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Waking to Black by V.H. Luis
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In the Midnight Room
Laura McBride - 2017
For the next 60 years, June will dare to live boldly. She will upend conventions, risk her heart and her life, rear a child, lose a child, love more than one man, and stand up for more than one woman.June’s story will intertwine with those of three unlikely strangers: a one-time mail order bride from the Philippines, a high school music teacher, and a young mother from Mexico working as a hotel maid. Knit together around June’s explosive secret, they forge a future that none of them foresee.This jubilant, compassionate novel explores the unexpected ways that life connects us, changes us, and even perfects us. A powerful story of lust and of hope, of redemption and of compassion, In the Midnight Room is a smart, sagacious novel about womanhood, family bonds, and how we live in America now.
Stuck-Up Big Shot
Sierra Hill - 2020
Things go from chaotic to scorching hot when I run into my old crush, Miles Thatcher, on my way out of the building.Talk about disastrous timing. I haven’t seen him in years – five to be exact.Since the day we buried his sister – my best friend.That was both the best and worst day of my life.It was also the day Miles kissed me – and promptly forgot about me.Some things never change. He still has no clue who I am. Miles is no longer the boy I fell in love with. Now he’s just a stuck-up big shot with a big bank account and bigger ego.I wish I didn’t still have feelings for him but seeing him again only makes me want him more. If only Miles would finally ‘see’ me. A lot can happen over five years, but time hasn’t erased the guilt he carries. Underneath his fancy façade is a man who can’t get over the grief of losing his baby sister... or the regret of not being able to prevent it.And I’m just the girl who can’t get over him.
Tell Me
Abigail Strom - 2017
She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants. Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just… Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks. On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno. This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?
Rebel with a Cupcake
Anna Mainwaring - 2015
Jess sees no need to apologize for her rambling house, her imperfect family, her single status ... or her weight. Jess is who she is. She makes her own cupcakes and she eats them, too. No regrets.That is, until Own Clothes Day rolls around at school. Jess and her friends dedicate the requisite hours of planning to their outfits, their hair and their makeup for the one day they are free from school uniforms. But a wardrobe malfunction leaves Jess with a pair of leggings split open at the worst spot, and a mean girl calling her the one thing that's never bothered her before: fat.The encounter shakes Jess's formerly iron-clad confidence, and she starts to wonder if she's been just a little too comfortable in her own skin. When the boy of her dreams invites her to a party, she must decide whether to try to fit in for the first time in her life, or remain true to herself --- whoever that really is.Debut author Anna Mainwaring is a teacher by day, and her understanding of teenage life shines through on every page. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, and captures teen girl life with all its ironies and contradictions.Rebel with a Cupcake also explores important questions around body image, fat shaming and self-confidence.
The Secrets We Keep
Trisha Leaver - 2015
Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined Maddy's world.When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life.
The Last Thing You Said
Sara Biren - 2017
One moment, they were shyly flirting on a lake raft, finally about to admit their feelings to each other after years of yearning. In the next, Trixie—Lucy’s best friend and Ben’s sister—was gone, her heart giving out during a routine swim. And just like that, the idyllic world they knew turned upside down, and the would-be couple drifted apart, swallowed up by their grief. Now it’s a year later in their small lake town, and as the anniversary of Trixie’s death looms, Lucy and Ben’s undeniable connection pulls them back together. They can’t change what happened the day they lost Trixie, but the summer might finally bring them closer to healing—and to each other.
Layers
Sigal Ehrlich - 2013
According to Hayley love is a subject of ridicule, a myth created by hopeless romantics.When Hayley makes a resolution to declare her loose lifestyle era R.I.P, it’s all good in theory…That is until she meets Daniel Stark, a well-respected, mid-thirties business man who is known for his short temper, lack of steady relationships as well as his strict preserve of his private life.Opinionated, sharp tongued Hayley accidently steps into his office leaving Daniel resolved to put Hayley in her place and have her in his bed.Both Hayley and Daniel can’t avoid the immediate instigation of the attraction between them.In a unanimously agreed upon verdict by Hayley and her two best friends, Ian the gay self-absorbed, aspiring model and Natasha the witty, borderline neurotic soul mate, Daniel Stark is to be Hayley’s pure physical attraction, emotions aside era closure.Will it indeed be a closure, or a beginning to something neither Hayley nor Daniel ever bargained for…
Mine
J.L. Butler - 2018
She’s one big case away from securing her place among London’s legal elite. But when she meets her new client, Martin Joy, the natural caution that has protected Francine and fueled her rise melts away. Powerless to fight the irresistible magnetism between them, client and counsel tumble into a blistering affair that breaks every rule.Though Martin insists his marriage is over, Francine doesn’t believe him. Certain details he’s told her don’t quite add up. Consumed with a passion she cannot control and increasingly obsessed with Martin’s relationship with his wife, Donna, Francine follows the woman one night . . . and discovers her having dinner with her supposedly soon-to-be-ex-husband.The next morning, Francine awakens in her neighbor’s apartment with blood on her clothes and no recollection of what transpired after she spied Donna and Martin together. Then Francine receives more devastating news: Martin’s wife has vanished. That dinner was the last place anyone has seen Donna Joy alive.Suddenly, Francine finds herself caught in a dangerous labyrinth of deception, lies, and secrets, in which one false move could lead to her undoing. What happened that night and why can’t Francine remember? Where is Donna and who is responsible for her disappearance? The further Francine goes to find answers, the tighter the net seems to draw—around her lover, herself, and the life she’s meticulously built.
Belladonna
Anbara Salam - 2020
Her best friend, Bridget, keeps quietly to the fringes of their Connecticut Catholic school, watching everything and everyone, but most especially Isabella.In 1957, when the girls graduate, they land coveted spots at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Pentila in northern Italy, a prestigious art history school in the grounds of a silent convent. There, free of her claustrophobic home and the town that will always see her and her Egyptian mother as outsiders, Bridget discovers she can re-invent herself as anyone she desires.Only Isabella knows the real Bridget, just as Bridget knows the true Isabella. But as that glittering year goes on, Bridget begins to suspect Isabella is keeping secrets from her, secrets that will ruin all of her plans and that will change the course of their lives forever.
CEO'S Secret Baby
Iona Rose - 2020
Fun, sun, sand, sea... and then he walked into the party.Oh heck!Carter Edwards was the hottest, sexiest, man that ever walked on God's earth. He had me from the moment our gazes meet across the room. He had eyes that made my toes curl. One thing led to another and I ended up in his hotel room.Whoa... what that man could do with his mouth...We were both American, but he may as well have been from another country since he lived hundreds of miles away from me.I told myself it would be just a holiday romance. I'd never had one of those before and it was time I got one under my belt. We'd have a good time together, then I'd return home with great memories.I couldn't have been more wrong.Things started to go wrong almost immediately.I went home with a broken heart. To my shock I found I'd come back with more than just memories. I thought I was doomed. Nothing worse could happen.Wrong again..My colleagues were busily telling me that we had a HOT new CEO, they had all met him, I hadn't.And when I did, imagine my shock. It was him! My holiday fling. My baby daddy. And my new boss.What am I going to do now?Do I keep on pretending? Or do I tell him the truth?
I'll Make You Mine
Gia Riley - 2017
A guy who only wants one girl.Sounds like a match made in heaven, right?Wrong.With a twin sister encouraging her to hook up with all the wrong people, Zoe’s being pulled in a million different directions. Dylan Tuner can’t stand by and watch it happen. He’s tired of loving Zoe Allen from a distance, and he’s more determined than ever to escape the friend zone.Can Dylan get his best friend to fall for him before they graduate college? Or does Zoe already have a plan of her own?Two best friends. Two polar opposites. One final chance.I’ll Make You Mine is a romantic comedy standalone written in first person from dual POV's. Release Date: September 2017.
Perfectly Adequate
Jewel E. Ann - 2019
Elijah Hawkins needs … something. After his wife jumps headfirst into a midlife crisis, he’s left with his young son, Roman, and a lot of unanswered questions. That something turns out to be a someone—Dorothy Mayhem, nursing student, patient transporter, reckless driver, and emu owner. Dorothy studies humans, the neurotypical kind, through books and television. Then she emulates their behavioral patterns to fit in with her peers.But nothing can prepare her for Dr. Elijah Hawkins. Single dad. Brilliant pediatric oncologist. And the sexiest doctor at the hospital. When his failed attempts at asking her out turn into a string of playdates with his son, Dorothy finds herself unexpectedly enamored with the boy and his father. And that’s a problem, a huge one, because Elijah’s ex-wife is a famous plastic surgeon—and Dorothy’s idol. Perfectly Adequate is a beautiful, hilarious, and heart-felt journey along the “human” spectrum.
Ace of Hearts
Chantal Fernando - 2018
Her parents gave her and her sister everything a child could want. But after learning that the man she’s called “dad” her whole life isn’t actually her biological father, Erin is determined to find the man who is. Armed with her original birth certificate, she finds her father, but begins questioning if her mom had been right all along to keep this information buried. It turns out he is the president of a motorcycle club, which could not be further from the life Erin leads. But, she’s determined to get to know the man who she gets her striking blue eyes from. Despite getting what she wants and finding her biological father, it’s the slightly older, much rougher but incredibly sexy biker Ace that catches Erin’s eye. As the new “princess” of the Cursed Ravens, Erin is learning a whole new world, but her father has made it clear she is off limits. Will Ace follow his President’s orders or will he put his heart ahead of his duty? A sizzling tale of family and passion, Ace of Hearts features Fernando’s signature “snark and sass” (Booklist) and is perfect for fans of Kristin Ashley.
The Look-Alike
Erica Spindler - 2020
Now, she's returned home to confront her past and the unsolved murder that altered the course of her life. In her mother’s shuttered house, an old fear that has haunted Sienna for years rears its ugly head —that it was she who had been the killer’s target that night. And now, with it, a new fear—that the killer not only intended to remedy his past mistake—he’s already begun. But are these fears any different from the ones that torment her mother?As the walls close in, the line between truth and lie, reality and delusion disintegrate. Has Sienna’s worst nightmare come true? Or will she unmask a killer and finally prove she may be her mother’s look-alike, but she’s not her clone?
Phoenix
Evie Monroe - 2018
Among other things. When I hot-wire a Mercedes, I don’t expect to find a hot-girl tied up in the trunk. A girl with no memory. No recollection of how she got here. Olivia's beaten and bruised, And she’s hot af. Finders’ keepers, right? She thinks I’m her savior. Hah! I'll save her. With my big, thick. . .cobra. . . Steel Cobra, that is. The Club. I'm VP, remember? Then I discover her father is paying off the prez of a rival club, And out for war, I'll risk everything for her. When the day of reckoning comes, Like a Phoenix, I’ll rise from the flames to protect her . . . Love filthy talking bikers who can drop your panties with just a look? You got it, babe! Phoenix is a full-length standalone MC romance with no cheating, no cliffhangers and a guaranteed HEA!