The vacation : a novel / Marrs, John

On the shores of Venice Beach, eight strangers, staying in a rundown backpackers hostel, are all running from something-and have secrets they're more than willing to kill for.

Absolution / Mcdermott, Alice

"Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era's mandate to be 'helpmeets' to their ambitious husbands with their own inchoate impulse to 'do good' for the people of Vietnam. Sixty years later, Charlene's daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlene's altruistic machinations, and discovering how their own lives as women on the periphery - of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands' convictions - have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America's tragic interference in Southeast Asia." --

Recipe for a good life / Crewe, Lesley

"On paper, Kitty's life is perfect. She lives in Montreal, so vibrant in the 1950s; she married her childhood sweetheart, who happens to also be a handsome movie star; and her detective novels, written under a plausibly male nom de plume, are bestsellers. But Kitty is suffocating under the truth of her life: Montreal feels chaotic and lonely without her mother, and with her father all but estranged. Her husband is a glib Lothario. And she never, ever wants to write another detective novel. When she says as much to her publishers, they panic. She's their golden goose. And so they convince her to go on a writing retreat to a beautiful remote island, Cape Breton, where with solitude and a luxurious change of scenery, she'll be able to whip up her next book. At least, that was the plan. Kitty arrives in Cape Breton to a leaky, drafty shack and a cast of characters unlike anyone she's ever met. There's Edith, who listens in on everyone's party line calls and never keeps good gossip to herself; generous Bertha and her enormous family... and Bertha's son, Wallace -- Walrus, to all his nieces and nephews. A gentle giant who always has half a dozen children hanging off him. Soon Kitty's writing retreat turns her life upside down, and she has to face which parts of her life are non-negotiable and which she must cut loose. Can she preserve what she loves in Montreal now that Cape Breton is calling? If she frees herself from the weight of her past, will she float away altogether?"--Publisher.

The house of doors / Tan, Twan Eng

"It's 1921, and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay. Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day, but he's beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health, and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley's friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is--a man who has no choice but to mask his true self. As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts--a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction."--

Throne of the fallen / Maniscalco, Kerri

To avoid a ruinous scandal after one desperate mistake, Miss Camilla Antonius enters a devil's bargain with the Prince of Envy, who whisks her away to the Underworld where her true nature is awakened-and where they must avoid the most dangerous trap of all: love.

Two twisted crowns / Gillig, Rachel.
2 twisted crowns
"Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders. If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom. And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head: The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer"--

A winter in New York : a novel / Silver, Josie

"A young chef stumbles on a secret family recipe that might lead her to the love--and life--she's been looking for"--

The five wishes of Mr. Murray McBride / Siple, Joe
5 wishes of Mister Murray McBride
With all his family and friends gone, one-hundred-year-old Murray McBride is looking for a reason to live. He finds it in Jason Cashman, a ten-year-old boy with a terminal heart defect and a list of five things he wants to do before he dies. Together, they race against the limited time each has left, ticking off wishes one by one. Along the way, Murray remembers what it's like to be young, and Jason fights for the opportunity to grow old. But when tragedy strikes, their worlds are turned upside-down, and an unexpected gift is the only thing that can make Jason's final wish come true. --

The most amazing department store / Neiss-Arbess, Sharon

Stepping onto the floor of Sunderland's means stepping into a whole new world for two young women whose lives will never be the same again. After Lilly leaves her first husband, she takes a job at Sunderland's Department Store. The Mecca of luxury in 1950s' Downtown Montreal, Sunderland's is the place to be and Lilly can't believe her luck. What Lilly finds at Sunderland's is more than independence–she meets Vivian, a vivacious, sharp-tongued whirlwind woman–and they soon become best friends. Vivian and Lilly face ups and downs together–sexism, antisemitism, and the limits of their own ambition. But when Vivian almost loses everything she's worked so hard for, and Lilly leaves the store to embark on a brand-new life, the pair will never be the same again. Their friendship might not survive–even if it was the most important part of each of their lives.

Shark heart : a love story / Habeck, Emily

"For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artist's heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams. At first, Wren internally resists her husband's fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewis's developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with a college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds. Woven throughout this bold novel is the story of Wren's mother, Angela, who becomes pregnant with Wren at fifteen in an abusive relationship amidst her parents' crumbling marriage. In the present, all of Wren's grief eventually collides, and she is forced to make an impossible choice"--