Captivate: (The Submerged Sun Series Book 1) (affiliate link)
In a glittering underwater world, where danger lurks behind beauty and power…
For the past twelve months since her parents’ death, seventeen-year-old Miranda Sun has harboured a dark secret — a secret that has strained the close relationship she once shared with her older sister, Lauren. In an effort to repair this broken bond, Miranda’s grandparents whisk the siblings away on a secluded beach holiday. But before Miranda gets a chance to confess her secret, she is dragged underwater by a mysterious stranger while taking a midnight swim.
Awakening days later, Miranda discovers that she’s being held captive in a domed underwater city by an arrogant young king named Marko. Nineteen-year-old Marko intends to marry Miranda in order to keep his crown from falling into the sinister clutches of his brother, Damir. There’s only one problem. Miranda is desperate to return home to right things with her sister and she wants nothing to do with Marko.
Adirondack Audacity (Adirondack for Ladies Series Book 1) (affiliate link)
Her hopes for an idyllic Adirondack summer do not include Vicente Rienz, the camp lifeguard, known to his friends as Vic. Born to an American mother, but a Spanish grandee by birthright of his Mexican father, he is all male, in denim and leather, aloof, arrogant, and very competent at……..everything. Ellen hates him on sight, until the sparks between them ignite into a passion not to be denied. A summer under the stars leads to unforeseen consequences and separation.
What began as a teenage romance is rekindled when Ellen and Vic reunite as adults. Seeking answers to the past, they return to the Adirondacks in a quest that turns dangerous for a dramatic conclusion.
It took a single moment for Juvia Smith’s once perfect and happy life to be altered. Left to pick up the pieces, she finds herself sinking in the aftermath of her trauma, unsure of what the future holds for her. A single act of kindness from a stranger by the name of Desmond Jones offers her not only a new perspective into her plight but a fresh start as well.
The Paris Daughter (affiliate link)
Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.
When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.
When the war finally ends, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments?
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel (affiliate link)
Slammed: A Novel (affiliate link)
Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she’s losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.
Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3