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She thought she knew her best friend. She was wrong. The weatherworn cottage Clachan has always been Jo Wilding's sanctuary, a blissful escape from her tumultuous home life. From the first summer Rachel invited her to join the Willoughby family in the wilds of Scotland, she fell in love with the sea air, sandy beach and Tristan, Rachel's older brother. All these years later, Clachan is where their most important occasions and conversations take place, so when Rachel organises a weekend there, Jo never suspects that this weekend will change everything. Because it turns out Rachel has been keeping a secret, a betrayal that plunges Jo into a past she's spent years trying to forget. Left to untangle the pieces of their past alone, Jo has to decide if there is such a thing as forgiveness when there is no one left to forgive?

When your life falls apart, all you need is a friend...Abbie Finch loves her job.Unfortunately, her boss doesn't love her.When she finds herself unexpectedly unemployed, Abbie realises that she's let all her friendships fall by the wayside and has no one to turn to.Lost and lonely, Abbie decides to leave her comfort zone and join the neighbourhood café's community table. There she meets aloof, elegant Ethel, down-on-his-luck Bob, colourful, chaotic Dawn and recently relocated Viraj. Friends? Not yet. But when they decide to help the homeless people in their community by staging an extravagant fundraising event, will something that began as a good deed help Abbie find a way back to herself--and make lifelong friends at the same time?

For three sisters, this Memorial Day weekend is a much-anticipated reunion--and a sizzling escape--where secrets, lovers, and betrayals collide in a small coastal town. It's Memorial Day weekend, the annual kickoff to summer for the Lancaster sisters. But the festivities take a deep dive when a mysterious boating accident occurs off their seaside town, sparking questions about how well the sisters know their neighbors--and each other. Kate, whip smart and rich, lives a charmed life--if only her lawyer husband wasn't always disappearing for his next big case. Older sister Shelby, when not selling houses, is falling hard for an on-again, off-again lover. He's perfect for Shelby in many ways, and so wrong in others. And Bree, the youngest, is reeling from a recent breakup and in desperate need of her sisters. They've always been there for each other, but as secrets arise and gossip spreads like wildfire, the idyllic weekend takes a dramatic tailspin. Will this summer's troubles change their bond before their sisterhood is righted again? --

From the author of Call the Canaries Home comes the heartwarming tale of two generations of women struggling to find their way...until the voice of Patsy Cline shines a light. When her nineteen-year marriage ends, stay-at-home mom Effie Baker takes the first step into her new life with an extreme makeover. She assumes she'll wake up with a renewed sense of confidence, not a vision of country music icon Patsy Cline telling her she needs to "set things right." But like everything else lately, the last thing Effie expected is exactly what she gets. Although the message is cryptic, Effie is certain it must have something to do with her grandmother, Lolly, who idolized the singer. While Lolly's past may hold the key to her granddaughter's future, it's up to Effie to figure out what these connections mean on her own. In the whirlwind of a new job, a mysterious stranger, and the ups and downs of everyday life, Effie will have to decide what relationships are worth saving and summon the courage to find her own voice.

Decades of doubt, fear, and suspicion won't let a woman overcome her trauma in a riveting novel of suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.The murder of Elise Rockwood's sister shattered her family. Their mother's anxiety kept her housebound. Elise's paranoid brother, Kyle, saw conspiracies everywhere. Elise numbed her grief in an aimless lifestyle that left her emotionally broken. All of them victims. A local boy eventually confessed, but the damage was already done.Years later, Elise is reinventing herself. She's bought a mountain lodge to be close to home again and to find stability. Not even an email from her ex tempts her into revisiting the past. But Kyle won't let it go. He still believes there's more to their sister's murder--and the confession--than meets the eye. When Elise's ex is found dead in the same forest where her sister went missing decades before, Elise is finally willing to listen.The traumas of the past are reemerging. So is the truth. Elise's greatest fear now is who will survive it.

"A beautiful, vivid and atmospheric ... story of loss and redemption" - Fiona ValpyA devastating drought. A city ripe with secrets. A family with a past just waiting to be discovered.Recently, Shyamala Mehta's life in LA feels stagnant: she's undervalued at work, newly single, and constantly clashing with her marriage-obsessed mother. So when she's offered a transfer to Mumbai, she travels halfway around the world to the now drought-stricken city her parents left behind.Staying with her mother's sister Vini, Shyamala is struck by the contrast between them. How did Vini become such a joyful, unconventional soul while Pramila drifted quietly into traditional life? Far from home and surrounded by echoes of the past, Shyamala finally has a chance to learn more about the mother she barely knows. With Arjun, the neighbor's wild-haired son whose love for India pierces through the oppressive heat, she starts to see the city of Pramila's youth in all its beautiful complexity.But as the taps run dry, Shyamala finds herself at the crossroads of her family's history and her own destiny. The air is heavy with secrets, but when the deluge finally comes, will she be ready for what it might reveal--about her mother, herself, and the maddening city she's starting to think of as home?

"Caroline Beckett is living the dream. A self-help guru with a glamorous clientele and a marriage to a handsome photographer, she's proof women really can have it all. But one night leaves Caroline reeling, forcing her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about her lif--and what (if any) business she has teaching anyone how to live theirs. Retired professor Devorah van Buren is spending her time getting herself and her Chihuahua, Mary Magdalene, kicked out of local restaurants for causing scenes with tourists. When she learns about Caroline's rise to success and the personal scandal that's followed, Devorah has a new purpose: sue her former student for stealing the ideas that made Caroline famous. Back in her hometown to handle this new problem, Caroline is surprised to find reconnections with not only Devorah but her high school sweetheart too. After the way her life fell apart, Caroline is beginning to wonder if, with Devorah's help, maybe she can build something better."--Amazon

"Mack Anders will do anything for his wife, Daisy. Even die. With the woman he loves fading away from Alzheimer's, Mack fakes his own passing. The insurance makes certain that Daisy will be taken care of with dignity and comfort until the end. In a lonesome cabin in the Wyoming wilderness, he lives off the grid with nothing but thoughts of the past to keep him company and the belief that Daisy is better off without him. Strong-willed eighteen-year-old Brandi has just been released from juvie. Willing to risk everything to save her young brother, Sy, from their unstable mother, Brandi takes him on the run. Her destination is their aunt's house in Casper. Maybe there she can finally find a stable home for Sy. After a busted tire strands them in the remote wildlands of Wyoming, they cross paths with Mack. Brandi quickly realizes this quiet stranger might be their only hope of reaching safety. On an unpredictable road ahead, escape brings these three kindred souls together. But the real world is closing in, and to help Brandi and Sy, Mack will have to come back to life in ways he never imagined."--Provided by publisher.

"When infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy decides to go straight, he discovers that too many of the powerful men he crossed won't let bygones be bygones. To have a chance at a new life, he'll have to become someone else entirely. A brief, fateful encounter with the celebrated singer Jane Touissant on the eve of his escape offers a glimpse of what might have been, but Butch disappears, leaving her behind, until their paths unexpectedly converge again in Paris. Despite having discovered his true identity, Jane trusts the outlaw and enlists his protection on her upcoming American tour. Although Butch is reluctant to agree, fearing his sordid past may put the woman and her young son in danger, the salvation she offers is too hard to resist. As they set forth on their journey, Butch's past and Jane's secrets put them at risk from threats far greater than the law, and this legend of the American West will have to decide what matters most-his life, his legacy, or the woman he loves"--

"Neighbors, friends, and hedgehogs--they're all looking for a new path. Frances Mathews doesn't get out much since her husband died, but that doesn't stop her from jump-starting a campaign to create a hedgehog highway in Hilltop Place--feeding stations, holes at the bottoms of gates and fences, and wild garden areas for hibernation. To Frances's delight, her neighbours are on board. Mostly. There are Jess and Michael, whose marriage is cracking under the unanticipated strain of a recent adoption. And Ryan, a wounded war reporter struggling to connect with his son after a divorce and forced to return to an exasperating parental fold. Plus, a very forthright single mum new to the neighbourhood and an exceedingly proper couple not about to upend their picture-perfect garden for prickly nuisances. As relationships--from the romantic to the nerve-racking--form and secrets are unearthed, Hilltop Place is threatened in ways that affect them all...unaware hedgehogs included. What Frances and her charitable neighbours soon discover about themselves and each other is hardly what any of them expected"--

"It's 1927. Letty Hart's father is long gone, but his old winery provides a meager wage and a legal livelihood for selling sacramental wine. But when that contract goes bust, Letty stumbles upon a desperate option: her father's hidden cellar--and enough liquor to tempt Letty to bootleg the secret stash. In an underworld dominated by merciless men, Letty is building an empire. Officer Annabel Forman deserves to be the first female detective in the LAPD. But after two years on the force, she's still consigned to clerical work and policing dance halls. When Annabel connects a series of unsolved murders to bootlegging, it's a chance at a real investigation. Under the thumb of dismissive male superiors, Annabel is building her case. As their formerly uncompromised morals erode, Letty and Annabel are on a collision course--and determined to prove they're every bit as ruthless and strong-willed as the powers that be who want to take them down."--

Two women, brought together by tragedy, strive to find themselves on Martha's Vineyard. But it's not easy to heal old wounds in a powerful novel about family, secrets, motherhood, and the cold grip of the past.A desperate murder committed by Angela Miller's mother tore Angela's life apart and brought her to Martha's Vineyard to live with her wealthy grandparents. It's where her cousin, Kiki King, was born and raised, and Kiki now wants nothing more than to see the world beyond its sandy perimeter. Kiki's mother escaped it. She took a late-night swim off Tashmoo Beach and was never seen again.Once bound by broken childhoods, Angela and Kiki have grown up divided--by their obsessions, their love for the same man, and their own conflicted journeys of motherhood. But when a small box of bones is unearthed in the woods, Angela and Kiki discover there's so much more to learn about each other, their families, and the dark side of the picturesque island they call home.It's time for Angela and Kiki to expose their secrets, to finally end a cycle of family drama and anguish, and to forgive and make peace with the past on their own terms.

A life-affirming story from million-copy bestselling author Amanda Prowse about having it all, losing it all, and how new friends can show each other the way back to happiness.With kids to look after, an ailing mother and a neglected husband, life is full for Emma Fountain--too full, she realises, when she wakes up in IKEA after falling asleep in one of the show beds. Only her crazy, funny best friend Roz keeps her sane. But when Roz climbs in through her bathroom window one day to deliver terrible news, Emma's belief that she can find a way around any obstacle crumbles in the face of a problem she just can't fix.For recently widowed Thurston, life without his beloved wife of sixty-two years has lost all its joy and sense of purpose. That is until he finds himself driving his niece to work one day and meets Emma, whose busy days are the opposite of his own. As Thurston is drawn into the whirlwind of Emma's chaotic life, and as his calming influence starts to bring her troubles into perspective, an unlikely friendship grows.In a world where grief is the price we pay for love, can two very different people realise that the little things in life are precious, that love is all around us, and that, even after all, they might still be very, very lucky?

Overnight, in a small town, careers, friendships, reputations, and futures are all on the line in a razor-sharp novel about scandals, secrets, and hard-earned dreams coming true.A small-town campus is rocked by scandal. Suddenly, four women find themselves in the crosshairs of an investigation that threatens to upend their lives.Lauren is the wife of a charismatic, now disgraced, university athletic director. To keep their marriage from crumbling, she's cleaned up his messes before. This one she never saw coming. Nora is the director's interim replacement. The groundbreaking career she's worked for is on the rise. As wife of the English department's dean, so is the scrutiny and the pressure. Anne is Nora's wide-eyed intern, thrust unprepared into the chaos of a headline-making story. And there's Alexis, an English professor in panic mode. Her own secret has always been safe. Until now.As the media descends, colleagues and friends begin to question everything they thought they knew about each other. Every one of them is getting caught off guard. And it feels like the whole world is watching.

From Steve Weddle, the author who the New York Times calls "downright dazzling," comes the story of a prodigal son returning home to hard times and harder choices during the Great Depression.Life has never been easy for Cottonmouth Tomlin. Raised by an uncle in a hardscrabble Arkansas town, Cottonmouth couldn't leave fast enough. As a young man, he set out to seek his fortune but was soon caught up in a life of low-level misdeeds, taking him from New Orleans all the way to Honduras. Now he's back in Columbia County, mourning his uncle and worrying on what to do with the broken-down outlaw camp that represents the sum of his family legacy.And legacy is no small matter in a county like his. The townsfolk remember Cottonmouth and his kin, just like they remember everyone who ever put down roots in the area. Folks do like the way the outlaw camp helps out the local economy: so long as criminals undertake their troublemaking across county lines, they're more than welcome to stay and spend some of that money in county establishments. But when Cottonmouth gets embroiled in some ill-conceived ransom plans with a few of those visiting scofflaws, he pushes the boundaries of the community's forgiving nature.Set against the unyielding backdrop of the Great Depression and with an unforgettable cast of ornery characters, The County Line is a lyrical and loving celebration of community and opportunity in 1933 America.

"Writer Carrie Colts hopes a move to Montauk will be a rejuvenating change of pace for her family. The last thing she expects to see is her former college roommate on her doorstep. Newly widowed, and with a daughter of her own, Maya would love to reconnect. As a gesture to an old friend in mourning, Carrie extends an invitation to stay. Just for a few days. After all, there are reasons that Carrie and Maya are estranged. Carrie soon regrets her impulsive offer. Someone has taken a pair of scissors to her college yearbook. Her herb garden is destroyed. She's starting to receive sinister texts. And Maya is making herself a little too much at home. What does Maya really want? What is she hiding? Carrie's afraid to ask. Because Maya knows all her secrets, and exposing them comes with a price Carrie can't afford to pay."--Publisher.

The rescue of two missing boys in the Sierra Nevada mountains relies on unraveling the mysteries of the past in an addictive novel of heartrending suspense.After inheriting his uncle's lodge, Silas Matheson hopes the grandeur of the California Sierra Nevada will be a fresh start for his two young sons, and a chance to finally face his demons. It was here, fifteen years ago, that Silas and his friends Jessica, Danny, and Meg ventured into the mountain wilderness and Jessica vanished without a trace. When his boys go missing in the same dark woods, the fear and guilt that Silas has been running from ever since come crashing back.Silas's panicked call brings in the local search-and-rescue unit, and two familiar faces: Danny and Meg. As the frantic search gets underway, the three friends are plunged into a painfully recurring nightmare, each of them thinking, This can't be happening again.With a storm brewing and the boys' fates threatened with every desperate hour, the secrets of the past begin to surface, and this time, for Silas, Danny, and Meg, there's no escaping the truth.

Camera-shy Elise Branson can't escape the spotlight when her wedding coincides with a documentary being made about her late grandmother which reveals secrets that threaten to unravel her life.

In this emotional story from Starlight Cove, a single mother must solve the mystery of the town theater to learn why it was shut down and stop the unknown forces trying to keep it closed. Newly divorced Lily Kimura returns to her hometown to start fresh with her daughter and her recently retired parents. She's committed to rebuilding her life, starting with a new job at the town theater. The Starlight Cove Playhouse has been closed for years, ever since a tragic fire took the life of the lead actress. Now, thanks to an anonymous donor, the town is finally ready for a revival. So is Lily, who wholeheartedly dives into her new duties as theater manager, including an unexpected connection with the visiting movie star playing the lead. But strange noises, sinister messages, and a mysterious play hidden in the rafters soon make it clear that not everyone is keen to move on. Someone wants the playhouse closed for good. With the help of an old friend turned local police officer, Dean Harrington, Lily digs into the truth behind every question, threat, and possibility presented to her. She's just not sure if Starlight Cove will be ready for the answers, or if, as they say, the show will go on.

From million-copy bestselling author Imogen Clark comes a story of two families, two babies and one maddeningly hot day that will change their lives forever.It's the hottest day of the 1976 heatwave and there's not a breath of fresh air in the labour ward at Lincoln County Hospital. Michelle is having her fourth child, a girl, while beloved husband Dean is sipping a cold pint in the pub. Their little house is already bursting at the seams, but Michelle is sure they'll find a way to stretch their budget and continue life as a blissfully chaotic happy family. They name their new baby Donna.In the next bed, exhausted and wearing a perfectly impractical lace-trimmed white nightgown, Sylvie has just given birth to her first child at forty and wants to sleep, while her oblivious husband Jeremy hovers and suggests he sketch this 'perfect moment'. The midwife thinks she'll feel more like bonding with her baby when she's had some rest, but Sylvie isn't so sure. She and Jeremy call their daughter Leonora.When the two little girls are taken to their respective homes, the date of their birth seems to be the only thing to connect them. But one day, years in the future, their paths will cross again when Michelle comes looking for Sylvie--because something happened that blistering hot day, something they both deserve answers to...

"Mary Fawcett refines the healing recipes she's inherited from generations of women before her--an uncanny and moral calling to empathize with the sick. When witchfinder Matthew Hopkins arrives in her small village, stoking the fires of hate, he sees not healing, but the devil at work. Mary's benevolent skills have now cast her and her young brother under suspicion of witchery. Soon, the husband of one of Mary's patients is found murdered, his body carved with strange symbols. For Hopkins, it's further evidence of dark arts. When the whispering village turns against her, Mary dares to trust a stranger: an enigmatic alchemist with a scarred body and soul, who knows the dead man's secrets. As Hopkin's fervor escalates, Mary must outsmart the devil himself to save her life and the lives of those she loves. Unfolding the true potential of her gifts could make Mary a more empowered adversary than a witchfinder ever feared." -page [4] of cover

"Katie's divorce was, in a word, humiliating. So when her friend Bess offers a fresh start--a resident caretaking job at a nature preserve--Katie accepts. No matter that she's not exactly a "nature person." How hard can it be? But from day one, something feels off. Katie's new farmhouse looks as if the last caretaker barely moved out at all. When a frantic, terrified woman arrives late at night, expecting a safe place to hide, it's clear caretaking involves way more than Katie bargained for. Suddenly, Katie is no longer sure who she can trust: the brooding groundskeeper, the daily regulars--hikers, dog walkers, bird-watchers, photographers--even Bess. As Katie digs deeper for clues in what the last caretaker left behind, she must discover courage she never knew she had--and decide how much she'll risk to do the right thing."--Publisher marketing.

From debut author Elaine Roth comes a hopeful and heartfelt story about a young widow who uncovers the magic of everyday life--and the power of second chances.After the sudden death of her husband, Hope finds herself reeling from the loss in more ways than one. First a young wife and now a grieving widow, she feels like fodder for never-ending town gossip.But when Hope meets Will, a screenwriter back in town to run his family's inn, she sees in him another resident oddball. And like her, Will has been navigating a loss of his own.As Hope falls for Will, she seeks out another enigma in town: Maeve, an eccentric woman who makes healing teas and communes with the dead. Some of the townspeople think she's a grifter, a fake. Will, too, is skeptical.Hope yearns for closure and forgiveness, seeing in Maeve the chance to trust herself again--and in Will, a chance to rediscover the enchantment in the world around her...And the courage to build a bigger life than she ever thought possible.

In this explosive novel about a decades-old mystery, shocking revelations of the past and the secrets of three women will be spilled when a small Midwest town announces a DNA lottery.One drop of blood for a chance at a multimillion-dollar windfall. Is it a philanthropic gesture from a billionaire widow? Some suspect a darker motive behind the DNA lottery--one tied to the eighteen-year-old mystery of an infant's unidentified remains that mars the history of idyllic Rosemary Hills, Iowa. Right after the blood lottery is announced, three local women fall under suspicion of knowing something about that night, and their carefully kept secrets threaten to spill out too.Cleo is a divorced single mom forced to return to her hometown and accept a strange job reading to an invalid recluse; Jemma is a controversial state senator whose reelection campaign and teenage daughter have her on edge; and Alex, a divorce attorney, copes with a crumbling marriage of her own and the suffocating presence of a cold, overbearing mother.Soon, unimaginable revelations of the past will collide with the present--and not just for Cleo, Jemma, and Alex. In this seemingly ordinary community, they aren't the only ones with long-buried secrets.