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The Secret We Lost by Linda Smolkin
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The Fabric of Us
Kimberly Wenzler - 2018
Their children are settled; Ella is married and planning a family and Nick is starting his senior year at college. After thirty years of sacrifices and struggles for their family, it is finally time to do all the things they've dreamed to do as a couple.Always unpredictable, life has other plans for the Bennets when Olivia gets shocking news that threatens all that she and Chris have built together.* * *Alternating between the past and present, THE FABRIC OF US beautifully unfolds the layers of a devoted marriage, exposing an interwoven thread of secrets and consequences that threaten to unravel a relationship once believed to be built on love, trust and faith.
A Bend in the Stars
Rachel Barenbaum - 2019
Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. Can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much?Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri's fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri's own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance.
Our New Normal
Colleen Faulkner - 2019
Now, with her son off to college, and her ambitious daughter, Hazel, a year away from following him, it's Liv's turn. She's even established her dream career of bringing beautiful old homes back to life in the most picturesque part of Maine.Until she learns that 16-year-old Hazel is three months pregnant.Hazel insists she will have the baby and raise him with her boyfriend, Tyler, who's no one's idea of a model father. Clearly, there are going to be some conflicts to iron out.Liv just doesn't expect them to be with her husband.As it turns out, Liv and Oscar have very different ideas about what to do. Perhaps it's because Liv, who was adopted, has a unique perspective on this baby's future. And perhaps it's because, as a mother, she knows better than anyone how Hazel's young life will be changed forever.As the family fractures in every direction, past resentments and pain come tumbling out. After years of putting others first, Liv wonders if she can do what's best for her daughter, her parents, and her marriage--while still being true to herself.
Tainted
Alexandra Moody - 2014
All she has ever known are the artificial confines of underground fallout shelter, the ARC. Under the Council’s rule, ruthless officials roam the hallways, community comes first and everyone lives in fear of failing their annual testing. With one simple blood test you could be taken away without any warning or a word of goodbye.There are only a few people in the ARC who Elle truly cares about and she desperately tries to keep them at arm’s length away for fear of losing someone else. Especially, her best friend Sebastian who she denies her feelings for, even from herself. Chilling secrets and mysterious disappearances plague the ARC, but Elle would never dare to voice the forbidden questions that linger on her lips. That is until they take the wrong person.No one is truly safe in the ARC and Elle is about to experience her own personal apocalypse. With nothing left to lose she will risk everything to uncover the truth about the tainted.Will she find what she's looking for or are some secrets better left buried deep underground?Don't miss the first book in this young adult series!
An Unexpected Find (Silver Falls #1)
Hayleigh Sol - 2020
They might be perfect for each other...but they haven’t actually met.Will they continue to play it safe or will they risk another heartbreak for a chance at love?Best-selling author Jax Rowland is writing the first book of his next spy thriller series and it's not going well. If he can't create a deeper connection between his characters, he faces more negative reviews from readers fed up with his one-dimensional Bond-girls.Dr. Sophie Grimaldi is successful, single and content to remain that way. Disappointed (or worse) by romantic relationships all her life, the only interest she has in men these days are her delicious book boyfriends. When Sophie discovers a set of handwritten notes between the pages of a library book, curiosity quickly turns to exasperation over the author’s cringe-worthy attempt at a steamy sex scene. Automatically, she scribbles her own version, forgetting all about the page when she returns the book. She never imagines the author will find her revision.Embarrassed to view his work through a mystery critic’s eyes, Jax offers Sophie a job writing the love scenes of his next novel. As sexy emails and flirty texts turn into a friendship teeming with chemistry, Sophie and Jax agree to finally meet in person. But, a series of missed connections and unexpected twists make it clear that fate has other plans for them.Will they heed the warning signs or choose to write their own destiny?**Note: An Unexpected Find was originally published with the title Book Review. This revised version (12/2020) can be read as a standalone or the first in the Silver Falls series. Due to mature content, this book is recommended for readers 18+.
The Passion According to Carmela
Marcos Aguinis - 2008
Their erotic and ideological vicissitudes are driven by a reality they cannot control, like that of Homer’s characters. Invisible gods intervene in their lives to intertwine their physical attraction and intellectual admiration, courage and fear, secrets and unexpected complicity. They build their difficult and beautiful love in one of the most turbulent and romantic scenarios of Latin American history. They swim with the current; they enjoy it and enlarge it. But they are also dragged along by eddies that leave them breathless and turn their world upside down. Aguinis’ titles tend to be paradoxical. However, for this novel, he has preferred to place emphasis on the multiple meanings of the word passion. Passion refers to love, and also to the strength of ideals, to suffering, pleasure, salvation and the yearning for freedom. The emotional combat of the protagonists runs in parallel with the dizzying brilliance of concrete situations. This is what allows the suspense to grab the reader from the first page to the very end. A free-flowing, sweeping, and thrilling rhythm dominates the text, like that of musical passions. It should come as no surprise that this novel—where the voices of the female protagonist, her lover, and the omniscient writer alternate—has been written following Bach’s counterpoint model. From a distance, ineffable, we still hear the resounding epic of another war where the liberators sang to a different Carmela—also a torch, also a passion. Aguinis portrays his creations skillfully and renders them indelible. His skill in handling emotions does leaves no line void of poetry or consequences. And his extremely accurate style is a grounding that turns this work—situated in exceptional times—into one of the best love stories to mark out the course of literature.
Walking Sam
Deanna Lynn Sletten - 2016
His friends and family are encouraging him to move on and find someone to share his life with, but Ryan feels he’ll never find anyone he’ll love as much as his wife. Ryan reluctantly starts going out on weekends, and soon finds that not only have women changed, but also the rules of dating. He’s longing for a fulfilling relationship but everyone he meets only want one-night stands. Then, Kristen moves in next door and he finds they have a lot in common. There’s only one problem—she’s not available.Kristen Foster craves a peaceful place to call home. With her stressful job as a Pediatric Oncology Nurse and a failed marriage behind her, she doesn’t want any more drama in her life. Then her casual boyfriend—a surgeon—proposes to her. And she finds that the widower next door is a thirty-something, handsome man who seems to have his choice of young women every weekend. His only redeeming quality is his beautiful dog, Sam. But as she gets to know Ryan, Kristen is drawn to him. She finds herself struggling to choose between the dependable surgeon or the man she believes is the neighborhood playboy.Can Sam’s furry charm bring Ryan and Kristen together?Walking Sam is a heartwarming story of two people who have to let go of the past in order to see what’s right in front of them.
My Light: Vol. 1
Echo Hart - 2017
She doesn't trust anyone, especially with her heart, and makes damn sure to keep herself guarded. With a steel cage wrapped firmly around her heart, She's promised herself she will never give anyone the chance to repeat history.Her world is lonely, but it's a risk she's willing to take, if it means there's no one to hurt her.But that's all about to change… Kayden:Is a hot, happy, outgoing,successful Southern gentleman that every woman dreams of, with an accent that’s truly panty melting. He is pure perfection in every way.He doesn't have a problem letting people into his world in fact he welcomes them in with strong open arms. He longs for the day he meets the right woman to settle down with, give his heart to and start a family of his own.That is until he meets Rena....Kayden knows his whole heart belongs to Rena and that he has to have her for himself, but Rena is adamant she has no room for love in her life.Will he break her and finally claim her heart?
Going Up?
Whitney Dineen - 2016
She also didn’t expect to meet a hot handyman, a Columbian drug lord and a notorious mob boss and then fall for one of them in a big way. Life in the Big Apple isn’t quite turning out the way she planned, but who said that was a bad thing?
The First Mrs. Rothschild
Sara Aharoni - 2015
But when Meir’s talents as a novice banker catch the attention of a German prince, Meir is suddenly afforded entrée into the European world of finance and nobility, and the Rothschilds’ lives are changed forever. As proud as Gutle is of her husband’s success, she is also cautious—very much aware of the fact that her husband’s rise is tied to his patrons’ willingness to “see past” his Jewishness. As their family grows, and a dream of fortune comes true, so does their belief that money will ultimately bring the power needed to establish Jewish civil rights.Told through Gutle’s intimate journals, revealed across decades—from the French Revolution through personal tragedies and triumphs—The First Mrs. Rothschild paints a rich and intimate tapestry of family drama, world-changing history, and one woman’s steadfast strength.
Rising Tide: Dark Innocence
Claudette Melanson - 2014
She seems to drive her classmates away—except for the odd times they pay enough attention to torture her—but she doesn’t understand why. Maura considers herself to be a freak of nature, with her unusually pale skin and an aversion to the sun that renders her violently nauseous. Her belief is only worsened by the fact that almost everyone around her keeps their distance.Even her own father deserted her before she was born, leaving Maura alone with her emotionally distant mother, Caelyn. Even though Maura is desperate for answers about her unknown parent, Caelyn remains heartbroken and her daughter can’t bring herself to reopen her mother’s wounds. Or is there a more sinister reason Caelyn refuses to utter a word about her long-lost love?When a cruel prank nearly claims Maura’s life, one of her classmates, Ron, rushes to her rescue. Darkly handsome & mysteriously accepting, Ron doesn’t seem to want to stay away, but Maura is reluctant to get too close, since her mother has announced she’s moving the two of them to Vancouver…nearly 3,000 miles away from their hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.If life wasn’t already challenging enough, Maura begins to experience bizarre, physical changes her mother seems hell bent on ignoring, compelling Maura to fear for her own life. Vicious nightmares, blood cravings, failing health and the heart-shattering loss of Ron—as well as the discovery of a tangled web of her own mother's lies—become obstacles in Maura's desperate quest for the unfathomable truth she was never prepared to uncover.
The Flower Seller
Ellie Holmes - 2016
Jessie is a pearl diver. She had thought her husband William was a pearl diver too. But when William leaves her for a much younger woman, it’s not just Jessie’s heart that is broken, her ability to trust is shattered too. All Jessie wanted was a love she could believe in. Was that so much to ask? Loyalty it seems has gone out of fashion.Refusing to retire from the battlefield of life, Jessie resolves to put her heartache behind her. She doesn’t want to be that woman who was too scared to love again. There has to be another pearl diver out there; all she has to do is find him. When fate brings handsome flower seller Owen Phillips into her life, Jessie believes he may be the one but is her fragile trust about to be shattered all over again?
Meat Market
Rob Radcliffe - 2015
Fortunately Greg's best mate Stu has come to the rescue. Now it's Stu's job to lead Greg down the path of enlightenment, where woman swarm by their hundreds and will pay for Greg's company. Welcome to the Meat Market, where everything has a price, even love.
Alpha Men: Books 1-3 (Alpha Men, #1-3)
Hope Ford - 2019
I have a bad history with men. I trusted one and he destroyed my trust and my self-esteem… until I meet Jason. He’s older than me, knows exactly what he wants, and what he wants is me. Can I trust myself and him to do right by me? Jason It is instant attraction. She shows up on my doorstep seeking help. And I want to help her. I want to take care of her, protect her, claim her. I want her, and I want her as mine. She doesn’t know it yet… but she’s taken. #1 bestselling short romance author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. There is always an alpha male (because who doesn’t love an alpha male) and a woman he makes his queen. Sit back, grab a glass of wine, and get lost in this happily ever after story – that’s also a little naughty. ONE NIGHT (Alpha Men, 2) An Alpha Older Man, Younger BBW, Steamy Sweet Romance Lindsey I know exactly what I want… one night with Axel. Who am I kidding? I want more than one night. I want forever. But he doesn’t do relationships. So I’m hoping with one night, I can get him out of my system and move on. Axel Lindsey makes me an offer I can’t refuse. I agree… but I agree to only one night. I don’t trust women and am not interested in a relationship. But after our one night together, I begin to question if maybe I need to let go of my past… because I can’t let go of Lindsey. Note: This is a steamy, sweet, short romance. It has a HEA with a sensitive, tattooed, alpha and a woman that makes him hers! You will fall in love with Axel! If you love short romances with insta-love, hot scenes, and a sweet story, then this one is for you. WANTING MORE (Alpha Men, 3) An Alpha Older Man, Younger BBW, Steamy Sweet Romance Stacy I lost my parents and Mack helped me from losing myself. He’s been my best friend for a year now. I want more… but he doesn’t. Mack I loved Stacy the second she walked in the door. She’s younger than me, but that doesn’t bother me. She’s rich… really rich. And I come from the wrong side of the tracks. I know she deserves better than me. Until I realize I can’t live without her, and NO MAN will love her as I do. Note: This is a steamy, sweet, SHORT romance. It has a HEA with a tattooed, alpha and a plus-size woman that makes him hers! If you love short romances with insta love, hot scenes, and a sweet story, then this one is for you.
The Lost Wife
Anna Mansell - 2017
Then she meets Ed, recently widowed and with a new baby, and is compelled to help him and his son.Ed is struggling to cope, and his friends and family all tiptoe around his grief. Rachel is the only one who sees him as more than just a widower, and the pair soon grow close.Then Rachel discovers something Ed’s wife was hiding from him – something that changes everything. But she knows that memories of lost loved ones are precious, and should be protected at all costs…Can Rachel help Ed learn to live in a world where his wife is no longer around to tell her side of the story? And can Ed help Rachel to finally open her heart to a happy future?Since You’ve Been Gone is a compelling and poignant story about love, loss, and family secrets, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Dani Atkins, and Kelly Rimmer.