Anna struggles with her husband's deception, and Jonas mourns the death of his wife. Together they battle the demons of their past.Three people with a troubled past meet in Zurich, Switzerland. While caring for and teaching little Karla, who promises to be a talented painter, Anna and Jonas fall in love but sinister events in their past threaten their budding romance.An Uncommon Family is a story about loss, lies, and betrayal but also about the healing power of love and art. It takes place in Switzerland, New York City, and Guadalajara, Mexico.

    Don’t miss this chance to snap up the series that USA Today calls “smart, tart, and sexy”! Love On The Line: Violet Morgan puts the personal in personal chef…right up until her twin brother’s detective partner is injured in the line of duty. The last thing Violet wants is to get up-close and personal with tough, gruff Noah Blackwell…again. But despite their differences, Noah and Violet find heat in more places than the kitchen. When Noah goes back to active duty despite Violet’s deep-seated fears, will these two simmer down, or will their feelings boil over? Drawing The Line: Detective Jason Morgan must protect Serenity Gallagher from one of Brentsville’s most vicious criminals after she witnesses a brutal crime at her diner. The task is easier said than done with Serenity reluctant to leave Mac’s, the only place she’s ever called home. As they bide their time in protective custody, the stakes get higher and the sparks burn hotter for Jason and Serenity. But can they draw the line? Outside The Lines: Julianna Shaw walked out of Dr. Blake Fisher’s life eight years ago. He never expected to see her again, let alone be tasked with coordinating Brentsville Hospital’s charity fundraiser with her. But the sexy diner manager has secrets, ones that change everything both Blake and Jules once knew about love. Will the truth bring them back together…or send them apart for good? Pushing The Line: Artist Harper McGee has never met a change of address she didn’t like. So when she comes back to Brentsville to settle her beloved grandmother’s final affairs, it’s not for an extended stay…until Harper discovers that her grandmother has bequeathed her the family candy shop. Firefighter-slash-contractor Aaron Fisher is all too willing to help her with the renovations needed to sell the shop, but will he fix up her guarded heart, too?

    Ignored by the adults around her yet desperate to know their world, Laila takes comfort in being the confidant of teenager Rani – privy to details of the older girl’s forbidden love affair. But when that affair bears unwelcome fruit, a floundering Rani leans on Laila for solace and support. Yet Laila – still a child – neither comprehends the danger nor is able to help; and thus unwittingly leads Rani towards catastrophe …

    She’d simply travel across the ocean to visit her grandfather in Ireland and heal. Then she’d come back. Simple. But what she doesn’t expect is to find solace and healing in the form of the O’Rifcan family. One member in particular: Claron. Claron enjoyed his life farming the land his grandparents gifted him. He lived his life quietly and contentedly, until Rhea arrived. He’d steered clear of relationships and entanglements since his last heartbreak, but something about Roland’s granddaughter twists him up inside. Something about Rhea has him rethinking his life of solitude. Two hearts. One chance. Can Rhea and Claron overcome past hurts to make a new beginning?

    The interlinked stories are set in the late twentieth century, before a wave of anticolonialism crested across India and resulted in Bombay's rechristening. The stories feature everyday characters who face challenges unique to Bombay life, from the schoolboy who forms an unlikely friendship with a street vendor to the retired serviceman whose livelihood is threatened by the city's notorious bureaucracy. Readers familiar with Bombay will reawaken their memories, while those new to the city will experience a taste of its varied flavors.

    The incomparable Lewis Nordan's first two collections of short fiction--WELCOME TO THE ARROW-CATCHER FAIR and THE ALL-GIRL FOOTBALL TEAM--originally published in 1983 and 1986, have long been out of print in all editions. Collectors' items, these two books are now almost impossible for Nordan fans to find anywhere.To rectify that, Algonquin is delighted to announce a selection of fifteen of the best stories from the two books, newly arranged and introduced by fellow Mississippian, bookseller Richard Howorth, and with a foreword by the author. Critics have called Lewis Nordan's fiction "extraordinary" and "marvelous" and "stunning" and "scorching" and "story-telling genius." The selected stories show that genius in the making. "Characters that people the South hobble and dance across the pages of his short stories."--United Press International; "Delightfully eccentric situations and colorful language add up to a work that is even stronger than WOLF WHISTLE."--Library Journal.

    But when her life in the fast land falls apart - again - it's time for a miracle. Reeling from the worst week of her life, topped off by her most important client stabbing her in the back, Fran realises that she's almost forgotten what her family looks like. She wants out of the rat race and her hectic life as a literary agent - and time to be herself, a real wife and mother to her two small children. Good old Frank delivers what seems the answer to her prayers - to escape for three months to Singapore while he does some business. But what starts out as a little break and a very big culture shock for all concerned marks the hilarious beginning of the end of the old Fran - and a whole new life.

    It never quite plays out as beautifully as I imagine this scene to be. I am still a normal girl, after all, and in my head I've blocked it perfectly: We wake up with a slow stretch, cuddle for a few minutes, conduct a short conversation with our husky sleepy voices..."Even for a struggling actress like 26-year-old Kach, love doesn't come easy. Especially if your timing is off and you miss your cue and forget to deliver the right lines at the right time...Beautiful, talented and starving, theater actress Kach, who has a real penchant for drama, lives off the refrigerators and affection of her childhood friends: Nats, a chef who has taken it upon herself to play mother to Kach, and Jorge, an overachieving research genius who balances off Kach when she starts overreacting and who gladly supplies much-needed warm hugs when her world - or her tiny Makati apartment - dramatically turns cold.Now Kach has finally landed a legitimate role costarring an intense, sexy and brooding young stage actor named Sanchez. Their onstage chemistry quickly reaches boiling point and overflows into real-life, and suddenly Kach finds herself in a super-kilig affair, complete with snatches of smooches behind closed stage curtains.But their romance takes a dramatic turn when Kach discovers that Sanchez isn't tailor-made for the role of her real-life leading man...and that someone else is ready and willing to audition!

    Emily Prager's sensational first book of fiction, which was acclaimed as "splendid and original" (New York Times), is now available in the popular Vintage Contemporaries series.

    . . A night of fun at a music festival in Washington, DC, ends in a nightmare when two young girls never come home. Psychiatrist Emory Benson waits up for her seventeen-year old sister, but realizes something is terribly wrong when she doesn't show up and can't be reached on her cell phone. Since the death of their parents to a drunk driver, Emory has been Mia's guardian, doing her best to raise her sister as they would have wanted and to keep her safe. Through her work in a hospital Emergency Room, Emory witnesses tragedy on a regular basis, but is completely unprepared when it visits her own life again. As it becomes clear that something horrible has happened to Mia and her friend Grace, Emory puts her life on hold to find them, enlisting the help of a rogue detective and former Navy Seal named Knox Helmer. But evil has a name and a face and every intention of keeping what she has stolen. The proprietor of Hotel California outside the nation’s capital, runs a business for wealthy individuals with a taste for things that can't be bought in polite society. Can Emory and Knox find the two girls before their fate is forever sealed?

    Lovebirds since adolescence. Bonded by love, separated by circumstances. They part ways only to meet again. But this time, he is on a secret mission... Are they in control of their own destiny, or its their destiny which is making them dance to its tunes? Only time would answer, as Atharva and Meher unwillingly and unknowingly transcend the seven stages of love. A quintessential tale of love and romance marked beautifully by its own rustic old school charm.

    A painter who owes his small success to a man he despises, discovers that his passivity has cost him the love that might have set him free. A writer of modest talents encounters the old love who once betrayed him; now she repels him, yet the unfinished novel she leaves in his hands may surpass anything he could ever produce himself. An American poet in Rome finds herself forced to choose between her lover and a world so alien it takes her voice away. A print maker, who has reached a certain age, enters so deeply into the magical world of her imagination that she can never find her way back. In captivating, luminous prose, Martin explores the trials and rewards of human relationships and creative endeavor with all the ease and insight of a writer at the top of her form.

    She and Jonathan had secretly loved one another in high school, but never shared those feelings except for that one time in the library their senior year. Jenny had impetuously kissed Jonathan—a moment neither forgot. Four decades have passed. Five thousand miles away they meet as strangers on tour in Italy. Will they have the opportunity for a second chance? A clean, wholesome, timeless story , with universal themes built around admirable, charming characters.Some folks are bothered that most love stories seem a bit contrived and have a suspension of belief. They normally label themselves as realists--"not into that fairy-tale stuff." But what better way to deal with the real world, 24/7, than to take a break, experience a lovelier world-- one that transforms the mood and lifts the spirit, giving hope to something better. Although my story is fictional, the magical thing about it is that it could really happen.

    

    Thomas Dixon. The firefighter who swept me off my feet. Strong arms, quick-witted, and scorchingly hot. But another nightmare followed right after I was rescued. Debt. And he's offering to save me again. The plan is simple. We'd live together...temporarily, of course. With a clear set of rules. No sleeping in the same bed. No long hugs. And definitely no cute names. Something tells me these rules won't stick. My fragile heart can't ignore his heated touch. The distance between us is brutal. I shouldn't give in. But if I do... Then he might just be the hottest mistake I'll ever make.