Acclaimed author Xavier Bosch weaves an emotional tale of love and intrigue in this novel about a woman on the cusp of middle age, her beloved grandma, and a strange houseguest who changes everything.Seventeen-year-old Margaux doesn't realize one photo could change the course of her life. But in German-occupied Paris of 1940, nothing makes sense anymore. Margaux fears the worst when her lover is arrested. And when her photo appears in Nazi propaganda, her family's reputation--and prospects--suffer the consequences.In 2008, Margaux moves into a retirement home, and her granddaughter Barbara comes to live in her Paris apartment. Eager to escape unhappy circumstances, Barbara works remotely for a publishing company and rents out a room in "Mamie" Margaux's apartment to help pay the bills.One day, Barbara finds a stranger on her couch. Roger, who's a curious photographer, uncovers shocking secrets about Barbara's family. And when a snowstorm triggers a lockdown, he opens the door to tempting new possibilities.A bestseller at the 2023 Sant Jordi Book Fair in its original Catalan, Bosch's sweeping novel alternates between the two timelines, offering sustenance for historical fiction readers, WWII enthusiasts, and romantics alike.
A dramatic story of love and loss across three generations as the railroad came to Patagonia, forever changing the landscape and its peoples.Llankaray's grandmother left a rich inheritance: her medicine, an undefeatable spirit, and the stories of her Mapuche ancestors. These tales are forever etched in Llankaray's memory--and the soil of their beloved Patagonia. She begins with Fresia, a gifted Mapuche medicine woman who communicates with plants. She raises her granddaughter, Pirenrayen, to be a strong healer and leader for her people. And then there's Chekeken, a Tehuelche woman who was once kidnapped and sold but escaped. Her son will bear a great lineage. But most unforgettable of all is Pirenrayen, Llankaray's grandmother. Her story collides with the arrival of the railroad in Patagonia--and with a man named Liam O'Sullivan. Born a world away in Dublin, with dreams of becoming a railroad engineer, Liam couldn't be more different from Pirenrayen. But they both witness the oppression of their people under British power. And they find in each other a love for the ages...
This atmospheric novel about friendship and self-discovery from Korean author Hyun-Joo Park buzzes with romance, mystery, and just a hint of danger.Romi is an illustrator and hopeless romantic. When she can't stop obsessing over a brief encounter with a handsome stranger, there's just one thing to do: hop on a plane and find him.But Romi's not leaving without her two best friends. Hadam, a budding filmmaker, suggests the trip in the first place. Facing her fear of failure, she envisions Romi's search for love as the perfect subject for her first documentary. And Chakyung, marketing pro, sees a chance to build a new ad campaign for her cosmetics client--plus get some quality "me time" to figure out why she's secretly so unhappy.The journey from Seoul to Jeju Island goes off without a hitch. The emerald waterfalls and sandy beaches are a balm to the trio's souls. But then misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and a mysterious stalker stir up trouble in paradise. Will a conspiracy to nab a legendary queen bee keep these friends from discovering real love--and purpose?
From the acclaimed author of The Blue Book of Nebo comes a heartbreaking journey into a small town's grief when their beloved golden girl is found murdered.Greta Pugh is dead.The small village of Bethesda, Wales, is no stranger to tragedy. Once a thriving, prosperous community, the town has been marred by an ever-deepening class divide. But now, with rich and popular Greta Pugh found murdered in the local quarry, everyone in Bethesda is rattled, and all their secrets are at risk.No one is more aware of this than Greta's friends, especially Shane, a classmate and the son of the Pughs' cleaner. Everyone knows more than they're letting on, but when the police and the media descend with all their probing questions, there's soon nowhere left to hide the answers.As Shane watches the investigation unfold, he grapples with everything he knows about the Pugh family and all he's learning about the people around them. Each revelation brings the town a step closer to the truth of who killed Greta...but only one person may truly know why.
In this lighthearted romp through New York City, two clashing authors must blend their differences to prove every story is worth telling and that some genres--like people--work better together.Siobhan Harris doesn't think of her minimum-wage life in Manhattan as aspirational, but when her debut novel is published, she becomes an instant bestseller and a romance sensation. With fame comes foes, however, and Siobhan finds herself embroiled in a Twitter feud that's about to change the course of her career just as it's beginning.An established crime novelist, Marcel Black is savvy in the ways of the publishing world but less than an expert on the merits of romance. So when his opinions are publicly challenged by the fresh-faced Siobhan, Marcel doubles down until their heated back-and-forth ends with an influencer's challenge: to put their genres' compatibility to the test, Siobhan and Marcel should write a book together.To leave their mark, this unlikely pair will have to contend with differences in taste, style, and experience...and the building tension between them that's looking a lot less like enemies' contention and a lot more like a love connection.
It's her struggling bakery. But it's his reality show. More than tempers will flare in a warmhearted and positively delicious opposites-attract romantic comedy.Nora Jansson will do anything to save her parents' beloved bakery from bankruptcy, even if it means allowing a TV reality crew into her kitchen and her life. Not to mention celebrity pastry chef Henrik Eklund, its impossibly rude host who's happy to point out Nora's baking missteps--on cue. It's bringing out her feisty side.Nora's sourdough starter isn't exactly Henrik's biggest worry. His popularity is slipping, and his production team has an idea for making this a blockbuster season: fake flirt. A spicy enemies-to-friends romance will be good for the show and a boon to Nora's business. So, for the cameras, let the sparks fly.Somewhere between saffron buns and after-hours mulled wine socials, Nora's seeing a gentler side to the charismatic star. And Henrik is getting closer to Nora--not just on-screen. What's pretend and what's getting real? Soon there will be more on the line than high ratings and the bakery's survival.
From the author of After the Crash comes a gripping new thriller about one woman's descent into grief and madness after her ten-year-old son disappears without a trace.Maddi Libéri is a successful doctor living an idyllic life in the South of France. On the morning of her son's tenth birthday, they walk to the beach together. The boy presses for a quick swim, but when the surf is too rough, she sends him off to buy a baguette instead.He never returns.Ten years later, Maddi stands at the spot where she last saw her son. A pilgrimage of sorts. And she can't believe her eyes. There, standing at the water's edge, is a young boy--and he looks exactly like her son. Same face, same suit...even the same birthmark.Rattled, Maddi becomes obsessed with the boy. She upends her life to get closer to him. And the more she learns about her son's doppelgänger, the more unhinged she becomes. Dangerous secrets brought to light put people's lives at risk, and plot twists reveal truths you'll never see coming.This book contains a few occurrences of upside-down text.
In Irma Venter's follow-up to the electric Hard Rain, Ranna Abramson returns home to the lion's den to resurrect a long-dead past and save the man she loves.Ranna Abramson wants to disappear.But she knows she can't keep running when a former enemy tracks her down in Mumbai with dire news: her onetime lover, journalist Alex Derksen, has disappeared back home in South Africa.Torn between her desire for him and fear of a homecoming, Ranna knows she's the only one who can find him. But only two things in South Africa would welcome her--the inside of a cell or the bottom of a grave. There, to the police she's the prime suspect in three murders. To the press, she's the Black Widow serial killer.Despite her instinct to stay away, Ranna makes the journey. But the key to finding Alex lies in her painful past. And to uncover it, she'll need to unravel a web of secrets tied to a long-forgotten crime.Even if she finds Alex before it's too late, Ranna must answer for past sins...or risk losing him forever.
Marianne Jidhoff is having trouble getting back on her feet after the death of her husband, Hans. As Stockholm's Attorney General, Hans was known as much for his marital indiscretions as his ability to solve complex cases. But Olle Lundqvist, Lead Prosecutor at the department and Marianne's friend of many years, knows that she was the brain behind Hans's success. He persuades her to come back to work, and she quickly shakes her grief as she finds herself at the center of a series of mysterious killings among Stockholm's upper echelons. Marianne teams up with the brash and handsome investigator Torsten Ehn to find out who is behind the murders, and together they uncover a kinky secret society populated by the city's elite.This sexy twist on the Scandinavian crime tradition--dubbed Elegant Crime by the author--is both a colorful glimpse into the rarefied world of Sweden's rich and powerful and a beguiling mystery featuring a cast of unforgettable characters.
A fearless young heroine ventures into a Parisian underworld court of conspiring vampires in this sweeping alternate history.The vampire King Louis XIV reigns supreme over a terrorized France, determined to protect his empire at any cost. When a mysterious renegade vampire named the Lady of Miracles ascends to power in an underworld Parisian court and claims the city for herself, Louis feels threatened for the first time in centuries.His secret weapon to fight back? Mademoiselle Diane de Gastefriche, a young baronette who earned the king's trust through her own cunning and wit. He sends Diane to squash the new threat to his power. But King Louis has no idea that this feisty girl's real name is Jeanne Froidelac: she is an infiltrated commoner, whose secret mission is to destroy him and rid the world of the vampiric tyranny.Caught between a vengeful king and a ruthless rival, Jeanne embarks on a quest that could alter the kingdom's destiny--and expose a powerful secret that she will do anything to protect.
"Dixen excels at concocting unexpected detours and jaw-dropping cliffhangers. Anne Rice fans will be especially enthralled." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)A fiery heroine seeks vengeance against a royal court of deadly vampires in this epic alternate history set in lavish Versailles.Louis XIV transformed from the Sun King into the King of Shadows when he embraced immortality and became the world's first vampire. For the last three centuries, he has been ruling the kingdom from the decadent Court of Shadows in Versailles, demanding the blood of his subjects to sate his nobles' thirst and maintain their loyalty.In the heart of rural France, commoner Jeanne Froidelac witnesses the king's soldiers murder her family and learns of her parents' role in a brewing rebellion involving the forbidden secrets of alchemy. To seek her revenge, Jeanne disguises herself as an aristocrat and enrolls in a prestigious school for aspiring courtiers. She soon finds herself at the doors of the palace of Versailles.But Jeanne, of course, is no aristocrat. She dreams not of court but of blood.The blood of a king.
In this richly unnerving tale about family secrets and expectations, two sisters are at lifelong odds with each other, their mother, and themselves--and as every hour becomes more twisted than the last, they are all pushed to their breaking point.Lovely and Beauty know their place: at home, beneath the watchful eye of their mother. Life has never included friends, an education, or anything the sisters can call their own. Their comings and goings are supervised by Farida. Otherwise, they don't come and go at all.That changes on Lovely's fortieth birthday. In a stroke of inexplicable fortune, Farida permits her eldest daughter to go to the Gausia Market alone, with no instructions but to abide by her curfew. For once on her own, Lovely is goaded by the voice in her head to push her mother's--and her own--boundaries.New experiences and old memories abound as her family awaits her return. But with the taste of freedom so fresh on her tongue, Lovely is spurred on by her disembodied companion to hang on to her newfound independence. When home isn't a safe haven, Lovely must find somewhere else to turn.
A passionate musician growing up in the war-torn streets of Kabul takes her forbidden talents abroad in this triumphant memoir from debut author Zarifa Adiba.As an Afghan girl, Zarifa Adiba has big, unfathomable dreams. Her family is poor, her country mired in conflict. Walking to school in Kabul, Zarifa has to navigate suicide bombers.But Zarifa perseveres, nurturing her passion for music despite its "sinful" nature in Afghan culture. At sixteen, she gains admission to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and at eighteen she becomes the lead violist, conductor, and spokesperson for Zohra, the first all-female orchestra in the Muslim world.Despite Zarifa's accomplishments--which include a stunning performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland--her future in music demands a reckoning with her life back home. Many of the girls in Zohra are forced to marry, but Zarifa yearns to study, travel, and explore her independence. Her so-called bad girl identity puts her at odds with her culture and her family.Playing for Freedom is the deeply compelling story of a woman who dares to compose a masterpiece even with all odds stacked against her.
A catastrophic disaster in China triggers a mother's heartbreaking choice and a daughter's reconciliation with the past in a powerful novel by the author of A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet.In the summer of 1976, an earthquake swallows up the city of Tangshan, China. Among the hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for survival is a mother who makes an agonizing decision that irrevocably changes her life and the lives of her children. In that devastating split second, her seven-year-old daughter, Xiaodeng, is separated from her brother and the mother she loves and trusts. All Xiaodeng remembers of the fateful morning is betrayal.Thirty years later, Xiaodeng is an acclaimed writer living in Canada with a caring husband and daughter. However, her newfound fame and success do little to cover the deep wounds that disrupt her life, time and again, and edge her toward a breaking point. Xiaodeng realizes the only path toward healing is to return to Tangshan, find her mother, and get closure.Spanning three decades of the emotional and cultural aftershocks of disaster, Zhang Ling's intimate epic explores the damage of guilt, the healing pull of family, and the hope of one woman who, after so many years, still longs to be saved.
The charismatic protagonist from MarÃa Dueñas's international bestseller The Time In Between returns in a sweeping novel of love and intrigue set against the tumultuous aftermath of World War II.Former seamstress turned couturier turned spy Sira Quiroga is finally ready to embrace serenity with her British diplomat husband, Marcus, and the upcoming prospect of motherhood. But tranquility proves elusive. Fate has other plans for Sira.Installed in Jerusalem under the British Mandate, and enmeshed in the murky world of shady operators, political menace, and catastrophic violence, Sira finds her future with Marcus put to the ultimate test. Forced to reinvent herself again, Sira travels to England and adopts a new identity as a journalist dispatched to Spain. But as her skills at cunning duplicity are put into play, the ghosts of her past follow, bent on wreaking havoc in her life.Moving from turbulent Jerusalem and austere London to Franco's Madrid and colonial Tangier, and peopled with formidable real-life historical figures, Sira cuts an unforgettable path through the danger, stratagems, chaos, and promise of some of the most momentous events of the postwar era.
Hardworking London governess Helen Davenport longs for a family of her own but knows the prospect of finding a suitable husband grows dimmer each year. Then she spots an advertisement seeking wives for the churchgoing bachelors of colonial New Zealand and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer.Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, society life bores Gwyneira Silkham, beautiful, daring daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder. She finds an unexpected escape when her father loses a blackjack hand to a mysterious New Zealand baron ΓÇö and GwynΓÇÖs hand in marriage goes to the baronΓÇÖs son.The women cross paths on the ship to Christchurch ΓÇö Helen traveling steerage, Gwyn first class ΓÇö and form an unlikely friendship, one theyΓÇÖll rely on when the husbands awaiting them turn out very different than theyΓÇÖd imagined.This nineteenth-century saga of two unforgettable young women ΓÇö navigating a new world and finding friendship, romance, and adventure at every turn ΓÇö is as lush and sweeping as the hills of New Zealand themselves.
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