The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Things We Never Got Over If he doesn't end up naked and spread eagle on my bed I. Will. Die. Gloria is due a happily ever after. She's lost ten years to a toxic, dangerous relationship. Now that she's finally free―and medicating with makeovers and margaritas in her mother's kitchen―she has a long road ahead of her remembering who she really is. She's scarred. But scarred doesn't mean broken. While Gloria's deciding to take the next decade off from men, along comes larger-than-life, hometown hero Aldo Moretta. He's saying all the right things and flirting in all the right ways. He's deploying for six months and wants a date…with Gloria…when he comes back. Swoon. Panic. One kiss, one dazzling, remember-for-a-lifetime kiss and he's gone. But life and happily ever afters don't always take the straight path. When Aldo's deployment is cut short by an injury, it's up to Gloria to be the hero for them both. Author's You will laugh, cry, and fall head over face for Gloria and Aldo. And the evil rescue kitten. Also the four-letter-word-loving, commando-going Mrs. Moretta who's just in it for the cookies.

FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING. Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for—and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion. Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation. When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone—even foreigners—wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones—from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets—and of Kekon itself. Jade City begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood.

‘For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changed’ Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

NOTE: This is the previous first edition, which is no longer available. He's a wicked jester. She's a righteous princess. It’s forbidden love. In the Kingdom of Spring, Poet is renowned. He's young and pretty, a lover of men and women. He performs for the court, kisses like a scoundrel, and mocks with a silver tongue. Yet allow him this: It's only the most cunning and manipulative soul who can play the fool. For beyond the castle walls, Poet guards a secret. One the Crown would shackle him for. One that he'll risk everything to protect. Alas, it will take more than clever words to deceive Princess Briar. Convinced that he's juggling lies as well as verse, this righteous nuisance of a girl is determined to expose him. But not all falsehoods are fiendish. Poet's secret is delicate, binding the jester and princess in an unlikely alliance—and kindling a breathless attraction, as alluring as it is forbidden.

To the kingdom of Arastya, Quinn is no more than a monster.As the last of the fabled Forest Druids, she wields magic as wild and untamed as the woods that once sheltered her kind. When she is thrust into a deadly competition for the title of High Queen, Quinn’s only goal is to uncover what happened to her father when he vanished years ago-- and why the High King is wearing his necklace. But the High King’s past is as dark as his magic, and his secrets run deeper than Quinn anticipated. When she is attacked and other competitors fall victim to mysterious threats, it becomes clear someone in the castle is willing to kill to keep the truth hidden. What begins as a quest for her father’s fate unravels into a deadly conspiracy of betrayal and corruption, one that threatens to destroy not only Quinn, but the entire kingdom. To survive, Quinn must embrace the untamed magic that marks her as a monster-- even if it means standing against the gods themselves. In this treacherous competition for the crown, the cost of uncovering the truth may be higher than she ever imagined.***Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series, Leigh Bardugo's Shadow & Bone, and RF Kuang's The Poppy War-- this slow burn dark fantasy depicts rich Celtic lore in a setting of elemental magic and ancient gods, a cast of powerful female characters, a swoon-worthy dark king, all with a villain as the main character.