A Gentleman's Agreement


Joy Avery - 2015
    Yes, this task is outside Eunice Howard's usual realm of responsibilities, but he's willing to make it worth her time. Plus, she's ideal for the role. Who better to play his pretend lover than the one woman who knows him almost better than he knows himself? The last thing Eunice Howard expects when summoned to her boss's office is a request to play the role of his new love interest to appease his mother, restless to marry him off. Foolishly agreeing, she ventures with him to Farrington Estates for the Thanksgiving holiday. She thought she'd seen all sides of Blake Farrington, but the man who emerges is a man she could easily love. Their agreement blossoms into a connection neither expected-nor are willing to admit. When the lines between make-believe and reality blur, something phenomenal occurs.

Sceldrant's Comet (The Rostical Guild, #1)


Michael Rogers - 2013
    Our heroes, a seven year old Sacred Dancer, a swordsman that despises titles, a warrior with the ability to control the land, a blind archer and the classic white mage try to find a way back to Earth after being transported by a mysterious power. Yet, something doesn't want them to.They encounter foes that wield unimaginable power, battle elemental Guardians and even compete in a race where people die, this fun fantasy filled adventure isn't exactly what they thought it would be!Will our newly formed heroes find a way home? Will they be the best guild? Will they survive in the harsh lands of Rostical? Read to find out!

The Whole of the Moon


Kevin McManus - 2016
    or take it. Conor Doyle is a haunted man. In the winter of 1988, he returns from London to his old home town in Western Ireland, hoping to find a reason to stay. What he thought would be a joyful reunion becomes something more, as he's drawn into the fallout surrounding a shocking crime. While the Irish Garda are looking for the prime suspect, Conor's relationships are tested with jealousy and betrayal, and he must look deep inside himself to make the decision that will change his life forever.

Matters of Life & Death


Bernard MacLaverty - 2006
    It is the finest collection yet from a contemporary master of the form.Beginning with the sudden terror of a family caught up in shocking sectarian violence, and ending with the whiteout of an Iowa blizzard and the fear of losing your way very far from home, this collection is about bonds made and broken, secret and known. In the extraordinary story "Up the Coast," a landscape painter discovers a place that makes her, finally, feel whole, only to have that communion shattered by an arbitrary act of aggression that will resonate throughout her life.Written with effortless skill and empathy, these stories are hauntingly real. MacLaverty's perfect attention to every detail, every nuance of idiom and character, remakes the world for us here on the page.

Money Tree


Gordon Ferris - 2014
    At its heart is the story of Anila Jhabvala, a destitute woman in a dying village in central India, and her struggle against the daily embrace of usury. Into her fraught existence blunder two westerners: Ted Saddler, a has-been American reporter living off the faded glory of a Pulitzer Prize, and Erin Wishart, a hard-bitten Scottish banker with a late-developing conscience. As the tension mounts, their three storylines interweave and fuse in a thundering and moving climax. In pointing up the gulf between rich and poor, and the misguided efforts of western institutions to meddle in developing countries, Gordon pays homage to Professor Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

McKinnon's Bride


Sharon Harlow - 2003
    Jessie made him long to turn his ranch house into a true home. But could a woman who prized honesty above all forgive being lied to—even for her own good?After surviving a nightmare of a marriage, Jessie Monroe was hard-pressed to believe any man’s promises. Until she met Cade McKinnon, the man who made her dream of a better life. She was attracted to him, true enough, but could she trust him...and her yearning heart?NOTE: Other books in this series are:TWICE BLESSED -- Book 2, Steeple Hill BooksSTANDING TALL -- Book 3

Snow Soldiers


Carrie Crafton - 2012
    A husband she loved, two little boys that were the center of her life, and even a mother-in-law who adored her. So why was she being packed up and shipped off from her home in Ireland back to her own country? Was it really up to everybody else to tell her she needed to find herself again?But, when she's reunited with her best friend and the other women in her life she left behind, the key to the person she once was dangles in front of her enticingly. Will she be able to reach out and grab it?

Ladakh Adventure


Deepak Dalal - 2013
    On a visit to this remote, majestic outpost of India, Vikram and Aditya camp out on the lofty Changtang plateau. Here they meet a young Tibetan boy named Tsering. But Tsering is unexpectedly abducted and Aditya pulls off a daring rescue. Suddenly Vikram and Aditya are on the run. On the frozen plateau, often referred to as the "roof of the world", the schoolboys play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with a band of mysterious determined men. Traversing the barren wastes of Ladakh, the story moves to the mountain-city of Leh. Who is Tsering? Why is he being chased with such fierce resolve? Discover the fascinating secret of Tsering in this fast-moving adventure tale. "Ladakh Adventure" is another enthralling VikramAditya story, set in a wonderous land of startling contrasts and magnificent mountains.

Sign


Colin Dray - 2018
    He lives with his mother and sister Katie, all dutifully cared for by Aunt Dettie, their father's sister, who believes herself sympathetic to his pain. Their father abandoned the family some time ago, but when their mother begins to date again, Aunt Dettie reacts very badly. After an unexpected phone call, Aunt Dettie packs Sam and Katie into the backseat of her car and tells them that she's taking them to Perth to be reunited with their father. As Dettie drives the children across Australia in the middle of a sweltering and dangerous bushfire season, her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, and the children begin to realise that there is something very wrong. Voiceless, Sam can only watch helplessly as the family trip becomes a smoke-filled nightmare.

The Oddest Little Mistletoe Shop


Beth Good - 2017
     Rose Mistletoe runs her family's flower shop on Christmas Parade, and loves every minute of her job. So when the Parade comes under acquisition by a redevelopment company, Rose forms a protest group against the bid. But business tycoon Nick Grimsby is determined to make her sell up. His company is planning to knock down the parade of traditional shops and build a block of exclusive apartments instead. And it seems the sexy billionaire will go to any lengths to get her shop. As Christmas approaches and Nick dangles the proverbial mistletoe, can Rose resist his powerful allure? Given how gorgeous he looks in a tuxedo, the answer is probably no. But she's not going to make it easy for him! Because Rose has secret plans of her own ... Warning! This romcom novella contains jokes, oodles of romance, festive wreaths, mistletoe, holly, and a sprinkling of paper hats. Another quirky romcom in the popular 'Oddest Little Shop' series from Beth Good. Titles can be read in any order.

Ravenhill (Jackie Shaw, #1)


John Steele - 2017
    He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side. When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems... Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life. The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon. ‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards

My Mother's Children


Annette Sills - 2021
    She has just lost her mother Tess and brother Mikey, her marriage to Joe is coming apart at the seams and her thirty-year friendship with Karen is on the rocks.While clearing out her childhood home, Carmel discovers that her mother gave birth to a baby in an Irish Mother and Baby home when she was sixteen, a place notorious for its mass burial of babies and illegal adoptions.Carmel goes on a quest for the truth about her troubled mother’s past. Her roller-coaster journey takes her from her comfortable Manchester home to the west of Ireland and to London's theatre land. It’s a journey that leads her to ask: Can we ever escape our own family history or is our destiny in our DNA?

The Junk-Drawer Corner-Store Front-Porch Blues


John R. Powers - 1992
    At turns hilarious and bittersweet, this novel is destined to be a bookshelf classic.

Sudden Times


Dermot Healy - 1999
    Back home in Sligo, he's collecting trolleys in a supermarket car park and living in a run-down house with a group of art students. He has lost his child-like innocence and he can't escape what has happened in London. Tormented by old fears and regrets, he loses himself in everyday routine and is kept going by his painfully black sense of humour.Finally, Ollie steels himself to return to England to confront his demons. He re-enters a world of casual labour and protection rackets on the building sites of London; a world peopled by sinister figures such as Silver John and Scots Bob; an intimidating world of uncertain justice where violence will easily erupt.Sudden Times is a powerful and shocking psychological thriller, revealing its truth through a growing awareness of the skewed and unreliable consciousness of its narrator. The result is a masterpiece of sustained tension.

The Last Drive: A Golfing Mystery


Rex Stout - 2013
    Featuring death on the links, this tale is full of golfing, red herrings, and a detective determined to run down the villain. A great read for Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe fans alike! Originally published as a 6-part serial in Golfers Magazine (July to December, 1916).