The Project: A Novel

Annie Lord

“Annie Lord is a phenomenal talent.”―Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love From the acclaimed Vogue writer and author of Notes on Heartbreak comes a decade-defining a funny, sweet, and subversive debut novel, reminiscent of Dolly Alderton and Monica Heisey, about two women, tired of the London dating scene, who decide to transform their most annoying male friend into the perfect man. When twenty-six-year-old Daisy wakes up next to James Stanley, she can’t believe what she’s done. She slept with James. The most boorish boy she knows. The black sheep of their friendship group. Someone who once told her that he’d never cried in his entire life—and sounded proud of it. But sleeping with James is a casualty of a Much Larger Problem—there is not a decent, single man to be found in London. At least, that’s what Daisy and her best friend Maya think. All the good ones are taken. Even the average, not-so-good men have beautiful, educated, and accomplished girlfriends with perfect hip-to-waist ratios. Where have all the good men gone? Fed up with the dating scene, Daisy and Maya decide to stop waiting and take matters into their own hands with “The Project.” Their goal? To build the perfect, eligible match out of some of the most lackluster, raw material. And who better to start with than their embarrassingly uncivilized (yet frustratingly attractive) friend, James? Embarking on a series of social and cultural lessons—from art exhibitions to feminist book clubs, designer clothing stores to house parties—Daisy and Maya chaperone James on a journey of discovery. But which of them will change more?

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Circe

Madeline Miller

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.

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The Missed Connection

Tia Williams

New York Times bestselling author Tia Williams returns with an intensely romantic, deliciously sexy tale about a woman searching for her handsome seatmate on a European flight—and the unexpected places her hunt for love leads her. Sasha Cruz knows types. As a booked-and-busy casting agent, she’s always casting — at happy hour, the post office, the grocery store, everywhere. She’s all about finding the perfect person to slot into the perfect role. What she doesn’t do, however, are relationships. Too much energy, not enough time. Men find her intimidating, and she likes it that way. But when Sasha’s seated next to a mysterious, broodingly handsome Italian man on the way to a work trip in Paris, sparks fly – but they miss the chance to exchange contact information. Now, convinced that she’s lost out on her soulmate, Sasha is on a manhunt to find Seat F. Sasha enlists her work friend for help in the search, but when she accidentally emails the entire global company, colleagues around the world begin looking for Seat F, too – with some finding love along the way. Meanwhile, Sasha takes matters into her own hands, hiring a smoldering detective who complicates matters in unforeseen ways.

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Blue Jean Summer

Maggie Gates

Opposites become unlikely allies when a desperate cowboy needs to marry in order to save his grandfather’s land. Hayes Wilder needs to find a wife—pronto. After returning to the small town of Honey Hollow before his grandfather’s death, he's shocked to learn that the sprawling Wilder Estate was left to him. All Hayes wants is the one thing money can’t buy—more time with his grandfather. Failing that, he’ll do whatever it takes to save his grandfather’s legacy from falling into the wrong hands. Even if it means marrying in order to satisfy the terms of the will. Catherine Foster, reigning Miss Virginia and former Honey Hollow native (who had a childhood crush on Hayes), is saddled with mountains of medical debt ever since her mother’s death. Running out of time to figure out her next move, Catherine reconnects with Hayes at his grandfather’s funeral. Hayes and Catherine impulsively strike a bargain: He’ll pay off her debts, but only if they get married. Despite the situation, Hayes and Catherine look forward to getting to know each other as adults—after the wedding. Which is tougher than anticipated when the entire town has eyes on them and his half brother keeps circling the property like a vulture, determined to poke holes in their marriage. Most troubling of all, this pair may have miscalculated how much they have in common—enough for this cowboy to fall in love for real.

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Meet Me in the Garden

Nina LaCour

From bestselling author Nina LaCour comes a sweeping family saga that wrestles with themes of self-discovery and love in all forms, inspired by the author's own Creole family New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom. But five years later, Odette's life is nothing like what she'd planned. She's a widowed mother, living in Los Angeles, and she and Delphine, who is passing as white, have spiraled away from each other. When Delphine reaches a breaking point, Odette must make a shattering choice to try to hold her family together. Profound and expansive, a story of love and longing, art and motherhood, friendship and desire, Meet Me in the Garden is a decades-spanning tour de force, inspired by the author’s family and tracing the history of the Great Migration.

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The Missed Connection

Tia Williams

New York Times bestselling author Tia Williams returns with an intensely romantic, deliciously sexy tale about a woman searching for her handsome seatmate on a European flight—and the unexpected places her hunt for love leads her. Sasha Cruz knows types. As a booked-and-busy casting agent, she’s always casting — at happy hour, the post office, the grocery store, everywhere. She’s all about finding the perfect person to slot into the perfect role. What she doesn’t do, however, are relationships. Too much energy, not enough time. Men find her intimidating, and she likes it that way. But when Sasha’s seated next to a mysterious, broodingly handsome Italian man on the way to a work trip in Paris, sparks fly – but they miss the chance to exchange contact information. Now, convinced that she’s lost out on her soulmate, Sasha is on a manhunt to find Seat F. Sasha enlists her work friend for help in the search, but when she accidentally emails the entire global company, colleagues around the world begin looking for Seat F, too – with some finding love along the way. Meanwhile, Sasha takes matters into her own hands, hiring a smoldering detective who complicates matters in unforeseen ways.

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Serving Bunt (Rose City Roasters #6)

Kelly Reynolds

Heated Rivalry meets The Great British Baking Show with a dash of Hallmark Christmas magic and a whole lot more spice in this baseball romance novella set in the Pacific Northwest. Baseball fans know Matty Miller as a two-time Gold Glove nominee, the American League West's Sexiest Player, and proud "dachshund daddy" to Instagram's favorite wiener dog. Off the field, though, he's just a bisexual farm boy from Alabama who's spent the past few years renovating his fixer-upper farmhouse... and pretending the butterflies he gets around his handsome left fielder are nothing more than pregame jitters. But when the anonymous author of some wildly popular Roasters fanfiction turns out to be the very man he's been quietly falling for, his carefully ordered world is turned completely upside down. Peter Diaz has never been accused of being subtle. The charming, larger-than-life Puerto Rican left fielder wears his heart on his sleeve, quotes Chris Evans movies at every opportunity, and secretly writes filthy fanfiction under a pseudonym. He never imagined his anonymous stories would lead to real-life flirting with the teammate he's wanted for years. When the truth comes out, the disappointment in Matty's eyes hurts far more than any strikeout ever could. Determined to earn Matty's trust back, Diaz agrees to join him on a nationally televised holiday baking competition during the All-Star break. After all, if making a complete fool of himself in an apron is what it takes to repair the damage he's done, so be it. As it turns out, what happens in the baking tent doesn't stay in the baking tent... or the locker room. Serving Bunt is the final book in the Rose City Roasters baseball series. This friends-to-lovers romance between a bisexual, softdom Southern boy and his gay, "life of the party" teammate features an almost entirely LGBTQIA+ supporting cast of characters, two cups of mutual pining, a dash of only one bed, a pint of horny baking, and a generous spoonful of naked swim time.

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Holding Ground (The Mercer Family Book 1)

Piper Rayne

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The Nudge: A Psychological Thriller

Joseph Fink

A new horror novella from the creator of Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead. On the open road, evil doesn't chase you. It waits . . . Late one night, a wounded man checks into a remote roadside hotel. He's running from something he can't explain or escape. And over the course of a night, he'll tell the hotel's proprietor how his life fell apart. It started with his wife. Subtle changes. Smiles that didn't belong to her. Then violence—sudden, intimate, almost casual. Therapy offered hope. Recovery seemed possible. Until it wasn't. He believes a hidden influence has attached itself to him, one that never forces, never commands. It whispers. It suggests. Nudges people toward their worst impulses. Now the man wanders the country as a fugitive, hoping to break free from the evil that's wormed its way into him. But as our narrator's story unfolds, he begins to question whether he's fled far enough . . . Tense, atmospheric, and chilling, The Nudge is a slow-burn tale of suspense that will linger like a whisper in the dark, long after the story is over.

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