Daddy Love: A Novel

      Joyce Carol Oates
     Daddy Love: A Novel

From the author of Bellefleur: A “psychologically incisive” glimpse into the mind of a deranged predator and the boy he abducts to be his son (Booklist). Robbie Whitcomb is five years old when he’s taken from his mother in a mall parking lot. In her attempt to chase the kidnapper, she’s left badly injured and permanently disfigured. Such are the methods of the man who calls himself Daddy Love—a man known to the rest of the world as charismatic preacher Chester Cash. For the next six years, Robbie is to be Daddy’s son. That means doing whatever Daddy says—and giving him whatever he wants. Soon Robbie learns to accept his new name, Gideon. He also learns that he is not the first of Daddy Love’s sons. And that each of the others, after reaching a certain age, was never seen again. As Robbie’s mother recovers from her wounds, her life and marriage are a daily struggle. But as years go by, she maintains a flicker of hope that her son is still alive. Meanwhile, Robbie approaches the “bittersweet age” with no illusions about his fate. But somewhere within this tortured child lies a spark of rebellion. And he knows all too well what survival requires. “After all these years, Joyce Carol Oates can still give me the creeps.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review “A lean and disturbing tale that reverberates after its ending.” —The Columbus Dispatch “Oates makes us squirm as she forces us to see some of the action through Love’s twisted and warped perspective.” —Kirkus Reviews “This unsettling tale showcases Oates’s masterful storytelling.” —Publishers Weekly

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    Lady Luck

      Kristen Ashley
     Lady Luck

Is love in the cards? Since birth, Lexie Berry has had nothing but bad luck. Orphaned at an early age, she had a rough childhood and a boyfriend who was murdered. Now the beautiful, stylish Lexie is determined to change her luck and her life. But first she's got to make good on a promise: to pick up Ty Walker from prison. One look at the gorgeous ex-convict and Lexie knows she's in trouble-and already thinking about taking a walk on the wild side . . . For five years, Ty was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Now he wants revenge on the people who framed him. Yet when the high-stakes poker player sees the leggy Lexie, he suddenly has other desires on his mind. Realizing that Ty is innocent, Lexie tries to stop his plan for vengeance and help him become a better man. But as Ty battles his inner demons, dirty cops and criminals plot to take him out. Can he and Lexie find a way to escape the past?

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    And the Dark Sacred Night

      Julia Glass
     And the Dark Sacred Night

In this richly detailed novel about the quest for an unknown father, Julia Glass brings new characters together with familiar figures from her first two novels, immersing readers in a panorama that stretches from suburban New Jersey to rural Vermont and ultimately to the tip of Cape Cod. Kit Noonan is an unemployed art historian with twins to help support and a mortgage to pay—and a wife frustrated by his inertia. Raised by a strong-willed, secretive single mother, Kit has never known the identity of his father—a mystery that his wife insists he must solve to move forward with his life. Out of desperation, Kit goes to the mountain retreat of his mother’s former husband, Jasper, a take-no-prisoners outdoorsman. There, in the midst of a fierce blizzard, Kit and Jasper confront memories of the bittersweet decade when their families were joined. Reluctantly breaking a long-ago promise, Jasper connects Kit with Lucinda and Zeke Burns, who know the answer he’s looking for. Readers of Glass’s first novel, Three Junes, will recognize Lucinda as the mother of Malachy, the music critic who died of AIDS. In fact, to fully understand the secrets surrounding his paternity, Kit will travel farther still, meeting Fenno McLeod, now in his late fifties, and Fenno’s longtime companion, the gregarious Walter Kinderman. And the Dark Sacred Night is an exquisitely memorable tale about the youthful choices that steer our destinies, the necessity of forgiveness, and the risks we take when we face down the shadows from our past. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.  

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    That Girl From Nowhere

      Dorothy Koomson
     That Girl From Nowhere

‘Where are you coming from with that accent of yours?' he asks. ‘Nowhere,' I reply. ‘I'm from nowhere.' ‘Everyone's from somewhere,' he says. ‘Not me,' I reply silently. Clemency Smittson was adopted as a baby and the only connection she has to her birth mother is a cardboard box hand-decorated with butterflies. Now an adult, Clem decides to make a drastic life change and move to Brighton, where she was born. Clem has no idea that while there she'll meet someone who knows all about her butterfly box and what happened to her birth parents. As the tangled truths about her adoption and childhood start to unravel, a series of shocking events cause Clem to reassess whether the price of having contact with her birth family could be too high to pay... An emotional story about love, identity and the meaning of family, That Girl From Nowehere is the new novel from the bestselling author of The Ice Cream Girls, The Woman He Loved Before and My Best Friend's Girl.

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    The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances

      Andy Andrews
     The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances

In the classic storytelling style of The Noticer and The Traveler's Gift, New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews now delivers an adventure set sharply against the warm waters and white sands of the Gulf of Mexico in WWII America. Saddened and unable to abandon her resentment toward the Nazi war machine that took her husband's life, the young and attractive Helen Mason is living a bitter, lonely existence. Betrayed and left for dead, German U-boat officer Lt. Josef Landermann washes ashore in a sleepy town along the northern gulf coast, looking to Helen for survival. The Heart Mender is a story of life, loss, and reconciliation, reminding us of the power of forgiveness and the universal healing experience of letting go.

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    Oopsy Daisy

      Lauren Myracle
     Oopsy Daisy

Life for the Flower Power girls is never boring. Milla, still madly in crush with sweet Max, wonders if it’s time—dun dun dun!—for the two of them to actually HOLD HANDS. Eeek! Katie-Rose, on the other hand, can’t help but wonder when—or if—she will ever be crush-worthy, especially since the only boy to pay her any attention is pesky, annoying Preston, whose favorite pastime is throwing erasers at Katie-Rose’s head. Violet, however, has bigger issues than boys on her mind. Her mom is finally scheduled to be discharged from the psychiatric hospital where she’s been undergoing treatment, but what if her homecoming doesn’t go as planned? Luckily, Yasaman has a foolproof plan for distracting her friends from their worries. The targets: beloved teachers Mr. Emerson and Ms. Perez, who are meant for each other, even if they don’t know it. The goal: to bring those lovebirds together at their school’s “Kids Night In,” a teacher-chaperoned evening of fun, fabulosity, and possibly even romance . . . Praise for Oopsy Daisy“Milla, Violet, Yaz and Katie-Rose continue to charm; here’s hoping they have more hijinks in store.”–Kirkus Reviews

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    Beauty Touched the Beast

      Skye Warren
     Beauty Touched the Beast

Erin cleans Mr. Morris’s house twice a week, soaking up every moment with the reclusive ex-soldier she secretly loves. Blake Morris knows he’s scarred both inside and out and is no good for the beautiful young woman who cleans his house to pay for college. But when Erin walks in on Blake touching himself and moaning her name, all bets are off.

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    The Flounder

      Günter Grass
     The Flounder

It all begins in the Stone Age, when a talking fish is caught by a fisherman at the very spot where millennia later Grass's home town, Danzig, will arise. Like the fish, the fisherman is immortal, and down through the ages they move together. As Grass blends his ingredients into a powerful brew, he shows himself at the peak of his linguistic inventiveness. Translated by Ralph Manheim. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

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    Dying

      Arthur Schnitzler
     Dying

When Marie realises, with horror, that Felix is intent on making her fulfill her rash vow to die with him, she is left with a terrible conundrum: how can she escape with her life without compromising the self-imposed decorum of attending to the wishes of her dying lover? Schnitzler's talent as a dramatist shines through in this engrossing and shocking psychological study set in fin de siecle Vienna.

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    The Island of the Day Before

      Umberto Eco
     The Island of the Day Before

After a violent storm in the South Pacific in the year 1643, Roberto della Griva finds himself shipwrecked-on a ship. Swept from the Amaryllis, he has managed to pull himself aboard the Daphne, anchored in the bay of a beautiful island. The ship is fully provisioned, he discovers, but the crew is missing. As Roberto explores the different cabinets in the hold, he remembers chapters from his youth: Ferrante, his imaginary evil brother; the siege of Casale, that meaningless chess move in the Thirty Years' War in which he lost his father and his illusions; and the lessons given him on Reasons of State, fencing, the writing of love letters, and blasphemy. In this fascinating, lyrical tale, Umberto Eco tells of a young dreamer searching for love and meaning; and of a most amazing old Jesuit who, with his clocks and maps, has plumbed the secrets of longitudes, the four moons of Jupiter, and the Flood.

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    In the Rue Monge: A Short Story

      Emmuska Orczy
     In the Rue Monge: A Short Story

In the Rue Monge, was written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy (author of the Scarlet Pimpernel series). This short story is about a scientist arrested by revolutionaries during the French Revolution and about to be executed as an enemy of the French government. But an English friend is determined to rescue him and take him to England. Will his plan succeed?

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    Travesties

      Tom Stoppard
     Travesties

"Travesties" ws born out of Stoppard's noting that in 1917 three of the twentieth century's most crucial revolutionaries -- James Joyce, the Dadaist founder Tristan Tzara, and Lenin -- were all living in Zurich. Also living in Zurich at this time was a British consula official called Henry Carr, a man acquainted with Joyce through the theater and later through a lawsuit concerning a pair of trousers. Taking Carr as his core, Stoppard spins this historical coincidence into a masterful and riotously funny play, a speculative portrait of what could have been the meeting of these profoundly influential men in a germinal Europe as seen through the lucid, lurid, faulty, and wholy riveting memory of an aging Henry Carr.

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    Innocent Target

      Katie Reus
     Innocent Target

From USA Today bestselling author Katie Reus comes the next story in the explosive Redemption Harbor series where sparks fly and so do bullets… He wasn’t supposed to fall for her… She was a target. A contract that came across his desk by mistake. Axel was simply going to warn her that she was in danger and get out. Then he got a taste of her and fell hard. But they’re from two different worlds. Not only is she innocent, she’s out of his league. He should keep his distance, but he can’t. Not when someone wants her dead. Now he’s driven to protect her, to keep her safe. What happens when she discovers who he really is? Hadley moved to Redemption Harbor for vet school and to be closer to her new family. Now that her billionaire father knows about her existence, her life has changed drastically. She just never imagined that she might be targeted because of her family. And she definitely never imagined she would fall for the one man she should never want. A man who kills for a living. A man who’s obsessed with her. A man who will do anything to protect her from the danger lurking in the shadows.

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    Bitter End

      Jennifer Brown
     Bitter End

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her. At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats. As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself.

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