THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  A woman tests the limits of her so-called amicable divorce when she flies to Paris for the destination wedding of her former sister-in-law, only to butt heads with the deliciously gruff best man, in the poignant and romantic novel, THE PARIS MATCH (Berkley) from Kate Clayborn. Physician Layla Bailey has spent over a year telling herself she's moved on from a painful but amicable divorce from her college sweetheart. Staying friends with her ex seemed like the mature thing to do, but when Layla is invited to her former sister-in-law’s destination wedding in Paris—where Layla once spent her own romantic honeymoon—she knows her commitment to maturity might be her worst enemy…especially since her ex isn’t attending alone. The only thing that could make the week more difficult is getting through it without the distraction of the wedding.... But when what Layla thought was a harmless conversation about the choices of her younger self leads to the bride getting cold feet, Layla finds her...

**One of Debutiful 's Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2026** Catch Me If You Can meets Counterfeit in this thrilling debut novel, NAMES MAY HAVE BEEN CHANGED (TinyReparationBooks)h about Ophir—not her real name—who starts a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe, in an unforgettable story about the costs of freedom and the inescapable pull of home Ophir’s tale begins in Singapore, where a petty crime spins out of control, estranging her from home and family. Resorting to false identities and forged passports (being mixed-race helps), she crisscrosses the globe from a Paris-themed hostess bar in Tokyo, to a bustling Chinese restaurant in London, to a snowbound mountain town in Colorado and beyond. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location, Ophir is funny, prickly, tough, and vulnerable, entrancing her listeners with an irresistible, no-holds-barred recounting of not only her crimes (plural) but also her deepest secrets and regrets. Even as she moves seaml...

  I haven't read many books that have scared the life out of me. IN DEEP WATER (StMartinsPress) is one of those books that did, and kept me reading straight through. I've often think about shark attacks when swimming in the ocean. Now I can add going out in a boat. This is the terrifying true story of a fight for survival for 28 hours in shark-infested waters. October 8, 2022. Three friends are fishing for red snapper when their boat, tied to an oil rig, begins taking on water and sinks 15 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Suddenly, the three men find themselves in a struggle for their lives. Their vessel succumbs to the building seas so quickly that the fisherman are unable to send out a radio Mayday call, and their cell phones have no reception. They only have time to put on their life jackets and hold onto a cooler as they are swept further out to sea. They vow to stay together no matter what and must make several life or death decisions. Suffering from hypothermia and severe...

  Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. Other prosecutors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they’ve all focused on the crime syndicate’s traditional businesses—bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing—or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its hand in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can’t get Luciano alone. Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all. Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a n...

Loss has a way of altering everything at once. Familiar routines become unfamiliar. Silence takes on new meaning. Even ordinary moments can feel impossible to navigate. In Notes from Planet Widow , Gwen Suesse writes from inside that reality, offering an intimate and deeply human account of grief after the sudden death of her husband. Rather than presenting formulas or promises of healing, the book explores what it means to live through disorientation one day at a time. Through reflections shaped by loneliness, fear, anger, memory, and unexpected moments of grace, Suesse examines how grief changes not only daily life, but also identity, relationships, and a person’s understanding of themselves. The result is a thoughtful, compassionate work for readers searching not for easy reassurance, but for honesty, recognition, and the quiet possibility of finding steadier ground again. EXCERPT PLANET WIDOW. A desolate, hostile land. Bleak. Unfamiliar. Foreign. So far away until suddenly it was n...

  Unearth your sacred, authentic self in this bold guide to inner transformation. In  Dance Like Nobody’s Watching (St. Martin's Press) , spiritual teacher and forgiveness authority Michelle Wadleigh invites you on a transformative journey through the twelve essential dimensions of self—from Self-Awareness to Self-Love. With each chapter, you are guided through illuminating truths, gentle provocations, and practical soul work to uncover the power, presence, and potential already within you. Drawing from her lifetime of spiritual practice, teaching, and lived experience, Wadleigh offers a grounded yet poetic path toward embodied freedom. Combining the  insights of beloved spiritual traditions with the tools of modern coaching,  Dance Like Nobody’s Watching  helps readers confront internalized beliefs that keep them small—such as  self-criticism, shame, and unworthiness—and replace them with liberating practices of self-inquiry, self-forgiveness, and self-exp...

  In SOMEBODY WORTH KILLING (Berkley) by Jessica Payne, Nadia Davis is living the dream as a successful working mom with a career she loves, two adorable little girls, and a devoted husband who has no idea that she’s secretly a hired assassin and psychopath who kills certified bad guys.  So when Nadia finds out she’s been “mommy tracked” by her assassin’s agency and is no longer getting the bigger, more exciting jobs, she demands an important mark…somebody worth killing.   But it turns out that big kill is the last person she expects—her husband. How is the sweet, kind, teller-of-dad jokes she’s promised her life to an evil villain who needs exterminating? Has their whole life together been a lie?  Now Nadia must choose between the two things she loves most in life, the career that keeps her sane or the family she thought she knew. Jessica Payne  lives in Washington State with her daughter and husband and an internet search history that would raise eyebrows. A f...

  It's 1978, and twenty-four-year-old Linda Gambill is stuck with a dead-end job, a nightly marijuana habit, and a troubled relationship with a former professor. Desperate to explore the world and find her place in it, she makes good on a long-held dream. She joins the Peace Corps.  A year later, she arrives in Medina, a devout Muslim village in The Gambia, West Africa. She's tasked with teaching health and nutrition to the village women, but they have no confidence in a young white woman trying to change their ways. Instead of finding a sense of belonging, Linda becomes so depressed she can barely leave her hut.  When tragedy strikes, her perspective shifts from self-absorption to service. She learns the local language, forges friendships, and begins to make her mark on the village, all the while falling in love with two very different men.  But it is only when violence erupts that the course of her life becomes clear.  Richly sensual and poignant,  The Ge...

  In 1957, newly orphaned Aria Jones is sent to live with her aunt, a fading star who hides away in Hollywood's infamous Chateau Marmont. There, two aspiring actresses, Calliope and Flitter, take grieving Aria under their wing. But the Marmont isn't meant for small girls with big hearts, and Aria's first few nights reveal an insidious secret that continues to haunt her as she grows up in the hotel's halls, where the bright lights of Hollywood cast even darker shadows. If Aria can just stay invisible and invite no trouble as she saves money, then she can leave the Marmont and live life on her own terms—alone, but free.  All her carefully laid plans are shattered when the hotel is bought by Theo Winchester: a reclusive rockstar turned unexpected caretaker of his daughter, Adele, and unlike any man Aria has met before. To earn the last bit of money she needs to escape, Aria becomes Adele's tutor, which brings Aria closer to Theo and ignites a passion she never expected...

  THE FORTY-YEAR GRUDGE by Liza Tully is the second book in the "Merritt and Blunt Mysteries series." When the World’s Greatest Detective reunites with her college friends, she discovers that time doesn’t heal all wounds. It’s been four decades since the women of Sigma Delta Tau were last together. The passing years, growing families, and maturing careers may have strained the bonds of sisterhood, but now a reunion at the Western ranch of one member offers an opportunity to renew acquaintances…and at least one long-standing grudge. Still, this weekend is supposed to be a pleasant diversion for former sorority member and current private investigator Aubrey Merritt. She’s come to New Mexico to reconnect with old friends and she’s brought along her personal assistant, Olivia Blunt—an aspiring detective who is learning more about packing bags on this trip than about solving crimes. The shocking murder of a sorority sister changes everything. With the local police overmatched, all...

Nantucket is the perfect place for a new beginning. Claire Shipman never imagined she'd be the single mom of a teenager, going through a contentious divorce, and unexpectedly pregnant. On the bright side, at least she's on Nantucket, where she grew up, and where her mother and grandmother welcome her home with open arms. For years, Claire lived an enviable Manhattan lifestyle. Until her ex had a marriage-ending affair, lost his job, and lost all their money. Claire's high school friends invite her to their book club, and an offhand joke that she could sell one of her Hermes bags sparks a business idea.  Her friend's brother, Cody, is a furniture builder with a spare storefront. He's initially skeptical about the prospects of a "used handbag shop". But Claire is determined. With the support of Lily, her mother, grandmother, old friends, and new ones, she begins to build a true second chance at a new life. b Pamela Kelley is a USA Today and Wall Street Journ...

  Minha is born on the backstreets of late nineteenth-century London, the daughter of an Indian spice merchant and an English prostitute. She has a remarkable gift: an incredible sense of taste. She can taste the earth in which potatoes were grown or the tree on which fruits have ripened. She can smell each ingredient—and identify a single false note. But Minha’s gift and her mixed-race heritage provoke mistrust and rejection, even within her own family.  Escaping alone to France, Minha chances upon work in the Château de Bellefalaise, where for the first time her strange abilities are lauded.       As official poison taster for Duc Nicolas, Minha must taste every morsel of food that will pass his lips. Others in the household are hostile to her, but when she discovers a man hiding in the stables, their unexpected meeting turns into the first true connection she’s felt since arriving in France.      But mystery and paranoi...

  A deadly game of cat and mouse unfolds when a housewife with a secret life takes on a tech billionaire with secrets darker than her own in Ren DeStephano's novel, A LIE FOR A LIE (Berkley). Margaux leads a double life that would make most people dizzy. By day, she's a seemingly ordinary interior decorator with a picture-perfect marriage. By night, she works for a mysterious employer known only as Mr. X. She infiltrates the lives of dangerous targets, gaining their trust and ultimately exposing their crimes.  Her latest Unraveling the secret life of Bertram Casimir, a billionaire tech CEO whose career is as mysterious as his past. His sister claims he stole her app to build his fortune. Not only that, his girlfriend may have gone missing recently. He sees through her carefully constructed facade, matching her move for move. As the lines between hunter and prey blur, Margaux finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Bertram. They share more than she'd like to admit—a dangerous in...

  From acclaimed agrarian activist and ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, WATER IN THE DESERT (MilkweedEditions)  is a profoundly inspiring account of interspecies belonging, collaborative conservation, and the sacred work of caring for the earth. “I went looking for water in the desert and found that the world was teaching me how to listen.” Celebrated as a “world visionary” ( Utne Reader ) and our “lyrical poet of biodiversity” ( Mother Jones ), Gary Paul Nabhan has authored dozens of books and been awarded a MacArthur “genius grant.” In Water in the Desert , he traces the fascinating story of his life, offering in the process a vision for cultural renewal. As a Lebanese-American boy growing up in the dunes along Lake Michigan’s southern shore, where school is excruciating and symptoms of neurodivergence are diagnosed as disabilities, Nabhan finds refuge and revelation in the natural world. In college, he gravitates to the thinkers now associated with the dawn of ecology as a d...