Search results for ""CROOKED LANE BOOKS""

Wedding gown designer Andie Dresser is hanging on by a thread. Gaining a following on TikTok for her one-of-a-kind fairytale gowns has earned her a spot at Atlanta''s Fashion Week, but the costs to design a full bridal line have stretched her to her limit. When her best friend suggests she sign up for a reality show with a potential 100,000USD prize, she realises the money could allow her to hire some desperately needed help. All she needs to do is marry a stranger-sight unseen-and opt for divorce at the end of filming. No big deal, right? Architect Kit Watson just returned to Atlanta to help his loving but stubborn mother through a health crisis. However, she''ll only accept his help if he agrees to settle down, insisting he sign up for a matchmaking reality show. Willing to do anything for his mom, he finds himself at the altar-on camera-staring at Andie, the woman he abruptly left without explanation ten years ago. With producers out to prove they''re the perfect match, Kit and Andi

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When twenty-seven-year-old Linh Ly''s recently divorced mother begins dating a coworker, Linh is determined to make sure he is worthy of her mother. She''s seen the kind of men her mother ends up with-she grew up watching her unreliable and volatile alcoholic father as her mother worked two jobs to make ends meet. Linh is certain that her mother can''t do this on her own, but what begins as genuine worry quickly turns obsessive. Following her mother and spying on her dates becomes part of Linh''s routine, especially after a university shooting at Linh''s work that leaves her feeling adrift-at least her mom''s dating life gives her something to focus on. Linh doesn''t exactly have a life of her own (dating or otherwise) and figures the best course of action is action-not how she handled the shooting: curl up in a ball and wait it out. Linh is slowly forced to reconcile the image of her mother from her childhood with the woman she''s getting to know as an adult. Growing up Vietnamese in

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Wesley Friends School is Washington, DC''s most prestigious prep school, so of course Aki Hiyashi-Brown is proud to teach at it and send her daughter Meg there. Why wouldn''t she be proud? Parents kill to have their kid enrolled at Wesley. Not only is Wesley the premier academic destination for the children of the capital elite, but it''s all about ''Diversity, Achievement, Collegiality,'' as all of their very glossy brochures will tell you. Aki should know. As one of the few teachers of color on staff, her face is plastered on every piece of marketing material the school puts out. But when someone graffities ''Make Wesley White Again'' on campus, it exposes dangerous fault lines in the school community - ones Aki may have spent a lifetime learning to ignore. But her headstrong daughter Meg, and Meg''s similarly impassioned classmates, aren''t willing to let slide. Before Aki can sort out her own feelings about the hate crime, the school''s administration jumps into crisis management m

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With a massive downpour and flash floods predicted, Quinn Durand leaves work and races for the safety of home. The first drops start to fall as she spots something strange on the familiar bush route. With no reception and nothing but an empty road for miles in either direction, she investigates and discovers it''s a body, dumped by the side of the road. When she approaches to check for signs of life, an arm reaches out and grabs her. Back at the country pub where Quinn lives, her boss Andrea has prepared for the torrential downpour. She''s bunkered down with her toddler son sleeping in the back room when she''s startled by a banging at the door. It''s a biker, seeking shelter from the punishing storm. Meanwhile, out on the roads, two young couples on their way across the country struggle against the lashing rains. Tensions rise as they realise that they don''t really know each other, nor are they remotely prepared for the storm. Alone, angry, and afraid in unfamiliar surroundings, floo

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When thirty-three-year-old Hannah Solace returns to her hometown to renovate and reopen the inn she co-owns with her sister Reggie, her mission is to give the old Victorian hotel an entirely new life. She''s even planting pollinator gardens around the inn native flowers and fruit trees to lure honeybees and houseguests alike. Hannah''s fresh start is stymied by Reggie''s continual interference, unreliable contractors, a check-the-couch-for-coins budget, and townspeople Hannah left behind fifteen years ago. Her main source of camaraderie is Ezra Grayson, an eighty-year-old recluse who lives nearby. After an unsettling conversation with a disgruntled Ezra, Hannah is horrified to discover him dead on her property later that day. Ezra had always had plenty of people to complain about, especially locals trying to force him out of his property for its prime real estate. As buzz around town grows after his death, Hannah finds herself on the short list of suspects. Hannah starts digging and qu

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Thirty years ago, Tommy, Malcolm, Henry, and Kevin were best friends graduating high school, brothers almost, until the night they did something terrible. The decision to keep hidden what they did in that parking lot shattered their friendship and warped their lives. But when Kevin, struggling with a heroin addiction, drives his motorcycle into the side of a truck, the other three find themselves together again - at Kevin''s funeral. When they meet Kevin''s wife Naomi at the wake, they can tell that she knows everything, and when they learn that she''s a reporter, they''re terrified. When she sends them to visit one of their victims from that night - at the nursing home where he''s been suffering for decades - they do as they''re told, even though they know it won''t stop there. After watching her husband pay a steep price for keeping the friends'' secret, Naomi has crafted a plan to make Tommy, Malcolm, and Henry pay their fair share. When the three men decide to fight back, they''re

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