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Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set: Books 1-3 (affiliate link)
She called off her engagement, quit the job she loved, and escaped to the Northwoods. Now she’s in a quirky village full of witches and her dog just found a dead body in the backyard. Will life ever be normal again?
Family Secrets – Minutes after arriving in the quirky Wiccan village to get her grandparents’ lake house ready for sale, former detective Jayne O’Shea finds a body in the backyard. When it becomes clear the sheriff isn’t going to investigate the death, Jayne knows it’s up to her to solve this murder.
Kept Secrets – Circus carnies are turning up dead and the newly hired sheriff is more concerned with ticketing tourists than catching the killer. Jayne has no choice but to step in and uncover the truth before the murderer strikes again.
Afraid (The Konrath Dark Thriller Collective Book 3) (affiliate link)
WELCOME TO SAFE HAVEN, POPULATION 907…
Nestled in the woods of Wisconsin, Safe Haven is miles from everything. With one road in and out, this is a town so peaceful it has never needed a full-time police force. Until now…
A helicopter has crashed on the outskirts of town and something terrible has been unleashed. A classified secret weapon programmed to kill anything that stands in its way. Now it’s headed for the nearest lights to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate.
Soon all phone lines are dead and the road is blocked. Safe Haven’s only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of an aging county sheriff. And as the body count rises, the sheriff realizes something even more terrifying – maybe death hasn’t come to his little town by accident…
MURDER AMONG FRIENDS (Warwick & Bell Book 1) (affiliate link)
Meet Jane Bell. After her husband dies she leaves her job as a teacher to volunteer as a special constable with the police.
On her very first shift Jane is called to the scene of a murder. A young man has dragged himself to the top of Greestone Stairs to die. Following her instincts, Jane finds herself becoming very involved in the case . . .
For Detective Steph Warwick, specials have no place in a murder investigation — and this upstart rookie is meddling where she doesn’t belong.
The victim ran a group at the university teaching men how to pick up women. Jane and Steph must venture into a dark and dangerous world of online misogyny.
Sweet Home (affiliate link)
The town of Sweet Home gets four unwanted visitors this New Year’s Eve when a prison bus crash allows four homicidal and terminally ill convicts to escape. They decide to spend their last days on Earth wiping out a small snowy mountain town.
Their plan is simple and easy to remember.
First, take out communications and power.
Second, take down the Sheriff’s department.
Third, move house to house and leave no survivors.
Will anyone survive the night and live to see the new year?
Don’t Hate the Player…Hate the Game (affiliate link)
For Noah Sullivan being the best friend to a douchebag and player like Jake Nelson has never been easy. It’s been a rocky road since kindergarten when Jake duct taped Noah to his chair before recess. With just six weeks to high school graduation, Jake accidentally blows his drunken ass up on his grandfather’s tractor, and Noah finds himself immersed not only in a whirlwind of grief, but on a quest to find a mystery girl from Jake’s past.
While cleaning out Jake’s room, Noah and Jake’s dad make a startling discovery. Instead of the obligatory porn collection or pot stash, they find a ring, but not just any ring. Its half a carat of commitment in a platinum setting-proving even man whores have taste. After Jake’s mom pleads with Noah to find the girl who meant so much to Jake, Noah begins a modern day Grail quest to track the girl down.
Mimosa Grove (affiliate link)
Like her mother and grandmother, Laurel Scanlon has the gift of second sight. Though by day she is unfulfilled in life and romance, she welcomes the nightly dreams that show her the image of her true love . . .
When her grandmother dies, Laurel is drawn back to Mimosa Grove—her ancestral home in the heart of Louisiana bayou country. When the community asks Laurel to help in the search for a missing girl, she gets the shock of her life: the child’s uncle, Justin Bouvier, is the man from her dreams.
As Laurel discovers that Justin has been dreaming of her too, she wonders if their twilight connection could become something real.
My Venice: And Other Essays (affiliate link)
Donna Leon has won legions of fans and waves of critical acclaim for her international bestselling mystery series featuring Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti—not only for her intricate plots and gripping narratives, but for her insight into the culture, politics, family-life, and history of Venice. But outside of her mystery novels, Leon has also been writing essays on Venetian life and related topics for years.
In My Venice and Other Essays, the best of these essays are collected: more than fifty charming and insightful works ranging in topic from battles over garbage in the canals to the troubles with rehabbing Venetian real estate. Leon shares episodes from her life, explores her love of opera, and recounts tales from in and around her country house in the mountains. With pointed observations and humor, she also explores her family history, her former life in New Jersey, and the idea of the “Italian man.”
The Magnolia Bakery Handbook: A Complete Guide for the Home Baker (affiliate link)
Published in celebration of Magnolia Bakery on the eve of its twenty-fifth anniversary, a beautifully photographed book offering nearly 150 scrumptious recipes and tips, tools, and techniques accompanied by 250 photographs and illustrations destined to be the favorite resource for the home baker.
When it opened its doors in 1996, Magnolia Bakery quickly became a landmark and destination in New York City. Fans lined up around the block to get a taste of the shop’s freshly-baked cupcakes, cakes, banana pudding, cheesecakes and much more. Today, Magnolia Bakery can be found in shops in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dubai, Manila, and Bangalore.
Bobbie Lloyd, Magnolia Bakery’s Chief Baking Officer, has played a critical role in maintaining the company’s reputation for handmade baked goods, and its authenticity and excellence throughout its growth. Bobbie has worked to update its classic treats, introduced new temptations, and carefully expanded the business both online and in new locations across New York and the world.
Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school — that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies.
Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist” — but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?
Ellis Island: And Other Stories (affiliate link)
Winner of the Prix de Rome and the National Jewish Book Award, these eleven stories demonstrate Mark Helprin’s mastery of fiction across a diverse spectrum of styles. The stories in this collection range from children caught in a Vermont blizzard to an English sea captain who encounters an ape adrift in the Indian Ocean. The title novella tells the tale of a Jewish immigrant who arrives in New York City with little more than an ivory pen—and an unflagging determination to survive the indignities of Ellis Island’s many protocols.
In the worlds of The Philadelphia Inquirer, this collection presents “stories beyond compare…[Helprin’s] imagination should be protected by some intellectual equivalent of the National Park Service.”
The Perfect Christmas (affiliate link)
For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.
What other options are there? Well…she could hire a professional matchmaker. Simon Dodson has quite a reputation, but he’s very choosy about the clients he takes on—and very expensive. Cassie considers him a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client.
Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets this paragon. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell-ringer, dressing up as Santa’s elf at a mall and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (most of whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and then she’s finally ready to meet her match.
An American Duchess (affiliate link)
A woman’s heart dares to defy the rules of Victorian society in USA Today bestselling author Caroline Fyffe’s novel of romance, royalty, and a little revenge.
In Kent, England, the arrival of Beranger Northcott, Duke of Brightshire, causes a stir. Because with the duke comes his new American bride, who isn’t quite what anyone expects. By accepting the hand of her beloved, Emma Brinkman went from hardworking Colorado rancher to duchess. Now she’s expected to comport herself as nobility. Overnight. For Emma—stifled, homesick, and unable to shake the feeling she’s being watched—the metamorphosis is a challenge. And if Emma’s suspicions are correct, perhaps even a dangerous one.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 2Page 2