Brunch and Other Obligations

Brunch and Other Obligations
Author: Suzanne Nugent
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2020-05-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1631528556

“Poignant, funny, and smart, Brunch and Other Obligations is a must-have for contemporary women's fiction shelves. Readers will want to watch for what Nugent does next.” —Booklist “A thoroughly upbeat and fully entertaining novel from cover to cover.” —Midwest Book Review “Brunch and Other Obligations is women’s fiction at its finest! A tender, witty, heartfelt novel that had me laughing out loud in one chapter and reaching for tissues in the next. With humor, heart, and hope, Nugent reminds us that, once in a lifetime, if we’re very, very lucky, we just might find a friend who knows us better than we know ourselves.” —Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times best-selling author of The Life List The only thing reclusive bookworm Nora, high-powered attorney Christina, and supermom-in-training Leanne ever had in common was their best friend, Molly. When Molly dies, she leaves mysterious gifts and cryptic notes for each of her grieving best friends, along with one final request: that these three mismatched frenemies have brunch together every month for a year. Filled with heartwrenching scenes and witty prose, Brunch and Other Obligations explores the intricate dynamics of girlhood acquaintances who are forced to reconnect as women. This upbeat novel reminds readers that there’s hope for getting through the hard times in life—with a lot of patience, humor, and a standing brunch date.

Hollyland

Hollyland
Author: Patricia Leavy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2023-04-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1647422973

What happens when a seemingly ordinary woman with a passion for the arts falls in love with a Hollywood star known for his bachelor status and quick temper with the paparazzi? Something extraordinary. Dee Schwartz is a writer and arts researcher. Ryder Field is a famous actor descended from Hollywood royalty. On the night they meet outside a bar, their connection is palpable. Ryder’s mother—legendary actress Rebecca Field, half of Hollywood’s golden couple when she died—was kidnapped and murdered by a crazed fan in a shocking event that forever tarnished Tinseltown. Dee’s mother, too, died when she was young. Bonded by this loss, the two embark on a love story that explores their search for magic—or “gold dust”—in their lives. Everything changes, however, when Dee mysteriously disappears after an awards ceremony. Is history repeating itself? Can there truly be a happily ever after in Hollywood? Set against the backdrop of contemporary Los Angeles, Hollyland is a poignant novel that moves fluidly between romance, humor, suspense, and joy.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes
Author: Elissa R. Sloan
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0063009455

“The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes is a page-turning peek inside the glamour and brutality of life as a pop star. Sloan takes us on a wild ride through the world of music video shoots, expensive hotels, and arena tours—showing us the darkness that threatens just below the surface.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones and The Six “I didn't know I was waiting for a smart, literary writer to craft a novel about the rise and fall of a teen star akin to Britney Spears until I discovered The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes. A witty, bright, hilarious—and at times devastating—read. I loved it." —Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters Cassidy Holmes isn't just a celebrity. She is “Sassy Gloss,” the fourth member of the hottest pop group America has ever seen. Hotter than Britney dancing with a snake, hotter than Christina getting dirrty, Gloss was the pop act that everyone idolized. Fans couldn't get enough of them, their music, and the drama that followed them like moths to a flame—until the group’s sudden implosion in 2002. And at the center of it all was Sassy Cassy, the Texan with a signature smirk that had everyone falling for her. But now she's dead. Suicide. The world is reeling from this unexpected news, but no one is more shocked than the three remaining Glossies. Fifteen years ago, Rose, Merry, and Yumi had been the closest to Cassidy, and this loss is hitting them hard. Before the group split, they each had a special bond with Cassidy—truths they told, secrets they shared. But after years apart, each of them is wondering: what could they have done? Told in multiple perspectives—including Cassidy herself—and different timelines, this is a behind-the-scenes look into the rise and fall of a pop icon, and a penetrating examination of the dark side of celebrity and the industry that profits from it.

Brunch at Bittersweet Café

Brunch at Bittersweet Café
Author: Carla Laureano
Publisher: NavPress
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2019-02-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496420314

From the RITA Award–winning author of Five Days in Skye comes a sweet, romantic treat that will leave you hungry for more. Baker and pastry chef Melody Johansson has always believed in finding the positive in every situation, but seven years after she moved to Denver, she can’t deny that she’s stuck in a rut. One relationship after another has ended in disaster, and her classical French training is being wasted on her night job in a mediocre chain bakery. Then the charming and handsome private pilot Justin Keller lands on the doorstep of her workplace in a snowstorm, and Melody feels like it’s a sign that her luck is finally turning around. Justin is intrigued by the lively bohemian baker, but the last thing he’s looking for is a relationship. His own romantic failures have proven that the demands of his job are incompatible with meaningful connections, and he’s already pledged his life savings to a new business venture across the country—an island air charter in Florida with his sister and brother-in-law. Against their better judgment, Melody and Justin find themselves drawn together by their unconventional career choices and shared love of adventure. But when an unexpected windfall provides Melody with the chance to open her dream bakery-café in Denver with her best friend, chef Rachel Bishop, she’s faced with an impossible choice: stay and put down roots with the people and place she’s come to call home . . . or give it all up for the man she loves.

The Revolutionaries Try Again

The Revolutionaries Try Again
Author: Mauro Javier Cardenas
Publisher: Coffee House Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2016-08-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1566894476

Extravagant, absurd, and self-aware, The Revolutionaries Try Again plays out against the lost decade of Ecuador's austerity and the stymied idealism of three childhood friends—an expat, a bureaucrat, and a playwright—who are as sure about the evils of dictatorship as they are unsure of everything else, including each other. Everyone thinks they're the chosen ones, Masha wrote on Antonio's manuscript. See About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson. Then she quoted from Hope Against Hope by Nadezhda Mandelstam, because she was sure Antonio hadn't read her yet: Can a man really be held accountable for his own actions? His behavior, even his character, is always in the merciless grip of the age, which squeezes out of him the drop of good or evil that it needs from him. In San Francisco, besides the accumulation of wealth, what does the age ask of your so called protagonist? No wonder he never returns to Ecuador. Mauro Javier Cardenas grew up in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and graduated with a degree in Economics from Stanford University. Excerpts from his first novel, The Revolutionaries Try Again, have appeared in Conjunctions, the Antioch Review, Guernica, Witness, and BOMB. His interviews and essays on/with László Krasznahorkai, Javier Marias, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Juan Villoro, and Antonio Lobo Antunes have appeared in Music & Literature, San Francisco Chronicle, BOMB, and the Quarterly Conversation.

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
Author: Rob Sanders
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2019-04-23
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1524719528

Celebrate Pride every day with the very first picture book to tell of its historic and inspiring role in the gay civil rights movement, from the author of the acclaimed Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag. A powerful and timeless true story that will allow young readers to discover the rich and dynamic history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement--a movement that continues to this very day. In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police in New York City. Though the inn had been raided before, that night would be different. It would be the night when empowered members of the LGBTQ+ community--in and around the Stonewall Inn--began to protest and demand their equal rights as citizens of the United States. Movingly narrated by the Stonewall Inn itself, and featuring stirring and dynamic illustrations, Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution is an essential and empowering civil rights story that every child deserves to hear.

Wake My Heart

Wake My Heart
Author: Lydia Michaels
Publisher: Lydia Michaels Books
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

From bestselling and award winning author, Lydia Michaels, comes a small town romance readers will want to visit again and again! Ryan Clooney moves to the outskirts of his small town and the last thing he expects to find is love, but once he meets Maggie, the beautiful, young widow next door, his plans change. Maggie O’Malley is not looking for romance. Since losing her husband, she has withdrawn from small-town life and prefers to be left alone. But her new neighbor doesn’t seem to understand personal privacy, and the more he intrudes on her solitary world, the less control she has over her heart. Determined to charm Maggie, Ryan pulls out all the stops. But once real emotion gets involved, things go too far and Maggie has a difficult decision to make.

If You Miss the Train I'm on

If You Miss the Train I'm on
Author: Grace Willetts
Publisher: Grace Willetts
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2009-02
Genre:
ISBN: 1600761240

As Greg struggles after losing his wife in a car accident, he discovers among her final effects well-kept secrets that throw their shared history and relationship into question. Who was she? Which part of her life was the real one? Here begins a journey where truth and reality fragment, and Greg learns to survive among these complexities.

Sunswept

Sunswept
Author: Carla Laureano
Publisher: Laureano Creative Media LLC
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2021-04-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1732794049

Real estate agent Bailey Jensen just wants a single quiet weekend in the midst of her goal-driven life, and a professional conference in Islamorada, Florida seems like just the thing—if she can ignore the fact she’ll be flying conspicuously solo at the company awards banquet in front of her ex-boyfriend and his new love. Free spirit Zane Whitney would normally consider the Florida Keys his happy place, but considering he’s in Islamorada to witness his college roommate marry his ex-girlfriend, it’s the last place he wants to be. Complicate that with the fact he RSVP’d for two and he’s still conspicuously dateless, and this has all the earmarks of a humiliation in the making. When Bailey and Zane find themselves double-booked into the same vacation rental, they realize their host’s mistake just might be the answer to their problems: share the house, act as each other’s plus-ones, and then move on with their lives. But neither Bailey nor Zane anticipates the possibility that a fake relationship might just give way to real feelings… Length: 40,000/approx 120 pages Genre: Clean contemporary romance

Little Grunt and the Big Egg

Little Grunt and the Big Egg
Author: Tomie dePaola
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2006-06-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1101996889

Tomie dePaola's classic (and hilarious) story of a young cave boy and his mysterious egg. Mama Grunt sends Little Grunt out to find a dozen eggs. All he can find is one huge egg. The egg hatches and out pops a baby dinosaur. Little Grunt names him George. Soon George grows too big for the Grunt family cave, and poor Little Grunt has to send him away. But when the local volcano erupts, there's only one dinosaur who can save the day!