Literary Fiction

The Stranded in Provence Mysteries, Books 1-3by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

The Stranded in Provence Mysteries tell the story of an American woman on vacation in the south of France when the unthinkable happens. After a dirty bomb explodes over the Riviera she finds herself stranded in a French village where daily life is essentially sent reeling back to the 1950s.

So now forget solving crimes with DNA or accessing massive criminal databases. Likewise forget worrying about international terrorism, because that’s now gone too. But you can also forget spending hours on your smartphone, tablet, computer or even TV set.
On the other hand, the bistros are all still open, the produce and cheese markets still run every morning, bicycles dominate the wide avenues instead of cars, and for a budding amateur sleuth and now permanent expat, any murders she stumbles across will have to be solved the old-fashioned way—with brain power and shoe leather.

Oh, and it turns out that romance still works the same as before too.

The Strays: A Novel by Emily Bitto

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR’S CHOICE

For readers of Atonement, a hauntingly powerful story about the fierce friendship between three sisters and their friend as they grow up on the outskirts of their parents’ wild and bohemian artistic lives.

On her first day at a new school, Lily befriends Eva and her sisters Beatrice and Heloise, daughters of the infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. An only child from an unremarkable, working-class family, Lily has never experienced a household like the Trenthams’–a community of like-minded artists Evan and his wife have created, all living and working together to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930’s Australia. And Lily has never met anyone like Eva, whose unabashed confidence and worldly knowledge immediately draw her in.

Infatuated by the creative chaos of the Trenthams and the artists who orbit them, Lily aches to fully belong in their world, craving something beyond her own ordinary life. She becomes a fixture in their home, where she and Eva spend their days lounging in the garden, filching cigarettes and wine, and skirting the fringes of the adults’ glamorous lives, who create scandalous art during the day and host lavish, debauched parties by night. But as seductive as the artists’ utopian vision appears, behind it lies both darkness and dysfunction. And the further the girls are pulled in, the greater the consequences become.

With elegance and vibrancy, THE STRAYS evokes the intense bonds of girlhood friendships, the volatile undercurrents of a damaged family, and the yearning felt by an outsider looking in.

PRAISE FOR THE STRAYS
"Disturbing and magical….with a grace and eloquence." – NPR Books

"THE STRAYS is a knowing novel, and beautifully done." – Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Interestings

First the Thunder by Randall Silvis

From award-winning author Randall Silvis comes a riveting exploration of the unforgivable secrets that families keep–and the consequences that come from exposing them.

Products of their run-down Pennsylvania mining town, three brothers grapple with their lives in decline. Harvey drives a delivery truck; Stevie works odd jobs; and Will is a struggling bar owner whose wife, Laci, is edging toward desperation when her boss offers her more money…for a price. Then, in this tight circle where prosperity is rare–and hope, even rarer–comes a breaking point in a simple but indefensible slight…

When Harvey gets shafted by his brother-in-law in a deal over a vintage Indian motorcycle, he enlists the help of Stevie and Will to set things right. But the revenge plan goes awry, and the three men stumble upon a shocking secret that, if revealed, would upend their lives.

As they’re crushed under the weight of a nightmarish truth and the damning evidence in their possession, it’s up to Laci to save her family from the coming storm the brothers have wrought. And no one is prepared for the fallout.

Starless (The Executioner Knights Book 3)by Kathryn Le Veque

You met Achilles and Susanna in Book Two of the Executioner Knights series – and sparks flew! Now, read their endearing and touching love story in ‘Starless’!

The third Executioner Knight is in for a world of trouble…

Achilles de Dere is a stubborn knight prone to fighting – anywhere, anytime. If there is a punch to be thrown, it’s usually from Achilles. When he first met Susanna de Tiegh, the sparks flew – and not in a good way. Susanna, an accomplished warrior in her own right and an agent for William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, refused to take Achilles’ bullying behavior. Friends feared they would kill one another. But an abject hatred of each other soon turned into something else.

Now, Susanna is all Achilles can think of, even as he goes about his duties for William Marshal. When Susanna discovers that her own brother is involved in a plot against the king, Achilles is sent to help her get to the bottom of the plot. Before he can get to the woman he calls “Sparks”, however, Susanna’s brother realizes she is on to him and sells her off to one of the crown’s greatest enemies to silence her.

Now, Achilles is determined to help the woman warrior who started off as a thorn in his side, but has now become the very air he breathes. It’s a race against time to not only save Susanna, but to stop the plot that threatens to destroy the very fabric of England herself.

As Achilles once said to Susanna, without her in his life, his days are wrought with misery and his nights are Starless…

The Executioner Knight Series
By the Unholy Hand
The Mountain Dark
Starless
A Time of End (coming 2020)

Bayside Desiresby Melissa Foster

Fall in love at Bayside, where sandy beaches, good friends, and true love come together in the sweet small towns of Cape Cod.

BAYSIDE SUMMERS is a series of standalone steamy romance novels featuring alpha male heroes and sexy, empowered women. They’re fun, flirty, flawed, deeply emotional, always passionate, and easy to relate to.

In Bayside Desires…
As the co-owner of Bayside Resorts, Rick Savage has a fabulous job working with his best friends and brother, and a thriving business in Washington, DC, which he’ll be returning to at the end of the summer. Spending time with his family is great, but being back on Cape Cod has unearthed painful memories. When sweet, smart, and overly cautious Desiree Cleary moves in next door, Rick is drawn to the sexy preschool teacher, and she just might prove to be the perfect distraction.

Running an art gallery was not in preschool teacher Desiree Cleary’s plans, but after being tricked into coming to her impetuous, unreliable mother’s aid, she’s stuck spending the summer with the badass half sister she barely knows and a misbehaving dog. If that’s not frustrating enough, she can’t escape the sparks igniting with her strikingly handsome and pushy neighbor, Rick, who makes all her warning bells go off.

Passion ignites as Desiree and Rick spend long summer nights sharing heartfelt confessions and steamy kisses. For the first time in years Rick is enjoying life again instead of hiding behind mounds of work miles away from his family. Desiree has touched him in a way that makes him want to slow down. Only slowing down means dealing with his demons, and he isn’t sure who he’ll be when he comes out the other side.

Turn Up The Heatby Weston Parker

She’s far above my pay grade, but I’m always ready for a challenge where a woman is concerned.

Unfortunately, my military past haunts me, waking me up late in the night, causing my world to spin in vicious cycles.

But it’s under control, or so I thought.

The guys at the firehouse aren’t buying my “everything is good” bullshit.

All I want is peace. But it evades me.

Until her.

She’s the cure I’ve been looking for, and the poor beauty is unaware of the fact that she’s going to be mine.

No questions asked. No denials accepted.

And when I start after her, she’s quickly consumed in the heat of our connection.

I just need to shake the past and focus on the future.

Our future.

It’s time to forget my burdens and turn up the heat.

Every Good Girl Deserves a Bad Boy. ~ Weston

The Messengerby J.N. Chaney

Dash never asked to be a mech pilot, but fate has other plans.

On the run and out of chances, he guides his ship and crew into the heart of a relic older than the galaxy itself–and find himself on the edge of an eternal war he never knew existed.

The relic is a mech, lost to history and forgotten by all who remain. Built by an ancient race to be the ultimate weapon, the machine is capable of unspeakable destruction, and its discovery could unhinge the balance of power throughout known space.

Worse still, the A.I. inside the machine speaks of an ancient evil that will soon arrive–a race whose power far exceeds anything humanity has ever witnessed.

Only the Messenger can stand against them, the A.I. tells its new pilot. Only you can do what must be done.

The Girl From Long Guyland by Lara Reznik

MEMOIR MEETS THRILLER: Set against a 1969 psychedelic love-in backdrop, The Girl From Long Guyland is shared through the eyes of Laila Levin when decades later, an unsolved murder pulls her reluctantly into her past.

Laila enjoys a successful marriage and a thriving career in Austin, Texas. When her company announces a layoff, she is caught between an unscrupulous CEO and her promiscuous boss. Then news of her college roommate’s suicide stirs up an old love triangle and dark secret from her past.

Suddenly, it’s 1969 again and Laila’s left her sheltered Long Island home for college in Connecticut. She’s tempted by the sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll that rule her generation and gets swept up in a deceptive love triangle and initiated into an unethical hippie family leading to tragedy.

Laila must now juggle the demands of her perplexed husband, her successful career, and her baby boomer past, endangering her survival and challenging her conscience.


She learns that the lines between right and wrong are often blurred, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.