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Paperback Spotlight

At Bookreporter.com we realize that a paperback presents a second life for a title, a chance to re-introduce a title to readers featuring new cover art as well as supplemental materials such as interviews, essays, reading guides and more. For Paperback originals, it’s a first introduction to readers and chance to make impression despite possible budget limitations.

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at 18, married the boss’s son at 20, and became a widow at 25. Now, she’s passionate about her work, but that’s the only passion in her life. “Never love something that can’t love you back” is advice her father-in-law gives her, but Hattie doesn’t follow it and falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house. She’s determined to make it work, but disaster after disaster occurs, and Hattie’s dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. Hattie needs money, and fast.

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

When newly divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love --- but Ivy didn't bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk that it's a full-time job sorting through all of it.

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

The New York Times bestselling author of THE SUMMER WIVES returns with a gripping and profoundly human story of Cold War espionage and family devotion.

In the autumn of 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. The world is shocked by the family’s sensational disappearance. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West’s most vital secrets?

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat’s single mother warned her that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected her mother’s fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Marrying into a family with wealth, power and connections, Bree has all a woman could ever dream: a loving lawyer husband, two talented young teenage daughters, a new baby boy, a gorgeous home, and every opportunity in the world.

Until the day Bree awakens and sees a witch peering into her bedroom window, an old gray-haired woman all dressed in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears. It must be a play of the early morning light or the remnant of a waking dream, Bree tells herself, shaking off the bad feeling that overcomes her.

Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher

Every night, as Faye puts her daughters to bed, she thinks of her own mother, Jeanie, who died when she was eight. The pain of that loss has never left her, and that’s why she wants her own girls to know how very much they are loved by her --- and always will be, whatever happens.

Then one day, Faye gets her heart’s desire when she is whisked back into the past and is reunited not just with her mother but with her own younger self.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool --- a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime --- it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny's dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding

A Pretty Woman tale turns toxic and deadly in this provocative and riveting thriller of sex, obsession and murder from the “master of domestic suspense” (Kathleen Barber, author of ARE YOU SLEEPING) and the USA TODAY bestselling author of THE SWAP and HER PRETTY FACE.

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

For Zelda, a 21-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:

1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.

The Wedding Thief by Mary Simses

Two sisters in love with the same man --- one engaged to him and the other about to sabotage the wedding --- struggle to reconcile in this delicious novel from the bestselling author of THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY BAKESHOP & CAFÉ.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss --- a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten --- by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare --- one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.