Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (March 27, 2012)

“I study the photo in the same way that a spy might study the face of a counterpart in a rival organization. I am calm as I make this promise: I am going to find out what you love, then whatever it is, I am going to track it down and I am going to take it away from you.”

After the death of Laura’s nine-year-old daughter, Betty, is ruled an accident in a hit-and-run, Laura decides to take revenge into her own hands, determined to track down the man responsible. All the while, her inner turmoil is reopening the old wounds of her passionate love affair with Betty’s father, David, and his abandonment of the family for another woman.

Haunted by her past and driven to a breaking point by her thirst for retribution, Laura discovers the unforeseen lengths she is willing to go to for love and vengeance.

About Louise Doughty

Louise Doughty is the author of the novels Crazy Paving, Dance with Me, Honey-Dew, Fires in the Dark, and Stone Cradle, as well as the nonfiction book A Novel in a Year, based on her popular newspaper column. She has written plays for radio and has worked widely as a critic, broadcasting regularly for BBC Radio 4. She lives in London.

Visit Louise at her website.

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 13, 2012)

What other explanation could there be? With her dark complexion and kinky hair, so unlike her fair-skinned parents, Lara knew she was different. At eight she finally learned the word “adopted.” Twenty-two years later, a stranger arrives as she blows out the candles on her thirtieth birthday cake—a woman in a blue-and-black head tie who also claims the title “Lara’s mother.”

Lara, always in control, now finds her life slipping free of the stranglehold she’s had on it. Unexpected, dangerously unfamiliar emotions are turning Lara’s life upside down, pulling her between Nigeria and London, forcing her to confront the truth about her past. But if she’s brave enough to embrace the lives of her two mothers, she may discover once and for all what it truly means to be Lara.

About Lola Jaye

Lola Jaye was born and raised in London, England, where she still makes her home; she has also lived briefly in Nigeria. By the Time You Read This—Lola’s first U.S. novel—was published by HarperCollins in 2009. Her inspirational essay “Reaching for the Stars: How You Can Make Your Dreams Come True,” in which she charted her journey from foster child to author, was released in 2009 as part of the U.K.’s wildly popular Quick Reads program.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 6, 2012)

In thirty days Clementine Pritchard will be finished with her last painting and her life.

World-renowned artist and sharp-tongued wit Clementine Pritchard has decided that she’s done. After flushing away a medicine cabinet full of prescriptions, she gives herself thirty days to tie up loose ends—finish one last painting, make nice with her ex-husband, and find a home for her cat. Clementine plans to spend the month she has left in a swirl of art-world parties, manic work sessions, and outrageous acts—but what she doesn’t expect is to uncover secrets surrounding the tragedy that befell her mother and sister. In an ending no one sees coming, will we lose Clementine or will we find her?

A bold debut from an exciting new voice, Losing Clementine is a wonderfully entertaining and poignant novel about unanticipated self-discovery that features one of the most irresistible, if deeply flawed, characters to grace contemporary fiction in years.

About Ashley Ream

Ashley Ream got her first job at a newspaper when she was sixteen. After working in newsrooms across Missouri, Florida, and Texas, she gave up deadlines to pursue fiction. She lives in Los Angeles and works at a nonprofit.

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• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (March 13, 2012)

Free-spirited Annie Quintana and sophisticated Julia St. Clair come from two different worlds. Yet, as the daughter of the St. Clairs’ housekeeper, Annie grew up in Julia’s San Francisco mansion and they forged a bond that only two little girls oblivious to class differences could—until a life-altering betrayal destroyed their friendship.

A decade later, Annie bakes to fill the void left in her heart by her mother’s death, and a painful secret jeopardizes Julia’s engagement to the man she loves. A chance reunion prompts the unlikely duo to open a cupcakery, but when a mysterious saboteur opens up old wounds, they must finally face the truth about their past or risk losing everything.

About Meg Donohue

Meg Donohue has an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughters, dog, and a weakness for salted caramel cupcakes.

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• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Crown (April 24, 2012)

From the author of the acclaimed bestseller Sister comes a gripping, thrilling story of a mother who will do anything to protect her child.

The school was on fire, and Grace’s last memory is of trying to reach her daughter, Jenny, trapped inside the inferno.  While their bodies are frantically cared for by doctors, Grace and Jenny awaken in the hospital in a strange in-between state.  When they learn that someone purposefully set the fire, and Jenny may still be in grave danger from someone who wants her dead, Grace realizeds she may be the only one who can discover who might be responsible.  The police are looking at Adam, Jenny’s younger brother, who is struck mute by the horror he witnessed and can’t defend himself when he is accused of the arson.

But a mother will do anything to protect her children, and Grace will do whatever it takes to save Adam and Jenny and find out who committed the crime that rocked their lives.

“Lupton enters the highly charged ring where the best psychological detective writers spar, her hands raised in a victory clench…”–New York Times Book Review

About Rosamund Lupton

Rosamund Lupton lives with her husband and two sons in London.

For more information on Rosamund and her work, please visit her website, rosamundlupton.com, her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter @Rosamundlupton.

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• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Deluxe edition (February 28, 2012)

When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les Genévriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the south of France. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive. But as verdant summer fades to golden autumn, the grand house’s strange and troubling mysteries begin to unfold—and Eve now must uncover its every secret . . . before dark history can repeat itself.

About Deborah Lawrenson

Deborah Lawrenson grew up in Kuwait, China, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Singapore. She studied English at Cambridge University and has worked as a journalist for various publications in England, including the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and Woman’s Journal magazine. She lives in Kent, England, and she and her family spend as much time as possible at a crumbling hamlet in Provence, France, the setting for The Lantern.

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• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 14, 2012)

Reminiscent of novels by Nick Hornby, Muriel Barbery, and Jonathan Tropper, internationally acclaimed novelist David Foenkinos delivers a heartfelt and deftly comedic tale of new love brightening the dark aftermath of loss—and of wounded hearts finding refuge in the strangest of places. After her husband’s unexpected death, Natalie has erected a fortress around her emotions—and Markus, clumsy and unassuming, will never be her knight in shining armor. Yet slowly but surely, an offbeat romance begins between these two mismatched, complex souls, and contrary to everything Natalie knows of affection, her perfect suitor may turn out to be love’s most unlikely candidate—the fool, not the hero, who is finally able to reach her heart.

About David Foenkinos

David Foenkinos is a French novelist and screenwriter. His novels have been translated into twenty-five languages and garnered ten awards around the world. Delicacy, which was first published in France, garnered nominations for all five major French literary prizes and has sold one million copies. Delicacy is now a film starring Audrey Tautou of Amelie and will be released in the United States in March 2012. David lives in Paris.

David’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, February 14th: The Lost Entwife

Wednesday, February 15th: Reading Lark

Thursday, February 16th: For the love of books

Thursday, February 16th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Monday, February 20th: Book Hooked Blog

Tuesday, February 21st: Life In Review

Monday, February 27th: Colloqium

Wednesday, February 29th: girlichef

Wednesday, February 29th: Books Like Breathing

Thursday, March 1st: Good Girl Gone Redneck

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 7, 2012)

As a teenager, Hannah Benson ran away from home in order to save herself. Now, twenty years later, the past comes calling and delivers life-changing news: her mother and sister have passed away, leaving Hannah the guardian of her fifteen-year-old niece.

Returning home to bitter memories and devastating secrets, Hannah must overcome her painful past to pave a future with her niece, the last best chance at a family for both of them. She begins to create a new, happier life with her niece and rekindles a relationship with Grady Steadman, one of the few people she’s ever called a friend.

But she can’t forget what she cannot forgive, or lay to rest those ghosts that will not die. Will love and trust—and the truth—give her the strength to stand her ground and fight for what she deserves?

About Mary Kay McComas

Mary Kay McComas started her writing career twenty-five years ago. To date she’s written twenty-one short contemporary romances and five novellas; What Happened to Hannah is her second novel. She was born in Spokane, Washington, and now lives in a small town in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband, three dogs, a cat, and her four children nearby.

Website

Mary’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, February 7th: Life in the Thumb

Wednesday, February 8th: Tina’s Book Reviews

Thursday, February 9th: A Bookish Affair

Monday, February 13th: The Book Bag

Wednesday, February 15th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, February 16th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Monday, February 20th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Tuesday, February 21st: Book Hooked Blog

Wednesday, February 22nd: Raging Bibliomania

Thursday, February 23rd: Library of Clean Reads

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 7, 2012)

When fifteen-year-old Jake Bergamot receives—and then forwards to a friend—a sexually explicit video that an eighth-grade admirer sent to him, the video goes viral within hours. The scandal that ensues threatens to shatter his family’s sense of security and identity—and, ultimately, their happiness. This Beautiful Life is a devastating, clear-eyed portrait of modern life that will have readers debating their assumptions about family, morality, and the choices we make in the name of love.

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About Helen Schulman

Helen Schulman is the author of the novels A Day at the Beach, P.S., The Revisionist, and Out of Time, as well as the short story collection Not a Free Show. An associate professor of writing at The New School, she lives in New York City.

Helen’s Tour Stops

Thursday, February 9th: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, February 13th: “That’s Swell!”

Tuesday, February 14th: Book Journey

Wednesday, February 15th: A Soul Unsung

Thursday, February 16th: Luxury Reading

Friday, February 17th: There’s A Book

Monday, February 20th: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, February 21st: Everyday I Write the Book

Wednesday, February 22nd: A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Tuesday, February 28th: The Betty and Boo Chronicles

Wednesday, February 29th: Book Hooked Blog

Thursday, March 1st: Reviews By Lola

Monday, March 5th: Chunky Monkey

Tuesday, March 6th: Book Club Classics!

Wednesday, March 7th: The Book Bag

Thursday, March 8th: Suko’s Notebook

Friday, March 9th: Stiletto Storytime

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper (January 24, 2012)

When her widower father drowns at sea, Gemma Hardy is taken from her native Iceland to Scotland to live with her kind uncle and his family. But the death of her doting guardian leaves Gemma under the care of her resentful aunt, and it soon becomes clear that she is nothing more than an unwelcome guest at Yew House. When she receives a scholarship to a private school, ten-year-old Gemma believes she’s found the perfect solution and eagerly sets out again to a new home. However, at Claypoole she finds herself treated as an unpaid servant.

To Gemma’s delight, the school goes bankrupt, and she takes a job as an au pair on the Orkney Islands. The remote Blackbird Hall belongs to Mr. Sinclair, a London businessman; his eight-year-old niece is Gemma’s charge. Even before their first meeting, Gemma is, like everyone on the island, intrigued by Mr. Sinclair. Rich (by Gemma’s standards), single, flying in from London when he pleases, Hugh Sinclair fills the house with life. An unlikely couple, the two are drawn to each other, but Gemma’s biggest trial is about to begin: a journey of passion and betrayal, redemption and discovery, that will lead her to a life of which she’s never dreamed.

Set in Scotland and Iceland in the 1950s and ’60s, The Flight of Gemma Hardy—a captivating homage to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre—is a sweeping saga that resurrects the timeless themes of the original but is destined to become a classic all its own.

As The Flight of Gemma Hardy is an homage to Jane Eyre, Harper is also offering a copy of Jane Eyre to tour participants should they want to read both books in order to compare them. This is not a requirement for participation, but would add another level of interest in reading The Flight of Gemma Hardy.

About Margot Livesey

Margot Livesey is the acclaimed author of the novels The House on Fortune Street, Banishing Verona, Eva Moves the Furniture, The Missing World, Criminals, and Homework. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic, and she is the recipient of grants from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. The House on Fortune Street won the 2009 L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award. Livesey was born in Scotland and grew up on the edge of the Highlands. She lives in the Boston area and is a distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Emerson College.

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Margo’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, January 30th: Just Joanna *

Wednesday, February 1st: Book Reviews by Molly *

Thursday, February 2nd: A Library of My Own

Tuesday, February 14th: Much Madness is Divine Sense

Wednesday, February 15th: Into the Hall of Books

Thursday, February 16th: Chaotic Compendiums *

Monday, February 20th: Luxury Reading

Tuesday, February 21st: Coffee and A Book Chick

Tuesday, February 21st: The Whimsical Cottage

Wednesday, February 22nd: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, February 23rd: Book Nook Club

Tuesday, February 28th: It’s a Crazy, Beautiful Life

Wednesday, February 29th: ooldes of books

Thursday, March 1st: Book Clutter

Monday, March 5th: Book Journey

Tuesday, March 6th: Drey’s Library

Wednesday, March 7th: Book-a-rama

Thursday, March 8th: Unabridged Chick *

* also reading Jane Eyre