Big & Lily by Lisa Roe

 A sharply funny, deeply heartfelt novel about two sisters who discover the best way to find yourself is by getting lost.

For her entire life, Bridget “Big” Ackerman Petty has struggled to hold everything together—her kids, her husband, her demanding mother, all in dizzying orbit around her. While the kids are grown and her husband is retired, every day still feels like a to-do list she can never quite finish. Why is everything so effortless and easy for her sister Lily—a woman blessed with a magnetic personality, a thriving business, and a husband who adores her.

But when Lily discovers her husband’s been cheating, her “perfect” life implodes. Devastated and overwhelmed, she decides to run as far away as possible: to Alaska to lose herself on a hardcore survival trek—and she’s dragged her reluctant sister Big along.

No cell service, no easy exits—just grizzlies, outdoor plumbing, and a group of strangers who know how to read a compass. As the sisters navigate freezing rivers, unmarked trails, and more than one near-death experience, the defenses they’ve used to protect themselves begin to crumble, and they’re forced to face everything they’ve spent decades avoiding: resentment, regret, envy, and the terrifying possibility that the other one’s life might not be as easy as it looks.

Big & Lily is a laugh-out-loud, emotionally rich novel about second acts, sisterhood, and the unexpxpected ways we find ourselves when we’re truly lost.

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Big & Lily: A Novel: Roe, Lisa: 9780063474918: Amazon.com: Books

After graduating from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and spending many years as an advertising creative director and copywriter in New York City, Lisa Roe accepted the tougher job of stay-at-home mom and turned to writing fiction — mostly to entertain her kids, but then to tell her own stories. A classic first born, a reluctant empty nester, and a Dr. Doolittle wannabe, Lisa lives in New Jersey with her husband and three incorrigible dogs. She is the author of WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD and BIG & LILY.

Tangled Weds by Callie Coles

 To the outside world, Sage Deverill has it all. In truth, her marriage is a gilded cage.

When Sage flees from her marriage at a crumbling Panamanian estate, she takes her young son to the only place that has ever felt like home: her grandparents’ estate in Newmarket, the beating heart of the racing world in the British countryside. Surrounded by ivy-clad walls, the kindness of her family and the thunder of hooves on the heath, Sage reconnects with the place, people and creatures she loves most.

Riding beneath the wide Suffolk skies, Sage encounters Rafe Dunbarton—an ambitious, intriguing racehorse trainer with a gentle soul. What begins as friendship soon becomes an irresistible pull between two people who never expected to find each other.

But just as Sage rediscovers her freedom, her past returns in a tangle of destruction and lies and she is forced to decide how much she is willing to risk for her future . . .

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Tangled Webs: A Novel (The Spinning Silks Saga, 1): Coles, Callie: 9780063579453: Amazon.com: Books

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Callie Coles is a British novelist whose love of animals, nature and family life in the countryside infuses her storytelling. Callie balances her life as a mother with her passion for writing and horses, sharing her journey through her Instagram and Substack, where she has a following of over one million. In addition to her work as a novelist, Callie has contributed to various publications and collaborated with several leading British brands. Her writing reflects themes of resilience, connection to the land, and the emotional bonds between people and animals, all set against the vivid backdrop of rural life. Tangled Webs is her first novel and the first installment in the Spinning Silks trilogy.

Codebreakers by Stella Sands

 Maggie Moore and Detective Jackson, the genius sleuths introduced in the brain-teaser mystery Wordhunter, are back to solve another crime.

Steamy, seedy, swampy south-central Florida once again serves as the backdrop for the unlikely duo of loquacious, tattooed, trash-talking Maggie Moore and laconic Detective Silas Gabriel Jackson―linguistic genius and genius detective, respectively. Now operating their own agency and using their extraordinary skills in forensic semiotics (her), and good old-fashioned observation (him), the pair decode clues embedded in words and symbols to uncover a sadistic criminal who preys upon unsuspecting men.

The troubled and painful pasts of both Maggie and Jackson come into play as they try to track down bad guys and old friends, figure out how to trust―and whom to love. Once again, Stella Sands delivers a snappy, sharp-tongued and well observed story about life, love, and language.

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Stella Sands is the bestselling author of six true-crime books: Baby-Faced Butchers, The Dating Game Killer, Behind the Mask, Murder at Yale, Wealthy Men Only, and The Good Son. She is also the author of a children’s book, Odyssea, and many educational books, and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning magazine Kids Discover for nineteen years. She has appeared on numerous television shows, including People Magazine Investigates, ABC’s 20/20, and several episodes of Investigation Discovery. Her plays, Lou Passin’ Through, Black-eyed Peas, and E-me, have been produced in Off-Off Broadway theaters in New York City. Sands lives in Sag Harbor, New York.

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.

Little Apocalypses by Kaitlyn Teer

 How do you raise children in a world rapidly being reshaped by climate change? Do our narratives about climate change and care help us or hinder us in our efforts to get it right? Little Apocalypses seeks to explore these urgent questions as we navigate the existential predicament of parenting on a planet in crisis.

In this collection of beautifully crafted essays, Kaitlyn Teer—herself the mother of two young children—blends personal narrative, cultural analysis, and wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary research to offer new ways for readers to think more deeply and more hopefully about the radical possibilities of caregiving to bring a more just and sustainable future into being. In “World Without End” Teer examines the apocalyptic rhetoric that shapes our understanding of the climate crisis and shows us where to find new stories that can shape our imaginations of what’s still possible. In “Mother of All Messes” Teer considers the pressures to perform green motherhood and calls for refocusing efforts to collective action on for mutual flourishing. Teer’s writing overflows with love for her children, her community, and the natural world, and offers an invitation to face the uncertain future with curiosity and imagination.

A thoughtful and eye-opening look at the power of caregiving in crisis, Little Apocalypses is a call to action—an invitation to parents to become active participants in carving a different path forward for all of us, our children, and our planet.

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Little Apocalypses: Essays on Motherhood, Climate Change, and Hope at the End of the World: Teer, Kaitlyn: 9780063440227: Amazon.com: Books

Kaitlyn Teer is a senior editor at Cup of Jo. Her essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult, Electric Lit, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere, and she has taught writing at Western Washington University. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.

The New Neighbors by Claire Douglas

 Unassuming neighbors may not be what they seem in this twisty, spine-tingling thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Couple at Number 9 and The Girls Who Disappeared.

They seem like the perfect couple. But what are they hiding?
When Lena overhears a conversation between her next-door-neighbors she thinks she must have misheard.
The Morgans are a kind, retired couple who recently moved to their sleepy suburban street in Bristol where nothing ever happens. But to Lena it sounded very much like they were planning a crime.
Her family and friends tell her she must be mistaken. Yet Lena can’t stop thinking about that strange conversation. What if they really are about to do something terrible?
What if she can prevent it?

Especially when doing something might help ease her conscience about her own dark past . . .

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The New Neighbors: A Novel: Douglas, Claire: 9780063354432: Amazon.com: Books

Claire Douglas is the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of eight stand alone novels: The Sisters (2015), Local Girl Missing (2016), Last Seen Alive (2017), Do Not Disturb (2018), Then She Vanishes (2019) and Just Like The Other Girls (2020). Her seventh, The Couple At No 9 (2021) was an Amazon number one bestseller, a number three Sunday Times bestseller and most recently hit number one on Germany's Der Spiegel paperback bestsellers chart. The Girls Who Disappeared was a Richard and Judy book club pick for Autumn 2022 and was an instant number one Sunday Times bestseller. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK and have been published worldwide.

Her most recent, THE WOMAN WHO LIED will be published on July 6th 2023.

You can find Claire on Twitter at @DougieClaire, Instagram as clairedouglasauthor, or visit her Facebook page clairedouglasauthor.

Mika In Real Life by Emiko Jean

 Mika Suzuki’s life is a mess. Fired from a dead-end job, she shares a home with her best friend, who just might be a hoarder if all the unopened deliveries are a sign. Her last relationship—to a burnout named Leif—ended in flames. And she’s a perpetual disappointment to her traditional Japanese parents, especially to her mother, who keeps presenting her with dating prospects found in church.

Then she receives the surprise of her life—a phone call from Penny, the baby she placed for adoption sixteen years ago. Now a headstrong teenager, Penny is eager to learn all about Mika, who she is and what her dreams are. The harder-won heart belongs to Thomas Calvin, Penny’s adoptive widower father. What starts as a rocky relationship with him slowly blossoms into friendship and, just maybe, something more.

Faced with her own insecurities, Mika at first embellishes the facts about her life. But Penny’s love revives so many of the dreams she once had, especially those about being an artist and making a difference in the world… ultimately forcing her to answer the question, Just who is Mika in real life?

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Amazon.com: Mika in Real Life: A Good Morning America Book Club Pick: 9780063215696: Jean, Emiko: Books

Emiko Jean ist eine vom unabhängigen Buchhandel in den USA als Indie Next Pick ausgezeichnete Jugendbuchautorin. Sie lebt in Washington State mit ihrem Mann und ihren Kindern (liebreizende Zwillinge). Und, ja, sie liebt den Regen dort.

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

 Following Battle Royal, beloved author Lucy Parker pens another delicious romantic comedy about a fake relationship between a grumpy royal bodyguard and the charming, sunny assistant who melts his cold, hard exterior.

Petunia De Vere enjoys being the personal assistant to lovable, bumbling Johnny Marchmont. But the job has its share of challenges, including the royal’s giant, intimidating bodyguard, Matthias. Pet and Matthias are polar opposites—she’s spontaneous and enthusiastic, he’s rigid and stoic—but she can sense there’s something softer underneath that tough exterior…

For Matthias Vaughn, protecting others is the name of the game. But keeping his royal charge out of trouble is more difficult than he imagined because everywhere Johnny goes, calamity ensues, and his petite, bubbly assistant is often caught in the fray. Matthias hates the idea of Pet getting hurt and he’s determined to keep everyone safe, even if it means clashing with his adorable new coworker.

When a clumsy moment leads to a questionable tabloid photo, the press begins to speculate that Pet is romantically involved with Johnny. To put an end to the rumors, the royal PR team asks Pet and Matthias to stage a fake relationship and the two reluctantly agree. But as they spend more time together outside of work, they begin to wonder what real emotions this pretend connection might uncover. Especially when a passionate kiss leaves both of their heads spinning… 

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Amazon.com: Codename Charming: A Novel: 9780063040106: Parker, Lucy: Books

Lucy Parker lives in New Zealand, where she feels lucky every day to look out at mountains, lakes, and vineyards.

Her interest in romantic fiction began with a pre-teen viewing of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Firth-style), which prompted her to read the book as well. A family friend introduced her to Georgette Heyer, and the rest was history.

You can find her on Twitter @_LucyParker, or on her website: www.lucyparkerfiction.com.