The Jailhouse Lawyer by James Patterson

 

From James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling author: a young lawyer takes on the judge who is destroying her hometown—and ends up in jail herself.

In picture-perfect Erva, Alabama, the most serious crimes are misdemeanors. Speeding tickets. Shoplifting. Contempt of court. 
 
Then why is the jail so crowded? And why are so few prisoners released? There’s only one place to learn the truth behind these incriminating secrets. 
 

Sometimes the best education a lawyer can get is a short stretch of hard time. 

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The Jailhouse Lawyer: 2 Complete Novels: Patterson, James, Allen, Nancy: 9781538752579: Amazon.com: Books

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. His books have sold in excess of 375 million copies worldwide. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past two decades – the Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club, Detective Michael Bennett and Private novels – and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers.

James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books for young readers including the Middle School, I Funny, Treasure Hunters, Dog Diaries and Max Einstein series. James has donated millions in grants to independent bookshops and has been the most borrowed author of adult fiction in UK libraries for the past eleven years in a row. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan

 

The House Guest is another diabolical cat-and-mouse thriller from USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan―but which character is the cat, and which character is the mouse?

After every divorce, one spouse gets all the friends. What does the other one get? If they're smart, they get the benefits. Alyssa Macallan is terrified when she's dumped by her wealthy and powerful husband. With a devastating divorce looming, she begins to suspect her toxic and manipulative soon-to-be-ex is scheming to ruin her―leaving her alone and penniless. And when the FBI shows up at her door, Alyssa knows she really needs a friend.

And then she gets one. A seductive new friend, one who's running from a dangerous relationship of her own. Alyssa offers Bree Lorrance the safety of her guest house, and the two become confidantes. Then Bree makes a heart-stoppingly tempting offer. Maybe Alyssa and Bree can solve each others' problems.

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The House Guest: Ryan, Hank Phillippi: 9781250849564: Amazon.com: Books

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of thirteen award-winning novels of suspense. National reviews have called her a "master at crafting suspenseful mysteries" and "a superb and gifted storyteller." Her newest novel is THE HOUSE GUEST ( Forge Books, February 2023) which received a starred review from LIbrary Journal, calling it "Binge-worhty." The rave review from Publishers Weekly says "Ryan is a master of suspense."

Her 202 thriller (Forge Books, September 14, 2021) is HER PERFECT LIFE. It received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, which called it "A superlative thriller." Mystery Scene Magazine calls it "A powerhouse of a novel."

Her 2020 book is the USA Today bestselling THE FIRST TO LIE. The Publishers Weekly Starred Review calls it "Stellar." It is a nominee for the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Year, and for the Mary Higgins Clark award.

Her recent suspense thriller THE MURDER LIST is a USA Today Bestseller, the Anthony Award Winner for Best Novel of the Year, and an Agatha, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark award nominee, a CNN Top Summer Read, and a Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2019 from Criminal Element. AJ Finn calls it "a fireworks display of a novel--explosive, exciting and likely to leave you gasping." BA Paris says: "A cracker of a read!"

Her first psychological standalone, TRUST ME, is an Agatha Award nominee. It was named a Best Book of 2018 from REAL SIMPLE Magazine, BookBub, PopSugar, Bustle, CrimeReads and The New York Post. Mary Kubica says: "Dazzling!" and Lisa Gardner says "Mesmerizing!" The Booklist STARRED review says "..it’s a knockout. First-rate psychological suspense."

Her thriller SAY NO MORE is a Library Journal BEST OF 2016. And a nominee for the AGATHA AWARD, the DAPHNE award, and the MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD! Associated Press calls it "stellar" and Publishers Weekly calls it "thrilling" "unflinching" and "gratifying."

Her 2015 book, WHAT YOU SEE, is a Library Journal BEST of 2015, an ANTHONY and AGATHA Award nominee, and a Top Pick!, dubbed "exceptional suspense." It received a starred review from Library Journal which says: "Readers will find themselves racing to the finish!"

Her 2014 book, TRUTH BE TOLD, won the AGATHA Award for best mystery, and is a Library Journal Best of 2014. It received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal, which says, "Drop everything and binge read!"

THE WRONG GIRL won the Agatha Award and the Daphne Award, and is a seven-week Boston Globe bestseller and Anthony Award nominee.

THE OTHER WOMAN won the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award, and was listed as a Best Book of 2012 by the Kansas City Star, the Sacramento Bee, Suspense Magazine, and The Boston Globe, won the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award, and was the only novel nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, Shamus and Daphne awards for Best Novel of 2012.

Her first four mysteries, beginning with the Agatha Award-winning PRIME TIME, feature Charlotte McNally, a Boston television reporter. FACE TIME was a BookSense Notable Book, and AIR TIME and DRIVE TIME were both Anthony and Agatha Award nominees for best novel of 2009 and 2010. They are now available in all new editions.

Hank is also an award-winning investigative reporter at Boston's WHDH-TV. In addition to 36 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow awards, Hank's won dozens of other honors for her ground-breaking journalism.

Her work has resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for victims and consumers. She's been a radio reporter, a legislative aide in the United States Senate and an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone Magazine, working with Hunter S. Thompson, Richard Avedon and Richard Goodwin.

Hank is a founding teacher at Mystery Writers of America University and served as 2013 president of national Sisters in Crime. She blogs at Jungle Red Writers and Career Authors. She is a co-host at FIRST CHAPTER FUN and a founder and co-host of THE BACK ROOM, and the host of A Mighty Mystery on A Mighty Blaze.

She lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally renowned civil rights and criminal defense attorney.

Learn more about Hank at www.HankPhillippiRyan.com.

My Thoughts...

I am a huge fan of Ryans, so I was super excited to read The House Guest. I could not put it down read it in one sitting. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out Alyssa and Bill then throw in Bree I was shaking my head I thought I had it all figured out and bam something new what pop up. All I will say is this is a 5-star must read.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Angel Maker by Alex North

 Growing up in a beautiful house in the English countryside, Katie Shaw lived a charmed life. At the cusp of graduation, she had big dreams, a devoted boyfriend, and a little brother she protected fiercely. Until the day a violent stranger changed the fate of her family forever.

Years later, still unable to live down the guilt surrounding what happened to her brother, Chris, and now with a child of her own to protect, Katie struggles to separate the real threats from the imagined. Then she gets the phone call: Chris has gone missing and needs his big sister once more.

Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a particularly gruesome crime. A distinguished professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw, and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future.

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Amazon.com: The Angel Maker: A Novel: 9781250757869: North, Alex: Books

Alex North was born in Leeds, England, where he now lives with his wife and son. The Whisper Man was inspired by North's own little boy, who mentioned one day that he was playing with "the boy in the floor." Alex North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name.

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton

 

It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind―find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated.

There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as a way to escape the horrific conditions of state housing. While she feels threatened by their presence at first, the friends soon become her newfound family, offering what she hasn't felt since her father was imprisoned: security and hope. Maybe it's time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future.

But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honeybee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn't understand, but she can't shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father's missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha's fragile security and threaten the lives of her new-found family―or it could save them all.

Sasha's journey is a meditation on forgiveness and redemption and a reminder to cherish the beauty that still exists in this fragile world. 

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The Last Beekeeper: Dalton, Julie Carrick: 9781250269218: Amazon.com: Books

JULIE CARRICK DALTON is a New England journalist and farmer. Her debut novel WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG launched in January, 2021 as a CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, Parade, and Buzzfeed Most Anticipated 2021 Book, and was an Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Books of the Month. Her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Electric Literature, The Chicago Review of Books, Orion Magazine, Lit Hub, and other publications. She contributes to DeadDarlings, The Writer Unboxed, and GrubStreet’s writer’s blogs. Her second novel, THE LAST BEEKEEPER, will be released in 2023.

Mom to four kids and two dogs, Julie also owns and operates a 100-acre farm. When she isn't writing or digging in the dirt, you can probably find her kayaking in New Hampshire or walking in the woods hunting for mushrooms.

The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

 When Alice receives a call about an unexpected windfall, she’s stunned to learn the gift is a falling-apart-at-the-seams old Wild West B&B she once considered home—and she’s inherited it along with two strangers. Except they weren’t always strangers. Once upon a time, they were friends. One is her ex-BFF Lauren. The other is Knox, the only guy to ever break her heart, all while never even knowing she existed.

It turns out their lives are unknowingly entangled because they once separately helped the same woman without expecting anything in return. Years later, Alice, Lauren, and Knox are broken in their own way, with their own history—and secrets— causing them to start out on the wrong foot with each other. But according to the will, they must renovate and be partners in the inn for one year or else lose their inheritance.

Stuck together, they make a list of rules to keep the peace—rules that end up doing the opposite, but by some miracle they find what they didn’t even know they were looking for—acceptance, true friendship, and in a case (or two!), true love. 

Pick up your copy here...

The Backup Plan: A Novel (The Sunrise Cove Series, 3): Shalvis, Jill: 9780063095557: Amazon.com: Books

Multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is … mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning heartwarming and full of humor novels wherever books are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Her newest Sunrise Cove novel, THE BACKUP PLAN, will be out on January 17th, and THE SWEETHEART LIST comes out in June!

www.facebook.com/jillshalvis

www.twitter.com/jillshalvis

www.instagram.com/jillshalvis

http://jillshalvis.tumblr.com/

or email her at contact@jillshalvis.com

Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah

 Set in 1982, in rural, racially divided Ricksville, Mississippi Wade in the Water tells the story of Ella, a black, unloved, precocious eleven-year-old, and Ms. St. James, a mysterious white woman from Princeton who appears in Ella’s community to carry out some research. Soon, Ms. St. James befriends Ella, who is willing to risk everything to keep her new friend in a town that does not want her there. The relationship between Ella and Ms. St. James, at times loving and funny and other times tense and cautious, becomes more fraught and complex as Ella unwittingly pushes at Ms. St. James’s carefully constructed boundaries that guard a complicated past, and dangerous secrets that could have devastating consequences.    

Told in two voices, Ella’s and Ms. St. James’s, and set around richly developed characters, this riveting, page turning coming of age story will keep readers entranced until the last shocking revelation.  

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Wade in the Water: A Novel: Nkrumah, Nyani: 9780063226616: Amazon.com: Books

Nyani Nkrumah was born in Boston and grew up in Ghana, West Africa and later Zimbabwe. Her love of writing comes from her mother, a former English and literature teacher who entertained her kids by reciting poetry and Shakespeare soliloquies on the way to school.

Nyani graduated from Amherst College where she dual majored in Biology and Black Studies. She also has a Masters from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Ph.D from Cornell University. She is also a Fulbright Fellow. In her other life, she lives in the Washington DC area with her family and works in international development. She is also known as Nyaneba Nkrumah.

The Indestructible Tom Crean by Jennifer Thermes

 At the turn of the twentieth century, Antarctica is the last unexplored continent. The ice is unforgiving. It can break the human spirit. It takes many men willing to face hardship, danger, and years away from home to journey to this uncharted end of the earth. This is the story of one. His name is Tom Crean.

The Indestructible Tom Crean reveals the incredible true stories of Crean's adventures on the Discovery, Terra Nova, and Endurance expeditions. He hauls eight-hundred-pound sleds full of supplies, escapes from drifting ice floes, and trudges miles alone across a treacherous ice shelf. When the Endurance becomes trapped in the frozen sea and sinks, it is up to Crean and several others to go for help. They sail a tiny lifeboat through the most violent seas in the world and cross a daunting glacial mountain range by foot in order to save their fellow explorers. Tom Crean's heroic acts of courage, perseverance, and teamwork inspire the men to keep going.

Through dazzling mapwork and vivid illustrations, Jennifer Thermes brings a formidable landscape and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration to life.

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The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic: Thermes, Jennifer, Thermes, Jennifer: 9780593117729: Amazon.com: Books

JENNIFER THERMES is a map illustrator and the award-winning author and illustrator of many books for children. Her nonfiction picture book, Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island, was an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year. Jennifer weaves maps throughout her stories in order to give readers a sense of geography and place. She is fascinated by the big picture of history and how it connects the past with our lives today. She lives in New England.

To learn more please visit www.jenniferthermes.com, @jenthermes on Twitter and @jenniferthermes on Instagram.

My Thoughts...

This is more than a children's books.  The illustrations are remarkable and the educational messages the facts your kids are going to get while reading this book are great.

I highly recommend this one.

The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo

 

When Jinger Duggar Vuolo was growing up, she was convinced that obeying the rules was the key to success and God's favor. She zealously promoted the Basic Life Principles of Bill Gothard,

• fastidiously obeying the modesty guidelines (no shorts or jeans, only dresses),
• eagerly submitting to the umbrella of authority (any disobedience of parents would place her outside God's protection),
•  promoting the relationship standard of courtship, and
• avoiding any music with a worldly beat, among others.

 

Jinger, along with three of her sisters, wrote a New York Times bestseller about their religious convictions. She believed this level of commitment would guarantee God's blessing, even though in private she felt constant fear that she wasn't measuring up to the high standards demanded of her.

In Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger shares how in her early twenties, a new family member—a brother-in-law who didn't grow up in the same tight-knit conservative circle as Jinger—caused her to examine her beliefs. He was committed to the Bible, but he didn't believe many of the things Jinger had always assumed were true. His influence, along with the help of a pastor named Jeremy Vuolo, caused Jinger to see that her life was built on rules, not God's Word.

Jinger committed to studying the Bible—truly understanding it—for the first time. What resulted was an earth-shaking realization: much of what she'd always believed about God, obedience to His Word, and personal holiness wasn't in-line with what the Bible teaches.

Now with a renewed faith of personal conviction, Becoming Free Indeed shares what it was like living under the tenants of Bill Gothard, the Biblical truth that changed her perspective, and how she disentangled her faith with her belief in Jesus intact.

Pick up your copy here...

Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear: Vuolo, Jinger: 9781400335817: Amazon.com: Books

Jinger Vuolo grew up on TV. From the age of 9 until 27, she appeared on her family's hit TLC reality shows, "19 Kids and Counting" and "Counting On". She is an author whose books include her personal memoir The Hope We Hold and a children's book, You Can Shine So Bright. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy, and their two daughters, Felicity Nicole (4) and Evangeline Jo (1). In her free time, Jinger enjoys traveling, hiking, and anything to do with good food.

My Thoughts...

Written with such faith and grace. You will get a look into Jinger's life now that she has an understanding of the Bible and true love for Jesus. This was in no way a bash your religion book. It was how she came to an understanding that she Jinger had a lot wrong and as a young woman with her husband by her side with their Bibles she had a real come to Jesus moment.
I HIGHLY recommend this 5-star book. It is life changing and you are going to want to share it with those who really need to read it.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Year of Thorns and Honey by Amy Willoughby- Burle

 Nina is a photographer who really appreciates control. She likes to set up just the right shot with the perfect composition, but life is not always as pretty as her pictures. The lighting is off, the timing is wrong, and the subjects just won’t do like she wants them to.She’s engaged to her ex-husband, her teenage daughter is testing all the boundaries, and her childhood memories have a For-Sale sign on them. She’s also keeping a secret about the chance of a lifetime, but what she’ll have to give up to get it might not be worth it. Just when she thinks she’s got it all figured out, an important someone resurfaces and forces her to take a hard look at what she really wants and why.Life can be as prickly as it is sweet. Will Nina be able to let go of the perfect picture she had in her head and let her heart find the sweetness that life has to offer.

Pick up your copy here...

The Year of Thorns and Honey: Willoughby-Burle, Amy: 9781953290014: Amazon.com: Books

Amy Willoughby-Burle grew up in the small coastal town of Kure Beach, North Carolina. She studied writing at East Carolina University and is now a writer and teacher living in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband and four children.

She writes about the mystery and wonder of everyday life. Her fiction focuses on the themes of second chances, redemption, and finding the beauty in the world around us. Amy is author of a collection of short stories entitled Out Across the Nowhere and a contributor to a number of anthologies. She is the author of the novels The Lemonade Year and The Year of Thorns and Honey. 

My Thoughts...

This author writes with so much emotion it pours out on each page. This is a must read for fans of women's fiction.

I really have enjoyed all of her books.

The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Sisters We Were by Wendy Willis Baldwin

 

Pearl and Ruby's choices drove them apart.

Finding their way back to each other might be the only way forward.

The weight of their family secrets could not have shaped Pearl and Ruby Crenshaw any differently. Ruby's a runner, living in Dallas and only reluctantly talking to their mother, Birdie, when she calls from prison. Pearl is still living in her mother's fixer-upper and finds herself facing a line in the sand: her weight is threatening to kill her. She's hundreds of pounds beyond the point where she can celebrate her curves or benefit from the body positivity movement, and unless she takes drastic action, the future looks dire.

But when Ruby's buried rage explodes in a hilariously viral way, the mistake has life-altering consequences. Now the sisters are back living under the same roof and forced to put the pieces of their separate lives together again. Funny, cinematic, and bursting with heart, this is a story of hope and redemption that celebrates the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. 

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                    The Sisters We Were: A Novel: Willis Baldwin, Wendy: 9781728258188: Amazon.com: Books

The Sisters We Were is Wendy Willis Baldwin's debut novel. Together, she and her sister host the Life After Fat Pants Podcast. A native of Texas, Baldwin now lives on a farm in New Hampshire with her husband, her dogs, and thousands of honeybees.

How Medicine Works and When It Doesn't by F. Perry Wilson, MD

 We live in an age of medical miracles. Never in the history of humankind has so much talent and energy been harnessed to cure disease. So why does it feel like it’s getting harder to live our healthiest lives? Why does it seem like “experts” can’t agree on anything, and why do our interactions with medical professionals feel less personal, less honest, and less impactful than ever?

Through stories from his own practice and historical case studies, Dr. F. Perry Wilson, a physician and researcher from the Yale School of Medicine, explains how and why the doctor-patient relationship has eroded in recent years and illuminates how profit-driven companies—from big Pharma to healthcare corporations—have corrupted what should have been medicine’s golden age. By clarifying the realities of the medical field today, Dr. Wilson gives readers the tools they need to make informed decisions, from evaluating the validity of medical information online to helping caregivers advocate for their loved ones, in the doctor’s office and with the insurance company.

Dr. Wilson wants readers to understand medicine and medical science the way he does: as an imperfect and often frustrating field, but still the best option for getting well. To restore trust between patients, doctors, medicine, and science, we need to be honest, we need to know how to spot misinformation, and we need to avoid letting skepticism ferment into cynicism. For it is only by redefining what “good medicine” is—science that is well-researched, rational, safe, effective, and delivered with compassion, empathy, and trust—that the doctor-patient relationship can be truly healed. 

Pick up your copy here...

How Medicine Works and When It Doesn't: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy: Wilson MD, F. Perry: 9781538723609: Amazon.com: Books

F. Perry Wilson, MD grew up in Connecticut before attending Harvard College, where he graduated with Honors in Biochemistry. He then attended medical school at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, before completing his internship, residency, and fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, he received a master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology, which has informed his research ever since. At Yale, since 2014, his goal has been to use patient-level data and advanced analytics to personalize medicine to each individual patient. To that end, he holds multiple NIH grants and is the Director of Yale’s Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator. Dr. Wilson is internationally recognized for his expertise in the design and interpretation of medical studies, and has appeared on CNN, HLN, NPR, MedPageToday.com, Medscape.com, Vox.com, the Huffington Post and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among others. His free online course, entitled “Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend Is Wrong” is one of the most popular courses on Coursera.org.

Small World by Laura Zigman

 

A year after her divorce, Joyce is settling into being single again. She likes her job archiving family photos and videos, and she’s developed a secret comforting hobby: trolling the neighborhood social networking site, Small World, for posts that help solve life’s easiest problems. When her older sister, Lydia, also divorced, calls to tell her she’s moving back east from Los Angeles after almost thirty years away, Joyce invites Lydia to move into her Cambridge apartment. Temporarily. Just until she finds a place of her own.

But their unlikely cohabitation—not helped by annoying new neighbors upstairs—turns out to be the post-divorce rebound relationship Joyce hadn’t planned on. Instead of forging the bond she always dreamed of having with Lydia, their relationship frays. And they rarely discuss the loss of their sister, Eleanor, who was significantly disabled and died when she was only ten years old. When new revelations from their family’s history come to light, will those secrets further split them apart, or course correct their connection for the future?

Written with wry humor and keen sensitivity, Small World is a powerful novel of sisterhood and hope—a reminder that sometimes you have to look back in order to move ahead. 

Pick up your copy here...

Small World: A Novel: Zigman, Laura: 9780063088283: Amazon.com: Books

Laura Zigman is the author of five novels, including Separation Anxiety (which was just optioned by Julianne Nicholson and the production company Wiip for a limited television series); Animal Husbandry (which was made into the movie Someone Like You, starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd), Dating Big Bird, Her, and Piece of Work. She has ghostwritten/collaborated on several works of non-fiction, including Eddie Izzard's New York Times bestseller, Believe Me; been a contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post; produced a popular online series of animated videos called Annoying Conversations; and was the recipient of a Yaddo residency. Her sixth novel, Small World, will be published in January 2023. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Long Version:

Laura Zigman grew up in Newton, Massachusetts (where she felt she never quite fit in), and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (where she didn't fit in either) and the Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course (where she finally started to feel like she fit in). She spent ten years working (slaving away) in New York in book publishing where she was a (much-abused under-appreciated) publicist for Alfred A. Knopf and other divisions of Random House. After moving to Washington, D.C. and working briefly for The Smithsonian Associates (she had a cubicle), she (finally) finished her first novel. (The thinly-disguised autobiographical novel) Animal Husbandry was published in 1998 and became a national bestseller. It was published in over 20 countries and in 2001 the film based on the book, 'Someone Like You,' (they changed the title at the last minute because they were afraid people wouldn't 'get' the meaning of the original title, not that she's complaining) starring Ashley Judd and (excuse her while she drools) Hugh Jackman, was released. Her second (thinly-disguised autobiographical) novel, Dating Big Bird, came out in 2000, and her third (thinly disguised autobiographical) novel, Her, published by Knopf (where she once worked ' an exquisite irony), followed in 2002. Her next (thinly-disguised autobiographical) novel, Piece of Work, was published in 2006 and was based on her (horrific but entertaining) experiences as a publicist, It was optioned by Tom Hanks' production company, Playtone Pictures, and had My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos (luff her) attached to write the screenplay and star in the movie (obviously that never happened). For a while she stopped writing fiction (writer's block) and ghostwrote instead (for Wendy Davis and Eddie Izzard, among others). Eventually she found her way back to her own work. Separation Anxiety was published in March 2020, right before the pandemic, and has been optioned by Julianne Nicholson ("Mare of Easttown") for a limited television series. Her sixth novel, SMALL WORLD, will be published on January 10, 2023. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA.

The Club by Ellery Lloyd

 

From the author of People Like Her comes a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs.

Everyone's Dying to Join . . .

The Home Group is a glamorous collection of celebrity members' clubs dotted across the globe, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media.

The most spectacular of all is Island Home—a closely-guarded, ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast—and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade.

But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point: the ambitious and expensive project has pushed the Home Group's CEO and his long-suffering team to their absolute limits. All of them have something to hide—and that's before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island. 

As tempers fray and behavior worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home’s members will begin to wish they’d never made the guest list.

Because at this club, if your names on the list, you’re not getting out. 

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: The Club: A Novel: 9780062997425: Lloyd, Ellery: Books

Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos.

Collette is a journalist and editor, the former content director of Elle (UK) and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and the Sunday Times.

Paul is the author of two previous novels, Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day is Like Sunday. He is the program director for English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of Surrey.

My Thoughts...

After the slow start it picks up and you can't stop reading.  The characters were a little bit of a hard read to try and keep up with who was who. But the twists are so worth the read.

I gave this one 3 stars and I am happy that I read it.

The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters

 For fans of Casey McQuiston and Abby Jimenez comes a bold, hilarious, and out-of-the-box novel about mixing business with battery-operated pleasure . . .

When it comes to her career, Cade Elgin has it all figured out. Only “professional talk” has become her default mode, relationships are nonexistent, and don’t even mention the word “orgasm.” All work and no play makes Cade a dull human. But when she inherits a sex toy store, Cade is caught between business and a store filled with every imaginable kind of pleasure—including her infuriatingly irresponsible and deliciously sexy new co-owner.

Selena Mathis learned the hard way that she can have too much of a good thing. Which is precisely why she’s taken an oath of celibacy and is focusing on how to make Satisfaction Guaranteed a success. She won’t mess this up. Not this time. But once again, Selena’s emotions are getting in the way and tempting her with a serious attraction to buttoned-up Cade.

But the shop isn’t exactly vibe-ing, and Cade and Selena are on the verge of losing both their income and the possibility of love. Can they find a way to work together . . . before Satisfaction Guaranteed runs out of batteries?

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Satisfaction Guaranteed: Stetz-Waters, Karelia: 9781538735527: Amazon.com: Books

Karelia Stetz-Waters (she/her) writes happily-ever-afters for women who love women. Whether it’s romance or thriller, her characters get the epic wins they deserve and more. She lives her own happily-ever-after in Oregon with her wife of 20+ years. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching college writing, gardening, drawing, or trying to figure out how to make a model of the clitoris out of paper maché.

She’d love to hear from you at www.kareliastetzwaters.com