Renee's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 08 Jun 2025 06:56:59 -0700 60 Renee's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Family & Other Calamities 216773736 A successful journalist returns to her hometown just as her biggest mistake becomes headline news in this vibrant, funny, and heartfelt novel about facing the past, and its secrets, head-on.

Entertainment journalist Dawn Roberts has a lot to work a widow’s grief, betrayals of family and friends, and scandals that almost tanked her reputation. Not that Dawn dwells on the past. Well, hardly. When she returns to Baltimore with her husband’s ashes, she can’t avoid it. In fact, she’s diving into decades of backstabbing and treachery for her first trip home in years.

She’s looking at you, Joe Perkins. Her former mentor, whose explosive exposé about big-city corruption is being turned into a slanderous movie, is also back in town. The villain of the piece? Dawn. The good news is that this could all be a chance to reset—heal family wounds, admit to her own mistakes, and maybe even reconnect with the one who got away. Oh, and get even with Joe any way she can.

With the surprising help of an up-and-coming journalist and a legendary R & B diva, Dawn will finally set the record straight. Returning home might just be the biggest story in Dawn’s life, a fresh start—and happy ending—she never expected.]]> 253 Leslie Gray Streeter 1662527632 Renee 0 to-read 3.90 Family & Other Calamities
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]]> <![CDATA[The Things We Carry (The Town, #1)]]> 222253598
Two couples.
Two daughters.
Two sons.
One tragedy.
Too many secrets.

Lauren Rivers has it all. Two beautiful daughters, a doting husband, and a home that belongs on the cover of a magazine. She also has roots that run deep in the esteemed beach town of Flagport, Massachusetts. When Evie Sullivan moves across the street, the two become fast friends. Evie is nothing like Lauren’s other friends. She’s quiet, contemplative, and holds steady to her modest upbringing. These are the things that Lauren loves about her new best friend. But that all changes when Lauren’s teenage daughter, Lily, is in a car accident. As Lauren races to the hospital to see the daughter she’s always put on a pedestal, she runs into Evie’s family. What she finds out next will threaten their friendship forever. Fears set in, secrets come to the surface, and one of the women must come to terms with her past.]]> 262 Kate Anslinger Renee 0 currently-reading 3.73 2023 The Things We Carry (The Town, #1)
author: Kate Anslinger
name: Renee
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)]]> 34019122
At the very same moment, close by, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians are trying to get to New York City to sell a treasure. They are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. It's a strange place ... but it's all there is.

The next morning in the city clerk's office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He's told no one named Reacher ever lived in that town. He knows his father never went back. Now he wonders, was he ever there in the first place?

So begins another nail-biting, adrenaline-fuelled adventure for Reacher. The present can be tense, but the past can be worse. That's for damn sure.]]> 382 Lee Child 0399593519 Renee 5 3.95 2018 Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)
author: Lee Child
name: Renee
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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]]> The Fulcrum 231725036 In this sweeping climate thriller, an economist and a public servant join forces—and hearts—to navigate a dangerous international conflict and imminent environmental disaster.

Matthew Rice needs a reset. After serving on a traumatizing jury panel, he’s had his fill of high-stress situations. Determined to start fresh, he moves to Cambridge to get his PhD in climate science at Harvard and reconnect with his long-distance lover, Mary Louise, a brilliant scientist herself. But a chance encounter with Kay, a young diner waitress on the run from the Irish Republican Army, derails both of their plans.

Soon Matthew and Mary Louise are embroiled in the consequences of Kay’s mysterious past. But even as they work to protect her, a new threat a hurricane of unprecedented strength—one that Matthew’s research predicted—heading straight for Miami. With time running out, will Matthew and Mary Louise be able to keep Kay and an entire city’s population alive?

Courage has never mattered more in this suspenseful story of doing what it takes to protect the places—and people—you call home.]]> 311 Michael Decter 1964721385 Renee 0 to-read 0.0 The Fulcrum
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]]> <![CDATA[Homemaker (Prairie Nightingale, #1)]]> 220667142 When a former friend and devoted mother vanishes, a confident homemaker turned amateur sleuth follows an unexpected trail of scandals and secrets to find her.

Prairie Nightingale is both the midlife mother of two teenage girls and a canny entrepreneur who has turned homemaking into a salaried profession. She’s also fascinated with the gritty details of other people’s lives. So when seemingly perfect Lisa Radcliffe, a member of her former mom-friends circle, suddenly disappears, it’s in Prairie’s nature to find out why.

Given her innate talent for vital pattern recognition, Prairie is out to catch a few clues by taking a long, hard look at everyone in Lisa’s life—and uncovering their secrets. Including Lisa’s. Prairie’s dogged curiosity is especially irritating to FBI agent Foster Rosemare, the first interesting man Prairie has met since her divorce. His square jaw and sharp suits don’t hurt.

But even as the investigation begins to wreak havoc on Prairie’s carefully tended homelife, she’s resolved to use her multivalent homemaking skills to solve the mystery of a missing mom—and along the way discover the thrill of her new sleuthing ambitions.]]> 297 Ruthie Knox 1662529791 Renee 0 to-read 4.04 Homemaker (Prairie Nightingale, #1)
author: Ruthie Knox
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average rating: 4.04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Impossible Fortune (Thursday Murder Club, #5)]]> 222292420 Who's got time to think about murder when there's a wedding to plan?

It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal.

But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who’s in trouble, kidnap and death are hot on their heels once more. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code, and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into action once more, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?]]> 368 Richard Osman 0593653254 Renee 0 to-read 5.00 2025 The Impossible Fortune (Thursday Murder Club, #5)
author: Richard Osman
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average rating: 5.00
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]]> Margo's Got Money Troubles 199534613
“[An] enormously entertaining and lovable book.� —Nick Hornby, New York Times Book Review

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world—from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.

Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.

“A wholly original novel. . . . Thorpe is both poetic and profound in the way she brings her remarkable story to an end.� —The Associated Press]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Renee 0 to-read 3.85 2024 Margo's Got Money Troubles
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name: Renee
average rating: 3.85
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]]> The Midnight Hour 221251862
Notting Hill, 1998. Dee Delancey—loving mother, grieving widow, sometime model—heads out for the evening, blowing a kiss before vanishing down the crescent. She doesn't come home that night. Nor the one after...

Her reclusive teenage daughter Maggie refuses to accept she's gone—no one loses both parents in two years, do they? Forced to keep house and mother her maddening little brother Kit, Maggie shuns the help of Dee's chaotic small circle of friends, fearing the news reaching the tabloids and the authorities.

But she finds an unexpected ally in Wolf, an older boy with boxer's fists from the far end of Portobello, an unknown world of dark labyrinthine shops, dusty antiques, human warmth, and misrule, far from the big white villas. A place she feels safe.

But the clock is ticking. And a stranger is lurking. As dangerous forces close in, Maggie faces an impossible choice—she must protect her brother, whatever the consequences.

Twenty years later, when the mysterious new owner of the Delancey family's old house starts digging out a basement, secrets cannot stay buried for much longer...

The new novel from Eve Chase, author of The Glass House and The Birdcage.]]> 320 Eve Chase 0593976231 Renee 0 to-read 4.00 2024 The Midnight Hour
author: Eve Chase
name: Renee
average rating: 4.00
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]]> The Surfacing 214512119 The secrets you bury don’t disappear. They rot�

It’s twelve years since teenager Peter Ferguson drowned in Loch Ness—on the same night that Stephanie, her mother and her sister, Aurelie, were camping on its shores. In the shocking aftermath, their family and life as they knew it fell apart, and the sisters no longer speak. But now Aurelie is getting married, and Stephanie realises that a reunion might finally bring the truth about that fateful night to the surface�

As the wedding celebrations get underway, tongues loosen, and dangerous whispers circulate among the guests. Yet the real danger—the rot that threatens to break them all—might come from within the family itself. As she confronts the suspicions swirling around her, Stephanie is about to uncover secrets that will change all their lives forever.

She never planned to get blood on her hands in her pursuit of the truth. But as the clock ticks down on the family reunion, that may be her only option…]]> 309 Claire Ackroyd 1662525869 Renee 0 to-read 3.56 The Surfacing
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]]> A Sky Full of Love 219578407 Following a harrowing disappearance, a woman returns home to her family—and a life-changing secret in a powerful novel about betrayal, resilience, and love’s unbreakable bonds.

After fifteen years in captivity, Nova Lefleur is free, back home, and reunited with her Louisiana family. Through her ordeal, she never forgot them. They never forgot her either. But things have changed since Nova’s been gone.

Nova and her encouraging seventeen-year-old daughter, Skye, are getting to know each other for the first time. Her husband, Quinton, is rebuilding a relationship with a wife he thought was gone forever. And Nova’s sister, Leah, is overjoyed—and overwhelmed.

Leah shares a secret with Quinton neither can bear to tell the woman they cherish. Not yet. Five years ago, bonding over grief and finding a reason to smile again, Quinton and Leah were married. When it’s time for the truth to come out, they could lose Nova all over again.

As Nova is eased back into a life both familiar and unfamiliar, she and her family must confront their deepest fears, the choices they made, and the choices to come that will reshape each of their lives forever.]]> 378 Lorna Lewis 1662526938 Renee 0 to-read 4.16 A Sky Full of Love
author: Lorna Lewis
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]]> No Lie Lasts Forever 219290163 Zodiac with a terrifying twist, in a taut thriller from author Mark Stevens about a reformed serial killer and the disgraced journalist he coaxes into finding the imposter trading on his name.

When a reporter dies in a shockingly familiar way, the media rushes to announce the return of the PDQ Killer. The city of Denver reels, but no one more than Harry Kugel. After all, he is the PDQ Killer—or was fifteen years ago. And he didn’t do this.

Still working to reform his ways, Harry won’t let some amateur murderer ride his twisted coattails and risk drawing the police back his way. To protect his legacy and quiet new life, he’ll have to expose the copycat. Without exposing himself.

Disgraced TV journalist Flynn Martin holds the key. After a botched hostage situation, she’ll do anything to revive her dying career—even hunt down a monster who executed one of her own.

Harry must convince Flynn to follow him into the heady world of a killer. But with the law closing in and a rival at large, he starts to feel the familiar pull of old urges…]]> 457 Mark Stevens 1662529600 Renee 0 to-read 3.95 No Lie Lasts Forever
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]]> Bald-Faced Liar 220445650 Living a lie becomes a matter of life and death for a woman hiding from her past in a novel of mounting psychological suspense by the bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.

Traveling nurse Elizabeth May has a promising new home in Santa Cruz. And another new identity. It’s a pattern of reinvention for a woman escaping her traumatic childhood—and hiding from the decades of notoriety and destruction that followed. Invisibility has kept Elizabeth safe. Until now. After all these years, someone sees her for who she is.

Threat by threat, a vengeful stalker is dismantling Elizabeth’s carefully constructed lifetime of lies. And no one in her temporary circle can be trusted—not her fleeting new love interest, not the supportive friend she knows only from online forums, and certainly not the police. They’ve never been there for her.

As fear sharpens to terror, Elizabeth soon discovers something about her past that even she didn’t know. The revelation could finally set her on a path of healing and redemption. Or, now alone in the dark, it could be Elizabeth’s worst nightmare.]]> 318 Victoria Helen Stone 166251462X Renee 0 to-read 3.80 2025 Bald-Faced Liar
author: Victoria Helen Stone
name: Renee
average rating: 3.80
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]]> The Jills 231108663 In this propulsive debut, a Buffalo Bills cheerleader will stop at nothing to solve the disappearance of her best friend and teammate, navigating the dark underbelly of a hardscrabble city, the grime and glamour of professional cheerleading, and her own tangled family history.

Virginia is a Jill—a professional Buffalo Bills cheerleader—living the life she’s always dreamed of. She spends her weekdays practicing, her weekends cheering, and her nights hopping between events and bars and clubs with her close-knit band of teammates, especially her best friend, Jeanine, whose dynamic friendship has given Virginia confidence in spades and allowed her to put aside her troubled past with her sister, Laura. But one Sunday, Jeanine fails to show up for a game, and all her calls and texts go unanswered. Aided by a worried network of Jills, ex-boyfriends, and seedy fixtures of Buffalo’s criminal underground, Virginia embarks on an investigation into Jeanine’s disappearance. But as her search grows increasingly dangerous and spirals into obsession, disturbing questions about who Jeanine really is begin to emerge. Soon, Virginia finds herself wondering how well she knows her friend, if she can trust the people and institutions she thought were protecting her, and whether—when trying to save the people she cares about most—she’s capable of saving herself, too.
Part bingeable mystery, part character-driven tale of a woman claiming her own power in systems built by and for men, The Jills is a sharply observed, witty, and poignant novel about the stories that constrain us and the healing power of sisterhood.]]> 384 Karen Parkman 0593982924 Renee 0 to-read 4.00 The Jills
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club (A Hu Done It Mystery, #1)]]> 218171621 In this laugh-out-loud murder mystery, three women dating the same man band together to get revenge, but when they discover his body, they'll need to solve his murder before they go down for it.

The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through� But then they found him. Dead.

Do they look guilty? Yes.

Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.

But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.

To clear their names, Kat, Olivia and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex's life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn't commit?

Filled with humor and shenanigans,The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Clubis a romp of an adventure by award-winning author Gloria Chao, perfect for fans ofDial A for Aunties,Finlay Donovan Is Killing ItԻJohn Tucker Must Die.

]]> 320 Gloria Chao 0778387216 Renee 0 to-read 3.95 2025 The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club (A Hu Done It Mystery, #1)
author: Gloria Chao
name: Renee
average rating: 3.95
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]]> The Intruder 231819058 Who knows what the storm will blow in�

Casey's cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door is sways ominously in the wind. But she's a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.

She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.

The girl won't explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.

The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.

In this taut, deadly tale of survival and desperation, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden explores how far one girl will go to save herself.]]> 288 Freida McFadden 1464260915 Renee 0 to-read 4.32 2025 The Intruder
author: Freida McFadden
name: Renee
average rating: 4.32
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]]> The North Line 198669096 In Matt Riordan’s debut novel, a college student in need of quick money finds work on an Alaskan fishing boat in the unforgiving Bering Sea.

�The North Line is a ruggedly erudite story that combines the best of the individualism of Jack London with the introspective ruminations of Raymond Carver . . . not to be missed.�
—S.A. Cosby New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed

“A frightening story of tough men pushed to the brink. The novel is captivating, occasionally funny, and startling. I couldn’t put it down.� —David Sedaris

Even at the ragged edge of civilization, some lines should not be crossed.

Everyone believes Adam to be something he’s not. Sometimes that’s because he’s told them a story. Sometimes he’s told himself one. But when Adam joins an Alaskan fishing crew that’s promising quick money, the dangerous work and harsh lifestyle strip away all fabrications and force a dark-hearted exploration of who he really is.

On the unforgiving Bering Sea, Adam finds the adventure and authenticity of a fisherman’s life revelatory. The labor required to seize bounty from the ocean invigorates him, and the often crude comradery accompanies a welcome, hard-earned wisdom. But when a strike threatens the entire season and violence stalks the waves, Adam is thrust into a struggle for survival at the edge of the world, where evolutionary and social forces collide for outcomes beyond anyone’s control.

In his riveting debut novel, Matt Riordan pairs personal experiences with a master storyteller’s eye in a piercing examination of the quest for identity in the face of tempests within and without.]]> 320 Matt Riordan Renee 0 to-read 3.96 2024 The North Line
author: Matt Riordan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.96
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]]> Summer of Light 184445
Mick Brannigan, a construction worker, loses a good-paying job because of some freak accident, sort of his fault but not his fault. Adding insult to injury, he finds himself playing nursemaid to his three kids.

"Mick's whole life felt like an accident..."

Even more flustered is his wife, Layne, now forced to get a job to keep a paycheck coming in. Mick isn't the stay-at-home-dad type, she's sure. He's a good dad--when she is there to supervise it all…the unrelenting daily stuff. Keeping the house clean, food in the fridge. Attacking the ever-mounting laundry. Supervising their five acres of land and the menagerie of animals....

"It wasn't his idea to stay home with the kids..."

A lot is on the line, and just how the Brannigan family will survive--that is, without anyone getting seriously hurt or killed, the kids not ending up psychologically and emotionally damaged, the laundry not undoing their marriage--all remains to be seen....

Packed with humor, true-to-life characters, and themes to enlighten the soul, Summer of Light is altogether poignant, witty, entertaining, and delightfully down-to-earth.]]> 400 W. Dale Cramer 0764229966 Renee 5 4.09 2007 Summer of Light
author: W. Dale Cramer
name: Renee
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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Different kind of story but I loved it
]]> A Happy Marriage 221318549 What holds a strong and loving marriage together? Lies and secrets in a novel of twisting psychological suspense by a New York Times bestselling author.

Los Angeles homicide detective Dinah Marino may have a complicated relationship with her family, but her psychiatrist husband, Joe, makes her feel safe, secure, and happy. She couldn’t want for a more loving or trusting man. But throughout their ten-year marriage, she’s been keeping a secret from him—a secret she’d take to the grave.

Dr. Joe Marino loves his wife more than anything in this world, but there are things he’s learned to keep close to the chest. When a missing woman tied to his wife’s latest case is admitted to his hospital, doctor-patient confidentiality lands their marriage on some new and uneven ground.

As Dinah digs deeper into her case, tension works its way inside their picture-perfect home. Now the carefully constructed lies between them don’t just simply threaten the delicate balance of their marriage—they could kill.]]> 251 A.R. Torre 1662519605 Renee 0 to-read 3.89 2025 A Happy Marriage
author: A.R. Torre
name: Renee
average rating: 3.89
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]]> <![CDATA[Ellie Ment and the Material Matter]]> 232670275 “Edutainment at its finest—exciting, funny, and impossible to put down!� - Chris Riches, Daily Express

Ellie doesn’t believe in magic, she believes in science.
But science is magic!

Science explains everything, right? But when Ellie’s school burns down in roaring purple flames (wait, what?), her favorite teacher hands her wrist bracers that summon the elements (Bracers…Nitrogen!), and she’s invited to join a secret society of the smartest minds on Earth (yikes!), suddenly not everything has an explanation after all!
Driven by logic, unshakeable stubbornness, and an unreasonable number of jam jars, Ellie is determined to prove that science can explain everything � no matter how strange things get. But can she?

Ellie Ment and the Material Matter is a STEM-based adventure where chemistry meets chaos, physics bends reality, and curiosity might just save the world.


*** Praise for ELLIE MENT AND THE MATERIAL ***

“Encourages kids to think deeply, explore bravely, and believe their questions matter.� - Will Barker, The Sun

"Brilliantly clever! Pure scientific magic!" - John Ward, The Star

“You’ll want to share it with every kid you know—and secretly keep one for yourself.� - Female First

"Science is just one kind of smart. This book celebrates every kind." - The London Economic


*** Why Everyone Should Read ELLIE MENT AND THE MATERIAL MATTER ***

The Environment:
Tackles real-world issues like microplastic pollution, unsustainable industry practices, and the importance of circularity.
STEM Adventure
Introduces children to real scientific concepts (elements, compounds, chemical reactions, quantum superposition) through thrilling, accessible storytelling.
Youth Empowerment
Ellie symbolizes the next generation challenging the old way of doing things. The story explores the frustration and hope young people experience when confronting adult compromise.
Friendship and Teamwork
Ellie and Michael's friendship highlights the importance of diverse talents—science and art, logic and creativity—working together toward a bigger goal. There isn’t just one type of ‘smart�.
Courage and Curiosity
The bravery to ask questions, experiment, and stand up for what’s right underpins Ellie’s journey.




*** Foreword by Stanley Johnson ***
Stanley Johnson—renowned environmentalist, former MEP, and founder of Europe’s first Environmental Action Programme—provides the foreword for Ellie Ment and the Material Matter. Johnson praises the novel’s ability to make science exciting and accessible while handling deep environmental and ethical themes through story, not lectures. He notes the book’s exceptional balance of idealism and pragmatism, its relevance to real-world ecological challenges, and its capacity to inspire action and curiosity in young readers. Ellie’s bold, chaotic spirit mirrors the real-world drive needed for environmental change, making the story not just an adventure, but an invitation to believe that lasting change can start with a single spark of curiosity.




*** Tone and Narrative Style ***
- Playful, witty, and self-aware.
- The narrator often breaks the fourth wall with cheeky asides, drawing the reader deeper into the adventure.
- The tone balances humor and high-stakes tension, keeping younger readers excited while introducing meaningful messages.
- Ellie’s failures, experiments, and messy victories are relatable and inspiring for a generation taught that progress is built on persistence

]]> 318 Bertie Stephens 1068207809 Renee 0 to-read 4.00 Ellie Ment and the Material Matter
author: Bertie Stephens
name: Renee
average rating: 4.00
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]]> The Final Episode 211101521 When a true crime series chronicles the tragic childhood summer that changed her life forever, a young woman must grapple with the truth about her father…and herself.

Jennifer Jones and her best friends spend every summer at Big Cypress Swamp, and this summer, Jennifer will finally turn eleven. She hopes to gain the “second sight� foretold by family legend and fulfill her destiny. Instead, the swamp serves up dangers greater than the gators lurking on Halfway Creek. Little Francie Farrow vanishes—and Jennifer’s father goes to prison.

Twenty years later, Jennifer has almost shed the label of Paul Jones’s daughter when her past comes barreling back. Inspired by True Events, a TV series that solves the unsolvable, is recreating that fateful summer. As the series plays out, Jennifer Did the show finally find Francie Farrow? And is Jennifer’s father truly guilty?

Someone else wants answers even more than Jennifer does, and they won’t let her forget it.

As the series nears its finale and the long-awaited truth, Jennifer must come to terms with who her family is…and what that makes her.]]> 351 Lori Roy 1662519958 Renee 0 to-read 3.85 The Final Episode
author: Lori Roy
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]]> The Burning Library 228125645 A thrilling dark-academia tale of murder, obsession and ruthless ambition set in remote St Andrews, Scotland

On a frigid, windswept day in Scotland’s Western Hebrides, Eleanor Bruton’s body is discovered on the shore. To her family Eleanor was an ordinary middle-aged woman. She made flower arrangements and plumped kneeler cushions at church. Little did they know she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret: a scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance.

For more than a century two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact in the hopes of finding the original medieval manuscript from which it was torn: The Order of St Katherine, devoted to the belief that women must pull strings in the shadows to exercise control. And the Fellowship of the Larks, determined to amass as many overt positions of power for women as possible…so long as their methods of doing so never come to light.

When Dr Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship of the Larks, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St Andrews. Meanwhile at Scotland Yard, Detective Clio Spicer begins a private investigation into the death of Eleanor Bruton.

As all of them grow further entangled in this ancient web, circumstances are spinning wildly out of control and their lives may be in grave danger.]]> 304 Gilly Macmillan 0063422913 Renee 0 to-read 3.62 2025 The Burning Library
author: Gilly Macmillan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
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]]> Smuggler's Cove 228143029
In a fresh, new series for fans of Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, and Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels introduces siblings Madison and Lincoln Taylor, whose Jersey Shore inheritance plunges them into a world of mystery and mayhem . . .

Growing up, Madison Taylor and her younger brother Lincoln lived in privilege, but their sheltered existence abruptly ended when their father was arrested for fraud and the family assets were seized. Since then, Madison has carved out a new path, studying fashion and working her way up to editor in chief of La Femme magazine, while Lincoln teaches wealth management at a small college outside the city. Both have separated themselves from their family and their past—until an unexpected bequest arrives from their late uncle.

Madison and Lincoln are now the new co-owners of a marina at Smugglers Cove on the Navesink river. Instead of a fabulous, Hamptons-style property, Smugglers Cove offers little beyond a dilapidated dock, a few gas pumps, and a handful of clam boats. Madison’s plan to sell the property goes awry when a dead body is found floating under their dock and transforms their new inheritance into a crime scene.

Suddenly, Madison is swapping her city-girl wardrobe for cargo pants and flannel shirts, while she and Lincoln receive a crash course in small-town Jersey shore life, complete with quirky characters, pirate legends, and a mysterious treasure map. They’re discovering more about themselves and each other every day, but with a mystery to solve, and big decisions to make, these are lessons they’ll need to learn fast . . .]]> 288 Fern Michaels 1496741315 Renee 0 to-read 4.50 Smuggler's Cove
author: Fern Michaels
name: Renee
average rating: 4.50
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]]> How Bad Things Can Get 220481345
When an online influencer and several hundred of his most loyal fans land on Prosperity Island, the plan is simple: five days of elaborate games, drinking, and suntanned fun.

A week in paradise should have been a welcome respite. The only survivor of an infamous cult, Ruth wants nothing more than to keep her head down and not draw attention. She's spent decades outrunning her blood-soaked childhood, and her identity is a closely held secret.

But then the true history of the island is revealed…along with its sinister connection to Ruth's past. As guests go missing and games turn deadly, Ruth and the rest of the attendees are forced to question whether they've really been invited to paradise...or whether something much darker―and far bloodier―is waiting for them just beyond the bonfire's light.]]> 416 Darcy Coates 172827026X Renee 0 to-read 4.07 How Bad Things Can Get
author: Darcy Coates
name: Renee
average rating: 4.07
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]]> Bright Little Girls 223704319
Eliane Pangolin isn’t like anyone her mysterious follower has ever met. She’s a 27-year-old struggling writer and wannabe dancer fighting an uphill battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder. When she isn’t defying a restraining order by continually writing letters to an old friend, she’s trying to navigate feelings of both betrayal and beguile toward her lifelong male best friend. She lies underneath fake palm trees in her living room with sunglasses on, but also has an old soul that she could swear once rubbed elbows with the Fitzgerald’s on a beautiful Parisian street. If she isn’t in dance class or therapy, she can almost always be found lying in the grass where Zelda Fitzgerald drew her last breath, outside a sanitarium in the mountains of North Carolina where she grew up. Broken and brilliant, trying to navigate mental illness, toxic love and the untimely murder of someone close, readers will love following Eliane just as much as her narrator in the shadows.

A story about art, obsession, guilt, crime and lust for…everything, Bright Little Girls is, at its core, about learning to cope by finding the self, the most elusive character of all. A journey through love and loss, to the great beyond and back, this story will seep into the soul and then ask it to come out and run free � for all to see.]]> 251 Lorna Hollifield 1685135730 Renee 0 to-read 4.41 Bright Little Girls
author: Lorna Hollifield
name: Renee
average rating: 4.41
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]]> <![CDATA[Built to Last (Park Avenue Promise, #3)]]> 213904411 From New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake, discover The Park Avenue Promise Series...

Three young women make a pact in high school�
to always be friends and to one day make it big in Manhattan

Built to Last

Harper Ross has always dreamed of working on one of the magnificent brownstones of Park Avenue. Now one of her closest friends has bought the house of her dreams and hired Harper to do the construction work. She wants to showcase the renovation on a television show for her brand-new production company. It’s the same grand home she and her friends promised themselves they would be able to afford one day. Working on it isn’t the same as living in it, but it’s all a part of Harper’s grand plan to grow her father’s construction business into one of the biggest in the city. The only obstacle—the designer on the project.

Reid Dorsey believes in the balance between beauty and functionality. As one of Manhattan’s new voices in design, he’s excited to get to work on a true Gilded Age property. If only the owner had selected a contractor he enjoyed working with. Oh, Harper was brilliant and her work was excellent, but she has an opinion on everything—and it’s usually the opposite of his.

Over the course of the job, these enemies start to see different sides of each other, and suddenly their fights don’t seem so bad. But when the project is threatened, they might have to choose between their jobs and the beautifully designed future they could share.]]> 256 Lexi Blake 1963135202 Renee 0 to-read 4.16 2025 Built to Last (Park Avenue Promise, #3)
author: Lexi Blake
name: Renee
average rating: 4.16
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]]> The Experiment 220908981 Nathan wants to help his people, but first he has to figure out who they are.

Nathan never understood what was "fun" about secrets, probably because he’s always had to keep a very big one.

Although he appears to be a typical sixth-grader (with parents, homework and a best friend, Victor), Nathan learned at an early age that his family is from another planet. Now, their time on Earth may be coming to an end.

Nathan, his parents and nine other families are part of an experiment that suddenly seems to be going wrong. Some of the experimenters, including Nathan's first crush, Izzy, are disappearing without a word. After his family is called back to the mothership, Nathan begins to question everything he’s been taught to believe about who he is and why he's on Earth.

The Experiment is a fast-paced coming-of-age novel - with aliens - that asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, and whether it’s ever too late to change.]]> 288 Rebecca Stead 1250374766 Renee 0 to-read 4.23 2025 The Experiment
author: Rebecca Stead
name: Renee
average rating: 4.23
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]]> Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds 218171627 In this sun-dappled mystery from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, a risk-averse bibliophile gets in over her head when strange notes in a book draw her into a real-life investigation.

Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers…books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself—for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island.Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels.

Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. Turns out reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure. With everyone at the resort hiding secrets of their own, she’ll have to solve this real-life mystery before she becomes the next target.ձ> 400 Allison Brennan 0778387259 Renee 0 to-read 3.80 2025 Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds
author: Allison Brennan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
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]]> Lies and Weddings: A Novel 223854570 From the iconic internationally bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy: A forbidden affair erupts volcanically amid a decadent tropical wedding in this outrageous comedy of manners from the iconic author of Crazy Rich Asians.

Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel has a problem: the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending, and behind all the magazine covers and Instagram stories manors and yachts lies nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt. The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort, a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs, and seduce a woman with money.

Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong? When a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans—and their reputation—go up in flames.

Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist?

In a globetrotting tale that takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kevin Kwan unfurls a juicy, hilarious, sophisticated and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, sex, and the lies we tell about them all.]]> 448 Kevin Kwan 0593081943 Renee 0 to-read 3.71 2024 Lies and Weddings: A Novel
author: Kevin Kwan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[Dared to Run (Kate Anderson #1)]]> 59463959
Meet Dirty Sally, Sister Anne, and a trucker nicknamed The Black Angel,—women who orchestrate Kate’s escape. When the deputy is shot, Kate is accused of the crime, and goes on the run rather than risk an unjust conviction.

Take a high-tension ride with Kate through Missouri and Georgia as she avoids capture, relying on friends, the network, and grit to stay one step ahead of the law. With a bounty on her head, will Kate evade the marshals? Can she keep up the disguise? Will she ever see her family again?]]> 255 J.J. Clarke Renee 5 4.03 Dared to Run (Kate Anderson #1)
author: J.J. Clarke
name: Renee
average rating: 4.03
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rating: 5
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]]> Hazel Says No 216865343
Hazel Blum, please report to the principal’s office. Hazel Blum.

When Hazel Blum’s father gets a tenured job at a prestigious college, she and her family relocate from the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn to a middle-of-nowhere college town in Maine. With her mother, Claire, a clothing designer, and her father, Gus, an American Studies professor, Hazel and her eleven-year-old brother, Wolf, spend the summer at the town pool, where they acclimate to their new lives and connect with the town’s sprawling community. That is, until a dramatic fallout on the very first day of her senior year tips the fickle balance of idyllic Riverburg and impacts everyone in her family.

Tracking through the perspectives of each member of the Blum family, this relatable fish-out-of-water story handles big issues with great empathy and humor, capturing the love that unites one unforgettable family and the essence of life in small-town Maine. Emotionally deft, authentic, and compulsively readable, Hazel Says No is a debut novel not to be missed.]]> 352 Jessica Berger Gross 1335015124 Renee 0 to-read 4.18 2025 Hazel Says No
author: Jessica Berger Gross
name: Renee
average rating: 4.18
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]]> Coffin Moon 222419255
It’s the winter of 1975, and Portland, Oregon, is all sleet and neon. Duane Minor is back home after a tour in Vietnam, a bartender just trying to stay sober; save his marriage with his wife, Heidi; and connect with his thirteen-year-old niece, Julia, now that he’s responsible for raising her. Things aren’t easy, but Minor is scraping by.

Then a vampire walks into his bar and ruins his life.

When Minor crosses John Varley, a killer who sleeps during the day beneath loose drifts of earth and grows teeth in the light of the moon, Varley brutally retaliates by murdering Heidi, leaving Minor broken with guilt and Julia filled with rage. What’s left of their splintered family is united by only one desire: vengeance.

So begins a furious, frenzied pursuit across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. From grimy alleyways to desolate highways to snow-lashed plains, Minor and Julia are cast into the dark orbit of undead children, silver bullet casters, and the bevy of broken men transfixed by Varley’s ferocity. Everyone’s out for blood.

Gritty, unforgettable, and emotionally devastating, Coffin Moon asks what will be left of our humanity when grief transmutes into violence, when monsters wear human faces, and when our thirst for revenge eclipses everything else.]]> 320 Keith Rosson 0593733401 Renee 0 to-read 4.43 Coffin Moon
author: Keith Rosson
name: Renee
average rating: 4.43
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]]> Eruption: A Thriller 227841727
“The book is a classic summer beach read...Eruption will revive the art of speed-reading...told with a singular voice that is a compelling amalgam of the two writers.”—USA Today

“Eruption is an epic thriller…fast-paced and deeply considered…a cinematic story rooted in science and infused with plenty of heart, tackling big themes like love and loss.�
–T

The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years.

Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.

“Red-hot storytelling... The action scenes will make readers� eyes pop as the tension continues to build." –Kirkus, starred review

“Explosive…the summer’s ultimate literary mashup.� —Washington Post

"Takes readers on a thrilling journey." —BBC

"Beachbag-ready." —Boston Globe

“A seismic publishing event…all the elements of a summer blockbuster…it’s a thrill and the pages practically turn themselves.� —Associated Press

“Eruption is this summer’s literary version of a blockbuster action movie.� –Los Angeles Times

"Breakneck and plausible." —Publishers Weekly]]> 432 Michael Crichton 1538743159 Renee 0 to-read 3.15 2024 Eruption: A Thriller
author: Michael Crichton
name: Renee
average rating: 3.15
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]]> Homewrecker 218372454
When I first meet Sophie, she seems like any normal loving mother, trying desperately to help her teenage daughter. That’s where I come in. The perfect tutor to get Katie’s life back on track.

I connect instantly with Katie, and Sophie’s thoughtful husband Scott. But Sophie’s dark eyes are full of jealousy when I talk to Scott or share a smile with Katie. I know I’m helping her daughter, whatever she thinks.

But when I find my clothes strewn everywhere, it’s clear Sophie has searched my room. Does she know the truth about why I’m here?

Then Scott tells me how his ex-wife died. My stomach twists.

Whatever Sophie does, I can’t leave now. Katie needs me more than ever. And I will do anything to protect her.

Because Sophie might be keeping secrets, but so am I. When I’m done in her beautiful home, somebody’s life will be over. I know it won’t be mine…]]> 344 J.M. Dalgliesh 1836181485 Renee 0 to-read 3.51 Homewrecker
author: J.M. Dalgliesh
name: Renee
average rating: 3.51
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]]> Under the Stars 228177777 When a daughter and her famous mother return to Winthrop Island to confront their complicated past, they discover a secret trove of paintings that connect them to a mysterious woman who vanished on a luxury steamship two centuries earlier.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers comes an epic tale of family legacy, love, and truths that echo down generations.

Audrey Fisher has struggled all her life to emerge from the shadow of her famous mother by forging a career as a world-class chef. Meredith Fisher’s glamorous screen persona disguises the trauma of the tragic accident that haunts her dreams. Neither woman wants to return to the New England island they left behind and its complicated emotional ties, but Meredith has one last chance to sober up and salvage her big comeback, and where else but discreet, moneyed Winthrop Island can a famous actress spend the summer without the intrusion of other people? Until Audrey discovers an old wooden chest among the belongings of her estranged bartender father, Mike Kennedy, and the astonishing contents draw the women deep into Winthrop’s past and its many secrets…attracting the interest of their handsome neighbor, Sedge Peabody. How did a trove of paintings from one of America’s greatest artists wind up in the cellar of the Mohegan Inn? And who is the mysterious woman portrayed on every canvas?

On a stormy November night in 1846, Providence Dare flees Boston and boards the luxury steamship Atlantic one step ahead of the law�.or so she believes. But when a catastrophic accident leaves the ship at the mercy of a mighty gale, Providence finds herself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the one man who knows her real identity—the detective investigating the suspicious death of her employer, the painter Henry Irving. As the Atlantic fights for her life and the rocky shore of Winthrop Island edges closer, a desperate Providence searches for her chance to escape…before the sea swallows her without a trace.

In Under the Stars, the destinies of three women converge across centuries, as a harrowing true disaster at the dawn of the steamship era evokes a complex legacy of family secrets in modern-day New England. Williams has written a timeless epic of mothers and daughters, of love lost and found, and of the truths that echo down generations.]]> 368 Beatriz Williams 0593724259 Renee 0 to-read 4.21 2025 Under the Stars
author: Beatriz Williams
name: Renee
average rating: 4.21
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]]> Altered 230807068 Soon their deaths begin to reveal the truth to Elodie and she flees the island to live with the father she believed to be dead--the same father who runs the government agency her mother died trying to stop. Now, Elodie is thrust into a world where bodies are altered under the law, people have their rights taken away, and you must not question the system. Befriended by Riley, a neighbor swept up in the drama of teen life, and Riley’s brother Luke, whose kindness softens the edges of her grief, Elodie begins to accept her new fate until it is revealed by her desperate stepmother that she arrived carrying a secret.
Coerced into a dangerous scheme by her stepmother, Elodie’s life spins out of control as lies start to unfold and she is forced into a decision—stay and keep allowing others to control her life…or make a perilous escape for the chance to hold on to all that she loves.]]> 322 Tam Doyle Renee 0 to-read 4.88 Altered
author: Tam Doyle
name: Renee
average rating: 4.88
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]]> Boney Creek 210832179 When several small-town locals die under mysterious circumstances, an aspiring journalist is determined to prove the connection between them, only to discover the dangerous secrets they left behind.

Boney Creek is a dying town where not a lot happens. The perfect solution for married couple Addie and Toby who are escaping their own personal tragedy. But a quiet and simple life is not exactly possible with so many recent, strange deaths.

Seven locals, all gone too soon. That’s the nature of tragic accidents. And in a town this small, there’s no room for too many questions.

But Addie isn’t so sure. Although she never followed through on her dreams of becoming a journalist, she still has a reporter’s instincts. And her gut—not to mention all the small-town gossip—is telling her that whatever’s happening in Boney Creek is not as random as it seems.

There’s no such thing as coincidence, especially when it comes to seven bodies. And while burying her own secrets, Addie digs up far greater ones that will have her asking if she will be the town’s next so-called accident.]]> 299 Paula Gleeson 1662519567 Renee 0 to-read 3.78 Boney Creek
author: Paula Gleeson
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average rating: 3.78
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]]> A Most Puzzling Murder 212431569
Destiny Whip is a former child prodigy, world-renowned enigmatologist and very, very alone. A life filled with loss has made her a recluse, an existence she’s content to endure until a letter arrives inviting her to interview for the position of Scruffmore family historian. Not only does an internet search for the name yield almost nothing, it’s a role she never applied to in the first place!

After she decodes the invitation’s hidden message with ease, the promise of her family secrets being revealed is too powerful a draw for the orphaned Destiny, who soon finds herself on Eerie Island. It’s a place whose inhabitants are almost as inhospitable as the tempestuous weather. The Scruffmores themselves turn out to be not much better, a snarled mess of secrets and motives connected by their mistrust for one another.

Their newly arrived guest proves to be just as much an enigma to them as they are to her. While Destiny slowly works to unravel the mysteries hidden throughout the ominous castle, she struggles to interpret disturbing nightly visions of what is to come. In the midst of cryptic ciphers, hidden passages, and the family’s magical heritage and line of succession, Destiny is certain of two things: one of the Scruffmores is going to die and she’s running out of time to stop it.

Interspersed with riddles and puzzles that both Destiny and the reader must solve, A Most Puzzling Murder is a one-of-a-kind mystery that will leave you guessing and gasping until the very last page!]]> 480 Bianca Marais 0778368602 Renee 0 to-read 3.98 2025 A Most Puzzling Murder
author: Bianca Marais
name: Renee
average rating: 3.98
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]]> Seven for a Secret 223121169
Only one ever returned.

Now, Nev has done her best to leave everything that happened in the forest on Avan Island behind. But when the men who ran her group home start turning up dead, Nev realizes this might be her only chance for answers about what happened to her sisters.

As Nev is pulled deeper into Avan’s secrets—and more bodies pile up—Nev must unravel the mysteries locked in her own mind as she hunts down a killer who is willing to do anything to make sure the past stays buried.

Lost sisters, female rage, and the determination to survive drive Nev on her propulsive journey to find answers and peace—and maybe even revenge.]]> 320 Mary E. Roach 1368114601 Renee 0 to-read 4.68 Seven for a Secret
author: Mary E. Roach
name: Renee
average rating: 4.68
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]]> <![CDATA[Bless Your Heart: A Jeannie Johal Thriller (Jeannie Johal Thrillers)]]> 232501150

On her first day, her new boss is murdered. The beautiful Arboretum, next door, contains many poisonous plants and at least one master gardener who threatened her boss. The nearby correctional facility harbors dangerous criminals who will trade invaluable information for a price.

Plunged into the close-knit community of Greenville and the larger Pitt County, Jeannie must decide who she can trust, and decode what people say and what they mean before she herself falls victim.

Can she find out who’s tampering with the data? And can she fix the problems before more people die?]]> 322 Susann Camus Renee 0 to-read 4.40 Bless Your Heart: A Jeannie Johal Thriller (Jeannie Johal Thrillers)
author: Susann Camus
name: Renee
average rating: 4.40
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]]> <![CDATA[Her First Mistake (Noelle Marshall, #1)]]> 212376189 When a very personal cold case murder is reopened, a detective’s secrets come to light in a novel of shocking twists and suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home by an intruder. His wife, Noelle Marshall, was left for dead. The crime was unsolved, but it wasn’t forgotten.

Today the FBI is tackling a fresh perspective on the case and looking to Noelle, now a detective for the Deschutes County sheriff’s office, for new clues. It is reopening everything Noelle thought was behind her. Memories of her escape from a traumatic childhood. A marriage that wasn’t the perfect love story she’d been promised. And a husband whose charm and privilege hid a dark side. But Noelle has been hiding something a secret about the night Derrick died that she has never told anyone.

As past and present and leads and misleads collide, one thing is frighteningly clear. Derrick’s murder wasn’t just unsolved. It’s unfinished. And only the truth—no matter the risk—can save the next victim.]]> 343 Kendra Elliot 1662525761 Renee 0 to-read 4.51 2025 Her First Mistake (Noelle Marshall, #1)
author: Kendra Elliot
name: Renee
average rating: 4.51
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]]> <![CDATA[Hard Lights (A Jon Reznick Thriller, #14)]]> 222326297 In this utterly gripping new thriller from bestselling author J. B. Turner, Jon Reznick has a new mission, and this time it’s personal.

When Angel Ramos, one of Jon Reznick’s oldest buddies from special forces, is found brutally slain in a Los Angeles dumpster, Reznick races to California to hunt down his killers.

Angel always had Reznick’s back when they were on missions together, but recently his demons had caught up with him. Angel was a recovering junkie and his teenage daughter had vanished into the dark corners of Hollywood’s seedy underbelly. Reznick’s old friend had been desperately trying to get his little girl back when he was viciously tortured and murdered.

Determined to track down the missing teen as well as Angel’s killers, Reznick uncovers one dirty secret after another beneath the glamour and bright lights of Los Angeles. But when his fearless methods attract the attention of a ruthless Mexican cartel, Reznick is on borrowed time. Reznick will need to employ all his black-ops training to save Angel’s daughter, avenge his friend—and get out of Hollywood alive…]]> 343 J.B. Turner 1662527365 Renee 0 to-read 4.45 Hard Lights (A Jon Reznick Thriller, #14)
author: J.B. Turner
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average rating: 4.45
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]]> <![CDATA[The Perfect Roommate: A Thriller]]> 221237170 Two young women. A budding new friendship. They share everything—except their secrets—in a twisting novel of psychological suspense by a Washington Post bestselling author.

I need this girl to like me.

Meadow is a college student, quiet, studious, polite, and desperate for a cheap room to rent. That’s when she meets Lauren, who’s in need of a roommate. Lauren doesn’t require a credit check, a huge deposit, or a long lease. For Meadow, it’s not only a perfect arrangement—she believes that she’s found a new friend in Lauren, who generously takes Meadow under her wing.

Lauren gives Meadow clothes and a makeover, and introduces her to an affable social circle. For the first time on campus, Meadow feels like she belongs. It’s not really surprising. She and Lauren actually have a lot in common. They’re both liars. They both have secrets. But which one is willing to kill to keep her true self hidden?

Revised This edition of The Perfect Roommate includes editorial revisions.]]> 196 Minka Kent 1662531591 Renee 0 to-read 3.75 2018 The Perfect Roommate: A Thriller
author: Minka Kent
name: Renee
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[Necessary Fury: A Gideon Hale Action Thriller]]> 222756822 The explosive first book in a break-neck series of action thrillers from bestseller R.A. McGee.

A high-profile kidnapping. A widespread conspiracy.
A chance at redemption.
As an off the books contractor for the CIA, Gideon Hale is used to a world of violence and no win situations where he can get his hands dirty. So, when his team is tasked with kidnapping a high-profile child, he reluctantly agrees.

But when the mission goes off the rails, Hale quickly learns the hard way there’s no one he can trust.

In a desperate race from suburban Virginia to the mountains and back, Hale crosses bullets with foreign powers, a savvy jewel thief, and even the deadly members of his own team.

As the scramble to stay alive intensifies, Hale feels a trap is closing in around him, but the only way out of the mayhem is through� a trip that might cost him his life.

If you like gritty situations, flawed heroes, and unstoppable action, then you’ll love RA McGee’s exhilarating newest thriller. Grab your copy today!]]> 344 R.A. McGee Renee 0 to-read 4.27 Necessary Fury: A Gideon Hale Action Thriller
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]]> Happy Wife 217927640 A young woman must find her missing husband and prove her innocence in this twisty, unputdownable novel set in an ultrawealthy Florida community where looks can kill.

Nora Davies doesn’t exactly fit in to Winter Park, Florida, where old-guard Floridians mix with the tax-fleeing coastal elite. Twenty-eight and barely making ends meet working at a country club, Nora feels like she’s going nowhere fast. Enter Will a prominent forty-six-year-old lawyer, father to a teenage daughter and recently divorced. The two set Winter Park’s socialsceneagogwhen they fall in love and marry after a whirlwind Cinderella-style courtship.

But Winter Park is fully upended when Will disappears the morning after a birthday bash Nora throws for him. Going back and forth between Nora and Will’s romance and the search in the wake of Will’s mysterious disappearance, Nora must answer the question from all Where. Is. Will?

Combining breathless suspense, glittering and juicy social dynamics, and an unforgettable cast of characters, Happy Wife is a clever and subversive novel that explores marriage, wealth, and the secrets that lurk behind closed doors.]]> 320 Meredith Lavender 0593974379 Renee 0 to-read 4.03 Happy Wife
author: Meredith Lavender
name: Renee
average rating: 4.03
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]]> <![CDATA[Sharp Force (Kay Scarpetta, #29)]]> 228357156 A serial killer terrorizes Northern Virginia, his ability to come and go baffling those pursuing him with zero success.

He disables the victims' WIFI, attacking them in bed, the cause of death exsanguination due to sharp force injuries.

This has been going on for six months when Dr. Kay Scarpetta is awakened by her phone in the early morning hours of June 12, her birthday. She's informed that the Phantom Slasher has struck again, only this time there are two victims, and one of them has survived, the scene Mercy Island and its notorious old psychiatric hospital. This is a modern ghost story, a ghastly apparition seen around the time the Slasher strikes in each case. The same figure in black is spotted levitating through the fog, and the technical explanation is one that's of keen interest to the CIA, even the White House.

It's up to Scarpetta to stop the Phantom Slasher before they strike again and vanish, leaving another trail of blood in their wake.]]> 400 Patricia Cornwell 1538773961 Renee 0 to-read 4.20 Sharp Force (Kay Scarpetta, #29)
author: Patricia Cornwell
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]]> His First Wife 221237345 My perfect man is married. And his wife is missing. Can I really trust him—or am I next?

Sophie wasn’t expecting to find love in Sicily. But then she sees Emilio, a professor who works at the university where she is teaching for the summer. He’s kind, intelligent, funny, exciting and deliriously unpredictable�

…maybe perfect.

But paradise quickly turns to purgatory as she uncovers the haunting disappearance of Emilio’s first wife. And when she senses a shadowy character following her, watching her every move, Sophie starts to question her grip on reality. Is she being paranoid, or is nothing about her new life really what it seems?

As further shocking revelations about Emilio’s past surface, Sophie knows one thing for someone is trying to warn her away from him. But is that someone just jealous, or is Sophie caught in a lethal trap?]]> 300 Sue Watson 1662523920 Renee 0 to-read 3.82 2025 His First Wife
author: Sue Watson
name: Renee
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]]> Summer on Lilac Island 221132668 A heart-warming escape about mother-daughter relationships, small-town dating, and all that guides us home.

Broke and newly unemployed, Gigi Jenkins is heading home to the horse-and-buggy Mackinac Island that she once couldn't wait to leave behind. She's going to be spending the summer with her mother, and she's not sure what that close proximity will do to their already fraught relationship. Almost immediately, they find themselves in a battle of wills, and they agree to play matchmaker for each other. Both women are certain that the other couldn't possibly understand them, so surely these potential connections will fizzle out before they even begin.

Misunderstandings, interference, and near-misses are skillfully wielded. Gigi and James circle each other through the curse of small-town encounters--cornhole tournaments, church fundraisers, and lakeside run-ins--and a fresh nemesis-to-lovers plot plays out. Meanwhile, Eloise feels sparks for the resident-for-the-summer Scottish author that she never thought she'd feel again.

But the greatest love story of the summer is the one between Gigi and her mother, Eloise. As they navigate the world as two single women, staying up late to wait for each other to get home from dates and helping each other pick out outfits and draft texts to their respective suitors, their strained relationship starts to heal as they transition from mother-daughter to confidantes and friends.

With achingly deferred romantic tension and a captivating constellation of characters, Lindsay MacMillan shows it's never too late to change perceptions and reach your hard-won happily ever after.]]> 400 Lindsay MacMillan 1400348072 Renee 0 to-read 3.90 Summer on Lilac Island
author: Lindsay MacMillan
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]]> There Are No Rules for This 121393163
People like Feeney Simms don’t commit suicide. Beautiful, charismatic, mother of two, wife to a handsome, successful husband, beloved by her friends—this is not the typical picture of a tortured soul. But one summer night, Feeney drives to the beach and swallows a handful of pills. No note, no explanation, nothing. Like that, she’s gone.

Faced with this loss, Ali, Max, and Liddy, Feeney’s closest friends, are left reeling, grappling with the devastating cocktail of grief, guilt, and anger that’s left in the wake of a suicide. In a desperate attempt to avoid further loss, the three women make the unorthodox (and very Feeney-like) decision to hold their own funerals while they are still alive—and the experience changes each of them in ways they couldn’t have imagined.]]> 248 J.J. Elliott 1647424852 Renee 0 to-read 4.02 There Are No Rules for This
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]]> <![CDATA[Chasing Shadows (Detective Erika Foster, #9)]]> 228987608 In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Detective Erika Foster confronts her greatest nemesis—where the lines of justice blur and secrets unravel.

A collapsed ceiling. A dead body. What starts as a routine 999 call takes an unexpected twist when Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster arrives on the scene and discovers the body of a woman in an empty flat, with all DNA evidence scrubbed away. When forensics find cocaine residue coating every surface of the ceiling, Erika calls in the drug dogs, who lead her to a mysterious parcel locker on the outside wall of the property. Chasing down the locker’s owner leads Erika back where she never expected to be � staring into the eyes of Jerome Goodman, the drug dealer who murdered her husband, Mark, ten years ago.

She arrests him on the spot, but there’s just one problem. His passport and his solicitor say his name is Kieron Bagshaw, and his record is squeaky clean.

With top brass demanding she take leave to deal with her PTSD and even her closest colleagues questioning her sanity, Erika decides to use the time off to do some digging of her own. Trawling for clues through old newspapers, encrypted messages, and secret underground passageways, Erika makes a series of shocking discoveries that move Mark’s murder from cold case to active investigation, all while flying under the Met’s radar.

The revelations will push Erika to the brink, forcing her to confront the trauma of her past and the truth about what happened the day Mark died � and who among her friends was involved from the shadows.]]> 377 Robert Bryndza 1914547357 Renee 0 to-read 4.66 2025 Chasing Shadows (Detective Erika Foster, #9)
author: Robert Bryndza
name: Renee
average rating: 4.66
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]]> <![CDATA[Vindicate (Joe Dillard Series, #11)]]> 228881509 The New Jack Dillard Novel

Two isolated killings.

Two potentially innocent men.

Jack Dillard—son of Joe—is a criminal defense attorney reeling in the wake of the ordeals he’s endured the last few years. He’s lost and angry, especially because the family reputation his parents built is in tatters. Though not entirely his fault, he blames himself.

When Jack is approached by a young podcaster who’s passionate about a convicted murderer’s innocence, he’s hesitant to get involved. But the case intrigues him, so Jack reluctantly agrees to assist.

Meanwhile, Jack’s wife and law partner, Charleston Dillard, is struggling to juggle his volatile moods, their shrinking law practice, and the challenges of raising their newly adopted daughter, Abby.

When Charlie is approached by a long-lost relative to represent a man charged in a local murder, she agrees to meet the prospective client. She and Jack need the money.

But she soon learns the victim’s father is one of the most powerful men in Unicoi County. And he is intent on seeing his son’s killer suffer.

As Jack and Charlie dig into the two cases, they begin to uncover strange connections between them. With pressure mounting, Jack becomes the target of a deeply unhinged enemy who will try to take everything from him, including his sanity, to stop him from discovering the truth.

And even the mighty Joe Dillard is powerless to help.

“Pratt’s richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a façade of vulnerability.� (Publishers Weekly) ]]> 411 Scott Pratt 1944083243 Renee 0 to-read 4.43 Vindicate (Joe Dillard Series, #11)
author: Scott Pratt
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]]> <![CDATA[At Midnight Comes the Cry (The Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries Series, #10)]]> 222376649 New York Times bestseller Julia Spencer-Fleming returns to her beloved Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series

It’s Christmas time in Millers Kill, and Reverend Clare Fergusson and her husband Russ van Alstyne - newly resigned from his position as chief of police � plan to enjoy it with their baby boy. On their visiting Santa, decorating the tree, and attending the church Christmas pageant. But when a beloved holiday parade is crashed by white supremacists, Clare and Russ find themselves sucked into a parallel world of militias, machinations and murder.

Meanwhile, single mom and officer Hadley Knox has her hands full juggling her kids and her police work. She doesn’t want to worry about her former partner � and sometimes lover � Kevin Flynn, but when he takes leave from the Syracuse PD and disappears, she can’t help her growing panic that something has gone very wrong.

Novice lawyer Joy Zhào is keeping secrets from her superiors at the state Attorney General’s Office. She knows they wouldn’t condone her off-the-books investigation, but she’s convinced a threatening alt-right conspiracy is brewing � and catching the perpetrators could jump start her career.

NYS Forest Ranger Paul Terrance is looking for his uncle, a veteran of the park service gone inexplicably missing. He doesn’t think much of an ex-cop and out-of-town officer showing up in his patch of the woods, but he’s heard the disturbing rumors of dangerous men in the mountains.

In New York Times Julia Spencer-Fleming's latest novel, as Christmas approaches, these five people will discover their suspicions hang on a single twisting thread, leading to the forbidding High Peaks of the Adirondacks. As the December days shorten and the nights grow long, a disparate group of would-be heroes need to unwind a murderous plot before time runs out.]]> 320 Julia Spencer-Fleming 0312606869 Renee 0 to-read 4.50 At Midnight Comes the Cry (The Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries Series, #10)
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]]> <![CDATA[The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold (Blonde Identity, #2)]]> 221228047
Six years ago, he left the game.

Five years ago, they fell in love.

One year ago, she ran out into the cold with absolutely no intention of ever coming back.

And two minutes ago, they woke up, bloody and bruised and handcuffed together in the dark.

They don’t know where they are. They don’t know how they got there. And they have absolutely no idea who is after them or what this nameless, faceless villain wants.

The only thing that’s clear is that, after ten years of covers and chemistry, secrets and lies, these two rival spies have been sucked into their greatest mission yet, and now they’re going to have to team up to stay alive. (If they don’t kill each other first.)]]> 336 Ally Carter 0063386976 Renee 0 to-read 4.25 2025 The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold (Blonde Identity, #2)
author: Ally Carter
name: Renee
average rating: 4.25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Rings (The Lost Bride Trilogy, #3)]]> 222377015 The #1 New York Times-bestselling author concludes her compelling Lost Bride trilogy as two women—one dead, one alive—prepare for a terrifying final showdown�

Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean, in a Maine village that bore his name. Today, Sonya MacTavish lives in that house—a manor that has been cursed for generations. Within its walls, she has witnessed the deaths of seven brides and the thefts of seven wedding rings. And now, to break the curse and banish a malevolent spirit once and for all, a difficult task must be completed.

After Sonya, her boyfriend, Trey, and their friends are forced to hear, see—and feel—the suffering of the house’s many ghosts as their torment is reenacted by the evil presence, their bond only strengthens and their anger is renewed. Refusing to let her spirit be broken, Sonya searches each room for clues to her ancestors� hidden story, putting the picture together, unearthing small treasures, and uncovering the moments of joy that existed among the sorrows. She’s determined to bring light to this haunted place—to fill it with people, with life and hope, once again.

But the enemy in the black dress continues to hover, to come at her in frightening forms. They may be illusions—but illusions can be powerful enough to wound and kill. She feeds on fear, and lies are her weapon. This dark-hearted witch wants to be mistress of Poole Manor, at any cost. And Sonya will need to fight a battle across two realms to finally take possession of the house on the clifftop—and of her own future…]]> 464 Nora Roberts 1250288797 Renee 0 to-read 4.39 2025 The Seven Rings (The Lost Bride Trilogy, #3)
author: Nora Roberts
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average rating: 4.39
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]]> <![CDATA[Born Under a Bad Sign (Junior Owens Case Files, #1)]]> 222707146 A new vigilante action thriller from William Miller, bestselling author of the Jake Noble Military thriller Series.

Crooked cops. Hired killers. A former Convict after the truth.
Junior Owens was released from federal prison six days, nine hours, and fourteen minutes ago—not that he’s keeping track.

He’s got a steady job rousting drunks at a topless bar and all he wants to do is keep his nose clean and his parole officer happy.

But when one of the dancers washes up dead on the shores of Tampa Bay and the police aren’t interested in catching the killer, Owens promises her grief-stricken father that he’ll look into it.

Now the former convict finds himself head-to-head with crooked cops, hired killers, a street gang hell bent on revenge, and corrupt businessmen.

He’s in the cross-hairs of very dangerous people and to unravel the conspiracy, Junior Owens will have to expose corruption deep in the heart of Tampa or die trying.

Don't miss this new vigilante justice action thriller from William Miller, #1 Amazon Bestselling author of the Jake Noble Military thriller Series. Grab your copy today! ]]> 404 William Miller Renee 0 to-read 4.38 Born Under a Bad Sign (Junior Owens Case Files, #1)
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]]> Don't Let Him In 220160814 From #1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Jewell, an author “at the very top of her game� (Lucy Foley)—three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

“Who are you? Who are you really?�

Nick Radcliffe is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He’s just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband’s unexpected death. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling�

“Because there are things that don’t make sense, and I’ve been so patient, so very patient…�

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn't right.

“You know that’s mad, don’t you? I’m your husband. We know everything there is to know about each other.�

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.]]> 368 Lisa Jewell 1668033879 Renee 0 to-read 3.92 2025 Don't Let Him In
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Renee
average rating: 3.92
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]]> <![CDATA[Where Secrets Lie (Tupelo Grove, #2)]]> 218015615 USA TODAY bestselling romantic suspense author Colleen Coble and Rick Acker deliver the second book in their compelling Tupelo Grove series (following What We Hide), where a crumbling university, stolen artifacts, deep family secrets, and deadly ambitions all stand in the way of a second chance at happiness.

College professor Savannah Webster is ready to give her ex-husband, Hez, another chance, and she believes he's finally ready for them to face their many past trials as a team. But when Savannah finds evidence that points to Hez's old demons resurfacing, the fragile trust they've built begins to crumble. And it's not just their relationship that hanging in the balance--the survival of the university Savannah's family poured their lives into is also under threat.

Hez is determined to put his past mistakes behind him with his new role mentoring law students at Tupelo Grove University's legal clinic. His primary focus with the clinic is to help Savannah pull the university out of a pit of debt and bad decisions made by the previous leadership, including her father. But their quest for stability takes a dark turn as they try to root out the dangerous smuggling ring the university is entangled in, and their investigation puts them in the crosshairs of criminals who will stop at nothing to eliminate any obstacle in their path.

The twists continue until the final page as a dangerous world of smuggling and financial instability collides with the complex dynamics of legacy and family.

Colleen Coble and Rick Acker's Where Secrets Lie is gripping suspense with closed-door, second-chance romance. They've "forged a seamless partnership with a singular voice" (Charles Martin), "where secrets simmer and unexpected twists leave you guessing until the shocking finale" (Kate Angelo).

Looking for more from these authors? Don't miss What We Hide, the first book in the Tupelo Grove series, or the standalone novel I Think I Was Murdered. All their novels include discussion questions that are perfect for book clubs.

ձ> 352 Colleen Coble 1400345693 Renee 0 to-read 4.38 Where Secrets Lie (Tupelo Grove, #2)
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]]> The Cassandra Trap 222513132 A shocking, twist-filled mystery thriller perfect for fans of Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, and D.D. Black.

Fame. Money. Murder.
Charismatic ex-soldier Evan Drake works for Los Angeles’s rich and famous as a “fixer� of their problems. But when a beautiful young woman hires him to find a missing man, Evan steps into a dark conspiracy that may not be fixable.

He tries to piece together the clues - a Hollywood home break-in, posts on the dark web, a secretive tech company with a revolutionary new product - but the more he learns, the more elusive the truth becomes.

Soon, he’s not only fighting for answers, but fighting to keep himself and other innocent people alive.

Don't miss the start of this mystery thriller series from #1 Amazon bestselling author Ted Galdi about an ex-soldier who works unofficially as a "fixer." Grab your copy today!]]> 254 Ted Galdi Renee 0 to-read 4.04 The Cassandra Trap
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]]> The Famine Orphans 218155515 A powerful, captivating novel of historical fiction from the acclaimed author of The Titanic Sisters, based on the little-known story of the thousands of young women sent from Irish workhouses to Australia after the Famine.

1848: The girls, 4,000 in all, come from every part of Ireland—from the shores of Galway to the Glens of Ulster and Belfast’s teeming streets—to board ships bound for Australia. All were chosen from Ireland’s crowded workhouses. Most are orphans. The Earl Grey Scheme was presented as an opportunity for young women to gain employment as domestic servants in the Colony. But there is another, unstated purpose—the girls are to “civilize� the many men sent there as convicts, so that settlements can be built.

Kate Gilvarry has spent six months in a Newry workhouse, subsisting on a diet of watery porridge. She knows there’s no future for her either within its walls or outside, in a ravaged, starving land. But once Kate’s ship completes the harrowing voyage, she and her companions find their reception in Sydney dismayingly unwelcoming, as anti-Irish sentiment grows. Homesick, and disillusioned by love following a shipboard crush, Kate strives to fit in, first as the servant of a demanding English woman, then as a farmer’s bride in the Outback.

When heat and drought force her husband to leave for long periods to work on a sheep ranch, Kate is left alone to fend off wild animals, drifters, and her aching loneliness. She longs to return to Ireland. But first, this beautiful, unforgiving country will teach her about resilience and survival, and the limitless possibilities that come with courage and love.

Evocative and compelling, The Famine Orphans is a testament to the young women whose pioneering spirit left an enduring legacy in a land so far from home.
ձ> 369 Patricia Falvey 1496748131 Renee 0 to-read 4.26 The Famine Orphans
author: Patricia Falvey
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]]> <![CDATA[Take Me to the Wedding (The Amazing Doctors of Oak Bluff, #2)]]> 219739514 Save the Date! for the second heartwarming and humorous book in the Amazing Doctors of Oak Bluff series…coming soon in e-book and print.

How do you know who is the right one for you?

Dr. Samantha Bashar has made a terrible mistake—she let her rocky professional relationship with Dr. Caleb D’Angelo become personal � and accidentally ruined his chances to win back his first true love.

Coming from a proud line of matchmakers, she can’t let that happen, no matter how much she dislikes him. Or the fact that she doesn’t believe in true love for herself. Plus, Caleb is her best friend’s brother. And they’re in the same wedding at the end of the summer � oh, yay.

Dr. Caleb D’Angelo isn’t trying to make enemies…call him a romantic, but he’s just trying to take his chance to see if The One Who Got Away is the right one for him. While avoiding the woman who is T for Trouble at every turn—even though she “feels bad� and is determined to “help him� no matter what he says.

Except the more Samantha helps Caleb, the more his sworn enemy turns into something completely unexpected—she’s funny and kind and very kissable—and Caleb must decide if the One for him isn’t from his past at all—but is the person who’s been right in front of him all along.]]> 305 Miranda Liasson 0998634638 Renee 0 to-read 4.57 2025 Take Me to the Wedding (The Amazing Doctors of Oak Bluff, #2)
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]]> Whispers of the Lake 219521987 A marriage on the rocks, a missing friend, an investigative journalist, a tangle of shocking lies, and a peaceful North Carolina lakefront cottage converge in this irresistibly twisty new psychological thriller fromNew York TimesԻUSA Todaybestselling author—perfect for readers of Liv Constantine, Tarryn Fisher, Kellye Garrett, and Caroline Kepnes.

At the peak of her career, investigative reporter Rose Howard is exhausted from trying to manage her seemingly perfect life. With her marriage to her one true love collapsing, she desperately needs to rest, regroup, and decide which way to go next. The direction becomes clear when she discovers that her former best friend, Eve Castillo, isn't responding to attempts to contact her at the North Carolina cottage where she's vacationing. Rose knows Eve can be flaky and irresponsible—that’s why they fell out. Still, Rose heads to the tranquil small town of Sage Hill . . .

Rose soon discovers that Eve has vanished without her purse and passport—even after booking a trip abroad. The personable cabin owners� accounts of Eve's stay just don’t to add up . . . and most of the town's initially hospitable inhabitants becoming increasingly less helpful . . .

Rose's instincts tell her the solution lies somewhere in Eve's—and Sage Hill's—past. To get answers, she’ll have to ask inconvenient questions, rattle long-buried skeletons . . . and face vicious attempts on her life. But some truths are best left alone. And secrets Rose never saw coming could easily sink her and her future without a trace . . .]]> 272 Shanora Williams 1496745841 Renee 5 3.95 Whispers of the Lake
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name: Renee
average rating: 3.95
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]]> What Will People Think? 217387713 Mia’s secret comedy career, forbidden office crush, and a long-guarded family secret take center stage, threatening her newfound confidence and her one shot at fame in this hilarious, heartfelt coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld and Etaf Rum.

Mia Almas has a secret. By day, she works at a respectable job as a media fact checker—a position her conservative, Arab grandparents approve of—and, by night, she takes to the stages of New York City comedy clubs. She holds herself back in a lot of ways, especially in the romance department, but being on stage lights her up and makes being a wallflower the rest of the time more bearable. That is, until Phaedra, her stylish and bold new neighbor, inspires Mia to take a few risks.

As Mia pursues a forbidden romance with her boss, her standup gets better and bolder, leading to a surprise spotlight that exposes her secret gig. Horrified and worried that her rebellious act could mean big consequences for her reserved Palestinian-American family, Mia frantically dives into damage control. But all of her efforts to pull back from the spotlight expose a family scandal from the 1940s that could change everything�

Equal parts funny and tender, What Will People Think? is a heart-bursting exploration of what it means to discover and embrace the hidden parts of yourself, and how love in all forms can make you whole.]]> 336 Sara Hamdan 1250329817 Renee 0 to-read 3.96 2025 What Will People Think?
author: Sara Hamdan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.96
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]]> Blood in the Water 216968938 Get ready for THE (creepy) beach read of the summer! Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with this can't-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha's Vineyard. Think JAWS for a whole new generation!



This summer, there's blood in the water...watch out for sharks!

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha's Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father.

The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons' daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show her around. The beach IS really nice, and there's good ice cream to be had. Maybe there's something to Martha's Vineyard...

But then a shocking murder--or was it a drowning? A shark attack?--rocks the community to its core.

Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery but in order to do so, she will come face-to-face with sinister truths and shocking secrets that promise to forever change her life as she knows it.

Tiffany D. Jackon's acclaimed and bestselling YA thriller have made her one of today's biggest authors. Now she brings her dazzling talents to a slightly younger audience, and lucky us--we get to be the publisher!]]> 272 Tiffany D. Jackson 1338849913 Renee 0 to-read 4.18 2025 Blood in the Water
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average rating: 4.18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Order of Things: A Memoir About Chasing Joy]]> 216797535 Sometimes nothing is more unexpected than joy.What happens when a marketing executive leaves San Francisco to care for her dying mother on their family farm in Ohio? A Hallmark heroine would fall in love with her high school sweetheart during a snowstorm—but this is no Hallmark movie. Sarah Gormley spent most of her life trying to outrun the persistent self-loathing that plagued her from childhood, convinced that self-worth was something she had to earn by doing rather than being.

When she returned to Salt Creek Farm at age forty-five, Gormley had no idea that detaching from the success she believed defined her, untangling the complicated relationship with her mother, and continuing the hard work of therapy would lead to a wildly transformed life. Told with exceptional candor and humor, The Order of Things is a story about how one woman learned to let go of the patterns of her past to create a future she never imagined.

Ultimately, Gormley’s book is about hope, with a powerful message that will inspire you to think about the possibility of change in your own life.

“A beautifully written testament to doing the hard work of changing your circumstances and opening your heart to a more meaningful life filled with hope and love. . . . Gormley’s a towering talent and a writer to watch!� —Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group and B.F.F.]]> 284 Sarah Gormley Renee 0 to-read 4.26 The Order of Things: A Memoir About Chasing Joy
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]]> Guess Again 220999770
For fans of Riley Sager, Anna Downes, Alex Finlay, Stacy Willingham, and Karin Slaughter.

Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. A highly publicized search followed but her body was never found. The case went cold, but the echoes still linger.

Ethan Hall, a former renegade detective turned ER doctor, left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the kid crime division. But on the tenth anniversary of Callie’s disappearance, his former partner, Pete Kramer, makes a desperate request. Pete is the veteran detective who originally investigated the case. Now he’s dying, and to ease his conscience and get closure for the Jones family, he needs Ethan to return to the haunting work he left behind—and solve what happened to Callie, once and for all.

Word soon spreads and everyone in the small town of Cherryview feels a rush of hope that answers will finally be found. Amid a sweltering heatwave, Ethan’s investigation gains momentum, but reexamining old evidence won’t be enough. He needs a new way into the case, no matter how dangerous or unconventional. And it comes from the least likely of sources—an inmate in a maximum-security prison.

Soon Ethan’s methods draw him deeper into a twisted psychological game. Because there is much more to the nightmare of Callie’s disappearance than he imagined, including a connection with his own dark past . . . and secrets that are still worth killing for.]]> 352 Charlie Donlea 1496753968 Renee 0 to-read 4.51 2025 Guess Again
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name: Renee
average rating: 4.51
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]]> The Wrong Daughter 221997154
“Do you have a sister, Ms. Fairview?� The little girl’s question, in all its buttery innocence, slices through me, and the answer catches in my throat. It isn’t as simple as yes or no. It hasn’t been, in nearly sixteen years.

The evening Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party, both girls are bubbling with excitement. At ages 10 and 13, they are at last old enough to stay home alone. After all, in their idyllic town no one even bothers to lock their doors.

As the summer light fades, after TV and popcorn, the sisters finally put themselves to bed. They’re unaware of the figure watching them through an open window. Or of the back door opening once they’ve fallen asleep.

When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their golden-haired, long-limbed, eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now.

But is the woman who claims to be Olivia all she seems? Is everything Caitlin said she saw that night the whole truth? Their family have dreamed of this moment, but both sisters are keeping more than one secret. What price will they all pay if they end up believing the wrong daughter?]]> 368 Dandy Smith 1496757238 Renee 0 to-read 3.92 2024 The Wrong Daughter
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name: Renee
average rating: 3.92
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]]> <![CDATA[The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco]]> 214627245 After Alejandro Velasco is found dead, a handsome stranger visits the family. But when this newcomer’s secrets collide with those of Alejandro’s sister, sparks fly—and blood is shed.

A handsome young man named Julian Villareal arrives at the opulent Velasco estate to pay his respects after the unexpected death of Alejandro Velasco, his close friend and tennis rival. But he soon becomes entwined in the Velasco family’s glamourous lifestyle—and their daughter Sofia’s mysterious allure. Mercurial and quick-witted, Sofia seems determined to give Julian a run for his money. And he’s prepared to play along—both on and off the tennis courts.

As the tension between Julian and Sofia sizzles, Julian hides a much darker Alejandro’s death was no accident. And the more Julian learns about the inner workings of the Velasco family, the greater the danger he uncovers. With power and status come opponents bent on toppling the empire, by blackmail, revenge, or even murder. Julian’s quest for answers will only lure him deeper into this den of vipers, but teasing out Sofia’s own intentions may be the steamiest—and deadliest—game of all.]]> 275 Diego Boneta 1662517564 Renee 0 to-read 3.86 2025 The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco
author: Diego Boneta
name: Renee
average rating: 3.86
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]]> The Boomerang 218229236 John Grisham meets Yellowstone in a gripping political thriller by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Robert Bailey, as one man fights for family against a government with a shattering secret.

The president of the United States has terminal cancer. Chief of Staff Eli James, his faithful consigliere and best friend, is one of the few who know. But just as the president’s condition mysteriously improves, Eli’s hit with another blow: his daughter has cancer too.

Hell-bent on helping her, Eli turns to Big Pharma’s top lobbyist for advice, but their encounter yields more questions than answers. As he races along a twisted trail to the truth, he stumbles upon a devastating cover-up worth billions of dollars—and millions of lives.

Armed with this deadly secret, Eli goes rogue, fleeing with his family out west. To keep them safe, he forms an uneasy alliance with land baron Nester “the Beast� Sanchez, known for his ruthless power tactics. An epic showdown brews, and it’s the state versus one desperate citizen, willing to risk everything to save his daughter. Can Eli broker a truce with his once allies? Or will there be war in the desert?]]> 416 Robert Bailey 1662516673 Renee 0 to-read 4.53 2025 The Boomerang
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average rating: 4.53
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]]> Three Mothers 215056860 From the bestselling author of The Forgetting: a tense, character-driven suspense with a final twist that will make you gasp

A heartbroken mother

When seventeen-year-old Isla Richardson is killed in a hit-and-run incident, a community’s lives are thrown into disarray. For Isla’s mum, Abby, it is her second devastating bereavement, having lost her husband five years ago. As Abby begins to uncover secrets about Isla’s life, she’s forced to rethink everything she thought she knew about her family.

A supportive best friend

For Abby’s best friend, Nicole, the tragic death sets in motion a chain of events that will have irreparable consequences for her husband and her two teenage sons.

A determined mum

For Jenna, Isla’s death threatens to expose secrets about her son’s past that she has done everything in her power to hide, to secure him a better future.

A tragedy unites them—but it could also tear their families apart

Tackling friendship, family, social prejudice and the pressures facing young women, Three Mothers how well do we really know our children? And how far would any of us go to protect the people we love?

Ideal for fans of Louise Candlish, Lisa Jewell and Liane Moriarty, Three Mothers is a tense, page-turning domestic suspense story with a final twist that will make you gasp.]]> 325 Hannah Beckerman 1662523351 Renee 0 to-read 4.13 2025 Three Mothers
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dead Draw (Tracy Crosswhite, #11)]]> 215056612 An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series.

A killer fueled by revenge. A detective haunted by the past. They are headed for a high-stakes showdown in this bone-chilling new Tracy Crosswhite novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Detective Tracy Crosswhite isn’t one to lose her cool. Until her interrogation of the taunting and malicious Erik Schmidt, a suspect in two cold case killings. Schmidt also has unnerving ties to the monster who murdered Tracy’s sister, stirring memories of the crime that shaped Tracy’s life. After a critical mistake during a shooting exercise, Tracy breaks.

Haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, Tracy heads to her hometown of Cedar Grove to refocus. Just a peaceful getaway with her husband, her daughter, and their nanny at their weekend house. But Tracy’s sleepless nights are only beginning. A legal glitch has allowed Schmidt to go free. And Tracy has every reason to fear that he’s followed her.

Forced into a twisted game of cat and mouse, Tracy must draw on all her training, wits, and strength to defeat a master criminal before he takes away everyone Tracy loves.]]> 373 Robert Dugoni 1662524749 Renee 0 to-read 4.44 2025 A Dead Draw (Tracy Crosswhite, #11)
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]]> <![CDATA[A Hired Kill (Garrett Mann, #2)]]> 212618516 A serial killer draws an FBI agent into an explosive government conspiracy in a white-knuckle thriller by Steven Konkoly, the USA Today bestselling author of A Clean Kill.

After FBI special agent Garrett Mann executes a deadly raid on an underground facility in New Mexico, the sole survivor’s testimony reveals a greater threat to come.

The covert lair was a training ground for hundreds of cartel sicarios, who have since disappeared into the US, their ultimate mission still unknown. When another FBI raid goes catastrophically wrong, Mann finds himself on the trail of the Bureau’s original target—a moonlighting serial killer who leads the agent into a nightmare that’s darker and more extensive than Mann ever feared.

As Mann and his team hunt their fugitive, they find he could have deep ties to powerful government officials. But even as the list of people Mann trusts grows smaller, he must find the killer and blow the heart of this conspiracy wide open before more lives are lost.]]> 397 Steven Konkoly 1662524463 Renee 0 to-read 4.42 2025 A Hired Kill (Garrett Mann, #2)
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]]> <![CDATA[By the Time You Read This (Raisa Susanto, #3)]]> 217230163 The sinister puzzle of an FBI linguist’s past is far from finished in a gripping novel of twisted family ties, from USA Today bestselling author Brianna Labuskes.

FBI forensic linguist Raisa Susanto thinks she’s through with the past now that her psychopathic serial killer sister, Isabel, is locked away forever. Then Raisa receives a letter from Isabel. It’s just a single message: By the time you read this, I’ll be dead.

Soon after, Isabel is discovered dead in her cell, forcing Raisa back into her depraved orbit—one that includes a band of true-crime worshippers obsessed with Isabel, her killing spree, and those who survived it.

When a new victim is killed in the same manner that made Isabel notorious, Raisa and FBI forensic psychologist Callum Kilkenny aren’t just tasked with finding out who killed Isabel and why. They’re hunting for a protégé following in Isabel’s footsteps. Raisa must uncover the truth—whether or not she’s ready for it—before someone else dies.]]> 316 Brianna Labuskes 1662527543 Renee 0 to-read 4.20 2025 By the Time You Read This (Raisa Susanto, #3)
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average rating: 4.20
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]]> Five Oaks 219828630 In the Arkansas mountains, three generations of fiercely determined young women are poised for self-discovery in a decades-spanning novel about the bonds of family and secrets.

Spending summer away from home for the first time, fifteen-year-old Wren Pritchard and her younger sister, Sylvie, arrive at Five Oaks, their grandparents� Arkansas lake house. As it was for their grandmother and mother before them, it’s a place for coming of age, first love, triumphs and failures, and keeping secrets.

This year, it’s Wren’s end-of-girlhood season. And Sylvie vows to keep all her Wren slipping away in the middle of the night, the boy on the dock, racing with him on the dark back roads, and slipping quietly into bed before dawn, carrying the scent of adventure. And still, as Wren’s behavior begins changing and the moonlit escapes become more daring, Sylvie holds her tongue. Even when it feels like Wren is speeding toward disaster. Then one night, Wren doesn’t come home.

The halcyon days in the Ouachita Mountains are not what they appear. When the truth comes to light—about mothers, daughters, and sisters—no one in the family will ever be the same.]]> 294 Julie Hensley 1662529902 Renee 0 to-read 3.67 Five Oaks
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]]> Letters from Strangers 220226736 From the creator of the 2017 film All I Wish comes the heartbreaking story of two strangers searching for the truth about their families—and discovering a secret that will change their lives forever.

Jane’s father is far from perfect. But his sudden death brings crushing grief. As Jane grapples with her pain, life delivers another blow ... a stack of letters pointing to a secret life. A life her father shared with another woman…who may have had his child.

Across the country, sixteen-year-old Adam is self-destructing. His adoptive parents never intended to show him the unsigned letters from his birth mother, but he is desperate for answers, even if they hurt.

Jane and Adam are on a collision course, but not for the reasons we might suspect. Because the letters do not tell the whole story. What is true is that Adam and Jane are both looking for a woman who does not want to be found.

A family saga spanning two decades, this emotional story explores how good things can grow from the ashes of old scars.]]> 325 Susan Walter 1662523505 Renee 0 to-read 4.40 Letters from Strangers
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]]> A Noir Story 231694823 175 Andrew Sherman Renee 0 to-read 4.33 A Noir Story
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]]> Dead Line (Arliss Cutter, #7) 220999776 Deputy U.S. Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki brave a brutal and unforgiving Alaskan winter on a desperate manhunt that takes a blood-chilling twist in New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Marshal Marc Cameron’s breathless, taut new wilderness adventure thriller for fans of Paul Doiron, CJ Box, Taylor Moore, and William Kent Krueger.

Deputy U.S. Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki are at frozen Cheney Lake, finally nearing their prey. He’s Butch Pritchard, a killer-for-hire as ruthless as the Anchorage wind, and wanted for the murder of a 25-year-old pregnant woman in Missouri. A cruel hit orchestrated by the victim’s husband, Royce Decker, a former member of the St. Louis Metro PD and on the run too. As quickly as Butch is in the marshals� sight he disappears, abandoning a bear of a partner who’s terrified for his life. But it isn’t Butch or Royce he’s afraid of.

If it isn’t those two outlaws, then who? And why? Right now, the creep in custody has gone silent and Arliss and Lola soon realize there’s more to this manhunt than they ever imagined. To see it through to the end they’ll have to find Butch first, then close on the cold-blooded husband. There is one lead to go on: a woman Butch has been involved with. His number one. She’s ready to talk. Even as scared to death as she is. When Arliss and Lola suddenly face an all-new case linked to this one, they’ll find out what everyone is so afraid of. And how many ways things could still go terribly wrong.]]> 336 Marc Cameron 1496752708 Renee 0 to-read 4.38 2025 Dead Line (Arliss Cutter, #7)
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]]> Call Me Sonny 199774393
Meanwhile, a simple divorce case turns out to be much more than meets the eye, as Bryce’s investigation of the defendant leads him down a path of international drug smuggling, money laundering, and violent henchmen bent on keeping him silent. The two storylines run parallel to one another until they eventually converge in a final bloody outcome.]]> 375 Steve Lazarus 1633377555 Renee 0 to-read 4.50 Call Me Sonny
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average rating: 4.50
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]]> Badlands (Nora Kelly, #5) 220175562
Is it suicide or� sacrifice?

Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found—exactly like the other—the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.]]> 355 Douglas Preston 1538765829 Renee 0 to-read 4.20 Badlands (Nora Kelly, #5)
author: Douglas Preston
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]]> Smokebirds 213612520


Smokebirds is not just a narrative about the complexity of familial bonds and the facade of integrity; it is a commentary on the enduring power of privilege against the backdrop of climate justice. It captures the tension between societal expectations of accountability and the reality of an elite untouched by the demands for change, reflecting on who truly bears the cost of our environmental crises.]]> 296 Daniel Breyer 1644284456 Renee 0 to-read 4.72 Smokebirds
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average rating: 4.72
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]]> Michael Without Apology 218136409 A film student struggling with self-acceptance finally stops looking away from his traumatic past in a powerful novel by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Michael Woodbine was seven years old when a near-fatal fireworks accident scarred him and led to his placement in foster care. Now a college freshman, he is still trying to hide the effects of his trauma from his classmates, his adoptive family, and himself.

When Michael signs up for a film class, he meets Robert Dunning, a teacher who wears his own scars unapologetically. Robert encourages Michael to make a documentary that explores body image and self-perception. Michael places an ad seeking people who feel unattractive and rejected by society—and is surprised to learn that this is essentially everyone. Although some participants are recovering from injuries or surgeries, others are dealing with more everyday factors like aging or the changes to a body from giving birth.

As he collects these stories—and finally tells his own—Michael feels more connected to the world than he ever has before. But he knows his journey of self-acceptance has one more his crushing doubts about why his birth parents wouldn’t fight to keep him.]]> 273 Catherine Ryan Hyde 1662522312 Renee 0 to-read 4.64 Michael Without Apology
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]]> <![CDATA[The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)]]> 218155604 In this uplifting series debut, forgiveness and unlikely friendship blossom in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals.

Marlow Heddings is starting over. She’s carried the outrage of her husband Dylan’s affair with a younger woman—and the expectations of his family’s powerful Chicago holdings company—long enough. Now, after another devastating twist of fate, she’s unapologetically moving on.

Arriving in tiny Bramble, Kentucky, Marlow revels in her freedom, swapping her executive suits for sundresses . . . and scouting places to open her dream boutique. Best of all is her new residence, an adorable cottage with gorgeous lake views—and a breathtaking landlord, former Marine Cort Easton. Soon they’re sharing dockside morning coffee and nighttime firefly gazing. Marlow’s new life feels like a dream.

Then Pixie Nolan arrives on her doorstep. With a shocking secret.

To Marlow’s astonishment, Dylan’s “other woman� is a desperate girl of nineteen, destitute, exhausted, and disowned by her family. Defying her manipulative in-laws� demands, and surprising even herself, Marlow vows to lay down roots in Bramble and help Pixie get on her feet. Then they’ll part ways. But empathy has a way of forging bonds. As Marlow grows close to the hard-working, devoted young woman, she becomes something of a big sister to Pixie.

Now, with each sunrise, Marlow awakens to the life she was truly meant to live, one filled with deepening connections, supportive friendship . . . and even a second chance at love.]]> 304 Lori Foster 149675235X Renee 0 to-read 4.17 2025 The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)
author: Lori Foster
name: Renee
average rating: 4.17
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]]> Dead of Night 216541865 A crime writer. A cold case. Will she survive to tell the story?

Since the sudden and tragic death of her partner, bestselling crime author Serena Winters hasn’t written a word. With deadlines looming, she packs up her grief and escapes from New York City to a secluded clifftop house in small-town California, hoping the change of scenery will cure her writer’s block.

But as news of her arrival spreads, Serena finds herself facing strange accusations that she’s here to cash in on the house’s history. When she uncovers the chilling story of a young family who mysteriously vanished from the very same house thirty years earlier, she can’t help asking more questions�

Someone in the local community doesn’t want the past dug up, though. Someone willing to push Serena to the limits of her sanity to keep the truth buried. Caught in a spiraling campaign of intimidation, and harboring a dark secret of her own, Serena soon finds herself in the kind of danger she usually only writes about…]]> 264 Lisa Gray 1662519168 Renee 0 to-read 4.38 Dead of Night
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]]> <![CDATA[Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)]]> 222631696
When I was eleven, my family moved next door to his.
When I was thirteen, he was my first crush.
When I was sixteen, we fell for each other.

And when I was nineteen, we broke each other's hearts.

Six years later, I've landed an internship with a big-name interior designer in a new city. Unfortunately, that city just so happens to be the one he plays hockey for.

I thought Chicago was big enough to avoid him, until I get the surprise of a lifetime and unknowingly move in right next door. Even worse? The renovation project I'm assigned to in hopes of turning that internship into my full-time dream job...

It's his house.

But how am I supposed to update his bachelor pad into a family home when we can't even stand to be in the same room?

I may have loved Rio DeLuca once, but I'm not that same girl anymore.

RIO

I never thought I'd be the only single one left in my friend group. But after years of trying to find love, I've concluded it may not exist for me anymore.

That is, until I accidentally hire Hallie Hart to renovate my house and our jaded history has me rewinding memories I've kept secret for years.

You see, there's something that my friends don't know.

That connection I've been looking for since I moved to Chicago, that one person some search their entire lives to find . . . I had already found her when I was twelve years old.

And now the only girl I've ever loved is moving into the house next door.

Again.

Rewind It Back is the fifth and FINAL book in the sensational Windy City series which has gripped over a million readers across the world. But don't worry if you're new round here, you'll still love it as a standalone!]]> 464 Liz Tomforde 1649379226 Renee 0 to-read 4.67 2025 Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)
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name: Renee
average rating: 4.67
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]]> The Memory Watcher 220667164 Lies, secrets, and obsessive motherly love collide in a chilling novel of psychological suspense by a Washington Post bestselling author.

Press, tap, refresh�

When Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago, she finds herself instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence. From behind a computer screen, Autumn watches Grace’s every memory, from birthdays to holidays to bedtime snuggles. But what starts as an innocent fascination soon spirals into an addictive obsession that comes to a screeching halt the day the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without so much as a warning.

Frantic and desperate to reconnect with her daughter, Autumn applies for a nanny position with the McMullens, manipulating herself into Grace’s life under false pretenses. It’s only then that Autumn discovers that pictures lie, the perfect family doesn’t exist—and beautiful people? They have the ugliest secrets.

Revised This edition of The Memory Watcher includes editorial revisions.]]> 329 Minka Kent 1662531583 Renee 0 to-read 3.97 2016 The Memory Watcher
author: Minka Kent
name: Renee
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
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]]> Always You and Me 217500852 From the bestselling author of Fractured comes a moving, heart-mending and uplifting novel of love, hope and second chances.

ճ�

On the eve of her wedding to Adam, Lily’s best friend Josh unexpectedly walked out of her life, and she hasn’t seen him since.

Lily and Adam are blissfully happy, until he falls ill. As she cares for him in his final hours, Adam asks her to make a mysterious promise: to find Josh—and forgive them both.

This winter�

Tracking Josh down isn’t easy, but fate seems determined to bring them together. Cut off in his remote Scottish cabin by a fierce snowstorm, Lily and Josh explore their tangled feelings for each other, stretching back over the decades. But when she discovers the shocking reason behind Adam’s unexpected last wish, she’ll need to trust her heart completely�

Can Lily and Josh choose love—and find forgiveness and lasting happiness together?

Always You and Me asks: Do you choose love? Or does love choose you?]]> 394 Dani Atkins 1662527497 Renee 0 to-read 4.32 2025 Always You and Me
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name: Renee
average rating: 4.32
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]]> Full Bloom 221251814 The power to be seen. The power to be heard. The power to be adored. . .

A woman's life is forever changed by a mysterious perfume in this stunning novel about ambition and untapped desire from the New York Times bestselling author of Ghosts of Harvard.

Reeling from a breakup and overlooked at her job as a lighting designer, Iris Sunnegren finds herself stuck, disconnected, and lonely in crowded New York City. Her wealthy friends are married and having babies, while she’s trying to pay for freezing her eggs. And the future she longs for feels out of reach.

Then, a mysterious neighbor, an older Frenchwoman, makes her a a bespoke perfume.

One spritz, a dab behind the ears, and Iris is a different woman. Suddenly, she is the object of every man’s desire, and she can satisfy her own hungers for sex, love, and ambition. She can cast off her inhibitions and use her newfound allure to dazzlethe high-profile client, attract a man who excites her like no other, and access all the rarified spaces that once excluded her.Under the perfume’s heady spell, Iris embodies her maximum power—a flower fully bloomed.

But there is danger in connecting to our primal emotions. Scent awakens buried memories, and nightmares of the childhood house fire she barely survived return to haunt her. As Iris ventures deeper into the glamorous and male-dominated worlds of New York real estate, dimly-lit steakhouses, and beachfront mansions in the Hamptons, she finds herself getting closer to unspeakable truths—about the people she trusted, about the people she loved, and about the new circle of power-players that invited her in.

A sensual and seductive novel set among the upper echelons of New York City, Full Bloom is at once a poignant story of becoming and a riveting mystery that Who are you without your inhibitions? Does being wanted get what you want, or will you be devoured by desire?]]> 416 Francesca Serritella 0525510397 Renee 0 to-read 4.12 Full Bloom
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]]> Somewhere 220109882 Deep in the cellar of somewhere, secrets lurk.

Somewherechallenges perceptions of paradise and power in this gripping tale of longing and reckoning with the sins of our ancestors.

Lee Thompson, a recent college graduate, finds himself in rural Missouri, a place he never imagined calling home. However, despite its storybook charm-friendly neighbors, quaint shops, and lively festivals-the town guards macabre secrets that defy explanation.

Strange occurrences begin to haunt Lee, including mysterious movements in his apartment at night and visions of a hanging woman. Amidst a blossoming romance and an unexpected friendship with the charismatic local pastor, Lee uncovers a chilling The town has a dark history steeped in slavery and cruelty. Now, a sinister force from the past threatens to ensnare Lee forever.


]]> Matthew Reed Williams 1960226215 Renee 0 to-read 4.00 2024 Somewhere
author: Matthew Reed Williams
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]]> Closest Kept 217230039 Breaking free from the past is one woman’s greatest challenge in an emotional novel about love, friendship, and the courage to overcome the worst of times by the author of Prickly Company.

Best friends Lily and Inga do everything together—they even meet their future loves at the same bar. After one serendipitous night, it seems like it’s going to be Lily and Alex and Inga and Matt forever.

But life gets more complicated. A job offer moves Inga and Matt from Norwich to London. Lily, who craves stability after a traumatic childhood, is already struggling with the change when Inga confides in her a secret that could tear the group apart for good. At the same time, Lily’s friendship with Matt deepens, and she wonders if she was always meant to be with him instead of Alex.

As the two couples try to hold on to their dreams and one another, Lily’s life is further upended by the reappearance of her long-lost sister—and all the terrible truths she brings home. Lily needs her chosen family more than ever, but in order to heal the rifts, she must find the courage to be honest with herself and reveal the secrets she’s kept hidden from her loved ones for too long.]]> 328 Kitty Johnson 1662518099 Renee 0 to-read 4.10 Closest Kept
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]]> <![CDATA[Kaua'i Storm (Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery, #1)]]> 219290875 Returning to Kaua‘i, park ranger Makalani finds her family divided and their way of life at risk in this rich and emotional adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series.

After ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula is back on Kaua‘i for her grandmother’s birthday. Having been gone for so long, Makalani finds the disconnect with her people and her struggles have never been more profound. Neither has her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. When she reaches the homestead, she finds a bickering family and the disconcerting news that her cousins—a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl—have gone missing.

Makalani hopes they just ran off, too careless to realize the worry they’ve caused. But when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, Makalani fears something ominous is at play, and the search for her cousins grows more desperate. Although her help may not be welcomed by family and locals, Makalani is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater risk than anyone imagines.

The investigation will open her heart, reawaken her love for the land she calls home, and strengthen her bond with her family. Because no matter how long she’s been away, for Makalani, Hawai‘i is in her blood.]]> 447 Tori Eldridge 1662525230 Renee 0 to-read 4.09 Kaua'i Storm (Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery, #1)
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]]> The Grown-Up 217443431 A mother vanishes. A daughter searches—down a dark and twisted trail in a bestselling edge-of-the-seat thriller about secrets, lies, and a family destroyed in one terrifying instant.

Seventeen-year-old Lies wakes up to find that her mother’s bed hasn’t been slept in. Her car is parked outside. And her purse and cell phone are still by the front door. After twenty-four hours, when every possible explanation is exhausted, the reality is all too frightening for Lies. Her mother is missing.

Lies’s father and his new girlfriend chalk it up to another attention-seeking stunt. When authorities show little interest in a woman who likely walked away from her old life in favor of a new one, Lies is compelled to investigate on her own. But why would her mother abandon Lies and her younger brother? Why would her mother scrub her laptop before disappearing? And who are the strangers on her mother’s phone?

Growing more desperate with each disturbing day, Lies uncovers secrets that turn her world upside down. Nothing will stop her from getting to the truth. No matter how shocking it may be.]]> 218 Saskia Noort 1662525346 Renee 0 to-read 3.78 The Grown-Up
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]]> <![CDATA[Closer Than You Know (Vera Boyett, #2)]]> 213809757 From USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb comes the riveting return of crime analyst Vera Boyett, fighting for justice—and her life—amid her Tennessee roots.

Vera Boyett is a master at cracking a case.

After tragedy destroyed her career as deputy police chief, she felt lost. Moving back home near her sisters, she put her skills back to use as a crime analyst, and now her star is finally back on the rise. Vera’s work really begins to heat up after the local sheriff, Gray “Bent� Benton, calls to ask her for assistance with a pressing case.

Pushing aside their complicated past, Vera agrees to help Bent search for a missing reporter. But their investigation uncovers an improbable connection to the Messenger, a serial killer she put behind bars twelve years ago. The killer, who is dying of cancer, wants his final revenge. And the reporter is merely a distraction—Vera is his true target.

When the Messenger pulls her sister Eve into his twisted game, Vera vows to stop him for good. But can she find Eve and the reporter before it’s too late?]]> 314 Debra Webb 1662516207 Renee 0 to-read 4.39 Closer Than You Know (Vera Boyett, #2)
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]]> The Birthday Party 221521017 A party. A nightmare. A child gone without a trace.

It started out as a six little girls gliding and giggling at the ice rink to celebrate Natalie’s daughter’s eighth birthday.

But by Natalie’s next head count, it’s turned into a crime scene. Six children went onto the ice—and now there are just five. Nobody saw her niece, Elle, being taken. Nobody saw the person in a cartoon costume lure her quietly away.

Traumatised by what happened on her watch, Natalie spends the next decade supporting her sister, Jo, as the years since Elle’s abduction tick by. But as the tenth anniversary approaches, Jo becomes convinced that someone is stalking her—someone who knows the truth about that day on the ice.

As long-buried secrets start to surface, the sisters must relive the horror of losing Elle—and watch the world as they know it shatter before their eyes.]]> 271 Shalini Boland 1662529503 Renee 0 to-read 4.15 The Birthday Party
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]]> All This Could Be Yours 222376586 All This Could Be Yours. In a different city every night, Tessa receives standing ovations from adoring fans while her husband Henry and their two children cheer her on from their brand-new dream house.

But there's a chilling problem with Tessa's triumphant book tour—she soon realizes she is being stalked by someone who's obsessed not only with sabotaging her career, but also with destroying her perfect family back home.

Tessa fears the fallout from an impossible decision she once made—what felt like a genuine deal with the devil—appears to be coming due. And she’s realizing that every high-stakes bargain comes with a high-stakes price. If Tessa can't untangle who's threatening to expose her darkest secrets, she'll lose her career, her family—and possibly her life.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 368 Hank Phillippi Ryan 1250349990 Renee 0 to-read 4.68 All This Could Be Yours
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]]> Going Home in the Dark 212130028 When hometown horrors come back to haunt, friendship is salvation in a novel about childhood fears and buried secrets by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

As kids, outcasts Rebecca, Bobby, Spencer, and Ernie were inseparable friends in the idyllic town of Maple Grove. Three left to pursue lofty dreams―and achieved them. Only Ernie never left. When he falls into a coma, his three amigos feel an urgent need to return home. Don’t they remember people lapsing into comas back then? And those people always awoke…didn’t they?

After two decades, not a lot has changed in Maple Grove, especially Ernie’s obnoxious, scary mother. But Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer begin to remember a hulking, murderous figure and weirdness piled on mystery that they were made to forget. As Ernie sinks deeper into darkness, something strange awaits any friend who tries to save him.

For Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer, time is running out to remember the terrors of the past in a perfect town where nothing is what it seems. For Maple Grove, it’s a chance to have the “four amigos,� as they once called themselves, back in its grasp.]]> 399 Dean Koontz 1662500521 Renee 0 to-read 3.63 2025 Going Home in the Dark
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]]> One in Four 216775113 When a reality show about former child stars overcoming addiction culminates in murder, their therapist must take a closer look into their lives—and her own, from USA Today bestselling author Lucinda Berry.

Dr. Laurel Harlow can’t believe she’s agreed to do a reality TV show. But her years as a chemical dependency counselor and personal history with the show’s director make her the obvious choice. Treating a mansion full of former child stars on the road to recovery is the tallest order of her career—especially when one of them turns up dead while the cameras are still rolling.

In a house full of narcissists vying for the spotlight, everyone’s hiding something…including Laurel. An investigation could expose a past she’d rather keep buried. But among the attention-starved patients, only one of them is a predator. And Laurel is skilled at spotting a predator when she sees one.

As she hunts a killer in her present, the unsettling truths of Laurel’s past are forced into the light. But this time, she’ll face her demons head on. She’ll stop at nothing to expose a murderer, even if it means risking everything she holds dear.]]> 247 Lucinda Berry 1662526032 Renee 0 to-read 3.40 2025 One in Four
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]]> The Thorns 217905294 In this hauntingly twisted tale, an author reconnects with an old boarding school friend, forcing her to reckon with their shared past and the imaginary creature she thought they left behind.

Touch a line, you break your spine.

Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To thirteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she’s everything.

Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey’s good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game.

Touch a crack, you break your back.

Years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can’t remember what happened back in the bush. But there’s no mistaking Stacey Preston’s name in her inbox.

Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey.

That email brings Bethany’s childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules—and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey’s hands.

Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession.]]> 392 Dawn Kurtagich 1662526962 Renee 0 to-read 3.51 2025 The Thorns
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]]> A Killer Wedding 222156751 Wildly witty and wickedly fun,AKiller Weddingis a juicy debut whodunit about toxic family dynamics hidden beneath the surface of billionaire-level wealth that reads likeThe Devil Wears Pradaprotagonist played a game of Clue at a White Lotus Hotel.

Christine can’t believe her luck. The iconic Gloria Beaufort, founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, has personally chosen her to cover her grandson’s wedding forBespoke, the cult fashion magazine that every A-list bride dreams of being featured in. A career-making scoop and a free trip to a castle turned five-star hotel on the Emerald Isle? It feels too good to be true�

Because it is.

Gloria is found dead on the very first morning of the celebratory weekend, and her entire family wants to keep her death a secret and for the wedding to march on. When Gloria’s heirs issue a chilling warning to Christine to keep things quiet, she can’t help but wonder if one of them is guilty. There’s the son who’s hiding a damaging lawsuit; the resentful daughter-in-law; the grandson who’s had a few too many run-ins with the law; the ambitious granddaughter who’s hiding more than one secret; and Gloria’s favorite grandchild, the too-good-to-be-true groom. As Christine navigates a world where glamour masks grimy secrets and everyone she meets is a suspect, she realizes that among this glitzy elite, nothing is as it seems.

Set against the dazzling backdrop of ultimate luxury and an endless reveal of surprises,A Killer Weddingis a fast-paced, humorous mystery that proves you’ll never forget your wedding day…especially if it starts with a murder.]]> 336 Joan O'Leary 0063432218 Renee 0 to-read 4.24 A Killer Wedding
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]]> Fox 219301718 A spellbinding novel of literary and psychological suspense about the dark secrets that surface after the shocking disappearance of a charismatic, mercurial teacher at an elite boarding school—by the legendary author 'who is surely on any shortlist of America’s greatest living writers' (New York Times Magazine)

'Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written, Fox is yet further proof Oates is one of the greatest writers among us today' Gillian Flynn

Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates’s Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox. Written in Oates’s trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery.]]> 672 Joyce Carol Oates 0593978080 Renee 0 to-read 4.01 2025 Fox
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]]> <![CDATA[Tourist Season (The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy, #1)]]> 231299870
Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. But with tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary at any cost—especially for her aging mentor with a fading memory.

Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds. But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he’s saved the best for last: the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling.

The problem? Harper isn’t the monster he expected. And she won’t go down without a fight. When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she’ll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage—including their fragile love.

Tourist Season is a darkly funny, slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance where destruction and desire are balanced on the edge of a blade—and where love is the most dangerous battleground of all.]]> 368 Brynne Weaver 1638932107 Renee 0 to-read 4.29 Tourist Season (The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy, #1)
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]]> Sweet Heat 220217814
Juggling a new job, the prospect of her parents' restaurant being sold, and keeping her best friend from going full bridezilla, dealing with The Ex is the last thing she needs. But somehow the spark between them is only getting hotter—and threatening to ruin everything.]]> 496 Bolu Babalola 0063306964 Renee 0 to-read 4.03 2025 Sweet Heat
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average rating: 4.03
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