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The powerful, true story of a Holocaust survivor told by her daughter—a tale that reminds us of the resilience of the soul and the ability of the heart to heal.
A BRILLIANT LIFE
A Brilliant Life by Rachelle Unreich
As Mira is nearing the end of her life, her daughter Rachelle wants to find out how her mother had lived through four concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and a Death March. There was a mystery to her survival, it seemed—which perhaps had something to do with the strange things that always happened around her. And, incredibly, when giving testimony later in life, she says that it was during this time—despite witnessing the depths of man’s cruelty—that she learned about “the goodness of people.”
Born in Czechoslovakia, Mira was only 12 years old when World War II broke out. At 88, living in Australia, she is diagnosed with cancer, and her journalist daughter decides to interview her to distract her from her illness. What Rachelle discovers about her mother helps her fit together the jigsaw pieces of her own life. A Brilliant Life portrays not only how remote a prospect it was to live through the Holocaust, but what it is like to be the child of a survivor.
A story of love, loss, wonder and the deepest kind of faith, A Brilliant Life questions the role that fate, chance and destiny play in one’s life. It is a tribute to family, a story of incredible resilience and a chronicle of the deep connection between mother and child that not even death can destroy.
Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Acclaimed, internationally bestselling author Caz Frear ratchets up the suspense in this outstanding standalone psychological thriller—a gripping tale of revenge, loyalty, and the secrets hidden between the walls of the most beautiful home in town.
FIVE BAD DEEDS
Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear
Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .
Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling nonstop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail, declaring:
People have to learn there are consequences, Ellen.
And I’m going to teach you that lesson.
Right under your nose.
Why would someone send her this? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel—a white lie here, an occasional sharp tongue there—but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy. She’d never intentionally hurt anyone.
But intention doesn’t matter to someone. Someone blames this supposed “good person” for all the bad they’ve experienced. And maybe they have reason to? Because few of us get through life without leaving a black mark on someone else’s. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong?
As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her reputation and her future, Ellen continues to receive increasingly threatening messages . . . each one hitting closer to everything she cherishes.
Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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On a beautiful September afternoon, a hike through the pristine wild of Still Waters Chasm becomes a path of mystery and deadly danger for Gabriela Domenici and her boyfriend, Daniel Red Deer.
THE SECRETS OF STILL WATERS CHASM
The Secrets of Still Waters Chasm by Patricia Crisafulli
On a beautiful September afternoon, a hike through the pristine wild of Still Waters Chasm becomes a path of mystery and deadly danger for Gabriela Domenici and her boyfriend, Daniel Red Deer. First, they take a side trail to an inexplicable construction site in the middle of the woods, where every tree has been cut down and a huge truck bearing strange-looking equipment is parked in the middle. As they continue their hike to the lake, they find a man convulsing with his last breaths, not far from the lifeless body of a woman. After going for help, Gabriela and Daniel return to the scene—only to find the two people and their canoe and gear are gone. It seems impossible that two bodies could revive and leave on their own, but there is no other explanation.
When she conducts a library outreach program in the rural Town of Livery, near Still Waters Chasm, Gabriela discovers a community that is both curious and suspicious. There, she meets Lucinda Nanz, an herbalist whose encyclopedic knowledge of plants for help and harm is both fascinating and troubling, and Wendy Haughton, a young woman who desperately wants to sell an old drawing of unknown origin so she can escape her abusive husband. Despite the state police’s warnings to stay out of the investigation, and Daniel’s urging to not get involved, Gabriela cannot stay away from Livery and Still Waters Chasm—which puts her on a collision course with yet another murder and people who will stop at nothing to prevent her from getting too close to the truth that could destroy chasm.
Purchase Links
Woodhall Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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“This unusual and satisfying near-future time-travel adventure fires on all cylinders.” —Publishers Weekly
A QUANTUM LOVE STORY
A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood
The only thing harder than finding someone in a time loop is losing them.
Grieving her best friend’s recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda’s ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career—after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator.
Except the strangest thing happens: a man stops her…and claims they’ve met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she’s mourning, why she’s there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he’s saying.
Because time is about to loop.
In a flash of energy, it’s Monday morning. Again. Together, Mariana and Carter enter an inevitable life, four days at a time, over and over, without permanence except for what they share.
But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter’s memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop—forever.
Also by Mike Chen:
HERE AND NOW AND THEN
A BEGINNING AT THE END
WE COULD BE HEROES
LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Purchase Links
MIRA | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Set against a high-society Shanghai wedding, a heartfelt, funny, dazzling novel about a reluctant bride and her two best friends, each with their own motives and fed up with the way society treats women, who forge a plan to steal all the gift money on the big day
WOMEN OF GOOD FORTUNE
Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
“Joyous, indulgent, immensely clever.” —Grace D. Li
“A glittering debut and delightful romp.” —Carley Fortune
Lulu has always been taught that money is the ticket to a good life. So, when Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor surprises her with a proposal, the only acceptable answer is yes, even if the voice inside her head is saying no. His family’s fortune would solve all her parents’ financial woes, but Lulu isn’t in love or ready for marriage.
The only people she can confide in are her two best friends: career-minded Rina, who is tired of being passed over for promotion while her male colleagues are rewarded; and Jane, a sharp-tongued, luxury-chasing housewife desperate to divorce her husband and trade up. Each of them desires something different: freedom, time, beauty. None of them can get it without money.
Lulu’s wedding is their golden opportunity. The social event of the season, it means more than enough cash gifts to transform the women’s lives. To steal the money on the big day, all they’ll need is a trustworthy crew and a brilliant plan. But as the plot grows increasingly complicated and relationships are caught in the cross fire, the women are forced to face that having it all might come at a steep price…
Purchase Links
Graydon House | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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The author of the “twisty, fast-paced” (The Sunday Times, London) Greenwich Park returns with a fresh and deftly paced thriller about murder, class, and motherhood in an exclusive London community.
THE OTHER MOTHERS
The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner
When a young nanny is found dead in mysterious circumstances, new mom, Tash, is intrigued. She has been searching for a story to launch her career as a freelance journalist. But she has also been searching for something else—new friends to help her navigate motherhood.
She sees them at her son’s new playgroup. The other mothers. A group of sleek, sophisticated women who live in a neighborhood of tree-lined avenues and stunning houses. The sort of mothers Tash herself would like to be. When the mothers welcome her into their circle, Tash discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of—their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills. She is quickly swept up into their wealthy world via coffees, cocktails, and playdates.
But when another young woman is found dead, it’s clear there’s much more to the community than meets the eye. The more Tash investigates, the more she’s led uncomfortably close to the other mothers. Are these women really her friends? Or is there another, more dangerous reason why she has been so quickly accepted into their exclusive world? Who, exactly, is investigating who?
Purchase Links
Gallery Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Readers of Tana French, Lucy Foley, and Dervla McTiernan will be spellbound by the USA Today bestselling author’s unsettling, atmospheric suspense novel set in Ireland’s rugged countryside. Combining an eerie and atmospheric backdrop with compulsively taut plotting, a twisty mystery unfolds as an Irish veterinarian contends with life, death, and the fatal secrets at the heart of her small oceanside community…
NO STRANGERS HERE
No Strangers Here: A Riveting Irish Thriller (A County Kerry Novel) by Carlene O’Connor
BookBub Best Mysteries and Thrillers of Fall
On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of a wealthy racehorse owner Johnny O’Reilly has been discovered. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. But faced with a triple bombshell—her mother is rumored to have been in a relationship with Johnny, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to Dingle to clear her family of suspicion. And as she takes over the family practice, she finds herself in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth behind murder, no matter how close to home it strikes…
“Compelling… this is the best of O’Connor’s Irish mysteries to date.”—Kirkus STARRED REVIEW
Purchase Links
Kensington | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Fans of Lizzy Dent, Sarah Haywood, Sophie Cousens, Linda Holmes, and Jenny Bayliss will love the blend of deep soul searching, propitious romance, and a snowy setting in this insightful story about a woman finding the next phase of her life in a totally unexpected way.
REASONABLE ADULTS
Reasonable Adults by Robin Lefler
At a crossroads both personally and professionally, a newly single, thirty-something marketing exec takes a chance on a too-good-to-be-true winter job at an exclusive artists’ retreat in the wilds of Canada – only to find out she’s way in over her head – in this sharply written, relatable, and hilarious debut novel.
The morning after a humiliating post-breakup social media post (#sponsoredbywine), Kate Rigsby learns she’s lost her marketing job along with her almost-fiancé. Worse, she realizes how little she truly cared about either. Craving a reset, Kate flees the big-city life she spent many years building—and almost as many doubting—to take a temporary gig at Treetops, a swanky, off-the-grid creative retreat in Muskoka, complete with meditation circles, deluxe spa, and artisanal cocktails. At least, that’s what the brochure promises . . .
The reality is a struggling resort that’s stuck in the 1990s, fax machine included. Kate’s office is a bunker, her boss is a nightmare, and at night she shares a freezing hut with her seventy-pound Goldendoodle. Then there’s the sexy, off-limits coworker whose easy smile and lumberjack forearms are distracting Kate from the already near-impossible task of making this snowbound oasis profitable.
On the upside, the surroundings are breathtaking. The Treetops crew is quirky and (mostly) kind. And somehow, Kate’s starting to feel new enthusiasm for her career—and her life. In fact, she’s daring to challenge herself in ways she never dreamed of before.
With wit and heart, Reasonable Adults explores the crossroads we all face—and how a detour born of disaster can take us just where we need to go.
Purchase Links
Kensington | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan returns with another heartfelt exploration of change, the power of books to heal, and the enduring strength of female friendship. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Jennifer Weiner.
THE BOOK CLUB HOTEL
The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
“The Book Club Hotel is a gift…the perfect escape-and-find-yourself novel.”–Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author
With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.
But when Erica, Claudia and Anna–lifelong friends who seem to have it all–check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life’s ups and downs. But Hattie can see they’re also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.
In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?
Purchase Links
Harlequin | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary…
THE LOST APOTHECARY
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.
Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.
With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.
Purchase Links
Park Row | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Please fill out our super short registration form (click the “Enter Now” button above) by December 31st for a chance to win a set of up to ten copies of one of these great books for your book club! We will randomly choose a winner at the end of the month. This giveaway is open to clubs in the US only (our apologies to friends in other countries).