Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys


Janet Kay Jensen - 2007
    There was only one problem: polygamy - a lifestyle that Louisa could not escape and Andy would not embrace. As medical students at the University of Utah, Andy and Louisa fall in love - but can a mainstream Mormon and a Fundamental polygamist overcome the cultural barriers between them? Both realize that their choices will not only affect their own lives, but will also have an impact on their family, friends, and even their communities. Fearing that the sacrifices required of them would be too great, they go their separate ways. Yet for Andy in Kentucky and Louisa in Utah, life does not go as they'd planned. While Andy is serving as a country doctor and trying to bury his pain, Louisa is coming to terms with the fact that all is not as perfect in her tight-knit community as she'd believed. As doctors, each will have to choose between keeping the peace in their communities or doing what they know is right.

Murder is Misunderstood (The Bad Mother's Club #1)


Heather Horrocks - 2011
    Feeling like maternal failures, she and two friends (feisty PI Sam and No-One’s-Accused-Me-Of-Being-Mother Teresa) form the Bad Mothers Club in order to deal with their various child-related heartaches more positively. When her ex-husband, Jack, is accused of murdering Becky’s first post-divorce date, the Bad Mothers set out to prove his innocence, but only for the sake of her children. These Bad Mothers have faced everything from terrible twos and sleep deprivation to rebellious teens and heartbreak -- they’re not about to let a mere murderer stop them from winning the Worst Mother of the Month award.

Twisted Fate


Traci Hunter Abramson - 2014
    She knows her abusive stepfather will stop at nothing to silence her and quickly realizes escape into the nearby forest is her only hope of survival...But who will believe her unbelievable tales?Death House - Gregg LukeEven those who know its real name call it the death house. But the abandoned mansion, site of a grisly murder a century ago, beckons Adam. And when the force of his obsession drives him to embark on a late night investigation of the property, he is horrified by what he discovers. Something deadly lurks inside, and nobody in its path is safe.Haunting Reminders - Stephanie BlackReturning to her small hometown in Massachusetts, Jamie has had years to get over her broken engagement. But when her former fiancé and his wife become the victims of a vicious stalker, all eyes turn to Jamie. When childish pranks escalate into a horrifying display of maliciousness, Jamie is desperate to clear her name--even as the attention of the perpetrator turns toward her.

Mischling


Affinity Konar - 2016
    In their benighted new world, Pearl and Stasha Zagorski take refuge in their identical natures, comforting themselves with the private language and shared games of their childhood.As part of the experimental population of twins known as Mengele's Zoo, the girls experience privileges and horrors unknown to others, and they find themselves changed, stripped of the personalities they once shared, their identities altered by the burdens of guilt and pain.That winter, at a concert orchestrated by Mengele, Pearl disappears. Stasha grieves for her twin, but clings to the possibility that Pearl remains alive. When the camp is liberated by the Red Army, she and her companion Feliks--a boy bent on vengeance for his own lost twin--travel through Poland's devastation. Undeterred by injury, starvation, or the chaos around them, motivated by equal parts danger and hope, they encounter hostile villagers, Jewish resistance fighters, and fellow refugees, their quest enabled by the notion that Mengele may be captured and brought to justice within the ruins of the Warsaw Zoo. As the young survivors discover what has become of the world, they must try to imagine a future within it.A superbly crafted story, told in a voice as exquisite as it is boundlessly original, Mischling defies every expectation, traversing one of the darkest moments in human history to show us the way toward ethereal beauty, moral reckoning, and soaring hope.

By Blood


Ellen Ullman - 2012
    Free love has given way to radical feminism, psychedelic ecstasy to hard-edged gloom. The Zodiac Killer stalks the streets. A disgraced professor takes an office in a downtown tower to plot his return. But the walls are thin and he's distracted by voices from next door—his neighbor is a psychologist, and one of her patients dislikes the hum of the white-noise machine. And so he begins to hear about the patient's troubles with her female lover, her conflicts with her adoptive, avowedly WASP family, and her quest to track down her birth mother. The professor is not just absorbed but enraptured. And the further he is pulled into the patient's recounting of her dramas—and the most profound questions of her own identity—the more he needs the story to move forward. The patient's questions about her birth family have led her to a Catholic charity that trafficked freshly baptized orphans out of Germany after World War II. But confronted with this new self— “I have no idea what it means to say ‘I’m a Jew’”—the patient finds her search stalled. Armed with the few details he’s gleaned, the professor takes up the quest and quickly finds the patient’s mother in records from a German displaced-persons camp. But he can’t let on that he’s been eavesdropping, so he mocks up a reply from an adoption agency the patient has contacted and drops it in the mail. Through the wall, he hears how his dear patient is energized by the news, and so is he. He unearths more clues and invests more and more in this secret, fraught, triangular relationship: himself, the patient, and her therapist, who is herself German. His research leads them deep into the history of displaced-persons camps, of postwar Zionism, and—most troubling of all—of the Nazi Lebensborn program. With ferocious intelligence and an enthralling, magnetic prose, Ellen Ullman weaves a dark and brilliant, intensely personal novel that feels as big and timeless as it is sharp and timely. It is an ambitious work that establishes her as a major writer.

The Final Solution


Michael Chabon - 2004
    Into his life wanders Linus Steinman, nine years old and mute, who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his sole companion: an African gray parrot.What is the meaning of the mysterious string of German numbers the bird spews out - a top secret SS code? The keys to a series of Swiss bank accounts perhaps? Or something more sinister? Is the solution to this last case - the real explanation of the mysterious boy and his parrot - beyond even the reach of the once-famed sleuth?A short, suspenseful tale of compassion and wit that reimagines the classic nineteenth-century detective story.

Within the Dark Hills


Sian Ann Bessey - 2012
    Davies. Without family and tainted by scandal, she’s in dire need of a new identity and an occupation to match. Equally bleak is the future of Evan Powell, a miner who harbors dreams of escaping the black mines that are slowly killing him and finding refuge under the promised blue skies of America. But recently, the wife who Evan adored died, leaving the devoted father struggling to care for his young daughter, Jane.To benefit both Annie and Evan, the kindly reverend arranges a marriage of convenience, one that is quietly contracted in a hasty ceremony—an event that sparks pointed gossip among those in the small Welsh town and outright rejection from Evan’s family. Annie must tread carefully lest she let slip anything about her past— particularly when she learns that her former master has been afoot, inquiring about a missing maid. More importantly, she feels she must avoid any emotional entanglements with Evan, who remains devoted to his beloved deceased wife. But as Evan works with Annie to care for Jane, Evan knows their relationship is growing into something more and must face the torments of a divided heart. And in the midst of Mormon missionaries preaching a strange new religion, disaster strikes the town and Annie’s troubled history can no longer be hidden.

Love Beyond Time


Nancy Campbell Allen - 1999
    But when she has a head-on collision with a swinging door, life as she knows it is suddenly reduced to a heart full of searing memories when she awakens in another time and place. How can she practice modern medicine of a Civil War battlefield — and how can she get out of this mess? She longs for her comfortable apartment and her dear little Primary class, but she's trapped in a world that is not her own. And it's anything but friendly.Meanwhile, Tyler Montgomery, and overworked accountant, is spending the night at his computer, prepareing for an audit, when two of his worst nightmares walk through his office door. The last thing he remembers is a blow from the butt of their sawed-off shotgun — until he comes to in a tiny room adjacent to a nineteenth-centuy Army hospital. I've died and I'm not in heaven, he thinks.Amber and Tyler have just begun the adventure of their lives, fraught with danger, intrigue, and unbelievable discoveries at every turn. Thrown together in a world apart, they must somehow find their way back to the present. But first, they need to find each other and learn what matters most in life. Can they meet the test — or will it cost them their lives before they can unravel the mystery of generations past?First-time novelist Nancy Campbell Allen has created a riveting story filled with enough adventure and romance to last two lifetimes!

The Lost Family


Jenna Blum - 2018
    With his movie-star good looks and tragic past, Peter, a survivor of Auschwitz, is the most eligible bachelor in town. But Peter does not care for the parade of eligible women who come to the restaurant hoping to catch his eye. He has resigned himself to a solitary life. Running Masha’s consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the horrors of the Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha—the restaurant’s namesake—and two young daughters perished.Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming young model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard. Though she is twenty years his junior, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes, believing that beginning a new family with the woman he loves will allow him to let go of the horror of the past. But over the next twenty years, the indelible sadness of those memories will overshadow Peter, June, and their daughter Elsbeth, transforming them in shocking, heartbreaking, and unexpected ways.Jenna Blum artfully brings to the page a husband devastated by a grief he cannot name, a frustrated wife struggling to compete with a ghost she cannot banish, and a daughter sensitive to the pain of both her own family and another lost before she was born. Spanning three cinematic decades, The Lost Family is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love.

Motive for Murder


Marlene Bateman - 2013
    But a mere day into her idyllic vacation, all hope of fun in the sun is dashed with a shocking discovery: the body of an unknown man on the driveway. A failed second homicide attempt hits even closer to home when Wendy’s fiancé barely survives poisoning. There’s no way to sugarcoat it—a murderer is on the prowl, and no one is above suspicion.Unsettled by the proximity of foul play, Wendy asks Erica to investigate. Erica is convinced that the near double-murder was no coincidence, so she accepts her friend’s request—with her skill, solving the mystery should be a piece of cake. But as she sifts through mounting evidence, one thing becomes clear: everyone had a reason for wanting both men dead. And as the plot thickens, it appears that Erica may have bitten off more than she can chew . . .

The Sheriffs of Savage Wells


Sarah M. Eden - 2016
    A force to be reckoned with. The stuff of legend.So is she... May the best sheriff win. Paisley Bell knows the eccentric people of Savage Wells. From the absentminded shopkeeper who always thinks she's been robbed to the young man who has returned shell-shocked from the war, Paisley has compassion for them all. When the sheriff up and leaves town, Paisley steps up and assumes the responsibility, partly because she loves the work, but also because she needs the income to take care of her sick father. So when the town council decides that the position of sheriff should really go to a man, Paisley finds herself fighting to prove that she's the perfect candidate for the job, even though she wears a skirt.Cade O'Brien is heartily sick of shooting people. In his many years as a lawman, Cade has seen his share of blood and violence. So when he answers an advertisement for a sheriff job in the sleepy town of Savage Wells, he believes he's found the peace and quiet he's always desired. But when he discovers that his biggest competition for the job is a woman, he begins to question his decisions.Tension between the two begins to sizzle when both Cade and Paisley realize the attraction they have for each other, but when Paisley's former beau shows up in town, along with a band of bank robbers, the blossoming relationship between the two sheriffs is tested. They will have to work together to thwart the bank robbers and keep the town safe.

Once We Were Brothers


Ronald H. Balson - 2010
    Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser is convinced he is right and engages attorney Catherine Lockhart to bring Rosenzweig to justice. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has Solomon accused the right man?Once We Were Brothers is Ronald H. Balson's compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland, and a young love that struggles to endure the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and sixty years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for a moving and powerful tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.

Secrets in Zarahemla


Sariah S. Wilson - 2007
    By his looks, as appealing as they are, the tall Lamanite is the mortal enemy of Kiah and her people. She can't hope that her father, Captain Moroni, and his Nephite soldiers will rescue her — the strong-willed young woman has wandered well beyond the safe borders of Zarahemla. However, she is determined to use her warrior training to fight the Lamanite called Jeran until the end, no matter how hopeless the odds.The land of Zarahemla has long been under serious threat from its enemies. But recently, its worst foes come from within — including Corahan, a man who would stop at nothing to fulfill his desires. One of the things Corahan most wants is Kiah as his wife. Now Kiah and her new unlikely ally must call on all their faith and courage to save Zarahemla in a struggle that will bring either deliverance or death — to both of them.Journey to 62 BC and discover adventure, intrigue, and romance in a story where evil must be fought against, no matter how high the cost.

The Last Train to London


Meg Waite Clayton - 2019
    Stephan’s best friend and companion is the brilliant Žofie-Helene, a Christian girl whose mother edits a progressive, anti-Nazi newspaper. But the two adolescents’ carefree innocence is shattered when the Nazis’ take control.There is hope in the darkness, though. Truus Wijsmuller, a member of the Dutch resistance, risks her life smuggling Jewish children out of Nazi Germany to the nations that will take them. It is a mission that becomes even more dangerous after the Anschluss—Hitler’s annexation of Austria—as, across Europe, countries close their borders to the growing number of refugees desperate to escape.Tante Truus, as she is known, is determined to save as many children as she can. After Britain passes a measure to take in at-risk child refugees from the German Reich, she dares to approach Adolf Eichmann, the man who would later help devise the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” in a race against time to bring children like Stephan, his young brother Walter, and Žofie-Helene on a perilous journey to an uncertain future abroad.

Girl in the Blue Coat


Monica Hesse - 2016
    Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering sought-after black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. She likes to think of her illegal work as a small act of rebellion.On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman's frantic plea to find a person - a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen had been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such dangerous work, but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations that lead her into the heart of the resistance, open her eyes to the horrors of the Nazi war machine, and compel her to take desperate action. Beautifully written, intricately plotted, and meticulously researched, Girl in the Blue Coat is an extraordinary, gripping novel from a bright new voice.