Feature and Contest

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar

HOMELAND ELEGIES blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in the world that 9/11 made. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son and the country they both call home. Ayad Akhtar forges a new narrative voice to capture a country in which debt has ruined countless lives and the gods of finance rule, where immigrants live in fear, and where the nation’s unhealed wounds wreak havoc around the world. Akhtar attempts to make sense of it all through the lens of a story about one family, from a heartland town in America to palatial suites in Central Europe to guerrilla lookouts in the mountains of Afghanistan, and spares no one --- least of all himself --- in the process.

The Crushing Depths: Coastal Guardians, Book Two by Dani Pettrey

When an accident claims the life of an oil-rig worker off the North Carolina coast, Coast Guard investigators Rissi Dawson and Mason Rogers are sent to take the case. But mounting evidence shows the death may not have been an accident at all, and they find themselves racing to discover the killer’s identity before he eliminates the threat they pose.

Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna

Something has gone terribly wrong at the Banks wedding. A man is dead. Four different women rush to offer confessions, each insisting that they committed the crime --- alone. Ginger is holding her family together by a thread, and this wedding weekend is not the fabulous getaway she anticipated. Kate has enough money to buy her way out of anything. Well, almost anything. Emily can’t shake her reputation or her memories, and she’s planning to drown this whole vacation in a bottle. Lulu has ex-husbands to spare, and another on the way --- as soon as she figures out what the devil the current husband is up to behind her back. Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know --- and they’re not telling.

More Than Words Can Say by Karen Witemeyer

After being railroaded by the city council, Abby needs a man’s name on her bakery’s deed, and a man she can control --- not the stoic lumberman Zacharias, who always seems to exude silent confidence. She can’t even control her pulse when she’s around him. But as trust grows between them, she finds that she wants more than his rescue. She wants his heart.

A Reluctant Bride: The Bride Ships, Book 1 by Jody Hedlund

After facing desperate heartache and loss, Mercy agrees to escape a bleak future in London and join a bride ship. Wealthy and titled, Joseph leaves home and takes to the sea as the ship’s surgeon to escape the pain of losing his family. He has no intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, they must fight against a forbidden love.

Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper asking readers to send rocks in honor of loved ones to create something life-giving --- but the building halts when tragedy strikes. Decades later, Annie returns to the coastal Maine town where stone ruins spark her curiosity, and her search for answers faces a battle against time.

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

It is 1914, and Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia's imperial dynasty begins to fall, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortuneteller's daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household. On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is doing her part to help the White Russian families find safety as they escape the revolution. But when Sofya's letters suddenly stop coming, she fears the worst for her best friend.

The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright

A century apart, two women seek their mothers in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin. In 1908, Thea’s search leads her to an insane asylum with dark secrets. In modern-day Wisconsin, Heidi Lane answers the call of a mother battling dementia. Both confront the legendary curse of Misty Wayfair --- and are entangled in a web of danger that entwines them across time.

Flights of Fancy: American Heiresses, Book 1 by Jen Turano

To escape an unwanted marriage, heiress Isadora Delafield flees New York. Disguising herself as a housekeeper, she finds a position at Glory Manor, the childhood home of self-made man Ian MacKenzie. Ian is unexpectedly charmed by Isadora and her unconventional ways, but when Isadora’s secret is revealed, will they still have a chance at happily-ever-after?

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan

Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake and teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake. But after 17 years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist --- one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart.

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