While you Were Trending by Pippa Grant

 

A former child reality TV star, a retired hockey player, and one rule they shouldn't break - don't date your ex's best friend.

There are three things I will never do (again) in my life:
1. Agree to be filmed doing something stupid
2. Let someone else decide if I’m worthy
3. Fall in love

Four years ago, I went viral in a moment that earned me the nickname The Wedding Wrecker. I’ve been in hiding at a closed winery with a small group of other accidentally viral women ever since.

But the winery is in financial trouble, and we’re taking every opportunity we get to try to save it.

Including agreeing to be the focus of a documentary about re-opening.

Unfortunately, the documentarian is my ex’s best friend.

My ex’s best friend who always hated me with the passion of a million angry internet users.

But if it’ll save our home, then fine. I’ll tolerate Declan Fox again.

Except the Declan I last knew four years ago is different.

Kinder.

Less arrogant.

More charming.

Unexpectedly attractive.

And finally free to tell me that he’s always loved me.

Thanks, life. I really needed this plot twist.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: While You Were Trending: A Viral Sensation Romance (Accidentally Infamous Book 2) eBook : Grant, Pippa: Kindle Store

Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did.

Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine published under the name Jamie Farrell.

When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes tries to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.

Pippa Grant® is a registered trademark of Bang Laugh Love LLC.

My thoughts...

This is the second book in the Accidentally Infamous series, and it was outstanding. Grant always makes me laugh out loud and her characters are so easy to connect with. Ginny and Delcan's story was amazing, and I can't wait for the next book.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Transmentation Transgression by Darkly Lem

 A shocking death. A dangerous alliance. The worlds’ order on the verge of collapse.

After a fall from grace, intelligence officer Malculm Bysotič avoids further punishment when he is assigned to a bold and controversial new initiative: the forced eviction of all foreign travelers from the localities of Burel Hird. Hailed as a stabilizing effort, the program instead demands ever more frequent acts of bureaucratic cruelty. As the margins between just and unjust action continue to blur, Malculm is forced to question the motives and goals of the society he serves.

At home, newly acceded councilor Priema Dhalgrim is executing her vision of prosperity through control, using whatever means necessary to expand Burel Hird’s territory across the Many Worlds. But the foreign travelers won’t leave quietly. Meanwhile, Of Tala mercenaries Beinir and Shara find themselves contracted to opposite sides of the conflict between societies.

As overreach ignites conflict, and tensions within Burel Hird blaze, Withered Stem agent Paër and his team of operatives must decide if they should compromise the ethics of their society in order to save it. When every decision could unravel the health and stability of entire universes, where is the line drawn?

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: Transmentation | Transgression: Or, a Spark on the Eve of the Five Hundred Year Burn (The Formation Saga Book 2) eBook : Lem, Darkly: Kindle Store

Darkly Lem is five authors in an impeccably-tailored trenchcoat (Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, Cadwell Turnbull, and M. Darusha Wehm). They are the award-winning author of The Formation Saga, which starts with Transmentation|Transience. They live in an Earth-type locality in the Central Cluster with their seven kids, several spouses, and a modest menagerie, where they are at work on Many Worlds novels.

Transmentation Transience by Darkly Lem

 Over thousands of years and thousands of worlds, universe-spanning societies of interdimensional travelers have arisen. Some seek to make the multiverse a better place, some seek power and glory, others knowledge, while still others simply want to write their own tale across the cosmos.

When a routine training mission goes very wrong, two competing societies are thrust into an unwanted confrontation. As intelligence officer Malculm Kilkaneade receives the blame within Burel Hird, Roamers of Tala Beinir and Shara find themselves inadvertently swept up in an assassination plot.

Meanwhile, factions within Burel Hird are vying for greater control over their society in a war of cutthroat machinations--at a heavy price. Elsewhere, two members of rival societies lay their own plans for insurrection--with ramifications that will ripple across the Many Worlds ...

Pick up your copy here...

Transmentation | Transience: Or, an Accession to the People's Council for Nine Thousand Worlds (The Formation Saga): Darkly Lem: 9798212185998: Amazon.com: Books

Darkly Lem is five authors in an impeccably-tailored trenchcoat (Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, Cadwell Turnbull, and M. Darusha Wehm). They are the award-winning author of The Formation Saga, which starts with Transmentation|Transience. They live in an Earth-type locality in the Central Cluster with their seven kids, several spouses, and a modest menagerie, where they are at work on Many Worlds novels.

In Season by Elizabeth Thompson

 Discover your ultimate playbook for faith and athletics with In Season, a 90-day devotional for young female athletes. With interactive features such as goal setting, progress check-ins, reflection questions, and journaling prompts, In Season offers busy athletes everything they need to prioritize their spiritual growth while balancing their sport, academics, and relationships.

No matter her athletic goals or level of play, every girl who competes in a sport faces similar joys and challenges throughout her athletic season: The excitement of competition. The sense of belonging. The pressure to win. The athletic season is a physical, emotional, and spiritual roller-coaster ride, and many girls feel so overextended and overwhelmed that they struggle to stay spiritually connected.

In Season is a 90-day devotional that will meet girls where they're at. Tailored for young female athletes, each short devotion offers a much-needed spiritual perspective as readers navigate the highs and lows of sports and life, including building friendships and teamwork, developing leadership skills, cultivating a growth mindset, and more. With Scripture-infused reflections, real-life athlete stories, and practical exercises, In Season is intentionally designed to encourage resilience, confidence, and joy both on and off the field.

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: In Season: A 90-Day Devotional for Female Student Athletes to Build Faith, Strengthen Confidence, and Train a Growth Mindset: 9780310179184: Thompson, Elizabeth Laing: Books

Elizabeth Laing Thompson writes at LizzyLife.com about clinging to Christ through the chaos of daily life. As a minister, speaker, and novelist, she is always seeking humor in holiness and hope in heartache. She is the author of many books for women and teens, including When God Says, "Wait," All the Feels, All the Feels for Teens, When a Friendship Falls Apart, and the rest of the When God Says series. Elizabeth lives in North Carolina with her husband and children, and they were totally worth the wait.

Elizabeth's essays and poetry have appeared in Proverbs 31, Brio Magazine, The Huffington Post, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Power for Living, Mamalode, Coffee + Crumbs, and BonBon Break.

Elizabeth married her college sweetheart, Kevin Thompson, after spending several years swooning over him from the passenger seat of his Dodge Avenger on the drive to church every Sunday. Together the newlyweds went to work serving campus ministries in North Carolina and Georgia. After a long struggle with infertility, Kevin and Elizabeth became the always exhausted but totally grateful parents of one large dog and four loud kids. Now after 25 years of marriage, they still like each other even though Elizabeth beats Kevin at Ping-Pong and buys too many scandalously overpriced mochas.

Elizabeth often addresses issues of Christian parenting on her website and Facebook page (https://facebook.com/alizzylife), and she writes, "We are an imperfect family, fighting to do this godly parenting thing God’s way. Our house is too small and our kids are too loud. There are a lot of random gymnastics at inappropriate moments. We have frequent dance-party-related injuries, and epic sock toss battles. We call ourselves the Crazies, because we really are—but most days, we mean that in a good way. I pray the lessons we’re learning, trying to wrestle Christ into the chaos of family life—will give you hope, encouragement, and a lot of good laughs."

To connect with Elizabeth, visit her website, https://ElizabethLaingThompson.com, Facebook page, https://facebook.com/alizzylife, and Instagram account: https://instagram.com/elizabethlaingthompson.

Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath

 Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm’s way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.

From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn’t pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too―as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Pride Comes Before a Fall (Miss Prentice's Protegees, 3): 9781250896117: Heath, Virginia: Books

When Virginia Heath was a little girl, it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happily ever after. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Thirty Regency Romcom books, two publishers and four Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

In a Word, yes by Kit Tosello

 Lucy hides behind boundaries. Her mother hides behind busyness. But love and grace have a way of finding us wherever we hide.

Lucy Montgomery excels at drawing boundaries and avoiding risk. Her favorite word is no, and she's not afraid to use it. It's been five years since she picked up the leftovers from a crumbled marriage and started over with her brilliantly unique autistic son in Charity Falls, Oregon. As a single mom, she now works behind the scenes at a local newspaper. Enter Wyatt Hayes--an affable local police officer with the soul of a poet and the kindness she's always craved. A man who's more than eager to help her break free from her security blanket of an adventure-free life.

Lucy's celebrity mother, Carly Montgomery--a vivacious and beloved women's Bible study leader--can't deny a sense of weariness. But if she doesn't remain in perpetual motion, her regrets are bound to catch up with her. Despite the outward appearance of a perfect empty-nester life, she's kept her daughter at arm's length and has already missed so much of her young grandson's life. Is it too late to turn that around?

For Lucy and Carly to restore their relationship, and for Lucy and Wyatt to embrace the risk of loving, it will take a big step of faith to reconcile the past together.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: In a Word, Yes: Contemporary Christian Romance in a Small Town with a Single Mom and Mother Daughter Relationship: 9780800747770: Kit Tosello: Books

Kit Tosello is an award-winning writer of evocative, small-town, contemporary women’s fiction with heart and humor, as well as inspirational essays and devotionals. Her debut novel, The Color of Home, releases September 24, 2024 with Revell Publishing and is now available for preorder.

Kit's recognitions include a 2016 Cascade Award for published article and a 2019 Cascade Award for unpublished nonfiction book. Her inspirational essays appear in The Kitchen Devotional (Revell, 2024), So God Made a Grandma (Tyndale, 2025), So God Made a Mother (Tyndale, 2023), and Miracles Do Happen: 101 Glimpses of the Hidden Hand of God (Guideposts, 2019).

A former kitchen designer, Kit is a freelance newspaper correspondent and book editor. But her favorite gigs are wife, mom, and nana. When not writing or editing, Kit can be found in the loose-tea shop she operates with her husband, exploring the great Pacific Northwest, or enjoying the “great indoors”—which is to say, bookstores & libraries. Most likely with a matcha latte in hand.

Pop Star and Playbooks by Juliet Rhodes

 She's a chart-topper. He's a football player. Together, they're a love story no one saw coming.

Griffin Hayes is football's golden boy--charming, talented, and completely out of his depth when a video of him belting out pop star Aria Wilder's breakup anthem goes viral. Overnight, he's crowned the internet's favorite meme, and Aria's #1 fan. Aria, the reigning queen of heartbreak ballads, sees an opportunity to turn the moment into good PR and invites Griffin to her next concert. When their onstage chemistry sets the internet ablaze, her team suggests the unthinkable: a fake friendship to keep the buzz alive.

Griffin reluctantly agrees, but as they spend more time together--posing for cameras, attending events, and sharing inside jokes--he realizes there's nothing fake about the way Aria makes him feel. For Aria, Griffin is a breath of fresh air in a world that's always demanding more from her. Beneath the viral fame and public scrutiny, their connection feels real.

But when Griffin suffers a career-threatening injury and Aria battles creative burnout, their carefully constructed "performance" starts to crumble. With their worlds pulling them in opposite directions, they'll have to decide: Is this just a PR stunt gone too far--or the kind of love worth risking everything for?

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: Pop Stars and Playbooks: An opposites-attract, kisses-only, fake friendship-turned-love story between a football star and a pop icon eBook : Rhodes, Juliet: Kindle Store

The author wishes to remain anonymous therefore there is no headshot.

Juliet Rhodes is a hopeless romantic with a soft spot for slow-burn love stories and swoon-worthy heroes who fall first. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching rom-coms, obsessing over celebrity gossip, or cheering on her favorite teams (while secretly imagining the players in love triangles). She lives in a cozy apartment with her two rescue cats, Hemingway and Zelda.

When Paris Whispers by Marianne Bohr

 

Twenty-two-year-old Catrine arrives in Paris, the city she's dreamed of since childhood, and it speaks back-but not in ways she expected. Drifting through the streets of 1981 Paris, the voices of French writers she once read in solitude whisper back, intimate and insistent. Rather than reassure her, they unsettle her, exposing cracks in the person she believed herself to be.

When a brief romance ends in abrupt eviction, Catrine is left broke and unmoored, suspended between a city that won't release her and a past she refuses to reclaim. An unlikely friendship with a widowed Sorbonne professor leads to an impulsive road trip to Normandy and everything begins to unravel. What follows is not the Paris she expected, but something more unsettling-and more honest.

Is the City of Light rescuing her, haunting her, or revealing something she's been too afraid to see?

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When Paris Whispers: Bohr, Marianne C: 9781960226341: Amazon.com: Books

Marianne C. Bohr is a published author and award-winning essayist with a lifelong weakness for faraway places. A former travel blogger for The Huffington Post, she married her high school sweetheart-now her She wrote her first book, Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries, over the course of the yearlong sabbatical she and her husband took to explore Europe. It was published by She Writes Press in 2015. Kirkus Reviews said, “Bohr shines… providing glimpses of herself as a whole person, not simply a traveler. Gap Year Girl is an excellent choice…a travelogue filled with historic places, but its personal stories provide its highlights.” Marianne’s illustrated article on her gap year, The Year of Living Spontaneously, ran in Bethesda Magazine in 2013.

The author’s second book, The Twenty: One Woman’s Trek Across Corsica on the GR20, tells the story of hiking across the mountainous French island with her husband to celebrate their sixtieth birthdays.

Husband hike the 124-mile GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath. They find themselves confronted with universal themes: coming to terms with aging, surmounting physical limitations, and being kind to oneself along the way. The Twenty was published by She Writes Press in June 2023.

The 10:12 by Anna Maloney

 Claire Fitzroy was on the way home to London when her train from Manchester was hijacked by a group of armed men. In one terrifying moment she faced the starkest of choices: to passively stand back or act and fight back—knowing that with either choice, she could die.

With nothing to lose, the middle-aged art lecturer gathered and led a squad of passengers who, against all odds, overcame the hijackers and saved hundreds of lives. But what at first looks like heroism may play out very differently in the courts of law and public opinion. Especially when you have the blood of two men on your hands.

Opinions are heated and divided. Was she a selfless and quick-thinking hero? Or an attention-seeking vigilante and unrepentant murderer? Until now Claire has remained silent. Now, she’s finally speaking out about what happened that morning on the 10:12.

But is it the whole story?

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Amazon.com: The 10:12: A Novel: 9780063487888: Maloney, Anna: Books

The 10:12 is Anna's first novel, for which she won the CWA Emerging Author Dagger. She also writes for TV, film and radio and won a BAFTA award for the TV drama Falling Apart. Previously she worked as a lecturer, in factual TV, journalism and PR - as well as being a qualified playleader and sometime usherette. Anna lives in south east London, near where she grew up, and also spent some years in Australia.

I Know The Ants by Lang Leav

 Mei’s life isn’t what she thought it would be. She's still entangled in a love triangle with Jacques and Kath that began when they were teens; her parents are drowning in debt; and she’s stuck pulling off identity fraud jobs for her cruel auntie and her auntie’s nauseating son, who won’t leave Mei alone.

But Mei’s world begins to truly unravel when she hears her childhood best friend Soey’s voice for the first time in years, being interviewed on the radio about her new memoir, chronicling the childhood attack that left Soey with brain damage and killed her younger sister. When Mei reconnects with Soey, the leader of their childhood friend group known as the Daisy Chain, their encounter kicks off a series of events that culminate in another shocking death, putting Mei squarely in the public eye. As past and present collide, Mei starts spiraling after Soey implores her to find out who killed Daiyu—a search that leads Mei to uncover what happened that dark day in the woods behind their school, all those years ago.

Revered for her lyrical imagery, emotional acumen, and thoughtful voice, Lang Leav uses her gifts to brilliant effect, exploring unsolved mysteries, cycles of trauma and abuse, and the answers to a timeless question: how do you honor someone's memory without losing sight of yourself?

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Amazon.com: I Know the Ants: A Novel: 9780063382039: Leav, Lang: Books

Novelist and poet, Lang Leav is an international bestselling author and winner of a Qantas

Spirit of Youth Award, Churchill Fellowship and Goodreads Choice Award. Often credited

with popularizing poetry among a new generation of young readers, Lang’s poetry books,

and hit novel, Sad Girls continue to top best seller charts around the world.

Lang has been featured on CNN, SBS Australia, Intelligence Squared UK, Radio New Zealand

and in various publications, including Vogue, Newsweek, the Straits Times, the Guardian,

and the New York Times. She currently resides in New Zealand with her partner and fellow

author, Michael Faudet.

Failure Point by Rebecca Hodge

 When a child’s life is on the line, failure isn’t an option.

Jordan Winthrop, an experienced security agent, has built her career on precision and control. But when a high-profile protection assignment leaves a public figure dead, her confidence plummets and her career skitters onto life support. Her last chance at redemption is almost insulting: babysit a single mother suspected of stealing corporate secrets. Her boss is adamant—observe, report, stay invisible.

Then the woman’s eleven-year-old daughter is kidnapped at gunpoint, and orders become irrelevant. A child’s life is at stake, and Jordan can’t stay on the sidelines.

Off the grid and out of options, she allies with the desperate mother in a race to track kidnappers whose motives reach into a multimillion-dollar corporate conspiracy.

But has she identified the real enemy? At the failure point, even trust shatters.

FAILURE POINT is a gripping story of emotionally rich suspense by award-winning author Rebecca Hodge. Dive in for a story you’ll long remember.

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Failure Point - Kindle edition by Hodge, Rebecca. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Rebecca Hodge is the award-winning author of WILDLAND, OVER THE FALLS, and ISLAND ENDGAME, books of page-turning suspense that have plenty of heart. When her characters find themselves in impossible situations, they take the initiative instead of watching from the sidelines. In doing so, they discover unexpected inner strength, resilience, and courage.

Following a scientific career as a veterinarian and clinical research scientist, Rebecca discovered how much fun it is to create fictional worlds of her own. She lives in North Carolina, where you’ll find her sipping tea on the screened-in porch with a dog at her feet and a computer on her lap. Visit her online at rebeccahodgefiction.

The Christmas yes List by Melissa Ferguson

 Have you preordered you copy of the Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson yet?

What are you waiting for?

All she wants for Christmas is a rejection.

Chloe Hollis is done being a people-pleaser. After one too many bad decisions--including a job that asked her to cross a line she couldn't--she's determined to change. Her plan? Collect ten nos before Christmas by asking strangers for the most ridiculous favors she can think of.

It should be easy.

But then? Then she meets James.

Instead of shutting her down, the charming out-of-towner keeps saying yes--to Christmas karaoke, to small-town holiday traditions, to every spontaneous, hilarious, totally chaotic idea she throws his way. And the more he says yes, the harder it becomes for Chloe to stick to her plan . . . or protect her heart.

Because James has a reason for saying yes to everything, too--and it might cost them both more than they bargained for.

As their opposite missions collide in a swirl of festive mishaps, unexpected courage, and undeniable chemistry, Chloe starts to wonder if the biggest risk isn't rejection after all . . . but saying yes to something real.

#uplitread #thechristmasyeslist #fiction #holidayromance #feelgoodromance

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The Christmas Yes List: A Heartwarming Holiday Novel: Ferguson, Melissa: 9781400356713: Amazon.com: Books

Melissa Ferguson is the bestselling author of titles including Meet Me in the Margins, Famous for a Living, and How to Plot a Payback. She lives in Tennessee with her family in their growing farmhouse lifestyle and writes heartwarming romantic comedies.

You can find her on her socials at @ourfriendlyfarmhouse.

Eagle Pass by Kristi Copeland

 Family is everything. Even when not connected by blood.

For third-generation rancher Joe Cunningham, the treacherous Rio Grande is more than just a river, it’s a source of frustration and financial loss. As migrants use his land to enter the United States illegally, they destroy his property and put his livestock—and livelihood—at risk.

Migrant crossings increase, forcing Joe to take matters into his own hands. Instead of following protocol, he delivers trespassers directly to Border Patrol. That is, until a young boy, abandoned by the very people Joe has been fighting against, puts his values to the test.

Exhausted and alone, Luis clings to his teddy bear and Joe's loyal dog as his only sources of comfort. But to Joe, the boy represents something more—a glimpse of the son he lost years ago. The more time he and Luis spend together, Joe not only realizes that he's been missing out on the joys of fatherhood but also questions everything he thought he knew about illegal immigration.

As the Cartels close in and Border Patrol hinders his efforts, Joe must rely on the strength and determination of his tight-knit community to keep Luis safe. With his own men falling victim to the ruthless Cartels, Joe knows that time is running out.

Desperate to retrieve their lost merchandise, the Cartels force Joe to make a life-threatening decision: Hand over the boy and give up the newfound purpose in his life, or risk everything to protect him.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Eagle Pass: 9798996319619: COPELAND, KRISTI: Books

All my life, writing, sharing experiences through story-telling, and intensive research has interested me. All of these loves are combined to give my readers an experience through the written word. I reside in a small town in northeast Texas and originate from a small town in Michigan. Both MI and TX are prominent in my writing.

Everywhere I look, I see someone begging me to write about them. Music, every day life, and even my husband’s dreams inspire ideas about new books! Like so many of my favorite novels have done for me, I sincerely hope to connect with you through my writing. My simple communication style brings words off the page to a vision in your mind.

Join me as I create scenarios that could happen to anyone…and probably have. Maybe me, maybe you.

Word Salad by Susan Coll

 Matilda loves logic and order, and now her structured world is falling apart—in a bookstore.

Former economics major Matilda is moving back to her hometown of Washington D.C. to care for her ailing mother, and she’s desperate for money. She takes a job at her neighborhood bookstore and tries, in vain, to make sense of illogical business of books. To make things worse, she’s forced to team up with a new hire—the enigmatic, flaky, larger-than-life, Sage—who shows up on her first day of work with zero administrative skills and her tiny, puffy, incessantly urinating dog that resembles an underfed rat.

Something in the chaos begins to remind Matilda of her long-neglected creative side, and she starts to rediscover the person she once was before so much got in the way. But things get even more unmanageable when Matilda and Sage are tasked with putting together an event for the reclusive and controversial Dr. Jordan Rutabaga, a windbag of a public intellectual with a cult following that includes a number of people who would like to literally and figuratively see him dead. Rutabaga has a long list of alleged misdeeds, from plagiarism to failure to pay child support to stiffing the nanny.

As the event date approaches, Matilda and Sage discover that Sage and Rutabaga have their own not uncomplicated past, adding yet another person to list of people who do not wish him well. Add in a lawsuit and an impending snowstorm along with the potentially sinister presence of Rutabaga himself, and Matilda is about to come undone.

Bestselling author Susan Coll’s gastric, bookish, laugh-out-loud comedy of manners reminds us that sometimes things have to completely fall apart for them to perfectly come together.

Pick up your copy here..

Word Salad: A Novel: Coll, Susan: 9781400346684: Amazon.com: Books

Susan Coll is the author of seven novels including REAL LIFE & OTHER FICTIONS AND BOOKISH PEOPLE. Her novel, Acceptance, a satire of the college admissions process, was made into a 2009 television movie starring Joan Cusack and Mae Whitman. Her other books include The Stager, Beach Week, Rockville Pike, and karlmarx dot com. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR dot org, atlantic dot com, and The Millions. She works at Politics & Prose Bookstore and was the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for five years.

Pretty As A peach by Grace Helena Walz

 Delilah Thomas has a stellar track record of avoiding conflict. Her life mantra? Keep the peace. Born to a family she has never fit in, Delilah learned early that no matter what it costs her, it's best to keep quiet, nod, and agree. Now in her late thirties, she has mastered the art and employs it daily with the preschoolers she teaches.

Then Peach Pit sets up shop in her small hometown and infiltrates every female relationship, including Delilah's lifelong best-friend group. A direct sales business, Peach Pit claims its beauty products are organic and all-natural and recruits women to become "Darlings" who host parties to sell products to friends and family. Delilah's friend Betsy is ecstatic to join, drawn by promises of sisterhood and easy income. But something seems off to Delilah.

When customers, including her pregnant friend Eliza, start reporting rashes, Peach Pit refuses to take responsibility. Then Betsy lets an unsettling secret slip, and Delilah can't hold her tongue any longer. With the help of her retired neighbor, Mrs. Chopra, and travel journalist Jasper--Delilah's longtime pen pal and childhood crush, finally in town for a visit--Delilah investigates the company and uncovers the grim truth. She is faced with a choice: Stop pushing and keep the peace, or find her courage and expose Peach Pit's shady business practices, even if it costs her the unthinkable.

Pick up your copy here..                                                                                                                                      Pretty as a Peach: Your next favorite book club pick – for fans of charming, small-town emotional reads in 2026!: Walz, Grace Helena: 9781400352852: Amazon.com: Books

Grace Helena Walz is a former social worker who writes heartfelt book club fiction with Southern settings and characters you'll want as friends. Her titles include Southern by Design and Good Hair Days. Grace resides outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two children and writes in the moments between driving carpool and making grocery lists. Pretty as a Peach is her third novel.