July 2018 list by Donalee Jacobs
|
|
|
Baby Teeth
by Zoje Stage
Hanna's the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He's the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she'll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good. Suzette loves her daughter, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna's tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there's something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn't the best place for their baby girl after all.
|
|
|
The Book of M
by Peng Shepherd
One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man's shadow disappears--an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories. Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max's shadow disappears too. Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together.
|
|
|
The Bookshop of Yesterdays
by Amy Meyerson
Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. Sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy, and one final scavenger hunt. Miranda becomes determined to save the store and to solve Billy's last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy's past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda's mother has kept hidden--and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.
|
|
|
Convenience Store Woman
by Sayaka Murata
Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world. So when she takes a job in a convenience store while at the university, they are delighted. However, eighteen years later she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only a few friends. She feels comfortable in her life but is aware that she is not living up to expectations. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis-but will it be for the better? Sayaka Murata captures the atmosphere of the convenience store that is so much a part of life in Japan. With laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko's thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform.
|
|
|
Cottage by the Sea
by Debbie Macomber
Annie Marlow has been through the worst. Rocked by tragedy, she heads to the one place that makes her happy: Oceanside, the destination of many family vacations when Annie was a teenager. Once there, Annie begins to restore her broken spirit, thanks, in part, to the folks she meets: a local painter, Keaton, who helps Annie fix up her rental cottage by the sea; Mellie, the reclusive, prickly landlord Annie is determined to befriend; and Britt, a teenager with a terrible secret. But it is Keaton to whom Annie feels most drawn. His quiet, peaceful nature offers her both comfort and reprieve from her grief, and the two begin to grow closer. Then events threaten to undo the idyll Annie has longed for, forcing her to choose between the excitement of a new journey toward success and the safe and secure arms of the haven—and the man—she's come to call home.
|
|
|
Double Blind
by Iris Johansen
Kendra Michaels is reluctant to help the FBI with the most recent case they've brought to her...until she hears the details: The body was found just blocks away from Kendra's condo. The man was carrying an envelope with Kendra's name on it, and inside was an SD card with what appears to be an innocuous video of a wedding reception. And just one week before the attempted delivery of this mysterious video, the groom in the video was murdered.
|
|
|
The Good Fight
by Danielle Steel
Set against the electrifying backdrop of the 1960s, Danielle Steel unveils the gripping chronicle of a young woman discovering a passion for justice and of the unsung heroes she encounters on her quest to fight the good fight.
|
|
|
Jar of Hearts
by Jennifer Hillier
When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school. But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison. While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.
|
|
|
The Kiss of the Spindle
by Nancy Campbell Allen
Dr. Isla Cooper must travel to Port Lucy in Jamaica to locate the witch that placed a spell on her--one that puts her into a death-like sleep every night--before the spell becomes permanent.
|
|
|
The Kiss Quotient
by Helen Hoang
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. He agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan. Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges may just convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic.
|
|
|
Marry Me by Sundown
by Johanna Lindsey
Returning to Philadelphia from the social whirl in London, Violet Mitchell finds her brothers living on the edge of financial ruin while their father seeks new wealth in Montana’s gold fields. With the family’s home and social standing at risk, Violet makes a drastic decision to seek out her father's fortune in Montana. Morgan Callahan rode away from his family’s cattle ranch to make his own fortune. Now as he finishes exploiting a mother lode of silver, a young woman claiming to be his late partner’s daughter turns up wanting to be taken to her father’s mine. But an error of judgment brings down a hailstorm of calamity and danger that upends her and Morgan's plans.
|
|
|
The Quiet Side of Passion
by Alexander McCall Smith
With two small boys to raise, a mountain or articles to edit for the Review of Applied Ethics and the ever-increasing demands of her niece, Cat. Isabel barely has any time for herself. Her husband, Jamie, suggests acquiring extra help, and, in no time at all, Isabel and Jamie have a new au pair, and Isabel hires an assistant editor. Both women, though, have romantic entanglements that threaten to interfere with their work. Meanwhile, Isabel meets Patricia, the mother of her son Charlie’s friend. Isabel tries to be supportive, especially given that Patricia is raising her son on her own. But when Isabel sees Patricia in the company of an unscrupulous man, she must once again call on her kindness and keen intelligence to determine the right course of action, at home, at work, and in the schoolyard.
|
|
|
Rescued
by David Rosenfelt
Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter is reluctant to take on any more cases. He'd much rather spend his time working for his dog rescue organization, the Tara Foundation, than find himself back in a courtroom. However, when a truck carrying over seventy dogs from the South to the rescue-friendly northeast turns up with a murdered driver, Andy can't help but get involved.
|
|
|
The Sinners
by Ace Atkins
Years ago, Colson's late uncle had put the Pritchard clan's patriarch in prison, but now he's getting out, with revenge, power, and family business on his mind. To make matters worse, a shady trucking firm with possible ties to the Gulf Coast syndicate has moved into Tibbehah, and they have their own methods of intimidation. With his longtime deputy Lillie Virgil now working up in Memphis, Quinn Colson finds himself having to fall back on some brand-new deputies to help him out, but with Old West-style violence breaking out, and his own wedding on the horizon, this is without doubt Colson's most trying times as sheriff.
|
|
|
Something in the Water
by Catherine Steadman
Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water... Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision triggers a devastating chain of events...
|
|
|
Spymaster
by Brad Thor
Across Europe, a secret organization has begun attacking diplomats. Back in the United States, a foreign ally demands the identity of a highly placed covert asset. In the balance hang the ingredients for all-out war. With his mentor out of the game, counter terrorism operative Scot Harvath must take on the role he has spent his career avoiding. But, as with everything else he does, he intends to rewrite the rules—all of them.
|
|
|
The Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams
New York Times best selling author Beatriz Williams brings returns with a spellbinding novel of romance, murder, power, and privilege that reveals the secrets of New York's most elite families and the resort island where they spend their summers.
|
|
|
Too Lucky to Live
by Annie Hogsett
Allie saves Tom, a blind man, from being hit by a car and soon learns that he has won a large sum in the lottery, which prompts them to go on the run to escape from people looking to steal his money.
|
|
|
When We Found Home
by Susan Mallery
Callie Smith doesn't know how to feel when she discovers she has a brother and a sister; Malcolm, who grew up with affection, wealth, and privilege, and Keira, a streetwise twelve-year-old. Callie doesn't love being alone, but at least it's safe. Despite her trepidation, she moves into the grand family home with her siblings and grandfather on the shores of Lake Washington, hoping just maybe this will be the start of a whole new life. But starting over can be messy. Callie and Keira fit in with each other, but not with their posh new lifestyle, leaving Malcolm feeling like the odd man out in his own home. He was clever enough to turn a sleepy Seattle mail-order food catalog into an online gourmet powerhouse, yet he can't figure out how to help his new sisters feel secure.
|
|
|
|
|