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The View From Lake Como

Adriana Trigiani

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, a “dazzling” storyteller (Washington Post), and a “comedy writer with a heart of gold” (NYT), comes a novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late. 

Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close.

In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from Bobby Bilancia, “the perfect husband," Jess moves into her parents’ basement to hide and heal. Jess is the overlooked daughter, who dutifully takes care of her parents, cooks Sunday dinner, and puts herself last. Despite her role as the family handmaiden, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her dapper uncle Louie, who believes she can do anything (once she invests in a better wardrobe). 

When the Capodimonte and Baratta families endure an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy. 

From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany, to the glittering streets of Milan, and on the shores of enchanting Lake Como (the other one), Jess begins to carve a place in this new/old world. When she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who works in gold, she discovers her own skills are priceless. But as Jess uncovers the truth about her family history, it will change the course of her life and those she loves the most forever. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life. 

Fed by the author’s cherished Italian roots comes a bighearted, hilarious novel of the moment: the story of one woman’s determination to live a creative life that matters, with enough room left over for love. With a one-way ticket to Italy, Jess is determined to write a new story on her own terms--this time, in stone.

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The Winds from Further West

Alexander McCall Smith

From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a dazzling and uplifting novel of new beginnings and endless possibilities, in which a slew of personal and professional disasters cause a young researcher to upend his seemingly stable life in Edinburgh and move to a remote island off the Scottish coast.

Dr. Neil Anderson has just started a new position at the University of Edinburgh when he meets Chrissie, an intelligent and ambitious colleague at the institute. Before long, the two move into a gorgeous flat on the south side of the city. Things seem to be going well for Neil, until an accusation of insensitive comments lands him in hot water with the university and he discovers a troubling secret about his relationship. Suddenly feeling as though his life is unraveling, he leaves everything behind for the remote and secluded beauty of the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland.

Not long after his arrival, a ship comes in to the harbor whose cargo—two wolf cubs—will drastically change the course of his life yet again. These cubs spark controversy on the island, leading Neil to Katie, the island’s resident veterinarian, and bring with them the possibility of new beginnings and a budding romance.

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The List Steve Berry

Steve Berry

"Brent Walker is returning home to Concord, a quaint town in central Georgia nestled close to the Savannah River. Ten years ago, after the sudden death of his wife, Brent closed his law practice, said goodbye to his parents, and moved three hundred miles away to a self-imposed exile. His father died two years ago, and now Brent's coming back to take care of his ailing mother, hired by Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company as an assistant general counsel. For decades Southern Republic has invested heavily in Concord, building a paper mill and creating a thriving community, one where its employees live, work, and retire. Unlike countless other mills that have closed Southern Republic survived, becoming a model for the paper industry. But Southern Republic's success is based largely on something called the Priority program, a highly unorthodox way to secretly control costs, one that provides a huge edge over its competition. Only the three owners of the company are aware of the program's existence, but one of them, Christopher Bozin, has had a change of heart. Brent's return to Concord, a move Bozin personally orchestrated, provides a chance at redemption that Bozin desperately wants before cancer takes his life. So a plan is set into motion-one that will not only criminally implicate Bozin's two partners-it will also place Brent Walker right in the crosshairs of men who want him dead. With only one course left available: Find and reveal the shocking secret of the list"--

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The Bewitching

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

“In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s sure hands, every uncovered secret is fraught with intrigue and creeping horror.”—Tananarive Due, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of The Reformatory

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

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Wayward Girls Susan Wiggs

Susan Wiggs

"After decades of bestsellers, Wayward Girls might be Susan Wiggs' opus. A gut-wrenching story of survival, friendship, and justice. Masterful."--Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

"The magnificent Susan Wiggs takes a leap into the history of women..a page-turner, replete with mystery and suspense."--Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs, a wrenching but life-affirming novel based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption. Set in the turbulent Vietnam era in the All-American city of Buffalo, New York, six girls are condemned to forced labor in the laundry of a Catholic reform school.

In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd--a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns--locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.

Mairin-- free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.

Angela--denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.

Helen--the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her "temporary" stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.

Odessa--caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.

Denise--sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.

Janice--deeply insecure, she couldn't decide where her loyalty lay--except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.

Sister Bernadette--rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.

Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption...and justice.

"Compelling...This powerful and unforgettable novel is a poignant and enlightening look into a sad chapter of recent history."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Heart-wrenching...sweeping. This one lingers long after the last page."--Publishers Weekly

"Wayward girls is all about the power of female bonds...this isn't just a moment in time--it's a cautionary tale."--Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name

"Susan Wiggs is at the top of her game. Through the skillful weaving of an endearing cast, Wayward Girls displays the power of sisterhood to survive, conquer, and ultimately heal from the most harrowing of times. An evocative tale packed with resilience and secrets that kept me reading late into the night. I loved it." --Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Girls of Good Fortune

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The White Crow

Michael Robotham

“No one does suspense better.” —Stephen King

Ambitious young London police officer Philomena McCarthy returns in this propulsive thriller by the author of When You Are Mine.

Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds to become a young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite her father and her uncles being notorious London gangsters.

On patrol one night, Philomena finds a barefoot child, covered in blood, who says she can’t wake her mother. Meanwhile, three miles away, a London jeweler has a bomb strapped to his chest in his ransacked store and millions are missing.

These two events collide and threaten Philomena’s career, her new marriage, and her life. In too deep, and falling further, Phil must decide who she can trust—her family or her colleagues—and on what side of the thin blue line she wants to live.

Told in real time from multiple points of view, The White Crow is filled with almost unbearable suspense—a page-turning tour de force that shows Robotham at the top of his game.

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Hamptons Lawyer

James Patterson

 

 

Undefeated criminal defense attorney Jane Smith--known as the Hamptons Lawyer--never fails to make her case.

The Hamptons on Long Island is known for its beautiful beaches, its luxury lifestyle--and its exclusive legal advice. 
When Jane Smith takes on a famous celebrity client, she's armed and ready: with brilliant arguments, hard evidence--and two Glocks. 
Yet she's chased down, shot at, and risks contempt of court. That's when mounting a legal defense turns into self-defense. 
Knowing every day in court could be her last, she's a survivor. For now.

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What the Night Brings

Mark Billingham

What the Night Brings by Mark Billingham is the latest mystery in the bestselling Tom Thorne series, and this time, a killer is targeting the police. Is it payback? And is it justified?

 

"Three dead coppers, Tom, maybe four by lunchtime..."

 

The targeted murder of four officers is only the first in a series of attacks that leaves police scared, angry and, most disturbingly of all, vengeful.

As Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner dig into the reasons for the violence, a deeper darkness begins to emerge: the possibility that these murders are payback. The price paid for an unspeakable betrayal.

 

To uncover the truth, Thorne will be forced to question everything he stands for. He can trust nobody, and the shocking secrets revealed by one terrible night will fracture his entire world.

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Tea with Jam & Dread

Vicki Delany

Cape Cod tearoom owner Lily Roberts leaves New England for old England to attend a party for an aristocratic centenarian—but what goes on there is anything but noble . . .

Long ago, Lily’s grandmother Rose worked as a kitchen maid at Thornecroft Castle, and now Elizabeth, dowager countess of Frockmorton, is celebrating her one hundredth birthday. Rose still has fond feelings for her onetime employer, so a group trip to Yorkshire is planned. It’s also an opportunity for Lily to visit her boyfriend, who’s currently working in England—and to indulge in some British tea.

Much has changed, however, and the ancestral home is now a luxury hotel, which will be closed for a week to accommodate the big bash, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth’s grandson, Julien—leading Lily to overhear an argument among the younger generation about the fate of the family fortune. Little do they know that Elizabeth plans to sell the famous Frockmorton Sapphires out of the family for the first time in centuries . . .

The icing on the cake comes when the jewels suddenly vanish—and things really go nuts when a party guest dies from an allergic reaction to almonds that someone smuggled into Lily’s coronation chicken sandwiches. Now she’ll have to scour the property to find out who would commit murder in such a manor . . .

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That Last Carolina Summer

Karen White

Beloved bestselling author Karen White returns with a captivating Southern drama about sisterhood, secrets and one woman's reckoning with the past

As a child, Phoebe Manigault developed the gift of premonition after she was struck by lightning in the creek near her Charleston home. Plagued throughout her life by mysterious dreams, and always living in the shadow of her beautiful sister, Addie, Phoebe eventually moves to the West Coast, as far from her family as possible. Now, years later, she is summoned back to South Carolina, to help Addie care for their ailing mother.

As Phoebe's return lures her back into deep-rooted tensions and conflicts, she is drawn to Celeste, whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Their connection brings comfort to Phoebe, while Celeste's adult grandson Liam resurrects complicated emotions tied to Phoebe's past.

But the longer Phoebe spends in her childhood home, the more her recurring nightmares intensify--bringing her closer to the shocking truth that will irrevocably change everything. Unfolding against the lush backdrop of the South Carolina Lowcountry, That Last Carolina Summer is an unforgettable story about the unbreakable bonds of family and the gift of second chances.

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The Unraveling of Julia

Lisa Scottoline

In "a delicious escape that blends suspense, atmosphere, and heart" (Danielle Trussoni), #1 international bestselling author Lisa Scottoline crafts a sweeping gothic tale in which a young widow, emotionally distraught after the shocking death of her husband, inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy. Twisty, transportive, and haunting--this is suspense with a passport.







Lately, Julia Pritzker is beginning to think she's cursed. She's lost her adoptive parents, then her husband is murdered. When she realizes that her horoscope essentially foretold his death, she begins to spiral. She fears her fate is written in the stars, not held in her own hands.



Then a letter arrives out of the blue, informing her that she has inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard --but her benefactor is a total stranger named Emilia Rossi. Julia has no information about her biological family, so she wonders if Rossi could be a blood relative. Bewildered, she heads to Tuscany for answers.



There, Julia is horrified to discover that Rossi was a paranoid recluse with delusions of grandeur, who believed herself to be a descendent of Duchess Caterina Sforza, a legendary Renaissance ruler. Julia is stunned by her uncanny resemblance to Rossi, and even to Caterina. Then she unearths eerie parallels between them, including an obsession with astrology.



Before long, Julia suspects she's being followed, and strange things begin to happen. Not even a chance meeting with a handsome Florentine can ease her disturbed mind. When events turn deadly, she breaks with reality. Julia's harrowing struggle becomes a search for her identity, a race to save her sanity, and ultimately, a question of her very survival.

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Inside Job Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva

Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon must solve the perfect crime in the dazzling new tale of murder, greed, and corruption from #1 New York Times bestselling novelist Daniel Silva.

Sometimes the only way to recover a stolen masterpiece is to steal it back . . .

Gabriel Allon has been awarded a commission to restore one of the most important paintings in Venice. But when he discovers the body of a mysterious woman floating in the waters of the Venetian Lagoon, he finds himself in a desperate race to recover a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

The painting, a portrait of a beautiful young girl, has been gathering dust in a storeroom at the Vatican Museums for more than a century, misattributed and hidden beneath a worthless picture by an unknown artist. Because no one knows that the Leonardo is there, no one notices when it disappears one night during a suspicious power outage. No one but the ruthless mobsters and moneymen behind the theft -- and the mysterious woman whom Gabriel found in a watery grave in Venice. A woman without a name. A woman without a face.

The action moves at breakneck speed from the galleries and auction houses of London to an enclave of unimaginable wealth on the French Riviera -- and, finally, to a shocking climax in St. Peter's Square, where the life of a pope hangs in the balance. An elegant and stylish journey through the dark side of the art world and the Vatican's murky finances, An Inside Job proves once again that Daniel Silva is the reigning master of international intrigue and suspense.

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Woman in Suite 11

Ruth Ware

In this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware’s multi-million copy mega-hit The Woman in Cabin 10, Lo Blacklock returns to attend the opening of a luxury hotel, only to find herself in a white-knuckled race across Europe.

When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.

The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.

What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?

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Witch Roads

Kate Elliott

Book 1 in the Witch Roads duology, the latest epic novel by fan favorite Kate Elliott.. 

Status is hereditary, class is bestowed, trust must be earned.

When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen—once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall—is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination.

When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn’t heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn’t the same man who entered.

The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?

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Mother's Love Danielle Steel

Danielle Steel

A devoted mother outrunning a troubled childhood and adapting to an empty nest is tested in ways she never expected in this suspenseful novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel.

On the occasion of her daughter Valerie’s wedding and her upcoming fiftieth birthday, bestselling author Halley Holbrook finds herself reflecting. Raising twins Valerie and Olivia is her proudest accomplishment. Halley has been able to give them the loving and safe home she never had, having survived a childhood so traumatic she’s never talked about it with her girls. Long ago, Halley decided to live in the sunlight of the present, not the dark shadows of the past.

After Valerie moves to Los Angeles with her producer husband, and Olivia follows to remain close to her sister, Halley is empty-nesting in her Fifth Avenue apartment. Facing her first holiday alone in years, she books a trip to Paris.

On the flight over, she meets charming Bart Warner, and the two become fast friends. Halley hasn’t dated since her partner died three years ago, yet she quickly begins to feel more like herself. But when a cunning thief makes off with her handbag and then begins to harass her, it reawakens old ghosts from her past. Vowing not to be a victim, and with Bart’s help, she chooses a bold course of action.

The moving story of a woman determined to give her daughters what she never had—a mother’s love—Danielle Steel’s gripping novel is a story of emotional resilience and truly letting go.

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