Summer Vacation…

calls for new reads! Mystery, suspense and thrillers are tired and true for the beach, but what would the warm weather be without romance? Lots to choose from; time to pack your beach bag with some page turners!

The Woman in the Garden by Jill Johnson (Mystery)

I’ve always been better with plants than people . . .

Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. She tends to her garden with meticulous care. Her life is quiet. Her schedule never changes. Until the day she hears a scream and the temptation to investigate proves irresistible.

Through her telescope, Professor Rose is drawn into the life of an extraordinarily beautiful neighbour, Simone, and nicknames the men who visit her after poisonous plants according to the toxic effect they have on Simone. But who are these four men? And why does Eustacia Rose recognize one of them?

Just as she preserves her secret garden, she feels inexplicably compelled to protect her neighbour. But when her precious garden is vandalized and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin derived from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia finds herself implicated in the crime and decides to take matters into her own hands . . .

This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour (Science Fiction)

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Black Buck : A speculative novel about a young woman—invisible by birth and relegated to second-class citizenship—who sets off on a mission to find her older brother, whom she had presumed dead but who is now the primary suspect in a high-profile political murder.

Despite the odds, Sweetmint, a young invisible woman, has done everything right her entire life—school, university, and now a highly sought-after apprenticeship with one of the Northwestern Hemisphere’s premier inventors, a non-invisible man belonging to the dominant population who is as eccentric as he is enigmatic. But the world she has fought so hard to build after the disappearance of her older brother comes crashing down when authorities claim that not only is he well and alive, he’s also the main suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive of the Northwestern Hemisphere. 

A manhunt ensues, and Sweetmint, armed with courage, intellect, and unwavering love for her brother, sets off on a mission to find him before it’s too late. With five days until the hemisphere’s big election, Sweetmint must dodge a relentless law officer who’s determined to maintain order and an ambitious politician with sights set on becoming the next Chief Executive by any means necessary.

With the awe-inspiring defiance of The Power and the ever-shifting machinations of House of Cards , This Great Hemisphere is a novel that brilliantly illustrates the degree to which reality can be shaped by non-truths and vicious manipulations, while shining a light on our ability to surprise ourselves when we stop giving in to the narratives others have written for us.

The Curse of the Flores Women by Angelica Lopes (Fiction)

In this haunting novel about the enduring bonds of womanhood, a young girl weaves together the truth behind her family history and the secrets that resonate through generations.

Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting―against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family.

Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a “curse” that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control.

As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for.

The Sirens of Soleil City by Sarah C. Johns (Fiction)

Three generations of women learn to own their mistakes and rebuild their bonds as they prepare to compete in the Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition in South Florida.

West Palm Beach, 1999. A phone call summons fifty-eight-year-old Cherie Anderson from a frozen Minnesota to help her two Dale, the mother who left her when she was five and is facing eviction from her budget apartment complex, Soleil City, and Marlys, the mother who raised her from that moment on–and who’s now dying, but won’t admit it to her daughter. Cherie seeks a reason to stay in town long enough to give Dale the help she’s finally asked for and Marlys the help she clearly needs. And she must find a project to distract her pregnant daughter Laura, whose marriage has fallen apart weeks before her due date.

The South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition seems to be the answer. The publicity from winning the competition, along with the ten-thousand-dollar prize money, could help save Soleil City. With Laura, who used to captain a dance team, as their coach, they’ve got a fighting chance. And with everyone else preoccupied by the competition, Cherie can focus on saving Marlys before it’s too late.

Over the course of a month in an apartment complex filled with feisty, funny, strong-willed women in their 70s, four women who make up an uneasy family will realize that in life, and motherhood, there isn’t good and bad. There’s only trying to get it right.

What’s in a Kiss by Lauren Kate (Romance)

From # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate comes an enemies-to-lovers “what if” romance about a prom kiss that never was, and one woman’s magical chance to live what might have been.

This is not how Liv wanted to see Jake Glasswell for the first time in ten years. Once her high school rival and the prom date who humiliated her, now a successful TV personality, he’s more attractive than he has any right to be. And he’s her Lyft passenger.

Since the prom night kiss that never was, Liv’s life has not gone to plan. She deferred Julliard to be with her mom during a crisis, and now swears she’s happy as a recently furloughed drama teacher going on no-strings dates. This weekend she’s maid of honor to her best friend, Masha, and, of course, Jake is the best man. But when Liv glares into Jake’s eyes as Masha says, “I do,” the universe turns on its axis and Liv is suddenly living a version of her life where prom night was the beginning of her and Jake, not the end, and it turns out he’s the love of her life. The catch? Her mom and Masha hate her now. What’s in a kiss? Maybe everything.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day (Thriller)

The newest, riveting summer suspense by the author of The Block Party, Jamie Day.

The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters—Iris, Vicki, and Faith—have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there’s murder in the air—and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.

Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe’s nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.

The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she’s using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.

With razor-sharp wit, heart, thrills, and twists, Jamie Day delivers a unique brand of SUMMERTIME SUSPENSE.

Echo Road by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh (Suspense)

When two cross-country cases collide, Bree Taggert and Mercy Kilpatrick join forces to catch a serial killer in an addictive novel of suspense by bestselling authors Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.

During a vicious heat wave, a county maintenance worker stumbles upon two suspicious suitcases abandoned by the side of the road. Sheriff Bree Taggert responds to find two bodies stuffed inside the luggage. The press demands action. The community is on edge. Suddenly, Bree is at the center of a media firestorm.

In Oregon, a senator’s daughter goes missing. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick agrees to keep the politically sensitive case on the down-low. When she finds a link between the disappearance and a double homicide three thousand miles away, Mercy takes the next plane out—and lands right in the middle of Bree’s double homicide investigation.

To save the missing girl, Bree and Mercy must work together to stop a killer who’s playing deadly games with the press and stirring up public rage. Hungry for notoriety, he dares Bree and Mercy to catch him before he kills again.

Boss Lady by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans (Fiction)

In this funny and inspiring novel from the authors of The Better Half, a mess of a heroine is desperate to resolve her past so she can finally rediscover who she was always meant to be.

Antonia “Toni” Arroyo’s protective mother has outdated notions for her daughter’s life: employ her natural beauty and marry young. But Toni has wholly different aspirations.

A promising inventor and budding entrepreneur, she fights to keep her passions alive as a financially strapped mother of twins with a job in airport transportation services that has her going in circles. One treasured frequent passenger is elderly traveler Sylvia Eisenberg, Toni’s sage but unofficial adviser and cheerleader. When Toni meets Sylvia’s grandson, Ash, a striking venture capitalist, luck just might bend her way.

With a game-changing new business endeavor in development, Toni hustles an opportunity to pitch her idea on TV’s Innovation Nation. Toni’s unexpected challenger? Her very own recently resurfaced, self-aggrandizing not-quite-ex-husband. As Toni’s interrupted past collides with her tenuous future, she is more determined than ever to follow through on her delayed dreams. Toni’s been clinging to “maybe” for so long—it’s finally time for “absolutely.”

Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney (Romance)

Road Trip No bad music. No detours. No falling in love.

Hazel Elliot doesn’t look back. If the universe closes a door, she burns the whole house down. But when she’s summoned home for her father’s wedding, she’s forced to return to small-town Lockett Prairie, Texas, for the first time since she fled for college.

Ash Campbell has been in love with Hazel since they were teenagers, when she dated his best friend. Now, Ash works at Hazel’s favorite coffee shop, where they feud over the best chair, and his sizzling attraction to the prickly girl from home has only gained steam.

When Ash’s car breaks down just as family obligations pull him home, there’s only one person who can get him there on time. But Hazel has one condition: everything between them must stay the same. And if he fails to oblige? She gets the coffee shop. So the frenemies endure bad music, inclement weather, and B&Bs with only one bed—and that’s just the drive across Texas. When they finally arrive, Hazel must face the bridges she’s burned, because there’s nowhere in a small town to hide, not even from herself. And, right where she least expects it, she might just find a man worth changing everything for . . .

The Days I Love You Most by Amy Neff (Romance)

Unforgettable and utterly romantic, The Days I Loved You Most is a heart-wrenching, life-affirming novel that asks, How much would you sacrifice for the one you love?

In the summer of 1941, on the New England shores where they were raised, Evelyn and Joseph fell in love. Now, more than sixty years later, with a lifetime between them, they have gathered their three grown children to share the staggering news: she has received a tragic diagnosis, and he cannot live without her. So in one year’s time, they will end their lives on their own terms.

As the couple comes to grips with their fate, they retrace their past—the joys and regrets, the laughter and the sorrow—that brought them to this moment. They embark on a journey to live out their greatest dreams and to comfort and connect with each of their children before they’re gone. But as their final days draw closer, they must confront the stark reality of what they are about to do, and make peace with the legacy they will leave behind for their family.

Spanning the twentieth century from World War II to 9/11 and beyond, The Days I Loved You Most is a timeless tale of unwavering devotion — a moving tribute to the enduring power of love and a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is always hope and beauty to be found.

Big in Sweden by Sally Franson (Romance)

A charming, wise, and laugh-out-loud funny novel following an American woman competing on a Swedish reality show in an attempt to discover her roots. Paulie Johansson has never put much stock in the idea of she has her long-term boyfriend Declan and beloved best friend Jemma, and that’s more than enough for her. Yet one night on a lark, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig , a show on Swedish television where Swedish-Americans compete to win the ultimate a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Much to her shock, her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, and against Declan’s advice Paulie decides to go for it. Armed with her Polaroid camera, a beat-up copy of Pippi Longstocking, and an unquenchable sense of possibility, Paulie hops on a plane to Sweden and launches into the contest with seven other Americans, all under the watchful eye of a camera crew. At first, Paulie is certain that she and her competitors have nothing in common besides their passports and views their bloodthirsty ambitions with suspicion. Yet amid the increasingly absurd challenges—rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, battling through obstacle courses, competing in a pickled herring eating contest—Paulie finds herself rethinking her snap judgments about her fellow countrymen, while her growing attachment to her Swedish roots increases her resolve to win the competition herself. Grappling with long-held notions of family, friendship, and love—not to mention her feelings for the distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman who’s been assigned to follow her around—Paulie starts to reconsider her past and rethink what she wants for the future. A fish-out-of-water tale filled with warmth, optimism, and wit, Big in Sweden is at its heart a love love for family, friends, country, and—most importantly—oneself.