Took in several titles this month that I can't wait to read!
The Ghost And The Dead Man's Library by Alice Kimberly
Sleuth, Nevermore…?
Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton McClure has just received an extremely rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete works. Rumor has it a secret code, trapped within the books’ leather-bound pages, leads to buried treasure. Well, it looks like they got the buried part right, because as Pen sells off the valuable volumes, everyone who buys…dies.
Once these books go missing from their owners’ cold hands, Pen will need resident ghost and hard-boiled PI Jack Shepard to help crack the case. The police are skeptical that the deaths involved foul play --- so it’s up to Pen and Jack to unravel these shocking endings…
The Good Ghoul's Guide To Getting Even by Julie Kenner
High school totally sucks. Especially if you’re a vampire."If he wasn’t already dead, I swear I’d kill Stephen Wills."Beth Frasier's ticked off. Her junior year of high school was going fine. Amazing grades. Early admission to college. And a date with the star quarterback. But no. Thanks to a bunch of jerkwad vampire jocks, she ended up dead. Or rather, undead, and with a thirst that a thousand Diet Cokes couldn't quench.
Now she's out for blood--and revenge. She knows exactly what to do. Beth's read Salem's Lot. Just wipe out the crowd that did her in. But with so many creeps in high school it's hard to separate the good vamps from the bad. On top of that, she's got to figure out how to be mortal again. Unless universities start accepting dead girls....
There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern
Sometimes it takes losing everything to truly find yourself...Since Sandy Shortt's childhood classmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding what is lost becomes her single-minded goal--from the lone sock that vanishes in the washing machine to the car keys she misplaced. It's no surprise, then, that Sandy's life's work becomes finding people who have vanished from their loved ones. Sandy's family is baffled and concerned by her increasing preoccupation. Her parents can't understand her compulsion, and she pushes them away further by losing herself in the work of tracking down these missing people. She gives up her life in order to offer a flicker of hope to devastated families...and escape the disappointments of her own.
Jack Ruttle is one of those devastated people. It's been a year since his brother Donal vanished into thin air, and he has enlisted Sandy Shortt to find him. But before she is able to offer Jack the information he so desperately needs, Sandy goes missing too...and Jack now finds himself searching for his brother and the one woman who understood his pain.
One minute Sandy is jogging through the park, the next, she can't figure out where she is. The path is obscured. Nothing is familiar. A clearing up ahead reveals a camp site, and it's there that Sandy discovers the impossible: she has inadvertently stumbled upon the place-- and people--she's been looking for all her life, a land where all the missing people go. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran from for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit again, searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home...
Return To Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux
Magic most definitely resides in the Maine summerhouse where the mysterious Madame Zoya has granted the innermost wishes of its visitors.
Now, three women have come to this special place with one thing in common: a painful past they would each like to rewrite. Amy, who hides a heartbreaking loss behind her seemingly perfect marriage and family... Faith, a widow in her thirties whose deepest grief is for a man from years ago... and Zoe, an artist shunned by her hometown for reasons she doesn't know, after a traumatic night erased her memory. With their mystical powers, Madame Zoya and her sister Primrose are about to transport the trio to eighteenth-century England to alter Amy's ancestry. But although surprises await each of them, will stepping back in time bring the women the happy endings they seek?
Scottish Girls About Town by Jenny Colgan, Isla Dewar, Muriel Gray, et al
Get ready for a Highland fling...
Meet the Clanswomen...
International bestselling authors Jenny Colgan, Isla Dewar, and Muriel Gray lead off this dazzling collection of stories by popular and rising Scottish women authors. A sometimes wild, sometimes poignant romp through the lives of Scotswomen, Scottish Girls About Town revels in the universal hilarity and strife of being a girl!
They're looking for something moor.
In Jenny Colgan's "The Fringes," a hapless heroine heads to the Edinburgh "Fringe" -- a massive theatrical and musical festival -- for a night of her own disastrous drama. Isla Dewar offers up "In the Garden of Mrs. Pink," one woman's look back at her girlhood and the life lessons she learned from an eccentric neighbor. In Muriel Gray's "School-Gate Mums," a single mother with killer instincts settles the score with one of the mothers at her son's school. Whether they're racing their flatmates in a weight-loss contest, reconnecting with long-lost friends, or grappling with the men in their lives, these daughters of Scotland prove that no one can top their audacious spirit and Highland charm.
Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer
Elisabeth Page is the daughter of Ben Page, yes, that's right, THE world famous novelist. And yes, she's also the sister of Rascal Page, world famous novelist in his own right. So what does Elisabeth do? Much to her family's disappointment, Elisabeth is a pastry chef. And a pretty damn good one, at Beverly, the hottest restaurant in LA. The last relationship Elisabeth had was with Will, a man she grew up with and whose family ran in the same social circles as her family. But Will's constant jaunts around the world have left her lonely and brokenhearted in L.A. That is until Daniel Sullivan bids on one of Elisabeth's pastry tutorials at a charity auction. Daniel is everything her family is not: a basketball coach, a non-intellectual, his family doesn't summer on Martha's Vineyard, and the only metaphors he uses are about passing the ball and being a team player. But somehow they fit. Between her family, Will, and the new cooking show that Elisabeth is recruited to star in, Elisabeth's life is suddenly incredibly new and different--the question is, can she embrace being happy or has her family conditioned her to think she's just not good enough? Liza Palmer expertly depicts a woman trying to come to terms with professional success, personal success, and finally dealing with a family that might love her from the bottom of their heart but doesn't necessarily have her best interest always at heart.
She Woke Up Married by Suzanne MacPherson
Paris James has come to Las Vegas to take the sting off turning the dreaded "Three-O." But one glass of bubbly leads to another -- and when the redhead wakes up the next morning, she finds to her astonishment she's in bed with ... Elvis! The good news is it's the young, sexy Elvis. The bad news is there's a diamond ring on her finger. Sometime during the evening she actually married The King of Rock 'n' Roll! Well, what happened in Vegas better stay in Vegas, right?
But not if Turner Pruitt has anything to say about it. Because years before he put on his first pair of blue suede shoes, Turner knew the real Paris ... She's running away, as usual, but he knows her deepest secrets, and as much as she struggles against love, Paris is going to need him by her side as she faces her demons head-on.
Because this time, Paris James has met her match.
Sleeping With Ward Cleaver by Jenny Gardiner
Cleavered...
Wham, bam, no-thank-you, ma'am.
That about sums up the sex life of Claire Doolittle. Not-so-happily married to Jack --- once the man of her dreams but now a modern-day version of the bossy, dull Ward Cleaver of '50's sitcom fame --- Claire is at the end of her rope. Gone are the glorious days of flings in elevators and broom closets. Jack? All he needs is a cardigan and a billowing pipe to become the domineering father figure Claire never wanted. And looking at her body in the mirror, Claire would cast herself as Lumpy. They'd once had a world of color, of wanton frivolity. Now, life's black and white: a sitcom in reruns. A not-very-funny sitcom. Cue an old boyfriend --- the "one that got away" --- throw in a predatory hottie who's set her sights on our leading man, and watch Claire's world spiral out of control.
In the old TV show, the Beaver always got a happy ending.
Stay tuned.
Boys That Bite by Mari Mancusi
This is not your typical boy-bites-girl love story.Technically Sunshine can't get killed-because she's immortal. Well, not quite yet. Due to the worst case of mistaken identity with her dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth club called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for Sunshine's innocent neck. Now if she doesn't reverse it in time, Magnus will be her blood mate forever and she's doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. That would seriously bite.
And now, after the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, Sunshine, her sister Rayne, and Magnus must find the one thing that can solve her problem: the Holy Grail. They wish it were a joke but it's not. It's absolutely necessary that Sunshine gets out of this in time, because somehow she scored the hottest prom date in her school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. So she just can't be a vampire for the prom-let alone the rest of eternity.
Forget About It by Caprice Crane
How hard is it to knock down a pushover?
For twenty-five years, Jordan Landau's life has been eminently forgettable. From her combatively critical mother to her cheating boyfriend to her idea-stealing boss --- there's almost no one in Jordan's life who hasn't taken advantage of her near-pathological desire to avoid conflict.
Everyone's about to find out.
After a freak accident leaves Jordan in a hospital with a head injury, inspiration strikes. What's the best way to get out of a bad life? Pretend you can't remember it! Faking amnesia makes it easy to dump the boyfriend, trump the boss, and turn the tables on a family that never appreciated her. The Great Jordan Life Makeover is looking pretty good, until things take a surprising turn. Forced to start over for real, Jordan must soon figure out how to create a truly unforgettable life...and how far she's willing to go to do so.
I Only Have Fangs For You by Kathy Love
He's finally met his type...
BITE ME
One thing you have to know about my brother Sebastian: he loves being a vampire. After all, what's not to love? He's eternally twenty-five. He's single, and frankly, he's a chick magnet. Yeah, undeath is good. The only thing he's serious about is his nightclub, Carfax Abbey. It's the sort of dark, happening spot where vampires can really let their fangs down. You know, hiding in the shadows, feeding, giving pleasure to unsuspecting mortals, being all cool and vampirey. Whatever. My brother Rhys and I have tried to get Sebastian to clean up his bad-boy ways like we did, but then he went and called us "fang-whipped." Okay, Bite Boy, chew on this...
The ultimate righteous reformer, Wilhelmina Weiss, is on a mission to shut down Carfax Abbey. She doesn't approve of my bro's biting ways. It seems the spirited, sexy-without-knowing-it vampire is working undercover as a cocktail waitress in his bar while waging a secret war to bring him down. Sebastian's A-positive he can convince Miss Goddy-Vampire-Two-Fangs that nothing beats the ecstasy of a good vampire bite. She's certain she can resist him for as long as it takes to reform him. I gotta tell you, the suspense would kill me--if I weren't already undead.
Now, Mr. "Has anyone ever told you you've got a beautiful neck?" is in way over his. He's finally met a girl who may not be his type, but she's way more than his match. Not that he's (cough) fang-whipped (cough) or anything. No, not my baby bro. One thing's for sure, I've never seen Sebastian so completely at someone's mercy in my life. And frankly, I'm enjoying every minute of it...
Latte Lessons by Linda Lenhoff
Lesson #1: Never settle for less than the perfect blend...
SINGLE LIFE IS FULL OF QUESTIONS
......imponderables such as: "Is it possible to transform an addiction to reality dating shows into a substitute for actual dating?" and "Is scanning demographic lists of available men with nice (read: British-sounding) names and upscale addresses more dignified if one does it in the privacy of one's apartment with a bottle of wine and an equally romance-challenged friend?" Not having all the answers doesn't keep thirty-year-old Claire Duncan up at night. She loves her job as a copywriter at a small Venice Beach advertising and promotion agency --- even though it's not making her much money. She loves her hemp drawstring capris --- even though they're not getting her any dates. And she loves her mother --- who in turn despairs of ever having grandchildren.
But Claire's comfortable, moderately caffeinated routine gets a double-espresso jolt when she's given the assignment of promoting an up-and-coming pop band. Heartthrob needs a change of image. And lead guitarist Brendan Baker has Claire rethinking her don't-date-the-clients-no-matter-how-hot-they-are rule. His earnest brown-eyed gaze makes her feel like an underwear-throwing groupie. Which is quite below her, if you ask her co-worker Dennis --- whose own revived love life leaves something to be desired, if you ask Claire.
Suddenly --- and quite accidentally --- Claire has become someone to whom cute twenty-something boys (as well as guy pals and ex-boyfriends) are attracted, and everything has become just a tad more complicated than before. Not to mention a hell of a lot more fun...
Hurricane Bay by Heather Graham
Dane Whitelaw knows something about Sheila Warren that no one else does. Dane knows Sheila's dead.
The private investigator found a photo under his door -- a picture of Sheila, strangled with his tie and posed on the beach of his private island in he Florida keys. The crime appears to be the handiwork of a serial killer currently terrorizing the Miami area. Now Dane knows he is being set up to take the fall for the killings. He just doesn't know why.
When Kelsey Cunningham's bet friend goes missing, she confronts the one person she thinks will have information -- Dane, Sheila's former lover and a man from Kelsey's own past. Kelsey follows Sheila's track into a dangerous world of sex, violence and drugs, with Dane right behind her. But the tentative trust between them shatters when Sheila's body is discovered -- and Kelsey recognizes Dane's tie.
Now Kelsey doesn't dare trust anyone. Especially a man she can no longer deny she has always loved. Because here on Hurricane Bay, a devastating storm can hit without warning and whether it's a tempest of unbridled passion or the desperate fury of a killer, nothing -- and no one -- is safe.
Nights Edge by Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambly & Charlaine Harris
Reunion In Death by J.D. Robb
Upon The Midnight Clear by Sherrilyn Kenyon
