**My obnoxious, unemployed neighbor is the last man on earth I’d ever marry, but to save my job and my reputation in this small town I’ll have to pretend I’m his fiancée.** I’ve always played by the rules. I work hard at my teaching job and I take care of the people I love. Sure my furniture hasn’t been updated since the sixties (I inherited it from my parents), I love classic movies, and I prefer sweater sets to mini-skirts, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to settle down with fifteen cats and accept spinsterhood. 📚
I want to fall in love, marry the right guy—an upstanding, risk-averse, good citizen who pays his bills on time—and have kids. I just keep ending up on dates that go nowhere with men who think discussing their ex-wives is appropriate first-date conversation. **Lying to my boss, a woman who’s had it out for me since second grade,** might not be my best idea ever, but the entire town is talking about my “wild” night with my smug, unemployed neighbor, Cody Reynolds. My boss threatens to fire me and I do the wildest thing I’ve ever done—I tell her Cody is my fiancé. 💍
Truth is, **I didn’t even get to see my inconveniently gorgeous neighbor naked. Nothing happened.** But small towns and school principals with vendettas don’t care about the truth when the gossip is this good. Between maintaining the fake engagement with a man who thinks responsibility is a four-letter word, dodging my vengeful boss who’s looking for proof I’m lying, and trying not to fall for the deadbeat who’s surprisingly good at playing devoted fiancé, I’m learning that sometimes the right guy is exactly the wrong guy you’d never choose. The question is: when does pretending stop feeling like pretending? 😘
What makes this fun: Obnoxious unemployed neighbor last man she’d marry becoming fake fiancé to save job and reputation, rule-following teacher lying to boss who’s had it out for her since second grade, entire small town talking about wild night that never happened, not even seeing inconveniently gorgeous neighbor naked, and pretending with deadbeat who’s surprisingly good at playing devoted.
**Lightning doesn’t strike twice…** Arthur Charles Winterbourne, Earl of Ettesmere, at the age of forty-four is done indulging in fanciful matters such as love and romance. When his wife died, he was brokenhearted, and he’s convinced himself that one great love is all any person deserves. During the midsummer season, he and his siblings join their mother at the Berkshire countryside for revelry and entertainment, but all he wants is to shut himself away with his grief and leave living to the ones who believe in happiness after loss. 💔
**Romance doesn’t hold a candle to science…** Miss Juliana Quill has no time for courtship or attracting a man, which is why she’s on the shelf at seven and thirty. A self-taught astronomer with a brilliant mind and unfashionable interests, she looks after her aging father and wants nothing more than to chart the stars and perhaps discover a new heavenly body. That gives her more satisfaction than marriage or rearing children ever could. No sense in wishing for more, especially since she missed her chance years ago and society has written her off completely. 🔭
**Love appears when it’s least convenient…** When a handful of mysterious notes throw Arthur and Juliana together at every turn during the house party, a slow attraction blooms from friendship. Despite their stubborn refusals and protests that they’re too old for such nonsense, desire flares and grows into a romance neither of them ever expected. While Arthur battles with guilt and memories of his late wife, she’s nearly petrified by their difference in station and age. But these two willful, love-shy people will need to open their hearts and minds to grasp a happy ending they’d never dreamed they could have. ✨
What makes this touching: Forty-four-year-old widowed Earl of Ettesmere done with love after wife’s death, thirty-seven-year-old self-taught astronomer Miss Juliana Quill on shelf with no time for courtship, mysterious notes throwing them together at every turn, slow attraction blooming from friendship despite stubborn refusals, and two willful love-shy people opening hearts to unexpected happy ending.
A wealthy entrepreneur with a dark past, Gavin Graystone is not looking for love. But he does need a wife to secure a business deal and silence society gossips who question why such a successful man remains unmarried. **Setting his sights on Charlotte Vanderley, a lady of impeccable breeding—albeit questionable temperament—he makes it clear from the very beginning that emotion will have no place in their relationship.** As far as he is concerned marriage is a business contract. Nothing more and nothing less. No messy feelings, no expectations of romance, just a mutually beneficial arrangement. 💼
**Desperate to escape her engagement to the lecherous old Duke of Tarrow,** feisty, free-spirited Charlotte jumps at the opportunity to marry Gavin. Running away with him will mean defying one of the most powerful men in all of England and becoming a social pariah, but Charlotte has never let a little adversity—or a surly rogue with commitment issues—stand in her way. Gavin may not be a fairy-tale prince, but he’s certainly better than a man three times her age who smells like mothballs and makes her skin crawl. And he’s an excellent kisser, which is an unexpected bonus. 💕
But marriages of convenience rarely go as planned, and as Charlotte and Gavin embark on a journey that will take them from Gretna Green to the rolling hills of Southampton and the crowded streets of London, **they find themselves doing the one thing they both vowed they would never do. Falling in love.** Between navigating dangerous enemies who want revenge, learning each other’s dark secrets, and fighting an attraction that threatens their carefully constructed emotional walls, these two discover that the most binding contracts are written on the heart. 💍
What makes this sweeping: Wealthy entrepreneur Gavin Graystone needing wife making clear emotion will have no place in relationship, Charlotte Vanderley desperate to escape engagement to lecherous old Duke of Tarrow, jumping at opportunity to marry him despite questionable temperament, marriage of convenience journey from Gretna Green to London, and finding themselves doing one thing they vowed never to do—falling in love.
Red: A History of the Redhead
With an **obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling**, author Jacky Colliss Harvey (herself a redhead) begins her exploration of red hair in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora to its emergence under Northern skies. She explores red hair in the ancient world; the prejudice manifested against red hair across medieval Europe; and red hair during the Renaissance. 🔥
During the Inquisition, red hair served as both an indicator of Jewishness and, paradoxically, reached the height of fashion in Protestant England under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Harvey examines the modern age of art and literature with the first positive symbols of red hair in children’s characters; modern medicine and science and the **genetic and chemical decoding of red hair**; and finally, red hair in contemporary culture, from advertising and exploitation to **”gingerism” and the new movement against bullying**. 👑
Harvey’s personal investment as a redhead brings authenticity to this comprehensive cultural history. The journey from genetic origins to contemporary “gingerism” spans anthropology, history, art, literature, science, and social justice. The contradictions are fascinating—red hair as marker of otherness yet also royal fashion; medieval prejudice yet Renaissance celebration; genetic rarity yet cultural visibility. 🎨
The book examines how a simple genetic variation became loaded with cultural meaning across centuries and continents. From ancient associations with witchcraft to Victorian Pre-Raphaelite idealization to modern anti-bullying campaigns, red hair serves as lens for examining how physical difference gets interpreted, fetishized, stigmatized, and reclaimed. For redheads seeking context, history buffs interested in cultural anthropology, or anyone curious about how genetics intersects with identity. 💇
Why I’m including this: Comprehensive cultural history of red hair from prehistoric origins to modern “gingerism”—tracing prejudice, fashion, genetics, and identity across centuries. ✨
For a woman raised by a weight-obsessed mother and a father who rebelled by sneaking his daughter out to lavish meals at Le Pavillon and La Grenouille, **food could be a fraught proposition**. Not that this stopped Elissa Altman from pursuing a culinary career. Everything she cooked was inspired by the French haute cuisine she once secretly enjoyed with her dad—from rare game birds at extravagant dinner parties in her tiny NYC apartment to **eight timbale molds purchased from Dean & DeLuca** just to make her food tall. 🍽️
All that elegance was called into question when Elissa fell in love with Susan, a small-town woman whose idea of fine dining was **a rustic meal served on her best tag sale TV tray**. Susan’s devotion to simple living astounded Elissa, even as it changed the way she thought about food—and the family who taught her everything she understood about it—forever. The contrast between timbale molds and TV trays perfectly captures their different worlds. 💕
Based on the **James Beard Award–winning blog** and filled with twenty-six delicious recipes, Poor Man’s Feast is one woman’s achingly honest, often uproarious journey to making peace with food and finding lasting love. Altman examines how food served as both connection and battleground in her family—her mother’s weight obsession versus her father’s rebellious indulgence, haute cuisine versus simple comfort food, aspiration versus authenticity. ❤️
The title’s significance deepens as the memoir progresses—what initially seems like “poor man’s feast” (TV tray meals) becomes richer than elaborate dinner parties because it’s rooted in genuine connection rather than performance. Susan teaches Elissa that food’s value isn’t in height or expense but in love and simplicity. For readers interested in food memoirs that examine how we use cuisine to express identity, family dynamics, and love. 🥘
What makes this essential: James Beard Award–winning memoir where a woman raised on French haute cuisine learns about love and simple living from her partner’s TV tray dinners. 🌟
The **50th anniversary edition** of the classic guide features a foreword from gardening influencer Charles Dowding and tips on creating a bountiful garden. Plant parsley and asparagus together and you’ll have more of each, but keep broccoli and tomato plants far apart if you want them to thrive. Utilize the natural properties of plants to nourish the soil, repel pests, and secure a greater harvest. **Over 500,000 in print!** 🌱
With plenty of insightful advice and suggestions for planting schemes, Louise Riotte will inspire you to turn your garden into a **naturally nurturing ecosystem**. Companion planting isn’t just folklore—it’s based on how plants interact through their root systems, the chemicals they release, and the beneficial insects they attract or repel. Understanding these relationships transforms random vegetable patches into strategic, productive gardens. 🥕
The title perfectly captures the concept: certain plant combinations create symbiotic relationships that improve growth, flavor, and pest resistance for both. Carrots and tomatoes actually do benefit from proximity, as do many other surprising pairings. Conversely, some plants are antagonistic—broccoli and tomatoes will actively harm each other’s growth if planted together. This knowledge prevents costly mistakes. 🍅
Fifty years in print and over 500,000 copies sold proves this isn’t trendy gardening advice but time-tested wisdom. The companion planting approach reduces need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides by working with nature’s existing systems. Charles Dowding’s foreword in this anniversary edition bridges Riotte’s classic wisdom with contemporary organic gardening movements. Essential for anyone pursuing sustainable, chemical-free gardening. 🌿
Why I’m including this: Classic companion planting guide (over 500,000 sold!) teaching how to create naturally nurturing garden ecosystems—like planting carrots with tomatoes for mutual benefit. 🌻
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3