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Book excerpt: ‘The Greatest Lie Of All’ by Jillian Cantor

Book Summary:

A young actress receives the role of a lifetime—playing a famous romance writer in a major biopic. But when she discovers a shocking secret about the author’s past, she realizes her own participation in the biopic is no coincidence. Perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Fledgling actress Amelia Grant is at rock bottom when offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to play world-renowned romance author Gloria Diamond in a biopic. She’ll spend a week with Gloria at her secluded Washington estate to prepare for the role. It’s a chance to get out of L.A., away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, and to make her recently deceased mother, who was Gloria’s biggest fan.

However, Amelia’s excitement is short-lived once she arrives at the estate. Gloria is cold, verging on rude, and so different from her public persona—a widow-turned-romance writer who used her own whirlwind love story as inspiration for her books. But when Amelia stumbles upon a secret from Gloria’s past, she realizes Gloria’s life story is more fiction than fact, and Amelia’s participation in the biopic is no coincidence.

Told in alternating points of view—Amelia in the present day and Gloria in the past—the novel examines what it means to be a woman and an artist and what lengths a woman will ultimately go to protect herself and her passions.

Purchase ‘The Greatest Lie Of All’ at HarperCollins, BookShop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million, and Target

About the Author:

Jillian Cantor is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of eleven novels for teens and adults. Her novels have been chosen for LibraryReads, Indie Next, and Amazon Best of the Month and have been translated into 13 languages. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Born and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, Cantor currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.

Author Jillian Cantor

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Book excerpt: ‘The Midnight Club’ by Margot Harrison

About the Book:

Four friends. A campus reunion. A dark new way to relive the past.

It’s been twenty-five years since The Midnight Club last convened. A tight-knit group of college friends bonded by late nights at the campus literary magazine, they’re also bonded by something darker: the death of their brilliant friend Jennet junior year. But now, decades later, a mysterious invitation has pulled them back to the pine-shrouded Vermont town where it all began.

As the estranged friends gather for a weeklong campus reunion, they soon learn that their host has an ulterior motive: she wants them to uncover the truth about the night Jennet died, and she’s provided them with an extraordinary method—a secret substance that helps them not only remember but relive the past.

But each one of the friends has something to hide. And the more they question each other, the deeper they dive into their own memories, the more they understand that nothing they thought they knew about their college years, and that fateful night, is true.

Twisty, nostalgic, and emotionally thrilling, The Midnight Club explores that innate desire to revisit our first loves, our biggest mistakes, and the gulf between who we are and who we hoped we’d be.

About the Author:

MARGOT HARRISON is the author of four young adult novels, including an Indies Introduce Pick, Junior Library Guild Selections, and Vermont Book Award Finalists. She grew up in New York and now lives in Vermont. The Midnight Club is her debut adult novel.

Author Margot Harrison – photo by Daria Bishop

Purchase ‘The Midnight Club’ at HarperCollins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and BookShop.org

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Book excerpt: ‘The Banned Books Club’ by Brenda Novak

Book Summary:

For fans of Elin Hilderbrand, a riveting exploration of family, sisterhood, and the transformative power of literature. When two sisters, one a free spirit at the helm of a rebellious book club, the other a conventional woman locked in the clutches of an unhappy marriage are forced into a reluctant reunion by their mother’s illness, they must confront past ghosts that rock the entire community.

Gia Rossi was considered a bit of a rebel in her small hometown of Wakefield, Iowa ever since she challenged the gaggle of well-meaning but misguided women from the PTA who’d insisted the high school English department, drop a number of “controversial” titles from the reading list. Gia had expected her favorite teacher to stand up for the books she loved by explaining why they were so important. Instead, just to avoid a fight, he’d caved in immediately, which was what had incited her to start The Banned Books Club.

That was the first time Mr. Hart had let her down, but it wouldn’t be the last. Because of him she left her hometown when she turned eighteen and graduated. But now, with her sister begging her to return home due to their mother’s failing health, Gia will come face to face with the beloved teacher who was fired after she reported him for sexual misconduct. Gia’s return has the town divided between those who believe her and those who believe she ruined Mr. Hart’s life. Even members of her beloved book club–who’ve continued to meet virtually over the years–aren’t sure who to believe.

Gia’s homecoming dredges up a lot of pain from her past. Her relationship with her sister has always been strained but there’s no denying that Margot has taken on the burden of caring for their mother and now it’s Gia’s turn to help. She’s grateful to have the time with her mother and to come to terms with what happened to her in high school. What she doesn’t expect is for her sister to use Gia’s arrival as the opportunity to pack up her kids and leave town to escape her emotionally abusive husband. With the support of an unlikely ally, Gia is able to prove that Mr. Hart really was to blame for his own downfall, supports her mother and her sister when they need her most and finds love and a future in the town she thought rejected her.

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Brenda Novak has penned over sixty novels. She is a five-time nominee for the RITA Award and has won the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Bookbuyer’s Best, and many other awards. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.

Author Brenda Novak – photo by Rudy Meyers

Purchase ‘The Banned Books Club’ at HarperCollins, BookShop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon
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Book excerpt: ‘Zetas Till We Die’ by Amber and Danielle Brown

Author Bio:

Amber and Danielle Brown both graduated from Rider University where they studied Communications/Journalism and sat on the editorial staff for the On Fire!! literary journal. They then pursued a career in fashion and spent five years in NYC working their way up, eventually managing their own popular fashion and lifestyle blog. Amber is also a screenwriter, so they live in LA, which works out perfectly so Danielle can spoil her plant babies with copious amounts of sunshine.

Book Summary:

“The Browns deliver their trademark mix of steamy sex and social commentary in an easy-to-binge package. This is bound to please fans of Shonda Rhimes.” —Publishers Weekly on Perfect Little Lives

SISTERS…FOR LIFE.

It’s been ten years since Priscilla and her Zeta Phi Zeta sorority sisters graduated college. Ten years since they were all in the same room together. Ten years since one of them died. And now Lupe’s killer has been released from prison on a technicality, days before their ten-year reunion.

Priscilla decides that the party must go on; Lupe would have wanted it to. And besides, an epic reunion bash might be the perfect distraction. Back together, the Zetas party like it’s 2012, and it’s wild, just the way it used to be. Maybe too wild. At least everyone makes it out alive this time…or so they think.

When one of them doesn’t return home after the party, Priscilla begins to realize that there might be more to Lupe’s murder and that someone is out for blood. With the murderer in their midst circling closer and closer, the Zetas are forced to confront what really happened the night Lupe died—and the secrets each of them swore to keep.

Purchase ‘Zetas Till We Die’ at BookShop.org, Harlequin, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million, and Apple Books

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Book excerpt: The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin

About the Book:

This is a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books to bring them together, written by the bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.

In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine independently. Still, with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job.

When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. After being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers and a renewed sense of purpose through her recommendations to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend more than ever on her community and the power of literature to find hope in the darkest of times.

Author Madeline Martin – photo provided by publicist

About the Author: Madeline Martin is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of historical fiction and romance with books translated into over twenty-five different languages.

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Book excerpt: The Body Next Door by Maia Chance

Author Bio:

Maia Chance is the author of the thriller “The Body Next Door” and ten mystery novels. Originally from northern Idaho, she has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in violin performance and a Ph.D. in English Literature. She lives on a bucolic island in Puget Sound with her husband, two children, and her dog.

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Author Maia Chance – Photo by Aesa Jonasson

Book Summary:

They buried their secrets, but not deep enough…

Hannah McCullough’s life is far from perfect, but you’d never know it by looking at her. Instead, you’d see a beautiful young mother devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You’d see her designer clothes, her luxury car, and the dewy-eyed au pair she employs.

You wouldn’t see the dark secret she carries.

But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep in places she knows she shouldn’t.

As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, Hannah’s picture-perfect marriage facade starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. Her search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers who have shocking secrets of their own.

Purchase “The Body Next Door” by Maia Chance at BookShop.org, Harlequin, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Books-A-Million

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Book excerpt: ‘Second Tide’s the Charm’ by Chandra Blumberg

Book Summary:

When two marine biologists with a complicated history are thrown together on a shark study broadcast over social media, it’s anything but smooth sailing. This charming and sexy second chance romance is the perfect beach read for fans of Helen Hoang and Ali Hazelwood.

At first glance, Hope Evans just landed the perfect job: spending the summer on a shark research boat. Except as every marine biologist knows, it’s what’s going on beneath the surface that counts, and Hope’s new position comes with a big catch—the boat belongs to her ex-boyfriend, Adrian Hollis-Parker. For three years Hope’s been treading water, staying away from anything that reminds her of their past. It’s time to dive back into a job that could springboard her career—and maybe offer much-needed closure.

Since their split, Adrian has risen to internet fame as a shark expert with the launch of his YouTube channel to dispel myths and educate viewers about sharks. But success rings hollow without Hope. Embracing this new career trajectory was a risk, but working in cramped quarters with the woman he never stopped loving? That has the potential to backfire in heartbreaking ways.

Side by side, weathering storms of every kind, they’ll have to navigate the murky waters of past hurts…and hope it’s not too late to chart a new course…

Purchase “Second Tide’s A Charm” at HarperCollins, BookShop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Author Chandra Blumberg – Photo by Maia Rosenfeld

Author Bio:

Chandra Blumberg writes funny, heartwarming love stories about characters that feel real and relatable. Born and raised in Michigan, Chandra moved to the Chicago area after majoring in English at Michigan State University. When she’s not writing, she enjoys lifting heavy barbells at the gym, making a mess of the kitchen while baking alongside her four kids, and traveling with her family.

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Q&A & book excerpt: Hannah McKinnon’s ‘Only One Survives’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland, and moved to Canada in 2010. Her seven suspense novels include ‘NEVER COMING HOME,’ ‘THE REVENGE LIST,’ and ‘ONLY ONE SURVIVES,’ and her work has been optioned for the screen. She also writes holiday romantic comedies as Holly Cassidy. Hannah Mary lives with her husband and three sons in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. You’ll find her on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads, such as @hannahmarymckinnon.

Author Hannah Mary McKinnon – photo by Robert McKinnon

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Becoming the star is easier when the rest of your band is dead…

All drummer Vienna Taylor ever wanted was to make music. If that came with fame, she’d take it—as long as her best friend, guitarist Madison Pierce, was sharing the spotlight and singing lead. And with their new all-female pop rock band gaining traction, soon everyone would hear their songs…

Except, on the way to an event, the Bittersweet’s van careened off an icy mountain road during a blizzard—leaving one member dead and another severely injured.

The rest took shelter in a nearby abandoned cabin to survive the frigid night. But Vienna’s dreams devolved into a terrifying nightmare as, one by one, her fellow band members met a gruesome end…and Madison vanished in the night.

What really happened to the Bittersweet? Did Vienna’s closest friend finally decide to take center stage on her own terms?

She doesn’t want to believe it.

But guilty people run.

Purchase ‘Only One Survives’ at BookShop.org, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon

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Book excerpt: ‘The Backtrack’ by Erin La Rosa

ABOUT THE BOOK:

From the author of FOR BUTTER OR WORSE and PLOT TWIST comes a new speculative contemporary romance. One woman is sucked into the past—and shown glimpses of what her life could have been—as she listens to nostalgic hits on her old CD player. For fans of Rebecca Serle and Allison Winn Scotch.

When pilot Sam Leto jet-setted out of small town Georgia, she promised she’d never be back—even though it meant leaving behind her best friend, Damon Rocha. Now on a forced vacation home to pack up her childhood house (and help her injured grandmother), Sam is unexpectedly hit with nostalgia from her teens–especially her bedroom, perfectly preserved from the time she left all those years ago. Sam discovers an old CD player among her teenage possessions, and in listening to the burned disc inside, she receives flashbacks from her past life–senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them. They show an alternate past. What could have been. If she never left Georgia all those years ago, would she now have the life (and love) she always wanted for herself?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

ERIN LA ROSA is the author of ‘For Butter or Worse’ and ‘Plot Twist.’ On her way to writing romance, she’s also published two humorous nonfiction books, ‘Womanskills’ and ‘The Big Redhead Book.’ She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four daughters (two humans and two felines). Find her on Twitter and Instagram @erinlarosalit and TikTok @erinlarosawrites.

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Author Erin La Rosa – photo by Cathryn Farnsworth

Purchase ‘The Backtrack’ at Ripped Bodice, BookShop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Read an exclusive prologue excerpt from ‘The Backtrack’

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Book excerpt: ‘Made For You’ by Jenna Satterthwaite

Author Bio:

Born in the Midwest, Jenna Satterthwaite grew up in Spain, lived briefly in France, and is now happily settled in Chicago with her husband and three kids. Jenna studied classical guitar, English Literature, and French and once was a singer-songwriter in the folk band Thornfield. She loves sushi, reading in her natural habitat (her bed), and women taking back their power. Made For You is her debut novel.

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Author Jenna Satterthwaite – Photo by Anna Ilagen

Book Summary:

Hi. My name is Julia. I’m a Synth. And I’m here to find love…

Synthetic woman Julia Walden was designed for one reason: to compete on The Proposal and claim the heart of bachelor Josh LaSala. Her casting is controversial, but Julia seems to get her fairy-tale ending when Josh gets down on one knee.

Fast-forward fifteen months, and Julia and Josh are married and raising their baby in small-town Indiana. But with haters around every corner, Julia’s life is a far cry from the domestic bliss she imagined. Then her splintering world shatters: Josh goes missing, and she becomes the prime suspect in his murder.

With no one left she can trust, Julia takes the investigation into her own hands. But the explosive truths she uncovers will drive her to her breaking point—and isn’t that where a person’s true nature is revealed? That is…if Julia truly is a person.

Told via dual timelines, Jenna Satterthwaite’s twist-filled debut deftly explores the exhilarating point where artificial intelligence, reality TV, and bone-chilling murder mystery meet.