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Gentle Reads February 2021 |
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Sanditon by Jane Austen and Kate RiordanWritten only months before Austen's death in 1817, Sanditon tells the story of the joyously impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood and her spiky relationship with the humorous, charming (and slightly wild!) Sidney Parker. When a chance accident transports her from her rural hometown of Willingden to the would-be coastal resort of the eponymous title, it exposes Charlotte to the intrigues and dalliances of a seaside town on the make, and the characters whose fortunes depend on its commercial success. The twists and turns of the plot, which takes viewers from the West Indies to the rotting alleys of London, exposes the hidden agendas of each character and sees Charlotte discover herself... and ultimately find love.
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Chance of a Lifetime by Jude DeverauxIn 1844 Ireland, Liam O'Connor, a rogue and a thief, fell madly in love with a squire's daughter and unwittingly altered the future. Shy and naive Cora McLeod thought Liam was the answer to her prayers. But the angels disagreed and they've been waiting for the right moment in time to step in. Now Liam finds himself reunited with his beloved Cora in Providence Falls, North Carolina. The angels have given Liam a task. He must make sure Cora falls in love with another man--the one she was supposed to marry before Liam interfered. But this Cora is very different from the innocent girl who fell for Liam in the past. She's a cop and has a confidence and independence he wasn't expecting. She doesn't remember Liam or their past lives, nor is she impressed with his attempts to guide her in any way. Liam wants Cora for himself, but with his soul hanging in the balance, he must choose between a stolen moment in time or an eternity of damnation.
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Love Your Lifeby Sophie KinsellaAfter a recent breakup, Ava decides to put love on hold and escapes to a remote writers' retreat in coastal Italy. She's determined to finish writing the novel she's been fantasizing about, even though it means leaving her close-knit group of friends behind. At the retreat, she's not allowed to use her real name or reveal any personal information. When the neighboring martial arts retreat is canceled and a few of its attendees join their small writing community, Ava, now going by 'Aria,' meets 'Dutch,' a man who seems too good to be true. The two embark on a baggage-free, whirlwind love affair. Things seem to be perfect for Aria and Dutch. But then their real identities -- Ava and Matt -- must return to London. As their fantasy starts to fade, they discover just how different their personal worlds are. From food choices to annoying habits to sauna etiquette . . . are they compatible in anything? And then there's the prickly situation with Matt's ex-girlfriend, who isn't too eager to let him go. As one mishap follows another, it seems while they love each other, they just can't love each other's lives. Can they reconcile their differences to find one life together?
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The Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra PatrickIt's summer in the city and passions are soaring along with the temperature--for everyone but Mitchell Fisher, who hates all things romance. He relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to the famous "love story" bridge. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother. Then one hot day, everything changes when Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He's surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but she disappears before he can ask her name. Desperate to find out her identity, Mitchell is shocked to learn she's been missing for almost a year. He teams up with her spirited sister, Liza, on a quest to find her again. However, she's left only one clue behind--a message on the padlock she hung on the bridge.
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Once a Spy by Mary Jo PutneyWearied by his years as a British intelligence officer, Simon Duval resigns his commission after Napoleon's abdication. He returns to England where he finds his cousin's widow, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron, working as a seamstress, living in reduced circumstances. As she joins Simon in a search for his missing foster brother, warmth and caring begin to heal both their scars.
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A Beach Wishby Shelley Noble When Zoe Bascomb's mother dies and leaves instructions for Zoe to spread her ashes at a place called Wind Chime Beach, she starts out for a New England town the family has never heard of and discovers a side of her garden club mother that her wildest dreams hadn't imagined. Zoe has another family. Her first instinct is to run home. Instead she is caught in the middle of her feuding new relatives. With one family fighting among themselves and the other not speaking to her, Zoe must somehow find a way to bridge her new life with her old. For the first time in her life, Zoe must make a stand for her family -- both of them. If only she can only figure out how. Her answer lies at Wind Chime Beach where for generations people have come to add their chimes to the ones already left among the trees. And when the wind blows and the air fills with music, their secrets, dreams, and hopes are sent into the world. There's a message for Zoe here -- if she has the courage to open her heart.
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Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice MonroeWhen Cara Rutledge rents out her quaint beach house on Isle of Palms to Heather Wyatt for the entire summer, it's a win-win by any standard: Cara's generating income, and anxiety-prone Heather, an young artist who's been given a commission to paint birds on postage stamps, has a quiet space in which to work. It isn't long, however, before both women's idyllic summers are altered irrevocably: the alluring shorebirds--and the man who rescues them--begin to draw Heather out of the shell she's cultivated toward a world of adventure, and maybe even love; at the same time, Cara's life reels with sudden tragedy, and she wishes only to return to the beach house that had once been her port amidst life's storms. When Heather refuses to budge from her newfound sanctuary, so begins the unlikeliest of rooming situations. And, like the migrating shorebirds that come to the island for the summer, these two women of different generations must rediscover their unique strengths so by summer's end they, too, can take flight in ways they never imagined possible.
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Hello, Summer by Mary Kay AndrewsConley Hawkins left her family's small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rear view mirror years ago. Now, after ten years of blood, sweat, and tears, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position at a New York City newspaper. That is, until she discovers at her own going away party that her new job is suddenly gone, disappearing overnight along with her hopes and dreams of a bright future in a big city. Dread in her heart and a sinking feeling in her gut, Conley ends up in the last place she ever wanted to be: The Beacon, now reluctantly run by her brother Garret whose own dreams of being a lawyer were put on hold with the death of their father. Covering a sleepy beach town with church news and the local funeral home director dictating the day's obituaries to her over the phone isn't exactly every reporter's dream, and to make matters worse, she and her brother see eye to eye on almost nothing. Matters come to a head after Conley witnesses a car accident that ends in the death of a local politician - a beloved war hero with a secret shady history whose death may not be exactly what it seems.
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Library Curbside Service Hours and Closings
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