This heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh grade Syrian-American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle-school.Seventh grade begins and Kareem’s fall should be off to a great start. But he’s already fumbled it. His best friend moved away, he bungled his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid – a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent – around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hot-shot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There’s a to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.Then like a surprise blitz, Kareem’s mom returns to Syria to bring her aging parents out of a war zone and to the United States. But a new executive order prevents her from coming home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for Unnecessary Roughness. Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.

There’s more than one way to love and more than one place to call home in this rousing small-town romantic comedy that’s sure to charm fans of Hannah Bonam-Young’s Next to You and Ashley Herring Blake’s Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date There’s no fix for a lonely heart like a little TLC… Jessica Jae-un Miller came to Peach Blossom, Georgia, for a visit, not a breakdown. But when her rental car dies on the outskirts of town, mechanic Lavenia “Vini” Williams provides a tow—and a very welcome jump start to Jessica’s heart. It’s been a minute since Jessica’s last fling—her relationship specialty—and Vini checks all the right boxes. If only the sexy car whisperer seemed interested… Vini knows herself and what she wants. She loves her job, her family, her hometown—but she’d love to fall in love. Jessica stirs up all the right feelings, but the city girl has no intention of staying in Peach Blossom. Why sign up for a broken heart? But the temptation is real as Vini goes out of her way to drive a carless Jessica around town. The pair can’t seem to keep their distance—or their hands to themselves. With only six weeks to figure out where their red-hot chemistry might lead, Vini and Jessica will have to decide if home can be where the heart is when the heart only knows how to run. From showing up to glowing up, the characters in Afterglow Books are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way. Don’t miss any of these other fun titles…

From the author of Love at First Set, a hilariously sexy enemies-to-lovers, second-chance rom-com about a reclusive former child star turned florist whose quiet life is turned upside down when her annoyingly hot ex (and former costar) shows up in town, with plans to write a tell-all memoir. Former child star Anderson “Andy” Ducharme is hiding—has been for a long time, if she’s honest with herself, which she isn’t. When she suddenly cut off all ties and left LA six years earlier to work in a flower shop in coastal New England, she wasn’t just running away from toxic relationships, embezzling agents, and all the rest of her Hollywood life; she was running to something… sort of, if you squinted, and if you accepted that what she was running toward was little more than a vacation daydream she had made up with her (in)famous ex, and former costar, Nicole “Nikki” Price. Then Nikki announces her plan to write a tell-all book about growing up in Hollywood and their tumultuous time on the Nik and Andy show, and Andy’s feelings of hurt and betrayal come rushing back. Emboldened by anger (and maybe one too many drinks), Andy does something very she texts her ex for the first time in years. No one’s more shocked than Andy when Nikki actually shows up to her small florist shop, looking for answers. Andy is fully prepared to send Nikki away, but it seems Nikki has some unfinished business as well. Now that she finally knows where Andy’s been hiding, she’s not letting her go so easy. And with each passing encounter, Andy can’t deny the simmering physical attraction that threatens to boil over every time they get close. But can the two of them really reunite without wrecking Andy’s carefully rebuilt life? Or is she setting herself up for a fresh heartbreak? TROPES second-chance celebrity small town fwb former exes

From the author of Love at First Set, a hilariously sexy enemies-to-lovers, second-chance rom-com about a reclusive former child star turned florist whose quiet life is turned upside down when her annoyingly hot ex (and former costar) shows up in town, with plans to write a tell-all memoir. Former child star Anderson “Andy” Ducharme is hiding—has been for a long time, if she’s honest with herself, which she isn’t. When she suddenly cut off all ties and left LA six years earlier to work in a flower shop in coastal New England, she wasn’t just running away from toxic relationships, embezzling agents, and all the rest of her Hollywood life; she was running to something… sort of, if you squinted, and if you accepted that what she was running toward was little more than a vacation daydream she had made up with her (in)famous ex, and former costar, Nicole “Nikki” Price. Then Nikki announces her plan to write a tell-all book about growing up in Hollywood and their tumultuous time on the Nik and Andy show, and Andy’s feelings of hurt and betrayal come rushing back. Emboldened by anger (and maybe one too many drinks), Andy does something very she texts her ex for the first time in years. No one’s more shocked than Andy when Nikki actually shows up to her small florist shop, looking for answers. Andy is fully prepared to send Nikki away, but it seems Nikki has some unfinished business as well. Now that she finally knows where Andy’s been hiding, she’s not letting her go so easy. And with each passing encounter, Andy can’t deny the simmering physical attraction that threatens to boil over every time they get close. But can the two of them really reunite without wrecking Andy’s carefully rebuilt life? Or is she setting herself up for a fresh heartbreak? TROPES second-chance celebrity small town fwb former exes

A secret romance writer discovers that the hottest story of summer might just be the one happening between her and the Prime Minister’s bodyguard, from the international bestselling author of Set On You.Andi Zeigler lives a double life. By day, she’s the no-nonsense, steadfast personal assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. By night, she slips out of her heels and writes romance novels under a top-secret pen name. But when her steamiest book, The Prime Minister & Me, unexpectedly becomes a bestseller, rumors of a real-life affair between her and the PM start swirling out of control.Enter Nolan Crosby, the PM’s new close protection officer (aka bodyguard) – and Andi’s failed one-night stand from three years ago. Nolan’s in town very temporarily to care for his mother, who’s battling early-onset Alzheimer’s. But when the scandal erupts, Andi ropes him into a fake-dating plan.As loyal employees, they’ll pretend to date for the summer, just long enough to put the scandal to bed and save their boss’s reputation. In an unexpected plot twist, Andi and Nolan discover that keeping their romance strictly fictional might be easier said than done.

Can love draw them together... again?After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a young couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other, and themselves, in this tender, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not and Promise Me Sunshine.Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a traumatic car accident and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope they can fix things…until she discovers Vin signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced-Brooklynite would sign up for figure drawing class.Between her determined attempts to improve her skills in class every Friday and adventures with her best friend Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.So kind, in fact, that he offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing them in the nude. But after the year they have spent avoiding each other and their struggles in the aftermath of the accident, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.As Roz works to better herself as an artist and capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

When you lose your way in life, the Elsewhere Express just might find you. Step aboard the train that can take you to your life’s purpose, in this cozy and inspiring fantasy from the author of Water Moon.This hardcover edition Interactive endpapers with a scene you can color inA full-color illustrated book case beneath the jacketYou can’t buy a ticket for the Elsewhere Express. Appearing only to those whose lives are adrift, it’s a magical train carrying very rare and special a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging.Raya is one of those lost souls. She dreamed of being a songwriter, but when her brother died, she gave up on her dream and started living his instead.One day, as her thoughts wander while on the subway, she's swept off to the Elsewhere Express. There she meets Q, a charming, handsome artist who, like her, has lost his place in the world.Together they find a train full of wonders, from a boarding car that's also a meadow to a dining car where passengers can picnic on lilypads to a bar where jellyfish and whales swim through pink clouds.But they also discover that the train harbors secrets—and A mysterious stranger has stowed away on the train and brought with him a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy it.But in investigating the stowaway's identity, Raya also finds herself drawing closer to the ultimate What is her life's true purpose—and might Q be connected to it?

A secret romance writer discovers that the hottest story of summer might just be the one happening between her and the Prime Minister’s bodyguard, from the international bestselling author of Set On You.Andi Zeigler lives a double life. By day, she’s the no-nonsense, steadfast personal assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. By night, she slips out of her heels and writes romance novels under a top-secret pen name. But when her steamiest book, The Prime Minister & Me, unexpectedly becomes a bestseller, rumors of a real-life affair between her and the PM start swirling out of control.Enter Nolan Crosby, the PM’s new close protection officer (aka bodyguard) – and Andi’s failed one-night stand from three years ago. Nolan’s in town very temporarily to care for his mother, who’s battling early-onset Alzheimer’s. But when the scandal erupts, Andi ropes him into a fake-dating plan.As loyal employees, they’ll pretend to date for the summer, just long enough to put the scandal to bed and save their boss’s reputation. In an unexpected plot twist, Andi and Nolan discover that keeping their romance strictly fictional might be easier said than done.

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here. A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.Provocative and fast-paced, S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption.

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon. Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place. Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.