THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  A SPINKLE of SWEET SERENDIPITY (Berkley) is a tantalizing novel about a struggling chocolatier who is granted a magical vision of the future of her dreams, only to realize that her heart may desire something else entirely, from the bestselling author of The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie. Paris-trained chocolatier and single mother Emmie Wynne gave up her own dreams six years ago when she returned to her Pacific Northwest coastal tourist town to run her family’s struggling candy store. Now on her thirty-fourth birthday, Emmie has only one wish, to be granted the vision that every Wynne woman is given once in her lifetime—a shimmering glimpse of her true destiny. This year, when she blows out her candles, it will finally come true. Her vision is more delectable than she could’ve imagined—her very own artisanal chocolate shop filled with decadent truffles and caramels, and her celebrity crush, Henry Summers, down on one knee. And when Henry suddenly arrives in town for the summer, of...

  Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in. Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.   Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped, and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway, and the plane flies off.   An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly viole...

  Recipient of the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize “One of America’s greatest storytellers.”—Jonathan Evison The acclaimed Willy Vlautin returns with a heartbreaking and tender novel about two young brothers, the vicissitudes of fate, and unexpected connection—a beautiful and bittersweet portrait that illuminates the power of friendship and how it can save lives in multiple ways. Eddie Wilkens is a workaholic house painter in his early forties. His wife has left him to her regret, and his main employee, Houston, is a loafer and scoundrel who barely shows up for work. Unassuming and self-reliant, Eddie is a thoughtful man who rarely gets angry, despite life's frequent provocations, but he is ruled by a guilt that he has carried for nearly twenty years. Next door, a woman and her two sons move in with their frail, aging mother. The youngest boy, Russell, eight years old, is quiet and small for his age and lives in constant terror of his increasingly lost and troubled fifteen-year-old br...

  b NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY  THE NEW YORK TIMES,  GOODREADS , TOWN & COUNTRY, MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE, GARDEN & GUN,  AARP , WOMAN’S WORLD,   COUNTRY LIVING,  AND  OPRAH DAILY The multimillion-copy-selling author of  The Help  returns with a bold, big-hearted novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what’s rightfully theirs—and the power of friendship to change everything. Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.  Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.  Then, Bi...

  A fiction debut filled with heart and humor,  A Zoom with a View (Dutton Books)  will make you want to move to Blue Oak—if only the annual Fourth of July festivities didn't end with a dead body. Leo can't believe she's back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York—especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo’s career in academia in shambles, at least she's able to work as a photographer for her godmother's real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess—and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack. But while at work, Leo makes a grisly discovery at one of her godmother's properties: the dead body of rival real estate agent and social media influencer Chaz. Even worse, Leo and Emily have been secretly running a snarky Reddit page making fun o...

  A heartwarming story from  Sunday Times  bestseller Milly Johnson. Tam Remington had her life planned out. Until a conversation in a broken lift—with her worst enemy—changes everything. For a decade, Tam has quietly held YorkMart together whilst others took the credit, making herself smaller in the process. When she’s briefly promoted to acting Managing Director, she finally has a chance to shine—until her promotion is snatched away and handed to Jack Cesaroni—the man brought in to do the job that should have been hers. Tam expects nothing but disappointment from Jack. But when they’re trapped in a lift between floors thirteen and fourteen, he sees what no one else has: Tam is  exceptional . That single word of recognition sparks something Tam thought she’d lost—and an unexpected connection she never saw coming. Now Tam faces an impossible choice: stay being the smaller version of herself she’s become used to, or take a leap and reclaim the vibrant, authentic woman...