Book picks similar to
Risking It All: A Novel by Nina Darnton
giveaways
first-reads
fiction
giveaway
Smash All the Windows
Jane Davis - 2018
It will take courage to learn how to live again.‘An all-round triumph.’ John HudspithFor the families of the victims of the St Botolph and Old Billingsgate disaster, the undoing of a miscarriage of justice should be a cause for rejoicing. For more than thirteen years, the search for truth has eaten up everything. Marriages, families, health, careers and finances.Finally, the coroner has ruled that the crowd did not contribute to their own deaths. Finally, now that lies have been unravelled and hypocrisies exposed, they can all get back to their lives.If only it were that simple.Tapping into the issues of the day, Davis delivers a highly charged work of metafiction, a compelling testament to the human condition and the healing power of art. Written with immediacy, style and an overwhelming sense of empathy, Smash all the Windows will be enjoyed by readers of How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall and How to be Both by Ali Smith.
Write to Die
Charles Rosenberg - 2016
To defend the studio, in steps the Harold Firm, one of Los Angeles’s top entertainment litigation firms and as much a part of the glamorous scene as the studios themselves. As a newly minted partner, it’s Rory Calburton’s case, and his career, to win or lose.But the seemingly tame civil trial turns lethal when Rory stumbles upon the strangled body of his client’s general counsel. And the ties that bind in Hollywood constrict even tighter when the founder of the Harold Firm is implicated in the murder. Rory is certain the plagiarism and murder cases are somehow connected, and with the help of new associate Sarah Gold—who’s just finished clerking for the chief justice—he’s determined to get answers. Will finding out who really wrote the script lead them to the mastermind of the real-life murder?
A Sister's Place
Savannah Page - 2017
But when their beloved grandmother Mimi passes away, they’re drawn back together in the most unexpected way. Set to inherit the family home, a charming Craftsman with an overgrown garden and lush fruit trees near the beach in Santa Barbara, the estranged sisters learn there’s a catch: the house can be theirs, but only if they agree to live in it for one year—together.Suddenly Gracie, a pragmatic paralegal who’s always stayed close to home, and Juliette, an intrepid recent NYU grad in search of the next thrill, are living under one roof. Forced to reexamine their relationship, they find themselves confronting their pasts and bonding over love, heartbreak, and deeply held secrets. Soon they’ll discover whether a sister’s love is what they need to get them through their darkest hours—and if their grandmother’s clever plan can preserve more than just a piece of family history. It just might preserve the friendship of a lifetime…and reveal the sisters and women they were always meant to be.
A Summer to Remember
Erika Montgomery - 2021
But when a mysterious package arrives containing a photograph of her mother and famous movie stars Glory Cartwright and her husband at a coastal film festival the year before Frankie's birth, her life begins to unravel in ways unimaginable.What begins is a journey along a path revealing buried family secrets, betrayals between lovers, bonds between friends. And for Frankie, as the past unlocks the present, the chance to learn that memories define who we are, and that they can show us the meaning of home and the magic of true love.Experience the salty breeze of a Cape Cod summer as it sweeps through this sparkling, romantic, and timeless debut novel tinged with a love of old Hollywood."The perfect read for summer. A novel with depth, real emotions, lyrical writing, and flawed characters with whom to fall in love."--New York Times bestselling author Karen White
St. Anthony's Fire
Garry Harper - 2018
A journey of self-discovery capped off by a bad batch of moonshine transforms Rabelais into a cult leader. Meanwhile, John wants nothing more than to be left alone, but is caught between the burgeoning movements unwittingly started by his two friends. Dark, caustic, and wickedly sardonic, St. Anthony's Fire casts a burning light on the absurdities of 21st century society in the form of The City. If reading it leaves you feeling frustrated and miserable, with a worse outlook on life and the world around you, then it has done its job.
The Locals
Jonathan Dee - 2017
After being swindled by a financial advisor, what future can Mark promise his wife, Karen, and their young daughter, Haley? He finds himself envying the wealthy weekenders in his community whose houses sit empty all winter.Philip Hadi used to be one of these people. But in the nervous days after 9/11 he flees New York and hires Mark to turn his Howland home into a year-round “secure location” from which he can manage billions of dollars of other people’s money. The collision of these two men’s very different worlds—rural vs. urban, middle class vs. wealthy—is the engine of Jonathan Dee’s powerful new novel.Inspired by Hadi, Mark looks around for a surefire investment: the mid-decade housing boom. Over Karen’s objections, and teaming up with his troubled brother, Gerry, Mark starts buying up local property with cheap debt. Then the town’s first selectman dies suddenly, and Hadi volunteers for office. He soon begins subtly transforming Howland in his image—with unexpected results for Mark and his extended family.Here are the dramas of twenty-first-century America—rising inequality, working class decline, a new authoritarianism—played out in the classic setting of some of our greatest novels: the small town. The Locals is that rare work of fiction capable of capturing a fraught American moment in real time.
Vladimir
Julia May Jonas - 2022
The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extra-marital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both. And when our narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who’s just arrived on campus, their tinder box world comes dangerously close to exploding.With this bold, edgy, and uncommonly assured debut, author Julia May Jonas takes us into charged territory, where the boundaries of morality bump up against the impulses of the human heart. Propulsive, darkly funny, and wildly entertaining, Vladimir perfectly captures the personal and political minefield of our current moment, exposing the nuances and the grey area between power and desire.
The Fortuna Coin
Karen Ann Hopkins - 2021
A family heirloom takes her back in time to the beginning of her relationship with her eventual killer where she’s given the magical opportunity to change the future and stop her family's tragic ending. But she isn't aware that she's reliving a tortured life. With only glimpses of the future, Wendy struggles to survive present day, unaware that a bloody and unforgiving destiny awaits her.The Fortuna Coin is a haunting psychological thriller about second chances…but will the truth really set Wendy free?
Something New
Janis Thomas - 2012
Ellen Ivers has it all: a nice house, great kids, and a husband who loves her no matter how much she’s let herself go. There’s just one problem: Ellen is completely, utterly bored. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, or maybe it’s just time to make a change. Ellen starts taking care of herself and decides to start trying new things. As the pounds melt away and she begins to feel more comfortable in her own skin, Ellen’s cousin prompts the former writer to enter a blog competition. At first Ellen is hesitant; after all, what exactly is she supposed to write about? But soon the words start flowing and Ellen gains confidence, in part because of the attention she’s getting from her cousin’s new neighbor, handsome detective Ben Campbell. Both Ellen and Ben are married with kids, and they know their friendship is heading down a dangerous path. As her attraction to Ben grows and her blog starts attracting a lot of interest, everything else in Ellen’s world begins to unravel. Now, she finds herself wondering if the life she has is what she really wants, or if something new is exactly what she needs…
Montauk
Nicola Harrison - 2019
For three months, this humble fishing village will serve as the playground for New York City’s wealthy elite. Beatrice Bordeaux was looking forward to a summer of reigniting the passion between her and her husband, Harry. Instead, tasked with furthering his investment interest in Montauk as a resort destination, she learns she’ll be spending twelve weeks sequestered with the high society wives at The Montauk Manor—a two-hundred room seaside hotel—while Harry pursues other interests in the city. College educated, but raised a modest country girl in Pennsylvania, Bea has never felt fully comfortable among these privileged women, whose days are devoted not to their children but to leisure activities and charities that seemingly benefit no one but themselves. She longs to be a mother herself, as well as a loving wife, but after five years of marriage she remains childless while Harry is increasingly remote and distracted. Despite lavish parties at the Manor and the Yacht Club, Bea is lost and lonely and befriends the manor’s laundress whose work ethic and family life stir memories of who she once was. As she drifts further from the society women and their preoccupations and closer toward Montauk’s natural beauty and community spirit, Bea finds herself drawn to a man nothing like her husband –stoic, plain spoken and enigmatic. Inspiring a strength and courage she had almost forgotten, his presence forces her to face a haunting tragedy of her past and question her future. Desperate to embrace moments of happiness, no matter how fleeting, she soon discovers that such moments may be all she has, when fates conspire to tear her world apart…
Astrid Sees All
Natalie Standiford - 2021
But the recent death of her father has so devastated her that her mother wants her to remain home in Baltimore to recover. Phoebe wants to return to New York, not only to chase the glamorous life she so desperately craves but also to confront Ivan, the older man who painfully wronged her.With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan.When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness. She may have a chance to save herself—and Carmen, if she can find her—but to do it she must face what’s hiding in the shadows she’s been running from—within her heart and in the dangerous midnight streets.
Tempting Fate
Jane Green - 2014
They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can't relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her--until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive--something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything--and find out what really matters most.A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down.
His Other Wife
Ava Strong - 2021
When someone turns up murdered, Stella, to clear her name, is forced to investigate. But in a culture ridden with masterful liars, can she ever really find the truth?Stella seems to have her whole life ahead of her: she has just graduated with a dual masters in Psychology and Criminal Justice, she is engaged to the man of her dreams after a whirlwind romance, and she is moving to the East Coast with him as she prepares for the wedding and searches for a dream job, hoping to be a criminal profiler. She is unbelievably excited for her life together with Chris—until she meets his family.Stella, from a humble Midwestern upbringing, never felt comfortable around money, and she hates the world Chris comes from. She is in shock at the culture clash as she gets to know his elitist family and friends, all of whom look down on her. Isolated and demeaned, Stella wonders if she can live a life in such hostile surroundings.They move into the guest house on his estate, and things only get worse. As Stella meets his ex and his friends at his club, all of whom seem to know something she doesn’t, she wonders if Chris is really the man she thought he was. As she learns more about his past and discovers his dark side, she wonders if she has made a big mistake. Beneath its trimmed hedgerows and gleaming storefronts, Stella soon realizes that this wealthy town hides terrible secrets.But before she can decide what to do, a murder leaves her blindsided.Stella, implicated, her future on the line, has no choice but to investigate. As her dreams devolves into hell, Stella, still struggling to overcome her own traumatic past, questions everything around her—including her own sanity.Can she find the killer, and clear her name, before it’s too late?A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, HIS OTHER WIFE is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
Because You're Mine
Rea Frey - 2019
Ellison) with a “shocker of an ending you won’t see coming” (Michele Campbell), Because You're Mine by Rea Frey, the author who “brings to mind Jodi Picoult” (Booklist) and “will appeal to readers of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen” (Sally Hepworth) is a novel about how the truth will set you free.But it’s the lies that keep you safe. Single mother Lee has the daily routine down to a science: shower in six minutes. Cut food into perfect squares. Never leave her on-the-spectrum son Mason in someone else’s care. She’ll do anything—anything—to keep his carefully constructed world from falling apart. Do anything to keep him safe.But when her best friend Grace convinces her she needs a small break from motherhood to recharge her batteries, Lee gives in to a weekend trip. Surely a long weekend away from home won’t hurt?Noah, Mason’s handsome, bright, charismatic tutor—the first man in ages Lee’s even noticed—is more than happy to stay with him.Forty-eight hours later, someone is dead.But not all is as it seems. Noah may be more than who he claims to be. Grace has a secret—one that will destroy Lee. Lee has secrets of her own that she will do anything to keep hidden.As the dominoes begin to fall and the past comes to light, perhaps it's no mystery someone is gone after all…Because You're Mine is a breathtaking novel of domestic drama and suspense. Prepare to stay up all night.
Pretty Revenge
Emily Liebert - 2019
Eighteen years later, when Kerrie sees the very woman who destroyed her life on television, a fire ignites inside her. The stakes are high. The risks are perilous. But she’ll stop at nothing to achieve the retribution she deserves.Jordana Pierson is a gilded New Yorker who appears to have it all: wealth, glamour, a successful and handsome husband, and a thriving wedding concierge business. Her record is spotless. Her business is flourishing. No one knows the truth about her and the dark shadows of her past.No one, that is, except Kerrie.Exploring just how far someone will go for vengeance, Pretty Revenge is a riveting, compulsively readable novel bursting with twists and turns and plenty of suspense.