:  to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned...  more

Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation:  to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned invasion of England.  Every spy has a weakness, and for the Black Tulip that weakness is black-haired women -- his "petals" of the Tulip.  A natural at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that his own heart will be caught as well.  Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies. As our modern-day heroine, Eloise Kelly, digs deeper into England's Napoleonic-era espionage, she becomes even more entwined with Colin Selwick, the descendant of her spy subjects.  

A father's love. A shattering secret. A summer that will change lives forever. In the town of Rocket, Washington, a summer playground for windsurfers and tourists, a windless summer ignites fear as businesses and residents move away. Rocket's motel, run by a lonely widower named Tom Jemmet,...  more

A father's love. A shattering secret. A summer that will change lives forever. In the town of Rocket, Washington, a summer playground for windsurfers and tourists, a windless summer ignites fear as businesses and residents move away. Rocket's motel, run by a lonely widower named Tom Jemmet, is hard hit. And Tom has demons of his own: memories of a beautiful wife that still haunt him, and a troubled young daughter whose retreat into a silent world confounds her father and sparks whispers in town. Swirling around Tom are lives much like his own, townspeople yearning for wind but also for hope, even love. Charlene, a mail clerk, helps care for Tom's daughter while a secret gnaws at her heart. Lauren, the town vet, has fallen for Tom, who barely notices, and newspaper editor Hap is hatching a foolish plan to save his town. That's when a miracle, or something like it, strikes Tom's run-down motel. Guests who stay in Room 6 begin experiencing sudden acts of fate, both terrible and great. But while tourists descend on Rocket and the the town shows new signs of life, the truth about Tom's motel and the death of his wife - as well as the secret hopes and fears of everyone around him, are exposed in ways that are both surprising and inevitable.

The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters -- Aubrey, Bitty,...  more

The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters -- Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie -- are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made -- and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers. When the Stitchery matriarch, Mariah, dies, she leaves the yarn shop to her three nieces. Aubrey, shy and reliable, has dedicated her life to weaving spells for the community, though her sisters have long stayed away. Bitty, pragmatic and persistent, has always been skeptical of magic and wants her children to have a normal, nonmagical life. Meggie, restless and free-spirited, follows her own set of rules. Now, after Mariah’s death forces a reunion, the sisters must reassess the state of their lives even as they decide the fate of the Stitchery. But their relationships with one another -- and their beliefs in magic -- are put to the test. Will the threads hold?

With wry wit and boundless heart, Eva Woods delivers an unforgettable tale of celebrating triumphs great and small, seizing the day, and always remembering to live in the moment. “It's simple, really. You're just meant to do one thing every day that makes you happy. Could be...  more

With wry wit and boundless heart, Eva Woods delivers an unforgettable tale of celebrating triumphs great and small, seizing the day, and always remembering to live in the moment. “It's simple, really. You're just meant to do one thing every day that makes you happy. Could be little things. Could be big. In fact, we're doing one right now…” Annie Hebden is stuck. Stuck in her boring job, with her irritating roommate, in a life no thirty-five-year-old would want. But deep down, Annie is still mourning the terrible loss that tore a hole through the perfect existence she'd once taken for granted -- and hiding away is safer than remembering what used to be. Until she meets the eccentric Polly Leonard. Bright, bubbly, intrusive Polly is everything Annie doesn't want in a friend. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day -- which is why she wants Annie to join her on a mission… One hundred days. One hundred new ways to be happy. Annie's convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey that will force her to open herself to new experiences -- and perhaps even new love with the unlikeliest of men -- Annie will slowly begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, there's still joy to be found in the world. But then it becomes clear that Polly's about to need her new friend more than ever…and Annie will have to decide once and for all whether letting others in is a risk worth taking.

A dream job it's not. But for Emily Prentice, working as a seafood inspector in Ketchikan, Alaska, takes her one step closer to becoming a marine biologist. And it'll give her a first taste of independence from her overprotective mom and the doctor boyfriend she's pushing into...  more

A dream job it's not. But for Emily Prentice, working as a seafood inspector in Ketchikan, Alaska, takes her one step closer to becoming a marine biologist. And it'll give her a first taste of independence from her overprotective mom and the doctor boyfriend she's pushing into Emily's arms. Emily's certainly not looking for romance . . . until a huge dog knocks her down and sends her flying into fish goo. It's love at first sight for Emily and Bear, whose handsome owner, Sam, becomes flummoxed when the fallen worker in the hard hat turns out to be a pretty young woman. Emily and Bear begin a beautiful relationship, with Sam in tow. And before long the attraction between the humans becomes undeniable. But separation and a dangerous undertaking soon leave Emily wondering if she'll lose Sam before she gets to tell him how she really feels . . . Bear wants his humans staying together, and before he's done, both Emily and Sam will learn one essential canine truth: A dog is the only one on earth who loves you more than you love yourself.

The award-winning author of Think Like a Cat tells how to turn problem cats into purr- fect pets Certified Animal Behavior Consultant Pam Johnson-Bennett, author of Think Like a Cat, is back to help readers bring out their pet’s inner pussycat regardless of the cat’s age. Geared specifically...  more

The award-winning author of Think Like a Cat tells how to turn problem cats into purr- fect pets Certified Animal Behavior Consultant Pam Johnson-Bennett, author of Think Like a Cat, is back to help readers bring out their pet’s inner pussycat regardless of the cat’s age. Geared specifically for owners of adult cats, be they recently adopted or long time family pets, this book illustrates how it’s never too late to correct behavior problems. With her trademark wit and common sense, Pam covers every aspect of a cat’s lifestyle, behavior, and environment and gives cat owners specific techniques to help seemingly set-in-their-ways cats change for the better. Authoritative and entertaining, Starting from Scratch is the next best thing to a house call from the world’s top feline behaviorist.

An accidental dog swap unleashes an unexpected love match... Carly Kennedy's life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly's sister convinces her to foster Baxter -- a basset hound rescue with a bad case...  more

An accidental dog swap unleashes an unexpected love match... Carly Kennedy's life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly's sister convinces her to foster Baxter -- a basset hound rescue with a bad case of the blues. When Carly comes home late from work one day to discover that the dog walker has accidentally switched out Baxter for another perkier, friendlier basset hound, she has reached the end of her leash. When Max Sheffington finds a depressed male basset hound in place of his cheerful Hazel, he is bewildered. But when cute, fiery Carly arrives on his doorstep, he is intrigued. He was expecting the dog walker, not a pretty woman with firm ideas about dog discipline. And Carly was not expecting a handsome, bespectacled man to be feeding her dog mac and cheese. Baxter is besotted with Hazel, and Carly realizes she may have found the key to her puppy’s happiness. For his sake, she starts to spend more time with Hazel and Max, until she begins to understand the appeal of falling for your polar opposite.

This collection of original stories by today’s finest women writers -- including Tracy Chevalier, Francine Prose, Elizabeth McCracken, Tessa Hadley, Audrey Niffenegger, and more -- takes inspiration from the opening line in Charlotte Brontë’s most beloved novel, Jane...  more

This collection of original stories by today’s finest women writers -- including Tracy Chevalier, Francine Prose, Elizabeth McCracken, Tessa Hadley, Audrey Niffenegger, and more -- takes inspiration from the opening line in Charlotte Brontë’s most beloved novel, Jane Eyre. A fixture in the literary canon, Charlotte Brontë is revered by readers all over the world. Her novels featuring unforgettable, strong heroines still resonate with millions today. And who could forget one of literature’s best-known lines: “Reader, I married him” from her classic novel Jane Eyre? Part of a remarkable family that produced three acclaimed female writers at a time in 19th-century Britain when few women wrote, and fewer were published, Brontë has become a great source of inspiration to writers, especially women, ever since. Now in Reader, I Married Him, twenty of today’s most celebrated women authors have spun original stories, using the opening line from Jane Eyre as a springboard for their own flights of imagination.

England, late 1930s, and Alice Wright  -- restless, stifled -- makes an impulsive decision to marry wealthy American Bennett Van Cleve and leave her home and family behind. But stuffy, disapproving Baileyville, Kentucky, where her husband favours work over his wife and is dominated by...  more

England, late 1930s, and Alice Wright  -- restless, stifled -- makes an impulsive decision to marry wealthy American Bennett Van Cleve and leave her home and family behind. But stuffy, disapproving Baileyville, Kentucky, where her husband favours work over his wife and is dominated by his overbearing father, is not the adventure -- or the escape -- that she hoped for. That is, until she meets Margery O'Hare, a troublesome woman -- and daughter of a notorious felon  -- the town wishes to forget. Margery's on a mission to spread the wonder of books and reading to the poor and lost --  and she needs Alice's help. Trekking alone under big open skies, through wild mountain forests, Alice, Margery and their fellow sisters of the trail discover freedom, friendship --  and a life to call their own. But when the town turns against them, will their belief in one another -- and the power of the written word --  be enough to save them?

Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets... Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called...  more

Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets... Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home. Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn. When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from...  more

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart. She’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown. But every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together... lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

It's been ten years since Allie Beckett crossed the threshold of her family cabin at Butternut Lake, Minnesota. Now, newly widowed after the death of her husband in Afghanistan, she's returned with her five-year-old son. There, she reconnects with the friends she had in childhood-best...  more

It's been ten years since Allie Beckett crossed the threshold of her family cabin at Butternut Lake, Minnesota. Now, newly widowed after the death of her husband in Afghanistan, she's returned with her five-year-old son. There, she reconnects with the friends she had in childhood-best girlfriend Jax, now married with three kids and one on the way, and Caroline, owner of the local coffee shop. What Allie doesn't count on is a newcomer to Butternut Lake, Walker Ford.  Up at Butternut Lake follows these four unforgettable characters across a single summer as they struggle with love, loss, and what it means to take risks, confront fears, and embrace life, in all of its excitement and unpredictability. Allie Beckett could never have imagined, when she ran away from her old life, that she was running into a whole new life, up at the lake….

ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH. Skye Starling is overjoyed when her boyfriend, Burke Michaels, proposes after a whirlwind courtship. Though Skye seems to have the world at her fingertips -- she’s smart, beautiful, and from a well-off family -- she’s...  more

ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH. Skye Starling is overjoyed when her boyfriend, Burke Michaels, proposes after a whirlwind courtship. Though Skye seems to have the world at her fingertips -- she’s smart, beautiful, and from a well-off family -- she’s also battled crippling OCD ever since her mother’s death when she was eleven, and her romantic relationships have suffered as a result. But now Burke -- handsome, older, and more emotionally mature than any man she’s met before -- says he wants her. Forever. Except, Burke isn’t who he claims to be. And interspersed letters to his therapist reveal the truth: he’s happily married, and using Skye for his own, deceptive ends. In a third perspective, set thirty years earlier, a scrappy seventeen-year-old named Heather is determined to end things with Burke, a local bad boy, and make a better life for herself in New York City. But can her adolescent love stay firmly in her past -- or will he find his way into her future? On a collision course she doesn’t see coming, Skye throws herself into wedding planning, as Burke’s scheme grows ever more twisted. But of course, even the best laid plans can go astray. And just when you think you know where this story is going, you’ll discover that there’s more than one way to spin the truth.

Every second of every day, something is happening. There’s a story out there buried in the muck, and Jordan Walsh, coming from a family of esteemed reporters, wants to be the one to dig it up. But it’s 1955, and the men who dominate the city room of the Chicago Tribune have no...  more

Every second of every day, something is happening. There’s a story out there buried in the muck, and Jordan Walsh, coming from a family of esteemed reporters, wants to be the one to dig it up. But it’s 1955, and the men who dominate the city room of the Chicago Tribune have no interest in making room for a female cub reporter. Instead Jordan is relegated to society news, reporting on Marilyn Monroe sightings at the Pump Room and interviewing secretaries for the White Collar Girl column. Even with her journalistic legacy and connections to luminaries like Mike Royko, Nelson Algren, and Ernest Hemingway, Jordan struggles to be taken seriously. Of course, that all changes the moment she establishes a secret source inside Mayor Daley’s office and gets her hands on some confidential information. Now careers and lives are hanging on Jordan’s every word. But if she succeeds in landing her stories on the front page, there’s no guarantee she’ll remain above the fold.…

In the acclaimed Once Upon a Lie, Maggie Barbieri introduced Maeve Conlon, a single mother and bakery owner hiding dark secrets behind her cookie-cutter suburban life. Now, Maeve?s moving on with everyday life when the unthinkable happens: her father dies of a massive heart attack. Maeve?s...  more

In the acclaimed Once Upon a Lie, Maggie Barbieri introduced Maeve Conlon, a single mother and bakery owner hiding dark secrets behind her cookie-cutter suburban life. Now, Maeve?s moving on with everyday life when the unthinkable happens: her father dies of a massive heart attack. Maeve?s mother died when Maeve was very young, and growing up, it was always just her and her father. But on the day of his funeral, Maeve learns a shocking secret. She might have a sister she?s never met. Maeve knows her father would never have kept something like that from her?Unless he thought he had to. Meantime, someone keeps sneaking around Maeve?s bakery. At first the signs are subtle, but then it becomes vandalism, and then it grows even more frightening. Could it be related to Maeve?s search for her missing sister? Maeve soon decides it?s time to take matters into her own capable hands. But administering her personal brand of justice is a dangerous undertaking, and between the ever-watchful eyes of her family and the lingering attention she's attracted from local police, Maeve will be forced to decide just how much she's willing to risk in the name of justice.

You’ve probably never met someone like Clancy. He’s keeping a diary, he’s falling in love, there are rivals for his affections, he lives with his best friend and his worst enemy – even taken together, these factors are maybe not that unusual, except that Clancy is a dog....  more

You’ve probably never met someone like Clancy. He’s keeping a diary, he’s falling in love, there are rivals for his affections, he lives with his best friend and his worst enemy – even taken together, these factors are maybe not that unusual, except that Clancy is a dog. His point of view is therefore perhaps…different. Told in Cameron’s signature style, a tremendous cast of wonderful characters find themselves jointly and separately navigating the challenges of life, of love, and…other pets, including Clancy's “worst enemy” - one very disdainful cat. It’s a lot to keep track of, especially when things start to spin hilariously out of control, but fortunately, we’ve got the observations of Clancy, a very good dog, who shares a valuable perspective on what is really important.

Iraq war veteran Peter Ash is restless in the home he shares with June Cassidy in Washington State. June knows Peter needs to be on the move, so she sends him to Memphis to help her friend Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who's been receiving peculiar threats. When Peter...  more

Iraq war veteran Peter Ash is restless in the home he shares with June Cassidy in Washington State. June knows Peter needs to be on the move, so she sends him to Memphis to help her friend Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who's been receiving peculiar threats. When Peter arrives in Memphis, however, he finds the situation has gone downhill fast--someone has just driven a dump truck into Wanda's living room. But neither Wanda nor Peter can figure out why. At the same time, a young homeless street musician finds himself roped into a plan to rob a jewelry store. The heist doesn't go as planned, and the young man finds himself holding a sack full of Rolexes and running for his life. When his getaway car breaks down, he steals a new one at gunpoint--Peter's 1968 green Chevrolet pickup truck. Peter likes the skinny kid's smarts and attitude, but he soon discovers that the desperate musician is in far worse trouble than he knows. And Wanda's troubles are only beginning. Peter finds himself stuck between Memphis gangsters--looking for Rolexes and revenge--and a Mississippi ex-con and his hog-butcher brother looking for a valuable piece of family history that goes all the way back to the Civil War.