Book picks similar to
Peaks and Valleys by Emilie Richards
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Enter the Aardvark
Jessica Anthony - 2020
Inside is a gigantic taxidermied aardvark. This outrageous, edge-of-your-seat novel hurtles between contemporary Washington, DC, where Wilson tries to get rid of the unsightly beast before it destroys his career, and Victorian England--where we meet Titus Downing, the taxidermist who stuffed the aardvark, and Richard Ostlet, the naturalist who hunted her. Our present world, we begin to see, has been shaped in profound and disturbing ways by the secret that binds these men.
Bad Idea: The Complete Collection
Nicole French - 2020
She's a princess from a wealthy family. Binge what readers are calling the “realest romance” out there. Get the complete Bad Idea Series plus an exclusive novella, After Party!For Bad Idea: Repeat after me: stay away from the girl. The beautiful girl. The f**king ray of sunshine in the middle of your delivery route. Layla Barros is everything I never knew I wanted. Everything I’ll never have.She’s an innocent young student. I’m a convicted felon. She’s rich girl from a nice family. I’ve got nothing but a broken home.But if I’m an addict, she’s my drug. I can’t stay away, even though I know I’ll ruin her in the end. She might be the girl of my dreams, but I was always a bad idea.For Lost Ones:Six months ago, I gave my heart to a girl. Beautiful, kind, and sexy as sin, she’s the only person who saw past my record or the color of my skin. Who really saw me for me. She loved me enough to let me go, let me leave this city to find my own path. But without her, I drift, lost without direction. Without me, she spirals, desperate for connection. I gave my heart to a girl, and she gave hers to me. But love shouldn’t hurt this much.For True North:They said I was a bad idea. Poor. Violent. Criminal. They said I’d amount to nothing, and I believed them too. Until I met her. Layla Barros saved me from my worst, but to do that, she lost the best herself. Now it’s my turn to bring her back to life. If only I can figure out how to do it.I’ll do anything to protect the chance we finally have. I’ll follow her to the other side of the world: Brazil. Cuba. You name it.But how can I be her true north when I’m still finding my direction too?Because sometimes your worst demons are those closest to you. And sometimes getting rid of them isn’t a choice at all. Now includes the exclusive novella After Party only seen once in a limited-run anthology!
Five Tuesdays in Winter
Lily King - 2021
A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, some even slipping into the surreal, these stories are, above all, about King's enduring subject of love.
Crown Jewels
Gigi Thorne - 2018
Now he wants me to stroke his jewels. I wasn’t going to steal anything from the royal family—I swear. I only wanted to touch the massive pair of rubies I found in the castle jewelry collection. I only wanted to feel what it was like to be rich. I’m so busted. Prince Bastian caught me red-handed on the day of his sister’s wedding, and now he’s making me pay the price. On my hands and knees. With my mouth. With everything I have to give. I’d pay him forever if I could keep the handsome prince to myself. I’m hot for the way he whispers you’re my little thief. But time is running out. When the wedding is over, I’m back on the streets. Unless I can find a way to steal his heart... Crown Jewels is a steamy royal novella that you can devour in one sitting! It's a little bit angst, a little bit sweet, and all Gigi Thorne. Consider this your invitation to the royal wedding...
The Souvenir Museum
Elizabeth McCracken - 2021
A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins. An actress who plays a children’s game-show villainess ushers in the New Year with her deadbeat half brother. A mother, pining for her children, feasts on loaves of challah to fill the void. A new couple navigates a tightrope walk toward love. And on a trip to a Texas water park with their son, two fathers each confront a personal fear. With sentences that crackle and spark and showcase her trademark wit, McCracken traces how our closely held desires—for intimacy, atonement, comfort—bloom and wither against the indifferent passing of time. Her characters embark on journeys that leave them indelibly changed—and so do her readers. The Souvenir Museum showcases the talents of one of our finest contemporary writers as she tenderly takes the pulse of our collective and individual lives.
The Proposal
Jess Mastorakos
Too bad I can’t have her.As a Marine who jumps out of perfectly good airplanes for fun, you could say I’m fine with taking risks. But not when it comes to Shelby.For years, I’ve been firmly in the friend zone, right where she wants me. And since I won’t risk our friendship, that’s where I’ll stay. But I can’t pine over her forever.When I propose to my girlfriend and get rejected in front of the whole town, the joke’s on me. Turns out proposing to the wrong woman because you can’t have the right one is a bad idea.Shelby’s always had my heart. Can I convince her to trust me with hers?The Proposal is the first book in a sweet, small town, military romance series. Each book is a standalone romance but they are fun to read in order!
Flipping Her Switch: Club Kink Book 1
Leela Lou Dahlin - 2017
Although she doesn’t know where she’d ultimately fit in to the world of kink, she can feel it calling to her like a beacon, and she knows it's a place she really wants to be. She filled out the paperwork and crossed her fingers, hoping that 1. She’d be accepted and 2. They wouldn’t find out her secret. Axel Knox is the co-owner of a sex club. He’s a large man, with a big secret. He runs Kink, helping members with their needs takes his mind off his own, that is until a dark-haired beauty makes a request that changes everything. Two people learning about themselves and each other while attempting keep their secrets intact. The motto of the club is ‘Your pleasure is our priority’ and it’s something he’s keeping in mind as he’s Flipping Her Switch.
Ace Jones: Mad Fat Adventures in Therapy
Stephanie McAfee - 2013
What’s worse is that every time she leaves the house, she winds up in some kind of altercation. She can’t help but wonder if she’s an idiot magnet, or if she’s the smart-mouth stirring things up. Hoping for a little peace of mind, Ace gives in to the advice of her best friend and goes to see a therapist. But she quickly discovers that the road to nirvana isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. And as Ace goes from one therapeutic misadventure to another, the plus-sized spitfire becomes more determined than ever to find enlightenment—even if it means bending herself into a pretzel to do it.
The Glass Case
Kristin Hannah - 2011
Although she loves her children and husband, April is plagued by the growing doubt that she has not lived up to her mother's expectations for her--until one day when something terrible and unexpected happens, and April must face the truth about her own life and discover what really matters.
Come On In
Adi AlsaidMaria E. Andreu - 2020
Come On In.With characters who face random traffic stops, TSA detention, customs anxiety, and the daunting and inspiring journey to new lands, who camp with their extended families, dance at weddings, keep diaries, teach ESL, give up their rooms for displaced family, decide their own answer to the question "where are you from?" and so much more, Come On In illuminates fifteen of the myriad facets of the immigrant experience.
Lucretia and the Kroons
Victor LaValle - 2012
The only way to get her back is for Lucretia to climb the rickety fire escape of their Queens tenement and crawl through the window of apartment 6D, portal to a vast shadowland of missing kids ruled by a nightmarish family of mutants whose designs on the children are unknown. Her search for Sunny takes Lucretia through a dark fantasyland where she finds lush forests growing from concrete, pigeon-winged rodents, and haunted playgrounds. Her quest ultimately forces her to confront the most frightening specter of all: losing, forever, the thing you love the most. Lucretia and the Kroons is a dazzlingly imaginative adventure story and a moving exploration of the power of friendship and the terror of loss. This all-new novella serves as the perfect companion piece to The Devil in Silver, a thrillingly suspenseful work of literary horror that continues the story of Lucretia.
Small Kingdoms & Other Stories
Charlaine Harris - 2019
Killing a man does take time though; so does disposing the body . . . if you do it right.After three relatively quiet years at Travis High School, it seems Anne is in danger of being exposed—even the baseball coach knows more about her former life than she ever imagined. Now, she must find out who else holds her secrets and who wants her to pay for them. . .without letting it make her tardy again. Anne still has a school to run, parents to manage, and a few students who might benefit from her unique—and deadly—experience.Collected together for the first time in Small Kingdoms and Other Stories, “Small Kingdoms,” “Sarah Smiles,” “Small Chances,” and “Small Signs” are sure to delight fans of Charlaine Harris.
Finding Home (Family Bonds Book 4)
Carolyne Aarsen - 2020
He’s trying to overcome his scandalous history. Together, forgiveness might give them a second chance. Nurse’s aide Naomi Deacon desperately wants to heal her devastated soul. After caring for her fiancé in his final months, she’s returned to her small hometown alone and looking for direction. So when a pregnant teenager needs in-home care, Naomi takes the job… even though the young woman’s step-brother is the bad boy who broke her heart.Jess Schroder is lucky to have survived his wild teenage years. With time, he’s grown into a man compassionate enough to take in his expecting step-sister. But when the only woman he ever loved is part of the package, he’s painfully reminded of their lost passion.As they prepare for the baby’s arrival, the two high-school sweethearts rekindle old feelings. But Jess doesn’t know how to prove he’s really changed. And Naomi carries a dark secret from their past that could destroy any hope for their future.Can Naomi and Jess forgive their younger selves to build a new, better life?Finding Home is the second book in the sweet Family Bonds Christian romance series. If you like characters with depth, trust built through faith, and stories filled with compassion, then you’ll adore Carolyne Aarsen’s touching novel.
Buy Finding Home to see destiny find its way today!
Retrospective
Kevin Wignall - 2012
Hoyle is about to learn that his photographs were not without consequences, and whether he survives the night will depend on what exactly he witnessed through his camera's unflinching eye. This short story was first published in Robert Randisi's "Greatest Hits" anthology in November, 2005. It subsequently appeared in "Best British Mysteries" and was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger.
Me and the Dreamy Doomsday (Sweet, Small Town Romantic Comedy in Good Grief, Idaho, Book 5)
Jessie Gussman - 2021
I feel it was made to be enjoyed. I’m not interested in having a great career or climbing a corporate ladder or being inside much at all, actually.I don’t like to stay with things too long, either. I’ve worked as a short line cook, a firefighter and a dolphin trainer among other things. So, when the ladies at the Good Grief senior living center offer me a short term job as the photographer for the risqué nature calendar they want to pose for – to cross it off of Miss Agnes’s bucket list – I am all in.A few online photography courses later and I am ready to roll. Unfortunately, the guide of our choice, my sister’s fiancé, Bain, is all booked up. So he gets us his brother, Hoover, instead.Hoover and I have a bit of history, but he is as boring as the day is long and I couldn’t be less interested.Everything is going as planned until Miss Agnes decides she actually has being a photographer on her bucket list, Miss Harriet comes down with a severe case of sunburn on her nether regions and Miss Gertrude runs off with her favorite narrator.Suddenly I’m the star of the risqué calendar, Miss Agnes is taking my picture and Hoover…well, Hoover disapproves of pretty much everything, and he hates me, too. I want to fire him, but Miss Agnes has other plans…HooverI thought I was leading a tour to show the ladies Idaho’s scenic places and wildlife.I was misinformed, although Kori equals wild life. Way too wild for me. I mean, show the woman a mud puddle and she wants to skinny dip in it.Then, Miss Agnes decides that I should be in the calendar too, and I have an eighty year old woman explaining to me what a speedo is…I’m on to Miss Agnes’s plans, but I’m not sure Kori and I are strong enough to fight the tide…Books in the Sweet, Small Town Romantic Comedy in Good Grief, Idaho series:1. Me and the Cute Catastrophe2. Me and the Tidy Tornado3. Me and the Helpful Hurricane4. Me and the Sweet Snowstorm5. Me and the Dreamy Doomsday