New Fiction
The breakdown lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
When her husband decides to defect from their life together, advice columnist Julianne Ambrose Gillis must carry on alone. In his absence, Julie is diagnosed with a serious illness, which drives her children to undertake a dangerous journey to find their dad.
Factory of cunning by Philippa Stockley.
Set in late eighteenth-century England, Philippa Stockley's American debut gives us a wickedly delightful but deadly serious battle of the wills and the sexes. It begins with the arrival in London of the mysterious Mrs. Fox. On the run from a scandalous French past, she takes on a new identity, determined to rehabilitate herself. To do so she must pit her formidable skills for revenge against Earl Much, a British aristocrat with no less notorious a past and easily her match in sinfulness and intrigue. Between these two swirls a story featuring venal lords, wronged maidens, and reprobate clergymen, transporting readers from bawdy houses to country estates-places where the pleasures of the flesh are both high comedy and serious business.
Lost in the forest by Sue Miller.
Lost in the Forest is a novel set in the vineyards of Northern California that tells the story of a young girl who, in the wake of a tragic accident, seeks solace in a damaging love affair with a much older man." Eva, a divorced and happily remarried mother of three, runs a small bookstore in a town north of San Francisco. When her second husband, John, is killed in a car accident, her family's fragile peace is once again overtaken by loss. Emily, the eldest, must grapple with newfound independence and responsibility. Theo, the youngest, can only begin to fathom his father's death. But for Daisy, the middle child, John's absence opens up a world of bewilderment, exposing her at the onset of adolescence to the chaos and instability that hover just beyond the safety of parental love. In her sorrow, Daisy embarks on a harrowing sexual odyssey, a journey that will cast her even farther out onto the harsh promontory of adulthood and lost hope.
Mermaid chair by Sue Monk Kidd.
Sue Monk Kidd's stunning debut, "The Secret Life of Bees," spent 77 weeks on "The New York Times" bestseller list. Now, in her much-anticipated new novel, Kidd has woven a transcendent tale that will thrill her legion of fans and cement her reputation as one of the most remarkable writers at work today.
Pretty woman by Fern Michaels.
Rotund Rosie Bliss, nEe Gardener, is miserable. She has known all along that her husband married her for her money she runs a successful mail-order business, Nature's Decorations but she has always lacked the courage to do anything about it. She even lost her best friend and business partner, Vickie, over the truth. In a rare show of spine, Rosie throws out the sorry Kent when he misses their third anniversary dinner. Kent isn't sorry to leave (You're nothing but a fat pig with big feet), but he slinks back the next day when he discovers that Rosie has won the lottery a $302 million jackpot. As she fights to keep Kent's hands off her windfall and resolves to become the pretty woman he never saw in her, Rosie is cheered on by wonderful trainer Jack Silver, housekeeper Luna Mae, and Vickie, with whom Rosie renews her friendship. Kent schemes alternately to get Rosie back and to steal from her, but ends by almost believably growing up, even seeing her transformation as an inspiration for his own necessary changes. Rosie, however, isn't waiting around for him. The concluding triathlon, in which Michaels's likable heroine shows her stuff, is a strong finish to a frothy read.
Two-dollar bill by Stuart Woods.
Stone Barrington is caught between a clever con man--who's just become his client--and a beautiful prosecutor in this stylish thriller in the bestselling series. "Two-Dollar Bill" delivers all the storytelling twists and whip-smart banter readers have come to love in Woods's thrillers.