Week of September 21, 2020
They were friendsβjust friends. Now theyβre something else entirelyβ¦
Jason
When I think back, on almost any given day, I see Maggie. In college, she was my best friendβs girlfriend. But, as they say, time changes things. I suppose the funeral was the turning point, when we began depending on each other. Adam asked me to watch out for her, and I did. When bad news hit, she got me through rough days. Our friendship got us through.
If luck fell on my side, Iβd make her mine in every way. But, she deserves so much more from life than my prognosis.
A decade of history binds us. One drunken night and weβre fighting. Christ, sheβs telling me to go see a therapist. If I canβt figure out how to go back to the way things were, Iβll lose the most important relationship of my life. The only one that truly matters.
Maggie
Last night, we shared tequila. I found myself hoping, like I always do. Iβd replay last night a thousand times if I could. Itβs the morning after that needs erasing. Our problem? His love for me isnβt the more kind of love. Heβs made that abundantly clear. And thatβs okay.
Some part of me knows Jason will always see me as his best friendβs girl. Because of our past, he prefers me in the just-a-friend role. I canβt lose our friendship. If he wants to stay in the friend zone, I need to accept that. Move on. Find someone else to love. Rationally, I do know this.
But convincing my heartβ¦well, thatβs another story entirely.
Returning to the dark and glamorous 19th century world of herΒ New York TimesΒ instant bestseller,Β The Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi dazzles us with another riveting tale as full of mystery and danger as ever inΒ The Silvered Serpents.
They are each otherβs fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.
SΓ©verin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost β one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, SΓ©verin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God.
Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all.
As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.
A tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.
A girlβs quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesnβt get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.
Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.
Susanβs search for her father begins with her motherβs possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.
Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susanβs. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.
Isabel Lincoln is gone.
But is sheΒ missing?
Itβs up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Grayβs search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the womanβs secrets and the truth sheβs hidden from her friends and family.
Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, Rachel Howzell Hall’sΒ And Now Sheβs GoneΒ explores the nature of secrets β and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.
The acclaimed author ofΒ The NannyΒ andΒ What She Knewβhailed by stalwarts including Ruth Ware, Liane Moriarty, Rosamund Lupton, Tess Gerritsen, and Shari Lapenaβreturns with another serpentine thriller that cleverly blends atmosphere, tarnished memories, mystery, and twisty secrets from the past into a potent, intense read that will leave you questioning everything you believe.
To tell you the truth . . . everybody lies.
Lucy Harperβs talent forΒ writing bestselling novelsΒ has given her fame, fortune and millions of fans.Β Itβs also given her Dan, her needy, jealous husband whose own writing career has gone precisely nowhere.
Now Dan has vanished.Β But this isnβt the first time that someone has disappeared from Lucyβs life. Three decades ago,Β her little brother Teddy also went missing and was never found.Β Lucy, the only witness, helplessly spun fantasy after fantasy about Teddyβs disappearance,Β to the detectivesβ fury and her parentsβ despair.Β That was the start of her ability to tell a storyβa talent she has profited from greatly.
But now Lucyβs a grown woman who canβt hide behind fiction any longer. The world is watching, and her whole life is under intense scrutiny.Β A life full of stories, some more believable than others. Could she have hurt Teddy?Β Did she kill Dan?Β Finally, now, Lucy Harperβs going to tell the truth.
Cross her heart.
And hope to die.
βYou know you canβt keep a good brother down.β
The Chaos Motorcycle Club has won its war. But not every brother rode into the sunset with his woman on the back of his bike.
Chaos returns with the story of Dutch Black, a man whose father was the moral compass of the Club, until he was murdered. And the man who raised Dutch protected the Club at all costs. That combination is the man Dutch is intent on becoming.
Itβs also the man that Dutch is going to go all out to give to his woman.
In Tessa Baileyβs latest rom-com, two enemies team up to flip a house… and the sparks between them might burn the place down or ignite a passion that neither can ignore!Β
Hair, makeup, clothing, decor… everything in Bethany Castle’s world is organized, planned, and styled to perfection. Which is why the homes she designs for her family’s real estate business are the most coveted in town. The only thingΒ notΒ perfect? Her track record with men. She’s on a dating hiatus and after helping her friends achieveΒ theirΒ dreams, Bethany finally has time to focus on her own: flip a house, from framework to furnishings, all by herself.Β Except her older brother runs the company and refuses to take her seriously.
When a television producer gets wind of the Castle sibling rivalry, theyβre invited on Flip Off, a competition to see who can do the best renovation. Bethany wants bragging rights, but she needs a crew and the only member of her brother’s construction team willing to jump ship is Wes Daniels, the new guy in town. His Texas drawl and handsome face got under Bethany’s skin on day one, but the last thing she needs is some cocky young cowboy in her way.
As the race to renovate heats up, Wes and Bethany are forced into close quarters, trading barbs and biting banter as they remodel the ugliest house on the block. It’s a labor of love, hate, and everything in between, and soon sparks are flying. But Bethany’s perfectly structured life is one kiss away from going up in smoke and she knows falling for a guy like Wes would be aΒ flippingΒ disaster.
Summer nights and star-crossed lovers! From USA Today bestselling author Sarina Bowen.
Once upon a time, he gave me a summer of friendship, followed by one perfect night. We shared a lot during our short time together. But he skipped a few crucial details.
I didnβt know he was a rock star.
I didnβt know his real name.
Neither of us knew Iβd get pregnant.
And I sure never expected to see him again.
Five years later, his tour bus pulls up in Nest Lake, Maine. My little world is about to be shattered by loud music and the pounding of my own foolish heart.
My past taught me to play it safe.
To stay far away from handsome men who promised it all.
My life was good without them. Stable, secure, predictable.
But one kiss showed me that Iβd been playing it safe for far too long.
One night, and all I wanted was more of his wildfire.
One challenge and my carefully constructed walls tumbled down.
Amidst the rubble, I realized there was more to this man than I ever dreamed.
When everything fell apart, he showed me what it meant to stay.
How to truly live.
But some demons donβt stay buried.
The past can come knocking when you least expect.
And the life heβs showing me might be shorter than either of us expectedβ¦
Lola Sullivan has been stared at by men since she was thirteen years old, but no one has ever seen the real her. Not until venture capitalist Duncan Lyman walks into her textile design studio and theyβre drawn to each other on every level. When deep passion sparks between them, along with an amazingly powerful emotional connection, they stay up all night together. By the time the sun comes up, sheβs sure sheβs found The One.
Duncan never imagined a woman like Lola existedβshe is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. He trusts her in a way heβs never trusted anyone else, and he tells her everything. Everything but the dark secret from his past that could destroy their budding love. It took thirty years for Lola and Duncan to find perfect loveβ¦but will it take only thirty seconds to destroy it?
I’m a prize, a treasure, something to cherish. Or so I’ve been told.
But I know the truth. I’m a commodity recently sold to the highest bidder.
Sebastian Weber is ruthless, heartless, calculating, and my new husband. Power is the weapon he wields and control is his game.
I should fear him, resent him, but instead I’m drawn to him, craving his slightest touch, wanting every part of him.
Leaving him isn’t an option, and staying means shattering his world.
Note: Previous published in a limited run collection.
From bestselling author Kandi Steiner comes a sexy, hilarious, opposites-attract sports romance set in the lively city of Chicago…
I have a three date rule β but itβs not what you think.
See, Iβve been told Iβm the βgood time girl,β not the one you take home to Mom. And while that label stung at first, Iβve since embraced it β living the wild and free life and sticking to a three date max. Thatβs just enough time to have some fun and snuff out the possibility of catching feelings. And itβs been working for me for yearsβ¦
Until Makoa Kumaka.
Sadly, he also has a three date rule β and itβs the exact opposite of mine. From the second I meet him, all I can think about is stripping down that six-foot-five Herculean hunk of a man. But like the gentleman I wish he wasnβt, heβs making me wait.
The more time we spend together, the more I feel those pesky emotions creeping in. Iβm even tempted to trust him, but blame it on my past or my instincts, I canβt shake the feeling that heβs hiding somethingβ¦
Iβve been playing the game forever, and no man has ever won my heart β which meant they never had the power to break it.
But maybe I just hadnβt met the right player.
Maybe Iβll wish I never did.
A little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Unless you cross the line and have a one-night stand with your best friendβs sister. And if that didnβt complicate things enough her crazy ex-boyfriend is stalking her as well. Should have stayed just friends, but itβs probably a little late for that now.
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