Nick is single, trying to improve his job prospects, deeply gorgeous but totally poor. They meet, are attracted and...if only life were that simple. For Liz and Nick, things are about to get a lot more complicated. A heady brew of incompetent exes, good friends, and alcoholic artists manage to disrupt the course of true love. Set against the dubious delights of the art world and the machinations of the national papers, Liz doesn't know what's hit her and Nick finds himself embroiled in the consequences of one small economy with the truth which threatens to wreck everything. Will either of them realise what's going on and see the answer through the chaos? Will they finally live happily ever after? Warm, sharp and hilarious, this is a novel for anyone who's ever fallen in love, taken a chance or had their life turned upside down by a delayed train.

    Not just those you choose to keep from others, or even those that others guard from you. There remains those secrets that you so desperately keep hidden from yourself. They all catch up with Lempi Makinen Lahti.When Lempi's teenage son Danny discovers her suicide, he seeks to solve the mysteries that defined her life and death. A pack of letters and clippings hidden in an old family trunk may be the only keep to understanding both his mother's past and his own future.The Finnish Girl is a richly told tapestry of interwoven characters - the family patriarch who emigrates from Finland to the United States to create his own future, a son who turns his back on his home as part of an ill-fated mission to Russia during the Depression, the elderly mother who faces deportation in an America driven by fear during the Red Scare, and the young Finnish girl who cares too much about the injustices she sees.Decisions in one generation propel another on unexpected paths, until on family's hope for the American dream threaten to be come its nightmare.

    Their friendship was something they swore would last forever. Now years have passed, the friends have drifted apart, and none of them ever found the lives they wanted – the lives they dreamed of when they were young and everything seemed possible.   Evvie starved herself to become a supermodel but derailed her career by sleeping with a married man.   Maggie married Ben, the boy she fell in love with at university, never imagining the heartbreak his drinking would cause.    Topher became a successful actor but the shame of a childhood secret shut him off from real intimacy.   By their thirtieth reunion, these old friends have lost touch with each other and with the people they dreamed of becoming. Together again, they have a second chance at happiness… until a dark secret is revealed that changes everything.   The Friends We Keep is about how despite disappointments we’ve had or mistakes we’ve made, it's never too late to find a place to call home.

    It chronicles the path that led her family to her, and the unimaginable circumstances she had to endure as a victim of dog-fighting in order to make her way home. "As Bright as the Sun" will anger and inspire. It is filled with laughs and with tears. It is a story for every person who has ever advocated for and loved an animal, and in the end, "As Bright as the Sun" will make you want to stand up and cheer.

    Determined to fulfill his dreams as an artist, he hitches out of Separation, Texas, headed for art school and the culture of 1960s New York City. But when the woman with whom he seeks solace from the pain of Darlene’s betrayal winds up pregnant, Harley’s plans—along with his dreams—get derailed. Determined to forge his path, Harley finally makes it to New York, where the art world opens up to him amid his blossoming relationship with Frankie, the first true equal and partner of his life. But Harley can’t leave his past behind as easily as he left Texas. A shocking discovery ignites a bloodlust that makes him risk everything he’s achieved, and propels him on an adrenaline-driven mission of revenge back to Texas, and the seedy underbelly of Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, where he finally confronts the obsession that has crippled his entire life.

    They marry just out of college as Rory, a star hockey player, earns a spot in the NHL. Their future could not look brighter when Rory shocks everyone-Lauren most of all-by enlisting in the U.S. Army. When Rory dies in combat, Lauren is left devastated, alone, and under unbearable public scrutiny. Seeking peace and solitude, Lauren retreats to her family's old beach house on the Jersey Shore. But this summer she's forced to share the house with her overbearing mother and competitive sister. Worse, a stranger making a documentary about Rory tracks her down and persuades her to give him just an hour of her time.One hour with filmmaker Matt Brio turns into a summer of revelations, surprises, and upheaval. As the days grow shorter and her grief changes shape, Lauren begins to understand the past-and to welcome the future.

    But it's never that simple, especially when old family ties have been strained by years of geographic and emotional distance. A chance encounter with a childhood friend brings back a betrayal she could never put to rest, and readjusting to life in the States in upper mid-life wears her thin in ways she never could have imagined. Just when Meryl feels she can't go on, Providence steps in and gives her permission to completely fall apart. Only then can she finally manage to grieve both her magnanimous, flawed Francesco and the unforgettable country she left behind.True Vines traverses the manicured rows of northern Italy's majestic wine country and the winding path of Pennsylvania's Delaware River as Meryl seeks to reconcile her past and her present. Several people on each side of the Atlantic guide her as she relives her own stories: a spirited sister-in-law, a petulant physician, a strong-willed landlady, a good-guy boss, a determined mother-in-law, an amazing flood survivor, a Senegalese English student, a young co-worker. Each recollection and encounter deepens Meryl's insight into how to make peace with her new reality.Saying goodbye to one existence allows Meryl to swing the door open to another as she weaves a new, uniquely beautiful tapestry that transports her to exactly the place in this short, sacred life she is meant to be.

    But Ida – who insists you call her “Aunty Ida,” if you want to (no one ever seems to want to) – is there to help. That Margaret doesn’t want her help doesn’t dampen Ida’s delight in playing with her mind-altering toys and calling it therapy. Besides, the courtroom thing was only a big deal because of the cameras. OK, so it was Margaret’s courtroom, and yes, she was hearing the biggest case of her career, and yes, the LawTV commentators were all over it, but these things always get sensationalized. The restraining order her husband got against her was only temporary. So she’s suspended. It’s nothing she can’t fix. Sure, Margaret has no idea who this Ida person is, but if she can get her to sign a form, she’ll be back on the bench in no time. Unfortunately for Margaret, Aunty Ida knows exactly who Margaret is. And Margaret isn’t going anywhere. With relentless optimism, Ida dives into curing Margaret of her problems, one odd treatment at a time. But Margaret knows there’s nothing wrong with her. She was set up, and she’s determined to prove it.

    Give up her child for adoption or leave town.New Cover April 2019Single and pregnant, Bella is given a choice. Give up her child for adoption or leave town.The choice was never in doubt. Bella moves across the country, settling in Santa Monica. Determined to make a life for herself and her child, she and her new friend Sophia sell children’s clothing at the Venice Beach market. When their creative designs are featured on television, their business takes off and they accept an offer from Rafael Vargas to expand their business. Bella fights her attraction to the handsome entrepreneur, but deep in her heart all she really wants is love.

    Her mourning is disrupted, however, by the unexpected arrival of a builder with a contract to add a porch onto her house. Stunned, Janie realizes the porch was meant to be a surprise from her husband—now his last gift to her.As she reluctantly allows construction to begin, Janie clings to the familiar outposts of her sorrow—mothering her two small children with fierce protectiveness, avoiding friends and family, and stewing in a rage she can't release. Yet Janie's self-imposed isolation is breached by a cast of unlikely interventionists: her chattering, ipecac-toting aunt; her bossy, over-manicured neighbor; her muffin-bearing cousin; and even Tug, the contractor with a private grief all his own.As the porch takes shape, Janie discovers that the unknowable terrain of the future is best navigated with the help of others—even those we least expect to call on, much less learn to love.

    After giving birth to a son, John, Bridie's child was taken away from her, and she was sent to one of Ireland's infamous Magdalene Laundries. This was only the beginning... They took her freedom. They took her innocence. They took her child. But they couldn't take her spirit.

    Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper? Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

    Was it a silly childhood idea, or were they wise beyond their years? Most importantly, will they go through with it when the time comes?

    Staying that way is an entirely different story. From the bestselling author of This Thirtysomething Life, Happy Endings and This Family Life, comes a comedy drama about parenthood, marriage, love, life and roast dinners. Perfect for fans of Mike Gayle, Matt Dunn and David Nicholls. The Wilde family have always had a roast dinner on Sundays. Greg Wilde made sure of it. Him, his wife, Lizzy, and their three children around the table; for years it was the glue that held them together. But now with the children all grown up and moving out, and Greg and Lizzy’s marriage facing an uncertain future, their lives are becoming increasingly unstuck. Greg soon begins to realise that creating a happy family is one thing, but staying that way is an entirely different story. Told from each of the family's perspectives at their monthly Sunday roast dinners, this is a bittersweet comedy about parenthood, marriage, love, life and roast dinners.

    Twenty years later, they gather around a campfire on the lawn of a New England mansion. What happens in between-the web of wild adventures, unspoken jealousies, and sudden tragedies that alter the course of their lives-is charted with sharp wit and aching sadness in this meticulously constructed novel.Anna, the de facto leader, is fearless and restless-moving fast to stay one step ahead of her demons. Quirky, contemplative Kate is a natural sidekick but a terrible wingman ("If you go home with him, might I suggest breathing through your mouth"). And then there's George: the most desired woman in any room, and the one most likely to leave with the worst man.Shot through with the crackling dialogue, irresistible characters, and propulsive narrative drive that make Lutz's books so beloved, How to Start a Fire pulls us deep into Anna, Kate, and George's complicated bond and pays homage to the abiding, irrational love we share with the family we choose.