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The Secret Garden (affiliate link)
Two lonely children discover the power of friendship in this classic novel that inspired the film starring Colin Firth, Julie Walters, and Dixie Egerickx.
Mary Lennox, a spoiled and disagreeable child, has been orphaned in India and sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven in Yorkshire, England. Still mourning the loss of his wife, Mr. Craven is away often and wants nothing to do with his niece, leaving Mary free to roam about the estate and spend time with Martha, her maidservant, and Ben Weatherstaff, the gardener.
When Martha tells her the tragic tale of Mrs. Craven and the cherished rose garden that Mr. Craven locked up after her death, Mary decides to find the key to this “secret garden.” Meanwhile, there is another mystery at Misselthwaite Manor: a strange crying sound that all of the servants pretend not to hear. Precocious Mary vows to discover the truth behind that as well . . .
Pension for Murder (Breeze Village Mysteries Book 1) (affiliate link)
She’s young at heart but feeling her age. When she smells foul play, can an octogenarian catch a killer and prove she still has what it takes?
Virginia Walker fears losing her independence. Mortified to learn she forgot to pay $10K in property taxes, the eighty-year-old spitfire finds herself fighting foreclosure. So when a resident dies under mysterious circumstances at her best friend’s retirement community, she vows to solve the crime and collect a house-saving reward.
Frustrated that everyone else believes the victim’s death was natural, Virginia pushes her investigation into several embarrassing gaffes. But just as she’s ready to admit she was wrong about some of her clues, two of her suspects turn up dead.
Waiting for You (Pine Valley Book 4) (affiliate link)
Wealthy. Privileged. Seth Owens has it all. Except for the woman who holds his heart.
Gwen Robbins loves her job waitressing at the Pine Valley resort restaurant, and as a single woman, she has no trouble turning down any offers of dates from the restaurant patrons. Even when her boss, Seth Owens, shows interest in her, she’s not tempted in the least, no matter how strong their attraction.
But when Seth helps her through a crisis, she begins to see him in a different light. He’s not the rich and privileged business owner she first makes him out to be, but a man who’s making huge sacrifices to follow his own dreams. As Seth encourages Gwen to mend her own divide with her family, she realizes her heart is slowly opening toward a better future.
Tarzan of the Apes (affiliate link)
The first and greatest adventure of Tarzan and the inspiration for a new feature film starring Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Born to English aristocrats marooned in the dense West African wilderness, John Clayton, only heir to the Greystoke estate, is orphaned soon after his first birthday. Adopted by the she-ape Kala, he is given the name Tarzan, or White-Skin, and grows up among the apes, swinging from tree to tree and fighting the great beasts of the jungle. He has no memory of civilization, but discovers, in the books his parents left behind, the key to his strange appearance, and to his past.
When a party of white explorers arrives, Tarzan finds himself drawn to them—in particular, to the American Jane Porter. For years he has been torn between two identities, human and ape, and after saving Jane’s life he follows her to Paris and then to America, experiencing the unfamiliar world of his birthright before the call of the jungle brings them both back to Africa.
Spaghetti Bolognaise (affiliate link)
Spaghetti Bolognaise is a comedic mystery set in London and Italy in the present day, where trust, money and love entwine in an escapist and uplifting read.
When Peter Foster-Fewster receives news from a London law firm that he is the beneficiary of a lost inheritance, his small quiet life is about to change forever. As the attempt to reclaim it begins, he travels to Italy with the suave lawyer, Erskine, where he is seduced by the buzz of street life in Bologna and Florence. But nothing is quite as it seems and as a dark past is slowly uncovered, shady characters emerge who have plans of their own for the fortune.
A Cherry Sinister Murder (Slice of Paradise Book 1) (affiliate link)
Faith Franklin is a dreamer. She dreams of cakes & pies. She dreams of crepes & brownies. And, more than anything, she dreams of making a career of serving her delicious treats to an adoring public.
So, when her grandmother calls and asks her to move to Florida to help run her café, she cannot get out of Minnesota fast enough! And before she knows it she is standing in Paradise Point, the beautiful, oceanside plaza in which Bessie’s Café is located, hardly able to believe her good fortune.
Life is now exactly how Faith had imagined it could be. She’s made wonderful friends. The café, now renamed the Slice of Paradise, has been renovated to showcase her amazing desserts. And both locals & tourists are loving it!
Well, all except for one…
Glad One: Crazy is a Relative Term (Val Fremden Book 1) (affiliate link)
After being duped out of her life savings in Germany, Val Fremden retreats home to Florida with more than just her pride in tatters. At 45, she’s broke, divorced, and virtually unemployable. Starting over will be tough enough as it is. But when her only friend suddenly turns up dead, Val begins to seriously wonder if the world is out to get her.
Maybe it is ….
The sugar-white sands of Sunset Beach attract weirdos like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. So when the will of Val’s friend makes the local newspaper, lunatics and con artists stumble from their beach shacks to scuffle for a piece of the leftover pie.
My Magnolia Summer (affiliate link)
In New York City winter never seems to loosen its hold and for South Carolina transplant Maggie (born Magnolia after the fairest summer flower) the balmy beach weather of April back home on Sullivan’s Island feels like a distant memory. Until a phone call from her sister, Violet, changes everything.
Gran, the treasured matriarch, has fallen into a coma after a car accident caused by Maggie’s troubled mother, Lily. But once Maggie returns, she finds that her hometown of Sullivan’s Island holds even more secrets. The Magic Lantern, the restaurant owned and run by generations of women in her family, is now rudderless, and her sister seems headed for a savage breakup.
Once she is between the marsh grasses and dunes of South Carolina, she feels herself changing like the Atlantic tides, rediscovering the roots she left behind, and a new and different version of herself—one who can see how a minor crash into the back of a very handsome farmer’s truck may become fortunate. Or perhaps it’s even… fate?
My Lady Jane: Now a Streaming Series (The Lady Janies) (affiliate link)
In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.
At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.
Like that could go wrong.
The 9th Man (Luke Daniels Book 1) (affiliate link)
Luke Daniels is in London, between assignments with the Magellan Billet, when he receives a frantic call from an old friend. Jillian Stein is in trouble. She made a mistake and now her life may be in danger. She needs Luke’s help. Immediately. Racing to Belgium Luke quickly finds that she was right. A shadow team of highly-trained operatives are there on the hunt. Intervening, he finds himself embroiled in a war between two determined sides — one seeking the truth, the other trying to escape the past — a war that has already claimed one life and is about to claim more.
Thomas Rowland is a Washington insider, a kingmaker, problem-solver, but also a man with a past. For him everything turns with what happened on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. What history has recorded is wrong. There is more to the story, much more, and Thomas Rowland is at the center of that terrible reality. But forces are working against him, and Rowland will do anything to keep the world from learning what actually happened on that fateful day, including killing Luke, Jillian and anyone else who might be a threat.
The Blooms That Broke Us: (Tennessee Love Stories) (affiliate link)
Seven Blooms. Three hearts. A second chance.
Jack Barkley has never been jealous of Jules, his twin sister, until she has something he doesn’t—a family. After his failed marriage and a trail of dead-end relationships, he’s given up hope that there could be anyone else for him.
Miranda Howard has spent the last four years with Chris, an abusive and narcissistic boyfriend. Taking care of her son Kacey has been her only priority, and Chris’ home was supposed to be a temporary landing spot in a time of crisis. But finally escaping his clutches leaves her penniless, stranded, and fresh out of options.
When Jack’s father dies, Jack and Miranda find themselves face to face in an attorney’s office, banking on an inheritance that’s locked down until they meet stipulations. Despite their sour history, they strike a deal to help each other. Miranda doesn’t like the proposed arrangement, but it sure beats the homeless shelter she was counting on to keep her and Kacey off the streets.
The Summer She Vanished (affiliate link)
A MURDERED WOMAN. A MISSING GIRL.
A SMALL TOWN WITH A DARK PAST . . .
Summer, 1972. Sister Francesca Pepitone was found strangled in a parking lot on the outskirts of Boweridge.
A week later, seventeen-year-old Minna Larson disappeared. No one has seen or heard from her since.
The cases were never linked, and neither was solved. For some, it was a scar that never healed. Others simply forgot.
Now, over forty years later, Minna’s niece Maggie learns that days before vanishing, Minna was telling people she knew who had murdered Sister Fran, and that she had the evidence to prove it.
Except no one believed her because there was one thing everyone could agree on . . .
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 2Page 2