Seal of Confession


Michele Pace - 2021
    A young priest on the other side of the screen is shaken by what he learns. A former college athlete with an MBA from a prestigious university, Father Joe Russo is not your typical man of God. Nine years earlier, his own life took a tragic turn and he gave everything up, committing his life to the church. Now his peaceful existence is being tested, and he finds himself questioning the God he serves, the vows he made, and someone he left behind.In this gripping thriller, a priest and an FBI agent work to uncover secrets and expose hidden crimes, but when it seems they have it all figured out, everything they think they know will be questioned.

The Rift


Rachel Lynch - 2021
    But will that mean justice?As a high-ranking woman in the Royal Military Police, Major Helen Scott gets the job done – no matter the task. So when she is pulled in to lead a NATO summit security team in Paris, it barely causes a ripple. Yet within hours she’s dispatched to Lyon on a new mission. One with a complex problem at its heart.Kahlil Dalmani and Fawaz bin Nabil were close in childhood, growing up in the hubbub of Algiers. As men, they are both wildly successful. Yet their paths to fortune have caused a rift. Fawaz’s empire is built on illegal trade, and when his estranged friend refuses to grant a favour he seeks to change Kahlil’s mind the best way he knows how: kidnapping his son, Hakim.Working out of the Interpol headquarters, Helen must unpick a web of deceit that spreads across borders and dates back years. Only by trusting those from her own painful past can she hope to return Hakim to his family. But with her focus on saving one life, she risks overlooking a plan that puts many others in grave danger.An explosive and gripping crime thriller from one of the most brilliant British crime fiction authors of recent years. For fans of Angela Marsons and Lee Child.

Across the Street


Laurie Lisa - 2013
    For Sam, years of infertility, followed by an unthinkable tragedy, have left her despairing of ever having a child. Money is tight, and IVF is expensive. Sam’s only hope may be to ask her sister to be a surrogate. Alex will do anything for Sam, but when the sisters embark upon an unorthodox route to surrogacy, jealousy, guilt, and legal complications soon follow.As the limits of sisterly devotion are tested, the family’s hidden wounds and secret addictions come to light, shaking the foundation of their marriages and their lives.An emotional story of a woman’s struggle with infertility and a riveting book about the complexities of family, Across the Street makes an excellent selection for book clubs.

The Art Teacher: Shocking. Page-Turning. Crime Thriller


Paul Read - 2016
    gritty, disturbing and pacy. It opens with thrilling intensity and never lets up.' --Alex Lake, author of After AnnaPatrick Owen managed seven years at Highfields Secondary School without punching a pupil in the face.Unknowingly drawn into a war against his own pupils, Patrick's patience finally snaps as he finds himself the number one target with the boy the school just can't seem to expel.When one of his Art students needs his help, she unwittingly pulls Patrick further into the line of fire, altering their lives forever.With the media circling and rumours of his involvement reaching new highs, Patrick must escape the world he lives in, or face the consequences.A gritty, harrowing page-turner. Perfect for fans of Linwood Barclay and Peter James

Always and Forever


Soraya M. Lane - 2016
    They have a dream house and a dream marriage, and very soon they’ll have a dream family too. But life is rarely that simple. When their beautiful life is rocked by tragedy, they are forced to make an unbearable choice. Suddenly the future they’ve built together looks fragile and exposed.With aching hearts and their love on the line, they set off on a road trip through the stunning Californian landscape, hoping that time—and distance from the life they thought perfect—will help them start again. Matt is desperate not to lose Lisa, but as they confront their grief in different ways, he may have lost her already.Where there is love there ought to be strength, but this love has been tested to its limits. Have they endured too much heartbreak for one couple to take? Or will a journey down memory lane put them back on the road to love, hope—and each other?

Safe Within


Jean Reynolds Page - 2012
    As Elaine prepares for a future without her beloved husband, their solace is interrupted. Carson's mother, Greta, has set loose a neighbor's herd of alpacas and landed herself in police custody. While Carson, remarkably, sees humor in the situation, Elaine can only question what her obligations are—and will be—to a woman who hasn't spoken to her in more than twenty years.In the wake of Carson's death, Elaine and their grown son, Mick, are thrust into the maelstrom of Greta, the mother-in-law and grandmother who never accepted either of them. Just as they are trying to figure out their new roles in the family, Mick uncovers unexpected questions of his own. A long-ago teenage relationship with a local girl may have left him with more than just memories, and he must get to the bottom of Greta's surprising accusations that he's not Carson's son at all.

The River Widow


Ann Howard Creel - 2018
    Essentially trapped, Adah must plan an escape.But when she develops feelings for the one person essential to her plan’s success, she faces a painful choice: Will she choose to risk everything saving Daisy or take the new life offered by a loving man?

Rooked


Caitlin Sara - 2018
    . . Despite her desire for control, Ara Hopkins has always felt like a pawn—constantly being maneuvered by those surrounding her. Carrying a riddled past of abandonment by her mother, a jealous step-sister and exploitation by men she was supposed to be able to trust, Ara craves a social media certified life. So, when she meets her husband, a New York congressman’s son, she believes she’s finally won her game. Secure in a life her mother would approve of—and having firmly shut the door on her chaotic and miscalculated past—Ara feels she’s thriving. Until the night her husband is murdered. Thrust into a game of deceit and lies, Ara realizes that nothing is as it seems and that the past can quickly return to the present. The facade crumbles as relationships are tested and family boundaries crossed. Faced with losing it all, she discovers what a person is really capable of. Because in this game of life, it's either rook or be rooked. An intricately braided plot with unforeseeable twists and a sucker-punch ending, Rooked is a captivating thriller that shatters all perceptions.

Jesus at Walmart...a Reed Shaking in the Wind


Rick Leland - 2011
    Fueled by Pastor Malachi Marble's fall from faith, which tumbles him into the late night world of Walmart.Author Rick Leland spent fourteen months working as a Walmart Overnight Stocker doing research for the book. Well, not purely for research."Actually I needed the money to live on," Leland said. "But I knew God was working something out in my life, as inspiration for Jesus at Walmart emerged even before my first night's work was over." Walk past the greeter; into the heart of Walmart with Malachi Marble. Grab a shopping cart. You'll need something to hang onto during this trip to Walmart like no other. And when you exit Jesus at Walmart, expect to leave a changed person.

A Girl Called Hope (Hope Series Book 1)


Kay Seeley - 2019
     In Victorian London’s East End, life for Hope Daniels in the public house run by her parents is not as it seems. Pa drinks and gambles, brother John longs for a place of his own, sister Violet dreams of a life on stage and little Alfie is being bullied at school. Silas Quirk, the charismatic owner of a local gentlemen’s club and disreputable gambling den her father frequents, has his own plans for Hope. When disaster strikes the family lose everything and the future they planned is snatched away from them. Secrets are revealed that make Hope question all she’s ever believed in. Can Hope keep them together when fate is pulling them apart? What will she sacrifice to save her family? A captivating story of tragedy and triumph you won’t want to put down.

The Lie: When DNA Reveals the Family Secret


Heather Dawn Gray - 2019
    Jahana continues to struggle with her grief a year after her mother's death. She wishes she knew her maternal relatives, but her mother refused to talk about them. To help her move on, Jahana's husband buys her a DNA kit. When the results come in, she discovers more than she bargained for. Her DNA reveals a family secret she would like to ignore, but can't. The Lie is too big.

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love


Linn B. Halton - 2014
    But the reality of running a business hits Katie hard and whilst her partner, Steve, tries to help she can t help but feel that the situation is driving them further apart. Could Katie be set to lose her relationship and her dream job? Then, one winter s day, a man walks into her shop and, in the space of that moment, the course of Katie s life is changed. But nobody finds happiness in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it takes two Christmases, three birthdays and a whole lot of cake to get there REVIEWS What a gorgeous, feel-good read this was. A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love will hit just the spot when you need to while away the winter hours with a handsome hero, lots of cakes and a slow-burning, heartfelt romance. Sorcha O' Dowd, Book Blogger at Old Victorian Quill and Waterstone's BooksellerThis was a sweet romance, in more senses than one! Katie runs a cake shop and meets Adam when he calls in for a cake for his Grandma. The book then follows their lives as they occasionally meet and then part once more. - Ann Cooper, Annie's Book CornerHaving read a few of Linn B Halton's books in the last year, I feel very confident in saying that A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love is her best yet. It is such a sweet, touching and loving romantic story, told from various perspectives. - Rachel Gilbey, Rachel's Random Reads"

If I Forget You


Thomas Christopher Greene - 2016
    What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from altering points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair, complete with the secrets they carry when they find each other for the second time.Written in lyrical prose, If I Forget You is at once a great love story, a novel of marriage, manners, and family, a meditation on the nature of art, a moving elegy to what it means to love and to lose, and how the choices we make can change our lives forever.

A Shetland Winter Mystery (The Shetland Sailing Mysteries Book 10)


Marsali Taylor - 2021
    

The Low Bird


David L. Robbins - 2016
    Stranded in a valley teeming with enemy troops, Sol scrambles to survive and evade capture. Pararescueman Bo Bolick has been given just twenty-four hours to find Sol before a US carpet bombing destroys every living thing in the valley, friend or foe.As Bo’s search intensifies, Minh, a young Hanoi woman who entertains the fighters and travelers along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, becomes inextricably caught up in the raging battle between her North Vietnamese troops and the American forces sent to rescue Sol. In the midst of heavy combat, Minh tries to find and understand love for the first time in her life.But the clock is ticking. A curtain of fire is going to descend. The desperate realities of jungle warfare are about to collide with a warrior’s code that says no man will be left behind.