Contemporary lifestyle fiction
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Still Born
Book Synopsis
£21.59
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Confrontations
Book Synopsis
£21.59
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Sugar, Baby
Book Synopsis
£22.39
Bloomsbury USA Every Drop Is a Mans Nightmare
£15.29
Shadow Mountain The Maid of Sherwood Forest
£18.99
Counterpoint Summer of My Amazing Luck: A Novel
Book Synopsis[A] memorable portrait of a struggling young person who finds unexpected resilience and peace . . . Hilarious, heartbreaking, and poignant. —BooklistFrom the author of Women Talking—now an Academy Award-winning film starring Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand, and Jessie BuckleyMiriam Toews welcomes her readers to the Have–a–Life housing project (better known as Half–a–Life). The welfare regulations are endless and the rate–fink neighbors won't mind their own business. Lucy Von Alstyne sends fictitious letters to her friend Alicia, pretending to be the father of Alicia's twins. When the two mothers and their five children set off on a journey to find him, facing along the way the complications of living in poverty and raising fatherless children, Lucy discovers this just may be the summer of her amazing luck.
£12.34
Counterpoint Deceit and Other Possibilities: Stories
Book Synopsis[A] searing debut. —i>O, The Oprah MagazineIn her powerful collection, first published in 2016 and now featuring new stories, Vanessa Hua gives voice to immigrant families navigating a shifting America. Tied to their ancestral and adopted homelands in ways unimaginable in generations past, these memorable characters span both worlds but belong to none, illustrating the conflict between self and society, tradition and change. This all-new edition of Deceit and Other Possibilities marks the emergence of a remarkable writer.
£12.34
Counterpoint The Disaster Tourist: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Counterpoint The Center of Everything: A Novel
Book SynopsisSet against the wild beauty of Montana as a woman attempts to heal from a devastating accident, this generational saga from the award-winning author of The Widow Nash is a heartfelt examination of how the deep bonds of family echo throughout our lives.For Polly, the small town of Livingston, Montana, is a land charmed by raw, natural beauty and a network of family that extends back generations. But the summer of 2002 finds Polly at a crossroads: a recent head injury has scattered her perception of the present, bringing to the surface events from thirty years ago and half a country away. As Polly''s many relatives arrive for a family reunion during the Fourth of July holiday, a beloved friend goes missing on the Yellowstone River, dredging up strange memories for a family well acquainted with tragedy. Search parties comb the river as carefully as Polly combs her mind, and over the course of one fateful week, Polly arrives at a deeper understanding of herself and her larger-than-life relatives. Weaving together the past and the present, from the shores of Long Island Sound to the landscape of Montana, The Center of Everything examines with profound insight the nature of the human condition: the memories and touchstones that make up a life, and the loves and losses we must endure along the way.
£15.26
Counterpoint The Other Mother: A Novel
Book SynopsisAn extraordinary page-turning generational saga about a young man's search for a parent he never knew, and a moving portrait of motherhood, race, and the truths we hide in the name of family (Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple)Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami. He arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was romantically involved with Jenry’s mother? Juliet is the parent he should be looking for—his other mother.Revelation follows revelation as each member of Jenry’s family steps forward to tell the story of his origin, uncovering a web of secrecy that binds this family together even as it keeps them apart. Moving seamlessly between the past and the present, The Other Mother is a daring, ambitious novel that celebrates the complexities of love and resilience—masterfully exploring the intersections of race, class, and sexuality; the role of biology in defining who belongs to whom; and the complicated truth of what it means to be a family.
£22.40
Counterpoint You Are Here: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£22.09
Counterpoint The Apartment: A Novel
Book SynopsisFrom the critically acclaimed author of In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd comes a new novel about the search for freedom and the power of community that spans decades of residents in one Florida apartmentThe Helena is an art deco apartment building that has witnessed the changing face of South Miami Beach for seventy years, observing the lives housed within. Among those who have called apartment 2B home are a Cuban concert pianist who performs in a nursing home; the widow of an intelligence officer raising her young daughter alone; a man waiting on a green card marriage to run its course so that he can divorce his wife and marry his lover, all of whom live together; a Tajik building manager with a secret identity; and a troubled young refugee named Lenin. Each tenant imbues 2B with energy that will either heal or overwhelm its latest resident, Lana, a mysterious woman struggling with her own past.Examining exile, homesickness, and displacement, The Apartment asks what—in our violent and lonely century—do we owe one another? If alone we are powerless before sorrow and isolation, it is through community and the sharing of our stories that we may survive and persevere.
£21.60
Counterpoint The Other Mother: A Novel
Book SynopsisAn extraordinary page-turning generational saga about a young man's search for a parent he never knew, and a moving portrait of motherhood, race, and the truths we hide in the name of family (Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple)Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami. He arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was romantically involved with Jenry’s mother? Juliet is the parent he should be looking for—his other mother.Revelation follows revelation as each member of Jenry’s family steps forward to tell the story of his origin, uncovering a web of secrecy that binds this family together even as it keeps them apart. Moving seamlessly between the past and the present, The Other Mother is a daring, ambitious novel that celebrates the complexities of love and resilience—masterfully exploring the intersections of race, class, and sexuality; the role of biology in defining who belongs to whom; and the complicated truth of what it means to be a family.
£18.00
Algonquin Books His Only Wife
Book Synopsis
£15.26
Algonquin Books Libertie
Book Synopsis
£14.41
Algonquin Books Hot Stew
Book Synopsis
£14.41
Algonquin Books All the Little Bird-Hearts
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Seven Stories Press,U.S. Farewell, Ghosts
Book SynopsisThis award-winning novel about a woman facing her past introduces Terranova to English-speaking audiences. Translated by Ann Goldstein, translator of Elena Ferrante''s Neapolitan quartet.Finalist, Premio Strega, 2019 Winner, Premio Alassio Centolibri Selected among the 10 Best Italian Books of 2018 by Corriere della SeraIda is a married woman in her late thirties, who lives in Rome and works at a radio station. Her mother wants to renovate the family apartment in Messina, to put it up for sale and asks her daughter to sort through her things--to decide what to keep and what to throw away. Surrounded by the objects of her past, Ida is forced to deal with the trauma she experienced as a girl, twenty-three years earlier, when her father left one morning, never to return. The fierce silences between mother and daughter, the unbalanced friendships that leave her emotionally drained, the sense of an identity based on anomaly, even the relationship with her husband, everything revolves around the figure of her absent father. Mirroring herself in that absence, Ida has grown up into a woman dominated by fear, suspicious of any form of desire. However, as her childhood home besieges her with its ghosts, Ida will have to find a way to break the spiral and let go of her father finally. Beautifully translated by Ann Goldstein, who also translated Elena Ferrante''s Neapolitan quartet, Farewell, Ghosts is a poetic and intimate novel about what it means to build one''s own identity.
£16.11
Graywolf Press Silence Is My Mother Tongue
Book SynopsisA sensuous, textured novel of life in a refugee camp, long-listed for the Orwell Prize for Political FictionOn a hill overlooking a refugee camp in Sudan, a young man strings up bedsheets that, in an act of imaginative resilience, will serve as a screen in his silent cinema. From the cinema he can see all the comings and goings in the camp, especially those of two new arrivals: a girl named Saba, and her mute brother, Hagos.For these siblings, adapting to life in the camp is not easy. Saba mourns the future she lost when she was forced to abandon school, while Hagos, scorned for his inability to speak, must live vicariously through his sister. Both resist societal expectations by seeking to redefine love, sex, and gender roles in their lives, and when a businessman opens a shop and befriends Hagos, they cast off those pressures and make an unconventional choice.With this cast of complex, beautifully drawn characters, Sulaiman Addonia details the textures and rhythms of everyday life in a refugee camp, and questions what it means to be an individual when one has lost all that makes a home or a future. Intimate and subversive, Silence Is My Mother Tongue dissects the ways society wages war on women and explores the stories we must tell to survive in a broken, inhospitable environment.
£14.40
Graywolf Press The Consequences: Stories
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates PrizeFinalist for the 2023 Aspen Words Literary PrizeFinalist for the 2023 Balcones Prize for FictionLonglisted for the 2022 Story PrizeShimmering stories set in California's Central Valley, the first book in a decade from a virtuoso story writer.Her immediate concern was money. So begins the first story in Manuel Muñoz's dazzling new collection. In it, Delfina has moved from Texas to California's Central Valley with her husband and small son, and her isolation and desperation force her to take a risk that ends in profound betrayal.These exquisite stories are mostly set in the 1980s in the small towns that surround Fresno. With an unflinching hand, Muñoz depicts the Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers who put food on our tables but are regularly and ruthlessly rounded up by the migra, as well as the quotidian struggles and immense challenges faced by their families. The messy and sometimes violent realities navigated by his charactersstraight and gay, immigrant and American-born, young and oldare tempered by moments of surprising, tender care: Two young women meet on a bus to Los Angeles to retrieve husbands who must find their way back from the border after being deported; a gay couple plans a housewarming party that reveals buried class tensions; a teenage mother slips out to a carnival where she encounters the father of her child; the foreman of a crew of fruit pickers finds a dead body and is subsequentlyperhaps literallyhaunted.In The Consequences, obligation can shape, support, and sometimes derail us. It's a magnificent new book from a gifted writer at the height of his powers.
£14.40
Suma Ciudad de mujeres / City of Girls
Book Synopsis
£17.95
Suma Te regalaré las estrellas / The Giver of Stars
Book Synopsis
£17.95
Suma Alguien a quien conoces / Someone We Know
Book Synopsis
£16.96
Ediciones B El libro de los anhelos / The Book of Longings
Book Synopsis
£19.51
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial El tercer país / The Third Country
Book Synopsis
£16.96
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial (USA) LLC La viajera nocturna / The Night Travelers
Book Synopsis
£16.11
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial (USA) LLC La chica salvaje (Movie Tie-In Edition) / Where
Book Synopsis
£15.26
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Cien cuyes (Premio Alfaguara 2023) / One Hundred
Book Synopsis
£17.95
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial (USA) LLC The Missus (La Condesa)
Book Synopsis
£16.96
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial En cinco años / In Five Years
Book Synopsis
£14.36
Suma En tus tacones / Someone Else's Shoes
Book Synopsis
£19.51
Focus on the Family Publishing What a Wave Must Be
Book Synopsis
£13.29
Catapult The Inland Sea: A Novel
Book SynopsisIn this "eloquent debut," a young Australian woman unable to find her footing in the world begins to break down when the emergencies she hears working as a 911 operator and the troubles within her own life gradually blur together, forcing her to grapple with how the past has shaped her present (Publishers Weekly).Drifting after her final year in college, a young writer begins working part-time as an emergency dispatch operator in Sydney. Over the course of an eight-hour shift, she is dropped into hundreds of crises, hearing only pieces of each. Callers report car accidents and violent spouses and homes caught up in flame.The work becomes monotonous: answer, transfer, repeat. And yet the stress of listening to far-off disasters seeps into her personal life, and she begins walking home with keys in hand, ready to fight off men disappointed by what they find in neighboring bars. During her free time, she gets black-out drunk, hooks up with strangers, and navigates an affair with an ex-lover whose girlfriend is in their circle of friends.Two centuries earlier, her great-great-great-great-grandfather--the British explorer John Oxley--traversed the wilderness of Australia in search of water. Oxley never found the inland sea, but the myth was taken up by other men, and over the years, search parties walked out into the desert, dying as they tried to find it.Interweaving a woman''s self-destructive unraveling with the gradual worsening of the climate crisis, The Inland Sea is charged with unflinching insight into our age of anxiety. At a time when wildfires have swept an entire continent, this novel asks what refuge and comfort looks like in a constant state of emergency.
£15.26
Catapult In the Lobby of the Dream Hotel: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£22.40
Catapult Black Sunday: A Novel
Book SynopsisThis fiercely original debut novel follows four Nigerian siblings over the course of two decades as they search for agency, love, and meaning in a society rife with hypocrisy. “. . . lush, sharp, and shot through with hope! —Well-Read Black Girl I like the idea of a god who knows what it’s like to be a twin. To have no memory of ever being alone. Twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike are enjoying a relatively comfortable life in Lagos in 1996. Then their mother loses her job due to political strife, and the family, facing poverty, becomes drawn into the New Church, an institution led by a charismatic pastor who is not shy about worshipping earthly wealth. Soon Bibike and Ariyike’s father wagers the family home on a “sure bet” that evaporates like smoke. As their parents’ marriage collapses in the aftermath of this gamble, the twin sisters and their two younger siblings, Andrew and Peter, are thrust into the reluctant care of their traditional Yoruba grandmother. Inseparable while they had their parents to care for them, the twins’ paths diverge once the household shatters. Each girl is left to locate, guard, and hone her own fragile source of power. Written with astonishing intimacy and wry attention to the fickleness of fate, Tola Rotimi Abraham’s Black Sunday takes us into the chaotic heart of family life, tracing a line from the euphoria of kinship to the devastation of estrangement. In the process, it joyfully tells a tale of grace and connection in the midst of daily oppression and the constant incursions of an unremitting patriarchy. This is a novel about two young women slowly finding, over twenty years, in a place rife with hypocrisy but also endless life and love, their own distinct methods of resistance and paths to independence.
£14.41
Catapult Fake Accounts: A Novel
Book SynopsisA NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE * A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEARAn invigorating work, deadly precise in its skewering of people, places and things . . . Stylish, despairing and very funny, Fake Accounts . . . adroitly maps the dwindling gap between the individual and the world. —Katie Kitamura, The New York Times Book ReviewA woman in a tailspin discovers that her boyfriend is an anonymous online conspiracy theorist in this “absolutely brilliant take on the bizarre and despicable ways the internet has warped our perception of reality” (Elle, One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year).On the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, a young woman snoops through her boyfriend's phone and makes a startling discovery: he's an anonymous internet conspiracy theorist, and a popular one at that. Already fluent in internet fakery, irony, and outrage, she's not exactly shocked by the revelation. Actually, she's relieved--he was always a little distant--and she plots to end their floundering relationship while on a trip to the Women's March in DC. But this is only the first in a series of bizarre twists that expose a world whose truths are shaped by online lies.Suddenly left with no reason to stay in New York and increasingly alienated from her friends and colleagues, our unnamed narrator flees to Berlin, embarking on her own cycles of manipulation in the deceptive spaces of her daily life, from dating apps to expat meetups, open-plan offices to bureaucratic waiting rooms. She begins to think she can't trust anyone--shouldn't the feeling be mutual?Narrated with seductive confidence and subversive wit, Fake Accounts challenges the way current conversations about the self and community, delusions and gaslighting, and fiction and reality play out in the internet age.
£15.26
Catapult Bewilderness: A Novel
Book SynopsisSet in rural, poverty-stricken North Carolina, this beautiful, gritty, and piercing novel follows two young women—best friends—as they journey through the highs and lows of friendship, love, and addiction, perfect for readers of Julie Buntin's Marlena (Erika Carter, author of Lucky You).Irene, a lonely nineteen-year-old in rural North Carolina, works long nights at the local pool hall, serving pitchers and dodging drunks. One evening, her hilarious, magnetic coworker Luce invites her on a joy ride through the mountains to take revenge on a particularly creepy customer. Their adventure not only spells the beginning of a dazzling friendship, it seduces both girls into the mysterious world of pills and the endless hustles needed to fund the next high.Together, Irene and Luce run nickel-tossing scams at the county fair and trick dealers into trading legit pharms for birth-control pills. Everything is wild and wonderful until Luce finds a boyfriend who wants to help her get clean. Soon the two of them decide to move away and start a new, sober life in Florida—leaving Irene behind.Told in a riveting dialogue between the girls' addicted past and their hopes for a better future, Bewilderness is not just a brilliant, funny, heartbreaking novel about opioid abuse, it's also a moving look at how intense, intimate friendships can shape every young woman's life.
£15.26
Catapult Heartbroke
Book SynopsisWinner of the California Book AwardFrom the acclaimed author of Godshot and “a pitch-perfect ventriloquist of extraordinary talent and ferocity” (T Kira Madden) comes a defining book of Californian stories where everyone is seeking or sabotaging loveUnited by the stark and sprawling landscapes of California’s Central Valley, the characters of Heartbroke boil with reckless desire. A woman steals a baby from a shelter in an attempt to recoup her own lost motherhood. A phone-sex operator sees divine opportunity when a lavender-eyed cowboy walks into her life. A mother and a son selling dream catchers along a highway that leads to a toxic beach manifest two young documentary filmmakers into their realm. And two teenage girls play a dangerous online game with destiny.Heartbroke brims over with each character’s attempt to salvage grace where they can find it. Told in bright, snapping prose that reveals a world of loss and love underneath, Chelsea Bieker brilliantly illuminates a golden yet gothic world of longing and abandonment under an unrelenting California sun.
£20.80
Catapult The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman: A
Book SynopsisFinalist for the Midland Authors AwardFates and Furies meets Melancholia in this ominous and absorbing debut novel about marriage and motherhood in a time of ecological collapse, as mothers around the world begin to mysteriously vanish from their homesAda—a woman from Montreal living reluctantly in Michigan—vanishes from her bed one night while her husband Danny is asleep beside her, her young son, Gilles, in the next room. Desperate to locate Ada before Gilles understands what has happened, Danny begins a search. But the feds are already involved: across the country and around the world, mothers are vanishing from their homes.Where did Ada go? What has she gone through? And how does the mystery relate to the forest that she seemed magnetically drawn to?Confronting the role of motherhood and the meaning of home in the wreckage of capitalism and climate change, The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman is that rare, dazzling debut that is both thrilling and profound. It is a mystery, a play on myths of metamorphosis, and above all, a story of love—between husband and wife, mother and child—deeply troubled by the future we face.
£21.60
Entangled: Amara It Takes a Villa
Book SynopsisFor the reasonable price of $1, Natalie Malone just bought herself an abandoned villa on the Amalfi Coast. With a detailed spreadsheet and an ancient key, she's arrived in Italy ready to renovate-with only six months to do it. Which seemed reasonable, until architect Pietro Indelicato begins critically watching her every move...From the sweeping ocean views to the scent of the lemon trees, there's nothing Pietro loves more than his hometown. And after seeing too many botched jobs and garish design choices, he's done watching from the sidelines. As far as he's concerned, Natalie should quit before the project drains her entire bank account and her ridiculously sunny optimism.With Natalie determined to move forward, the gorgeous architect reluctantly agrees to pitch in, giving her a real chance to succeed. But when the fine print on Natalie's contract is brought to light, she might have no choice but to leave her dream-and Pietro-behind.
£8.54
Amazon Publishing This Place of Wonder: A Novel
Book SynopsisIn the wake of a personal tragedy, four women face the past, their futures, and each other in a novel of broken ties and healing by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids. When famed chef Augustus Beauvais dies, he leaves behind a celebrated reputation—and four women grappling with loss, anger, pain, and the question of how the world will turn without him… Meadow, the ex-wife with whom Augustus built an empire—and a family—still holds a place for him in her heart, even as she continues to struggle with his infidelities, which ended their twenty-year marriage. More unforgiving is Maya, his estranged daughter, who’s recently out of rehab but finally ready to reclaim her life. Norah, his latest girlfriend, sidelined her own career for unexpected love and a life of luxury, both of which are now gone with Augustus. And then there’s Rory, Meadow’s daughter, the voice of calm and reason in a chorus of discontent. As Meadow, Maya, Norah, and Rory are flung together by tragedy, grief, and secrets yet to be revealed, they must accept—or turn away from—the legacy of great intentions and bad decisions Augustus left them. And when the circumstances around his death are called into question, their conflicted feelings become even more complicated. But moving forward is the only choice they have, and to do so, they’ll need to rely on family, friendship, and inner strength. Set on the stunning, rugged California coastline, This Place of Wonder is an emotional, lush, and empowering story of four women finding their way in a changed world—and what a wondrous journey it will be.Trade Review“Kristin Hannah readers will thoroughly enjoy the family dynamic, especially the mother-daughter relationships.” —Booklist (starred review) “Barbara O’Neal’s latest novel is simply delicious. Engrossing, empathetic, and profoundly moving, I savored every sentence of this story of several very different women who find solace and second chances in each other after tragedy (though not before facing some hard truths and, yes, a few rock bottoms). This Place of Wonder is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Everything Must Go “I have never much moved in the elevated circles of California farm-to-table cuisine, but O’Neal makes me feel like I’m there. Rather than simply skewering the pretensions, This Place of Wonder pinpoints the passions. Some of these characters have been elevated to celebrity, some are newcomers to the scene, but all are drawn together by the sensuality, the excitement, and ultimately the care that food brings them. Elegiac but also forward-looking, this is a book about eating, but more than that, it’s a book about hurt and healing and women finding their way together. I loved every moment of it.” —Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia and Cleaving “This Place of Wonder is a wonderfully moving tale about four women whose journeys are all connected by one shared love: some are romantic, some are familial, but all are deeply complicated. Dealing with loss, love, hidden secrets, and second chances, this stirring tale is utterly engaging and ultimately hopeful. Set along the rugged California coastline, This Place of Wonder will sweep you away with the intoxicating scents, bold flavors, and sweeping views of the region and transport you to a world you won’t be in any hurry to leave.” —Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author
£17.99
Amazon Publishing The Break: A Novel
Book SynopsisCan she trust the people she loves? Can she trust herself? A new mother is pushed to the edge in a provocative thriller by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Open House. After the traumatic birth of her daughter at a New York City hospital, Rowan O’Sullivan returns home to her apartment with her perfect newborn, Lila. At her side are her husband, Gabe, and June, a part-time babysitter hired to help Rowan in any way she can. But in this time of joy, Rowan can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. She feels dread. She’s breaking. Rowan’s growing instability leads her to accuse June of unspeakable things. And when June disappears just days later, Rowan becomes a suspect. The neighbors heard the screaming. But only Rowan knows what really happened. If her mind can be trusted. Since Lila’s birth, her memory has been both unreliable and frightening. To uncover what happened to June and protect her new baby, Rowan must try to untangle the deep recesses of her mind and face the dark things she’s so desperate to keep buried. When she does, no one is prepared for where the truth leads.Trade Review“With this white-knuckle journey, Sise shows her mastery of suspense.” —Publishers Weekly
£17.99
Amazon Publishing The Sweet Spot
Book SynopsisShe wants forever. He plays it day by day. They’re both wishing for the best in USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke’s charming and sexy hopefully-ever-after romance.Single mom Palmer Clark will not be sidelined by the new man in town. Sure, the honey-tongued baseball legend is gorgeous, loves puppies, and has charmed his way into the community’s heart, but Palmer craves stability. Nothing about Cole says forever. So why is he so hard to resist?Cole is swinging through town to visit his parents when he meets the kind of down-to-earth distraction he’s been looking for since retiring from the majors. True, his long-term relationship score is zero. But even though raising his average with Palmer seems impossible, it’s worth a shot.As promising as the summer nights are, fate turns small-town dreams upside down, and some lessons are learned the hard way. But having faith in love and choosing hope over fear might get Palmer and Cole to the sweet spot they’re looking for.
£13.29
Amazon Publishing The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana: A Novel
Book SynopsisAn electrifying novel about a woman in thrall to the exhilarating rhythms of Manhattan, lost in the dizzying promise of youth, and fatally naive to the dark pressures of fame. When Rolling Stone journalist Kayla McCray is assigned a cover story on pop icon Lexi Mayhem, Kayla stumbles across a startling new angle to the exposé. Years ago, another rising star from Lexi’s past mysteriously leaped to her death. Some things are better off forgotten, Lexi says. Kayla disagrees. It’s 2005 and Ava Petrova moves to New York with a notebook full of songs and a dream. Then she meets Lexi, an up-and-coming singer who brands Ava with an enigmatic new stage name and introduces her to an intoxicating city alive with possibilities. From fast friends and kindred spirits to creative muses and inseparable soul mates, Ava and Lexi embark on a parallel journey to stardom, but there is room for only one at the top. As past and present converge, Kayla chases the ghost of a young woman doomed by betrayal and erased by a secret, and unravels the truth that it takes more than ambition to become a star.Trade ReviewPraise for The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana “Read-in-one-sitting…Banash masterfully interweaves guilt, love, remorse, and yearning with a bit of playfulness, creating a tale that is multifaceted in its content and spirit.” —Booklist “Banash’s sublime new stunner immerses us in an intoxicating female friendship between two young singers, each striving for pop stardom, until one of them suspiciously dies, later leading a Rolling Stone journalist to dig out the truth no one seems to want uncovered. A psychological why-done-it about the glittering allure and tragic cost of fame, and the heady bliss of bonding, all set against an unforgettable soundtrack of love and deception.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You and Pictures of You “Gritty, propulsive, and complex, Banash paints a vivid picture of two young women navigating their way through the dark side of the music industry and the journalist who uncovers their shocking truth years later. I found myself completely transported into Banash’s world of glittering stages, bright city lights, and deeply nuanced, compelling characters. The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana is an addictive read that will leave you wanting more.” —Julia Spiro, author of Full and Someone Else’s Secret “I devoured this suspenseful and perceptive read about the price of fame, the dangerously blurred boundary between envy and admiration, and the tantalizing pull of those who recognize your potential and your desires. Urgently narrated in dual timelines, The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana introduces us to three unforgettable women: the passionate, dogged Kayla; the dreamy, yearning Ava; the irrepressible, brazen Lexi. I’ll be thinking about them for a long time.” —Caitlin Barasch, author of A Novel Obsession “The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana is one of the sexiest novels I’ve ever read. While it is a thriller, a mystery, and an excavation into the backstabbing glamour of the music industry, Jennifer Banash is also first and foremost an absolute master of sensual details and whip-smart dialogue, making her female protagonists leap off the page in an electrical storm. This novel is one part propulsive beach read, one part feminist deep dive into the ways women ferociously love, impulsively betray, and ultimately redeem each other. And did I mention that it’s hot?” —Gina Frangello, author of Blow Your House Down and A Life in Men “I binged this twisty mystery thriller that probes the darker side of fame and female friendships. The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana is as addictive as any Netflix series.” —Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel “This dark, sexy novel combines the rocker-chick moxie of Daisy Jones & the Six with the psychological-thriller plot twists of Social Creature. Banash’s clear, lush prose makes The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana a gripping read.” —Kate Christensen, author of The Last Cruise and The Great Man
£13.21
Amazon Publishing The Hours of You
Book SynopsisCan twenty-four hours on an island paradise lead them to an unexpected reunion? When Maggie accepts one last commission before retiring from journalism, she’s given twenty-four hours on a remote tropical island to interview former Hollywood heart-throb Ed Cavanagh. There are just two problems: firstly, Ed doesn’t want anything to do with Maggie’s exclusive, and secondly, he’s the only man who ever broke her heart… It’s a scenario she never expected—to be in paradise with a man she first met as a teenager but has been trying to forget for the past fifteen years. As each precious hour brings back memories of their tangled love story, Maggie is forced to confront the painful twists of fate that kept them apart. Was a different future for them ever possible? Is it still possible now? They’ve both been burned by love in the past, but as the clock ticks down on their time on the island; will this fleeting reunion extinguish the spark between them for good? Or is it one last chance for Maggie and Ed to rekindle that flame to live the love story they always thought possible? This heartwarming and poignant story of forgiveness, hope and love is perfect for fans of Josie Silver, Sally Page and Lucy Diamond.
£13.20
Amazon Publishing City People: A Novel
Book SynopsisFrom Perfectly Impossible author Elizabeth Topp comes an unforgettably searing novel about a band of mothers who are forced to reckon with themselves after the unexpected loss of one of their own. When beautiful and successful Susan Harris jumps from the roof of her apartment building, she sets a tremor through her New York City mothers’ group that forces them all to look at one another with new cynicism: How could this have happened right under their noses? To one of them? Between her death and the harrowing private school admission season on the horizon, these women are forced to explore the hard truths about themselves. Vic, a single mom with literary aspirations, is shocked and confused by the unexpected death of her best friend. Bhavna, a makeup executive, tries to process Susan’s death while sacrificing everything to get her son into the school of his dreams. Kara’s sister died by suicide years earlier, so she’s been down this road before—or so it seems. Penelope and Amy are navigating a business deal when Susan dies, but is it worth the toll on their families? And how will Chandice, battling cancer, come to terms with Susan’s death? For these women, the loss of a fellow mother forces them to reexamine who they really are while the futures of their children hang in the balance.Trade Review“[T]he novel’s scathing observations about Manhattan's wealthiest parents are wildly entertaining. An engrossing, unflinching critique of elite parenting in Manhattan.” —Kirkus Reviews “Topp packs a lot into the narrative while thoroughly fleshing out each of her protagonists. There’s much to enjoy in this character-driven portrait of the high-stakes world of New York private school admissions.” —Publishers Weekly “In this haunting novel, Topp delicately peels back the gilt layers of privilege to expose the true cost of living amid Manhattan’s 1 percent, where the things that matter—ease, self-esteem, and love—are always tantalizingly out of reach…promised in the next purchase, the next investment, but never delivered. Topp dares to ask, If your child’s admission to an elite school could be an entrée into this world, would you take it? Should you?” —Nicola Kraus, coauthor of The Nanny Diaries “Liz Topp brilliantly gets into the minds of five different women as they deal with the pride-swallowing process of applying to kindergarten in New York City. What could have been a predictable jaunt is made fresh and intriguing with a plot twist in the first chapter. You won’t be able to put it down until the last.” —Laurie Gelman, author of Class Mom “Sharp, unflinching, and dirty with secrets, City People speaks volumes about the isolation of motherhood, the shades of ambition, and the power of loss to push us together or pull us apart. In overlapping narratives that radiate from one cataclysmic event, Elizabeth Topp deftly explores the chasm between public persona and private reality, forcing us to question our own preoccupation with image versus truth.” —Nora Zelevansky, author of Competitive Grieving “With echoes of Big Little Lies, City People offers a sharply observed portrait of Manhattan private school culture, disrupted by one mother’s hidden pain and tragedy.” —Robin Kirman, author of The End of Getting Lost
£13.13
Amazon Publishing City People: A Novel
Book SynopsisFrom Perfectly Impossible author Elizabeth Topp comes an unforgettably searing novel about a band of mothers who are forced to reckon with themselves after the unexpected loss of one of their own. When beautiful and successful Susan Harris jumps from the roof of her apartment building, she sets a tremor through her New York City mothers’ group that forces them all to look at one another with new cynicism: How could this have happened right under their noses? To one of them? Between her death and the harrowing private school admission season on the horizon, these women are forced to explore the hard truths about themselves. Vic, a single mom with literary aspirations, is shocked and confused by the unexpected death of her best friend. Bhavna, a makeup executive, tries to process Susan’s death while sacrificing everything to get her son into the school of his dreams. Kara’s sister died by suicide years earlier, so she’s been down this road before—or so it seems. Penelope and Amy are navigating a business deal when Susan dies, but is it worth the toll on their families? And how will Chandice, battling cancer, come to terms with Susan’s death? For these women, the loss of a fellow mother forces them to reexamine who they really are while the futures of their children hang in the balance.Trade Review“[T]he novel’s scathing observations about Manhattan's wealthiest parents are wildly entertaining. An engrossing, unflinching critique of elite parenting in Manhattan.” —Kirkus Reviews “Topp packs a lot into the narrative while thoroughly fleshing out each of her protagonists. There’s much to enjoy in this character-driven portrait of the high-stakes world of New York private school admissions.” —Publishers Weekly “In this haunting novel, Topp delicately peels back the gilt layers of privilege to expose the true cost of living amid Manhattan’s 1 percent, where the things that matter—ease, self-esteem, and love—are always tantalizingly out of reach…promised in the next purchase, the next investment, but never delivered. Topp dares to ask, If your child’s admission to an elite school could be an entrée into this world, would you take it? Should you?” —Nicola Kraus, coauthor of The Nanny Diaries “Liz Topp brilliantly gets into the minds of five different women as they deal with the pride-swallowing process of applying to kindergarten in New York City. What could have been a predictable jaunt is made fresh and intriguing with a plot twist in the first chapter. You won’t be able to put it down until the last.” —Laurie Gelman, author of Class Mom “Sharp, unflinching, and dirty with secrets, City People speaks volumes about the isolation of motherhood, the shades of ambition, and the power of loss to push us together or pull us apart. In overlapping narratives that radiate from one cataclysmic event, Elizabeth Topp deftly explores the chasm between public persona and private reality, forcing us to question our own preoccupation with image versus truth.” —Nora Zelevansky, author of Competitive Grieving “With echoes of Big Little Lies, City People offers a sharply observed portrait of Manhattan private school culture, disrupted by one mother’s hidden pain and tragedy.” —Robin Kirman, author of The End of Getting Lost
£18.99
Amazon Publishing The Hook: A Novel
Book SynopsisThree betrayed women with revenge in common channel their fury in a twisting novel of psychological suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe and False Step. A women’s boxing class is the perfect place for betrayed wife Katherine to work out her aggressions. Ideal too for Geneva, a teacher disgraced and ruined by a vengeful ex, and Luz, a software engineer battling an unjust system. Maggie, their instructor and mentor, guarantees she can right the wrongs they’ve endured. And if Katherine, Geneva, and Luz really want to unleash their rage, they must do what Maggie says. Each woman’s secret task has its risks. Call it justice. Call it revenge. It’s bound to be worth it—if no missteps are made. As they take the leap to reclaim what they’re owed, their lives are turned upside down. Because no one could have guessed that it would all end in murder. Now, coming together to harness their power, Katherine, Geneva, and Luz fear that the game they’ve been playing is playing them.Trade ReviewPraise for Victoria Helen Stone “Stone gradually reveals her multifaceted characters’ secrets as the intricate, fast-paced plot builds to a surprising conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly “This beautifully balanced thriller will keep readers tense, surprised, pleased, and surprised again as a master manipulator unfolds her plan of revenge.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Stone skillfully, deviously, and gleefully leads the reader down a garden path to a knockout WHAM-O of an ending.” —New York Journal of Books “Will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.” —Bustle “It’s that good. Ladies, we finally have the revenge story we’ve always deserved.” —Criminal Element “Crafty, interesting, and vengeful.” —NovelGossip “Crazy great book!” —Good Life Family Magazine “Stone is a gifted storyteller…Her writing is a concise narrative that takes hold of the reader and doesn’t let go.” —Mystery Playground “A deliciously dark story.” —The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
£13.21
