Book picks similar to
Out Of Play by Joy Norstrom
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The Bette Davis Club
Jane Lotter - 2013
Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.From acclaimed humor writer Jane Lotter comes this madcap, laugh-out-loud adventure, The Bette Davis Club.
Revised edition: This edition of The Bette Davis Club includes editorial revisions.
Inside These Walls
Rebecca Coleman - 2013
The convicted murderer never looks back at who she once was--a shy young art student whose life took a sudden tragic turn. And she allows herself no hope for a better future. Survival is a day-to-day game. But when a surprise visitor shows up one day, Clara finds that in an instant everything has changed. Now she must account for the life she has led--its beauty as well as its brutality--and face the truth behind the terrible secret she has kept to herself all these years.Critically acclaimed author Rebecca Coleman brings you the haunting story of a woman's deepest passions, darkest regrets and her unforgettable and emotional journey toward redemption.
Astonish Me
Maggie Shipstead - 2014
"Astonish Me" is the irresistible story of Joan, a ballerina whose life has been shaped by her relationship with the world-famous dancer Arslan Ruskov, whom she helps defect from the Soviet Union to the United States. While Arslan's career takes off in New York, Joan's slowly declines, ending when she becomes pregnant and decides to marry her longtime admirer, a PhD student named Jacob. As the years pass, Joan settles into her new life in California, teaching dance and watching her son, Harry, become a ballet prodigy himself. But when Harry's success brings him into close contact with Arslan, explosive secrets are revealed that shatter the delicate balance Joan has struck between her past and present. In graceful, inimitable prose, Shipstead draws us into an extraordinary world, and the lives of her vivid and tempestuous characters. Filled with intrigue, brilliant satire, and emotional nuance, "Astonish Me" is a superlative follow-up to Shipstead's superb debut.
What the Wind Knows
Amy Harmon - 2019
Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?
An Object of Beauty
Steve Martin - 2010
Groomed at Sotheby's and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights--and, at times, the dark lows--of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.
Look at Me
Jennifer Egan - 2001
She returns to New York still beautiful but oddly unrecognizable, a virtual stranger in the world she once effortlessly occupied.With the surreal authority of a David Lynch, Jennifer Egan threads Charlotte’s narrative with those of other casualties of our infatuation with the image. There’s a deceptively plain teenaged girl embarking on a dangerous secret life, an alcoholic private eye, and an enigmatic stranger who changes names and accents as he prepares an apocalyptic blow against American society. As these narratives inexorably converge, Look at Me becomes a coolly mesmerizing intellectual thriller of identity and imposture.
The Gull Motel (A Barefoot Book)
Amie Denman - 2014
Finally finished with college, she heads to her favorite shabby motel on Florida’s Gulf Coast where her aunt and uncle always save her room twenty-four. She quickly finds out, though, that The Gull Motel is not just her home away from home. It’s hers to manage while her aunt and uncle take an extended trip. Skip McComber, The Gull’s former maintenance man, has been working on Savvy’s nuts and bolts for years. Now the new owner of the bar next door, his mission is to renovate a pirate bar while being a walking temptation for the girl he can’t get off his mind.For Savvy, keeping her cool running a motel in Florida heat is one thing, but navigating the steamy waters of a former fling takes a whole other kind of savvy. In addition to the motel and the man next door, Savvy stumbles on a plot to swindle land from the residents of Barefoot Key. Devalued properties tumble like dominoes until Savvy musters her colorful crew from The Gull Motel to make the pillagers walk the plank.
God of the Sun
Kimberly Loth - 2017
But I had to cross the fog. Otherwise my sister—my best friend—would lose her unborn child. All because of an unexpected prophecy. Now I had to go to Sol, a place where they murdered my people for sport. It wouldn’t matter that I was a prince, they would see me as an enemy. Not only that, I had to find a way to convince their princess to marry me. If I failed…then death would come upon us all. But first. The baby would die. With breathless romance, unexpected betrayal, and a ruthless hidden dictator, this incredible fantasy will leave you begging for more. Download it now!
The Lighthouse Keeper
Cynthia Ellingsen - 2017
Thanks to a mud-slinging exposé, Dawn’s late great-grandfather is assumed guilty of stealing silver from a century-old shipwreck. Hoping to clear his name, Dawn returns to Starlight Cove, her idyllic hometown on Lake Michigan, where the doomed vessel sleeps beneath the beam of a ramshackle lighthouse.Her plan: remodel and sell the lighthouse while untangling the perplexing family mystery. Neither task is easy, especially once her well-meaning parents and the quirky locals—including nautical researcher and Starlight Cove’s most eligible bachelor, Kip Whittaker—get involved. Despite their attraction, Dawn is reluctant to trust Kip, or any of the close-knit townsfolk. But as she pieces together the truth, Dawn’s once-shuttered heart opens up. And if she’s willing, the lighthouse might guide her to a place she never expected to find, where the past entwines with a bright new beginning.
You Had Me At Hello
Mhairi McFarlane - 2012
Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart.It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.From the moment they met they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders…Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.If you love David Nicholls and Lisa Jewell then this is the book for you. Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’.
Winter Interlude
Sandy Loyd - 2012
Right if you were spending all your time and energy with Mr. Wrong? And what about the book out a few years ago that created such a hoopla with the single crowd – He’s Just Not That Into You? The two main characters in Winter Interlude either didn’t heed their mother’s advice or haven’t read the book. Now, add into the plot that the two in question are enemies who regularly run into each other, given their current relationships. Paul Morrison, a hunky, blond, financial planner, has been putting time and energy into winning the heart of Kate Winter’s best friend for almost as long as Kate, a strong willed antiques dealer, has been dating James Morrison, Paul’s brother.The sparks start to fly when the two get stuck together for a three-hour drive to the mountains and years of misconceptions about each other are slowly being wiped out. It is in the confines of the BMW that the two begin their journey, taking them from being mortal enemies to lovers.Winter Interlude tells the story of their adventure – of how they finally find love. Kate and Paul’s story is the first one in a series of four friends caught in a time warp. They can’t move on because they are stuck on their idea of their perfect dreams. But sometimes life works in mysterious ways and they are all forced by circumstances to change.
Letters to the Lost
Iona Grey - 2015
Iona Grey's prose is warm, evocative, and immediately engaging; her characters become so real you can't bear to let them go.I promised to love you forever, in a time when I didn't know if I'd live to see the start of another week. Now it looks like forever is finally running out. I never stopped loving you. I tried, for the sake of my own sanity, but I never even got close, and I never stopped hoping either.Late on a frozen February evening, a young woman is running through the streets of London. Having fled from her abusive boyfriend and with nowhere to go, Jess stumbles onto a forgotten lane where a small, clearly unlived in old house offers her best chance of shelter for the night. The next morning, a mysterious letter arrives and when she can't help but open it, she finds herself drawn inexorably into the story of two lovers from another time. In London 1942, Stella meets Dan, a US airman, quite by accident, but there is no denying the impossible, unstoppable attraction that draws them together. Dan is a B-17 pilot flying his bomber into Europe from a British airbase; his odds of survival are one in five. In the midst of such uncertainty, the one thing they hold onto is the letters they write to each other. Fate is unkind and they are separated by decades and continents. In the present, Jess becomes determined to find out what happened to them. Her hope—inspired by a love so powerful it spans a lifetime—will lead her to find a startling redemption in her own life in this powerfully moving novel.“A captivating tale of love and love lost.” —Booklist“A wonderful story.” —Rosamunde Pilcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shell Seekers
Best Friends & Other Liars
Heather Balog - 2019
They've weathered puberty, dating, marriage, and children together...and it's been quite a storm. Despite their obvious differences...think Felix and Oscar...they've remained best friends for 30 years. But that might be about to change once they embark on their newest adventure together...a Divorce Cruise.Leah wants to make her bestie's 40th birthday memorable, so she books a cruise for the occasion. A week away from Violet's kids and daily stress in paradise. There's just one little problem. Violet doesn't know the trip is a Divorce Cruise. And...she's not divorced.Will Leah be able to keep the nature of the cruise a secret? Or will Violet find out and flip out on her best friend of thirty years? Will the trip of a lifetime ruin the friendship of a lifetime?
Kitty Valentine Dates a Billionaire
Jillian Dodd - 2020
DATE THE GUY. WRITE THE BOOK. Six years ago, Kitty Valentine took the book world by storm when her sweet debut romance hit number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list, which was followed by a string of successful releases. Her latest novel, however, totally bombs, causing her editor to suggest she write much sexier books.To Kitty, writing smut is the literary equivalent of stripping. But with no advance coming in and her royalties dipping to an all-time low, Kitty has no choice. Armed with a hot-guy spinning prize wheel, made by her best friend, listing all the different types of men she will date and then write about, Kitty will be spinning-not stripping-her way back onto the best-sellers list.
The Virgin Blue
Tracy Chevalier - 1997
When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France, Ella hopes to brush up on her French, qualify to practice as a midwife, and start a family of her own. Village life turns out to be less idyllic than she expected, however, and a peculiar dream of the color blue propels her on a quest to uncover her family’s French ancestry. As the novel unfolds—alternating between Ella’s story and that of Isabelle du Moulin four hundred years earlier—a common thread emerges that unexpectedly links the two women. Part detective story, part historical fiction, The Virgin Blue is a novel of passion and intrigue that compels readers to the very last page.