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.

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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.

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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.

Monkeypig by Huw Aaron

 She's a monkey! No, she's a pig! She's . . . Monkeypig?

Molly happily resides in the jungle alongside all the other monkeys, living her best monkey life among the treetops. There's just one problem.

She's actually a pig.

And head monkey Norman knows it. To prove his instincts right, he puts Molly and the rest of her forest family through a series of tests designed to weed out any non-monkey monkeys. Molly gamely jumps . . . er, flops . . . through all of Norman's hoops, doing her piggy best to be the ultimate primate. At the end of this ropes course, they discover a surprise reveal about who the real monkey is after all.

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Monkeypig: Aaron, Huw, Aaron, Huw: 9798217039159: Amazon.com: Books

Huw Aaron is a Welsh cartoonist, author, and illustrator. After a short and fairly hopeless career in finance, Huw found a niche as a magazine cartoonist, producing joke cartoons for, among others, Harvard Business Review, Reader’s Digest, Private Eye, and The Spectator (London). He then started making comics and illustrating children’s books in his native Welsh. Huw’s harshest critics—and his best friends—are his wife, Luned,and their two daughters.

Hollow Twilight by Kieran Starovsky

 It's all fun and games until somebody dies. Delve into the unsettling world of Hollow Twilight, a Ready Player One meets Stranger Things LitRPG where there's no XP to collect and no loot to scavenge, but one wrong move could be the difference between life and death.

Reid, a seemingly average high school senior, is bored of his meaningless life. That is, until he and his friends learn about a new mobile game, Hollow Twilight, and decide to give it a shot. But what starts as a strangely immersive dark fantasy RPG turns out to be far more as the teens realize they've literally crossed over into the game world and must now fight the shadowy monsters hunting them with no clear understanding of how to survive.

It’s do or die for the group, which is par for the course in video games. But in Hollow Twilight, to die doesn’t just mean an inconvenient respawn, and when one of their party members is killed by a vicious monster known as a Pariah, it results in their real-life death.

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Hollow Twilight: Starovsky, Kieran: 9781039014183: Amazon.com: Books

KIERAN STAROVSKY works in the Toronto start-up space, has a degree in English Literature from York University, and wanders the city with his wife and children. When not writing, he is usually scouring specialty stores for old video games he owned once as a kid.

Vow of Eternal Night by Lily Crozier

 

Don't miss out on the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run in the U.S. and Canada only, a must-have for any book lover.

Clara Wagner has always known that monsters are real, and the worst of them is Prince Raleigh of Rostenburg. But when he decides it’s time to marry, Clara inadvertently finds herself at the center of his attention.

Forced to accept Raleigh’s proposal, Clara would do anything to escape her fate. So when the prince provides an ultimatum―lift his vampiric curse before the end of the year, or become his bride for eternity―Clara knows what she must do.

Heal the prince. Stay alive. Try not to fall in love.

Pick up your copy here..

Amazon.com: Vow of Eternal Night: A Standalone, Gothic Paranormal Romance: 9781682816981: Crozier, Lily: Books

Lily Crozier has always surrounded herself with books. Born in London into a family of book collectors, she has been a bookseller, BookToker and book publicist. She has a Bachelor in Asia-Pacific Studies and a Master in Publishing and studied in Australia and Japan. When she isn’t reading, writing or talking about books, you can often find her playing video games or dreaming up stories about monstrous men. She lives in Sydney with a book collection that’s too big for her apartment and can be found online as @lilycantstopreading. Vow of Eternal Night is her first novel.

Candy Apple Kisses by Amy Clipston

 

This autumn, love is in the air.

Artist Emily Carmichael has always considered Splendid Lake her home, but she never imagined she would ever return. However, when she learns her childhood best friend, Jake Hughes, is struggling to save the beloved Hughes Family Orchard, she doesn't hesitate to pack her bags and head back to the North Carolina mountains--even if it means battling a corporate giant and resisting the temptation of too many candy apples.

For Jake, the orchard is more than just a business; it's a living legacy, a bond with his father and a promise to his family. As Jake and Emily work side-by-side to prepare for the orchard's centennial anniversary, long-held feelings, once hidden beneath years of friendship, begin to surface. For Jake, Emily's return illuminates what's been missing in his life, and for Emily, being with Jake stirs long-dormant emotions she's too scared to name. The air is crisp, the apples are sweet, and the sparks? They're flying higher than a bonfire.

But with Jake's ex-girlfriend's dramatic reappearance and the mounting pressure to keep the orchard from failing, their budding romance is put to the test. Can these two best friends turn a season of chaos into a lifetime of love, or will their romance fall flat before the first frost?

Pick up your copy here....                                                                                                                                  Candy Apple Kisses: A cozy, low-spice fall romance: Clipston, Amy: 9780840716491: Amazon.com: Books

Amy Clipston has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her fiction writing "career" began in elementary school when she and a close friend wrote and shared silly stories. She has a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan College and is a member of the Authors Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She is the author of the bestselling Kauffman Amish Bakery series with Zondervan, which is part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. An advocate for organ and blood donation, Amy donated a kidney in 2011 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Through her donation, her husband received a second kidney transplant. Amy and her husband matched another couple and swapped kidneys with them. Amy's memoir, A Gift of Love, will be available in early 2014. She hopes her story inspires others to become organ and blood donors. Amy lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, mother, and four spoiled rotten cats.

Play it again by Georgia Clark

 When four former theater kids reunite after twenty years, forgotten crushes, unresolved tension, and fresh chemistry steal the spotlight in this charming queer ensemble rom-com.

Love always deserves an encore.

As teens, Annie, Lola, Vicky, and Dylan stole the show in a legendary gender-swapped version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Two couples, one unforgettable summer—until the closing-night party tore them apart, and not all of them knew why.

Now, with lives that look nothing like they imagined, the foursome is called home by their beloved director for a one-night-only revival to save the theater and the town. Returning to Rhodes means facing everything they left behind: long-buried secrets, undeniable chemistry, and the chance to write a brand-new ending—together.

Brimming with nostalgia, wit, and small-town sparkle, Play It Again is a heartwarming story of first love, second chances, and the magic of finding your way back to the stage—and to the ones who knew you best.

Pick up your copy here.

Play It Again: A Novel (Dial Delights): Clark, Georgia: 9780593729106: Amazon.com: Books

Georgia Clark is the author of MOST WONDERFUL, ISLAND TIME, IT HAD TO BE YOU, THE BUCKET LIST, THE REGULARS, plus two YA novels, SHE'S WITH THE BAND and PARCHED. She's passionate about good jokes, queer stuff and cheese.

She’s the host/founder of the internationally popular storytelling night, Generation Women, which performs monthly at New York’s iconic Joe’s Pub. Georgia teaches romance writing, mentors up-and-coming writers, hosts weekend writers’ retreats, and creates the monthly author newsletter, Heartbeat. A native Australian, she lives in Brooklyn with her hot wife and sweet toddler.

As Sure as the Stars by Jennie K. Drollinger and Goyer

 They captured America’s heart on camera. Now, step into the story that captured theirs.

Inspired by the real-life winners of America’s Favorite Couple.
A timeless story of love, loss, and the God who writes better endings than we ever could.

When millions watched the winners of America’s Favorite Couple share their reunion story—a pair of high school sweethearts who found each other again after thirty-five years apart—it captured the nation’s imagination.

But what if we could see the story behind the headlines?

In As Sure as the Stars, that’s exactly what you’ll find.

Kelly Richardson thought she had love all figured out—once. At seventeen, she was the girl who believed in forever. Jake Forester was the boy who made her believe it. They danced under the Alaskan stars, made promises, and dreamed about a future that was never meant to be.
Then life happened. Choices. Distance. Silence.
Now, decades later, Kelly is a successful divorce attorney in Boise, Idaho—helping other women pick up the pieces of broken vows while quietly wondering if love is just a beautiful lie. Then one morning, she looks up and sees Jake again, and her carefully constructed world begins to shake.
Jake’s now a father of six, and a man carrying his own regrets. As they’re brought together by friends—and maybe by providence—Kelly begins to realize that sometimes the hardest part of love isn’t losing it, but letting it return.

Told in tender, time-swept layers between 1980s Alaska and the present day, As Sure as the Stars is more than a romance—it’s a journey of faith and rediscovery. It’s a reminder that true love isn’t about perfection; it’s about persistence, forgiveness, and trusting that God writes better stories than we do.

Spanning from the golden nights of 1980s Alaska to the quiet ache of present-day Boise, As Sure as the Stars takes readers behind the cameras and into the hearts of two people whose fictional journey mirrors a very real one. It’s a tender, faith-filled portrait of forgiveness, timing, and the kind of love that doesn’t fade—it just waits.

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Amazon.com: As Sure As The Stars: The Sweetheart Romance That Happened!: 9798993805719: Goyer, Tricia, Drollinger, Jennie K.: Books

Jennie Drollinger is the co-author of As Sure as the Stars, a novel inspired by her real-life second chance romance with the boy she loved in high school. Jennie spent 25 years in the fashion retail industry before taking another second chance on a new career: paralegal. While working on countless divorces and nearly losing faith in true love, she reconnected with Bryan and felt the spark re-ignite. The winner of the 2025 America’s Favorite Couple, now she shares the story of her second chance at career and love to other professional women in her book and on her podcast, Second Chance on Love: Side B.

Where Wilted Flowers Bloom by Johanna Rojas Vann

When Sandra and her family move from New York City to East Nashville for her husband’s job, she is hopeful for a fresh start. While she will deeply miss her tight-knit family and thriving career, she is desperate to leave behind the city that holds her greatest loss.

But Sandra quickly learns that moving into a new home she designed and having the freedom to be a stay-at-home mom for the first time is not what she thought it would be. Sorrow still follows her, and no new place can fix it.

When she meets her next-door neighbor, Mark, who is an elderly, widowed, retired pastor, an unlikely friendship quickly forms. His humor, spiritual wisdom, and affinity for gardening—a skill he was forced to learn when his wife passed away—brings a welcome distraction from Sandra’s suffocating grief, giving her hope for the first time since her tragic loss. Will this friendship be just what she needs to heal her broken heart? Or will unexpected news leave Sandra with even more heartache?

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 Where Wilted Flowers Bloom: A Novel: Rojas Vann, Johanna: 9780593603161: Amazon.com: Books

Johanna Rojas Vann is a professional writer whose work can be found online and within numerous publications. She is a second-generation Colombian American, with dual citizenship, and lives with her husband and children in Nashville, Tennessee.

Joan of the Arcane by Alexandra Fleder

 A page-turning psychological trip for anyone who’s ever wondered if all their crazy ideas . . . might actually be right.

Joan is a middle-aged punk rocker turned housewife who’s seen too many TikToks to trust the official narrative. The moon landing? Faked. Weather? Controlled. Food? Poisoned. Her suspicions ignite when a strange new neighbor—possibly a dead astronaut with ties to secret ops—arrives on her block.

As Joan spirals deeper into the rabbit hole, she begins to question everything: her marriage, her sanity, and her soul’s purpose. Armed with a mystical book and a fading voice that once shook LA punk clubs, she sets out on a spiritual journey through canyon trails, desert portals, and shadow realms to expose the truth—and reclaim her power.

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Amazon.com: Joan of the Arcane: A Novel eBook : Fleder, Alexandra: Kindle Store

Alexandra Fleder is a poet, herbalist, oracle, and sometimes a fairy teller. She spends her time reading, writing novels, and planting and tending to native plants and trees in the Santa Monica mountains and along the L.A. River. She lives with her two blind cats in her native Los Angeles.