In 2035’s hopelessly broken world, Nick Ritter is The Posh Prepper—a gifted crisis consultant who sells disaster-survival plans to rich and powerful clients but lives haunted by corrupt dealings and a tragic past. Counting the days until he can retire to his survival ranch in New Zealand, Nick maintains a reclusive life in overcrowded Boston. But when he receives an insider tip that a deadly virus is tearing through the city, Nick has just 24 hours to escape Boston and flee to safety halfway around the world. 🌍
Nick has the perfect survival plan meticulously crafted for exactly this scenario—except it doesn’t account for company. As he scrambles toward safety, he picks up a ragtag group of followers who complicate every carefully calculated move. Among them is Abby Blackwell, a pregnant teen runaway hiding a dark secret that could endanger everyone. If she can outrun her troubled past, she has a chance at a new life, but trusting anyone—including Nick—could prove fatal. 🏃
The escape from Boston becomes a desperate race against time as the virus spreads faster than anyone anticipated and society begins its rapid collapse. Nick’s expensive survival expertise is put to the ultimate test as he navigates not just the logistics of intercontinental escape during a pandemic, but the human complications of leading people he never intended to save. Each member of his accidental group brings their own baggage, skills, and dangers to the journey. ⚡
The novel explores survival ethics in crisis—who deserves to be saved, what responsibilities we have to strangers, and whether meticulous planning can account for the chaos of human nature. Nick discovers that surviving the apocalypse requires more than stockpiled supplies and escape routes; it demands confronting the moral compromises that funded his preparation and deciding what kind of person emerges on the other side of civilization’s collapse. 💼
What makes this essential: A pulse-pounding survival thriller about a crisis consultant whose perfect apocalypse plan gets complicated by unwanted companions, moral dilemmas, and the discovery that escaping a deadly virus is easier than escaping your past when the world is ending. 🔥
Losing your home and your husband on your 50th birthday is bad enough—gaining a mysterious mansion, magical powers, and a dead body is one hex of a midlife crisis. Josie Appleton is reeling from being blindsided and broke when an unexpected inheritance from the grandmother she never met seems like a lifeline. Until she discovers the sprawling manor comes with latent magical abilities, a sassy talking cat, and a corpse in the greenhouse that puts her squarely in the detective’s crosshairs. 🔮
Forced to clear her name for a murder she didn’t commit, Josie must juggle hot flushes, unruly spells that backfire spectacularly, and a detective who’s itching to slap on the cuffs. She’s caught between a village of eccentric locals who all seem to know more than they’re saying, a spellbindingly handsome caretaker with secrets of his own, and a killer desperate to avoid capture. Learning to control her newfound powers while dodging murder accusations proves she’s in more trouble than a toad at a witch’s potion party. 🐱
The cozy mystery elements blend perfectly with midlife empowerment themes as Josie discovers she’s more capable than she ever imagined—both magically and as an amateur sleuth. Her talking cat provides comic relief and surprising wisdom while the mansion’s mysteries unfold layer by layer. The village characters add charm and misdirection as Josie navigates who to trust while learning the ins and outs of her inherited magical legacy. ✨
Josie’s journey from devastated divorcee to confident witch-detective resonates with anyone who’s faced major life upheaval and wondered what comes next. The murder investigation gives her purpose beyond her personal crisis, while her emerging magical abilities symbolize untapped potential that existed all along. Between deciphering spell books, interviewing suspicious villagers, and keeping her powers from causing chaos, Josie finds herself becoming the woman she was always meant to be. 🌙
What makes this essential: A delightful cozy mystery about a woman who loses everything at 50 only to inherit a magical mansion, talking cat companion, and murder case that forces her to conjure up courage she never knew she had while mastering spells and sleuthing simultaneously. 🎩
Abandoned by her mother ten years ago, Stella Ingman returns to her childhood home to help her father clean up after a devastating flood—only to be horrified when repairs to the backyard swimming pool reveal her missing parent’s hidden corpse. The shocking discovery turns her world upside down and plunges her into depths of guilt, grief, and determination to find answers. Refusing to see her father as the number one suspect despite what police believe, Stella focuses on solving the gruesome crime herself. 🔍
Hunting a murderer in a tight-knit small town proves more dangerous than Stella anticipated as she navigates decades of secrets, lies, and buried truths. The community that once seemed familiar now feels threatening as she realizes the killer has been living among them all this time, watching and waiting. Every conversation reveals new suspicions, and Stella must tread carefully—because exposing the murderer means risking her own life as the culprit starts sizing up more victims. 💀
The investigation forces Stella to confront not just her mother’s death but the complicated feelings about being abandoned as a child. Was her mother running from danger? Did someone in town want her silenced? As Stella pieces together the clues, she discovers her mother’s final days involved people and situations no one wanted to discuss. The small-town setting creates claustrophobic tension where everyone knows everyone, making it impossible to investigate without alerting the killer. ⚡
Stella’s determination to clear her father drives her deeper into danger as she uncovers a web of connections that explains why her mother’s body stayed hidden for a decade. The truth involves betrayals, cover-ups, and motivations that make the crime even more chilling than she imagined. Racing against time before the killer strikes again, Stella must balance gathering evidence with staying alive in a town where asking the wrong questions could land her in a shallow grave. 🏚️
What makes this essential: A gripping thriller about a daughter who returns home to discover her missing mother’s body hidden in the family pool and must hunt a killer in a small town where decades-old secrets threaten to bury her alongside the truth. 🌙
The Memory Watcher: A Thriller
Press, tap, refresh. When Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago, she finds herself instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence. From behind a computer screen, Autumn watches Grace’s every memory, from birthdays to holidays to bedtime snuggles. But what starts as an innocent fascination soon spirals into an addictive obsession that comes to a screeching halt the day the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without so much as a warning. 📱Frantic and desperate to reconnect with her daughter, Autumn applies for a nanny position with the McMullens, manipulating herself into Grace’s life under false pretenses. It’s only then that Autumn discovers that pictures lie, the perfect family doesn’t exist—and beautiful people? They have the ugliest secrets. Minka Kent delivers domestic thriller where innocent fascinations spiral into addictive obsessions when adopted daughters’ social media accounts close without warning creating frantic desperate nanny position applications under false pretenses. 😱
Why I’m including this: Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago and becomes instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence. But when the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without warning, frantic Autumn applies for a nanny position, manipulating herself into Grace’s life under false pretenses. She discovers pictures lie, the perfect family doesn’t exist, and beautiful people have the ugliest secrets.
In my defense, I was left alone with a bottle of single-malt and a life-long penchant for protecting my baby sister. Still, that’s no excuse to send ten drunk-texts on why her hasty marriage would be a mistake. If only I had just texted my sister. But nope. I accidentally sent the message to her, her groom, and his super hot wingman. I also used the phrase “super hot wingman,” so I’d like to die now. 😱Instead, I have to plan a wedding with the aforementioned hottie and share a too-small guesthouse in steamy Miami. Three days in the sun with the cocky, charming former athlete who likes to push my buttons? Fine, two can play at that let’s-infuriate-each-other game. Until Asher ups the stakes with one wildly sexy suggestion. A no-strings fling, then I go back to my single dad life in New York, and he returns to his star-studded one. Sign me up. But the more nights I spend with the other best man, the more I want days too, and that just can’t happen. Especially when I find out the real reason why. 💕
Why I’m including this: Left alone with single-malt and lifelong penchant for protecting my baby sister, I send ten drunk-texts about why her hasty marriage would be a mistake. But I accidentally sent the message to her, her groom, and his super hot wingman. Now I have to plan a wedding and share a too-small Miami guesthouse with the cocky charming former athlete. Until Asher suggests a no-strings fling, and I want more than just nights.
Okay, okay, I’ll admit it—I’m the worst Wolfennite ever. I’m not truly one of the devout, bonneted brides who traveled to my sister’s wedding in Scotland hoping to find a pious mate in her adopted kingdom pack. Honestly, I only signed up for the free plane ticket and a place to lay low until I could sneak off and start the academic life I’ve been secretly planning for years. 🐺But my nerdy new life plans are shattered when I—along with all the other potential Wolfennite brides—get kidnapped by our Scottish hosts’ oldest and bitterest enemies: the Irish Wolves. These ruthless (and super not pious) wolves are led by two Irish kings whose real names no one is allowed to know. The Wild King acts like an animal, sniffing at me and whispering filthy things every time we meet. The Sea King is covered in Viking tattoos—and clearly hiding something behind his unfairly devastating smile. Neither of them care that they’ve snatched me from the life I had planned. According to them, I’m their prophesied queen, destined to unite the three Irish kingdoms. Wait, did they say three??? 💕
Why I’m including this: I’m the worst Wolfennite ever—I only signed up for the free plane ticket and a place to lay low. But my nerdy life plans are shattered when I get kidnapped by the Irish Wolves along with all the other potential brides. These ruthless wolves are led by two Irish kings: the Wild King who sniffs at me whispering filthy things, and the Sea King covered in Viking tattoos. According to them, I’m their prophesied queen destined to unite three Irish kingdoms.
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