Title: BLEEDING HEART YARD (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Mystery & Detective / International Crime & Mystery
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A murderer strikes at a school reunion - but the students are no strangers to death - in this propulsive, twisty thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries
Is it possible to forget that you've committed a murder?
When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job - as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.
One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School - among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent - and controversial - MP and the investigation is high profile, it's headed by Cassie's new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can't shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It's in Cassie's interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.
Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yardâ¦
Title: BLESSINGS (Hardcover Book)
FICTION / Coming of Age
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Uzoamaka's miracle baby, Obiefuna, arrives after a series of miscarriages. As a young boy, he brings luck to his family and joy to those in his orbit, from the teachers at his school to the ladies getting their hair braided at Uzoamaka's salon. But by adolescence, Obiefuna has grown unsure of himself. After his father brings home an apprentice from a nearby village, the lightness Obiefuna feels is quickly dashed when the two are caught sharing a moment of intimacy.
Without explanation, Obiefuna is sent off to Christian boarding school, where he must navigate strict codes, hierarchies, and alliances among his new classmates. There, he internalizes the lesson that he must hide his true self, pushing away those who may have otherwise brought him comfort. Back home, Uzoamaka must contend with the absence of her beloved son, her husband's cryptic reasons for sending him away, and realizations that were within her all along.
Told from the alternating perspectives of Obiefuna and Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, Blessings is an elegant rendering of the compromises made in a country that forbids homosexuality and the love that can flourish in spite of them - among friends and partners, but also between a parent and child.
Title: BONE HACKER (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
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Called in to examine what is left of a person thought to have been struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men - tourists - have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos. Seven years earlier, the first victim was found in a strange location with his left hand hacked off; subsequently, two other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.
Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common - other than the odd places where their bodies turn up, and the fact that none seems likely to have been involved in criminal activity. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands' seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn't so sure. Disturbingly, she discovers evidence that what's at stake may actually have global significance.
It isn't long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud. Then Tempe herself becomes a target.
Title: BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER (Paperback Book)
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New Release
Title: BOOKTOK BEST SELLERS : WE WERE LIARS, THE GUILDED ONES, HOUSE OF SALT AND SORRORS, GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER (Packaged Book Set)
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"A perfect gift for young readers." - The New York Times
"An awesome foursome of favorite titles." - Publishers Weekly
Book lovers and TikTok fans can't stop talking about these riveting, must-read books now available in one epic boxed set! This boxed set includes:
WE WERE LIARS " "Irresistible premise for this ticking time bomb of a novel." - The New York Times Book Review
A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends - the Liars - whose friendship turns destructive⦠Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
THE GILDED ONES " "Namina Forna could be the Toni Morrison of YA fantasy." - Refinery 29
In this bold and immersive fantasy, a young heroine fights to save a world that would dare to tame her and discovers that she is her own fiercest weapon.
HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS " "A fairy tale, a young-adult romance (though gothic enough for adult readers) and a whodunit too." - The Wall Street Journal
On an isolated island family estate, one by one, twelve beautiful sisters begin to mysteriously die. Annaleigh must unravel the curse that haunts her family, before it claims her next.
A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER " "A taut, compulsively readable, elegantly plotted thriller." - The Guardian
Everyone in Fairview knows the story. Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.
Title: BOOKWORM (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Psychological
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"Imagine if Patricia Highsmith had written The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and instead of heroic daydreams she gave her protagonist murderous ones - that would be Bookworm. Robin Yeatman's story is subversive, surprising, and satisfying in a way that only the best comic noir can be." - Claire Oshetsky, author of Chouette
A wickedly funny debut novel - a black comedy with a generous heart that explores the power of imagination and reading - about a woman who tries to use fiction to find her way to happiness.
Victoria is unhappily married to an ambitious and controlling lawyer consumed with his career. Burdened with overbearing in-laws, a boring dead-end job she can't seem to leave, and a best friend who doesn't seem to understand her, Victoria finds solace from the daily grind in her beloved books and the stories she makes up in her head. One day, in a favorite cafe, she notices an attractive man reading the same talked-about bestselling novel that she is reading. A woman yearning for her own happy ending, Victoria is sure it's fate. The handsome book lover must be her soul mate.
There's only one small problem. Victoria is already married. Frustrated, and desperate to change her life, Victoria retreats to the dark places in her mind and thinks back to all the stories she's ever read in hopes of finding a solution. She begins to fantasize about nocturnal trysts with cafe man, and imaginative ways (poisoned pickles were an inspired choice in Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres) of getting rid of the dread husband.
It's all just harmless fantasy born of Victoria's fevered imagination and her books - until, one night, fiction and reality blur and suddenly it seems Victoria is about to get everything she's wished for . . . .
Title: BOY WITH A BIRD IN HIS CHEST (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Magical Realism
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A "poignantly rendered and illuminating" (The Washington Post) coming-of-age story about "the ways in which family, grief, love, queerness, and vulnerability all intersect" (Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author). Perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Thirty Names of Night.
Though Owen Tanner has never met anyone else who has a chatty bird in their chest, medical forums would call him a Terror. From the moment Gail emerged between Owen's ribs, his mother knew that she had to hide him away from the world. After a decade spent in isolation, Owen takes a brazen trip outdoors and his life is upended forever.
Suddenly, he is forced to flee the home that had once felt so confining and hide in plain sight with his uncle and cousin in Washington. There, he feels the joy of finding a family among friends; of sharing the bird in his chest and being embraced fully; of falling in love and feeling the devastating heartbreak of rejection before finding a spark of happiness in the most unexpected place; of living his truth regardless of how hard the thieves of joy may try to tear him down. But the threat of the Army of Acronyms is a constant, looming presence, making Owen wonder if he'll ever find a way out of the cycle of fear.
"An honest celebration of life and everything we need right now in a book" (Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author), The Boy with a Bird in His Chest grapples with the fear, depression, and feelings of isolation that come with believing that we will never be loved for who we truly are and learning to live fully and openly regardless.
Title: BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
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Title: BROTHER & SISTER ENTER THE FOREST (Paperback Book)
FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Gay
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New Release
Opening like a fairy tale and ending like a nightmare, this cannonball of a queer coming-of-age novel follows a young man's relationship with a violent older boyfriend - and how he and his sister survive a terrible crime
After years of severed communication, Justin appears on his sister's doorstep needing a place to stay. The home he's made for himself has collapsed, as has everything else in his life. When they were children, Willa played the role of her brother's protector, but now, afraid of the chaos he might bring, she's reluctant to let him in.
Willa lives a carefully ordered life working as a nurse and making ornate dioramas in her spare time. As Justin tries to connect with the people she's closest to - her landlord, her boyfriend, their mother - she begins to feel exposed. Willa and Justin's relationship has always been strained yet loving, frustrating and close. But it hits a new breaking point when Justin spirals out of control, unable to manage his sobriety and the sustained effects of a brain injury.
Years earlier, in high school, desperate to escape his home life and his disapproving, troubled mother, Justin falls into the hands of his first lover, a slightly older boy living on his own who offers Justin some semblance of intimacy and refuge. When Justin's boyfriend commits a terrifying act of violence, the two flee on a doomed road trip, a journey that will damage Justin and change his and his family's lives forever.
Weaving together these two timelines, Brother & Sister Enter the Forest unravels the thread of a young man's trauma and the love waiting for him on the other side.
Title: BUSINESS CASUAL (Paperback Book)
FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
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Nova Porter isn't looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it's his charm? Or maybe it's his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she's distracted every time he's around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn't have time for frivolous flirtations.
In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They'll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can't quite avoid him.
And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He's hoping he can convince Nova he's worth some of her time.