THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  New York Times  bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns in her new novel, THE FRIENDSHIP PACT (Avon) to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns the meaning of true love along the way. Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she’s never met, April, for the first time in her life, goes silent. To make matters worse, Tae is dangerously close to broke and just manages to avoid financial meltdown when she lands a shiny new contract with an adventure company for athletes with disabilities and wounded warriors. Her first big fundraiser event falls flat, but what starts out as a terrible, horrible, no-good night turns into something else entirely when Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland. She hasn’t seen the former Marine since their brief fling in high school, and while still intensely drawn...

  When a cold-case serial killer returns, FBI special agent Fiona Kelly has one last chance to stop him before he claims the prize he’s always wanted— her . Buckle up your seats, HER DARKEST SECRET (LoveInspired/Harlequin) by Jessica R. Patch is a thrilling roller coaster ride. The sight of a goose feather at a murder scene modeled after a children’s poem is enough to make FBI special agent Fiona Kelly's blood turn to ice. Almost two decades ago, a feather was left with her sister's body—and with every subsequent victim of the Nursery Rhyme Killer. Now he's back. Only this time, his latest gruesome murder is a message to the only one who ever got away: Fiona. Finding “Rhyme” is an obsession that's fueled Fiona's career—and destroyed her marriage to fellow FBI agent Asa Kodiak. Now Fiona and Asa have to put their past tensions aside and work together one last time. But Rhyme is watching, and catching this killer may force Fiona to reveal her biggest, darkest secret…t...

  A burned-out veterinarian takes a much-needed beach vacation, where a charming surfer makes waves in her love life, and a unique foster pup renews her passion for her work.   In Victoria Schade's new novel, DOG FRIENDLY (Berkley) exhausted veterinarian Morgan Pearce is feeling overworked and under-thanked, so when two favorite clients ask her to watch their special needs senior dog in their Nantucket home, she jumps at the chance for a summer break. She hopes her time on the island will be a reset from the stress of her everyday life, but her chill vacation vibe takes a hit when she gets roped into fostering a challenging, anxious dog and helping plan the local rescue group’s glittery annual fundraiser.   Her trip starts to feel more like a vacation when Morgan begins falling for Nathan Keating, an irresistible entrepreneur who thinks every problem can be solved on a surfboard. Just as the summer is shaping up to be the magical refresh she needs, thanks to a fling that ...

  I picked up the novel, THE LOBOTOMIST'S WIFE (LakeUnion) by debut author, Samantha Greene Woodruff initially with some trepidation, but once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. Yes, it's about that - lobotomies - the pick in the eye thing, but it's so much more. Greene Woodruff weaves together a historically accurate narrative about Dr. Walter Freeman's introduction of the - lobotomy, which became the "ice pick" through the eye socket technique. He performed it on hundreds of patients suffering from migraines to depression, and more than half women. At that time in history, women were basically kept silent, unable to speak for themselves.  Taken from this shocking chapter in medical history, 1936-1950s, THE LOBOTOMIST'S WIFE tells the story of a courageous woman, the doctor's wife, who is at first in awe of Freeman but realizes he's nothing more than an egotistical madman. THE LOBOTOMIST'S WIFE is a compelling story which highlight...

  BELINDA (DosPerrePublishing) is the latest title in author, Mark Zvonkovic's Raymond Hatch stories. It's a spy thriller meets romance novel which will have you on the edge of your seat from page one. Set in the conference rooms of a white-shoe Houston law firm and the stunning coastline of Baja California, Belinda is the story of a woman’s bravery and resourcefulness at the end of her brilliant career. Her decision to fight her firm’s men in suits who demand her retirement is called into question when a man once her lover appears after a long unexplained absence. Against a backdrop of romance and legal drama, the novel explores questions about love, the law, and the anxious precipice of life change. Is it ever too late to be swept away by romance? Can true justice ever be attained when the law’s practitioners are corrupt? And when your work is what defines you, what’s left after retirement? During a week of surprises and abstruse events, Belinda sees the once presumed greatn...

  In every life, there lurks catastrophe. So believes Eli Dagan, a thirty-nine-year-old man whose traumatic past led to his service as an assassin for the Mossad. In Mark Rubinstein's thriller, ASSASSIN'S LULLABY Eli now lives in New York City, where under various assumed names he’s a contract killer.  Anton Gorlov, the head of the Brooklyn-based Odessa mafia, has a new and challenging assignment for Eli. Gorlov wants to leave the country permanently, so all loose ends must be eliminated. He’s willing to pay $1 million for a task divided into two parts. The job involves extreme measures along with unprecedented danger for Eli, who has lived a ghostly existence over the last ten years. Is accepting Gorlov’s offer a subliminal death wish? Or is it a way to reclaim part of his damaged soul? For the first time since his pregnant wife and parents were killed by a suicide bomber years earlier, Eli Dagan faces challenges that will reconnect him with his blighted past and may yet offe...

  Two families unlike any others, the Kellys and Lees vacation on a remote island, Mun’dai off the coast of Australia in Georgia Clark’s novel, ISLAND TIME (Atria/Simon&Schuster). I’m sure they planned on family fights and disagreements but never in a million years, a volcano erupting causing a tsunami stranding them on the island for six weeks. A lot changes in six weeks for all family members and employees there to take care of their every need.  The inner dynamics of the two families connected by marriage all have secrets. There are dysfunctional family moments, melodrama, one-liners that’ll make you pee laughing, podcasting as well as sadness, uncertainty and love and gratitude all on beautiful beaches. There are nine POVs and to be honest I usually have to keep notes reading a novel with so many. But in ISLAND TIME the characters are described so well, they’re complex and unique. I loved meeting all of them. I haven’t read many lgbtq+ novels, but I loved the diversit...

  An intriguing client. A passionate attorney. A deadly game. Top global technology lawyer Tornait “Torn” Sagara knows he shouldn’t get involved with his beautiful client, Saya Brooks, whose revolutionary lightning-on-demand invention will solve climate change and render all other energy sources obsolete. But their shared connection as  hafu  (half Japanese, half American) draws them irresistibly together. Saya’s technology could save the world, but what’s good for the planet is bad news for those who profit from the status quo. Now, someone wants to stop Saya from commercializing her invention and will go to any lengths—even murder—to do so. When Torn takes Saya for a spin on his motorcycle, they are viciously attacked. That death-defying battle on a crowded Tokyo expressway is only the start of Torn’s wild ride. As the violence escalates, Torn discovers that everything he values—his reputation, his family, and even his life—is on the line. Racing from the boardrooms of ...

  As June turns to July turns to August, secrets will be unearthed, betrayals will come to light in Meg Moore Mitchell's new novel, VACATIONLAND (WilliamMorrow). Louisa has come to her parents’ house in Maine this summer with all three of her kids, a barely-written book, and a trunkful of resentment. Left behind in Brooklyn is her husband, who has promised that after this final round of fundraising at his startup he will once again pick up his share of the household responsibilities. Louisa is hoping that the crisp breeze off Penobscot Bay will blow away the irritation she is feeling with her life choices and replace it with enthusiasm for both her family and her work. But all isn’t well in Maine. Louisa’s father, a retired judge and pillar of the community, is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Louisa’s mother is alternately pretending everything is fine and not pretending at all. And one of Louisa’s children happens upon a very confusing and heartfelt letter referring to something ...

  Dark secrets are buried deep in the community of Ebbing, England in Fiona Barton's new novel, LOCAL GONE MISSING (Berkley). Locals and the weekends are at odds with each other. Weekenders are crowding the town and building huge homes in this once quaint seaside town and the locals don't appreciate the changes. Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing.  Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.    The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a weekend music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise starts digging for answers....